Jane Doesn't Save the World

by Erin Grey

  I jerked awake, breathing heavily. The place where my deactivated translator had been installed ached terribly. I rubbed, massaged, pressed at it, but the ache only worsened. Maybe water would cool it. I slipped past the flimsy partition, into the even tinier washroom. Leaning over the basin so that my ear brushed the tap, I splashed water onto the excruciating spot. The cold soothed it temporarily, but then the ache came back even worse. I slid to the floor, clutching my head, desperate to claw out the implant that was causing so much pain.

  Eventually, I crawled back through the dark and leaned my throbbing head against the bed, too weighed down to hold it up. Sharp, stinging pangs radiated out from the sore spot, shooting into my arms, across my torso, down my legs. In agony, I struggled to breathe, to somehow release the building tension that threatened to explode my brain.

  Reflexively, I reached down into the ground, through layers and layers of concrete and steel, down into soil and root and seed, down to bedrock and silt and silicone, reaching further to the heat that called me, the burning, flowing magma. I touched it, the barest touch, and a lightning bolt, an electro-magnetic pulse, a laser beam shot up through each and every layer, up my arm and into my heart, where it spread out through my veins like lava through self-carved river valleys of igneous rock. I cried out.

  Then it was gone, along with all traces of pain. Cautiously, I reached up to the spot of remembered hurt, but there wasn’t so much as a tender patch. Even the stiffness from the hard bed had disappeared.

  The guard banged on the door. “Quiet!” he shouted. Then, to himself, “Damn abnormals. Why I couldn’t get a job at the Fleece Exchange like my brother said I should instead of listening to that damn sister of mine, I’ll never …” he trailed off into incoherent mumbling.

  I had understood him. And the guards didn’t speak English.

  My fingers brushed over the translator that had magically reactivated itself. “Huh,” I said.

  43

  The bit where I discover something very, very important

  Exhausted from my exceptional night, I slept like a dead person until Examiner Atropus came to collect me for testing. She punctuated our walk with little platitudes like, “We’ll just go around this corner,” and “Oops, careful now,” when I tripped on the edge of my overalls. I felt like a school child being led off to see the nurse by an anxious teacher.

  “I hate her more than Idesta,” growled Sandy.

  The examination was worse than my nightmares of the night before. I was prodded and poked with needles injecting and withdrawing fluids. What would they do with all those litres of blood and urine and spinal fluid and everything else they’d extracted? How much longer would I have to sit in their examining chairs and jog on their running machines and lie down in their scanning pods? All while Examiner Atropus assured me I was doing splendidly and not to be alarmed, but there were just a few more tests to run.

  By the time I was given a chance to rest and eat, I was a drained, dried-out, shrivelled up water balloon.

  And that’s when I got my first real break.

  The three examiners were sitting around a monitor, talking. They must have been using a language other than English, because there was no way they would have been free with that information in front of me when they refused to tell me what would happen in the next five minutes.

  “I expected to see more fluctuations in her internal energy. Could she be actively suppressing them?” asked Examiner Ursa, the orange-hued woman with a face like a horse but a personality entirely unlike a horse14.

  “It is more likely that, as with other Earth subjects, her energy is latent,” replied Examiner Pero, an overweight man with skin of iridescent blue. It wasn’t right that such an awful person had such lovely skin.

  “Other Earth subjects?” growled Sandy.

  Examiner Atropus twirled a stylus between her fingers. “If she has spent as much time with Aidoneus Agrona as we suspect, it is conceivable that he taught her how to use it and hide it.”

  “How can we draw it out?” asked Examiner Pero. “We have tried all the usual triggers.”

  “If we could find a personal connection to exploit—Zhian Cæcus or Aidoneus Agrona—perhaps we could force her into expressing it,” suggested Examiner Ursa.

  “It would require one of us to get close to her, make her trust us enough to open up.” Examiner Pero glanced at Examiner Atropus. “You seem to have a rapport with her.”

  Examiner Atropus inclined her head. “I will continue to build a relationship. I will find her weak points.”

  Examiner Ursa sniffed. “This will all be so much neater once we have the Abnormals tagged and under our control.”

  “How can we ensure that everyone gets inoculated? Have you thought of how we’ll tag those who don’t bother?” asked Examiner Pero.

  “A little plague could come in handy. I have just the thing.” Examiner Ursa bounced the leg crossed over her knee in excitement. “They’ll be terrified into being inoculated or they’ll die.” She snorted. “Which would be no great loss.”

  “I’d prefer to collect samples from all specimens before they are eradicated,” mused Examiner Atropus. “The information would be invaluable in helping us deal with the Earth problem.”

  “Earth problem?!” Sandy’s anger caused me to jostle my dish.

  Examiner Pero looked across at me, and I instantly feigned absorption in the crumbs on my plate. “The subject appears to have finished her meal. Shall we proceed?”

  My mind raced during the remaining tests, and more than once, I had to be recalled to focus on the task at hand.

  “They plan to secretly tag so-called Abnormals through inoculations,” said Jasper. “Once they are tagged, they will somehow be under the control of the Regulators.”

  “And they spoke about eradicating them,” added Sandy. “Why? What could they possibly gain from mass genocide?”

  Jasper pondered. “It can only be one of two things: they feel threatened by the Abnormals, or they see a way to exploit them that will end in their extinction.”

  “This is big,” said Sandy. “This could be what TRAG needs to take them down.”

  “However, we require proof,” said Jasper. “Without evidence, we would simply be spreading rumours. To be taken seriously, we must be able to prove, without a doubt, that the Regulators, as a group, mean harm to those classed as Abnormals.”

  “How can we prove it?” asked Gwendolyn. “We’re trapped! And we can’t record anything.”

  “That may not be true,” replied Jasper. “BIOS? What is the status of the communication module on the translator?”

  >BIOS ACTIVE_

  >Scanning translator implant_

  >Scanning_

  >Translator implant status: Functional

  >Translator implant communication module: Functional

  “Excellent,” said Jasper. “Are you able to contact Charis over the channel that was originally programmed?”

  >Communication module scanning for active channel_

  “So that’s what that constant white noise is,” said Sandy.

  “Notify me the instant the module finds the channel,” Jasper instructed BIOS.

  >Scanning_

  “If we can reconnect with Charis, she may be able to reactivate the recording ability of the translator,” explained Jasper. “It is a pity they have not returned your glasses. A video recording would be most valuable.”

  “Maybe Jane can ask to have them back?” Gwendolyn suggested.

  “Won’t work,” said Sandy. “They would have realised they were part of her disguise and not for any medical reason. Probably why they haven’t returned them. Hopefully they haven’t worked out the recording and transmission capability.”

  “Or found a way to track TRAG using them,” said Gwendolyn with a shudder.

  “An audio recording will have to do,” said Jasper. “There is only one difficulty: we must catch them talking about their plans for the Abnormals whilst not giving a
way our ability to understand them. Jane must provoke them into talking around her, if not to her.”

  “That’s a tall order,” said Sandy. “And shouldn’t we be focusing on finding a way to the portal and getting out of here?”

  Gwendolyn sniffed. “This is bigger than us now. If TRAG can’t stop these people, Earth will be in danger.”

  “Got to help,” murmured Mitch. “Got to save them.”

  Mitch and Gwendolyn were right; I think that’s why Jasper was so willing to help: he couldn’t resist a logical argument. This wasn’t about rescuing a handful of people from an uncomfortable life in a clinic.

  This was about preventing a massacre.

  * * *

  Days passed, filled with sitting, lying down, or standing during test after test. Examiner Atropus did her best to win me over with her plastic smiles and fake concern. Knowing her real view of me as an ‘Abnormal’ made it impossible to empathize with her, but I tried to use her efforts to my advantage.

  I complained of the long hours trapped in one of two rooms, so she began to take me for walks along the corridors, occasionally allowing me a brief view from a window. BIOS noted every twist and turn of every passage, each door and window and sign. I recognized one of the passages from my initial escape route. A chance encounter with a technician from the control room confirmed my position, and I was able to regain my bearings. I now knew where my room was in relation to the portal and where the examination room was in relation to both.

  “What day is it?” asked Gwendolyn in an apprehensive voice. “How long before we’re supposed to be home?”

  “BIOS?” asked Jasper. “How many days have we been on planet Eorthe?”

  >BIOS ACTIVE_

  >Retrieving data_

  >Data corrupted

  >Estimated days on Eorthe: 25

  “Assuming that estimate is correct,” said Jasper, “we have less than 5 days to get home and invoke the life insurance payout. Else there will not be enough time for your family to claim the money before the new law is passed and they lose everything.”

  “I thought we were going to use the diamond instead of … the insurance,” said Gwendolyn.

  “The Regulators took it, remember?” said Sandy. “I vote we make a break for the portal and get out of this mess.”

  “Can’t,” said Mitch. “Will hurt bad.”

  “We only have five days!” Sandy protested. “How can we possibly get the information we need on a recording, get that recording to TRAG without the Regulators knowing, and get ourselves to the portal? I mean, I know I act like I’m all invincible and stuff, but that’s pushing it a bit.”

  “If we are able to establish a connection with Charis in the next forty-eight hours, we may be able to get the necessary information to her,” said Jasper. “Then we shall proceed to the portal. If she does not make contact within the allotted timeframe, we can be satisfied that we made every effort to alert TRAG and proceed to the portal. In either scenario, we return home in time to complete the rest of the plan.”

  “Ok, fine,” grumbled Sandy. “But as soon as those forty-eight hours are up, I’m screaming until we head for that portal.”

  “So, we’re going to try to help as long as we’re here?” asked Gwendolyn excitedly. “Yay!” She clapped her hands.

  And so, the countdown began. Every moment I was alone, and many of the moments I wasn’t, I planned my escape.

  At night, once my cell was dark, I practised coaxing a strong vine out of the ground. I got it to spring up in seconds and wrap around the legs of the bed instantly. Once I was satisfied with my speed and precision, I had to send the many plants I’d created back into the earth. There wasn’t much I could do about the crack in the ground, but I managed to develop a moss that mimicked the rubbery floor covering fairly well. It would become noticeable once it grew a bit, but it only had to pass muster for the short time I had left.

  I ran through the map Jasper had built with BIOS, through each step of the plan. Without a custom-fitted disguise, it would be much harder than the original scheme, but I’d just have to make it work. I couldn’t be here another day.

  The trouble was getting the Examiners to discuss their evil plans. As long as they were running their tests, they were far more interested in the facts and figures in front of them.

  But they hadn’t given up on getting more information out of me by lulling me into a false sense of security, and that was my way in.

  Bonding with Examiner Atropus was tough, but I dutifully made the effort at Jasper’s urging, hoping to extract what I needed from her at the right time. I asked about the troubles they faced on Eorthe because of the Abnormals, pretending to sympathize with the disorganisation and chaos it must create, even though it made me sick to my stomach to hear her speak of them as though they were diseased wild animals—something to be exterminated.

  She opened up and told me how they wished to help the Abnormals by ‘bringing them together’ for ‘study’ so they could learn how to fix them. They would implant chips that could assist in controlling their wild tendencies.

  At first, I understood that she meant the chips would curb the energies of those implanted. But it soon became clear that they had something much more sinister in mind.

  They wanted to magnify and channel the energies to be used as a weapon. They’d create an unparalleled army: powerful, disposable, and completely under their influence, like remote-controlled machinery.

  And then I found out how Earth came into the picture.

  “I see what you mean about latent energy,” said Examiner Ursa during the lunch break. She and the other examiners pored over scans of my brain and body while I sat at the back of the room eating and pretending I didn’t understand them. “There are definite indications of expended energy here, and yet she shows no sign of being able to actively use it.”

  “It is different from the other test subjects from Earth,” agreed Examiner Pero. “Their energies were congregated in one or more parts of their bodies, damaging them from the inside. She has no tumours, no existing brain damage. And yet, it is clear that lesions were present recently.”

  “See how the tissue here,” said Examiner Ursa, pointing to a scan of my brain, “near the amygdala and hippocampus, is newly generated.”

  “And here,” added Examiner Pero, gesturing to a scan of my abdomen. “It appears she had growths removed from this area some time ago—the scar tissue is still present. Yet, there are patches of newly generated tissue speckled throughout, as though later growths were removed recently, and perfect new tissue closed over the wound site without forming scar tissue.”

  “She must have activated her energy numerous times since she’s been here,” said Examiner Atropus. “We need to force her into expressing it in front of us.”

  Examiner Pero shifted in his seat. “It is probable that she had help activating it and is not able to do so alone. The energy we tracked before was intensely powerful.”

  “It’s too early to try electrical stimulus,” said Examiner Atropus, and I blessed her evil little heart. “I am making progress with her. I believe I can convince her to attempt using her energy in the lab, once she trusts me.”

  “I noticed you taking her outside for her lunch break the other day. Is bribery really the solution?” Examiner Ursa snidely asked.

  Examiner Atropus smiled her plastic smile, the one that hid murderous intent15. “Gratitude is the first step in forming a relationship. The more she is beholden to me, the more she will share of herself. The concept may be unfamiliar to you, but I assure you it is based on solid research.”

  Examiner Ursa sneered. “I’m aware of the research and the concept. I question your ability to apply it correctly in this situation.”

  Examiner Pero quickly intervened. “We are in no rush, comrades. Any and all attempts to gain the subject’s cooperation are opportunities for observation and discovery. Examiner Atropus may work on her hypothesis until it is proven true or false. In the even
t it fails to produce the desired results, we will attempt another approach.” He cleared his throat, glancing nervously between the two women glaring at each other. “Do not lose sight of the goal: to learn how to control the energies of the mentally damaged humans we collect. His Grace Senator Cadgwaladr has already been most generous in providing the funding we require and protecting us from bureaucratic interference. If we succeed in producing the army he requires, we can expect further generosity, not to mention prestige.”

  “Is it really necessary to include Earth trash in his plans?” asked Examiner Ursa. “Surely there are enough Abnormals on this planet for his Grace’s army?”

  “You know he doesn’t intend to stop at conquering Fredzenberg, though Athena knows they shall pay dearly for their atrocities towards Caruthia and their vile heresy. All who turn to false Houses shall be brought to heel. The entire planet will know the true way.”

  “And an infinite army will ensure he does it,” said Examiner Ursa. “It’s just as well we have hundreds of portals from which to access replacements.”

  “Hundreds?!” exclaimed Sandy. “Ric thought there were only a handful.”

  “This is monstrous,” said Jasper. “They can harvest humans on demand and turn them into robotic soldiers, compelled to obey, hurt, and kill. This cannot be allowed to happen.”

  A squeal of feedback rang out of my translator, and I clapped a hand over it, nervously assessing the Examiners to see if they’d noticed it. They glanced over at my sudden move, then returned to their conversation.

  >Communication module connection established.

  A voice like molten chocolate spiked with cognac rippled through my brain.

  “Hello? Hello? Jane, are you there?”

  It was Charis.

  14 Because horses are lovely.

  15 She had quite the repertoire of manufactured facial expressions, but I’d learned to interpret all of them.