“I don’t see how that gets Simber and Florence to fit in the tube,” he said. “What, did Ms. Octavia sketch 3-D pictures of them and put the picture in the tube?”
“No,” Lani said, her eyes dancing now as she paged through her book. “No, it’s much simpler than that.”
Meghan sat up, intrigued.
Alex’s brain started churning, trying desperately to come up with the answer before Lani read it, as if they were playing a game of trivia. “Let me guess,” he said. “Hold on—I’m thinking.” He squinched his eyes shut, picturing what elements were needed. “Okay …,” he said.
“Well?” Lani jiggled the book on her lap, her finger holding the place.
“She drew a bigger tube in 3-D.” Alex said.
Lani blinked. “No.” Lani watched Alex’s shoulders fall in defeat, thinking about it. “But I think that would work too,” she said thoughtfully. “Good one, Al.”
Meghan frowned. “Well, what did she do, then?”
Lani smiled. “Picture the theater. Back where Simber and Florence were standing. What was right behind them? I’ll give you a hint—there’s something the theater has that this lounge doesn’t have.”
Alex looked up. “Doors,” he said, puzzling. “Huge ones. But nobody ever uses them—they’re just painted on for aesthetics, right?”
Meghan blinked.
Alex tapped his chin.
“Oooh,” they said together. Lani grinned.
“But I still don’t see …,” Meghan began.
Alex’s eyes lit up. “So, if Ms. Octavia, or anyone good enough to draw in 3-D, painted the same set of theater doors somewhere else in the mansion, Simber and Florence could simply push them open and walk right into the theater, through those painted doors, without using the tube. Right?”
“Exactly!” cried Lani. “Just as if they were walking through any real door.”
Meghan’s clouded face began to clear. “But … why have the tubes at all, then?”
“Think about it—all those doors that would have to be painted in everybody’s rooms—there would be no room for them all! We’d have to move our beds around to get to them. And this way,” Lani said slyly, “Simber can’t get into the lounge.”
Alex sat up, his stomach twisting. “So, a 3-D magical drawing of any real doorway, anywhere in the world, would lead you into that room? No matter where you are, or where the doorway is?” He leaned forward, holding his breath.
“Yes!” Lani said. “Isn’t that cool? But they’re really hard to paint. I can’t understand why Samheed would think he could draw a closet of defense in a hurry—it would take hours. Days, maybe.”
Alex’s mind whirled. All I have to do is learn to paint in 3-D, he thought.
“Wow!” said Meghan. “I’m going to go tell Sam anyway. Maybe it’ll help with their project.” She went over to the tube and disappeared, leaving Alex and Lani quite alone in their corner of the lounge.
Alex looked up and cleared his throat. “You’re really smart, Lani.”
Now it was Lani’s turn to blush. “Yeah,” she said. “I like to read.”
Alex glanced at her latest spell book. “Do you have any advanced spell books? Not like the history of killing spells like you were reading the other day at breakfast. But, like, ones with … with lethal spell components actually written in them?” He almost whispered the last part.
“No,” Lani said.
“Oh.”
“Why?”
Alex remembered what Ms. Octavia had told him about the scatterclips spell. And he thought that if he ever came across the High Priest Justine in a real battle, he wouldn’t hesitate to kill her. “No reason, I guess. I mean …”
“Well,” Lani said, “if I find one, do you want to know about it?”
“Yes. I mean, I guess so. It wouldn’t hurt.” Alex looked down at the carpet for a long time. “So, um, about that other thing, with the kiss?”
Lani blushed hard. “I think you’re smart enough to know what I meant.”
He bit his bottom lip, and then leaned forward, elbows on his knees, peering at her, remembering when they first met. “Hi,” he said softly. “I’m Alex. It’ll go quickly.”
Lani blinked at him, surprised that he remembered that first day. “Lani,” she said. “And no, it won’t.” They both smiled at the grim memory.
“Do you—,” they both said at the same time, and laughed. “You first,” said Lani.
“Do you ever think about them? Your father? Your family?” Alex asked.
Lani’s eyes hardened. “Never. Only my younger brother, who Mr. Today promised me he’d try and save.”
Alex regarded her thoughtfully. “Mr. Today can do that?”
“I guess he can try. He told me he helps the High Priest Justine decide who the Unwanteds will be. He said when my father wanted to send me to the Purge before I was thirteen, he helped convince Justine to do it.” Her eyes clouded.
“Wow,” Alex said, a bit shocked. “I didn’t know. Mr. Today must have really wanted you here.…” He trailed off, lost in thought.
“And my father must have really wanted to get rid of me.” She shrugged off the hurt. “What about you? Do you think about your parents or your brother?”