by Patra, CS
“I wish my years of watching Wheel of Fortune would help me here,” he said, holding up the book. “Does this make any sense to you, Patty?”
“Bring it over here. My eyes aren’t as good as they used to be,” Patty suggested. She took a look at the book. “Fahrenheit 451. I haven’t read that book in years.”
“So you’re a fan of Ray Bradbury too?” Doug asked.
“Oh, I enjoy his work a lot. This isn’t my favorite book of his, but I remember reading it a few times when I was younger. I didn’t think much about it back then because I wasn’t a fan of science fiction. However, this scribbling...I’m not sure what it is.” She kept looking at the code. “I see you’ve got some of it decoded.”
“It’s nothing helpful. I just know which ones are T, H, and E,” Ren said. “That doesn’t exactly help us solve anything. I was wondering if you had seen something like this.”
“The symbols are very familiar,” Patty agreed. “I can’t remember where I saw them, but I don’t think this should be hard to decipher.”
“More importantly, why would someone write all over this book?” Misty asked. “I mean, it can’t be coincidence that Doug just happened to pick up this copy.”
“No, nothing is a coincidence. Someone knew you would get this. They left it out there for you to pick up. They were sending you a message.”
“I figured that out,” Doug said. “How did they know I would go to that book sale though? How did they know I would pick this up? Are they reading my mind?”
“They can’t do that but they know what kind of person you are. Remember, you have that wire inside of you still. They can monitor you and they know what your likes and dislikes are.”
“So you think Project 99 left the book for me?”
“I don’t know who did. It was someone that wanted you to know the truth about yourself. Anyway, I’m afraid I can’t help you to decode that message. I’ve never done such a thing.”
“I was afraid of that,” Ren sighed. “Thanks, Patty. I’ll keep working on it.”
“The main reason we came to see you is because I think we almost witnessed a fusion,” Pam said. “I was hugging Ash for a second and suddenly I began to feel all his emotions. It was like all of his memories were flooding over me.”
“The same thing happened with me and her memories,” Ash said. “Everyone says it looked like we were melting into each other.”
“A fusion, huh?” Patty didn’t seem so surprised by this. “I’m not surprised. A lot of people come close to fusing. You’re right. It has a lot to do with how emotional you are at the time. The stronger you’re feeling something, the more likely you are to fuse. I’m amazed that you were able to pull apart and there was no damage done.”
“Wait, you mean we could have been hurt?” Pam asked.
“If you hang on long enough, but snap out of your reverie, you could have ended up fused together for eternity. It would be very difficult for you to live. Physically, you would have many health issues and that is provided you’d live long enough to see the next day. I know. I have seen so many failed fusions. I’ve seen so many people die because of fusion.”
“Oh, man,” Nikhil murmured. “I guess we have to be very careful when touching each other.”
“Touching each other doesn’t mean you’re going to fuse. You have to control your emotions,” Patty explained. “If you’re overwhelmed by them and you’re in a room with someone else, you could fuse. For years, Project 99 has been trying to control this aspect. Sometimes, people can fuse just by being a few feet from each other. They don’t even have to touch. If they’re feeling something strong, they will meld together.”
“Let me guess; they haven’t fixed that issue at all.” Crystal said.
“They are trying, but with very little results. I just ask that you be careful with what you feel from now on,” Patty said. “Don’t attempt fusion, no matter what situation you’re in. You will never be the same again if you are to succeed.”
Ren looked down at the code again. “Do you think this will tell us anything important or is it going to give us a dead end?”
“I don’t know. The only way you can figure that out is by solving the code.”
“Well, I’m unsure of what some of these symbols are. Let me see...” He stared at some of the smaller words. “Okay, I’m going to use my Wheel of Fortune method. I’ve figured out T and E in terms of common letters. Now time to see which ones are R, S, L, and N.” He stared at the code a little more. “I wonder if there’s a way to distinguish vowels from consonants. There’s got to be.” He looked at the E in the code. “Hmm, the E looks a little like an 8 to me. Do you think it’s possible that the ones that look like numbers could be vowels?”
“Give it a try,” Jackie suggested. “Are there any other numbers in that code?”
Ren blinked and noticed that there were five different numbers; 1, 5, 7, 8, and 9. “Well, I think I just found all the vowels. We know that E is an 8 but what about A, I, O, and U? A would probably be the second most used vowel, right? All we have to do is figure out which number is used the second most in this message.”
“I see a lot of 5s and 9s in this too,” Misty said. “Could one of those be an A?”
“Yeah, they could. I see some numbers by themselves. That leads me to believe they’re either As or Is.” Ren said, writing down both letters above the numbers. “Okay, if I can figure out some of these words, I’ll know for sure what each symbol means.”
“I’m impressed you managed to get that far on this,” Ash said.
“Hey, I love codes! I used to make them up and solve them when I was younger. I actually thought about being a detective before I went to culinary school,” Ren explained. “I’ll work on this and see if I can come up with something.”
While the trip to Patty’s house didn’t give them much, Ren felt confident with his code-breaking skills. He didn’t have to work tonight so he could work on this. Doug allowed him to take the book along and write on the back cover.
“It is an old book so I don’t mind,” he said. “Just don’t tear it or destroy it in any way.”
“Your book will be safe,” Ren promised. “I may just try to write on another piece of paper.”
Once he was home, he turned on the TV where some old game shows were airing and propped his feet up on the table. It was nice to have a day off from the restaurant. He had been working a lot lately and he had to learn a lot of new recipes over a short period of time. His dream was to have his own restaurant one day. He wanted to hire and teach new chefs how to make everything. Food was his life and, up until now, he was satisfied with it. He was finally the person he wanted to be.
The only thing he wanted, besides finding out the truth about his past, was a family that would accept him. As soon as he told his parents of his plans, they dropped him. In their minds, he didn’t exist anymore. They kicked him out and he had to pick up the pieces to start over again. He had done a good job so far but he still wanted someone. He wanted someone who could accept him as he was. So far, he was out of luck. Most of the people he worked with didn’t even know he was trans. He was afraid to tell them because he knew how they would react. He would get the same cold response that his parents had given him.
He turned his attention back to the code and tried to work on it again. He had found a pad of paper and was scribbling what he knew so far. Numbers were clearly vowels in this code. The question was what number went with what vowel. E was taken care of and he had some idea of what could be an A or an I. If he could figure out what kind of message this was, it would also help. It didn’t look like it was in the form of a letter. It didn’t look like a message that someone had signed either. It wasn’t in the form of a poem. It was something unusual and he had no idea what to make of it.
Curious, he decided to get on the computer and see if there was something on the Bradley Institute website that could decipher this. If this had come from them, then he’d know what to do. He loo
ked through it to see if any of the symbols were on it. While he saw some numbers, they weren’t exactly what he wanted. These were just phone numbers of people to contact. The other symbols were nowhere to be found. It was a bust.
The next thing he looked at was the way that this message was set up. It wasn’t written out like a paragraph but like a verse. It could have been a poem or perhaps a song. In that case, what did any of that have to do with Project 99? If it wasn’t either of these things, what else could it be? Why write it out this way?
It was a secret code, no doubt. It was meant for them to figure out but why write it this way? How did they expect anyone to figure it out? Perhaps there was something out there that could help him. He did search on the Internet but didn’t find a single code breaker that could help him with this one. The ones that seemed close enough didn’t make sense. All of this was starting to make his head hurt but he was determined to make a break through.
“I know this is supposed to make sense to me,” he murmured to himself. “It should make sense. Why isn’t it making sense?!”
He lay back on his couch and looked up at the light to see if there was anything there. While he didn’t find a decoder, he did notice something written lightly against the paper. Squinting, he looked closer and tried to make out the tiny numbers. At first, he didn’t want to believe it but there they were. They were real.
“When did I have time to write this?” He asked himself. “And why did I write it?”
It was a question that he didn’t have an answer. However, he knew exactly what these numbers were.
1 878.
The second number was missing but the rest of it was something he could make out. He knew what they were.
They belonged to a perfect human.
Chapter 18 – Crystal
Crystal couldn’t concentrate on anything when she went to class. She was trying to focus, but her mind kept wandering off. It was a good thing this was a large class. She could hide in the back and no one would pay attention to her. While other students were taking their notes, she was busy surfing the Internet for anything that could help them. The Bradley Institute’s website was full of nothing but fluff. The same thing went with Genexis’ website. All she saw was glowing praise. There was nothing about fusion.
She thought about what Nikhil had told them earlier. The Bradley Institute was originally a mental hospital. It housed a lot of patients and went down in flames. There was no telling how the fire started or how many people died. Many people believed that the area was cursed by dead spirits. She didn’t know how true this was but she was curious now. The old building had some shady dealings going on in it as well.
“I thought you guys might be interested in this,” Ash said. “My parents got invited to a party this weekend. They want to drag me along.”
“You don’t sound thrilled with it.” Pam said.
“I wasn’t until they told me who was hosting it. I was thinking of screwing them over. Let’s expose them.” He winked at the others. “I take it that you still have pictures of those messed up fusions, right?”
“I do,” Ren handed his phone over. “What are you planning to do?”
“You’ll see. It’s time they took a hit,” Ash said. “I want them to know that we’re watching them too. We’re aware and we’re not going to take anything from them.”
“You have to be careful, Ash. Don’t forget that you’re still a child,” Doug said. Ash was ready to complain but he cut in. “I don’t mean that as a bad thing! I know you’re very intelligent but The Bradley Institute can be dangerous. You remember what happened, right?”
“How can I forget? A part of this is to get revenge on them.”
“Well, I’d like to help you get revenge but I can’t. I have a piano recital on Saturday night,” Misty said. “You guys are going to have to do all of this without me. I can’t skip it. I’ve been practicing this piece for three weeks now and I’ve almost got it.”
“That’s just fine. I doubt we’ll need everyone for this. I’ll tell you how it goes down though. Hell, I’ll even send you a video of their reactions,” Ash smirked.
“Good. I’ll be there with you in spirit.”
“That’s just fine and dandy, but what the hell do you want to do?” Jackie asked. “What the hell are we supposed to do in the process?”
“I want you sit back and watch. Observe our guests. Get me everything you can about this place. I’m going to make a little presentation.”
“A presentation, huh?” Nikhil asked. “Do you want any help putting it together?”
“I just need the photos and I need the right moment to expose them,” he murmured. “I wonder if I can get one of them alone in a room.”
“You may need someone in that room with you,” Jackie said. “Let me be in it. At least, we can speak in Spanish so they don’t suspect anything.”
“I want to be in there too,” Pam said. “I want some answers from them. I want to know who the hell tried to run over my daughter and what for.”
“We probably shouldn’t have too many people in that room,” Ren said. “Then they’ll know it’s an ambush. How about one of you hang outside and one you go in with Ash? I mean, Ash can give you something to spy with if needed.”
“I agree. Too many people would raise too many eyebrows,” Crystal said. “How about Jackie go in with Ash and Pam can stay outside and watch them?”
“I can work with that.” Jackie said, turning to Pam. “Are you okay with being the one who waits outside?”
“I’m fine with it.” Pam nodded. “I’ll keep an eye on everything.”
“Then it’s settled.” Crystal decided. “In the meantime, I have to go see Patty. There is so much on my mind that I think she can help me out with.”
There was no need for her to see Patty later that day. It was Patty that had shown up at her apartment. “I apologize for showing up without notice. I just had to talk to you.”
“Sure. Come on in.” Crystal let her inside. “The others have already left.”
“That’s fine. I only need to talk to you.” She got inside and sat down on the sofa. “I came by myself and I forgot what’s like to drive around town. I don’t do it so much anymore. My eyesight is going and my arthritis flares up these days.”
“Do you need anything?”
“No, dear. I just need to speak to you. You can tell some of this to your brothers and sisters later,” she said, making herself comfortable. “If you have a blanket, I could really use one.”
“I’ve got an afghan here.” Crystal took the afghan of the arm chair and wrapped it around Patty’s shoulders. “There! Are you comfortable? Would you like me to make you some tea or coffee or anything?”
“I’m good, my dear. Thank you.” Patty squeezed her shoulders. “You just sit down. I can tell you’re one of those students who studies all night and has no time to sleep.”
“That’s what I should be like, yes.” Crystal agreed. “Lately, I haven’t been sleeping because of everything I found out. I don’t even know who I’m supposed to be anymore. I don’t know what I am.”
“I know what you are,” Patty said. “You are real. You’re breathing just like any other human out there. The only difference was that you were created to be something special. You have abilities that most people don’t have. You just don’t know it yet.”
“I don’t feel so special,” Crystal muttered. “I don’t think any of us does. I feel more like a monster than anything else.”
“Don’t think that way. You are an individual. You might have been created but you are a person. You are real.” Patty said. “Now I wanted to tell you something. I’m afraid that my time is almost up.”
Crystal gulped. “Are you dying?”
“My health is not the best. I have done this job for so many years now. All they’ve taken from me is my DNA. They’ve taken parts of me to make all of you. I must have created thousands of perfect humans. At this point, I’m ready to turn in.�
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“You can’t die now! We need your help!”
“Listen to me. I can’t do very much for you in this state. I just want you to be prepared should anything happen to me.” She went on. “I want you to be prepared for the storm that could come out of this. If you hit them, they will hit you back. Be ready to take the blows.”
Crystal nodded. “What could they do to us? They tried to take Ash’s bone marrow.”
“That’s tame compared to what they have done to others. That’s why I want you to tread carefully around them. They have no problems with getting rid of you. There are plenty of other Project 99 experiments out there. Many of them don’t know of their existence.”
“How do I find them? Where would they be? The only other Project 99 experiments I’ve found are already dead.”
“They died for various reasons. Many of them committed suicide after they found out that they may not live long.”
“May not live long? Were they dying of some disease?”
“They probably were. See, as experiments, some of you don’t have the best immune systems. You are prone to catching anything. Some of them can deal with the illnesses but others can’t. They decide to end their lives before something else does. I know. I’ve seen so many of them do that in the past.”
Crystal thought about Ash’s brother and wondered if this was the case with him. Perhaps Harrison had contracted a disease that could kill him. Rather than go through with the pain, he took his life. It could explain why he didn’t want anyone else to know. The truth would have hurt Ash. However, some parts didn’t add up to it. If he was dying, why did he have bloody knuckles? Who did he hurt in the process? He didn’t appear ill in the video either. Then again, not everyone who was sick looked that way. There had to be a good reason why Harrison Blackwell ended his life.
“Patty, can I ask you something? Please don’t tell Ash anything about it.”
“It depends on what you’re asking me, dear.”
“Well, you and I both know that Harrison Blackwell died not too long ago. Everyone thought it was an accident, but Ash found out that he committed suicide.”
