Sapience

by bret Wellman

  I spotted somebody trying to come through the front door, when I tried to shoot I missed. We did not have enough bullets for me to suddenly decide I was going to be a lousy shot.

  The person that stepped through the door was far smaller than the soldiers, though dressed the same. My first thought was that it was an agent coming to finish us off, but then I saw it was a girl, there had never been a female agent, this was something else.

  She had no gun and yet she walked straight toward us. Her face was expressionless and her eyes were completely white. Her hands hung limp at her sides as she took one slow step after another in our direction. She had sandy blond hair that flapped in the wind as my bullets passed by, off target.

  I recognized her and that scared me more than anything else. She was a physical user, one of us. What had happened to her? There was no trace of the blue that had once been a dominant feature in her eyes. She looked like a walking corpse.

  I had dreaded the idea of this moment ever since the first time we debated breaking out of the government buildings, the day I would have to kill one of my own.

  I pulled the trigger again, these bullets went wide too, same with Brianna’s. I fired again and again, not one bullet hit its mark.

  The physical user must have been bending the air, making her impossible to hit. I realized far too late that she was one of the few who could move objects with her mind.

  A rock flew up from the ground and struck Brianna in the head. She was still falling when something struck me from behind, everything went black.

  Chapter 18

  I was aware of three things, I was definitely on a helicopter, there was definitely a bag over my head and someone definitely kicked me when I tried to get to my feet. That didn’t stop me though. I tried to roll to my feet like my life depended on it. It most definitely did.

  “Stick him with this.” I heard a male voice say.

  I made an attempt to kick at whoever was talking but my foot wouldn’t budge. They must have been tied together.

  I felt the sharp sting of a wasp on my thigh and my leg began to go numb. Soon my other leg was numb, then my waist, followed by my chest and arms. As the powerful numbness came flooding into my head I desperately tried to understand what was happening. The thumping helicopter blades grew louder and louder until they sounded like a giant man laughing in my ear.

  And then I was falling, the laughing helicopter grew farther and farther away until I was alone in a very dark place. My feet touched ground, I felt water rush over my shoes. I could hear it dripping as if I were in a giant sink.

  “What did you do to me?” I yelled, my voice echoed through the darkness. “To me, to me, to me.”

  I took a step and the water swooshed under my feet. It was cold, my feet were soon going numb. I was tired, all I wanted was to sit down but I didn’t dare sit in the icy water.

  A chill was beginning to run up my legs and through my body. I needed to get my feet somewhere dry. But where? I couldn’t see anything.

  I wandered for a while with my hands out, hoping to grasp something solid. All the while the cold water was eating at my strength. I was just about to collapse when something clamped down on my wrists. I tried to pull away, the clamp lifted my arms and picked me up out of the water. I went higher and higher, the darkness still flooding in from all sides. I saw light and realized that my eyes were closed. It took all my will to force them open.

  My wrists felt like they were on fire and my shoulders felt like they were popping out of the socket. The bag was still over my head but I could tell I was suspended in the air, hanging from my bound wrists.

  I stayed as still as possible. I was waking up from a bad dream only to find that reality was worse. Every movement sent great pain through my arms.

  Eventually I heard a door open and a pair of feet tapping their way over to me. The sack was ripped off my head and light came flooding in stinging my eyes.

  I squinted, trying to gain my bearings on where I was. The room was pure white, floor, ceiling, walls, all of it. The only variation was a large black mirror on the wall. I was half naked wearing nothing but my boxer briefs. My arms were tied up over my head and my toes were dangling inches from the floor. The rope tied to my wrists was looped over a hook in the ceiling.

  There were three people in the room with me, two identical short, stocky, agents and the physical user from the barn. She looked even more deadened in this bright lighting.

  “Inform our prisoner of his crimes.” One of the agents said in a deep voice that echoed around the room.

  “Citizen William Fay.” The physical user said. Her voice was flat and even, like something you would hear from a computer. “You are charged with the murder of ten military officers yesterday and the assault of another last fall.”

  “High crimes.” The agent cut in. “The likes of which earn you the right to be an example for the people.”

  The fear of his threat was lost beneath a wave of relief. They didn’t know who or what I was. Even though I would die, the others would be safe.

  “Your girlfriend too.”

  My blood went cold, I couldn’t bear the thought of Brianna being killed. I could feel anger and adrenaline start to flow through my body. I wanted to kill these people.

  “How did you find us?” I asked. I watched the user, waiting for the moment when she would realize who I was and go running off to sound the alarm. I recognized her, why hadn’t she recognized me?

  “We planted a tracking device on your car yesterday at the school.” She said.

  “That’s enough.” The agent said. “Don’t answer any more of his questions.”

  He took a step forward and struck me blindingly fast in the side. I heard and felt my ribs crack.

  I wanted to scream in pain, to break free of these ropes and break his neck. Instead I stayed limp and tried quietly to regain my breath. There was nothing I could do.

  “We have discussed your punishment and decided it would be best to reveal you to the public after you are dead. They fear the unknown you see. After they gaze upon your broken body no one will dare attack one of our men again.”

  All agents looked the same to me, they were like clones, freaks of nature built by man (Though I guess I would also fall under the freak of nature category) but this one seemed different than the others. He was more aged, or maybe he was simply higher in rank than the others. Either way, he held himself as though it were true.

  “Who will have the pleasure of torturing this one?” The other agent asked, licking his lips.

  The first agent looked me over before placing his hands on the other’s shoulder. Let’s let our new little pet do the dirty work.”

  The other agents face sank. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, I think she will do a fine job.”

  “Fine, in that case I will be in my quarters.” The agent turned like he was going to leave. Between his super speed and the surprise of it, I barely saw him turn and throw a punch. It felt like a sludge hammer.

  I gasped in pain as I spun on the rope. He had hit me so hard that I was seeing dots. I tried to curl up into a ball, to protect my aching stomach but gravity kept me open. By the time I could muster the strength to look up he had already left the room.

  “Do you feel sorry?” The remaining agent asked.

  I met his eyes. “Sorry about what?”

  “You killed a lot of innocent men, you should feel sorry.”

  I managed to laugh through the pain. I knew I was only getting myself into worse trouble but couldn’t help it. “Those innocent men you speak of deserve a lot worse than what I gave them.”

  Wham! Another strike, more breaking ribs, more pain. The air burned as I struggled to take a breath. That would be the last time I tried to talk back.

  “You will be sorry, when I am done with you.” The agent said. He started walking out but stopped at the door “Make him sorry, would you dear?”

  The girl nodded and he left the room.

 
She stood there for a moment, looking me up and down. Her movements were mechanical, she tilted her head to the side, scanning with those white eyes.

  Once she was satisfied with her evaluation, she turned and left the room.

  Having her gone made me feel safer somehow. I’m not sure why, it’s not like she wouldn’t be back. I couldn’t seem to figure out why she didn’t recognize me. And her white eyes, something had been done to her, they had altered something.

  I hung there, gasping in pain for well over half an hour. It felt like my arms were going to rip off at any moment. It was still better than what was in store for me when the user got back. The thought of what she was going to do was enough to make me break out into a cold sweat. I did my best to enjoy the silence while I still had it.

  Eventually the door opened and two soldiers dragged in a long, steel table covered in random torture devices. I could barely bring myself to look at the assortment of blood thirsty weapons.

  “I would sure hate to be you, buddy.” One said in a scruffy voice as the two left the room laughing.

  Not long after they were gone the physical user entered and walked over to the steel table. She stood there, staring at the weapons for a while before picking up a pair of pliers and coming over to kneel down at my feet.

  “You don’t have to do this.” I pleaded.

  She took the pliers and started snapping my toes. I tried not to cry out but the pain was far to excruciating. Each snap brought on new pain and more screams. I tried to kick away but she held me in place.

  I was trained to section the pain off from the rest of my body. Mind over matter our trainers used to say before inflicting pain. Having your bones snapped like they were nothing was impossible to section off. I shut my eyes as hard as I could and tightened every muscle in my body, yet I still yelled out every time she snapped another toe.

  When the girl was done she stood back up and walked over to the table. I used the time when her back was turned to stare down at my bloody and broken feet. It was painful and disgusting, and yet I knew it was only the beginning.

  She came back from the table, this time holding a whip. We locked eyes for only a moment and then she walked behind me.

  I was finding it hard to breath. This wasn’t the first time I had been whipped. Knowing what it was going to feel like only made it worse. I did all I could to prepare myself before it was too late. I let my muscles go slack and distanced my mind, I concentrated on breathing steady and slowing my heart beat. I was midway through an exhale when it happened.

  It felt like lightning had struck across my back. The room flashed in white hot agony. I tried to bunch up, to throw myself to the ground. The ropes didn’t budge and I was stuck hanging there as my back was lashed again. This time a wild cry escaped my mouth.

  She whipped me a third time before I could recover, then again, and again. One lash faded into the next and eventually I could no longer keep count.

  My mind became a blur. I had never been whipped this badly before. The walls and floor were being painted with my blood. Even the ceiling was becoming speckled in red.

  Suddenly I was struck hard in the side with something heavy. In my delusional state I hadn’t realized the physical user had retrieved a new weapon. She held a bat.

  Now the strikes were deeper and heavier causing far more damage. After the second swing I thought I was going to vomit.

  “Enough.” A voice said.

  I rolled my head to the side to see that the agent had returned. He was holding a syringe.

  “The most peculiar thing has occurred to my men.” He said “They discovered that there is no record of your DNA in our database, nor are your finger prints on file, as is required under Kingdom law.” He stuck the needle in my leg and began to draw blood. “I am beginning to wonder what secrets you are trying to hide.” He pulled the needle and turned for the door.

  I tried to fight through my daze of pain to respond. It was far too hard to think clearly, I only managed to groan at him.

  This was not good. If he tested my blood he would discover who I was, who I really was. I could not let that happen, yet what could I do? Even if I wasn’t tied up, my body was in no condition to fight. On top of all of that, I would still have to get through both a physical user and an agent.

  “Take him down from there.” The agent said before leaving the room.

  The user followed him out but soon returned with two soldiers and a chair. They weren’t very friendly, nor were they gentle getting me down. Their hands were like fire as they grabbed my injured sides to lift me off the hook in the ceiling. I could feel every bruise and break as they set me down in the chair.

  Once I was down I started to feel slightly better, even though my hands were still tied behind my back, It felt far better than hanging from them.

  I sat there panting, my body slumped, helplessly trying to fall the rest of the way to the floor. The soldiers and the users stood there watching, ready to spring if I tried to get up.

  It was tense, the seconds turned into minutes, the minutes into hours. I just wanted to close my eyes and pass out but couldn’t bring myself to take my eyes off the enemy. My injuries had made me astonishingly tired.

  My sides, feet, and back throbbed with pain. What was left of my strength was slowly ebbing away. Sleep was trying to force itself upon me. I struggled helplessly against the foggy haze trying to take over my vision.

  Finally, as my eyelids were beginning to give in, the door flew open. Ten soldiers rushed in and pointed their rifles in my direction. The agent followed them in and grabbed me by the throat, forcing me to look him in the eye. “You traitor” He practically spat. “You killed your own men!”

  “I’m not one of you.” I said as loud as I could muster. Though my eyelids were drooping, I made no attempt to look away.

  He let go of my throat and snapped his fingers. “Let’s find out what the president thinks of all this, shall we?”

  A soldier came in carrying a large black telephone that he set on the table. The agent walked over and typed a number into the key pad. Several seconds later we were all listening to a dial tone and then a lady’s voice.

  “Military station Hawthorne, state your reason for calling.”

  The agent leaned in “I need to be placed in immediate contact with the president.”

  “Do you have the required code?”

  “Blue, October, three, one, twelve, one, ten.”

  “And the nature of your call?”

  The agent flashed a dark grin in my direction. “We found his lost sheep.”

  “Please hold while we contact the president.”

  The line clicked over and elevator music filled the room. It seemed so out of place here. Nobody acted like they noticed. They all just stood there staring at the phone. My heart was racing, I felt like I was falling deeper and deeper into a dark hole. When the line clicked back we could hear the hum of a car engine. The noise echoed from the speaker phone.

  The agent spoke first “Mr. President?”

  And then I heard something that made my heart leap into my throat, Adrian.

  “Sorry but the president is a little busy, feel free to pour your heart out to me instead.”

  The agent turned beet red and squared off with the phone as if it were a threat. “Who is this!?

  “Your worst nightmare.” Adrian said, and then the line went dead.

  “WHAT?” The agent started, turning towards me. He was cut short as an explosion somewhere else in the vicinity rattled our room.

  The soldiers were all glancing nervously back and forth, the agent looked even more furious than before, the user just looked indifferent.

  “You,” The agent said to one of the soldiers. “Post extra guards outside the cells of the others. No one gets in to see them under any circumstance.”

  The soldiers nodded and were off. Another two explosions went off shortly after he was gone.

  Patience was running thin. It looked like the agent mi
ght kill one of his own men simply to blow off some steam.

  A few minutes later the soldiers came back panting. “She’s gone sir, and the men guarding her are all dead.”

  “What!?” The agent yelled.

  “Yes, and I sent a battalion to post careful watch over the boy. Most of the men seem to be unsure of what to do. They are waiting for your direction sir.”

  “It’s starting to look like bringing us here was a bad idea.” I said, another explosion added emphasis.

  The agent dove at me, knocking me backwards in the chair. He kneeled on top of me and began squeezing my throat. I tried to fight back but my hands were still tied behind my back.

  His superior muscle strength was astounding. Not only was he choking me but if he squeezed any harder I think my neck might break. When he finally let go I was gasping for air. The soldiers sat me back up right. Every wound in my body hurt with fresh, severe, pain.

  The agent turned to the user “If I’m not back in ten minutes, blow his head off. The rest of you come with me.”

  I watched everyone shuffle out of the room as the user cocked her pistol. Her expressionless face was haunting. She wouldn’t care either way what happens to me. In her eyes I was nothing more than a number speeding down to zero.

  I was forced to sit there and stare down the barrel of a hand gun while the physical user counted down the minutes before she pulled the trigger. The room had grown so quiet I could almost hear the second hand on her watch ticking away what was left of my life.

  Chapter 19

  “You don’t have to do this.” I pleaded. “There is another way. Look at me, I turned away from the Kingdom to live a free life.”

  My only chance, if there was one, was to play the physical user card. I had to convince her that we were still the same. I was doing everything in my power to keep my voice from shaking and sounding weak. Even after all my effort everything I said came out hoarse and defeated, I was simply too exhausted from being beaten.