The conversation had, so far, stirred up more questions than it had provided answers. The tension too had built up quickly. We were all aware of the game we were playing, sharing, withholding information, trying to make the most of our cards. Yet, again, I had been dealt a loosing hand.

I laid on the ground defeated; my fate resting on other people’s goodwill. The demons of my past rendering me powerless. I would either be saved or die. But in that very moment, I cared for none.

“I don’t have time for your family feuds. They know you are here; they are just waiting for my signals to barge in. I am a busy woman. I give you one sentence. So, tell me Fiori Falx, why should I help you.” Dr. Bari had returned behind her desk. She had regained her full composure and seemed completely unaffected by the presence of seven terrorists in her office.

Fiori took his time.

Dr. Bari sat down and resumed her reading. I could feel Eli stirring next to me. I grabbed her arm. I didn’t want her to get back up. I didn’t want her to do anything impulsive. Yet something had to happen. It was getting ridiculous. What was Fiori waiting for?

It was my turn to reach my boiling point. I could already feel the anger rising. The heat spreading through my body like wild fire. Yuki put their hand on my shoulder and discreetly motioned me to stay quiet.

How could they be so calm?

I searched for Fiori’s eyes. He was avoiding me. He was starring at the clock behind the desk. I starred too. The seconds were ticking away. He wasn’t moving.

Then he did.

“That’s 8 minutes. We’ve been here exactly 8 minutes. A lot can happen in 8 minutes. When the time comes, will you survive that long without the boy? Can we survive that long without him? Humanity needs…”

Dr. Bari heavily dropped her hands on the desk. She didn’t seem amused.

“Ted will have the boy. You are nothing to us,” she said still demonstrating some self-control.

“Ted will have the boy. Then Ted will have you killed. Ted doesn’t care about you.”

“You can’t keep the boy Fiori. You can’t run forever. He’s already got Evian. He’s already got EDEN. The university is surrounded. You are trap in here. I hate Ted just as much as you do. But I have nothing to gain in helping you.”

“You have nothing to gain in helping Ted. Either way you are dead!”

She was starting to be agitated.

As for Fiori, he was getting desperate.

I took a step forward unintentionally.

Dr. Bari shrieked: “Step away from me, you monster. Do not touch me!”

I froze mid motion.

Why does she know about my Heighten Characteristic?

“Why? No, I mean how? How do you know about my characteristic?” I asked, shaken.

She frowned. She didn’t understand my question.

“You know about my characteristic. Why? Who are you?”

Fiori smirked.

It made me angry. But I didn’t have the time to focus on the man who seemed to always know but never tell.

Dr. Bari was searching for her words. She too saw the smirk on Fiori’s face.

“Fenn. You belong with Project EDEN. Come back to us. Without you, humanity stands no chance. Fiori Falx is a dangerous man. He’s an outsider. He doesn’t understand Antarticum the way Ted does. He’s been using you.” She paused. Her eyes narrowed. Her voice lowered.

She continued in a hushed voice: “It’s ok Fenn. Everything will be alright. Come to me and you won’t have anything to worry about.”

Her enticing tone didn’t match her body language, but I jumped on the offer. This was my chance.

“First, can you take the bullet out of my arm. After that we can discuss my return to Project EDEN.”

Dr. Bari didn’t answer right away. She fiddled with some documents while considering her options.

What are her options? I wondered.

“Fine. Let me make one phone call, then Yuki, you will assist me. The rest of you will stay here and wait.”

I silently questioned Fiori. Was it safe for us to split up? This had to be a trap.

But Fiori was more than happy to comply.

Meyer and Arno didn’t seem please but kept it to themselves.

Eli stood there, quietly, with a blank stare on her face.

It made my stomach turn. I didn’t want her to be this way. I didn’t want her to feel this way. I so desperately wanted to have a talk with her, but there was no time.

I killed her mom. I am a killer.

Dr. Bari made her call.

I listened, warry. Her voice, her tone, the words she used… could any of these hide a coded message.

“It’s Dr. Bari… Can you meet me in the OR? There’s someone I want you to meet… No…. No need to call the team. Just you and I will do. We’ll be down there in five minutes.”

As she hung up, she looked at me and took a grossly exaggerated deep breath. The jittery woman was now fully calm and had a very serious frown on her face. She motioned me to go ahead, through the door. But before I could comply, she turned around and warned Fiori: “If you do anything funny while I am gone, you’re as good as dead. You and the boy.”

Fiori smiled.

The warning felt odd to me. It seemed like we should have been the one heaving a warning. It seemed like we were the one in a precarious state as she had the upper hand on us.

Once more I silently questioned Fiori. Once more, I was beckoned to comply.

I carefully opened the door expecting a hoard of guards to jump on me but outside her office all seemed normal. A little too normal: students hurrying down the hallway to their next class; professors and researchers discussing their latest experiment. I lowered my head and cleared the doorway. Behind me Yuki and Dr. Bari followed.

Dr. Bari closed the door behind her and locked it.

“Follow me,” she said.

We obliged.

I quickly glanced behind my shoulder at the door and hoped everything was going to be alright.

We made our way to a utility staircase I hadn’t notice on our way here and quickly moved toward the lower level. At the bottom a large metallic door blocked the way. Dr. Bari took a lanyard out from beneath her shirt and scanned a card. The pad turned blue, and an unlocking sound resonated in the concrete shaft. The small women then proceeded to open the door with great effort.

On the other side, I recognized the hallway right away. It sent a shiver down my back as I started sweating tremendously. I clutched my arm as my head started spinning.

“Are you ok?” a worried Yuki asked.

“Yes. It’s nothing,” I faintly answered.

I don’t know if it was my imagination but at that very moment I swear, I saw Dr. Bari smirk.

I took a deep breath trying to calm myself down. In my head memories and images were raging a fierce battle.

Images.

Or memories.

Or neither.

I am in a dark hallway.

I’ve seen it in my dreams before.

The air is stale. Hot. Humid. I run. I am running away from something. I am holding my right wrist. I keep on running. The hallway seems never ending. My heart skips a beat. I have to get out of here.

Who’s memories are those?

Lianna? Evian? Me? I couldn’t tell.

Without a prompt, I started walking down the hallway, to the right.

I walked past three doors and stopped in front of the fourth one. I placed my hand on the handle.

“Not this one Fenn. Not today.”

I jumped at Dr. Bari’s voice. I had forgotten about her.

“Not today?” I repeated absentmindedly.

I looked up at Yuki. Stoic as always, it was impossible to know what was going on in their head. Dr. Bari walked over to the last door of the hall. Once more, she scanned her lanyard and the pad turned blue. She walked in. We followed.

Inside, the room was brightly lit and was lined with metallic shelving. In the back stood a short man working on a computer. He lifted his head as we entered and greeted us with a cheerful smile.

“Oh…Oh…OH!!! Well, this is the last person, I thought I’d be seeing today! You’re alive! And you look so grown up now! I can’t believe it!” the man said cheerfully.

I looked at Yuki unsure if this was about me or about them. Yuki huffed.

“Hi,” I timidly answered.

“Fenn won’t be staying long. He has a bullet lodge in his arm, and it is getting infected. I’ll quickly clean him up and send him off on his way,” Dr. Bari explained.

“No, wait! That’s not the deal. You said you’d take the bullet out!” I retorted.

“My child, there is no need to take the bullet out. It would just complicate things. It would just make things messier… more painful… Unless that is what you want… more pain…” Dr. Bari had said these words with such an ominous voice, I didn’t dare to contradict her again.

“I’ll inject a strong dose of antibiotic, then you’ll take one pill a day for the next ten days… if you’re alive this long.”

“Oh! I see! So, this isn’t Ted approved,” said the man behind the computer.

As he said so, he fixed the small glasses on his nose and came to stand right next to the bed.

“Take your shirt off and take a seat on the bed,” ordered Dr. Bari.

I took my shirt off.

I sat on the bed.

She unrolled the makeshift bandages from around my arm. The wound was visibly angry. Green puss oozing, and red streaks radiating from the puncture.

“Is that really the best you could do, Yuki,” said Dr. Bari with a condescending tone.

Yuki did not answer.

The woman started cleaning my arm. It stung badly. I dropped my head backward. Still slightly dizzy, and probably feverish.

“…Fiori must be desperate if this was his best plan. Of all people… he brought you to me…” Dr. Bari went on.

Yuki did not answer.

The woman took a syringe out.

“Rex, can you grab the small bottle of amoxicillin,” she said addressing the short man with glasses.

“Right away!” he answered with overbearing enthusiasm.

“Thank you, my dear.”

Yuki hadn’t as much as flinched since we had gotten here.

The woman put a new dressing on the wound. Then she stopped mid-task and looked me right in the eyes.

“The girl with you… she didn’t know you killed her parents. Does she know, her brother’s still alive?”

The words hadn’t even sunk in that I was up on my feet holding Dr. Bari by the collar, her feet barely skimming the ground.

“WHY DO I KNOW THIS PLACE?” I screamed in her face. “WHY DO YOU KNOW SO MUCH ABOUT ME? ABOUT US!”

“Calm down, you need to calm down,” Rex pleaded with me, while keeping his distance.

“WHO AM I?” I screamed some more.

Dr. Bari was starting to struggle. I didn’t want to kill her. I didn’t really want to scare her. I just wanted to know. I wanted knowledge. I let go of my grip. She loudly fell to the ground.

Rex ran to her side and helped her up. They were afraid of me. Afraid of what I might do.

Yuki stood still.

The woman brushed herself up and straightened her shirt. She didn’t take her eyes off me, waiting for my next move.

So it wasn’t just her mom… I killed both of her parents.

“Why did I kill Eli’s parents?” I said as calmly as I could.

“You killed them to protect Project EDEN,” Rex cautiously answered.

“You are an important asset to Project EDEN. You, Elijah, Evian, Eva and hopefully Eli. It’s time for you to come home Fenn. Ted wants you to come home. You don’t need to keep on running away like that…”

As she talked, she gently finished the dressing on my arm.

Rex brought me a government issued black cloak.

“… Eli’s parents were problematic to say the least. Their ideas were a danger to Antarticum. Your dad too… and your mom. Lucky for us Evian took care of them, but there is no doubt, sooner or later they would have ended up on your hit list. It’s unfortunate really, but Antarticum can only thrive if every aspect of life is controlled. You see we are all on the same side… Evian, you… me. I don’t know if your sister ever told you, all the torture that was inflected upon her. You and your siblings were nothing but guinea pigs to your parents. The same can be said about Elliott and Elijah. We saved them. Ted saved them…”

“No. NO! He didn’t! He didn’t save Eli,” I answered in a burst of anger.

“Eli was sent to rot in Nova Cibus. Ted didn’t save her. You didn’t save her. Hana and Fiori did.”

Yuki baulked.

The woman didn’t notice. She was busy putting in ten tablets into a small container.

“Are you listening to me! Ted did not save us!”

She wasn’t listening.

“No one can save us!”

I took a menacing step forward.

She extended her arm out.

“You take one a day. Take all of them. I’ll give you extra bandages. You need to change your dressing daily. Yuki, make sure he changes his dressing everyday.”

Yuki did not answer.

The woman handed me the small bottle. Then with unexpected motherly care, she straightened my cloak and buttoned up the collar.

“You stay alive. No matter what, you need to stay alive. If it is not for Project EDEN, then at the very least do it for what’s left of humanity.”

She clicked her heel and turned her back to me.

“Rex, can you please get a cloak for Yuki.”

“I don’t need it,” Yuki said.

We all stared at them.

“Thank you, Rex. But I’m fine. I do not need a government cloak.”

“You’ll blend in better, it will be easier to escape. Look, I know you don’t like me. You and I will never see eye to eye. But right now, let’s put our differences aside. Take the cloak and go.”

Yuki stood still.

The woman took the cloak from Rex’s hands and, in a friendly gesture, handed it over to Yuki.

“Today is not the day to have this discussion. But just so you know, in case we never get to have this discussion. I am sorry.”

Yuki violently pushed the cloak away, sending it flying across the room.

The woman, surprised, took a step back.

Rex quickly jumped between the two. Trying to humor them.

“Sorry? You? Don’t you dare insult my family. Don’t you dare insult Control Group B. You can spend the rest of your life being sorry, it will never be enough. You, and all of Senex Centralis, I hope you burn in hell for what you did.”

Yuki stormed out of the room.

The woman followed her in panic.

I wasn’t quite sure what to do. I quietly grabbed the cloak on the floor and whispered to Rex: “I’m sorry. Hum… Thank you for everything.”

“Wait! You don’t remember me? Do you?”

Rex was holding on to my sleeve.

“No. I’m sorry. I don’t…”

“Rex. Rex Zeckrin. We met a couple times before… when you use to work for Project EDEN.”

“When I use to work for Project EDEN. You mean when I use to be an assassin?”

“I was your personal driver. You really don’t remember.”

“You were my personal driver? I see. I’m sorry. I really don’t remember.”

“It’s ok. It’s not like it matters. I am a nobody here. I’m just the tech guy who gets assigned side jobs.”

“You seem like a nice person Rex. Tell me. Am I a good person? Was I a good person? Can an assassin, bomber ever be a good person?”

“Fenn, morals and ethics are always judged from the standpoint of the privileged or the winner. You and I will never be granted a status allowing us to establish a moral compass. You are a product of policies and laws; you only know what is being coerced upon you. So, can an assassin or a bomber ever be a good person? I don’t know, but please tell me when you find your own moral compass.”

“Have you ever killed someone?”

“What if I did? Are going to judge me? Will it change how you see me?”

Rex took another step forward. He was slightly shorter than me. He put his hand right on my chest, over my heart. The same way I…

“What if being an assassin was a gift? Not everyone deserves to live, not everyone deserves to die. Whether you are labelled as a good or a bad person will depend on which side you fight for. But remember, no matter which side you fight for, there will always be people that needs to be killed and people that needs to be kept alive. Today Dr. Bari decided to keep you alive… A few months ago, you decided to end your sister’s suffering…”

He gently patted my shoulder and left me with these words.

The image of Hana came to mind. The smile on her face was the one I remembered. The one I last saw, on top of the overpass. My chest tightened. I had to take a deep breath.

Then I thought of Fiori. I wondered about his moral compass. What was I to him? I looked up to him. I trusted him. The man was the reason I was still alive. Both my siblings had put their faith in him. But what was I to him?

Rex had left the room. I followed him.

I climbed up the staircase and headed back to Dr. Bari’s office.

Before I could reach the place, I had caught up with Rex.

Beyond the door, in the office, my friends were anxiously waiting.