The Significant (40 page)

      
“A bit.”

      
Remus was silent for a few moments before
he sighed.

      
“That was very reckless of you.”

      
“What?”

      
Remus reached into his pocket and pulled
out a small, square device. He put it against the NCB chair and pressed the
button. It gave a high whine and the blue and purple lights on the end flickered
rapidly. Isa saw the jamming device and her stomach tightened in apprehension.

      
She had been expecting this confrontation
with Remus.

      
“The stunt you pulled with Kailynn in
Trid,” Remus clarified. “That was very reckless.”

      
“I got Venus’ approval to build a
healthcare facility in the Walking District,” Isa said, sitting up and swinging
her legs off the couch. “You used to support my plan to naturalize Trid.”

      
“And I still do,” Remus assured. “Your
methods, and motivation, are questionable.”

      
Isa pursed her lips.

      
“I see…”

      
Remus looked at his feet.

      
“Are you sure this is about the good of
the planet and not about Kailynn?”

      
Isa let out an exasperated chuckle.

      
“Do you really think I would let her use
me like that?”

      
“I think there are many who would take
advantage of you,” Remus said strongly. Isa groaned and stood, turning away
from him.

      
“I don’t need to listen to this lecture.”

      
“Maybe you do,” Remus snapped. “Isa, you
know better than anyone how quickly a situation can turn bad. The difference is
that you’ve let Kailynn get closer to you than anyone else. She could
destroy
you.”

      
“No, she couldn’t,” Isa said, turning to
look at Remus. “Colonel Amori already did that. I’m never going to be the
same.”

      
“You know I hate it when you talk like
that.”

      
“Like what?” Isa said sharply. “When I
tell you how I feel? When I recall those painful memories? Let me remind you,
Remus, that I lived in that hell
every
day
for
months
. Every part of who
I was was destroyed by him.”

      
“If that were the case, you would not be
trying so hard to get the Trid District naturalized,” Remus said. “But because
of how different you have been since Kailynn came into your life, I can’t help
but be nervous that she’s going to turn around and stab you in the back.”

      
Isa pinched the bridge of her nose.

      
“You’re getting reckless,” Remus said
again. “And I’m not sure that you’re in a state to be handling that sort of
pressure.”

      
“What does
that
mean?”

      
“Dr. Busen and Dr. Arre are worried about
your health, as am I. Your latest results show that there has been a decrease
in blood flow to your brain. Isa, don’t shrug this off!” he snapped when he saw
Isa turn away, groaning, irritated. “Stress is going to increase the
possibility of seizures and stroke.” Isa turned around and fixed Remus with a
stern look. However, when she saw his face, her expression softened quickly.
His eyes were showing fear, something that he never let show to anyone else.

      
Remus took a deep breath.

      
“I don’t want you to feel broken,” he
said. “I wish I could take away the pain he inflicted on you. I wish I had
noticed what was going on earlier and maybe I could have done something to
change it. I know I wasn’t there for you when you needed me.” He looked at Isa
pleadingly. “But Kailynn is more dangerous than you might realize. She has so
easily passed all your barriers, barriers even I couldn’t overcome after the
accident. And it scares me.”

      
“Remus,” Isa murmured, walking to her
Silver Elite.

      
“You know I’m absolutely nothing without
you,” Remus whispered as Isa stopped in front of him. “I don’t care about being
your partner again, I just want you to be safe. Seeing you with her, it’s like
I’m waiting to see you fall apart again, like Kailynn is going to do the same
thing Colonel Amori did, and you won’t notice it’s happening until it’s too
late.” Remus swallowed hard and lowered his gaze to the ground. “If you were to
die, I would not be able to live.”

      
Isa placed a hand on Remus’ face.

      
“Remus…” she whispered again. “You can’t
blame yourself for what happened five years ago.”

      
Remus took her hand.

      
“Neither can you,” he said strongly.

      
Isa took a deep breath and closed her
eyes.

      
“Remus, you have been, and always will
be, my strongest support,” she whispered. “You know me better than anyone.” She
took Remus’ face in both hands and smiled at him. “Remember when I was first
appointed? You and I had huge dreams about how we would change everything.” She
closed her eyes and pressed their foreheads together. “The two degenerate
Elites revolutionizing the Altereye System. Every time I became discouraged,
you were right there to pick me up and remind me of what we were doing.

      
“It seems that Colonel Amori also took
that fire from you, just as he did from me,” Isa murmured. “And maybe, what we
both
need, is a fiery Trid with no
manners but a lot of heart to come in and remind us of who we really are.”

      
Remus looked at Isa, surprised to see
that Isa looked younger, as though she was still the seventeen-year-old Elite
that had taken over the Syndicate with passion enough to pull the planet
through any ordeal.

      
“I imagine how painful it is for you to see
me with Kailynn,” Isa said, one of her thumbs running over Remus’ cheek. “And I
apologize for the pain I’m inflicting on you.” Isa swallowed hard. “But she’s
helped me feel stronger. She has made me remember who I was, who I
am
.” She tightened her fingers on Remus’
face to get him to look at her again. “I am the Golden Elite of Tiao,” she
whispered, “but do you remember what I told Venus when she appointed me?”

      
Remus looked at Isa and a small smile
crept over his face.

      
“That you wouldn’t be Golden Elite,”
Remus said quietly, “unless I was appointed your Silver Elite.”

      
Isa smiled and nodded.

      
“And look at where we are now,” she said.
“You said you’re nothing without me, but you were the one who got me to this
point. You stood by me through all that shit five years ago, even though I
constantly abused you and tried to push you away.
I
am nothing without
you.
I knew I would never have survived as Golden Elite without you by my side.”

      
Remus watched as Isa’s smile widened.

      
“I need you to stand beside me as you did
then,” she said. “I need Kailynn with me. But I also need you more than you
seem to realize. Keep me grounded, and we’ll change this planet, and the
Altereye System. I promise.”

      
Kailynn was completely unaware of the
conversation that Isa and Remus had had when Isa called. When she heard the
bright tone of the Elite’s voice, she was worried and excited at the same time.

      
When Isa told Kailynn that she had
approval to fund and build a medical care facility in the Walking Districts
that would provide healthcare to Trids, Kailynn thought she was dreaming. She
asked Isa where they would get the money and how long it would take and began
spewing questions as fast as she could think of them, but Isa just told her
that she had to work on all the details and that she would not be home until
later.

      
For some reason, it was very comforting
for Kailynn to hear Isa talk to her as though the home was theirs.

      
Kailynn told her that she would see her
“at home,” her cheeks flushing, the butterflies jumping in her stomach.

      
And she had every intention of going back
to Anon Tower. However, she had something she needed to handle first.

      
Walking among the streets of Trid was
becoming more and more foreign to her. The dilapidated structures closest to
the Walking District were in even worse shape after the protests that had been
occurring in Trid. There were different groups demanding different things, such
as healthcare, food, and schooling for the children, though some were just
yelling and blaming Anon for everything happening in the universe. That was
when the Officials would get involved and it normally ended in violence.

      
Considering he way things had changed
after her previous visit, Kailynn knew she had to speak to Raphael.

      
His words had stung. She had been unable
to get them out of her head. They were on constant repeat, getting louder in
the quiet hours of the night when she was trying to sleep.

      
She could not avoid it any longer. She
needed to talk to Raphael. She felt she owed him an explanation.

      
She walked into the bar that her gang frequented
and glanced around the tables. She saw a few members of the Cobalt Panthers,
including Viv and Raphael. Viv was the one who spotted Kailynn. She tapped
Raphael’s arm and pointed to the door.

      
Without saying a word to the other
members of the gang, Raphael stood and walked out of the bar, finding Kailynn
around the corner as she slipped into an alley for some illusion of privacy.

      
“Hey,” she greeted.

      
“Hey.”

      
An awkward, heavy silence followed the
forced greeting. Kailynn shifted her feet nervously back and forth before
clearing her throat.

      
“They’re still running tests on Emira,”
she started. “But she’s getting to stay at the hospital under protection of one
of the top doctors.”

      
“Really?” Raphael said, unable to keep
the bite out of his voice. “Something Isa arranged?”

      
Kailynn flinched from the words.

      
“No…actually, I did….”

      
“
You
?”
Raphael said. “Wow. Already a member of high society.”

      
“I want to say I’m sorry, Raffy.”

      
“That’s all you want to say?”

      
“A lot of things happened very quickly,”
Kailynn said. “I was working as a Significant, and I got caught up in Elite
affairs.”

      
“How?” Raphael demanded. “Elites aren’t
supposed to be with Significants.”

      
“It’s really complicated,” she said hesitantly.
“The point is, I have another job now.”

      
“Which is?”

      
“Working for Syndicate Intelligence,” she
murmured, lowering her eyes.

      
“Oh, it’s even better than I expected,”
Raphael chuckled. “Here I was hoping you had been arrested and this was part of
your release program.”

      
“…you were
hoping
I had been arrested?”

      
“It was the only explanation I could come
up with!” Raphael snapped. “You didn’t tell me anything. You just said that you
needed me to do something for you, and I did it because I always do what you
ask. Then you come around, wanting to go into the house of someone with
Wheezing Death and the started talking to yourself like a psychotic and
then
you start talking to
Isa
, who is the enemy of all Trids. So
yeah, I had hoped that you were arrested and that was the reason for all the
madness last week. But no. Instead, I hear that you have a
job
with Syndicate Intelligence.”

      
Raphael sighed heavily.

      
“What the fuck has happened to you?” he
hissed.

      
“A lot,” she admitted, her voice pained.
“Raphael, I don’t want this to be the way this conversation goes.”

      
“And how do you want it to go?”

      
“I want you to understand that a lot of
shit is happening in my life and I don’t know how to tell you without pissing
you off!” Kailynn snarled. “It’s not that I want to lie to you, or keep things
from you, but I’m scared you’ll hate me.”