I, Immortal

Chapter Twenty-Eight

"Ok, what's up?"

I stood in Cy's bedroom, watching him stand before the papers scattered across his bed. Even with his back turned and his face hidden, his tense posture and the way his hands constantly clenched and unclenched scared me. He stood there, muttering in nervous repetition, "I had to be sure...I had to be sure." Cy rarely let fear and anxiety show through his calm countenance. He was the calm one, and I was the panicky one. But now it seemed that the tables had turned and we had switched from calm to panicky, anxious to calm.

"You remember..." He started, his words rushed. He suddenly turned and faced me with wild eyes. "You remember when we were driving here? When...when I told you I did the right thing? You remember that?"

"Yes." Sweat pricked the palms of my hands as I forced myself to stare into his eyes.

"That night when we destroyed Protonet...Maisie wanted me to delete the entire database. I would hack in, corrupt everything."

I nodded dumbly. What was he getting at?

"She wanted it all destroyed. So I hacked my way in and started deleting files. There were lots of doors to go through, but there was one -"

"Cy..." A knot appeared in my stomach; my heartbeat quickened. What had Cy done?

"There was one door that had more security around it. So much more." A wild gleam shone in his eyes; his voice lowered to a hushed tone. "Xander, do you know what I found behind that door?"

He stared at me, waiting. It suddenly dawned on me that Cy - the Cy I knew so terribly well - had discovered something incredible. A something so powerful, he couldn't resist snatching it up. I shook my head, not daring to speak. I didn't want to know what he had found, afraid of the revelation of his discovery. When he realized I wasn't going to guess, he slowly continued with a powerfully fearful voice.

"I found the data they were discussing that night. Everything from the superhuman programs - ours and the one they were working on. Everything was there. Schematics, DNA sequences, transcripts from meetings with Lund and his scientists. Everything."

I clenched my fists, trying to ignore the clammy sweat clinging to my palms. The room seemed to spin as we stared at each other. I scowled with unchecked prejudice. "You just couldn't help yourself, could you? Just had to make a copy so you could get your upgrade no matter what."

"At first, yes. But -"

I turned to leave, disgusted and sick to my stomach. In a way, Cy had betrayed Dima and Maisie by stealing the files he was supposed to have destroyed. My hand grasped the knob, pulled. Cy intercepted the door and held it shut.

"You have to keep listening. This is important."

"Get away from me." I snapped, clenching my fists.

Cy didn't budge. "Please. Just listen to me."

"Move!" I shoved him aside and reached for the door. The doorknob turned in my hand; I took a step forward and swung the door wide, ready to leave. Cy staggered to his feet, having fallen to his knees by my shove.

"Xander -"

"Just stop, Cy!" I took another step.

Cy grabbed my shoulder, shouting desperately. "None of this was meant to last!"

The anger flooded out of me, replaced by the fright and confusion that clung to my soul as I stopped in my tracks and turned to face him. "What did you say?"

Cy straightened, staring at me with glossy eyes. His voice trailed slowly, as if he wished the words he was saying were not the truth. "The Protonet program was designed to test superpowers on people, right? The key word is test. In the files and transcripts I found, Lund said the first superhumans would be prototypes - tests to provide data that would improve technology for the future superhuman projects he had planned."

"So you're saying..." I couldn't finish.

Cy blew out a deep breath, spread his arms wide. "He knew your DNA would revert back to mortality. He knew Brynn's wings would eventually wither away and -"

My heart skipped a beat as realization swept over me. I stepped back into time, thoughts racing through my mind. The howling whine of the sirens as Dima ran out of the building; the SWAT team following close behind as if they had seen him plain as day. The C.L.O.A.K. had hidden him from their radar, so how had he been found out? At the door of the building, Dima had appeared then disappeared without any reason. I had thought he had wanted to be seen, to show Protonet who was responsible for bringing them down. But now I had an alternative reason. What if Dima had never known he had been seen? Not until it was too late. Not until the mission was compromised and he had no choice but to scatter the explosives and run to alert Maisie before he was caught. He had never meant to be seen. He had lost control of his invisibility. And Protonet had known this would eventually happen all along.

"And he knew Dima wouldn't stay invisible." I mused aloud. Cy paused, then nodded with a sorrowful glint in his eyes.

"Have you been experiencing anything out of the ordinary lately? Something that might show your DNA is reverting back to mortality?"

I thought for a moment, and as I did my tongue felt along the roof of my mouth. The burns had not healed. My heart sank low. Was I really...No, I couldn't be. I was immortal. That's not how immortality works.

"I...I don't know. Maybe."

"One way to find out." Cy turned to the bed and lifted his pillow, grabbing a pouch that lay on the sheets beneath it. He turned around and opened it in front of me; a long knife slid out from the inside. I took a step back.

"You're not -"

"Relax. It'll just take a tiny incision to know."

"I don't want to know." I'm immortal. I can't die. I can't be mortal.

Cy grasped my arm and turned it palm-up. With a deft slice, the knife slipped across my arm, leaving a thin line of red above my wrist. I held my breath, trying to calm my racing heart as I waited for the mark to heal and disappear as if it had never existed. I waited. Seconds passed, too many seconds. My mouth went dry; I clenched my teeth, still staring at the bloody line across my arm. My hands began to shake.

"Does it usually take this long?" Cy asked. He kept his eyes on my arm, watching, waiting.

"N-no..." I stammered, my voice hoarse from the dryness in my throat.

We waited. Nothing happened save for the warm blood oozing out of my arm and slipping over my skin. The mark remained, clear as day. I wasn't healing. Cy shook his head, staring at me with dark eyes. My hope evaporated. My shaking hands clenched into fists as I fought to keep myself steady. I didn't want to believe the truth. It wasn't possible, yet there was the proof still cut into my arm. My immortality was wearing out.

I was going to die.