Unmarked

Part X

She was home. I suddenly didn't know what to do. I was scared and breathing hard. What if we had no choice but to threaten her? Then we would be serious criminals. Corin nudged me, and I snapped out of it. We had to do what we had to do. Daneel stumbled through her door, laid her purse and keys on the dining room table, and went to the fridge. We stood and waited for her to notice us. It was almost comical when she finally did, she dropped the apple she had taken out of the refrigerator and screamed. Corin walked over and slapped a hand over her mouth. I heard her whisper something into her ear.

Daneel nodded and Corin took her hand off of Daneel's mouth and sat her down onto the couch. I guess I was going to be nice cop, or robber, I guess. "Look, Daneel, isn't it?" She nodded soundlessly.

"Okay, do you know who we are?" I realized that we looked completely different than our pictures and tried again. "Do the names Malone, Asher and Corin mean anything to you?"

Whispering, she said, "Yes, you are the patients that they locked into that room. I had to do your paperwork."

I smiled reassuringly. It was supposed to be the smile that assured her we weren't going to murder her, but I don't think that was what it looked like to her. This is where the interrogation begins, "We heard from a good source that you didn't think that we should have been locked up like criminals." 

Probably shouldn't have used the word 'criminals' since that was kind of what we were being right now. Oops. She nodded again. Nodding and whispering were all this woman seemed to be able to do. Given the situation, maybe I should just keep my mouth shut. "I just want to know anything about the Blazes, or maybe why we don't have any?"

She looked back at Asher, who was standing right behind her. "I don't know much, they don't tell a receptionist the good stuff." She chuckled. "But if you do enough paperwork you start understanding more." Daneel looked around the room, her eyes falling to a basket under her side table. "I made copies of your file, can I go get them? They are in that basket over there." She points to the basket and Corin stands up to go get them. When Corin handed her the files, Daneel started flipping through one marked "BPF-003."

I asked her what the number meant. She looked at the cover, "Oh, sorry, I'm used to being in a place where everyone knows. The letters stand for "Blaze Program Failure" and the numbers are based on when you were found. This file belongs to the third person found. That should be you" She points to me. "You are Ms. Malone Brinkley, aren't you?" I nod. I don't know what else to do. The reason I was imprisoned was in her hands. The reason I have two best friends was in her hands. The reason my mother betrayed me was in her hands.

Daneel continues, "Okay, so you see this code?" We crowd behind her, squinting to try and see. "I have been trying to crack this code since you got to the clinic, Corin." Suddenly, Asher, blunt as ever, questioned Daneel, "Are you going to call the cops on us?"

Daneel looked up from the files, "No, I know you didn't come here to hurt me, and I want to help you out. I have to admit I'm curious to find out why you don't have Blazes, too."

We looked at each other; we were just going to hope she was telling the truth and keep an eye on her until we bolted. Corin sighed, "Okay, thank you, you can continue." Daneel turned to look at her. "When you came to the clinic, they had all of the receptionists call every doctor's office in the state and country. The government caught wind of it and almost took you away. They said it wasn't a big deal. The scientists came in and ran the same tests we did and got different results. That's when they told your family that you were sick. Most of the original employees at the office believe that the Feds lied to all of us."

We all thought about that. We had never imagined that to government was involved in this. Who knows, maybe they started this whole thing? The Charming didn't happen until 1953. All of the people born before then were Blazeless. My grandparents were. Now that I think back on it, no one has ever been able to tell me why the Blazes are here in the first place. Everyone just tells us how much of a blessing it was. I looked at Corin and Asher; this is way bigger than any of us had thought.

"Though, there's not many of us originals anymore," Daneel had begun to speak again. "None of the same doctors are at the clinic anymore actually, and most of the nurses have been replaced as well. Now that I think about it, only lower levels employees like receptionists and janitors haven't been replaced since the first one of you was found." Well, it's official. We are royally screwed. Three teenage girls and two boys who can barely drive against the entire government, wonderful. Oh wait; Blazes are an international thing, so we are probably taking on the entire UN. We got this. *insert sarcastic eye roll here* I tuned back into the conversation.

"I asked the name of their division when they were leaving." Daneel continues. "They said it was BEAU. I thought that was a joke but he pulled out his badge and that's what it said. It must be an acronym, but I didn't get a chance to read what it stood for." I picked up a file and flipped through it. On the back of the cover page there was what looked to be a badge of some sort. There was a Blaze in the middle and big block letters covering the intricate weaves. Circling around the Blaze were words, and it looked pretty official to me. The words said

                                                                                              BEAU

                                                         Blaze Examination and Alteration Unit

"Guys, I think I found out what BEAU stands for." Asher walked over but I motioned for Corin to stay near Daneel. To stay away from the cops, we had to make sure they didn't get a tip about where we were at. I liked Daneel, I just didn't trust her.

Asher snorted, "I guess we are prime examples of their 'alteration.'" I laughed and brought the file to Corin to look at. She looked up at me after reading it and frowned. I tried to get her to smile, "Come on, Corin. You didn't think we were so important that the federal government was involved. To them, we're celebrities!"

She looked at me like I was crazy, "Are you completely stupid, Malone? If Daneel is right, the Feds are going to get involved with our escape! And we all know their searching skills are a little better than the locals!" Oh, no. I knew I was missing something.

Asher jumped up, "Wait, so you mean like, SWATs and FBI agents?" Corin looked exasperated by this outburst. "Yes! We're talking a giant scandal involving most of the world governments here!" Oh. Asher and I looked at each other. I'm glad to see I wasn't the only one who was not on the same page as Corin.