by Allison Goh
After two hours of fending off more ridiculous requests at the shareholder meeting, Orion Wan headed back home at top speed. The news he got from his wife couldn’t wait any longer.
Back home, Orion rushed to their lounge room where his wife awaited. Seeing her familiar face grim with worry, Orion knew the situation was not good. He said, “Is it true? Is Alex Etak looking into Level & Co.? Could it be? Does he know?”
Jean Wan clasped her hands and spoke in her usual gentle way, “I’m not sure if he knows. But he is asking a lot of questions. The guards called me and told me that he was offering them a lot of money for information…”
A cold sweat ran down Orion’s back. He had never been happier about the fact that he had been extra careful about the selection of guards at the facility. They were all handpicked and groomed - troubled youths from the lowest of economic classes given a second chance.
The Genetic Lottery was a double-edged sword. While many couples were more than pleased to receive a healthy bouncing baby, that was not the case for those who were struggling financially. However, since the government mandated at least one baby for every single couple due to population growth needs of the society, many children ended up under-provided for and lost in the system. While never lacking basic necessities, they weren’t cared for or nurtured by their parents, seen as merely an obligation and an excuse to claim for extra state funds.
As such, when a huge company like OrionWan offered them a high-paying job with social security benefits, these troubled youths jumped at the chance. As they met friends who had grown up just like them, their common experiences quickly formed a bond that was unbreakable. For once in their lives, they were experiencing the joy that could come from having family and for that, they were forever grateful and thus eternally loyal to OrionWan-Nutrienas.
“Thank god they came to us with this! What would we have done if they had actually given information to Alex,” Orion said to his wife, wiping sweat off his brow.
Jean stood still, silent. She knew better than to offer any suggestions when her husband received bad news.
Orion settled into an arm chair. His fingers mindlessly tapping the sides. Why the fuck was Alex looking into Level & Co.? The one thing that no one should find out about!
Addressing no one in particular, he said, “I need to meet with him. I need to question him in person. I won’t let this go.”
Jean nodded, “Whatever you think is best,” she said to her husband placidly.
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Alex was nervous. He never expected to meet any of them. But after Orion Wan personally requested a meeting, he knew that things had come to a head. He couldn’t hide anymore. He had to act. He needed to finish what he started three years ago.
Alex stopped wringing his hands and looked at himself in the mirror. He reminded himself that he was Alex Etak, 43 years old, CEO of Etak Inc. His jaw clenched as he prepared himself for the final negotiation.
I can do this. I must.
Alex wiped all signs of nervousness from his face before stepping out of his POD, alighting right outside the Wan mansion.
Alex was ushered into an opulent room where he expected to meet Orion Wan. Entering the room, Alex locked eyes with Orion. As he turned to his left, Alex’s face almost gave it away as he came face to face with his father, Billion Molten, for the first time in three years.
A storm of repressed feelings erupted as he looked at his father.
Hatred, anger, sadness.
However, as he breathed slowly out of his mouth to calm himself, Alex reminded himself of his goal. The single mission that had been the final goal of every step he had taken so far. Focusing on his goal, his mind started to clear as he struggled to exchange pleasantries with Orion and Billion without betraying his true emotions. He had to rescue his mother, and it was now or never.
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Four years ago, Maximillion Molten or Max as his friends and family preferred to call him, had just started working in his father’s company, Molten Industries. Molten Industries was one of the Alpha5, the top 5 companies in Egalia. This was a remarkable position to be in as between the Alpha5, there was nothing they couldn’t achieve with their power and influence. Even the government was secretly (or not so secretly) at their beck and call. After all, money was power and in a society where everyone was guaranteed long lives unencumbered by disease, seeking to improve one’s position materially naturally became the only goal left to strive toward.
At just 19 years old, Maximillion was idealistic and hungry. He wanted to lead the company toward something better. Molten Industries while having had a great legacy, was steadily being outpaced by OrionWan, whose investment into nuclear energy was steadily taking off, putting Molten Industries’ forage into coal and natural gases on the verge on becoming obsolete. Max was worried about this and warned his father.
However, his father never had the sufficient hunger or motivation to run the company properly. His father only stepped into the shoes of CEO out of necessity after his mother passed away when Max was four. And while he was no fool and still managed to keep the company running, his mother’s death had greatly affected his spirits. Moreover, his father’s best friend was Orion Wan, and he trusted his friend, to the extent of not minding that his own company was being overshadowed.
Max never understood his father’s trust in Orion. He saw him as a cunning and cruel man, driven solely by self-interest and profit. He was sly in other ways as well. Orion was actually the mastermind behind Ren and Paris’s romantic relationship. He wanted a merger between Nutrienas and his company.
Although Ren and Paris never found out themselves that it was Orion who set up those ‘chance’ encounters they often had, Max was no fool. Spending so much time around Ren and Paris, he quietly observed how Ren’s father manipulated them into a romance.
However, Ren and Paris were good people and they were his friends. Although he knew their alliance would forever cement OrionWan’s leadership among the Alpha5, and for that matter, Egalia’s economy, Max kept quiet and let nurture take its course, congratulating his friends when they cemented their relationship and made it official.
Being suspicious of Orion and trying to revive Molten Industries, Max started to investigate into both company’s dealings and finances. After several months of poking around, he had gathered quite a bit of information as to the inner workings of both companies. As he delved deeper, he discovered something interesting among OrionWan’s investment portfolio. This was a small company called Level & Co. For its low maintenance investments into property, it had a large amount of cash flow and was indirectly owned by OrionWan through several well-placed special purpose vehicle companies. Strangely enough, Molten Industries also had a small stake into the company, though OrionWan was in possession of the controlling stake.
Upon further investigation, he found that much of Level & Co.’s earnings were being channelled into its subsidiary Level1 Ltd., which sole asset was a building near the outskirts of town. Max’s curiosity was piqued. What exactly was this building which required so much funding to maintain? Why were both his father and Orion Wan involved? And why so much trouble to cover the paper trail?
These were the questions Max tortured himself with daily, before he decided to bite the bullet and visit the building in question, hoping to get his answers.
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Max found himself in front of a nondescript grey building on the outskirts of town. The building itself was quite an oddity amongst the landscape. There were hardly any other buildings around it and Max saw no other living soul apart from himself down the street.
Now that he was here, he had no idea what he was supposed to do. Should he just march in? After dawdling for a bit, curiosity got the better of him and he decided he would go in. “Here goes nothing then!” Max said to himself, as he walked up to the entrance of the building.
Apart from a discrete sign that said ‘Level1 Ltd.’ and an old-school buzzer with what looks like a
speaker box next to it, there was nothing else to suggest what the building was currently being used for.
Tentatively, Max pushed the buzzer. To his surprise, the speaker box shifted to make way for a photographic ID/fingerprint scanner. Max immediately recognized it as this was common in many of the apartment buildings in the city.
Max stared at the ID machine, stumped. There was no way his fingerprint would match the scanner, he thought. He could go back and try to get his father’s or Orion’s prints and come back. Or, he could find an alternative way into the building.
Just as he was thinking about what to do, the ID scanner retracted and a voice came out of the speaker box, “Hello. Who are you? What are you doing here?”
Max was taken aback. Looking up, he noticed a tiny surveillance camera at the corner of the ceiling. Crap! I’ve been seen! His mind whirled as he thought of what to say.
Finally, Max cleared his throat and spoke up, slowly but authoritatively, “This is Maximillion Molten of Molten Industries.”
There was a moment’s silence before miraculously, the tinted glass doors that guarded the building’s entrance slid open.
Max was greeted by a clean-cut young man dressed in a casual all white outfit. “Hello sir, we weren’t expecting you at all. Is Mr. Molten unable to come on Friday?”
Spying a name on his uniform, Max continued the charade and said, “Yes, Donovan. My father told me to come. He said all the arrangements would be complete.”
“Arrangements? Ah, you mean our new wing?” Donovan said, “Yes, it is complete. The patient is there right now and looks to have settled in.”
Patient? What patient? Max thought. This didn’t look like a hospital. Weren’t all hospitals government-run? They were so rare anyway after the Genetic Lottery, no one needed them. Why would Molten Industries and OrionWan want a healthcare facility? Millions of questions ran through Max’s mind as the enigma of the building remained unresolved.
At the same time, Max’s outward façade was unshakeable. He said, “That’s good. I would like to see the patient now please.”
Max held his breath as he looked at Donovan’s face.
Donovan didn’t seem to notice anything amiss.
“Very good sir. Follow me please.”
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Donovan walked rapidly and Max tried his best to keep up while trying to take in as much as he could about the building, hoping for some physical clues as to what this building held or did.
The interior was startling clean and white. Nary a mark on either the long expanse of wall or the marble floors. This does resemble a hospital. But what on earth was Orion and his father doing with a hospital? Max could feel his heart thumping as he wondered what exactly was in store for him.
Donovan led Max to a white airy room that had large, almost floor-length windows. Although they were closed, the sunlight that streamed in gave the sterile room much-needed warmth.
A woman was seated on the only chair in the room and she barely looked up when they entered the room. When she did however, she locked eyes with Max. Max could see her pupils dilate as she kept her gaze and stared at him for what seemed like eternity.
Who was this woman and why was she staring at him with such intensity? Though his mind raced with questions, Max didn’t break her powerful gaze. Max continued looking at the strange woman and a shiver ran down his back as he felt that for some uncanny reason, he knew this woman.
With a jolt, the woman stood up and cried out, “Max, is that really you?” The woman rushed forward to touch his face and upon contact, large tears started to roll down her face.
Max’s face turned pale as he heard his name. How did she know?
Shock numbed his limbs as hazy memories of his mother from when he was just a child started to take form and connect with this woman in front of him.
“Mom?” Max’s voice quivered as he spoke the words, barely disguising the pain he felt at the mention of his beloved mother whom he thought he had lost forever.
Kate reached forward and held Max’s hand tightly, before pulling him into a hug.
Max savoured the contact. He couldn’t believe that his mother was alive!
Max teared as he thought about his childhood. He had been devastated when his father told him that his mother had gone to a better place and would never return. He had refused to speak no matter how many psychologists his father sent him to, only breaking his silence a year later when he turned five. Even as he outwardly maintained an outgoing and cheerful personality throughout his teens, his scars from losing his mother so young and having a distant and depressed father growing up never went away.
Just as Max was regaining his senses, Kate abruptly broke the hug.
Wiping her tears away hastily, she looked at Max, her brown eyes wide and round, “Max, you have to get me out of here. You’re my only hope left.”
Max was shocked at his mother’s sudden change in demeanour. Not knowing what to say or do, he just stared at her some more.
Disregarding her son’s silence, Kate leaned forward again and said, “Max, your father and Orion put me here. I don’t know how much you know but you can’t trust them.”
Max’s head was spinning. He barely had time to digest the news that his mother was alive and now she was telling him that his father and Orion had trapped her here?
He said, “Why did they do this to you mom? How? Why?”
Kate said, “I don’t have much time to explain but it’s about you, the children. The genetic selection projection! I didn’t know…” Kate paused, a single tear falling down her cheek. “I tried to stop them, I wanted to be a good citizen…”
Before Kate could continue however, Donovan and another similarly dressed but far more intimidating man burst into the room. They rushed forward, separating Max and his mother. Getting a firm grip on Max, they proceeded to drag him out of the room as Kate let out a sorrowful wail, “NOOO… Max! Wait! Get me out of here! Please… please help me Max!”
Max struggled violently against the guards but it was no use. He tried to reason with Donovan, “Wait please. I need to talk to my mother. You have no right to do this! Stop this!”
Donovan shook his head, signalling to his partner to hoist Max forcefully back to the reception area. “No sir, you lied to me, your father did not authorize this. He will speak to you soon. I can’t give you any more information.”
Max was bundled off into an awaiting POD and before he knew it, he was being whisked away. The POD was black, a private POD. It could only be opened from the outside. Locked inside, Max had no way of changing its course. He was powerless.
Realizing that he was trapped, Max flopped weakly back into his seat as he tried to regroup his thoughts. How was it possible? Everyone had told him his mother was dead. She died when he was four! Why would his father lie to him? What did this all mean? Max was confused, hurt and angry. Most of all, he was really worried. His mother was being kept against her will and he had to get her out!
Chapter 12: The Beginning
The black POD dropped Max off at his house. Glad that he wasn’t actually being kidnapped, he realized that his father had probably sent the POD. The guards must have alerted my dad, he thought grimly.
Max was furious at his father for lying to him about the death of his mother, and he wanted answers. He marched into the house, making a beeline for his father’s office.
“Max, let me explain,” Billion said, “Your mother isn’t the person you think she is. It was the best solution at that time. We had to keep her there. I had no choice…”
“How could you say that Dad? How could you LIE to me?” Max’s voice grew increasingly loud and irate as he thought of all the years of hurt he had endured. All the lies he had been fed!
“I know that you and Orion are behind this. I know his company was the one funding Level & Co.” Max said, glaring angrily at his father.
Billion paused. The situation was difficult to explain to his son and he knew his son wasn’t
in the right mind to take anything in. He said, “Yes, Orion is involved because it was a decision from all of us. There were problems with the genetic selection project, and it was a difficult decision. Your mother did some terrible things and we needed to stop her. Please believe me son.”
Max couldn’t believe his ears. How dare his father put this on his mother? When it was him! And Orion! They had imprisoned his mother for years! And lied to him! To think he went for Orion’s Christmas and New Year parties every year, laughing and enjoying himself. Heck, he was best friends with his son! The thought made him sick now, the deception and feelings of betrayal were overwhelming.
Max ran out of the room, not wanting to listen to any more lies. He would find the truth by himself. He trusted no one.
Billion watched his son run out, powerless to stop him. This was his absolute worst nightmare - Max finding out about his mother. He knew his decision back then had been for the best but how would he convince Max?
When the guards at the facility called him informing him that his son was there, he almost had a heart attack. How did Max find her? And what would he think? Now the worst had happened. Billion didn’t know what to do. He knew he had to convince Max somehow but he also knew that Max wouldn’t listen to anything he had to say now. Reluctantly, he decided he had to let Orion know. He wanted to protect his son, but this was bigger than him and it was a problem best dealt with together.
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Back in his room, Max’s mind whirled. He couldn’t believe what his father and Orion had done. As he thought more carefully about what his mother said, a sickening feeling started brewing at the pit of his stomach.
It was his fault. It was his fault.
It was him.
The genetically selected children.
The one secret that could not get out.
