“What about the bodies?” I ask.
“I will take care of it. Now, why are you here? I can’t imagine Raze granted you permission to leave the lab?”
Shame spirals through me at the memory of disobeying my direct orders. “I required your guidance.”
Another bout of wheezing and convulsions overtakes his body and I watch helplessly as he attempts to fight it off.
“I will come back when you are feeling better,” I offer.
“No.” He stops me, pushing the word out. “I may never feel better. What is it?”
I take a deep breath. “I have questions about the girl.”
I watch Dr. Alixter’s face harden at the mention of her. “Ah, yes. How was she?”
“She was … dirty. Living in rot and decay.”
This seems to make him happy. “I suppose that’s fitting for a traitor.”
“What did she do?”
Dr. Alixter feebly wipes his brow. “I told you, she ran away.”
“Before that. You said she was defective. How do you know? What did she do?”
Dr. Alixter closes his eyes and for a moment I’m afraid that he won’t open them again. That whatever drugs are running through him have pulled him back under. But then he whispers, “She fell in love.”
Fell in love.
I search my mental database for references, but there are none. I have no understanding of this behavior. If it’s such a crucial part of the girl’s downfall, why was I never given an upload on the subject?
“What does that mean?” I ask.
Dr. Alixter opens his eyes and points to a hoverchair in the corner. “Help me into that.”
I do as he commands, gliding the chair to his bedside and gently lifting his frail body. “Where are you going?” I ask once I’ve lowered him into the seat.
He swats the controls until the chair starts to move. “You asked what it means to fall in love. I’m going to show you.”
9: Consequences
As we travel to another wing of the Health Center, we pass through multiple security checkpoints. Retina scans, fingerprints, voice recognition. Wherever Dr. Alixter is taking me, it’s as heavily guarded as my lab in the Medical Sector. I realize I was foolish to think I knew everything that went on here. I wonder how many more secrets are hidden on this compound that I haven’t gained clearance to yet.
The last scan of Dr. Alixter’s retina grants us access to another hospital room. It looks nearly identical to the one we just left. Wall screens programmed to project a sleek, sterile white tone, various machines tasked with keeping a dying patient alive, and in the center of all the organized chaos, a hoverbed with a man on it.
He looks to be the same age as Dr. Alixter and judging from the pallor of his papery skin, he’s in the same physical condition as well. Although he appears to be conscious—his eyes are open and staring at the ceiling—he doesn’t move. Not even a flicker of acknowledgment that we’ve entered the room.
“Is he—?” I begin, but Dr. Alixter answers the question before I can finish asking it.
“Comatose. Yes. He’s being kept alive in a suspended state by the computers, but his brain is completely useless. It was permanently deactivated by a Modifier almost a year ago.”
I take in the man’s unkempt auburn hair, matching beard, and the greenish gray hue of his unseeing eyes. “Who is he?”
Dr. Alixter doesn’t answer me right away. I turn to watch him watching the patient, a distant look of regret in his eyes. “My former business partner,” he finally responds.
My gaze flicks back to the bed. “That’s Havin Rio?”
Of course I’ve heard of him. He is infamous on the compound. He’s been mentioned in every single upload I’ve ever received about the history of Diotech. Dr. Alixter and Dr. Rio founded the company together. They had big dreams of changing the world. Then the girl was created and Dr. Rio did the unthinkable: He abetted her in her treason. He helped her escape.
“I thought he was dead,” I say blankly.
“In a technical sense, he is. But I’ve kept him alive, thinking he may be useful to us one day.” Dr. Alixter maneuvers his hoverchair closer to the bed, tilting his head to examine the man’s vacant expression. “I have yet to figure out just how.”
Dr. Alixter blinks rapidly, as though coming out of a long sleep. “You asked me what it means to fall in love. This is what it means. These are the consequences. It makes you weak and foolishly brave at the same time. It makes you blind to the truth and immune to reason.”
I’m not completely following his explanation. “Who did Dr. Rio fall in love with?”
“Sera. He fell in love with Sera. Not in the same way that Lyzender did, but as a father falls in love with a daughter. He got too close.”
“She bewitched him,” I murmur, not realizing I’ve said the words aloud until it’s too late.
Dr. Alixter turns to me then, studying my face with a measured expression. I don’t have the courage to meet his gaze. I fear that if I do, he’ll see everything. He’ll see that, for a moment, I was weak, too. He’ll see the confusion I felt when I was near her. He’ll know how close I came to failing him just by touching her.
“Yes, I suppose you could say that,” he replies after a long moment of consideration. “Bewitch. Interesting word choice given her predicament.” I can still feel his eyes burning into me and still I’m unable to confront them.
“What did you think of her?” Dr. Alixter asks, and my chest tightens.
Do I lie to him?
Am I even capable of it?
“Broken people lie.”
“I was only in her presence for a few minutes.” I dodge the question. “It was difficult to build an impression in such a short amount of time.”
“Yes, but you must have thought something.”
I clear my throat. “Only that she was exactly as you said she would be. A traitor.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Dr. Alixter’s upper lip twitch. “I also said she was dangerous. Did you fear her?”
“I don’t fear that which is weaker than me.”
Dr. Alixter returns his attention to the hoverbed. This time, a shadow passes over his face as he stares at the man lying atop the crisp white sheets. “Perhaps you should,” he says with a quiet sadness. Then he reverses his chair and directs it toward the hallway, indicating that our visit here is over.
10: Diagnosis
When we arrive back in Dr. Alixter’s room, the bodies are already gone. I even check for the one I put in the shower but she has been removed, too. No doubt it was Director Raze or one of his many agents who was responsible. I find myself wondering where the bodies were taken. What did they do with them? What did they tell the doctors’ families?
A fluke accident on the job?
The unintentional release of a deadly virus in the labs?
I quickly push the thoughts and questions from my mind. A soldier does what he has to do. He doesn’t look back with regret. He only moves forward.
I help Dr. Alixter into his hoverbed, trying to ignore his wincing and moaning as I maneuver him.
“You are in pain,” I say, feeling helpless and angry at the same time.
“I am dying,” he affirms.
His bluntness surprises me. I ease onto a chair next to his bed. “They are working day and night to discover what ails you,” I assure him.
“The truth is, they know.”
“They know?”
He nods weakly. “They’ve known for a while now. I didn’t want to tell you because I didn’t want to upset you. At least not until we had hope of a cure.”
“So,” I reason, “you have a cure?”
He coughs. “No. But we know where to find it.”
I leap to my feet. “Where is it? I will find it for you. I will leave now.”
“Easy,” he calms me. “It’s not as simple as that. Sit down.”
I obey.
“It’s DZ227,” he explains. “The transess
ion gene. It’s killing me slowly from the inside. It’s too powerful for my body to withstand. For any normal body to withstand. Sera’s memories have revealed that Lyzender—the boy—is sick as well. He probably doesn’t have much time left. The two agents who traveled back to 2013 with me are both dead. They were given the gene two weeks before me. Which means, by my estimate, I’ll be dead soon.”
“I don’t understand,” I say, panic slipping into my voice. “Why don’t you turn off the gene?”
He tries to smile. “That would be nice, if only we knew how.”
They can’t deactivate the gene? Why would they ever have implanted themselves with a gene they couldn’t disable?
The answer comes to me instantly.
The girl. They had no other choice. They needed the gene to find her
I feel another layer of hatred for her press down on top of all the others.
“Dr. Maxxer created the gene,” Dr. Alixter explains. “We can only imagine she also created a Repressor to turn it off. But we can’t find it.”
Dr. Maxxer is another scientist who betrayed Diotech. She was the creator of gene DZ227. Because of her—because of her creation—Lyzender was able to escape into the past with the girl. But Dr. Maxxer left too, before anyone knew that she had successfully manufactured the gene. It wasn’t until later that Dr. Alixter learned what she had done and figured out how to re-create her work.
“Then we must find Dr. Maxxer,” I say.
He shakes his head. “We don’t know where she is.”
I stand once again. The frustration is making it impossible to sit still. “I thought you said you knew where to find the cure.”
“We do. Sit down,” he commands me once more. “As far as we can see, the gene doesn’t affect you and Sera like it affects the rest of us. Your bodies are stronger than ours, which means you’re our only hope. You’re my only hope.”
“You want me to travel into the past to find Dr. Maxxer?”
“Yes,” he says simply.
The relief I feel is overwhelming. I feared that he was going to send me back to the girl. That I would have to look into her vibrant purple eyes again. That I would have to risk touching her again. Locating a rogue scientist is nothing compared to that.
“I will not fail you,” I say dutifully. “I will find her and bring back the Repressor for you.”
Dr. Alixter smiles. “Report to Director Raze for your mission briefing.”
“Thank you, sir.” I stand and bow my head slightly, retreating toward the door before remembering that it’s not the way I came in. To avoid being seen by anyone on the compound, I’ll have to transesse back to my lab and ping Director Raze.
I close my eyes and begin to focus on the familiar surroundings of my home, but my focus is pulled away by the memory of something Dr. Alixter said only moments ago. My eyelids snap open. “Sir?”
“Yes?” he murmurs.
“Earlier you said you didn’t know where Dr. Maxxer is.”
“We don’t.” He lets out a sharp wince as he tries to reposition himself on the bed. “But Sera does. You save the girl, you save my life.”
I try not to let my reaction show. I try to push down the fear that bubbles up at the thought of seeing her again, but I must not try hard enough, because when I look at Dr. Alixter again, he’s staring at me with an inquisitive expression.
“Is there a problem, Kaelen?” he asks.
I shake my head. “No, sir. No problem at all.”
11: Watcher
The priest’s robe smells like the prison cell where they kept her in filth. As I slip my arms into the sleeves once again, the memory of being close to her instantly wafts back into my nostrils along with the stench. It’s an unsettling combination.
I leave extra time, arriving a good three hours before her scheduled execution. I admit, orienting myself to the displacement is easier this time. Perhaps the nausea is a side effect that diminishes with practice.
I stand on the banks of the Thames, watching the men on the other side of the river work to erect the pyre that will soon consume the girl’s body in smoke and flames. My flawless vision can make out details in their faces, even from this great distance. My impeccable hearing can comprehend the words they mumble to each other as they work.
They are happy to be helping in the process of justice. They are glad the witch will burn.
It’s an unusual practice for England in this time period. Witches were traditionally hung, not burned, as witchcraft wasn’t considered a heresy, rather a criminal act. Unlike the earlier witch hunts of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, where being accused of witchcraft was equal to being accused of worshipping the devil. And devil worshippers were sent back to hell with flames.
But the historical records of Sera’s trial indicated that the decision was made to burn her because of the magnitude of evidence brought against her. She had run faster than the human eye could comprehend. She had lifted a wagon above her head. She had fought off five men twice her size.
This was an exceptional case. So exceptions were made.
I watch from my remote viewpoint as the proceedings begin. The girl is led from the prison through a swarm of people. Her legs and hands are chained. She does not struggle against her captors. In fact, it almost appears as if she’s willingly marching to her death.
There’s no fight left in her eyes. She has surrendered to this fate.
She is secured to a wooden post in the center of the pyre. Once the fire is lit, it spreads quickly. The brush and wood below her catch and her clothes soon follow.
Then I hear her scream. It’s the most atrocious sound ever to pierce my sensitive ears. Just listening to her, I feel like my own skin is alight, burning, blazing, charring. And she doesn’t stop. The screams echo across the countryside, traveling through the city like a hawk soaring across the sky. It reverberates in my bones. I fear my ears are bleeding.
My legs itch with the temptation to run. To go to her. To stop the screaming.
Wait, I remind myself. Remember Raze’s orders.
They must believe she’s dead. It has to be recorded in the historical records. They can’t think she escaped. That means I can’t move until the flames and smoke have fully concealed her.
Then I will go to her. Then I will have to touch her once more. I will have to feel the heat of her skin. The fire that will pass between us. The bewilderment that will surely follow.
Dr. Alixter is counting on me. I was built to be stronger than her. Surely, I can resist whatever spell she manages to put on everyone she touches.
I must.
My mission is simple: return to the year 1609, save the girl, and follow her memories straight to Dr. Maxxer.
“Time Delayed Recalls,” Director Raze explained as he briefed me on the assignment yesterday. “We found them in the brain scan you acquired. We have reason to believe Dr. Maxxer put them there.”
“What are they?” I asked.
“Essentially they’re encoded memory files implanted in the brain and triggered to activate when a certain criteria or stimulus is introduced. Sera has three, the first of which has already been triggered. Together, we believe, they’ll create a map that will lead her straight to Dr. Maxxer and the Repressor that will save Dr. Alixter’s life.”
I gaze across the river. I can still see her anguished face peering out above the roaring blaze.
Not yet.
I hear a sudden commotion. A man in a gold-and-green-trimmed doublet and velvet cloak stands next to her burning body and shouts, “This is what happens when you welcome the devil into your soul!”
I see the smoke billowing, and determination on her face. She is fighting now. Finally fighting.
Hold on, I speak silently to her. I will not let you die.
“And this!” the man bellows. He draws a long silver chain from his pocket. “The symbol of her pact with Satan!” I recognize the object immediately. It’s the girl’s locket. The details of my mission come back t
o me in an instant.
She cannot transesse without the locket.
I was so distracted by her screams and the commotion of the fire, I nearly forgot. I would have leaped into that fire to save her and she wouldn’t have moved an inch.
Narrowing my eyes, I watch the man swing the locket chain on his finger.
I have to get that necklace before he destroys it. But transessing in front of the crowd could have monstrous consequences.
The girl lets out another ferocious cry of agony.
It’s a risk I must take.
I close my eyes and concentrate once again. This time, I focus on the small platform just in front of the pyre, where the cloaked man is standing. If I move fast enough, he won’t even know what happened. I’ll be in and out with the locket before he can register the theft.
“This will accompany the witch back to hell!” he says, and my eyes snap open just in time to see the necklace flung into the fire. I feel my fists clench at my sides. That man! I want to fly across this river and strangle him.
What if the locket is damaged in the fire? What if she can no longer transesse? Every memory in her brain will be destroyed right along with her, Dr. Maxxer will never be found, and Dr. Alixter will die.
As the man continues to address the raucous crowd, I notice a shift in Sera’s expression. There is still determination written on her face but she is no longer fighting the pain. She is fighting for something else. There’s a purpose in her expression.
I zero in on the fire, trying to peer through the dense smoke.
There.
The wind shifts in my favor and I manage to see her leg move, pushing against the ropes that bind her to the pyre.
She’s trying to reach the locket.
“Yes,” I say quietly. “You can do it.”
Her body starts to wilt and I realize she’s losing consciousness. I panic, silently willing her to stay alert. Stay awake. Keep fighting.
But she’s losing the battle. The smoke is too strong. Her mind is shutting down. Giving up.
Did she get the locket? Did she open it?
I can wait no longer. I have to move. I can’t come back here to try again—it’s not possible to transesse to the same moment in time twice—this is my one and only chance to save her life … and Dr. Alixter’s.