Opheliac (4 page)

Her loss.
Somehow she'd win the girl over, if only to make Orlando's life easier.

He chuckled. “She's a good guard dog. I've trained her well. Gotta make sure she gets treats for trying.”

“Gee, thanks.” Tait pouted, stung a lot more than she let on.
He wants her to be mean to me? Didn't he just say he was going to forgive me and work on moving forward?

When he grabbed her hand, the negative feelings faded—slightly. “She's only reacting so strongly because she knows how badly I got hurt. Eventually she'll come around.”

“Got it.” Though she would prefer he not be friends with Nia at all. Something about the girl rubbed her the wrong way. No, not something, a lot of things. Over all of the years she'd known Nia through school, she'd only seen the girl be rude, selfish, and morbid. How could any of those things be healthy for him to be around?

Orlando kept hold of her hand, giving it a squeeze. The warmth of his grasp calmed her. “Relax, she's not my type.”

“Not worried. Just don't like her.”

He rolled his eyes. “She's different, and that doesn't have to be a bad thing.”

“Different doesn't bother me, but she does.”

“So then you are jealous,” he said with a small smirk. He let go of her so he could start eating.

She started to dig into her own lunch. “There is nothing to be jealous of. I know you're not interested in her, and I'm confident that I'm a lot better-looking than her too.”

“Ah, your cocky side is coming out. Yes, I definitely missed that.” He was teasing her, but she knew he was also telling her the truth too. Orlando exuded confidence, so it made sense he would be interested in someone with the same quality.

Shrugging innocently, Tait dipped one of her tots into some ketchup. The truth was, she wasn't as sure of herself as she pretended. Nia could be cute when she tried. She definitely had the petite curvy thing going for her. Guys liked that, and the dark come-hither bedroom eyes. Nia's spunk made her interesting, and since she dressed like Orlando and held his interest, they obviously had some things in common.
But he's attracted to me. I know he thinks I'm better-looking. I just need to remember that. He's picking me, not her, and I'm sure he's had a lot of opportunities to rebound with her if he wanted to. Still, I don't trust her
.
The girl is bad news.
Tait wished she could explain her issues with Nia better. Something else was nagging on the back of her mind.
If only I could remember.

Waiting for his charges to finish with school was always the longest part of Alan's day. Most of his comrades on his ship had duties to perform—chores, maintenance, data entry, and other seemingly trivial things. Duties Alan used to have to perform himself, and then some. Slowly, he was working his way up the ranks, and those duties were no longer his responsibility. The tasks he was given for the ship were incognito from most of the crew, and while he enjoyed having the privacy and freedom to come and go as he saw fit for those jobs, he also did not like the lack of direction. That was the price he paid for taking on the role he'd been given by his superior officer, Sir Orioltogorthan.

After all, his supervising officer hated his guts. Everyone knew as much, so if Sir Oriol acted as though Alan were important to the operation, the man's image would be tarnished. And yet, Alan was being used for special work, heading personal projects, and essentially spying on Earth for the man. His ability to teleport at will helped the cause greatly. The more things he could do on the side, the more credibility he could gain with Sir Oriol. With his superior's trust, he might be able to climb the ranks on the ship for all to see instead of just in private. Glory didn't matter much to Alan, but having some more respect would be nice. In the end, he just wanted to be useful above all else. The downside to not being given tasks and orders was that he had to find ways to pass the time while he had to wait to get back to his work.

Some days, he spent his free time searching his ship for information, leads, and anything to occupy himself with. Most of his shipmates liked to pretend he was invisible, however, and they definitely did not want his help with their jobs in case he somehow managed to botch it and stain their reputation. Alan was not clumsy, by any means, so the assumption was more than a little insulting. He did his chores diligently and effectively when he had them. In the past, he complained about having to do such menial tasks. Now, he missed being able to fill up his time with them. Given the nature of his assignment, he just couldn't commit to doing everyday chores of that nature. When he didn't have to wait for his charges or data to come in, he was busy.

There was plenty for him to check up on, down on Earth, but he had a long waiting game as the specialists on his ship sorted through the memories that had been taken from the girl, Sprout, otherwise known as Tait. Sir Oriol had holed himself up in his office for a number of days, which was not like him at all. Despite his lack of fondness for Alan, he still liked to check in with his “secret weapon” fairly often. Usually, to chide and press every single one of Alan's buttons and test his patience. Alan suffered through it not just because the man was his boss, but also because Alan gained information and other opportunities to be of more use.

With Sir Oriol essentially hiding from the rest of the ship, Alan felt lost. Perhaps it was another test for Alan, to see how well he could manage without guidance. But something else was troubling Alan. Not even his roommate Sir Tuliyogljaes, otherwise known as Jaes, knew what was going on. Jaes was a prodigy, and practically worshiped by everyone on the ship, Sir Oriol especially. If something big was going to happen, he was always the first to know. The silence bothered Alan a lot.

He made his way through the halls of his ship. The vessel was constantly locked in Earth's orbit over the same position of where his charges lived. He preferred walking around on Earth more than the ship, but his comrades working in the lab had assured him there would be a report before he met with Orlando, JD, Cadence, and Angela. The information they would be giving him would be important for him to read through. Given the personal connections his charges had to Bean and Sprout, they could also provide a lot of useful insight on the next best course of action to take.

Jaes liked to comment on Alan's lack of leadership with his charges, often, but treating the teenagers as his mindless soldiers bothered him. They were the most familiar with the culture of Earth. It made sense for Alan to ask them advice on how to continue the rehabilitation process of their peers, as well as encourage them to keep their eyes and ears open. Gossip was often the best source of information. People liked to talk.

Stepping into the lab where Tait's rehabilitation had taken place the night before, Alan found all of the technicians hovering over a computer.

“What's going on?” Alan asked.

One of the techs, Sir Poland, gazed at him with raised eyebrows. “I don't understand.”

Alan sighed. The more time he spent with the Earth teens, the more he started to speak like them. Unfortunately, the rest of his ship didn't know as much of the lingo. Not everyone was put in charge of teenagers, and not all of them took the time to understand the finer nuances of the planet.

“What are you doing?” he asked instead.

“We are watching the memories of the subject,” Sir Poland explained.

“I'm not sure that is ethical,” Alan muttered.

“We cannot retrieve information from her memories without watching them. The Ilotus extracts a great deal of information and stores it on its hard drive. Part of the device is a program that organizes each individual memory and its link to other information. We could be watching a memory of her brushing her hair, and five more threads of information and memories could be created. We've been overwhelmed with information from just her alone and haven't started on the boy. The computer has been able to transcribe a few memories for us without us having to actually view what is happening, but without manual guidance, the data isn't quite as precise.”

Alan folded his arms in front of him. “This is a lot more dangerous and complicated than I thought it would be.”

“Yes. For ancient technology, I'm impressed by the Ilotus's sophistication and complexity of use. But the more we use it, the more we learn about it. And we've gathered a lot of useful things without taking too much from the personal moments. Most of the events are strongly tied to her emotions. She is a lot more invested into the war than we imagined. It's frightening, because we had assumed the charges from the other tribes were either forced into submission or brainwashed into doing their job. They were not supposed to have actual interest in the war.” The tech created a spot for Alan to look at the computer if he wished.

Alan didn't want to watch with the others. The image on the screen of Tait looking at Orlando, from her perspective, was unnerving. A lot of symbols and numbers were on the edge of the screen as well. Still, he couldn't not look. Orlando was
his
charge, and the entire process was fascinating.

He pointed to the screen. “What does all of this mean?”

The tech pointed to a black number on the right side. “This is the amount of memory threads connected to this particular moment. The red number underneath is how many we do not have access to. The green number is how many tie together with the memories we have flagged. We can tell the Ilotus what we want information on, put a flag on it, and the machine will sort and calculate the connections between memories for us. The blue number is how many memories related to the flagged item that we do not have access to. This particular memory, we have access to all the necessary threads. However, that doesn't mean anything essential is happening. It could simply be a thought passing through her mind. This boy, for example, she wants to be a part of her team. That's all the useful things we've collected from this memory. Some of the connected threads are moments we've already viewed.” He pointed to the left side of the screen. “The colors and symbols over here are emotions and physical changes. If she's sick, and so on. It can even detect if she's lying.”

“Fascinating. Is there a way to get a read out of this data? You said the computer can print out the data, but is there some already available for me to read through? I'd be able to review it much faster,” Alan said.

Sir Poland nodded and handed Alan a thick folder full of printed papers. “We already thought of that. This is the first hour's worth of information we pulled.”

“Thank you.” Alan was stunned at the size of the stack.
I shouldn't be. The human mind has a wealth of information stored inside it. We will learn so much from this.
Guilt filled him all the same. His team was violating her privacy. Enemy or not, where were the lines between necessity and ethic?

“We'll need her back,” Sir Poland added.

“I figured as much.” Alan opened the folder. “When the process began, I was told that it would probably take more than one night's worth of treatment. Given the culture and the delicacy or the situation, I'm not sure when I will be able to bring her back to the ship. I will inform you of the next date we can confiscate her for our use. Remember, we're doing this for her benefit more than our own.”
She needs to be free from the war. She should have never been dragged into it in the first place. None of the teenagers should have.

The tech saluted him—a first for Alan. “I understand. While it isn't imperative we get her back immediately, it also wouldn't be wise to keep her away for too long. Part of the Ilotus's skills allows for us to reconstruct her memories around the missing gaps that are in it from being rehabilitated. It would be good for her to get back to us so we could fix that for her.”

“I appreciate your concern for her care as well as our mission. Thank you,” Alan said with all sincerity.

“I will have another report for you later tonight.”

Alan took the stack of papers, gave Sir Poland one last grateful nod, and headed back to his room. He would pick out all of the necessary information he needed in the peace and privacy of his own personal space. His quarters were an amazing apartment he got to share with Jaes. The luxury was all because of his roommate, of course. Jaes's status on the ship gained him a lot of special privileges. Originally, Alan had been placed in the same small room that all of the other juniors on the ship were given. A space he had initially shared with women, which was absolutely disgraceful. Sir Oriol didn't seem to care, however; otherwise he would have ordered Alan to be moved right away. Alan would not be staying in such nice quarters if he hadn't befriended Jaes. For whatever reason, Jaes sought Alan out to be his friend. Something Alan didn't quite understand, because he hadn't done anything considered friendly to the guy. Because he didn't worship the ground Jaes walked on, that made him a good candidate for a roommate and best friend. The more time passed, the closer the two became. Alan trusted Jaes now, something he hadn't done only a handful of months before, and he was beginning to relax a lot more whenever they were together. Having a friend was nice in general. Companionship was the first thing Alan missed when he first came on the ship. He imagined Jaes felt the same way. After all, the young man had been living alone ever since they left Altura.

Upon entering the apartment, Alan found Jaes getting a bottle of water from the refrigerator, another privilege. The rest of the ship had to drink recycled water from the sinks and drinking fountains found throughout the ship, but not them. Where the bottled water came from, Alan wasn't sure, but it was more purified than whatever was cycled through the water system. Someday, Alan hoped his achievements allowed him to earn these special perks rather than simply mooch them off Jaes's work. He wanted to be worthy, and he didn't want Jaes to think he was being taken advantage of.

“Just who I wanted to see,” Jaes said.

Alan raised an eyebrow, taking off his shoes. “I am?”

“Yes, I've been reviewing the information retrieved from Bean and Sprout with Sir Orioltogorthan. We know the Basatlavan's next step and a number of their overall goals.”

“I see.” Alan couldn't help but be stung by the fact that his roommate and his boss already met and made decisions on
Alan's
project.
I shouldn't be surprised. Sir Oriol enjoys undermining me any chance he gets. I'm his secret, disgraceful weapon that he'll deny having ever used. Yet, for someone who's the scum of the ship, I seem to have the best ideas on how to handle the Earth charges as well as make progress in our mission.

Jaes gave him a weak smile. “I apologize. It's my fault. The information being pulled from her was far too vital to wait for Sir Oriol to let go of his pride long enough to listen to you.”

“I wouldn't know. I haven't looked yet.” His voice was a lot more terse than he had intended.

Jaes's expression softened. “I'm aware you've been on Earth observing. Believe me when I say I didn't intend to go behind your back with this information. Like I said, it is vital to our cause, and could end the war, at least for this part on Earth. We'll be having a meeting tomorrow. Sir Oriol and I are creating the strategy for our next mission. It involves the Basatlavan's betrayal of the Gelandrosimbol. We also are confident we can capture, track, and rehabilitate more of the enemy charges.” His roommate was practically beaming. Alan should have been happier. All of those things were goals for his people ever since they arrived at Earth. If they succeeded, he could possibly return home to Altura early until his next station was selected. At the very least, he could join his father on another ship also orbiting Earth on the other side of the planet. So why did he feel so sad?

Alan faked a smile. “Good to hear. The capture of my ex and the Doctor would be a huge step. Taking their charges would be beneficial as well. Bean and Sprout were a huge leap in progress, but neither of their tribes can know that we have gained access to them. We gathered a few other charges not long ago, but they were lesser-ranked and had no valuable information. Even our enemy won't take them back. Rehabilitating them would be the best thing to do. I'm glad we finally can in a way that is painless and simpler.”

Jaes nodded. “Getting the Ilotus has given us the chance to make some real advancements. There is centuries of information stored on it.”