by Red Harvey
The old Moretz had an accent, but the new one had a lilt, like his father. Kressick hadn’t just altered his son, but somehow put part of himself in his consciousness. Ada knew as much from hearing his voice, seeing his physical transformations, and checking his electronic vibration. Before, he was grating and jagged. Now, he was smoother, similar to the vibration Kressick emitted. Not the exact vibration, but definitely a cousin to the frequency.
“He didn’t talk like that before,” Shylar said what they were all thinking.
Ada sought to explain the transformation, internally and aloud to those she cared about. “Kressick’s tweaks to a personality can evolve over time. The drugs or whatever else the Sammies did to Moretz must have triggered the rest of his conversion.”
“Did you hear what Dad said?” Darcy asked. “We have to go. And we’re not leaving without him.”
Yes we are. Ada swallowed the words. Her personality hadn’t gone through the luxury of being converted, and being selfish came naturally. She had been putting herself first for almost a year, well, admittedly longer than that. If she was honest, she would have told everyone she was leaving without any of them, that’s right, see ya.
“Leave me.” Moretz was saying in a quiet voice.
“No, we’re not leaving without...anyone.” She didn’t look at her father. “Let’s get to the fucking car before I realize what I’m getting into.”
~ * ~
They were in a small diner, sitting down to eat lunch. Both Shylar and Moretz were completely confident, but Ada and Darcy couldn’t sit still. They kept looking around, expecting to get caught. The two girls couldn’t understand why they stopped at such an exposed location or why they stopped at all. They were only twenty minutes outside of the city when Shylar suggested they rest, stretch their legs, and get some food.
Darcy whispered her concerns to Ada, who in turn voiced aloud—very quietly—how stupid it was to rest anywhere. She and Darcy thought they ought to keep fleeing and for a very long time.
Calmly, Shylar ate his plate of country fried steak. It was hard to get food dripping in actual fat, and he was most satisfied when the first bite of his steak was crunchy and, above all, grease- filled.
Moretz told the women Shylar’s plan, which was really Kressick’s plan. In that plan, they didn’t have to leave Atlanta, but merely re-locate to another secure set of penthouses on the opposite side of the city.
Moretz finished by saying, “This diner is five minutes from our new safe house. After we eat, we plan for an interstate trip to Aurora.”
To the two women, the plan sounded insane. Their flight response was highly active, and they wanted to get as far from Atlanta as they could. Ada was even more insistent to leave right away, as her mother needed her, and she needed to see her mother. However, Shylar and Moretz were aware that leaving wouldn’t rid them of their Prominent problem. The Sammies would be able to find them wherever they went. The only other way to beat them was an offensive subversion.
Ada had yet to touch the burger the human waitress brought her. “What’s the play here?”
Of the three Corentin’s, she was aware of the plan in a generalized way. What she didn’t know was how important she was to the plan.
Two Sammies walked into the diner, their heads swiveling back and forth, searching the faces of each patron. Their table was at the back of the restaurant, but visible from the door. The manager pointed out their location to the Sammies.
Ada and Darcy rose up from their seats, but Moretz instructed them to sit back down.
“Why aren’t we leaving?” Darcy asked. The Sammies were thirty feet from them, and all Shylar did was cut up his steak into smaller pieces.
Ada fidgeted. “If I’m supposed to do something, tell me what it is, now.”
He chewed, then spoke. “You tell me.” His Zen-like approach to the moment made her face flush. He could almost read her mind. She was thinking this was an intense situation that required quick thinking, and he and Moretz were sitting holding all the details, happy to let her take a guess. She stared between them, and suddenly her eyes widened. Satisfied, Shylar took another bite knowing what she’d realized—both of her male companions wouldn’t even be there if Kressick hadn’t made sure to make it so.
When the Sammies approached their table, sweat beaded at her brow, as she concentrated, but after a few minutes, the re-wire for the two agents was complete. The pair looked around the diner in a daze before seeming to understand where they were and why.
One of the Sammies knelt to be eye level with Ada. “I promise we will protect you and make sure the State knows nothing of your whereabouts or existence.”
She nodded. “Thank you for your service.” The Sammie smiled. “Of course, Citizen. Anything for you.” Without another word, the two Sammies left the diner. No one spoke. The only sounds were Shylar’s loud chewing noises.
“Am I going to have to do that every time?” she finally asked.
Thirty Four
Ada wanted to survive, but she didn’t want to be responsible for potentially reverting dozens, maybe even hundreds of people just to ensure their survival. When she changed Phennell, the guilt was almost too much. Now she had changed two more people, robbing them of their freewill.
“You might have to do something like it every time, if there is a next time.” Moretz sipped his drink. “Will you be able to?”
She looked at Darcy, at Shylar, then back at Moretz. “I don’t really have a choice.”
“If you teach me how, I can help you,” Darcy offered. She thanked her little sister, but she knew she would never intentionally teach Darcy how to subvert a human being’s essential personality. The power was too perverted to be used, and Ada hoped she never had to use it again.
That was when Shylar, seeming to read her mind, told her there was another way she could manipulate Sammies without re- wiring them. “Kressick used to erase portions of their memories, give them alternate time frames. You could try that if there’s a next time.”
She wished he’d told her that before she raped two more human minds. Why couldn’t have Kressick imparted better communication and social skills into his mercenary? She held in her anger, frying the light bulb above them, but not shattering it. “Thanks, I will.”
They finished the rest of their lunch in silence. Shylar couldn’t stop smiling, and Ada couldn’t stop kicking him in the shin. By the time they were ready to leave, he winced as he rubbed his leg. An incoming message brought about Ada’s automatic flick of the wrist. “Hello?” She assumed it would be Cybil or Gemina, but it was neither.
“I have a list for you,” Shana said.
Shock animated Shylar’s face to a near comical degree, but Ada brushed him away.
“Send it to me.”
Shana chuckled. “Yeah right. I’m not transmitting via this network.”
“My connection is safe, trust me.”
“It might be, but I don’t know that for sure. I’m not handing this list over until you’ve guaranteed the safety of me and mine, and one other thing.”
“Yes?” Ada drew out the word.
“We get my brother out too.”
“Done.”
Silence.
“Just like that?”
“Just like that. We’ll be in touch.”
Ada cut the connection.
“What was that?” Shylar demanded.
“Our next stop after picking up my mother, or maybe our first stop. Haven’t decided yet.”
On their way out of the diner, Moretz held open the door for everyone. She was the last to leave, and he grinned at her. Her natural revulsion for him threatened to overtake her. She resisted, and it seemed a good sign for their future relationship. Her entire trip to Atlanta had been about finding the blame for what she had done to August or so she believed.
Seeing her changed father and feeling more than disgust for him made her realize she had been searching for more than blame, she had been searching for the la
st part of her family. A part of her had wanted to re-unite with Moretz, even if that meant murdering the bastard to accomplish her reunion.
As she walked past her father, patting him awkwardly on the arm, she thought of how she liked the current outcome much better than her imagined one.
About the Author
Red Harvey is the author of A Gray Life, Cursed, and The Dark. In 2014, The Speculative Literature Foundation recognized her serialized Wattpad novel, Obsolution, as an Honorable Mention for both the Diverse World Grant and the Diverse Writer Grant. In 2016, The Dark became a featured novel on Wattpad. In 2018, The Night Reporter was shortlisted for a Watty Award.
She is a Color Run-enthusiast (meaning she walks a good deal of the way), sushi junkie, and self-affirmed nerdist. She lives in Florida with her two silly boys, and is completely in love with a Star Trek nerd.
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.redharveysworld.com/
Twitter: @redharveysworld
Wattpad: @Red_Harvey
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