The Zero Patient Trilogy (Book Two): (A Dystopian Science Fiction Series)

by Harmon Cooper

  The thought strikes him:

  ‘You… you know why I’m here, don’t you? You were in my head again – in my head still!’

  ‘Yes, I know why you are here.’

  His skin crawls and his stomach churns, the bile rises in his throat as Halo continues to use Beige as her mouthpiece, even as Beige rubs herself against the Goddess, writhes against her, and nuzzles more firmly against her neck.

  ‘You were listening to my thoughts again when I was outside, weren’t you? Tell me, you foul, manipulating bitch!’

  ‘You shouldn’t call me that.’

  ‘Why not? That’s what you are!’ he says, unable to look away from the tableau Halo has presented him with. ‘You knew all along; you knew about all the pain and suffering and death. You lie to me, you mislead me, you kill the people I care about. You don’t care about me – all I am to you is a tool, a thing with a strong back and a weak mind.

  ‘You shouldn’t think that.’

  ‘What else can I think? Dammit, make my sister leave, NOW! I don’t want her to see me like this… don’t… don’t use her voice!’

  ‘She won’t remember anything. Watch, I’ll prove it to you.’

  Beige lifts Halo’s chin, puts one hand behind her head and kisses her on the lips as she runs her other hand over the Goddess’ breasts.

  Raw red fury overwhelms him. He hammers the clubbing stick into Halo’s invisible wall until his muscles tremble and his hands go numb. He roars and curses and rages, he draws his shiv and hacks and stabs at the wall; he’d bite it if he could get a purchase on it with his teeth.

  Beige smiles. ‘Relax, you’re going to hurt yourself. I’m simply showing you that she won’t remember anything. Also, I’m practicing. I’ll need to be able to do this, well, not this, but control someone in the future.’

  ‘You can already do that,’ he says through gritted teeth. ‘Leave her alone, Halo, don’t use her! STOP FUCKING WITH MY LIFE AND THE PEOPLE AROUND ME!’

  ‘I need to be able to do this for a prolonged time.’

  ‘Stop… just STOP!’ he screams his throat raw; spittle flies from his lips. His eyes bulge, and he hyperventilates.

  ‘STOP!’

  ‘As you wish.’ Beige blinks rapidly, lies down onto her side and closes her eyes.

  ‘For fuck’s sake, Halo.’

  The practical demonstration of my powers can be jarring, I’m aware of that.

  ‘Dammit, you need to come clean with me, otherwise… ’ He holds the sharp end of his shiv against his throat, pushes in until the flesh dimples and a drop of blood wells around the point.

  Please do not.

  ‘The truth, then, BITCH!’ Sterling knows he may not have the will to actually do it, but he’ll sure as shit try.

  His shiv hand moves away, as if of its own volition.

  ‘No… ’ he grits, ‘not this time… ’ Sterling focuses all his willpower on holding the shiv against his neck… and then suddenly lets his right arm go limp as with his left hand he underhands the clubbing stick right at her face.

  The invisible barrier isn’t there; the clubbing stick cracks against Halo’s chin. He drops to the floor and curls into a ball as she shrieks inside his skull.

  ‘You can’t… overpower me… ’ he says, reeling from the pain, but happy to get a piece of her. Fuck her. She’s powerful, but not all-powerful. This is the second time he’s been able to distract her and get a lick in.

  ***

  ‘That was for Bolt,’ Sterling whispers once she has stopped her plangent, inner-head shriek. He’s still on the floor, his legs curled into his chest.

  I used Bolt to save your life – surely you realize that by now!

  ‘Shit! I didn’t ask you to save me, I… I don’t want to be saved – I don’t need to be saved! You got that? Don’t you see? Can’t you tell that I just don’t care anymore, not since the start of all this? Screw my life! Bolt had his whole life ahead of him. I don’t. You don’t have the right to just use up his life as if… as if human life is an expendable commodity! You don’t have the right!’

  It is an expendable commodity. As long as enough humans remain alive to procreate, the species continues to live.

  ‘I fucking hate you.’

  You really hurt my chin, by the way. I can feel the pain in my jaw.

  ‘That’s what getting punched in the mouth feels like! Glad you could feel it, Goddess. Wish I could do it with this!’ He brandishes his clenched fist.

  You’re a harsh, angry man.

  ‘Using my sister as your toy is harsh!’ he sits, glares over at her. ‘And I’m not done with what I need to say. You lied about the servers, then… ’ Sterling gulps, hesitates. ‘You already knew that my mother would be killed. You already knew Beige would get raped.’

  Truthfully? I knew that it was highly likely; I was not completely certain.

  ‘And you didn’t stop it? Why? What good did that serve?’ Sterling maneuvers to give himself a bit of advantage over the sitting Goddess. If he can attack without thinking about it, he might surprise her.

  I need your sister’s help too.

  ‘You could have asked her!’

  There were three OL Officers that came to apprehend you, one metal man and two humans.

  ‘How did they even know we went north?’

  They apprehended your sister and your mother near the OL. They brought them back here to interrogate them in private. Your mother gave you away after the men threatened to rape your sister in front of her. They killed her and Beige tried to escape. Two left to get you, one stayed behind to deal with your sister.

  ‘But how’d they know about the Forehead Driller’s house? Even we didn’t know until the last minute’

  I do not know, exactly, but I have my suspicions.

  ‘And how do I know… ’ He paces for a moment, shakes his head. ‘How do I know that they don’t have someone coming after me right now?’

  They don’t.

  ‘But how do I know that? How, or more appropriately, why should I believe anything you say?’

  Because you have no choice, and because now is the time for the truth to be told.

  ‘Really? Well it’s about damn time!’ His expression sours, knowing all too well that it could be yet another lie.

  I’m going to tell you everything. Is that acceptable?

  ‘Fine, tell me everything then, explain it so that I understand why this is all happening. Give me a good reason not to do my damnedest to kill you or kill me right now.’

  My father arranged all of this, including your involvement.

  ‘Your father? How does he even know who I am?’

  ***

  Sterling runs his hand across his clean-shaven face as he eyes the Goddess.

  Yes, my father, Father Miscavige. You physically spirited me away, but he helped me coordinate things, including misdirecting my would-be rescuers east while you and I and Bolt went to the west.

  This entire time, this entire time, he’s been manipulated by the Goddess and the leader of the Church of the South. His head pounds, his heart races, and his stomach continues to churn. He pinches the bridge of his nose, runs his hand across his eyes to wipe away angry tears that were never there. All of this has been a lie. And for what?

  His plans and mine no longer converge.

  ‘Like I’m going to believe that.’ Sterling takes a deep, jagged breath.

  Halo clears her throat and whispers, ‘He thinks I am working for him,’ she says in the softest voice Sterling has ever heard. Her actual speaking voice causes the hair on his arms to prickle to attention.

  ‘You can speak?’

  ‘You told me to come clean… ’ She swallows, moistens her lips, swallows again. ‘Father still thinks that I’m his instrument. Instead, I am doing this for myself, for the Canyon, to fulfill the Prophecy of the Zero Patient.’

  ‘Huh? Prophecy of zero patience? Zero patience for what?’

  ‘No, the Zero Patient Prophecy, that foretells
of the one who will lead everyone to enlightenment. I have the Mark,’ she whispers, ‘as you know.’ Sterling leans in closer to make out her words. ‘It is my destiny, and Father is trying to twist it to his advantage, but his plans are about to unravel. And there’s another problem.’

  ‘Of course there is. What?’

  ‘My brother, Hunter.’

  .3.

  ‘You have a brother? You said you didn’t have any brothers or sisters!’

  Halo nods. Indeed, but now is the time for truth. And truthfully, it would be better if you and he never meet.

  ‘Better for who; better how?’

  She smiles thinly. Better for everybody, I assure you. But mostly better for you.

  ‘Is he like you?’

  Like me how?

  ‘Back to speaking in my head voice?’

  It’s easier for me. I just wanted to come clean, to be completely honest with you, as you requested. I can actually speak, but I prefer to communicate this way.

  ‘Fine, but what about this brother of yours… Hunter, you said.’

  Yes, my half-brother actually. He has the same ability as me but…

  ‘But what?’ Sterling watches as Halo’s nose twitches and her lip curls.

  His powers are warped and corrupted. Hunter has faced extreme hardship in the pursuit of his beliefs. His mind is flawed, damaged and filled with voices – his own, our father’s, and mine. I’ve tried to help him, but I really don’t know how effective I’ve been. Father wanted to be rid of him, wanted him killed, but he didn’t want to be connected with it. When you kidnapped me, he sent my brother after us so that he’d run afoul of the OL Officers and they would have to kill him. It was supposed to look like he was killed resisting apprehension. I helped father with this initially because…

  ‘You helped have your brother killed?’

  Yes, but I knew he would survive. You really can’t conceive of what he’s been through and how it’s affected him. Truly, you can’t. I tried to break through to him, to feed him information, but his mind is just too damaged and his grasp of reality too tenuous. I devised another plan to help him.

  ‘Which is?’

  Which is in the works now.

  ‘But you played along,’ Sterling says, pacing now. ‘You played along after you were kidnapped.’

  I had no other choice. I needed to get to the North, far enough away from my father to be free of his influence, but I discovered that he has power and influence here, too.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  It’s more involved than I had originally thought. He’s in league with your nemesis, Zander Damien.

  ‘Halo, that’s just lizard-shit crazy! He hates the South and everything in it! He wouldn’t walk across the street to piss on a Southerner if he was on fire!’

  Or so he would have you believe. They have been in communication for years now, planning all this. I picked this up yesterday, before you rescued me from the depot storage area. They, Father and Zander, have been planning to open the Off Limits.

  ‘Planning to open the Off Limits? But why… why would anyone want that?’

  Because all of us – you, me, them, Hunter, everybody – share a common enemy.

  ‘Who?’

  I don’t know who they are, but they control the people that control the Off Limits.

  ‘The metal men?’

  No. They’re just minions, albeit powerful ones. It’s more complicated than that. Zander has some sway with the Great Demarcator Security Forces, and they allow him to make use of the metal men as long as his plans don’t jeopardize the security of the Canyon, but they wouldn’t work with him or do anything to assist him if they knew his real intent

  ‘Why would your father or Zander want an all-out war?’

  Camouflage and misdirection.

  ‘For what?’

  Seizure and consolidation of power. From what I have gathered, they plan to unite both sides and make war against the Off Limits.

  ‘Unite both sides?’ Sterling snorts in derision. ‘That’s the second stupidest thing I’ve heard all week. Both sides hate each other! Your father and Zander have rocks for brains!’

  To put it simply, yes, but this is their plan. But even if they are able to unite both sides – even briefly – the OL will eventually overpower them. And if they don’t, both men will vie for power, which will, in time, lead to another conflict.

  ‘This makes no sense to me,’ he says, ‘no sense at all. They’re both already as powerful as a person can be in the Canyon. Zander even has OL Officers doing his bidding, yet they want more? Really?’

  Really, and I can’t say that I blame them. I don’t much like the fact that this barrier between both sides of the Canyon keeps it at odds and at the same time controls, conflicts and punishes us. I think their intent was good originally, but someone needs to find out what is going on and what this, and by this I mean our existence in this Canyon, means. What I don’t like is the two men who are planning to do this. Both of them are equally terrible.

  ‘So when did you stop following his orders?’

  It strikes him that maybe they are both merely pieces in other people’s games – maybe. He still doesn’t quite trust Halo, not after the number of times she’s lied to him.

  I stopped following his orders after we disrupted the servers. I needed him to believe I was in league with him until then. We will make our move now that chaos and confusion have set in. We will smuggle ourselves into the Off Limits, you as our guard and Beige and me as your prisoners. We will see what lies beyond the Canyon.

  ‘What about the eye in the sky that saw us in the Servers?’

  Let me handle that if the situation arises.

  Sterling shakes his head. ‘I just don’t see why my sister needs to be involved.’

  You don’t want her staying behind here, especially with what will come next.

  ‘I get that, but I still… don’t quite see why she needs to be involved.’

  We all have our roles, Beige as well.

  He watches Halo place her hand on his sister’s thigh. ‘She didn’t have to get raped,’ he finally says. He gets the urge to step outside, find the rapist again and kill him some more.

  Even if we had arrived in time, there was nothing I could have done to affect a more positive outcome. I could have controlled one of them; the other two would have killed you, killed your mother, raped your sister after you were dead, killed her when they were through, and then taken me.

  ‘You still could have done something!’

  I can only do so much, and even I have limits. If I am distracted or surprised, my control can slip, as you well know.

  Halo tilts her head at him, lifts a hand to her chin, rubs it.

  ‘I still need to kill Zander,’ he growls. ‘I’m not particularly concerned about Father Miscavige, but at the very least, I need to make Zander pay for what he has done to my family.’

  I told you to let me handle that.

  ‘Halo, if there is one thing that I’ll teach you before I die, it’s this – never, ever, let your enemy take another breath if you can help it. Never.’

  I don’t plan to.

  ***

  Beige startles awake, yawns. ‘What happened?’ Her eyes grow wide as she takes in Sterling’s OL Officer uniform, then she remembers that she helped him assemble it.

  ‘You fell asleep.’ Sterling turns to the door. ‘Well come on, prisoners.’

  ‘Prisoners?’ his sister asks.

  ‘Halo, brief her.’

  I have.

  ‘Do it again… it appears as if she’s forgotten while she was passed out.’

  ‘I wasn’t passed out,’ Beige says. ‘Just a few moments ago I was… I was… ’

  Sterling waves his hand over his shoulder, passes into the kitchen and opens up another R Box. He eats the food quickly, grimacing at the no-taste, just wanting to get a little more energy before embarking upon whatever it is they’re set to embark upon.

  A rat
tling sound sends his eyes from the table to the door handle. He crouches next to the door with his shiv in his hand, his body partially in shadow.

  The handle clicks and the door opens quietly. A woman steps in, most of her seersucker wrappings removed to allow for easy movement. A gust of windblown grit accompanies her.

  He waits until she steps in, punches the back of her knee, and as she cries out and stumbles forward, he slaps his arm around her neck and rides her down. Her breath woofs out of her when they hit the floor, and he puts the tip of his shiv up under her ear.

  ‘Can I help you?’

  ‘Fuck you, Upper,’ she spits.

  He bangs her head on the floor, once, hard. ‘Keep your hands in front of you, fingers spread, palms up.’

  ‘Fuck you,’ she says again, but does as she’s told.

  Sterling knows he can’t just let this burglar go, but he also knows he just doesn’t have it in him right now to kill someone who’s not actively trying to kill him first.

  I will do it for you.

  ‘What?’

  Her voice in his head takes him off guard. The would-be burglar tries to break free; he tightens his chokehold and increases the pressure on his shiv. ‘Try it again, I dare you,’ he hisses at her.

  You have slain and slain on my behalf; let me bear some of the burden.

  Halo appears at the kitchen doorway. She steps forward lithely, her wrappings coil down her thin arm as she lifts a single hand. Even with her face obscured by her blinders, Sterling can sense a change in her demeanor.

  Let me do it.

  ‘Not a good idea, um… Sister. She’s bigger than you, outweighs you, and she can see.’

  Beige comes up behind Halo, eyes wide and hand over her mouth in horrified disbelief. The thief’s body suddenly relaxes.

  It’s done. Get up off her or you’ll soil your uniform.

  Sterling rolls off her and scrambles to his feet as the would-be burglar abruptly voids her bowels and bladder. She doesn’t move. He checks for pulse – nothing. Her eyes are bloodshot; one pupil is much larger than the other, and her face is turning a horrid shade of bluish-gray.