by Jobe, David
Brian smiled, “kind of like the movie Bedazzled?”
Dr. Patton frowned. “I’m not familiar with it.”
“Never mind. Go ahead.”
“Well, the virus acts in the same manner. It is why we call it the Djinn Virus here. Once you give it your desire, it changes your DNA to unlock a potential that is there, but dormant. We think it has a limited pool to pull from, but wide enough to create hundreds of variations. We’ve discovered the genes that deal with this, but the mechanism is so complex we are still just scratching the surface. But here is where it gets interesting. Only one power emerges. If you try to unlock a second one, it negates both. Now, that doesn’t mean you can’t appear to have two powers, or even more. Say for instance you wish to be a dragon. You may get wings, horns, scales, and the ability to breathe fire, but in regard to the genes, it’s all one power. This is where you come in. So far, we have discovered that you are bulletproof.”
“Bullet resistant,” Brian corrected.
Dr. Patton nodded, but his eyes narrowed. “Fine. There is the increased strength. Add to that, you have the power to regenerate damaged tissue if it is still there. They removed your eye completely, so no ability to regenerate that. Plus, myself and other scientists contest this, we believe you have the power to return from the dead.”
“That can’t be a real power.”
“It is. I know of one other person that has the ability. He’s actually in this facility. And while he has the ability to regenerate as well, it is my belief that these two are interwoven. If you get shot and die, returning from the dead would be pointless if you still had the hole when you returned. It’s the resistance and the strength that peak my interest. You see, your gene sequence matches his, in regard to regeneration and healing, but you have a second set that overlaps it. I believe this is your strength and resistance. The problem is that up until now, that doesn't work. Trying to unlock two at once voids both.” His eyes gleamed as he spoke, and Brian noticed he was tapping a black armband that resembled a smartwatch on steroids.
Brian felt his throat become dry. “Great, I’m the platypus of the Altered people. I should have made that my superhero name.”
Dr. Patton shook his head. “No, you are an enigma.”
Brian laughed, “Someone already uses that name.”
“By the Riddler, I know. An interesting character from the DC world, but with too many character flaws.”
“They all do. It’s kind of their shtick.”
Dr. Patton nodded, but a sly smirk touched his lips for a second. “Most of them do, at any rate. So. Are you on board? I assure you, your help will change the world.”
“I’m still not sure.”
“What if I offered to find you a working replacement for your lost eye?” He reached for his tablet.
“You can do that? Would it be like a robot eye? Would I be a cyborg?”
“I could craft you a cybernetic eye, sure. Even make it match your other eye, but allow you to see a greater range of the light spectrum at will.” He stood, offering the tablet.
Brian took it. “A robot platypus.” He looked at the tablet and found the pages had already changed. “Sign like before?”
Dr. Patton nodded. “You don’t want to read it first?”
Brian shrugged, placing his finger on the open space. “I tried to put a bullet in my brain less than two months ago. If I can repay my debt to society by enduring the pain, so be it. Nothing can be worse than death.”
“That’s not even remotely true, Mr. Lockhart. I think you’ll discover that soon enough. After we replace your eye, I will introduce you to the other person with the resurrection ability. I think he will open your eyes to the mystery and horror of your powers.” He scooped up the tablet and started for the door.
“What’s his name?”
Looking over his shoulder, Dr. Patton replied, “His name is Mr. Tarot, but the staff refers to him as The Hanged Man. An ominous title, I know, but one well deserved.” He checked the large black band that encircled his forearm. It displayed him a series of numbers and screens that Brian couldn’t make out. “If we do this right, you should be ready to meet him upon his next return from the afterlife.”
“He’s dead right now?” Brian’s mouth hung open.
“Mr. Tarot spends as little time in this world as he can. He doesn’t speak of what he sees on the other side, but we can tell he’s lying when he says that he goes into nothingness.” He paused for a moment. “There is something else I should tell you, and this pertains to you especially. One of the chemical compounds of Djinn mimics a common anti-psychotic. Only it has a high side-effect rate. It makes its host depressed and often suicidal. With most people, that’s all she wrote. With you though, it’s an entirely different story. Each time Mr. Tarot leaves this life, he returns slightly changed. We didn’t notice it at first, but now it’s unmistakable. I don’t condone suicide, but if you do decide you want to try that path, I suggest you make sure it will stick this time. You do not want to turn into what he has become.”
Brian nodded, feeling a chill run down his spine.
“The nurse will be by in an hour to collect you and begin prep for surgery.”
“That soon?” Brian’s heart began to hammer in his chest.
Dr. Patton pressed his hand on the door, and it slid away. He stopped in the doorway. “The city is tearing itself apart, and the virus is spreading outward. The sooner we understand your particular gifts, the sooner we can begin phase three.”
Brian nodded as the door slid closed between them. After a moment he frowned. “Phase three?”
Chapter Five
Baking Something Sweet
Lanton sat in the large living room of the Patton family home, reclining in a leather Lazy-Boy style chair that probably cost more than his car had when it was new. The soft brown leather cradled him and was in the process of lulling him into a comfortable sleep. The only reason he managed to refrain stood on the other side of the room, looking over the occupants with a soft smile on her beautiful face. Elanor Millie stood with a wrinkled t-shirt and faded jeans covered with flour. From her fingertips to her elbows the white powder caked every inch of her smooth skin.
“Who all wants cookies?” She smiled at Lanton and gave a knowing nod when he raised a hand.
Mac frowned from the long onyx table that dominated the back of the room. Though he stood now, he wobbled any time he tried to place his feet. “None for me, Miss Millie.” Lanton knew the kid’s strict diet would not allow for cookies anytime soon.
“Don’t you worry, Mac. I have something else in mind for you.” She gave him a wink. “What about you, Allison?”
Allison looked up from the seat she occupied next to Mac, her side leaning against him, offering him silent support. “Of course. I will have Macs.” She gave Mac a sideways glance that made him chuckle. When they freed Allison from the prison, she had been gaunt, weak, and suicidal. Now that Lanton had worked out a modified supervised release, she had started to regain her color and composure.
“Julian?” Elanor dusted off her hands on the side of her shirt, small white clouds drifting away from her.
The young man that reminded Lanton so much of himself when he was little looked up from his school books and offered an apologetic smile. “Unfortunately, I’m going to have to pass. I have to duck out here in a few and hit practice with the team. If coach so much as sees a crumb on me, I’ll never stop doing laps. I appreciate you letting me study here. The Center is always so loud.”
Elanor chuckled and gave a slight nod. “Will you at least take some home to your brother?”
Julian’s eyes narrowed, though his mouth drew back in a smile. “I’m wise to your schemes. Saddle me with that task, and you know my willpower will give out.”
“Is that a no?” She stared at him blankly.
“I’ll take some. But not too many.”
“Of course not.” The beautiful smile returned. “And you, little one?” She focuse
d her attention on the little girl playing with dolls in a nearby corner.
“No thank you,” the girl replied, not looking up from her dolls.
Elanor frowned and stared for a moment. Then she nodded. “Let me know if you change your mind.” She moved to go back to the kitchen.
“Elanor.” Lanton rose from his chair, his first step pensive.
She raised a brow at him. “Yes?”
“We need to talk.”
The whole room muttered “uh-oh” in unison.
Elanor nodded, a frown touching her lips. “We’ll be alone in the kitchen, and I have to make sure I don’t burn anything.” She disappeared into the kitchen.
Lanton followed, though his steps were hesitant, and his head bowed. He had been dreading this talk for days, and what he had just seen had told him he could wait no more. Slipping into the large stainless-steel kitchen, he shut the door behind him.
Elanor stood at a long prep-station. She leaned against it with arms crossed, facing him. “You breaking up with me?” Her lips curled in mischief, but her eyes held that hint of worry.
Lanton shook his head, moving to lean on a counter across from her. “I’ve something to tell you. Well, a few things. One of which I should have told you days ago.” He sighed, looking down at the floor.
“Might as well rip that band-aid off.” Her tone even and cool.
Lanton tried to pin down one of the racing thoughts. “You remember me telling you about my having a power?””
She stood there, arms crossed and smiling. “I do. If memory serves, it is the reason that you and I stopped being intimate.”
“I didn’t tell you what it was then.”
She gave one of her delightful laughs. “I would have been able to reason it out by myself. I’m a nurse. We’re trained to pay attention to the details. I suspected I knew what kind of powers you might have after your brush with death when that poor boy Brian died. I confirmed it when you went after that wack-a-loo that was telling people to do things.”
“Wait, how did you confirm it?” Lanton felt dizzy. Relieved, but dizzy.
She motioned for him to come to her, and when he did, she withdrew her phone from a powdered speckled pocket. Wiping her hands down on a nearby towel she began to flip through her phone. After a moment she nodded and tapped the screen. “Watch this in slow motion. Pay attention to you, and not the poor kid behind you.”
Lanton watched himself on the small screen standing on the stage when Brian was shot. Whoever recorded this had been standing just behind the gunman. As the gun lifted, he watched his video self jumped in slow motion to get in the way of the bullet. Just as the bullet should have hit him in the throat, his whole body went transparent. His stomach churned as he watched the electronic version of Brian take a bullet in the eye that should have been stopped by him. Though he understood the wound would have killed him. “I could have saved him.”
Elanor gave him a kiss on his temple. “I’m not done. This one is a little weirder to watch because Mac’s drone takes videos in 360 view, but I managed to save the part that matters.” She clicked through her phone before starting another video.
In this one, Lanton walked toward the gazebo where they had captured Steven. As it got to the point where Steven started talking to Lanton, the video dropped into slow motion. Each time Steven’s lips moved, Lanton could see his body go transparent. “That must be why I kept getting sick to my stomach.”
“I also think it is why his words didn’t affect you like everyone else. Whatever your power is, it works to shield you from getting hurt.” She gave him another kiss.
“Why didn’t you say anything before?”
She gave another soft laugh. “I saw your face when you told me the first time. How much it hurt you. Things like that should wait until you are ready to tell me. I trust that you would in your own time and that I would know when I needed to know.”
“I told you before that I saw you had a power, but I didn’t know what it was.” He looked down again.
“What are you getting at, Monty?” She crossed her arms.
“That’s the thing. I’ve figured out that I can see when people have powers, though I’m still trying to figure out what it means when I see it. It’s different for everyone. Just now, in there, I saw your power manifest.” He stopped and gave out a loud sigh. “I don’t know what it means, but each time you asked one of the kids if they wanted a cookie, this bright white light erupted from you and hit them square in the chest.”
“Like a Carebear stare?” Mirth played over her lovely lips.
Lanton blinked. “I guess. I haven’t watched that cartoon in ages. You aren’t upset?”
“For my magical stare? I have already come to terms with the fact that I would have a power. One I am still not sure you gave me. You said you found this in an energy drink. I am a nurse. Those things are like gold to a night shift nurse. I had a sneaking suspicion about the power though. When I was in there talking to them, I found myself worrying about them. They are just so young for the chaos they’re dealing with. With each one, as I worried about them, I could feel something from them. Not really reading their minds, but a deep sense of their emotional state. I know that Mac is all sorts of conflicted about something. Julian is trying to keep a calm front but is falling apart inside. All Allison is about right now is keeping Mac alive, which is the sweetest thing ever.”
“And the girl?”
Her tone became cold like when she was telling a patient that if they didn’t do something soon, they would die. “She’s a mess of crazy that scared me to peek into. You have to do something about her. I know she saved Mac, but she is dangerous to herself and everyone around her.”
Lanton nodded. “I know. Problem is that the only person I know who might be able to help her, I think tried to kill Allison.”
“Then find someone else.” She paused and gave him a hard look. “There is something else. Something that has you scared more than I thought you could be scared.”
“Did you just ‘stare’ me?” He narrowed his eyes.
“Answer the question, Monty.” Her gaze became hard as nails.
Lanton frowned and found himself staring at her stomach. Her stomach and the glow that resided there, pulsating with a powerful heartbeat. And a powerful white light. “I think I gave you more than a power.”
Elanor looked at him, then followed his gaze. She rested a shaking hand on her stomach, which did nothing to dampen the glow coming from within. “Are you saying-?” She blinked back tears. “That we-?” She was becoming a blubbery mess before his eyes.
He crossed the distance between them in one step, sweeping her into his arms. “Yes.” It was all he could manage to say in the moment.
She hugged him close for a few seconds and then pushed him away to stare into his eyes. “How sure are you?”
Lanton managed a weak laugh. “The kid glows like a tiny sun.”
She gave a laugh that turned into a sob and back again. After a few seconds, she shook her head as if to clear away the confusion. “What about you?”
“I’m not pregnant,” he admitted.
She gave another mixed laugh. “I mean, are you okay with this? With this?” She emphasized by placing his hand on her stomach.
“Truthfully?”
“Always.”
“I am scared shitless. I’m no spring chicken, and I think that glowing means that he or she is going to have powers right out of the gate. This whole city is falling to pieces. We are in for an uphill battle the whole way.”
“We?” Tears fell from her beautiful eyes.
He nodded solemnly. “I’m afraid you are stuck with me, no matter if you like it or not.”
She launched herself at him, hugging him close and smothering him with kisses. It was only the buzzing of the oven that saved Lanton from death by kisses. She pulled away and composed herself. “This changes everything.”
“Don’t I know it?” He leaned back against the counter, feelin
g as if his whole world was spinning.
She withdrew a sheet of cookies from the oven. Setting them on the counter, she turned to look at him. “You need to tell your team about your powers.”
“I’m not sure that’s-.”
She shook her head. “Not up for debate. You are asking them to put their life on the line for you. I think if you all started getting your heads together, you might find some much-needed answers.”
“But what if the department finds out?”
