I’ve got to tell someone. I’ve got to ask someone what to do. But who?
And suddenly Heather made up her mind. She knew exactly who to call.
FIELD REPORT: INTERVIEW WITH SUBJECT A-3-B
Rowan, J., and Morrow, P, reporting
Interview was conducted at 6:20 P.M. EST. The subject, Heather Gannis (see attached file 31), appeared to be cooperating and answering questions truthfully. The subject’s blindness called for innovative interrogation/intimidation techniques.
As with Oliver Moore (see Field Report A-2-A), the interview proved somewhat inconclusive. However, certain clear conclusions may be drawn. The test subject appeared to have a detailed memory of the events in question regarding BLUEBELL, our code name for the genetic serum administered in the sequence of events under scrutiny.
The lack of alkaloid agents has been tentatively confirmed, as has the absence of sensory side effects concurrent with injection.
School Superintendent Marisa Delgado was easily persuaded to hand over all of Heather Gannis’s medical records, which revealed the drug’s effects quite clearly. The blindness is a side effect of the antigen-reagent properties of the serum. No further information may be garnered from Heather Gannis.
The investigation must proceed to its main subject, who, it has been revealed, is in the process of being contacted. Rowan and Morrow shall proceed as ordered; a subsequent field report will be submitted thereafter through the usual channels.
END
the beautiful people
Old Gaia would have checked out this scene and turned right back around in a heartbeat.
Like Bullets
“JAKE! JAKE!”
It was a girl’s voice calling out to him, but Jake couldn’t see her face in the crowd. He saw Gaia first as he stepped out of the school lobby. She saw him, too, and smiled—but she wasn’t the one calling to him. It was the girl next to her—the girl in the long white leather coat. She called his name again, waving. Jake finally realized that it was that girl he’d seen on his way out of Starbucks. Liz.
The last buzzer was still echoing through the lobby behind Jake. School was over, and now he was surrounded by a stream of dozens of students with book bags, yelling back and forth to each other and hollering on their cell phones as they flooded out of the school building.
“Jake!” Liz yelled again. Her flawless white teeth gleamed as she smiled at him. The afternoon sunlight lit up the gold strands of her hair.
Jake moved through the flood of kids and made his way over to Gaia and Liz. He gave Gaia a kiss and tipped his chin at Liz.
“Are you coming to my party?” Liz asked immediately.
“Party?” Jake asked. “What party? When is it?”
“It’s right now.” Liz grinned.
“Liz and Chris booked a suite over at the Mercer Hotel,” Gaia explained.
Jake knew where that was—a fancy building a few blocks west—but he’d never been inside the place.
“I think they pretty much invited . . . everybody,” Gaia went on. “How many, Liz?”
Gaia sounded like she was trying to seem disinterested. But Jake knew better. It was obvious—Gaia was intrigued despite herself. He had to hand it to Gaia’s friend Liz. She just made it look so easy. She was one of those people who you just liked in a matter of seconds, and you instantly stopped caring about the fact that her wristwatch cost more than most cars.
“Dozens,” Liz said, shrugging. “Okay, yes, everyone,” she admitted sheepishly. “It’s already started—Chris is over there now. I stayed behind to gather the stragglers. Like you Jake.”
Liz poked Jake in the chest as she said his name. It was completely innocent and friendly, and he didn’t mind at all.
Neither did Gaia. It was obvious, looking at her. Gaia seemed to trust Liz completely after only a day. Which made Jake even more impressed with the immaculately dressed newcomer. If she could win Gaia over that fast, then Liz had to be “good people.” Gaia didn’t waste her time with people she didn’t like. It was one of the things Jake liked about her.
“Ready to go, Jake?” Gaia asked.
“Sure,” Jake said honestly. “A party at three in the afternoon: Why not? Let’s go.”
“Come on, you two,” Liz said impatiently. She grabbed the couple’s hands and pulled them forcibly down the street away from the school. “Let’s get over there. I just have to buy some beer on the way.”
It was a quarter to four when the three of them got to the Mercer Hotel. The tall, graceful building loomed over them, shining in the afternoon sun.
Jake had to admit that the hotel idea was brilliant. He would never have mustered the audacity to try that kind of thing himself. He didn’t have the money, either. He wasn’t familiar with the Mercer Hotel, but one look at the brass signs and the row of car service limousines lined up in front told him that the place wasn’t cheap.
Liz and Jake were both carrying bags from the Korean deli around the corner. Each bag had two six-packs of Stella Artois beer—Liz had insisted on the best the deli had, even if it was something like four dollars a bottle. Jake had tried to pay, but Liz was much quicker, slapping down a fifty-dollar bill before he’d even gotten his hand near his wallet.
“I’m not drinking,” Jake told Gaia as they moved through the hotel’s revolving doors. The lobby was big and dark and air-conditioned. “I’ve got a sparring session at the gym in about an hour.”
“Okay,” Gaia said.
“Just so you know,” Jake went on. Liz was leading them toward the banks of elevators; they had to sprint to keep up. “In case you wanted to get me drunk and take advantage of me.”
“I stand warned,” Gaia replied, cracking a slight smile.
“Come on, lovebirds,” Liz called out over her shoulder, as her perfectly manicured index finger stabbed at the elevator button. “I do believe it’s party time.”
The Princely Aura
COMING THROUGH THE DOOR INTO the hotel suite, Gaia could tell the party was already going full blast. She could hear techno and hip-hop music coming from different directions and an endless cacophony of loud voices. The crowd was right in front of them, packed into the suite’s living room, with kids filling the couches and chairs, and opened cans of beer littering the glass coffee table, where a half-circle of kids were loudly playing quarters. Gaia could see doors into other rooms, with more kids moving through them. The suite was huge.
Old Gaia would have checked out this scene and turned right back around in a heartbeat. But this was new Gaia. And so she took a deep breath and tried to immerse herself in the crowd.
But the first face she saw was not making this new commitment to social behavior any easier.
Tannie Deegan. Of course.
“You’re totally right!” Tannie was squealing. “Oh my God, Chris. You’re, like, totally exactly right. . . . ”
Gaia turned to Liz. “You invited the Friends of Heather?”
“Friends of . . . ” Liz squinted in confusion. “Who’s Heather?”
“Those girls,” Gaia explained. Liz was leading them toward the bedroom, where, sure enough, Gaia could hear the squeals of more FOHs. “From Starbucks yesterday? The vultures.”
“Oh God, you’re right. It’s them.” Liz looked pained. “I guess Chris must have.”
Jake led them through the big white door into the suite’s master bedroom. It was a big, bright room with a gigantic king-size bed. A smaller crowd had gathered in the room. A boom box was playing slightly mellower music. A bar to one side held a big bottle of vodka and some mixers and an ice bucket. The air-conditioning was blasting; the room was nice and cool. Out the huge picture window Gaia could see the bright sky and the tops of the buildings near the hotel and, if she craned her neck, a little bit of the river between the buildings in the distance.
Chris Rodke was, without question, the room’s center of attention. Gaia recognized him immediately—the princely aura from the previous day was intact. He was reclining on th
e wide bed with his shoes off, leaning comfortably on the headboard with a tall glass in one hand. The lamplight shone from his golden yellow hair. Gaia could see the wet frost beading the sides of his glass and the lime and ice. He’s drinking vodka with soda, Gaia realized. She wasn’t sure she’d ever seen anyone under thirty have a vodka and soda.
“That’s so funny,” Megan gasped. “That’s just so funny.”
Megan, Tina, and Laura were perched on the soft carpet near Chris. They all had drinks. All of them were laughing as if Chris had made the single most humorous remark in the entire history of human civilization. Gaia thought that Megan was going to pass out, she was laughing so hard.
“Elizabeth Rodke!” Chris yelled out. “’Bout time you made it.” When he saw Gaia, he threw his arms around her, then gave her an air kiss on each cheek. “Ga-yah bay-bee,” he sang, elongating each syllable.
“Hi, Gaia!” Megan said, far too brightly. “I’m so glad you’re here!”
“Right on,” Laura squealed.
Gaia blinked two long blinks. So . . . the attitudes are reversible, just like the Burberry raincoats.
“Gaia, how the hell are ya?” Chris asked.
“I have no idea,” Gaia replied. Too honest, perhaps. She was still working on this stuff. But somehow she’d made Chris smile.
“Oh, Christ, neither do I.” Chris laughed. He turned to his sister. “This one’s a keeper.”
Gaia suddenly realized that the FOHs were watching her like hawks.
“Gaia, come sit with us,” Megan suddenly suggested as she tapped a spot on the carpet next to her. Gaia didn’t even respond. She could only muster a raised eyebrow of confusion.
“Here,” Jake said quietly. He was up close to her, handing over a glass of ice water he’d brought from the bar. He’d gotten himself one, too. “You want to sit down?”
“Sure,” she said, moving as far as possible from the disturbing smiles of the FOHs.
“Liz, let’s do this every day!” Chris called out. “New party, new hotel.” He was finishing his drink—the ice clattered loudly in his glass.
“Oh, great idea,” Tina squeaked. “Yeah!”
Gaia sat down in an expensive-looking leather chair halfway across the room. Jake dropped onto the carpet beside her.
“So, you live on Fifth?” Megan asked, staring up worshipfully at the Rodkes. She was pivoting on the floor, looking back and forth between the two of them. It must have been hard to decide which one’s ass to kiss first. “Do you love it?”
Liz made a face, nodding while she cracked open a beer and sat down. “It’s cool. I mean, it’s fine. We just got there. Dad’s like that—suddenly it’s, ‘New York, right now,’ and we have to jump. But the place is nice.”
“Right on,” Laura said. That seemed to be the sum total of her vocabulary for the day.
Jake slouched on the floor, leaning his head against Gaia’s next to her knee.
“I love the house,” Chris said. “I think it’s got great potential.”
“Do you have a balcony?” Megan asked. “Overlooking the park?”
“We do,” Chris replied.
“Huh. Your place sounds really nice,” Megan said. It was fairly obvious that she was fishing for an invite.
“I’m still unpacking boxes,” Liz said. It was the perfect answer: a polite refusal to invite anyone anywhere.
Jake pivoted his head, looking up at Gaia. “How are you?” he asked. His hair brushed her knee, making her feel a mild tingle. He was quiet enough that the others didn’t seem to hear.
“Fine.” Gaia smiled at him. “I’m fine.”
He sat up and turned to face her, moving closer.
“I mean . . . do you feel like finishing that conversation?”
Here we go, Gaia thought. She could feel her calm, peaceful mood immediately start to drift away. He still wants to talk. After last night’s fiasco, she was feeling that much less inclined to have that talk just yet. Last night’s sadomasochistic freak show had been the perfect reminder of just exactly why they shouldn’t have that talk.
“There are so many people here,” Gaia said. She tried not to sound too evasive, like she was looking for an excuse not to talk to him. The fact that it was true didn’t help.
“Big deal,” Jake said easily. He was gulping his ice water. “Nobody’s listening. We can have a private conversation in the corner and all they’ll do is point and giggle.”
“True enough,” Gaia said. She had a sinking feeling because she couldn’t think of a way out this time. Not without actually admitting that she didn’t want to talk.
Why not? Let’s do it. Let’s see what happens when we talk. Let’s see if I ruin everything.
Gaia realized she was holding her breath. “Okay,” she said, exhaling loudly. “Okay. Let’s have that conversation. You’re right; this is a perfect time.”
“Gaia! Jake!” Chris called out. “Join the party!”
“I’ve got to work out,” Jake said apologetically. “I can’t have any—”
“Don’t drink, talk,” Chris went on grandly. “We’re new kids; we need to make friends. Gaia, where do you live? Who are you?”
She hated being put on the spot. But something about Chris’s way made it a little easier. “I don’t really know that, either,” she replied honestly. “I’m kind of in transition.”
“Who isn’t?” Chris joked. “From what to what?”
“Oh,” Gaia uttered, thinking it through. “I don’t know . . . old to new?”
“Perfect.” Chris laughed. “Old to new. Well, here’s to the new you, Gaia Moore.” He raised his glass. “Not that you need to change anything.”
“Yeah, well . . . no one ever really changes, right?”
“Oh, wrong,” Chris bellowed excitedly. He suddenly shot up off the bed as his eyes widened.
“Oh, no, Gaia,” Liz moaned. “You’ve just hit on one of my brother’s favorite topics. Please, Chris, no speech. Control yourself.”
“Liz, come on,” Chris snorted. “They don’t even know me yet. They haven’t heard some of my best stuff.”
Liz turned to Gaia. “Oh God, Gaia, I warned you about my family and speeches. Don’t say I never warned you.”
“Stop it,” Chris complained. “It’s not a big deal. Your friend Gaia just happened to say that no one ever changes, and I just wanted to let her know that she was dead wrong, that’s all.” Chris turned to Gaia like they were sharing a secret. “You’re dead wrong.”
This Gaia certainly wanted to hear. “Wrong how?”
“No—” Liz giggled, pouncing on her brother to get a hand over his overly verbose mouth.
Chris pushed his sister away in the exact same manner that he probably had since toddlerhood. “Well, as long as you asked,” he bellowed triumphantly, “I say we’re not stuck with anything. Not anything. Not character traits, not physical traits, nothing. I say that we are in complete control. If ‘Right On’ Laura over here wanted blue eyes, then she could go get color contacts. If Megan were depressed, she’d take Prozac or some other drug. It’s all in our hands now. It’s all just chemistry.”
“Stop, stop,” Liz moaned painfully. “Don’t you all see where he’s going to go with this? Two more seconds and he’s going to fall right smack down on his favorite topic: the highly controversial gay gene.”
“There’s no such thing,” Chris insisted, pointing at Liz. “No such thing at all. That’s a myth. The human chromosome has no gene for gayness.”
“Okay,” Liz moaned again. “I’m not arguing.”
“And even if there was,” Chris went on, “I still wouldn’t believe in it. I’m gay because I’m gay. It’s who I am—it’s my choice. It’s the twenty-first century; my genes aren’t in charge: I am.”
Gaia didn’t realize that she was staring at Chris until Jake knocked his hand against her thigh, trying to get her attention. She nodded impatiently at him and turned back to Chris. What he was saying was absolutely fascinating.
/> My genes aren’t in charge: I am.
But Gaia knew that wasn’t true. If her life had one unalterable fact, it was this: her genes were in charge of everything. They defined every aspect of her miserable life. What Chris was saying was nonsense.
“Chris, how can you be in charge?” Gaia argued. “Your genes make you who you are. I took biology; I know how it works.”
“How it usually works,” Chris corrected politely. “The more we learn about heredity, the more in charge we are. Look, you should talk to my dad. He really understands this stuff. The incredible stuff they’re doing in some of those labs—it would blow you away.”
“I thought your dad made toothpaste,” Gaia said.
Chris’s eyes widened. “Are you kidding? That’s the boring part. They make everything. Toothpaste, med supplies, high-end drugs, research—billions of dollars in research. Are you interested in genetics?”
“Well—yeah.”
That was one way of putting it. Gaia’s entire life had been determined by her own unique genetic code. The funny thing was, Gaia had never really tried to understand it from a scientific standpoint. It had always seemed over her head. But maybe it wasn’t.
“Gaia,” Jake said, standing up, “I’m leaving.”
Gaia looked up at Jake. And suddenly realized she’d been completely ignoring him. Right at the moment that she’d agreed to have the “big conversation.” Suddenly she felt awful. Selfish and evasive and awful.
“Jake, I’m so sorry,” she said quickly, standing up and taking his hands. “I’m a jerk—I keep stopping you from—”
“Shhh! Relax. It’s not you,” Jake said smoothly. “It’s just that it’s getting late. I’ve got to get to the gym for my sparring session. And I need time to warm up.”
“Oh.” Gaia looked at Jake’s eyes to double-check. “So you’re not mad?”
“Mad? No! Of course not. We can talk some other time.”
But there was something strange in those eyes—something she’d never seen before.
He’s lying, she thought suddenly. He’s lying—he’s angry with me. He says he’s not, but he is.
“Are you sure you have to go?” she asked. “You sure you’re not mad?”
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