Invictus

Chapter 43: Peter

I woke up to the worst headache I'd ever had. My brain felt like ice in a cocktail shaker.

Wait, how do I even know what a cocktail shaker is?

"Welcome to the family Ezekiel." Edwin said, interrupting my thoughts. He and Michael had already begun unclasping the nodes from my body.

"You mean the Underground?" I said groggily, massaging my forehead.

"That and the family of Icthys." Joe said with a laugh.

Having just undergone neural synaptic writing, I knew that Joe's use of the word Icthys was a reference to the early Christian church. I could tell by the expression on his face that he was testing me to see if the writing had worked.

"You is blind, how can you know that?"

Joe smiled, pleased by the fact that I understood the reference. "Faith is the real sight Ezekiel, and I know real Faith when I see it." Joe pointed to his eyes and began to get up out of his chair.

I couldn't deny Joe's words. Something had changed since we'd sat down, and it wasn't the fact that I now knew how to override a petabyte firewall encryption, punch and kick like a Hollywood stunt double, or speak 200 different dialects of Chinese. It was something bigger, soul deep. I felt lighter, the weight I'd been carrying for Jacob's death, and all the others I'd caused, had been lifted.

I looked around and noticed Michael undoing the handcuffs from my hands and feet. I stretched my hands after they'd been released from the restraints and patted my shirt. There was blood all over it, the table, and the floor.

"What happened to me?"

"You tore through the rubber mouthpiece and nearly bit off your tongue." Joe said.

I looked over at the handcuffs as Michael was bagging them up. "Must be strong if they didn't break." I said groggily.

"Reinforced tungsten. Tough, even for Freaks like you." Michael said with a friendly wink.

I nodded in acknowledgement.

"So what now?" I asked Joe.

Joe responded by pointing out the window to an awkward looking white house sitting right next to the McDonald's. The shutters on the windows were smashed, the wood siding was rotting, and the mossy roof capping it all was caving in.

"What's there?"

"A boy named Peter." 

"Who's he?"

"Trenton said you'd need him if you wanted to make it past Ori-gen's perimeter defenses."

"Yeah, but what is he?"

"A powerful telekinetic."

"Like Twitch?"

"Stronger. Much stronger." Joe said bleakly, a hint of concern on his face.

Edwin began leading Joe towards the door with Michael and the bags in tow.

"Where you all going?"

"There's still preparations that need to be made." Joe handed Edwin a letter, which he promptly left Joe's side to give to me. It was the same cardboard envelope with the red wax seal on it. Edwin returned to Joe's side after handing it to me and prepared to exit.

"We'll see you soon Ezekiel. Open that letter as soon as you've acquired Peter." Joe said as the three of them walked out the door. I turned the letter over in my hands and looked down at it. When I looked back up I noticed that Joe and the others were gone. They had vanished into thin air.