3 Chapter 2: A Plan

The droid blinked several times again, and zoomed out of the house through the kitchen window. T.K. sighed and said, "What the heck was that about?"

I wasn't paying attention to T.K. Instead, I stared at the spot where the droid had been, unable to take in all of the information. "Did it just say we were going to meet the Vice President?"

"Uh, yeah," T.K. said, scratching her head absentmindedly. "Tuesday's six days from now."

"Why would the Vice President himself ask for an appointment with me? Does he even know me?"

T.K.'s eyebrows raised slightly, as if she's been thinking of something deeper. "Maybe."

The both of us feared the real answer. Did it have something to do with the vanishing teenagers? Am I the next target of the Sapphires? A cold shiver ran down my spine as I thought of the possibilities. What could get worse?

°•°•°•

"Margot?" I heard T.K.'s voice from the kitchen. "The – uh, visitors are here for you know. They want to discuss with you some governmental plan– wait, is it an experiment?" Shuffling sounds were followed, so were muffled voices. "Whatever it is. I forgot what the message said– I need you down here, Margot. Pronto."

I pretended to hear T.K. I had more important things to do than discussing a governmental plan with some visitors, anyway: like putting on the finishing touches on my droid, Callie. Sighing, I shouted from my bedroom, "Tell them I'm not here. Thanks!"

"Goddamn this child," T.K. muttered loudly. A short silence was followed, and I strained my ears to listen to anything T.K. might say. Muffled voices. I heard an unmistakable "Margot's a very stubborn child, I'm so sorry" statement from T.K., and then I finally lost it.

"Fine! I'm coming down!" I growled, throwing my screwdriver to the floor and grabbing my jacket from the rack. I would not let T.K. blab all of my personal information to those visitors and let my already damaged reputation get ruined by her. T.K. may be my motherly figure who takes care of me and all – but she can be kind of crappy and loud at times.

I arrived at the living room and saw an irate T.K. staring at me with her hands at her hips. She pulled me by the collar and hissed in my ear, "You forgot that the visitors are members of the Sapphires, hotshot."

I shrugged and buried my hands into the depths of my jacket pockets. "Yeah, but what's the big deal?"

"Alright, so you want to know what the 'big deal' is, young lady? Those are the Sapphires – the government, the superiors of our country. One wrong move you do right in front of them, you're out of the picture."

I didn't know what "out of the picture" meant, but I gulped and replied, "Yes, ma'am."

I ducked and slipped past T.K. In the living room, I saw two silhouettes of people sitting down on the chairs in deep conversation. I breathed heavily and walked towards that direction, my palms growing sweaty.

As I drew closer, I could hear a few words coming from the visitors: "– think it will scare her?" asked a female voice.

A low laugh replied, and I knew that was Vice President. "Scare her? Let's see if it will. I wonder if Tabitha has started telling the truth ever since she's been evicted –"

The voices stopped talking abruptly as I cleared my throat loudly. One of them turned around, and a woman with pearly white teeth smiled at me. "Ah, you must be Margot Wales. Come here, sit down with us."

I hesitated for a moment. I saw that T.K. followed me to the living room and was no leaning on the wall that separated the living room and the kitchen. I scrambled on to a sit upon in front of the woman, and the man – namely, Vice President Christopher Earlstone. I sat on my hands and stared at the two Sapphires sitting before me. I've never been in front of a Sapphire, let alone two of them, so I was really nervous. The woman smiled at me sympathetically and turned to face T.K.

"Tabitha, dear, as much as we know you care for Margot, we advise you to please give us space – this is confidential matter, you see. We only wish of it to be spoken with Margot and Margot only." she said. Even though her voice was sweet and kind, her eyes reflected every ounce of hatred. I raised my eyebrows confusingly.

T.K. sighed. "Fine." Before leaving, she turned to me and said: "Be a good girl, Margot." And finally went up the staircase, leaving us alone.

I stared helplessly at the spot where T.K. stood. I wished she was with me, here, talking to the adults instead of me. I was never a pro at communicating with people. "We'll know if you're listening, Tabitha," Christopher Earlstone added, calling over his shoulder. He then turned to me.

"Ah, isn't it for little Margot Wales." he said, beaming at me. "Before we start, I'm Christopher Earlstone, Vice President. And this is Melissa Dawson, Senior Undersecretary to the President."

I nodded. He continued, "We'd like to discuss with you a governmental plan that our dear President Governor Red has proposed in relation to the arising problems about overpopulation in the country."

"Why can't T.K. be here?" I blurted out, unable to contain myself. All of their smiling and staring was making me feel like a small child. Melissa's bright smile faded away fastly, and instantly replaced with a sneer.

"Oh Margot, Tabitha has a long history with us," she replied softly. "We'd rather not say it to you – you're to young to understand."

"I'm eleven," I countered. "And I'm her daughter. I have the right to know."

"You're her adopted daughter, to be specific," Melissa said, her voice rising. "Trust me, you wouldn't want to know what Tabitha did before she started raising you."

I was fuming. I didn't care if I was arguing with the Senior Undersecretary to the President or if I "made a wrong move" – I needed to know why. It mattered to me.

"Whoa, chill out, ladies," Earlstone said, chuckling. "Margot, we only wish to speak with you because the matter only concerns you, and not Tabitha Wales. Just promise us one thing: after we mention this to you, do not speak of it anymore to anyone."