FUTURITY

ANO (Pt 2)

"This is not a reunion, Mr. Sorn," Daniels said. "This is a test." He gestured toward Leon. "Send the fighter in first."

A glass door slid open, unsealing a small white room on the far wall. Leon yanked and tore at his bonds as two automatons stepped forward and dragged him in. When the mechanical men had exited, the door slid in place and sealed Leon inside.

"What are you doing to him?" Rachel shouted, pulling against the automaton that held her.

"We're not harming him. We're scanning him for abilities," Daniels said curtly.

The white wall beside the glass door winked to life as a computer screen. It beeped and hummed with a strange image of Leon in multicolored lines.

"Scanning," the computer said. And after a few more moments, it said, "Subject has invulnerability—impenetrable skin—and foresight—the ability to see seconds into the future at irregular intervals." The glass door opened, and the automatons dragged Leon out while Daniels typed on his tablet.

"Next," Daniels said.

They escorted Jude into the room, his face so pale, he looked green. He stood still as the computer scanned him.

"Subject has teleportation—ability to jump out of the fabric of time and appear in another location instantly."

The computer scanned Samuel next, and the verdict: the ability to absorb and manipulate electromagnetic radiation. 

Jason watched as Rachel walked into the room, her blonde hair tangled, her face taunt. "Subject can absorb and produce fire," the computer said, then paused. "Unable to identify subject's second ability," it added.

A cold hand pushed Jason past Rachel. Rachel's wide eyes mirrored the fear Jason felt. He stumbled in and waited as the door sealed with a hiss. The moment the door closed, all sounds from outside cut off. After a few moments, Jason saw Daniels look up from his tablet, his mouth open, and his eyes large. In another second, the door slid open, and Jason stepped out.

". . . hard to believe," Daniels was saying while typing furiously. "Take them back to their rooms and give them new clothes. They'll be our friends by tomorrow."

The walk back felt long. Jason wanted to ask what was so "hard to believe." But he kept his mouth shut and hurried. Once the door shut behind Ian, leaving him and Rachel alone in their prison, he broke the silence.

"What was Daniels saying about my ability being hard to believe?" he said, frowning.

Rachel looked at him with wide eyes. "The machine said you have two abilities, not one. He said that he'd never seen two mind abilities in one person before. You have telekinesis, which you already figured out, but you also have telepathy."

Jason shook his head. "But I haven't . . ." He trailed off. What if all those images and sounds he'd been struggling with had been part of his telepathy? The thoughts he'd heard at dinner that night at Samuel's? What if he'd been accessing other people's minds?

"What did they say about me?" Rachel asked.

Jason shrugged. "You have your fire ability, which wasn't surprising, but then the computer said it couldn't compute your second ability."

"A second ability too? Well, that makes me feel special," Rachel said. She whipped her hair back like a mock movie star, then smiled and shrugged. "Sorry, I just can't stand feeling afraid and angry and stay that way. I guess smiling and joking is my coping mechanism."

Jason shrugged again. "Well, keep doing it. I think we both need it." Rachel began to pace the room. "I can't think of any way to escape, can you?"

Jason glanced around the room cautiously. "Careful, this room could be bugged." He got to his feet, checked all the corners, and found a small video camera installed into the wall, almost impossible to notice until you were on top of it. Jason turned and looked at

Rachel. "See. And it probably has a microphone too." CREAK!

Jason and Rachel jumped and turned as Ian walked in, holding a bundle of white clothes. "Here you are." He put them on the floor and left the room.

Rachel stepped forward and turned the doorknob. It didn't budge.

"Worth a try, I guess," she said, then bent down to examine the clothes.

Jason picked up the clothes that looked like his size. "You change first. I'll turn the other way."

Rachel looked up with wide eyes. "But what about the camera?"

"I won't let them see you," he said. He turned his back toward Rachel and faced the camera, blocking its view. "See?"

After a little while, Rachel said, "Okay, I'm done." 

Jason hurriedly traded places. Rachel—fully dressed—faced the camera, and he pulled on a thick, fitted, long-sleeved shirt that almost felt like a uniform. After that, he slipped on some pants made out of the same material and finished the outfit with socks and white shoes.

"Okay, we're good," he said. Rachel turned, and Jason blinked. She pulled her blonde hair out of her blue eyes, letting it fall behind her shoulders, and walked toward him, her white fitted uniform moving gracefully with her movements. His heart skipped a few beats.

"I've been thinking. Do you remember what Daniels said?" Rachel crossed her arms.

"He said a lot of things. Which subject?"

"He said, 'They'll be our friends by tomorrow.' What does that even mean?"

Jason looked down at his hands. "I don't know."

"Do you . . . do you think ANO is going to do something to us?"

"Like brainwash us or drug us or something?"

Jason nodded. "It could be. I just don't know."

Jason and Rachel had nothing to do but wait. They talked about possible escape scenarios in whispers for a couple of minutes, but nothing original came up.

Then an hour or two later, a man dressed in white came in and gave them a shot while two automatons held them down. When the man had finished and left with his mechanical assistants, Rachel went to sleep, and Jason folded his arms and sat back against the wall.

He took a deep breath and forced himself to relax. But the fear of perhaps having his mind programmed made it hard. His thoughts turned over to the strange penny that kept popping up, and the message it kept sending. And that reminded him of the verse Rachel had given him.

God, we're in big trouble. I'm sorry for not trusting You earlier. But I need You—we need You. Get us out of here, please.

Jason closed his eyes. Please. A moment of silence passed. And suddenly, a thought occurred to him. He looked cautiously in the camera's direction and then turned to the door.

The drug only minimized his power, so maybe he had the strength to unlock the door? He closed his eyes. The metal lock felt cold to his mind's touch. He concentrated and pushed.

Intense fatigue came, but he didn't stop. He pulled and pushed the lock, forcing the bolt to move centimeter by centimeter. He felt sweat bead on his forehead.

Come on!

Jason gasped and fell back. The lock hadn't moved. Staggering to his feet, Jason kicked the steel frame and slumped onto the floor again.

There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. And tomorrow, and everything it meant, was coming.