Chapter Fifteen
It took almost an hour for Gabriel to even find the spot where Adin had hidden the key card to get into the building. Every level of the parking garage looked the same. It was a slow process hiding from other vehicles, the guards, and avoiding the cameras. Gabriel was amazed that he wasn’t caught. He followed the instructions attached to the card. It led him through a maze of twists and stairwells, but it got Gabriel to the floor he needed without using the elevators. As he followed the path, he kept his head down and stayed close to the walls. There were cameras everywhere. Hopefully no one was looking for him. He finally reached the door of apartment 871. He swiped the key card across the handle and the door popped open.
He stepped inside. The black slate entryway was cold beneath his feet. Gabriel leaned forward to get the full view. Everything was either black or chrome and spotlessly polished to give off a perfect reflection. The entryway was clean and contained an empty chrome coat rack and a strategically placed floor plant that Gabriel could only assume was not real. To the right was a huge kitchen, looking perfectly clean and symmetrical, as if it was never used. He had heard his mother rave about high-tech kitchens where everything was hidden behind panels and revealed with the push of a button. An island topped with black marble defined the edge of the kitchen and was flanked by four tall chrome bar stools. The only items in the kitchen that had any color were the bright lemons and limes and a single orange in the fruit basket on the island. The room’s lighting felt natural, almost like he was outside. He twisted his head up at the ceiling. It glowed. Not from individual sources, but rather, the entire ceiling gave off light. As Gabriel roamed through the room, the ceiling above him increased in brightness, following him. It was mesmerizing.
To the left of the entryway the floor dropped down several steps into a sunken den. Gabriel was happy to see that it was decked out with creature comfort in mind: high back leather chairs that looked as if they reclined, a glass table magnetically floating in the centre of the room and, finally, a huge realism projection television unit. Gabriel remembered begging his mother to buy one. RPTV’s used thin fiber optic strings, hundreds of thousands of them, running from the floor to the ceiling in a tight rectangle that formed realistic 3D images. One wall was made entirely of glass. It was the largest window Gabriel had ever seen.
“Gabriel?” Adin stepped out from the hallway with a surprised look on his face.
A wave of relief hit Gabriel. He had made it – Adin would know what to do. “They attacked me. Tried to kill me, then a girl showed up. These, these vines were on the walls.” He was rambling, his hands mimicking the vines.
“Whoa, whoa!” Adin rushed towards him. “Slow down, what happened?” He looked him over. “Where are your shoes?”
“You don’t get time to choose foot wear when someone tries to kill you in the middle of the night!” He glared at Adin.
“Alright.” Adin put his hands on Gabriel’s shoulder. “That was stupid of me. Start from the beginning.”
Gabriel told his tale at breakneck speed. He probably forgot a lot, but the details weren’t nearly as important as the fact that people were trying to kill him, and he had been saved by another ore user.
“She could control the vines?” Adin’s eyes widened. “Just with her thoughts?”
“Yeah, she told me I need to get to a Sphere.” Gabriel barely took time to breathe. “Do you know what a Sphere is? I think it’s them, or a place. I don’t know.”
“Okay.” Adin marched over to the door and locked it. “We’ll figure it out. Right now you’re safe here. Did anyone see you come up?”
Gabriel shook his head. “I followed the route you said to take.”
“Good.” Adin nodded his head. “They’ll probably think you’re just me. I take the same route every day.”
“Do you have any food?” Gabriel suddenly remembered how hungry he was.
“Sure.” Adin grinned at him. “We'll get you cleaned up. Let me show you around. We can talk more after.”
“Okay.” Gabriel took a deep breath and tried to calm down, his chest still flushed with heat.
Gabriel followed Adin on a brief tour of the apartment. His brother pointed out where to find food and how the high-tech kitchen worked. A bracelet gave control of all of the electronics in the house through simple hand gestures, something Gabriel was eager to try on. They strolled down a short hallway between the kitchen and sunken den, pausing at the simple bathroom with a toilet and a pedestal sink.
“Buttons on the wall?” Gabriel looked around the room.
“Shower’s there.” Adin nodded and pointed to a set of six silver buttons in the corner of the room.
“Right.” He smiled and gave Adin a thumbs up. He was going to have to figure out the two extra buttons.
Adin then showed off his huge master bedroom, complete with floor to ceiling windows that overlooked a small park and several smaller apartment buildings. Finally, he opened the door to the last room and stepped aside.
Gabriel walked into the room. It was about the same size as his room back home on the ranch but windowless. It had many of the same elements; a small desk, a bookshelf, a closet, and a single bed pushed into one of the corners.
“It’s not much, but you’ll stay here. At least we won’t get any surprise visitors in the middle of the night.” Adin leaned against the door frame. “We’ll pack up and move somewhere else in a couple of days.”
Gabriel didn't even have time to ask Adin how his last twenty four hours had been. He stared at the bed with a longing to collapse into it and sleep. As his brother spoke, he did just that.
It was evening by the time Gabriel woke up. He wandered out of the room and found Adin sitting at the kitchen island.
“You’re awake.” Adin grinned at him. “Thought I lost you there for a second, when you crashed.”
“Being up all night and terrified for your life kinda takes it out of you.” Gabriel stared at all the memory storage devices spread out on the island. He hadn't seen a Cube in awhile. “What’s all this?”
“Files that I smuggled out of work.” Adin stood up. “Hungry?”
“Starved.” Gabriel sat down in one of the chairs.
“I've got some take out from last night – you should like it.” He fumbled with a container in the fridge and dumped it into the small oven built into the cupboards.
“Take out?” Gabriel laughed. “That’s right! You can’t cook.”
Adin held up his finger. “Can’t and don’t are very different. I don’t cook.”
“Because, you can’t.” Gabriel crossed his arms.
“Anyhow,” Adin went back to the Cubes, “I’ve been reading from them most of the day. There’s not much on ore users – barely anything, really. Apparently, the idea of studying the ore's effects on humans was first brought up right after Dad found it, but it was voted down by the ethics committee.”
“That sounds like a fairytale.” Gabriel’s mouth watered as the timer on the oven rang. He walked over to get his food and noticed the gold pendant swinging across his brother’s chest. He’d forgotten about the locket. “You’re wearing Mom’s locket.”
“Yeah … wearing it is really all I can do to say goodbye.” Adin delicately followed the chain down with his fingers until he reached the locket and cupped it in the palm of his hand.
“Does it still have the note from Dad in it?”
“Yeah. I remember Mom would read it when she felt stressed.” Adin played with the locket between his fingers.
Gabriel could feel his emotions well up. He quickly changed the subject. “What is in the files?”
“Animal experimentation.” Adin shuffled through the Cubes. “Look at this.” He separated one of the Cubes on the island and pushed a small button to unlocked the device. It unfolded itself into a three by three grid. The line separating each grid disappeared and the whole surface became fluid. A holographic radial menu appeared, floating above it, wait
ing for Adin’s input. He spun it to the left and selected some files. A projector flashed down onto the island with several grotesque pictures of dead animals across its surface. Double tapping them, Adin expanded each image to match the size of the island.
“All of these animals were injected with nanograms of ore over prolonged periods – several weeks of injections – so we could study the physical effects of direct contact with the ore. Now,” Adin scrolled to the next image with a wave of his hand, “When put in close proximity to humans, here’s what happens.”
The images made Gabriel sick to his stomach.
“Deadly.” Adin closed the images. “Our best guess is the energy emitted from the crystals is a new type of neutrino with completely unique properties.”
Gabriel stared at Adin blankly. “You’re losing me here … a neutrino?”
“It’s a kind of elementary particle that is created from nuclear reactions. Like those that take place on the Sun – trillions of solar neutrinos hit the earth every second but those neutrinos are non-ionizing so they pass right through without hurting anything.”
“So … the crystals’ neutrinos are different how?” He was feeling completely lost.
“Well to start with – they’re ionizing when it comes to humans.”
Gabriel’s head hurt. “And that means what exactly?”
Adin laughed at him. “Alright, too much science. Basically, the energy from the ore destroys our cellular structure – like acute radiation syndrome. But it passes through everything else without issue, even other living things – plants and animals.”
“But we can stop that right? Like the case Dad's crystal was in?”
“Right. The polymer Dr. Cymru developed, it acts like an anti-neutrino, absorbing the energy into itself and neutralizing it. Without the polymer, the reaction makes people sick around the ore – they instantly feel the drain on them. And the black ore is the worst. For some unknown reason, the effect is accelerated by a hundred-fold.”
Gabriel frowned. “What about the white, like I have?”
“The white ore doesn’t seem to react to any test; it didn’t emit anything. It’s considered to be void. I mean to say, there’s energy there, but we don’t know how to release it.” Adin shrugged.
“Try sticking it in your chest.”
“I don’t think anyone has gone that far with it. Anyhow, the other ores killed the test subjects as well, just slower than the black.” Adin opened another Cube and scanned through it. “There are notes here somewhere.”
“Is the damage treatable?” Gabriel took a bite of food in spite of the dinner topic.
“The best way is to get away from it. Despite being neutrinos, they act like beta particles and don’t travel very far. Any amount in your body would eventually decay, but the cellular damage would already be done,” Adin replied.
“What about humans that can withstand the ore? Ore users. Any mention of them?” Gabriel could guess the answer.
“No.” Adin shook his head. “Nothing much on that. I’m going to go back in tomorrow, try to chat with some of the crowd from work. See if anyone has ever read a file on ore users. Anyhow, you still hungry?”
“Despite all your pictures – yes.” Gabriel had already eaten everything from the oven.
“Good.” Adin stood up. “Go get changed. I put some more clothes in your room. We can get some food from downstairs.”
“That doesn’t sound safe.” He would rather stay put.
“Look, I know TERA owns the building, but it’s fine – I told them I would have a cousin staying with me for the funeral. They set up a visitor’s pass for you. We just need to pick it up. It’ll be safer than you wandering around without one. Trust me.”
Gabriel was still worried. “Alright.” He went back to the room to get changed.
As they took the elevator down to the lobby, Gabriel couldn’t help but feel like this was a mistake. Someone wanted him, and they had found him before. What if they did again? The elevator doors opened to a flood of lights and people milling around. It looked like a high-end hotel, complete with everything one might ever need. Gabriel marveled, trying not to lose Adin in the busy crowd. There was a lounge, several restaurants, a small grocery, and even a telecom room, all surrounded by shops and boutiques. The wooden walls were decorated with strange, abstract art in thick carved frames, the wood glimmering from the bright lights shining down on them. The floors looked almost like mirrors, the sheen of the black marble reflecting a muted image of the room.
As they reached the front desk, the security guard glared at them. The man was huge and built like a stone wall, his face and hands rough and scarred. Gabriel imagined the giant on a medieval battlefield, fighting off hordes of enemy warriors. This man would have thrived back in those times, but he looked out of place here in the middle of luxury.
“Anthony, this is the cousin I told you about.” Adin slapped Gabriel’s back. “I just need to pick up the pass for him.”
Anthony said nothing, but turned to the computer screen and began typing.
“I already cleared it in the system, I assure you. I just need the pass.” Adin pointed at the keypad resting beside the desk.
Anthony ignored the command and continued working on the computer screen. A minute later he looked at Adin. “You’re cleared for a week-long visitor pass.”
Gabriel chuckled lightly. This guy wasn't the brightest.
“Right.” Adin rolled his eyes and gestured for Gabriel to approach the desk. The keypad sat on top of the desk.
Anthony stared at Gabriel. “Put in a code, seven digits minimum.”
Gabriel nervously approached the desk and punched in something he could remember. Easy enough. The card popped up from behind the input pad. Gabriel picked it up. The large man seized him by the wrist. Caught off guard, Gabriel’s other hand instantly formed a fist, ready to strike him. Rethinking the move, he let the giant have his way. He could easily rip off an arm.
“Wait till I test the card,” Anthony growled. One of his front teeth was chipped. He snatched the card from Gabriel’s hand and released him. A minute later, he handed it back to Gabriel. “One week. Any longer and we need to be notified.”
“Right.” Adin faked a smile. “Thank you, Anthony.” He turned and walked away with Gabriel.
“Where did you guys find him? On a battlefield in the 1200s?” Gabriel put the card into his pocket and examined his wrist, making sure it was still working.
Adin laughed. “Rumor is he used to work at a prison. Lost his job for hurting the inmates.”
Gabriel could believe it. “Really?”
Adin laughed again. “Who knows?” He pointed at one of the boutiques just off of the lobby. “I have a credit in the store – go grab some clothes and whatever you need. I’ll get the order in for food.”
Thirty minutes later the brothers went back up to the apartment. Gabriel used his key card the entire way to make sure it worked. As they entered apartment 871, a woman’s voice filled the room.
“Phone call from Dr. Cymru.” It had a soothing tone, although it was clearly artificial.
Adin glanced back at Gabriel. “Just keep quiet.” He plucked the silver disc off the phone on the wall and headed down the hall. “Dr. Cymru, hello.” He walked into his room. “Yes, thank you for the offer from before…”
Gabriel took a deep breath and put the food out onto the kitchen island. Did they already know he was there?