by Sarah Carter
“You do capture Mr. Grandin,” Mason answers.
“When?”
“Not sure. I can’t remember if she told me or not. She’s told me a lot of stuff to try and remember.”
“What did that file say about him?” Mr. Hardrick presses.
Mason looks at the twins and Xander. “Are we talking about this with them?”
“Wouldn’t you tell them anyway?” He counters.
Looking deep in thought, Mason finally says, “Probably.”
“So tell us,” Mr. Hardrick urges.
“He’s been working for The Collector for years. Way before he took over for the guard,” Mason states.
Mr. Hardrick throws up his hands. “How did we miss this? The higher guard are scrutinized. Every part of their life is analyzed. I can’t believe that we would miss something this big.”
Damien turns and looks at Mason. “You said there are microchips.”
“In their hips,” he replies, pointing at a certain spot.
“We put chips there. How will we know?”
“Lexi said it sends off a different signal,” Mason answers.
“This little girl,” Mr. Hardrick interjects.
Mason smiles at him. “You grow very attached to her. Very.”
He raises an eyebrow. “To a little girl I’ve never met. That’s hard to believe.”
“You meet her and then turn into a pile of mushiness. She says it’s like Claire. You love her like Claire.”
Looking unconvinced, Mr. Hardrick says, “Claire is the closest person I have in my life.”
“Lexi is something else entirely. Trust me. You’ll see. She has a way of capturing people’s hearts. Maybe it’s an ability.” There is a snort from Damien and Mason looks at him. “Damien, you’ll see.”
“I still don’t know if she really exists,” Damien states, with a roll of his eyes.
“She does. You’ll see that. Anyway, she’s the one who told me who Mr. Grandin was.”
“You said we go to the institute in a week and a half.”
While shaking his head, Mason replies, “I can’t talk about that until Claire is all better. She needs to be in on the plan. We need to come up with it.”
“We?” Damien snorts again.
“Mr. Hardrick, you, Claire and myself. Lexi said we come up with a plan.”
“I don’t know if you should be involved,” Damien murmurs, narrowing his eyes.
Rolling his eyes to the heavens, Mason counters with, “Oh, I forgot you know the layout of the institute. I forgot you know about the security. Why, in the world, would you need me?”
“Fine. You made your point.”
“Anyway,” Mason says. “It’s the four of us and your father on a conference call.”
“What about the council?” Damien asks.
“The Collector wants to over throw the council. It’s up to you if you want to tell them. It may just make them worry or paranoid.”
Damien looks at Mr. Hardrick. “We need to get them added security.” Mr. Hardrick nods.
Mason starts jumping around. “Can we please hurry up? I have to pee so badly. I’d rather not wet myself in front of everyone.”
“We’re here,” Damien says, gesturing into a room. There is a bed, a small shower and a toilet. That’s it.
He jumps into the room. Turning around, Mason says, “Okay. I need a minute to myself.”
“Someone has to stand guard,” Damien states.
“As long as it’s a guy, I don’t care. Or Ariel. Ariel can do it, too,” Mason says mischievously. Xander sees Ariel’s turn bright red and she glares at Mason. He grins.
Looking at the same guard member that put the cuffs on, Damien instructs, “Deactivate his cuffs. Turn the force field on. We’ll give you five minutes.”
“Whatever,” Mason groans, as the cuffs are removed. “Just get out.”
A blue force field appears in the doorway and the door slides shut. Everyone turns and faces each other. “He’s really not a bad guy,” Xander says, breaking the silence.
“We’ll see,” Damien murmurs.
Mr. Hardrick looks at Xander. “So, you can move objects?”
“Yes,” Xander replies. Ariel is suddenly in the air.
“Damn it Xander!” She yells. “Put me down.” So, he does.
Shaking his head, Mr. Hardrick says, “That’s astounding. What’s the largest thing you’ve picked up?”
“Multiple cars,” Xander answers.
“We could use you in the guard.”
“I don’t know how to fight,” Mason replies.
A glint shows in Mr. Hardrick’s eyes. “I can teach you.”
“Being the guard isn’t something I would want to do.”
“Your ability would be incredible on missions.”
Xander perks up. “I would like to learn how to fight in general though.”
“That I can teach you. Claire can even teach you.”
Ariel sighs. “I want to go to college.”
Damien replies, “We have to see what kind of education you received but I promise, you will get into a college.”
“I want to be a scientist. For the Neturu.”
“You can be anything you want. I can’t offer you a job but I can get you the education to get you there,” Damien states.
“Has it been five minutes yet?” Mr. Hardrick asks.
Raising an eyebrow, Xander replies, “I don’t think so. Give the guy a break. He is still a person.”
“He’s a prisoner.”
“He’s someone who’s putting himself on the line to help others. He’s giving you all the information he can.”
“Mason gives us the information that he chooses,” Damien says.
Looking at him, Xander sighs. “He doesn’t want to cause a time shift.” Damien rolls his eyes backwards which makes Xander glare. “You’re the only one who doesn’t believe.”
“I may also be the only one with their sanity,” he replies.
Xander gets a little mad. “How can you deny what happened with Claire? How do you think I knew what to do?”
“I don’t know.”
“Ugh. Whatever. Be the only one who doesn’t believe. When you finally meet her you’ll feel stupid.”
Damien closes his eyes and sighs. “We will see. Even if there is a little girl, I don’t know if she can see the future.”
“Because she had a few lucky guesses about who everyone is and what was going to happen. Yeah that makes even more sense.”
“I can only be proven wrong so we’ll see,” Damien murmurs, staring at him.
Mr. Hardrick looks at him. “You were so easy to believe that Claire was a succubus. Why doubt what is going on now?”
“She says we are her parents. Calls Claire Mommy. I do not have any children. Neither does Claire. Claire so easily believes this little girl is her daughter. It’s not healthy.”
“Lexi becomes your daughter,” Xander explains.
Giving a dead stare, Damien replies, “You only say that because this Mason guy is telling you it’s true. Well, I don’t know Mason, so I don’t have to believe him. No one should. Now my girlfriend is in this unhealthy disillusion that a little girl is talking to her in her head. It’s actually pissing me off.”
“She talked to me,” Xander snaps. “She told me how to save Claire. We saved Claire. How can you explain that?”
“You having her create energy makes sense. We may have thought of it.”
“No one was going to think of it! She was minutes away from dying. Lexi talked to me. She told me what to do. She saved Claire. I’ve heard her talk to me.”
Damien doesn’t flinch but says, “His five minutes are up.” He turns and opens the door.
Mason is leaning against the force field with a giant smile. “Having a nice conversation about me?”
“What?” Damien replies.
“Little Bit told me you spend a lot of time doubting me. I wondered if you started.”
“Little Bit?” Mr. Hardrick says.
“That’s what I call Lexi. As much as you call Claire Baby Girl.”
He jolts back. “What? How would you know that?”
“Little Bit told me,” Mason declares.
“Someone else told you,” Damien growls.
“Who would have told him?” Mr. Hardrick asks.
Pressing his lips together, Damien finally blurts out, “I don’t know! This whole thing is ridiculous. Let’s move on.”
A smirk twitches on Mason’s face. “Let’s move on to the information I didn’t get from Little Bit.”
“Whatever,” Damien snaps. “What can you tell me?”
“The Collector is a girl. She’s very old but looks like she’s in her twenties.”
“Neturu?” Mr. Hardrick asks.
“I believe so,” Mason replies. “She has no characteristics that would say otherwise.”
Damien turns to Mr. Hardrick. “She would really have to be Neturu to have come here.”
Mr. Hardrick nods. “Yes.”
“But then how are we part Kenga?” Xander asks.
“Yeah,” Mr. Hardrick draws out. He turns his attention to Mason. “How old is she? She would have to be original to Juib.”
“That seems to be a stretch,” Damien says.
Mason rolls his eyes and sarcastically replies, “A family of geniuses? Yeah, okay.”
A disgusted look sweeps across Damien’s face. “An immortal Neturu? That makes more sense?”
“Little Bit says she dies. She didn’t tell me how though. She has said numerous times that she dies. So, obviously she’s not immortal.”
“I wonder how we kill her,” Mr. Hardrick says, stroking his chin.
“Beheading?” Mason replies. “It sounds like a permanent solution.”
Xander finally pipes in with, “Claire says she has that sword.”
Damien puts his head in his hand. “Ugh. Top secret Claire. She’s not very good at this.”
“If she takes it to the institute I will see it,” Xander replies.
“That’s true,” Damien says.
Shaking his head, Mason snorts, “Anyway, we go to the institute next week Friday.”
“What else can you tell us?” Mr. Hardrick asks.
“That conversation has to happen when Claire can join us. She needs to hear what I have to say.”
“Tomorrow then,” Damien states.
“No, she sleeps the entire day tomorrow. Let her rest. The next night we have our meeting. It all falls into place.”
There is heavy silence and then Mr. Hardrick groans. “I have no idea how we overlooked Mr. Grandin.”
“If you didn’t doubt him, you didn’t think there was much to look for,” Mason replies.
“That’s true, but he was working for this collector before he took leadership of the guard?”
Mason nods. “Yeah, from what I read in the file.”
Mr. Hardrick rubs his face. “Ugh, I had a major hand in the decision. I can’t believe I did this.”
“You come out of retirement to lead the guard again. At least for a while.”
“That’s what you were told?”
“Yes,” Mason replies.
Obviously thinking for a second, Mr. Hardrick says, “I guess that would make the most sense. My wife is going to be so mad, but it’s needed.”
“You can’t tell her why,” Damien declares.
“Oh, that’s even better,” Mr. Hardrick groans.
“We will make it worth your while. You can tour the world with her. On our dime.”
A smirk twitches on Mr. Hardrick’s face. “She would like that.”
“Tell her to give you a little time to help us with something important. You may tell her it’s the most sensitive assignment you’ve had yet.”
He nods. “This is needed.”
“So, what can you tell us? Besides what we are going to do.”
“Lexi has bright purple hair and green eyes, so she must be Kenga.”
Aurora says, “But she can only be part because she would have purple skin if she was fully Kenga.”
Mason tilts his head. “That’s a good point. I’ve never seen her shift though.”
“She’s two,” Damien replies with attitude. “No one shifts at two.”
“Little Bit has all her other abilities at two,” Mason counters.
“That’s true,” Xander says. “No one showed abilities that young.”
Damien rolls his eyes again. “If she were real. What else would you tell us?”
“She wants to show you her other abilities over time. There could be a time shift if you know too soon. She can control the elements.”
“What does that mean?” Mr. Hardrick asks.
“She can turn metal into air. She can turn water into stone,” Mason explains.
Mr. Hardrick’s eyebrows rise. “That’s incredible.”
“So can Jennifer,” Xander interjects. “Or that’s what Trinity told me.”
“This Trinity can project herself into your head?”
Xander nods. “Yes, once she has contact with you in Shima she can see and talk to you. I can feel her. It’s exactly like being in Shima, but out here. She can also see, otherwise she is blind.”
“Blind?” Mr. Hardrick counters. “No Neturu is blind. We take care of that.”
“She brought that up,” Xander replies. “Along with helping Tray.”
“Who?”
Ariel takes a deep breath. “He and one of the girls got caught making out with each other. They were beaten so badly that he is in a wheelchair. The Collector told us that she could heal his back but she wouldn’t, to show us all what would happen if we did anything like that again.”
“Oh…my god,” Mr. Hardrick exhales. “Beaten?”
“We were beaten almost every week. Every time we didn’t do something to standard. Every time we messed up. We were hit,” Xander says. He reaches down and takes his shirt off. “This is what happens. I had it the worst out of everyone. The Collector wanted me to be able to use my abilities exactly how…she…wanted me to. It was drills every week.”
“How are you not more unstable? With that much abuse,” Mr. Hardrick replies in disbelief.
Xander shakes his head again and shrugs his shoulders. “I don’t know. We were there for each other. No one ever fought. We were too scared to. The love we knew was from each other. The girls and I have had months to adapt. It wasn’t easy. Rescuing the others will be a shock and very scary for them, especially the little ones.”
Damien jumps in with emphasis. “We plan to have our best people on hand to help them. We will also fix your friend’s back if we can, and Trinity’s eyes.”
“Those aren’t simple things,” Xander notes.
“You’d be surprised what we can do,” Damien declares proudly.
With a straight face, Xander says, “Not really. The Collector engineered us.”
Mason interjects, “She created Lexi. Can you do that?”
“We don’t know. We’ve never tried,” Damien replies. “Engineering people isn’t something we have ever wanted to do. We also don’t have Kenga strands or even knew that abilities existed.”
“What do you think the abilities are? Neturu or Kenga?” Ariel asks.
He shrugs his shoulders. “I don’t know. Xander is obviously Kenga.”
“We are obviously Neturu,” Ariel states.
“Trinity is probably Neturu, since she has to go to Shima,” Xander declares.
“Lexi has to be part Kenga because of her features,” Mason notes.
Damien looks at him and narrows his eyes. “We’ll figure out Lexi if we rescue her.”
A very angry sweeps across Mason’s face. “What do you mean if?”
“If she exists, we will rescue her.”
“The mission has to go a certain way.”
Crossing his arms, Damien counters, “Well, you won’t tell us anything.”
“Once Claire is awake
.”
“What else will you tell us?” Mr. Hardrick asks.
Mason steps closer to them. “Want to hear something weird?”
“Sure,” Damien replies.
Leaning really close, Mason whispers, “My favorite color is brown. Who likes brown? Oh yeah. That would be me.” He sticks his thumb to his chest.
“What does that matter?” Damien yells, throwing his hands up.
“You asked what else I could tell you. That wasn’t something you knew. I also love Brussel sprouts. That’s as weird as the brown thing.”
Damien clenches his fists and closes his eyes. Mason grins. “What can you tell us about The Collector?” Damien growls.
“Later twenties. Sandy blonde hair. Hazel eyes.”
“Like you,” Ariel exhales.
“Yup,” he replies. “She says she’s not related to me. I have a hard time believing that.”
“What if she’s your mom?”
He tilts his head and slightly shrugs his shoulders. “I’m rather smart like her. It could be true.”
“How would that make you feel?”
“Oh, I’d still want her dead. I just don’t know if I would be the one who does it. Of course, I’m not the one who does it. That’d be Claire.”
“Can we do some tests on you?” Damien asks.
Mason looks at him thoughtfully. “Like what?”
“We would need to put electrodes on you and get a sample of your blood. We need live cells.”
“The Collector tried that a million times. She even tried to shoot me with that sleep serum. My body burns through it really fast, even when I was a kid.”
Damien crosses his arms and says, “So, she never got any readings?”
“No, not once my powers manifested. I was a hell child, with a capital H.”
Ariel laughs. “You kind of were.”
“Kind of,” Mason scoffs. “I rocked it like it was an Olympic event.”
“Anyway,” Damien sighs. “May we test you?”
“Only in trade for some food. I haven’t had a good meal in a while.”
Mr. Hardrick says, “Absolutely. What would you like?”
“Fish and Brussel sprouts.”
Making a face, Ariel gags. “That’s disgusting Mason.”
“No, lemon-pepper fish. Brussel sprouts with butter. Yum.”
“I think it’s the combination of two.” She gags again.
“Whatever. Y-U-M.”