The Hidden Gift

by Ian Somers

‘I can guess the two questions that you most want to ask,’ she said. ‘I’m sure you are wondering where you are exactly. I have some files on you and they say you are very intelligent so you have probably worked out that this isn’t a normal hospital. Otherwise there would be an armed guard in the room and you’d have had a visit from a detective and not only a doctor. I can tell you that you were being monitored by the people who run this company. They witnessed what happened and decided to save you when the fighting subsided. This building belongs to Golding Scientific. It is the company’s experimental division. I can see by the look in your eyes that you are familiar with Mr Golding’s reputation and that, up to this point, you have probably considered him an enemy. You have to realise he saved your life and he is willing to give you a second chance at that life. You owe him a lot, Edward, and I’m sure he is going to call in that favour soon enough. Do you understand?’

  I blinked once.

  ‘The second and probably more pressing matter that’s on your mind is the fate of you sister. I am so very sorry, Edward. Golding Scientific’s surveillance team observed an attack on the apartment you were holed up in. The people responsible were members of this mysterious group that you were once a part of.’

  I tried hard not to show emotion, but could not resist clenching my fists. I knew all too well how ruthless my old colleagues were.

  Walters approached the bed and sat on a chair next to me. She then leaned forward and moved her face close to mine and whispered.

  ‘You will be watched carefully. Every expression is monitored and analysed. I am your only friend here, Edward. If you show aggression towards me or any of the other staff here they will terminate you. What I’m about to tell you will be very difficult to hear, but you must not react. It may be the difference between life and death for you. Do you understand?’

  I blinked.

  ‘Your sister was murdered.’ She said it coldly, as if it had no meaning; her eyes told me a different story. ‘That is all the information I have for you right now. I will try to gain a more detailed account for you in time.’

  I looked away from her as tears welled up in my eyes. I fought back the wave of sadness and anger. My sister, that I had risked so much for, was no more. My entire world came crumbling down around me. My life instantly lost the meaning that it once had. I wished in that moment that I too had succumbed to the Guild’s attack. I no longer wanted to live.

  ‘You need rest,’ the doctor said as she walked to the door. ‘I’ll check in on you again later.’

  I lied there as still as a statue. Inwardly I was in the midst of a storm of emotion. The rage was overwhelming. I would kill whoever was responsible. But they would suffer first. I would unleash hell on all those close to the person responsible. All I had to do was to keep my cool until they allowed me to leave the clinic. Then I would exact revenge in the most vicious fashion imaginable.

  I was smart enough to know they were keeping me alive so that they could use me to hurt the Guild. I hated being used as a pawn, but I was content with the situation – for as long as it suited me. Golding had endless resources and they would be able to get me back on my feet soon enough. I simply had to be patient.

  My thoughts then turned to the emotions that I was experiencing. For most of my life I was able to contain my emotions, now I was overcome by them. A mix of anger and sadness filled me. They were natural feelings for someone in my situation, but there was something more … I was skilled at hiding and repressing my emotions. Now they were running wild inside me, as if some unknown force was fuelling them. Perhaps the medical staff had operated on my brain … This was the experimental section of Golding Scientific after all.

  The emotions were so alien to me. I had grown comfortable with imprisoning any feelings for others. So much so that I once took extraordinary measures to remind myself of what, and who, I was supposed to be loyal to. Some years ago I had tattooed a portrait of Ania on the palm of my left hand so I would not forget that I was to protect and to care for her. Tattooed on the palm of my right hand was a symbol. This was the crest used by the assassins of the Guild; it was a variation on the wolf head logo that the Guild used. This one had the face of a snake in its centre. I got that tattoo to remind me of my duty to those who had saved me from the Eastern Shadow. Both were now reminders of the loss I had suffered.

  I spent the following hours thinking of little Ania. I had risked so much for her over the years. I had sacrificed everything so that she could survive.

  I had carried out the massacre in Switzerland for her sake; she was being pushed too hard by Cramer during her training and I knew that pyrokinetics ran the risk of setting themselves on fire – particularly during their adolescent years. I asked Cramer to lighten the training, but my concerns were dismissed. I was not going to let any harm come to my only sibling and was planning to escape with her. Then the offer came from JNCOR and it seemed like perfect timing. It had all fallen apart. My actions led to Ania’s death instead of preventing it …

  But the Guild could have captured her! She was nothing more than a child and should not have faced execution!

  I wondered who had carried out the killing. Which of the cowards had killed my sister? There were many in the Guild, but only a cold-hearted killer could do such a thing. I guessed it was either Armitage or Sakamoto. They were the cruellest of all the Guild’s loyal assassins. Whoever it was would pay a heavy price and I was convinced that Dr Walters would find out who was responsible and share her knowledge, simply because that’s what Golding would want. He would want to use me as a weapon to strike at the heart of the Guild. That was Golding’s way of doing business – he preferred others to do his dirty work.

  The day passed by slowly and the loneliness was only broken once every hour, when a nurse entered and took readings from the many machines I was connected to. The first nurse did three checks before being replaced by a younger woman who went very pale when she looked at my face.

  Most people would have been upset if their appearance inspired such terror. I was far from upset by it. I took pleasure from her reaction; I knew the only thing left in life was to be an instrument of vengeance and that would be easier if the mere sight of me struck fear into my foes. I had not yet seen my face since the fight with the Guild, but I was badly mutilated if the nurse’s reaction was anything to go by.

  At 5pm the timid nurse returned to take her readings and jot the results onto her clip-board. This time she was accompanied by Dr Walters who checked the machines then drew the curtains and switched on the lamp over the bed. She spoke to me only when the nurse had left the room.

  ‘I don’t know how you’re still awake. Most people would still be under from the anaesthetic.’

  Walters obviously had little experience of those with true gifts. If she had dealt with them before she would have known the anger and emotional pain that I was suffering would fuel my powers, which I could then use to strengthen my body and force the anaesthetic from my system. And that is precisely what I had been doing.

  ‘I’m sure it’s difficult to find sleep when you are enduring so much,’ she continued. ‘And when you’re tied so rigidly to the bed. Let me loosen those straps a bit.’

  Walters approached me, a little cautiously, then unbuckled the thick leather straps across my biceps then the thinner ones that bound my wrists.

  ‘Can you move your hands at all?’ she asked.

  I raised my left arm then moved my fingers, but the movement was languid, as there was still a narcotic of some form being drip fed into my body. Walters crossed the room and took a notepad before approaching me once more. She took one of the two pens from the breast pocket of her white coat and asked me to raise my right arm, then wrote into the pad.

  ‘Your reactions are slow. That’s simply down to the amount of sedatives that have entered your system over the last twenty four hours. Honestly, I don’t even know how you’re managing to have any control over your limbs. Technically this is impossible.’
<
br />   She continued writing as I raised both arms and brought them together above my head and clasped my fingers together.

  ‘Remarkable. Your recovery should be relatively short if you continue to improve at this rate. We will be changing the mix,’ she tipped glass jar with the end of her pen, ‘this evening and although you will still feel a little nauseous, it should allow you more control of your reactions. And you may able to use the gifts again in a day or two. Although my colleague, Professor King, believes it may take a week or two for it to–’

  My psychokinetic power had been slowly returning since waking, and now I mustered enough strength to make the red biro in her jacket pocket float into the air. I then made the notepad fly out of her hand. It rotated slowly over the bed then hovered in front of my face. The tip of the pen met the open page and I began to write without the use of my hands. My control over the pen fluctuated and the writing was erratic, but legible:

  I know nothing about Prof King and he knows nothing of Edward Zalech!

  He should not underestimate ME!!

  ‘It appears I am the one who underestimated you, Edward. I still don’t fully grasp these gifts that you and others like you possess. I was told you wouldn’t regain this power as long as you were sedated.’

  You have no idea of the power I possess. Strong emotions make it even more powerful. There is no need for the sedative!

  ‘Edward, you have very severe injuries. Despite your confidence I do not think it is wise to remove the drip. You may feel strong now, but you should not put yourself under such strain, it can leave you open to infection; that’s our worst enemy right now. I’ve never come across someone like you before, but you are still human and vulnerable to many bacteria. Allow us to continue with the sedative, at least for another day.’ She reached out and touched my hand and smiled. ‘Trust me?’

  What is the extent of my injuries?

  ‘Where do I start,’ Walters sighed. ‘Well … You’ve sustained serious wounds to the trachea, oesophagus and larynx. And there is extensive damage to the sternocleidomastoid, omohyoid and platysma muscles – these are the muscles at the front of your neck. You have hardly any teeth left and there is damage to the gums and soft palate. There is a very deep cut through both the upper and lower lips. There are four scars on each side of your head. The first runs across your temples and converge at the sides of your forehead, another above the ears and end at the side of yours eyes, another under the ears and across the cheeks, and one more across the jaw line and ending either side of your mouth. That cat must have gotten a real good grip on you. Oh, you also have no eyebrows or eyelashes – they must have been singed away by the heat of the blaze.

  ‘The exterior wounds look terrible, but they can be fixed relatively easily. The wounds on the inside are the serious ones. You won’t be able to lift your head properly because you no longer have the muscles to perform that movement or take the weight of your head. And then there is the voice. Your vocal chords were shredded during the attack so you cannot speak in your current condition.

  ‘This is all probably coming as a great shock to you. I have dealt with people with injuries like this before and I will help you, Edward. I will do everything in my power to undo this damage. And I know you will overcome this dreadful ordeal that has befallen you.’

  It is nothing compared to the ordeal I will put THEM through for murdering Ania!!

  ‘Be patient, Edward. You must focus now on your recovery. You have the rest of your life to get your revenge.’

  There is NO time! The Guild constantly moves their operatives around. In a couple of weeks Ania’s killer could be on the other side of the planet! I need to start the hunt SOON!!!

  ‘I honestly don’t know when you will be well enough to leave this place, Edward. You need a lot of work. We will need to fly in a team of plastic surgeons to fix up your face. And in terms of your neck injuries, it may take dozens of operations to get you anywhere close to a normal and functional level of movement. That may take months upon months to do … although Professor King, who is the head of the experimental division, has come up with an alternative. One that might see you up and about a lot quicker.’

  What is this alternative?

  ‘We have machines here that can replicate human body parts. Even the most intricate ones. It’s quite astounding actually and will probably revolutionise how we deal with injuries and disease. He says he can rebuild you with metal parts. This technique is far from perfected, however he believes that because you are psychokinetic, you may be able to use your gift to help in the movements that these parts lack. He wants to use you as our first human test subject. These precise parts would not usually work because the body would reject such a large amount of metal installments. Our scientific team has devised a lot of new drugs that aid the body in coping with the trauma of something like this. It may just work.’

  WHEN??

  ‘I’ll speak with him later and you’ll know tomorrow if a decision has been made. Are you sure you want to go through with this? You’re going to be a … metal man, so to speak.’

  I think you could refer to me as the Tin Man instead, doctor.

  ‘You can call me Janet, if you like,’ she smiled. ‘Why would I refer to you as the tin man?’

  I have finally found my heart.

  ‘I don’t quite understand. Enough of this – I’ll inform Professor King that you are prepared to go through with the procedure.’

  Communication from Professor Jason King of Golding Scientific Experimental Division to Aubrey Pearson, acting head of Golding Scientific Security Division.

  We have now completed the experimental surgery on Edward Zalech. The operations took a total of seventeen hours to complete and he has been returned to his room and is being monitored by Dr Janet Walters and her staff.

  The surgery was carried out in three stages.

  Stage 1: Installation of fabricated body parts. We have implanted a series of metal and mechanical parts that will allow him to move his head and upper body. Also implanted into his throat was a device that will enable him to speak. The device has sensors that will pick up vibrations and these will be translated digitally by a small computer inside it. Then an electrical mechanism will form sounds – words – for him. This new voice of his will be crude; he’ll sound like a cross between Stephen Hawking and Count Dracula, but will be effective enough for him to communicate properly.

  Stage 2: External surgery.

  We spent three hours performing surgery to his face and neck in an attempt to give him a relatively-normal appearance.

  Stage 3: Injection of experimental narcotics.

  As requested by Mr Golding, we have used a number of experimental drugs on Zalech. Two are to aid him in fighting infection and to relieve some of the pain he would naturally experience after such extensive surgery.

  The third narcotic is HF9* (Hyper-furens Version Nine). Mr Golding was adamant that this narcotic be used. It will make the subject emotionally unstable, but should enable his powers to grow exponentially. This is necessary in order for him to replicate the techniques outlined in the works of Penelope Gordon, which have been given to Edward to read in the coming days.

  * Sub note

  (Taken from the Golding Scientific medical archives)

  Hyper-furens.

  HyperFurens was first developed by the Nalsanyo Group in 1997. Its original purpose was to increase the stamina of military personnel. It was successful in most cases, but the adverse side effects ultimately rendered it useless. Each subject suffered nervous breakdown from uncontrollable waves of emotions. The program was shut down in March 1999. The serum (HF1) was deemed a failure.

  The drug reappeared in 2001 when a Swiss medical company experimented with it. Their goal was to create a surge of emotion in order to bring those in comas to full consciousness. This version (HF2) was again seen a failure. There was a strange side effect: the lab rats tested with HF2 became tremendously aggressive when injected with even minuscul
e amounts.

  In 2004, a pharmaceutical giant based in Japan manufactured HF3 and HF4. They believed they could alter the previous versions of the drug to make humans almost impervious to pain. Most of the test subjects died within hours of the experiments and testing was discontinued in 2005.

  Golding Scientific bought all patents regarding Hyper-furens in 2007. Over the last five years they have created five new variations of the drug, the most successful to date being HF7. This version helped the human body to fight off infection – and even regressed serious disease. The same problem of uncontrollable aggression remained, as did the serious physical degradation.

  In 2012 Golding Scientific Experimental Division devised HF9. It is the first ever drug to be fully self-replicating. Once injected with the substance, the subject will forever be under its influence. The substance uses red blood vessels to duplicate itself.

  HF9 Results: Increased physical strength and stamina, heightened emotions, increased levels of violence.

  Side Effects: Hemolytic Anemia.

  Results: All test subjects have died due to heart failure within one month of being exposed.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  The Real Deal

  I was sitting in the centre of my room facing the wall as I prepared yet another attempt. I’d been trying to create the dual shield described in Rudolph Klein’s book for hours. I’d had some success, but the cocoon of energy was unstable and more often than not the golf ball rebounded off the wall and passed through the kinetic barrier and hit me. It was frustrating and I was determined to master this technique. Over and over I tried until Cathy stormed into my room and stood there with her hands on her hips staring at me.

  ‘What’s with you?’ I asked. She looked irate and her face and neck were glowing red, as they often did when she was angry.