The Significant (28 page)

      
As the time drew close, she ventured
downstairs, trying to keep her head high. She did not see anyone until she was
in the greeting salon, where those who were open for walk-ins were sitting,
dressed in their finest attire. Kailynn felt as though she had walked into a
brothel, particularly with the glares of superiority she felt from the
Significants waiting for clients.

      
Kailynn sat on an empty couch and waited
for Rayal.

      
After several long moments, one male
Significant spoke to the others in the room, raising his voice.

      
“Who do you think attacked Elite Isa?” he
asked, his eyes briefly glancing at Kailynn with a small smile on his face. “I
doubt security would be so lax around the leader of our planet.”

      
“It does seem suspicious that there were
more people in the home than customary,” one woman agreed.

      
“And what a horrible time for the
caretaker,” another chimed in. “Could you imagine? Being blamed for not seeing
there was a danger to the Golden Elite?”

      
Kailynn bit her tongue until she could
taste blood.

      
“That caretaker is going to be put under
investigation,” another man said. “She’ll probably get kicked out to Trid for
such a failure.” The door opened to the greeting salon. “If they don’t kill
her, I suppose.”

      
“You clearly know nothing about the
system of caretakers.”

      
Everyone turned to the door, so immersed
in the gossip that they had not seen the man walk into the greeting salon.
Kailynn was relieved to see Rayal.

      
“Forgive us, sir, we did not see you come
in,” one woman said, walking to him, accenting the swing of her hips. She
sidled up to him. “What can we do for you today?”

      
“You can get your hands off me,” Rayal
said, pushing her away and turning his eyes around the room. “Perhaps you do
not realize that your trivial gossip is being heavily monitored by Syndicate
Intelligence. I would be very mindful of what you say.”

      
He looked at Kailynn and nodded once to
her, turning to leave. She walked out with him, her eyes low but her head high.

      
Those left in the greeting salon let out
chuckles of disbelief.

      
“Did she just get hauled away by
Syndicate Intelligence?” one woman gasped, her eyes wide but filled with
amusement.

      
“We won’t be seeing her again,” the man
who had started the bullying said with a smile.

      
Rayal stood by the passenger’s door to
the car and waited for Kailynn. She climbed into the car and watched Rayal walk
to the other side and get in with her, hitting several buttons on the screen
before selecting a destination.

      
Kailynn watched silently, but when the
car started the move, she looked at Rayal.

      
“How is she?”

      
Rayal gave her a small smile.

      
“She’ll be alright,” he answered. “She’s
tired and weak now, but that is to be expected. She woke up early this morning
and was coherent. They’re expecting a full recovery in the next few weeks.”

      
Kailynn let out a relieved sigh, turning
her eyes to her lap, where she continued to fiddle with the phone. She turned
to Rayal.

      
“I can’t figure out how to put the
earpiece in,” she said suddenly. Rayal laughed.

      
“I’ll show you.”

      
He showed her the way the disk was
supposed to fit in the ear and how to take it out and put it in. She tried to
put it in her ear, but it was extremely uncomfortable and she quickly removed
it.

      
“Is there any way to use this without the
earpiece?”

      
“Afraid not,” Rayal said. “That’s why
most have the earpiece implanted.”

      
“That’s disturbing,” Kailynn groaned.
“But Isa doesn’t have an implanted one. I’ve seen her take it out.”

      
“She used to have an implant,” Rayal
corrected.

      
“Used to?”

      
“They had to take it out after the
accident, when they were reconstructing half of her face.”

      
“Half of her face?”

      
“What did you expect when she falls
through glass?” Rayal said with a broken laugh. “The entire left side of her
face was destroyed. She can’t have another implant now, because it has caused
infections in the reconstructed part of her face three times.”

      
Kailynn’s eyes were wide.

      
“Did I shock you?”

      
“Yeah,” Kailynn murmured. “I’m starting
to understand why everyone is so afraid to talk about five years ago.”

      
Rayal’s eyes fell to the floor of the
car. He did not care to tell Kailynn that it was far worse than anyone could
wanted to admit.

      
“How is Tarah?” Kailynn asked.

      
“Scared,” Rayal said truthfully. “That
was the first time she’s seen an assassination attempt. She’s understandably
shaken.”

      
“At least someone is,” Kailynn grumbled.
“I know everyone rushed to the hospital, but no one seemed really scared that
someone had tried to kill the Golden Elite.”

      
“Sadly, everyone is desensitized to it
now,” Rayal agreed. “There have now been eighteen plots on Isa’s life, that we
know of.”

      
“
Eighteen
?”
Kailynn gasped.

      
“She’s had to deal with assassination
attempts since she was seventeen. Even she is desensitized to it,” Rayal
elaborated. “So, while everyone knows that Isa can survive just about
everything, there is an underlying concern that her luck will run out.”

      
“Seventeen years old and someone tried to
kill her?”

      
Rayal looked at Kailynn seriously. “When
there’s a brand new leader, and one that wishes to change the framework of the
entire planet, people get nervous.” Rayal leaned back in his seat and his eyes
went distant. “The youngest Golden Elite to come into power in the history of
the planet…”

      
Kailynn looked over Rayal’s face.

      
“You love her, don’t you?” she whispered.

      
Rayal nodded.

      
“I do,” he said. “But do not worry,” he
chuckled turning to Kailynn, “it’s not the same kind of love. I admire her
greatly, and I would do anything to keep her safe.”

      
Kailynn could not respond. She stared at
the floor of the car as it slowed and pulled in front of the underground door
for the Syndicate Intelligence Agency. Rayal got out of the car and Kailynn
opened her door, looking over the plain door as she climbed out.

      
Rayal gently tapped the button on the
front of the car and it pulled away to park in the garage below the building.

      
Rayal motioned to the door and walked
Kailynn into the building.

      
The building was surprisingly noisy.
Security footage and conversations picked up by Venus’ microphones around the
planet filled the air. There were several large rooms where monitors were being
watched by various people as robots wheeled around and moved cases, taking them
out of the room and bringing in new ones.

      
“Is it normally this busy?” Kailynn
asked.

      
“No,” Rayal said. “But there is great
cause for concern currently.” He led Kailynn through the halls until he reached
an elevator. They both walked in and, when the doors closed, the noise abated,
leaving them with only the humming of the elevator as it ascended.

      
Once they reached the desired floor, they
both walked a short distance on the very quiet floor to Rayal’s office.

      
Kailynn glanced around the large,
mostly-bare office. Rayal had an NCB chair as well and then a separate desk
with several monitors on it streaming different cameras in a very familiar home.

      
Rayal grabbed a chair and put it in front
of his desk chair, motioning for Kailynn to sit. She sat slowly, looking over
the main room and kitchen of Isa’s home on the screen in front of her,
imagining seeing herself running across the screen when the alarm sounded
through the house two days previous.

      
Rayal took his seat and typed something,
causing the computer monitors to go black.

      
He then turned to face Kailynn.

      
“There are a lot of things we need to
discuss.”

      
“Are you going to tell me to stay away
from her?” Kailynn whispered.

      
“No, I’m not.”

      
The answer surprised Kailynn.

      
Rayal rubbed his hands together, trying
to think of how to begin.

      
“Dr. Busen and Dr. Arre have agreed that
it would probably be best if you were to continue to see Isa,” Rayal started.
“I don’t know what arrangement you two have, or the reason you went to see her
again when you did, but her doctors agree that you two should continue with
that arrangement.”

      
“There is no arrangement,” Kailynn said.
“I have an open invitation.”

      
“I see,” Rayal murmured. “Then it is even
more imperative that you listen very carefully to what I’m about to tell you.”
He reached behind him and grabbed a small box on the table. He held it in both
hands, tapping his finger against the side. “This is an emitter PIM chip,” he
explained. “This is a very special class of PIM chip, developed to protect the
people closest to Isa. If you consent, I would like you to have one implanted.”

      
“I can’t,” she whispered. “I’m not a
citizen, you know that.”

      
“We’re going to grant you citizenship, if
you desire to continue this relationship with Isa,” Rayal said. “However, if
you are using her just to become a citizen and plan to leave her after getting
this, then I will be sure to hunt you down and make you suffer.”

      
“You clearly don’t know Trids,” Kailynn
groaned, sarcastic. “None of us
want
citizenship.”

      
“I need you to understand that this is
not given lightly,” Rayal said sharply. “However, this will help everyone if
you consent to having it.”

      
“How?”

      
“First, it will give you citizenship, so
that will no longer be an issue.”

      
“Even though I was born a Trid?”

      
“It has happened before,” Rayal said. “As
long as you have legal citizenship, it will not be a problem. This will contain
your identification, or rather, your identification as Jacyleen Lynden, the
Significant, since that is the name on your forged papers. Your medical
history, allergies, any other physical things that we need to know about for
treatment, and it will also allow us to track you, should it ever be needed.”

      
“I thought all PIM chips did that. Why do
I need a special one?”

      
Rayal looked down at the box.

      
“Venus has mandated that everyone close
to Isa have an emitter chip.”

      
“But Venus doesn’t know that I’m still
around her.”

      
“No, which is why we need your consent.
You are not mandated to have it,” Rayal said. “What this chip does is keep a
detailed record of your body’s rhythm. It monitors when you are healthy, when
you have a cold, the flu, or any infections that you may get. And when there is
a drastic and sudden change, it immediately lets emergency personnel know your
location and what is happening with your health. This chip was the reason the
EMU got to Isa so quickly. The chip noticed something was wrong before the NCB
chair noticed.”

      
“And these are mandated for everyone in
close contact with Isa?”

      
“Yes,” Rayal affirmed. “I have one, every
Elite in the Syndicate has one, Tarah has one as well.”

      
“Why should I have one?”

      
Rayal leaned forward.

      
“For your well-being, as well as Isa’s.”
Rayal shook his head slowly. “If we had had these five years ago, Isa would not
have been in the hospital for eight months.”