by B.V. Bayly
Chapter Thirty-Six
Gabriel sat on a wooden bench. Its old iron legs and worn wood matched the age of the tall rock wall it sat under. He stared out across the gardens and sprawling lawns surrounding the Church’s research facility in St. Petersburg. From the outside, the facility looked like a 300-year-old church with aged stone exterior walls and tall narrow turrets, hiding the technology within. Only a third of the facility stood above ground, the rest lay deep beneath the earth. On the lowest floor was one of the largest ore vaults in Europe. The other floors housed laboratories and living quarters for its security force – a small army. Still, the grounds had a feeling of peace to them. That was a feeling he had forgotten over the last several weeks. He stretched out his legs and spread his arms along the back of the bench, relaxed and waiting.
Since his arrival, Cardinal Vincent had taken it upon himself to educate Gabriel. The Church believed the ore was placed in the Garden of Eden when God created the world. It was the ore’s powers that had shaped the garden – blue ore produced pure water for man to drink, green allowed the garden to flourish with food and calm the animals, red kept man warm despite the seasons. The Church also believed that the white ore was reserved for Adam to use to govern the garden. When man fell, it shattered, rendering it useless. In the end, man was cast out for his disobedience. A ring of black ore was placed around the garden, killing anyone who tried to come near it.
The Church had spent years collecting any piece of ore they could find. The bulk of the collection was held within the Vatican City in Rome. Their desire was not that much different than the mission of the IP. They believed that the ore was to be governed by them alone and not by the governments or any independent groups. They claimed to be the ore’s overseers, ordained by God to use and govern.
Gabriel sat patiently on the bench wondering about the story. If the original crystal Adam used had shattered, why was he able to put two pieces back together? There was nothing holy about him, he wasn’t even sure he believed in God. Was this an evolution of man or a return to how humans were meant to be? He hadn’t forgotten what Shiro had told him – others were being hunted for their connection to the ore. He wasn’t the only one. The ones the Church didn’t execute were called exiles – they were protected and cared for but weren’t allowed any contact with the ore. They could live out their lives in special communities – a future Gabriel found depressing. The cardinal told him about one exile in particular, Claire Bennett. She had been given special permission to be a research assistant at the facility. It was her he sat waiting for. Despite her position within the Church, she was very vocal about how the Church treated ore users – she had petitioned the Patriarchs to change their practices. A risky endeavor for an exile, but that wasn’t what Gabriel was interested in. Rumors said she was still part of a Sphere outside of the Church, and she still had contacts with them. Gabriel hadn’t given up on finding one, and she was his best lead.
She appeared suddenly, hustling across the green space, heading towards one of several entrances to the underground facility. He almost missed her and had to sprint after her. As he quickened his pace, he dodged around a gentlemen in a white lab coat, strolling towards the same entrance.
“It’s rude to chase after strangers!” Dr. Osho’s familiar voice sounded behind him. “There are easier ways.”
He gave up his pursuit and turned to see Osho grinning at him. “I wasn’t chasing. I was trying to catch up.”
“Gabriel, I watched you sitting on the bench.” Osho laughed. “Like a stalker.”
Gabriel recognized the humor in Osho’s voice. He rolled his eyes. “You mentioned an easier way?”
“I have a task just for you, and perhaps Ms. Bennett can assist us. How’s that sound?”
“I guess better than this.”
Osho held out a box of Cubes for Gabriel to carry, as he led the way. “Shall we then?”
He scooped up the electronic files, smiled at the doctor, and headed toward the entrance doors. They entered the building and stood in line, waiting for the busy elevator to take them down below the ground. He teetered on his toes, scanning the room, hoping to catch a glimpse of Claire. The ding of the elevator opening shifted the people around him. He shrank back down to keep his footing as they stepped up for their turn.
“You are certainly interested in this girl. Just relax and wait.” Osho continued to grin at him. “She will be more than happy to join us soon. Her intellect is impressive – she helps in the labs with ore experiments."
“She’s allowed to handle the ore?” That was a new bit of information that Gabriel didn’t know. “What can she do with it?” He kept his voice down. “The Cardinal said she could react with all of them but the black.”
Osho glanced around, speaking at a whisper. “I am sure you are quite different from her. She is unique though. Lots of individuals have a relationship to the ore whether they know it or not, but it is usually to only a single kind. Having the ability to interact with all of them is certainly interesting and rare.”
“Do you believe the story of the garden? I mean, do you really think the ore came from God?”
“The ore defies many scientific theories. It could be possible. Its existence and properties are reflected in the natural world, but not in such great strength.” Osho pointed to the opening elevator door, guiding Gabriel through it.
“Cardinal Vincent said Adam controlled the garden with the white ore before it was shattered. What does that mean about me?” He lowered his voice to a whisper as they piled into the cramped space.
“I do not know.” Osho shook his head and smiled. “But I do know your father found it for a reason; it was his purpose. Your connection to the ore … it has its own reason, a purpose. Instead of asking why, ask how. How are you going to change things?”
Gabriel thought about Osho’s words as the elevator hummed down below the ground. How could he change anything?
He stepped out of the elevator and passed through the security check point, scanning the ID badge given to him when they had first arrived. The walk to Dr. Osho’s office was short.
“Come in, my boy.” Osho opened the door wide to let him through.
Gabriel stepped past him. Osho had obviously been working in his office nonstop for the last couple of days. His desk was a mess of cubes. The small couch in the corner of the room had been turned into a make-shift bed and stacks of plates stood on the small table. Osho cleared off one of the chairs and invited him to take a seat.
“I apologize for the mess. I actually slept in a bed last night for the first time in days.” Osho gathered up some more of his things.
“It’s alright.” Gabriel found a clear enough surface to put the cubes down. “So, what’s this task?”
“First, I wanted to ask you some questions. Where did I put that Cube?” Osho found an empty Cube to take notes on and sat down behind his desk.
“Sure,” Gabriel found a chair to clear off, “but I have one first.”
Osho raised his eyes brows and waited.
“Is there any new information on Adin? Has anyone back home found anything?”
Osho stopped what he was doing. “Of course … your brother.” He sighed. “Nathaniel has been quite busy with his new tasks. I’m afraid we still don’t know anything for sure, but in the confusion over the last week I must admit it has dropped down the priority list. I’ll speak with him about it.”
“Thanks.” He found it difficult to stay positive about Adin. “It’s been too long, hasn’t it?” His emotions crept in.
“There is no length of time that is too long. Kyrie was gone for four months … we didn’t stop looking. We will find Adin, one way or another. I promise.” Osho nodded then adjusted his glasses and changed the subject. “When you were last with Adin, did he mention any projects with the black ore? Did they study anything related to it?”
“No idea.” He shrugged. “We didn’t get much of a chance to discuss anything deeper than the
basics.”
“That’s unfortunate.” Osho sighed.
“Adin never actually talked about the black ore. None of his research involved it. Why all the questions?”
Osho removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes as he leaned forward on his desk. “I have been going through all of Calvin’s research information searching for some kind of defense against the black ore and have come up with nothing. We know the black ore can affect other types of ore – polluting it – slowly changing it black over time. We know the black ore is lethal to anyone who comes in contact with it, even those who have connections to the other types of ore. In most cases, exposure happens so fast, it’s difficult to even move without proper protection from its radiation. Even the smallest crystal can contain a massive amount of kinetic energy. Everything else about it is a mystery. With no way to neutralize it, I have no idea how we can prepare any defense against it.”
“Is any of the black ore here?”
“Yes, we have a small supply on site but –”
He cut Osho off. “Let’s go see what I can do to it.”
“What?” Osho stared at him, shocked.
“Dad was studying the relationship between the white and black ore. It’s in his notes.” He drummed on the crystal in his chest. “We've got the white.”
“Gabriel, you can’t be serious.” Osho shook his head.
“I can interact with all of the ore … I’m guessing that includes the black.”
“Well, what do you … I mean, what are you planning on doing with it? You do realize how volatile it is? It could explode in your hands.” Osho looked quite alarmed.
“I don’t know the science, but I can push energy into ore … like I did to heal Kyrie… I don’t think it matters what kind it is. So, something must also happen when I come in contact with the black ore.” He stood up and pointed at the door. “Let’s go find out.”
“But – I –” Dr. Osho rubbed his eyes. “The potential for things going wrong... Gabriel, it’s beyond dangerous.”
“I can stop a bullet.” Gabriel grinned. “How strong do you think a little shard is?”
Osho threw up his arms in defeat. “Alright. There really is no other way to find out except to let you get close to it. Let’s head down to the lower levels.”
Osho collected a small silver box from a locked drawer. “This was quite different than the experiment I had planned to do with Claire, but we can pick her up along the way.” They exited the office. At the elevators, they dropped deeper into the underground facility.
“So where are we headed? Security didn’t let me explore the lower levels.” Gabriel looked around his surroundings.
“The containment rooms in this section of the facility were designed for experimentation – able to withstand explosions, radiation, poisonous gases – anything that could go wrong.” Osho stood aside as the elevator doors opened to a security checkpoint.
A guard took their ID’s, scanned them, and waved them through. Gabriel noticed one of the specialized rooms was already occupied. He glanced through the reinforced glass viewing panel. There, dressed in a long white lab coat and oversized safety goggles, Claire Bennett handled several pieces of ore. She picked each of them up in her bare hands, placing drops of solution on them from an electronic needle.
Gabriel stared at her, studying all of her features. Her brown hair was tied back in a pony tail. Her eyes squinted behind the safety goggles as she focused on the ore in her hands. The ore pulsed at her touch. It was the same as it did for him, just weaker. There was more here that he was interested in than just what she knew about the ‘Spheres’. She was cute, smart, and something about her drew him.
Osho stepped beside him and rapped on the glass, shocking both Gabriel and Claire with the noise. Gabriel scrambled to look busy, but found nothing to do but tie his shoelaces. He ducked down below the window and fumbled with them. He sheepishly glanced back at the window to see Claire staring down at him. She looked annoyed as he gave an awkward wave of his hand.
Dr. Osho pressed a button for the speaker in the room. “Sorry to disturb you, Claire, but I could use your help.”
She smiled at the short doctor. “Of course, I would be happy to help you.” Her cute accent only added to Gabriel’s attraction to her.
“Great.” Osho smiled and walked towards the next room. “Gabriel, your shoe is tied well enough by now,” he called over his shoulder.
Gabriel felt the blood surge to his face as Claire walked by, completely ignoring him. The door shut behind her, sending a rush of cool air across his face. He stood and followed her into the small containment room. The silver box rested on a steel table that was firmly bolted to the wall. Osho was directing Claire into a side room. The door closed behind them, a mechanized lock activating on the door. Gabriel was sealed alone in the room, being watched by the other two through the reinforced viewing window. Now what? Not sure what he should be doing, he shrugged and stared at Osho for some insight. Osho flipped a switch on the outside wall.
“Go ahead, Gabriel. I left it on the table.” His voice rang out through a speaker mounted high in the corner of the room.
Right, the box. He strolled over to it, flipping the small box open. Inside was a dark sleek crystal, the size of his finger. A weak draining sensation came over him immediately. “I can feel the negative force from it already.” He reached his bare hand into the box, without much thought and picked the shard up. He dropped it on the table immediately. The ore banged against the flat steel, blasting sparks across the steel surface. “It burns to touch!” He turned to Osho, rubbing his hand as it throbbed in pain.
“What kind of experiment is this?” Claire grabbed Dr. Osho’s arm. “What’s in the box?” Her voice echoed through the speakers.
“Gabriel’s testing some theories about black ore,” Dr. Osho explained. “Relax, Claire - he can handle it. Just help me with some observations.”
“That ore will kill him if he stays in that room any longer!” Claire protested.
I doubt that. Gabriel grinned, watching them and listening to their conversation through the speaker.
“Don’t worry.” Osho looked at her and shook his head. “Gabriel isn’t exactly normal. He’s an ore user – similar to yourself.”
“What!” She stared at Gabriel then back to Osho. “Ore user or not, this is too dangerous.”
“He will be fine, I hope.” Osho looked at Gabriel, calling out over the speaker, “See what you can do.”
“I can’t believe you; this isn’t even close to a scientific methodology.” She crossed her arms and glared at him.
Gabriel turned and contemplated the black crystal on the table, unsure of how to touch it without hurting himself. He rubbed his hands together and breathed out as a strand of white light exited his shirt sleeve and pooled in his hand, forming a glove that covered his hand. “Alright,” he whispered. “Let’s see what you got.” The room grew brighter as he picked up the small crystal. Holding the shard without any pain, he turned back to the window to present it to Osho. Claire’s eyes widened. “It’s draining. Like my ore is struggling against it.” He tried to explain his feelings to Osho.
“I want you to focus your energy into the ore, like before, but do it carefully … no sudden pulses,” Dr. Osho directed.
Gabriel nodded and set the shard down on the table. He stretched his neck from side to side, readying himself for the unknown. Alright. He summoned protection around both of his hands. With his hands clasped around the black crystal, he focused. His body was weak and achy, as if he suddenly had the flu. He was short of breath. His white ore in his chest pulsed as he sent more energy towards the small shard. Wave after wave, more and more energy poured into his hands. The small black shard felt as if it had come to life, fighting to stop the process. An explosion erupted in the room. The blast sent him flying backwards against the glass panel, webbing it with thousands of cracks, but not shattering it. The walls cracked, sending chunks of concrete cras
hing to the floor. A cloud of thick grey dust enveloped him, blinding him.
Claire yelped.
“Gabriel!” Osho’s yell echoed into the small room as it filled with darkness and dust.
Gabriel got up off the ground. “Son of … That hurt!” He kept his hands clenched as he waited for the burning sensation to stop. The room’s emergency lighting flashed on and a loud fan pulled the dirty air upwards, clearing his vision of the room. “I’m alright,” he called out. He could see Dr. Osho and Claire pressed against the fractured window. “I’m good.”
“Thank God.” Osho rushed over to the door, punching in a code that released it from the override locks. Gabriel watched as an emergency crew moved Claire away from the broken window. She stood at the doorway, her mouth wide open. The team followed Osho into the room.
Carefully stepping over the debris, Gabriel met Osho with a huge smile. “Open your hands.” Osho’s hands pressed together below Gabriel’s raised fist. He opened his fist, and a dull green dust sifted between his fingers and into Osho’s hand. “Not much left.”
Osho stared down at his hands. “I need to put this in something.” He looked to a member of the decontamination team who was quick to hold out a polymer container. He emptied the dust into it.
“Sometimes the stupidest method works the best!” Gabriel patted Osho on the back and laughed.
“Outstanding.” Osho joined in his laugh.
“Sir, we’re going to need you to come with us.” One of the decontamination team put a hand on Gabriel’s arm, pulling him away from Osho.
“I’m his physician!” Osho pointed out to the team. “He’s not going anywhere without me.”
The team escorted Gabriel towards the door. Claire abruptly stepped out in front of them. “I’m Claire. Claire Bennett.” She just stood there.
“Gabriel Roberts.” He smiled at her as the team stepped around her, prodding him along.
Osho was right beside him. “You two can talk later. Come on.” He pushed Gabriel forward.
When they reached one of the medical bays, Dr. Osho ushered everyone out, demanding privacy during the examination. Gabriel was thankful and removed his shirt as he lay back on the bed.
“Let’s do a quick inspection, and then they will want you to shower down.” Osho gathered some equipment on a tray.
“What for?” Gabriel knew nothing inside that room could hurt him.
“In case of residual contamination. Best just to go along with it. We’ve already drawn enough attention to ourselves.” Osho pulled the tray over to the table and began to examine the shard. “Either I am getting too old or this shard is larger than when I last saw it.”
Gabriel laughed. “I totally forgot. I merged it with another shard from Nate’s box.”
“You what?” Osho’s mouth hung open.
“Um, merged … them. They became one. Two shards –” Gabriel was unsure how to explain it any better.
Dr. Osho rolled his eyes at him. “I understand what merged means … but how?”
“I just touched them together.” He shrugged. “They did the rest.”
“Really … That’s it?” Osho crossed his arms.
“Well, my chest felt like it had split open and my skin was on fire. Nate burnt his hand when he touched me. I guess I could have exploded, at least Riley thought so. It’s was kinda touch and go.” Gabriel nodded. “That was about it.”
Osho sighed and buried his face in his hands. “Please, next time you are so bold, just let me be involved. Seeing that you might be the only person in the world who can do that. However, let’s not be so rash next time.”
He smiled and chuckled. “It’s not like I knew it was going to happen.”
“Precisely why you shouldn’t have attempted it without me there.” Osho pulled a scanner over the top of the table. “Stay put while this runs.” He flipped the switch.
Gabriel stretched out on the table to get comfortable. A minute or two into the scan, shouts erupted from outside the room.
“Stay put. I’ll see what’s happening.” Osho walked towards the door. Before he could open it Cardinal Vincent burst into the room, slamming the door behind him.
“I thought we had an understanding!” Vincent yelled at Osho.
“I believe we did.” Osho seemed completely calm despite the angry Cardinal. “Gabriel, please don’t move until the scan is done.”
“Then what were you doing in the containment room giving ore to him!” The cardinal pointed at Gabriel. “He should never be allow –” Vincent’s jaw dropped as he stared at Gabriel’s chest.
“As you can see I don’t have to give him anything. He has his own.” Dr. Osho offered the cardinal a chair. “Sit. Please.”
Cardinal Vincent was silent. He stared for a full minute, caught in a daze of disbelief, then collapsed into the chair.
“What you see here is not an experiment, he isn’t artificially augmented like so many other ore users you hunt. Gabriel was impaled with the white crystal during an unfortunate storm that killed his mother. The ore has since taken on a symbiotic relationship with him. I believe they sustain one another. His mastery of it is quite impressive and only grows.” The scan finished and Osho continued to work while he talked. “In fact, he is the answer to the question you have been searching for.”
The cardinal stumbled over his words. “What – What question? What do you mean?”
“Gabriel just destroyed a fragment of black ore in the containment room downstairs. That’s what the blast came from. If you’ve seen the room, you understand the magnitude of what he is capable of.” Osho put everything back on the tray beside him. “You’re all done – perfect as usual – put your shirt back on and go shower in your room privately. I will take care of things here.”
Gabriel nodded at him, agreeing that it was best for Dr. Osho to deal with the bewildered cardinal. As he headed to leave, Vincent grabbed his arm.
“You destroyed it?”
“No, I just returned it to what it once was. Some dust from green ore.” He smiled at him. “Perhaps your mission of exiling and killing ore users is the whole reason you’ve failed to find a way to destroy the black ore.” He gently removed the cardinal’s hand. “You were killing the very ones who might have saved you.”