by Nikita Spoke
“I can’t stay,” she said as soon as the door had shut behind her, “but I thought you should know that one of the families disobeyed orders and snuck out. The cure is spreading.” She winked at Jemma, then banged on the door three times. She paused, holding the door before it shut, calling back to Jemma, “Enjoy your meal!”
Jemma tried to, really, but she couldn’t get comfortable, not on her cot or on her floor. She was sore all over, and she was distracted by the fact that her head still hurt. Now that she’d been cured, shouldn’t her head be feeling better, at least? Her eyesight was about the same, too.
She remembered Dr. Harris’s unvoiced concerns that the damage done could be permanent, and she set down her still-full fork. Some jobs, she’d be fine continuing if her eyesight remained like this, but her job at the library? She knew they probably couldn’t technically fire her for a disability, if they hadn’t yet fired her for her absence, but she wouldn’t feel confident working around books with such a small portion of her eyesight actually functional, not without some major changes to compensate.
She shook her head. She was borrowing trouble. If all went well, she’d be out of here tomorrow, or however long it took for everything to fall apart now that voices had returned. She needed to eat, to keep her strength up, to be ready for whatever else might come at her in the meantime.
CHAPTER TEN:
Protest
Jemma was immediately put on edge when Heidi wasn’t the guard who retrieved her from her cell the next morning. She stopped moving entirely in the entrance to her lab when she saw that only Josh was in the room.
She felt a strong shove from her guard, and she jumped at the gruff, “Go on.” She rubbed her arm, trying to decide whether it’d be better to take her chances with angering the guard than it would be to continue further into the room where Josh sat, entirely too still.
After a few seconds, she swallowed and walked forward, taking her seat without looking at Josh, concentrating instead on the fact that her guard stayed inside the room. Surely he wouldn’t let any real harm come to her. She refused to think back on any of the painful things Josh had already done with a guard present.
The silence stretched out. Minutes passed.
“Imagine my surprise,” said Josh finally, his voice surprisingly rich and low, “when we started looking into who had activated the cure and found out that the only person who was present at the time, according to the logs, was me.” Jemma continued to watch the guard, the blurriness of her peripheral vision effectively keeping Josh’s face in a haze. “We tried to watch the security tapes, but somebody tampered with those.” Jemma made a mental note to thank Heidi profusely if she ever got a chance. “So of course, there’s no way to prove that it was you, but I’d stake my reputation on it.”
She heard him stand, and she closed her eyes while he hooked her to the monitor.
“I thought you were on my side, Jemma. You came back, after all. I thought you wanted to help me figure all this out, find the answers, whatever it took.” He spoke in almost a sing-song, soothing tone that did absolutely nothing to help Jemma relax. “Instead, you fought me. You cut our sessions short just because things hurt a bit or because you couldn’t see. Why would you need to see if you could speak to the entire world, Jemma? I was helping you, not hurting you. I was helping all of us.”
Jemma remained silent, still, her eyes shut.
“You can speak now, you know. Of course you know. It’s entirely your fault. You ended it too soon, and we might not be able to replicate any of the results with the telepathy since we didn’t have time to isolate which parts were done with your mind naturally and which parts were done with the nanocreatures’ adjustments. I’ve got some serums to try, of course, to see whether we can get any results. And before you ask, no, Dr. Harris isn’t here to stop me before we can even get started. He’s left, along with most of the guards and at least half of the experts. You’ve ruined everything, Jemma.”
She opened her eyes, sending a pleading look toward the guard. He at least had the decency to send her an apologetic glance in return, but then he looked away.
He wasn’t going to save her from whatever Josh had in mind for this session.
She had to at least try to avoid what he might give her. She was already falling apart. “You’re trying it without any serums first, right? You’re intelligent enough to establish a baseline, and that’s something you weren’t able to do while the nanocreatures were active.”
He beamed at her. “And she speaks!” He picked up a needle, holding it between himself and her, taking advantage of the fact that she was looking in his direction. “I should take some baseline measurements, yes, but I’m already pretty sure I know what they’ll say. If we had Jack here with us to study, too, it might be a little different, but I’m just not sure I can handle any more disappointment right now, and this particular cocktail is a little bit more promising than unaltered Jemma is.” He set it back down and crossed his arms. “You know, one good thing about being able to speak again is that I don’t need my hands for it.”
“You couldn’t actually Talk to anyone, could you? You were in charge of studying it, but did you ever actually get to try it yourself, even once?” So much for diplomacy.
“I didn’t have to. I created it, Jemma. Who could know it better than I did? And who better to study it than an impartial observer?”
“You’re an impartial observer, then?”
“Of course.” He leaned back in his chair. “I’m more impartial than Dr. Harris, for all his pretending. He kept stepping in, stopping things way too soon.” He watched her, measuring, and Jemma held her breath. “Fine. We’ll start with baseline measurement. We know Talking to me isn’t gonna work, though. Hey, you,” he addressed the guard. “Get Marcia in here.” He turned back to Jemma when the guard left. “She’s one of the only ones who doesn’t drive me crazy. That brother and sister pair, they’re real suck-ups. Not a lot of talent in them, either. Their Talk barely registered, even Talking to each other. And Marcia’s girlfriend, I can’t even remember her name, I swear she jumps at anything.”
“Her name is Kendall.” Jemma’s face felt hot, and her hands were clenched. “And she jumps at everything because we’ve been held captive, tortured, kept here by guards, forced to comply with your every whim.”
“Woah, tortured? You’re here to help. I hardly call that torture.” Josh still sat back in his chair, relaxed, a smile playing at his lips.
“You repeatedly and knowingly caused us pain for your own gain, locked us in small cells, denied us choice, and knowingly gave us too little to eat. I think any sane person would call it torture. That’s probably the problem right there, though. I would hardly call you sane.”
Josh tilted his head back and laughed. “I knew I liked you for a reason.”
Jemma stared at him until she heard the door open, then shifted her attention to Marcia. Like Jemma herself, the woman had obviously lost some weight, but she still had a definite spark in her eyes, still carried herself with a sure posture, still looked like she could take on anyone in the room.
“Have a seat,” said Josh, gesturing regally at the chair on Jemma’s other side.
Jemma turned to face her, scanning her for any visible signs of damage. Marcia seemed to be in better shape than Jemma herself, though.
“You never showed up for lunch that day,” Jemma said before Josh could get started on either instruction or monologue. “We couldn’t wait, and we didn’t know where to find you.”
“We pissed off our tester that morning.” Her voice was warm, vibrant. It suited her, Jemma thought. “Ken was worried, and she kept asking questions. I was trying to calm her down, but we got caught faking answers.”
“I knew some of you were doing that.” Josh sounded smug. “That’s why I didn’t care to stick to the scripts, Jemma. Why would I ask you to limit your words when I had no way of enforcing it?” Jemma thought of all the times she’d yelled at him, insulted him, al
l while pretending to be asking him questions or answering his, and fought a smile. He must have seen it anyway, because his own smile dimmed, and his tone was a little more firm when he continued. “My hypothesis is that, unaided, the two of you won’t be able to speak to each other telepathically, even though you’re both capable of it. Without the nanocreatures to adjust and amplify, we think the few people with telepathy each run on a slightly different frequency. My gut tells me you two run on different ones.”
Jemma recalled the colors. She hadn’t conveyed those to Josh. If he was right, and if the colors had anything to do with that, then she probably wouldn’t be able to Talk to Marcia.
“Your gut doesn’t seem like a very scientific method,” said Marcia.
“Oh, but that’s only because I was dumbing it down for you.” Josh smirked. “The smarter someone is, the more they see, the more they pick up, and the more patterns they’re able to put together, even on a subconscious level. You are actually fairly smart, too. It’s something we’ve been studying. The average intelligence of the people we’ve found with enhanced abilities is nearly twenty points higher than that of the general population. That’s not a huge amount, but it’s too much to be purely coincidence. We’re not sure whether the telepathy is cause or effect. It might be something as simple as unconscious cheating, in which case you’re able to pick up more ambient information than we’ve been able to measure. At any rate, even if that’s not the case and you’re genuinely more intelligent than average, neither of you holds a candle to me. Nobody in this building does. So when I say my gut tells me something, it’s more than a simple guess.”
“But Jemma was able to basically walk right out of here, along with her boyfriend, and you didn’t stop it.” This time, Jemma did allow herself a grin at Marcia’s audacity.
“It wasn’t on my watch, and she’s back now, isn’t she? How do you think she got here? Who left the right information where she might be able to find it, knowing that she’d come back when she knew that people would suffer if she didn’t?”
Jemma’s face fell, and she felt like she might throw up. Of course Josh had been the one to put that file there. She’d known something was wrong with it being there from the start, all that information all neat and tidy in one file, but the fact that the information seemed accurate had thrown her off. He couldn’t have known they would contact Senator Pratt, but he might have assumed Jack would be able to find it, unencrypted as it was. When she focused back on Josh’s face, he was smiling, that innocent smile that always made Jemma want to get as far away as possible.
“Now, let’s try this,” he continued. “Marcia, put your hand on Jemma’s arm. Jemma, try Talking to Marcia. Don’t bother telling me what you say. Marcia, tell me if you can hear her.”
Jemma closed her eyes to concentrate, needing to focus on anything other than Josh. Nothing she tried would go through; there was no echo, no real sense of connection. She couldn’t quite even figure out where Marcia’s connection had rested, but she felt like she was just missing it.
On the plus side, at least, her headache didn’t get any worse. She did shift in her chair to relieve some of the weight from the bruises she’d gotten in falling to the floor the day before.
“Okay, that’s enough,” Josh interrupted. “I’m impressed, though. You actually made it move.” He showed her the monitor, which did indicate minimal activity. “That’s more than I expected. Well below the thresholds we’ve determined are required for a message to actually be sent, though. Marcia, your turn. Go ahead and try to send Jemma a message.” He gave Marcia less time before interrupting. “Nothing. Okay.” He smiled and picked up the needle. “We’re just going to give this to Jemma today, but if it doesn’t work, I can mix up a stronger version to try on both of you tomorrow.” He smiled at Jemma as he injected her. “How’s that for getting a baseline?”
The liquid stung as it worked its way through her veins, but Jemma waited and felt no difference in her mind. She didn’t feel any expanding, crawling, or pain.
“It should have taken effect by now,” said Josh, his mouth pulling down to one side as he studied the monitor. “Maybe without Jack involved you just don’t have the same background static. I want you to try communicating with Marcia again.”
Jemma nodded, briefly considering not trying at all, then remembering the threat of a stronger attempt the next day. If trying her hardest could save herself and Marcia from worse, she’d do it.
She was able to find Marcia’s connection. None of the other connections were present, not even Jack’s. She ignored any concerning thoughts that might lead to and instead focused as hard as she could on sending words along Marcia’s connection. No matter how hard she tried, though, how hard she focused on either words or on Marcia herself, there was no echo, no indication that anything went through.
“It’s not enough, Jemma,” said Josh. “I can see you’re trying, so I guess I don’t have to take away your lunch today, but it’s not enough. Hey, you,” he addressed the guard again, who stiffened. “Take Marcia back to her cell, then come back for Jemma.”
“Be careful,” said Marcia as she left, eying Josh. Jemma nodded, not sure what she could really do.
As soon as they were alone, he came around the back of her chair to unhook the monitor. “It really is all your fault, Jemma, any discomfort you’re experiencing, any pain.” He set down the leads and stood beside her chair, his arms crossed. “Everything is like this because of you. I hope you remember that. If you don’t, maybe I’ll see whether Kendall wants to help instead.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN:
Abandon
Jemma woke early from a nightmare, the lights still dimmed in her cell. She’d been stuck, alone, with Josh. There weren’t any guards, anyone to stop him from experimenting. She was strapped down, as she had been the first time they’d scanned her, helpless and completely at his mercy.
He’d had telepathy in the dream, used it to Talk to her, used medication to make it so she couldn’t block him out. He didn’t say anything menacing, simply repeated nursery rhymes endlessly, that innocent smile on his face as he picked up yet another syringe.
When the lights brightened, she sat and shifted so her back rested against the solid concrete wall, then glanced up at the camera. It seemed like it was late enough for someone to bring food. Maybe the morning was just passing more slowly because she was already tired, which didn’t bode well for the rest of the day. She knew she would have to deal with Josh again, as well as whatever lovely experiments he’d thought up for their day, and she’d need her energy in order to get through it.
Trying to focus on something else, Jemma leaned her head back against the wall. Had Jack been able to find the senator? To convince him to help?
The cure was out now, thanks to those who had left the facility. She wondered how the world was reacting. More specifically, she wondered how the people she knew were reacting. Her family would be thrilled. She felt a smile tug at her lips as she pictured her mother and Jilly making up for lost time, her father sitting back and taking it all in. He’d appreciate being able to lecture again in his classrooms, too.
Jack’s father would be safer, able to call for assistance if he needed it, no longer needing to rely on painful movement from stiff fingers to communicate.
The library would be back to the steady hum in the children’s section, especially on Saturday mornings, Cecily providing a disapproving stare.
She rubbed her arm, glancing down at the bruising when she felt the stabbing pain. It had lessened further, at least, or she’d adjusted to it as she had the pain in her head. The bruising was still so bright, though. Coupled with the pain associated with movement, Jemma guessed that maybe Josh had injected the tracker somewhere that the muscles wouldn’t let it settle well enough to heal.
So many unknowns. Like why nobody had brought her breakfast yet or come to get her. The light was regular enough that it had to be on a timer, so just because it turned on didn’t mean anyb
ody was watching, but she stood and started waving at the camera anyway.
“Anybody there? Hello? I could use some food in here.” She paced the tiny cell until it started to make her dizzy, the room too small to really make it effective. She walked to the door and banged on it. “Hey, anyone out there?”
Several minutes passed, and still, there was no response. She sat back down on the bed, pulling her knees to her chest. Running through scenarios wasn’t the smartest idea when she didn’t have a way out, didn’t have a way to deal with any of them, but just as her mind had insisted on revisiting her nightmare earlier, it insisted on going through possibilities now.
It was possible that Josh had taken over further and had ordered her to be left in her room for longer, without food, just to mess with her, to put her on edge or to make her more cooperative or both. Then again, he seemed genuinely upset anytime something cut into their time together, and he had to be aware that he’d done a sufficient job of threatening her already.
It was also possible that she’d been left behind. The facility had been abandoned, guards, scientists, and any other employees leaving, taking their chances in leaving the subjects behind. She couldn’t imagine Heidi just leaving them, though.
Maybe the facility had been quietly taken over by the authorities, who would be letting her out any minute now.
She lay back down, closing her eyes against her growling stomach. She was tired enough that, if she were lucky, maybe she’d be able to fall back to sleep and pass the time that way. Maybe with the lights on, at least, she wouldn’t have nightmares.
***
She woke to the sound of the door opening, the clanging setting her heart racing.
“Sorry I scared ya, Jemma babe.”
Jemma managed to wave absently at Heidi, breathing in and out deliberately until her heart slowed. “What happened this morning? I didn’t think anybody was coming.”