“And did they survive?”
Ava finished her glass of wine. As if the waiter had been watching her, he approached immediately, refilling it.
“Does that answer your question?”
Roman nodded. “I always figured there was more to the story.”
“There always is. Now, before we finish this bottle and get another, shall we order?”
Roman nodded. “Are they going to give us menus?”
“This isn’t that type of restaurant,” Ava said as she waved the waiter over again. “We’re ready to begin,” she told him.
“At once, madame,” the waiter said, then turned to the kitchen after a curt bow of his head.
“What kind of restaurant is this again?”
“One where the chef is an exemplar with an enhanced understanding of bodily senses. I hope you’re ready for an interesting experience.”
“I always am,” Roman told her.
“I figured we would celebrate. We’re going to make this happen tomorrow. No doubt about it. They aren’t going to be expecting us, and our goal will be to not only neutralize Kevin, but all the former employees of the security company. Then we find where he’s been holed up. We can’t forget that last part. Prepare to act quickly and with extreme prejudice.”
“Judge, jury, and executioner, huh?”
“Streamlined removal,” she said with a shrug. “That’s why this mission is classified. It’s also why it’s not something you should discuss with your friends.”
“Friends?” Roman almost laughed, a voice appearing at the back of his head as a message came in from Jasmine, his former coworker.
Roman, a friend of yours is here at the bodega looking for you. White hair, red streak.
Roman shook his head.
He knew exactly who it was; it was something he would have to deal with once he returned to Centralia. Catherine was going to continue to be a thorn in his side until he basically paid her off and convinced her to go home. He didn’t want to do this in a mean way, but he knew it was time.
Roman wasn’t going to be able to maintain a relationship with her any longer.
“Are you telling me you don’t have any friends in Centralia?” Ava asked.
“Aside from my dolls…”
She rolled her eyes. “That sounds so pathetic.”
“Sometimes the truth hurts.”
Dishes started coming out from the kitchen, two at a time. Most of them were small affairs, on plates no larger than four inches in diameter. Roman and Ava finished their bottle of wine, his former teacher ordering another bottle as the waiter continued to bring more food.
“This really is something else,” Roman said as they had more wine.
“I thought you would enjoy it.”
“We never talked about what happened,” he said suddenly, the alcohol loosening his tongue.
“I’m close to getting over it,” Ava finally said. “Is that what you would like to hear?”
“Wait, are we talking about the same thing?”
“Do you mean my sister or what happened between us?”
“Us,” Roman said quickly. “And I’m sorry about your sister. I hope they let me go after Margo next. I’d like actual approval to go after her.”
Ava merely finished her glass of wine and waited for the waiter to pour another.
“I just want you to know why I did what I did. And that I wasn’t trying to ruin your good name, or anything like that. I just wanted to say that second part, that I wasn’t trying to betray you.”
“You really don’t understand how deep some things go,” she said, the tone of her voice changing.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Roman…”
“Just say it.”
“Maybe I shouldn’t have done what I did with you,” Ava said, her eyes suddenly glossy. “You were my student; I was your teacher.”
“We are both adults. I enjoyed it.”
She wiped her lip with a napkin. “So I shouldn’t have done that, but I want you to know that I never stopped…”
“Never stopped what?”
“I never stopped caring for you,” Ava admitted. “And just so you know, it was me who advocated for you to have your power returned.”
“Then you must have been surprised when it appeared on its own,” he said. “I sure as hell was. I definitely wasn’t expecting anything like that.”
Ava hesitated. The waiter set down a new dish featuring a clear gelatin garnished with fried scallion.
“What does that look mean?” Roman asked.
“I guess it doesn’t matter now. You’re on the team, and you have your power back.” Ava cleared her throat. “Your power didn’t come back to you on its own. Surely you understand this by now.”
“What are you saying?”
“My sister was behind the two-way glass. They wanted to see how you would react. I thought it was a bad idea, especially if you lashed out, but Rafner agreed, and as soon as Miranda started up, Moira returned your power to you, or better, she amplified your power back to its exemplar state.”
“That’s impossible…” Roman said, trying to remember the interrogation room, if there had been a two-way glass wall or not. He couldn’t recall it now; all he could remember was breaking his way out of it, the wall melting away.
“I just thought you should know that,” Ava said. “I don’t think it’s something you should dwell on, and it’s something only Rafner and I know. In the end, it doesn’t really matter. You have your power now.”
“Does Miranda know?”
“No, nor do any of the others who were in the room at the time.” Ava finished her glass of wine. “Like I said, it doesn’t matter. You have your power back, so don’t dwell on how it came to you. You are an integral part of what we are doing here, and what the Centralian Intelligence Agency plans to do in the future. Just don’t get cocky.”
“You sure have a way of building me up only to drag me back down,” Roman finally said.
“You know that wasn’t my intention. I just want…” She smiled at Roman. “I just want to be honest with you. I want things to…”
Roman gulped. “Go back to the way they were?”
“No, that’s not possible,” Ava said, but he could tell by the way her voice wavered that she herself didn’t believe that. “I just want things to work out. That’s all.”
“Look who shows up drunk,” Miranda said, flashing a smile at Ava and Roman.
“We’re not drunk,” Ava told her as soon as the teleporter was gone.
The telepath with blue hair sat on the couch, her knees curled up to her chest. Jess was near her. Celia was busy in the kitchen, the doll calling out to Roman as soon as they arrived. Coma was in the apartment as well, in Roman’s bedroom, deactivated for the time being.
Figuring it would be funny, Roman ran his hand over his jacket pocket to make Casper come alive.
The tiny doll peeked out of his pocket, sharpening her gaze on Roman’s associates.
“You have to be kidding me,” Jess said with a crooked smile.
“I thought you’d be happy to see me,” Casper told her.
The tiny doll climbed out of Roman’s pocket and scaled down the front of his jacket. She held on to the ends of his jacket for a moment, her leg swinging before she dropped to the ground.
She ran to the couch, climbed her way up, and then stood on the armrest with her hands on her hips, breathing heavily. “Just kidding,” she said as she took her seat, crossing one leg over the other and staring at the telepath.
“Did you have to activate her?” Miranda groaned.
“Does she make you that uncomfortable?” Roman came around and sat on the chair across from Miranda, ignoring the way Ava brushed her hand against his sleeve.
“All of your dolls make me uncomfortable, but Celia is starting to grow on me.”
“Why?” Roman asked. “Because you aren’t in control?”
Miranda shrugged away
his statement. “That about sums it up. But hey, there are more important things to discuss. Did you guys bring us a bottle of wine?”
“No,” Ava said, returning from the kitchen, “but there’s one right here. Chilled, too.”
“Should we really be getting drunk tonight?” Jess asked, and Casper laughed at the question.
“Come on—of all people, you should be the one that wants to let your hair down a little bit.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Casper shrugged. “Well, you’re clearly the youngest of the group, and by the looks of it…”
“That’s enough, Casper,” Roman told the tiny doll as Ava returned with wine glasses.
“I didn’t say anything. Yet.” Casper shot Roman a pouty face. She kicked her heels against the armrest, much to Miranda’s chagrin.
“Roman…” Ava started to say.
“Last chance,” he told Casper.
“Great, now your teacher hates me too.”
“I don’t hate you,” Ava said as she poured a glass of wine and handed it to Miranda. The telepath took it readily; Jess, not so much. After handing a glass to Roman, Ava finally poured one for herself.
“I don’t get a wine glass?” Casper asked. “Can’t you conjure a tiny cute one for me?”
“I hope this is okay,” Celia said as she came from the kitchen with a plate of cheese arranged in the shape of a heart and lined with pretzels.
“You made it that fast?” Jess asked.
“No,” Celia told her, “I made it earlier, for whenever Roman came back home. I figured it would be appreciated, just in case all of you decided to spend some time together. I’m also the one that chilled the bottles of wine.”
“Thank you, Celia,” Ava told her.
“No problem,” Celia said as she turned back to the kitchen.
“My God.” Casper brought her hand up to the side of her face. “Talk about a brainwashed housewife, am I right, ladies?”
“She’s more useful than you are,” Miranda said.
“I’m useful. I’ve done things before that helped Roman. Like the time in the Eastern Province…”
“Go on,” Miranda said, turning to Casper and smiling.
“That’s enough.” Roman was just about to take the tiny doll’s power away when Ava told him to let her finish.
“I wasn’t saying anything,” Casper said with a smile. She clearly liked to be the center of attention, all four of them now watching her.
Miranda focused on Casper as if she could read her mind. “You were saying something about the Eastern Province.”
“Which Province? We’re in the Eastern Province right now, right?” Casper asked innocently.
“I thought you were the smartest of the three dolls.”
“I am,” Casper told Miranda. “That should be abundantly clear by now. One of them is a glorified housewife and the other is a coldhearted killer, which is a good thing to have in a fight, so I’m not knocking her by saying this. Me? I’m the one with the personality.”
“That’s enough,” Roman told her again.
“No, it’s not,” said Ava, the fire user now sitting on the edge of the coffee table, focused on Casper. “Tell us about what happened in the East. Roman can only remember so much.”
“Casper, I could use your help in the kitchen,” Celia said, startling Roman.
The redheaded doll was standing to his left. She had approached him without making any sound.
“I don’t know what the big deal is,” Casper told Roman. “It’s not like it should be that big of a secret. We went to the East to find a healer named Eli. And you traded…”
“Casper!” The doll fell forward into Miranda’s lap, lifeless.
For a moment, Miranda just sat there with Casper on her thigh, her hands in the air as she judged what to do about the doll. Eventually, she picked Casper up with three fingers and set her on the armrest, where Casper fell again.
“Roman, please let Casper finish what she was telling us,” Ava said firmly. “I don’t want you to intervene this time; we need to know what happened.”
Roman looked at Ava. “Even I don’t know what happened. And honestly, I don’t want to know.”
“We need to know what happened,” Ava said. “Please reactivate Casper.”
“I…”
“Roman.”
He finally nodded his head, instantly regretting what he was about to do.
Casper came to life in Miranda’s lap. She looked up at the woman and smirked. “Your tits look way perkier from down here,” she told the telepath. “You might say this is your best angle.”
Rather than flick her away, Miranda merely smiled. “Thank you, Casper,” she said as she offered the doll her hand.
Casper hopped into her palm, Miranda returning her to the armrest.
“Where was I?”
“You were talking about your trip to the Eastern Province,” Miranda told her.
Roman gritted his teeth as he looked from Jess to Miranda to Ava.
This was happening.
Roman was about to find out what he’d done that was so important he’d needed to actually have his memories erased, and he definitely wasn’t feeling good about it.
“Yes, we went there looking for a healer named Eli. Whom we found and brought back here.” Casper looked around. “Well, not here, but to Centralia.”
Roman knew that part; he was aware of who Eli was and had recently forged documents for the boy. This part had never come up in any of the interrogations, which was why he’d never said anything about it.
He nodded, figuring that was the main point of their trip.
But then Casper continued speaking.
“We also went there because of a woman named Lisa. She can separate her soul from her body, or something like that, and for some reason, she was in a ghost form when I first met her.”
“A ghost form?” Jess asked.
“Soul Speed,” Ava said. “I’ve encountered ones with this power before.”
Casper nodded. “Yes, so we were going to the East to look for this healer, and to have some of their techs put the ghost woman back together or something.”
“You had her real body as well?” Miranda asked.
“Yes, it was creepy. Once we arrived in some city, we went off searching for the healer boy, whom we found in a destroyed village. Eli can heal, but he holds all the damage he takes in and has no way to control when he releases it. It’s pretty fucked up when Eli does his thing. On our way back to the city, Nadine, the spy Roman wants to bone, went ahead of us and was taken by Eastern Province soldiers. This left us in the woods with Eli.”
“Bone?” Roman asked.
“Us?” Miranda asked.
“Roman, me and the other dolls.” Casper turned at Roman and smiled.
All he could do was shake his head, not able to exhibit on his face the disappointment he was feeling for being ratted out. It only made matters worse that he was also learning through Casper’s confession what had happened. Roman had a feeling there was much more to the story.
“Anyway, Roman decided to rescue Nadine and Lisa. The soldiers had Lisa as well, I think. I don’t know if I mentioned that part, but it should be clear. Roman fought a ton of soldiers, and eventually came to the Eastern Province military base. An exchange was made.”
“An exchange?” Ava asked, the color draining from her face.
Casper nodded. “Nadine, Lisa, and Eli were to be set free, but in exchange, the Eastern Province wanted to do some experiments on Roman regarding his power. They also wanted to do something with Eli’s power. Lisa got her body back, and all of us came back to Centralia on a train together. End of story.”
“You gave away your power to the Eastern Province?” Ava asked Roman.
“I…” He swallowed hard.
“He had to,” Casper said.
“You had to?” Miranda asked.
Roman felt the tendrils of a telepath creeping at the back of
his mind. “Cut that shit out!”
“What do you mean he had to?”
“Get off your high horse, telepath!” Casper said haughtily. “You weren’t there. And would you have just let the people you care for die?”
“You weren’t there…” Roman repeated, but he found it hard to argue for his cause.
All the information he had now of what had happened in the East had come from Casper. Worse, it was secondhand. Hearing these things only brought back a few fleeting images to him. Even though Roman knew she was likely telling the truth, he still wasn’t able to verify after having his memory wiped.
“Clearly,” Miranda told him.
“Dammit, Roman,” Ava said, her eyes lighting up. “Don’t you realize what could happen if the East is able to reverse engineer your power?”
“I…”
“They would be able to create an army of people who can animate inanimate objects. Just imagine that for a moment. Imagine someone with a wrist guard, or some type of jewelry, that allows them to use your power. Imagine a hundred people with this power. Your actions have consequences. Do you even think of anyone but yourself? Fuck!”
Ava poured another glass of wine, shaking her head with disdain. She threw it back, growing even more irritable.
“How would you like us to report this to Rafner?” Miranda asked.
“I don’t want either of you to report it,” Ava said, the ends of her hair starting to turn to flames. “I will be the one that tells him, and it will be after the successful completion of this mission. Roman, what you have done is essentially a federal crime, and…”
“Relax, everyone. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time,” Casper said, panic in her voice. “None of you were there. None of you saw the East, or heard Nadine speak about how they would treat Eli if they took him into their custody. And rather than get angry at Roman, has anyone thought about just how miraculous it was that he single-handedly took on an entire military base? I mean, how many of you could take on an entire military base? Not you, lady-who-turns-into-a-trashcan.”
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