Perennial

Chapter 24 -- Elle Webster

I find myself back in a small metal room, kind of like the one back in Midas where all of this began. I guess things really do come full circle. Only this time, I don't think they're going to march in here and offer me a reward for good behavior.

I wonder if they caught Sueña too or if it's just me. Hopefully she got back to her room before it was too late. I don't want to play prisoner's dilemma.

I wait for an indeterminate amount of time - anywhere from twenty minutes to two hours -- for someone to show up. I'm not sure who. Headmaster Valor? Mr. Suit?

It turns out my first guess was correct when Valor comes in carrying a clipboard with a grave expression on his face. I say nothing as he sits across from me and heaves a heavy sigh.

I wait patiently for the "Perennial, you done messed up" speech to begin.

After thirty seconds of shuffling his papers, Valor sighs again and says, "This doesn't look good, Perennial. You were already under DSHA's watch. Once they hear about this, there's no way you'll be able to convince them of your innocence."

"Have you considered the possibility that I'm not innocent?" I ask, mostly out of curiosity. Apparently, the question doesn't come across that way.

"I know you're not," he snaps. "Honestly, how can you remain so flippant in circumstances like these?"

"I see no reason to get worked up over the inevitable," I answer dryly.

He ignores this comment. "If DSHA finds out about your escape attempt, you will have two options. One: you get to be studied as a scientific subject for the rest of your life - because letting you rot in prison would be a waste - or two: you can sign this document," He pushes his clipboard towards me. "And give DSHA permission to experimentally try to remove your powers. If their attempts are successful, you will be free to be released from custody under parole."

I stare at the clipboard as if it might explode. Neither of those options sounds good. I don't want to end up like Eclipse.

"You don't like those options, do you?" he says rhetorically, pulling the clipboard with its contract of death away from me. "There is a third option."

I frown. From the way he talks, it sounds like he thinks this is the option I will choose. Given who this man works for, that doesn't seem to bode well for me.

He continues, "You're a clever girl, you probably already know that DSHA has found loopholes in the laws of our country that allows them to kidnap, indoctrinate, and experiment on its citizens with powers like ours without consent. Their argument? Super-human is not human."

Well... yes. I did know those things. The Overlord explained it to me when I was five. (Mostly because five-year-old me was insufferably curious and the Overlord has never been the kind of dad to withhold information from his children when asked.)

I nod.

"As you already know, eight years ago there was an incident that resulted in my wife... disappearing... and Juggernaut being killed. Others died that day too. All were deaths DSHA could have prevented." His voice is heated. "Because of the fallout of that day, we realized ordinary people, norms, cannot be trusted to protect us when we need it. So we formed our own organization. A... nexus, if you will, connecting many of us regardless of whether you're a 'hero' or a so-called 'villain'."

"We? Us? Who's we?" I'm confused. What group is he talking about? Did I miss something?

"Yes. We, the super-humans. Us, the people whom governments seize as if we're a non-sentient natural resource, like oil."

"So, what you're saying is... we should be buddies just because we both have super-human powers?"

"That's a very simple way of putting it, but if it helps you to think of it that way, sure. Perennial, I want you to join the Nexus movement. Imagine making a difference in this world, securing a safe future for all of our kind, including yourself and whoever it is you left behind when you were taken into custody."

I see. Yes... That settles it.

Valor is completely nuts.

He's going to need to try harder to get my full support. I don't join weird worker-union-cults just because I was born with the same genetic anomaly as everyone else in said weird worker-union-cult.

"You... do remember that you said I'm the Overlord's apprentice, right? Wouldn't that make us mortal enemies?" I ask just to be sure he isn't that crazy.

"I think we both know the world isn't that black and white," he says.

I frown at the tabletop. There are scratches on its surface. I wonder how they got there. I take a deep breath, mirroring the sigh Valor gave when he first entered this room.

I look back up at him, leveling his calculating gaze with a hard one of my own. "What's in it for me?"

I don't want much out of life. In fact, I have only two real goals right now. I have the short term goal of getting out of this place and away from DSHA, and the long term goal of keeping myself and my family safe and sound. On the surface, Valor's suggestion of me joining his secret super-human club sounds like the best, safest option. But while it seems like the right choice - the only choice - right now, will I still see it that way five years from now?

The way Valor is talking makes me uncomfortable. His voice is impassioned, the way Sueña sounds after she's read a good book. The way he refers to norms is disturbing; it implies that he's thinking in terms of "us" and "them".

Because... regardless of what DSHA or the government says, in my mind, super-human is still human. We're just a different breed of the same thing, and that doesn't make us any better or any worse than our counterparts. Super-humans have the same capacity for reasoning and morality as any norm does.

Besides, I like thinking of myself as human. Nothing more, nothing less. At my very core, that is who - what - I am.

Valor doesn't appear surprised by my question. "We can help you get back to Paradis. That's where you came from, correct?"

I don't answer him.

He tries again. "You want to escape?"

I gasp in mock surprise. "How could you tell?"

"This is serious. Minimize your use of sarcasm, please," he says this in a way that makes it sound like he might actually punish me somehow if I don't comply. If only I wasn't used to getting threatened prior to coming here, maybe then I would actually be scared.

"Yes, I want to escape," I say, flatly.

"We can arrange that. We'll make it look good, like you were kidnapped, or even murdered."

"The second option sounds pretty hardcore."

"It's not my favorite. The paperwork alone would be a nightmare. The point is we can make you disappear." Valor leans back and folds his arms.

I get the distinct impression that he has somewhere else he'd rather be. Something else he was doing before I got caught trying to escape. Something he'd like to get back to. (Probably sleeping.)

Well. Sorry for holding up your life, Headmaster.

I consider his offer. "And I assume the only catch is that I have to be an actual member of your... Nexus... to reap the benefits?"

"That's right."

"And the requirements of being a member?"

"Just cooperation towards a common goal: the betterment of life for super-humankind."

As long as that isn't at the expense of ordinary humans... (Since they are, literally, the infrastructure of our very society.) "Fine. I'll join."

He nods and pushes himself away from the table, beginning to stand. "Very well. I'll get to work on your release right away."

He makes it to the door, but pauses as his hand reaches the handle. "On an... unrelated note... The other students we got from Midas this year stopped needing guides weeks ago. You still insisted on having my son accompany you. Why?"

His son? Aether? I have to completely shift gears to think of him. I wonder if he's still awake, watching movies, or if he fell asleep hours ago.

"I don't think it matters."

"I do. You may not realize this, but you're not a very positive influence."

Is that sarcasm I detect?

"That's right. I stuck around your kid for the sole purpose of bringing him to the dark side." I roll my eyes.

Valor looks around at me like he's contemplating retracting our deal and wringing my neck.

Not wanting to endanger our tentative business relationship, I speak again, quickly. "Don't worry. Aether is a good person. I don't think any amount of influence I might or might not have exerted over him would have changed that."

Valor stares at me for a long moment, then leaves without a word.

I am once again left alone in the small metal room with only my thoughts to keep me company.

I groan and slam my head into the table. What have I just done? What am I going to say when I get home?

"Maman! Dad! Guess what happened while I was gone! I joined a gang!"?

I curl my arms protectively around my head and take a shaky breath. I am such an idiot.

It's a calculated risk, I remind myself. I can handle it.

With my head resting on the cool surface of the metal table, I begin to drift into a half sleep.

It feels like I just closed my eyes when I hear the door open again. I jerk to my feet, knocking my chair over behind me. There's a potted plant in the corner, (an amateur move, if you ask me) I reach out for it, making it grow exponentially in a matter of seconds.

"Calm down," orders the familiar face of Mr. Suit.

What is he doing here? Has DSHA found me?

I do as I'm told, releasing the plant. I don't sit back down. (How would I? My chair is gone!)

"I'm with Nexus," he says. "It's time to go."

Deciding I've got nothing to lose by trusting him, I follow him out of the room and down the halls of the employee building.

We pass no one on our way out. I wonder if Valor arranged this.

"Do you have a plan about what to do with my records?" I ask, figuring now's as good a time as any to find out. "Since, you know, if DSHA ever tries to track me down, it would give them plenty of useful information to use?"

"I wouldn't worry too much about that." Mr. Suit says, never breaking a stride. "I believe a nasty virus has infected the DSHA database. We've been losing important files recently."

"Oh. How... convenient."

"It's just a handy coincidence, Miss Webster." He opens up an exit door for me. "If you want the paper copies of your files gone, you'll need to pay a visit to the DSHA office in Paradis and destroy them yourself."

"Consider it done."

It's still dark outside, but a few rays of sun are beginning to brush the eastern horizon.

Mr. Suit leads me out to the parking garage. There are less than five vehicles here. He takes me to a nondescript black one. I don't know the make or model. I'm not a car person. (As long as it goes vroom vroom and works properly, I don't care.)

He pulls out his keys and pops the trunk.

Inside is a cardboard box just big enough for a girl about five feet tall to curl up in. I get a bad feeling about where this is going.

"Get in the box." Mr. Suit says, sounding bored, like he'd rather be at home in his pajamas watching some miscellaneous internet streaming service. (Me too, Mr. Suit. Me too.)

"You're a government agent who's also the member of a secret workers union thing and all you can afford is a cardboard box in a trunk?" I'm incredulous. (And also really, really not looking forward to crawling into a tiny space.)

"Just get in."

I comply, but only because this is my way out. (It's just mind over matter. I can do this. Any fear or discomfort, that stuff is all in my head, and I have complete control over my head.)

It's cramped and dark in here, and it sets my nerves on edge not having an easy escape route, but I don't complain. I force myself to sit tight and focus on my breathing. (At least this isn't like when I had to squeeze up against three sweaty teenagers during one of those teamwork exercises Keller put us through. Ugh, that was disgusting.)

The car starts moving. I don't know when we pass through security, but we do, and that's what matters.

In a few short hours, I'll be home free.