Awakening (7 page)

He placed down his food. “No, not until I was much older. I always knew what I was since I was eight. My mother never kept it a secret from me, but she did ask that I keep it secret. At that age, it wasn’t hard, because I just wanted to be like everyone else. As I grew older, I became more curious. When I was fourteen and a half, my mother finally introduced me to others like us that were in the area.”

“Anyone your age?”

He wiped a bit of ketchup from his mouth with his napkin. “There was a girl named Isla. At that time, there were not a whole lot of Actuals in Colorado, never mind teenagers who held that kind of secret. So she and I naturally became friends.”

“Did you become more than friends?” she raised her eyebrows.

Garrett knew where Caitlyn was taking the line of questioning. He replied, “We were really close friends, but not quite that close. I left Colorado when I was sixteen, so we never really explored that path.”

“Are you still friends with her?”

“Actually, yes. Over the past few years, when I moved up to Maine, I ran into Isla and we became reacquainted. I see her now and again at different events. If she is in the area, she will give me a call and we will get together.”

“Ah, I see.” Caitlyn replied in a teasing voice.

He shook his head at her, laughing, throwing a fry at her, which Caitlyn dodged easily. “It’s not like that! Really, we just hang out, reminisce about the past. Isla is far too refined for someone like me. She couldn’t stand my laid back ways and I would never be able to stand her needing to be involved in everything. As friends, we work just fine. As anything else…” he trailed off.

Caitlyn mulled over that while finishing her glass of wine. She could easily imagine Garrett having a line of girlfriends from the past. He was smart, charming, and good-looking. She could see people naturally gravitating towards him, women especially. Why she even thought about this or cared, she was not sure. But it was a thought that plagued her in the back of her mind throughout the evening.

After they finished dinner, Garrett suggested that they spent the rest of the evening getting lost watching the latest comedy that had come out on DVD. Caitlyn hesitated at first, her mind still focused on her change. However, as they settled in with some popcorn and sodas on his couch, she had to admit he was right; it was nice getting some normalcy in for once after the past several days. It reminded her that life does still go on, even in its most simplest of forms.

G
arrett knocked on her door too loudly, sounding far too chipper for someone who had stayed up extremely late watching a movie, and was awake by seven am. Caitlyn was tired; nothing like the fatigue of the past several months, but she was struggling with the fancy coffee maker that the Trust had provided and could not get it to work.

“Caitlyn, I can hear you grumbling in there. I brought coffee. And food. Just let me in.”

Giving one last evil glance at the dreaded machine, she opened the door. Garrett as promised delivered sustenance.

“I swear I am normally a morning person.” She responded as she repressed a yawn.

“I know you are. Remember, I had to watch you for weeks before officially meeting you. You made me get up at six am every morning to watch you at six-thirty.”

They walked down to his car, Caitlyn inquiring what they were going to do that day for her training. Garrett was surprisingly mum, just answering with a quick, “You’ll see.”

The road the car traveled down was shockingly well maintained, even though the dirt appearance of the road did not make it seem such. The ride was short; Garrett had not exaggerated when he advised her that the facility was only a mile and a half from where they were. He pulled the vehicle up to the compound and Caitlyn was initially greeted with a standard two-story brick building, nothing of any real consequence. There were some other small buildings on the outskirts of the compound but nothing truly impressive in nature. It was underwhelming really.

Caitlyn could not help but think to herself that this was the grand center of the Trust for North America? She had expected more somehow. Garrett had explained that there were lots of smaller facilities all over the United States, Canada, and Mexico under the guise of Trust Corporation, one of the biggest companies in the world, but she could not believe that this was the headquarters. She said as much to Garrett.

Garrett let out a huge belly laugh. “Corporate Headquarters? Hell, no! Corporate is located in Napa Valley, California.”

Caitlyn was perplexed. Napa Valley was of course the natural choice for a tech firm’s headquarters, but her knowledge of Trust Corporation had been fairly limited prior to all this and she knew that was not what he said. “But I could have sworn you said…”

Garrett shook his head. “I said we were at the headquarters. Headquarters for the Trust. There is a massive distinction between the two. Corporate is the public façade, how the Trust makes its money. Now where we are, this is the real powerhouse. It’s important to understand the difference.”

The car was parked in a dirt lot, with a deteriorating concrete pathway leading up to the non-descript door. Caitlyn walked through the murky glass entryway. She was greeted by two rather imposing security guards, who stood under an older sign that read:
Welcome to Trust Corporation.

The receptionist to the left of them sat slouched at her desk wearing a blank expression. Silence filled the small space; the sole exception being a loud pop coming from the chewing gum in the woman’s mouth. Garrett walked up to her, flirting easily with the brunette, before advising her that he was here for “Orientation.” It was only then that the woman looked past him towards Caitlyn, eyeing her up and down before finally deciding to talk to her.

“Welcome to Trust. You will take the left wing elevator for orientation.”

Garrett gently put his hand on her back, guiding her through the left wing. As they strolled through the unimpressive building, he explained that this was one of their manufacturing facilities, very insignificant to the public eye, nothing controversial about it all. Caitlyn would have to agree with that statement. They arrived at a plain elevator, waiting for it to open. When the doors slid open, they walked in, standing side by side.

The doors shut and Caitlyn leaned down to press the button to the second floor. However, what she found in its place was a high tech panel in front of her, which she stared at for a brief moment, unsure of what to do. Garrett leaned in front of her and placed his hand on the monitor. When it completed its scan, he then placed his eyes in front of another device, which performed only what she could guess was a retinal scan.

Garrett asked Caitlyn to perform the same two motions. She complied and once that was complete, a jarring computerized voice filled up the small space announcing- “Garrett Stevens. Security Authorization four. Caitlyn Young. Security Authorization ten.”

Without pressing anything else, the elevator began its smooth descent automatically. Caitlyn was surprised as she had expected the elevator to move upwards.

“How the hell did it know who I am?”

“It knew because the receptionist, Nina, told it to do the initial intake. I telepathically told her and she entered your initial readings into the main database.”

“The girl who looked extremely bored?”

“Yes.”

“So those guards are here to protect her and the facility.”

Garrett laughed again. “Uh no. Those men are just there to scare off any regular people who try to come in. They are very low level Actuals, pretty insignificant as far as an Actuals strength goes. Nina is our true first line of defense.”

Caitlyn had a hard time believing that. “How so?”

“There are only about two dozen people that are stronger than her in the Trust. And they are all of a higher clearance than her. If for some reason, something happened to her, they would all know about it immediately. We could not have gotten past her desk if she did not want us to.”

Nina played her role of the ditzy receptionist very well. “So what do the security levels mean?”

The elevator hummed quietly towards its destination. “You are a level ten, which means that you have not gone through the Threshold and your strength has not been evaluated. As such, there are only certain places you are allowed to go on your own here. You can go to more secure places with people that have higher clearance, but usually that will only get you so far. There are typically even restrictions on that unless the Council or Tribunal makes an exception.”

“And what does a level four mean?”

He glanced at her sideways, a look passing through his face briefly that she could only describe as annoyance. “Level four means I have most clearances, but not all of them.”

Caitlyn was curious about that look and pressed further. “Why not all of them?”

Garrett shrugged, his normal demeanor returning. “Level one is for the Originals and Councilmen, so there are only a select few who have that level of clearance. Level two is for Actuals who are in the secondary councils or who are in high political offices around the world. And finally, level three is granted to those that are relatively strong and have proven that they are completely loyal to the Trust.”

“Aren’t you loyal to the Trust?”

Again, that same look of annoyance flashed through him before his mask of calm took over. “The powers that be have determined that while I am a loyal member, there are
aspects
of me that leave them to question how much they can trust me. Most members of the Trust only have level six clearances and below, so I am more trustworthy than them at least.”

Caitlyn wanted to inquire more, but the elevator stopped and the doors revealed to her the true center of operations of the Trust. Caitlyn tried to mask her shock at what greeted her. The elevator opened into beautiful wooden mahogany archways that crisscrossed the expanse of the room. She noticed that the room was spare, but rust colored walls gave a feeling of warmth, as did the friendly appearing receptionist that sat at the sole piece of furniture in the large space, a modern metallic desk.

For all of the elaborateness, the room was empty and quiet, with the exception of the woman sitting at her desk typing away at the computer. She had glanced briefly at the two of them, before turning her attention back to the computer with a single finger in the air signaling them to wait. Once she had completed the task that was in front of her, she raised her head, smiling at the two of them.

“Garrett. Nice to see you again! This must be Caitlyn, your new Protégé.”

Garrett leaned over the desk, his hands brushing the receptionists in a familiar manner. The receptionist blushed. Caitlyn wondered briefly exactly how many women he intended to flirt with today. “Hi, Katie. We are here for use of the training facilities.”

The pretty receptionist typed a few things into the computer, staring for a moment at the screen. “Of course you are. Training room three is available all day today and I can make it available for regular training if you would like. Will that suffice?”

Garrett straightened back up. “That would be perfect. Tell me, is Councilman Riley in today?”

Katie shook her head. “Not today. He should be up here next week though for a few days getting ready for a Councilman session. Would you like me to schedule a meeting with him?”

“Yes, please. He asked me to set up a series of meetings. Please set up a reoccurring meeting for an hour if you would, based on future planned visits.”

“Absolutely. I’ll send you confirmation of the times later today.”

“Thank you, Katie. You are wonderful as always.” He winked at her.

Caitlyn suppressed the need to roll her eyes.

Katie, blushing again, nodded in the direction of the training rooms. “Thanks. But really, just doing my job. You both have a great day and let me know if there is anything that you need. It was nice meeting you, Caitlyn.”

Garrett turned away from Katie, glancing quickly at Caitlyn as he began to walk ahead of her. His steps echoed throughout the long hallway as she followed briskly behind him. He stopped abruptly at a door labeled with the number three on it, placing his hand yet again on a scanner. “Garrett Stevens. Approval for use of training facilities from eight hundred hours to eighteen hundred hours.”

Garrett motioned for her to follow him in the room. She did, unsure of what exactly they were going to do. He sat down in a chair and put his legs up on another one, leaning back. She placed her hands on her hips, an expectant expression on her face.

“I am guessing that this room looks plain to you.”

“Well, considering the stark whiteness of the walls and the emptiness, save the table and two chairs, I would say yes.”

He smirked. “Ah. I think the coffee I brought you this morning had an extra dose of snarkiness to it.”

“And yours had an extra dose of flirtatiousness.” The words came out before she could stop them.

He raised his eyebrows in surprise, but otherwise did not react to the comment. “The room may be plain, but there are many different functions to it. Our training is going to have lots of different aspects involved. In the beginning, I’ll just start by showing you some different things that we can do, different things that the average Actual should be able to accomplish by the time they take the Threshold. From there, I’ll begin to teach you the various basic techniques. We will check your propensity for telepathy, telekinesis, and healing. If you show a particular aptitude for one of these skills, we will work on honing that skill while getting you to a level to pass the Threshold with the others. This room can be controlled by telepathy, meaning if I request items to levitate-”

At that moment, a trap door opened quietly in the corner of the room and several objects of varying sizes came up on a lift into the room, before the trap door closed again. Garrett continued, not missing a beat. “The room will respond to the request. Usually, I’ll program what I need ahead of time, but in case our training plans change, they can change on a whim.”