Anomalies

by Sadie Turner

  “Zilli never went to Monarch Camp. Part of the revolution’s agenda is to save what children we can from the torture. Especially the special children. To extract them from their families before they can be chipped.”

  “What’s the difference between a special child and a regular one?”

  “The Lien have been breeding with humans for centuries. The bloodlines of the offspring are diluted: the Lien genes are recessive and most of these children have normal DNA. Yet, in a few of them, the Lien DNA becomes dominant and the children have an innate power even stronger than Lien.”

  “So then, what happens to these special children?” I jump up, knocking Zilli to the ground.

  “Ouch,” she whines.

  “Sorry.” I help her up, my eyes never leaving Taj. “What happens to these special children?” I am almost screaming. This is the closest I have ever been to finding my sister. To finding Sun.

  “They are brought to safe houses around the world. They are raised to believe in themselves, to fight for themselves, to think for themselves.”

  “But you take them from their parents—”

  “Do I?” Taj hesitates for a flicker of a second. “Or do the parents search me out and ask me to save their children?”

  “Where is my sister?” My hands are around Taj’s throat before I realize what I am doing. Within seconds, her entire face morphs back into its Lien form and her forked tongue darts out like a weapon, forcibly pushing me away. I look up. Lachlan is standing, sword drawn and ready to protect his Queen. Zilli has her throwing star aimed at me. Even Kai has his dagger aimed at my heart. I can hear their thoughts: I am a threat who must be neutralized.

  I am astonished by their devotion to this woman. To this creature. Only Taj remains seated, her shimmery Lien face morphing back into her human one.

  “Calm down everyone. It is fine.” She turns to me, “I am not the enemy, Keeva.”

  Flustered, I sit back down.

  “Your sister is safe. She always has been. Your parents entrusted her to the revolution. We needed her—”

  “Why? Why did you take her? I needed her too.”

  “Keeva, what is happening to this planet is much bigger than just you and me. And it is not just the youth who are being systematically tortured. Sobek’s plan isn’t limited to five-year-olds. He runs experiments on the other end of the age spectrum as well. Sobek is also stealing energy from the elderly, from the handicapped, from the mentally ill. When humanoids get too old or too sick, Sobek subtly steps in. Every retirement home is secretly run by Sobek’s operatives. Think about it, Keeva. Why don’t you see old people anymore? It’s because when they are close to dying, they are rounded up and taken to Elderly Villas where they are cared for. Cared for? This is more like Governance-sanctioned neglect. In the villas, Sobek’s people can more easily consume life forces because the elderly are already going to die. Why do you think so many people get dementia? It is Sobek sucking their minds empty until they are no longer of use to him. He has been doing this for centuries.”

  I remembered Annika’s grandfather dying in an Elderly Villa. He was not in any pain, but I watched as his mind just slipped away. There was no reason for it. His body was still in perfect health. He was simply old. No one questioned his memory loss, they just blindly accepted his fate. I remember the way the home was decorated. There were tiny painted butterflies in every room.

  Butterflies on every bed.

  “So we have a choice,” Taj continues. “We can stay ignorant, continue to allow this abuse and let Sobek finish off humankind as we know it, or we can wake up and fight back. If you want to go find your sister, I won’t stop you. Lachlan will take you back up the elevator and you are free to go where you wish. If you want to stay, you have to be deprogrammed so that you fully understand the lie that you have been living. So that you can wake up. Everyone down here has already been awakened. They have accepted the truth and are willing to fight. To join our revolt.

  “The question is, Keeva, are you?”

  SOBEK SAVED HIS SON’S LIFE.

  It was not the first time nor would it be the last. With lightning-fast reflexes, he caught Calix by the ankle, and his superior strength allowed him to lift his son back up to safety. When Calix finally caught his breath, he demanded that his father explain everything.

  “Many lifetimes before you were born son, our planet was dying,” Sobek began. “Lieniux was an extraordinary planet, far more technologically advanced than Earth. Yet, Earth had one thing that we did not–humanoids. Our race was expiring because there was no diversity. There were only Lien. Everyone was the same so we had no one to feed off. Our energies were being starved to death.”

  “Energies, seriously father?”

  “Indeed. We feast on the energies or auras of other species. The more complex the species, the more satisfying the feed. Siphoning energies gives us enough sustenance to survive. And Lieniux was dying: we were running out of hosts to feed on. So, we found this planet filled with humans, weak creatures whose auras we could dine on. My sister and I traveled here—

  “You have a sister?” Calix was shocked. He never knew he had an aunt.

  “My twin, Taj. She and I don’t exactly see eye to eye. Approximately ten thousand years ago, we traveled here along with the surviving members of our race—”

  “Ten thousand years ago?”

  “Approximately. Give or take a decade. When we arrived here, we quickly determined that we were a superior species; however, we knew that if we immediately invaded this planet it would destroy the ecosystem and the pyramid of power. So, we had to bide our time until the opportunity for world domination presented itself. It wasn’t hard to survive. There were so many disposable people. Countries were overpopulated, so sucking the energy from lower classes was simple enough. We preyed on the people whose minds would not be missed. We traveled through Egypt and Africa and South America, growing stronger—”

  “But how?” Calix interrupted.

  “Do we feed?” Sobek smiled, amused by his son’s stupidity. “We simply get within close proximity to our prey and breathe in.”

  “You mean, you just breathe in their energies?”

  “Their auras. Yes, of course.” Sobek was getting irritated at his offspring’s ignorance. “Keep up, Son. It’s not difficult. We breathe in and our auras do the rest. It is like an electromagnetic force. Everyone has auras, unseen fields of subtle, luminous radiation. Lien can see auras and when we focus and breathe in, we can suck just enough force to feed. Of course, the more immature we are, the less we can control our power, and it sometimes gets out of control.” Sobek sighed. He thought educating his son would be easier; he would have to go slower. He tilted his head and studied Calix. “Remember when you and Sarayu were bound together?”

  “It was last week, Father.” Calix bit the inside of his cheek to control his anger. He would never forget the torture. He would never forget the process that drained his intended partner’s personality and energy.

  “Good. Well, have you bothered to question why, when you were bound together that she was getting weaker and you were getting stronger?”

  “No … I … .” Calix’s mind was swirling. Deep in the recesses of his mind, he knew the bitter truth but he did not want to admit it. Instead, his father said it aloud for him.

  “You were siphoning her energy, son. You were feeding off her,” Sobek said proudly.

  “I didn’t mean to,” Calix shouted, horrified that he was responsible for Sarayu’s weakened state.

  “Of course not,” Sobek said, each word dripping with disgust. “No one can control their energy when they are young or untrained. But I have learned to manage mine as you will learn to control yours. Anyway, where was I?”

  “I have more questions,” Calix demanded.

  “Of course you do. But I have a story to finish. A history lesson, so to speak. So, as we fed, I realized how easily we could rule this planet. We could use others to benefit ourselves. I laid o
ut my master plan: I would create a situation in which the weak humanoids would crave my expertise the way I craved their energies. I would mastermind such circumstances where they would beg me to control their entire planet.”

  “Like a dictator?” Calix was disgusted.

  “Why such a negative word?” Sobek didn’t wait for his son’s response. “Anyway, when I started the Great Technology War—”

  “You?”

  “Guilty.” Sobek allowed himself a slight chuckle. “I supplied the new technologies to the Americans and the Chinese and the Russians. I cleverly pitted them against each other, manipulating them by whispering words in their ears. Their leaders were already Lien, and they helped me manipulate their underlings. We promised them power beyond their wildest dreams if they were the sole proprietors of my technology. Their cabinets and committees and politburos fully stood behind their leaders as they pushed their respective buttons. And when the nuclear reactors went off, melting the polar ice caps and drowning half of the world, I magnanimously stepped in.”

  “Making everyone dependent on you.” Calix started to understand.

  “Rule one in leadership: create the problem so that you are the one people turn to for the solution. Trust me Son, the people who sell the cures are always the ones who create the disease. But I digress. I perfected the Third chip, which enabled me to link the survivors to the Lien. And as the planet’s new benefactor, I generously gave the humanoids the advanced technologies to prevent disease and then put a few systems into place to ensure the humanoids’ complete cooperation.”

  “What systems?” Calix demanded.

  “I augmented the water with a tasteless fluoride solution which makes them more docile and I-”

  “Sent them to Monarch Camp’s MC-5 program.” Calix finished his father’s sentence.

  “There may just be hope for you yet, Son. Yes, I created a groundbreaking trauma-based mind control which both feeds off of young humanoid fear and fractures their sense of self. They feel inadequate except in the safety of their partner’s arms. By feeding off their fear, I get stronger, and by ingraining a strong sense of insecurity, I am able to control them more easily.”

  “Why does it have to be fear?” Calix asked, remembering the terror in Sarayu’s eyes.

  “It’s simple. Fear tastes better.”

  I am conflicted.

  I need to find Sun. But first I must gain Taj’s trust and become part of her revolution. How can I not? Sobek is a monster, and I am now one of the few informed citizens who has been enlightened to his master plan. Because I am an Anomaly, I’m not susceptible to his mind control. Because my link to my original intended partner, Dorian, was severed by his death, I am not a fractured person without him. I am a free individual. I can think for myself. My sister has waited for me for the last eleven years, I’m sure she can wait a little longer. Plus, being deprogrammed is the only way I am allowed to officially enter the Underground City. To quote Taj, I must remove my blindfold of ignorance and be reawakened. Only, it’s not as simple as taking a test or listening to a lecture. I don’t have to raise my hand in the air and pledge my allegiance to the rebellion. Like everyone else in the Labyrinth has done before me, I now have to be reeducated. Awakened. Deprogrammed.

  And it involves needles.

  “Don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt,” Lachlan says. It didn’t take me long to learn that he is in Taj’s trusted inner circle. Her second-in-command. Lachlan’s gentle voice belies his urgency as he ushers me from Taj’s tent, directly across the expansive tent village to a large, boldly striped, black-and-red tent in the distance. I walk slowly, frightened by what may await me. Unconcerned by my terror, Zilli skips behind me, humming. I feel like I am on display as I march in my odd formation. Lachlan, then me, then Zilli. As we pass by the tents, I stare straight ahead, although I can feel the revolutionaries looking at me. As they whisper among themselves, I know that I am blushing. I have red hair and a red face. I must look like a tomato. I hate being on display. Worse than that, I hate feeling like I don’t belong.

  Everywhere I go, I seem to be an outsider. I suppose I have felt like that my entire life, although I’ve never really admitted it to myself until now. Something has always been just a little bit off. Sure, Annika and Rane were my best friends, but I always felt different. Maybe because of my sister. Maybe I always felt like I was hiding something and because of that, I could not fully embrace who I was … who I was supposed to be. I remember that when the turbaned man, Harijiwan, took my sister, he told me I needed to look within myself to discover truths. Yet I have never really looked inward. Perhaps I have been too afraid to find whatever is inside of me.

  I was so desperate to blend in, I always ignored anything which might have made me stand out.

  As we pass rows and rows of tents, I cannot help but feel jealous. This is yet another place where everyone seems to belong. Everyone except for me. Like Monarch Camp, I am a freak. I wonder if I will always be an Anomaly, an outsider in a community of people who seem to naturally fit in. Even Kai seems at ease here. Perhaps I shouldn’t have come. I just want to disappear, but there is nowhere left for me to hide. A small hand slips into mine. Zilli looks up at me and smiles. The small girl has turned out to be oddly comforting to me. She accepts me for who I am without judgment. I feel a gentle squeeze of encouragement and I squeeze back.

  However, once we arrive at the front flap of the large striped tent, she gives me a quick hug and skips away. I hesitate outside the slightly comical tent, which sits quite a distance away from the rest of the olive and brown tents. This tent looks like it should be part of an antique circus, where animals used to perform for humans. Lachlan opens the flap, beckoning to me. I take a deep breath and enter.

  Inside, the perimeter of the tent is filled from floor to ceiling with computers. An entire wall of flickering holos show vids from across the universe. There is one of a man near the pyramids. Another of a woman swimming in the Great Barrier Reef. Hundreds of vids projecting people and places flash before me. A scientist, who is monitoring the operation, turns and quickly comes over to me.

  “Welcome, Keeva. How are you? We’ve been busy here expecting you. I’m Holly, pleased to meet you, by golly.” Her salutation is singsong and her soprano voice is so high, I have to struggle not to laugh.

  “And don’t forget about me; my name is Ivy. I’m Holly’s twin. It’s nice to meet you. Shall we begin?” a second scientist sings. Her voice is equally as high-pitched. I stare at this strange scientific duo and quickly realize that they are completely identical. They have hazel eyes, close-cropped white-haired bobs, and aquiline noses. Both women are similarly dressed, wearing large oculars like headbands and long brown coats, which have Lab Rats stenciled on the back in white paint.

  “What does that mean?” I point to the back of their coats. I’m procrastinating. Trying to make small talk because I am petrified of what is about to happen.

  “Just a little scientific humor,” Lachlan chuckles. “These are the Ilex sisters. They are going to take you on a bit of an eye-opening adventure.”

  “Adventure. Super,” I say unenthusiastically as I look around.

  Other than the computers, the only piece of furniture in the tent is an operating table—a cold, hard, shiny, metallic slab in the middle of the room, and Lachlan is leading me straight to it. One of the sisters, Holly or Ivy, I’ve already forgotten who is who, is preparing a fairly long syringe filled with amber liquid while her twin pats the uncomfortable looking table, suggesting that I hop up.

  “That’s a really big needle.” I panic. I hate needles.

  “It’s OK. Let’s not delay,” she sings softly as she helps me up, strapping in my arms and legs with tight leather restraints. “It’s just a sedative to help you snooze. I promise I won’t leave a bruise.”

  Is this woman for real? If the situation weren’t so terrifying it would be downright comical. I look anywhere but the needle, fixing my eyes on the tent’s ceiling where a
tarp is held up by a maze of copper piping. I need to calm myself down, so I imagine myself swimming through the pipes. My thoughts are interrupted by the woman’s lilting voice.

  “No doubt, it will put you out.” She puts a buckwheat pillow underneath my neck and tilts my head back. “Trust me, nothing’s amiss, but you won’t want to be awake for this.”

  “I only wish I knew what this was,” I say bitterly as the other Ilex twin rolls up my sleeve and wraps a tight band around my elbow, finding my vein and plunging the syringe into it.

  “Just a little prick, it’s really quite quick,” she sings. Her voice is getting lower.

  I barely have time to panic. Everything is happening so quickly.

  And the Ilex sisters keep singing. It gets faster and weirder. Their voices are getting progressively lower. They sound demonic.

  “Just sleep,” sings Holly, “count sheep.”

  “You’ll be out,” Ivy harmonizes, “no doubt.”

  I struggle to get up, but the restraints are so tight it is hard to move. I’ve changed my mind. I want to leave. The sisters keep singing faster and faster.

  “Go back in time.”

  “You’ll find the crime.”

  “See what is true.”

  “Unshackle a clue.”

  “It will be revealed, what has been concealed.”

  “I wan … wa.” I look at Lachlan, trying to formulate words, but my tongue is thick and I can barely get any words out. These rhyming women are truly crazy. Why did I agree to this?

  “Just relax, Keeva.” Lachlan’s eyes look worried behind his spectacles. He has been where I am going. He knows the terror which awaits me. “This will help you remember. To go forward, you must go back.”

  I doubt a little serum and a macabre lullaby is going to make me remember anything, but this upside-down day has made me realize that anything is possible.

  “I … I …” I stop struggling, close my eyes and quickly drift into a dream-filled sleep.