Cadence

by Wilson, Dianne J. ;

  Kai bottomed down on the carpet and ran fingers through his spiky hair. “We have a problem, and I need your help.”

  Evazee kept sipping, not trusting any words that might come out of her mouth.

  “Bree told me about your field trip.”

  Did he know about the marking? Surely not, or he wouldn’t be asking for help. Tainted help.

  “Bree thinks I need to raise an army to stop the serum from being distributed. What do you think?”

  “I don’t know if an army will be enough. This is a full-on onslaught.”

  “There’s that word again. Onslaught. Did you and Bree rehearse your speeches?”

  Evazee drained the last drop and set the mug on the table next to a lamp that sat off-centre on the round top. “Don’t be daft. We’re just calling it as we see it.” Who would deliberately put a lamp off-centre?

  “As I see it, all we need to do is shut down the serum factory and the distribution centre. Trying to use this bunch of kids? It would never work. They’d need to be effective in the natural and the spiritual realm, and immune to the negative serum. Right now, they’re just a lost bunch of broken souls. We don’t have time to fix that. There has to be a better way.”

  “I agree. They will never be the army you need. If you’re not getting anywhere, why do you keep working with them?”

  “How can I send them away from here, broken? What kind of life would they have? Forget training these kids to fight. I just want them whole. Here’s the thing, Zee, you saved me from dying. I would have kept walking through those black gates. But I didn’t because you showed up. That’s one example of many. How do you do it, and why won’t you train others?”

  Evazee pushed the lamp to the centre of the table. Much better. Her hand brushed the switch, and the darkness flooded in. She felt for the switch again and light returned.

  Kai sat frowning at the lamp as if it were a two-headed alien. His face lit up, and he grinned at her. “Evazee, you are a genius. Thank you!” He jumped to his feet, kissed her on the head, and ran out.

  Evazee sat, blinking. Maybe her friend had finally cracked under the pressure.

  ~*~

  Kai found Zap and Ruaan raiding the fridge in the kitchen. Runt sat cross-legged on the counter-top, humming to herself with a kitten on her lap.

  “I want my necklace back.”

  Kai ruffled her hair and stroked the kitten. “We’ve been through this. I’m not budging. As soon as it’s fixed, I will give it back to you.”

  Runt huffed, but went right back to humming without missing a beat.

  Kai tapped his friend on the shoulder. “Zap, you’re a bit of a lab rat, right?”

  “Excuse me? I believe lab technician is the term you’re looking for.”

  Kai waved off his correction. “Same thing. I need you two to start developing an antidote to the negative Affinity serum.”

  “There is a formula under development that they use for the Recruiters. I don’t know where it’s kept though.” Zap paused and his nose wrinkled. “I might be able to recreate it from memory. But I must warn you, it has some nasty side effects.”

  “As long as it doesn’t stop us from using our Affinity. We can deal with side-effects. Runt here, she seems to be immune. Maybe she can help.”

  Runt’s eyebrows lifted, but she kept humming and stroking the kitten that stretched, purred, and curled up into a tighter ball.

  Zap was tapping on the palm of his hand as if making a shopping list. “I think we’ve got all the chemicals I need. Come on Ru. I need you.”

  Ruaan gave one last longing glance at the contents of the fridge, but Kai pushed him back and shut the door. “We need this yesterday, guys. Go, go, go.” Kai shooed them both out the kitchen.

  Ruaan was still staring at the fridge as the kitchen door closed behind them.

  Kai turned in a slow circle. “So Runt, I have a question for you. The fridge, urn, toaster, oven...what do they all have in common?”

  “Obvious. Food.”

  “Bad examples. Let me add a lamp, computer, and a heater. Now what would you say?”

  “Is this some kind of test?” Runt tilted her head at him as if he were nuts.

  “More like an epiphany.”

  “An epipha-whaty?”

  “None of these things work unless they are plugged into a power source. Once they’re plugged in, they automatically do what they were built to do.” Kai flourished his hands like a magician revealing the bunny in the hat.

  “That’s a very obvious epipha-thingy.”

  “But you see, I’ve been trying to get this building full of people to operate in Affinity without first connecting them to the source of their Affinity. For some of them, it sort of works. You can sweep a floor with a vacuum cleaner brush if you try really hard. But it’s far better to plug it in before trying.”

  “So what are you gonna do?”

  “Introduce them to the Source.”

  “How are you gonna do that?” The kitten woke up and tried to jump off Runt’s lap, but she tucked it close to her chest and held on.

  “The only way I know how.”

  9

  Kai found a group of seven people playing cards in the hall. He didn’t know any of them, but their insides were a hot green mess, and he had to start somewhere. “Training time. Follow me.”

  The group sat blinking like owls at him and his guitar.

  “Now. Get moving.” Kai didn’t wait for them but walked off towards the stairway that took them to the rooftop. He climbed the last step with all seven in tow.

  “What are we here for?” It was a redheaded girl, about his age. Her face was familiar. It was the girl who’d been sweeping with the vacuum cleaner. How appropriate.

  “Do you remember trying to sweep with the vacuum cleaner?”

  Giggles rippled through the other six.

  A dark-eyed girl piped up. “Please tell me you didn’t.”

  The guilty girl’s shoulders drooped. “Like I said, I thought it was broken.”

  Kai pulled her next to him. “Oh, I’m not teasing you. That was an important moment for me.”

  More laughter, this time at Kai.

  A tall, lanky fellow shoved his hands deep in his pockets. “This is rubbish. I’m going back to our cards.”

  Kai wavered. “Go if you want. The rest of you, hear me out. You came to this school because you wanted to learn to use your Affinity, right? Your gifting. Instead you got pumped full of serum that turned a good thing dark and ugly. I would like to change that by introducing you to the True Source of your ability. All I ask is that you leave now if you’re not interested.” He stood silent for a minute. Nobody shifted, but movement caught his eye on the far side of the roof—a quick flurry of a dark shape that swished from one shadow to the next.

  Kai frowned at the patch but decided his current mission was not one he’d allow himself to be distracted from. “Let’s get started.” Kai led them to the centre of the roof where they sat in a circle around him and his guitar. “I want you to relax. Close your eyes if it helps you.” He ran through a quick series of riffs to check the tuning, twiddled a few knobs. Tau, you are welcome here. His mind filled with memories of Tau. Snatches of conversation, the love that beamed from the man’s face...warmth flooded through Kai’s belly and his fingers danced across the strings. He played on. Three separate pieces from three different memories. Building, soaring, landing as gently as a butterfly on a dandelion.

  He opened his eyes, expecting light, warmth and Tau himself. But they were in the dark, on the rooftop with no Tau in sight. Kai’s chest pinched tight. This wasn’t working.

  ~*~

  Evazee went looking for Kai. Over the last few days, he’d got into a strange pattern of smuggling small groups of people up onto the roof with his guitar in hand. They came down an hour or so later, and each time Kai’s face grew stonier. If she trusted her words at all, she would have stopped and asked him what was going on.

  A batch of the
m came through the door, Kai trailing behind. His skin was ashen and matched the shadows under his eyes. He stopped when he saw her and leaned on his guitar.

  Evazee waited until the others had left. “You look exhausted. What are you doing?”

  “I’m attempting to plug this lot into their power source.” He knuckled his back and stretched.

  “How’s that working out for you?”

  “Time will tell.”

  “Seven at a time and you’re not even sure it’s working?”

  Kai shrugged. “And the problem is?”

  “But it will take forever, and you’re working yourself to death.”

  “But it might be working. In case it is, I have to keep at it.” Kai stepped sideways as if arguing with her was taking the last of his energy.

  “I’m sorry, Kai. I don’t mean to drain you. It’s just that you asked me what I thought about raising an army, but you didn’t hang around long enough for an answer.”

  Kai transferred his weight to lean on the wall, his face deadpan. Concern rushed through Evazee with a force she hadn’t felt since he was dying in hospital. Evazee blinked and tried to line up her words.

  “The organisation scares me. This is way beyond a little backyard operation for laughs. This is a cold, calculated—”

  “Let me guess. Onslaught.”

  Evazee frowned at him, “I was going to say plot, but onslaught works too. You’ll need at least an army to move against this. It will have to be an infinitely, carefully planned and executed strike to make any dent in their supply.”

  “So we don’t have a choice, then. An army, it is?”

  Evazee’s arms were suddenly cold, and she rubbed them. “I don’t like the word army, but basically, yes. I don’t see any other way.”

  “That’s not going to happen.”

  ~*~

  Fixing the OS intercom system took Kai and Ruaan most of the day, but with some rewiring and a lot of fiddling, it all seemed to be working by the time supper was dished up.

  Runt and the kittens hung around them as they worked. Runt hummed to herself and taunted the kittens with a piece of string that they could never quite catch. In between, she stared at the boys with a slight frown that either meant she didn’t understand or didn’t approve of what they were doing.

  Kai sat in front of the microphone, finger poised over the button. In the history of weird ideas, this one was probably way up there, but he was going to do it anyway.

  He pressed the button and spoke. “Hey, guys. Some of you have been up to the roof with me and some of you haven’t. From tonight, the rooftop meeting is no longer by invitation only. I’m opening it to anybody who is keen. This place is called Open Sessions, and I think we should stick to that.” He took his finger off the button to cough, then pressed it again. “Also, supper is ready. See you in the dining room.”

  Ruaan poked his head around the door. “Nothing.”

  “What do you mean by nothing?”

  Ruaan tapped his ear, then pointed at the microphone. “We failed. It’s not working.”

  “My whole speech didn’t go anywhere?”

  Ruaan shrugged. “Sorry about that. You’ll just have to tell them at supper. C’mon Runt, it’s your turn to do the food call.”

  Runt huffed but got up without being asked twice. “Which version, new or old?”

  “You choose. I really don’t care that much.”

  Runt shut her eyes for a moment and waggled one finger back and forth, apparently in time to a tune in her head. Her eyes popped open. “New it is, then.” She stood just outside the door, took a moment to compose herself, and then launched down the passage, jogging in a rhythm that struck Kai as something straight from the military. She belted out a line in the sing-song way soldiers do on training runs.

  “Can you smell it in the air?”

  Words drifted back in an echoed response from different rooms in the building.

  “Let your belly take you there.”

  More echoes, louder this time.

  “Beans or rice or caviar...”

  Footsteps running in rhythm, bouncing words. A swell of people drawn out by the song, picked up the tune and made their way towards the dining hall.

  “Our cooking will take you far.”

  “Sound of...rumbling...sound of chewing...”

  The song grew faint as Runt and her followers moved out of earshot.

  Ruaan frowned as his belly gurgled. “Big voice for such a small girl.”

  Kai shoved the failed microphone to one side as he stood up. He patted Ruaan’s stomach. “Big voice for such a small organ.” He dodged Ruaan’s punch just in time.

  ~*~

  The older group had divided the job of cooking for everyone amongst themselves, but some definitely had more experience than others. Tonight seemed to be a less-experienced team’s turn as they’d managed to grill some sausages for hotdogs.

  Kai had found a stash of money in Torn’s office, enough to keep them in groceries for a while at least. Feeding them all was expensive. He could understand why the previous regime had focussed on training pickpockets. They needed to be healed and sent home before the money ran out. He sniffed hotdogs on the air and decided not to hang around long enough to eat. He took his guitar straight upstairs and found a spot in a puddle of light.

  He shut his eyes, leaned back on the bricks, and played, starting with old favourites to warm up. Once Kai’s fingers were limber, he set his mind on Tau and improvised. New tunes flew from his strings. He felt words come and he sang them, and they fitted the tunes he played as if he’d planned it.

  Joy bubbled through him, and he laughed. A few lines rang through his head so he sang them, repeating them over and over, soaring and dipping with the tune. The sound of other voices singing filtered through to his consciousness as gently as a falling feather.

  He had to see what was going on. Peeping though his eyelashes, he counted a group of about twenty. Many of them had been up to the roof with him before and seemed keen for more. Some lay flat on their backs, while others sang with their eyes closed. They’d picked up his words and were singing them to Tau. A few others hung around on the edges, watching everything that was happening but not quite willing to step in just yet.

  Maybe this time would work.

  Kai kept playing, the words came easily. Tau, you are welcome here. The voices from the crowd grew louder. Kai watched those on the outskirts. They focussed on a patch of nothing but fresh air, chatting and listening in turn.

  How odd and yet he knew Tau well enough to know that He was probably right there. When the time came to call it a night, half of those on the edges had sneaked closer to the main group. They’d sang to Tau, Kai had felt the glow, and yet he wasn’t seeing any change in the green.

  ~*~

  Evazee sat on the outskirts watching, fiddling with the scarf around her neck. It was the third night that Kai had run an open session on the roof, but the first time Evazee had found the courage to come along. The numbers increased every time. Evazee tried a head count, but gave up at eighty-something.

  Those closest to Kai sang with an abandon that made Evazee’s heart ache. She remembered feeling free, loved. She remembered a flow of golden words, so clear she knew that speaking them would bring life to those who listened. Her finger slipped from the fabric to the skin between her collar bones. The sting of loss overwhelmed her. No imprint. No gifting. She’d never felt so useless in her life.

  Threads of guitar music drifted over her. She wanted to run. Get away from this whole scene. For a moment she considered sliding into the thick of what was going on, but then she saw Elden on the other side of the group, lurking in the shadows. Their eyes met for a second and he tilted his chin, tipped an imaginary hat. Heat flooded her cheeks. Apparently, she was still angry at him. He got her into this mess, so maybe he could fix it. An idea blossomed on the edges of her mind.

  Bree sat down next to her, breaking her line of thought. She’d French-plaited
her bushy red hair, and it hung in a long strip down her back. She waved a hand over the rooftop party. “What is all this?”

  “Army training.”

  “What? I don’t get it.”

  “I’m kidding. He should be recruiting an army. Instead? He’s up here with this bunch doing this.” She waved a hand over the group. “He’s planning to send them all home when they’re no longer messed up. I must say, looking at them all? I agree with him. Home is the only place they should be going.”

  “A lot of these kids don’t have homes, though. Besides, I don’t see how singing would fix anything.”

  “Yeah. It’s weird. I think he’s going about it all wrong. But that’s just my opinion. I just keep thinking that I could have helped them before...” Evazee shut her mouth. Putting her loss into words was not something she relished.

  “Before what?”

  “Nothing really.” She patted Bree on the arm, “I need to have a word with that brother of yours.”

  “Good luck.” Bree stayed on the floor with her knees drawn up.

  ~*~

  Elden pushed himself off the wall he was leaning against as Evazee got close. She breathed deeply against the brewing rage. She had to lean close to make herself heard above the noise of the singing. “You owe me.”

  Elden pulled back with a frown. “Excuse me?”

  “Downstairs. We need to talk.”

  “Why do I feel like I’m in trouble?”

  Evazee aimed herself at the door and walked. He’d better follow or she’d be truly mad. As they got down the stairs, Evazee checked to make sure they were alone before rounding on him. “You got me into this mess, you’re going to help me fix it.”

  “I’m not following.”

  “I want my imprint back. I want this mark gone. You are going to help me.”

  “But—”

  “No! Don’t argue.”