Orion Academy: Telepathy

by A. A LEVINE

  “Ow!” Leo snatches his hand away and glares at me.

  “Hold still, you big baby, let me get the splinter out.”

  “It’s not a splinter, it’s a whole tree branch and its all your fault.”

  I chuckle at how dramatic he’s being. “You asked me to teach you how to climb trees, now you’re upset because you got a tiny piece of bark stuck in the palm of your hand?”

  “You should’ve warned me of the risk.”

  I pull his hand close again and pinch my fingernails trying to get the sliver out. He jerks again and I meet his eyes and give him a comforting smile. “Sit still it doesn’t hurt that bad.”

  He stops moving and in two more squeezes the splinter comes out. “There. Easy right?” I smooth my hand over the scratch making sure there aren’t any more slivers in there. “Does it still hurt?”

  “Nope, it’s fine. I barely felt a thing.”

  “Really, because a second ago you were wiggling around and yelling loud enough to wake the dead.”

  “What are you talking about Holli? I’ve been sitting here all Zen and didn’t notice you started digging for the splinter until after you said you were done.” He looks at his hand and smiles.

  “Thanks.” He rises to his feet and jogs across the lawn to the cafeteria.

  One is a fluke. Two is a coincidence. Three is a pattern. A telepath that can push can convince someone to do things they wouldn’t ordinarily do or make them believe something that isn’t true.

  I shut down that train of thought. No, they don’t exist. If Orion is to be believed, just like teleportation that gift hasn’t been seen in a new breakout in a very long time. If they're to be believed, but where's the proof? Only one way to find out if that's true.

  I’ve been testing my theory all week. In a sample size of thirty people I’ve managed to influence thirty-two percent to do what I want. Given the amount of time it’s taken me to get control of my telepathy, I’d say the experiment is a success and the implications leave me feeling even more alone. I accused John of having the ability to push, but it’s been me all along. I think back to the day with the Xander and the medicine balls. He said he hadn’t decided what to do with some of them. Maybe I could see what he was about to do, because I was the one putting the thoughts in his head.

  I’m at my medical screening. The fear and panic I sense are getting worse and I need to find out why. My doctor doesn’t know it, but he’s about to take me on his rounds and give me the passcodes to the doors that lead to the locked medical wing. That way I can come back and check out what’s behind doors number one two and three.

  The doctor next door has a faulty lapel clip on his badge. I found it on the floor underneath his favorite water fountain last week. When he drops it, today, I won’t be returning it right away.

  Dr. Glassman is very concerned when I tell him that I have a dull headache. He follows my suggestion and leaves the S-chips off in this room, runs some tests, gives me some fluids, and scribbles his diagnosis of why I’m not feeling well on my chart. I’m experiencing extreme fatigue and he prescribes me a nap in the patient room. I lie back on the bed when he turns out the lights and wait until the door clicks behind me. I find him in his office and mentally hitchhike his brain when he heads to the hospital ward.

  I take notice of the cameras, guards and exit signs. I’d hate to get trapped in here like I did the passageways under the gym. He sends the nurse to check on me thirty minutes later and I tell her I’m feeling much better and that I won’t require a medical absence to excuse me from the rest of my day.

  I’m dressed in black from head to toe and have a baseball cap pulled low on my head to make it harder for the people manning the cameras to recognize me. I think I know where most of them are but there could be hidden cameras that not even the staff and faculty know about. I take the passage in the gym and retrace my steps from before.

  I’ve been down here two other times already. The fancy door with the cypher lock has a twin. It’s up one more floor and has the medical emblem on it. The night orderly punches in his code and the door opens widely. The hinges are tight and it takes almost a full sixty seconds for the door to close. I wait for him to move to down the hall and grab the door before it can close completely. I step onto the ward when he moves out of sight.

  This field trip is unsettling, but long overdue. I follow the route my doctor took when he left his office and take the stairs to the research wing. I used to wonder why there weren’t any passenger elevators in any of the buildings. Now I understand it’s a safety precaution. We wouldn’t want a rogue kinetic detaching an elevator from its cables with people onboard forcing them to plummet to their death. Morbid, sure, but it could happen.

  The steady beeping I’ve been hearing gets louder and louder as I make my way down the empty hall. There are patients in drab hospital gowns and sweat suits inside of locked rooms. Some of them are staring off into space. Some are pacing back and forth. All of them are creepily empty of thoughts that I can pick apart. I press my hand against the glass of the room with a young girl. She walks to the side of the room hesitantly as I try to coax her closer. I can sense that she’s a breaker. Her head tilts to the side and I feel her trying to read my thoughts and I let her in, "What’s your name?”

  What’s your name? She mimics back. Someone behind me picks up the question. What’s your name? Then it floats like a ripple through the hall with everyonethinking the same question. I step away gasping in pain at the invasion of so many thoughts at once.

  I move on to another floor. The doctor was still making his way through the building. He stopped and punched in a code at a security door and I do the same. The sound of footsteps is behind me. I duck into an empty room and watch as Dr. Glassman passes by me. I’m back inside his head and I see him enter an exam room.

  "How’s it going?" Someone asks.

  The doctor replies, "Ready to start final testing on the latest drug protocol. Open the door, please." There’s a buzz and the sound of a tumbler sliding out of place.

  The scene that unfolds before me makes me sick to my stomach. The breakout is pleading against whatever’s about to happen. It’s the same kind of fear I’ve been experiencing whenever I come here for my appointments. I can feel his pain when the solution is injected into his veins. He thrashes about and the monitors he’s connected to quiet. Agonizing moments later they begin to beep again. The cadence is different. The breakout is different. He’s human. I clamp my hand over my mouth so no one hears my cry and stumble back the way I came.

  Chapter Twenty- Seven

  Holli

  “We have been watching you for a while and we know just how special you are.” Plain agent number one is saying. “We can help you hone your gift. Give you a purpose. A way to help others like you.”

  “I don’t need help.” The breakout insists.

  “You do, you just don’t know it yet. It’s only a matter of time before your powers get stronger and you might accidentally hurt someone.” His voice softens. “Worse than you already have.”

  I can see the breakouts thoughts. He’s remembering the day he got into a fight. His anger fueled his punches and I can the resounding sound of bone breaking when his fist connected with the boys face. It was a brutal fight and if the police hadn’t of arrived, the damage could have been worse.

  Plain agent number two has his hand on the holster of his weapon. “Just keep cool kid. We don’t want to hurt you and we know you don’t want to hurt anyone. Do you?”

  The look on the breakouts face concerns me. Hurting someone may be exactly what he wants to do. I want to break the connection, but I can’t. I have to see this to the end. My attention is split between the scene unfolding before me and the information on the blackboard at the front of the class.

  I use the connection with agent one like an antenna and piggyback off of everyone around to see a larger picture. Agent one is still talking but the coaxing tone he was using has taken on a hard edge. “You c
an come with us willingly or unwillingly. Either way, works for us.” Agent two is still on high alert, and now the breakouts anger turns to fear. Fear is a strong emotion. Strong emotions make people unpredictable.

  “I know all about how the government treats people like me. Like we’re lab rats.”

  “That’s exactly what you are.” Agent two says smugly. “A freak of nature that needs to be picked apart.”

  That comment strikes a nerve. I’ve seen the lab and had to go through mental hoops to get access to it. How the hell does he know about it? I thought the existence of Orion was a secret.

  Another lie? How many people on the outside know we exist? The breakouts emotion swings from fear back to anger and I watch in horror as he takes a step towards the agent. The gun comes out of the holster and the breakout uses his powers to wrench it from agent one’s hands. I hear the bullets flying and gasp through the feeling of the hot metal tearing through my stomach. When the room goes silent, agent one radios in for a cleaner.

  “Holli?” The teacher is looking at me expectantly. I blink back tears and give an appropriate response to his question.

  “That’s correct.” He gives me a strange look and I desperately wish class would end early.

  “Well, I think that’s enough for today. We’ll pick this back up tomorrow. Class dismissed.”

  I hurry to my dorm room to process what I’ve just seen. How many people have they done that to? When do they tell the recruits that these types of days are in our future? What kind of monster do you have to be, to be okay with killing people who want to lead normal lives?

  All the training, the pushing, the insistence that we leave our emotions behind. It’s all designed to desensitize us. To prepare us for that reality. The kill order was unnecessary. In all of my research, I have yet to come across a documented case of a murder committed by a breakout. There’s a theory from a researcher studying our species in 1954 that saysalludes to a genetic flaw that prevents us from being able to kill. Our brain locks up and we lose motor function accompanied by a debilitating headache. That’s why the elite tactical team is made up of humans. Orion needs people who can pull the trigger and strike a lethal blow.

  The smell of blood lingers with me long after I’ve showered trying to scrub the experience away. The phase three tests Mrs. Price is running with the operations team, they’re not simulations. I’ve been using my powers to track other breakouts and I’m responsible for whatever happens to them. This guy’s death is on my hands.

  I didn’t sign up for this. I pace the floor of my room trying to make sense of it all. Xander. I need to talk to Xander. There’s no way he knows this is going on.

  I search for him in the gym and cafeteria with no luck. Then I remember his favorite place and start towards the cliff formation when I see him entering the operations building. I follow after him and track his steps to the end of the hallway I thought I saw him turn down. It’s empty, but the curtain to the room on my right is open. I can’t make out anyone inside but there aren’t too many other places he could have gone. I reach out to touch the door handle just as he steps out of the bathroom at the other end of the hall.

  “Holli? What are you doing here?”

  “Uh. Um. I’m looking for you.” Now that I’ve found him, I feel the dam holding my emotions at bay break. I let the tears flow. It will be okay now. He’ll help me make sense of everything and help me fix it.

  “Hey. Come here. You’re shaking.” He wraps his arms around me pulling me to the wall of his chest. “Tell me what happened.”

  “I didn’t mean to. It was an accident, but I couldn’t help it.” I whisper into his chest.

  “Whatever it is. I’ll help. Holli, just tell me, what did you do?”

  I take a deep breath and tell him the truth. He’s the only person I can trust, and I’ve been carrying the weight of too many things by myself. I can’t shoulder this alone too. Today is the last straw. It’s finally gotten to be too much for me.

  “I was doing a training exercise with my advisor and the link didn’t break.”

  “Okay, sometimes it takes a while. That’s why you have an advisor to help you learn to turn it on and off like a switch. If you accidentally read someone’s mind when it was over it’s no big deal. Just don’t repeat anything you’ve heard, and you should be fine. Trust me, it’s not the fist time something like this has happened.”

  I wish it were that simple. “I went along on an operation. Has that ever happened?”

  I feel his body stiffen. “They took you in the field?”

  “No. The training scenario was to track a rogue breakout. I was supposed to disconnect when the retrieval team got on site, but I couldn’t.” The tears start again as I replay the entire thing in my head. His arms tighten around me and he rubs my back soothingly.

  “What did you see?”

  “It was awful. The breakout didn’t want to come in. He kept saying no and the agents, they weren’t taking no for an answer.” I feel a shiver pass through me.

  “I know sometimes the simulations can be intense. But it was all simulated, Holli. They’re designed to feel real, so that everyone knows what to expect out in the field. You have nothing to worry about. You just went too far into the simulation before you broke your link. Trust me, the agents are fine and our containment protocol works.”

  I take a step back. He thinks I’m worried about a simulation and the fate of the agents? How deep does the pretense go, if the training officers don’t know the truth?

  “Xander. It wasn’t a simulation. They used me for a real life op.” I read his face. Not his mind. Just the look on his face is enough to let me know the truth. Xander knew they were using me. “You knew about this?” I accuse putting a little more distance between us. “You knew I wasn’t just tracking characters in a made up training scenario?”

  “Holli. Sometimes when a Breaker’s ability is as strong as yours our simulations are ineffective. The breakers need a little more complex training and we assign them an advisor.”

  “Except how would you know? How would anyone know that I was a strong telepath when I couldn’t get it to work right before Mrs. Price was assigned to help me?”

  “There were signs and markers. Things that pointed to you being able to benefit from receiving extra help. It’s just likegetting a tutor for computer science or math.”

  I cross my arms and hiss, “My computer science and math tutor don’t have me hacking into computer systems to rob banks.”

  He raises his voice to match mine. “Neither does the op you took part in today.”

  “You’re right. Killing an innocent man is nothing like that.”

  He looks around and yanks me into the room, pushing a button on the wall. The curtains come down and the lights blink once. He’s put the room in secure mode so no electronic signals can come in or get out.

  “You need to be very careful the next words that come out of your mouth. What do you mean kill?”

  “I saw it Xander. All of it. The guns that weren’t tasers. The bullets that weren’t rubber. And the blood when he landed on the floor and bled all over his carpet. The breakout we were supposed to bring in peacefully is dead.”

  “Holli, what you saw was a rogue paranormal, and he was a threat to the team.”

  “He was a scared guy who just wanted to be left alone!”

  “It was a mistake Holli. Neither you nor Mrs. Price want to have to answer questions about this, so forget what you saw.”

  “How can I forget? Those agents are out there. I have to tell somebody what they did. It violates protocol.”

  He releases me and paces to the wall then back over to me again. “It’s not up to you to report this. When the after action brief comes in, operations will know everything that happened. It’s best if you stay out of it.” He’s still walking the room as if he’s the one trapped in a nightmare. “God Holli, I can’t believe your advisor didn’t realize you were still connected. She just let you watch the en
tire thing? She should have sent you out of the room or activated an S-chip.” He crosses back to me and grabs me by the shoulders. My eyes widen at the force of his grip. “Is there anything else to this story? Anything else you’ve left out?” He gives me a little shake and for the first time I see a hint of the cold I’m used to seeing in John and Alex’s eyes.

  You don’t belong here. John’s voice whispers in my head. Some things you don’t share. Luke’s voice warns.

  I still haven’t told anyone that I can use my powers when the S-chips are on, or that I can push people to do what I want. Maybe that’s why I feel so guilty, because I didn’t push the agents not to fire their weapons or for the breakout to agree to come along peacefully. But, I needed to see the truth. All of it. This conversation is part of that truth.

  “Nope. I haven’t left anything out.” The ice melts and he holds me again.

  “I’m so sorry you had to see that. It must have been awful. But you have to promise me that you won’t mention this to anyone. It would freak the other recruits out, and they’re not like you, Holli. We don’t want them assuming the worse about us, based on an isolated incident. It’s good you came to talk to me.” He sets me away from him. “Now I need you to promise, the next time something like this happens, you’ll push the button to active the S-chips yourself if you have to, and for god’s sake, no more conspiracy theories. We might be a secret arm of the government, but there is no crazy megalomaniac at the helm. Got it?”

  “Mm-hmm.” I accept the brush of his lips before leaving the building. A coldness settles over me and things start to slide into place. John’s leaning up against his favorite tree when I return to the dorms. “Turtle. You still here?” He taunts.

  I’ve learned so much in a short amount of time. Starting with the fact that Orion’s not the respectable organization cultivating us for greater service like they pretend to be. The paranormal kill squad is proof enough of that. I wish I could back to before. Before I knew about secret labs and next level telepaths. Before I found out what happens when you say no to Orion. I wish I could go back to being the girl who wanted nothing more than to be here. Back to the days when I was excited to learn everything they could teach me. Back to the safe ignorance that I knew. I wish I could be naïve enough to believe everything Xander said. I’ve been here for eight years that I can remember, and I could never imagine my life anywhere else. This place is supposed to be our home, our sanctuary, and the one place where we’re safe to be ourselves.