Then, I started thinking about the objects I brought with me for our journey beyond the grid. We used the majority of them on our trip, but there was one that we had no use for; until now.
I jumped up and ran to my room to look for my backpack hoping that Job’s manservants didn’t take it while we were captured. I looked all over my room then inside the closet. I looked up on the shelf and there it was. I brought it with me into the kitchen and sat it on the table looking through it.
As I was picking up different objects, I began to reminisce about this particular one. My grandfather gave it to me when I was 13. He called it a Desplicer. It served an interesting purpose; one that I didn’t completely understand until I was older when my pet rabbit hybrid choked on a piece of celery. I was scared and didn’t know what to do to save it. Then, I remembered the Desplicer that my grandfather gave me years before. He told me that the desplicer should be used to see the complete molecular structure of a piece of matter. Meaning, when the desplicer was used, it broke an object apart into hundreds or even thousands of pieces in order to see the contents that made up that object. The day my rabbit choked, I used the desplicer to find the piece of food that was lodged in his throat and remove it. All of the contents of his body including is blood and organs were immediately disjoined and dispersed like a silent explosion, floating in the air. Obviously the desplicer was not for those with weaker stomachs, but my grandfather knew I wasn’t fazed by gore. I found the piece of celery that was killing my rabbit picked it out. Once I was done using the desplicer, my rabbit was immediately spliced back together as good as new.
I didn’t know how exactly, but I knew the desplicer would help us to get a closer look at Job’s blood for any evidence of him having powers.
I found it hidden in one of the pockets of my backpack. It was a very unique object. It looked like a double helix and it was gold plated. There were only a handful of desplicers in Equinox, mostly in hospitals, because they were dangerous to use. If it wasn’t used correctly a person could leave themselves in pieces floating through space forever.
I placed it on the table and Chad lowered his eyebrows.
“That was your bright idea? You want us to sit here with millions of blood molecules floating above our heads?”
“What’s wrong, too squeamish?” I said teasing him.
“I just don’t think this is the best idea.”
I grabbed the vial, opened the top and pretended to throw the blood in his face. He was so startled that he fell back in his chair. I laughed so hard.
“Very funny. Let’s just get this over with friz head,” he said while sitting back down.
I placed the cork top back on the vial and sat it on the table.
“Actually, I’ll watch this from over here just in case you accidently desplice me instead.”
Chad stood a few feet away from the table.
I grabbed the desplicer and circled it around the vial of blood. Once the desplicer went completely around the object, I placed it on the table and blew on it. Suddenly, the vial burst open and the blood dispersed in thousands of tiny molecules that hovered in the air. Some of the molecules looked like red and blue coils. Others looked like tiny red pods. The ones that stood out to me the most were the white cells, because they were the only ones that moved.
I stepped closer to the array of floating blood molecules to get a closer view. Chad was too grossed out to get closer. I think he was too proud to admit that blood freaked him out.
I squinted my eyes and focused on one of the white blood cells. Then I let out a sharp gasp that made Chad start.
“What is it?”
“You have to see this!”
Chad stood still where he was, but stretched his neck out to get a better look.
“You’re not going to see anything from there. C’mon, it’s just blood.”
After a few seconds of trying to muster up the motivation, he finally got closer.
“Look here.” I pointed to the white cell that was moving.
“That’s weird. Is it supposed to do this?”
“I don’t think so. It looks like it’s changing,” I said.
The cell didn’t act like the other cells that were suspended in the air. The white cells appeared to be morphing into different cells. Then, I noticed that they also disappeared then reappeared in a different spot. Job’s blood was transforming and teleporting.
Chad pointed out that not only were they changing and moving through space, but they were also creating other cells.
“It can’t be. What could this mean?” I asked.
Chad placed his hand over his opened mouth and stepped back slowly from the floating blood. I looked at him in search of the answer, even though I knew what it was.
“He-he has all three. Not just one, but three,” Chad said breathlessly.
I sunk down on the kitchen chair and blew on the desplicer. Like an inverted explosion, all of the blood molecules and vial fussed back together faster than the speed of light.
The revelation that Job not only had powers, but that he had all three, sent my world spinning. There were so many questions to be answered. What was the cause that he would have all three powers? In Equinox, that was unheard of. Why would he want to get rid of his powers by taking the virus? Were there more like him in Providencia?
Chad interrupted my thoughts.
“I don’t think the virus is permanent. At least I know there has to be an antivirus. For someone as powerful as Job, why would he want to get rid of his powers for good?”
“At least now we know how they were able to manipulate our powers in the forest. They knew about our abilities all along.”
“What’s more is that they seem to understand our powers even more than we do,” he added.
I got up from my seat and walked towards the door to my room.
“Let’s try to get some rest tonight. I know this is a lot to take in right now, but we should focus more on getting our powers back so that we can escape,” I said.
That night, sleep seemed like a distant land that I could never inhabit. The thought of never having my power again made me restless. We stumbled into a world beyond our comprehension and became prisoners inside of it. I felt desperate to escape and find my way home, but something in me wanted to understand them. A small piece of me imagined that their reason for ridding us of our powers was for our protection. At least this is what I hoped. Maybe something contained inside the Book of Wisdom told them that having powers was wrong and that’s why they use the virus on themselves. But why would they keep their blood in vials, as though they were trying to preserve their power?
As I lay there looking out my window into the peacefully natural fly-lit town, I imagined what my view would be like if I were home. The virtual billboards would still be glowing, hovercars zooming throughout the polluted air, the naturals earning last minute credits to store inside their old eyes while the Authorities watch it all from their secret bureau in the sky. Unlike Providencia, Equinox never slept. It kept going on and on like an automatic machine working its way into cluttered chaos with hardly a plot of unearthed soil to stand on. But this mechanical mess was what I called home.
Chapter 8: The Secrets of Providencia
The next morning after a restless sleep, I entered the kitchen only to find Job in his white headdress sitting at the table. He looked at me with a smile and motioned to the chair next to him. I sat down in silence. Not long after, Chad appeared from his room looking disheveled and groggy. He immediately took the seat across from me.
“I trust you two enjoyed yourselves at last night’s banquet.”
We stayed quiet.
“I wasn’t feeling well so I had to leave without seeing you to your cabin, but it looks like you found it alright.”
Job took a sip from the mug in front of him while keeping his eyes on us.
“I hope you don’t mind I let myself in and brewed some tea.”
Chad and I were still silently lookin
g at him anticipating his next statement.
“I can tell by your blank stares that you all are wondering what my purpose is for showing up so randomly like this.” Job stood up and began to pace around the kitchen table. “Well, this is my village and I don’t need permission to enter your cabin, first of all. Secondly,” he paused and looked at us. “Secondly, our village physician says that there’s an important object that is missing from his operating room. He went in search of it last night and found it wasn’t where he left it. I was just wondering if you know where it could be.”
We both hesitated to answer. Eventually I broke the silence.
“Maybe he misplaced it.”
Job shook his head.
“I don’t think so Miss Riley. This object is too valuable to be misplaced.”
“Are you trying to say that we took it?” Chad said too defensively.
“If you are innocent then why would I accuse you? I’m sure that after the banquet you went back to your cabin and fell right to sleep. I just wanted to bring this to your attention just in case you wanted to confess something to me,” Job said as if he knew.
“You’re right. We went straight to the cabin after the banquet, but we stayed up a while talking. We don’t know anything about the object you’re talking about,” I said.
“Fair enough. Then you don’t mind if I do a quick search of your cabin just in case you might’ve stumbled upon it by accident? Do you?”
I shot Chad an anxious look.
“Go ahead,” Chad said coolly.
Job began looking all over our cabin. He started in the kitchen and looked through all the cabinets. Then he searched the living room under the couch cushions and rug. He looked through both of our rooms and didn’t hesitate to look through our belongings.
I looked at Chad for any sign of panic, but he remained calm. I knew he hid the vial somewhere, but the way Job was searching I felt we would be caught.
After a while of waiting for our rooms to be searched, Job appeared and was visibly unhappy to be empty handed.
“Well, if the object is missing it certainly isn’t here.”
Chad and I looked pleased to be off the hook.
“But that doesn’t mean that you weren’t involved. I’m giving you a guardian to look after you just in case you might want to cause more trouble. My son Elliot will watch you for the time being. He’ll make sure you have all you need as long as you stay in line. He should be here any minute now.”
We slumped our shoulders over in disappointment.
Job walked toward the front door. Then he turned around to address us one last time.
“If I find out that you are the ones who stole the important object, you will be punished severely.”
When he was good and gone I looked at Chad to tell me where he hid the vial. He led me to his room and pointed at the window.
“I put it outside on the window seal right when I heard him enter the cabin.”
I held it up to the daylight.
“Good thinking.”
Right then he heard a knock on our door. Chad went to answer it and there stood a young man around the age of eighteen with thick black hair that was slightly messy. He introduced himself as Elliot and asked to come in. Chad told him our names and offered him a seat in our living room.
I continued watching him silently from the kitchen. The left side of his hair was shaved in a strange design that looked like waves. There were a couple braids of colored thread peeking through his hair. I wondered if a woman did that for him. His skin was the color of redwood and his eyes were deep forests. I remembered him from the banquet. He was the boy who stole the Book of Wisdom from the power society library. He was the one who looked at me with those dark green eyes that pierced my soul.
Suddenly, I was aware that I was still in my pajamas. I ran to my room and changed into an ivory linen shorts jumper. I used a bit of water to tame my hair and ran a brush through it. At the last minute I decided to put my bangs in a braid and pinned it to the side near my ear. It had been a while since I really looked at myself in the mirror. For the first time since being injected with the virus, I wasn’t thinking about getting my power back.
When I was finished primping, I entered the living room nonchalantly. I noticed Chad do a double take as I sat down in the chair next to him and Elliot.
I held out my hand for Elliot to take.
“I’m Sage. I don’t believe we’ve met.”
He didn’t take it.
“Actually, we have met. Well, not officially at least. I was just telling Chad while you were in your room that I remember you from long ago. As a boy I was sent to Equinox to find an important book. You two were there hiding in the shadows.”
I noticed he had a faint accent that sounded primitive. Savage boy.
“I wondered then why you didn’t stop me. Then I thought maybe you were hiding from something else,” Elliot said.
“We were there from the future actually. We used this portal. Our mission was to find that book,” I said.
“And that’s why you’re here now,” he raised his eyebrows.
“We’re here now because your father won’t let us go. Look, we understand your people will never let us take the book. At this point, we just want to go home,” Chad said.
“It isn’t that easy. You’ve seen too much now. If we let you go, we risk the safety of our village.”
My infatuation for him was suddenly starting to dwindle.
“So what is it with this Book of Wisdom anyway? You people seem to be pretty obsessed with it,” I snapped.
“So do your people. Last I checked your leader sent you here for that very same book.”
I folded my arms and tried to keep from giving him eye contact.
Chad became aware of my odd behavior and gave me a look.
“But if you must know, that book contains the truth of our existence. If we didn’t have it, we would be lost souls roaming around trying to make sense of our world.”
“So the book provides wisdom and insight into our lives. Great. Why are we being kept here?” Chad said annoyed.
“I already told you.”
“Then at least tell us how your father knows enough about our powers to take them away,” I demanded.
“I don’t owe you an explanation about anything. My duty is to make sure you stay out of trouble,” his tone was sharpening.
I paused letting the tenseness die a little.
“Well then, we’re going to be hanging around each other for a long time. At least make it somewhat interesting by telling us what you know. It’s not like we can do anything about it anyway,” I said.
Elliot hesitated then sat back in his seat.
“We actually aren’t that much different, you and I.”
He took a deep breath.
“We know all about the underground. In fact, our elders lived there. When the people underground left their home under the earth to live on the surface again, my parents and several other families had already planned to escape the system. They planned to leave and create their own society built on freedom. It was several years after they first reached the surface when their plan would go into effect. At midnight they would escape with just the clothes on their backs. I was just a baby at the time. Well, unknown to them, the Authorities found out about their plan and followed them. A man from the group saw the Authorities tracking them in the dark forest and started throwing spears. The Authorities used their powers to battle against my people there. A handful of people died that night, including my mother. A few others were captured and taken to prison. My father was one of the few who were able to escape. The only injury he had was a gash underneath his eye.”
My suspicions about these people were right. They were from the underground.
“So we really are from the same place. I never knew about any uprising that happened after the underground,” Chad said.
“It wasn’t an uprising. My people just wanted to leave without causing any
harm. After the Authorities attacked the way they did, my father vowed to always be prepared for another attack. That’s why he created those weapons that were used to temporarily remove your powers.”
“What about the book? Why did he send you to steal it?” I asked
“That book was already stolen by your leader. What’s worse is that he kept it hidden underneath a glass case so that nobody could read it. My parents came from a family that cherished that book even after it went extinct. At some point underground, my father heard that there was still a copy left. He tried searching for it, but never found it. He wanted to share the book with others so that the wisdom could spread, but he was too late.”
“I guess he got his wish now,” Chad said.
“Not quite,” Elliot said shifting in his seat.
“What do you mea-“
“Enough about this,” Elliot interrupted me.
I paused.
“Okay, then, what about the chips? If you are who you say you are and your ancestors lived underground, then wouldn’t everyone, except for the babies, have chips in their eyes?” I asked.
Elliot gave me a sly smile.
“Good question. You all follow me.”
We followed Elliot into the village where the day’s activities were underway for the townspeople. There were dozens of makeshift shops that lined the streets where people were selling and bartering various items.
We walked a ways until we reached an open field where the grass was green. Elliot continued to lead us across the field towards a giant white rock that was propped up on the trunk of a huge oak tree. He walked over to one side of the boulder and called Chad over to help him push it.
They both pushed and strained until their feet were buried in the soil. They pushed the rock further enough so that there was an opening big enough for each of us to enter.
“Is there something down here?” I asked.
“Yes. Go ahead. There should be a set of stairs there right when you step inside,” Elliot said wiping his brow.
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