Unique Page 17

  One report remains bound together. A big red stamp covers the title page: Macrophage Stimulation Study.

  REJECTED.

  Beneath the stamp is a handwritten note in sloppy writing. It takes a moment to decipher.

  This report creates a problem with the Purification Project. We cannot allow this to get out. Bury it and delete the records.

  I run my fingers over the red PD logo at the top of the paper. Paragon wrote this and gave it to Directorate Chief Seaduss before printing. Remembering the note that accompanied the drive Dad left for me, my curiosity is piqued. What is the Purification Project and what does this research have to do with it?

  I flip to the first page and skim. A lot of the language is technical jargon, but I’ve spent the last few years reading so many of these papers that understanding is second nature.

  From what I gather, Paragon discovered that macrophages—cells that help fight infections—can either excite or cause harm to the ability to heal wounds, raise or lower the immune system, or trigger a reaction in the cell that makes Powers overreact.

  And, most importantly, the macrophages will work to heal the “wound” of weak or lost Powers.

  Miller! I suck in a breath and flip to the conclusion. The answer makes me jump up and rummage through my pockets for the diagrams of the DNA structure I suspect belongs to Miller. I spread the diagram out beside the research paper. After tracing multiple paths across the paper, a thought rises.

  Excitement pumps through my veins.

  I could do it…with the right tools and calculations, I could jumpstart his Powers.

  Dad spent years gathering buried research from Paragon, but he never understood all the technical jargon. He didn’t realize how all the pieces connected. He just knew something was not right and gathered it up for me—his scientific-minded, puzzle-loving son—to figure out later.

  God, I love you, Dad.

  Everyone is downstairs, and I sneak to the supply closet, rummaging through the contents. I saw something in here that will prove useful. Pushing aside a stack of towels, I uncover it.

  The defibrillator.

  With the handheld machine, I rush back to the room and close the door. When Leo first gave me that diagram of Miller’s DNA back at The Shield, I could tell his Power was disconnected sort of like a device that’s been unplugged. Miller’s very genetic structure acts like the magnets and copper wire used to generate electricity. They only need a jumpstart to get the power flowing again. With the numbers Paragon supplied in that report. Still…the amount of energy needed for that jumpstart would be dangerous, even if he still had his Powers. One wrong calculation in the joules and timing and Miller could die.

  I pull a pen from the pocket of my jacket and start calculating the necessary length of time the connection needs to continue based on the maximum joules permissible in the device. Once I have the number, I use the switchblade to pry the device open and try to switch the relay over to continuous. Just giving a jolt won’t be enough. The energy needs to be constant. I make notes on the drawing of Miller’s DNA structure based on the information in the research document and my calculations. Slowly, I gather the pieces of the puzzle and begin finding their place.

  I jump to my feet, stuffing Miller’s DNA structure into my pocket and scooping up the rest of the papers as the door opens and Lily enters with Sho.

  “Sorry,” Sho says, backing away from the door.

  I hold up a hand. “Wait.”

  They pause, giving me a quizzical look.

  “Lily, you can read stuff, right? Like, the history of something?”

  She cocks her head, clinging to Sho’s arm. “The history of it, yeah.”

  “What about people?”

  They both frown.

  I move closer and lower my voice in case someone else is within earshot. “Could you read Bianca?”

  “Why can’t you just ask her what you want to know?” Sho asks.

  I peek out into the hallway and glance both ways. “Because I don’t think she will remember much, and I need to know what happened to her.”

  Lily takes a step back. “I won’t touch her.”

  “Why?”

  “Because…” She glances at Sho as if seeking help, then slumps. “Because she scares me, okay?”

  I grin. “She scares me, too. But we need to know. I need to know.”

  “Know what?” Enid asks, joining us from the stairwell.

  “What happened to Bianca,” Sho says.

  Enid scowls and crosses her arms. “She’s a puppet, that’s what.”

  “Bianca may hold the key to everything,” I say, reaching for Enid. She steps back. She’s probably going to hate me for this. “You said we finish this together or not at all. No matter what.”

  Anger flashes in her eyes.

  “It’s important, Enid,” I say. “To everyone… I need your help. Please.”

  Lily shifts uncomfortably, glancing from Enid to me and back again.

  Enid sighs. “If I know you, you’ll do whatever you want no matter what I say or do. Let’s get it over with.” Enid turns on her heel and heads toward Bianca’s room.

  And she’s right. I would. Because it needs to be done.

  30

  Bianca sleeps on the bed, a peaceful look on her face. The bindings around her legs and arms won’t stop her if Bianca somehow breaks through Willow’s power and decides she wants to escape.

  Lily and Sho both linger by the door, ready to run. Enid steps in with me.

  “Can I help you?” Jayme asks, resting all four legs of his chair on the floor again.

  Miller lays on the floor by the chair, snoozing.

  Willow probably assigned Jayme to keep watch over Bianca. I should have expected this.

  “I just want to talk to her, see what we can learn,” I say. “And hopefully find out if the girl we knew is still in there.”

  Jayme places himself between Bianca and me, crossing his arms. Again, he towers over me. “Did you get permission from Willow?”

  “Did she tell you I would need it or just ask you to keep an eye on her?” Jayme doesn’t answer, so I press on, “If it were Miller in her place, you would do anything to help.”

  Jayme considers this, staring at Miller on the floor, then nods and steps aside. “Just don’t untie her.”

  I hold in a laugh. Those ties are pointless.

  When I move toward the bed, Enid grabs my arm and pulls me back.

  “I don’t trust her, Ugene. What if she hurts you?”

  “She won’t.” I sound more confident than I feel. “Paragon wants me alive, and if Bianca is conditioned to follow their orders, she won’t do anything. She could hurt me, but Rosie is here if something really bad happens.”

  Enid scowls. “At least let me put a protective barrier around her.”

  It seems unnecessary, but I nod. Enid raises her hands and her focus turns completely to Bianca. Once Enid is done, I edge toward the bed.

  “Don’t let anyone else interrupt,” I say.

  “I’m not leaving,” Enid says.

  “I know.”

  Sho takes up position in the doorway, using his Echolocation to warn us if anyone approaches.

  “How do I wake her from whatever Willow did?” I ask Jayme.

  He pulls a packet from his vest and offers it to me. I take it. Smelling salts.

  I break the pack and hold it under Bianca’s nose. It takes a minute to work. Her eyelids snap open, and the instant she sees me she lunges toward me but the bindings on her hands and ankles hold…for now. The bed creaks and cracks.

  “Relax, Bianca.” I keep my voice calm and even. “It’s okay. I won’t hurt you.”

  Bianca’s gaze darts around me at the others. Her muscles tense. One good tug and she’s free.

  “They won’t hurt you either,” I say, hoping it offers some reassurance. “Bianca. Look at me, not them.”

  Her gaze flicks up to me. The tension in her muscles remains, but she nods in und
erstanding.

  I reach for the bindings at her wrists as a show of faith, though part of me is terrified she will lash out the moment her hands are free.

  “Ugene…don’t!” Enid says.

  “It’s okay, right?” I smile sincerely at Bianca.

  Bianca stares at me with a completely indecipherable look as I untie her wrists. The moment her hands are free, Bianca reaches out for my arm, but a barrier pulses with a hum against her hand.

  “I told you,” Enid mumbles.

  I ignore her, keeping Bianca’s eyes locked on me. I used to get lost in those copper eyes. Now, they shine hard and cold. She rubs at her wrists, an indication that she does feel some of what happens to her.

  That’s promising.

  For more than a week I asked myself what I would say if I had a chance to talk to her again. I ran through the scenario a million times. Now that she’s actually here, none of it comes to me. Her death feels like forever ago, and also like yesterday.

  “I can’t untie your legs,” I say, moving to give her a little more slack to at least sit up. “I hope you understand.”

  Bianca sits up, pressing her back into the wall. Nothing about the way she stares at me indicates that she has any idea who I am. It makes my heart clench. Her sharp copper eyes take me in like she’s studying how to take me down.

  “Do you know me?” I ask, hoping to coax some sort of response out of her.

  Bianca’s eyes narrow. “I do.”

  “I mean, do you know me as anything more than the person you’re seeking to capture?” Slowly, I reach for her hand. “Do you remember…us?”

  Bianca pulls away. “Don’t touch me.”

  “Sorry.” I ease my hand back, deflating. “I just…I need to know how badly they’ve hurt you.”

  “Ugene Powers,” she says, wrapping her arms around her knees, drawing them to her chest. The way she says my name sounds foreign like she’s stating memorized facts.

  “No, to you I’ve always been just Ugene.”

  Her brows are knitted together and her head cocks to the side.

  Please remember me.

  Bianca pulls in her bottom lip and chews on it like she used to do when she was trying really hard to remember something. “I died. That’s what you said back in that building. That at Paragon, I helped you escape, and they shot me. But you tried to carry me out of the building.”

  Again, a ray of hope peeks through. “Yes.” I shift, pulling my knee up over the bed and turning more directly to face her. “Do you remember any of it?”

  “Why would I kiss you?”

  My cheeks burn. “I…well…what?”

  “You also said I kissed you. Why would I do that?”

  She doesn’t remember it. I try to find an explanation that she might comprehend. Because you cared about me. Because I care about you. Nothing seems like the right answer.

  I feel Enid’s glare boring through me and into Bianca.

  Bianca grimaces and presses her back against the wall again. She has accepted that I either don’t know or maybe she thinks I made it up. I didn’t. “Why would I help you?” she asks.

  “We were friends before all of this.”

  Bianca stares blankly.

  “I realize that it’s hard to believe,” I say, doing my best not to push too hard. “But, just for a moment, would you at least be willing to consider there is more to us than what the Directorate has told you?”

  “Like what?”

  “Well, like we actually grew up in the same neighborhood, across the street in Salas, on Cante Road. We rode the tram to school every day, and more often than not I was late, and you had to pull me onboard. Your parents—Nick and Gloria Pond—favored your brother and it drove you mad. And they used to have game nights with my parents until Forrest broke your arm and blamed it on me and they forbid you to be friends with me.”

  Bianca pulls in her bottom lip and chews on it again. Subconsciously, she cradles the arm Forrest broke. It’s working. I’m getting through to her.

  “I can go on and on, Bianca. About your childhood. Your likes and dislikes. Our…our kiss.” I don’t have to look behind me to know Enid’s face burns red hot.

  Bianca shakes her head, though not very hard.

  “Think about it, Bianca. How is it possible I would know everything about you if we didn’t know one another?”

  “You…probably have telepathy or something.” But Bianca stumbles over her words.

  I chuckled, softly. “We both know that I have no Powers, even if you don’t remember our childhood.” Paragon would have shared everything about me—minus our history.

  “Fine. Then someone in your crew can read minds.” She glares around, confident in her new line of logic. “You stole my memories.”

  “The memories I have of us were not stolen.” I lean forward. “The memories I have were a gift, one that you gave to me over the years we spent together.”

  She glowers, unblinking. After a moment, she huffs out and says, “All right, then. We knew one another. So what? Doesn’t change the fact that you’re a wanted criminal conspiring with wanted criminals.”

  “The only crime we have committed is saving people from the Directorate killing them,” I say. “Do you know what they have done to people with weaker Powers? Bianca, they send them into the Deadlands to die.”

  The robotic determination to carry out her orders has dissolved, replaced by uncertainty as Bianca takes in each of my friends. While she still doesn’t resemble the girl I remember, I can see a piece of Bianca returning. Memories can be taken away, but the heart remains. Bianca always had a big heart for others.

  “But people with regressing Powers are threatening the balance we need,” Bianca says, glancing at each of us indecisively. “And you are leading the way. If we don’t restore balance, regression will destroy us.”

  Hearing the words come from her mouth breaks my heart. They have pumped their lies into her, somehow convincing her they are the truth.

  “The people I’m with here are regressing, yes,” I continue, seeing that crack of hope breaking through, “but they also save lives. They want equality for everyone, fairness. Is that really such a bad thing?” I shift closer, wanting desperately for her to agree with me—needing her to agree. “I want to help you, Bianca. More than anything. But these people want answers that I can’t give them. Please.” I dare to look up, meeting her calculating stare. “What do you remember?”

  Bianca’s lips part and she breathes out in a measured breath. “My mission.”

  “And what’s that?”

  Bianca hesitates, and for a moment I’m afraid she won’t tell me anything.

  “To enforce Proposition 9, secure the city, find the dissenters, and bring you in to the DMA for questioning in connection with a bombing at Paragon.”

  “Bombing?” Enid says. I share her confusion.

  Bianca begins reciting her orders, “Ugene Powers: DMA Primary Target Number One. Paragon Diagnostics property. Detain but do not kill.”

  Property? The word makes me flinch. My heart hammers against my ribs.

  “Do you still feel that’s necessary?” I ask, then hold my breath waiting for her answer.

  Bianca pulls her hair over her shoulder, biting her bottom lip. “I’m not sure of anything.”

  Not the answer I was hoping for, but better than a yes. “Do you remember dying?”

  “No. But there are gaps in my memory.”

  I motion Lily forward. Bianca tenses as Lily inches closer. “This is my friend, Lily. She won’t hurt you. I promise. She can help fill in those gaps in your memory, but she needs to touch you to do it.”

  Bianca looks Lily up and down, then gives a tight nod.

  I move out of the way as Lily sits beside Bianca. It’s clear she would rather be anywhere else. Lily’s hand trembles as she reaches for Bianca.

  Bianca swats Lily away and stabs a finger in her direction in warning. “Stay away from my head. You guys used that against me
already. I won’t fall for it again.”

  “This isn’t the same thing,” I say. “She just wants to use her Psychometry to read your history, if she can. No one here will knock you out again.”

  Bianca doesn’t believe me, but clearly, she knows that she’s in no position to argue. After another huff, she thrusts a hand toward Lily.

  Lily swallows hard and edges closer, gingerly accepting Bianca’s hand, then Lily sinks into a trance-like state. Several long moments pass. I pace the floor. Lily pales the longer she holds the connection, and tears roll down her cheeks as her face scrunches in twisted agony.

  “That’s enough,” Sho says from the doorway. “Stop her now.”

  But I hesitate a moment longer to buy more time. We need all the information Lily can read from Bianca.

  “Ugene, enough.” Sho stomps toward us.

  I place a hand on Lily’s shoulder, breaking her trance.

  Lily drops Bianca’s hand, sucking in deep breaths as she tumbles back into my arms. Jayme rushes in to help and we ease Lily down in his chair near the door. Miller wakes and sits upright against the wall, watching with a muted interest.

  Sho drops to a knee beside Lily. “Are you okay?”

  “What did you read?” I ask.

  Sho shoots me a filthy glare.

  Lily’s gaze locks on Bianca, eyes wide open in fear.

  “Lily!” I snap my fingers in front of her. It seems to work. She turns her terrified gaze to me. “What did you read?”

  Bianca waits on the bed, gripping the mattress so tightly that the mattress crunches in her fists.

  “We have to…they have to…” Lily struggles to form complete sentences, and my typical patience dissolves with each stumbled word.

  “What is it?” I press.

  “Calm down,” Sho warns me.

  “Paragon,” Lily says. “They experimented on her. They pumped her with epinephrine over and over after healing her wounds. There were so many different injections I couldn’t distinguish what they all did. And…” Lily buries her face in her hands.

  Sho rubs her back, whispering reassurances, but we need answers.

  “And what, Lily?” I ask.

  “They killed her,” Lily says through her hands.