by Vivien Reis
"It's not real. I am telling your mind to think something, you must resist that feeling," he yelled.
"It's hard...to resist...something stabbing your gut." It was as if she had done a thousand crunches, and the muscles felt like they would tear if she stood up straight. Not that she knew what a thousand crunches felt like, of course.
"My mind is manipulating the electrical impulses in your mind. It's hard at first—like listening for a small drum beat behind loud vocals and guitar. Pay attention."
Again and again he did this, sometimes stabbing her stomach, sometimes her head, sometimes her legs, and once even her pinky toe. He seemed to get a kick out of watching Abi try to hop on one foot while grasping at her other until he let go.
By lunchtime, Abi's stomach really did hurt. She hadn't eaten anything that morning, which was her own fault since she didn't wake up early enough, but she couldn't pay attention to the "drumbeat" Benning wanted her to hear.
"This is going to take longer than I originally thought it would."
She wasn't sure if it was hunger or the horrible way she had woken up or the constant doubt Benning liked to plant in her head, but she'd had enough.
"Oh, I'm so sorry that I'm not living up to your expectations. How long did you say this usually takes people to master?"
"Years, but you know we don't have that much time."
"I'm just trying to make you a little more realistic. These are outlandish expectations you have of me. I just found out about all this magic...crap four days ago!"
"And do you think the King's Army is taking their sweet time just waiting for you to master all this?"
Without thinking, she took a step toward him and jabbed her finger in his direction. "Maybe my poor performance so far is a reflection of your teaching ability. Maybe instead of making me feel insane or like I'm being tortured yet again, we should get someone in here that can actually use words and describe some of this stuff for me!" Her voice shook and her nails dug smartly into her palms. She wanted to lunge at this idiot, this barbarian, and scratch his eyes out.
Just as she thought this, an invisible thread of pain blossomed, and she sensed it heading toward her right calf. She gritted her teeth together and let out an exasperated noise, trying to hold herself back from leaping at Benning's face.
The thread! It hadn’t ever been there before. She traced the thread, focusing on not letting it move into her calf. She was doing it! She was actually blocking him.
No sooner had she thought this than the pain swelled like a tsunami, buckling her down to the ground.
"Oh, come on now. You were actually starting to impress me for a second there." He knelt down to her level, peering sideways at her while she struggled. "My teaching methods do work, and they work because I give people motivation. What can I say? I'm a guy most people love to hate."
Abi coughed, gasping for breath. The fall had knocked the wind out of her, and she rolled around on the ground clutching her calf and sucking in air.
"0800 tomorrow. And this time, I mean it." He left her there on the ground and walked a few paces before vanishing.
Now that most of the pain had subsided, she fanned herself out on the ground and tried to catch her breath. Her eyes closed and the sound of the ocean waves reached her.
She wasn’t as exhausted as yesterday but was still far from feeling okay. Her stomach protested, ready to eat itself, and Benning had seemed hell bent on causing pain in every area of her body like it was a game. She opened her eyes and screamed.
A face was floating above her, and she clutched at her chest before realizing who it was.
"Jesse!" Profanities nearly spilled out, but she stopped herself. He wore a triumphant grin.
"Do we need to get you a life alert button or what?" Jesse asked. "Have you fallen and can't get up?" He held out his hand, and she grabbed it.
"Har-har. I'm slightly starved right now, so I hope you're about to tell me you're headed to get food." She didn't exactly like the sourpuss vibe she had, but at this point she couldn't help it.
"Why, yes, my lady, I am. Right this way, your highness." His teasing was playful and although she didn't smile, she wanted to. That was a start, right? Maybe after she got some food in her stomach...
They walked on the path toward Elysia Square. She hadn't remembered seeing any dining areas and wondered if everyone got their food from the marketplace near the crystal shop.
Before they got too far, she walked back to her hut and picked up her silent stone, gripping it tightly. Of anyone on the island, Jesse was the one Abi least wanted to share her thoughts with, lest she embarrass herself even further than she had the other day.
"So, how's your training going?"
"Have you seen Corporal Benning? I'm pretty sure you know how it's going."
His laugh thawed the ice in her chest a bit. "He's not so bad once you get to know him. He graduated a couple years ahead of me, but we all used to hang out since Theo was just starting his Champion training then." When he smiled, a dimple appeared on his right cheek.
He had to know how good he looked. She didn’t stand a chance of being with him. Not in a million years.
"Abi?"
"Wuh?" She hadn’t realized she’d been staring, but the way he looked at her let her know she’d missed something he’d said.
"I was telling you about your dad."
Abi's heart stopped. "What about him? Is he okay?"
"He's fine, he's fine. Well, nothing's changed, I mean. I stopped by there last night and checked in on him and your brother and grandmother."
"How are they?" Her voice was thick.
"Okay. Your brother's been visiting Cora."
"What? I thought he hated her."
Jesse chuckled again. "I don't know if they're dating or what, but he's been over at my house at least two times in the last week."
It was easy to sense what he was really trying to say—that her brother might be dating Jesse’s little sister and Jesse naturally didn’t like the idea of someone being with her. But how in the world would that have happened?
"Wait, why are you watching my family? Is that what your assignment there was?"
"Uh, no. Not mine. But I thought you'd want someone you knew to check up on them." His grin was sheepish, almost apologetic.
An electric current floated in the space between them, buzzing against her skin.
Now that she had her thought stone, she didn't have to guard what she was thinking, but there was still some lingering paranoia. She tried to compose herself.
"Thank you for that."
"You're welcome."
Did he like her too? Was that why he was helping her so much? Were her feelings recipro—
Her foot caught on the edge of a stone. Jesse bravely attempted to catch her, but it was too late. Down she tumbled, her knees stinging and her right palm raw.
They spoke over one another.
"I'm so sorry, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, it's nothing."
He helped her up and she immediately began walking again, not caring to brush the debris off her knees. She just didn't want him to see her tomato-red face.
They must have turned down another path, because her surroundings were unfamiliar. The path widened quickly, a fountain of two cranes mid-flight blocking most of her view of a large pavilion. There was a large spread of food laid out on her right, just past the fountain, picnic tables filling the rest of the covered space.
The tables were rustic, but with a newness that made the look intentional. At the center of each table was a vase filled with brightly colored flowers.
And the food. She gaped. Steaming dishes of all kinds—Greek, Indian, Caribbean. A hundred spices hit her nose at once, mixing with the smells of stews and charred meats. On the left side of the buffet was a fruit and salad stand, and to the right, a coffee and drink area.
Jesse grinned at her and they each grabbed a plate.
She opted for the a-little-bit-of-everything route,
while Jesse loaded up on mac and cheese and barbecue chicken.
"You pay for everything here by the pound. So, a pound of steak costs the same as a pound of salad," he explained.
They approached a kiosk with a scale that Jesse put his tray on. A white crystal jutted up from the table and Jesse laid two fingers on it. A clear screen in front of him flashed the words Thank you for your payment in bright blue.
She mimicked him, placing her food on the scale, but paused, not sure what to do next.
"Oh," Jesse realized her predicament. "They probably set you up with a fingerprint scanner. It’s what they do with first years on the island. Here." He pointed to a flat black panel next to the crystal. "Place your index finger there."
She did and a moment later, her screen flashed a thank you as well.
"How come you don't pay with a fingerprint too?"
They headed toward a picnic table with a vase of orange lilies, and Jesse sat down across from her. She suddenly grasped the weight of the situation—she was eating alone with a boy she liked.
She pursed her lips to quell a rising smile. This was not a date. They were just eating alone...together. Cora might have been proud of her had Abi not been sitting with Jesse.
What would her best friend think of that?
"The crystals link to our mental map in the system. No two maps are alike." He explained before cutting into his chicken and taking a bite.
There was something magnetic about him. She liked him but it was more than that. He was like a calm ocean to her sea of tsunamis.
"I wanted to ask you something." She waited for him to nod before continuing. "I found a crystal at my house before I...the King’s Army took me. I was wondering if you could show me how your library works here. I wanted to research it a little." She left out the part about it being with Cora now, not sure how he would take it.
He wouldn’t approve. But maybe he could get it back for her…
"Well, you might do better asking a Diviner. Save you a lot of time."
"I know, I just wanted to look into it myself." She clutched her thought stone, hoping it was hiding her emotions as well.
"Sure. I can show you once we're done here, but I won't be able to stay long. Work," he said, shrugging.
"Hey, shorty!" Theo bumped his knuckles against hers, which were on their way up to her mouth.
"Hey, fatty." Her fork froze midair. Had she just said that out loud?
"Ohhh, no!" Jesse exclaimed, covering the food in his mouth so he could laugh.
Oh, god. She had.
"I did not mean to say that, I'm—"
"Oh, I can't believe you would do me like that." He said it with an edge but when she met his gaze, he was smiling. "I mean, I know I'm big, but it's all muscle!"
"I just, I'm hungry and—"
"And Corporal Benning is her tutor right now," Jesse finished.
"Shit. I'm so sorry, girl." Theo stabbed at his food, stacking so much onto the little fork that Abi gaped when he shoved it all into his mouth. He was huge. If he choked, there was no way she’d been able to fit her arms around him to do the Heimlich.
He coughed. Oh god! He's choking.
Theo and Jesse both burst into laughter. Theo had a booming laugh that matched his personality and though she wished she knew how to hop out of there, Abi found herself chuckling with them.
"You're going to make me choke if you don't keep this stone on lockdown." Theo motioned toward her stone. In her horror at what she’d said to Theo, she must have dropped it.
Jesse was clutching his stomach, still laughing, and wiping tears from his eyes. "I'm just picturing your little frame," he pointed his fork at her and then at Theo, "trying to give him the Heimlich. I would pay to see that."
"Hey, guys. Abi." Myra sat down across from Theo, next to Jesse. The table went quiet. Myra was the most put-together person Abi had ever met. Her hair was always immaculate and her clothes were so perfectly retro it made Abi want to change her major in life to housewife.
Today, though, her hair was pulled in a messy bun—but still far cuter than Abi could pull off—with a striped shirt and black jeans. And flats.
"Rough morning?" Theo asked.
"You have no idea. I'm a zombie right now." She had a steaming cup of coffee in front of her and stirred creamer into it. "There's still twelve people unaccounted for, our fatalities are up to fifty-two, and there's over two dozen still trapped in traditional hospitals."
There was a constant flow of people through the food line now, and the surrounding tables began filling up fast. Abi was hungry but picked at her food. She hadn't even known there were this many Oracles. And in one place, no less.
"Has the Consul given you any new orders?" Myra huffed, taking a large gulp of the coffee.
"Increased security," Theo said. "The Admiral is spreading us out across all the other heavy locations for monitoring purposes."
"Same with intel," Jesse explained. "They're pulling most people off daily watch to cover the attack as much as possible. It's difficult with so many gens wandering around."
"Gens?" The wind gusted just enough to blow a stray strand of hair into Abi's mouth as she spoke. Jesse looked up to respond to her question and saw her struggling to remove the hair while she had food in her mouth.
This wasn't her day.
"General population. The police have swarmed the site of the bombing, so even if there was a trace for us to lock on to, we wouldn't be able to get close enough to look without someone noticing us."
"Dude, cloak it up." Theo took another massive bite, and Abi had to force herself not to stare.
"Wait, you're investigating the bombing?" Myra set down her fork, her tone clear that she didn't like this.
"I have my orders," Jesse responded, shrugging. "Like I said, we haven't been able to do much. Ewan swept the area already and there are cameras all over the place, and not just the news cameras. The surrounding streets are heavily monitored because there's a bank one block away."
"The trace isn't going to be there much longer. You'll have to pulse the place to get in."
Jesse shook his head. "Can't. If everyone's electronics go dead at the same time, it'll be too suspicious. Roderick wants us to wait it out and patrol the perimeter, see if we pick up any stray trace of Oracle activity."
"So," Abi wasn't sure if this was a stupid question or not, but asked anyway, "how can you be sure it was the King's Army? What if it was just a random attack? I mean, what kind of building was this?"
"A law firm," Myra explained. "A private one, at that. We have Oracles in jobs spread out across the world, but some jobs are more necessary than others—lawyers are one of them. If something happens that gens aren’t supposed to know about, these lawyers act as the cleanup crew."
"So, they blew up this law firm, which just so happened to have loads of Oracle lawyers. Did they have any way of knowing it was filled with people like us?" Abi hadn't meant to say us, but now that she had, she liked the way it sounded.
"Well, you have to understand an Oracle has a wide range of abilities to specialize in." Theo managed to say this through a mouth full of food. He swallowed before continuing. "I'm a Champion. We're super important, if I do say so myself, but so are our Healers and our Markers." He pointed to Myra and Jesse in turn, and Abi wondered what being a Marker meant. It had seemed like Jesse talked more about surveillance than anything else. "One of these professions is a Seeker. Their sole job is to hunt down other Oracles for the King's Army, like a Marker gone bad."
"These attacks have been happening with greater frequency,” Myra cut in. “They've been targeting higher ups for nearly ten years now, and no one wants those positions any more. Most of the time, the person just disappears.” She stared down at her cup, twisting it around and around.
Theo ate quietly now, taking smaller bites and almost sneaking the fork up to his mouth, as if it were rude to do so. Myra’s shoulders slumped ever so slightly.
"Well," Myra gulped down th
e last of her coffee, "I should get going. I'm on admin duty until my energy comes back enough to be useful again. See y’all later."
Theo and Jesse talked more about their assignments until Theo had finished eating. For a minute, it looked like Jesse might leave with Theo, and Abi wasn't sure how to pull him aside without drawing attention from Theo. But Theo microhopped away, and she was finally left with Jesse again.
"You ready?"
She nodded and they got up, depositing their trays in a bin near the exit.
"Now, I have to warn you, I'm not sure if going to the library is going to go so well while you're in training."
She scowled. "Why not?"
"Our library is a little different than your average library. It takes a little mental juice to view the documents stored there, for security purposes. If a gen found one of our 'books,'" he said this with air quotes, which Abi raised an eyebrow at, "then they can't view the information there. There's added security hoopla I don't fully understand, but I don't know if your mind can take it right now."
His last comment didn’t sit well with her, but before she could say anything about it, he backpedaled. "I mean, because of your training with the Corporal. I know how much he pushes it to the limits."
"In any case, I want to try. What's the worst that could happen?"
"Famous last words?" He smirked, his eyes shining in the light.
Their pace was slower than it needed to be, and Abi wanted to walk even slower. They were nearly at the library now. His hands were in his pockets, his gait easy.
They rounded the path that opened into the square, the glass library twinkling brighter today. The hospital was still a swarm of people, and a wave of guilt swept over Abi.
All of them had jobs except her. Everyone was doing something to help while she was stuck training with Benning.
Despite this, she got a rush of excitement as the double doors of the library glided open.
It wasn't like any library she’d ever been to, and that became clear by the lack of books present. The giant shelves were filled with strange cylindrical canisters. And instead of that musty smell of paper Abi loved so much, the air smelled much like it had outside: pure and fresh.