Honor System (The System Series Book 4)

by Andrea Ring

“He’s still recovering,” Tessa says. “You can’t ask him for money while he’s still in bed.”

  Tyrion shrugs.

  “I think you’re both right,” I say. “I’ll feel him out and see what he’s up for. But that brings me back to one of the things that’s been bugging me. Why hasn’t anyone been hounding me about my abilities?”

  No one has an answer.

  “But we’re still keeping the kids’ abilities a secret for now, right?” Tessa asks.

  “For as long as we can,” I say.

  “We asked Free to try not to think about Em, but we forgot about you guys,” she says to Tyrion and Jack. “The boys can read your minds, right?”

  Jack frowns. “Yes. They’re probably listening right now.”

  Tessa throws up her hands. “They can hear you from this far away? Why didn’t we think of that? Now the cat’s out of the bag!”

  “We will have a talk with them,” Tyrion says. “They are not perfect, of course, but they are loyal to each other to a fault, and that loyalty extends to Emmaleth. They would not hurt her on purpose. We will convey the seriousness of the situation.”

  “I guess that’s the best we can do,” Tessa says on a sigh.

  “What about the boys?” I ask. “Are any of them able to heal from afar?”

  “We haven’t let them try anything like that,” Jack says. “Tyrion and I have a plan. Basically, we’re trying to get their reading and writing up to speed so they can read medical texts. Once they have the background knowledge, we’ll start exploring their abilities.”

  “Jack,” Tessa says, “don’t take this the wrong way, but there’s no way the boys are sitting there reading and writing and watching documentaries all day and not using their abilities.”

  “They mindread, of course,” Tyrion says. “And anything cerebral is encouraged, like Hunter’s ability to find objects.”

  “You really think that’s all they’re doing?”

  Jack looks at Tyrion. “That’s all we allow them to do. Of course it’s all they’re doing.”

  Tessa just shakes her head.

  We head back home with part of a plan.

  Em is the priority. We want her at Planarian, but if it takes longer than a few weeks to fix the building, we’ll go to the Attic.

  None of us will speak to the press.

  We keep the kids’ abilities a secret as best we can.

  I have a feeling this plan may go to hell.

  ***

  The front door is open when we pull up to Jack and Tyrion’s house. White smoke billows from within.

  We insist the girls stay outside, and Tyrion and I plunge headfirst into the smoke. But it’s quickly apparent that it’s not smoke—it’s more like dust or powder. It settles in our hair and on our eyelashes, and I fight to keep it out of my mouth.

  Dad is standing over the couch, a fire extinguisher in his hands. He’s breathing heavy. The boys are all in the backyard, their faces pressed against the sliding glass door.

  “What happened?” Tyrion yells, waving the dust away from his face.

  “Fire,” Dad says, coughing. “That little Diesel. One look and the couch burst into flames.”

  Tyrion narrows his eyes and looks out the window. Nineteen pairs of eyes stare wide at him.

  I yell for the girls, and they run inside to join us.

  “Diesel set the couch on fire?” Jack says. “Impossible.”

  “You want to tell me the sky is green, Jack?” Dad says. “You’re looking at the evidence.”

  “But he was told not to do something like that.”

  Tessa and I exchange a glance, and Tessa bursts out laughing.

  Jack rounds on her. “This isn’t funny!”

  “Yes, it is,” Tessa says. “These are kids, Jack, not robots. Stuff like this is gonna happen.”

  Tyrion marches to the back door and slides it open.

  “All of you will go to your rooms until we call for you. Except for you, Diesel. Stand before your mother.”

  “Wait,” Dad says. He chucks the fire extinguisher onto the couch and collapses beside it. “There are a few others you need to speak to.”

  “What else?” Jack asks.

  “Nash shattered his bedroom window while he was making his chair levitate around the room. Finn caused the microwave to explode when he kept turning it on and off with his mind without actually cooking anything in it. Aaron got a marble stuck up Samuel’s nose…you don’t even want to know how that one happened. Thomas, you’ll have to get it out. And your garage door is bent. Gage started my car and rammed it into the door. I don’t think the damage is too bad.”

  Jack and Tyrion are frozen, their mouths hanging open. They truly can’t believe all this happened.

  “Samuel, come to me,” I say.

  Sam runs over to me, a giant blue marble wedged in his right nostril. I fight not to laugh.

  “We need a picture of this,” I say, taking out my phone and snapping some shots.

  “Do I have to go to the hosbital?” he asks, his voice a nasal whine.

  “No. I don’t even have to hook up to you. Brace yourself.” I grip the bridge of his nose above the marble and squeeze downward. Sam flinches, but eventually, the marble pops out, a string of snot clinging to it.

  He bends down to retrieve it and wipes the snot on his t-shirt. “Cool. Thanks, Thomas.”

  I ruffle his hair. “No problem. Anyone else?”

  With no other takers, Dad, Tessa, and I leave the parents to it.

  Chapter Thirty

  I didn’t even have to ask.

  Chris went home the next day, and the day after, he sent a contractor to our building.

  Which he’s in the process of purchasing.

  And I thought I had a lot of money.

  He and Kate and Kenneth work out a contract. Chris agrees to a quarter partnership and to basically be our bank. I am now a one-fourth partner with two brilliant neuroscientists and a billionaire in a medical research firm that’s going to change the world. I can hardly believe it.

  The building is on the fast track now, but it will be a month until we can get back in. I take this time to work with Em.

  But it’s no use. She has no ability to block out emotions. She can stop reading minds actively, meaning she has control of her own abilities, but she cannot stop others from psychically assaulting her.

  I try to work on my own abilities, hoping a solution will come that way. But I can’t block the pain of others unless I’m in crisis myself. I know there’s something there I can work with—obviously, I can stop the pain—but I can’t actively control it. It’s a humbling dilemma.

  Jack and Tyrion invite us over for a barbecue, to get our minds off Em, they say.

  “Should I wear armor?” I ask her on the phone. “Or maybe just a helmet. Or maybe I should bring nose clips so we’re safe from Aaron.”

  Jack sighs. “You’re just gonna keep on rubbing it in, aren’t you?”

  “How’s Mateo doing?”

  “I hate to admit it, but he’s a Godsend,” she says. “One more adult really helps.”

  I laugh. “Good. And would it be okay if I invited Chris and Nicole? He’s dying to get in the thick of things.”

  “He’ll be in the thick of things at our house, alright. Fine. Just, don’t tell him what happened. Don’t embarrass us.”

  “Would I do that?”

  Of course, I already did that. But only Jack finds the situation embarrassing. I mean, she’s got nineteen Dweller boys running around. Chris and Nicole think Jack is superwoman.

  I can’t tell her that, though. She’d probably believe it.

  ***

  Chris and Nicole arrive with presents.

  Nicole had t-shirts made for each of the kids: You’re Thinking About How Cute I Am, Aren’t You?

  Tyrion laughs like it’s the funniest joke he’s ever heard. It is clever. And rather appropriate for our little mindreaders.

  After introductions with the boys, the
women decide they want to do the grilling and head to the backyard. I suspect Jack just wants to be the one looking after the kids.

  Tyrion and Chris each grab a beer, I get a glass of water, and we settle at the patio table.

  “I don’t do this enough,” Chris says. “Nicole will host parties, but there’s always a goal. I’m returning a favor, or currying favor, or rewarding staff…I can’t remember the last time I just hung out with the guys.”

  “I am not one to really hang out, either,” Tyrion says. “But now that we have the boys, I am exhausted all the time. I need this.”

  “I know,” I say. “And once you have kids, you’re suddenly counting the time you actually spend with family and friends. It’s an eye-opener.”

  “I’m thinking we should move down here,” Chris says. “Nicole’s family is in New York, and I don’t have any family, so it’s not like we’re married to L.A.”

  “You should,” Tyrion says. “Being near those who share your abilities will be important to you. And necessary, in many circumstances. I have no family, either. Well, since marrying Jack, I do, and I am very grateful for them.”

  “I’m sorry about your family,” Chris says. “How long have your parents been gone?”

  “I was grown out of the body of another Dweller,” Tyrion says. “His name was Dacey, and he was the closest thing I had to family. He passed away a few months ago.”

  “You were grown out of another body? Shit. I still can’t believe all the things you guys can do.”

  “It took a toll on his heart,” Tyrion says. “He died to give me life. Our abilities can be wonderful, but they wear us down. Be careful when you exercise them.”

  “So you’re saying every time I use my abilities that I’m hurting myself. Like smoking a pack of cigarettes?”

  “That is an apt analogy,” Tyrion says. “Though depending on what you do, it might like smoking one hundred cartons. In a day.”

  “Wow. So how do you guys manage it? Have you figured out how much toll certain abilities take on you?”

  “Some,” I say. “You can heal yourself, so you can reverse a lot of the damage if you know what you’re doing. And it’s different for each of us. You’ll have to experiment and figure out what’s happening with your own body.”

  Chris shakes his head. “Did it take long for Tessa to learn to use her abilities?”

  “Tessa’s not a Dweller,” I say.

  “But you said you healed her. Why didn’t you make her a Dweller?”

  “She didn’t want it,” I say. “I think she’s torn. She’s not sure she should mess with how God made her.”

  Chris contemplates his beer bottle. “I think Nicole would like to be a Dweller. Is that possible?”

  “Yes,” Tyrion says. “But it is not a decision to make lightly. We have never had these kinds of Dwellers who were made and not born until recently. We do not know their life span, or anything, really. It is the ultimate experiment.”

  “You guys keep repeating these warnings, and I just can’t see it. I mean, I logically understand what you’re saying, and I don’t want to die in ten years ‘cause I’ve worked my body too hard, but if I did, it seems a small price to pay. To have these abilities and do so much good in the world…it just seems a small price.”

  “My dad almost died a few months ago,” I say. “Jack read his soul, and he knew it was coming, and he was okay with it. But the same day as his predicted death, he found out his fiancee was pregnant. It gave him something to fight for. Would you really be okay dying ten years from now and leaving Nicole?”

  “I wouldn’t want to,” he says. “But life’s uncertain anyway. You could walk down the street and get hit by a bus.”

  “Or a taxi,” I say, and Chris smiles.

  “Or a taxi. But why do you guys insist on being all doom and gloom? You made me this way without asking me first. I’d think you’d be a bit better at selling what I’ve already bought.”

  Tyrion frowns. “As you say, you are already in. There is no point in lying to you now. We want to give you the truth.”

  “I do appreciate that,” Chris says. “It’s hard for me to comprehend that level of honesty. I come from a world where PR and spin are more important than truth.”

  “How very sad,” Tyrion says.

  “You can’t sell something if you’re telling people the downside.”

  “Will we have to spin what we sell through Planarian?” I ask. “Because I’m really not comfortable with that.”

  “Depends on the downsides,” he says. “The government had to force the drug companies to give the downsides of their drugs right from the beginning, in the freaking advertising of the product. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing—of course people should know the consequences of a drug, good and bad. But I think the downsides are largely ignored in the medical field, at least by the general public. People want to be healed. They want a magic pill. So they tend to ignore the bad stuff, hoping it won’t happen to them.”

  “I believe the medical profession has lost its honor in a lot of ways,” Tyrion says. “Doctors will prescribe a drug or recommend a therapy just because they get paid to. Patients interests are not the priority anymore. But if we can develop therapies that are patient-driven, like the ability to heal one’s self, perhaps the money will not be as important.”

  “Do you think the public can handle that?” Chris asks. “It’s a lot of power to put into their hands.”

  “It’s something I struggle with,” I say. “I don’t have a lot of faith in the honor of humanity. But individual people do a lot of good. We won’t really know until we try.”

  “No,” Chris says. “I guess we won’t.”

  ***

  Tessa is quiet on the drive home. We get the kids in bed, and I finally have an opportunity to probe.

  “Did you have a bad time tonight?” I ask her.

  She startles. “No. Why would you think that?”

  “You haven’t said much since we left.”

  She shakes her head. “I’ve just been thinking. Nicole gave me a lot to think about.”

  “Like what?”

  We flop on the couch, and Tessa pulls the blanket draped over the back across our laps.

  “She really wants kids,” Tessa says. “And I get that. She’s thirty-eight years old. She might not have a lot of time left.”

  I gulp. “Did you tell her kids might not be possible?”

  Tessa shakes her head. “I assume you’ve had that talk with Chris. He should be the one to discuss it with her.”

  “I haven’t told him,” I say.

  “What?”

  “It hasn’t been the right time yet. I need to get him alone.”

  “Thomas, you need to tell him now. I can’t believe you haven’t said anything.”

  “It’s a delicate subject,” I say. “Plus, I want us to be able to have kids someday, so it’s on my list of things to research. I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. With our abilities, it shouldn’t even be an issue.”

  “Then you should have had no problem telling him,” she challenges me. “Why the cowardice?”

  “You’re calling me a coward?”

  “Why else would you have held back?”

  I hang my head. “I genuinely like Nicole. And Chris. I guess I’m just hoping we can have a solution before I have to tell them anything.”

  “But they’re trying to have kids now,” she says. “Actively trying. Like, keeping track of her temperature and everything.”

  “Wow. Okay, I’ll have a talk with him. Maybe Dad knows what was different about his makeup that he can have kids, and if he does, maybe there’s something we can test for so we know what we’re up against.”

  Tessa leans her head on my shoulder. “Thank you. I know it won’t be an easy conversation, but it’s a necessary one.”

  I nod. “What else is bothering you?”

  “Nicole wants to be a Dweller. And she thinks I should be one, too.”

&nb
sp; “What do you think?” I ask her.

  She sighs. “I don’t know. Maybe if you could guarantee that I wouldn’t have certain abilities, I’d be okay with it. But I don’t want to read souls. I think that’s just a horrible burden. And the only reason I’d want to become a Dweller is to more easily handle the kids, but that means developing the ability to mindread, or to do things psychically, and Thomas…I don’t want that ability. I don’t want to know what other people are thinking. Thoughts are private things. Or they should be, anyway.”

  “You just answered your own question,” I say. “Becoming a Dweller would only be good for you if you could do what the kids do, but you don’t want that ability. That’s fine. You shouldn’t become a Dweller.”

  She bites her lip. “What if you guys live until your 500 years old, and I die when I’m 80? Wouldn’t that be a good reason?”

  “There’s no evidence we’ll be able to live longer, let alone that long,” I say. “In thousands of years of evolution, we’ve what? Doubled, maybe tripled lifespan? And that’s mostly with thwarting external causes of early death. The internal causes, the aging of the body, hasn’t been something we’ve been able to change.”

  “Tyrion’s blood has changed that. You can’t deny that.”

  “No, but I don’t think we’ll go that far with it. Death is a necessary evil. If everyone lived forever…”

  “Then what?”

  “I don’t know,” I say honestly. “I’d have to think about it.”

  “If Tyrion’s work can really extend the life of cells, and you give that ability to everyone, it will be out of your hands. It doesn’t matter if the consequences are horrible. It’ll be a done deal.”

  “So what are you saying?”

  Tessa rubs her eyes. “I don’t know. But I’m not sure Tyrion’s blood is a good thing.”

  And she gets up and walks off to bed.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  “The last item on the agenda is yours, Thomas. Why don’t you lead the discussion?”

  Kenneth nods at me, and I stand, grab a dry erase marker, and head to the dry erase board on his living room wall.

  “As you know, Tessa’s been contemplating the idea of becoming a Dweller. She’s putting a lot of considered thought into the decision, and as we’ve discussed it, she’s brought up some long-term concerns that I think all of us should weigh in on.”