What is the Greater Good

by A M Lopez

  “How are we getting there?”

  Eva sighed, looking around. “I don’t— Wait. Do you know how to hotwire a car?”

  Connor raised a brow, following her line of sight. “Yeah, Arthur taught me.”

  Eva did a double take at his words. “Arthur? I thought Allison would’ve been the one to do that.”

  Connor laughed, smiling. “She knows how, but never did it before. Arthur has done it more times than he can count…” Connor narrowed his eyes thinking. “Then again, maybe he could count them.”

  Eva snorted, trying to stifle the sound. “Come on.”

  The two looked in every direction before running across the street, reaching a green building. There was a lot in front of it, and multiple vehicles were there.

  “Did you see this on our way in?”

  Eva shook her head. “That’s suspicious. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea.”

  Connor walked to a motorcycle, before snickering. “No, you’re good.”

  Eva raised a brow. “What do you mean?”

  He waved her over, snickering louder when she saw what was written on the side of the car. In flaming letters were the words ‘the beast of the gods.’

  “Why… ?”

  Connor was finally getting his snickers under control. “They probably thought it was alive from the noise its engine makes.”

  Eva looked with wide eyes. “But they have electricity, how could they not know what this was?”

  Connor smirked, already beginning to hotwire the bike. “You saw how fast they run. They probably never thought of making forms of transportation because they didn’t need it.”

  She gave him a look. “Since when did you get smart?”

  The motorcycle revved, its lights turning on. He stood up and slung a leg over the bike, leaning down to pick up the bee. Pulling rope out of his bag, Connor fastened the bee to the front of the bike. Finally, he turned to Eva, his raised eyebrow question enough. She sighed and sat behind him, wrapping her arms loosely around his waist. Connor had just kicked the stand of the bike down when screams of rage erupted from the haunted house. Sharing a look, Connor twisted the handle and hoped they would make it to the field.

  Eva’s grip tightened as they sped off into the night. The bike was surprisingly fast, and with the bee’s directions, they made it to the field in what felt like seconds. Connor immediately shut off the bike when they reached where they had previously been taken. The two hopped off, disoriented by the speed. Eva looked down when her foot hit something, seeing that it was the bags they had put flowers in. She began quickly picking them up while Connor untied the bee.

  A sound like roaring thunder came from behind them, making Eva glance over her shoulder. The people were screaming and beginning to rush after them, their torches set ablaze. They looked like a raging forest fire. Connor grabbed her hand and rushed away from the motorcycle, diving into the flowers a not so short distance away. The townspeople were on the bike in seconds, twisting to look for the two when they weren’t found with the bike.

  The golden- haired woman raised her pitchfork. “Find them!”

  Immediately, the people spreaded out. Eva and Connor shared a look before army crawling toward the end of the field. Painstakingly long minutes went by before they finally reached it, staying in the cover of the flowers. Eva stretched her arm out and let her suit scan the area in front of them, getting the coordinates. Connor had pulled out the calculator looking object to call Dawn, quickly punching in the coordinates Eva had gotten. The device showed that the ship had to land further away than the two would’ve liked but it was their only chance. There was a little timer to tell them how long until Dawn arrived. They nodded to each other and when the clock hit five seconds the two made a beeline for the area.

  Above them, Dawn came out of a portal, catching the people’s attention. As the people began to run at the two, Dawn landed and they rushed up the escalator she had let down. The people made it to the ship only to run headfirst into its force field, falling unconscious. Eva and Connor laughed in relief as the escalator retracted and the doors closed, Dawn taking off to head back to Proteus.

  Chapter Nineteen

  “What is this?”

  Anston groaned, stretching in his chair. Dimitri stood up from his spot across the room, rolling his shoulders as he got near.

  “That doesn’t make sense.”

  Anston groaned once more, burying his face in his hands. Cato put his hand on Anston’s shoulder, comforting the boy.

  “What doesn’t make sense?”

  The three turn to Arthur who was huddled in the corner of Cato’s lab. The lab was made with a silver metal and had a lot of tables. The tables were in the middle of the room and held different tools, the majority being microscopes. There were vials, beakers, and jars of unknown substances on the shelves to the left of the room. On the right of the room was a row of monitors, all of them connected to the lab’s database. In the back of the room was a door, which led to a closet full of other materials and tools. Next to the tables in the center of the room was a chalkboard, filled to the brim with equations.

  Arthur had settled in the corner between the monitors and the closet door, his laptop in front of him and papers spread around him. He was sitting with his legs crossed on the floor, a pen in one hand and the other typing furiously on his keyboard. His hair was ruffled and his clothes were disheveled, he looked like a mess. The three shared a look, concern flashing in their eyes.

  Dimitri stepped toward his twin from the center of the room. “The sample cells we have are deteriorating when our solution is added. We don’t know why.”

  Cato raised a brow. “Are you sure you have all the ingredients I’ve collected?”

  Anston nodded, dragging a hand down his face. “Every material for the cure that we have is in the solution.”

  Arthur hummed, pulling a different paper close and writing on it.

  His twin glanced back at the other two, seeing them nod. “How about you? What’s going on?”

  Arthur sighed, attempting to push his hair out of his eyes only for it to fall back into its previous position. “I lost contact with Connor and Eva a long time ago and I haven’t been able to get it back. I also lost connection with Aaron and Allison, but I got that working again. Well, I did until it cut out suddenly. It was as if those two went underground despite me telling them not to. Oh, I’m also keeping tabs on what is happening with everything so I can keep Aaron updated. And, I am looking up information on the dimensions they went to, all of which I have found so far is bad but I can’t even relay that data to those who need it. And, I am helping you guys with your stuff.”

  The three looked at Arthur with wide eyes and Cato stepped forward.

  “Maybe you should take a break.”

  Arthur sighed. “That would be nice, but I have to try and get connection back with the rest of our team, one pair is already in grave danger with a likely chance of death.”

  Cato crossed his arms. “What?”

  Arthur dropped the pen to type on his keyboard. “Don’t worry about it, they’ll be fine. Just better safe than sorry, am I right?”

  Cato nodded, speaking quietly. “Yes, you are.”

  Anston stood up. “Why don’t you use those programs you told me about to help you? That way you can take a break.”

  “Oh, I am already using all of them.”

  Everyone but Arthur deflated, looking at the boy in disbelief. Arthur reached for the pen again when he froze, staring at the computer with his eyes wide.

  Dimitri immediately rushed forward, fear gripping him. “Arthur, what’s wrong?”

  “I know why the sample cells are deteriorating.”

  Dimitri stumbled, shock and hope causing him to fall still.

  Anston looked at him with wide eyes, a smile breaking out onto his face. “Really? That’s great!”

  “No. It isn’t.”

  Anston smile dropped and Cato stepped forward to stand next to Dimitri. “
Tell us Arthur. It can’t be that bad.”

  Arthur shook his head. “You honestly jinxed yourself. You know how we are using the sample cells to see how Cato will react to the cure?”

  Anston raised a brow, going to stand near the other two. “Yeah.”

  Arthur gulped, eyes racing across his screen. “There is a possibility that Cato might die if we give him the cure.”

  Everyone fell silent, a tense atmosphere arising. Cato looked at Arthur, eyes wide. “What?”

  Arthur bit his lip. “The cure will fix your mutation completely, but. . . your mutation is keeping you alive. Unless the cure returns your body to how it was before you mutated, your lack of organs will take into effect and. . .”

  “And I could die on the spot,” Cato finished.

  Arthur only nodded, gathering his things. Dimitri and Anston froze, unsure of what to do. Dimitri’s head was hung, looking at the ground as he tried to figure out a new solution. Arthur stood up, all of the papers and his laptop in his satchel.

  “Would you be okay with that?”

  Dimitri and Anston’s head snapped to Arthur, who was straight faced.

  “Excuse me?” Anston had practically growled out the words.

  Dimitri turned to his twin, shock on his face but anger burning in his eyes.

  Arthur didn’t react in anyway, he just kept looking at Cato. Anston glared and started to walk towards him when Cato spoke.

  “Yes.”

  Dimitri and Anston froze, both turning to Cato as soon as they regained movement.

  “Cato, what are you saying?” Anston bit his lip.

  Dimitri wrung his hands, looking between Anston and Cato.

  Cato ignored him and looked Arthur in the eyes. “You are stronger than people give you credit for. I would say you hate this as much as your friends here, but you hate it more. If only because you know you are the only one actually able to ask me. You are forcing yourself to remain logical when inside you are filled with heavy sorrow.”

  Arthur crossed his arms in front of his chest, face remaining blank. Inspecting his twin’s face, Dimitri realized Arthur was burying himself in his head and shutting out his heart. Dimitri felt pain at the sight, but the fact that they got angry at him while he was also hurting was ten times worse. He wanted to be there for his brother and build him up, not tear him down. Dimitri went to put his hand on Arthur’s shoulder but he returns it with a cold look.

  “We have more work to do. I won’t let myself get side tracked if you guys will.”

  Arthur spun on his heel, brushing off Dimitri’s hand. He walks out of the room, no skip in his step like usual. Dimitri wanted to run after his twin but his thundering footsteps as he walked away were deafening.

  Dark thoughts threatened to consume Dimitri, but instead he shook his head and pushed them away. He rushed after his twin, but his hesitation cost him. Arthur was in the room next to the lab, a computer room. It had multiple long tables, and each had one computer on top. Dimitri walked over to his twin, but could tell without even seeing his face that he was too late. Arthur had completely shut down emotionally, eyes dull and fingers typing on the keys rapidly.

  “Arthur?”

  Silence was Dimitri’s response.

  “I think Clark misses you. He will be back soon. Aren’t you happy to see him?”

  Arthur’s fingers kept their speed, staying in constant motion.

  “I think Astrolabe’s tech has malfunctioned.”

  Arthur’s face stayed blank.

  “Arthur.”

  His eyes were still dull and his lips stayed shut. Dimitri clenched his teeth together, stopping himself from making things worse.

  “I’ll come back to check on you later. I’m sorry.”

  Dimitri slowly walked out of the room, giving Arthur plenty of time to stop him or say something. When he made it into the hall and the door closed behind him, he wrapped his arms around himself. He turned and leaned against the wall opposite of the door, slowly sliding down.

  Dimitri remembered the first time Arthur had shut down, it was during pure chaos. Dimitri had gotten hurt during an experiment and was using what little supplies they had to heal himself. Arthur had been worried to death, especially when Dimitri woke up in a sweat the next morning. Their kidnappers hadn’t cared if they lived or died then because they had yet to prove themselves. Arthur had tried to stay with him, but got dragged to the computer lab. When he had finally returned, Dimitri was in a pool of his own sweat, face flushed.

  Arthur tried to beg for medical supplies but was just ignored. He asked Dimitri what medicine he needed but got no response. It wasn’t until they were given their meals that Dimitri talked again. Arthur had eaten his own serving and tried to feed Dimitri, but he couldn’t hold down any food. After moving Dimitri away from the vomit, Arthur helped him drink small sips of water. Thankfully, it was enough to get Dimitri lucid and talking again, albeit weakly. Dimitri told Arthur the name of the medicine before going unresponsive.

  No matter what Arthur did, Dimitri wouldn’t say anything. Seeing his brother literally dying right in front of him caused Arthur to go into a panic attack. Unfortunately for Dimitri, he was conscious the whole time and was forced to watch as Arthur went from panicked to cold and detached. Seeing the emotion slowly drain from his twin’s face was horrifying, and yet Dimitri could do nothing. He had felt so helpless until fear replaced everything. Dimitri had wanted to scream and stop his brother, instead he watched as Arthur messed with the wires in the floorboards. They had found them a few days ago and quickly realized the wires connected to the door. The twins were planning to escape as soon as Arthur fixed the wires, but then Dimitri fell sick.

  Dimitri was forced to lay there and watch as Arthur got shocked again and again, but he never stopped working. It was only a few minutes later that Arthur had the door unlocked and slipped out, promising Dimitri that he would be back. Dimitri waited in silence, the horror overwhelming. They had expected to escape in a week at least because the wires were connected strangely, making the ability to get shocked much higher. Without knowing how much electric current went through the lines, rewiring them would’ve been extremely risky. Dimitri was only glad Arthur hadn’t dropped dead immediately, but he had seen how his twin’s hands had spasmed. Arthur had only taken breaks when his hands spasmed too much to work, and even then, it was just so he wouldn’t get them caught.

  An unknown amount of time had passed when Arthur had finally returned to their cell. Dimitri felt the worry in his chest melt away, replaced by sudden relief. Arthur walked to his twin, pulling the medicine Dimitri needed out of his pocket. After drinking the medicine, Dimitri had begun to feel drowsy and watched Arthur hide the bottle under the floorboard. He only stayed awake long enough to see Arthur try to make the door seem as if it had never been opened.

  It didn’t work. Dimitri knew because he woke up to yelling and the sound of flesh beating flesh. He sat up quickly and got slightly dizzy before he saw what was happening. The image still haunts him to this day. Arthur was a bloody pulp on the floor, their kidnappers still hitting his unreacting body. His eyes were still open though, Arthur just wasn’t responding to the pain. Dimitri didn’t hesitate to throw himself at the one doing the most damage, knocking him down and breaking a rib before he was pulled away. He got out of their hold and rushed to Arthur, standing over him protectively. Whenever someone got too close, Dimitri would swing at them. Eventually though, his fatigue caught up with him and he was brought down.

  Dimitri watched helplessly as a man grabbed Arthur’s body and threw him over his shoulder, as if his twin was a bag of potatoes. As they were being dragged away, Dimitri saw Arthur’s blank eyes still open, looking right at him. Dimitri couldn’t look away, and he didn't until they were thrown into their new cell. He hurried over to his twin, and checked all of his wounds. Unsurprisingly, Arthur wasn’t going to live past a day. Broken bones, blood loss, and so many other things Dimitri couldn’t see would kill Arthur. Again, Di
mitri felt helpless. He did what little he could to save his twin, like ripping his shirt apart to make bandages to hopefully stop the bleeding.

  It didn’t stop. Dimitri had begun to lose hope and simply held Arthur to his chest, agony rippling through him. Then like the last time his cell door opened, relief fell over him. It was the doctor he worked with all day. The doctor only ever left the infirmary for two health related reasons: to restock the medicine or to heal a prisoner. Dimitri gave the doctor room to work but kept a close eye on him, untrusting. Eventually, the doctor turned to Dimitri and healed him too. The doctor’s special medicines were practically bottled miracles, working faster than Dimitri thought possible. Every time he had seen the medicine, Dimitri had been curious to know how it worked. That day was an exception.

  When Arthur eventually woke up, he was still emotionless. Dimitri was fine with it though and helped his twin as best he could. Slowly but surely, Arthur returned to his old self. A few days later, he helped a guard with programming, changing their lives. Occasionally, Arthur would begin to shut down again but Dimitri was always at his side when he could be.

  “Not this time.”

  Chapter Twenty

  “Allison, wake up!" Aaron nudged her foot.

  Allison slowly blinked, awaking to the new surroundings around them. They were . . . upside down? It seemed like they were, but everything seemed normal. The world around them was the same, all except for the multicolored crystals surrounding them. The skies were the same magical sensation and the grounds as green as before, but they were still upside down.

  "I'm awake, I'm awake." She grumbled and struggled to get up.

  Aaron was on the ground, breathing in and out deeply. Her facial features were twisted in pain and Allison immediately knelt down next to her.

  "What's going on?" She started examining for injuries.

  "I broke my arm on the fall, and unlike you, the pain kept me awake." She winced as Allison ran her fingers on her arm.