The System

Chapter 12

Recap: "Don't you want to destroy them?" I ask, curious.

"No," he shakes his head. "I want to keep them. It's all in one storage drive now, which I have. I'm going to take very good care of it. The thing is, it's knowledge. And like it or not, knowledge must never be destroyed, for it may prove valuable someday. I have no intentions of starting a rebellion, but I have a strong feeling these ideas are going to come in handy."

The tram pulls up, and Andrea and I get on.

"By the way, what is that blue liquid called? I'm curious." I ask.

Just before the doors close, he replies, "Oh, it's called Isosceptin. One of your batchmates had done a report of it when you were in school. Kinate someone? I don't remember."

And my mouth is open in shock.

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When I reach home, I'm still shocked. This doesn't make any sense!! The blue liquid is called Isosceptin? And Kinate had done a project about it? What?

I don't remember there being any project about this that Kinate had done. 'Must be some extra credit thing,' I murmur to myself. I have a sick feeling in my stomach, but I don't know why. If Kinate already knew about Isosceptin, why did he ask me to do that report? What if he had forgotten about it? But no, if Herman could remember it, why couldn't Kinate? Was the liquid actually called Isosceptin? Or did I mishear something? If it actually WAS Isosceptin, did Kinate lie to me, saying that it's a medicine? It can be used to literally control someone's mind. What does Kinate need it for?

I know I shouldn't tell anyone about this. But I had to take my mind off of it, so I went to the one person whom I could trust without any hesitation.

M.

It is pretty late, but M is still awake. Surprising, since it will be lights out in about 10 minutes. But I'm relieved that he is awake. I'm really sleepy, but I'm not sure I can sleep with this question unanswered.

"Selena! What are you doing so late?" he asks. I walk in and sit on the couch.

"I need help with something. I'm absolutely confused and I'm pretty sure two heads are better than one to solve this."

"Okay, then. What happened?" he asks and shuts the front door.

"First, you must promise to not tell a soul about what I'm going to tell you." I say seriously.

He turns his head to the side and says as solemnly as possible, "I'm sorry, Mr. Ghost, she told me not to tell anyone. You're going to have to leave."

I laugh. "M! Stop being so childish!"

He laughs too. "It made you laugh, didn't it? I hate to see you frown."

"Anyway, back to the main topic of discussion. Don't tell ANYONE about what I tell you now."

"Okay," he says, narrowing his eyes.

I take a deep breath and tell him everything. From how I first got the job to make a report on Isosceptin, how this whole 'rebellion' thing came up, what Herman told me, to how everything seemed so familiar yet so alien at the same time. I felt I was missing a link over here but I didn't know what it was.

"Wow, that is a bunch of information. Come to think of it, I don't think I remember Kinate submitting a project about Isosceptin either. Sure, I was not in your division, but I remember helping the teachers at the end of the year sort out projects. Then again, that year was the year you fell sick." he says.