200 years After-the-Tilt

That day, in Nova Urbi, when Fiori and Hana came to our rescue, I felt that invisible thread pulling me away. I stayed behind, afraid of Ted. I was frightened to the core.

I knew it was coming. When exactly I did not know. The last assassination attempt had been a failure. The target, Hardi Eyer, had somehow been informed of our plans. How? I wasn’t completely sure but when Fenn and I showed up, he was waiting for us.

He was waiting for the two of us.

“I am going to make you an offer,” he had said. “Together, we can put an end to this,” he had said.

I wanted to believe him.

“Who do you work for,” I asked.

“The people of Control Island B.”

That was enough to convince me. Enough to give me hope. Enough, for the first time ever, to disobey Ted, and my father.

We went back to Project EDEN. I rearranged Fenn’s memory of the failed assassination. He admitted having botched the assignment. We were sent back to the orphanage.

Of course, Ted didn’t believe our little story. And Marshall did nothing to protect us.

From that day on, no bread, no notes from Benagher came to me.

But Hardi Eyer had assured me! A team would soon come and rescue us. A team would bring us back to safety, away from Ted, away from Antarticum.

So, I waited.

Months went by.

Then a year passed.

Being safe was the only thing that mattered to me. So, I waited, nourished by the flicker of hope that Hardi had ignited inside of me.

Days after days, I took my place on the production line.

I was waiting.

Hope was slowly fading away.

Hope was being replaced by anger.

I was being patient.

“Patience is a virtue,” I told myself.

I waited until I no longer knew what it was, I was waiting for.

Sooner or later, I’d have to come to the conclusion that I had been played.

But I choose to believe that good things happened to good people. I was a good person. I was a good daughter. I had always done what I had been told. I had already suffered enough, something good was bound to happen.

But when it did happen, it was already too late. The light was gone. Anger had already killed my last hope.

They came too late.

That morning, I took my place on the production line. I sat next to Fenn. Him and I had the same task. We were to remove any filament dripping off the hot extruder during the manufacturing of weapon parts. We were also to keep an eye on the temperature control to prevent the overheating of the material and assure that the melt surface flow speed was within the set guidelines for optimal molding quality. It wasn’t a very exciting task, but it wasn’t particularly dangerous either.

A tremor shook the ground below me, followed by a second one. It made me dizzy. Suddenly, my head wanted to explode. It had happened before, but never this bad. Another tremor hit; this time much bigger. I stumbled to the ground. Fenn too. I could hear a growing roar coming from the other side of the building. I closed my eyes for a second. I had to calm myself down.

The rescue team was getting closer to us. I should have been happy. I should have been relieved, excited, or thankful… but instead I was angry. Fenn grabbed my arm and ushered me under the table. Just as he did, the door to the dormitory burst in a flash of light. The ground shook once more. My ears still buzzing from the explosion. Dark smoke rushed into the room and made it impossible for me to see who the rescue team was. I could hardly control my body as I shook with anger.

What’s wrong with you! This is your chance! This is your way out!

NO!

They are no better than Ted! If I walk out of here it will be on my own term.

The smoke made it hard to breathe. I stayed as close to the ground as possible. Trying to catch my breath. Trying to hide. Hoping they would all go away...

Then I thought of Benagher. Was he part of the team? Was it him, coming to save me from this forsaken place?

Fenn grabbed my hand and pulled me from under the table. I tried to stop him, but his drive was stronger than my doubts. We crossed the room, bumping on the beds littering the ground. The explosion had done more damage than I had expected. I could fell the debris everywhere, but I couldn’t see it. Regardless, Fenn kept on running, and me with him. Suddenly, Fenn lost his balance. I was able to shake away from his hold. He kept on going. It took me a little while to figure out where I was. I covered my mouth with my sleeve, my lungs burning from the smoke. I slowly made my way along the wall until I found an opening dimly lit by a lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. Under the flickering light, Fenn had collapse on the ground. Above him, stood a young woman. She seemed relieved to see me. I kept my guards up.

“Eva Marshall?” she asked.

I didn’t answer. That woman didn’t fit my idea of a rescue team!

“You need to come with us,” she said in a harsh voice.

“Who are you?”

“I came to rescue you, and Fenn.”

“Who sent you?”

“We work for no one,” said a man who swiftly entered the hallway.

“General Fiori Falx?” I exclaimed confused. “What is this? Is it some sort of a sick joke? Did Ted send you? Is this my punishment? Or a test? That’s it! I am being tested, isn’t it?”

“I am no longer part of Project Eden!”

I didn’t know if I should laugh or cry, or both. Of course, back then, I didn’t know Fiori Falx had deserted the army. I didn’t know who Hana was. I didn’t know anything about what had happened in the last two years at Project EDEN. I didn’t know this. I didn’t know any of this.

Blinded by anger, I stood my ground.

“I am not going with you! I will never follow you Fiori Falx! You abandoned me! You left me here to rot. We made a deal, but you left me here! You made a fool of my father. I will never forgive you. If Ted wants me to come home, he can come and get me himself.”

“This is your last chance, Eva Marshall. You are either with us, or against us!” the women said in a threatening voice.

I didn’t let that scare me. I quickly grabbed Fenn’s arm and pulled him over to my side.

“He’s not going either!” I challenged the young woman.

I had spoken quickly, but quicker yet, furry spread over the young woman’s face.

“You will not touch him! Don’t touch the boy!”

Fiori had to step in and stop the woman from jumping at me.

I took a step back. I had not intended to trigger such a reaction. I was quite frankly shocked and terrified at the woman’s fury.

I took another step back. I had a choice to make.

“Time is running out!” Fiori yelled.

I hated Ted. I hated Fiori. I hated the world. What was the point of leaving one devil to join another?

I am a good girl…

“You humiliated my father! You are one of them! You are dangerous. I know who you are Fiori! I will never go with you! NEVER!”

“Eva, believe me! A lot has changed. Come with us. Benagher…”

“RUN! Get out of here! Run before I alert the guards!” I suddenly screamed. I had enough of him, I had enough of them. I had enough of the confusion, the false hope, the torment. I feared Ted, I feared for my life but most of all, I wanted to keep Benagher out of this. If this was my destiny, I wanted his to be happy. And the only way to be happy was to not meddle with Ted Weatherspoon or Fiori Falx.

After the rescue team left, it didn’t take long for Ted to show up, in person. Like most other Aethereusian in the orphanage, I had taken a seat amongst the rubbles. I wasn’t injured. That’s where Ted found me. He walked straight to me and roughly grabbed my dirty face.

“We are going to have that tattoo lasered off your face. You are done here… There’s no point in staying here anymore…”

His face was close to me. I hear the bitterness in his voice.

“I get to go home?” I mumbled confused by the chain of event.

“Home? You have no home. You are coming back to Project EDEN, then we’ll figure out what to do with you.”

“What to do with me? Am I not your daughter?”

“My daughter?” The surprised on his face was real. His annoyance too. “My daughter died a long time ago.”

“Didn’t I do everything you asked of me?”

“Not well enough, or I wouldn’t be here picking up the mess,” he said as he looked around.

“Get up, we’re going!”

“Do I mean nothing to you, to Mrs. Weatherspoon?”

“Yes, yes of course you do! You were a lovely distraction. You made Mrs. Weatherspoon very happy. I am sure she’ll be glad to see you, but you are no longer a little girl. Look at you, filthy animal. Such a waste…”

“I am a real person you know! Not just some cheap character taking part into your sick fantasy! What were the last 13 years for? Who did I do all this for? You are going to have me kill, aren’t you? You are going to dispose of me. Expandable, that’s what people are to you. But when I go, it will be my own way! I will never give you THAT satisfaction. You already took everything away from me. But you will not claim my death!”

“You are nothing without me! Your father is nothing without me! You both would have died a long time ago.”

“We were doing just fine before you showed up!”

“Is that so? Just fine… You might want to have that discussion with your father. Your parents were riddled with debts. He gambled his life away, he’s lucky I’m the one who picked up the tab. And I didn’t stop there, I gave him exactly what he wanted! He wanted to be General of the military! I made him General! Hadn’t I stepped in, someone else, again, would have been named instead of him. Such trouble. And you, you are worthless to me now. I invested so much of my time, so much of our resources into you, but in the end, your Heighten Characteristic is subpar, and you failed at keeping a hold on Fenn. Like father like daughter.”

“My father is a coward. I am not a coward!”

“You are whatever I make you to be, and right now, you are dead.”

“I will bring you back Fenn! I promise. I will bring Fenn back! And when I do, I want you to let me go. Me and Benagher. You will give us safe passage to Control Island A and forget all about us!”

Ted laughed.

“Is that so? If you think you are in any position to bargain with me right now, think again.”

“I will bring you back Fenn! And if that is not enough, I will bring you back Fiori, and that woman!”

“Fiori Falx? What does Fiori have anything to do with this?”

“Fiori Falx is the one who took Fenn?”

Rage spread over Ted’s face, and then it was gone. A calm smile hiding the intensity of his fury.

“So, it was him after all…”

“He was with a woman, my age, she was missing a hand.”

“Missing a hand? Lianna Li? No, it can’t be. Are you sure, that is who you saw?”

“Yes.”

“With Fiori Falx?”

Ted started laughing heartedly.

“Well, the game just became that much more interesting. This is wonderful!”

His sudden enthusiasm was real and frankly quite shocking. I stood there both terrified and curious watching Ted Weatherspoon.

“You know what! I will grant you your wish! You bring me back Fenn, Fiori and Lianna and I will let you and Benagher go. I will assure your safe passage wherever you want to go and forget all about you.”

Ted smiled, ear to ear, so pleased with himself.

Then it sunk in, I had just made a pack with the devil.

I am already dead, I thought.