Transform Me (A "Shatter Me" Trilogy Fanfiction)

SIX: THE GENESIS MOVEMENT

6: The Genesis Movement

“Aaron Warner is in Room E.”  Devin tells Juliette, but the latter is still shaking her head.

             “He’s not there.  I checked.  He’s not in any of the rooms.”  There’s a catch in Juliette’s voice, and she looks at us anxiously.  “We have to look for Aaron.  We have to find him.”

             “There’s no need to send out a search party, love.”  A new voice—rich, baritone, with just an underlying hint of authority—joins us and we all turn to see a man standing by the doorway.

             I’m almost taken aback by how ridiculously handsome he is. 

 His skin is impossibly flawless, his lean frame impeccable, his teeth perfectly white and straight, and his neatly combed hair is golden under the fluorescent lights.  And his eyes.  They’re the palest shade of green I’ve ever seen, even lighter than Devin’s and Caitlan’s.

Juliette rushes forward and he takes her into his arms.

“I was so worried.”  She murmurs against him.  “Where were you?”

He slides Kishimoto a loaded look.  “I decided to take a walk.”

“I understand that you feel naturally suspicious of us, Mr. Warner, but you didn’t need to go walking around invisible.”  Devin gives him a small, cognizant smile.

A flash of astonishment and dubiety pass over his face.  But he manages to say, “Call me Warner, please.  And what are you talking about?”

“Wait.”  Caitlan says, addressing Warner.  “You can turn invisible?”

“No,” Devin answers, “but Mr. Kishimoto can.  There’s no need to play the denial game, Warner.  I’m quite aware that you have the unique gift of borrowing—for lack of a better term—the abilities of others.”

Kishimoto and Warner stiffen.  I stare at the latter with newfound interest.

“How did you know that?”  Kishimoto questions, frowning.  “I never disclosed that information.”

“You didn’t need to.”  Devin says simply.  “You see, lads and lasses, I can read minds.  And right now, Mr. Warner, I know you’re borrowing my ability to read mine, which is quite fascinating actually.  I’m hearing myself hearing myself, which brings metacognition to a whole other level.”  She chuckles in amusement.  “You also know, Mr. Warner, that I can block you off if I want to, but I won’t do that as you have a right to know who we are and what we stand for.”

Juliette looks at Devin curiously.

“Another thing you should know is that my gift is stronger with physical contact.”  Devin continues.  “Without this, I am limited to hearing only your present thoughts.  However, when I touch you, I see everything inside the nooks and crannies of your dusty minds: from your earliest childhood memories to your most recent recollections.  And, yes, I know everything about all three of you.”  She smiles at their identical looks of horror.  “I’m sorry I had to invade your privacy like that, but it’s standard operating procedure here at Souseiki Dousa.  Otherwise, I’d never know if we could wholly trust you.”

She and Warner stare at each other for a few minutes, holding a silent conversation in their heads.  It’s quite unnerving to watch, actually.  Devin’s face is carefully kept neutral, while Warner’s go through a season of changes: astonishment, apprehension, indignation, then finally, understanding, with an extra serving of apprehension.

Finally, Warner says, “We’re in safe hands here.”

“What’s Souseiki Dousa?”  Juliette asks.

“It’s Japanese for The Genesis Movement.”  Kenji answers and I look at him in surprise.

“Right you are.”  Devin nods, pleased. 

“Why Genesis?”  Juliette asks again.

“You see, Souseiki also means ‘time of creation’.”  Devin explains.  “We believe in starting over, in new beginnings.  Souseiki Dousa is who we are and peace is what we strive to restore in all this chaos the Reestablishment has wreaked.  My name is Devin Quinn, and I am the leader of this little band of merry men and women.”

“She’s like Castle.”  Kishimoto is grinning now.

Devin purses her lips.  “Well.  I’ve been called a lot of things before, but that’s certainly new.”

“No. Castle.”  He shakes his head, then clarifies.  “Our leader at Omega Point.”

“Oh, right.”  Devin’s confusion clears.  She looks at Juliette.  “You left him in charge of overseeing North America so you three could come here.”

 I can barely keep up with the conversation.  It’s all so frustratingly disorienting not being on the same page as the rest of them.  Caitlan seems to have no problem with this, so her mother must have filled her in on everything beforehand.  Devin would have informed me as well, I remind myself, had I been here these past two days.

“But you’re not from Asia.”  Juliette points out.

“Right again.”  Devin says.  “Born and raised in Northern Ireland, which is now Sector 9 of Europe.  Long story short: my husband, Gregory—bless his soul—was in the military and was relocated here twelve years ago.  Naturally, our whole family came to move here with him as well—not that we had much of a choice in it.  Then things started getting awry, and Gregory began disagreeing with the Reestablishment.  They saw his shift in loyalties, and had us killed.  My daughter, Caitlan, and I were the only ones who managed to escape.  My little boy, Riley, died with his da that day.  He was only four.”

Her eyes are welling up now, and so are Caitlan’s.  She’s pretending to busy herself with test tubes and bottles of medicinal herbs in a feeble attempt to hide her tears.  My heart hurts for both of them.  No matter how many times Devin retells her story, and no matter how many times I’ve heard it, the ache is still there; an ever-present weight against our chests.

“I thought I wanted revenge; I thought retaliating would give me and my daughter peace and closure.  Over the past few years, I’ve had multiple opportunities to do so, but I can never find it in my heart of hearts to do something so wicked.  I could not and would not allow myself to stoop the Reestablishment’s level.”  Her voice rings with conviction.  “I decided many years ago that I would do everything within my power to do my part in creating a new beginning for me and everyone else.  Everything, that is, except resort to violence.”

I look at our three visitors, watch them closely as they digest all this information.  Juliette looks awed, Kishimoto appears to be thoughtful, but slightly dubious, and Warner…it’s hard to get a good read of what he thinks about all this.  His face is carefully devoid of any emotion.

"So I built this place, found others who shared the same sentiments.”  Devin continues, then holds Warner’s gaze and nods once, as if answering a silent query.  “Here at Souseiki Dousa, we have one vision, one goal: and that is to return peace and balance to the world.”

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: Juliette and Warner finally make an appearance! What did you guys think? Let me know in the comments below. (And on another note, any ATLA and LOK fans out there?)