The Adorned
Chapter
16
Actuality
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I hurry through these haunting hallways of Preteritus…
Towards my goal. My memories of this ill place continue to run rampant in my mind. Spiraling pass the void and embracing my sight with nostalgia that cripples my sanity.
But is all this I thrive to accomplish worth my exile?
I don’t expect the outcome. Nowhere did I come to find that I would be an enemy inside my own design… things never turn out the way they’re planned. There’s always an anomaly to strike. Always some random impervious event that causes things to spiral from good to bad. Typical, cliché, something you’d read in some random book… but for every reaction, there’s always an equal reaction, and my new coming is going to demolish my own creation.
I huff and puff out of utter exhaustion. I stop, clutch my stomach, and stoop over.
I glare up.
Rationalizing about our forefathers, our heritage, what humanity thrived to achieve, to let it slip pass our finger tips because of something as simple as apathy. Not caring about accomplishments, not seeing through the little box that cages our brains.
I sigh and straighten.
Dr. Harrison Brown. A man? A friend? What can I dig up, what can baffle Thomas so drastically to have him jeopardize my safety in search of higher knowledge?
I tap on the wall. It clicks and flashes with some I.D.E scanner. I take the card he gave me and slide it over the scanner. It beeps and the wall slides up.
I enter. Press the Close button and stay clear of the door.
I feel the cell vibrate in my pocket. I dig it out and jab it in my ear.
“Thomas?”
“Yes.” Thomas replied.
I gasp. “Safety compromise?”
“No relax”
My tense muscles and shock slip away and I fall on my knees recovering my lost breath.
“I need you to examine Ms. Elizabeth William. She’s an interesting character. She obviously isn’t Tame-Breed… she’s a Half-Breed.”
I sulk. “Can you be certain?”
“Well, I’m not certain since I’m asking you to examine her profile. But the reason I ask you to do so is because she speaks to Sam with absolute openness. I’ve been monitoring her, and I can’t point my finger to her character at all. She has thinking patterns like a normal Human”
I scratch my head. “I’ll check on her first. I’ve been curious of her since I first saw her.”
“Ok I have to get going. I’ve already told them where I saw a trace of you, so hopefully that’ll leave that area a complete dead-zone status for quite some time. I’ll buzz you if anything changes. Later.”
The cell beeps off.
This room… the Mainframe Operational Com. are scattered around the Preteritus Facility, but only Myrmidons, Council Officials, and the Seeker Warden have access. I take the card and examine it. No name. Just a barcode.
I glance at the computer that’s screen is the size of the entire wall. I hurry to the chair, sit, and activate the computer.
…Loading
…
Please Scan your I.D.E Access Card…
I slide the card over the tower.
Thank You Anonymous, please allow a couple of minutes for the booting process…
…
What information would you like to access?
Dr. Harrison T. Brown.
I type.
Thank you. Please wait…
…
Dr. Harrison T. Brown
Status: Departed
Last Known Status: Unauthorized access from a deceased subject in floors A-E in the Preteritus Facility…
I.D.E: Deactivated…
(History) ---- (Personal Profile) ---- (Classified)
I stare at the options. I take the curser and click on History. The tower whirs lightly and the hard drive clicks a couple of times.
…
Please Wait…
Thank you for your Patience…
…
Dr. Harrison T. Brown
Date of Birth: October 8
Date of Death: August 20
Age: 47
Reason of Death: Classified
Parents: Hilary Brown and David. T. Brown
Status: True Blood Human
Historical Background: During the Time of Departure, Dr. Harrison T. Brown’s parents, gave him up to the Council’s services. His Life-Career Placement Plan placed him in the Medical Program.
His brightness was astute. He was chosen secretly by the Council to accomplish the final stages of the Ark.
The Ark, an area outside the Grand Biodome that Dr. Harrison T. Brown created to cater endangered specimens and house a gargantuan organically grown pastures known as Eden, was the perfect local to begin the works of the Council Program.
Thanks to Dr. Harrison T. Brown the entire Preteritus Program and Caretaker division…
My fists ball up. My face heats up and my anger boils beyond meaning. The Council gave him credit for all my ideas, for the Ark. I ram my fist against the armrest.
I close his profile. I refuse to read anymore of this fake man. Ironic too… I mean out of all the I.D.E’s Thomas chooses his card. I bite my lip to try and refrain from calling him back up and cursing at him for making me read this pile of rubbish.
I type my name.
Dr. Jake Hartman
Thank you. Please wait…
…
Information taking longer than expected…
…
Profile Does Not Exist
Please try again…
Tears swell. I sit back and stare. I don’t exist.
Ms. Elizabeth William
Thank you. Please wait…
…
Ms. Elizabeth William
Status: Active
Last Known Query: Requested a member of the Council because her Adoptole’s LCP is Classified…
Other Query: Ms. Elizabeth William’s I.D.E quit functioning…
(History) ---- (Personal Profile) ---- (Classified)
I click on History.
Thank you. Please wait…
…
Ms. Elizabeth William
Date of Birth: January 8
Age: 27
Parents: Unknown Information
Status: Half-Blood Humanoid
Historical Background: Ms. Elizabeth William: Caretaker, year five,
Previous Adoptole's: Sarah McBride. Ashton Arnold. Morgan Ellis. Codename: Sam Classified.
Ms. Elizabeth William has superiority with her Adoptole's and the Council Officials can guarantee her success through her years of servitude.
My son’s a classified subject. I close the profile and shut the computer off. I take and breathe and relax.
Ms. Elizabeth William is a Half-Blood Humanoid… that’s something I’d never expect. Could she have abducted into the Council during the time of Departure?
I don’t know. The Time of Departure is so vague to me... I know I jotted it down in the very beginning of my journal somewhere back when I was still a juvenile. I cross my arms and think. Think about nothing because my entire mind is at ease.
I hit the button on the cell.
Rings once, twice, and click.
“Got the information?” Thomas says.
“Yeah… I got all of it”
“It’s unfortunate information. Painful nonetheless, but something you had to be aware of.”
“Thanks for showing me that. I would have never guessed the President would go to that degree to erase me from existence.” I say.
“He did. But I preserved your real file in my personal computer. So smile.” I hear him scoff. “So what of Elizabeth William.”
“A Half-Breed Humanoid.” I answer.
I hear his gasp. “Spectacular! And she was accepted by the Council? That’s interesting… really, really interesting.”
“What’s you presumption?”
“I?
??m not too sure. This is a downwards never-ending spiral. Does it show her parents?”
“No. It says information unknown”
“Ok. I’d suggest getting out of there. My fellow Myrmidons and their Guardians grow tired of this wild goose chase, they’ll probably turn and search more throughout the installation.” Thomas says.
“Gotcha. I’ll catch you in Monarch’s Reach.”
I click off the cell and hurry to the exit.
***
Sam
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