Agency Director Dana Carter was making tea when her assistant Dimitri appeared in the doorway. He had a firm grip on Jonathan Grayson’s bicep and was hesitating at the threshold to her office, waiting for her orders.
“Bring him in please, Dimitri,” she said. “Have a seat, Jonathan.”
When his prisoner didn’t move, Dimitri shoved him forward until Grayson finally sank into one of the two leather chairs positioned in front of her desk.
“I insist you return me to my cell, Dana,” he said. “Take me back to Alexandra. To the others. I know we can’t have been the only ones you captured tonight.”
Grayson made to stand. Dimitri gripped his shoulder and shoved him back into his seat.
“Thank you, Dimitri,” said Carter, gesturing to the door. “That will be all for now.”
The towering, tattooed man nodded once and then stepped out, closing her office door behind him.
Carter finished pouring Grayson’s cup of tea and handed it to him before pouring one for herself.
Resigned, he glared at the teacup in his hands before setting it back on the tray. “Is this where you make one last effort to bring me over to your side?”
“Hardly,” she said, moving around her desk and settling into her chair.
Grayson’s scowl deepened. “Then what are we—”
“Now that you’re in custody and Alex Parker is under my control, your little uprising is falling to pieces.” She took a sip of her tea. “There’s no reason we can’t be civil while I accept your unconditional surrender.”
“You must be joking.”
Carter set her teacup down on the desk. “Do yourself a favor. Do your followers a favor. Surrender now and avoid further bloodshed. Once you step down, the fight will go out of the remaining rabble. They’ll follow your lead. You have the ability to ensure a peaceful transition, Jonathan.”
“Now I know you’re joking,” he said. “It’s true that Alex is incredibly powerful, but she’s only one girl. Just as I am only one man—I can very easily be replaced. The resistance will continue without us.”
“Surely you’ve realized by now that Alexandra is only the beginning.”
Grayson shook his head. “Once the Variant community discovers what you have planned, the pushback will be so strong that you’ll never be able to accomplish your goal.”
“At last estimate, the normals outnumber Variants nearly five thousand to one,” she said. “I don’t need to worry about pushback, Jonathan. Billions of panicked humans ought to be more than enough to keep a couple million frightened Variants in line—mutant abilities or no.”
Grayson visibly cringed at her use of the label “mutant.” Her choice of words had been intentional. Within the current Variant nomenclature, the term was about as derogatory as you could get.
“They’ll fight you, Dana,” he said. “I’ll fight you. Every step of the way.”
Carter smiled.
Grayson shook his head. “So long as there’s a breath in my lungs, I’ll… I’ll…” He trailed off, studying her expression. “You don’t believe the Variant community will fight back. But why? We might be outnumbered by the norms, but the majority of us will hardly be outgunned. And there will almost certainly be human sympathizers that stand by us when you finally put your plan into action. So how would you… Unless… Unless Alex isn’t the only one you intend to parade around for the world to see. For Variants to see.”
She could practically hear the gears turning in his head.
“Samuel?” Grayson asked, incredulous. “You mean to control Samuel Masterson with this device?”
Carter smiled. “Now you’re getting it.”
Grayson barked out a laugh. “That might be the most preposterous idea I’ve ever—”
“Do you know why I first came to work for you, Jonathan?”
His brow furrowed, thrown by the sudden turn in the conversation. “Because we offered you twice what—”
“Because working for the Agency gave me a chance to better understand the ability—and the community—that killed my sister,” she said. “And because it offered me the opportunity to help save others from experiencing the same pain.”
Carter’s gaze drifted to the frame resting on the corner of her desk. It held a photograph of Maria, taken just after her high school graduation, a few short days before her death.
“From what you’ve said in the past,” Grayson said slowly, “I was under the impression that what happened to your sister was an accident.”
“Oh, it was.” Carter didn’t look up from the picture. “It was my accident. I was a twelve-year-old air-wielder just coming into my abilities… and I had no idea what I was—or, for that matter, what I was capable of. During a ridiculous argument with my sister, she and I both found out the hard way.”
She flashed back to that summer afternoon in the backyard of their childhood home. Of her older sister Maria choking to death in front of her eyes as Dana stood before her, oblivious and blinded by rage.
She couldn’t remember, now, what the argument had even been about.
What she did remember was drawing every last wisp of air from her half-sister’s lungs without even intending to. Without even realizing what it was she was doing.
At first, she believed her sister was only pretending to choke. That she’d simply been fooling around and not taking Dana’s anger seriously—and it had only served to infuriate Dana that much more.
By the time she realized what was happening and attempted to get it under control, to stop the nightmare she was inflicting upon her sister, it was already much, much too late.
Maria was gone.
And Dana was to blame.
“Did you know,” Carter began, “it would be another three years before someone finally told me what I was? Before my real father—a man who had lived next door to our family my entire life without saying so much as a single word to me—finally confessed to having an affair with my mother years earlier? He said he was sorry for not realizing that I’d inherited his ‘gift’ sooner.” She scoffed. “Apparently, choking the life out of my sister wasn’t enough for the imbecile to put two and two together. He only made the connection when he caught me manipulating the wind one afternoon while he was out walking his pet cocker spaniel. Before that, he’d never even suspected that I might be his daughter as opposed to the daughter of the man that raised me.”
“I’m sorry.”
“So am I,” she said. “But stories like mine are exactly why these abilities should be registered, revealed to the world, and placed under Agency control. Had my parents known that Variants existed—had I known—we might have seen the warning signs. I could have been trained properly. My sister wouldn’t have had to die, simply for me to realize I was different.”
“I understand your pain, Dana,” said Grayson. “Truly. I do. Better than you might think… But this, what you have planned… It won’t bring your sister back. And it won’t save lives. It will take them. The Variant community will not simply hand over its freedom to you. We will protect our own. So, please… I’m begging you. Don’t force us to prove it. Stop this madness before you reach the point of no return. There are other ways. We can—”
“You always were hopelessly naive for a pre-cog, Jonathan. With everything you’ve seen—with everything you’ve experienced—you know that this is the only way.”
“No. I refuse to believe that.”
A knock sounded at her office door.
“Come in,” said Carter.
The door opened and Knightly, the project leader for the latest iteration of the push device, appeared in the doorway.
She tucked a wayward strand of her mousy brown hair behind one ear, saying in a tentative voice, “We’re ready for you, sir.”
“Excellent. Dimitri?” Carter called.
The man stepped past Knightly and entered the room.
“Dimitri, please accompany Mr. Grayson downstairs.”
He grasped Grayson roughly by the arm and hauled him onto his feet.
“So help me, Dana,” Grayson growled as he was being dragged from his chair. “If you hurt either of those girls, you won’t live long enough to regret it.”
Carter smiled. “Such harsh words, Jonathan. And here I thought you were a man of peace.”
Grayson yanked his arm from Dimitri’s grasp, halting just outside the door. “I’m a man who values balance. Order. Justice. The same values that this Agency—the Agency you’ve corrupted—were once founded on.”
Carter’s smile vanished. “You want to talk to me of balance? Variants defy the natural order each and every day, simply by existing. There can be no balance so long as Variants are allowed to remain hidden in the shadows. Shining a light on our existence is the only way to ensure the safety of everyone.”
“You intend to punish all of us for the tragic actions of a few,” he countered. “You’re going to persecute and violate the human rights of countless innocents just to give yourself the illusion of safety. The illusion of control. Where is the justice in that?”
“Human rights are for normals, Jonathan. And we are anything but.”
Dimitri gripped Grayson’s arm again, dragging him around the corner and out of sight.
Carter left her office and stepped further into the heart of the facility’s nerve center. Four technicians sat at their stations, ready and waiting to begin the latest test.
She joined Knightly at the main console, below the large display screen showing the current surveillance feed from the Parker girl’s cell.
“What has their discussion been about?” Carter asked. “Anything of interest? Anything pertaining to the resistance or their plans? The locations of those that escaped, perhaps?”
Knightly hesitated, folding her arms over her tablet. “Cassie’s been… saying goodbye. Alex has been insisting she’ll be able to resist the effects of the device.”
“…And?”
“That’s all, sir,” said Knightly, frowning slightly. “Nothing pertinent to the resistance. Only personal discussion.”
Carter dialed up the volume on the console, filling the control room with the soft sounds of the girls’ conversation. Their voices were kept low, but were picked up by the cell’s microphone nonetheless.
“You have to promise me something, Lexie.” Cassie’s voice trembled. “If they make it work—”
“No,” Alex said immediately. “I’m going to fight it, Cass, I told you. I swear to you. I refuse to let them use me. I refuse to hurt you.”
Cassie shook her head. “If they make it work—if they make you do it—you have to swear to me that you will forgive yourself for whatever happens next. Do you understand? Whatever they do to me, it won’t be your fault. None of it will be your fault.”
“Activate the device,” said Carter.
On the monitor, Alex jumped to her feet and crossed to the other side of the cell, wincing in pain.
“What’s happening?” Cassie asked, standing up and reaching toward her friend.
Alex waved her off. “Stay where you are, Cass… I can’t… I don’t want to…”
Seeming to understand, Cassie backed up until she couldn’t go any further, her back and her palms pressing against the wall behind her.
“Fight it, Lexie,” she said.
A light on the console turned from red to green.
The device fully activated, Knightly flipped on the microphone and handed it to Carter, saying, “We’re good to go.”
“Alexandra,” said Carter, her voice echoing through the speaker in the girl’s cell. “Kill your friend.”
Alex shook her head and gripped the back of her neck. “No way,” she said. “Not gonna happen, lady.”
“Kill her,” Carter ordered.
“No!” Alex shouted.
“Dial it up,” said Carter. “Include your alterations, Knightly. For your sake, I hope you got it right this time.”
Knightly was silent as she entered the necessary commands into her tablet.
The ensuing scream carried over the speakers, echoing throughout the room, but still Alex didn’t move to obey. Instead, she lowered her head, causing her long hair to fall forward and obscure her face.
“Again, Knightly,” said Carter. “To the limit.”
Alex abruptly stopped screaming. She raised her head slowly, locks of her dark hair still hiding her eyes.
Carter took a step closer to the monitor. “Kill her, Alexandra.”
Obediently, Alex raised her right arm—and the Harper girl’s face filled with sorrowful acceptance and muted fear, tears streaming steadily down her cheeks.
“I love you, Lexie,” she said. “I forgive you. Do you hear me? I forgive—”
Her body took flight, slamming mercilessly against the obsidian wall before she crumpled, unmoving, in a far corner of the cell.
Seconds passed and still the girl didn’t get up. It was difficult to tell, given the distance between Cassandra and the camera, but Carter was fairly certain the girl had stopped breathing.
Her orders carried out, Alex lowered her arm.
Carter smiled. “Excellent,” she said. “Good work, Knightly.”
Knightly didn’t reply. The room full of technicians had gone silent, many of them staring at the display with troubled expressions.
Carter returned her gaze to the monitor, saying, “Now is not the time to lose sight of the bigger picture, ladies and gentlemen. We knew from the outset that some sacrifices would need to be made in order to achieve our primary objective. The girl was a member of the resistance. A criminal. We can take one life here in the actualization of our ultimate goal, or we can take thousands more on the battle field while waging a full-fledged war. Remember why we’re doing this.”
The device worked.
Now she faced a decision. Deploy Alex immediately and set the final stages of her plan into motion—or wait a short time to see if her latest lead on the whereabouts of Samuel Masterson proved fruitful.
If she could send them out together and make it appear as though the girl and Samuel were working in tandem… Well, not only would the humans find twice as much to fear in the shocking display—but the Variant community would likely be twice as hesitant to stand against them as well.
Seeing the Parker girl under Agency control was one thing. Seeing the man they’d collectively feared for more than a decade under Agency control could frighten many Variants into instant obedience.
A few more hours of waiting couldn’t hurt, she supposed.
Before she called this experiment to a close, however, Carter still had one more test in mind for her new toy.
She studied the monitor, then raised the microphone to her lips. “Now I want you to escape from your cell, Alexandra.”
The girl’s head tilted to the side, like a dog puzzling over the meaning of its owner’s command. Even though the back of her head now faced the camera, Carter doubted she’d find any emotion in her expression.
“Begging your pardon, sir,” said Knightly. “But the subject must already realize that escape isn’t an option.”
“Exactly,” Carter replied. “I want to know what she’ll do when faced with an impossible order.”
The girl stood still for another moment, took six steps backward until she was up against the wall… and then ran flat out toward the hallway. A wave of telekinetic energy hit the cell’s bars first, shattering the obsidian and causing the metal bands hidden underneath to curve outward.
It wasn’t enough.
The bars held fast—and the girl ran headlong into the partitions, knocking her skull against the metal rods with a ringing report.
She bounced off and fell to the ground, senseless and immobile.
Knightly adjusted the camera slightly downward.
Alexandra was bleeding profusely from the head, her eyes closed, apparently unconscious. Or, as was more likely, dead from the force of the blow.
Carter hummed. “Interesting.”
The device had successfully overwritten the girl’s desire for self-preservation. Useful for what Carter had in mind—but potentially dangerous, as well. They would need to ensure that Alexandra’s healing ability remained at full strength or they might risk losing their newest weapon.
“Sir?” Knightly asked with a small waver in her voice. “Should we send in a medic?”
“No need,” said Carter. “The subject will revive herself and heal quickly enough on her own.”
“I was, ah…” Knightly cleared her throat. “I was referring to the other one, sir.”
“What?”
Carter looked back toward the screen. Cassandra was still lying in a motionless heap in one corner of the cell.
“Oh. Right.” She turned away. “Have the body removed. And do it quickly. Before the Parker girl regains consciousness. In fact, go ahead and shift our new asset to a solitary cell down the hall. I don’t want her exploiting a potential weakness in those metal rods after we deactivate the device.”
“Yes, sir. Are you ready to shift the others to solitary as well? The larger holding cells aren’t equipped to hold them this long. They’re going to need facilities, eventually.”
“Give it a few more hours. Keep listening in on their conversation. They could still slip up and provide us with something useful.” Carter hesitated in the doorway of her office. “How is our other asset faring?”
“Jezza?” Knightly asked.
Carter narrowed her eyes at the use of the girl’s first name. “Yes. I was told Miss Stone attempted to harm herself this morning.”
Knightly nodded. “She, ah… Well, she… remembered. It seems she was able to recall her actions at the resistance safe house last night. Hurting her friends, I mean. Thankfully, the guards were able to stop her before she caused too much damage. We’re keeping her sedated in the lab for the time being.”
“No need to waste the sedatives, Knightly,” said Carter. “Nor your valuable time. Simply put her in restraints and return her to a cell. Or turn the device back on and place her in standby mode. Both should prove effective—and neither one will distract you or Dr. Bowman from your other duties.”
“Yes, sir.”
Knightly’s voice was faint, but Carter knew she’d follow through with the order.
“Inform me the moment we receive word on Masterson’s whereabouts,” she added, stepping inside her office.
“Yes, sir.”
“And Knightly?”
“Sir?”
“Don’t forget why we’re doing this.”
“Of course not, sir.”
Carter closed the door behind her. Now that Alex was finally ready for her unveiling, she had a spectacle to plan.