by T. C. Edge
By the time the agent turns up, I have my sparse makeup on and have done the best I can with my hair. I hardly look like I did after my trips to the beauty parlour, but it’s a start.
At the agent’s behest, all the residents of the academy are told to gather downstairs in the foyer. Going down dressed as I am, I get plenty of funny looks. I’m used to that by now.
However, most of them already know that I’m courting an Enhanced, and so aren’t overly surprised to see me dressed as such. Still, the sight of me descending the spiral staircase looking like something out of a low budget fairy-tale is plenty to garner a few staring eyes. I know I must look ridiculous, but right now there are far more urgent matters for me to worry about.
As I come down, my eyes find the agent for the first time. I’m surprised to see that it’s a woman, tall and thin and dressed in her light grey suit with the city badge emblazoned on the front.
Her hair, too, is similarly coloured, which I find odd considering she doesn’t look that old. In her late thirties, perhaps. Too young in my mind to have a full head of grey hair.
The look is striking, though, and as I get closer, I notice that her eyes are so dark they’re nearly black. She stares around the room with a shark-like glare, surveying all of us gathered before her. Unlike the rest, she offers no reaction whatsoever to my choice of attire.
She isn’t alone. To her flanks, two other officials have come with her. It’s immediately clear from both of their faces that neither are Savants, but regular members of the City Guard sent along with the agent to offer their aid.
The agent addresses us, her tone as unappealing as her physical appearance.
“Good evening, boys and girls, my name is Agent Woolf of the SCU. I am sure you are aware that some criminals escaped into the city a few nights ago. These people are very dangerous, and need to be apprehended immediately. Among their number was a resident from this academy, Joshua Brent. It is my duty to make sure that none of you are hiding any information about his whereabouts, or who helped him escape.”
Her eyes swing metronomically from one face to the next. No one makes a sound.
“I will be speaking with each and every one of you individually, starting with the youngest. If you could please arrange yourselves into order of age, we will begin shortly. It shouldn’t take long.”
I glance at the clock above the reception desk. It’s already growing late, and I have a date I have to keep.
I step towards Agent Woolf as the rest of the kids begin to arrange themselves in order. That alone is going to take some time. I suspect some of these kids don’t even know when their birthdays are. When being taken in by an orphanage, certain details like birthdates can get lost during the transition.
I also note that Tess isn’t present, her work clearly keeping her overdue. I assume, since curfew is about to begin, she must have a pass to get home a little later. If she doesn’t have official documentation with her, I might just find myself having to recruit my brother for another prison break…
As I approach Agent Woolf, she lays her cold eyes on me. Behind me, Mrs Carmichael begins working to get the kids in order. She probably knows their own birthdays better than they do, if at all.
“Agent Woolf, can I have a word?” I say.
She nods me forward as her two guards watch from the sides of the hall.
“What is it, Miss Melrose,” she asks.
I recoil for the briefest of moments as she says my name. Then it dawns on me that she most likely recognises me from the ceremony. After all, I’m wearing the same dress, and she’s a Savant. They’re all rather gifted in the memory department.
“Would you mind doing me first?” I ask. “I know I’m one of the oldest here, but I have an important engagement that I need to get to.”
She peruses my appearance.
“You’re going to Inner Haven,” she surmises. “I assume you’re in the process of courting?”
“Um, yes. I’ve been told to get to the western gate for 7PM.” I arch my eyes to the clock. “I don’t want to keep him waiting.”
“No, I understand. OK, well that seems reasonable to me. I’ll need some privacy and quiet to conduct my interviews. Could you recommend somewhere?”
“The common room would be best,” I say. “This way.”
I move through the crowd of gathered children, stopping at Mrs Carmichael.
“Brenda, Agent Woolf is going to do me first, seeing as I have somewhere to be. We’re going to use the common room.”
She nods, her eyes a little wary. I drop my right eyelid into a wink to say: “I’ve got this.”
Leading the agent on, I feel strangely relaxed. My major concern had been that the agent might be able to sense my abilities, and determine that I was a hybrid. Zander put that worry to bed by telling me my own knowledge of my gifts have been suitably hidden, and should be perfectly well protected from any mental intrusions.
I went on to tell him about Titus, and how he quickly worked out what I was, suggesting that a Mind-Manipulator would have no such trouble. Again, he didn’t seem concerned.
“Titus knew because of the way you were looking at him. It’s a dead giveaway for all Hawks. And given how he found you, he clearly just worked it out from a situational standpoint. As long as you relax, and don’t use your Hawk or Dasher powers, you’ll be fine.”
I had to defer to his superior knowledge and experience. All I have to do is open my eyes, let this woman quickly examine my memories, and then be on my merry way.
Simple, right?
Reaching the door to the common room, I open it up and step to one side, allowing Agent Woolf passage within. She glides through as I follow, shutting the door tight and inviting her to sit.
She turns to me, shaking her head.
“No need, Miss Melrose. This shouldn’t take long. If you’d stand over here, please, and stay as still as you can. Keep your eyes open, and try to relax.”
They’re the same instructions as I’ve heard before. From Deputy Burns, from Zander. She won’t know it, but I’m becoming a seasoned pro at having my mind examined like this. Soon enough, the shoe will be on the other foot…
I move to the location she assigns, right in the middle of the room, and stand before her feeling almost entirely calm. There’s only the slightest shuffle of nerves inside me, just a ripple on an otherwise tranquil pond. It’s nothing really, fading quickly as it skims through me.
Agent Woolf moves in right ahead of me, just as Zander did earlier. Her black eyes begin to open a little wider, and she fixes me with a stare that will almost certainly give some of the younger children here nightmares.
“OK, I’m just going to inspect your memories for any knowledge of Joshua and his possible location. If you have nothing to hide, then there’s no reason to be anxious.”
I nod and then turn as still as a statue. Her pupils, barely visible within her dark eyes, begin to dilate, spreading wide as they search me.
As always, the sensation is unpleasant as she begins to creep inside my head. For the other kids, it’s going to be even more so, although will make for plenty of gossip later on.
This experience is new, however. In the past, having someone examine my memories had tended to bring them back to the surface. As they sift through them, they appear before me too, playing out like a highlights reel of my recent life.
Only this morning, when Zander quickly caught up on what had happened to me over the last couple of days, I saw it all once more. It came in flashes – the Stalkers, the river, the waterfall and toxic woods. As he saw it all, so did I once again.
But right now, it’s different. My memories of the last few weeks have been locked away, hidden and replaced. Instead, counterfeit memories have been implanted, false records of me performing the regular, boring duties that I’d otherwise be doing.
Working. Doing chores. Helping Mrs Carmichael keep the kids in order. All the normal things that populated my world before Zander came on the scen
e and revealed who I truly was.
Yet, naturally, such false memories can never be as convincing as real ones. Instead, they’re murky and clouded, blurred re-runs of my old life. Once again, Zander had told me exactly what would happen, and how such fake memories would manifest, calming my concerns that the agent would see right through the lies.
“Don’t worry,” he’d said only hours ago. “Not everyone develops clear and distinct memories, especially when relating to hum-drum activities that they perform on a daily basis. A lot of the time, people can barely remember what they had for breakfast. They flow through their lives on autopilot, and when you try to read their minds, the image can be dulled.”
“But won’t it look suspicious?” I’d asked.
“No, it shouldn’t. It’s perfectly normal. And in any case, the agent will be looking for specific memories relating to Drum. She’ll find nothing, don’t worry. Everything that happened is safely hidden.”
As always, Zander’s confidence helped give me strength. And now, as Agent Woolf concludes her inspection, and slowly draws back, I have further reason to never doubt him again.
“OK, Miss Melrose, thank you.”
“That didn’t take long,” I say, rubbing my temples and pretending as if this is my first experience of such an invasion.
“No, there’s no reason for it to do so. It’s obvious that you have strong feelings for Joshua. I’m sure I’ll get the same with many of the residents here, with this being such a unique community. But my initial conclusion is that you have no knowledge of his whereabouts.”
“Initial conclusion?” I ask, frowning.
“Yes. I may require further examination after I’ve reviewed the rest of the residents. That will provide a clearer picture to ensure that all memory threads line up.”
“Right,” I say. “So, I can go?”
“Yes, of course, Miss Melrose. I won’t keep you from your engagement. Please send in the next child on your way out please.”
I nod, and creep away from her. Her eyes stay with me as I go, showing absolutely nothing. That’s the problem with Savants. She might be entirely suspicious of me and I’d never even know it.
I leave the room and take a breath. It seems as though Zander’s manipulations held up. They’d better. If they don’t, then it’s game over for me. And, more importantly, my mission too.
Returning to the foyer, I find Mrs Carmichael awaiting me. Behind her, the kids are all neatly ordered, many of them looking rather sheepish under the watchful gaze of the two Enhanced sticking to the corners of the room.
“You can send the next one in,” I say as I reach her.
She turns and nods to the first child in line. He’s new here, perhaps only 4 or 5 years old, blessed with big blue eyes and a mop of curly blond hair.
“Liam, off you go to the common room,” says Mrs Carmichael.
The poor boy wanders forward, looking like a frightened mouse. The kid’s only just lost his parents and now he has to suffer this. I doubt whether he even knows who Drum is.
“Surely he doesn’t need to go through this,” I say, watching him tremble as he moves to the corridor.
“Orders are orders,” says Mrs Carmichael. “It won’t take a minute for him. He’ll be alright.” She leans a little closer to me. “But how about you?” she whispers. “Did it go…OK?”
“Fine, as far as I can tell. She didn’t give much away, but seemed satisfied.”
“Good,” says Mrs Carmichael, nodding. “The sooner we get past this little episode, the better.”
I’m thinking the same thing. Sometimes you don’t realise just what consequences your actions will have. Saving Drum, while something I had to do, has almost derailed everything.
Yet I’d do it again.
I’m not a Savant, looking at things logically. They’d probably work out the possible repercussions of an event and then determine the proper course of action based on that. I can’t imagine that any of them would conclude that breaking Drum free was the sensible move.
And I suppose, that’s exactly what we’re fighting for. When it comes to friends and family, and those you care about, sometimes you just need to follow your heart, logic be damned.
And that, after all, is something that Savants will never understand.
59
With curfew imminent, I speed my way to the western gate into Inner Haven. By some stroke of luck, I manage to arrive just before 7PM, finding a typically colossal Brute standing guard at the border.
As I approach, I try to work out whether it’s the same man as before. Hidden behind his armour and helmet, he’s more or less indistinguishable from the rest.
Beneath his visor, however, the showing of big white teeth suggests he knows me.
“Ah, Miss Melrose, back again I see.”
I move towards him.
“Hi there…um…sorry, I don’t know exactly what to call you.”
“My name would work,” he says with a wry smile. “It’s Magnus.”
Magnus. Titus. These Brutes all appear to be appropriately named. I guess their parents knew what they’d grow into.
“Good to officially meet you, Magnus. Is it always you on guard at this gate?”
“Oh, goodness me, that would be a violation of my rights, wouldn’t it,” he says. “Not that I have too many rights…”
A false laugh bellows from inside him. He quenches it quickly enough.
“No, in all seriousness, I work in shifts with other members of the City Guard. My current rota is here, at the western gate. I’ll be here on and off for the next few weeks.”
“Ah, I see. Well, it’s nice to see a friendly face before I cross to ‘the other side’.”
He laughs.
“You know, I get the impression that you’re not too fond of Inner Haven.”
Now I laugh. Awkwardly.
“No…I do like it. It’s just very different,” I say.
“It sure is. I wouldn’t worry. I’ve met a few girls like you who take time to settle. It’s only natural when moving across from Outer Haven.”
I muse briefly on his work, right here at the border. The colourful, vibrant and sometimes dangerous world of Outer Haven lying before him. The cold, lifeless, but seemingly safe streets of Inner Haven behind. At least, that’s how it all appears on the surface. I know now that nothing around here is quite what it seems.
“Well, good to know there are others like me,” I say. “Anyway, I’d best get going. I don’t want to keep him waiting.”
“Quite right too. Through you go, Miss Melrose.”
“Please, call me Brie.”
He nods courteously and opens up the door, allowing me to pass through. My eyes shoot straight up the short linking road to the Spiral, where I see Adryan awaiting me once more, standing as he did the last time outside of his car.
A sense of déjà vu envelops me at the sight. He looks to be standing in precisely the same position, and with exactly the same posture, as he did previously. It’s as if he’s figured out that it’s the most inviting way to stand as he awaits me, and so will make sure he adopts it each time.
I find myself smiling at the sight as I wander up the street, removing my jacket as I go. Already, I can feel the underfloor heating working its magic, warming the streets so the ideal temperature for comfort and productivity can be maintained.
Seeing me come, Adryan quickly moves off from the car and approaches me. His smile is even more natural than last time. Either he’s been working on it, or I’m simply getting used to seeing it.
“Good evening, Brie,” he says. He stops before me, performs his little bow, and I do the same. Then he sweeps forward to grab my jacket, before turning me to the car. “How are you?” he asks as we wander casually towards it.
“Good,” I say, with no need for feigned enthusiasm.
As bad as things were a couple of nights ago, I consider myself to be in a pretty good position. Drum is safe and sound. I got back into the city without bei
ng detected. Zander’s sorted everything out so that my recent activities should be suitably hidden from the authorities.
I’ve sure dodged a few bullets recently. But you know, it’s all about growing pains. Soon enough I’ll get the hang of this spy business.
I’d better, anyway…
“I’m glad to hear it,” says Adryan, guiding me into his car. He steps in after me and shuts the door, locking us away from the outside world. “I hear you’ve had a fairly adventurous time of it recently?”
Is that a smirk I detect?
“I’ve hit some speed bumps, that’s for sure. But you know what they say, all’s well that ends well.”
“A good mentality to keep. Let’s just hope there aren’t too many more speed bumps left, though.”
“Knowing my luck, I wouldn’t be so sure! So, what’s the plan then?”
Adryan answers by way of giving his car an instruction, calling for it to take us to the Court House.
I’m not overly surprised, nor am I particularly disappointed. In fact, I’m quite the opposite. Whilst there’s a niggling desire in me to explore Inner Haven a little more, there’s also the suspicion that I’ve seen about all there is to see.
Being as uniform and functional as it is, with its ergonomic buildings and identical streets, I doubt there’s a great deal to explore. In fact, the only place that I am quite keen to visit is the High Tower itself. Which, I suppose, is a good thing given that’s where my mission is likely to take place.
For many years I’ve yearned to see the view from the top, wondering just how far my eyes will take me. And now, with my newly evolved vision, the desire to gaze upon the world is growing ever more potent.
“So, is it true that you went outside of the city?” asks Adryan as the car whirs and glides down the grey streets. “I was told that you were quite sick, most likely from toxic poisoning? Are you OK now?”
There’s a measure of concern in his voice, and his eyes show it too.
“I’m fine now. Is it…good for me to tell you all of this?” I ask, thinking about earlier. “Surely the less you know, the better. Just in case you get interrogated.”