Initiation of the Lost (Book 1) (10 page)

And he sat alone. Meghan had left him. She crossed the hall, went into Dr. Farling's office and sat. Cassandra looked up at her, but she was gazing into the air. They had no appointment; she planned to talk to Meghan after the others had left on their mission. Her student was Connor's friend, and she wanted to deduce how she felt about Derek. In Japan, Dr. Farling remained in constant contact with her team–feeling, praying. She didn't know what was happening, but she felt Derek's desire–his need–to protect August. It wasn't quite the same as his drive to help Connor and Abbey.

"As an empath you must be feeling a lot."

"I guess," muttered Meghan.

"Have you talked to Derek?"

"Nope."

"Have you empathized–"

"I don't use my powers on Derek. I respect his privacy."

"It's not that simple and you know it. Emotions radiate from people. Especially given the situation, an empath can't help but feel the intense feelings of those around her. I see you've changed uniforms."

"Yeah. I just felt like it. I woke up and just knew to put it on."

"You were close to Connor."

She wasn't "close" to anyone. Even Derek. She knew that much. She was near people, around them all the time, but she wasn't "close" to anyone:

"Yes we were 'close.'"

"You came here with him. And Derek."

She sighed. "We needed a ride to homecoming. Derek's friend, Jayce, drove us. Connor was walking. We gave him a ride. Jayce swerved as a deer ran across the street, we went off the ravine."

"And then?"

She shrugged. "Jayce died. We activated. Our lives were pronounced over and we were brought here. Derek and I were only on our second date. He and Connor weren't really friends until they came here. Then when Abbey found out, she came too. She had already activated."

"You didn't have to come to the academy. Or at least stay as long as you have. You’re juniors; It's been nearly five years."

"Derek said it was a good idea."

"And now?"

"He'd still say it was a good idea."

She wasn't ready, thought Dr. Farling. She wasn't ready to know what she already knew: her boyfriend wasn't in love with her, and she wasn't in love with him. She latched onto him for security, to not feel so alone and confused as she lived with being different. Without Derek, what did she have? Meghan may have said nothing; Cassandra believed in another answer: you had yourself. But for someone as insecure as Meghan, she'd never realize how powerful that was. She didn't use her powers, because deep down, she thought not using them would make her normal. And when she became normal, she could go home and be normal with all the other normal people.

However now the young empath knew better, having spent the whole night empathizing against her will, forced to feel the worry, fear, terror, grief...but then peace...love. She knew none of these emotions could've been hers. They belonged to others. That love was not her love, and it wasn't being given to her. She was different. That fact was now unavoidable, unchangeable. She'd adapt and at least use it to her advantage.

"Can you make someone love you?"

Dr. Farling sat back in her chair: "No, Meghan. No you can't."

"I mean as an empath. We can read people. Why not change them?" She looked to her teacher.

The doctor could "massage" fields, gently influence their curvature to conform to the shape of emotions, hence inducing their feeling. She knew Meghan could do this so much more easily than herself–the girl was gifted, a natural. But the mentor said:

"Reading a book and writing a novel are vastly different endeavors, regardless of how similar they seem." Meghan would work through this, but in the meantime she needed protection from her fears, her loneliness, herself.

"I suppose."

Cassandra continued her work at her computer. Meghan returned her gaze to the air: All writers had to be able to read. You had to understand language before you could manipulate words. But then what? She made Derek love her. Everyone else figured it out. He'd figure it out. Not even Quake would talk to her then. God when did she go back to being so pathetic?

She used to be popular. Boys, including Derek, wanted to be with her. And now she had to chase them? Make them love her? Screw 'em. Screw 'em all. What did she need with them–with anyone? She had herself then, and she had herself now. She was the one who lost the thirty pounds and stole the designer clothes to reinvent the mopey, self-pitying stress-eater she was into the coolest bitch at school. She did it before, and she could do it again. She had just gotten use to being on top. But whatever, she'd revamp herself yet again, as a superhero.

"I want to be on the mission roster."

"I think that would be a good idea," said the doctor, sensing a new found confidence in her pupil, and relief within herself. Meghan had found herself quicker than she thought. Sometimes, it felt so good to be so wrong.

<<>>

Silby was in her lab, one floor under the Hyperion dome. Abbey's metal boots were propped against her desk. She sat, looking at the shoes, looking at the chair Raijin sat in during his first, and only, visit. They should've been here, somewhere–the academy, at home, the arcade. Connor liked air hockey.

She had cried herself to sleep. Then woke up in the morning just to cry before she could gather herself and face the day, coming to work, her lab, her true home. She had spent her life alone, no family or friends, but now she had a family, people she loved who didn't know to love her back. But it didn't matter, she was happy to love nonetheless.

Spending the best of her life in the labs, she had watched the students of Hyperion on screens and read about them in reports. She knew Derek and August were sneaking into the kitchen when she got a late night craving for ice cream herself. She knew Klug carved the most beautiful deer out of soap he "snuck" from the linen closet (which was open access). She also knew that when Flare and August were accidently alone, going to the same place in search of a reprieve from their team and brothers respectively, they were friends. August had encouraged Flare to put his talent for strategy to use. He truly was Dr. Farling's protégé. But she hoped Derek and Quake would've understood if they knew. After all, despite the cliques, they were all teammates. But maybe it was best the two captains were left out of the loop.

She never told Cassandra, never revealed to anyone, how close to her she held the students. This was her private realm–her lab, her mind–no one could distort or corrupt the world she built for herself.

Once more she read the mission briefing. She was a scientist who worked like an artist. She imagined the revelation of Derek's power, how it worked, and became inspired, imagining a device that might just make him invincible. But creativity, as rewarding as it was, was also tiring. She put the file away; there was still work to do preparing the new mission files.

Mission One: recruit Raijin's sister, Megumi Crawford, and the Gutierrez sisters, Valencia and Victoria. Dr. Farling had tried to bring the three girls, all friends, into the academy, but they refused. Now, Megumi needed to be informed of her brother's condition, and it was becoming more necessary to have the symps under one roof–dome. A foreign government hunting them, embarking on missions, symps activating more frequently–times were changing.

Silby wished she could've been the one to tell Megumi about her brother. When she read Dr. Farling's initial report on her, she had described her brother as a "dysfunctional loner" for thinking he was a god reincarnated. When Cassandra attempted to recruit Raijin, the doctor recommended something she never had in the past: that Silby be the one to talk to the potential student. She had tried. And failed. He wasn't at the academy; he was dead–worse then dead, a prisoner trapped on the horizon between life and death, frozen as all else moved; transitioned; changed. She was the only one who knew him, knew his dream of finding their mother and being a protector. That was what a god was to him, a man, the best man he could be. In the end, brother and sister were alike: they both wanted to be loved and feel like they controlled their destinies.

The girls wanted to chart their own courses. The idea of the academy, nestled under a corporation with rules and teachers, was offensive to them. The girls would balk at her blind allegiance to Hyperion, to Daniel, but look at their loyalty to each other. We trust the ones who make our house, our school, our lab, a home.

Given their ordeal, Team Blue would go to the girls, now designated as Team Gray. She looked at a note clipped to the file: Derek had submitted August as second-in-command; Meghan was on the roster. Julian and Constant would be joining them. Team Blue was reformed: Derek as captain, Ellington with August as second command, and Meghan.

Mission two: investigate the energy spikes at Sweet Pine National Park. Silby prepared the file for Team Green: Quake, Flare, and Klug. She'd send Susie along as well, giving her a chance to experience both groups.

The Traitor Trade

She had woken up alone. The first rays of morning. A breeze. A floor of broken glass.

She gathered herself. Hajime and Katsume were gone. Central Command would dissolve her. She couldn't explain what happened. Even if not announced as a traitor, carrying all the suspicion towards her subordinates’ actions, she still had the shame of being an incompetent leader to bare. Her career–her reputation–ruined. Even if she got back to Ryo, her husband, how’d she get them out of the union?

Aika sat up on the bed of her cell. She had woken up alone. Everyone gone. The faint sound of birds, waves. And now it was too late to act as if running away was an option. She had returned to Central Command. She refused to go off the grid, to be grouped with the men who betrayed her and their country. But fear still grasped her mind. She couldn't resist the temptation to flee, find a way to Europe–America. Even if the U.S. officials captured her, she could’ve traded information for her freedom. She laughed. She would’ve sooner slit her throat.

She had ran through her options and going underground seemed the most intelligent. But she came in. And now she sat surrounded by three gray walls and a solid pane of unbreakable synthetic glass. She needed to clear her name. She needed answers: Why were they stationed at some low level facility? Was their presence and the chikara attack a coincidence? And what had happened to Hajime? Always loyal, even if a little rash, but for some time he had been unraveling, the good willed team-player mutating into a bigoted monster. She'd noticed little flags–needing to be given orders twice, then the back talking, then the slight agitation when he disagreed with a command. But now, with the mission to retrieve Raijin, he became hate filled, insubordinate, and bloodthirsty. Before she could express her concerns to her superiors, they were stationed at the lab with no explanation. She chose to wait until they returned to Central Command, to give Hajime one more chance to show he was capable of the work, that he wasn’t cracking under the obligations of action and secrecy that burdened all officers.

So why hadn’t Central Command told them they were being used as a trap for the chikara? She had tried giving them the benefit of the doubt–it was a coincidence?–no. They used Raijin as bait. Raijin. The tubes. Stored in some glorified glass jar, a failed experiment turned trophy. That’s what they were doing to them. And what a hypocrite she was, acting like not asking questions, just not thinking much about what was being done to them, made her better than the monsters dissecting teenagers. During the debacle with the chikara, she tried to act like she knew what was going on, like she knew what happened to the superpowered ones she brought in. She assumed they were being held captive for society’s protection. But seeing those pods made her realize that she never thought enough about anything concerning her job. Even if they were being held captive, did she really think they were kept at some luxury resort? Only now, with Raijin, did she think of them as human beings and gave a damn. What would happen when the rest of the world learned of their existence?

The sound of metal doors opening. Steps down the hall of cells. No one was in the other cells. She was alone. But she was still in the bodysuit she wore under her armor. She felt against her leg, her secret blade was still sewn in the fabric.

"Hello, Aika."
The kind, weary eyes. The smile. Ryo.

Tears.

Ryo pressed his palm against the pane. His handprint glowed yellow, then green. The pane expanded, a portal opening before them. Aika fell out the cell into his arms. He held her, feeling her sobs vibrate into him, muffled. She sighed then stood. Ryo erected and stood at attention.

"Captain Yamada."
He saluted.
"I have orders to escort you upstairs."

"At ease. To meet with whom?
"

"Dr. Chino, Dr. Sato, and a representative of Minister Kusugi's."

They made their way through the wings and levels of Central Command, allowing their hands to occasionally brush against each other. Reaching the double doors to a room on the executive level, Ryo couldn't contain himself–he hugged Aika tightly, then let her slip from his arms, holding her head in his hands, his lips against her forehead.

"
Everything will be okay,
" he said.

"
I know,
" she said. And she meant it. In the moment, she knew he was beside her and they'd fight to live, to be together.