Outcast: A Corporation Novel (The Corporation) (22 page)

Karis

Journey and Déjà have left. I can hear the low tones of Eta and Papa talking downstairs, tying up loose ends before Eta heads back home. Ethan is gone, and although it hurts and I can feel his absence stronger than I thought I would, it doesn't change the thought that there are still things I need to do to get everything in order for my last plan—leaving the cities.

The first step in my not-so-thought-out-plan is to get answers. Seems straight forward enough. The only problem is, no one I know in Neech has the answers that’ll help. Some of Ethan's sense has apparently rubbed off on me, because I sit back and think better of my gut instinct to run out and demand answers of anyone I can find. This needs to be precise and thought out. Everything has to be from here on. Ethan is out in the Further, risking his life for me. For all of us. It doesn’t matter if I'm mad he’s left, I have to do my part here, at home. And that means being smart.

There’s a soft knock at the door and Papa steps through with a tray of broth and a glass of water. He sets it on the night stand and pulls the chair next to the bed. Then he turns and heads back to the door.

“Routine is best for calming the mind in times of turmoil.” The door shuts with a soft click.

I wait until my nose is unstuffed and my head less plugged before I start talking things through with Gandā. I stand up and go to the tray. I was wrong, it wasn’t a bowl of broth, but a bowl of steaming water. I let the warmth caress my face. Papa is right, I need the comfort of routine.

I scan his body. His hands and arms are cleaner than anyone’s outside of Dahn. His hair is washed and short, a golden halo. His face is clean and shadowed with hair along his jaw, cheeks, and upper lip. The only place I haven’t yet washed are his feet. I take my chair and set it gently at the foot of his bed, careful not to be too loud. I flip up the covers and fold them around his knees, tucking them behind his legs.

“This is the last dirty part of you,” I say as I roll his pant legs up against his calves. “After this, you'll be as clean as any of us are. Cleaner, actually.” I transport the dish of water and dip the rag in, letting it soak up most of the hot water. I test the temperature, making sure it won't burn his skin. I pick up a foot and start to wipe the dirt away. I don't scrub his skin anymore; I use a soft wiping motion. It helps me get my thoughts out better.

“Ethan has left.” I let the words hang in the air, their full impact washing over me. “He and Dhevan and Raj left the city about an hour ago. They’re going to where you came from, where you almost died trying to get through. The Further.” I wipe his feet with the towel in slow, repetitive strokes. “I was mad at him for going, I still kind of am. But part of me understands. I don’t like it, but I think…” I trail off. I don’t know what I think. “I think I understand why he felt he had to go.

“Journey and Dhevan's Pairing Ceremony was tonight,” I continue. “Well, it was
supposed
to be tonight. Guards showed up and stopped it. Said the Corporation has put a hold on all Pairings until further notice. They gave some lame excuse, but really, it's because of Ethan and me. Then Dhevan and Ethan let us in about their stupid plan of going out into the Further.” I dip the cloth into the water again and start on his other foot. “And what's worse? Journey
agrees
with them!” I try to spit the words out with as much disgust as they leave in my mouth. “I mean, I thought she loved Dhevan. I thought she was my friend. How could she send her Pair out into the Further like that?”

I stop wiping his skin and shake back the sudden impulse to cry. “But do you want to know the worst part?” I start cleaning again when the desire for shedding tears passes. “The worst part is, is that Journey was right and I was wrong. I should have supported Ethan's decision to go out there. I should have sent him off with a smile and a kiss, but instead I sent him out with a cold shoulder and angry words. I can never take that back. What if something happens to him? I'd never forgive myself.”

Despite my best efforts, one lonely tear escapes the corner of my eye and trails down my cheek. I quickly bring my finger up to wipe it away. “I want everything to go back to the way it was before any of this happened.” I plop the damp rag into the bowl. “I mean, I don't know why everyone’s changed and so different around me.”

“From what I've been hearing…you haven't exactly been warm and fuzzy…or even remotely approachable…for that matter.” The voice is dry, strained, as if the vocal cords haven't been used in months.

My eyes widen until they feel like they're going to be squeezed out of my skull. I take a slow breath before I finally look at the Untouchable. His eyes are slits and his lips barely move.

“Hi,” he croaks out, lifting a few fingers off the mattress for a weak wave.

“Hi,” I breathe out in disbelief. I stand slowly, as if any sort of quick movement will make this all reverse itself. “I'll be...right back...” I back out of the room and as soon as I'm on the landing I yell, “Papa! Eta! Come quick!”

७

My brother's tiny room is cramped. Gandā is lying on the bed, propped up with his back against the headboard, pillows folded under his shoulders and head. We're at a standstill; no one knows quite how to proceed. I'm standing farthest back, my body leaning against the closed door, chewing on my thumb nail.

Papa stands at the foot of the bed, staring at the newly awakened Untouchable. He’s got a look on his face of something like disbelief and fear. Eta's all business. She's sitting on the edge of the bed, her bent fingers pressed into the thin skin of Gandā’s wrist, feeling and counting his pulse. She looks at his eyes and gums next, but for what I have no idea. Nor do I care.

He had been listening to me? He could hear me? This entire time? Had he heard
everything
? Oh, I hope he hadn't heard everything! My cheeks light with a slow burn at the thought of all the secrets I told him. The feelings I confided in his unconsciousness.

“You check out fine,” Eta says. “Weak, but surprisingly fine.” Her bones creak and pop as she stands. “For as long as you’ve been unconscious, your muscle mass is strangely intact. You may as well have been asleep just a night instead of in a coma for near three months.”

“Thank you,” he says, hoarsely, “for looking after me and taking care of me.” Eta's withered hand is giving him a small glass of water, ever the Medic.

“It was pretty dark for a while, there,” Papa says. “What do you remember?”

Gandā closes his eyes “I remember...” he starts out, like he's tugging at a reluctant memory, “...crossing the Wasteland.”

“That's it?” Eta says, somewhat skeptically. “Nothing more?”

Gandā opens his eyes and seeks her out. “It had been a couple of days since I'd last eaten anything; days had passed without water. I had nothing to protect me from the sun or the elements. I don't remember much of the last part of my journey through the Wasteland.”

“It will come back, with time,” Eta says.

“I'm sorry, it's just that...where am I? What is this place?”

“You're in the Outer City,” Eta says, watching him closely, studying him. It's in our nature to be suspicious. Especially when a human—an Untouchable—has appeared out of the Further.

“Outer City,” he says the words quietly, rolling them around on his tongue, seeing how he likes the taste. “Strange name for a city.”

“We also call it Neech,” I finally speak up.

“Who said that?” I can hear a bit of strain in his voice, like he’s trying to sit up.

I step forward and slide between Eta and Papa. “I did.” My cheeks are still warm.

“This is my daughter, Karis,” Papa says, putting his hands on my shoulders, pulling me towards him so that I stand nearer the bed. “She's the one who nursed you back to health.”

A smile twitches at the corner of his mouth. “It's nice to meet you, Karis. My name is—what is it that you've been calling me?”

My cheeks kick up their color a notch and Papa clears his throat. “It's nothing. I just didn't want to be calling you Untouchable all the time, so I started calling you something else.”

His eyebrow lifts at the word. “
Untouchable?
”

I sigh just a little, not out of annoyance, but at the realization that this man knows nothing about our world, the way we live, and I don’t really have the time to explain it to him now. “An Untouchable is what we call people from out in the Further—or the Wasteland, as you call it.”

He nods his head, as if it makes perfect sense.

“This is my Papa, Jeret Singh and this is Neech's best Medic, Eta Pillai.”

“And my name?” He presses, in an almost teasing way.

“Gandā is,” I say, “from the Old Language. It means—”

“
Filthy
,” he finishes for me, with a chuckle. “Quite accurate, I'm sure.”

I find myself surprisingly relieved he is not offended by it. “It was rude, I know, I didn't mean any harm by it.”

“None taken, I assure you.”

“Now that you're awake,” Papa says, “What should we call you?”

“You can call me
Adami
.” He pronounces it like
Aud may.

“A student of the old tongue.” Eta sounds pleased.

“I know a little,” he says.

At my pinched face, Eta translates. “It means
person
or
man
.”

“Your name is
Man
?” I say.

Adami's half smile is back. “The proper names of things—a thing’s true name—encompasses everything about that object; it's essence, its very being. As such, knowing the true name of something or someone is a very powerful tool. Or weapon. To tell someone your true name is to give them the potential of holding power over you. We do not give that away lightly.” There's silence around the room. “That is what we believe, anyway.”

“We?” I say.

“My clan. Where I’m from.
We.
”

“Where’s that?”

“Far, far, far from here.”

“When you arrived,” Papa says, “You said something before you passed out.”

“Oh?” Adami says, taking another drink of water. “What was that?”

“You said,
'It does exist.”
What did you mean by that?”

It was an obvious question, in my opinion, but for some reason, Papa needed to ask it and we all needed to hear the answer.

“I was told,” he starts out slowly, “A long time ago, that this place no longer existed. That it was destroyed.”

I couldn't help myself; I asked, “You crossed the Further for something you were told no longer existed?”

His shoulder gives a shadow of a shrug. “I was curious.”

“You risked everything for curiosity?”

“You look like you’d do worse for less,” he says.

I cross my arms over my chest, I don’t believe him. I mean, sure, curiosity is probably a part of his motivation, but it’s far from all of it.

“You know what they say about the cat,” Adami says.

Papa and I give him a blank stare. Eta gives a low chuckle. “Curiosity killed it.”

“But satisfaction brought it back.” Adami's eyes crinkle at the edges with a smile. “I like her.”

“We should let him get some rest,” Papa says.

“Agreed,” Eta says with a sharp nod of her head. “Everyone out. I'll bring you up some more broth. No solids yet. We need to make sure your system is on the up and up before we trust it with anything more substantial than this.”

“Maybe Karis could bring it up to me; I'd like to talk to her a little longer, if that's okay?” Papa's eyes flit to mine with amused curiosity. “Just to thank her for the care she took of me.”

“Um, sure. I can do that.” I duck my head a bit and turn to leave the room. I'm halfway down the stairs when everyone else starts to follow. I dish up a bowl of hot broth that's been simmering over the fire. I fill the bowl a little fuller than we normally do. I tear off a small piece of bread and hide it in my hand beneath the bowl. A little bit won’t hurt, I’m sure. He has to be hungry for more than just broth after being asleep for so long.

“Don't be up too late,” Papa says when I pass. “I’ll be up to check on you later and make sure you’re heading to bed.”

“I won't.”

He grabs my elbow, stopping me. “Be careful. We don't know yet if he can be trusted; how much he knows.”

“I understand, Papa,” I say, and hurry up the stairs.

Day five