by V. St. Clair
I did, and I’ve only seen him once before, Ana thought ruefully. This had ‘disaster’ written all over it. Why couldn’t I just go into the lobby with Risa and argue fruitlessly with the stupid desk clerk?
Because she knew it was pointless. She had decided to take this risk on the slim chance it paid off and her friend could be spared a little heartache. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
“What did you want to talk about?” she asked tentatively, once they were sitting beside each other at opposite ends of the bench.
“There is something important you need to tell me.”
Ana’s eyes widened in surprise and she said, “What’s that?”
Topher frowned and touched a hand to his temple, almost absentmindedly.
“I’m not sure, or I wouldn’t need you to inform me.”
After a long silence in which Ana tried to look him in the eye without scanning his thoughts she said, “I don’t know what you mean.”
The Major was obviously frustrated but determined to appear controlled, relaxing his posture to release the tension in his body as he said, “Why do you think Maxton Mercuria escaped from imprisonment?”
Careful…she blinked once, wondering how he always seemed to latch onto the one thing she didn’t want to be asked about, the thing connecting her to Max, Hera, and Major Fox.
“Is this a trick question?” she asked skeptically. “He was imprisoned in the highest levels of the Augenspire, probably being tortured, and you want to know why—”
“How do you know he was kept in the upper levels?” Topher interrupted, his gaze sharpening perceptibly on her. His eyes were locked on hers, willing her to make the connection with his brain that would open the gateway between their thoughts, almost like he knew she could do it if she tried.
I’m dead. He knows I’m the psychic and I’ve just jumped into my own urn by telling him I know where the torture cells are.
“I—well, it makes sense, doesn’t it?” she scrambled desperately for a way to save herself. “Carl told me after his last interview at the Augenspire that the rumors about basement dungeons aren’t true because there isn’t a basement,” she lied, committing fully to it and hoping it was the sort of knowledge that wasn’t unusual for someone interviewing at the Augenspire to know. “If that’s true and there isn’t a basement, then it makes sense to go as high as possible for the prisons so no one can just walk out of the place if they get free of their cell, right? I just assumed the prisons were on the upper floors…”
The pressure from his eyes on her Gift was terrible, and she wished he would blink or look away; anything to give her a break. She was blocking her Gift as hard as she could, trying to retreat within her own mind without looking vacant and unfocused, but his gaze kept pulling her back. She saw a snippet of a red-haired woman in his mind, viewed from behind, and blinked before she lost all control, forcing the connection between them to close.
“In your opinion, why would a Gifted person attack a Provo-Major in a nightclub?” Topher changed the subject slightly. Ana had no idea if he believed her explanation for the location of the Augenspire prisons or not, but was once again wishing for an end to their conversation so she could escape with her life.
“A death wish?” she suggested, before frowning. “Or if they were attacked first by the Major, I can see someone defending themselves…”
Topher looked like he heard what he was expecting to hear, though why it should matter to him was still unclear to her.
“You don’t think there are Gifted at the Academy who would jump at the chance to take down a Major if given the opportunity?”
He was baiting her, and she refused to bite.
“I don’t know. There are probably plenty of Gifted who aren’t terribly fond of the Provo and would love to see them get their asses kicked, but you all are armed to the teeth and I doubt anyone is foolish enough to fight one of you unless they had to.”
“Do you believe Hera was behind the terrorist attack on First Orbital?” He switched subjects again, as though determined to trip her up.
“I have no idea, but I think she’ll get the blame for it whether she did it or not,” Ana went with the change of subject. “It gives the government even more ammunition against her movement, and allows them to close the investigation without actually proving anything to anyone.”
Topher looked surprised by her candor but only said, “You clearly don’t think much of the government. You seem to be the type for Hera’s recruitment.”
Ana hadn’t meant to make it that obvious and said, “I prefer to stay out of politics, thank you. My Gift does involve keeping myself alive, after all. Besides, can you really blame the ones who join up with Hera? It’s hard for the Gifted to like a government so determined to marginalize and imprison them, no matter how invisible they try to make the prison walls appear.”
“The Viceroy has been making attempts at reconciliation and reintegration into society, but you must appreciate that these things do not happen overnight.” Topher looked annoyed with her.
“The Viceroy may be politically smart enough to know that reconciliation is in his best interest, but if he was actually sincere about it he would have made much more progress towards the effort by now.”
Topher frowned and said, “You have many more rights than you did in his mother’s day. You’re only here today because a Gifted friend of yours is being considered for a leadership position in the Viceroy’s own military. Would that have been possible even twenty years ago?”
“No, but you can’t pretend that the Viceroy’s interest in having my full-spectrum Deco-Reco friend on retainer is all selfless. The Gifted have always been useful in battle, and having someone with Carl’s powers on his side would make his army all the more effective at crushing rebellion.”
“And you think the army shouldn’t be able to suppress an uprising?” Topher lowered his voice dangerously.
“No, I’m saying you count it as social progress that Carl can be considered for your military, but don’t seem to find it odd that my friend and I aren’t allowed to even visit him in the hospital because we’re second-class citizens. Integration is fine as long as it benefits the Viceroy and his heirs, but we know that no matter how many times Vicerina Jessamine goes on broadcast saying our people need to come together and that she cares about us, the sentiment only extends far enough to get her family what they want—”
“Don’t speak of things you know nothing about,” Topher snapped, finally looking properly angry with her and standing up. “You know nothing about Jessamine, or the efforts she has gone to in order to make your life better, even when it wasn’t popular within the government itself. If you people would stop working with Hera and threatening the safety and stability of her father’s government, perhaps they’d have an easier time passing laws to give you your liberty back.”
Ana made a mental note that the eldest Vicerina was clearly a sensitive topic for him and wondered idly if Risa was even still waiting for her inside the hospital, or if she would ever see her friend again. Topher seemed harder to anger than most members of the Provo, but he could drag her back to the Augenspire at a word, and she would never be heard from again.
“If you really want my opinion, then Hera isn’t your biggest problem. In the past she has only attacked government installations, and F.O.B is civilian-owned and operated, though it does have clients within the government. You say the Viceroy and his daughter are pro-integration, which is not a popular sentiment amongst the majority of government employees—including the Provo. Seems to me like your problem is a little closer to home, with someone trying to stir up more anti-Gifted sympathizers to stall the integration efforts.”
Topher’s expression transformed at this, as though he suddenly understood something he hadn’t noticed before. He blinked twice, touched a hand to his temple again and grew introspective for a moment. When he returned his focus to Ana he said, “Thank you; that is what I needed to hear from you.”
And with that he turned around and walked away from her.
Ana stood there dumbly for a moment, struck by the abrupt end to their conversation and wondering how she had managed to escape a Provo-Major with her life on three separate occasions, especially after railing against their government. She resolved to never solicit conversation with him or any other Major again, since her luck seemed to deteriorate with each interaction. She couldn’t count on getting clear of Topher a third time.
She snapped out of her funk and jogged back to the main entrance, spotting Risa in line in the foyer, looking uncomfortable. It seemed she’d gotten tired of waiting for Ana and was going to speak to the receptionist herself.
Risa’s expression changed from discomfort to anger when she saw Ana approach and step smoothly into line beside her.
“What the hell was that about?” the former snapped, setting her jaw angrily. “Carl is fighting for his life in here and you bail on me to go meet up with a friend!”
“Trust me, he is no friend of mine.” She was half-tempted to tell her friend that she was trying to argue with a Provo-Major on her behalf, but didn’t think it would go over well to admit which one she was speaking to. “It was important, or I wouldn’t have left.”
“Well, now that you have time for your friends again, perhaps we can focus on the task of—”
“Look, I think we should just leave and come back another day,” Ana said quietly. Their neighbors in line were eavesdropping on their conversation and staring pointedly at their emblems like they might be contagious.
Yeah, Topher, we’re completely liberated, she thought bitterly.
Risa looked mulish. “What? Why would I leave now when it’s almost our turn and—”
“Trust me. It just feels like a bad time to draw attention to ourselves. We’ll try again in a few days. We just need to go back to the Academy…” Ana was growing more paranoid by the minute in this building. Her conversation with the Major had left her even more rattled than the first time around, and she couldn’t help but feel like something important had happened between them outside, though she had no idea what. She was rarely eager to return to the Academy, but it felt like their only safe haven right now.
“Can I help you?” the receptionist addressed Risa, who was now at the front of the line. Her eyes flickered down to the emblems around their necks and she frowned slightly.
“We’re here to see Carl Vucanis, or at least to get an update on his condition.”
“Alright, let me see what room he is in and you can call and—” she keyed letters into her computer as she spoke and stopped mid-sentence. “Oh, he’s in one of the upper levels?”
Risa nodded.
“I’m sorry, but it won’t be possible for you to visit him at this time unless you have at least Level-3 clearance. Please scan your chips to determine if you possess such clearance and to make a record of your visit.”
Just like yesterday…Ana sighed internally. I wonder if the Levels can be negative numbers? If so, that’s where Risa and I are.
“You won’t even tell us if he’s going to live?” Risa asked desperately, holding up her wrist and scanning it after Ana did hers.
“I’m sorry, Miss, but I can’t release protected information to unauthorized—” the woman paused and then said, “Oh, pardon me. Your ID’s have been authorized for one-time visitation under a Level-1 code.” She looked thoroughly impressed by this. “Please wear these visitor bracelets for the duration of your stay, and take the elevators on the right to the two-hundred-and-twelfth floor. You’ll need to check in with the registration desk there, and they’ll instruct you further.”
“I—really?” Risa glanced at Ana as they accepted their bright orange visitor bracelets, looking absolutely stunned by this change of plans. Ana was tempted to laugh in relief.
Looks like Major Topher was feeling charitable after all.
She may not know who had Level-3 clearance, but Level-1 had to be the top of the food chain, and the only people higher than the Provo-Major shared a last name with the planet.
“Come on,” Ana pulled her friend out of the way and they moved to the elevators while donning their barcoded bracelets, which were scanned by a reader before the elevator doors would open.
“How in the world did that work?” Risa asked in puzzlement, ignoring the other passengers on the elevator as they sped upwards, stopping every few floors to let people off and on at lower levels. At this rate, it would take them forever to get all the way up to two-hundred-and-twelve.
“How does this hospital have so many floors?” Ana asked abruptly. “Seriously, how many sick people can there be in this city to justify two-hundred-and-twelve floors of hospital? How do the others even stay in business?”
One of the other people on the elevator raised an eyebrow at her and said, “Most of the floors aren’t in use,” pointing towards the buttons for each floor. Looking closer, Ana now noticed there were actually two-hundred-and-twenty floors at this hospital, but there were only buttons for levels one to thirty, and from level two-hundred to two-twenty.
“Oh, so the rest is just empty space?” Ana asked dubiously. “That seems wasteful, given that real-estate is sky-high in this part of Silveria.”
The other woman shrugged and said, “They can afford it. It’s better than renting out space to some random company and having people come in through the ground floor of a hospital every day,” she made a distasteful face at the thought of such a thing. “They only need the height to ensure facilities at sky-level.”
“Ana, focus,” Risa snapped her fingers in annoyance, bringing her attention back to their conversation as more passengers exited the elevator. “Tell me how in the world we have level-one clearance to visit Carl today, when we nearly got arrested the last time we came here.”
“The person I ran after outside…” Ana said quietly, not wanting to be overheard. “It was a Provo-Major I recognized from the Academy the other day,” she admitted. “I was trying to appeal to his humanity and get him to authorize our visitation, because I knew we would get turned away again otherwise and I was sure he had sufficient clearance to let us in.”
Risa couldn’t have looked more stunned if Ana had announced she was secretly a member of the Provo-Major herself.
“You begged a favor from a Major just so I could see Carl? And it actually worked?”
Ana gave an uneasy shrug and said, “I didn’t think it had, actually, which is why I said we should go home. I kind of ticked the guy off and thought I was lucky to escape with my head intact, but at the end I said something that seemed to be important to him, so I guess he decided to repay the favor after all.”
Risa was nearly moved to tears by this.
“Well at least there’s one Provo-Major out there with a scrap of decency. Thank you for risking yourself like that for me, and sorry for harping on you about it after you came back.”
If you only knew which Major it was.
“Come on, two-hundredth floor. We have to change elevators,” she said instead, keen on dropping the discussion about Major Topher.
There were only three other people with them now, as the sky-level of the hospital was reserved for important guests, government officials, top-level doctors and equipment, and whatever secrets they most likely kept this high up in the air.
“I don’t think I’ve been at sky-level of anywhere in five years,” Risa remarked as they moved from one elevator to the next to continue up the last twelve floors.
“Yeah I don’t have much business on sky-level either,” Ana laughed. “It looks a lot like ground-level, other than the clouds being a lot closer to us and the air being a little cooler.”
They exited at level two-hundred-and-twelve and Ana looked out a nearby window.
“Wow, most of the clouds are below us now.”
They approached the registration desk and scanned their ID-chips and visitor bracelets as requested, before taking seats in the waiting room. It was much smaller and less o
stentatious than the main lobby had been, but still kept spotlessly clean and well-furnished, painted pale orange and cream. They were the only two people in the waiting room right now, and if the receptionist—who was definitely a government official—found it odd they were Gifted, he didn’t show it in any way.
The two of them passed the time looking out the window at their surroundings. Transparent sky-lanes transected the sky everywhere, connecting paths between the businesses and restaurants on the higher levels, some of them sloping sharply upwards into the air above them. Aerial speeders zoomed inside the walled lanes from one point to the next, stopping at traffic lights and slowing at a nearby construction zone where a section of wall was being repaired.
Risa was staring down at the ground, squinting to see it properly from so high up in the air.
“It’s weird, isn’t it?” she asked quietly, and before Ana could ask what was weird she continued. “I spend my whole life down on the ground, looking up at a sky- level I can barely even see, and as soon as I get up here all I can think to do is look down at the ground I can barely see. What does that say about me?”
Ana contemplated this unexpectedly profound thought and finally said, “That we can’t ever be happy with what we have? We’re always looking to the other side?”
Risa gave a sad smile and said, “I think you must be right. We’re not even three-hundred stories up and I can barely make out anything happening below. It looks like a bunch of bugs scurrying around, except I think the bugs are actually cars. I can’t even see individual people very well.”
“Yes, it is an odd shift of perspective,” Ana agreed mildly.
“I always wondered if the Provo-Major are standing at the top of the Augenspire, looking down at us in the Academy and watching us go about our day, but I suppose they really can’t, can they? They’re three-hundred stories high on a bluff that gives them additional height over the city, and especially over the valley of the Academy. They have to be close to five-hundred floors above us with all of that factored in. Do they even see anything when they look down at us?”