by ID Johnson
Christian was gathering his materials and the IAC he had created for Cadence. Once he had the items he needed, he sat down on a stool with wheels and rolled over to where she sat almost fully reclined.
Jamie was standing about a foot away against the wall behind her, waiting to see if she needed him or not, and Aaron was still hanging back by the door. Though she was glad they were both there, she tried to clear her mind of them so that she could just get through the task at hand.
“Alright, Cadence,” Christian said, examining her eyes. “We are going to put the IAC into your right eye. Now, before I begin, let me tell you how this will work, okay? The IAC is a tiny little chip, so small in fact that I can hardly see it unless I look through this magnification lens. I will use some eye drops to numb your eye and then I’ll make a tiny incision on the surface of your eye, on the edge of your cornea, so that the IAC will fit right in. Then, I’ll put some antibiotic drops in your eye and you’ll be all done. I’ll also send some of the drops home with you so you can put a few drops in a couple of times a day for a week or so, to guard against infection and help that eye to heal up nicely. Okay? Do you have any questions about that?” he asked.
Cadence shook her head. It sounded like he knew what he was doing, and she was just hopeful that this was not the one time he made a mistake.
“Good, now, after we’re all finished and the IAC is implanted, it will start doing what it needs to do to connect with your brain. I know it sounds weird and it is. I can remember being in your position not too awfully long ago thinking, ‘This guy is nuts! That’s not going to happen in my head!’ But it does. You’ll start off getting little bits of chatter, and then the next thing you know, Aaron’s waking you up in the middle of the night asking why you left one box blank on a report you filled out.” He laughed at himself, glancing over his shoulder in Aaron’s direction, and Cadence wondered if he told that joke when his boss wasn’t standing in the room. Aaron didn’t seem to mind a little humor at his expense and Christian continued. “So, the whole thing will be up and operational in about three to five days, alright? Do you have any question about the IAC?”
“I have lots of questions about the IAC,” she admitted.
“Okay, that’s great. What we will do is, once it starts to come on, we’ll get your mentor to go over it with you, kind of show you how it works, how to communicate, how to be sure you’ve stopped communicating before you mentally call the person you’ve been talking to a jackass, that sort of thing. Alright?”
“Mentor?” Cadence questioned. “I don’t think I have a mentor.”
“I’m your mentor,” Aaron said from his position in the back of the room.
Cadence was too nervous to catch the exchange of glances between Christian and Jamie. She had no idea that Aaron hadn’t taken on a mentee since he became the leader.
“And really, it could be anyone who knows how to use it. We just usually ask mentors to take care of that sort of thing because it makes it easy to keep track of who is doing what. So if Aaron is too busy to show you how to get it going . . .”
“I’ll show you how to use it,” Aaron interrupted.
“Well, there you go,” Christian said. He didn’t mean his previous comment to be offensive and he let Aaron know that through his own IAC. He could tell by Aaron’s delayed response that he must be working while he was attending this procedure, which wasn’t surprising since he was organizing a hunt for later that night.
“Alright, Cadence, if you are ready, then I’ll go ahead and administer the numbing drops, alright?”
She was as ready as she was ever going to be. He pulled her eyelid open and placed a few drops in her eye. “Alright, go ahead and blink several times. We want to spread that around a little bit. Good,” he said, watching the dye spread to where he needed it to be. “We’re going to let that sit just a minute or two so your eye gets good and numb. Go ahead and close your eyes, and I’m going to give you a clean cloth to press against that eye until it’s had time to set, alright? Just press this on there, lightly, don’t push your eyeball out of the back of your head or anything, and we’ll be ready in just a bit.”
Cadence followed his directions. The room was excruciatingly quite, and she thought they all must be talking about her without her knowing it. In fact, Aaron was working, though he was extremely conscious of what was happening with Cadence. Jamie and Christian were expressing their opinions as to why Aaron would take on Cadence as his mentee.
After a couple of minutes, Christian finally indicated that it was time for Cadence to remove the towel. “How does your eye feel?” he asked.
Cadence blinked her eye rapidly. “It feels kind of weird,” she said. “And my vision is very blurry.”
“Alright, good. I think we’re in business then,” he added. “Next comes the scariest part, but I assure you, I’ve done this hundreds, if not thousands, of times and I’ve never screwed it up yet, okay? You see, I don’t have to make a precision cut in a particular place. I just have to put it somewhere in your cornea and your brain and the chip will work the rest out. If it starts to hurt, let me know immediately by raising your left hand and I’ll stop and, I assume that’s one of the reasons Jamie is here?” She nodded and he turned to get his scalpel. “Okay just look straight ahead and hold perfectly still.”
Cadence was terrified, watching that scalpel come directly at her eye. It was all she could do to keep from jerking away. But she didn’t. And it didn’t hurt either.
“There we go,” Christian said once the incision was made. He turned back to the table to pick up the IAC with a pair of tweezers. Attaching the magnifier to his eye, he clamped on to the chip, made sure it was facing the right direction and turned back to Cadence. He held her eye open with his left hand as he dropped the chip in to the incision.
Cadence jerked backward in the chair, almost causing him to poke her eye with the tweezers. The second the chip hit her eye, she was suddenly flooded with streams of data, both voice and visual. It was as if she were suddenly trapped in the mainframe of a computer database. She was instantly on information overload.
Jamie didn’t know what had happened, but he immediately grabbed her head, causing the incision in her eye to heal over the second his hand touched her. Aaron also hurried to her side and was quickly able to ascertain what the problem was. He could detect her IAC through his own.
“What’s happening?” Jamie asked.
“I don’t know,” Christian replied, shocked. “I don’t think she’s in pain.”
“Shut it off!” Cadence was yelling, unable to hear the volume of her own voice over the ones in her head. “Shut it off!”
“I can’t,” Christian said looking at Aaron.
“Then take it out!” she screamed.
“I can’t do that either,” he admitted. He had watched the incision heal over the instant that Jamie touched her.
“It’s okay, Cadence,” Aaron was saying in the most calm voice he could muster.
“No, it’s not!” she screamed. “You’ve got to do something. It’s too loud! I can’t stand it!”
Aaron gestured for Christian to move and he sat down on the stool. “Cadence, listen to me. I can help you to learn how to control it so you can turn it off yourself, but you’ve got to calm down and listen to me. Alright? You’re panicking and that’s not going to get us anywhere.”
She still couldn’t see out of her right eye very well, but she could see out of her left, and looking into his eyes was enough to make the panic start to subside.
“Take some deep breaths,” he said. “Focus, just like you did in the gym. You’re going to use your brain just like it was a muscle in your body, and your going to turn the IAC off with your brain, alright?”
Cadence suddenly realized she was hearing him through her mind, not through her ears. His mouth wasn’t moving but he was talking to her. Even through all of the other cacophony, Aaron’s voice came through clearly and loudly. She closed her eyes, trying to ignor
e the flood of images and just listened to the sound of his voice.
“The command to turn it completely off is simple. It’s ‘IAC full off.’ That’s all you have to d;, send that signal through your brain to the chip and it will turn completely off."
She attempted to concentrate. She tried repeating the phrase once, but nothing happened. Aaron heard her and reminded her that she needed to calm down or else her own brain wouldn’t understand the command. She tried it once more, and suddenly everything came to a screeching halt. The noise, the pictures, everything was gone. She slumped her head to the side of the chair in relief.
“Did you get it?” Jamie asked.
“Yes,” Aaron confirmed. “She got it."
“But wait,” Christian said, “Why couldn’t you just turn it off for her?”
“I can’t access the controls,” Aaron replied.
“What? How’s that possible? I created her IAC just exactly the same way I’ve created the rest of them. They’re all the same with the exception of yours. How could you possibly be unable to access it?”
“I don’t know,” Aaron said, “but I can’t. I can’t turn it off, and I can’t turn it on. Which means, if she’s ever in a situation where she’s in danger and her IAC isn’t on, there’s no way that I can warn her.” He didn’t like that idea at all, but short of digging the chip out of her eye and replacing it, there wasn’t much he could do. He had a sneaking suspicion that it wasn’t actually the fault of the chip. Clearly, Cadence’s brain had reacted differently to the chip than anyone else’s ever had, and they were just going to have to work around these glitches.
“Let’s get her back to her apartment,” Aaron said to Jamie.
“Do you need any help?” Christian asked, feeling as if this was his fault.
“I think we can manage,” Jamie replied.
Cadence was aware that they were lifting her and suddenly snapped back to reality. “I’m okay,” she said struggling to be put down. With her feet on the ground and Aaron’s arm still wrapped around her waist, she steadied herself on their shoulders for just a moment to get her balance before fully opening her eyes. Her vision looked completely clear, just as it had when she came in. The voices and videos were gone, much to her relief, and she was beginning to regain her sense of self.
“Are you sure you’re okay? Can you walk?” Aaron asked after giving her a moment.
“Yes, I’m fine. Thank you.” She took her coat from him, and Jamie helped her slide it on. “Thank you Christian. I hope you know that this wasn’t your fault. Clearly, this has something to do with my brain,” she stated.
“Well, if there’s anything I can do, please come back in, and I’ll check it, alright?”
She nodded and started to walk toward the door. She had Jamie on one side and Aaron on the other, but she knew she would be just fine. “Guess I don’t need those eye drops then, if you healed me,” she said to Jamie.
“No, I don’t think so,” he said, his arms out and on the ready in case she should happen to get dizzy.
“I really am fine, I promise,” she said and they both relaxed a little bit.
Upon reaching the apartment building, Jamie rode the elevator up with them to the fourth floor, but that’s where his apartment was and Cadence insisted that he get off there. She really was fine so long as she didn’t accidentally turn her IAC back on before she felt confident in her ability to control it.
Once he was out of the elevator, she wrapped her arms around Aaron’s waist and just let him hold her. It had been a long day, and she really didn’t care at this point what was appropriate and what wasn’t.
When they reached their floor, he took her hand and led her over to her door. “Why don’t you let me come in for a few minutes and make sure you’re alright?” he asked.
She hesitated only because she knew he had to leave soon, and she was afraid that, once he came inside, she would be reluctant to let him go. But she agreed, and he took her key and let her into the apartment.
Cadence dropped onto the end of the sofa, sinking into the cushion. She finally felt like she could relax and completely let the terrifying sensation of not being able to control her own brain release.
“Can I get you anything?” Aaron asked.
She patted the couch next to her, indicating that she wanted him to sit down, which he did, and she rested her head on his shoulder. She didn’t say anything for a moment, just rested, trying to reorganize her thoughts. She could feel his hand running through her hair and was aware of how nice it felt. She seemed very conscious of just how good he smelled as well. It was as if her senses were trying to reclaim their own territory. “Thank you for coming with me,” she said quietly into his neck.
Aaron was very mindful of the warmth of her breath on his neck, her lips hovering just beyond his flesh. “You’re welcome,” he said just above a whisper.
“If you hadn’t been there . . .”
“Mmm, but I was. That’s all that matters.”
She was starting to drift off to sleep, the adrenaline leaving her bloodstream causing her to suddenly become very drowsy.
“Cadence?” he asked. He felt her eyelids flutter against him and knew she was almost asleep. “Do you want me to carry you to your bed?”
She mumbled something and he took it to be a yes. He carefully scooped her up into his arms and carried her to the bedroom. She hadn’t even taken off her coat so he carefully pulled that off of her, removed her boots, and slid her between the covers. She opened her eyes a few times, but she didn’t say anything and he knew she was mentally and physically exhausted.
He sat down next to her on the bed and gently brushed the hair away from her face. “I’m going to go, okay?”
“Okay,” she whispered without opening her eyes.
“Sweet dreams,” he said softly kissing the top of her head. As much as he wanted to stay with her, he had a Rogue Vampire to catch.
Chapter Ten
Cadence had received a text message that morning from Aaron, checking to see how she was doing and asking if she felt up to meeting him at 10:00 for training. She was feeling just fine and was out the door by 9:30. This morning was a little different than the day before, however. They were joined by another Hunter, Meagan, and her trainer, Shane. Meagan had been there for almost six weeks and she was preparing for her first Observation Hunt the next night. Aaron thought that, if Meagan could successfully spar with Cadence, there was a possibility that she might be ready to go on an observation. This in spite of the fact that Cadence had never sparred with anyone before, and Meagan had been doing so almost daily for the last several weeks.
The type of sparing these ladies would be performing did not involve boxing gloves, however. It involved full-on hand-to-hand combat. Aaron had already seen Cadence in action and was aware that she knew how to trust her instincts. With Meagan, they weren’t quite sure. The opponents she had practiced against previously were all either newbies or Guardians sent back for remediation. Now, with Cadence, they would be able to tell if she were anywhere near ready for combat with an actual Vampire.
Aaron gave Cadence fairly general directions. “Pretend she’s a Vampire. Act as if you are trying kill her, but don’t really hurt her. Understand?”
She had understood. Meagan and Shane did have one small advantage, however, they were able to communicate via IAC whereas Cadence had not attempted to turn hers back on yet. Nevertheless, Aaron was confident in her ability to defeat Meagan with minimal coaching from him.
The first round was not even close. Meagan was nowhere near as fast as Cadence was. Cadence had her pinned in less than ten seconds. The second round it took her a bit longer but only because Cadence decided to let Meagan move first. After that, the trainers tried various tactics to make it more even and to hinder Cadence, such as only allowing her to use one arm or tying a blindfold around her eyes. Despite all of these obstructions, Cadence was still successful every single time.
And yet Aaron and Shane were
also very impressed with what Meagan showed them in the ring. For an average Hunter, she was doing great against a formidable opponent. Time and again they watched her make moves that would have most like been effective if Cadence hadn’t been quite so fast or quite so agile.
After a few hours in the ring, Aaron left Cadence to work on the drills they had covered the day before. He let her know that he would be coming by that evening to work on her IAC. As always, he had an insurmountable amount of work to do but he trusted her to do the exercises she was told to complete and do them to the best of her ability. She had had only one question. “When do I get to learn how to use the guns?”
“Tomorrow,” Aaron had replied, amused at her enthusiasm.
Cadence stayed at the gym most of the afternoon. She was able to get in several reps of the exercises she had learned the day before, and since her endurance seemed to last a lot longer than it used to, she continued to work out. At one point, Jamie came in while she was on the treadmill and checked on her. He was relieved to see she had fully recovered from the incident with the IAC, and he gave her a few pointers for improving her endurance. Cadence was glad things were not as awkward as they had been the night before. She really cared about Jamie, even if she wasn’t interested in dating him, and hated to think he might have his feelings hurt because of something she did.
Overall, Cadence felt like it was an extremely productive day. By the time Aaron knocked on her door at 8:30, she had showered, eaten dinner, and taken a few minutes to relax with her copy of Cosmo.
“Hey,” she said as she opened the door. He was dressed in his hunting attire, all black, so she knew he was on his way out.
“Hi, how was the rest of your day?” he asked as he entered the apartment.
“Great! How was yours?” She offered him a seat on the couch and sat down next to him.
“Busy,” he replied, honestly. “And not over yet. I’m about to catch a flight to Denver in just a bit so I can’t stay too long,” he explained.