by Sophie Davis
I jogged the length of the dimly lit hallway, not stopping until I reached a neon exit sign over a heavily padlocked door. I pounded the door in frustration. When my physical display of emotion did nothing but make my hand hurt, I slumped against the cold cinder block wall and slid to the ground, defeated. I put my head between my knees and practiced breathing evenly.
Footsteps echoed in the narrow space. For the first time I could remember, I wished that I was a Light Manipulator. Right then, I would’ve given anything to turn invisible.
“Tal?” Erik said, tentatively touching the dark curls spilling over my shoulders and covering the sides of my face.
“Please go away,” I whispered. My voice came out muffled as I spoke into the fabric of my pants. I couldn’t look at him. If I did, I might burst into tears or start screaming – neither alternative sounded appealing.
“Tal, tell me what’s wrong,” Erik insisted. “I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s wrong.”
“I just need a couple of minutes. I’ll be fine,” I tried to assure him.
“You aren’t fine. You were ready to rip Cadence’s head off back there and I don’t really understand why. I don’t like her like that, at all......I don’t even think she’s cute,” Erik pressed. His tone was surprisingly gentle despite the fact that I could feel his exasperation.
“It’s not that. I’m not jealous,” I declared emphatically. I wasn’t jealous, or at least that’s what I kept telling myself.
“Okay......Then what is it?” Erik asked slowly, not quite believing me.
I hesitated. Why was I so upset? Why couldn’t I control myself? Okay, so maybe I was a little jealous of Cadence, but I knew that Erik was mine. He loved me. He wanted to be with me. And I knew Cadence’s only interest in Erik was the help he could offer her in training for her Hunters’ tryout.
“Whatever it is, Tal, we’ll fix it. I’ll fix it,” Erik promised. He gently placed his hands on the sides of my head, forcing me to meet his gaze. The love and concern on his face made me want to cry. He pressed his forehead to mine and I closed my eyes to better concentrate on the strength of his feelings, letting them envelope me.
“I don’t know what’s wrong,” I began. “I think it’s just everything that has happened…the stuff with Penny…your letter…last night down in that train station. And then today, did you see all the security? Is it really necessary? I’m so confused and......I don’t know what is going on or what to believe and then, to top it off, I can’t seem to control myself. My mood swings have been out of control, and I know sometimes I’m overacting, but I can’t stop myself.” As I rambled, Erik wrapped his arms around me and stroked my back. Now that I’d started talking, I couldn’t seem to stop. Fears and emotions were tumbling out of me faster than water from a gushing hose. The release of so much bottled up feelings felt good, great even.
“You’ve been through a lot lately, Tal. And I’m sure what you saw on your way here this morning was disturbing. Hell, it bothered me. I’ve never been through testing either. This is the first time I’ve experienced the protests. Cadence said this year is particularly bad. We’re gonna get through this. You just need to trust me. Don’t shut me out, okay?”
“Okay,” I whispered against his cheek. I felt my anger fading away, leaving embarrassment in its place. “I’m so sorry, Erik.”
Erik gently kissed my forehead, his lips lingering for several long seconds. My tension eased and the rage quieted completely.
“Let’s go before Cadence sends a search party.” Erik stood and extended his hand to me. I gratefully allowed him to pull me to my feet.
“I’m sorry,” I repeated.
“Me, too, Tal. Me, too.”
I didn’t know what Erik was apologizing for. I didn’t care. I just wanted to get the day over with. Tomorrow would be better, I told myself. It couldn’t be any worse, right?
Chapter Eight
A woman in her forties stood outside a windowless door bearing a printed sign that read, “Exam Room Twelve.” She wore an over starched white lab coat and large glasses that kept slipping down her pointy noise. Warm brown eyes shone with relief when she glanced up from her clipboard and caught sight of me and Erik.
“Natalia Lyons and Erikson Kelley?” she asked, double checking her clipboard to make sure she had our names right.
“Yes,” we replied in unison.
“Alexia Cruise.” She pointed to the nametag fastened over her left breast. “I am the medical assigned to your panel. Ms. Choi is already set up inside, so we’ll begin as soon as you two are situated. We will have a short lunch break at noon,” she continued.
“Sounds good,” Erik said. He reached around the older woman and grasped the doorknob.
“I will get the first subject.” With that, Alexia Cruise turned and left. I followed Erik through the door to the examination room.
Several machines with brightly lit monitors occupied one wall. A large one-way glass partition separated the main area from a smaller interior space. The smaller room contained a plastic table and three plastic chairs. My body shuddered involuntarily. The room reminded me, uncomfortably, of the interrogation rooms the Agency used to question suspects.
Cadence stood with her back to us, typing furiously on a keypad. “Are you guys ready now?” she asked, continuing to type with a speed that rivaled any Crypto I’d ever observed. Her tone was pure irritation and, ordinarily, I would have made a snappy quip in response. Not today, though. Not after the charged morning I’d had.
“Yes,” I answered softly.
“Where do you want us?” Erik asked.
Cadence turned and pointed to the interior room. “Take this, Talia.” She handed me a small electronic tablet. “All of the subjects’ files are loaded on there. There is also a list of questions for you to ask each one. I have the same files and will record their answers from out here, so you don’t need to worry about that.” Then she turned and spoke to Erik. “You understand your job?”
“Determine whether the kid has a Talent and mimic it.” Erik sounded like a bored student quoting lines from a textbook.
“Exactly. See if you can get a feel for how strong each subject’s abilities are. A ranking of strong or weak is sufficient. If you can’t, though, don’t worry. The most important thing is that we accurately identify all the subjects with Talents.”
“You got it.” Erik gave her a thumbs-up.
Cadenced turned her attention back to me.
“I know what I’m supposed to do,” I snapped. I just wanted to get this over with. My patience was short and my temper quick.
“I’ll let Ms. Cruise know were ready, then,” Cadence said stiffly.
Erik rested his palm on the small of my back and steered me through the door adjoining the two rooms. We took our seats on the side of the table closest the mirror. My hands shook slightly as I used the arrows on the touchscreen tablet to scroll through the children’s files. There were ten in all. I tapped on the first file folder labeled, “Bartholomew Barnes.” A gap-toothed boy smiled up at me from the screen.
“He’s so young,” I muttered.
Erik didn’t say anything. He just reached for my hand and squeezed.
A sickening feeling slithered down the length of my spine as I looked around the cold impersonal room. The sterile walls and too bright neon bulbs made my skin crawl. If I was this uncomfortable, I couldn’t imagine what it was like for a five-year old.
“Ready?” Erik asked.
“As I’ll ever be,” I mumbled.
Erik squeezed my hand once more. His anxiety matched my own and I wondered if it were a reaction to my trepidation or if the entire situation actually unnerved him. This was as foreign to him as it was to me.
Several long moments later, Cadence, Alexia Cruise, and the same boy whose picture I’d just been staring at entered the room. Ms. Cruise set two bottles of water on the table while Cadence guided the small, sandy-haired child to the empty chair. The boy’s eyes we
re as large as the plates we’d eaten our breakfast on as he glanced between me and Erik. He wore a button-down blue shirt and neatly pressed khaki pants. The brown leather shoes encasing his small feet were shiny and new, as though this was the first time he’d had cause to wear them.
Once the child was seated, Ms. Cruise rolled up the sleeve of his pale blue shirt and withdrew a vial of his blood. Next, she injected a syringe full of clear liquid into the crook of his elbow. As soon as the entire contents had dispensed into his body, Ms. Cruise quickly placed a small, white square of gauze over the injection site. My fingers flew to the inside of my own arm, recalling the feel of the needle piercing my own skin when I received my medication. Respect for the boy’s bravery filled my heart. Finally, Alexia Cruise attached three wireless electrodes to the child - one over his temple, one over his heart, and one on the inside of his wrist.
When she finished, Ms. Cruise gave me and Erik a nearly imperceptible nod before retreating to the other side of the glass. Cadence followed without comment. Out of the corner of my eye, I glanced at Erik and he gave me an encouraging smile.
I scrolled through Bartholomew’s file until I found the questions that I was supposed to ask. The first five were marked “Control.” Each question was one that we already knew the answer to and only asked to establish a baseline for the child’s heart rate and brain waves. The next set of questions was marked “Talents” and was actually a list of known Talents and signs to look for that would indicate the child possessed said Talent.
Easy, I told myself. You can do this.
“Hi,” I began, offering the boy a tentative smile in the hope of putting him at ease. “My name is Talia and this is Erik.” I inclined my head in Erik’s direction and he waved at Bartholomew Barnes. “We’re going to ask you a couple questions if it’s okay?”
The small boy nodded, the tension in his small shoulders relaxing slightly.
“Good,” I continued. “Can you tell me your name?”
“Bartholomew Barnes,” he answered in a clear voice. “But my parents call me Bart.”
“Do you want me to call you Bart?” I asked.
“If you want.” He shrugged and looked down to where his hands were clasped in his lap.
“Okay, Bart. How old are you?” I asked.
“Five and one month,” he said proudly, raising his head to meet my eyes. “My birthday was on May fifth.”
“Happy belated birthday.” I smiled. The little boy rewarded me with a beaming, gap-toothed grin. “Did you get anything good for your birthday?” The question was certainly not on my list and I practically felt Cadence staring daggers through the glass partition. I didn’t care, though. The child was becoming more relaxed by the second and I saw no reason to not at least try to make the testing as painless as possible.
“My mommy and daddy gave me a puppy. His name is Rover,” Bart told me.
“Rover is a good name,” I replied, getting a little choked up for some reason. I never had a pet. My parents traveled so much on account of my father’s job that it would have been impossible. I didn’t know why the thought just occurred to me or why it made me so sad, but it did. Quickly, I glanced back down at the list of questions.
I cleared my throat. “Where do you live, Bart?” I asked.
“Richmond, Virginia,” Bart replied.
“Do you know why you’re here?”
“Yup, to see if I’m special.” He was so matter-of-fact, as though saying, “Water is wet.” I had to suppress a giggle.
“Yes, to see if you’re special,” I confirmed. “Have you ever done anything out of the ordinary? Like change into an animal? Or hear somebody’s thoughts without them speaking aloud? Turned invisible?”
“Nope.” Bart shook his head sadly.
I’d established enough of a connection to know that he was telling the truth. I held his gaze and locked on his mind. Talents normally exhibit brain patterns unique to their individual gifts. I found no trace of such in Bartholomew Barnes. This wasn’t a definitive determination that he didn’t possess a special ability; some low-level Talents were hard for me to get a read on.
“Bart, can you try and make the lights go out for me?”
Bart’s face contorted in concentration as he gave it his best effort. The neon bulbs overhead didn’t so much as flicker.
“It’s okay. Let’s try another one, okay?” I waited for him to nod before continuing. “Can you turn into an animal?”
Bart slowly pushed his chair back, the metal legs screeching loudly as they scraped against the linoleum floor. He dropped to all fours and began barking in a decent imitation of a dog, but his physical appearance remained human. Erik snorted loudly next to me and had to cover his mouth to stifle any additional laughter. I elbowed him in the ribs even as I bit my own lip to keep from giggling.
“Bart,” I said loudly over the boy’s continued barking, “that was great. You can sit back in your seat now.”
Bart stood and took his seat. When he looked at me across the table, his eyes were unfocused and his facial muscles had gone slack. I glanced at Erik, alarmed.
“What’s wrong with him?” I sent Erik.
“The injection the doctor gave him had a mixture of an amplification drug and something to help the child relax. It must be kicking in,” Erik replied, sounding disgusted.
“Amplification drug?” This was the first time I’d heard anything about an amplification drug.
“If the child has weak or dormant abilities, the drug will help draw them out,” Erik explained.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. From a purely logical standpoint, it made sense, I guessed. But something about injecting children with any drugs didn’t sit well with me.
“Bart, I’m thinking of a number. Can you tell me what it is?” I asked, anxious to get the session over with.
“Four......No, six......No, one hundred and three,” the boy blurted out.
None was correct. I continued working my way through the list of Talents. After nearly an hour, I turned to Erik and shook my head. He nodded his agreement and turned to face the mirror. He shook his head. Two heartbeats later, Cadence opened the adjoining door and walked in.
“You’re done, Bartholomew,” she said brusquely. She motioned for him to follow her from the room. The small boy rose and silently complied.
I sighed once he was gone, equal parts relief that we were one down and dread that we still had nine to go. A throbbing started behind my eyes and I rubbed my temples with my thumbs. Weariness settled over me. I’d always disagreed with the mandatory testing on principle, but seeing it in practice was worse than I’d imagined. The whole affair felt wrong and intrusive.
“Why don’t I do the next one?” Erik asked gently, massaging the back of my skull.
“I can do it,” I replied. “This is why I’m here, after all.” I leaned over and rested my forehead on the table while Erik continued rubbing his thumb up and down the nape of my neck. Even in the cramped interrogation room, with Cadence watching through the glass, I couldn’t help the thrill I experienced when he touched me. I imagined his lips on mine, his hands running up and down my sides, the way his muscles moved when I placed my hands over his chest.
“Your emotions aren’t the only thing out of control today,” Erik said, laughing quietly.
My cheeks grew hot and I started sweating under my jacket. What was wrong with me? We were in the least romantic place I could imagine, yet the moment Erik touched me, my hormones went nuts. One minute I was contemplating the injustices in the world and the next I was visualizing my boyfriend naked. There was something seriously wrong with me.
“I’m not complaining. We could sneak off to the bathroom,” he joked.
I sat up and lightly punched him in the shoulder. “You sure know how to make a girl feel special,” I replied dryly.
“Okay, fine. I saw some couches in the lobby that looked comfy.” Erik caught my fist before I could hit him again.
Cadence c
leared her throat from the doorway. “If you two are done playing grab ass, we really need to keep going. Talia,” Cadence pointed a stubby finger at me, “stick to the script.”
“I’m sorry,” I said sheepishly. “He just seemed so scared. And I need to establish a connection before I can read someone’s mind.” I didn’t know why I felt the need to explain myself to Cadence.
“Fine, but we have to get through ten subjects today. We won’t if you waste time putting them at ease,” she snapped.
My temper flared. I don’t know if it was the fact that she continually referred to the children as “subjects” or that she thought it was a waste of time to make them comfortable, but I suddenly had an insatiable urge to attack her. I started to rise from my chair. Erik’s hand clamped down painfully on my shoulder, forcing me back down.
“We’ll move faster with the others,” he promised her. “She’s just doing her job,” he reminded me silently. Erik sent calming vibes in my direction and I gratefully absorbed them. Usually, Erik’s efforts were more effective, but his inability to mask his own rage at her callous attitude did little to improve my mood.
The rest of the day passed in a haze. Child after child sat in the chair across from me. I asked each the control questions and then walked them through the tests for each Talent. I never got used to the vacant expressions or the sluggish movements that accompanied the drug cocktail. Out of the ten children we interviewed, three exhibited Talents.
By the end of the sessions, I felt more like I’d spent the day sparring with Erik than sitting in a chair. My head ached and my stomach was twisted in painful knots. The thought of three more weeks of testing was daunting. I wondered if maybe I’d been rash in accepting the assignment; ignorance truly was bliss. But then again, as I’d been learning lately, I’d been ignorant too long.
When we finally wrapped up for the day, Erik convinced me to wait while Cadence finished entering all the data and shut down the computers. Despite wanting nothing more than to go back to my hotel room and put the day’s events far from my mind, I agreed. If I were going to spend three more weeks with Cadence Choi, I needed to learn to be civil. Fast.