It had been worth going, even though I’d left with yet another decision to make. The information I’d gotten was pretty basic, and what I disclosed in return I’d also censored to be equally basic. The Organization, as I decided to call them since they had no official name on paper, didn’t know I had extensive knowledge already. I planned to keep it that way until I was given details more freely, and after I learned more about their operations and objectives.
David had asked me about my ability. I tried to be vague at first, saying I could move objects without touching them. Which was absolutely true. I just didn’t add that I could do it instantaneously. But when David asked for a demonstration, I decided to hell with it all and moved the tablet to my hands before sending it right back where it started. Someone had to trust the other first, and they clearly weren’t going to trust me without reason. Alex already knew about my ability, had possibly shared what it was with them, so I figured it was up to me to take the first leap of faith.
David looked impressed, smiling as he typed with two fingers on his tablet as fast as he could. It took six minutes for him to finish writing down what I assumed were his observations.
In return for my demonstration, he shared that there were others who also developed abilities. With practice, I could become proficient. They had a facility where I could do that practice, under observation of course, and even tutors who would help me. I’d thanked him, and told him I would consider it, explaining how it was all so new to me, and I was still adjusting and not ready to rush into anything.
It wasn’t the truth. I wanted time to speak with Alex about it more and get a better understanding on what I could expect before taking another leap.
After that, David said that I would be granted the lowest clearance possible, Level 0, with opportunities over time to increase that clearance to higher levels.
The first opportunity was to, essentially, play lab rat for them.
David hadn’t put it that way, of course. But I was alert enough that I caught on quickly to his offer of being evaluated to help understand my abilities so they could grow. I had to give it to him, or to whomever had written the script; it sounded like a win-win situation until it was picked apart to the bare bones. To get to Level 1, all I had to do was submit myself to a day of testing, where they would take blood and urine samples, complete a full-body scan, put me under a physical stress test, and hook me up to machines while I practiced my ability.
It wasn’t that I was afraid of the testing; I just wasn’t sure if I wanted to give that much information about myself to them. I was already doing that with Farley Tech from the bio-screen. Granted, they had no idea about the gamma, unless Alex shared that with them. But surely if he had, he would have also told the Organization about me and my ability in greater detail, and the meeting wouldn’t have been so introductory.
At the end of the said meeting, half of which was spend waiting for David to navigate through his tablet and take notes, I said I would consider everything and asked if there was someone I could reach out to when I was ready. He’d agreed easily enough, as though it was the norm, and handed me a card—same cream paper and gold leaf—that had a list of positions and phone numbers but no names. I could message any of those numbers to organize another meeting, or schedule an appointment to come in for testing if I wanted. The card was tucked away in my phone case, where I wouldn’t accidentally lose it.
I shucked off my shoes at the door, sighing as my feet could finally breathe and relax again. I saw Leo, knew he wanted to talk, but gave him nothing. Was it a little petty to make him ask questions, instead of giving him the information freely? Maybe. Did I care? Not particularly, especially not after he had been so adamant that I not go.
“So?” was all he said. I picked up my shoes to carry them to my room and looked at him. His arms were crossed, and he looked upset or maybe a bit angry.
“Long day,” I answered, walking to my bedroom. He followed.
He was silent as I placed my shoes by my door and set my work bag next to it, leaning against the door frame with his arms still crossed. I let him stew while I gathered my pajamas from the heap of clean laundry on my bed. When I made my way towards the bathroom to shower, he finally said a full sentence.
“How did it go?”
I turned, standing at the doorway to my bathroom. “It went fine.”
I waited, knowing he’d get frustrated with my lack of details. It didn’t take long for him to prove me right.
“Tell me about it?”
I cocked my head to the side in mock consideration. “I thought you weren’t interested, since you didn’t want me to go.”
“Callie.”
“Leo.”
He pushed off the door frame and rubbed his face, grumbling, “You know why I didn’t want you to go.”
I nodded, answering with, “You didn’t think it was worth the information I could get for us.”
“Fucking hell,” he muttered. More clearly, he said, “You are not worth that.”
I closed my eyes, shaking my head. “We’re not having this conversation again, Leo. It’s done. These are my decisions to make, and you need to respect them. You know I won’t share our information with them, so quit your worrying. I know how to be careful.”
“Did you learn anything?” he insisted. I heard him take several steps towards me, and I opened my eyes.
“Yes, though probably not information you would think useful. It’s not like they would share all their secrets with me immediately. It’s going to take time. And speaking of time, I need to go to bed. I have work in the morning.”
Leo opened his mouth to argue, disagree, or something, and thought better of it. He nodded, once, and left.
As I showered, I thought about the lab rat scenario. Ultimately, without doing it, I was extremely unlikely to glean any worthwhile information. But by moving up in clearance, I could eventually get somewhere, or even gain enough influence to share my thoughts on helping other people. To do that, I’d need to show my importance, my value, first.
To expedite that process, I would need to bring something to the table, something to get them to take notice of me. Going through the clearance process could take months or years, and I didn’t want to wait that long.
What did I have to offer?
Not much, really. But I would think on it, talk to Alex and get a feel for what they need, and work on a solution that way.
After my shower I shot off a message to Alex.
Me: Hey. Had that meeting. Got some questions. Can you help?
He replied almost immediately.
Alex: Heard about it. Your ability is impressive; word got around about some cute teleporter girl showing up today. It has a few people in a tizzy.
Me: Why?
Alex: You’re the first with the ability. You’re the shiny new toy.
Me: Great. Going back to my questions - can we meet or something?
Alex: Sorry, yeah. Dinner? Tomorrow? My place?
Me: Perfect. 6?
Alex: See you then, cutie.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
I fell asleep snuggled up against my pile of laundry that smelled like springtime, a smile on my face. It was all going to be fine.
Alex held a small bouquet of peach carnations when he opened the door to his apartment. Combined with the heavenly scent wafting into the hallway from whatever he made or ordered, I was pleasantly surprised at the effort he was putting in.
Alex’s eyes raked up and down, making me feel warm and tingly all over. I’d worn a new dress to work today, this one a deep green velvet wrap that tied at the waist, and I hadn’t changed before heading over. It was a little early to break out the fall outfits, but the cooler temperatures seemed to be here to stay, at least for the next week or two.
After a moment, he remembered himself, and offered the flowers after I stepped inside. “Thank you. These are gorgeous.” I took them from his outstretched hand and smelled them. “Are these for anything special? Not that I’d ever complain about just-because flowers.”
“I figured as far as an apology goes, I should make a solid effort.”
“Apology?” I asked. I turned, watching him close the door behind me, hearing the audible click of the lock engaging. He nodded to the island, where he already had a vase prepared.
“Eat and talk?” he suggested. I agreed, setting the flowers in the vase. We plated our meals in silence. Neither one of us wanted to start with small talk when there was bigger talk to get through, hovering over us like a storm cloud. I felt its weight, and I knew Alex did too.
After we’d both gotten settled and taken a couple of mouthwatering bites—the takeout was incredible—Alex broke the silence. “You’re right.”
When he didn’t elaborate, I said with a small grin and teasing tone, “I often am, but you’ll have to be specific.”
He smiled back, adding, “I should have told you about Meg. I didn’t think she’d have sent something to Loren to read; I didn’t think she would be brought up. I didn’t…” He ran a hand through his hair, messing up even more than it was. Had he been doing that a lot today? “I guess I underestimated you?”
I raised my eyebrows. “How so?”
“Remember when I said you had the biggest heart?”
Confused, I thought back to our other interactions, and… “Yeah. When you flaunted me as your girlfriend.”
He nodded. “I meant what I said, but didn’t realize until later how big your heart really is. I didn’t think you’d care so much, or even remember, so I thought I didn’t need to tell you. That’s on me. And I hope you can accept my apology. It won’t happen again.”
He reached a hand across the table where we sat and grabbed mine. He squeezed it once, and I returned the gesture, before we both returned to our meals. “Thank you,” I answered, moving some rice and vegetables around on my plate as I searched for more chicken. “One of my interviews was with her, during training, and I…”
I didn’t have the words. But Alex didn’t need them, nodding in answer to what he understood.
“It’s hard seeing people like that. Knowing that we could have been in their shoes.”
“Right?” He managed to put into words the guilt I was feeling, and I was grateful that someone else felt the same way or at least understood. “I just…why us? Why not others who have more of a life, you know?”
Alex crossed his arms and teased, “I mean, I think I have a pretty nice life.”
“Sorry. I mean, no one depends on us. Does that make sense? Like we don’t have spouses, or kids, and, like, I don’t know.” I heaved a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I wish I could trade places with my mom. I wish she’d been around for me, for my dad, even if it meant I would go before her.”
Well, that was one way to bring down the mood. I set my fork aside and put my head in my hands.
“You were left, on your own, with just one parent. I get that.” Alex’s chair scraped against the floor, his hand coming down to rest on my back. “I guess…I don’t. My parents…Well. Let’s say I wouldn’t have been any different if I’d lost either of them. Maybe that makes it harder for me to think of these things like you.”
“I’m sorry.” I lifted my head, turning to look at him. He didn’t seem particularly bothered.
“I’m not. I like who I am today. Mostly,” he tacked on with a self-deprecating chuckle. “I’m glad to hear your perspective on things. Makes me think of what the future might look like for me, you know?”
“I’ve been doing that a lot, lately. Trying to figure out where to go from here. Including a particular little organization that reached out to me.”
“Oh, really?” He sat back down and resumed eating, waiting for my response.
“Really. That introductory meeting was such a fun time,” I joked, then pointed my fork at him. “But I get why it’s important. I’m still deciding where to go from here. Big reason why I wanted to meet with you, ask some questions.”
“It wasn’t just because I’m awesome?”
I ignored his comment and asked, “What level clearance are you?”
“Five.”
“Impressive.”
He shrugged again. “I help with recruitment, which you know, so I have to be a higher level to know what to look for.”
“And what does a recruiter look for?”
“Pretty girls who are exactly my type.” He winked at me, and a laugh burst free.
“No shame.”
“Can you blame me?”
I paused, pretending to consider. “No, I suppose not. Is it a secret?”
“Not really. Most of the time, it’s spending time in a support group, like ours, and waiting for questions to be asked or stories to be shared. Like a few weeks ago, when you mentioned having new symptoms. Tingly palms? Exactly that.”
“Yeah, what is it about the tingles?” I hadn’t really felt any more strange sensations in my hands, and had simply attributed it to becoming more proficient with my ability.
“No clue, honestly. But if it doesn’t fit the norm of LaShoul’s, I share that with my team leads, and they decide from there what to do. Different people experience different things.”
I nodded. “And how does your team decide what to do?”
“Wish I knew. I’m not involved with it.”
“But you told them about me. I mean, I did get an invite,” I pointed out.
Alex took a bite of his food, finishing his plate. I realized half my food was still untouched. I started eating it again while I waited for Alex’s elaboration.
“I told them I was suspicious of you because of your description of your palms. That was…” He trailed off, thinking, as he took his plate and rinsed it off in the sink. “Maybe two weeks ago? I don’t remember exactly. But the timelines are never the same. Sometimes it takes close to a month for an invite to be sent, and other times nothing comes of it. Again, above my clearance.”
I put my chin in my palm, scraping together the last bit of fried rice. “Aren’t you curious, though?”
“Not really. Honestly, I’m glad it’s not something I need to worry about. I wave the flag, they do the decision making.”
“I’m curious,” I said.
“Color me surprised.” The sarcasm was thick, and I scrunched up my nose and narrowed my eyes in mock offense. “Maybe you could work your way up there, be my boss, and then you’ll know.” He said it casually, like it was totally possible.
“How long did it take you to get to where you are?”
“Over a year.”
I set my fork down, abandoning my last bite. Over a year? And that wasn’t even the highest level; he admitted to having no decision-making power.
“Would you ever want to? Get a higher clearance, I mean.”
“Maybe, but it takes a while to move through the system. They’re cautious, for obvious reasons. And I’m happy where I’m at. I can still work a job I love. Get too high, and it takes up all your time, and then it’s the only thing you’re doing. And honestly?” He leaned back against the sink, crossing his arms. “I really don’t want to be there, all day, all the time. I like this balance I have. I help, but I still have a life.”
I stood up and brought my plate over to him, which he took off my hands and set in the sink. He didn’t bother to rinse it, instead wrapping his arms loosely around me. After a moment’s hesitation, I returned the gesture, even going so far as to rest my cheek against his collarbone. I took a calming breath and willed my body to relax into the embrace.
“Any other questions?” I could hear the amused smirk in his voice, and I pulled back. Not enough to break his hold on me, but enough to look slightly up at him.
“None that you can answer, you Level 5,” I teased. “How many levels are there?”
“Seven, I think? I don’t know for sure. It’s not like we wear color-coded badges or anything. But I know a couple sevens. ”
“How quickly could someone move up?”
“Absolutely no idea. Why? You interested?”
I gave him a shrug. “Maybe. I enjoy my interviewing and traveling, don’t get me wrong. But a different purpose could be good. And I think they might like my app idea. Which has become kind of a passion project.”
Before he let me get into a detailed explanation, Alex steered us to the couch to sit. I curled my legs under me and faced him, forgetting I was wearing a dress until his eyes glanced down and then quickly away, his cheeks looking a little pinker than usual. I grabbed a blanket from the back of the couch and draped it to cover my lower half, my own face probably turning a bit pink.
For nearly twenty minutes, I talked non-stop, describing my idea while also spitballing tweaks and other ideas as they came to me. Alex, to his credit, didn’t ask a single question until I was done and seemed to follow my disjointed thoughts. Some of this he’d already overheard in my talks with Loren, but he was patient.
“That’s quite an idea,” was his first comment. “Honestly? I think it has a lot of potential.”
“Do you think the Organization would be interested in it? To help monitor stuff? I don’t know what I’m doing, and getting some help from people who care would be nice.”
Slowly, he nodded. “Possibly. But I don’t know if we have anyone who could, is the issue. Most of us are volunteers, with very few full-timers. I doubt there’s people who could help support it.
Damn.
“That’s…” I balled my fists.
“Frustrating,” Alex finished.
I deflated. “Yeah. I don’t know how to get this off the ground.”
“You ever consider throwing it out into the universe?”
“What do you mean?”
“Ask the internet. There’s plenty of forums for people to connect. It might take a while to find someone willing to donate their time.”
“Or,” I interrupted, “maybe some people could at least point me in the right direction.” It would be better than my useless flailing around, I added to myself.
“Probably. Do you want help?”
“You mean, you’d help me build it?”
Alex shrugged, an almost bashful look on his face. “I’m better with other programs, but I have a little bit of a background. Might come in handy.”
“I…yeah, um, that’d be incredible!” I managed. “You’d do that? What about your free time?”
“Well, a lot of that free time is spent with you anyways, so why not do something productive at the same time? It’s important to you, so it’s important to me.”
Either he didn’t register me lunging towards him or I teleported, because he jerked when I wrapped my arms around his neck and squeezed.
“Thank you,” I whispered. He made a choked sound and I pulled back, but not before I planted a quick kiss on his cheek. “Sorry.”
“Can’t say I particularly minded,” he answered. “Now come on. Let’s find some forums to ask our questions.”