Chapter Fourteen: Logical Recourse
The half term had arrived, and there had been no news of Victor. All that anyone could say was that he was in hospital still, and couldn't receive visitors.
Rachel sat on her bed, deep in thought.
It had been nigh on a month and a half since her…altercation…with Malchior, and she had acclimatised enough to the idea for her brain to wander the path it had now taken.
After sitting for some time, weighing up options, contemplating positives and negatives, she reached for her phone. Selecting a name from her caller list, she put it to her ear and heard an answer at the third ring.
"Yello?"
"Gar? It's Rachel."
"Rae? What can I do for you?"
"I need to get in touch with Dr. Fate."
--
In a tower without a door, an old fashioned wall telephone rang. A female figure strode over to the device, and lifted the earpiece, standing close, to speak into the mouthpiece.
"Yes?"
"Is this Dr. Fate's residence?"
"Yes."
"Could I speak to him, please?"
"Yes."
Rachel fought the feeling that she was talking to a recording. "Can you say anything other than 'yes'?"
"Yes." The woman stood away from the telephone for a moment, and spoke quietly. "Kent, there is someone who wishes to talk to you."
Instantly, a flash of gold heralded the arrival of Dr. Fate. He walked over to the telephone, and graciously accepted the earpiece, which he raised to his helmet.
"Yes? Ms Roth, I presume?"
Rachel blinked. "Yeah."
"Is this about your…gifts?"
"You could say that. I think I'm ready to start to learn how to control them, at least a little. I was wondering if you could help me."
"Of course. When would you like to start?"
"As soon as possible, please."
"You realise that I cannot properly teach you in Jump City. You would have to come here, to my home."
Rachel frowned. "Are you sure?"
"I am afraid so. There is nowhere else that I can safely teach you." As if sensing her sudden trepidation, he continued. "I suggest you do whatever you need to there, and call me when you feel you are ready. Take as long as you need."
"Thanks," she replied, and ended the call.
--
"I'm going with you," Angela said when she heard the news.
"Why?"
"Because, dear, he may be a world-renowned wizard and all the rest, but when it comes down to it he is an older man inviting a sixteen-year old girl to stay in his tower. If that doesn't strike you as at least a little suspect, I don't know what does. We've never even seen his face."
After a short discussion, Rachel acquiesced, more for her mother's peace of mind than anything else. She knew from experience that there was no arguing with a worried mother, especially if you were handicapped by the need to stick to logic. Angela had no such obligations.
And it was a little creepy, when you put it like that.
--
Initial system check- 98 per cent complete.
Initial system check- 99 per cent complete.
Initial system check- 100 per cent complete. All systems on line.
"Victor? Can you hear me?"
Victor's eyes flickered open, and immediately there was something wrong.
Right in front of him was his father's worried countenance. Victor could clearly see him, every pore on his face picked out in perfect clarity. The problem was, Victor had always been long sighted. He looked around, and stared upwards at a bright light overhead. He stared straight into it, but felt no ill-effects. He could see the damn filament with perfect clarity. Turning back to his father, he fixed him with a steel gaze.
"What did you do to me?"
--
"Gar?"
"Yeah, Rae?"
"I have…news."
"Good or bad?"
"I'm not too sure. I'm going to be away for a while."
"Oh? How long?"
"I'm not sure. At least a couple of weeks. Mom is going to cover for me with the school."
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going to be studying with Dr. Fate. I think that if I'm going to be stuck with these abilities permanently, then it would probably be smart to learn how to control them. Just in case."
"Sure. When are you leaving?"
"Now."
"And you called me just to say goodbye? I'm touched." A chuckle.
"Well, someone has to know where I'm going, and I can't get through to Dick."
Another chuckle. "Just as well, really. 'Hi, Dick. Just calling to let you know I'm not going to be around for a while. I'm off studying to become a wizard.'" Mock hurt crept into his voice. "And are you saying I was just convenient? Ouch."
"Yup. You're strictly utilitarian."
"Well, have a good time, I guess. I'm sure you'll have fun."
"It's gonna be a lot of work. I'll come back exhausted, I'm sure, and able to do nothing more than lift pieces of paper."
"I'm sure that before the week is out you'll have the power to kill a yak. From two hundred yards away. With mind bullets."
"Oh, shut up. I'm hanging up now."
"No you aren't."
"Yes I am."
"No, you're telling me that you're hanging up, which is lying, you immoral woman."
"You're incorrigible."
"Hey! I'm insulted. What does 'incorrigible' mean? ...She hung up on me? No fair."
--
It had been two hours since he had woken up, and he had eventually been persuaded to calm down. Currently he was glaring at his reflection in the mirror that adorned one wall. His father stood to one side, nervously running his fingers through the grey fuzz of his hair.
"Victor, I-"
"Just shut up, old man. All my life, you've used me, forced me to be what you wanted me to be. And all my life, I've fought you. I remember just how disappointed you were when I refused to keep any sciences. Imagine the shame, Silas Stone, with an English Student for a son!"
He sat down on a bench, and put his head in his hands, closing his eyes to block out the sight of the burnished steel.
"But it doesn't make a difference now, man. You've won. I'm exactly what you want me to be- a god damn science project."
He stood, and slammed a fist into the wall, denting it.
"I hate you, old man. I hate you!"
When he looked at his father, his human eye was filled with tears, and his voice was all but hysterical.
"Damn it, why didn't you just let me die? Why couldn't you let me die?"
Silas left the room without a word. There were none to be said after something like that. However, as he left, one of his cohorts, a portly black woman in an expensive suit, muttered a command to one of the technicians monitoring Victor through the two way mirror. The technician pressed a button, and immediately Victor's room was filled with knockout gas. It wouldn't do for the subject to act so wildly so son after waking.
--
Yeah, yeah, it's been a while, I know. Tough cheese. I can't guarantee that the next update will be any sooner, I'm afraid.