CHAPTER TWENTY NINE - GROWING POWER
“Sorry I’m late,” Marlowe said easily as he strolled into the small meeting room.
A dozen faces glanced up at his arrival. At the head of the table was the grey face of Commander Logan, the one who was in control. At his sides were the various heads of departments. Marlowe fought a wave of disgust as he saw how weak they had become. Once there would have been over twenty people at a Gerai meeting but now there was only their own, meagre group. He repelled the thoughts though, knowing that soon everything would begin to change again. They now had a blueprint for a vaccine that the resistance did not possess. When they unleashed the virus upon the land, they would be powerless and the country would belong to the Gerai.
“Marlowe,” Logan said tiredly. “We were wondering when you would feel like joining us. I trust you have heard of the little resistance movement in our base?” Dark circles lined his eyes as if he had not slept in some time.
Marlowe’s brow furrowed slightly and he shook his head as he took the last seat at the table and leaned forward. “I haven’t heard anything. I’ve been busy in the lab.” Resistance movement? That did not sound good.
“The brother and his comrades have decided to take matters into their own hands. Last night they escaped and took control of floor three,” Logan said grimly.
“The entire floor?” he asked. “Surely not?” The base may not have been that large but an entire floor was still a significant amount for the resistance to have commandeered and they could use the controls down there to cause havoc.
Logan nodded grimly. “They got hold of Heather Durlong’s keycard somehow.” He glared hard at Heather who was seated opposite him.
She stared back evenly. “I don’t know how he got it,” she replied.
There was a snicker from the other side of the table. “Come on girl,” the head of engineering laughed. “It’s common knowledge that you’ve been eyeing him up! Maybe he took advantage of the situation and snatched your card when you were otherwise preoccupied?” There was another round of muffled snickering from some of the others at the table. No one had been impressed with a woman being given such a high position within the base, even though Heather had countlessly proved her worth. Now she appeared to have made a fatal blunder.
Heather’s eyes flashed slightly and Marlowe saw the rage crossing her pale face. “You want to come closer and say that?” she hissed. She had always had a cold temper but now something seemed to have really pissed her off.
“People!” Logan said as he rubbed his face with a hand. His eyes seemed to have grown even more tired looking than usual. “We can’t spend time arguing, we need to resolve the situation! I locked out all the main controls from that floor so at the moment they can’t take control of anything else. Unfortunately Littrell’s son Sammy is a very keen computer hacker and he is already working on breaking through our lockout. If that happens then they could take control of the entire base. We need to think of a solution now.” He sighed as he passed a hand over his face again. “Damn it, we should have had more security but there was a security meeting or something. They must have noticed the lack of people around. We underestimated them.”
“You couldn’t have expected them to remain docile forever,” one man said from the other side of the table. “We should have expected this, especially with the brother. We know what his track record is. He has a habit of causing trouble. I say we shoot him as soon as we deal with this.”
“We can’t do that!” Logan said wearily. Marlowe had noticed the commander becoming more and more tired looking lately but now he seemed to be aging more with each passing day. “He’s the only one who can break the codes and let us hack into the resistance’s database. We need to know exactly how strong they are and how many of them there is. It was enough hassle to get hold of him and I don’t know who else we can get.”
Marlowe nodded his head and tried to retain a calm expression. The last thing they needed was to start panicking, but despite that he still felt something hard rolling inside of his stomach. He didn’t want anything to happen to B. he had worked hard to get hold of the boy and wipe his memories. Without the drugs Marlowe had been using on him, the memory loss would have been much more gradual.
“Marlowe, you remember our deal?” Logan said suddenly as he turned towards the scientist. “We have what we needed from him and we have the other lab boys working on a vaccine, which I’m told we’re very close to completing, so that means we don’t need him anymore.”
Marlowe gritted his teeth. “I think we should keep him alive,” he began.
Logan shook his head. “He’s the only weapon we have against his brother. I don’t think the blonde will risk his life.” He glanced up at Marlowe’s miserable face. “We shouldn’t have to kill him, just use him to convince his brother to keep up his work for us.”
“If you kill him then we’ll have real trouble on our hands,” a female voice, that Marlowe recognised as belonging to Heather, added.
“I don’t want him dead,” Marlowe said icily.
“Marlowe, the kid is a little too old for you to keep now. We’ll get you another one if you’re that bothered.”
“That’s not the point! He’s ours now. Him and his brother are the two things we have that are truly hurting Littrell! And I still want revenge for the trouble he caused us last time! Besides, B doesn’t work for the resistance, he works for us! He’s changed a lot.” Marlowe folded his arms defiantly and glared hard at the rest of the Gerai.
Logan glanced down at a piece of paper before him and raised an eyebrow. “He works for us? He murdered three of our men during his escape attempt! It sounds to me like he’s changed into a psychotic, murderous lunatic.”
Marlowe narrowed his eyes at his commander. He had known that this argument would appear soon. He had tried to hide as much information as possible regarding B, sharing only that which was of the most important.
“What is going on with him exactly Marlowe? You’ve been very cagey on the boy recently,” Logan pressed.
Marlowe casually rested his hands on the smooth table before him. “He’s alive and the symptoms of the virus have disappeared, apart from the repressed memories. But there have been side effects.”
Logan raised an eyebrow. “What kind of side effects?”
Marlowe took a deep breath. “Extreme violence, rage and depression. His strength and mental powers have dramatically increased as well.”
“Yes, I heard about this. The damn kid has telekinesis! Marlowe, we have to get rid of him. You don’t know what you’re dealing with. You’re destroying his mind by taking away his memories and his mind is finding other ways to fight back. He’s dangerous and frankly he sounds like a psychopath.”
Marlowe felt a smile slipping across his face. “A psychopath that now works for us. He can’t remember the resistance and he can barely remember his family anymore. He vaguely seems to recall them but he hates them because he believes they abandoned him. He can help us fight against them.”
Another man snorted slightly. “He works for us? He killed some of our men when he tried to escape!”
“It’s different now!” Marlowe snapped in rely. “I’ve built up his rage and made sure it’s all directed towards his family. He trusts me now. He’ll do what I tell him.”
An interesting expression flickered across Logan’s features for a moment. “He works for us? Marlowe, are you sure? He might be tricking you.”
Marlowe shook his head as he thought about what B had become. He was nothing like what he had used to be. His adoration of his brother and father was gone and now in its place squatted a fireball of blazing rage. “He’s a bit of wreck.”
“A psychotic wreck,” the man who had spoken before said. “We can’t trust him! If he’s becoming stronger than you then we might not be able to control him. Besides we don’t know if this memory loss is permanent. If he regains his memories then he’ll know what you’ve done to him Marlowe and he might not want to be so docile towards you.”
Marlwoe stared hard at the man before him, trying not to give anything away in his expression. B was anything but ‘docile’ towards Marlowe. He only tolerated him because there was nobody else for the boy to talk to. And the man was right. Marlowe had no idea if the memory loss was temporary or permanent. With the drugs he had given to B he was hoping that they would not come back any time soon.
“For now he works for us,” Marlowe repeated. “And I’m watching him closely for any signs that he might be regaining his memories.” He didn’t mention the drugs he had given B to speed up the process. The commander would not like the idea of him tampering.
“Marlowe if we send him down there to sort them out then there’s no telling what might happen. He might recognise his brother and fall over into his arms crying!”
Marlowe chewed his lips slightly. It was true that B was a nervous wreck, probably caused by his unbalanced upbringing. He remembered the hatred he had seen in the boy’s eyes a few days ago when he had spoken of his family and shook his head. “I don’t think that will happen. He won’t even remember what he looks like. I say send him down there. The boy is strong and he can deal with them in moments.”
Logan sighed and scratched his forehead again. “I don’t like that plan. There’s to many variables. I don’t want that kid to work for the resistance. He’s a better computer hacker than his brother.” He thought for a moment. “Maybe we could have him hack into the computer as well to hinder his brother’s progress?”
Marlowe thought for a moment, but from what he’d seen of B lately he would not be patient enough to sit down at a computer without smashing it to bits when he grew tied of the task. “I could ask him, I suppose. But I don’t know if he’ll remember how.”
“We can try and if not then… maybe we could send him down there,” Logan said softly.
The man who had spoken against this before allowed his mouth to drop in horror. “Are you kidding? We don’t know how he will react! He’s a maniacal killer!”
“Exactly,” Logan replied. He mused for a moment. “Throwing him in among the resistance would be like putting a dog into the cat house.” He sighed again. “And besides, we don’t have any other options.”
**********************
B stared dully up at the ceiling and tried to think of something that would rescue his mind from the tumultuous wave of boredom that was beginning to drown him. Earlier they had brought him food and, after eating it, the crockery had provided a few minutes of shattering entertainment as he’d hurled them all at the walls one by one to watch them smash into hundreds of pieces.
Now he was bored and his arms twitched in irritation. He wanted to hit something or break something or someone. He felt a powerful urge to begin destroying the room that surrounded him. Inside the emptiness of his mind screamed in furious robbery at the mental theft that seemed to have taken place. He knew something had been taken away from him but he couldn’t remember what.
He gave a scream of rage and annoyance as he leapt to his feet and folded his arms moodily. He glanced down at the broken lamp on the metal table beside him. He’d hurled that at the wall along with the crockery as well. There had been something satisfying a watching everything around him break with the crunch of broken pottery.
Carefully he picked up a chunk of pottery and ran a finger over the edge. He stared at it and then glanced down at his wrist. It appeared that he’d found something to do at last.
He scratched a mark on his wrist with the piece of lamp to make sure that it was sharp enough and then smiled slightly to himself, wondering what it would feel like to see the blood come out. It felt like fire was burning inside of him and somehow he needed to release that. He raised the shard above the soft flesh on the underside of his wrist.
Suddenly he heard the familiar, if rare occurrence, of the opening door. He glanced up to see Marlowe’s smiling face and he clutched his fingers tighter about his weapon.
“Hello B, I - ” His eyes suddenly took 9in the scene before him and he gasped as he saw what B clutched in his hand. “What the hell are you doing, boy?” he roared as he immediately closed the distance between them with great strides before making a grab for the piece of pottery. “Give that to me now!”
B squealed in protest as Marlowe made a grab for his wrist and frantically began wrestling with Marlowe. He wanted to hurt himself. He wanted the pain inside to seep away. “It’s mine! Mine!”
Marlowe closed his hand firmly over the fragment, refusing to let B yank it away. B gave another scream and then furiously released his hold and pushed Marlowe away from him. He flung himself down upon the bed and covered his head with a pillow as he began to scream incessantly.
“B, what is the matter with you?” Marlowe asked anxiously as his hands sought to soothingly rub B’s shoulders.
B pushed the hands away and then pulled the pillow from his face and flung it at the scientist. “I’m bored!” he wailed. “I’m bored and everything hurts!”
Marlowe stared at him in confusion. “Pain? You feel pain?”
B placed a trembling hand upon his forehead. “I don’t feel right,” he whispered. “My head feels empty.” He closed his eyes and tried to see through the darkness into the back of his mind, but there was nothing. There should be something. It was as if he had only been born a few days ago.
Marlowe sighed and gently placed a hand against B’s arm. B glared down at it, as if it were a snake, but said nothing.
“You’ve been through a lot B. You had a horrible past. You don’t want to remember it. I’m looking after you now.”
B sniffled slightly. He didn’t care how horrible the past was, he still wanted it. He felt certain that there was something terribly important missing from his mind but he could no longer think of what it was so now he was left with the frustrating knowledge that something was gone but unable to remember what it was.
“I’m bored,” he whispered as he buried his head in another pillow. “Bored. I want to know what it feels like to die.” He raised his head again and stared at the segments of broken crockery that littered the clinical floor. Marlowe had followed his gaze and now the scientist was running a hand through his light hair. His face looked stretched and wearied all of a sudden and dark circles had begun to appear around his eyes. He glanced down at B and then quickly looked away, a strange expression upon his face.
B’s eyes narrowed as he caught the look. “You hate me. You hate what I’ve become,” he hissed.
Marlowe gulped. “That’s not true. I’m worried about you and what you can do - ”
B closed his eyes. “Like this?” He’d managed to do it earlier and it was surprisingly easy, despite the fact that he knew it was unnatural. He felt a surge of heat in his body and he brought the image of the crockery to his mind and concentrated. He heard Marlowe gasp and he opened his eyes to see the shards of crockery that were now hurling themselves at the scientist’s face.
“B!” he squealed. “Stop it!”
B used his mind to hurl one final piece at the scientist sat and then folded his arms sulkily. “I’m stronger than you.”
Marlowe’s hand had begun to shake as he touched the red mark on his face where a piece of a broken mug had hit him. “So it would seem,” he whispered. “How do you do that?”
“I don’t know. You’re the one taking care of me so you give the details,” B snapped. He knew he wasn’t normal anymore. That was another factor that added to the pain inside of him. He felt like some kind of monster that had been created in a lab. He stretched out a hand and casually locked it about Marlowe’s throat. The older man gasped and his fingers scrabbled at B’s hands. “Why am I like this?” B asked, his voice deadly firm.
Marlowe gasped and spluttered for a moment. “I-I think…”
“Yes?” B said as he tightened his hold a little.
“Your mind is empty of memories!” Marlowe gasped. “And it has nothing to think about so it’s finding ways to release built up tension! I think that’s why you can move things without touching them!”
B moved his eyes away from the scientist and stared down at a piece of crockery on the floor. Immediately it came to him and he released the scientist to catch it in his hand. It was quite fun really.
Marlwoe backed away from him and his eyes glanced towards the door. “B, um…”
B’s eyes snapped up to glare at the pale face of the scientist. “Don’t you fucking dare think of abandoning me like the others did!” B screamed as he used his mind to throw the broken piece of crockery at Marlowe’s head. He slid from the bed and came to stand in front of Marlowe. “You do and - ”
Marlowe held up a hand to him. “You remember the ‘others’?” he asked softly.
B faltered slightly and replayed his last words in his mind. Other people had abandoned him. He closed his eyes as he began to back away. He knew there had been others and now more than ever he was certain of that. He felt the sense of abandonment flaring violently in his stomach every moment, but he didn’t remember who had done his to him. “I know there were others, but I don’t know who they were,” he whispered finally. He closed his eyes. “I hate them.”
Marlwoe seemed to bite down on his lip for a moment. “B, we need to talk. Sit.” He gestured towards the bed.
B followed his gaze and then shook his head. Marlowe was uncomfortable and B liked this exchange of power. “No.”
“B - ”
“No.”
Marlowe sighed. “A-all right, we talk standing up,” he said trying to force a note of cheerfulness inside of his voice, but B could still hear the nervous croak of his throat.
B stared at him, never letting his eyes drift from Marlowe’s face and he watched with satisfaction as he writhed with discomfort. He opened his mouth and seemed to fumble nervously for his words. “B, we have some workers in this base. They’re all criminals and we keep them in check and make them do work, but there’s been a rebellion and they’ve taken control of one of our main floors.”
B still stared at him, wandering vaguely why this was relevant.
“You say you’re bored, so maybe you could help us control these misfits?”
B’s eyes lit up slightly and he smiled, pleased that they had found a use for him other than simply locking him away. “What do you want me to do?”
“These people like to think they can trust others and they’ll certainly trust a little kid like you. We just need you to… take advantage of that.”