The Prize of Dysprosium

Chapter XIII: The Worthwhile Ones

The next minutes are a blur. Alle orders me to go upstairs and when I don't react, she grabs my arm and hauls me with her, which I let her do without any protest. Someone found out Mafalda was the interviewer, but she had no connection to the White House. It's far more likely they'd find out about me before her. So, do they know about me too? I stutteringly ask Alle how she died, and she answers that Mafalda's car crashed but somebody tampered with the brakes and it's an awfully big coincidence that the most wanted interviewer of all times dies in an accident. And she wasn't even the dangerous one of the two of us. Was her death a warning to me? That the Government can't kill me because they'll out themselves (I'm positive Alle will find a way to tell the public I'm Piece if I'm out for some fatal accident), but that they can kill people around me? Will Garmen be next? Will Anton? Now there are suddenly quite a few people in the Cave who will have guessed about our relationship.

Then suddenly we're at the ground level and there are my colleagues and people I have no idea who are. I know I've seen a few on them on tv, but I can't place them right. They must be the ones from the rebellion who live in the city, who can quickly travel to every part of it. Barooba is arguing with someone but her voice doesn't carry through the fog in my brain. Am I being hunted? Are there Pacifiers standing ready to kick down the door to the Cave at any second, ready to fire into the crowd?

"...have to move him," I catch and fight hard to break out of my daze.

"Move him," I mutter as I realize who Alle's talking about. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Noah, you're not safe here," Alle says. "Mafalda's death was declared on national television with a statement that she was confirmed to be the host of Secrets of Our Leaders together with a threat directed at Piece. You may be next, and you're far too important for the cause to lose now."

"The cause," I say and pull my arm away from her grip. "Mafalda is dead, what if I'm not next but you are?" I ask. "Or Endria, or Hansel, or Ridder."

"Which is why we're moving you," she says and glares at me.

"I'm not going anywhere, this is my mess," I say loudly. I'm not leaving the Cave now, not leaving Barooba and the others to pick up what I've left behind, and I'm certainly not leaving Garmen and Anton.

"The Cave is not safe anymore Noah, and you're putting literally everybody in danger by being here," Alle says. Her words hit me in the stomach like a baseball bat and I stagger a step backwards. She's right. I've put everybody in danger, everybody who has ever known me has a death sentence over their heads now. I look up at the stairwell where Carrie-Ann and Sammie are sitting and watching quietly, and then my eyes jump to Endria, Brice and Hannah who are each arguing with a person dressed in dark. Barooba is arguing with three people at the same time, absolutely holding her own. I don't see Garmen anywhere, but as I turn around I see Anton standing and trying to explain something to someone who looks in awe at him being here. I turn back to Alle.

"Then I'll go give myself up," I say and she blinks in surprise.

"Excuse me?"

"If they kill me, there's no reason for anybody hurting anyone else." It's obvious really, the only choice I have. And didn't I plan on ending it myself anyway? Drugs, bullets, what's the difference?

"Don't be an idiot," Alle says and rolls her eyes which makes me bark out a laugh.

"I'm going to be the biggest idiot you've ever seen," I say and walk straight past her, catching the attention of most of the room. "I'm going to be so wrutting stupid you'll regret the day you met me."

"Noah, come back here!"

"No," I say and stomp past Barooba and turn around to face her by the door. "Let's see how the Pacifiers will react to someone screaming in the middle of the street that he's Piece and that the Potentate Thelonious and the luminaries can kiss his ass."

"Dr. Max!" Alle says loudly as I spin around and fling the door open to head out into the rain, and then there are hands grabbing me and wrestling me back inside.

"Get off me!" I yell and I hear Garmen somewhere screaming, "Let him go!" I fight and kick and flail and try to hit as many people as I can but I'm not even touching the ground anymore. Then there is a sharp sting in my upper arm. I gasp and feel my muscles relax without my permission as the drugs flood my system. "Noah!" Anton yells and I catch a glimpse of him and Garmen in the middle of all the blur, both reaching out to me but body-blocked by dark-dressed silhouettes, before my vision goes dark.