The Seventh Chapter

“Rhoa?” Kay’s voice echoed, asking into the void.

Where was she? Kay could not see anything, surrounded in darkness and clawing at nothing. Suddenly, she remembered where she was. She walked her way out of the alley and onto the dimly lit street. Rows and Rows of metal houses sprawled above her, and huddled dark corners stretched between the yellow tinged lights.

That’s right, she’s on her way to see Rhoa.

Her heels clicked beneath her, and each step felt heavier than the last. She approached the metal door, her legs feeling swollen as the weight became unbearable. As she reached for the pad, a voice stopped her from behind.

“Kay?” A familiar woman’s voice warmly asked.

Kay turned around quickly and there they were. A woman, her brunette hair was pulled into a ball, and her glistening green eyes on the verge of tears. Next to her was a man with pitch black hair and a beard, his piercing blue eyes illuminated above his smile. They both were in a uniform with grey pants, black shoes, and a grey coat. HDA was plastered on the shoulders in silver against a black background on patches. Both wore a stitched silver nametag with “Feldmar” above their left breast.

“You came back.” Kay said in disbelief and ran to them.

Kay ran into the woman’s arms, colliding into a hug, and the man embraced her together. They held her in their arms for a while before finally releasing their grip on her. The woman patted Kay’s face with her hands, petting her, tears streaming from her face.

“I didn’t think you were ever coming back! Rhoa will be so happy to see you too!” Kay hoarsely said, tears slowly streaming down her face.

The woman and the man looked at each other quickly, and the woman looked back at Kay lowering her hands.

“Listen to me, Kay. There is something I have to tell you. It’s too late for him, do you understand? But, it’s not too late for you. You have to be strong, for the both of you. Okay?” The woman said, her green eyes locked on Kay’s.

Then they were gone – like they had never been there. Her tears had disappeared, like she had never shed them. The street was empty.

“Yea, too late for him!” Another man’s voice yelled.

The man grabbed her from behind and more men appeared around her. She did not recognize any of them, and yet she did. Her body twisted and wreathed in pain, her scars becoming red.

“Too late!” They all shouted in unison.

She twisted out of the man’s grip and pulled a knife out of thin air – yet it felt as if it had been there the whole time. She slashed the man’s throat, blood gushing and sputtering down onto the knife, and moved onto the next. They attempted to restrain her, but she was too strong for them. The pain was unbearable, her limbs feeling as if they were ready to fall off, but the pain focused her rage into the knife. Blood splattered onto the ground in pools as she knifed each one viciously. She carved arms and legs, taking eyes and fingers.

“Kay.” A voice said behind her.

In a bloodied haze, she turned around and thrust toward the voice. In her hand, however, was no longer the knife. Instead it was replaced with a guard less sword, glistening in blood, and at the end of the blade was Rhoa. She had stabbed through his chest, blood roiling around the edges of the blade, and he fell to his knees gasping for air, feeling his shattered bones between the stem of the blade.

Her hand slipped away from the blade; covered in blood. She screamed, but nothing came out.

 

“I’ve never seen anything like this.” Emily said. She pushed her glasses back on her nose, her jaw hanging slightly in awe.

“What do you mean? What’s the matter?” Rhoa asked, his expression molding into confusion.

“I’m sure it’s nothing.” Edward replied, his methodical tone attempting to reassure Rhoa.

“Could you get the readings?” Emily asked.

Edward tapped upon his techpad, then handed it to Emily. Rhoa could not understand what he was looking at. The console screen flipped between lines of varying colors, horizontal and vertical, but never intersecting. The line, however, that Emily was looking at did not seem to have a noticeable color. Rhoa could hardly tell it was a line, or if anything was there at all. Then, gingerly, Edward placed the pad into view. The techpad appeared to show the same translucent line, but the strangeness of that line was that it was alone and against nothing, whereas the line they were looking at appeared against multiple-colored ones.

“The frequency?” Edward asked.

“All the same. Every notch and rhythm.” Emily replied.

The two exchanged looks, a hideous smile etching itself into their lips, and then looked back at the display. Edward quickly recomposed himself and looked at Rhoa with a warm smile.

“Everything is fine,” Edward said shaking his head and gesturing as if a taught routine, “In fact, better than fine. Kay is displaying traits many naturally talented ability users display. Best of all, we believe she’ll pull through no problem.”

“That’s good.” Rhoa sighed in relief.

“It also means she will be quicker in discovering and even training with whatever ability she possesses.” Edward said.

“How is someone naturally gifted with something like this?” Rhoa questioned.

“As you know, we have managed to harness the soul with the Somnium, however, we’ve yet to map it entirely. We have mapped the most crucial of areas, as to predict what powers one could possesses and how likely it is they survive the procedure – as well as what makes that person. Specific moralities, loves, hates, the person inside. There is a strand of the soul we’ve yet to understand, it is a piece to a greater puzzle. And it’s that piece that we can say enables one to be able to interact with their gift more potently – talented.” Edward said.

“Is that the same as having parents who were agents?” Rhoa asked.

Emily looked away from the console for a moment and looked at Rhoa.

“Yes and no. Having parents who were agents allows the offspring to likely be talented and boost their survivability. However, in Kay’s case, she is naturally talented on her own. She has no inherited blood to pull from.” Emily explained.

“Extremely talented.” Edward said, his voice trailing.

Rhoa nervously looked at Edward, and then Emily who quickly turned back to the console. Rhoa then looked at the capsule, its haunting white humming into the darkness of the back wall and watched as it sprang to life with a flash of light. Suddenly, a green light jolted through the tubing from the wall and into the machine, electricity pulsing over the wires. He shielded his eyes, and the light disappeared.

“She’s ready.” Emily said.

Rhoa rushed over to the front of the capsule, but steam shrouded the window. The door suddenly, and slowly, began to open, steam billowing from its opening. Kay fell forwards, through the steam, and into his arms. Her body was warm and wet, her hair wetly pressed against her head, and pink. Kneeling, Rhoa rested her in his arms and the ground; the scars gone from her body.

“Kay!” Rhoa nearly shouted. He pressed his ear against her mouth and looked at Emily and Edward. “She’s not breathing!”

“Give it a moment.” Emily calmly said.

Rhoa looked back at Kay and suddenly she gasped to life. Her violet eyes darted around the room, as if frantically searching, before resting on Rhoa.

“Rhoa!” Kay barely managed to gasp out, her eyes wide and red as they looked at him. Her right hand quivered as she moved it up, and barely seemed able to push it against his face. Then her eyes became weary and heavy, and closed. One of the other scientists approached and knelt with him, a bald man with a light demeanor and smile, and wrapped her in a light blue blanket.

“This should help.” The man warmly said.

“Thank you.” Rhoa quietly said, helping the man wrap her in the blanket.

“Rhoa, they’ll take care of her. You’re next.” Emily said, then looked at Edward who nodded in agreement.

Rhoa nodded but felt his head barely do so – nervousness growing inside him. He allowed the bald man to take her, another scientist came to help, and stood up.

Rhoa hesitantly removed his boots, their stale brown color tugging at a past of remorseful duties and routines. He noticed for the first time how worn the boots were, creases flexing in between the leather of the boot, and displayed them on the ground in front of him. He moved his arms to his long sleeve grey shirt, pulling the sleeves forward and over his arms. It approached then, the remembrance. He felt their eyes but heard no gasps or surprise. He felt his metallic spine ripple as his body moved. He once had a nickname for the metallic spine, but its official name was Full Experience. Besides the metallic spine, smaller metallic tendrils traced themselves down the back of his legs and arms, all leading to the spine. He had a different life, before the routine and simplicity that he had lived. Such a life was trying to forget, and the life before was full of not trying at all. The Full Experience allowed him to live in a different reality, someplace, anywhere, and everywhere. The cyber space. Another reality existed besides this one, one of virtual experience – yet so life like, you could hardly tell you were in another place. The only side effect was an entirely new spine. When you looked for a different life – something like that was a small price to pay.

Rhoa removed the remainder of his attire, his naked body cold against the frigidness of the room. He walked up to the machine and looked at Emily and Edward briefly. Edward smiled. The smile, however, gave Rhoa an unsettling feeling and Emily did not look at him. Rhoa entered the plush whiteness of the cushioned inside, and surprisingly did not feel any of the wet substance that Kay had been covered with. It was warm, like a warm bed in a cold room, snug even. Then, the door whirred close.

Nothing seemed to be happening. Rhoa grew concerned. Did it work? He questioned himself. He heard himself breathing, his breath hot.

“Pup!” A voice suddenly sputtered to life and almost shook him from his suit.

Rhoa tapped the side of his helmet, and the music linked over the static. He was not sure what song this was, but it was catchy. It seemed to be some sort of new electronic, or synth wave music, but had the pangs of a piano. Radio had a good selection today, Rhoa thought.

“Pup!” The voice again shouted over the link. “Your machines are getting away from you, make sure you spot them!”

“Right, sorry, Luke!” Rhoa said and pressed on his techpad; his fingers tapping against the suit. He walked across the Dock and watched as the box like machines hauled cargo boxes into a freighter. Quickly, another freighter arrived in front of the freighter he was looking at; dust flying and smacking against his helmet.

“Pup! We’re nearly done with this one! Assign your machines over to that freighter! It doesn’t seem to need a lot of freight so you should be able to handle it yourself!” Luke said over the link.

“Got it!” Rhoa said and pressed on the techpad. He assigned his ten machines over to the front freighter. They finished whatever they were hauling, before heading off into another sector of the freight bay. He liked this job, it was simple. But when the job asked for it – it could be stressful. Suddenly, a pair of machines carrying a red freight box, seemed to dash off on their own. They sputtered, sparks flying as they moved in random directions, nearly crashing into the other machines.

“Luke! I’ve got loose machines over here!” Rhoa shouted as he was frantically pressing on the pad. “They’re rogue!”

“Yeah, I can see it from over here! Stop them! I think you’re gonna have to fry them!” Luke said over the link.

Rhoa ran after the machines, tugging on a disrupter tube. He breathed heavily, sweat pressing against his forehead, his heavy suit clunking against the floor.

“It’s almost like they’re stealing it.” Rhoa laughed.

The machines sputtered towards the exit of the dock, but he managed to get close to them. He pulled out the tube and pressed on the kill switch. A static shot slide through the air and struck the closest of the machines, which dropped the crate. He quickly shot the other, and the crate fell upon farthest machine. He walked over, the front machine’s smoldering wreckage barely sticking out of the crate. He sighed, his lungs filling with air, and tapped the side of his helmet.

“Luke? I got the machines, one’s busted though.” Rhoa said while looking over the damage.

“Shit, probably completely fried the internals too.” Rhoa quietly said to himself. Rhoa again tapped the side of his helmet.

“Luke? You hear me?” Rhoa asked.

No response. The music suddenly changed, the piano chimes turning into an organ. Static fluctuated throughout the performance, but he swore he could hear a voice.  

“Open it.” The voice gurgled, now clear through the static, but so loud as if it were right next to him.

Rhoa turned and walked to the back of the crate. He stared at the locking mechanism, its blue hue reflecting off his helmet.

“Open it.” The voice violently gurgled.

He pressed on the pad, and the lock greenly lit as it unlocked.

“What the fuck.” Rhoa said, looking into nothing. Or something. It was like a collogue of stars and darkness.

“Kay?” Rhoa forcefully asked, like something put the words into his mouth. “What’s happening? Kay?”

Something stretched out from the darkness, forming into formless arms that reached around his head. They grabbed him, pulling him closer and closer to the stars. Rhoa threw his pad at the arms, but more sprouted and restrained him, covering his body in their substance. They pulled him, closer.

“No! No!” He screamed, but his shouts were soundless in an area with no one else. “Kay!”

It pulled him into the blackness of the box, the door closing behind him. There was nothing but the darkness, his eyes blind to the swaying of his own limbs, in a sea of isolation. Yet, as the feeling of being alone grew, so did the feeling that ticked its way up his spine. He was not alone – something was there with him.

 

“It’s him!” A voice said with surprise.

“But, how- I thought-” Another voice said with frustration but seemed to be cutting out. Something was wrong with Rhoa’s hearing. The voices seemed like whispers and strange – almost too clear when he heard them.

His body felt heavy, heavier than before. He tried to open his eyes, but they too felt too heavy to even open.

“Forget it. Wrap him up and take him to the infirmary. We’ll just have to go about this some other way.” One of the voices said much clearer this time. He could not tell where he was, but he was moving. He felt himself lifted onto something, and then all was still.

 

Rhoa woke to a dimly lit room, his eyes heavily waning between open and shut. When he finally managed to open his eyes completely, he was immediately met with a woman. Her blonde hair and white lab coat brightly betrayed the dark background; a small lamp illuminating the front. Emily. She looked away from the pad in her lap, her green eyes standing over her dark rimmed glasses. Their eyes met, and she smiled.

“You’re awake.” Emily said, her words predicting her smile.

Rhoa looked around at what appeared to be a medical bay, other beds draped in the same blue cotton blankets dotted the room; each separated by a blue divider. The only bed occupied his own, the grey metal lamp dimly slouching over on his right. Emily sat next to the lamp, folding her glasses onto the pad, her green eyes much brighter in the darkness.

“Are you near sighted, or far sighted?” Rhoa abruptly asked her.

“That’s a strange question to ask. I’m far sighted, why?” Emily asked.

“I wanted to know if you were taking them off to avoid the sight of me, or if it’s something else.” Rhoa said.

            “Are you always this observant?” Emily asked.

            “Sorry.” Rhoa said.

            “At least you haven’t changed,” Emily laughed, then her eyes drifted downwards on him, “your body, however.”

            Rhoa lifted his arms, his eyes growing wide and full, and saw no metallic tendrils. He groggily pushed himself up and pushed himself forward. He did not feel the alien metal coursing through his bones, or the folds of metal contorting for his movement. He reached around towards his lower back and felt only his skin. He looked at Emily.

            “Yes, you’re through the procedure.” She said guessing his question and smiling.

            Rhoa smiled and felt a weight lift from his shoulders. Yet, another feeling remained at the pit of his stomach. This change was something he wanted to embrace but could not shake the nervousness. Was he afraid of this newfound reality, or was it something else? He remembered what he had experienced. The crate, the presence. Why had Kay come up? Rhoa looked around the room, realizing its emptiness in its fullest.

            “Where’s Kay?” Rhoa asked.

            “She’s fine, actually more than fine. She was up and walking a day ago. As far as I know, she should be resting in her room.” Emily said, her gaze still fixed upon Rhoa.

            “A day ago? How long have I been out?” Rhoa asked.

            “A few days.” Emily said.

            “A few days.” Rhoa repeated, cusping his head in his right hand, and shook his head.

            “Typically, people would be out for at least a week before they woke. I’m honestly surprised at how quickly you both have recovered.” Emily said taking his hand away from his head and cusping it in her own.

            “A few days.” Rhoa repeated. His nervousness was replaced with anger, he was wasting time. His parents could still be alive, and he was lying in a medical room.

            “It’s alright, Rhoa. We’ll have you up and walking in a day, then I’ll show you to your room.” Emily said stroking his hand, her fingers frigid to the touch.

Rhoa quickly pulled away his hand, as if realizing she had taken it.

            “That’s too long. I have too many questions about my parents to be sitting here and not getting answers.” Rhoa said, his voice rising in volume as he spoke, pulling away the blue sheets.

            “Wait! Your body isn’t going to respond immediately!” Emily said as he pulled away the sheets.

            Rhoa pulled his legs over the ledge and placed his feet on the cold metal floor. He stood, but just as quickly as he did, his legs gave out from under him. He went face first into the floor with a fleshy thud, his arms trying to brace the impact but also failing to do so. Rhoa growled in annoyance, muffled by the floor, his face in pain. Emily stood, her hand covering her mouth a moment, and quickly walked around the bed. Rhoa managed to gain control of his arms again and wobbly started to lift himself. Surprisingly, the pain disappeared almost immediately, and he did not feel anything broken or bleeding.

Emily knelt and took Rhoa’s right arm, slinging it over her shoulders, and helped him to his feet. Rhoa could smell her perfume in their closeness. Flowers? He thought. He’d didn’t know what a flower smelled like, at least not in the real world, however, its smell was distinct of an earthy substance. The smell, however, just like what he was familiar with, was artificial. It always was.

Rhoa’s eyes shifted to himself, becoming aware of his own smells. I must smell like sweat, Rhoa thought.

            “Are you alright?” Emily asked.

            “Yea, just thinking I probably need a shower.” Rhoa said.

            “Well, yea, you don’t exactly smell great.” Emily teased, smiling at him.

            “Shower first, then I want to know where my parents are.” Rhoa said determined.

            “No, shower first, then resting, and then training when you’re feeling more able. You need to figure out what your ability is first, then maybe we’ll give you an assignment.” Emily responded.

Emily helped Rhoa to the door on the far left of the room, passing by several empty medical beds and consoles. She tapped on the panel, and the door slid open. They walked into a familiar hallway, one of the two diverging hallways from before, and took a left down the hallway. They passed several doors on both sides, but for the most part the walls were bare. At the end of the hallway was a right turn, which led them deeper into the building. The walls changed to a grey as they walked, a red outline separating one section of the building from the other. On the seam of the line was “Agent Quarters” in bold white lettering.

            As they walked, more hallways appeared on his left. Each hallway had several doors on both sides of its hall, and each door had a number.

            “These are rooms for Agents who need them, the only ones here though are Kay and you. As you’ll soon learn, we compensate Agents well for their work, and most get their own place.” Emily said.

Emily came to a stop and helped guide him down one of the halls. Rhoa’s legs felt lighter and less asleep as they neared one of the doors.

            “This one is yours.” Emily said, and they came to a stop in front of the door; the numbers twenty-three were written on the top right of the doorway.

“Twenty-three is yours. Kay is in twenty-four.” Emily said, and was about to let go of his arms before asking, “Do you need help inside?”

            “No, I think I’m okay now.” Rhoa said as he lifted his arm away from her shoulders and managed to steady himself. To his surprise, he did not feel the wobble in them anymore.

            “Inside you’ll find everything you’ll need. There is a closet and shower, along with a restroom. Your bed is as well, of course. Down the hall to the left is everything, on the left is the cafeteria with a rec room. Across the hall, a little further, is the briefing room, and a little further down on the right is the training hall. I’ll be here to get you tomorrow, though. Try to get some sleep.” Emily said.

            “What about Kay?” Rhoa asked.

            “She knows where to go and at what time. She’s already met your mentor and trained a little.” Emily said, smiling.

            They stood a moment in silence.

            “Well, I think I should go, I have more work to do yet. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” Emily said, her ears getting a little red, and walked away.

            “Uh, yeah. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Rhoa said as she walked away.

Rhoa scratched the back of his neck and entered the room. The lights flickered on, and the metal room came into view. It was like Emily had said, and pretty much what he had expected. In the left wall was his bed, on the right wall was a sliding metal closet, and on the far wall was a shower and a single metal toilet. A small space filled the in between, and in front of the bed was his bag, but nothing else was inside the room.

“I guess this is why everyone gets their own place.” Rhoa said aloud.

            Rhoa removed the grey apparel he woke with and got into the shower. Luckily, it had warm water. He got out and dried himself off with a towel from the closet and rummaged through his bag for a pair of underwear. He did not hesitate to get into bed, as the shower seemed to encourage a weariness to fall over him. He was not sure if it was his body getting used to him, or if he was getting used to it – either way he felt tired despite sleeping for several days. Tomorrow, Rhoa thought, I’ll get answers.

 

            Kay struggled against the restraints - a set of metal bindings attached to a chair bound her to it. She felt hazy, unable to see clearly in front of her. She felt her head twist in haziness, struggling to find the strength to remain upright.

Where am I? She barely had the ability to think to herself, the singular thought slow to her. A voice weaved itself into her grogginess and allowed her some form of attention.

            “Kay, I want you to touch the object in front of you. It’s important for you to do this, for yourself.” The voice said, sounding sincere.

            Kay felt the restraint on her right hand slide away, and she struggled to move the sluggish hand. She felt hesitant to follow the voice, but her sluggish hand moved anyways. She lifted the hand slowly and felt an object in front of her. It was strange, she could feel the metal, but as she moved her hand over its surface it seemed to flex. The metal twisted in her fingers ever slightly, as if being molded. As her hand moved, she felt her hand slide upwards and around another piece of the object. It was short and seemed to slim down as she went further.

Horn? The word just barely crossed her mind.

            “That’s enough, Kay.” The voice said.

            “It was reacting.” She heard another voice whisper, before all fell silent.

 

            With a start she woke in her bed. Sweat had poured itself through her sheets, pulsing off her body.

Why am I sweating? She asked herself. Perhaps, she had a bad dream she thought. However, whatever it was, she could not remember it. A hollowness filled her, like an afterthought. Something was wrong, but she could not tell how wrong or what was wrong. Instead, frustration took root and filled the hollowness. It’s over. She thought to herself. In the coldness of the room, she returned to sleep.