Secret Value of Zero, The (28 page)

Meke inclined her head, waiting for the so-called goodness. “If you get a chance, kill the man,” Barbara said, her eyes solemn.
 

It took a second for Meke to realize who Barbara was talking about. Strangely enough, it had never occurred to Meke to kill Lucio Donner. She had only wanted to see him, confront him. Have others see him for who he was. Nobody could do that if he was dead.

“But, why?” Meke asked, feeling slightly stupid.
 

Barbara’s eyebrows met in the center of her forehead, then smoothed. “You’re more naive than I thought. Him,” she jerked her head in the Ministry’s direction, “we’d be better off without him. We need to start over clean.”

Meke imagined a hand sweeping away all remnants of Prosperon. A fresh start. That made sense in her mind, but something deep within her insisted that it didn’t make sense.

Barbara shrugged. “Well, regardless, we’re going in tomorrow. If you’re still around then, you’d best get him in place and get out of the way.”

Meke watched as Barbara nodded and turned. Her body melted into the crowd of milling soldiers around them.

“I’m sorry. I forgot how direct she is,” Trove said, frowning at the crowd.
 

Meke shook her head. “No, she’s right. This may all be a hoax. A scheme to buy time.”

“You won’t reconsider?”

“How can I? He could be telling the truth.”

Trove swore, but Meke just wrapped her arms around him. It took a few moments for him to return the hug. This wasn’t the time to argue. Enveloped in warmth, Meke allowed herself to forget about what would happen.
 

Before she was ready, Theria approached to lead her to the Ministry.
 

“I’ll be outside, so keep an eye out for me, okay? Meanwhile I’ll take care of Tooth,” Trove told Meke.

All Meke could do was nod and sneak in a second hug and a pat on Tooth’s head. Theria didn’t even roll her eyes. Meke turned and followed Theria without a glance back. She had to believe that she would return. They weaved through the crowd of soldiers on the streets a few blocks away from the Ministry. As they reached the edge of the crowd, Meke had to stop to stare at the Ministry.

She already knew how large the Ministry was, but nothing could’ve prepared her for the sight of it. It was the tallest building in the entire city, so tall that Meke could only feel the edge of the building, not see it. The Ministry’s sides were shiny glass, so shiny that she couldn’t see in. There didn’t appear to be a door anywhere, but she could feel the faint edge of a door in front of her, even though her eyes were telling her that the surface was completely smooth. She knew that the rooms beyond the walls were empty, but she could feel some bodies deep inside.
 

Theria turned to her and handed her a handheld.
 

I have to take your weapons now. They won’t let you bring in anything.

Meke shrugged off the crossbow and her poleax. Even though they weighted close to nothing, she still felt their absence. Her back felt exposed, vulnerable. Theria handed her a handheld,

It was a pleasure working with you.

Theria held out her hand for Meke to shake. Her grip was firm, but not crushing. Not a single flinch tempered Theria’s grip. With a swift nod, Theria retrieved the handheld and the weapons, then receded back into the crowd.
 

Meke squinted at the building; the sun’s reflection blinded her eyes. The mirrored glass reflected a small image of a woman standing alone at the edge of the crowd. It took Meke a few seconds to realize that it was her reflection.
 

Meke pushed off her left foot and walked toward the Ministry. The building was only a few meters away, but Meke felt every pulse beat, stretching out time. Meke stopped, her boots’ tips only a few millimeters away from the glass wall that stretched high and wide.

Nothing happened.
 

Meke stood there so long that the base of her feet numbed. The building remained motionless and impermeable. She couldn’t feel anything moving beyond these walls, either. Perhaps they had changed their minds. Relieved or not, she couldn’t decide how she felt. She had come all this way for nothing, risked everything for…nothing.

Meke turned on the balls of her feet when a door opened. A bare black room with low lights reflected on the floor opened up for her. Meke could see the bodies moving beyond the room’s walls, but she couldn’t tell who or what they were.

She walked in.
 

MEKE STOOD in the middle of an empty room as the door closed behind her, blocking the light from outside. Cold air swept across her skin, raising goose bumps.
 

The room was bare except for her. The walls and floors, and even the ceiling, were smooth, shiny black. Even though the walls were black, Meke felt as if she had returned to the institution. Both places had the same functional emptiness, only holding the necessary items. Right now, the only necessary item was Meke.

She squinted, trying to feel beyond the walls, feel who were watching her. Warm readiness filled her fingers. If someone came out, she could deal with them. Her fingers turned cold as her sense stopped at the walls. She couldn’t feel beyond the room’s walls.
 

Her heart pounded. Had her sense failed her all of a sudden? No, that wasn’t it. She could still feel everything in the room, just that her sense ended abruptly at the walls as if someone had cleaved it. The walls began pressing onto her, mocking her with their solidness. Any sense of readiness had disintegrated. Meke’s eyes flew around the room, trying to anticipate any intruders.
 

Nothing happened for so long that Meke lost track of time. It could have been hours or minutes since the doors closed behind her. She couldn’t tell. Time ceased to have any meaning as her mind fell into exhaustion. As her brain slowed, a door opened behind her, a gaping maw in the wall.

Before she had time to turn, she felt a pinch in her arm and blackness engulfed her.

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Meke felt her senses flood her as wakefulness greeted her rudely. She squinted as pure white light assaulted her vision. The walls still stood fast, a stolid barrier to her. As her senses adjusted, she felt a man sitting in the corner.

He was a short, slight man. His collar gaped as his white button-down shirt overwhelmed his body. His large, sharp nose reminded Meke of a vague, nebulous memory that her brain couldn’t reach. She had seen this man before.

His wavy brown hair shifted as he looked up. The corners of his eyes crinkled. “There you are. I was beginning to think that they’d given you too much of the tranquilizer.”

Meke blinked, not knowing who the man was or how this stranger knew sign language. He didn’t just know how to sign, his fingers weaved in and out, forming effortless words.
 

Meke sat up, feeling the strangeness of her surroundings. “Who are you?” Meke asked.

A smile grew on the man’s face as he leapt onto his feet. “Excuse my rudeness! I’m Lucio Donner. I suppose you’ve heard of me before.” He shrugged before he offered his hand. With numb hands, Meke shook his hand.

This man shared the features of the man in the docs. Yet, he looked different, smaller somehow. She knew that Donner was well into his thirties, but the man before her looked fresh-faced and cheerful, hardly a picture of a man under siege.
 

Donner settled himself back into the chair, a faint smile still on his lips. “I know this must be a shock, but I’m so excited to finally meet you.”

Meke felt the rough cotton fibers of the sheet that covered her legs. Maybe this man was crazy. “Why?” Meke asked.

“Oh, I’m so bad at explaining myself. I’ve been watching your progress since you were a baby.” His eyes crinkled. “I feel like I know you intimately. I’ve been a fan of your genetic profile, it’s quite remarkable.”

“Genetic profile?” Meke clutched the sheets to her chest.

Lucio tapped his forehead with a thin finger. “I keep getting ahead of myself. I looked at your genetic makeup when you were just a toddler. I knew you’d become something remarkable.” He leaned toward her, propping his elbows on his knees. “Well, you don’t want to hear the scientific babble, but let’s just say that you have the most interesting genetic combinations that I’ve ever encountered. I had wondered if we would ever find an experiment that would capitalize on your special qualities.”

“Toddler?” Meke understood the words, but they made no sense. “Why would you ever know me as a small child? I was a Zero.”

“That was regrettable. They said that they had to keep the system consistent. You had many of the aptitudes of a Star, but you had to be a Zero.”

“Because of my ears,” Meke said, feeling her earlobe.

“Precisely. Ever wonder how your parents got all these books? Knew how to sign? Well, I made sure of that.”
 

Meke shook her head, her blond hair sticking to her cheeks. “No, they were—”

“Revolutionaries. I know.” Lucio scoffed. “Ungrateful little brats. They wanted to squander your potential. They just didn’t understand the plan. I took care of that.” He stood up and walked to a small side table and poured a glass of water. “Here, you’re probably dehydrated.” He handed her the glass. Meke clutched the cool, smooth glass, holding on. “I better get to the point, we don’t have much time.”

Meke stared down at the water, looking at her distorted Zero through the glass then looked up. “What do you want from me?”

His eyebrows rose in surprise. “I don’t want anything from you. Perhaps I’m still getting ahead of myself.” He rose, and paced the room. “I should start from the beginning. I started the Genex program as a way to improve the human race. It was supposed to be my greatest achievement. Make me the top Star in Prosperon history. Just imagine it.” He turned to Meke, eyes glimmering. “And I did it. Because of you.”

“What?”

“I wanted to discover something that would change our frail, weak human race. I did. It was you, Meke.” Meke looked down at the empty circle. It seemed disembodied but all too familiar. “All of the experiments hadn’t been for nothing. You proved that we could improve our senses beyond our poor, limited human capacity.”

Realization crawled its way into her mind. Lucio Donner hadn’t wanted revenge. He had just wanted his property back.
 

Meke shook her head. “I’m not something you can just take. Why don’t you just give yourself up? You’ll save yourself.”

Lucio stopped in his tracks. “Give myself up? Why on earth would I do that?”

“You’re surrounded. It’s over.”

“Sterling brainwashed you, didn’t he? Turning you against me.” Lucio kneaded the Star on his hand. “He always wanted my glory. He can’t do what I can do, so he’ll just steal it.”

With a sigh, he sat besides her. The closeness made her want to shrink into the bed, but she had nowhere to go. The drug still lingered in her body, weighting down all movement.

“Doctor Ball shouldn’t have let you get into Sterling’s hands. That traitor is just poisoning everyone against me. I was doing this for the greater good, for humanity.” He clasped Meke’s hands. “And that’s you. I know once you understand, once you realize that Sterling is lying to you, you’ll be on my side. You’re too smart not to be.”

“What about everyone who died? The Fivers, the Stars, everyone?”

He shoulders slumped slightly. “Regrettable, but, necessary. The scientific process is about trial and error. I needed subjects with more similar genetic composition. Although, none of them came close enough.”

The horror of it all descended upon Meke. All of the deaths were just part of a scientific process. A tiny footnote at the end of a scientific paper.

“They were people.”

Lucio Donner frowned. “Of course they were.”

Meke waited for the guilt to appear on Donner’s face, but nothing happened. He looked as he had a moment ago, contemplative and relaxed.
 

“What do you want me to do?” Meke said, fearing the answer.

“I already answered that question. I want you to tell everyone that they’re wrong about me, that Sterling is wrong. I was just trying to help everyone. Just imagine what we could do together. Maybe we can even reunite this country, take over The States and throw off the Foreign Powers’ domination.”

Meke clutched her sheets even closer. “I can’t.”

“You’d become important, Meke. Once we finish with all of this nonsense,” He glanced around. “You’ll be the most valuable person in Prosperon. You hold the secrets to human evolution. You’d be a Star. I’d put you in your rightful place.”

For one crazy moment, Meke imagined what it would be like to have her zeroes transformed into stars. It would feel wonderful. She already knew that.

Lucio patted her hand. “Think about it,” Lucio said.

Then he left her surrounded by too-solid walls. She stared at her hands, wondering. It seemed too odd to imagine that her Zero was supposed to be a Star. She closed her hands, making the Zero bigger.

Flinging off the sheets, Meke slid out of bed. She touched the walls, hoping that the touch would restore her sense. It didn’t. What was happening outside? Had the Equalists attacked yet? Meke could feel the panic rising in her. So many things depended on her knowing what happened outside, and she was stuck here, ignorant.
 

She felt very alone in this room.
 

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Meke tried not to flinch when the door opened. Lucio Donner walked in, smiling, with several Elite Forces soldiers. They stared at Meke, eyes blank and cold. She wished that, instead of the flimsy cotton clothing she wore, that she had her uniform back. Their eyes judged her, and found her wanting. She exhaled, stood straighter. If circumstances had been different, she would have been one of them, perhaps one better.
 

Lucio inclined his head and murmured something. Without a backward glance, the soldiers left.