Redux

by S. A. Stephenson

  ‘What are they going to do to us?’ Kit asked.

  ‘We haven’t been briefed on that yet, so follow my lead,’ Evans headed to the front of the plane as they got out of their seats.

  They followed him to the door of the plane and were greeted by a wave of bitterly cold air. ‘And I thought Manhattan was bad in winter,’ Evie said as she wrapped her arms around herself. The cold stung in a way she hadn’t experienced before, it was like it was cutting into her, threading to slice her open with an invisible knife.

  ‘No, but that doesn’t stop London from being cold,’ Cerkis said.

  They walked down the steps, Evie held onto the railing as her legs began to shake, she couldn’t tell if it was from the cold or from nerves. The steel under her hand stung like ice and she was grateful when she finally stepped onto the concrete. She turned to Kit and they walked forward together in silence. Each side of the runway had armed guards, their faces glared at her, telling her she was unwelcome here. They reminded Evie of the Armistice Guards, ready to attack at a moment’s notice. Cerkis and Evans were walking in front of them and their own army was behind them. Ahead Evie could see a small group of people dressed in suits and heavy coats. Evie focused on the and widened her pupils so they zoomed in on the crowd. As she scanned the faces, they all looked relatively like how American humans did and weren’t as strange as she was expecting. Then she saw something whirr in someone’s eye, it was just a glimpse but Evie immediately wondered if it was some form of robotics. Then as she looked closer she could see more metallic machinery attached to the people in places that she wouldn’t have expected. Someone had metal on their finger, another had a metal plate on their wrist, Evie could only guess what other modifications they had that were hiding behind the layers of coats. Fingers wrapped around hers and Kit pulled her back to her.

  They exchanged glances and Evie could see the look of concern in her eyes, something she wasn’t used to seeing. This new place scared her and that made Evie uneasy.

  Evans and Cerkis stopped and a male official stepped forward and held out a hand to Evans, he was a slender man, but held a stiff posture, his hat was low over his forehead but Evie could make out faint wrinkles in his cheeks and the dim colour of his eyes told her he wasn’t new in his field. There was a pause and it was as though everyone was waiting with bated breath for Evans’ response. Evans did the only thing Evie knew he would do which was to meet the handshake. A woman walked up behind the male official carrying a piece of folded cloth that looked like it was a flag and handed it to Cerkis with a small bow. This was the first woman Evie had seen who wasn’t an American or a Genic, but she looked surprisingly normal. She was wearing a dark pink skirt suit, and Evie was impressed that she was able to brave the cold and wear high heels. She had short red hair and when she gave Evans a small smile Evie sensed some warmth coming from her, which put her at ease. As Evie looked at the flag, she remembered the old flag that the woman at the pier had given her, the white circle that had been the symbol of rebellion for the Genics for so many years. She had kept it in the back pocket of her jeans and wondered if the people here would know what it meant, and what would happen if they found it on her.

  ’Prime Minister Lawson it’s a pleasure to finally meet you,’ Evans was saying to the male official. ‘And Secretary Sinclair, I’m very keen for us to begin working together.’

  ‘As are we,’ Sinclair said. ‘However, first we have official business to attend,’ she said.

  There was a slight hesitation in the air and Evie’s stomach twisted into a knot. ‘Miss Evelyn Fox I presume?’ Lawson asked looking over Evans’ shoulder.

  ‘Yes, sir,’ she said.

  He motioned to the men behind him with two fingers and they marched forward and shoving Kit to one side, they grasped hold of Evie’s wrists in pulled them behind her back. ‘Evelyn Fox, you are being arrested for the murder of Madelina Galen, you’ll be held in remand until we have determined the appropriate course of action.’

  Evie’s heart pounded and she could feel her powers tearing to the surface of her skin but as she heard Kit calling out to her she was able to calm herself enough so that her powers didn’t erupt around her and she let the guards take her away.

  Chapter Six

  Kit tried to push herself past the guards who were holding her back as Evie was placed under arrest. Heat rose under her skin and the electric energy was begging to erupt from Evie. Kit breathed as something switched inside her and she became aware of Evie’s feelings and as she tried to remain calm she saw Evie follow suit. Evans came to her as she watched in despair as Evie was taken away.

  ‘What’s going to happen to her?’ She shrugged Evans away as he tried to put an arm of comfort around her, it wasn’t what she needed right now.

  ‘They’re just going to take her for questioning,’ Evans said as Cerkis came over to them.

  ‘You knew this was going to happen didn’t you?’ Kit demanded as hot anger swirled inside her, she saw wisps of energy swirl around her arms and stunned, she quickly tried to control herself and the wisps faded away. Thankfully it looked like Cerkis or Evans hadn’t noticed, or were being gracious enough not to say anything.

  ‘You bring a murderer to a foreign country it’s going to be unavoidable,’ Cerkis was a little too casual in her response for Kit’s liking.

  Kit looked over to the officials who were following the guards. ‘We can’t leave her alone with them,’ she said. ‘Even if you offer her up to the dogs, I’m not going to let her be hanged for what she did.’

  Kit shrugged the guards away from her and followed them to the airport as Evans tried to catch up with her. ‘This isn’t your country,’ he called after her. ‘You can’t do things your way here.’

  ‘They don’t know who they’re dealing with, or how our powers work. They can’t treat us like them when we’re nothing alike,’ Kit retorted and stopped as she tried to take a breath, her head was swarming, something wasn’t right, but she couldn’t allow herself to get lost in it, not now. ‘Where are they taking her?’

  ‘To their official headquarters,’ Cerkis said. ‘I’ll coordinate with their officials.’

  Kit was grateful when Cerkis left, being around her was causing the tension in her chest to rise and she was struggling to contain it. A wave of dizziness washed over Kit and Evans caught her before she fell to the ground. ‘We need a wheelchair,’ he told one of the guards who nodded and hurried away. ‘What’s happening?’ He asked. Kit looked up at him but could barely open her eyes to look at him.

  ‘Something’s wrong with me,’ she said.

  ‘Junk DNA?’ He asked. ‘It’s only been a few weeks since you were last operated on, you shouldn’t deteriorate this quickly.’

  ‘No,’ Kit said as Evans sat her on the cold concrete. ’Something’s changing but I don’t know what it is.’

  The guard hurried back to them with a wheelchair and helped Kit sit into it, she saw Evans talking to the man but couldn’t hear what they were saying. Her stomach lurched at the thought of being taken away for tests and not being in control as the doctors take over. She had to find a way to escape or fight back, but she couldn’t move. She couldn’t do anything.

  Her vision began to become blurry as Evans wheeled her through the airport, she saw Cerkis waiting by a car and felt herself being lifted to the back seat. She wanted to know what was going on with her, why this was happening, but it was useless, she was useless.

  The car sped off as light rain began to fall and as Kit saw the dark sky above her zoom past, she reluctantly let her eyes close.

  When Kit opened her eyes again, she was in an examination room and had monitors attached to her. The memories came quicker than she could stop them, and suddenly she was back in the lab where they had conducted tests on her. She was ten, sat in a chair, covered in wires. At twelve she had woken up on an operating table and could feel a knife being sliced through her but didn’t have the voice to protest against the pain. She couldn’t
breathe and her head became light and dizzy as she tried to take the medical apparatus off her when Evans rushed in.

  ‘It’s okay,’ he placed a hand on her shoulder, Kit tried to pull away, that’s what the scientists used to do to her to calm her down. ’Take a deep breath.’

  ‘Get me out of this,’ she ordered and a technician helped Evans remove the patches that had been attached to Kit’s arms and chest. Her heart began to steady itself and the technician handed her a plastic cup of water. Slowly her breathing steadied itself again and her mind began to clear. ‘Why am I here?’ She asked as she sipped the drink.

  ’Because of concern over your health,’ Evans was being sharp with her, sometimes he didn’t have the best bedside manner, but Kit knew she wasn’t always the best patient. ‘These monitors were just making sure that things are as they should be.’

  Kit looked at them and saw the heart monitors and the IV pole and her cheeks flared red. ‘Sorry,’ she mumbled, and Evans gave her a sympathetic look.

  Evans looked at her concerned. ‘What’s going on?’ He asked.

  Kit wanted to tell him about her vision and the millions of racing thoughts that were shooting through her mind but couldn’t find the words to say anything. ‘I don’t know,’ she said, at least it wasn’t a complete lie. ‘Where’s Evie?’ She asked.

  ’She’s in a secure room,’ Evans said. ‘She’ll be questioned by the Council tonight and they’ll deliver a verdict tomorrow.’

  Kit didn’t want to know the answer to the question she had to ask and but she forced the question anyway. ’What could happen if she’s found guilty?’

  Evans averted his eyes from her. ‘It’s hard to say,’ he said. ‘It’s a crime that happened in a part of the world where they have no jurisdiction but because the barriers between the two nations have been broken down we need to make sure that they know that Genics aren’t going to be seen as a threat.’

  ‘Then let me talk to them,’ Kit said. ‘You and Cerkis had different experiences to me with Galen and the testing, if I can tell them what we went through, what we are and what we can do then they may be willing to listen.’

  Evans looked wary. ‘They want to show us London,’ he said. ‘So we can see how the world outside of America has changed. We need that information before we decide what approach to take.’

  Kit was frustrated at Evans for working against her, he knew she was able to take the lead and knew what to do to win over the people here, but he seemed to be hesitant against her and she couldn’t work out why. ‘Fine,’ it was a reluctant agreement. ‘But I want to see Evie first and to be out of this hospital gear, if they see me like this they’ll think that I’m weak, and I’m not going to let them think that about me.’

  Evans smiled at her. ‘Absolutely not,’ he agreed, and it was as though some sense of normality was resuming.

  The technician had taken Kit to a changing room, it was a small grey room, like a million she had been in before. She looked over to the rack of clothes that were available, Lil was always best at this sort of thing, she saw how clothes could evoke beauty in someone and show the world who they were, for Kit, she just saw them as a means to an end. She rested her backpack on the bench to pull out her comms wristlet but couldn’t see it. She pulled out a change of clothes that she had with her that were rumpled and needed cleaning, along with her water bottle but couldn’t find the thing. She opened the door where she saw the technician waiting for her.

  ‘Can I help ma’am?’ The technician asked.

  ‘Has anything been taken from my bag?’ Kit asked. ‘I can’t seem to find a comms device I use to talk to my team.’

  ‘Any communication devices would have been taken out and removed for testing,’ the technician said. ‘You can contact your team once we’ve determined it’s safe for you to do so.’

  ’Safe for me to do so?’ Kit asked. She looked at the woman for a moment, she was a wry lady, her bright red hair was styled short and with spikes, she had piercing blue eyes but it was the smile that made Kit at ease. The women exonerated an energy that put Kit at ease and her muscles relaxed.

  ‘How are you getting on with finding something to wear?’ The tech’s accent was different to any Kit had heard before, it was high, a little bit harsh but friendly. Kit had noted her change the conversation but chose not to argue.

  ‘Nothing’s really calling out to me,’ she was trying hard not to be snarky and could see the technician trying to hide a grin.

  The tech looked at her, as though she was considering her for a moment. ‘I may know of another option,’ she told her, then looked around a corner to see if she was on her own. ‘Follow me.’

  ‘You’ve not even told me your name, why should I go with you?’ Kit asked.

  ‘Fitz,’ the woman sighed, Kit expected something more but nothing was offered. ‘And I’ve heard a lot about you, Ms Valletta.’

  ‘Oh boy,’ Kit said under her breath as she grabbed her bag and followed her.

  ’No, it’s all rather complimentary,’ Fitz said looking back to her. ‘We’ve heard how you were born in a lab, were one of the first to escape and set up your own city, it’s quite impressive for someone so young.’

  ’I’m in my thirties, it’s quite old for a Genic,’ Kit told her.

  ‘Really? In England we now live into our hundreds thanks to nano-bots,’ Fitz said.

  They entered an elevator and Fitz pressed the button for the top floor. ’Nano-bots?’ Kit asked.

  Fitz lifted out her arm and pulled back her sleeve. Kit saw a glass panel in her arm that showed robotic parts for ligaments and she saw silver and blue electrodes flowing through the wires.

  ‘Wow,’ Kit could imagine how excited Rook would have been at the sight of it. ‘What does all that stuff do? Aside from let you live longer?’

  ‘Things like this,’ Fitz said and pressed her hand against a panel on the controls for the elevator and it glowed blue and shot upwards at lightning speed. The pressure made Kit fall to the floor and when the elevator bumped to a halt she got up on shaking legs feeling like she might throw up.

  ’Minus the nausea, that was pretty cool,’ she said.

  ‘Nano-alterations have become fairly standard in the modern world,’ Fitz told her. ’When day breaks we’ll be able to show you the full city and what it has to offer, but for now, you’re a leader of Genics and you need to look like you’re one.’

  ‘I’m not actually…’ Kit started, but stopped herself as they walked into a large apartment living room, she gaped at the sight of it. The furnishings were a mix of grays and whites, a large sofa was rested against the expansive windows and across the room was a large open plan kitchen. It was one of the most beautiful rooms Kit had ever seen. ‘I’ve never seen anything like this,’ Kit said quietly.

  She heard a rustle from one of the rooms ahead and her muscles tensed. A muscular dark-skinned man appeared dressed in a jet black suit that had what looked like black diamonds that shimmered when the light caught it around the edges. Kit had never seen a man like him, the men she knew were either in the military or well now she thought about it, every man she had known had been in the army. But this man was different, he wasn’t a soldier, he was just a regular civilian, she could tell that much by how easily he carried himself, how he wasn’t tense like all the other men she knew. ‘Fitz,’ he said. ‘I wasn’t expecting you…’ he wandered over to them with a curious look on his face.

  ‘Arlo, this is Katarina Valletta,’ Fitz smiled and Kit saw Arlo’s face of curiosity turn to wonder at the mention of her name. He took her hand in both of his and kissed the top of it.

  ‘Ms Valletta, Arlo Hendrix, it’s a pleasure,’ he said. ‘I’ve been following your journey here but never thought I’d have the pleasure of meeting you.’

  ‘Arlo is the nation’s leading fashion designer who works with the government on key activities and dresses all politicians and British leaders,’ Fitz explained, unable to hide her pride.

  ‘
She’s being too kind,’ Arlo said and dismissed her with a wave of a hand and a coy smile.

  ‘And he’s being weirdly modest,’ Fitz noted. ‘He’s one of the biggest Diva’s you’ll meet so don’t let his bashfulness fool you.’

  ‘Diva’s?’ Kit asked.

  Arlo gasped. ‘Oh my dear, don’t you worry about it, I hear we’re of the same ilk so you’ll catch up with the lingo before long,’ he said.

  ‘Same ilk?’ Kit asked as he guided her over to the couch. ‘You’re a Genic?’ She asked.

  Arlo laughed. ‘She’s too much!’ He exclaimed. ‘No darling, I’m like you and date genders of the same persuasion,’ he said and a lump rose in Kit’s throat and she flush red as she finally twigged.

  ‘Oh,’ she stumbled. ‘Sorry.’

  ‘There must be so much that is different,’ Fitz said as she sat down on the long gray couch and casually draped one of her legs over the other. She seemed so at ease with Kit, it was strange. There was no sense of fear or foreboding, just intrigue over who she was.

  ‘You could say that,’ Kit said. ‘I’m sorry, but why am I here?’ She asked.

  ‘Oh!’ Fitz exclaimed, getting back to her feet. ‘Katarina here needs an outfit that’s incredibly stunning but powerful,’ she told Arlo. ‘One that makes her look fierce and someone to be reckoned with when it comes to the council and it has to also be beautiful and show her features,’ she said almost prancing in front of them.

  ‘I don’t need you to go to any trouble,’ Kit said. ‘Trousers and a top is my normal MO.’

  ‘Nonsense darling,’ Arlo said playfully tapping her on the knee and getting to his feet. ‘Come with me and I’ll make you look like the leader we know you are,’ he said. ‘Fitz, tell the bosses where we are and we will escort Katarina back to them safely when we’re done.’