Variant

by T. C. Edge

  "Cool."

  I continued working, and she continued to linger. I had to slap her hand away a couple of times as her fingers ventured towards a few other tools.

  "Just, watch the cameras, OK? Can you do that?"

  "All right, all right," she said, noting my growing irritation. "I guess I'll just keep lookout then..." I heard her take a single step away and turn. "Um...is that him?"

  I spun in my swivel chair and looked at the screens. There was a man in a trench coat quickly approaching the front of the building, and stepping right inside.

  I stood immediately to my feet.

  "OK, don't say anything stupid. Keep your cool, Becs."

  She huffed at the suggestion, and turned to the door. We both stood there expectantly like waiting attendants at a hotel, as the door knocked and I stepped forward to open it.

  Ford's ruggedly handsome face greeted me, breathing a smile onto my lips. He looked well rested, his brown eyes warm yet typically keen, standing tall and strong in the doorway with that chiselled, stubbly jaw of his.

  "Hey," I said, my voice a breathy croak. It held a girlish inflection that I didn't like. I coughed and lowered my tone. "Hey. Good to see you, Ford."

  I turned official all of a sudden, which only led to his smile broadening in amusement. I stepped aside as he paced in, then shut the door and locked it. His eyes fell to Becca, standing at attention in the middle of the room.

  "Oh, and who's this? A new recruit?" His tone was light and playful. I suspected he already knew who she was.

  "Name's Becca," my best friend said, stepping forwards. She reached out a hand and shook his, behaving rather more confidently than I'd have expected. "I've heard all about you, Ford."

  He glanced at me. "You have?"

  "Er, yeah, but...all good stuff," Becca went on. "I'm trustworthy, don't worry. I won't say anything to anyone about...all of this."

  Ford smiled. He seemed to know this might happen. "Well, good to see that you're taking surveillance seriously," he said, looking to the network of camera feeds on the screen. "No trouble so far, I assume?"

  For some reason, Becca answered. "Nothing," she said proudly. "I keep a close watch on things while Paige is working. I'm like her sidekick, her eyes in the sky, so to speak. No one will get close while I'm in the chair."

  I frowned at her, giving her a slow shake of the head. "It's her first time here," I told Ford with a sigh. "She just wanted to meet you, that's all."

  "Well, the pleasure is mine, Becca," Ford said. "And good idea, watching the screens while Paige works. We all need a bit of support, after all."

  Becca beamed at the praise. She looked at Ford like a child, gazing up at her hero with sparkly eyes. "Happy to help," she managed. "And, er, I'm part Variant too, you know," she added, pointing to her own eyes. "So I guess I'm eligible for your gang?"

  Ford glanced at me. He didn't seem to know if it was a joke or not.

  "She has mild heterochromia," I explained. "Thinks it makes her part Variant. Just...humour her. It'll be easier for everyone that way."

  Ford lifted his chin. "I see. Well," he said, looking to her, "a lot of people do have distant Variant ancestry that they don't know about. So, yes, it's possible you are part Variant, Becca."

  "R-really?"

  "Sure, why not."

  "Why not?" I found myself asking. "How about the fact that the scanners have never once picked up a Variant signature in her?"

  "No reason why they should, depending on how watered down it's been over the years," Ford said. "I'm not sure of the exact percentage, but I think it's about twelve or fifteen per cent or something that triggers the scanners. Anything less than that in your gene signature and you're considered human."

  "I...I never knew that," I said.

  "Yeah, it's something like that," Ford said. "Could be a bit less or more, I'm not sure. They only really care when a Variant actually manifests some powers. At those low percentages they don't, except on very rare occasions, and with very mild results."

  I found myself quite surprised by it all, though it actually made perfect sense. It wasn't that common to find 'pure blood' Variants, whose ancestry had never been mixed with regular people. The Variants were originally genetically engineered over three hundred years ago. Since then, there had been a lot of interbreeding.

  I only had to look at myself for that. My father was a Variant, and I believe both of his parents were too, but my mother wasn't, and neither were her parents. I was essentially a product of both sides, part Variant, part human, but with a strong enough signature, and supernatural powers, that made me an enemy of the state.

  "Well," I said, looking to Becca, who looked rather pleased with the revelation. "I guess you may have been right all this time."

  She let out a small laugh. "Didn't I say?" she giggled. "But, why the cut off point?" she asked. "Why not just pick up everyone with Variant ancestry?"

  "Because it would affect too much into the population," Ford told her. "I don't know the exact figure, but there's got to be a decent percentage of people with Variant blood who operate as normal within the system. Who knows, perhaps even some of those in Northbank are like that."

  "Maybe even the Controller," joked Becca.

  I didn't laugh. Neither did Ford.

  "You never know," he said.

  A silence fell, in which Ford lifted a smile. His eyes moved towards my workstation, laid out with my progress so far. I'd arranged it like that on purpose, to prove I'd been hard at work. He looked at it and nodded, before turning to me. "You want to tell me what you've been up to, then?"

  I set about explaining it all, doing so in more detail than I had with Becca. Ford, I supposed, was more versed in the technical aspects of such things, and understood when I ran through my explanations. It was liberating for me to speak to someone who actually understood me, mostly at least. Some of the traders like Catfish knew their stuff, but I could hardly speak openly with them.

  "Well, it appears you've been busy, Paige," Ford said. "Harkin will certainly be pleased."

  "Oh, Harkin," I said, remembering. "How, um, how did it go with him on Sunday after I last saw you? Was he mad?"

  "No, actually," Ford said, seeming surprised. "He was understanding of it all, especially since everything ended as it did. It doesn't look like the Reapers have anything on us, so I think we're in the clear. Lenny was just being his usual, overdramatic self."

  "Well, that's good to know," I said.

  He smiled and looked again at my workstation, where all the V-Sig chips were laid out. I'd created them for trial and error, modifying each to try to make them undetectable as ill-tech. None had worked quite yet, but they were still perfectly good at hiding someone's Variant signature.

  "Are you still using those?" he asked. "We can always do with more...what did you call them? V-Sig chips?"

  I nodded.

  "Right. Are they easy enough to make?"

  "Those? Oh yeah," I said. "It's just trying to make them smaller and undetectable, that's the issue. But yeah, you can take those ones if you want. They just need to be placed on the body somewhere, close to the brain ideally." I tapped the back of my skull. "Like mine."

  "Perfect." He stepped in to gather them up, placing them carefully into a tiny pouch that he stored in his pocket.

  As he did, I saw Becca standing nearby, urging me to ask some of the 'tougher' questions, as she'd called them. Frankly, I didn't really see it like that. Ford had been perfectly honest with me so far. Becca was just trying to find some sort of drama and conspiracy where there wasn't any.

  I looked away from her and to the clock. The time was ticking towards 8 pm and curfew. She knew I'd chuck her out any moment. She looked adamant that she'd get some answers before them.

  "So, this Mantis?" she said, quite loudly, drawing Ford's attention and taking things upon herself. "What's happening there?"

  Ford looked quite bemused, raising his eyes as he turned to her. It probably wasn't inf
ormation I was meant to share.

  "Well, I think you're going to have to elaborate there, Becca," he said, his tone shifting a touch. "What do you mean exactly?"

  "I...I mean." She looked at me, losing a bit of her cool. Ford did have a penetrating stare on him when he wanted to utilise it. He put it to good use now. "I mean, this whole thing. You know, with Mantis."

  Ford raised his eyes yet further, patiently waiting for more.

  "This...weapon?" Becca said. "Mantis has information, right? So, what is it? The weapon?"

  "We don't know," Ford said. "That's what we want to find out."

  "Oh. Right."

  Becca looked at me again, withering slightly like a leaf in autumn. All her bluster was evaporating. Her face screamed of regret at bringing the subject up.

  Still, she pushed on a little, refusing to give in so easily.

  "And...how?" she asked him. "I was...I was just curious, that's all. About how you might capture him?" She looked to me again. "Paige said he had soldiers in his gang. Bugs, right? Hundreds of them. Can you...compete with that?"

  "Is this some roundabout away of asking how many soldiers we have?" Ford asked.

  "Well, partly," she nodded. "Paige needs to know, right? She's a member. And she's making tech for you. She should know this stuff. It shouldn't be hidden from her."

  I cringed at the words. It was like a train wreck in slow motion.

  Still, Ford began to see through it all. His stern facade loosened up again into the more casual, playful one I'd grown to know.

  "So, that's what this is? You're trying to protect your friend, are you, Becca?" He smiled at her. "That's admirable, and they're all fair questions. With answers that aren't being hidden from Paige at all. She just hasn't asked them yet, that's all. Unless something is deemed top secret within our organisation, I will happily share it with her."

  He drew a breath and then looked at me. "However," he went on, "I would caution against over-sharing with those outside of the circle. It's dangerous, Paige. You know that."

  "What? For me?" asked Becca. "I don't care about that. I've been through all that with Paige already, finding out about her secrets. It doesn't bother me."

  "I'm sure that's true, Becca," he said, "judging from what I've seen of you so far. But, this is information known only among the VLA. I know you mean well, and want to help, but you must understand that you can't know everything."

  "I...I don't see why not. I have no one else to tell about it anyway. So...the buck stops with me."

  Ford looked at me. I nodded in support of my friend. "It's true, I'm her only friend. She's...well, she's not very popular," I whispered, leaning in.

  Ford's lips prepared to grin. He looked to Becca to see what her retort might be.

  All she did was nod, choosing the path of self-deprecation. "She's right. I'm a total loser," she said. "So, you can trust me."

  "Hmmmm, you do seem like a loser," Ford said, getting in on the act. He grinned at her, and she grinned back. "Fine, you've convinced me, in part. But, be careful. I'm OK with this sort of thing, but Harkin?" He shook his head. "No. He treats VLA business as for members only. He's like Lenny, naturally distrusting. He has to be, given what he's been through. If you break it, it's not easy getting it back. So if Paige tells you something, Becca, it stops with you, OK? Can you promise me that?"

  She placed her hand to her heart, as if that meant something. "I promise," she said. "I've gone through this with Paige already. I won't tell a soul."

  "Then I guess that's good enough for me," Ford said.

  A brief silence fell, as we cemented our little agreement and budding bond.

  "And, the questions I asked, then?" Becca said, breaking it eventually. "Your numbers? Your plans for getting Mantis?"

  Ford looked at her as if he hoped that would be the end of it.

  "Numbers are...ever changing," he said. "People come and go. People die. I know only a portion of our members. I honestly don't have an answer for you."

  "And soldiers?" I asked, joining in. Becca had, in a roundabout way, opened up the conversation quite well. Awkwardly, and in her own inimitable way, but well enough in the end.

  "Again, I'm not sure," Ford said. "I'd have to think, but I imagine about seventy or eighty active soldiers. Plus a few more who can fight at a push."

  "That's all?" Becca asked. "And Mantis has hundreds of Bugs? How many Reapers are there, do you know?"

  "No idea," he said. "They're highly specialised, so numbers aren't excessively large."

  "But then there are thousands of custodians, I'm guessing," I said.

  "Sure, but we're not fighting a direct war here," Ford explained. "This isn't a numbers game, not anymore. We have to be much smarter than that."

  "And, the plan?" I asked. "For Mantis. Do you even have one yet?"

  Ford bobbed his head. "Working on it. We're trying to create a situation where we can get him when he's weak and mostly isolated. It takes time to manufacture. There are plenty of moving parts."

  "Like a deal or something?" Becca asked. "A drug deal, maybe?"

  Ford raised his eyes. "Good instincts, Becca," he said, nodding appreciatively. "You're kinda right, actually. There are several prominent gangs in the Bends, and drug and weapons and other such deals are common. Of course, they have to be big enough to interest someone like Mantis and draw him out into the open. Thankfully, he loves to show his face, and doesn't tend to hide away. We've been working to try to draw him somewhere where we might have the advantage."

  "So you're doing a deal with Mantis?" I asked, shocked by the idea. "But, you're Variants. Won't he realise? Couldn't this all just be a trap."

  "Oh, no, you misunderstand. We're not doing the deal with Mantis. We're just manipulating another of the gangs into it instead."

  "Another gang?" I asked. "Who?"

  Ford smiled. "Currently, that's classified," he said. He looked specifically at Becca. "I'm not at liberty to say."

  "Booo," she grumbled, shaking her head. "You're such a spoilsport, Carson."

  "Well, actually, Carson would be my father, Rebecca. I'm sure Paige has told you that. She's revealed everything else."

  It was a playful barb, but not without a hint of criticism. I couldn't deny he had a point.

  Thankfully, however, Ford was spared any further interrogation, as outside, the curfew alarms were just beginning to wail.

  I looked immediately at Becca. "Becs, that's your cue. Go on, your know the drill."

  "Hell no, not tonight," she said. "I can't leave now. This is far too interesting..."

  "Becca," I said firmly, fixing my eyes on her like a rebuking parent. "Do we have to go through this again?"

  Her head dropped. "I guess not," she mumbled.

  "I'll talk to you tomorrow, OK?" I looked to the camera feeds. "Coast is clear. Go on while you can."

  She drew a disappointed breath, though her face became a smile as she looked at Ford. "It was great meeting you, Ford," she said. "You're cool, I guess."

  "Oh, well thank you, Becca. You know, you're not such a loser, after all."

  She grinned and slipped away at that, all clandestine in her expression as she fled through the door. I couldn't help but laugh as I watched her on the camera feeds, fleeing out of the building and back home, half giddy as she ran.

  "She's nice," Ford said, watching too. "I can see why you struggle to keep things from her. She does like to push."

  "Yeah, sorry about all that. I'll try to be more careful with what I tell her in the future. I'm just not great at lying to her, and she can usually sniff it out when I'm hiding something."

  "I got that sense," he said. "I can't blame her for being excited by it. Life around here doesn't deliver much thrill."

  He stepped towards the screen, glancing over the cameras. Then, approaching the panel, he tapped on the touchscreen and activated a whole bunch more, quickly sifting through every one available in the area.

  "Looks clear out there right now,
" he said. "No custodians around." He turned to me. "How are you feeling? Tired?"

  I probably looked it, given how much I'd been working over the last few days. Still, I didn't feel too bad.

  "No, I'm OK. I can keep on working, no problem."

  "Oh, that wasn't what I was suggesting."

  I frowned. "Then what?"

  He looked again to the screens. "I told you that, if you helped us, then I'd help you. You know, give you some pointers. Train you up to fight. Well, no time like the present, is there? That's, if you're up for it?"

  The thought made me slightly nervous, though enticed me all the same. I wanted to know how to handle myself properly, and be more active in making a difference. I couldn't say I wasn't frightened by the prospect, but that wasn't something that usually held me back. In fact, it pushed me on if anything. I was a strong advocate of facing your fears in order to defeat them.

  "I was born up for it," I said, spewing a cringeworthy cliche. "Lead on, Mr Carson."

  "With pleasure, Miss Alder."

  17

  Hidden in our trench coats, Ford and I worked through the silent streets of Southbank, using his surveillance device to guide us away from any wandering patrols.

  Whether curfew was being enforced or not, there were always a few custodians around. They lingered around Skytube stations and in the more lively districts, of which there were a few here in Southbank, especially closer to the Bends. There, they'd seek out misdemeanours or perform random checks for Variants and ill-techs. It was like they had a quota for crime and other infractions to fill. I'd seen plenty of people taken in for nothing, just because the custodians needed a catch.

  "So, you going to tell me about this gang, then?" I asked Ford as we went. He was making sure to interfere with the cameras nearby to help hide our movement, just as an extra precaution. It made it possible to speak more openly than we otherwise would. "I assume it's not classified for me? That was just to shut Becca up, right?"

  "Bit of both, I guess," he said. "Technically, you don't have clearance to know about stuff like this yet. I probably said more than I should have back there already, to be honest."