Halcyon's Hero (Atramento Book 1)
Page 10
Natasha let out a breath she hadn’t realised she kept in. “What illness did he have?”
Hal picked up some things that were knocked over by the man, “He had syphilis. Last stages. Eating away at his mind though I would say he lost that a long time ago.”
Natasha hesitated, but curiosity won out. “What do you think he did to hurt people? Did you really see that in his aura?”
Hal said, “The aura can only tell me some things. No, I saw how he watched the kids.”
Natasha was sick. She hadn’t realised it was that bad. Hal hesitated at the curtain out of the room and looked over her shoulder.
“You’re not like Misha. You don’t see the dark the way he does.”
Natasha said, “I lived with happy parents in a happy world, away from all of this.”
Hal sounded sad as she said, “If only everyone could grow up like that.”
___
Natasha cleaned the kitchen counter. Since she really was living here rent free, she cleaned and cooked when she was able. She had noticed Misha did the same. Maybe he wasn’t as secure as she imagined him to be with Hal.
Hal stomped into the room with her heavy boots. “Come here.”
Natasha looked up at Hal. She put the cloth away as she doubted she would be getting much work done if Hal had a project in mind for her.
“Go where?”
Natasha followed her though as Hal made her way out of the kitchen.
“You need a atramento.”
“A atramento?”
“Come on Natasha, you’re sounding like a parrot. I want to put a tattoo on you. Misha’s out and I have an idea.”
Natasha grinned at the surly nature of Misha’s girlfriend.
“Oh, and what is this atramento going to do?”
Misha had explained his tattoos were something important. She thought he would have avoided tattoos as they were too much like the gangs.
“Sight. Well, I think it will help you see better, though the balance one didn’t work how I thought it would so anything could happen.”
Hal frowned as her mind wandered. Natasha wasn’t going to say no to the tattoos. Misha said they were fantastic and he was never exuberant over anything. She followed Hal as she made her way to the tattoo chair and didn’t bother to say anything.
Hal reminded Natasha of her aunt when she went on one of her art forays. She would spend days in a daze as her mind worked over all the details. She would start conversations only to forget halfway through what she was saying.
Natasha missed her. When she had the cardiac arrest, it had taken everyone by surprise. Misha was nineteen, but when his mother died, it was like he was a boy again. Even her father had come to the funeral even though he did not get on well with his brother’s wife.
When they got to the parlour and she was told to take off her shirt Natasha was glad Misha was out. She didn’t want to surprise him by how much she had changed over the years. The last time they had spent this much time together was when his father had died and Misha was sent to live with them for three months while his mother got on her feet to support the two of them.
Natasha lay on her stomach and rested her head on her arms. “Is this going to hurt?”
Her answer was straightforward and without hesitation.
“Probably. This is going up the spine and pretty close to the bone so, probably.”
Natasha had to chuckle. “You aren’t very good at lying.”
“I wasn’t lying. This will probably hurt. Besides, why would I lie? You are about to find out soon enough that it’s going to hurt,” she brought her face closer to hers, “are you going to bail?”
“No. Call me curious.”
“Well, Curious here we go.”
It didn’t hurt as much as she expected. Also, she found Hal was easy to talk to, while her mind was busy on something else.
“So, Hal why are you so grumpy with people?”
“Mmmm, why bother?” Hal’s voice was distracted as she worked.
“Because then they might be your friend.”
“Argh, I’ve tried that. By the time I was in high school, I was already correcting books written by professors. Not that my parents cared. They just thought I was an antisocial idiot. They kept buying me girly things.” Natasha winced, but it wasn’t from the needle.
“That was after the war. Probably the first time they could get you something nice.”
“I would have preferred combat boots to the fairy princess crap they got me. I think the best thing they did was leave when I was fourteen. I got this place and I think I’ve been my happiest here.”
The straightforward way she said it meant she didn’t expect any sympathy. Natasha was amazed though that she was mature enough to live on her own at fourteen. Natasha turned her head away because she didn’t want Hal to see the sheen of tears in her eyes.
Natasha missed her mother, but one thing she could say about both her parents was they loved her and even partly understood her. She could not imagine growing up with strangers even if they were blood.
___
Waha found Misha at the hospital. He leaned against the door and looked in at the boy.
“Is he going to live?”
Waha whispered as the hospital was in one of those quiet moments, where all you could hear was the beeps of the machines.
“Probably, but the doctors say he has a good chance of brain damage.”
Misha turned to look at Waha who was dressed as he usually was. It was strange to remember him from the photo at the Enforcer’s building.
“Thanks for the help.”
“Not sure whether it was helping. There is no cure for Ambrosia. You can’t just detox or something.”
Misha stared at him, then back at the still form of Jacob, who seemed so small in the hospital bed.
“Halcyon says Ambrosia is Marcus’ baby.”
Waha confirmed it with a short nod of his head. “I heard you had some trouble with him. I’m surprised he hasn’t made another move against you guys.”
Misha had thought the same until he had asked Halcyon about it.
“He lives in some nice building and we happen to know the owners. They threatened to kick him out and he would have to live with roaches in the sewers. They did throw out some of his muscle just to prove they could do it. If he makes a move, it will be massive. He’ll bide his time.”
Waha shifted nervously on his feet.
“The Enforcers have looked very closely at Marcus. His drug came out of nowhere. It looks like he got hold of one of your girlfriend’s gadgets and used it to combine three of the most dangerous street drugs out there. The problem is once you try it you can’t stop. Literally. You’ll die. It replaces something essential in the brain. The scientists have no idea how to reverse the effects.”
He nodded towards the boy in the bed. “He’s one of the lucky ones. You see, your girlfriend’s gadget has allowed the Enforcers to make their own Ambrosia. They’ll put the boy and others into rehab and give them the minimum. Put them through trials and see what parts of the drug they can take out and stuff.”
“Her name is Halcyon.”
Waha gave him a look of disbelief and said gently, “You’re in love.”
Misha stood up away from the doorway. “Thanks anyway, Waha.”
There was a long pause. “No one knows.”
Misha frowned, confused at the quick change in subject. “Knows what?”
Waha rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “Who I am.”
Misha smiled as he finally understood what he talked about. “Did you think we would tell?”
Waha shrugged and kicked the ground with his shoes. Misha wondered if he would look younger if he bowed his head like the shy kid he was acting. “I thought you might let it slip at least. I can trust you, can’t I?”
“What you are doing Waha is very dangerous, but nah, we won’t rat you out.”
He turned to leave, then decided to give Waha something.
Waha said, “Who gives a rat about auras?”
Misha lightly touched one tattoo that ran down his arm. It was meant for balance, but so far it hadn’t shown up as he had expected. Instead, he was calmer. Surer of what was inside him. He grinned at Waha. “You’d be surprised.”
Once he was gone Misha found a seat in the waiting room. He wasn’t there long when Halcyon arrived. She had a plastic container in a bag and passed it to him. She sat down with a sigh.
He studied the bag and she said, “They always have terrible food here. I think more people die from the food than illnesses.”
She would know about hospital food.
He peeked inside the bag and asked, “What is it?”
She said, “How the heck should I know. Chin Sun made it.”
Misha frowned, confused. “Chin Sun?”
“Mmm, Kim Si’s wife. She’s nice and she’s like you. She likes to feed people. Is that how you guys show love?”
He smiled at her. “One of the ways.”
He placed the food on the coffee table that was in front of him and put his arm around her.
Halcyon sighed and he said, “Thank you for coming.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I didn’t come for you. I needed to get away. There was a whole line of people who needed to be checked over for their EMF’s and you weren’t there to deal with them.”
He went still. “Was it bad?”
“Some old lady helped out. It was fine. Just—I need you back.”
Misha kissed her temple. “Jacob is in a coma. His family is a little bit fragile at the moment. I just wanted to be around if something went wrong and they needed help.”
Halcyon was silent for a long time and asked, “Does that make things easier? I mean having someone there when things go bad?”
“I’ve found it does. Though to be honest, there isn’t much I can do. They know it and so do I. It’s just that we can comfort each other.”
___
Natasha sat still for ages. The world seemed, well more real than she had ever seen it. Hal was at her workshop already and asked, “So?”
“Did you ask Misha these kinds of questions?”
“Yes, and he wasn’t so squeamish answering. You are my experiment and I can’t judge the results if you won’t explain what you are feeling. Just suck it up.”
Hal tapped her data pad impatiently. Natasha sighed and ran a hand over her face and tried to organise her thoughts.
“It isn’t that I’m squeamish, it is just—and well, I don’t know how to answer. The world just looks different. How or why it is different, I’m not sure. It even feels different when I close my eyes.”
Hal tapped away, obviously making some conclusions from her vague answer.
“Anything extra? I mean like colours and stuff.” Colours she could talk about. Every colour around her was more vibrant and textured than she had ever seen. She wanted to reach out and touch things to make sure they really felt like they appeared.
“Yeah, a little. It is almost like there is coloured smoke around everything.”
Natasha must have said something that intrigued the little genius as Hal spun around in her chair. “Around everything?”
She waved her hand through the little curls of smoke and they followed for a time before going back to wisp around the object. “Yeah, but they are different around you and that thing you are making.”
Hal grinned like a cat in the cream. “Those are EM fields you are seeing. You’ll get used to them. I knew there had to be a natural way for us to see them. I have bioware behind my eyes that allow me to see what you are seeing naturally.”
Hal tapped the curved monstrosity that was in pieces on her worktable. “The reason this gadget is different is that I’ve made it alive.” Hal glared at it for a while. “Well, in an artificial sense. When I manipulate inanimate objects, I artificially create an EM Field that you would see around humans or even animals. Not that there are many animals around.”
Most animals had died during climate change. Cats and dogs were pretty much it and you had to be rich to get a license to own one of those. Natasha knew of people who had goldfish though. Apparently, they had survived because they were terrible to eat and even starving people couldn’t pallet them. Birds as pets were more common and chickens were everywhere. Even Hal had a few in a large cage next to the hydroponics.
Hal grinned at her; her hands peaked together like that old guy from the Simpsons show. “You any good at inking?”
Natasha shrugged, wondering why the conversation had gone down this path. “I can spot weld like a surgeon. Does that count?”
Hal turned into the Cheshire cat and patted Natasha’s shoulder. “I can work with that. I can certainly work with that.”
___
Misha had worried when Ari wasn’t at the Centre for class. By the time he finished up, the boy lurked at the edges of the large workout room that was the hub of the Centre. Misha didn’t want to spook him so he went to the water fountain. Ari slinked up and said softly, “Thank you.”
Misha stared at the boy. He appeared older. It was hard to see someone so young who had to act a decade older.
“It was nothing. I hope you can always come to me with stuff like that.”
Ari bowed his head, his hands deep in his pockets and his feet shifting from side to side. He was too shy now to thank him in public. He ruffled the boy’s hair to encourage him.
“Your battle isn’t over.”
Ari shook his head and glanced up long enough for him to see the steel in the boy’s spine.
“The doctors say if he comes out of the coma, he will be alright, but the drugs—Well, they said there were some breakthroughs and he should be fine, but it’s going to take a long time.”
Misha could see the fear and sadness in the tense shoulders of the boy. “You stick by your mom. She will need you. Heroes don’t run away.”
There was a tremor in the boy’s voice as he said, “I’m not a hero.”
Misha wanted to say something to him to make him aware he was stronger than many adults.
Before he could think of anything Ari said, “She kicked out that loser boyfriend of hers. Said she didn’t want anyone that was on drugs in her home no more.”
“That’s good.”
The boy shrugged. Misha placed his hand on his shoulder. “Ari, it wasn’t your fault Jacob got into the drugs. He understood what it meant. It was his choice.”
Tears sparkled in Ari’s eyes. “I dared him to, Misha. I said if he was so brave and strong—It’s all my fault.”
“If I told you to light yourself on fire to be a man, would you?”
Ari shook his head, but Misha knew no matter what he said it wouldn’t get through. Feelings didn’t have rationality. Misha sighed. “Hang in there, Ari. I swear it gets better over time.”
“I hope it does because I feel like crap now.”
___
“Misha?”
He looked up from the kitchen sink where he leaned for a very long time. Halcyon was in her usual white t-shirt and blue overalls. He finished pouring himself a glass of water. He put it down on the counter though, and instead asked, “Where is Natasha?”
“Asleep. I gave her a atramento and she is taking a while to get used to it.”
Halcyon came up to him and wrapped her arms around him. He bent his head and just held her. It was the first time she had instigated touch between them first.
She said after a long time, “I like Natasha.”
He smiled, warm inside after a long while in the cold. “Making friends, are you?”
“I don’t have friends.”
He could feel her shrug in his arms.
“I think you do, sweetheart. They are the ones that put up with your abysmal manners.”
Misha was glad he could turn his mind away from that day. Tears blurred his vision for a
second. She hadn’t asked how his day was because she knew. She understood he just needed someone to hold him. The silly conversation was merely a distraction.
“Why should I have manners? It is just a waste of time.”
Halcyon still stood there with her arms around him. Wasting her time with him. He breathed her in and enjoyed the warmth that spread from her to him.
After a long time, she asked, “How are the boys?”
“Both of them are a long way from being all right. Jacob is going to be in hospitals for the rest of his life and Ari blames himself for his brother’s idiotic choices. So, no happy endings there.”
She wriggled in his arms, but not to escape, rather get more comfortable.
“There are never any happy endings when you throw greed and drugs together.”
Misha smoothed a hand through her hair.
After a long time, she said, “When Marcus had his goons attack—”
He smiled because he was thinking of the same thing.
“You are asking about the kiss?”
She settled in his arms. “Yeah.”
“Did you like it?”
Misha hoped she had because it was a rushed affair as he had seriously thought Marcus would kill one of them that night and he couldn’t let that happen without first finding out if there was something between them. He had unleashed the Kraken that night and it was a struggle to wait until she was comfortable to bring it up.
“I’ve never been kissed before.”
He relished figuring out where her mind wandered and figuring out what she meant when she used a statement like that.
“Different then, but enjoyable?” Misha asked.
“Well, I thought I could do some experiments and see if you change any of the variables if the experience changes.”
He rubbed his cheek over her hair. “Let’s go to the couch and see if we can change those variables.”
She had certainly helped him forget the horrible day he had, had.
Chapter Eight
Whatinga: August 2086
They saw someone approach the courtyard from the street. Misha climbed down the ladder to stand next to Hal. They were putting in improvements to the warehouse security while they could.