"The Park", as it was so called, was nothing more than a torn down playground
where children were forbidden to play. None of them had to be told twice.
Quite a few schoolyard urban legends were originated from the Park and if
the warnings of parents couldn't keep them away, then supposed headless ghosts
would.
Unlike most playgrounds, the Park wasn't colorful. It was brown. The earth was brown. The trees were brown. The play equipment was rusted brown. It was almost as if the air itself around the area was brown. It was almost suffocating.
"Okay, ERA!" Crimson clapped her hands. Andrea had found out just recently that ERA stood for Equality and Rights for All, supposedly their main mission at the Base. "We'll start out with a fifty sit-ups and … What do you think, Audacity? Fifty? Twenty-five? Yeah, twenty-five push-ups."
Andrea watched as each of them got onto their backs and began. "You gotta be kidding."
"It's … not … that … hard … " Naiad insisted in between sit-ups. "You'll get … used to … it."
"Andrea, why aren't you starting?"
"I'm goin', I'm goin'!" She cleared away a few pebbles and began her exercises. As she reached forty, however, her stomach muscles began to ache and she became short of breath. Soon, her chest was aching and her breath was coming in short puffs. She glanced over at Naiad and Echo. They were still going strong. Ultra was already finished. She cursed herself silently in her mind, knowing that she should have tried harder in P.E. the year before.
'35!'
"'Drenaline? Are you done yet? It's time for push-ups."
Not answering, Andrea flipped over onto her hands and toes.
'7 … ' Already she was beginning to slow down. Profanities slipped out from under her breath and she clamped her jaw shut. At 20, she heard Crimson's voice.
"Okay, now we're going to run laps. Andrea, one lap consists of the gate to all the way to that bush over there." As she said the word "all" she pointed to a a sorry-looking plant about 100 feet away. "You'll run until I tell you to stop. Ready, set, GO!"
"Hey! Did you finish the push-ups?" Ultra asked her as they jogged.
"No. Did you?"
"Nope. Got to 35. She always does that. Takes … a number that's too high … and then tells us to stop … too soon. What'd you get?"
" … 20 … "
"I got to 15 the first time."
"See, the trick is, get behind someone taller than you," Malady was catching up to them and cut in. "If you get behind someone like Echo then no one can see you if you don't do the push-ups."
"Slacker!" Ultra yelled at him.
"Damn right!"
"Bite me." Echo was frowning and looked generally angry.
"He's just mad 'cause I do that every time." Malady was smiling. "Did ya choose an alias yet? We're not allowed to call you by anything else, so once you choose that's it. You have to stick with it the rest of your life."
"Adrenaline," she puffed.
He snickered. "I've heard worse." He jogged ahead of them.
That last two comment disturbed Andrea. ' " … the rest of your life"? How long will I be here? "I've heard worse"? From whom? And where are they now? What is this place?'
On the third lap, they were told to stop. "Okay, everyone. I'm giving Audacity ten dollars. She's going to be back with some water in a few minutes. Until then, you have free time." Andrea heard her whisper to Audacity before she left, reaching into her pocket to pull out a crumpled up fortune from a fortune cookie. "Buy a lottery ticket with the change and pick these numbers on the back."
Adrenaline smiled to herself. Finding comfortable indent in a thick tree she curled her legs under her and rested. Audacity was back too soon, in Andrea's opinion and when she got up, her muscles had become sore.
* * *
And so began her first day of training. The rest of the days were the same. Sore muscles, everyone teasing each other. No one pushing themselves to the limits as they had been told. Every day was the same. There was breakfast, exercising, water, power training, and then dinner. There was no lunch. Money was already tight as it was, even with the rationing of everything else.
On the third day of her career at ERA, Crimson called Andrea over to her. "Adrenaline, are you comfortable with drawing blood?"
"What?! No!"
"Will you let me, then?" Crimson's face was straight. Andrea wondered for a second if it was some sick joke.
Scowling, she stepped back. "No. Why? Why do you have to cut me?!"
"Naiad!" Her attention was drawn away from Adrenaline and toward Naiad who was busy chatting with Malady and Ultra.
"What?"
"Come here. I need to talk to you."
Naiad's eyes grew a fraction and she tried to hide the fear in her eyes. "I'm coming," she said meekly, as she reluctantly trotted to Crimson's side. Once she was there, Crimson turned to her and began talking.
"I thought you were going to tell her."
"About what? Oh! Yeah. I'm sorry. I forgot." She sounded genuinely worried and ashamed. "I won't do it again. I promise."
"It's okay, Naiad. Don't freak out. It's getting close to the execution of the plan and we don't need one of our star members having a nervous break down," Crimson smiled. But it faded as she added, "Try not to forget next time, okay? Now go finish the laps, like I know you were doing."
Naiad smiled and turned away from them.
"Wouldja like to tell me what's going on now?"
"As part of the plan, we'll need a blood sample. Malady is making a virus for us. That's his power: he controls all disease and viruses. We'll need to take some of your DNA because it carries the genetic coding for your mutant powers. Hopefully, we'll be able to alter the DNA slightly to mix it with Echo's, Naiad's, Ultra's, Audacity's, mine, and his own. With this new virus, we can create the perfect race: mutants. I'll explain what it does back at the Base."
All this flew past her. She couldn't find the right words to say, but, finally, she found the perfect phrase that suited her feelings: "Huh?"
"You didn't understand a word of that?" She sighed. "Maybe this was a mistake."
"No. No! I get the making the virus part, but how do we mix the powers? And alter my DNA? Alter all of our DNA? Don't you need cash for that?"
"Malady has an inherent gift for understanding biology and science. Whether that's a mutant trait or not has yet to been determined. And I take what I can from the minds of scientists and doctors on the street and in hospitals and labs. I enter the hospitals and labs by mentally altering the way people see me. It's almost the equivalent of being a shape-shifter, but not quite. I take that information, and store it in my mind, come back to ERA, and transfer that information to Malady and the rest. My students have a state-of-the-art education, rivaled by few. You let us take care of this. After all, we can't let this information slip into the wrong hands, you know."
"Um, have you been - you know - doing that to me?"
"What? Taking information? No. You have nothing we don't already know. Giving information? Yes. You should be able to ace any geometry or algebra quiz should you choose to go home."
"Sweet," Andrea grinned. "So when to you need the blood sample?"
"By Wednesday."
"That's tomorrow!"
"Then you'll have to stop by this afternoon, won't you?" she smiled. "Now get back to work." As Andrea turned to leave, she called her back again. "Oh, and Andrea?"
"Yeah?" She turned around.
"Get Naiad away from Malady. They're distracting each other. And one more thing: this is very important. We've lost people on less dangerous and less important missions. I want you to be careful out there next week. You're still a rookie, got it?"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." But the words sent a chill down her spine. 'This place is … Twilight Zone-y. Best I can explain it.'
* * *
"Crims?"
"Come in, honey."
Andrea cringed at her choice of words but entered her apartment anyway.
"We need a sterilized needle to extract the blood." She handed her a needle. "Know what? I don't trust you. I'm afraid you'll screw up. I don't want you hurting yourself. I'll do it."
"Okay." Andrea silently thanked her lucky stars for not having to watch the needle enter her skin and draw out her own blood. She knew from experience that when you do things yourself, they always hurt more. She stared at the walls and traced the cracks with her eyes and then counted them individually.
"All done. See? That wasn't so bad."
"Take out halfa pint, why don'tcha?" Andrea mumbled sarcastically.
"When you leave, tell Malady that I'm ready for him. He'll have to help me with some of the work."
"Will do. See ya." As Andrea left the room and passed the doorway and shut the door she scrunched up her face in pain and grabbed her bicep where she had drawn out the blood. "Ow!" she drawled. "Seriously, though! Why'dja hafta take out so much?!" She placed an index finger and middled finger in front of the hole where the blood was trickling out. She hadn't received a band-aid. 'Too save money, I bet.'
"Hey, Malady! Wait up!" He was just beginning to unlock the front door to his apartment.
"What?"
"Crimson wants to see you."
"Make-up something. Like I'm sick or something."
"Yeah, right."
"Okay, or I got hurt."
"Good idea. I'll tell her that Naiad or Echo beat the crap out of you. See ya. I'll go tell her that." Andrea was turning to leave when she heard him.
"No, wait! I'm going. I'm going. You don't have to resort to those threats." He passed by her, grumbling to himself about his work, then stopped. "And by the way … "
"Yeah?"
"I can take Echo."
"Suuuure," Adrenaline mumbled as she turned around.
* * *
Andrea was flipping through the cupboards, hoping to find some long forgotten Oreos or Junior Mints or something with chocolate in it. She was having a "chocolate day" as Ultra liked to put it. All she found was a cardboard box of rice and some sugar. Blaming Crimson for the shortage of food, she plucked some rice grains out of the box and walked to the living room. She carefully munched on the hard rice grains and still was when the door swung open, revealing a wide-eyed, frantic Malady.
"Naiad?! Ultra?! Adrenaline?! Are you there?! It's ready! We need you!"
"Whoa there, Mal! Back up! Down, boy!" Adrenaline got up and shit the door. "Now slow down. What's going on?"
"The virus is ready." He was still hyperventilating.
"So?"
"This is it! You don't understand. ERA has been waiting for this kind of breakthrough for years. When Crimson started it. With this virus, we can bring an end to humanity and create a race that's all mutant!"
"Malady … "
"What?" he gasped.
"You're creepy."
"We need this. Now go get the others!" he said, pointing out the door. " Go, go, go!"
"Malady! Get a telepath to find them!"
" … Crimson!" He was off and running toward the apartment. He furiously banged on the door. Within moments, Echo, Naiad, Ultra and Audacity were running up the stairs. They, too, looked as if they had just seen a ghost. Adrenaline didn't think it was possible, but Ultra's face was even more drained of all color, save for her cheeks. They were flushed a bright red. They stormed into the room and Adrenaline followed.
Inside, they all crowded around a table with a microscope and a small, black box. Malady was screaming orders despite the fact that everyone was so tightly compressed together.
"Naiad! You first! Into the box! Now!"
Naiad put her feet and hands together. She shut and opened her eyes, revealing them now to be a milky white substance. She glowed with energy and static filled her hair. She brought her hands in front of her and shot a small stream of white into the box. The box vibrated quickly but Naiad kept shooting the white.
"Echo! Now! Naiad!"
Echo opened his mouth but no sound came out. Naiad's white energy surrounded something that made a ball in front of his face. The white ball of energy bobbed up and down and flew in short circles in front of his face. Ultra didn't need her cue. With feet firmly planted on the ground, she frowned and brought her hand in front of her. She looked somewhat like a traffic guard. She shot solar energy from the palm of her hand and it surrounded the white ball, creating a yellow-orange, hazy, aura around it.
"Audacity, you're turn. Open it up." He was very grim. "It's my turn now," he whispered.
Audacity did as she was told, which surprised Adrenaline. She was second-in-command and was used to giving the orders. But the tone in his voice almost made Adrenaline want to try to telekinetically open it up.
Once the ball was open, Malady cupped his hand a clear, foggy sphere formed in his hand. He carefully blew it into the other ball. It looked as if a vein would pop in his neck and forehead.
Adrenaline looked over at Audacity, her hair, too, was filled with static and her eyes were washed over with a glowing red substance. Her hands were stretched out, palms forward, and light vapor was stretching from her palms to the ball of light.
Without warning, Crimson's forefinger phased away, turning into a red wind - her power of changing into a gaseous state one body-part at a time - and she clenched her teeth in pain. Adrenaline could see blood dripping from the nub, though it was covered in skin, as if it had healed years ago as a child. Andrea couldn't explain it. All of a sudden, Andrea could see tiny dots floating around outside of the ball. Audacity brought her left hand away and a pale red beam enveloped the strange structures and brought them inside of the ball. Then a tiny tube of a thick, red liquid - 'My blood!' - hovered into the air and was poured gently into the ball. The ball began to shake and convulse violently.
"Now!" Audacity obeyed Malady and jammed the ball into the box telekinetically and Malady breathed one last time onto it. Audacity closed and locked the box. Ultra welded it shut with a stream of solar energy and all was silent.
The six students and teacher stared expectantly at the gray glow around the black, sleek, diminutive box and waited. Nothing happened. It shook slightly as if something was trying to get out and then there was a slight buzz, like a machine being shut off, as the gray glow died down, down, down, until it disappeared. The buzzing stopped and the gray glow was gone. No one dared to move. All of a sudden, Malady whispered, "We did it." Naiad let out a loud whoop as Echo fought back fits of laughter of joy. Ultra was smiling and looked very content. Audacity reached over and hugged her, let go, then jumped into the air and floated up to the ceiling telekinetically. She also whooped. Pretty soon everyone was cheering and clapping, all ignoring the tapping on the floor of their neighbors below them.
Andrea stared at their little display of happiness, not knowing what to think, just confused and slightly sickened at this performance. The smiles were contagious and, though she had no idea what was going on, she smiled. She knew it was something big.
Crimson grunted in pain and all eyes turned to her. They had forgotten her presence and were surprised to hear her.
She was clutching her hand in pain and her eyes were tightly clenched shut. Her lips were held tightly together, making her mouth appear smaller than it atomically should be able to get. They all remembered the sacrifice she made for the project and Naiad and Malady were immediately at her side.
'Like dogs.' Andrea thought bitterly. She briefly wondered how they got to be so loyal.
"Crimson! Are you okay?" Malady asked with great sympathy. Echo and Ultra were trying to be discreet as they stared at the nub of finger she had left.
"I'm fine, sweetie," she said, patting his shoulder and forcing a tired smile across her pained lips. "I knew I had to do it. There was no way around it. It's okay. I … just need a bandage of some sort."
"W … will it grow back?" Adrenaline ventured, surprised at how soft her voice had become.
"No more than yours will, Adrenaline. It was a sacrifice I had to make for the good of the world. You'll see," she smiled. "In time. You'll see."
The same feeling of disturbance swept over Andrea and she wondered once more 'What is this place?'
As she turned to leave, Malady caught up with her and walked her back to her apartment.
"Hey," he smiled. "Wanna know how I did that?"
"Not especially," she smiled.
"Too bad. I'm gonna tell you anyway. I have this thing where I can control diseases, kind of. I don' know. Like, I can make people sick … I don' know. Ya gotta see me in action ta get the full effect of my power. I added the bit that makes it so people can catch it!" He was obviously gloating and need someone to gloat to. Someone who wouldn't smack him across the face or say, "Oh, Malady. Go get some blood samples for me now."
He continued, more serious. "This disease while wipe out the human race, but not in a bad way. It will give them minor mutant powers, maybe like, instead of telepathy, slightly able to perceive the tone of people thoughts - happy, sad, mad, etc. You know, empathy. But breeding." He smiled. " Now that's when it gets tricky. If a pregnant woman gets the virus then she will become slightly mutated, but her baby will become fully mutant, having grown up with powers in the womb. It will have powers virtually it's whole life! If someone's not pregnant and gets it, then if they have a kid in the future, that kid will adapt powers normally: at puberty.
"Now let's say that person is incapable of reproducing. Then this disease will be sexually transmitted. You know you have the disease if a norm gets sick for anywhere from three hours to three days. After that, they are more than healthy. But if it comes across an impotent priest or barren nun, well, then, you know, it's stuck right there. They'll still get slight powers, though." He was smiling more than ever now. "This is gonna be huge!"
"My God! Have you even tested this?!"
Malady shrugged. "On lab rats. A dollar fifty a dozen if ya get 'em cheap downtown."
"What if it kills people?! And the rats?! They can't fly now, can they? Oh, God, can one of them fire energy blasts?"
"No, of course not. We put 'em all under after a few tests. I didn't think you'd be so sensitive about this. I'm sorry." He looked genuinely hurt. "But this is for the good of ERA, humans, mutants, the country … Hell, even the world! You have to understand how important this is to us, to all of us. We could go down in history. If Crimson allows us to be known, that is. You have no idea what ERA has just done for you, your children, and your children's children. This is gonna be huge."
He sighed. "We'll put it in a bomb, carefully constructed so as not to hurt the disease. Just to, like, blow it all over the place. Infect people though. Just people. Mutants, I assume, will either be immune or will gain slightly more powers. I gotta go now. But this is gonna be huge. You just wait and see. We've all made sacrifices for this project. You, me, all of us. Leaving our homes, for one. Leaving school, friends, family, Crimson lost a digit. You lost your blood. This is gonna be huge. I gotta go now. Just think about it. You're really important to this mission. You're blood is what allows humans to catch it. Remember that, will ya? Oh, yeah. And another warning, 'cause I'm sure you heard plenty of 'em. Follow the rules and don't do anything that will upset Crimson. She can get rid of you like that - " He snapped his fingers.
He hesitated there for a moment longer. "Well … " he began, but apparently that was all he had. He obviously didn't want to leave just yet. "I, um … " Finally he hit upon something: "Be careful out there. I really don't want to see you getting hurt. Well, I'll be seein' ya. Bye."
Adrenaline stared after him and watched him leave. "Bye," she added to his back.
* * *
"So, how'd you like your first week?"
"It sucked."
"Gee, well, it's nice to know you're honest," Naiad retorted sarcastically. "Here. Eat this."
They were in the kitchen. Audacity had just dropped off a recipe and some food. Naiad, the cook of the girl's quarters was busily preparing a "carb-loaded dinner" as Ultra had put it.
"What is it?" Andrea said as she spooned a clump of white, brown, and gray paste into her mouth. She tasted some ham and rice and … something unknown, but sour and bitter.
"I have no idea, but it'll give you a burst of energy for exercising. Runners in Kenya eat a heavy carb diet and they're really athletic. It should work for us to."
"Do you have any Pop Tarts?"
"No. Eat the paste."
"Haven't heard anyone say that since kindergarten," Andrea muttered sarcastically over her bowl. "Hey. What's you're real name?"
"I can't say. You might slip up and call me it in a fight. Then we'd have to … Let's just say only a few people have slipped up before."
Andrea was quiet, contemplating what she had just heard. She remembered what Malady had said that day. "I've heard worse … " "You have to stick with it the rest of your life."
"But it's Claire, Claire Jennsen. What's your name?"
"Andrea Shane. What's Ultra's?"
"You'll have to ask her It's not my place to say. It's too risky. You know, the fights and all. I'll explain later. She's always liked to follow the rules Crimson set out for her, no matter how weird those rules may be. Her life before ERA, in a nutshell, was pretty sucky. Her mom was always on drugs and that really got to Ultra. This is probably the closest thing she's ever gotten to a real family."
There was a crash from the living room.
"What the-" Naiad's eyes widened as Ultra stormed in, carrying a camera and a notebook and pen.
"What the hell is this?!" she exclaimed.
"Adrenaline! You didn't!"
"What? What'd I do?!"
Ultra strode over to a walk-in closet at the end of the kitchen and threw the camera into it and slammed the door. "What do you think you're doing with these?! Did you take any pictures?!"
"No!" Andrea screamed. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" She jumped up.
"Adrenaline, you can never take any pictures or bring any attention to our little organization, understand?"
"What is this?! Fight Club?!"
"Fight Club was a group of brain-washed terrorists. We are the anti-terrorists. They want to cause terror. We don't. Terrorists want to be known. We can't! If we get found out, we'll all get thrown in prison! Do you think we'll get off easy 'cause we're kids?! Think again. We're mutants. That's all we are to them. They'll find any thing they can to lock us up for good. And Crimson. She's got it worse. They'll charge her with everything in the book, anything from jaywalking to statutory rape to murder. Whatever they can get their filthy, grimy norm hands on, true or not.
"I'm sorry, Adrenaline, but that's the reason you can't take any pictures of anything if they - anyone - finds out the approximate location of us, we'll have to just pack up and leave. It's not fair, I know, but even if you mention us in your little book, then we may have to dispose of you. I don't know how, just get rid of you and your little book. That's why no one can know our names. It's the strictest rule here. So far, very few people have broken it, but those who have - "
" - they had to leave," Ultra cut in. "So, ya see this camera? Now ya don't." With that, Ultra opened up the window next to the kitchen table and, within moments, she had set the camera afire and it was hurtling toward the streets. "Look out below!" she called innocently enough.
"I can't believe you just did that," Andrea said darkly, quietly, putting slight emphasis on the words "believe" and "just". Rage was slowly building up inside of her, but it was suppressed by shock at what had just happened, both with her camera and the speech that Naiad had just made.
"Well, believe it, 'cause if it ever happens again, I'm turnin' you in to Crimson." With that, Ultra stormed off into the living room and plopped herself onto the couch and pouted.
"Whoa. That was weird," Andrea said softly.
"Adrenaline, you do know that this can't happen again right?" Naiad was very grim and her blue eyes were widened with nervousness and shock.
"Geez! I'm sorry!"
"I'm going to have to read your notebook whenever you write something. I'm sure you'll agree. It's either that, or I turn you into Crimson. I'm sorry. I'm already bending the rules enough. I'm on the verge of breaking them so please agree."
"I … What if I use code words?"
"No, nothing. Anything can be deciphered."
Andrea sighed. "This sucks, ya know that?"
"You shoulda seen the hell I put up with when I tried to bringmy diary," Naiad smiled. "I ended up ditching it all together three years ago. When my dad … He kind of … Let's just say I haven't seen him for a while … I guess he just … got tired of us or something … He sent us - me and Mal - here to ERA. Ya see, we're not really twins, we're half-twins. Dad slept around and one day, two of his 'girlfriends' got pregnant, had kids the exact same day, one in Australia and one in Wyoming. Malady stayed in Sydney, I stayed in Wyoming. Before ERA, we only saw each other once before. But our parents had us keep in contact. I found out I had a brother when I was seven.
"Dad sent us here. I only met him twice. The second time … well, the rest is history … " She trailed off but Andrea didn't pressure her to continue. There was a hurt look in her eyes that she was trying to cover up. When she began again, her voice was softer and higher pitched. "When Me and Mal first came. We were the first. Then there was Audacity. Then some others came. But … they didn't last long. After awhile, Ultra and Echo came. And there were a few others before you, but they also had to leave. I doubt they'll say anything, though. They know better than that. They were pretty loyal. But you. I hope you last longer. I kinda like you. You seem nice. I'd hate for something bad to happen to you. We all have high hopes for you. But then again … we had high hopes for them, too. Let's just say you're in harm's way. You know that, don't you?"
'The others? In harm's way?' Andrea nodded, too afraid to ask any questions. 'I gotta ask. I gotta know.' "Exactly what happened to 'the others'? What are you talking about?"
"If … if you mess up, like if you make a slip up and call me 'Claire', then we'll … we'll … it's never happened to me, I just know I never see them again and Crimson sends them their stuff. Wherever they went. I … I feel really bad for them, but I know they feel worse." Naiad's voice was getting softer and softer. Maybe with guilt, or maybe with sorrow and loss. Finally, it was as if she were talking to herself. She looked down at the tabletop and murmured, "I hope they make it home okay."
"You're really creeping me out, Claire!" Adrenaline jumped up. As soon as she realized her error, her eyebrows shot up.
"Don't worry. It doesn't count as long as no one else hears. If you ever make a slip up, make sure there is no one else present. I'm going to bed now. Think things through. Everything. I'm sure you don't want to make a slip up." And with that, Naiad left. There was a rustling as Naiad scurried under the blankets.
Adrenaline heard Ultra sigh, drag a blanket across the floor, and find a comfortable place in the corner. She stared out the window. Night was falling and soon there was darkness. She longed to turn on a light but knew that there was not enough money to pay the electrical bill. She sighed as well and propped her chin up on her fists. Staring out the window, she watched the lights blink on around her, almost a perfect mimic of day. 'New York City. My new life.'
"Hey, Adrenaline?"
"Yeah?"
"Remember to close the window when you go to bed. We don't want any weirdoes getting in."
"We're on the fifth story! Who can get in?" After she said that, she could feel Naiad's piercing blue gaze drill through her skull.
"Mutants can be criminals, too, ya know. In case you've forgotten."
Adrenaline looked from Naiad's silhouette to the black blob that was Ultra and then quickly observed her surroundings. "No," she concluded. "I haven't."
"G'night."
"Night." She closed and latched the window and headed for the living room. Curling up under a blanket with the stuffing unequally placed all through the it, she lay, looking up at the blank ceiling.
She reflected on Naiad's words. She was slightly disturbed by them. ' … In harm's way … ' She liked that. She couldn't have asked for a better ending.
Unlike most playgrounds, the Park wasn't colorful. It was brown. The earth was brown. The trees were brown. The play equipment was rusted brown. It was almost as if the air itself around the area was brown. It was almost suffocating.
"Okay, ERA!" Crimson clapped her hands. Andrea had found out just recently that ERA stood for Equality and Rights for All, supposedly their main mission at the Base. "We'll start out with a fifty sit-ups and … What do you think, Audacity? Fifty? Twenty-five? Yeah, twenty-five push-ups."
Andrea watched as each of them got onto their backs and began. "You gotta be kidding."
"It's … not … that … hard … " Naiad insisted in between sit-ups. "You'll get … used to … it."
"Andrea, why aren't you starting?"
"I'm goin', I'm goin'!" She cleared away a few pebbles and began her exercises. As she reached forty, however, her stomach muscles began to ache and she became short of breath. Soon, her chest was aching and her breath was coming in short puffs. She glanced over at Naiad and Echo. They were still going strong. Ultra was already finished. She cursed herself silently in her mind, knowing that she should have tried harder in P.E. the year before.
'35!'
"'Drenaline? Are you done yet? It's time for push-ups."
Not answering, Andrea flipped over onto her hands and toes.
'7 … ' Already she was beginning to slow down. Profanities slipped out from under her breath and she clamped her jaw shut. At 20, she heard Crimson's voice.
"Okay, now we're going to run laps. Andrea, one lap consists of the gate to all the way to that bush over there." As she said the word "all" she pointed to a a sorry-looking plant about 100 feet away. "You'll run until I tell you to stop. Ready, set, GO!"
"Hey! Did you finish the push-ups?" Ultra asked her as they jogged.
"No. Did you?"
"Nope. Got to 35. She always does that. Takes … a number that's too high … and then tells us to stop … too soon. What'd you get?"
" … 20 … "
"I got to 15 the first time."
"See, the trick is, get behind someone taller than you," Malady was catching up to them and cut in. "If you get behind someone like Echo then no one can see you if you don't do the push-ups."
"Slacker!" Ultra yelled at him.
"Damn right!"
"Bite me." Echo was frowning and looked generally angry.
"He's just mad 'cause I do that every time." Malady was smiling. "Did ya choose an alias yet? We're not allowed to call you by anything else, so once you choose that's it. You have to stick with it the rest of your life."
"Adrenaline," she puffed.
He snickered. "I've heard worse." He jogged ahead of them.
That last two comment disturbed Andrea. ' " … the rest of your life"? How long will I be here? "I've heard worse"? From whom? And where are they now? What is this place?'
On the third lap, they were told to stop. "Okay, everyone. I'm giving Audacity ten dollars. She's going to be back with some water in a few minutes. Until then, you have free time." Andrea heard her whisper to Audacity before she left, reaching into her pocket to pull out a crumpled up fortune from a fortune cookie. "Buy a lottery ticket with the change and pick these numbers on the back."
Adrenaline smiled to herself. Finding comfortable indent in a thick tree she curled her legs under her and rested. Audacity was back too soon, in Andrea's opinion and when she got up, her muscles had become sore.
* * *
And so began her first day of training. The rest of the days were the same. Sore muscles, everyone teasing each other. No one pushing themselves to the limits as they had been told. Every day was the same. There was breakfast, exercising, water, power training, and then dinner. There was no lunch. Money was already tight as it was, even with the rationing of everything else.
On the third day of her career at ERA, Crimson called Andrea over to her. "Adrenaline, are you comfortable with drawing blood?"
"What?! No!"
"Will you let me, then?" Crimson's face was straight. Andrea wondered for a second if it was some sick joke.
Scowling, she stepped back. "No. Why? Why do you have to cut me?!"
"Naiad!" Her attention was drawn away from Adrenaline and toward Naiad who was busy chatting with Malady and Ultra.
"What?"
"Come here. I need to talk to you."
Naiad's eyes grew a fraction and she tried to hide the fear in her eyes. "I'm coming," she said meekly, as she reluctantly trotted to Crimson's side. Once she was there, Crimson turned to her and began talking.
"I thought you were going to tell her."
"About what? Oh! Yeah. I'm sorry. I forgot." She sounded genuinely worried and ashamed. "I won't do it again. I promise."
"It's okay, Naiad. Don't freak out. It's getting close to the execution of the plan and we don't need one of our star members having a nervous break down," Crimson smiled. But it faded as she added, "Try not to forget next time, okay? Now go finish the laps, like I know you were doing."
Naiad smiled and turned away from them.
"Wouldja like to tell me what's going on now?"
"As part of the plan, we'll need a blood sample. Malady is making a virus for us. That's his power: he controls all disease and viruses. We'll need to take some of your DNA because it carries the genetic coding for your mutant powers. Hopefully, we'll be able to alter the DNA slightly to mix it with Echo's, Naiad's, Ultra's, Audacity's, mine, and his own. With this new virus, we can create the perfect race: mutants. I'll explain what it does back at the Base."
All this flew past her. She couldn't find the right words to say, but, finally, she found the perfect phrase that suited her feelings: "Huh?"
"You didn't understand a word of that?" She sighed. "Maybe this was a mistake."
"No. No! I get the making the virus part, but how do we mix the powers? And alter my DNA? Alter all of our DNA? Don't you need cash for that?"
"Malady has an inherent gift for understanding biology and science. Whether that's a mutant trait or not has yet to been determined. And I take what I can from the minds of scientists and doctors on the street and in hospitals and labs. I enter the hospitals and labs by mentally altering the way people see me. It's almost the equivalent of being a shape-shifter, but not quite. I take that information, and store it in my mind, come back to ERA, and transfer that information to Malady and the rest. My students have a state-of-the-art education, rivaled by few. You let us take care of this. After all, we can't let this information slip into the wrong hands, you know."
"Um, have you been - you know - doing that to me?"
"What? Taking information? No. You have nothing we don't already know. Giving information? Yes. You should be able to ace any geometry or algebra quiz should you choose to go home."
"Sweet," Andrea grinned. "So when to you need the blood sample?"
"By Wednesday."
"That's tomorrow!"
"Then you'll have to stop by this afternoon, won't you?" she smiled. "Now get back to work." As Andrea turned to leave, she called her back again. "Oh, and Andrea?"
"Yeah?" She turned around.
"Get Naiad away from Malady. They're distracting each other. And one more thing: this is very important. We've lost people on less dangerous and less important missions. I want you to be careful out there next week. You're still a rookie, got it?"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." But the words sent a chill down her spine. 'This place is … Twilight Zone-y. Best I can explain it.'
* * *
"Crims?"
"Come in, honey."
Andrea cringed at her choice of words but entered her apartment anyway.
"We need a sterilized needle to extract the blood." She handed her a needle. "Know what? I don't trust you. I'm afraid you'll screw up. I don't want you hurting yourself. I'll do it."
"Okay." Andrea silently thanked her lucky stars for not having to watch the needle enter her skin and draw out her own blood. She knew from experience that when you do things yourself, they always hurt more. She stared at the walls and traced the cracks with her eyes and then counted them individually.
"All done. See? That wasn't so bad."
"Take out halfa pint, why don'tcha?" Andrea mumbled sarcastically.
"When you leave, tell Malady that I'm ready for him. He'll have to help me with some of the work."
"Will do. See ya." As Andrea left the room and passed the doorway and shut the door she scrunched up her face in pain and grabbed her bicep where she had drawn out the blood. "Ow!" she drawled. "Seriously, though! Why'dja hafta take out so much?!" She placed an index finger and middled finger in front of the hole where the blood was trickling out. She hadn't received a band-aid. 'Too save money, I bet.'
"Hey, Malady! Wait up!" He was just beginning to unlock the front door to his apartment.
"What?"
"Crimson wants to see you."
"Make-up something. Like I'm sick or something."
"Yeah, right."
"Okay, or I got hurt."
"Good idea. I'll tell her that Naiad or Echo beat the crap out of you. See ya. I'll go tell her that." Andrea was turning to leave when she heard him.
"No, wait! I'm going. I'm going. You don't have to resort to those threats." He passed by her, grumbling to himself about his work, then stopped. "And by the way … "
"Yeah?"
"I can take Echo."
"Suuuure," Adrenaline mumbled as she turned around.
* * *
Andrea was flipping through the cupboards, hoping to find some long forgotten Oreos or Junior Mints or something with chocolate in it. She was having a "chocolate day" as Ultra liked to put it. All she found was a cardboard box of rice and some sugar. Blaming Crimson for the shortage of food, she plucked some rice grains out of the box and walked to the living room. She carefully munched on the hard rice grains and still was when the door swung open, revealing a wide-eyed, frantic Malady.
"Naiad?! Ultra?! Adrenaline?! Are you there?! It's ready! We need you!"
"Whoa there, Mal! Back up! Down, boy!" Adrenaline got up and shit the door. "Now slow down. What's going on?"
"The virus is ready." He was still hyperventilating.
"So?"
"This is it! You don't understand. ERA has been waiting for this kind of breakthrough for years. When Crimson started it. With this virus, we can bring an end to humanity and create a race that's all mutant!"
"Malady … "
"What?" he gasped.
"You're creepy."
"We need this. Now go get the others!" he said, pointing out the door. " Go, go, go!"
"Malady! Get a telepath to find them!"
" … Crimson!" He was off and running toward the apartment. He furiously banged on the door. Within moments, Echo, Naiad, Ultra and Audacity were running up the stairs. They, too, looked as if they had just seen a ghost. Adrenaline didn't think it was possible, but Ultra's face was even more drained of all color, save for her cheeks. They were flushed a bright red. They stormed into the room and Adrenaline followed.
Inside, they all crowded around a table with a microscope and a small, black box. Malady was screaming orders despite the fact that everyone was so tightly compressed together.
"Naiad! You first! Into the box! Now!"
Naiad put her feet and hands together. She shut and opened her eyes, revealing them now to be a milky white substance. She glowed with energy and static filled her hair. She brought her hands in front of her and shot a small stream of white into the box. The box vibrated quickly but Naiad kept shooting the white.
"Echo! Now! Naiad!"
Echo opened his mouth but no sound came out. Naiad's white energy surrounded something that made a ball in front of his face. The white ball of energy bobbed up and down and flew in short circles in front of his face. Ultra didn't need her cue. With feet firmly planted on the ground, she frowned and brought her hand in front of her. She looked somewhat like a traffic guard. She shot solar energy from the palm of her hand and it surrounded the white ball, creating a yellow-orange, hazy, aura around it.
"Audacity, you're turn. Open it up." He was very grim. "It's my turn now," he whispered.
Audacity did as she was told, which surprised Adrenaline. She was second-in-command and was used to giving the orders. But the tone in his voice almost made Adrenaline want to try to telekinetically open it up.
Once the ball was open, Malady cupped his hand a clear, foggy sphere formed in his hand. He carefully blew it into the other ball. It looked as if a vein would pop in his neck and forehead.
Adrenaline looked over at Audacity, her hair, too, was filled with static and her eyes were washed over with a glowing red substance. Her hands were stretched out, palms forward, and light vapor was stretching from her palms to the ball of light.
Without warning, Crimson's forefinger phased away, turning into a red wind - her power of changing into a gaseous state one body-part at a time - and she clenched her teeth in pain. Adrenaline could see blood dripping from the nub, though it was covered in skin, as if it had healed years ago as a child. Andrea couldn't explain it. All of a sudden, Andrea could see tiny dots floating around outside of the ball. Audacity brought her left hand away and a pale red beam enveloped the strange structures and brought them inside of the ball. Then a tiny tube of a thick, red liquid - 'My blood!' - hovered into the air and was poured gently into the ball. The ball began to shake and convulse violently.
"Now!" Audacity obeyed Malady and jammed the ball into the box telekinetically and Malady breathed one last time onto it. Audacity closed and locked the box. Ultra welded it shut with a stream of solar energy and all was silent.
The six students and teacher stared expectantly at the gray glow around the black, sleek, diminutive box and waited. Nothing happened. It shook slightly as if something was trying to get out and then there was a slight buzz, like a machine being shut off, as the gray glow died down, down, down, until it disappeared. The buzzing stopped and the gray glow was gone. No one dared to move. All of a sudden, Malady whispered, "We did it." Naiad let out a loud whoop as Echo fought back fits of laughter of joy. Ultra was smiling and looked very content. Audacity reached over and hugged her, let go, then jumped into the air and floated up to the ceiling telekinetically. She also whooped. Pretty soon everyone was cheering and clapping, all ignoring the tapping on the floor of their neighbors below them.
Andrea stared at their little display of happiness, not knowing what to think, just confused and slightly sickened at this performance. The smiles were contagious and, though she had no idea what was going on, she smiled. She knew it was something big.
Crimson grunted in pain and all eyes turned to her. They had forgotten her presence and were surprised to hear her.
She was clutching her hand in pain and her eyes were tightly clenched shut. Her lips were held tightly together, making her mouth appear smaller than it atomically should be able to get. They all remembered the sacrifice she made for the project and Naiad and Malady were immediately at her side.
'Like dogs.' Andrea thought bitterly. She briefly wondered how they got to be so loyal.
"Crimson! Are you okay?" Malady asked with great sympathy. Echo and Ultra were trying to be discreet as they stared at the nub of finger she had left.
"I'm fine, sweetie," she said, patting his shoulder and forcing a tired smile across her pained lips. "I knew I had to do it. There was no way around it. It's okay. I … just need a bandage of some sort."
"W … will it grow back?" Adrenaline ventured, surprised at how soft her voice had become.
"No more than yours will, Adrenaline. It was a sacrifice I had to make for the good of the world. You'll see," she smiled. "In time. You'll see."
The same feeling of disturbance swept over Andrea and she wondered once more 'What is this place?'
As she turned to leave, Malady caught up with her and walked her back to her apartment.
"Hey," he smiled. "Wanna know how I did that?"
"Not especially," she smiled.
"Too bad. I'm gonna tell you anyway. I have this thing where I can control diseases, kind of. I don' know. Like, I can make people sick … I don' know. Ya gotta see me in action ta get the full effect of my power. I added the bit that makes it so people can catch it!" He was obviously gloating and need someone to gloat to. Someone who wouldn't smack him across the face or say, "Oh, Malady. Go get some blood samples for me now."
He continued, more serious. "This disease while wipe out the human race, but not in a bad way. It will give them minor mutant powers, maybe like, instead of telepathy, slightly able to perceive the tone of people thoughts - happy, sad, mad, etc. You know, empathy. But breeding." He smiled. " Now that's when it gets tricky. If a pregnant woman gets the virus then she will become slightly mutated, but her baby will become fully mutant, having grown up with powers in the womb. It will have powers virtually it's whole life! If someone's not pregnant and gets it, then if they have a kid in the future, that kid will adapt powers normally: at puberty.
"Now let's say that person is incapable of reproducing. Then this disease will be sexually transmitted. You know you have the disease if a norm gets sick for anywhere from three hours to three days. After that, they are more than healthy. But if it comes across an impotent priest or barren nun, well, then, you know, it's stuck right there. They'll still get slight powers, though." He was smiling more than ever now. "This is gonna be huge!"
"My God! Have you even tested this?!"
Malady shrugged. "On lab rats. A dollar fifty a dozen if ya get 'em cheap downtown."
"What if it kills people?! And the rats?! They can't fly now, can they? Oh, God, can one of them fire energy blasts?"
"No, of course not. We put 'em all under after a few tests. I didn't think you'd be so sensitive about this. I'm sorry." He looked genuinely hurt. "But this is for the good of ERA, humans, mutants, the country … Hell, even the world! You have to understand how important this is to us, to all of us. We could go down in history. If Crimson allows us to be known, that is. You have no idea what ERA has just done for you, your children, and your children's children. This is gonna be huge."
He sighed. "We'll put it in a bomb, carefully constructed so as not to hurt the disease. Just to, like, blow it all over the place. Infect people though. Just people. Mutants, I assume, will either be immune or will gain slightly more powers. I gotta go now. But this is gonna be huge. You just wait and see. We've all made sacrifices for this project. You, me, all of us. Leaving our homes, for one. Leaving school, friends, family, Crimson lost a digit. You lost your blood. This is gonna be huge. I gotta go now. Just think about it. You're really important to this mission. You're blood is what allows humans to catch it. Remember that, will ya? Oh, yeah. And another warning, 'cause I'm sure you heard plenty of 'em. Follow the rules and don't do anything that will upset Crimson. She can get rid of you like that - " He snapped his fingers.
He hesitated there for a moment longer. "Well … " he began, but apparently that was all he had. He obviously didn't want to leave just yet. "I, um … " Finally he hit upon something: "Be careful out there. I really don't want to see you getting hurt. Well, I'll be seein' ya. Bye."
Adrenaline stared after him and watched him leave. "Bye," she added to his back.
* * *
"So, how'd you like your first week?"
"It sucked."
"Gee, well, it's nice to know you're honest," Naiad retorted sarcastically. "Here. Eat this."
They were in the kitchen. Audacity had just dropped off a recipe and some food. Naiad, the cook of the girl's quarters was busily preparing a "carb-loaded dinner" as Ultra had put it.
"What is it?" Andrea said as she spooned a clump of white, brown, and gray paste into her mouth. She tasted some ham and rice and … something unknown, but sour and bitter.
"I have no idea, but it'll give you a burst of energy for exercising. Runners in Kenya eat a heavy carb diet and they're really athletic. It should work for us to."
"Do you have any Pop Tarts?"
"No. Eat the paste."
"Haven't heard anyone say that since kindergarten," Andrea muttered sarcastically over her bowl. "Hey. What's you're real name?"
"I can't say. You might slip up and call me it in a fight. Then we'd have to … Let's just say only a few people have slipped up before."
Andrea was quiet, contemplating what she had just heard. She remembered what Malady had said that day. "I've heard worse … " "You have to stick with it the rest of your life."
"But it's Claire, Claire Jennsen. What's your name?"
"Andrea Shane. What's Ultra's?"
"You'll have to ask her It's not my place to say. It's too risky. You know, the fights and all. I'll explain later. She's always liked to follow the rules Crimson set out for her, no matter how weird those rules may be. Her life before ERA, in a nutshell, was pretty sucky. Her mom was always on drugs and that really got to Ultra. This is probably the closest thing she's ever gotten to a real family."
There was a crash from the living room.
"What the-" Naiad's eyes widened as Ultra stormed in, carrying a camera and a notebook and pen.
"What the hell is this?!" she exclaimed.
"Adrenaline! You didn't!"
"What? What'd I do?!"
Ultra strode over to a walk-in closet at the end of the kitchen and threw the camera into it and slammed the door. "What do you think you're doing with these?! Did you take any pictures?!"
"No!" Andrea screamed. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" She jumped up.
"Adrenaline, you can never take any pictures or bring any attention to our little organization, understand?"
"What is this?! Fight Club?!"
"Fight Club was a group of brain-washed terrorists. We are the anti-terrorists. They want to cause terror. We don't. Terrorists want to be known. We can't! If we get found out, we'll all get thrown in prison! Do you think we'll get off easy 'cause we're kids?! Think again. We're mutants. That's all we are to them. They'll find any thing they can to lock us up for good. And Crimson. She's got it worse. They'll charge her with everything in the book, anything from jaywalking to statutory rape to murder. Whatever they can get their filthy, grimy norm hands on, true or not.
"I'm sorry, Adrenaline, but that's the reason you can't take any pictures of anything if they - anyone - finds out the approximate location of us, we'll have to just pack up and leave. It's not fair, I know, but even if you mention us in your little book, then we may have to dispose of you. I don't know how, just get rid of you and your little book. That's why no one can know our names. It's the strictest rule here. So far, very few people have broken it, but those who have - "
" - they had to leave," Ultra cut in. "So, ya see this camera? Now ya don't." With that, Ultra opened up the window next to the kitchen table and, within moments, she had set the camera afire and it was hurtling toward the streets. "Look out below!" she called innocently enough.
"I can't believe you just did that," Andrea said darkly, quietly, putting slight emphasis on the words "believe" and "just". Rage was slowly building up inside of her, but it was suppressed by shock at what had just happened, both with her camera and the speech that Naiad had just made.
"Well, believe it, 'cause if it ever happens again, I'm turnin' you in to Crimson." With that, Ultra stormed off into the living room and plopped herself onto the couch and pouted.
"Whoa. That was weird," Andrea said softly.
"Adrenaline, you do know that this can't happen again right?" Naiad was very grim and her blue eyes were widened with nervousness and shock.
"Geez! I'm sorry!"
"I'm going to have to read your notebook whenever you write something. I'm sure you'll agree. It's either that, or I turn you into Crimson. I'm sorry. I'm already bending the rules enough. I'm on the verge of breaking them so please agree."
"I … What if I use code words?"
"No, nothing. Anything can be deciphered."
Andrea sighed. "This sucks, ya know that?"
"You shoulda seen the hell I put up with when I tried to bringmy diary," Naiad smiled. "I ended up ditching it all together three years ago. When my dad … He kind of … Let's just say I haven't seen him for a while … I guess he just … got tired of us or something … He sent us - me and Mal - here to ERA. Ya see, we're not really twins, we're half-twins. Dad slept around and one day, two of his 'girlfriends' got pregnant, had kids the exact same day, one in Australia and one in Wyoming. Malady stayed in Sydney, I stayed in Wyoming. Before ERA, we only saw each other once before. But our parents had us keep in contact. I found out I had a brother when I was seven.
"Dad sent us here. I only met him twice. The second time … well, the rest is history … " She trailed off but Andrea didn't pressure her to continue. There was a hurt look in her eyes that she was trying to cover up. When she began again, her voice was softer and higher pitched. "When Me and Mal first came. We were the first. Then there was Audacity. Then some others came. But … they didn't last long. After awhile, Ultra and Echo came. And there were a few others before you, but they also had to leave. I doubt they'll say anything, though. They know better than that. They were pretty loyal. But you. I hope you last longer. I kinda like you. You seem nice. I'd hate for something bad to happen to you. We all have high hopes for you. But then again … we had high hopes for them, too. Let's just say you're in harm's way. You know that, don't you?"
'The others? In harm's way?' Andrea nodded, too afraid to ask any questions. 'I gotta ask. I gotta know.' "Exactly what happened to 'the others'? What are you talking about?"
"If … if you mess up, like if you make a slip up and call me 'Claire', then we'll … we'll … it's never happened to me, I just know I never see them again and Crimson sends them their stuff. Wherever they went. I … I feel really bad for them, but I know they feel worse." Naiad's voice was getting softer and softer. Maybe with guilt, or maybe with sorrow and loss. Finally, it was as if she were talking to herself. She looked down at the tabletop and murmured, "I hope they make it home okay."
"You're really creeping me out, Claire!" Adrenaline jumped up. As soon as she realized her error, her eyebrows shot up.
"Don't worry. It doesn't count as long as no one else hears. If you ever make a slip up, make sure there is no one else present. I'm going to bed now. Think things through. Everything. I'm sure you don't want to make a slip up." And with that, Naiad left. There was a rustling as Naiad scurried under the blankets.
Adrenaline heard Ultra sigh, drag a blanket across the floor, and find a comfortable place in the corner. She stared out the window. Night was falling and soon there was darkness. She longed to turn on a light but knew that there was not enough money to pay the electrical bill. She sighed as well and propped her chin up on her fists. Staring out the window, she watched the lights blink on around her, almost a perfect mimic of day. 'New York City. My new life.'
"Hey, Adrenaline?"
"Yeah?"
"Remember to close the window when you go to bed. We don't want any weirdoes getting in."
"We're on the fifth story! Who can get in?" After she said that, she could feel Naiad's piercing blue gaze drill through her skull.
"Mutants can be criminals, too, ya know. In case you've forgotten."
Adrenaline looked from Naiad's silhouette to the black blob that was Ultra and then quickly observed her surroundings. "No," she concluded. "I haven't."
"G'night."
"Night." She closed and latched the window and headed for the living room. Curling up under a blanket with the stuffing unequally placed all through the it, she lay, looking up at the blank ceiling.
She reflected on Naiad's words. She was slightly disturbed by them. ' … In harm's way … ' She liked that. She couldn't have asked for a better ending.