by Lucy Adler
“Like this,” he said.
She felt his hand on the top of her head and then... nothing. Mrs. Saxon fell to the floor in front of the couch, lying parallel with her daughter just above her.
Dr. Reston grabbed her by the forearms, dragging and rolling her body until she was basically stuffed in the corner of the room, out of his way. Then he lifted Brix up, rotating her body so she was now in a seated position on the couch.
Then he closed his eyes and touched the side of her face.
Within a few seconds, she began trembling until her eyes eventually opened and her body settled once again.
“Brianna?” Dr. Reston said with a smile, still touching the side of her face.
“Ye- yes, doctor?”
“How do you feel?”
“Well, doctor.”
Her voice shook for a moment, then quickly levelled off.
“Good. Excellent,” Dr. Reston said, standing up and taking a few steps away from her. “You know, you’re my first experiment with all of this. It was supposed to be your friend but... all in good time, I suppose.”
Brix was silent and motionless, staring straight ahead at the doctor, but only because he was in her line of sight. Her eyes weren’t actually focused on any one thing in particular. They were, however, glowing with a faint blue light.
“Thank you, doctor,” she replied coldly and evenly.
As he was admiring his handiwork, he heard a notification sound. Most citizens of the Advanced Cities, and most people in the world for that matter, relied almost entirely on their tablets, whether for work, school, or the extremely rare down time they had in a given day. Some also carried pocket-sized tablets, like the smartphones of the Former Days. But, in general, even though they weren’t prohibited, they were deemed largely ‘superfluous’ under the Guidelines and therefore reserved for people in positions of significant responsibility, who couldn’t risk forgetting or misplacing their primary tablet.
He fished it out of the inside pocket of his jacket. The screen lit up and a message appeared. It was from Angela.
Charles, where are you? We’re all waiting outside the Grayson home.
He quickly typed a reply.
I’m at the Saxon home. Come to me alone. Tell the others to find somewhere to park for a while and wait for my call.
He dropped it into his pocket, not waiting for her reply.
A few minutes later, a vehicle pulled up outside for a moment, then sped away again. The doctor met Miss Croft at the door.
“What’s going on?” she asked, “I thought the Saxon girl didn’t know anything?”
“She didn’t. She does now, though.”
Angela sighed. “Charles, please, just say what you mean.”
“Would you like to see the results of all that laboratory work you observed at the Institute?”
She raised an eyebrow but didn’t answer. Then she followed him into the living room where Brix was still seated on the couch, a blank stare on her face.
“Oh,” Angela said with a note of surprise, “Brianna, I didn’t realise you were here!”
There was no response.
“Are you --”
“She’s fine,” Dr. Reston said. “More than fine, actually.”
Angela stepped closer, then bent over a little, looking into her face.
“Her eyes... what is that?” Then her voice suddenly sounded anxious and she spun around, making eye-contact with the doctor. “Is the Saxon girl one of them?”
“No, no, don’t be ridiculous, Angela!” he laughed.
“But, I thought only their eyes glowed like that.”
“You mean sleepers, Angela?”
She squinted and gave him a scowl. “Yes, Charles. Sleepers.”
“Why is it hard for you to say that word? It’s not like we both don’t know what you really are.”
He gave her a quintessentially devious grin as he stared down at her. Angela was only about five-six, while the doctor was closer to six feet, and feeling even taller in that moment.
She ignored him as best as she could, brushing off his words and turning the conversation onto Brix again.
“So then, if she’s not a sleeper, what’s going on? Talk to me, doctor. I’m not one of your nameless grunts.”
“No, of course not. You just like to kiss them.” Dr. Reston walked over and placed his hand on Brix’s shoulder. “What you’re seeing here is the future. The real future. Not your silly Guidelines or the great and wonderful Purpose of the Advanced Cities. This, Miss Croft, is the next step for Humanity.”
Angela’s heart was beating heavier but she composed herself as calmly as she could. She sat down in one of the armchairs and crossed her legs.
“Go on,” she said. “I presume you’re talking about Direx?”
Dr. Reston laughed. “Direx is for the people. What I’m talking about is for the strong. For those of us who will lead the people. Who must lead the people.”
“What is it, then? What did you give her?”
“It’s not what I gave her.”
As Angela stared into his eyes, they began to change. Once again, reds and blues passed by in waves, sometimes illuminating them, sometimes obscuring them. He raised his right hand and looked at it with a smile. His fingers grew translucent at first, then they became like shadows. The rest of his hand followed suit, down to his wrist and forearm. They all retained their recognisable forms yet the darkness that engulfed them felt infinite, like a moonless night sky. But just like the darkest sky, they were sprinkled with flecks of light. Only instead of gold and silver, they pulsated with an eerie red glow.
Angela sat up straighter. Her heart wasn’t just beating heavily, it felt like it was about to leave her chest completely. But the desire to prove who she really was overcame her fear.
She uncrossed her legs, leaned forward, and smiled.
“It’s beautiful.”
Then the doctor moved his hand towards Brix and placed it on the back of her neck. He closed his eyes again, tilting his head back and appearing to focus his mind intently on something. As he did, the room grew dark. It was as if curtains had been drawn even though the windows were still exposed. The natural light seemed unable to penetrate the space around them.
As the darkness settled, Angela could feel it. It wasn’t just the absence of light. It was the presence of something else entirely.
Dr. Reston’s eyes were still closed but Brix’s remained open, only the colour had now drained from them, leaving behind a pale grey glow. Angela was fairly certain she hadn’t seen the girl blink once the entire time she had been there.
The darkness now felt like it was slowly moving around the room, drawing them deeper into its embrace. Angela couldn’t see much, except Brix’s eyes and the flecks of red glowing all around where she knew the doctor was sitting. Yet, at the same time, she could still make out the windows in the walls of the house, as though they were at some great distance, their light faint and confined to their frames.
It lasted a minute at most, and probably much less, but eventually Angela saw the doctor’s eyes open and his hand pull back from Brix. The darkness lifted quicker than she expected, and natural light came streaming into the room once again.
The doctor looked entirely normal now. He stood up and allowed the girl’s body to fall to the couch. Her eyes were closed and she seemed to be sleeping. Then he lifted her legs up and set them on the couch as well, adjusting her so that she looked quite comfortable.
Angela cleared her throat.
“Well... that was something,” she said.
“Indeed.”
“Are you going to explain it to me?”
“Soon. But for now, we wait.”
_______________________
Dr. Reston tried to be as quiet as possible as he knelt down and vomited into the toilet. His hand shook and his whole body felt like it was about to break out into a sweat. He had loosened his tie but now he tugged and pulled at it until it came free and he toss
ed it on the floor behind him.
Another wave of nausea welled up and he vomited again. Then he leaned back and repositioned himself against the wall, sitting on the bathroom floor and breathing heavily. His hands were still shaking but not as much now, and his body was beginning to cool down. He tried to focus and do some calculations in his mind.
A little over twenty-four hours since the first series of injections.
One simple burst of energy to subdue the mother.
One brief but complex effort to send a vision through the Dark.
And of course, a steady, low-level expenditure to maintain an open connection with the Saxon girl. A connection he still wasn’t sure how to manage. Or what exactly its full potential might be.
The doctor took a deep breath, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a case that looked like it might hold a very expensive pen. He popped it open and removed the small syringe and vial of purple liquid beside it.
But just as he was about to fill the one with the other, he paused, thinking for a second. He raised his right hand and turned it slowly. His fingers started their transformation again but he stopped short before they turned to shadows. Then he returned the syringe and vial to the case and stood up.
He looked at himself in the mirror, straightening his shirt as he buttoned it back up to the top. Then he picked up his tie and put it on again. He adjusted his jacket, then his hair, and eventually went back out to the living room and rejoined Miss Croft.
He wasn’t sure how long it would take but he was sure it would happen.
He was sure they would come.
_______________________
“What about the girl’s father? He might be home any minute.”
“He’s out of town on business.”
“How do you know?”
Dr. Reston pointed to a tablet on the dining table. “Because Mr. Saxon likes to send mushy texts to his wife. He can’t wait to see her again, next week.”
Angela paced around the living and dining rooms, even passing through the kitchen a few times, completing a little circuit around the ground floor of the house. It had been three hours since the doctor had told her they needed to wait, and she was getting impatient.
“Can you please tell me why we’re just lingering around this house instead of looking for Daria?”
“Because Daria is going to come to us, Miss Croft.”
“How?”
“One way or another, the sleepers will get my message.”
“Message?” she asked in frustration. “I’m getting a little tired of the cryptic stuff, Charles.”
“Tired?” he repeated, shooting her a mockingly inquisitive look. “Perhaps you’d like a nap? Or a solid eight hours?”
“Speaking of that,” she replied, doing her best to blow him off, “I don’t have my Sendrax. I didn’t expect to be out all evening.”
“I’m sure there’s plenty around here, just check the bathrooms and bedrooms.”
Just then, there was a knock at the door.
They looked at each other and the doctor nodded for her to answer it.
Angela gave him a wide-eyed look, as if to say ‘Are you kidding?’. But she complied and approached the door slowly, listening to see if she could hear voices. It was quiet so she guessed it was one person. And she was right.
“Hello, can I help you?”
“Oh, hello,” the man replied with a smile. “I was looking for Claire or Peter Saxon. Are they around?”
Angela could hear the doctor walking up to the door behind her, keeping just out of sight of the visitor. She didn’t know what he might do, so she tried to keep things as normal as possible, for as long as possible.
“Oh, I’m sorry!” she smiled back, “They’re out of town for a week or so. I’m Claire’s cousin, Rita. I’m just staying here until they’re back.”
“Ah, ok,” the man said. He seemed to buy it and was actually starting to turn away, then he paused and turned back. “So, is Brianna with them? I’m one of her teachers. I don’t recall her mentioning anyth...”
As he spoke, Angela heard the doctor whisper something from behind the door.
“Invite him inside.”
“Would you mind stepping inside for a second?” Angela asked warmly. “I was actually just in the middle of cooking something when you rang, and I’m afraid it might boil over! Please?”
“Of course.”
The stranger stepped inside the entryway and the door slammed shut behind him. Dr. Reston lunged at the man with something in his hand. It looked like a long magic wand, white with a black band around the middle. As it made contact, it sent a shock through his body and he fell to the floor in a matter of seconds.
The doctor stood over him, pressing a button on the side of the wand and then collapsing it like a telescope until it was the length of a pencil.
“One should never leave home without one’s taser,” he said to Angela.
“Who is this?” she asked.
“One of them. He must have been closest.”
“He’s a sleeper?”
“Yes.”
Angela stared at the man lying in a heap at her feet while the doctor pulled out his tablet and sent a message to Eric, telling him to return to the house.
“Now what?” she asked.
“Your boyfriend will stay here, for when the others show up. You and I will bring these two and the girl’s mother back to the lab. Now, help me find their Sendrax bottles,” he added as he walked away down the hall.
“I know, I know. I wasn’t planning on skipping.”
“Not for you,” the doctor replied. “We need to make sure this fellow gets a few extra doses.”
21
Month: 4 | Day: 4-5 | Year: 60
THE PLAN
It had been a long day, from hiking down the hill to making the long drive to Progress, not to mention the steady flow of energy expended just worrying about the unknown ahead of them. So no one in the group had trouble falling asleep at the Saxon home. They spread out through the four bedrooms, with each of the guys taking one and Julia and Daria sharing the fourth.
When it was time to get moving again, Jake knocked on their door. It took a minute for his muffled voice to register in their tired ears.
“Hey, time to get up. We should get on the road again.”
Daria blinked a few times and, for a moment, forgot where she was. She looked around the room and then saw an image appear in the digital frame hanging on the wall to her left. It was one of Brix’s old school pictures.
Oh, right. Her parents’ bedroom. This is kinda weird.
“You guys up?” Jake called again from behind the door.
“Yeah, we’re up,” Daria called back drowsily.
“Be ready in ten or fifteen minutes if you can.”
“Ok.”
She yawned and stretched, then she noticed that Julia was already up and in the bathroom. She yawned again and then sat up on the edge of the bed.
Wait a minute. I didn’t dream. At all.
She wasn’t sure if she should be happy, since it meant there was no suffocating darkness, no shouting herself awake, no anxious pain in her chest from another vision... or if it meant something was wrong.
Am I supposed to dream every night? Did I, like, sleep wrong, or something?
She decided not to worry about it. She needed every tired brain cell just to get ready to leave.
When she came downstairs, Daria noticed that the pile of bodies had been moved, and that Aury was still sleeping soundly on the couch, just as they had left her.
“Is she ok?”
“Oh yeah, don’t worry,” Max said. “I’ll wake her on the way, if she doesn’t get up on her own before that.” He was sitting in a chair that he had pushed up against the end of the couch, just above her head. Daria thought he looked like a bodyguard watching over a princess from one of those old stories. What were they called again? Fairy tales?
“And where are her victims?” Dari
a laughed.
“We tied them up in the garage, so they don’t cause trouble if they wake up. We’ll call the police and tell them they’re here once we’re done with our little rescue operation.”
As much as Daria wanted to revel in seeing Jake Two unconscious and tied up like an animal, she tried to put the thought out of her mind and focus on satisfying her hunger.
The group had raided the Saxons’ kitchen, figuring it was best not to use their own supplies if they didn’t have to. Max had wanted to cook up some of the food he found in the refrigerator and make them a proper meal but they didn’t have time.
“Oh yeah, I was wondering, where did you guys get all that great food up at the cabin?” Daria asked him as she opened a couple of protein bars and a bag of vitamin-enriched crackers.
“There are some amazing traditional farms out beyond the Gates,” he replied. “Growers that aren’t regulated by the Agriculture Commission of the Advanced Cities. I’m sure you’ll see them for yourself soon enough. We always try to pack in whatever we can when we’re heading to the cabin. A lot tastier than this crap,” he said, pinching his nose for a second as he ate some leftover noodles he’d found in the fridge.
“I want to ask about these ‘Gates’ I keep hearing about but I know you’ll all just tell me to be patient,” she said with a fake pouty face.
“Soon enough,” Max repeated, giving her a wink. “There’s a whole world out there that’s not Progress!”
As they all sat around the living room, eating their breakfast, Corey laid out their next steps.
“So, it’s one o’clock in the morning now,” he said, checking his watch. “It’ll take two hours to drive to the Institute, since it’s on the opposite side of the city. So, say we arrive a little past three. The in-house staff sleep in three different shifts, the last of which runs from 3:45 to 4:30. I say we make our move then, since at least a third of the guards will be out of action.”
“Sounds good,” Julia replied while the rest of them nodded in agreement.