Chapter 9: Ortus University

The next morning, at breakfast, there was undeniable electricity in the air. An effervescence I had never experienced before. The exhilaration was contagious. People were talking. There had been news early this morning. There had been an attack on Ortus University.

Hana walked in. The room turned instantly quiet. She wasted no time: “As you probably all know by now, Ortus University was attacked overnight. More precisely, sensitive documents from the Research Center on Life Design were stolen. We were able to identify the key player in the attack. His name is Evian Li.”

A murmur went through the crowd. Hana waited for the silence to come back.

“Yes, as many of you realize. The son of the late researcher Shan Li is behind the attack. We do not know which documents were stolen, or their importance. We do not know for which reason Evian acquired these documents. However, it is possible that the research center still possesses some of his father’s important findings regarding genetic manipulation. At this time, we are less concerned with the missing files than with the fact that the attack came right after the press conference. According to the footage we acquired, Evian Li had by his side a team of a dozen aethereusian soldiers yielding government issued weapons.”

She motioned at Meyer, to join her. Meyer obeyed diligently, as quiet as usual. Everything about that teenager was shadowy. He was slightly younger than me, his skin was dark, very dark. Darker than I had ever seen before or thought possible. He had long curly hair held back in a ponytail. We were probably of similar weight and height, but he carried all his weight in muscles. There was no left-over cloud of ink on his cheek.

I knew very little about him. I know he had been “rescued” and that he did not posses a Heighten Characteristic but that was all. He wasn’t the talkative type. Yet, he always seemed to be everywhere at once, lurking in the background.

He’s an odd one, I thought, but weren’t we all.

Meyer made his way to the center of the room. Hana offered him a smile.

“I am going to have Meyer lead a team who will attempt to gain information by hacking both into Ortus University and Evian Li’s communication networks. At the same time, I am going to have Fiori lead a security team, who will remain on standby, ready to assist shall we need to make a move. I intend to request a meeting with Evian Li. It is imperative that we find out his purpose. At this time, I would like to hope that we share a common goal.”

She didn’t seem convinced as she said these words. She somehow gave me the impression that she knew Evian Li. That their paths had crossed at some point. In the way she had said his name, no doubt, she held a profound, personal, disdain for him.

Meyer quickly assembled a team of four people. Arno was one of them. They dashed out of the room. They all seemed to have done this before. Fiori and Hana stayed in the middle and quietly discussed a few things. Upon reaching an agreement that didn’t seem to please Fiori, he made the selection known: “Eli, Ashe, Doran, Yuki and… Fenn, you are going to join Hana and I.”

I was crushed to hear my name. I had hoped to be left behind. To stay out of this. It had nothing to do with me anyway.

Eli discreetly sent me an encouraging smile. People started clearing the room. The seven of us stayed behind. The plan was straight forward. Hana would request a meeting. Fiori and Eli would be her acting bodyguards. Ashe, Doran, Yuki and I would be nearby, ready to offer backup. Meyer would be coming with us, his hacking skills handy. We were to avoid conflict at all cost.

An hour passed; Arno came to inform us, that Meyer had secure surveillance of both the University and Evian Li’s, communication networks. It was around that time too, that we had confirmation that the meeting would take place precisely at four o’clock in an open field just outside of town.

Fiori pulled me aside: “I don’t know why Hana insisted on bringing you. It’s nothing personal, I just don’t think you are ready.”

He was stating the obvious. I couldn’t help but childishly roll my eyes.

“Look, at the first sign of trouble, run. Find a place to hide. Just stay out of sight. Ashe, Doran and Yuki are highly capable. They don’t need your assistance. They know how to get the job done. Just enjoy the road trip, watch, and learn.”

He needed not to worry. I had no intention of jumping into the action. I had no plans of being seen or heard. And I was grateful Fiori agreed.

Preparations were made, and we assembled into three different cars. I was to ride in the last one with Meyer and Yuki. Ashe and Doran would be in the front. That left Hana, Fiori and Eli in the middle. The drive took just over an hour. In any other circumstance, this would have been a pleasant experience. Riding through the city, then the outskirt, to finally hit the open fields. I kept my window down, the entire time sticking my hand outside. Feeling the wind through my hair. Feeling the bitter cold air on my skin.

Yuki drove the car. From the back, I gazed at their hair with amazement. They had jet black hair cut short, just above their ears. So black in fact that, in the passing lights, it was naturally highlighted with blue tones. I had never seen anyone like that.

Doran had explained to me, one day at dinner, that humans came in many different races. Yuki was Asian of Japanese descent. Meyer was African of Congolese descent. Most people that had settled in Antarticum had been Caucasian, mainly because following the Great Catastrophe, those in charge had engaged in eugenic practices while selecting those “worthy” of surviving. So, Asians, Africans and Indigenous Peoples descendants were rare in Antarticum. This was how fucked up humans were, and sadly, 200 years later, little had changed.

Thankfully, Arno had explained that in Australia and South America, the indigenous and local populations living inland in remote territories had been much more welcoming, offering safe asylum to all. However, a lack of available resources and widespread drought, led to a violent civil war followed by despotism. There were also rumors of a civilization thriving in West Africa, but information was scarce and controlled by the government. Exchanges between civilizations were few and strongly discouraged. The government of Antarticum had protectionist clauses in place and a very strict system that wasn’t without its reminders of what had been known prior to the tilt as communism.

Meyer who rode in the back with me, feigned sleeping the entire way. Once we got on location, he opened his laptop and started surveillance. We were three hours early. We left Meyer with the cars and Fiori took us on a tour of the terrain. I should have paid more attention to the instructions, but all around me were things I had, until then, only seen in dreams. The grass, the wildflowers, the crops growing in the fields. I touched the bark of a tree. It was rough. I touched a rock and watched a bird fly over my head. For a split second, I thought it was another one of my dreams.

Soon, it was time to take our places.

Two of the three cars were moved out of sight, and on Fiori’s order, I hid, about 40 meters away from the meeting spot. In total darkness, from this distance, I couldn’t see much. I could hardly make out anything further away than a few meters. It was nerve wracking, so I was glad to have Yuki and Meyer by my side. Ashe and Doran were positioned just like us, but on the opposite side of the road.

As we waited, the tension started to build. Fiori had said to just stand back and watch. I could do that. That was easy. Besides, there was no reason for anything to happen in the first place. This was just a meeting, between two people. Still, I couldn’t stop feeling nervous.

Why am I here?

We were expecting cars, instead a helicopter showed up. It positioned itself right over top of Hana casting a bright light that illuminated the entire perimeter. The induced flow from the blades was so strong, Hana, Fiori and Eli had to duck close to the ground. Out of the helicopter, three men jumped. Two of them had guns just like the ones the guards used at my orphanage. The helicopter retreated a little. Hana got up and made her way to the unarmed man. She was less than two meters away from him, when she suddenly turned back and started looking frantically for something, or was it someone? I couldn’t tell.

“He’s not here!” She screamed. “That’s not him!”

From that point on, everything happened too fast.

Hana screamed an order, but I couldn’t tell what it was. Her voice was completely drowned out by the helicopter.

saw Meyer dash with his laptop.

I turned just in time to see Yuki collapse to the ground after being hit from behind.

It was too late for me to run. Shots were being fired by the helicopter. I was grabbed from behind. I was being strangled. No, it wasn’t that. I was being dragged away, held by the throat. We reached the point where the armed men had stood, right under the helicopter. I was thrown to the ground, gasping for air. Hana, Fiori and Eli were gone.

I tried remembering what Fiori had taught me. My assailant was fiddling with a radio.

“I have him,” I heard him say.

I used that moment to make a run for it.

I need to hide! Anywhere!

I ran as fast as I could toward the trees. If I could just make it to tree line, perhaps I could take cover in there.

But before I could reach the side of the road, I was stopped by another man.

I was grabbed by the throat, once more.

Instead of being dragged, this time, I was being choked.

My feet started thrashing. He was much bigger than me. He had me completely off the ground. I clutched at his hands trying to release the hold he had on my throat. But with every passing second, the lack of oxygen was numbing my body.

My lungs were aching for air, my brain too.

My head started spinning.

I was still thrashing around as I fainted.

***

Images started flashing through my eyes. I was running in an open field. I could see the cars. Meyer was there. There was commotion. Something was wrong.

“Where is he? Where is he?” a voice kept saying.

Eli was there. In the distance I could hear a helicopter.

No, the helicopter really was there. I was conscious, lying on my back; my assailant sitting on top of my chest, pinning me to the ground. I was about to pass out a second time when a horrendous explosion sent everyone flying.

The helicopter was down.

The force of the impact threw everyone to the ground like rag dolls. My assailant let go of me, as we both scrambled away from the burning debris. I saw Eli running towards me, covered in blood. Fiori too appeared in my field of vision. He was badly burned. Eli was the first to get to me, she helped me up off the ground. Fiori positioned himself between us and my assailant. He raised his arm and shot the man at point blank range. It sent shivers down my spine. The three of us stumbled back together toward the cars. Yuki was at the wheel waiting for us. We jumped in and they floored it. Off we sped, not entirely sure of what had happened, other than it was a setup.

Everyone remained quiet during the drive home. I was seated in the back with Eli. Eli was covered in blood. I could see a deep gash on her side, but she didn’t seem bothered by it at all. She just looked straight a head, staring off into oblivion.

Fiori was in the front seat; I could tell something was wrong. He kept shifting back and forth in obvious pain. The acrid smell of burnt flesh was overpowering, but he didn’t complain.

Both Eli and Fiori were badly injured. It was my fault. They both had come back to save me. And there I was unscathed.

We pulled back into the underground parking of the hotel. Everyone was there, except for Ashe who hadn’t made it back to the cars and was presumed dead.

Hana motioned for me to follow her.

I didn’t like the look on her face. She was angry. Very angry.

She grabbed me by the collar and screamed right in my face: “You can’t just sit back and watch. You have an Heighten Characteristic. Use it for God’s sake! You had him at your fingertips. It would have been a clean kill. No way to trace it back to any of us. You almost died out there today, Fenn! I didn’t go through all the trouble of rescuing you, only to have you die on your first assignment.”

I could see the right side of her face twitching. She was trying hard to stay calm; it wasn’t working. She brought me to the dinning room. Everyone had left for the night. It was just her and I. She had a bottle of whiskey on the table next to her. The bottle was still full. The table was between us.

Yesterday’s peacefulness was gone. Right now, there was only chaos left.

I started: “I won’t kill. I’m sorry. I’m sorry I can’t live up to your expectation. But I just can’t kill. I’m sure you had other plans for me. You were probably thinking of turning me into a human weapon. But I’m sorry, that’s just not the type of person I am.”

“And what type of person do you think you are?” She said exasperated, throwing her arms in the air.

“I don’t know. I have no idea. I’ve never been treated like a person. I’ve never even considered myself a person before. But I know I am not a murderer…” I was now shouting.

Before I was done, she kicked the chair next to her. Her whole face was twitching. She exploded: “Fine! You don’t want to be a murderer. So, I’ll be a murderer. Fiori will be a murderer. Meyer will be a murderer. Eli will be a murderer. We will all be murderers, so you can have your clean little conscience. So, you can enjoy sweet dreams at night. So, you can go around saying: that’s not the type of person I am. Does it make you feel better? Does it make you feel superior to us? But I’ve got some news for you. You want to find out the type of person that you are? FINE! Tell me: how many people have you killed before?” She was now hysterical.

“I’ve never killed anyone. No one. NO ONE!”

Why was I pleading. Who was I trying to convince? Eli’s voice echoed in my head “How do you know you can kill if you’ve never done it before? How do you know how to do it, if you’ve never done it before? How many people have you really killed?”

Hana had suddenly calmed down. It was me that was about to explode. “No one! NO ONE!” I screamed, pressing my hands over my ears.

But the more I said it, the more obvious it was becoming to me that I couldn’t possibly know so much about my characteristic without having experienced it firsthand.

I started shaking.

Tears started to well up.

“I could never kill,” I told myself.

I was pacing along the table.

“A life is a life,” I repeated to myself. But did I really believe it…

I looked at Hana.

Straight into her eyes and I asked in a barely audible voice: “Tell me. How many people have I killed?”

I braced myself for the answer.

She was staring at the wall behind me.

I leaned with both hands on the table.

I could feel the blood rushing to my head.

“According to information Meyer came across…” She was taking her time.

She wasn’t enjoying it.

She wasn’t making me wait out of spite.

She was trying to protect me. She really was.

“You say you’ve never killed anyone,” she said. “But information we’ve gathered…says you were instrumental in 4 assassinations.”

All the food, all the fluid in my body came rushing out of my mouth.

I fell to my knees. I couldn’t stop myself.

Throwing up more and more, until only bile came out.

And even then, my body was rattled by violent spasms.

4.

4.

4 people.

No! That was impossible. I had never killed. Never! I had never left the orphanage. Never! I had no recollection at all, of ever using my characteristic. Never!

Hunched over, I felt a hand on my shoulder.

Hana started rubbing my back. I could feel the warmth of her hand. It brought on a wave of peacefulness. For a fleeting moment, I lost all my senses and felt so free, so light, so happy.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m sorry you are not the person you thought you were. I’m sorry you had to kill 4 people. I’m sorry I had to ask you to kill today. But Fenn, I need you to stay alive. And if that means killing, then you must do it. We all have blood on our hands. And that is the reason we are all still standing.”

I was sobbing now. We were both sitting on the floor of the dining room. Why couldn’t I remember killing. How could I have killed 4 people and not remember it. I hated her so much for telling me the truth. But was it even the truth? How could I know for certain?

She was right next to me. I hated her. But at the same time, I needed to feel her hand on my shoulder again. I needed to feel her touch. I needed to feel contact… something… anything, to make me feel human again. I inched closer to her. She leaned over and wrapped me up with her one arm. “I’m sorry,” she said again. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t protect you. I’m sorry. Please. Stay alive.”

I lifted my head and looked straight into her eyes: “I’m sorry. I won’t”.

Our faces were so close to one another. I had never stared at someone this way. Her eyes, her deep brown eyes, mesmerized me. They were both familiar and so foreign all at once. Like a memory trying to stir up. A distant, far away, past. They reminded me of someone. Someone who shared these same brown eyes. I surrendered once more to that feeling of peace. I was so tired. Warmth was taking over my entire body, like liquid honey flowing through my veins.

“I don’t want to be a murderer,” I whispered.

She tenderly brushed the hair off my face: “I am not asking you to be a murderer. I am asking you to stay alive. And if that means, killing, then do it. Please do it! I spent the last 10 years planning for this. It will all have been for nothing, if you end up dying.”

I wanted to ask her more questions.

What does she mean?

I could see that the twitching had stopped but the right side of her face was droopy, her right eye, glossy and unresponsive. I wanted to know how I fit into her plan, but my brain was being consumed by a fog of beatitude. Like someone had sucked away all my trouble.

I woke up the next morning, to a gentle knock on my door. I was back in my room. I sighed, half embarrassed, half confused. I threw some pants on and opened the door. It was Eli. She was all smiles.

“Look,” she said. “Everyone heard about last night. I wanted to apologize. I shouldn’t have pressed on the issue last time. I just got scared. To think, with just your fingertip you could… well, anyway, I’m sorry. I’m sorry you had to find out about your past, the way you did. I know now you meant it, when you said you could never kill. At least not of your own freewill. I’ll probably never offer to kiss you again, but we can still shake hands and be friends.”

With that she extended her hand. I shook it still in a daze. She was so gleeful. It was nice to see. We left together for breakfast. As we came to the entrance of the kitchen, Fiori was standing in the doorway. He looked at me and Eli. He winked, slapped me on the shoulder and whispered in my ear: “So, did you kiss the girl?”

I let Eli enter before me.

“Which one?” I whispered back with a grin. He chuckled and pushed me into the room.