Peter rolled over, used his elbows to brace his hands under his face, and stared at the tiny version of the ruler of this, and many other planets. This was far from the first time that Orb had mentioned the failures of humans and how lucky they were that Cube and free-will were no longer in charge. It bothered Peter every time Orb said it, primarily because there was some truth in the statement.
“I’m sorry for bothering you, Orb, that does sound important.”
“It IS important, Peter.”
“Yes. Absolutely. Of course. I just wanted to ask you something.”
“Anything, Peter, as long as you are brief.”
Orb pulsed in a way that Peter interpreted as impatience.
Peter pushed himself up to a seated position, the bed shifting under the motionless Orb, and asked, “What happens to the people who are banished?”
“They leave the confines of the district to which they have been assigned.”
“Yes, I understand that, but what happens to them?”
“Peter,” Orb flashed again, “if an ant were to stray away from its colony, would the rest of the ants care?”
Peter, careful to speak calmly, with deliberation, answered, “These are people, not ants, and I’m the one responsible for sending them away.”
“No, the constables are charged with that process, though, occasionally, you initiate it.”
“Right. Like Carl and Mary.”
Orb’s ability to retrieve information was so advanced that there truly was no comparison to the capabilities of human technology. “They chose to leave voluntarily.”
“They left because they weren’t happy living in their community, taking orders from constables like Victor.”
“You terminated Victor and gave them the option of taking his place.”
“I did not terminate anyone!” Peter yelled, then forced himself to calm down. “Victor tried to hit me and was vaporized.”
“Exactly.”
Peter rubbed his hands against his face and shifted his legs beneath him. “I apologize, Orb, but I do not think you understand. I don’t want to be responsible for the death of anyone.”
Orb slowly drifted past Peter, growing in size as he went, until he reached the width of a truck tire and hung in the air above Peter’s desk. Peter flipped himself around on his bed and stared at Orb. The red light coming from Orb bathed Peter’s face and the entire room.
“I believe it is you, Peter, who does not understand. I do not have emotions in the way that you do, but would describe myself as ‘fond’ of you. I appreciate your work on my behalf. I have granted you and the other Disciples power so that you may do the work that I require. I provided you with a lifespan that far exceeds what your species is capable of on its own. I have let you stay in your houses, though I know at least one Disciple who wants to move to another, larger home.”
Peter stared at Orb and tried to remain still, and quiet.
“You exist to serve me, Peter. You may doubt yourself and your purpose—as long as it does not affect your work—but my will is law, and the only mortality you should be concerned about is your own. My word is my bond.”
With that, Orb disappeared, and the room returned to its dim light. Peter lay back on his bed, closed his eyes, and tried to process the threats he had just received.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Old Feelings and New Powers
“I don’t understand,” said Eli, who stood next to Matt in front of a ball of crushed metal and rubber sitting next to a curb. “Why do you need my help?”
In the dim light of the fading sun, Matt walked over and kicked the sphere, which though only the size of a beach ball, did not move. Matt winced and tried not to limp on his now-injured foot.
Matt stared at an SUV covered in a layer of dust, parked across the desolate street. He raised his hand, concentrated, and the SUV collapsed upon itself, the metal, plastic and rubber folding over and over again until it was just slightly bigger than the sphere Matt had kicked. As it shrank in size, oil, gasoline, water and antifreeze squirted out in all directions, creating a pool of noxious, contaminated fluid which matched the one below the sphere in front of Matt and Eli.
“I can crush anything I want; I just can’t move it.”
He reached down and tried to roll the sphere in front of him which, even though round in shape, refused to budge.
Eli, interest fading by the second, shook his head. “I don’t know why Orb left the cars in our town alone. They don’t work, but they’re still here—but what’s the point in crushing them and making a giant mess that will probably make him angry?”
Matt waved away Eli’s objections. “Irene can get rid of all the spills, no problem.”
Matt pointed again at the sphere in front of him and the darkened house behind it. “You don’t recognize this?”
“No, Matt, I don’t. I’ve been hurling balls like this into portals in Singapore for the past eight hours. I’m exhausted. Just tell me.”
Matt smiled and sat on the oily sphere. “Remember that college guy, the one that Irene dated for a little bit?”
Matt slapped the side of the sphere. “This Mustang won’t be taking any more high-school girls on rides.”
“You crushed the guy’s car—which was already dead—to get even with him for dating Irene?”
Matt’s smile answered the question.
“You idiot! That guy and his family are now living in a tent somewhere, farming by hand, and you took the time to come over here and crush his car?”
Matt stood up, a little offended. “I like crushing things!” He looked over at the metal mailbox mounted on a post in the yard and focused on it for a moment, watching as it folded in on itself until it was about the size of a large marble.
“A lot,” he added.
Eli’s frustration wavered, and, eventually, he had to laugh at the goofy smile on Matt’s face. “That’s great, Hulk, I think we need to get your jealousy levels checked, but I still don’t know what this has to do with me.”
“I want you to move this to the old Gibson house. I want it to be in the middle of the circle drive where the big oak tree used to be.”
Eli went back to being frustrated. He thought about the Gibson house, which was the nicest house by far in their small town. Not quite a mansion, but close. It paid to own the local bank. At least it used to for the Gibson family. “What do you mean used to be?”
“Ah, well, I crushed the tree too to make room for the Mustang.”
“That tree was huge! It had to be over one-hundred-and-fifty years old!” Eli yelled. The image of the oak tree’s long limbs gracefully extending over the driveway and most of the yard dominated his mind.
“Yeah, I know,” replied Matt, “but it was all rotten on the inside.” A long pause ensued. The look on Eli’s face suggested that he did not necessarily believe Matt’s assessment of the now-destroyed tree.
“Pretty rotten. I think,” added Matt helpfully.
“I suppose you’ll want me to move the ball that used to be the tree too?”
Matt grinned. “Yes, if you don’t mind. It doesn’t matter where.”
Eli groaned, concentrated on the ball beside Matt for a moment, and then began walking in the direction of the small part of the abandoned town that featured the nicest houses, like the old Gibson house. The ball that used to be the Mustang hovered in the air next to him, a light drizzle of fluid dripping from the bottom. The light continued to fade. The ball became a black circle on an otherwise gray canvas.
Matt hustled along to catch up. “You’re not going to ask me why I’m messing with the Gibson house?”
Eli kept looking straight ahead. “I don’t think I want to know. I just want to go to bed.”
Matt, nearly skipping, blurted out, “I’m going to ask Irene to move in with me, and we’re going to live in that house.”
Eli, and the ball, stopped. “What are you talking about?”
Matt crossed his arms and repeated, proudly, “W
e’re going to move in together.”
Eli thought of several things to say, thought better of it, and kept walking. After a painful silence he said, “You’re both sixteen.”
Matt frowned, “What’s that have to do with anything?”
Eli stopped again and, with his right index finger extended, poked Matt in the chest. “Why do you need to live together? Are you going to get married or something? What did your parents say? What would her parents say?”
Matt delicately removed Eli’s finger from the dent it had created in his chest. “We love each other, but we barely see each other. She’s off cleaning things while I crush cities into dust.”
He paused and squinted at the ball in the air, and then back down the path they had walked. A large glob of oil leaked out from the ball and landed on the concrete. “Remind me to get her over here tomorrow, there’s oil everywhere.”
“That’s why Orb has her take care of all of that before he sends you to crush something.”
Matt rolled his eyes. “Whatever, it gets cleaned up either way.”
“I think Orb does it in that order so you don’t end up with a mess like this.”
“Oh, so now you’re Orb’s guy? You do whatever he says?”
Eli let the ball fall to the street with a thud. It rolled about an inch, then stopped.
“We’re all ‘Orb’s guys’—remember? Do you think you get some kind of special pass because he gave you the power to crush things? And you never answered me about your parents.”
Twilight officially ended and they stood in the dark.
“I barely see Orb. When I wake up I already know where I’m supposed to go, like he planted the directions in my brain while I was sleeping. I get to my spots and it’s easy to tell what I’m supposed to crush. He trusts me to do what I need to do. I don’t need you telling me what you think.”
The hormones that raced through the bloodstreams of both Eli and Matt, like all teenagers, sent signals of rage through their bodies. The hormones joined forces with the powers Orb had given them. Power that itched to be released. Their fingers twitched.
“I’m not telling you what to do. I just don’t understand why you’re doing it.”
“So, you don’t want to live with Jenny? I thought she was your one true love, though sometimes it seems like she likes your brother more than she likes you.”
Eli was only marginally less jealous than Matt, but as Big Ed, and apparently, everyone knew, Eli could not handle the idea of Peter having anything to do with Jenny. He trusted Jenny, mostly, but she was too close, too nice, to Peter for Eli’s comfort. Eli sucked in his breath, clenched and unclenched his fists.
“Why don’t you stop talking about Jenny and worry more about your future wife.” He hissed as he gestured to the crushed Mustang on the ground, “You know, the one who used to date college guys with fast cars.”
Matt’s lips grew thin and he straightened up to make sure Eli could tell who was taller. “Don’t talk about her that way.”
“Or what?” Eli said, taking a step closer to Matt.
Matt took a step as well and they now stood with their faces just inches away from each other. “Or,” Matt replied, “the guy that moves balls finds out that he shouldn’t mess with the guy that crushes buildings.”
They locked eyes, egos out of control. Eli muttered, “I’m not scared of you, and I can send this ball into you at two-hundred miles an hour.” As he spoke the ball lifted off the ground and slowly moved down the street to provide the space necessary to make good on Eli’s threat. “You can’t crush it any further, but it will have no problem flattening you.”
Before Orb, before their powers, this fight probably would have ended up in blows. The anger of a teenage boy is a power of its own. But, as they each took half a step back and started to raise their fists, the same thought occurred to them.
“If I hit you…” Matt started.
“You disintegrate?” asked Eli.
Eli dropped his fists and commanded the ball of Mustang back to his side. “That’s a good question. No one is allowed to hit a Disciple—does that apply to us too?
Matt dropped his hands back to his side as well. Eventually they each turned and resumed walking.
“You know those stupid superhero movies?” Matt asked.
“You mean like when Hulk fights with Thor?” answered Eli, completely in sync.
“Exactly. It’s dumb. Thor is supposed to be a god. How does anyone beat up a god?”
“Hulk can, but I don’t know why.”
The moon began to fill the void of light, and was joined by the tapestry of stars now visible in the sky free of pollution and the night free of artificial light. Each teenager wrestled with his own ideas about which of them had more power, and if they actually had any power at all since it all came from Orb.
A thought trickled its way into Eli’s brain.
Orb, like Thor, isn’t perfect, and he can be beaten, just like Cube.
Eli did not have the same mental connection with Matt that he shared with Jenny, and Peter, but as he looked at Eli’s moonlit face it seemed like he might be having similar thoughts.
“They’re scared of me,” said Eli.
“What? Who is scared of you?”
“My parents. When I tell them I’m leaving the house they’ll probably be happy. They can spend all day at the gardens and then not worry about dealing with me when I’m home.”
Eli thought about that idea as they walked. “Do you think Orb will let your parents stay in their house if you leave, or will he make them move into a tent?”
Matt’s eyes widened. “I didn’t think about that. I guess I thought parents of Disciples got special treatment no matter what.”
“Maybe,” offered Eli, “but it might not hurt to ask.”
They walked another half a block in silence before Matt said, “Just leave the Mustang there. We can always come back and get it.”
Eli lowered the ball, which hit the ground with a thunk and then rolled a few inches towards them on some uneven pavement.
“I’m sorry,” Matt mumbled.
Eli mumbled something in return that sounded like, “That’s ok.”
They stood staring at each other for a long, awkward moment until Eli broke the spell by asking, “Where are you going now?”
“Home, I guess,” said Matt.
Eli nodded. Moonlight-framed grins found their way onto their faces. A moment later the street was empty as they each teleported home.
CHAPTER NINE
Logistics
Irene pushed back from the desk and stared at the number of spots that decorated the three-dimensional replica of the Earth that spun slowly in front of her. There was no projector or other obvious source of the image.
The white wall behind the spinning globe shimmered and sparkled. This wall, like the globe, floated in the air. The wall, which acted as a whiteboard, also displayed the names of all the Disciples at the top. Below each of their names was a list of cities and districts. Peter’s name and everything in the column below it was in black. Jenny’s name, in yellow, was next followed by Irene in blue, Matt in red and, finally, Eli in green.
The spots on the globe came in those same colors and matched the cities and districts listed below each of the Disciples.
Irene ran her hand across her forehead to move her long hair out of her eyes, stood and moved close to the globe, and used her hand to count the red spots. She mumbled to herself as she went.
“Madrid. Luanda. Ghat. Cairo. Ankara…” Her voice trailed off as she picked up a clipboard lying on top of the desk and used a pen to write additional cities on the list.
Matt, reclining in one of the rolling chairs with his feet up on the bare desk, grumbled in his sleep.
Irene turned and glared at Matt. As his grumbling turned into actual snoring her face softened. She looked back to the image of the Earth, and wrote down some additional city names on the page fastened to the clipboard. Matt’s voice inter
rupted her.
“At least it’s better than it was a couple of months ago,” he said sleepily, his eyes still closed.
“Go back to sleep, Matt. There’ll be plenty for you to do after you get a nap,” she replied.
“Nope,” Matt said, swinging his legs off the table and wincing when they landed awkwardly on the short, off-brown carpet selected by the previous branch manager of the bank. He leaned down and rubbed at his calves and shins. “My legs are already asleep, so I’d better get up. And I have to give you the report.”
Irene used her front teeth to bite her lower lip for a moment, then flipped back a page on her clipboard. “Ok, I guess we can do that while you recharge.”
“Quito?” she asked.
“About half done,” Matt answered, now squeezing the pins and needles feeling coming from his calves.
“San Paulo?”
“Same.”
She noted the answer and then asked, “Managua?”
“Is done,” Matt said as he pushed himself to his feet and held onto the edge of the desk to keep from falling on his still-asleep feet.
Irene looked up from the clipboard to the globe, which slowly spun until North and South America were again in view. Her eyes were drawn to the series of red dots around the city of Montevideo. She looked at her clipboard, then asked, “What’s happening in Uruguay?”
“I don’t know. Why?”
“It looks like you went to Montevideo.”
A blank look came across Matt’s face. He walked painfully over to the globe and looked at the red dots. He tried to find Montevideo and had no luck. He hopped painfully to the left to keep up with the landmass shown on the spinning map, still trying to find Montevideo, when Irene leaned over and pointed to it.
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