Prologue - The Future

After walking hand-in-hand with Oliver back to his house, following the discovery of the fact that we were meant to be together, Calliope was the first person I saw. She took one look at the two of us as we walked through the doors of the Jackson’s large house, then shot a pointed look at me. At first, I thought she was silently reminding me to keep the promise I made to her before Oliver and I left for the Compound, but I was mistaken.

“Sera,” she said, her voice strained, “I need to show you something.”

I nodded, perplexed, and she stood up from the leather couch she had perched herself on before starting to lead me into the basement she used as her lab. I took two steps with Oliver by my side before she swirled around, glaring daggers at her brother – a dramatic change in emotions compared to the fact that she was crying to me over his condition just over an hour before.

“Just Sera.” She snapped.

Oliver’s eyes flew up – I was unsure whether in surprise or question – but he shrugged and turned to walk up the stairs.

“Joshua wants someone to help him train for soccer practice!” Calliope called after him. Still, she received nothing but a non-committal shrug from her older brother. Joshua was their younger brother – the youngest of the Jackson children ever since Libby’s death. Calliope’s eyes met mine. “Come on then.”

My brow furrowed. I didn’t often question the inner workings of Calliope’s mind, but that day I was curious. “What are you showing me, exactly? And why can’t Oliver see?”

“Just, quiet, Sera. Chances are he’s still standing in the living room listening to our conversation.” She somehow managed to yell at me in a whisper.

“Does he do that often?” I asked.

The younger girl smirked. “He may claim to hate me doing this, but he has the curiosity of a one-year-old in their ‘why’ phase.”

“And what have you found?” I asked her as we passed over the threshold of the basement. I followed her around the cluttered tables until we came to a projection in the far corner.

“David!” She called out.

The lanky boy’s head appeared from around a corner. “Yeah?”

Calliope smiled at him. “Go play soccer with Josh, will you? He’s been complaining all day that no one will play with him.”

David looked like he was about to collapse onto the floor. I could read his expression like an open book; that smile. He left the room, his cheeks a shade darker than usual. He mumbled a quick hello to me, and then he was out of sight. Last time I had been in Calliope’s lab, I had wondered if she knew that her best friend was in love with her. In that moment, it was obvious to me that she was, and she was using it to her advantage. I half wished I could remember the name of his Soul Mate so I could make them meet sooner, I just couldn’t remember how I found out, or the girl’s name.

“When does David meet his Soul Mate?” I asked carefully.

Calliope shrugged. “Sometime in January, he still has a while yet, and he’s determined to spend that time being in love with me.”

So she did know. “What about you? How long for you now?”

Her eyes glazed over, the ghost of a smile appearing on her face. “Four months.” She told me. “October 26.”

“So,” I asked, changing the subject; I was more curious about why she dragged me down there than why she had calculated the exact day she would meet her Soul Mate. “What did you find?”

Her expression turned from dreamy to serious in about half a second as she turned back to the projection she had planted us in front of. “Well, when we were in the Compound, that night you discovered the truth about your mother—”

“So it was you in Dr Mangan’s office!” I exclaimed.

“Yeah,” she muttered, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “And obviously it was you as well. You’re damn lucky David and I went back in there, because any Scientist with their head screwed on the right way would have been able to put two and two together and figure out that you had been researching your mother.”

I blinked. “Well, uh, thanks.”

“Anytime.” The younger girl rolled her eyes. “Anyway, what I did that night was set up a network link from their interface to mine here – I made it untraceable, silly, don’t look at me like that – and just like we did in Dr Mangan’s office, I can see all the live security feeds, sound and all. I can get to a lot more than that as well, but the security feeds are what I wanted to show you. The feed from the day we left.”

I edged forward, standing over Calliope’s shoulder as she sat in the chair before the projection. She brought up a clip of security footage, the time stamp in the bottom corner the date of when we left, just as she had said. The still image showed Dr Williams, and a Scientist I had only ever seen once; Dr Mangan. Calliope clicked play.

Dr Mangan was pacing behind her desk, and Dr Williams seemed to be cowering in the doorway of the Head Scientist’s office.

“Tell me, why exactly did you let them get away?” Dr Mangan snapped, her voice sharp.

My Scientist flinched. “Samantha, you must know – it was Calliope Rose. Surely someone must have explained it to you—”

“No one has explained it to me, Taylor, because they are either dead or they are too injured to tell me what happened.” Dr Mangan took a deep breath. “So. Tell me. What. Happened.”

“The girl. Calliope. She had been here for weeks, Samantha. We had no idea. She was under a false name, pretending to be the Soul Mate of David Williamsburg.”

“We had been keeping track of Calliope and David for a while, Taylor. We all knew when they were going to meet their Soul Mates. He hasn’t met his yet. Why on Earth did you let them in?”

“The Scientists are panicking, Dr Mangan. The Inequity endemic—”

“Never mind that, what about Clarissa’s daughter? And Oliver Jackson? Why on Earth did you let her go? It was the first time in years we were able to observe her. We already know the artificial chromosome had no side-effects on her growing up, but can she do anything else? All the traits we added to it? Whatever happened to those?”

“I can confirm, Samantha, that she is just as we hoped. She can even use the Doors without the codes, just as our newest Androids can.”

“What else? Her brain capacity? Is it stronger? Is she on the same frequency as the Androids? Can she hear them?” Dr Mangan pressed.

“Her brain capacity is twice that of any normal human being. She is the strongest Untouchable I have ever encountered. I’m not sure about her brain being on the same frequency as the Androids, but she is very susceptive to the thoughts of those around her. She knocked out an entire room of Scientists with a single thought. Half those Scientists are still unconscious, and a few may never wake up. I do not believe that was the girl’s intention, but it was the result nonetheless.” Dr Williams met Dr Mangan’s eyes. “But she can talk to Calliope Rose through her mind. And the boy she was in love with. Cooper Whittaker. Him too.”

“Who?” I asked Calliope, reaching out and pausing the video. “Who is Cooper Whittaker?”

“He’s gone now, Sera. He’s not important.” Was all she said before reaching out and playing the security feed once more.

Dr Mangan’s eyebrows furrowed and she stopped pacing to lean on her desk. “This Calliope Rose girl—”

“Olivia,” Calliope murmured under her breath, “Calliope Olivia.”

“—is she like Clarissa’s daughter? An Untouchable?”

“We have come to believe so, yes. She is not as strong as Sera, we know that much. But she is incredibly intelligent when it comes to technology – especially ours.”

The head Scientist cursed. “And this Cooper boy, is he an Untouchable too?”

“We’re unsure. But it is the only explanation as to why Sera can talk to both of them through her mind. It’s almost as if – unintentionally – we crafted an entirely new frequency into their brains. They are stronger than normal humans. Immensely stronger. Look at the damage Sera could do with a single thought. They are the future, Sam.” Dr Williams rambled.

“Three Untouchables? When did we ever create more than two?” Dr Mangan said, almost to herself. “Sera and the Calliope girl did enough damage together. We need to track down this Cooper boy. Keep him away from them.”

“Or,” Dr Williams suggested, “we push them all together. Witness the future unfold before our eyes.”

“That could be dangerous, Taylor.” The head Scientist pointed out.

“As could be keeping them apart.”

Part 1; Impulsivity - 1. Abominable

 

Raindrops lashed the window pane, white noise reverberating through the walls of the large house as the drops of water struck the glass and raced each other to the sill. Lightning forked through the sky at a speed impossible to calculate, posing unthinkable danger to whatever it struck, yet the forest it entered didn’t even shiver in the swirling wind. No longer than a second had passed since the lightning before thunder clapped over-head, a naturally occurring grandfather clock, telling me it was time to go home, just as it had been for the past week and a half. I never listened to it, though. My home wasn’t home anymore.

I dragged my eyes away from the window and the mesmerising weather, and back to the book that sat on my lap, leaning against my knees as I sat in the window seat in Oliver’s bedroom; my back against the wall, the window beside me. I forced my eyes to focus on the page, to decipher the symbols that served as letters and string them into words, stitch them into sentences, and maybe even pull the threads tighter so they became paragraphs. But my eyes drifted across the words, the letters floating off the page and dancing before my eyes. I sighed in frustration and slammed the book shut, forcing it over my knees and to the other end of the window seat, the gold block letters on the cover gleaming in wake of another lightning strike. I didn’t need to force my brain to read the words to know what they said; A Tale of Two Cities.

It had been that way ever since my Mum died; the one thing I loved enough to distract myself with was unfeasible to me. It felt almost like karma – I couldn’t bring myself to tell her the ending as she took her last breaths, so it seemed only fitting that I couldn’t even read past the first page, let alone that far. For the third time that hour, I reached back over to the book, opening it again in another feeble attempt to read it.

“Oliver!”  A voice was yelling somewhere in the house. “God dammit,” they said, a little quieter, before, “Oliver!”

Just as I blocked out the voice, two sets of heavy footsteps thundered up the stairs and the door to the bedroom burst open.

“Oliver!”

I looked up from my book and met the eyes of the intruder. Blue. Shining. Excited.

Calliope blinked. “You’re not Oliver,”

“I daresay I’m not,” I mumbled.

The younger girl stepped into the room, moving around the double bed to sit on the side across from me, leaving David to stand awkwardly in the doorway. “So, you’re still here, then?” She reached up and tucked a lock of brown waves behind her right ear, revealing the true extent of the swirling scar on her neck and arm for a fraction of a second, before she removed her hand and the hair fell exactly where it had been before.

I nodded. “I don’t really have anywhere else to go.”

She raised her eyebrows. “You could always go home,”

I shook my head. “It’s not my home anymore. All that’s there is a man who isn’t my father, and two fourteen year old girls who are hardly even my sisters. I don’t even know if they’d want me back. I’m an abomination.”

“They miss you, Sera.” Calliope insisted, ignoring my comment about being an abomination; I hadn’t realised at the time, but that was insulting to the both of us, not just me. “They want you to go home.”

I shrugged. “I don’t know if I can face going home quite yet.”

Her face softened, and she reached out to pat my knee. “I’m sure Mum won’t mind you sticking around. I think she likes you more than she likes me. Not that that’s a surprise, but still. I think she wouldn’t want you leaving if you weren’t comfortable with it. You need a Mum right now. She’s willing to fill that place for you.”

“I’m sure she’ll protest me sticking around forever, though.” I pointed out. “At this rate, I don’t think I’ll ever be ready to go home.”

Calliope’s face changed from soft to unreadable. It was a face she pulled quite often – I had noticed it more since I had been staying there. It was the same way she looked at things she couldn’t understand, like experiments or machines she pulled apart. It wasn’t quite intrigued or confused or worried, but something in between. “How are the headaches?” She asked, her voice dropping low as if they were a secret, despite David’s knowledge of the problem.

I shrugged, closing the book and putting it beside me on the window seat. “Mainly in the morning when I wake up. They’re still painful as hell, but they fade after about half an hour.”

She took a deep breath. “You do know what the headaches are, right?” She asked slowly. “Considering you’re not being pumped with their drugs anymore, I mean.”

“A boy.” I told her, because it was all I knew.

She said a word. A name. But as she said the word, it was if she was speaking in a different language. My brain couldn’t process it. As she spoke, I saw the numbers on her Watch (which were purple once more) flicker on and off. I knew she would be concerned if I told her there was more wrong with my brain than she already knew, so I just nodded, my eyes trained on the carpet.

What about the voice in your head?  

I flinched as she spoke into my mind. I don’t hear him much anymore. I can feel him in my head sometimes, like he wants to talk to me, but eventually he disappears again.

Her eyebrows furrowed. Do the headaches start when he’s in your head?

A little, yes. I imagine they would be worse if he actually spoke.

In the doorway, David raised his eyebrows. “Are you two doing that thing?”

Calliope and I turned to look at him in sync, our facial expressions mirroring each other’s.

The boy slipped his hands into his pockets. “I’m gonna take that as a yes,”

I turned back to Calliope. Do you have any idea who he is?

A slight idea. She replied.

I thought back to the day when she showed me the security footage from the Compound. Is… is it Cooper?

Don’t. Stop thinking about that. She chastised me.

“Why?” It took me a while to realise I had spoken aloud.

Calliope sighed. “Just… trust me, okay? You don’t want to think about him. Like I said the other week, he’s gone. No need to worry.”

I nodded.

She blinked then, her brain switching from caring to business. “Oliver. Do you know where he is?”

“You could try the library,” I suggested. “Or the kitchen. Josh was complaining he was hungry earlier and wouldn’t stop coming in here because he’s not allowed to use the knives himself. Or maybe even the backyard. Josh was pretty intent on playing soccer too, despite the fact that we’re in the middle of a thunder storm right now.”

“Damn twelve year olds.” Calliope grumbled. “Everyone is so embarrassing when they’re twelve. All that year does is bring future embarrassment to everyone. We should find a way to like, mature people past twelve, thirteen and maybe even fourteen, so they don’t have to go through all that embarrassment when they look back on their lives.”

“Probably not possible.” David interjected from the door.

Calliope swirled around to face him. “Of course it’s possible! If the Scientists can create Sera from a single gamete and then insert an artificial chromosome into her gene pool that makes her more susceptible to people’s thoughts and whatever else she can do—” she stopped, turning around to face me, “—which, if you’re staying, we should definitely find out what exactly it is that you can do—” she span to face David once more, “—then of course I can find a way to hack into the growth sector of the brain and just speed up the maturity levels so you skip twelve and thirteen altogether!”

David held up his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay! If you say so!”

“I do say so!” Calliope snapped back playfully. She then turned to face me again. “You just give me a yell if you need anything, okay?”

“I will,” I muttered, picking up the book as Calliope pranced from the room in pursuit of her brother, David traipsing awkwardly behind her.

I opened the book once more, trying to read again, but the letters were still floating off the page and dancing before my eyes. Rather than just throwing it over my knees and onto the bed of the window seat like before, I found myself hurling the precious hardback at the wall opposite me, just as Oliver reappeared.

My Soul Mate opened the door and flinched, jerking to the side and forcing the door open with a bang as it collided with the wall beside it, the book narrowly missing his head and flying out into the corridor. He watched the book land on the floor outside the room before turning back to me, his eyes wide, just as mine were. My hands were pressed over my mouth, my back straight. We looked at each other wide-eyed for what felt like hours.

“What have I done this time?” He said, only half joking. “I’ve pissed you off before, I know, but I’ve never had a book thrown at my head.”

I managed to pull my hands down from my mouth and drop them into my lap before I dragged myself from the window seat. I stumbled almost blindly across the room to where he stood and pulled him close, embracing him tightly. He stood frozen for a minute before I felt his muscles relax and he wrapped his arms around me.

“So,” he muttered into my hair after a while, “not mad at me?”

I shook my head against his shoulder. “Just frustrated with myself, I guess.”

He pulled back, his hands sliding down the bare skin of my arms. “Why? What’s wrong?”

I sighed. “What do you think?”

For the millionth time in the last fortnight, he looked down and muttered, “I’m so sorry, Sera.” But you can’t save everyone. He never said the last half of the sentence, but it always hung in the air like a dark cloud.

My eyes travelled to the book out in the hallway and his gaze followed mine. “I still can’t focus on it.”

His hand travelled up from my arm to my forehead as he brushed a stray lock of hair out of my face, tucking it behind my ear. “I know you don’t want to hear it,” he muttered, “because I know I hate people saying it to me, but to some degree, I guess it’s true. It’ll get better, Sera. I’ll do anything to make sure it will.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Anything?”

He flashed me a smirk. “Even do a naked rain dance atop a volcano before diving in and sacrificing myself to Satan.”

For the first time in days, I laughed. The sound was colourful and melodic, even to my ears. But it was also alien; an echo, a replica, of my mother’s laughter that chimed through the house when I was younger. I kept the smile brought by the laughter plastered on my face to make Oliver feel a little better. “I don’t think that will be necessary, but I’m sure Hollywood would love to get that on video – or at least, the naked rain dance part, anyway.”

“Hollywood can’t touch what they can’t afford.” He winked, pulling me backwards to lie down on his bed with him.

“But they can afford you.” I pointed out. “How else would you have been in any movies?”

Oliver stroked his non-existent beard with one hand, and my hair with the other. “Well, for this year only, they can’t afford me. I’m getting educated this year – I need to be able to read all those big fancy words in their ridiculous scripts, don’t I?” The bed shook with his laughter. “Besides, if they think I’m leaving you alone just to film a thirty-second scene in Cambodia or something stupid like that, they are severely mistaken.”

I took a deep breath. “Do you ever wonder what would happen if everyone knew?”

The hand in my hair stopped moving. “If everyone knew what?”

“If everyone knew what happened in the Compound. If everyone knew I’m an abomination. If everyone knew we went and got our Watches reset.”  I listed.

Oliver bolted upright, looking down at me with a worried expression. “You’re not an abomination, Sera,” he insisted, “please don’t say that.”

I shrugged. “I shouldn’t exist. I’m… I’m like a machine.”

He took each of my hands into his, pulling me up into a sitting position. “I honestly don’t know what I’d do if you didn’t exist.” He said admittedly. “Before we met, I was so close to—” he broke off, his eyes travelling to his arm where he had his own scar, travelling from the crook of his elbow to his wrist, and shook his head. “What I’m trying to say is, there are people who need you, Sera. I’m one of them. Stacy and Shaunee, Thomas – they are too. You have helped so many people without even noticing it. You helped Calliope come back down to earth; she’s so much more… positive when you’re around. I think it helps that you’re like her. You helped Matt believe he was worthy of a name, helped him believe in himself. You’re helping me. Constantly. Just by being here. After what they did at the Compound… I can’t thank you enough, Sera. Believe me, love, you’re anything but an abomination.”

I nodded. “Still… what if everyone knew about all that?”

Oliver sighed. “I doubt everything would be as peaceful as it is. People would certainly panic about what actually happens behind the Scientists’ closed doors. Unfortunately, I imagine people would have a lot of horrible things to say about you, both for the fact that you’re an Untouchable, and the fact that we got our Watches reset. But, you see, this is why they’re secrets. Why we don’t tell anybody.”

“Secrets have a cost.” I pointed out.

He met my eyes. “The cost of this secret is telling it.”

I didn’t know what to say; he had a point. We may have beaten the Scientists when we escaped, by there was no way we could beat them again if we told everyone what happened to us in the Compound. Even Calliope wouldn’t be able to bribe her way out of that one. Speaking of Calliope…

“Calliope was looking for you earlier.” I told him. “Did she find you.”

His face fell, but he nodded.

“What is it?” I asked. “What’s wrong?”

“She… she thought she found a way to get rid of the seed in my mind. To make me normal again. Or, at least, as normal as I was before.” He said quietly.

I raised my eyebrows. “She did look overly excited when she burst in here before.”

“I don’t imagine she looks excited anymore.” He muttered. “It didn’t work. She’s freaking out over her pages upon pages of algorithms and equations right now, going through huge piles of books… I kind of hope she’d stop looking.”

My eyebrows furrowed. “Why?”

“I’m upset a lot of the time, now. I know how shit it is.” He told me. “She tries and tries and pushes herself to the limit, getting her hopes up insanely high when she thinks she’s found a way to fix me. Then she discovers she can’t, and her hopes drop even lower than before. I don’t want her to end up like me.”

Once again, I didn’t know what to say.

“I know why she’s so determined to help me, though.” He admitted.

“You do?”

He nodded. “The only time she’s ever failed at something like this was… was when Libby died. She feels responsible for Libby’s death. I guess, to a point, yeah she is, but the blame is equally on the rest of our shoulders for not noticing that Libby was down there with her that night until dinner. But anyway, now she feels responsible for this happening to me. She couldn’t help Libby, but she can help me. Or, so she believes.”

“We’ll help you get better, Oliver.” I mumbled.

A faint smile played around his lips. “Just before you were saying you were like a machine. In Calliope’s mind, I am too. I’m a machine she can’t fix, and you’re a machine she wants desperately to understand.” One corner of his mouth turned up, his eyes sparkling. “They sort of go hand in hand, don’t you think?”

I felt a smile slowly spread itself across my face. “I guess you’re right, but aren’t we all machines in Calliope’s eyes?”

“I suppose so, yes,” he agreed, “but when it comes down to it, we’re the broken ones. We’re the ones she will pay the most attention to.”

Part 1; Impulsivity - 2. In Control

 

It felt like my Watch was still counting down all over again. Or, it would have, if I hadn’t been walking hand-in-hand with Oliver down the school hallways. Everyone was staring. Actually, gawking was a more accurate word. Most people weren’t trying to conceal the fact that they were staring at Oliver and I as we entered St Elizabeth’s for the first time after getting lost on the wilderness camp where we were found by the Scientists and taken into the Compound.

That was almost two months ago.

I was almost certain there had been at least one rumour spreading through the school that Oliver, Tia, Derek and I had died somehow out in the wilderness, maybe even died in one of the multitude of ways Tia suggested at the time. That would explain everyone’s shock at seeing us alive and walking around school.

“This makes me feel so uncomfortable.” I told Oliver softly. “They’re always staring at me. First it was my Mum. Then my Watch. Then you. And now cause chances are they all thought we had died.”

“You’ll get used to it eventually.” Oliver promised.

I bumped his shoulder with my own. “Are you used to it?”

He smirked. “Of course not. That’s just something everyone tells you to make you feel a little more comfortable with everyone constantly gawking at you.”

“I just wish they would stop it.” I grumbled, eyeing my peers wearily. “It’s not like we died.”

I felt him stiffen beside me. “We were close.”

“Hey,” I stopped walking and squeezed his hand. “But we didn’t. They have no power over us anymore.”

Oliver squeezed his eyes shut tightly, looking almost as if her were in pain. “They have so much more control over me now, Sera.” He said gravely. “So much more control.”

“We’ll fix you, Oliver.” I promised for the hundredth time. “I swear to god, we will.”

He fell into my arms, folding himself over so we were almost the same height. He nodded against my chest. The message in his actions was clear; he was thanking me. With everything going on, he knew I was still confused about my feelings towards him. There was a chance that he didn’t even think I would try to help him.

“Come on,” I said quietly, running my hand softly up and down the length of his spine. “We should get going. Mrs Skylard needs her Elizabeth and Darcy.”

Once again, he nodded against my chest. He stayed in the small circle of my arms a moment longer, before gathering up the courage to let go, rising up to his normal height once more. He even managed to flash me a smile as he laced his fingers through mine.

We came to the wide set of stairs leading from the English faculty rooms to the Drama Hall and the administration. Two months before, Tia had tackled me down these stairs. I knew for a fact that that Sera wouldn’t want to help Oliver. In all honesty, she would probably discover his situation and jump for joy.

I suddenly understood Oliver’s gratitude towards me.

“Do you really think they’ll leave us alone like Calliope asked?” I asked him softly. Thinking back to the conversations Calliope had shown me between Dr Mangan and Dr Williams, I already knew the answer. They would either separate me from Calliope, or they would bring… the… the third Untouchable to us. My mind switched to my sister. My twin. I wondered where she was, if she would be able to help. But I knew bringing her into the situation would only put her in immense danger, so I shook the thought away.

Beside me, Oliver shrugged. “I think they’ll do whatever it takes to get they want. Somehow I don’t imagine they’re really going to listen to the request of a fifteen-year-old girl.”

“She gave them a pretty big threat.” I pointed out.

Oliver sighed. “Look, I know you want to believe they won’t bother us again, but to be completely honest with you, Sera, if they wanted Calliope out of their way, she would be dead by now.”

I looked down, watching the linoleum pass under my feet. “I guess you’re right.”

 We were just about to round the corner to walk past the information desk in the administration sector of St Elizabeth’s as I bounded into Oliver’s arm and was flung back around the corner. He twirled around and pushed me against the wall, pressing his hand against my mouth. I felt my eyes widen, and I gripped his hand, trying to pull it away from my face.

“Don’t talk now,” he said quietly, so only I could hear, “but there are two Scientists around the corner. Dr Williams and some other woman I’ve never seen before.” Hesitantly, he stuck his head around the corner. “I think they’re asking for you.”

I stopped breathing, begging him with my eyes to get me out of there. He held his finger to his lips, telling me to be quiet. Telling me to listen.

“It is very important that we talk the principal about Miss Grey.” Dr Williams was saying. “We need to further discuss her situation. She hasn’t been very stable since the death of her mother, and we fear she is getting worse.”

I could almost imagine the Android at the desk nodding. “Oh, yes, I heard about the poor girl’s mother. What a pity. She was a lovely woman. Just let me find out where she was last period. If you’re quick, you could bump into her at her locker.”

“No, no, it would probably be best if she weren’t there.” Said a third voice. My heart stopped. Dr Mangan was there. She was the second Scientist.

“Actually,” the Android said, “I could always call her up to the administration. I can put you in a meeting room. It would save you two from searching for her.”

The two Scientists muttered agreements of how much better that would be, and I managed to tear Oliver’s hand away from my mouth. “You need to get me out of here.” I whispered desperately. “Now.”

Eyes wide, he nodded. His eyes scanned the hallway we were in, landing on a door across the hallway. I followed his eyes, and read store room on a bronze-coloured sign on the door.

I raised my eyebrows. “Seriously?” I whispered. “Could you get any more cliché?”

He, on the other hand, looked panicked. “Do you see any better options? Come on, before they come around this corner and arrest you or something on the spot.”

I sighed almost exasperatedly and followed him as he scrambled across the hallway and opened the door quietly before closing it behind me, slow but panicked. We were both breathing heavily, our backs against the door as we tried in earnest to hear what was occurring on the other side. When I couldn’t hear, I turned my head, pressing my ear against the cold, painted wood. Oliver did the same, our noses touching very slightly. In the dim light, I saw his eyelids flutter closed for a fraction of a second at the contact. We heard no voices, but instead three sets of footsteps walk around the corner before passing the store room. I let out a breath I hadn’t realised I was holding and turned around, reaching out to open the door, when someone opened it for me.

“Seriously?” They said, exasperatedly. “Out of all the good hiding places, you choose a store room?”

My eyes adjusted to the bright whiteness of the school hall, revealing a brunette as tall as me with sparkling blue eyes and a scar that travelled down the right half of her body. “Calliope!” I snapped. “You scared the crap out of me!”

She grabbed my wrist and pulled me from the store room before doing the same to Oliver. Unprepared for her strength, I was flung into David, who was standing a little to the side of the door. Unfortunately, David wasn’t one for strength, and we tumbled to the floor in a tangle of limbs. The poor boy was almost so lanky that he couldn’t function like a normal human being.

“Oh, well done.” Calliope rolled her eyes, yet helped the two of us up from the ground. “Hiding in a store room though, seriously? No way, guys, that’s not how it works. We need a better hiding place.”

“We?!” Oliver asked exasperatedly.

“Yeah. Follow me.”

Calliope lead us through the halls of St Elizabeth’s as if she were following a route the rest of us couldn’t see; her eyes were trained to the ground, and she didn’t look up once until she reached a door. She lead us inside the room, before stopping at a large, wooden desk at the front of the room. The school banner was laid over the top of the desk, making it appear to be solid, but if I knew Calliope well enough, it probably wasn’t.

Still, I raised my eyebrows, searching for confirmation. “We’re going to hide under a desk?”

She didn’t even flinch. “Trust me on this one.”

She bent over and flicked up the banner, revealing two three-sided legs holding the desk up. Each leg was large enough to hold two of us; with the banner down, we wouldn’t be seen. No one argued as Calliope ushered us under the desk. Oliver went first, rolling his eyes as he crawled into one corner. I followed quickly, weary of why we were hiding in this particular room. I had a feeling the Scientists and Principal would soon be joining us, and I wanted to be well out of sight by that time.

David crawled into a corner of the leg opposite us with great difficulty as Calliope set the banner back down on the desk, before shifting it slightly and sliding under herself. She stationed herself across from me, pressed against David. She pulled her knees to her chest, waiting. I copied her actions, though I imagined her reasoning was excitement, where mine was sickening fear. If I had my way, I would be anywhere in the world aside from in that room, but I figured what we were about to hear would be important.

We hadn’t been hiding for long when we heard the door open. Immediately, I stiffened, and felt Oliver trail his hand up and down my thigh in an attempt to calm me. He slowly draped his other arm around my shoulders, pulling me close to him. I leant my head on his shoulder, allowing my hair to slip over my face. Hiding from the world, even though I was already hiding.

“Sorry for making you wait, Dr Mangan.” The Principal was saying. “I would’ve been right with you, but a serious fight broke out in the cafeteria last period. I needed to sort that out.”

“Not to worry, Mr Banner. We understand. And fortunately, we’re not in a hurry for once.” The Scientist replied.

Footsteps sounded on the linoleum, and the chair behind the desk we were under was pulled out. I thanked every god under the sun that it was only Mr Banner sitting down. Even then, I still didn’t let myself relax.

“So,” he said casually, even though just by looking at his legs, it was obvious that he was afraid to be talking to the Head of the New York Compound. “What is it you wish to discuss?”

“We understand that Sera Grey attends this school, correct?” Dr Mangan asked.

“Yes, it’s my understanding that she is in eleventh grade and still attends. Just started back at school today after her mother’s death.” The principal replied.

“Are you aware she has a sister?”

I could imagine him nodding. “Her two younger sisters are in eighth grade here, yes. It should be their first day back as well – would you like me to pull the three of them out of class?”

“No, no, that won’t be necessary. We’re not referring to Shaunee and Stacy Grey.” Dr Williams spoke before Dr Mangan could that time. I could almost feel the glare she would have received from the Head Scientist for her interruption.

“We’re referring, in fact, to her twin sister.” Dr Mangan continued.

I raised my head, my eyes wide. My heart thudded in my chest so loud that I was surprised the Scientists couldn’t hear it.

Mr Banner sat up straight in the chair before leaning forwards, two thumps on the table signalling him leaning on his elbows. “Twin sister? Are you quite sure she has one? I’m afraid you might actually be referring to the younger Grey girls.”

“Trust me, Mr Banner, we’re referring to the correct girl.” The Head Scientist snapped.

I interpreted the Principal’s lack of response as a very hesitant nod.

“You see, Clarissa had twins as a result of her disease – I understand you know her story – yet she only kept Sera. Rose, on the other hand was adopted out as a baby.”

“Two sets of twins?” Banner asked incredulously.

“We believe it was a side-effect of the disease.” Dr Williams interjected. “Although it is possible naturally.”

“Yes, thank you Taylor.” Dr Mangan snapped. “Anyway, we have recently located Rose Grey. We proposed to her the idea of being reunited with her twin sister, and she expressed great interest in the idea. We promised her we would secure her a spot here at St Elizabeth’s before she travels here next week. That is why we are here. You see, her foster parents were killed in a fire when she was three, and she has since been living in an orphanage, so she has no parental guardians. We were wondering if we could enrol her as a student here.”

Banner sighed. “With all due respect, Dr Mangan, by law we are only allowed to enrol a student with parent or guardian consent. If you wish for this Rose Grey to be enrolled, you must either find her a foster home or become her guardian yourself.”

If my eyes could have gone any wider, they would have. Instead, I closed my eyes as tight as they could go and collapsed into Oliver’s shoulder once more. His hand gently smoothed down my hair in an attempt to comfort me, yet I was still swallowing back tears. I knew what was coming next.

“Well, she is coming down, as I said, next week.” Dr Mangan repeated. “It will be exceedingly difficult to find a foster family before then, so I believe it would be easier if Taylor and I agree to be her guardian. Would that be acceptable?”

The Principal must have nodded. “See to it that you return with all relevant paperwork, and you can enrol her as soon as you wish.”

I heard the two Scientists rise from the chairs they must have sat down on at some point.

“Thank you very much, Mr Banner, we’ll see you soon.” The Head Scientist said kindly.

“You’re very welcome. Oh – let me walk you two out; the bell is about to ring, and I would hate for you to get trampled by unruly teenagers as you leave.” Banner jumped up from the seat and hurried from the room without tucking it back under the desk.

That was when I finally let myself cry. “Why?” I sobbed. “Why did he give them that idea? Now my twin sister is stuck with the Scientists!”

The four of us were quiet for a long while.

“Calliope,” I mumbled against Oliver’s shoulder. “Calliope, we have to get her out.”

For the first time since I met her, the younger girl didn’t reply when faced with something completely illegal which involved ruining the plans of the Scientists. Perplexed, I pulled myself from Oliver’s shoulder and looked over at her.

Even in the dim light under the table, she looked flustered. Her brows were drawn together, almost a reflection of the perplexity on my own face. Her blue eyes were trained on the floor, but I could tell that the floor was not what the girl was seeing. As a result of the flush on her cheeks, the scar on her neck and arm stood out more than usual, making her look incredibly vulnerable. He eyes were still trained on the floor when she spoke.

“I… I don’t understand…”

Then she was crawling from beneath the table and out of the room before anyone could say a word.

Oliver, David and I sat in a stunned silence for a little while.

“What do you think is wrong?” I asked David hesitantly.

The look in David’s eye was weary. “She now has another person she believes she needs to save.”

Part 1; Impulsivity - 3. A Familiar Presence

 

 The pale grey walls loomed over me, the air around me stifling. The silence of the room was deafening. The waiting drove me insane. Mr Banner had called me to his office, had told me that my twin sister who had been adopted out at birth was now enrolled, and asked if I could take care of her. I had to feign innocence, pretend the news of my sister was a shock. It wasn’t that hard; a week after his meeting with the Scientists, and I still hadn’t completely come to terms with the fact that I would be meeting my sister so soon. He had left soon after, and told me to wait in his office until he returned with his new student.

It had been ten minutes. Surely it doesn’t take that long to get her. I thought to myself.

I don’t know, Sera, he sure loves to dawdle.

I flinched. “Calliope!” I hissed.

At the back of the Principal’s office, the door of a cupboard creaked open, and the younger girl stuck her head out. “Hey.”

“What are you doing here?!” I asked exasperatedly.

She shrugged. “I’m curious about this twin sister of yours.”

“How did you even get in there?” I asked, then I paused. “You know what, I don’t even want to know. Jesus, Calliope! What if you get caught?”

Better keep your voice down then. She said in my head. Behind me, she slowly shut the cupboard door.

I’ll never get used to this. I thought, turning back to the front of the office. Is David there too?

I could almost feel Calliope shaking her head. When he realised out hiding spot was a small-sized cupboard, he opted out. As if anyone would choose math over this.

Believe it or not, some people actually have common sense. I told her.

Meaning some people have zero sense of adventure.

I rolled my eyes. This is getting ridiculous. Where could they even be?

Why don’t you find out? You’re an Untouchable, remember? Go on. See if you can find them.

I sighed, and felt my eyes slide closed. I focused on my energy, feeling it running through my body, the blood flowing through my veins, the thoughts flickering through my mind. I silenced those thoughts, clearing my mind. Then I widened my range. I could hear whispers of thoughts clouding Calliope’s mind at the back of the room. I could sense her energy, her excitement. I pushed further. Outside, there were two Androids manning the main desk at the administration sector. There was a drama class in the drama hall, searching for costumes. There were three or four brave students hanging around a locker, unbeknownst to the fact that a teacher was about to walk around the corner and find them out of class.

Back in the Principal’s office, I heard Calliope; That’s it. Keep going.

My concentration wavered, and I could feel myself slipping backwards, returning to the office. I squeezed my eyes shut tightly,  standing my ground. My range steadied, then continued forward. I could feel David in his math class, his brain hazy. Oliver and Tia were in art, where I should have been, their minds a whirlwind of colour. The radius of my range expanded, and I felt a familiar presence in one of the classrooms, and flinched. Just who was that?

Perplexed, I pushed past the barrier of their mind, trying to decipher the whispered thoughts that clouded their brain. A slight pain appeared in my temple. I scrunched my eyes closed again, forcing my consciousness forward, trying to ignore the pain that was slowly growing harsher, enveloping my forehead, spreading behind my eyes. Before I knew what was happening, I was too far in. I felt the person jump, and my own body did the same.

Sera… what are you up to? Calliope’s frantic voice was a mere whisper in my mind.

I ignored her, concentrating hard. I tried pulling my consciousness back slightly, just to a depth I felt safe with. I hoped the pain would subside, but it got slightly worse. My curiosity got even stronger. Why the headache now? It normally happened after waking up, but never during the day. Or at least, never that bad. I could sense the person’s thoughts, but I couldn’t understand them. All I heard was a wash of white noise.

Then; Sera?!

The pain exploded in my head, and my concentration was broken. I was back in my own body. Calliope was at my side, shaking me.

“Sera. Sera!” She was saying.

Hesitantly, I raised my head from the desk. I didn’t remember laying down. My brows furrowed. “Calliope?” My eyes widened. “Why did you come out? Are you insane?”

“You collapsed, Sera, I couldn’t just leave you be.” She said exasperatedly.

I raised my hand to my head wearily, a dull ache still there. “Collapsed?” I asked.

Calliope nodded gravely. “Just randomly. You seemed to be concentrating hard. I tried talking to you in your head, but you didn’t respond. You must have reached your limit.”

“Yeah,” I muttered. I wouldn’t tell her what really happened. She seemed very touchy about whatever was causing my headaches. And whatever was causing them seemed to be that person. That familiar presence that somehow knew my name.

“How far did you get?” Calliope pressed. “How many hallways?”

I tried thinking back, to before I encountered that presence. “I got somewhere past the art rooms, I think… At least another block over.”

Her eyes lit up. “That’s over a 500 metre radius!” She exclaimed. “That’s brilliant!” She paused. “But you didn’t find the Principal?”

Behind me, I heard footsteps. I span around in my chair, panicking for Calliope’s sake.

“What?” She asked cautiously. “What is it?”

I looked at her as if she were insane. “Are you not hearing those footsteps?”

A smile appeared on her lips, her eyes filling with excitement. “How far away are they? Learn to control your radar.”

I looked at her, my brow furrowed. I sighed, then closed my eyes. I cleared my mind, pushing out my consciousness once more. “Two people. One older – in the late 30s. The second around mid-to-late teens. About four corridors away, just outside the administration sector.” I found myself saying.

“Brilliant.” The excited girl muttered. “I guess I better return to my cupboard, huh?”

I nodded, a fraction of a movement. I was astounded at my knowledge of their distance away from the office. Calliope’s curiosity seemed to spread into me like wildfire; I wanted to know what else I could do, what other abilities my mother and the Scientists weaved into my artificial chromosome. I wanted to know if my twin sister had the same abilities.

More importantly, I wanted to know who that person was in the block across from Oliver’s art class. I wanted to know who they were, why they knew my name, and why they caused me the ridiculous headaches. My eyes slid closed, and I found my consciousness reaching out for them once more. I passed over Mr Banner and my twin sister, and could feel that same presence, curiosity scraping the insides of my mind.

My eyes flew open as I felt someone touch my shoulder lightly. Mr Banner stood before me, a worried look on his face.

“Are you alright, Sera?” He asked.

I blinked a couple of times, my consciousness taking its time to adjust back to the confines of my own mind. “I’m fine.” I told him. I took a deep breath. “Sorry, I just got a bit of a migraine.”

“Do you need anything to fix it?” He sounded awfully concerned. I imagined he was all kinds of worried about my mental state after the death of my mother.

I shook my head. “It’s okay, it should fade soon.”

He nodded, then motioned to the girl beside him, who I had been too disorientated to notice, even though she had been haunting my thoughts for the past week, ever since I discovered she would be coming here.

“This is Rose.”

The girl gave me a shy smile. The movement was small, yet it lit up her whole face. Her ebony hair fell to her waist in waves so subtle it looked almost straight. She was small – at least two whole inches shorter than me, and almost ridiculously skinny. I remembered what the Scientists had written about her in their reports after we had been born; The second born of the twins weighted in at a frightening 0.9kg… Clare did not name the girl due to fear she would not survive because of her size. Her slight frame made sense; of course she would still be a lot smaller than everyone else. She had green eyes like me, though hers were much more alluring – around her pupils they were a light, dull green, which soon faded into a darker, almost emerald green to the edge of her irises.

There were slight differences between the two of us, yet she was undeniably my twin sister.

I stood up from my seat and found myself smiling, and holding out my hand. “I’m Sera.” I told her. “Sera Grey.”

She reached out and shook my hand, her smile slightly more confident than before. “I’m Rose. Well, Rose Macintosh, though I suppose it’s technically Rose Grey, huh?”

“You’ve been enrolled as Rose Macintosh due to the paperwork given to me.” Mr Banner told her. “Do you wish to have the records changed?”

Rose’s brow furrowed, her hand moving to her chin as she contemplated his offer. “It’s fine.” She said after a while. “I don’t feel as if I have claim to that name.”

Mr Banner nodded. “As you wish—”

“Of course you do!” I interrupted him, incredulous. I took a deep breath. “Of course you have claim to our last name.”

Rose blinked, taken aback. She then shook her head. “It’s fine, Sera, honestly. I’m used to being called Rose Macintosh anyway.”

I nodded awkwardly. “If that’s what you want.”

She nodded.

Mr Banner put a hand on each of our shoulders. “Well, I have some work I have to get to, as well as a meeting in—” he pulled his hand away from my shoulder to look at his watch “—fifteen minutes. I’m right in trusting that you’ll be okay to show Rose around?” He asked me.

I nodded again.

“She’s been placed in your classes for today, all the teachers have had the situation explained to them so they already know.” He told me, before turning to Rose. “Your own timetable will be drawn up today, I will send it to you this afternoon via the Interface. Come to me if you have any issues. Though I’m sure Sera here will be glad to help out.”

“Thank you, sir.” Rose said, smiling at him.

“Right, well, I’ll be on my way then. Have a good day, girls.”

Mr Banner had barely left the room when Calliope toppled out of the cupboard at the back of the room, making Rose jump out of her skin beside me.

“Calliope!” I chastised her – I thought she’d stay in there until all three of us had left the room, but she obviously had other ideas.

“Sorry.” she said, pushing herself up off her hands and knees so she was sitting on the linoleum floor. “There’s not a lot of air in those cupboards. Hiding in lockers is much more comfortable – at least they have slots for air.”

“One day, Calliope, you’re gonna get stuck somewhere, and I’m gonna laugh.” I told her.

“You and the rest of the world,” she laughed, pulling her hair up into a pony tail, “not to mention the Scientists.”

Beside me, Rose’s brow furrowed. “The Scientists?”

Calliope’s head snapped up, and her eyes scanned Rose. It was as if she were pulling my sister apart with her eyes. “Oh, that’s right,” she said, “you’re staying with them, aren’t you? They’re your guardians now, since your foster parents died.”

Rose’s eyes widened. “How did you—?” Her eyes slid over to the cupboard where Calliope had been hiding. “Never mind.”

Calliope stood up and walked over, leaning against the desk. “They don’t particularly like me.” She told Rose. “You could say there was a bit of a… misunderstanding.”

I scoffed. “A misunderstanding? Is that what you’d call it?”

She shrugged. “They thought they could take my brother away from me. They were wrong.”

“Your brother?” Rose asked.

“My Soul Mate.” I told her.

Her brow furrowed. “Why would they do that?”

Calliope and I looked at each other, unsure of what to say. So I went out on a whim.

We’re different. And highly valuable. I projected the thought. They’d do anything to get their hands on us.

Across from us, Rose flinched.

We’re not exactly in a safe situation whenever the Scientists are involved. Calliope added.

Rose’s brow furrowed again. I thought I was the only one who could do this. I thought maybe I was going insane.

“Not only are you sane,” Calliope said aloud, “but you’re Untouchable. We’re simultaneously the three safest and most endangered people on Earth.” She held out a hand to Rose, just as the bell sounded. “I’m Calliope. Calliope Jackson.”

Rose shook it. “Rose Macintosh.”

I turned and looked pointedly at Calliope. “You’ve already missed first period because of your insatiable curiosity.” I told her. “You’re going to your second class.”

Calliope sighed, rolling her eyes at me. “What are you my mother?”

“Sister.” I told her as she made her way to the door.

She stopped suddenly, her hand on the doorframe. “What?”

I realised what I had said, my eyes wide. My gaze dropped to the floor, and I shuffled my feet. “Well, you know, sister-in-law.” I mumbled. “Future sister-in-law, I suppose.”

Realisation coloured the younger girl’s features. “Oh, right, sure.” She disappeared without another word.

Rose raised a single eyebrow. “What was that about?”

I shrugged. “She doesn’t really have a good relationship with her family. She, uh… she caused an accident three years ago, a house fire. Her younger sister died. I don’t think her parents ever forgave her for it.”

Rose looked at the ground. “I see… Is that how she got her scar?”

I nodded. “Come on, we should get to class.”

“Where are we headed?” She asked.

“English, I’m pretty sure. I need to head to my locker first, though.”

“Lead the way.”

I made my way from the room, Rose at my heels. When we made it out of the admin sector and into the busier halls, I grabbed hold of her wrist to make sure she wouldn’t be lost in the crowds. The crowds were staring at me as usual, but this time the whispers were louder; it was obvious to anyone that Rose was my twin sister, and when coupling that fact with the circumstance of my birth, there was a lot of confusion, a lot of louder-than-necessary remarks, and a lot of subtle curiosity. I cleared my mind as if I was going to project my consciousness again, but instead put up a wall, blocking their words.

I scanned the crowds, hoping to see Oliver or Tia, so they could maybe save me and Rose from the awkwardness arising as a result of the unnecessary attention, but I couldn’t see them. I searched the hallway with my consciousness, and it brought up no better results.

Then I felt it. The familiar presence.

My eyes scanned the crowd once more in earnest, most of it a blur of colours. Then, a tall boy a few years older than me with this framed glasses and messy brown hair was visible through the sea of bodies.

I stopped walking, my eyes wide.

Rose touched my arm softly, making me jump and look away from the boy. “What’s wrong, Sera?”

My eyes travelled back to where he had been in the crowd, but he was gone. I could no longer sense that familiar presence in the hallway. I shook my head. “Nothing. Just thought I saw someone. Come on.”

Part 1; Impulsivity - 4. The Inequity Endemic

 

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. My nostrils were assaulted with the smell of hard, worn leather, musty cloth, aged paper, and old ink. As my eyelids opened, I let my gaze travel up and down the bookcases, across the shelves stacked with books I loved so much.

“This is probably my favourite place here.” I said, turning around to see a look of awe plastered on my twin sister’s face.

“There’s so… so many.” She practically gasped, her eyes wide.

I smiled to myself. “This is the first place I talked to Oliver properly, too.”

Her brow furrowed slightly. “You Soul Mate?” She asked. “And Calliope’s brother?”

I nodded, a small laugh coming from my mouth. “I… I didn’t really like him at first. I thought he was an asshole.” I said, dropping into one of the bean bags at the base of the bookshelves.

“Why did you think that?” Rose inquired, sitting down on the bean bag across from me.

I shrugged. “Well, we used to go to school together when we were little, before he got into acting and was pulled out. We were never introduced properly, and we never actually spoke at all, so I guess the Watch figured it didn’t count as us meeting if we just knew of each other. I never knew his name, but he was always throwing pencils at me during classes. I thought he was bullying me – a lot of people did it, so it wasn’t far-fetched that he would be doing it too. I hated him for it.”

“But… he wasn’t really bullying you, was he?” She asked.

I laughed. “No, no. He… When we first sat down to talk properly, I mentioned it, accusing him of bullying. But he said… he said he always had this feeling. He didn’t really know how to describe it. It wasn’t a logical ‘I want to marry this girl one day’ or ‘this girl is my Soul Mate’ feeling. It was kind of just a slight curiosity, like he cared for me from afar and wasn’t sure why. He said he would do it to try and get my attention.”

Her brow furrowed. “It sounds almost like he – somehow – subconsciously knew.” She commented. “It’s a curious thing.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Well, Oli has always been… different.”

Rose’s eyes lit up. “Is he like us? Is that why Calliope is like us?”

I shook my head. “He’s… no. He’s not an Untouchable like us, but I wouldn’t say he’s your average Normality either.”

“How so?”

“He… well, he—” I stopped myself. I hadn’t even told Tia about Oliver’s Depression. I found myself not wanting to tell Rose before my best friend knew, even though she was my sister. I sighed. “Sorry.” I told her. “It’s not really my secret to tell.”

She shrugged slightly. “That’s okay.” Then, “Do you ever wonder what would have happened if the two of you had been introduced properly back then? When you were little?”

I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. “All the time.” I muttered. “I feel like a lot of this would have been avoided. No fights, no Inequity, no getting kidnapped by the Scientists, no—” My hand flew up to my temple, and I felt myself gasp as pain lashed across my forehead.

Rose’s brow furrowed and she leant forward on her bean bag, covering my hand with hers. Her hand was cold against my burning skin. “Sera? Are you alright?” She asked, slowly removing my hand from my brow.

I nodded, rattled. “I’m fine… just a migraine. They tend to come out of nowhere ever since…” I trailed off as she interrupted me.

She said a word that sounded foreign to me, a word that distorted as my mind tried to register it. “Who is he?” She repeated the word – a name, I guessed – but I still didn’t understand.

The pain in my temple had become a dull ache, but it was still there. “I… I’m not sure.” I muttered.

She gave me a perplexed look. “You were the one who said the name, Sera.” She said slowly.

I found myself staring at the ground, trying to remember the name I couldn’t recall saying. I wracked my brain, but there was nothing. So I told Rose all I knew, all Calliope would tell me. “When we were taken by the Scientists… they said I had Inequity. They did… something. Messed with my memory. I… I don’t remember a lot about why I was there at all. I just remember saving Oliver and… and finding out about Mum.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Finding what out about Mum?”

I met her eyes. “When she was younger, she was a Scientist. We were her entrance experiment – to create life from a single gamete and implant an artificial chromosome through which we could be evolved further than normal human beings. That’s how we’re Untouchables.”

“Incredible.” Rose muttered.

I sighed. “I didn’t think so. I got leave from the Compound to talk to her about it. I… I said a lot of things I regret. She died before she could tell me about you.” I said softly.

Rose placed her hand on my shoulder. “Is that why you’re living with Oliver and Calliope right now?” She asked. “Because you can’t bear to go home?”

I nodded. “I feel like I don’t belong there. I hardly feel like part of their family.”

She gave me a sympathetic look. “You should go back to them. They’ll be worried. And you’ll probably feel better, too.”

I looked away. “Yeah, that’s what everyone else says.” I muttered.

“Sera? Are you up here?”

I jumped as Oliver’s yell reached my ears. I dragged myself from my bean bag for my feet just as he walked around the corner.

“I’m here,” I told him, reaching for his hand. I nodded over to Rose, still sitting down at the base of the bookshelves. “This is my twin sister, Rose.”

His eyes were curious as he took her in. Then he plastered a smile on his face. “I’m Oliver, Sera’s Soul Mate. It’s nice to finally meet you.” He held out the hand that wasn’t holding mine.

Rose scrambled to her feet and shook it. “It’s nice to finally meet you, too. Sera’s told me a lot about you.”

Oliver raised his eyebrows at me. “You have?”

I turned to Rose. “I have?”

She nodded, laughing. “You didn’t notice?”

I shrugged.

“Well,” Oliver said, “we should probably get going. They just announced a full school assembly over the PA. I had a feeling you guys wouldn’t hear it up here. Good job I came to check.”

My brow furrowed. “A full school assembly?” I asked. “We’ve not had a full school assembly for…” I stopped, trying to remember the last time we had one.

“At least two years.” Oliver finished, nodding. “Tia said the same thing. So I gather it’s important.”

“They only normally happen when outside parties want to talk to the students.” I said, a sinking feeling appearing in the pit of my stomach. “This… this could be bad.”

Oliver’s eyes widened in realisation. “This could be very bad.”

* * *

The woman paced back and forth on the stage at the front of the school hall, her brow furrowed in what seemed to be frustration. Her dark hair was pulled back harshly into a strict pony tail, her eyes glinting in the florescent lights. She wore a black blazer fastened a little too tightly over a plain white blouse and black dress pants.

Dr Mangan was almost unrecognizable without her white lab coat.

As I recognized her, my breath caught in my throat, and I had to force myself not to stop walking in the middle of the hall so I didn’t block the path of at least two hundred other bustling students behind me. Sensing my discomfort, Oliver squeezed my hand.

As we sat down in the middle of the audience – I was grateful I wasn’t forced to sit near the front – Rose muttered, “She didn’t tell me she was coming here today.”

“This is bad.” I said through gritted teeth.

“It’ll be fine,” Oliver tried insisting, “what’s the worst she can do in front of all these people?”

I laughed humourlessly. “I don’t think we really want to find out.”

“She wouldn’t do anything here, surely.” Rose sided with Oliver.

“I wouldn’t be too sure.” I muttered under my breath.

At the front of the room, the Scientist cleared her throat. A hush settled over the large crowd, though whispers floated through the air. Despite not being dressed in Scientist attire, there were still people in the room aside from me who recognised her as the head of the New York Compound. The air was sparking with anticipation in the form of excitement and fear.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Dr Mangan began, “I thank you for allowing me to come here and talk to you all. I’m grateful for this chance to… talk with the future of the human race.”

I hoped I imagined the glance she directed at me towards the end of her sentence.

“Now,” the Scientist continued, “I imagine many of you have heard… whispers, rumours, or the like, about the endemic which is currently spreading across much of America.”

Muttering spread through the hall.

“Endemic?” Oliver said under his breath, clearly confused.

“However, I’m here today to tell you that the endemic sweeping the country as we speak is not only easily cured, but entirely preventable. Which is what I’m here to talk to you about today.” Dr Mangan looked out at the audience with an almost sly smile. “As I’m sure many of you know, Inequity is a disease which causes a person to dislike their Soul Mate, eventually leading them to insanity.”

My breath caught in my throat, and I felt Oliver stiffen beside me. I felt Rose glance at me, but I refused to meet her eyes, transfixed on the Head Scientist at the front of the hall.

“Aside from this major factor,” Dr Mangan went on, pacing back and forth on the stage once more, “there are other symptoms of the disease. These include irritability, headaches, irregular sleeping patterns, and loss of interest in previous hobbies. What I wish for all of you to do, is report to your school nurse if you or one of your friends is showing two or more of these symptoms. It is crucial that we stop the disease before the brain is affected.” She stopped walking. “This disease is contagious to all those who have met their Soul Mate. It is a fast moving virus. It attacks the brain and the nervous system. And it has the capacity to wipe out thousands.”

The hall is almost silent. My eyes scan the room, many other people doing the same. I don’t have to search their thoughts to know what everyone is doing; singling out the few people in the younger grades who haven’t met their Soul Mates. Determining who is safe from Inequity.

“Do remember,” Dr Mangan said, “that this disease can and will be stopped. At the New York Compound we have the facilities to cater for patients in the thousands at our correctional facility, where we observe them in order to gain more information about the disease. During their observation, the patients will be treated, and hopefully cured of Inequity. There is nothing for you al to worry about aside from identifying the disease in those around you early, for your own safety.” The Scientist’s eyes scanned the crowd and I trained my gaze on the floor in order to avoid meeting her eyes. “Are there any questions?”

Soft murmurs travelled through the audience for quite some time, then;

“You said that the patients will be treated and hopefully cured.” A small voice said. “What happens to those who aren’t?”

I looked up in surprise to see Shaunee standing up towards the front of the crowd, fiddling with the Watch on her wrist as she waited for an answer to her question. Stacy sat beside Shaunee’s now empty seat, her face a mask of horror.

The Scientist froze on stage. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she took in Shaunee’s appearance, instantly recognising her as my mother’s daughter. Her eyes flicked over to me for a fraction of a second before falling on my younger sister once more. “Why, we keep treating them, of course.”

Shaunee seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, her shoulders relaxing.

“After all, what do Scientists do if they do not experiment? At the moment, we have one main method of treatment for Inequity, however, not all our patients can be cured in the same way – it all depends on the person, just like for any other disease. We are yet to find a secondary cure for those who can’t handle the initial treatment, but through further research and observation, it shall be found in no time.”

“So, uh, how does one actually get Inequity?” A voice asked from the edge of the room. “I know it’s contagious and all, but how did it come about? How does someone completely isolated from the disease manage to get it?”

I turned to look at the person who had asked the question. They stood beside my drama teacher, Mrs Skylard. They were significantly taller than her, though they also sounded significantly younger. But when I looked at them, it was as if I still needed glasses and wasn’t wearing them. The boy’s face blurred, his voice distorting as he responded to Dr Mangan’s answer to his question.

My ears started ringing, the air in the hall suddenly suffocating. Stars floated before my blurred vision. It wasn’t until Mr Banner appeared on stage and dismissed everyone to class that I could properly focus on my surroundings.

“You okay?” Oliver asked carefully, offering his hand to help me get up from my seat.

I forced a yawn, nodding. “Just tired.” I insisted.

Somehow, he seemed convinced.

“That was pretty intense,” Rose commented as we broke through to a less crowded part of the hallway, “who was that guy? He was almost having a full on debate with Dr Mangan!”

Beside me, Oliver stiffened.

I shrugged. “I have no idea,” I said, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him before.”

“Well he’s certainly smart, that’s for sure. I don’t think he’s a student, though, he wasn’t wearing a uniform.”

“He’s a student teacher.”

The three of us stopped, turning to look at the two figures lounging in the stairwell beside us. I raised my eyebrows as I took in the girl’s shockingly red hair and cold eyes. Beside her was her Soul Mate, tall and pale with dark hair.

“Audrey.” I muttered.

“Yes, freak. Now come here, I need to talk to you without your buddies here.” The girl snapped.

I rolled my eyes. “Look, I’m not going anywhere. Just tell me what you want.”

Audrey’s gaze sharpened like a knife, and Alexander’s hand gripped her shoulder. She shrugged her Soul Mate off, prancing down the last few steps towards me. She leant in close, her mouth at my ear, her hair tickling my cheek.

“If I hear one word, one tiny rumour about what you saw at the Compound,” she whispered, “I promise you, Sera Grey, I will destroy you.”

She took a step away from me with a giggle, a fake smile plastered on her face. “I mean, we all have secrets, right?” She asked, her eyes bright.

I nodded stiffly.

“Yours are just more significant than everyone else’s, huh?” She smirked, her voice serious once more. “Inequity isn’t the only topic of rumours these days, you know. There’s mutters going around about something far more exciting. Scarier, even. One word from me could destroy whatever scrap of a reputation you have left.”

I narrowed my eyes. “And what word would that be?” I asked, calling her bluff.

Her smirk grew as she raised a single eyebrow, flicking her hair over her shoulder. “Untouchable.”

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Tag der Veröffentlichung: 06.04.2015

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