The Institute (23 page)

Lynch walks me
over to him, “Allira, this is Chad. He has been with us for a few
weeks already but he hasn’t had his official orientation yet,” she
informs me. “By all means, take a seat,” she gestures to me to sit
down and I feel obligated to sit next to Chad. I don’t look at him
though, I just look down and play with the corner of my notepad
they have left on the desk. Lynch leaves and we sit in silence.
Here’s my chance, but do I ask him about Ebb now or later?

I think I will
choose later seeing as I need to summon the courage to even look at
him but as I do and I lift my head, I realise he is already looking
at me.

“How do I …” he
is studying my face and I can’t help but feel self-conscious about
the way I look. I run my tongue over my teeth – is there something
stuck in them? “Oh, I know where I know you from. I’ve seen you
around Eminent Falls High.”

Wow, his tone
could not be any more apathetic if he tried. He looks back down at
his desk, clearly uninterested in anything I have to say but I
don’t care, I have to ask.

“I’m Ebbodine’s
friend, is she here too?”

Chad looks at
me aghast, “No, she’s not here and shh, I’m sure she wouldn’t want
you talking about her in a place like this,” he says through
gritted teeth, clearly trying to hold back his anger.

“But—”

Chad looks at
me with a stern face. “Not here,” he says. I stop talking and we go
back to sitting in silence. I have no idea what Ebb ever saw in
him, he’s not exactly pleasant.

When the door
opens, we both look up. In walks a man I have already had the
pleasure of meeting. Paxton looks like he could be on a campaign
poster, his look is clean. He smiles and walks over to us.

“Ahh, two more
to add to the ranks hey?” he says as he sits on the desk in front
of us, his legs resting on the chair.

He looks to me,
“Nice to see you again, Allira.” I see out of the corner of my eye
that Chad is shocked by this.

“And, you are
…” he looks to Chad and then down at the piece of paper he has in
his hand, “Chad? Is that correct?”

Chad answers
with a single nod. How someone can make a nod look so arrogant is
beyond me but he pulls it off flawlessly.

“Ahh, very well
then. We are just waiting on a few more to come but in the
meantime, how about you two fill these out for me.” He hands us a
sheet of paper each with multiple choice questions on it. “There’s
no right or wrong answers, just put your opinions down,” he says
walking up to the front of the room and sitting behind his
desk.

I look at the
sheet of paper.

Q1. Why is the
Institute important?

a)To keep
dangerous people away from the general public

b)For research,
to find a cure

c)It’s not
important

No right or
wrong answers, yeah right. Well it’s obvious what answer they want
us to put down either A or B but seeing as we are in the field
training office and Mr. Brookfield told me himself the research
department is pathetic, I would assume A is correct. I circle A and
look over at Chad’s to see he has circled C. I roll my eyes and
shake my head, does he really think that will get him anywhere?

The rest of the
quiz is all similar questions, a lot similar to the assignments we
are forced to do at school. I look over to see Chad has answered
all of his questions completely honestly. I can see Chad eyeing off
my piece of paper with a confused look on his face.

“How did we
go?” Paxton asks as he comes back over to us. We hand him our forms
and he skims over them before putting them down. “Okay, well I’m
just going to go check where these other new recruits are and I
will be right back.”

Chad and I are
alone again.

“Is that how
you really feel?” he asks, with a tone of judgment that can only be
described as icy.

“No, it’s not.
I’m surprised you answered so honestly. Aren’t you afraid of what
they will do?” I try matching his tone. I understand he doesn’t
want to be here, neither do I but I know I don’t have to be so
openly bitter about it, especially in front of people who can send
me back to the torturing.

“It can’t be
any worse than what they have already done.”

“Oh.” I can’t
think of anything else to respond to that. That’s where the
bitterness comes from. I wonder if he endured a ‘welcoming’ like I
did.

Paxton comes
back in with two other kids, and they really are kids. They look
like twins, I’d guess around twelve years old. Again, I am shocked
that there are people this young living here, but I guess it’s true
that a lot of people here would have been this age when they came
to live here. Most defects are triggered at a young age. It’s just
hard to get used to, knowing that there are teenagers and young
children living without any real adult guidance or role models,
being told from the age of twelve that they are old enough to make
their own decisions, that they are now responsible enough to be
classed as an adult. It just doesn’t make sense to me.

Paxton heads to
the front of the class and addresses us, “Well this is it for the
day so I guess we can really get started now. I’m Paxton, I’m in
charge of showing you around here and familiarising you with what’s
going to happen over the coming weeks and months, what you will be
taught and so forth. So we do have quite a few things to get
through.” I adjust the way I’m sitting so I get a bit more
comfortable, seems like we will be here a while. I let out a sigh
and watch as Paxton starts writing on the chalkboard. “Okay, so I
will quickly go through what generally happens while you’re here.
You’ve all had meetings with your advisers and they have chosen
which classes you will take. I have your schedules here for you
when we’re done actually, so I will just use this one here as an
example. Allira, this is what Lynch has set up for you.” He
examines the paper in front of him and writes the following in
boxes on the board: Self Defence/Combat, Fitness, History, Covert
Operations, Analysis. “What this basically means is you’re on the
fast track to get in the field as soon as possible. Others like
Samuel and Gabriel here, you are only scheduled for an ability
class and history class which means it will be a while before you
are sent out into the world.”
Can’t I have that schedule?
I
think to myself. The thought of being sent out earlier than other
new people is a little overwhelming. “So your job and
responsibility is to make sure you show up for classes, do your
best and then following an exam – which is administered at a time
when your advisors deem suitable; you will be given an experienced
partner and be sent out into the field for your first assignment.
Boys down the front, like I said you’re only scheduled for the two
classes right now, but once you are able to get a handle on those
abilities, more classes will come your way. You will be going
through the program slower but you will get the most extensive
training and therefore, generally will make better agents.” He
looks over to me when he says that and gives a look of disapproval.
What he is disapproving of I have no idea, it wasn’t my idea to be
fast tracked. I wonder what Chad’s schedule is, his presence makes
me uncomfortable and I feel like he is constantly glaring at me. I
hope we don’t have any classes together.

“So that’s how
training works, does anyone have any questions? No? Good. Let’s
go.” Paxton walks out of the room before we even have a chance to
respond and the four of us are looking around at each other, do we
follow him? Before anyone asks, Paxton is back at the door. “Well,
come on!” We all get up and follow him out of the door.

We are shown
around the training centre, where our classes will be and the
easiest way to get there. I kind of wish I had thought to bring the
pen and paper that was on my desk so I could write some of this
down. I have been trying to memorise where we are going but all of
these halls look the same. I have also embarrassingly walked into
the back of Chad twice when we have stopped at a new location,
while I’ve been too busy trying to take in corridor numbers and
counting doors; that was not met with amusement. I just want today
to be over with already.

Paxton finally
dismisses us and I turn and start walking towards the exit – or
what I think is the exit. Needless to say, it doesn’t take me long
before I am lost. I knew I should have written directions down!

I don’t pass a
single person in the halls and I have lost count of how many
security doors I’ve been through, maybe if I just turn around and
try and trace my steps backwards I will find it.

I walk through
a door and there is something familiar about where I am. If I turn
left here, I should come to the entry to where the Crypt is. I
think. It is actually pretty aptly named. It felt like a Crypt,
cold and depressing; never having hope of seeing the light of day
again.

Honey I’m
home!
I telepathically say to Tate as I reach the top of the
stairs, proud that I was actually able to find my own way, even if
it was by accident.

‘
Ah, how did
your first day go?’ he responds.

Today was
long.

‘
I hope the
big kids weren’t too mean on the playground.’

No, just one –
he was such an ass.

Just as I reach
Tate’s cell, the smile is wiped from my face when I see how small
this world really is.

“Allira, this
is –”

“We’ve met,”
Chad says.

“Umm, hi,” I
say awkwardly.
What is he doing down here?

‘
He’s my
cousin. How do you two … oh, he’s the ass you met today isn’t he?’
Tate laughs. ‘Typical.’

I suppose I
can expect more delightful behaviour from him? Great, I can’t
wait.
I roll my eyes as Tate laughs again.

Chad looks at
each of us, “You’re doing it right now aren’t you?” he asks.

“Doing what?” I
ask, as I shoot Tate a look.
He knows what I can do?

“Yeah, he
knows,” responds Tate.

I thought it
was imperative to keep this part of me a secret?

‘
It is, but
you can trust him.’

Hmm, if you
say so.
I’m hesitant to trust anyone I don’t know and the fact
Tate has told Chad anything about me kind of pisses me off. Tate
laughs yet again and Chad and I just glare at him.

“Something
funny?” I ask.

“Yeah, you two.
You have no idea how much alike you are.” I look at Chad but
quickly glance back at Tate when I see Chad is also looking at me,
just as pleased as I am with that comparison.

“If you say
so.” Chad says with the same hostile tone I was met with earlier
today.

Tate changes
the subject, “So, have you seen Drew today?” he asks me.

“No and I’m
hoping he has got the message, even if that message is that you and
I are together.”

Chad starts
laughing. “You two? Together? That’s pretty hilarious.”

Tate shoves
Chad playfully. “She knows about me, but the guards don’t and it
was the only way I could get in her cell without arising
suspicion.”

“I still can’t
believe there are people who don’t immediately know about you,”
Chad scoffs.

“Hey! I didn’t,
of course once I was told, it was completely obvious but it didn’t
immediately come across that way.” I try to defend myself.

I hear Chad
think,
‘A little slow on the uptake, Allira?’

I can feel a
frown cross my face.

‘
Allira, you
can’t get angry at Chad’s thoughts when you’re the one listening
in. It’s hard not to say anything, I know – trust me, I know. He
didn’t mean anything by it. We grew up together so of course he
sees things differently than new people, the truth is not many
people know about me and I prefer to keep it that way. Chad doesn’t
understand because our grandparents’ generation had to fight so
hard for equal rights. There was a time when being gay meant you
weren’t allowed to marry and weren’t allowed to serve in the
military. Chad thinks I’m being disrespectful but it’s not about
that, it’s just easier keeping it to a select few. It has already
come in handy – it got me into your cell, didn’t it? It’s not like
I don’t understand what fighting for equal rights is like, here we
are sixty years later and we’re doing the same thing. You would
think society would have learnt not to discriminate against those
who are different by now.’

So Chad is gay
too? Is my gaydar broken?

Tate laughs,
‘No, Chad is definitely not gay.’

“You’re doing
it again aren’t you?” Chad says, shaking his head, “It’s just like
when we were kids. I’m going to leave you two alone, you might need
some ‘couple’ time.” He smiles, and I realise that it’s the first
time I’ve seen him with anything but a scowl on his face. For a
split second, I see a glimmer of what Ebb must have been attracted
to. With a smile on his face, he doesn’t look so cold or distant,
he actually looks like a human being and not a robot. But just as
quickly as the smile came, it leaves, along with Chad himself.

“He’s just
passionate, that’s why he scowls all the time.”

“Passionate … I
guess that’s a friendly way of putting it,” I retort.

“Well it’s
better than describing him as angry. It’s not his fault though, I’m
the reason he’s here. He wasn’t actually arrested like I told you,
he turned himself in, to find me. He’s just frustrated that we’re
all in this situation to begin with; he thinks there needs to be a
change in the world.”

“Well that, I
agree with,” I hang my head. “I don’t know what I have got myself
into,” I say, finally admitting I’m in way over my head. “I thought
I was doing the right thing, I thought I was saving Shilah from
having to do it but he doesn’t understand, he just wants to live on
the outside and I have ended up agreeing to let him. I was so proud
of myself for negotiating with Brookfield and now I have been duped
into giving that up and it’s only my first day. What are they going
to get me to agree to in a week, a month?”
I feel like I’m
already failing.