by K. T. Hanna
Author: K.T. Hanna
Content Edits: Jami Nord
Copy Editor: Rebecca Weston
Cover Artist: S.P. McConnell
Layout & Formatting: Caitlin Greer
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction.
Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Copyright © 2015 Katie Hanna
All rights reserved.
ISBN:
ISBN-13:
For Trevor
Because even at my worst, you love me like my best.
Droves of addicts litter the dirty pavement the closer Bastian gets to Block 63. While Markus navigates the Gerts125 through the human refuse, Bastian scans the streets. He tries to avoid the vacant gazes of the Shined, lost staring at the holes in their veins and the stars in the sky, drool running down their chins to pool on the fetid ground. Shine abuse is blatant in the city’s outskirts.
The next shockwave hits sooner than it should. Psionic abilities don’t normally awaken violently, but Bastian can sense she’s a Rare. At this proximity he no longer needs his wristband’s help to pinpoint her, but glances at the beeping indicator to avoid arousing suspicion, before silencing it with a brief jolt of power.
Another shockwave warps the air under their vehicle. Bastian doesn’t wait for the transport to stabilize, but steps out as it slows and shades his eyes as Block 63 implodes.
Flames envelop the upper floors of the four apartment towers. Pieces of concrete cascade down the outer walls. Amidst the chaos, he can sense her panic, bewilderment, and—above all—her utter exhaustion. The fact that he’s still standing there, that the area around him isn’t in flames, means she pulled some of the force back into herself somehow.
Panicked screams and distant sirens make it hard to focus. The thin layer of Shine permeating the mess doesn’t help either, and Bastian refuses to think about the potential death toll. The surrounding blocks should be safe as long as the emergency forces can contain the blaze.
Smoke and ash obscure Bastian’s vision, and he has to close his eyes to focus. He listens for a moment, picking up her—Sai’s—incoherent inner diatribe, which leads him to the botanica. The vegetation once protected within has already started to wilt, and the glass walls of the small atrium lie shattered in a perfect circle around the girl.
She sits in the center, blinking tears away as silver power tendrils wind their way through black irises, leaving her eyes unfocused. Blood from a cut on her forehead mingles with dark hair, lending it a dull red gleam in the flickering light. Her flannel nightshirt is tattered. She clutches it as she rocks back and forth. Pieces of glass embedded in her back glitter through the shirt, but he’ll deal with that later. Her state of mind is the more pressing matter.
“Sai?” Bastian puts a little suggestion behind it—that she can trust him, that he will help her. He has to be careful, though. Her mind is raw from the awakening blast. She continues to rock back and forth, so he repeats himself a little louder. “Sai?”
She looks up at him and blinks, only tears left streaming down her face. Her mouth opens, but no words come out.
Bastian reaches out a hand and waits for her to take it. For a few moments, her eyes dart wildly. He can sense the turmoil—her instincts telling her to run, her mind urging her to go with him. She slides her hand into his, and he tugs her up.
Markus waits at the end of the street, a scowl on his face as he leans against his door.
“We didn’t make it in time after all.” He gestures toward the buildings, and his voice carries over the sound of the emergency vehicles as they hiss to a halt next to him.
“Obviously,” Bastian says as he motions for Sai to get in the back of the car. A second before the door closes, panic crosses her face, but she sticks out her chin and hugs her chest instead. Her erratic thoughts threaten to break the fragile facade she’s holding onto.
“At least we saved her,” Bastian says softly as he slides into his seat. “Let’s get her to the facility.”
Markus grunts as he turns the transport back on. “I still don’t believe that young thing caused so much damage.”
Bastian shrugs and glances at the girl in the rearview mirror. Her face is mostly hidden by shadows, and her eyes are as wary as her thoughts.
“She did most of it, though some of the sparks ignited the building’s filtration system. We’re lucky the emergency dampeners still work in this sector or the chain reaction would have spread through the city.”
“How can you be so calm? Won’t they have your hide for this?” Markus steps on the gas and takes them away from the dregs of the city.
Bastian stops observing Sai long enough to chuckle. “No. I’m psionic, not a fortune teller. I’m only as good as the signals I receive, and frankly the onset of puberty is unpredictable. Besides...” He pauses to watch her twirl her blood-stained hair around her fingers. She counts to ten slowly in her head, loud enough for him to hear, and reminds herself to breathe. Over and over.
Markus prompts him. “Besides?”
“This doesn’t happen often. Do you remember a last time?”
Markus shakes his head. “Is she special?”
“Pardon?” It’s not like Markus to pry into Bastian’s business.
“Can she do something special?”
“Besides blow up an entire block?” Bastian laughs. “Not...not really.”
The “not yet” echoes silently in his head. Just a few more years and he won’t have to fight alone anymore.
Sweat drips in her eyes, reminding Sai how ineffectual eyebrows actually are. She rolls away from her training partner, defending herself with an ease defined by four years of practice. Being the smallest in all her classes makes her an easy target to pick on, but no one has tried it more than once. She positions her hands to better protect her face.
One more test and everything will be worth it.
But one more test is deceptive. They’re all aware of the ones whose minds break. The mutterings and the hollow eyes. The inability to recover that leads to them never being seen again. And those are the lucky ones. Sai’s seen the mangled remains wheeled out of the examination areas. Not everyone survives the final examination. Maybe not everyone is meant to.
After decimating a city block and killing and injuring over a thousand people four years earlier, Gerts, Newton, & Williams United Conglomerate will never let Sai forget they own her, that she and everyone else in the training facility live only as long as GNW sees fit.
“Fifty-Two! Where is your head?”
Sai snaps to attention, her train of thought broken, and narrowly avoids Eighteen’s punch to her face. She dodges to the side and grabs her opponent’s right shoulder with both hands, smoothly bringing her knee up into the girl’s stomach.
“That’s better.” Her instructor, Ms. Genna, glances down at her reader and pokes at the screen before moving onto the next students.
Sai wishes she could read those notes, know something about her fate. As she continues to spar, she feels a desperation that isn’t her own. Eighteen’s shields are weak, and her fears and emotions trickle through intermittently.
Like everyone else, the girl is scared on the inside but refuses to show it on the outside. It’s a pity Sai can hear the panic in her head. The bravado is ruined when half the room can skim your thoughts if your shielding isn’t tight enough.
Sai watches her opponent as they circle each other in identical stances—hands up, knees slightly bent, ready to react.
They’ve sparred
numerous times over the last few years. Eighteen was one of the first people Sai used to convince others to leave her alone. This might be the last time she sees her, and the pang of regret takes Sai by surprise.
“That’s enough for today.” Ms. Genna sticks the stylus behind her ear. “Rest up for your final tomorrow. You’ll need it.” Her parting grin as she leaves the hall is laced with derision.
Sai stays behind to grab a drink bottle and towel. Twenty-Nine pushes in with a smirk and snatches a water straight out of her hands.
“Didn’t see you there...” The false smile doesn’t reach Twenty-Nine’s eyes, even though they crinkle with the expression. Sai shrugs and watches as the girl turns to leave with the rest of the class. They file out in groups of two and three, friendships they’ve made and maintained over the years, even as their numbers have dwindled. Sai’s never been close to anyone. Not after Block 63.
She knows there are no longer fifty-two people in her class. Many have disappeared over the years, but after the example set when Sixteen asked where someone was, no one let on they cared again.
The scent of lemon lingers in the air as she makes her way through the corridors and back to her room. Her feet make so little noise on the pristine tiles, she can hear the soft whir of cameras tracking her every move.
A murmured mantra leaks from the walls, in the perfect loop her benefactors demand.
For your own safety, please do not leave your designated areas. Report any unauthorized personnel immediately. Remember, the future of GNW depends on you.
Sai’s room is sparsely furnished, like everything at the facility. Necessity, not indulgence. The steel bed, desk, and chair have been her home since she arrived. Whether or not she survives tomorrow, everything will change.
With the door closed and the cameras locked out, she’s finally alone with her thoughts. They’re the only thing not monitored consistently. Sai lies down on the bed and twists a strand of hair around her finger.
“I will not fail. I will succeed. I will not be broken,” she whispers to the stark white walls. The words comfort her, even if the memories in her head do the opposite. Sixteen slammed against the wall so hard blood dripped out his ears, nose and mouth. All for asking where his sparring partner went. Older students in previous years carted out of exam rooms in such broken states her mind still can’t comprehend.
She clenches her fists and continues her mantra in her head. The faint smell of disinfectant comforts her and helps her drift off to sleep.
Sai rolls over and blinks her eyes open. The lemon scent is gone, and the bed is hard. Pain rips through her abdomen, and she curls into a ball.
“C’mon out, Sai. There’s someone I want you to meet.”
Shivers convulse her slim frame at the sound of her mother’s voice beyond the door. All Sai can think of is the pain in her body and just how much she doesn’t want to meet the other person outside.
“Sai-y.”
Her mother’s tones are velvet. It’s the voice she uses whenever she wants something, which is most of the time.
Sai claws her way into an upright position, trying to ignore the throbbing in her temples. She opens her mouth to speak, but thinks better of it. Any sign of acquiescence and her mother will take it as an invitation into the room.
Instead, she pushes herself off the bed and stumbles to the door. Fumbling at the handle until it clicks, she opens it a fraction, only to have her mother push it in the rest of the way.
The woman’s pupils are dilated, and her face shows the same Shined-out expression Sai’s grown so used to. All of the wonder and love in that gaze are directed at whatever fantasy is playing out in her mother’s brain. None of it at Sai.
“What?” Sai keeps her tone flat. Disdain is a waste of energy on a woman who won’t notice it.
Her mother smiles, an empty, vapid expression. “You’re old enough now.”
“Old enough?” Sai fights the urge to double over as another throb of pain echoes through her.
“To earn your keep. To bring in money.”
Sai backs up a step, suddenly wary. She’s seen how her parents earn their keep. With the moans in the night and the strange visitors who leave at dawn. Very little money filters back to Sai. “Earn?”
She sees the shadow move in the corridor behind her mother and knows even before the person speaks that it’s a man.
“Hey, Sai...” He’s tall and built, but not clean. Not even as clean as Sai tries to keep herself. His eyes are as dilated as her mother’s, and sweat slicks back the hair on his head. The smell of body odor is cloying, and Sai steps back, but not quick enough. His hand brushes her arm and revulsion almost makes her retch.
Despite the pounding in her head and the pain in her abdomen, she has one amazing moment of clarity. She looks down at where his skin touches her own and back to her mother.
“I will never be like you,” Sai whispers, fighting the tears and the pain. Taking advantage of the momentary confusion and reactions slowed by Shine, she barrels through the adults, wrenching the door to the outside open.
“Sai!” Just before the door shuts behind her, Sai hears her mother let out a pent-up breath and giggle. “She’s not ready yet. Will I do?”
Nothing else follows Sai as she runs around the concrete veranda to get to the stairs. If she can make it to the botanica, maybe she’ll be safe. Maybe she can pretend her parents never existed. Maybe she can pretend she’s worth the time they’ve never spent on her.
The grass is cool against her skin, and she clutches her nightshirt around her legs as the pain in her head and body increases. She scrunches her toes and smells the faint scent of the now broken grass stems. The ground shakes lightly beneath her, and Sai frowns, momentarily distracted from her nightmares of what will happen if she goes back to the apartment.
Nausea overwhelms her suddenly, and she clutches her stomach, screaming out in pain before she blacks out.
All she can smell when she comes to is the smoke. Not even the shattered glass embedded in her back registers as she looks up at what used to be the concrete block she lived in. She stares at the flames and the rubble, at the already withering plants around her, and knows with certainty she was somehow responsible.
Sai blinks at the sudden light and pushes the dream to the back of her mind. Today is not a day for distracting nightmares. Remembering her parents’ apathy won’t get her through the exam.
The dim morning light filters down through the slit in the wall that serves as her window. It’s too small for her to even squeeze through, assuming she could reach it in the first place. Not that there’s anywhere to escape to outside, anyway.
Dressed in training gear, she heads to the cafeteria. The tension in the air is thick and choking even before she reaches the line. She accepts the mash doled out to her and forces it down, trying not to think too hard about what makes it grey.
No one in the room makes eye contact, not even the friends who left training laughing with each other the day before. Everyone knows what the final exam means. There is no positive spin to put on it.
Her last bite of food threatens to stick in her throat, but she washes it down with water and heads to the examination rooms.
Trainers suffuse the hall and foyer outside, finding the students they’re in charge of and metering out supplies. Ms. Genna catches Sai’s attention and motions her over. “Student Fifty-Two, enrolled 2350 via GNW United Conglomerate 17?”
Sai nods and clenches her fists at her side, hating her full designation.
“That’s the spirit.” The sarcasm in Ms. Genna’s voice makes Sai cringe inwardly. “Your cubicle will be ready after the first round of examinees enter their rooms. Stay in the waiting area until I call you.”
The allocated room is small with a bench encircling a training mat. Everyone sits, eyes riveted to the GNW logo in the middle. If they’re anything like Sai, they’re imagining the worst possible encounter and figuring out a way through it.
From pieces
of thought strong enough to break through the shielding of others in the room, she can tell they know it, too. No one in this room wants to fail, but the chances of success aren’t good. If you owe GNW a debt of gratitude, it’s their privilege to keep only the strongest.
One by one, the room empties. By the time her number is called, she feels an odd sense of finality.
Her cubicle is small and dimly lit by a buzzing light. There’s just enough room for her to change into the sleek black clothes piled neatly on the bench. She traces her fingers over the subtly strong material and the GNW logo embossed over the shoulders.
As she dresses, a sinking feeling forms in the pit of her stomach. This Sparring gear denotes physical fighting. Though quick and light on her feet, even one direct hit to her head wipes her out.
There is no time for doubt. She’s been at their mercy since she was twelve.
Sai squares her shoulders and pushes the door open. She frowns at the tall and lanky man standing there. His dark hair partially obscures some of his face, but the piercing pale eyes catch the light and make her pause. Something about him is eerily familiar.
He motions her over. “Are you ready, Sai?”
She starts as he says her name but masks her shock quickly with a nod. No one in the facility uses her name. It’s forbidden. Students are numbers. The familiarity of his voice nags at her, and she has to concentrate on his words.
“You will face single, double, and triple waves of attackers. They will be human, psionic and domino. You know what a domino is, yes?”
“Yes, sir.”
He nods and continues. “Human combat requires physical prowess. The psionic waves require that you only use your mind. Against the dominos, you need to combine your combat knowledge of both. After all three waves, you’ll face a combination of two or all for the final fight of your test.” He waits for a moment, his eyes never leaving hers, and she can’t help but wonder why someone so young is in a position to be giving her instructions.
“You will be observed through the whole process. Do not use the incorrect type of force against your opponents, or you will fail.” He pauses. “And make sure to stay on your toes. A direct hit from anyone will end you.”