Relentless

by Robin Parrish

  ‘‘Somehow, entirely on your own . . . you did.’’

  36

  ‘‘Drop it, Fletcher.’’

  ‘‘Why won’t you tell me what she said?’’ he replied, watching her with those magnified eyeglasses of his.

  ‘‘I’ve told you before, what Marta and I talk about stays between the two of us,’’ Morgan told him, massaging her forehead.

  ‘‘But something’s different this time, I can tell,’’ he whined. ‘‘She told you something about Grant, didn’t she? Something big. Something you didn’t want to hear.’’

  Morgan cut her eyes away from him, mildly irritated. It was then that she noticed how full the Common Room was today. Quite a few visitors staying this week.

  Every one of them were Loci, of course.

  ‘‘I’m not answering your questions, Fletcher.’’

  ‘‘You just did.’’

  ‘‘Will you leave it alone?’’ she said, louder. A few others in the room turned and looked.

  ‘‘Why are you so intent on trusting this guy?’’ Fletcher said, his volume rising to match hers.

  ‘‘Why are you so intent on not trusting him?’’ she shouted.

  Fletcher frowned and leaned back in his seat. Everyone in the room was watching now. Morgan never shouted.

  ‘‘I’ll say it again. His ring may be different than everyone else’s,’’

  Fletcher said. ‘‘But it can’t possibly be that important.’’

  ‘‘And yet,’’ Morgan said, leveling her gaze on him, ‘‘it is.’’

  ‘‘How do you know?’’ Fletcher challenged.

  ‘‘Because his coming was predicted over seven thousand years ago,’’ she replied, to audible gasps throughout the room. Not one of the Loci knew of the existence of the stone tablet, aside from herself and Grant. ‘‘Believe it, all of you. In fact, let everyone know,’’ she said, turning to address the entire room. ‘‘The magnitude of this cannot be overstated. He is the Bringer. And his time is near.’’

  ‘‘You breached the Threshold, Grant,’’ Daniel said. ‘‘This is the reason I’ve been trying so hard to find you. I couldn’t care less about what Paragenics might want with you—I just want to help you. Because you’ve succeeded where no one else ever could.’’

  ‘‘But I didn’t!’’ Grant protested. ‘‘At least, I never chose to. Everything that’s happened to me has been completely outside of my control.’’

  ‘‘Which is the unavoidable point we keep coming back to . . .’’ Daniel thought aloud, nodding. He looked away, considering this for a few moments, following this thought to its conclusion . . .

  And then a dawn of comprehension passed over his face and his mouth opened as he looked up at Grant, locking eyes with him.

  ‘‘All these years,’’ he said urgently, ‘‘I’ve known what Paragenics and their rivals were up to, but I never knew why. Why was it so important for them to cross this threshold? Why were they willing to risk illegal experimentation with such a high body count? What could possibly be so important? And now that I know your story . . . I think I’m finally beginning to understand.

  ‘‘I assumed,’’ Daniel continued, ‘‘that Paragenics was doing what they were doing for military applications. Power. Money. I figured they were trying to create a new breed of soldier—and probably for the highest bidder. But they failed miserably, and their work was abandoned.

  ‘‘From what you’ve told me, though, it looks like the results they were after are appearing in hundreds of people—if not more—entirely at random. From a spectator’s point-of-view, there’s nothing connecting all of you to one another, except for these strange rings on your fingers. But what if there is something that connects all of you?’’

  Grant took Julie’s hand in his and leaned forward in his chair, desperate to understand. ‘‘What, then?’’

  ‘‘The Loci you mention—all of their abilities could have strategic defensive or offensive applications, if used correctly. They make you unique—or more advanced than your average human. So if advanced human beings are popping up all over the world now, then the logical conclusion is that there must be a reason for it. I told you I saw a purpose, a design in all of this. What if that purpose isn’t one that science can explain?’’

  ‘‘Then what could explain it?’’ Grant shoved his hand close to Daniel’s face. ‘‘I mean, look at this thing. There’s no way it just landed there on its own.’’

  ‘‘If it’s not a natural occurrence,’’ Daniel said quietly, ‘‘then it must be a supernatural one.’’

  Grant leaned back, looking at Daniel anew. ‘‘I don’t believe in the supernatural.’’

  ‘‘. . . Said the man who was placed inside a new body.’’

  ‘‘But you’re a scientist! How can you possibly believe in some hocus-pocus explanation for all this?’’

  ‘‘Grant, you have to understand . . .’’ Daniel said, taking on his best scholarly tone. ‘‘Scientists study the order of nature. But one thing science has never been able to explain is why that order exists. Why are there scientific laws that hold the universe together? Why doesn’t everything spiral out of control, into chaos? As much as we try to reason our way around it, some parts of our existence simply can’t be explained with formulas or proofs.

  ‘‘The human brain’s complexity, for example. Our ability to be self-aware and have consciousness and reasoning and imagination. The fact that as vast as the solar system is, our planet rests in the one orbit— the one precise position around our sun that’s capable of supporting life. There are a million examples all around us.’’

  Grant sighed, shaking his head bitterly. ‘‘You’re sounding less and less like a scientist, Doc. Here I thought you were going to explain to me how all of this is even possible. Instead, you want me to believe that ‘fate’ magically intervened. Even if that were true, why? Why did I have to go through the Shift? Why couldn’t I have been given this ring as Collin Boyd?’’

  ‘‘Listen to yourself, Grant,’’ Daniel said urgently. ‘‘Don’t you see? You’re answering your own question. If all this is happening now, to you . . . then it’s happening to you now for a reason. A reason outside human understanding,’’ he said with a note of finality.

  A reason outside human understanding?

  What kind of answer was that?

  What possible reason could there be?

  Grant froze.

  Julie watched him fearfully, not understanding.

  A chill crept down Grant’s spine as a single thought went off in his head like a flash bomb.

  ‘‘I’m going to be needed . . .’’ he said, facing Daniel, face stricken with alarm.

  Grant looked down, lost in his thoughts. But Daniel studied him intently. Grant followed the line of reasoning through to the same conclusion that the doctor had apparently perceived only moments ago.

  Grant’s head snapped back up to look Daniel in the eye.

  In that instant, he had it.

  At long last, he knew.

  All of the questions he had about why this had happened to him. All of his fears. His doubts. His confusion. Everything he had learned about himself, about what he could do. The rings. The stone tablet. The others that had been Shifted.

  It all came crashing together in one perfect moment of crystallization.

  For the first time in a very long time, everything made sense.

  ‘‘Something’s coming . . .’’ he breathed, his eyes enormous.

  Daniel nodded gravely. Julie gasped, hand flying up to cover her mouth.

  Grant leaned back in his seat, his mind swimming, his heart pounding visibly beneath his shirt.

  ‘‘Something bigger than anything that has ever been,’’ Daniel was saying slowly, with great emphasis. ‘‘Something the rest of humanity is not equipped to deal with. I can’t even guess what shape it might take, or when it will happen, but the logical conclusion here is that you, and possibly the others, are meant to stop it.’’
/>
  Grant sat back in his chair, trying to suppress the feeling of weakness that had overcome him. A cold sweat broke out across his brow and he closed his eyes, trying to get a handle on what all this meant.

  He finally understood. Not how. But definitely why.

  Something was coming. Something only he would be able to stop.

  It was preposterous!

  Who was he to save the world? And who would be foolish enough to choose him for it?

  He was no one.

  And the others? What of them?

  As he thought of Morgan and Hannah and all of the others that had been Shifted, an odd sensation encompassed him, as if every part of his body had been hit with a mild electric shock, right down to his marrow.

  He opened his eyes to see Daniel gaping at him.

  ‘‘Grant, what—?’’ Daniel was saying.

  Grant looked down.

  His ring was glowing.

  It had only glowed one time before—the night it shimmered in the graveyard after Collin had been buried.

  But something was different. This wasn’t the same as before.

  Instead of shimmering evenly, the light was growing.

  ‘‘Daniel . . .’’ Grant said in alarm as he watched the light become brighter.

  And then the blinding pain returned, jolting him with such intensity that he fell off the sofa. It was worse than ever before. He clutched his head with both hands, as if he could somehow stop the unbearable pain by squeezing his skull.

  NO NO NO!!

  ‘‘Collin!’’ Julie screamed, kneeling at his side, trying to keep him from convulsing.

  The pain spread the brighter the light became. From Grant’s head down through every part of his body—chest, arms, hands, legs, feet—it was everywhere. Searing, ripping, shredding through him with an intensity beyond anything he’d ever imagined possible.

  He writhed on the floor, screaming, twitching as if his flesh was being wrenched off of his bones.

  Morgan had just stood from her chair when a prickling sensation at the back of her neck told her something was wrong.

  All around the Common Room, everything was growing brighter. And the light was still rising.

  But it wasn’t a natural light; outside it was the dead of night.

  Everywhere the Loci sat, stood, talked, played, watched television, read, or slept—throughout the entire facility, all of their rings had begun to glow.

  The collective glow grew brighter and brighter until it became impossible to see anything other than white.

  Hannah grabbed her keys. She’d dumped the ambulance at LAX, wiped it of prints, and had taken a cab back to her apartment to shower and change. The doctor they rescued probably was asleep which meant she might get Grant to herself.

  Before she could open her door, though, a warmth grew at her hand and she watched amazed as the ring on her finger glowed white hot until she melted into it.

  Daniel strained to see through the blinding, shimmering light, which continued to grow brighter and brighter, until closing his eyes no longer impeded it.

  He tried blocking his eyes with an arm, but still it seemed that he could feel the light penetrating every pore of his body. Grant was thrashing about on the floor, and Julie was now screaming as well. Soon, he joined them, until the only sound in the apartment was desperate, anguished wailing.

  And then, as unexpectedly as it had began, the light flashed out of existence, as though its power had been cut.

  When Daniel opened his eyes, his vision was gone.

  ‘‘Grant?’’ he called out repeatedly.

  There was no answer, though he could hear Julie weeping.

  Several minutes passed before his sight finally returned. When it did, Daniel strained to see the spot where he’d last looked at Grant.

  Grant was still lying there on the floor.

  But he was unconscious, curled into a fetal ball.

  Frozen in a repose of infinite pain.

  Julie was cradling him, weeping uncontrollably. Daniel asked no questions of Julie. There were none necessary.

  His lips looked blue.

  He wasn’t moving.

  And his chest was still.

  All through Morgan’s asylum, every person—Morgan, Fletcher, Marta, and the more than fifty other Loci currently in residence or visiting— all of them spontaneously crumpled to the floor, unconscious.

  Hannah collapsed by herself next to her apartment door.

  All of the others who had experienced the Shift, all around the world—including those who had never been accounted for—all of them, everywhere, slid into oblivion at the precise moment that their rings stopped glowing.

  Not a single one of them moved.

  Not one of them breathed.

  INTERREGNUM

  THE KEEPER knew.

  Knew that Grant had met with Daniel. Knew what the two of them had figured out. Knew who Hannah had been working for, until recently. And that Alex was helping Grant, blatantly against orders, but had just been removed from the playing board.

  The Keeper knew exactly what had just happened to all of those who wore the rings, and what it would mean.

  Most of all, the Keeper knew of the threat that was coming.

  The Keeper smiled at the thought of so much meticulous preparation coming together like a perfectly strategized game of chess.

  It was only a matter of time.

  History, after all, could not be avoided.

  The Bringer was close now.

  Very close.

  37

  A cloud.

  No, a mist.

  A misty cloud.

  That’s what it was.

  That’s what he saw.

  That’s what he was inside of.

  It was beautiful, swirling in lovely, soothing hues of purple and pink and blue. It caressed his skin, and he decided he’d never felt a more peaceful sensation.

  Some barely conscious part of him knew that nothing like this place existed anywhere in the world. Yet it felt remarkably comforting. Its soothing essence poured through him, saturating him with happiness.

  A noise.

  He heard something.

  Grant looked ahead. A distortion of some kind was visible in the distance. It was an odd mixture of light and darkness, of sound and silence, that seemed to be coming closer. After a moment it resolved into a blurred outline Grant recognized as a person coming toward him.

  The figure drew closer, and the sound grew louder.

  Soon, he thought he heard words among the sound.

  It was a voice.

  A person.

  Someone spoke. Or was it singing?

  Whatever it was, it was drawing nearer in the tranquil, unruffled clouds. Despite his curiosity, and an elusive sense in the pit of his stomach that something wasn’t right, Grant couldn’t help reveling at the thought of staying here forever.

  He only had a mild curiosity about the figure as it drew nearer— near enough for him to make out a humanlike shape. But everything was so peaceful here; there were no concerns, no fears.

  ‘‘Grant,’’ the voice said.

  It came closer now, close enough to reach out and touch, and yet still all he saw was a milky outline.

  ‘‘Hello, sweetheart,’’ it said, the clouds rippling and shifting colors with every inflection.

  He could think of no one who’d ever called him ‘‘sweetheart.’’

  ‘‘It is an eternity in a moment, given to us,’’ the voice replied.

  What’s happening to me?

  Where did that pain come from?

  What is this place? he thought.

  ‘‘It is the Forging,’’ the shape continued in a remarkably smooth, dignified voice. A hue of yellow formed at the edge of the rippling mist as the shape spoke. ‘‘It began the first time the pain took hold of you, but you resist.’’

  It hurts. It’s too much. I can’t take it.

  ‘‘I know,’’ it said soothingly. ‘‘But this i
s your portion. Everything has been leading to this moment, and it must be done. The others will not last without you.’’

  They wouldn’t want me to suffer.

  ‘‘Suffering is not what this is about,’’ it said sympathetically, the clouds’ colors turning to soft pink. ‘‘Today is a new step in your journey; it is not the last. You must ask yourself what you are willing to go through, to reach the journey’s end. Are you willing to sacrifice? Are you willing to absorb your greatest fear, and make it part of your very being? Are you willing to follow the path that has been set before you?’’

  No! I don’t want this! I don’t want any part of it.

  ‘‘No flesh ever does. That isn’t the point.’’ The clouds were growing redder now . . .

  I just want to stay here, Grant thought. And then another thought came to mind, something he intuitively knew was true, yet had not explanation for. I want to stay with you.

  The form began to coalesce into a more distinctive shape. A shape he recognized as female.

  ‘‘I want that, too, my love. But we are not asked what we want.

  Only what we are willing to do.’’ The clouds reverted to their original blue and purple . . .

  But why? Why must I do this? What is all this about?

  ‘‘It’s about living.’’

  This is life? Is this how life is supposed to be? Full of pain and injustice and grief and selfishness? Is this fair? Or right? Or just?

  ‘‘One day you will have the answers to every question. Stay true to yourself. Nothing is as it seems. Today, you must go back.’’

  Her form took on the properties of skin and hair and clothing, and he saw her face for the first time.