The Sound of Wind
Page 43
Back of note:
Please recall, verbatim (this is important) the conversation you had with Mr. Hansen in his office about his brother, it'll take about 3 hours but it should be enough. If you need additional information on Hermes, please refer to Gideon Enterprises Ref File 12.
I hope this will be enough information to fix the worst of the conditioning, but really, you shouldn't have gone to see him in the first place, jackass. Next time you see an exploding man, mind your own business.
-Hugo
P.S. Try not to get a brain hemorrhage.
On the second day, as Hugo was walking in to work, he saw a familiar figure leaning against the front desk. Eva was giggling behind her hand. They both looked up as the double glass doors snapped shut and Hugo found he was facing Clementine Hudson.
“Morning Hugo,” Clem said, a wide grin cracking his features.
Hugo smiled shyly, “Hi.”
“Eva here was just telling me a little bit about Gideon Enterprises,” he nodded towards the redhead, “and about her amazing ability.” Eva blushed. “However, I’m supposed to be meeting Christian. Would you mind showing me the way?” Hugo nodded once. “Excellent. Lead the way. Bye Eva.” The receptionist nodded slightly, her eyes following Clem as they started down the hallway.
“I’m glad you decided to come,” Hugo said, his voice quiet.
Clem shrugged, “Seemed like an interesting place, and I haven’t really met any other people with abilities, so I thought I’d at least give it a shot.”
Hugo blinked a few times, “I thought maybe since you didn’t seem surprised when we approached you that you already knew there were others. You travel a lot, so…”
“Oh, I guessed,” Clem said thoughtfully, “but I wasn’t sure. To tell you the truth, I wasn’t entirely sure I had powers either. But when the coincidences kept piling up…” Clem tilted his head slightly, as if sifting a memory downwards, “it seemed like the most sensible conclusion,” The musician shrugged, then glanced at Hugo, his smile widening, “So what can you do again?”
Hugo blushed, his hands finding his pockets, “I can control the wind, and…I…they tell me I’m abnormally smart. But…”
Clem laughed, “No point in being modest. There’s nothing wrong with being a genius.”
“I…” Hugo’s shoulders slumped. Clem chuckled. Hugo thought about defending himself, but they were at the security center. He knocked on the door and then opened it. Christian swiveled in his chair, standing when he saw who had entered.
“Clem,” Christian said, extending his hand. Clem took it, “glad you could make it.”
The musician grinned, “Thanks for inviting me. So, do I get the grand tour?”
“Of course. Come on.” Christian finally glanced at Hugo, “Thanks for bringing him here.”
“No problem,” Hugo mumbled to the ground and then continued on his way to Mr. Hansen’s office to report in for the day.
Mr. Hansen didn’t have an assignment for him, and the lists weren’t done, so Hugo joined CJ down in the labs. She was already destroying another room, so Hugo started to head back upstairs.
“Where are you going?” Hugo turned around to find one of the technicians glancing at him, a clipboard in his hand, “We’ve got a room available, if you wanna try a few things.”
“I…” Hugo closed his mouth on the excuse; CJ seemed to enjoy practicing, so maybe he could try it just once. “Sure.”
The technician’s eyes lit up, “Follow me.” The man led Hugo to the wind tunnel. “Wait here, I’ll set up some targets for you. Do you need me to turn the fan on?” Hugo shook his head, so the technician pressed a series of buttons. Dummies popped up at various intervals in the tunnel. “We’ve wanted to use this tunnel for a while now, actually. But you’re the first wind manipulator we’ve come across. Go ahead; I’ll set up the scenario.”
Hugo hesitantly walked into the wind tunnel, some of the wooden targets looked like men with guns, others looked like small children, boys, girls…Hugo felt his heart begin to race. The targets started moving on their tracks. He could tell he was shaking, and his stomach was coiling into a tight knot.
“Go ahead.” He heard over the intercom, but his mouth was dry and all he could see was the kid’s face, still and waxy. “Is something wrong?” He heard drifting, far away, as the dummies started to blur. No. He had to act normal, pretend everything was ok. He took a quick swipe across his eyes and sucked in several deep breaths. His eyes flicked to the tracks the dummies were on and he started blasting. Hugo barely noticed the wide-eyed expression on the technician’s face when the first dummy tore from its hinges, splintering violently on the back wall.