House of Dolls

by Harmon Cooper

  Oscar stepped out of the shadows and Nadine saw that as usual, he wore a three-piece suit, an emerald cravat that matched his pocket square, and a pair of polished shoes with golden buckles.

  “I never tell you how to do your job,” he said, walking across the room to his seat. Nadine followed and sat next to him. She caught a glimpse of his necklace as he sat down, the one that granted him telepathic abilities, a way to communicate with the East that wouldn’t be picked up by Centralian authorities.

  This was one of the interesting things about man-made exemplar-granting jewelry. In a way, it was even more powerful than many exemplars themselves, especially the stuff from the East. This was precisely the reason that any of Centralia’s network of telepaths looking for secret messages could not find Oscar’s communications.

  It was also the reason Nadine’s power-canceling Zero Ring worked so well.

  She glanced down at the ring while Oscar got into place, slowing his breath as his necklace activated. Her ring was silver, with a single blue gem on it, which acted as the absorbing factor. These rare gemstones were only mined in the East, and it was by accident one of their scientists had discovered their absorption abilities.

  The scar on Nadine’s side would have led to her death had it not been for the ring. She’d received the scar in a battle with a super that could morph his arms into long blades. He had reached her skin, that was for sure, but the scar stopped adjacent to her navel because she had instinctively activated the ring.

  It was a painful injury to heal from, but if it hadn’t been for the ring…

  “I’m ready,” Oscar announced.

  “Great, I’ll start with what I uncovered using the abilities of Lisa Painstake, the Type IV, Class D who is now one of my assets…”

  Nadine went on to explain about the high number of prisoners from the East, much higher than their estimated numbers. The problem was the reporting, as many of the families hadn’t come forward to the Eastern Province authorities and told them about their missing loved ones.

  Yet another thing that Nadine didn’t like about the East: its citizens were paranoid to the point that they didn’t report issues to their government, fearing the government was behind the issues. And true, maybe the Eastern Province government from fifty years ago had been more authoritarian, but the government now had a single focus, and that focus was getting ahead of Centralia.

  Once Oscar had transmitted the information, including estimated numbers and other details of Nadine’s work, he sighed miserably, dropping his head into his hand.

  “What is it?”

  “That’s just so many,” he mumbled. “I believe it is three times more than we originally assumed. And no one has reported their disappearances. Predictable, but at those numbers, you’d think we’d know more.”

  The disappointment in his voice was twofold: Oscar had been assigned to Centralia for years, and he liked the place. Realizing that Centralia wasn’t as squeaky clean as it tried to look on the surface always disappointed him. He also felt terrible for his countrymen, who could be any number of places now, from forced labor camps to early graves.

  “I am working on a second asset,” Nadine said, interrupting his moment of silence. “His name is Roman Martin.”

  Nadine went on to explain what she knew about Roman, how she’d stumbled upon his biggest secret, and that she had decided to leverage it.

  “And you’ve already reported all this.”

  “Emergency reporting through an encrypted message. We have to use the dream-walker for this one.”

  She had never actually met this telepath, only heard of the woman’s powers, definitely a Type I.

  “Ah, Abby. Careful there.”

  “Is there something I should know?”

  “Dream-walking can be complicated, that’s all I’ll say. Regardless, it is an interesting development, and you’ve managed to secure two assets in under a week.” The dark cast an arc of blackness over his face, his purple eyes still shining bright. “The coincidences in this line of work never cease to amaze me. And you’re saying none of the intel you received on Roman led you to believe his wife was in this condition?”

  “There wasn’t anything on it. Even the administrative records I was able to look through had nothing about it.”

  “And who put her in this condition?”

  “Apparently, he did. Or it was an action he took, which is why he’s currently enrolled in Heroes Anonymous—which, as you know, is in the records we’ve examined from administrative offices. From what I can tell, he would do anything for his dying wife, which gives us leverage.”

  Nadine gulped. She’d been at this job long enough to forgo feelings of guilt. Everyone had a skeleton in their closet, and exploiting that skeleton came with the territory.

  That said, she wasn’t proud of what she was doing. But she hadn’t taken this job to be proud, she’d taken it to better her country, and eventually her family.

  Even though she was never allowed to see them again. If it would better her country, and if it would help others, she was thoroughly prepared to abide by the Eastern Province’s rules.

  A message came in from Roman, telling her he wanted to see his wife tonight. She relayed this message to Oscar, who simply nodded.

  “Now is the time to build bridges, to secure your assets indefinitely. You are doing well, Nadine, and I’m sure your handler is pleased.”

  Chapter Forty-Two: Trust by Default

  “Are you okay?” Roman asked Coma, his hands on her delicate shoulders. The moon was out, adding a touch of pale blue to the streets.

  He had healed her, and she looked just as beautiful as she had before the fight had started, but he wasn’t sure if she was all right or not. This was the human in him thinking, not the exemplar. He had the power to animate inanimate objects, and this power had bloomed into several other incarnations, including the ability to return something to its original form, and the ability to manipulate ink and paper and whatever he’d like.

  It was hard to process all this, as his power was only a few days old and continuing to offer him surprises.

  “I’ll be fine,” she said, placing her soft palm on his cheek.

  Celia stood near the two, a concerned look on her face. They were standing on a random street, a darker one, as Roman hadn’t had a lot of time to pick a place to teleport. He’d just thrown out numbers of the streets toward the east, choosing the street near the restaurant he’d dined at with Nadine.

  One glance at his power dial and he saw that the red bar wasn’t as full as it normally was, which meant he was getting better and better at managing two entities.

  His heart rate had gone down some as well, which had also attributed to the dial’s current listing.

  Things were going to be interesting once he got three dolls, and Roman had a feeling that soon he’d have a small entourage of them. The question then remained: what would he do with them?

  And if they were taking bits of his personality every time he created one, what would happen if one of them took his darker side? And more importantly, or at least equally importantly, what would happen once he created an army? Would Centralia step in?

  Maybe it was a bad idea to meet Nadine with the two, but he’d already briefed the dolls on what to say if they ever met anyone he knew. They were friends, that was all. Since no one could read their minds, and they looked entirely human, Roman wasn’t too worried about Nadine’s reaction.

  Besides, if Nadine and Roman ever got any closer, or if she came to his home, they would be there and then he would have to explain them anyway.

  He figured he should just get it out of the way now. He was tired of wearing a mask; and he had already cast the one he’d been wearing in the fight against Ian into a street-side garbage bin.

  Roman ran his hand through his white hair.

  He hadn’t been injured in the last fight but he had come close to injury, which was a little unsettling, especially because an attack by Ian Turlo
ck would definitely throw a wrench in his plans.

  Roman shuddered as he thought of the man’s flesh, the way his keratin protrusions jutted out of his arms. There were some weird powers out there, and Roman had seen a good many in his line of work, but Ian’s was definitely one of the more gruesome.

  A teleporter appeared and next to her was Nadine, who looked simply stunning in her tight gray dress, shawl, and her blond hair in a bun.

  She smiled at Roman, her green eyes softening until she saw Coma and Celia.

  “And these are?”

  “Friends,” Celia said.

  “Friends of Celia,” Coma said.

  “I’m Celia,” said Celia. “Not Roman’s Celia. But Coma is referring to Roman’s Celia. We are her friends. Good friends. Really good friends.”

  “I see.” Nadine’s eyebrow lifted, but not as much as Roman’s would have had he encountered a similar situation.

  “That’s right,” said Roman. “All of us are here to see her. We can discuss other matters later.”

  Nadine nodded, knowing all too well what he was referring to. “In that case, I will call a teleporter.”

  As they waited for the teleporter to appear, Nadine casually glanced to Celia and Coma, her face never quite showing that she was curious about the two.

  Roman knew the situation was a little awkward, but he was fine with that. He had a strange desire to show them to his dying wife, even though she wouldn’t be able to see them. Call it morbid, but it had taken some part of him to make the two, and he was proud of them. His new power truly was amazing.

  A wave of sadness rolled over Roman, followed by guilt and shame that he’d gone out that night rather than go to her.

  He swallowed it down just about the time the teleporter appeared, a female teleporter with emerald-green clothing, indicating she wasn’t licensed.

  Roman didn’t pry, but he figured she worked for Eastern forces that were embedded in Centralia.

  She lifted both arms wide; Roman and Nadine touched her right arm, Coma and Celia her left.

  A prism formed above them, and they zipped into it, reappearing in a large waiting room with a nurse’s station against the wall. A dimly lit space, not unlike the moonlit streets outside.

  Roman stepped forward. “It’s better than I thought. Dark, but cozy.”

  “Did you think I was going to have her put in a warehouse or something?” Nadine asked after the teleporter had vanished.

  “I had no idea what you would do with her.” He felt foolish saying it like this, so he corrected himself. “I mean, I didn’t know what to expect.”

  “Do you trust me?”

  “Sure.”

  Something about the way Nadine smiled at him made Roman feel like he should trust her, even though part of him knew it was a terrible idea.

  “You trusted me enough to let me handle your wife’s transfer.”

  “You’re right, I trust you.”

  “Do you trust me?” Celia asked Coma, her voice just a hair above a whisper.

  “I don’t know. I never really thought about trusting you. I’ve never had to conceptualize trusting you. I trust you by default.”

  “Trust by default. Makes sense.”

  Roman paused for a moment, listening to them converse.

  He’d been so wrapped up in his own bullshit that he hadn’t really paid attention to the conversations they’d been having around him. It was something he wanted to do more of. The duo was entirely odd, alien—and judging by what they were talking about right now, they were oddly comical.

  A nurse walked out from one of the rooms at the end of the hallway. She was short and stout, her hair braided, her sleeves rolled up. From a distance, she looked like she’d be hard to deal with, but as she approached, a smile moved across her face that put Roman at ease.

  “And you’re the husband?” she asked.

  “I am.”

  “Dr. Lobby,” she said, extending her hand. “If you follow me, I will brief you on your wife’s condition. I’m the type of doctor that likes to be upfront rather than beat around the bush. I hope that’s okay. I don’t want to give you any false hopes.”

  “He’s aware of what’s going on,” Nadine told her, “and thanks, Leah.”

  “Great, then you know that her bodily functions are starting to shut down. It could take another day for her to completely pass, but she’s on the way out. Is there anything spiritual you would like to happen while we have her here?”

  “Anything spiritual?” Roman crossed his arms over his chest. He looked down at the ground, his brow furrowing. Celia had never been spiritual, nor had he. But now that he was in this situation, he wondered if the prayer, or possibly a priest, would be a good thing.

  “We can arrange whatever you would like,” Dr. Lobby said as she motioned him down the hall.

  “I think we’ll be fine,” he ultimately said.

  Celia and Coma stopped talking as they got in line behind Nadine, both judging the situation to be rather dire and adjusting accordingly.

  As they entered the room, Dr. Lobby kept talking, going over vitals and other information she had monitored over the last twenty-four hours, but Roman had tuned her out by this point. His only focus was on Celia, who was tucked under a white blanket, her mouth agape.

  He went to her immediately, taking her frail hand. It seemed cold, her skin pale, the veins visible on her arms.

  This is your fault, a voice whispered at the back of his head, your fault.

  “I need a moment,” Roman managed to say, interrupting the doctor and Nadine.

  “By all means,” said Dr. Lobby as she made her way to the door. “And your, um, visitors?”

  “They stay,” Roman said. “Thanks.”

  Nadine shut the door, leaving Roman and the two dolls with Celia.

  “It’s been almost two years,” he began to tell his wife. “Two very long years. And as you know, as I told you, I’ve done a lot of terrible things. Things I’m not proud of. I wish there were a better place for me to make these confessions besides the hospital. I mentioned to you a few days back that I had won a superpower. That’s my luck, right?”

  He tried to smile at his comatose wife, imagining her response.

  “It was entirely by coincidence, you know. Kevin would have had this power if he hadn’t tried to commit suicide due to his wife cheating on him. And here I am, the biggest cheat of them all, judging Kevin’s widowed wife.” Roman laughed bitterly. “I guess we all make mistakes; I guess we all have to scratch the itch. But I’m going to make a difference.”

  Roman looked up to Celia, focusing all his energy to the center of his forehead, hoping that she could hear him—if not with her ears, then telepathically.

  “I’ve been granted this power.” He bent forward a bit and brought her limp hand to his lips. “And I think it is a better power than I could’ve ever imagined. They said I was a Type II, but I believe with time this may be a Type I, and maybe even a Type V. Funny, remember that time I ranted about the fact that there was a Type I, and it was considered the most powerful, but there was a hidden type, Type V, which is actually more powerful and makes no sense numerically? That still bothers me. Types I and II are powerful, III not so much, IV not powerful at all. Then Type V is the ultimate power.”

  He stopped speaking for a moment, and relaxed his grip on her hand. He was squeezing too tight, and he could see that now.

  “Anyway, sorry to ramble. The point I’m trying to make is that this ability I’ve been granted is incredibly powerful. I’ve already discovered some things about it that would shock you. I know you can’t see them, but here’s one of the things I’ve been able to do. Coma, Celia, named after you, of course, please step up.”

  “Hi, Roman’s Celia,” said Coma. There was an inflection to her voice, something that told Roman she felt empathy.

  “It’s nice to finally meet you,” said Celia, sniffing back a tear. Roman wasn’t sure if she could cry or not, but she sure seemed s
ad.

  “So this is my power,” said Roman. “And I don’t know its limitations yet. I’m sorry you’re not here to see me changing this way, not able to see me become more powerful. Not that power even matters to me—but I’m going to make a difference with it. I don’t know what the difference is, but…” He took a deep breath. “I promise you.”

  The thought came to Roman: Would he live up to the promise he’d just made to his wife? Would the womanizing slacker with a dark secret be able to turn his life around and contribute to the greater good?

  He shook his head, realizing the answer may be nuanced. Centralia had good guys, but oftentimes, the good guys were bad guys good at branding. Not that Roman hadn’t seen true heroes before—they did exist. But he had this feeling he would find out that exemplars and non-exemplars, even with their separate-but-equal status, lived similar lives.

  He bent forward and kissed Celia on the cheek, noticing that Coma had gone to the other side of the bed to hold her other hand. Celia the doll simply stood off to the side, wiping her face every now and again, her purple eyes bulging with sadness.

  It was hard for him to really come to grips with what he had created.

  He was giving these two dolls life, and he knew he would give life to more. But with the creation came great responsibility, and watching them fight for him earlier and get injured only added to the gravity of this realization.

  “I promise to do better, Celia,” he said, internalizing it. “I know you won’t see me later on, but you will be surprised. I will do better. I will make a difference in this world. I will use my power in a way that will make you proud.”

  Roman thought for a moment that Celia’s face twitched, that she was acknowledging him. He’d experienced this several times before, and each time her action had given him false hope.

  He dropped her hand and stepped away. Roman would spend the rest of the night in the room with her. He would go over his plans, steel himself, and power both the dolls down so he could be alone.

  The next day would come, and Roman would be ready for it.

  He wouldn’t beat himself up any longer over the past, over the mistakes he’d made. It would be hard, and there were times when these feelings would come to the surface, but he would fight them.