City Spies

Mother goes to Sinclair’s private art museum on a special arrangement to view his collection and learn more about him and his company. Inside the building are dozens of original paintings, and a curator gives Mother a tour of them all. They eventually arrive at a private room with three rare Monet paintings that have never been shown. Mother recognizes them as the forged paintings he used to lure Le Fantôme years prior. He wonders how Sinclair managed to get his hands on them and what his connection is to Le Fantôme.

The children all go to stake out Asgard and discover that It seems impenetrable. Paris mentions how they are close to the old factory he lived and was found in, and they decide to go see it. While there, they notice that the building is being prepared for construction. When asked how he managed to get in and out all the time, Paris reveals the catacombs filled with “the bones of dead Parisians” (259) were his secret system. Kat wonders if there might be a catacomb underneath Asgard.

The Paris catacombs are the result of mining limestone over hundreds of years. They were later filled with human remains as cemeteries became overcrowded and used as hiding places during times of political upheaval. Paris leads everyone to the Gate of Hell where the entrance to the tunnels lies. They must squeeze through a tiny hole in the ground to enter, which Brooklyn finds difficult and unpleasant. They start exploring and trying to find a way to Asgard, and both Brooklyn and Sydney are shocked when they see stacks of human bones lining some walls. Brooklyn refuses to go further until Paris reminds her how brave she is. After what seems like ages, Brooklyn spots a graffiti Starry Night Van Gogh painting on a wall, with one star amiss. Her instincts tell her a door is hidden there, and they soon discover that she is correct. They make their way up an old staircase and arrive at a security door.

The group arrives back to the inn and reports their findings to Mother and Monty. Brooklyn is thrilled to have completed her first day of real spying. The children go to present their artificial rain system and Brooklyn gets to explain what makes it unique: It blends three different seeding chemicals together. Unfortunately, Charlotte interrupts, stealing Brooklyn’s chance to show her smarts by saying the answer Brooklyn planned out. When the announcer asks Brooklyn to provide a response, she gives the name Benito Viñes, causing many people to laugh. However, given a chance to explain, Brooklyn clarifies that it was his ingenuity that led to this discovery. She goes on to say that Viñes is not unlike Sinclair, who is a creative genius in his own rite. The crowd seems to love the response, and Brooklyn stares at Charlotte, thinking, “You want to play hardball […] Bring it on” (279).

Charlotte and her teammates are growing frantic as they struggle to get the results that they expect from the data they input into their computer. Brooklyn watches with glee knowing it is her hacking that is responsible, and her team already finished. When time is up, the spy team gets ready to take their positions for Sinclair’s second appearance as he announces the top 10 finalists. As he walks from team to team, Brooklyn notices that he once again sounds scripted and slightly off. When he gets to the FARM team, Brooklyn still feels overwhelmed to be speaking to someone she has admired for years. Both the FARM and Kinloch Abbey teams make the top 10. Amidst the commotion, Paris notices a bald man he recognizes from the night of the fire speaking with Sinclair. He and the others conclude that Sinclair’s bodyguards must be part of Umbra.

Everyone except Kat goes to meet Mother to report the news about Sinclair’s bodyguards and their affiliation with Umbra. Mother is surprised, but trusts Paris’s judgment, and both he and Brooklyn realize that Sinclair must be Le Fantôme. Sydney reasons that Sinclair’s corporation is just a cover for Umbra, and Mother goes back to Sinclair’s museum to see if he can learn more. Kat sends a text to everyone, alerting them to come to her location immediately to complete the hack. They agree to meet Mother at the Eiffel Tower after everything is complete.

The group finds Kat sitting outside an Indian café. She explains how she figured out where to find a key to the server room by observing who entered and exited the building, through which doors, and taking note of every detail in her environment. She found a person who wrote multiple reviews for Indian restaurants, figured out the neighborhood he must live in, and posits that the train will drop him somewhere near the café. Kat knows that Rio, the magician, is the best person to lead the mission. Thrilled to be entrusted with something so important, Rio takes charge and commands the group. When the man appears, Rio and Sydney follow him onto the train. Rio snags the man’s ID during a jostle and passes it to Sydney. They emerge with the ID unscathed and everyone makes their way to the catacombs. When they arrive at the door to Asgard, the door opens with the key, and the door to the server room does as well. Sydney and Brooklyn go inside, and Brooklyn inserts a virus into the computer system. As they are about to leave, Paris runs in to announce that two guards are on their way.

Mother arrives at Sinclair’s art museum once again. When he goes inside this time, however, many of the paintings are being taken down. Mother notices that the crates containing paintings are being sent to the airport and concludes that Sinclair is planning to leave the country.

The guards enter the server room, one convinced that an error in the system is a sign of trouble, the other more interested in slacking off. The system indicated that one of the workers was inside the server room despite signing out hours ago. The eager guard notices a footprint on the floor inside and they both draw their guns and search the room. Paris hides horizontally on a shelf and freezes whilst Sydney and Brooklyn take cover under the floor panels. Paris gets an idea to toss the ID to the floor and deceive the guards into thinking the man dropped it. The trick works, and the guards leave without ever finding the children.

At 11 o’ clock that night, the group meets at the Eiffel Tower. There is a magical energy in the air, and everyone seems happy. Mother purchases a snow globe for Brooklyn from a souvenir kiosk, determined to start a collection. Monty brings macarons for everyone. The group pieces together everything they know about the situation and Sinclair, including the paintings and the certainty of an attack by the Purple Thumb. Kat wonders about the origins of the thumbprint, as it is supposed to belong to someone who is dead. The man in question was an environmental extremist who grew up rich as a result of environmental destruction and harbored immense guilt over it. They suddenly make the connection between the print and Sinclair when Brooklyn realizes that they both went to the same boarding school and university. It occurs to Kat that Sinclair Scientifica is working on a technology that creates ultra-realistic prosthetic limbs that also include fingerprints. Together, the team reasons that Sinclair must have re-acquired the limb after the man’s death. Rio believes that Sinclair is attacking his own company to distract from something even more sinister.

The morning of the final speeches arrives, and Sydney finds herself overwhelmed by nerves. Mother reminds her to be herself, calling her Olivia and reminiscing about how they met when Sydney was standing up for herself at her school. Mother explains that Sinclair plans to hold a conference after the speeches to announce the final prize, and several MI6 agents will be present. Sydney voices her concerns that Sinclair might be a decoy, and it suddenly occurs to Mother that she’s right. He realizes that Umbra has successfully lured several of the world’s top spies, including themselves, into a trap that may involve the deadly virus they stole. Desperate to find a way to warn everyone, Mother suggests that Sydney find a way to tell them as she performs her speech in the hopes that the others will see the broadcast.

As Charlotte sits in frustration at her computer problems, Sydney begins her speech as the rest of her teammates watch. She talks about Sinclair and hints at the virus, alerting the others to the danger. They wonder where the attack is planned to take place and are then told that the final announcement is being moved to a different area. They figure out that Umbra plans to use the building’s intelligent venting system to send the virus into specific rooms and not others. It occurs to Brooklyn that she will need to climb the wall and get into the room where the main ventilation system is located.

A man called The Professor, a brilliant chemist, baker, and assassin, is the man Paris witnessed at the summit and the fire years prior. As the man responsible for the dark deeds instructed by Le Fantôme, The Professor is the man responsible for the murder of the agents carrying the virus and is currently on his way to unleash it on a crowd of children, reporters, and agents. Brooklyn prepares to climb the wall, lifting herself out a bathroom window and onto the sill outside. She tries to emulate Kat, observing the bricks and looking for patterns. She notices several bricks out of place and uses them to start climbing. Brooklyn makes her way up to the next ledge and then crosses over to a drainpipe. Meanwhile, Sydney and Mother race to the Olympus building and the rest of the teammates attempt to distract from Brooklyn’s absence. The Professor reaches the ventilation system and prepares to unleash the virus. Brooklyn experiences a moment of fear but remembers Paris’s words of encouragement: “You are much braver than you realize” (344). Paris and the others continue being questioned about Brooklyn’s whereabouts until Charlotte surprises everyone and helps them trap the woman questioning them inside a closet. She asks Paris to apologize to Mother for her. Le Fantôme stands in his private jet, supervising the loading of his precious paintings, including one of a girl who reminds him of his deceased sister. Brooklyn makes it into the venting room just as The Professor is about to unleash the vial. She kicks him from behind and grabs the vial, then pretends to toss it across the room. The Professor panics and tries to find the vial as Brooklyn sprints out of the room to safety, holding the vial in her hand.

Brooklyn runs out of the building and down the street to the Three Lions Inn, where she knows she can find safety in the tunnels that lead to the British embassy below. She makes it there, but can’t remember the code for the entrance, and the inn’s caretaker is nowhere in sight. The Professor catches up with her, but he is momentarily knocked out with a feather dart by a woman who Brooklyn has never seen before. The woman tells Brooklyn to hurry to the embassy, and to tell Mother to stop worrying about the children because they are “happy and healthy” (353). She hands Brooklyn a flash drive and asks her to give it to Mother. Brooklyn realizes she is talking to Mother’s wife.

Brooklyn awakes in a bed at the embassy, surrounded by everyone on the team. They are all relieved to see she’s alright and desperate to know how she managed to get the vial. Brooklyn thanks Rio for teaching her the art of deception, and Kat gives Brooklyn a huge hug, surprising Brooklyn. The woman from the embassy arrives and informs everyone that The Professor has been arrested, but Sinclair is only being watched, as he hasn’t done anything illegal. She thanks Brooklyn for her hard work and sacrifice and credits the team for ensuring that their work will be funded by MI6 for years to come. Upon hearing that the project and group was dubbed Project Neverland by MI6, Brooklyn insists on something better. She suggests City Spies, since all of the children are named after the cities in which they were discovered. Afterward, Brooklyn takes Mother aside and tells him that she met his wife. Brooklyn tells Mother that his children are fine, but he must stop searching for them; additionally, his wife appears to still be working for MI6, not Umbra. She hands him the flash drive that was passed to her, and Mother discovers a picture of his children, appearing to be as healthy and happy as he hoped. Mother is confused, overwhelmed, and relieved at this discovery.

Three weeks later, Brooklyn is enrolled in school and continuing to adjust to life at the FARM and build relationships with everyone there. She was asked not to tell the others about Mother’s wife and goes up to the tower to check on him one afternoon. She finds him lost in thought and asks about his recent computer activity, which she knows he has been using to search for his children. He admits he has continued looking everywhere, despite being instructed otherwise. He tells Brooklyn she is the best spy he knows, but that she will have to work even harder than the others as a result. Brooklyn offers to use her skills to help Mother find his children. She takes her old, broken snow globe out of the shoebox and explains its origin to Mother: It was something she used to put on the window in each foster home, hoping that it would act as a beacon to bring her family back. She now hopes it will help Mother find his children. When Mother insists that he cannot take it, they both tear up, and Brooklyn assures him she no longer needs it—she has the family she was looking for in Mother and the others.