The Experimental Cosmos

17. Damage Control

My head reels from the headline I just saw on the screen. Before long, Ms. Maya has arrived with Mr. Hector to call me for a personal meeting.

My mouth has gone completely dry, and all around me time seems to have slowed down, my senses are acutely aware of every eye on me.

My friends are looking at me, horrified, and I see Miranda running towards me in slow motion, flailing her arms to get the attention of the teachers.

Then suddenly, I see a man and a woman enter the hall, and the electric blue of their outfits which distinguishes them as officers of the Central makes my stomach turn.

I don't remember how, but I am sitting again in the metal chair against which I had sliced my palms open a few moths ago, just this time there are no lie detectors connected to me.

The Central does not allow Pentothal interrogations of minors until a strong accusation has been proved.

The man and the woman sit in front of me and introduce themselves as Lionel and Judith, but they actually don't seem bad. They are nothing like Christian, the monster who had illegally conducted my previous interrogation.

They assure me that I am free to go whenever I want, the law does not permit them to hold me, but they are just here to inquire since the case of the Faithful is incredibly high profile, and they want to make sure that I am protected.

My insides are still clenched tight, but as the questions start to roll, I start to relax a little as I begin to realise that the authorities have no real proof of anything about or against me.

They got a hint of something from gossip and things like that, but since the case was so important, they could not afford to let something like this go.

By the time they are finished, my whole body has gone numb. I get up mechanically and make my way to my dorm.

I notice Miranda talking to Ms. Maya, but I don't have strength left to deal with this right now.

For a second after I enter my dorm, I just stand there- completely blank. Then everything that has happened in my life comes crashing back, and I runto vomit into the toilet.

My hair tie comes loose as I lean over, but I am not conscious enough to hold it right now.

Just then, a hand reaches my head and pulls my hair back into a pony. After a minute, I manage to turn my head and see Jay, and losing strength, I lean into the toilet again. Jay sits down beside me, and for a moment we just stay there, foreheads resting against each other, until I return to the world enough to walk back to my bed.

That night as I close my eyes, his face is the last thing I see before I fall asleep.

I am in a whitewashed room with mirrors all around. I suddenly feel something cold and hard against my head. Then I look ahead and infront of me are my parents on one side, and Jay on the other.

I suddenly realise my hands feel heavy, and when I lift them up I realise I am holding a gun- not the kind that tranquilizes, the kind that KILLS.

For a moment I am confused, then it all makes sense. I have to kill one of them, or die.

And cold and cruel as it sounds, even though I do hesitate, somewhere in my mind i know the decision from the start.

A voice starts counting from ten to one, and I slowly point the gun at Jay. As he is somewhere around 5, I pull the trigger, but the shot never comes.

Instead, the scene fades away and I sit up in my bed, gasping for air. I hate my mind right now. Every time I start to think about something with my heart, my brain gives me a cruel reality check of what I actually am.

I lay back in my bed and try to sleep, but suddenly, we hear screams from the hallway. All of us rush outside as fast as we can, and I manage to grab my pepper spray before I go.

We climb up from the circle of living quarters, and follow the screams. My feet suddenly slow down as I recognise the voice - ASTHA'S voice.

We reach the truth trial building, and at the entrance is Astha, laying with her eyes closed.

On her forehead, written in black is the word ABSTRUSE.

I notice the crimson pool starting to form beneath her head, and we rush her to the hospital.

Even before she is declared out of danger, the place already has Central officers trying to get information about her.

As we stand in line for the questioning, Kalani's hand finds mine, and I grasp it tight, worried that if I let go right now, I would never make it through the interrogation without revealing Astha's truth from my own mouth.

We are all injected with the truth serum. As I walk into my interrogation room, I have prepared myself for the trial.

But I guess fate just can't stand to see me prepared.

Because as my eyes fall on my interrogator, I realise that it is

Jay's Father.