Ouroboros Episode One

  Chapter 17

  Cadet Nida Harper

  She didn't know what she was doing here. Well, looking for a distraction, clearly, but beyond that, this was social suicide.

  Not only was she the worst recruit in 1000 years, but the story of how her implant had stuffed up was hot gossip.

  Still, when she'd walked in, Alicia had immediately shuffled her off into one of the back rooms.

  "I can't believe you actually came," Alicia said with a chuckle as she clapped a hand warmly on Nida's shoulder. "I mean, you actually came."

  Nida nodded. "I love a good chance at embarrassing myself. And as the room out there is filled with the Academy's best and brightest, I figured it was a great opportunity to really maximize my humiliation."

  Alicia rolled her eyes expressively. Then she did something odd.

  Really odd.

  She folded her arms around Nida and hugged her.

  When Alicia pulled away, Nida was left dumbstruck. "What was that for?"

  "You looked as though you could use it," Alicia answered perceptively, "plus, I'm really proud of you. I know these kind of parties aren't your thing, but you still came to help me out. I have a feeling you're a better friend than all my other so-called buddies."

  Nida smiled.

  She didn't, however, take the opportunity to point out to Alicia that the only reason she'd come here was to take her mind off stress-induced dreams and a terrible bout of hypochondria.

  "Okay, so, what would you like to do? You could serve drinks or help out with the entertainment," Alicia began.

  "Ah, not the entertainment," Nida answered immediately. "But hold on, why are we serving drinks? Aren't people just going to order their drinks from the computer?"

  "We're going with the human touch for this event. Plus, there's nothing like a pretty, smiling cadet behind the bar," Alicia winked at her.

  "Well then, I guess you'd better ask Bridgett," Nida joked.

  "Bridgett? Oh, don't get me started on Bridgett," Alicia spat.

  "What?"

  "Never mind. Forget I said anything. But, you, my dear, will be perfect," with that, Alicia proffered an arm and waited for Nida to hook her own around it before she led them both from the room.

  It was strange work to be behind a real bar and set with the task of handing out drinks.

  But, oddly enough, Nida started to enjoy it.

  It was simple enough work. Someone would ask for a drink, then Nida would find the correct bottle under the bar and pour a glass.

  It was also strangely soothing.

  She was rushed off her feet and simply didn't have the opportunity to worry about how cold her left arm felt, or whether her dreams would return that night.

  Plus, no one seemed to recognize her. Or if they did, they were too busy to say anything.

  Just as she relaxed into her work, someone she recognized walked up to the bar.

  Bradley Marshall. He was from her year, and once upon a time, they'd had classes together, before he'd been selected for the training program into the Force.

  Whereas everyone else had stood a respectful distance away, he rested his elbow onto the wood, leaning as far in as he could. At first, he had a flirtatious smile curling his lips, then he blinked quickly, clearly recognizing her. "Harper?" his tone distorted with disbelief. "What the hell are you doing here?"

  "Serving drinks," she answered blankly. "Now what do you want?"

  "This is an E Club function, right?" he looked around, then back at her. "You do know where you are?"

  She pressed her lips together but didn't answer.

  He laughed at his own mean joke. "Apparently not. Or did they let you in because they're trying to keep you quiet?"

  Her lips pressed tighter together.

  "What exactly happened to you, anyway? You're the talk of the Academy. Carson Blake had to save you from yourself," Bradley let out a snap of a snide laugh. "Apparently if he hadn't been there, you would have impaled yourself with a frigging training block."

  "Hey, do you need a drink?" Alicia walked up behind Bradley and hit him on the shoulder.

  Bradley turned around and shot her a suggestive smile. "Yeah, you offering?"

  "Oh, god no," Alicia shook her head, "but I am offering to kick you out, how does that sound? You either shut up and ask the bar mistress for a drink, or you leave."

  Bradley spluttered. "Excuse me? You can't order me around."

  "No, but I can," a man said as he walked up behind Alicia.

  It was Travis, Carson's friend.

  He shot Nida an odd, worried look, then turned his attention back to Bradley. "Stop being a dick, and that's an order. Now get a drink and piss off," Travis shot Bradley a stern look.

  Though Bradley looked indignant, he didn't say anything more. Neither did he order a drink. He simply walked off muttering to himself.

  "Oh, look at you," Alicia giggled as she smiled at Travis, her appreciation as bright as a thousand suns, "you're a hero."

  "Thanks," Travis laughed. Then he turned that worried glance back to Nida. "Are you okay?"

  "Ah, yeah. He wasn't really bothering me," she shrugged her shoulders.

  Travis looked uncomfortable. He also appeared to assess her closely; his darting gaze crossed over her face and settled on her right wrist. "Um, you sure you're feeling okay?"

  "Ah??yeah?" she managed.

  "Are you trying to spook her?" Alicia crossed her arms.

  "Not really," Travis answered, still clearly uncomfortable, "I'm trying to figure out if Carson is playing games with me."

  At the mention of his name, Nida pressed a hand to her mouth.

  Carson.

  Damn.

  She'd left him in the hospital.

  She'd walked out without a word.

  He was probably still there.

  "What's he talking about?" Alicia glanced at Nida, sudden excitement lighting up her smile. "Has Carson come to see you?" her voice dipped with interest.

  "Oh??ah," Nida began.

  "He said he took you to the hospital," Travis said, still looking confused as he assessed Nida, "but you appear to be fine."

  "Hospital," Alicia's voice became sharp, all playfulness gone. "Nida, what's going on?"

  Nida took a step back, enjoying the fact the bar had little lighting compared to the rest of the room. Maybe if she descended far enough into the shadows, people would forget she was there.

  "Nida?" Alicia snapped again. "What's going on?"

  Before Nida could answer, she heard someone call her name.

  A man.

  He marched up to the bar.

  Carson Blake.

  She swallowed hard.

  He reached the bar and didn't pause - he jumped right over it.

  The move was smooth, fast, and coordinated.

  With a thud, he landed right next to her.

  She gave a soft yelp in surprise.

  "Are you alright? Why did you come here when you left the hospital? And why didn't you say anything? And why the hell did you take off your watch?" he snapped, irritation arcing through his voice.

  She blinked, still pushing a hand into her mouth.

  Even under the dim light of the bar, she could see his expression. He was shocked and angry, very angry.

  "Why did you take off your watch?" he repeated, lowering his voice as he glanced around him.

  People were starting to stare. Which was fair enough, as Carson had just made a stellar entry by marching in, jumping over the bar, and shouting at the bar mistress.

  Though she was shocked, she had the presence of mind to pull up her right sleeve, intending to show him her watch was still very much there.

  The only problem was it wasn't.

  She clutched at her skin, dragging her fingers across it, confirming with a shudder she'd lost it.

  "Are you going to say anything?" Carson asked, eyes still flashing.

  "Hey, buddy, keep your voice down," Travis leaned over the bar and hissed.
r />   Carson shot him a look, then cursed under his breath. "Nida?" he asked through gritted teeth.

  Everyone in the room had now stopped what they were doing to stare at the show.

  Suddenly, the low lighting behind the bar couldn't hide her anymore, and she felt completely exposed.

  She backed off. Without a word, she jogged toward the door behind the bar, opened it, and ran through.

  He was hot on her heels.

  So were Travis and Alicia.

  There was a long dark hallway that branched off into various rooms, and she kept striding down it until Carson actually grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back.

  A flood of emotion followed his move as she realized she couldn't run from him.

  "What are you doing?" he snapped again.

  She put her hands up, hating the fact tears started to well in her eyes.

  "Hey, Carson, calm down. Just let her speak," Travis waded forward, putting a hand on Carson's arm.

  She didn't want to speak.

  She wanted to get the hell out of here.

  This had been a monumental mistake.

  Then again, it had all been fine until Carson had shown up.

  But before she could transfer her anger onto him, she had to remind herself she'd begged him to take her to the hospital, only to leave him in the lurch afterward.

  She swallowed, or at least she tried to. Her mouth was so dry it felt as if she'd inhaled a whole desert planet.

  "Nothing happened at the hospital," she finally managed, her voice weaker than it had ever been, "they told me it was all in my head. So I?" she trailed off, not wanting to tell Carson she'd forgotten about him completely.

  "So you went out, rather than going straight back to bed. Then you breached Academy rules by taking off your wristwatch," Carson's words were bitter and sharp.

  "I didn't take it off," Nida tried to defend herself, her already flushed cheeks becoming redder with every word. "It must have fallen off."

  "They don't fall off," Carson spat. "They're designed to stay on, no matter what."

  "I didn't take it off," she replied, voice shaking with anger.

  Carson took a step back, swearing into his hand as he half covered his face. "Of course you didn't."

  His tone got to her.

  He clearly didn't believe her.

  In fact, as she cast her glance at Travis and Alicia, she realized they didn't believe her either. They were staring at her with a mix of worry and surprise. And why wouldn't they be? Even the freshest cadets knew wristwatches couldn't fall off.

  ?.

  Yet hers had.

  She hadn't taken it off.

  Suddenly, she felt alone, completely alone.

  Nobody believed her. Because what was happening to her didn't make sense.

  The dreams, the watch.

  And the blue light.

  She shivered. It was a full-bodied move, more like a violent twitch.

  She watched Carson's already worried glare intensify. "You need to go back to your apartment," he lowered his voice, the anger and frustration lessening.

  He went to reach a hand out to her, but she jerked back.

  She didn't want to be touched.

  Because she knew instinctively her skin was as cold as stone.

  She could feel it again. The prickles jabbing their way up her wrist from her left hand.

  They felt crippling.

  Each tingle felt like a blade of ice stabbing harder into her flesh.

  Then they reached her bloodstream, and in a surge traveled up her arm and into the point below her throat, exactly where her implant sat.

  She screamed, clutching at the implant with her good hand.

  It pulsed, throbbing with a vicious, cold power.

  "Nida," Carson skidded to his knees just as she fell to hers.

  She couldn't breathe. She could hear herself trying to inhale, but all she could do was wheeze.

  "Jesus, she's cold," she heard Carson spit.

  Then she felt it.

  A surge.

  Like a wave.

  Coming straight at her.

  She froze, just as Carson ignored her icy touch to bring his arm around her shoulders.

  Something clanged in a room to her side.

  Then with a thump, thump, thump, it rolled toward the door.

  Everyone in the corridor looked up to see a thin, metal pole roll into view.

  Even though the pain still ate into her chest, and Carson still had an arm collapsed around her, they both looked up to see the pole tumble toward them.

  There was a moment of silence, sweet and quick, before the pole started to vibrate.

  "What the hell?" Travis began.

  Then the pole shot forward, straight at Nida.

  Carson threw his arm to the side, his hand lighting up with the glow of his implant.

  He caught the pole and brought it to a stop less than a centimeter from her throat.

  She let out a silent scream, opening her mouth wide, but unable to force anything out.

  Carson grunted as he tried to pull the pole back. "Travis," he screamed.

  Travis dashed forward, grabbing the pole behind Carson.

  It was happening again.

  ?.

  It was happening again.

  The pole was a special kind of telekinetic device; she could tell from the unique stamp all TI devices had.

  "God," Travis groaned as both he and Carson were dragged forward.

  She couldn't do anything.

  She simply sat there and stared at the tip of the pole several centimeters from her throat.

  "Don't just sit there, move," Alicia screamed as she latched a hand on Nida's shoulder and gently shifted her along the wall until the pole no longer pinned her to it.

  As soon as Nida stood, the pole shifted to face her. With Carson and Travis still holding onto it, they too were moved around, their boots squeaking against the floor.

  "Get her out of here," Carson choked through his words, "go."

  Alicia grabbed Nida's arm and tugged her back toward the bar.

  "It's her implant," Carson called after them. "Turn it off. Turn off the implant."

  Alicia pulled her forward. She opened the door to the bar and shoved Nida through.

  Nida lost her balance, falling to the floor as fear washed through her.

  She couldn't feel her body anymore. Only the cold, stone-like sensation.

  "Get up," Alicia screamed as she barreled through the door, grabbed Nida, and shoved her against the bar.

  Nida could hardly move her limbs, but somehow she turned and scrambled up the bar. Rolling over it, she fell off the other side, hitting the floor with a thump.

  The whole room stared at her. Then Alicia powered over the bar, grabbed Nida up, and shoved her in the back. "Clear the room," she bellowed, "there's been an accident. Get out now."

  Though Alicia was not senior enough to be ordering anyone around, it didn't matter; everyone moved.

  And to help matters along, there was a sudden resounding bang, as something struck the door behind the bar.

  The pole.

  With a horrified gasp, Nida saw the thing start to protrude through the closed doors.

  It was an exact replay of what had happened to her several days before.

  "Come on," Alicia screamed in her ear as she shoved her forward. "We have to get you somewhere safe to turn off that implant."

  The implant.

  It felt??like it was crumbling inside her.

  The cold from her arm continued to sink into it. Only the pressure of the situation kept her running forward rather than crumpling to her knees in terrified agony.

  Alicia shoved her out of the main door to the bar.

  As Nida barreled through it, she was met with a blast of night air.

  It was cool, and there was a tang of the sea mingling with the sweet scents of food.

  She had no time to enjoy it.

  People were rushing around, understanda
bly freaked out, all asking Alicia what the hell was going on.

  Without a word to any of them, she grabbed Nida by the arm and led her down the side of the building to a small square. It had several benches and two lovely ash trees.

  She'd come here once or twice, but not recently, considering this was the favorite haunt of the E Club.

  Alicia kept checking over her shoulder.

  Reaching one of the park benches, she shoved Nida down, then, with two hands on Nida's collar, Alicia ripped it open to get to the implant.

  Alicia gasped, her forehead disappearing under her thick, stylish fringe. "What the hell is that?"

  Nida paled. Then she mustered the courage to look down.

  It was blue.

  Her implant was pulsing blue.

  It wasn't a dream. She could see it, and so could Alicia apparently.

  With a stiff, steadying breath, Alicia brought up her trembling hands and tried to touch the implant.

  She couldn't.

  Something rebuffed her.

  An invisible force of some kind.

  Alicia tried again, but as her hand neared the implant, it slowed down, as if encountering heightened gravity.

  With a gasp, she gave up and stepped back.

  "What the??hell is going on?" she shook her head and took another step back.

  Then there was a bang from the club behind them.

  It was so loud that it shook the ground. It almost sounded as if one of the walls had fallen down, and with a shot of panic, Nida realized one probably had.

  Somehow, she was attracting that TI pole toward her. Somehow, her implant was malfunctioning.

  If she didn't shut it down?.

  "What the hell do I do?" Alicia rocked back on her feet, jerking her head toward the club as another bang shook the ground.

  Nida didn't have an answer.

  She felt cold.

  Bone cold.

  It was as if her blood had been replaced with the frozen expanse of space.

  She started to fall backward. No, that wasn't right; she was still sitting on the bench. But somehow, she felt as if her body was pitching into a void.

  "Nida," Alicia rushed forward and grabbed Nida's hand, then she let it go with a yelp. "Nida, Nida," she kept calling.

  Nida didn't answer. Instead, she watched as visions started to spread through her mind like wildfire. She would see patches of the planet, then a flash of the blue energy infesting her hand, then finally the statue.

  Yes, the statue. She could remember it now.

  "Nida," she heard Alicia call one final time.

  Then Nida blacked out.

  She dreamt, almost immediately. The scraps of visions became a whole.

  She was standing back on the planet, staring at the dust under her feet.

  Except it wasn't dust.

  It was buildings, plants, and people that had been crushed under the force of immense power.

  She stared at the dust, watching the wind push it against her bare feet and legs.

  As each speck drifted past her, she could see trapped within it the history of a tree or a house or a flower or a child.

  She stumbled to her knees. She pushed her hands into the dust and brought it up to her face.

  As she stared, she understood.

  She'd done this.

  She had caused this destruction.

  The energy in her hand?.

  It was responsible.

  Nida screamed, but there was no one to hear. She cried too, but she couldn't even feel the tears trickling down her numb cheeks.

  All she could do was stare at the destruction she'd wrought and that which was yet to come.