The Institute (22 page)

I shrug, “I
don’t really have an ability that is of benefit to me, I can only
help others.”

A surprised
look crosses after I say this and I struggle to see what was so
interesting.

“How can you
help others?” she asks.

“Well I can
amplify abilities, but I’m pretty sure that would be in my file
too. I just don’t understand why you are asking me questions about
things you already know.”

“Would you
actually finish an answer to a question if I didn’t know the
answer?”

“That depends
on what the question is.”

They are trying
to figure out how my brain works and it feels like they are
invading my personal space. I start to wonder if Lynch is
Defective, what could her ability be? Could I somehow trigger it in
me? With Ty and Shilah it was triggered when we touched but with
Tate it just happened. I wonder how I could do that again.

“How about this
one then, you don’t seem to think that your ability is a burden
like a lot of others here, actually like a lot of others
everywhere. You say that your ability is not beneficial to you,
that you can only help others.” She looks at me for a response.

“Sorry, was
there a question in that statement somewhere?”

“I just find
‘beneficial’ and ‘help’ fascinating words to put in a sentence
which refers to Defective abilities.” Now I don’t think she is
Defective after all. That’s a very prejudicial way for her to put
it, which I guess is the kind of prejudice I expected from everyone
who works at the Institute, that is, until I got here and found out
half of the people working here are Defective. “Can you explain why
you feel this way? Has it got to do with your brother?”

“I don’t want
to talk about him,” I snap.

“I’ve actually
met your brother, he’s a sweet kid. He came to me for placement.”
She looks at her computer screen, “Although it says here, that he
has been taken out of his classes today, do you know why that
is?”

“Because I
asked for it to happen,” I respond. She smiles, probably because I
finally answered one of her stupid questions.

“Have you seen
your brother since you’ve been above ground?”

Above ground,
now I’m the one to be fascinated by her choice of words. “Yes, I
have,” I reply.

“You sound
upset by that.”

She’s right, I
know I do. “Well I offered to do this so he didn’t have to.”

“Have to …
interesting.”

“Oh my god,
what now?” It’s clear to her that I am getting frustrated.

“Well a lot of
you who come in here, voluntarily becoming an agent, don’t feel
like this is a bad thing. You don’t think you will be contributing
to a worthy cause? Helping to save the lives of normal people out
there in the real world?”

My head is
spinning, “Nothing makes me angrier than when people label
themselves and others as ‘normal’ just because they have one less
chromosome than someone else. And no, I don’t think this is a
worthy cause. Yes there are dangerous Defective people out there,
half of our country’s land is unliveable wasteland which proves
that, and yes there needs to be a place for them to go but I don’t
understand why my brother and I couldn’t continue to live out
there. Our abilities are not dangerous, I didn’t even know I had
one, and I’m sure there are others in the same situation. Now we
are sent to live here for the rest of our lives because of a defect
in our bodies which affects absolutely no one but us. You call us
broken, we’re not. I took this opportunity and saved my brother
from the same fate because you treat this job like it is an honour,
a privilege, you give us the gift of freedom and in return, all we
have to do is bring in more people who are just like us. More
people who want to go about their lives and ignore the fact they
can do something that most people can’t. That is why I volunteered
to do this, so my brother wouldn’t have to live with the guilt.”
Something tells me I’m going to regret having made this speech but
a part of me is smiling; maybe I should add that to the list of
things of who I am: Defective advocate.

“And how do you
think you will go doing this job? Will you be able to handle the
‘guilt’?” she asks.

“I will just
have to,” I respond.

She looks down
at her scribbling and nods. She picks up the phone on her desk and
says in a very casual voice, “Hi there, I’m ready to give my
evaluation.” She puts the phone down and looks back up at me, “Mr.
Brookfield will be on his way down in a minute to see you.” Oh
great, he’s going to take it all back. He’s going to send me back
to my cell downstairs. I try and tell myself that it will be fine,
I can live there. “Don’t worry, I think you will fit in well with
us here,” she says reassuringly. The worry must have been showing
on my face.

“So I will
continue with training? I thought that—“

“That you
wouldn’t qualify because you felt like you needed to defend
yourself against discriminatory remarks? On the contrary Allira,
you are strong, even if you don’t think you are. You are good at
hiding who you are and your automatic defence is to ask questions
of those around you. Your need to protect your brother was your
first priority, so I believe you will do this job to the best of
your ability because it will be helping your brother stay out of
the action and any dangerous situations.”

“Yeah, that
would be good, if he would just shut up and let me.” I mutter under
my breath.

“Oh, Shilah is
not okay with it?” Wow, does she have super human hearing or
something? I know this question should be sarcastic and rhetorical
but being here, that’s actually a serious question.

Before I can
answer, there’s a knock at the door. “That was quick,” Lynch says
as she gets up from her desk and lets in Mr. Brookfield who is
looking as creepy as ever.

“Hello again,
Miss Daniels,” he says. He turns to Lynch before I can even
respond, “So how did we go this morning?”

“She did quite
well actually. I think she’s ready for some advanced training, but
the biggest issue will be physical training. She’s going to have to
work hard if she’s going to be in the field. Her ability won’t
protect her like other abilities can. I am recommending she do five
lessons a day, two of the physical and three intellectual,” Lynch
informs him.

I just love
being talked about like I’m not even in the room.

“That sounds
reasonable,” replies Mr. Brookfield. He walks over to the desk and
sits on the end of it, right in front of me. “But unfortunately
Miss Daniels, we have a problem with your brother.”

“Shilah? What
happened? Is he okay?” I ask, panicked.

“Oh yes, yes,
nothing bad has happened to him but he did turn up for his training
today. He refused to leave as per our agreement and caused a bit of
a scene. It’s not a big deal but I wanted to give you the
opportunity to perhaps alter our arrangement.”

“No, I don’t
want him doing this.”

“Well my dear,
it’s not exactly your place to tell him what to do. He’s legally
old enough to make his own decisions under Institute law. He’s over
twelve, he’s classed as an adult here. But maybe we don’t have to
put him in the field and to be honest he has a long way to go
before he would even be ready. If you’re willing to negotiate, I
can ensure the safety of your brother.”

“Safety,
how?”

“Well, if and
when he passes his tests and qualifies to become a field agent, I
can authorise to put him on your team, but as I said, he is a long
way off even sitting the tests. He needs to learn to control and
strengthen his ability, right now it’s quite weak. But when the
time comes, you will get to live outside these walls, together,
where you yourself will be able to keep an eye on him. I know it’s
not what you wanted but perhaps it will work for all parties
involved.”

I think for a
moment. It does sound like a win/win but I’m weary of trusting Mr.
Brookfield. I mean after all, isn’t he the one telling the public
that our abilities need to be taken away from us? That they need to
find a cure? And yet here he is, wanting us to harness our
abilities, control them and make them stronger so we can use it
against others who are just like us.

I should be
strong and stick to my guns, but I know this will make Shilah happy
and if the time comes for us to be in the field, I can be with him.
It’s a way of giving him his way but without giving it to him.

“Okay, I think
that will be alright,” I agree. Like Mr. Brookfield said, Shilah is
a long way off being ready to work in the field.

“Great, it is
the best decision for everyone. So thanks for coming in today, I
believe you get a lunch break now and meet back here after that,
around 1pm.” He turns to Lynch, “Is that correct?”

“Yes sir, it
is. I’ll meet you back in the lobby after lunch, Allira. I’ll give
you your schedule and show you to your class; it will just be an
orientation class today.”

“Thank you.” I
get up off the couch and leave the room but as I go to shut the
door behind me, I realise something. I have just negotiated myself
out of any kind of deal I once struck with him. I secured Shilah’s
future, I secured his safety by agreeing to let them use me but now
he is going to be trained anyway. So essentially, I am working for
them and don’t have the benefit I asked for by doing so.

I turn, ready
to give them a piece of my mind, demand more things of them;
perhaps I can get Tate transferred out of their cells or something.
I’m about to push the door back open, it’s only ajar at the moment
but then I hear their voices coming from inside.

“She might have
issues when it comes to actually arresting someone,” Lynch says.
“She has been in the Crypt, you know what it’s like down there.
Ones who come from there are generally harder to convince. They
have seen what we do here.”

“Well it’s
nothing that these freaks don’t deserve.” Mr. Brookfield replies.
Freaks. That’s what we are to these people. “I believe Miss Daniels
will do anything to save her brother. He will be useful to us if he
can get his ability under control, however he is most useful to us
as a bargaining chip for her. Her ability is the asset here – it
will mean we can work faster and bring in more people in a timely
manner. Agent Jacobs was investigating that Jax boy for months. I
think she will do fine, she will have to. Arrange her schedule so
she has influence class each day until she doesn’t know what to
believe anymore and then it might be a smoother transition for
her.”

“Already have
that on her schedule, sir.”

“Great minds
think alike.” Can this guy get any sleazier? You can hear it in his
voice, exactly what he is thinking, and by the sound of those moans
that have started, I think I know exactly how sleazy he can be.
Eww, eww, eww. I need to get out of here. I get out as fast as I
can and head back for the lobby, for a way out.

I feel even
more used than I did before. They don’t have any respect for us,
they don’t care what happens to us. Are there even any field agents
who aren’t Defective? Or is it because it’s the most dangerous job,
they are all Defective because we are expendable?

I make a note
to myself that Lynch is another person I cannot trust here, or look
in the eye again. How can she do that with him? Eww, eww, eww.

***

I stay in the
lobby of the training centre, someone was supposed to show me where
the cafeteria is but they didn’t and with my sense of direction I
don’t want to go to looking for it on my own. There’s another meal
I’ve skipped, I didn’t eat any of the breakfast that was left at my
door this morning either, I didn’t have time.

I sit, watching
people come and go through the lobby. I wonder how many of them are
here voluntarily and how many have been tricked into doing this
like I have. I watch as children, as young as twelve or thirteen
walk past me. Are there really agents out there this young? Drew
said he started when he was fifteen, that’s not much younger than
Shilah. I just can’t imagine Shilah doing this, going out into the
world and deceiving people, pretending to like them, just to get
close enough to find out their weakness and then use it against
them. This is no place for him. This is no place for anyone.

My train of
thought is interrupted when I see someone familiar walk in. It’s
him, I know him. I’ve seen his face many times but I only ever took
real notice the last time I saw it – in a missing person’s file on
Ebbodine’s kitchen table. His ash blond hair is lighter than in his
picture, his five o’clock shadow is more prominent. It looks like
he hasn’t actually shaved for days, possibly weeks; it makes him
look rugged and tough. But this is Chad Williams, and last I heard,
he was with Ebbodine before she disappeared. If he is here, she
might be too. For the first time since she disappeared I feel hope;
maybe I will get to see my friend again. A part of me hopes she
isn’t here but I also really want to see her, to know that she is
alive.

Chad walks
right by me, glancing at me as he passes. It isn’t until he narrows
his eyes and tilts his head in confusion that I realise I am
glaring at him. I hang my head, it was because of Ebb. Oh god, I
hope he doesn’t think I was ogling him, he’s not bad looking but he
is completely not my type. Actually, he doesn’t look like Ebb’s
type either, he’s not ugly, but he is plain and she could be quite
shallow.

As Chad
disappears down the hall, ruining any potential plan to go talk to
him, I see Lynch coming the opposite way. She leads me to a
classroom, it smells of chalk and wood, presumably it is coming
from the blackboard located at the front; you can tell it is old by
the faded green tinge to it. I didn’t realise those things still
existed. Small, uncomfortable looking chairs with desks attached on
the side fill the room and there, sitting at one of the desks is
Chad.