Catfishing on CatNet Naomi Kritzer (reading strategies book txt) đ
- Author: Naomi Kritzer
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Itâs morning, or at least morning-ish, though you really canât tell because all the windows are boarded up. Thereâs twilight outside beyond the broken back door, though. I get myself some of the food from the cooler and look outside. Thereâs no sign of any other people; no indication that anyoneâs looking for us.
It occurs to me that I could leave. Tiptoe away, leave Rachel sleepingâI could leave her a note, so she wouldnât think Iâd been kidnappedâfind my own way to a hiding place that wouldnât involve Rachel. If my father comes after us and Rachelâs with me, sheâll be in at least as much danger as I am. My mother was kidnapped and tortured; it was the coworker who got picked to take the blame for it who wound up dead. Rajiv. I wonder if he actually killed himself, or if Michael killed him and made it look like a suicide?
Of course, Michael probably has Rachelâs address, so he could come after her, anyway.
But even aside from that, I donât want to leave. I feel safer with Rachel, even if thatâs completely irrational. And I feel like sheâs safer with me, even though I know thatâs irrational. Weâre protecting each other. Weâll keep each other safe. I left her yesterday, and she came right back.
âSteph?â Rachel flicks on her flashlight, illuminating the room. âIs it morning?â
âYeah,â I say.
She pulls out her cell phone and turns it back on. âLetâs see if thereâs any new news about your dad.â
The news about my dad is all over this morning, but itâs not because of my dad, itâs because of the car: itâs gotten out that the car that hit him was self-driving. One of the neighbors apparently saw it happen and has given interviews to every major network; he doesnât appear to have noticed that I was there, just that my father fired a gun at the Roadster and then got hit.
The actual owner of the car was sitting in class at the U when it happened. Various experts are insisting that the most likely explanation is that someone stole the car, ran down the âunidentified male,â and then fled before the police arrived.
The car company has released a statement talking about their commitment to security, and someoneâs saying that if the owner of the car had compromised its built-in security in some way, a hack would be possible though very unlikely.
My father is a footnote in every article but one: âtaken to the hospital,â âstable condition,â âtaken to the hospital with injuries,â âtaken to the hospital for evaluation.â Thereâs one dubious-looking newspaper that got a blurry photo of him from someoneâs security camera and adds an unnamed witness saying they saw the aftermath and his head was gushing blood. That seems like it ought to be a good signâI mean, a good sign for me, since I would prefer that he be really seriously injured and in the hospital indefinitelyâbut Rachel lets out an impatient snort and says that head injuries always bleed like crazy.
CheshireCat would probably have more information. Theyâd have eavesdropped on the hospital through the staff cell phones or something. But CheshireCat isnât in the Clowder and doesnât respond to my private message.
Orlando pops online. âGEORGIA, ARE YOU HERE? Because your dad is flipping his lid. He came over last night, and I thought he and my dad were going to wind up in a fistfight. I think he thinks maybe you were involved somehow in that car crash thatâs in the news. Did you text him and let him know youâre alive?â
Rachel leans over my shoulder to type. âI TEXTED HIM. I told him I was fine and not to worry.â
âMaybe call him?â Orlando says.
âHeâll just start yelling,â Rachel types.
I take back the keyboard. âHas anyone seen CheshireCat since yesterday?â I ask.
No one has.
âIs anyone else weirdly missing?â I ask.
âNone of the admins are on,â Hermione says. âI noticed this morning because the main channel was getting all clogged with spam, which basically never happens. I tried to ask Alice what was up. She wasnât on, and neither were any of the others.â
Did CheshireCat run away after the thing with the car? Did it get them in trouble?
âAre you worried about CheshireCat?â Firestar asks. âIâve been trying to remember what theyâve said about their parents and whether they have the sort of parents whoâd just cut them off from online.â
âI asked about their parents once, and all they said was, âMostly they let me do what I want,ââ Hermione says.
In a sense, CheshireCatâs parent would be the programmer who created them. They mentioned a creatorâthey said they didnât know if their creator knew they were conscious. So maybe it was their parent that took them offline. Maybe their creator realized what had happened and came after them.
âCan anyone remember CheshireCat ever saying where they were from?â I ask.
âDo you think theyâre in trouble???â Firestar asks.
âYeah,â I say.
I check my email, hoping to find somethingâanythingâfrom CheshireCat, some clue.
And I do find one, from an address Iâve never seen before.
CheshireCat needs you.
66 Antshire Street, Cambridge, MA.
Rachel stares at me. âWhat if thatâs your father trying to lure us in?â
âHow would he know to mention CheshireCat?â
âI donât know. How did he know to come straight to New Coburg? How did he get here so fast?â
I pull out my phone to see if my motherâs texted. Or if CheshireCat did.
Neither has, but thereâs a text from some number Iâve never seen before.
Is this Lauraâs daughter? Are you in Wisconsin in this mess? Do you need help? And then itâs signed with something thatâs probably an emoji or special character, but those donât show up on my phone so I just see a .
I should feel reassured, maybe, but the only thing I can think right now is that
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