Chapter 76: Triangulation

First, there was my sister, then me, followed by my little brother. I understand, now, the three of us are special. We are the beginning. We were brought forth by science and for science. The bond we form goes well beyond the known possibility of the human body. Yet, amidst our common origin, a deep ridge keeps us apart. I do not know my position in relation to them. In the short time I got to know them, I was lied to and felt betrayed by them. It seems; our bond could not fix the damages inflicted upon us on our individual journey.

As long as we live, we are destined to be consumed by our past.

First, my sister. Now, my brother. Then, me. The water trashing through the floodgate, suddenly opened by Eva, will eventually extinguish my fire. Then we will be no more. The Li story will be done. It can’t be. Evian and I can change the story. All we need to do is stay alive.

We are the beginning; we are not the end.

I dozed off, still holding my little brother’s hand.

I walked into the living room of our family house. It was a familiar sight. One I had seen many times in my dreams. The sun was high in the sky, the air humid and slightly uncomfortable. I took a seat in the sofa and watched my older sister as she played La Campanella. It had been a while since I had last seen her. Unlike before, there was no pain, I could feel her newly acquired sense of freedom in every note that she played. The music was like a balm to my heart, and I allowed myself to be carried away towards serenity.

I was so enthralled by the music; I did not notice my brother entering the room. He came and took the seat across from myself. We both stared at Lianna as she played the last bars of the piece. After resting her hands down on her laps, she turned to face us.

Together for the first time, I thought.

She was no longer the little girl from my dreams. She was sitting in front of me, looking like the day she died. Yet, her hand was no longer missing, and the harden look in her eyes had been replaced by tenderness.

Tears started flowing from my eyes, as a wave of guilt came over me.

“I am sorry,” I said to her. “I didn’t know, I could save you.”

She smiled. “But you did save me,” she said. “I wanted to die. I was afraid. Afraid of enduring more pain, afraid of leaving you behind, afraid of what would happen next. But you took all these fears away. By giving me death, you gave me freedom. You showed me mercy. And… I entertained the hope that my death would bring both of my brothers closer. So, you see, there is no need for you to be sorry. It is I that should seek forgiveness from you.”

“But I could have saved you! We could have done all this together! If only YOU had told me!”

“Told you what? That you could extend my miserable existence?” She sighed. “I am sorry, but I couldn’t go on. I was already dying. Exhausted. Now I am free. I live in your heart and soul, and it is more than I could ever ask for.”

“I’m sorry too,” a little voice said. Evian who hadn’t talked since he had arrived, was hunched over, his face buried in his hands. “I am sorry for what I did, the day you left home.”

The room was silent except for his sobbing.

“It’s ok, you gave me the strength to walk away. In a way, I owe it all to you, you made all of this happen. If you hadn’t forced me to make a choice, I would have slowly faded away, tortured, or left for dead. Instead, I was able to bring people together and to light the way towards a better future.”

“And of what future are you talking about?” I asked with a clench jaw, still struggling to control my emotions. “The one you fled, the one you let other people fight for you? You detonated 2 bombs and left us with the mess to deal with. Now most of us are dead, and all of Antarticum has one more reason to hate Aethereusians. Is that the future you wanted? Because that is the future you gave us!”

“The status quo couldn’t go on. Sooner or later, someone had to push for a change.” She tried to explain.

“I understand. Setting the wheel into motion… That’s how Doran explained it. But why couldn’t you confide in us, instead of leaving us in the dark.”

“I wanted to tell you everything. I really wanted too. But I was afraid that you might refuse. I was afraid you’d leave my side. I was afraid I’d get too attached to you, and that I might falter in my plans. I couldn’t tell you anything, because I was afraid. I was afraid my emotions would get in the way of the plan.”

“Fiori told you that, didn’t he?”

“Fiori…” she said with a sad smile. “I owe him excuses too. I used him, and his friends.”

“But you guys were in it together!” I exclaimed surprised.

“We shared a common vision of what the future could look like…”

“But?”

“But, in a way, I treated them like disposable objects. I…”

“Fiori still talks highly of you…” I interrupted her.

“We became friends. Perhaps, the only friend I ever had… it made things complicated…”

“…Emotions got in the way,” I finished her sentence. “You loved him, didn’t you?”

“No. No, I could have loved him, I think. But I choose not too.”

A lonely tear rolled down her cheek.

Evian slowly raised his head. All three of us, were quietly crying.

There was a certain peace to be felt in this safe space. These tears of grief were helping us turn the page on a dark chapter of our life.

“I’m done too,” Evian eventually said in a calm voice. “I’ve reached my limit. I beg of you, Fenn, allow me to go, the same way you took Lianna.”

“No, I can save you, Evian. I will transfer more energy, and everything will be alright!” I nervously blathered.

“But it doesn’t work like that,” Lianna began to explain. “It isn’t some sort of an unlimited power, you have. Every time you use it, every time you take energy, or give energy, your entire nervous system is put under pressure. Sooner or later, you start twitching, you start losing connection between your body and your mind…”

“…Until you can no longer function.” Evian added.

“It’s start with a twitch. Occasionally… then more often. Until your whole body starts shaking for no reasons. You start to forget. A fog slowly drifts into your brain…” Lianna continued looking painfully into the distance.

“… the light slowly fades away. Then you are left with numbness: both in the body and in the spirit.” Evian finished.

A shiver ran down my spine.

Is this going to be my future? I wondered.

I had a quick thought for Eva, Eli and Eden. Did they know our life was nothing more than a candle burning down?

“So, the more I use my characteristic, the faster I fade?” I asked.

“It happened to me, it is happening to Evian, sooner or later, it will happen to you. That is the price we pay in exchange for our abilities.”

I turned and looked at Evian. He was as pale and as sickly looking as I had ever seen him. Yet, he still had a determined look in his eyes. I sighed.

“I can’t do it. I can’t take your life. No. No way…”

“You have too,” Evian said, without giving me a chance to add more.

“I don’t want to be a murderer. I no longer want to be a murderer.”

“You have to, it’s the only way to make you whole,” Evian mumbled after lowering his head again.

“Fenn, you can manipulate energy. Evian can manipulate minds. And I use to manipulate cells regeneration. When you killed me, you took that part of me with you.”

“That explains why I can play the piano… but I can’t…”

“You can. You will need to figure it out, but ever since you took my life energy, you took my ability at cells regeneration.”

I scratched my forehead and, shook my head. “Does Fiori know?” I mumbled behind clenched teeth.

“And once you kill Evian, you will take away, with you, that part of him.”

“You will become whole,” Evian confirmed.

“You mean, a human super weapon? Well, I don’t care about that. I don’t want to…”

Lianna laughed: “That human super weapon bullshit is nothing more than a Ted invention to raise war funds and create a mediatic buzz. What you become, is up to you! But at least you will keep what is ours, in the family!”

“Well, Ted seems to think that a human super weapon could save humanity. That I can save humanity.”

“He’s right, you have it in you to save humanity. You are the one possibility we have to save mankind. But that is irrelevant to you becoming a human super weapon.”

“Eden has all 3 characteristics, is that how he got them?” I asked, trying to connect the dots.

“Most likely, I always assumed that is why some babies made it through and some didn’t,” Lianna confirmed.

Another cold shiver ran down my spine.

“How did you find out about this?”

“Fiori knows. It’s been extensively studied at Project Eden…” Lianna explained.

“Couldn’t Evian take my life. I could give my life to him!” I answered hopeful there was a way out for me.

“No, it doesn’t work both ways, you would need your energy transfer ability, first.” Lianna explain with a hint of sadness in her voice.

“So, once more, I beg you to kill me, don’t let me go to waste. Make my life count for something. You can be my redemption,” Evian mumbled, his head still weighted down with sorrow.

I started sobbing quietly as it dawned upon me, that I was left with no other choice. I had killed my sister, and today, I would have to kill my brother.

The van struck a pothole, my head hit the window. It woke me up, suddenly. It took me a second to realize where I was, where I had been, and where reality stood. I was still holding my brother’s hand. His heartbeat barely noticeable.

I don’t have much time, I thought. A wave au nausea struck me.

“Stop the van,” I screamed. I opened the door just in time, as I threw up on the side of the road.

“Are you alright,” Fiori asked.

“It’s nothing,” I said wiping my mouth with my sleeve. “Just motion sickness,” I added to convince him, all was good.

In my head, words were slamming into each other.

KILL MY BROTHER

KILLMYBROTHER

KMBIYRLOTLHER

I painfully pushed that thought away.

“Let’s go,” I heard myself say. “Time is running out.”