The Significant (79 page)

      
She tried to think of any way, of any
means, to communicate to the Elites, or to Dr. Busen or Paul, that something
was wrong. Every form of communication was monitored, cameras set up all over
the city and every place she worked. The network was too extensive. It was
meant to be extensive to keep her safe, but it had her trapped in a very
dangerous situation.

      
Her head began spinning.

      
The alarm went off at the door and Remus
stormed in, his eyes alight with fury. Isa whirled around.

      
“You do not get to push this conversation
aside,” Remus growled, walking to her. “I deserve a fucking explanation.”

      
“It’s for the best, Remus,” Isa said,
retreating.

      
“
Why
?”
he snapped. “
Why
is it for the best?”

      
“We can’t act like this anymore, Remus!”
Isa barked. “We were young and stupid when we started this relationship, and we
knew that we would be discovered eventually.”

      
“Yes, and you said that when we did, you
would fight. You would
fight
for us!”
Remus snarled. “You said that we needed to revolutionize the planet, we had to
fight her and her laws against us and humans, and now that this comes up, you
just lie down and
take it
!”

      
“Fuck off, Remus! You don’t seem to get
how dangerous this is!” Isa bellowed.

      
Rayal stood to the side, his eyes wide in
horror as he watched the fight rapidly unfold.
 

      
“I know
exactly
how dangerous this is!” Remus snapped. “I have had to live
with it just as you have, but I was always ready to fight for you! I promised I
would stand by you, and that I would never let Venus determine our
relationship! You do not get to make this decision alone! You owe me more than
that!”

      
“I don’t
owe
you anything!” Isa yelled. “
You
are the one who owes
me
for saving
your fucking life, or have you forgotten that you’re a degenerate?!”

      
“Who the fuck
are
you?!” Remus snapped, stepping closer. “Anytime anyone said
anything like that you would deny it and say that no one owed their life to
anyone, and now you’re saying that I
owe
you
?!”

      
“I did save your life, didn’t I? I told
them that if they had you killed, I would rip everything down, and then I even
went so far as to help you when you started to class jump, even after all that
shit when those teachers—”

      
“Don’t you
dare
!” Remus barked, looming over Isa. “Not you. Don’t you even
dare.”

      
“It’s true, isn’t it?” Isa growled. “The
truth fucking hurts. You would have been dead if it wasn’t for me.”

      
“Maybe it would have been better that
way!” Remus bellowed. “At least then I wouldn’t have to watch you fall apart in
front of me and attack everyone who has ever cared about you. We all know
something is wrong, Isa! We’re not fucking stupid! And now, you just decide
that we need to obey Venus’ order? We’re ending this relationship we have
managed to maintain against all odds for nearly fifteen years?!”

      
“What do you expect when you pull the
shit you pulled last night?!” Isa snapped. She regretted the words the moment
they escaped her lips.

      
“What?” Remus hissed.

      
“Maybe there was a fucking reason Venus
thought you
raped
me!”

      
Rayal’s expression changed immediately,
his eyes showing his horror. He shook his head, confused and terrified.

      
“I didn’t,” Remus murmured. “You never
told me to stop, you never said no. You told me to keep going.”

      
Isa shook her head, staring at Remus,
trying to show with her eyes how truly sorry she was for what she had said. She
swallowed hard and closed her eyes.

      
“Just leave, Remus.”

      
“No, Isa, you are not going to accuse me
of rape and then tell me to leave!” Remus snapped. He loomed over her once
more. “Is that what it was to you?”

      
“Remus, get the fuck out of my house.”

      
“No.”

      
“You asshole, I’m trying to protect you!
We’re ending this! It’s over! Get out!”

      
“What do you mean you’re
protecting
me?!” Remus snapped.

      
“Get out, Remus!”

      
“No!” Remus barked. “You can’t protect me
when you can’t even protect yourself! And it’s clear you can’t protect the
people either, since you disappeared on them when Saera was destroyed and
one-hundred thousand were killed!”

      
Isa’s fists balled and she threw a punch
at Remus, connecting with his jaw and causing him to stumble. As he
straightened, he lifted his hand and struck her across the face with his palm.

      
“Stop!” Rayal bellowed, running forward.

      
Remus grabbed Isa’s shoulders and pushed
her almost violently against the wall.
    

      
“You’re going to tell me what the fuck is
going on, Isa!”

      
Isa did not have time to register how
quickly the situation changed.

      
Rayal leapt on Remus’ back and wrapped
his arm around the Elite’s neck, pulling him backward quickly, forcing him to
release Isa.

      
“Stop it! Both of you!” Isa cried.

      
Remus turned around and forced his fist
into Rayal’s stomach before tossing him carelessly to the ground, looming over
him as he coughed, trying to scramble to his feet.

      
“Remus! Enough!”

      
The Silver Elite rounded on Isa and was
about to push her against the wall once more when Rayal shoved all of his
bodyweight into the Silver Elite’s side and both sprawled to the ground. The
caretaker lifted his fist and punched the Silver Elite twice in the face before
Remus fist raised and he punched Rayal.

      
Remus felt his fist connect with the high
part of Rayal’s cheekbone, the bone giving way under his altered strength and
collapsing inward, blood immediately erupting from his eye as he let out pained
cry and rolled to the floor, his hands going to his face.

      
Remus scrambled to his feet, looming over
the groaning caretaker, his fists still clenched in anger.

      
“Stop!” Isa bellowed, leaping at Remus.
However, the Silver Elite swept the Golden Elite aside, causing her to collide
with the wall with an audible thud, disorienting her.

      
Seeing Isa hit the wall caused Remus to
return to his senses slightly. He turned away from Rayal and went to Isa, fear
consuming him.

      
“Isa!”

      
However, a figure darted between him and
the recovering Golden Elite. Both Isa and Remus stared in surprise at Rayal,
who stood on shaky feet, his arms spread to shield the Golden Elite, his breath
heaving as he cringed, copious amounts of blood pouring down his face.

      
“Don’t you dare touch her,” he growled.

      
Remus looked over the damage he had
caused Rayal and then turned to Isa.

      
“Isa, I didn’t mean—”

      
“Get out, Remus,” Isa said, standing, her
expression cold and pale. “Get the fuck out. If you ever touch me again, I will
kill you myself.”

      
Isa reached up to her ear and told the
phone to call an EMU. Once she had placed the call, she rounded on Remus again.

      
“I told you to get out!” she bellowed,
shoving Remus. “
Get out
!!”

      
Remus left, though he stood in the
hallway for several long moments, his eyes distantly lost in the floor, trying
to recall how things had escalated so quickly.

      
Isa ran back to Rayal, who had collapsed
to the floor and pulled him into her lap, holding his head gingerly and trying
to assess the damage, pressing her hand gingerly over the wound.

      
“Just hold on,” she whispered. “The EMU
will be here soon.”

      
Six hours of reconstructive surgery and
Isa finally received the news that Rayal was going to survive. They were not
sure if the original eye, which they managed to save, would ever be able to
function properly again, but they would reconstruct his eye at a later time, if
he wished.

      
The doctors also told her that Rayal’s
internal organs were under an enormous amount of stress. They were worried that
he was suffering from an autoimmune disease and his body was attacking itself,
but they had to run more tests before they could determine the problem.

      
Isa stood outside Rayal’s room, watching
a nurse take notes on a few of the monitors hooked to the unconscious caretaker
through the observation window. It was very early in the morning, so the
hallway was deserted apart from the Golden Elite.

      
When the door opened at the end of the
hall, and Isa heard boots approaching, she closed her eyes and suppressed the
shiver that ran through her body.

      
“What an impressive show,” his cold voice
said at her ear, his breath fanning over her skin. She turned her head away
from him, cringing as he stepped behind her.

      
“How did you get in here?”

      
“You underestimate me, my dear,” he
breathed. “He showed such loyalty to you,” Colonel Amori said, glancing in the
room. Isa turned her eyes back to Rayal. “It is a rare trait to find. Aren’t
you fortunate.” He chuckled. “I wonder what he would do if he realized that
you
were the one who actually put him
here in the hospital with his face nearly destroyed.”

      
Isa stared at Rayal, recalling all the
times that the caretaker cared for her, being sure to pick up the sleeping
Elite when she pulled all-nighters at the Syndicate, or bringing food to be
sure she ate when she was working. She recalled the late nights when he would
just sit with her and talk about mundane things to help her unwind. She
remembered the jokes and the shared dinners. Rayal had become a very important
part of her life.

      
“To think,” Colonel Amori continued, “had
you not upset Remus, this might not have happened.”

      
Isa felt her body tense, but she did not
turn to look at the Colonel.

      
“Of course, we could go so far as to say
that, had Remus not been degenerate, he would not have the temper to do so much
damage. Oh, but wait,” Isa could feel the smile in the Colonel’s voice, “you
saved his life, didn’t you? So, had you let him be executed, he would not have
done this, either. It really does come back to you in the end, doesn’t it?”

      
Colonel Amori pressed his cheek to the
side of Isa’s face.

      
“You are doing beautifully, my dear,” he
said. “You’re tearing apart the Syndicate without my guidance, and everyone is
losing faith in the Elites after the extended period of silence when Saera was
destroyed. You are so predictable. Trying to keep up appearances when the truth
is, you’re no longer running Tiao—
I am
.”

      
Isa closed her eyes, her stomach
flipping.

      
“And I plan to rip this planet apart and
show the Altereye System what true power is.”

      
The Golden Elite swallowed hard, staring
into the room once more. Colonel Amori, seeing her unwavering gaze, turned to
Rayal.

      
“The poor boy is going to be in pain for
months, if not years, after that. And just in time to see you fall as you tear
the Syndicate further apart.”

      
“I’ll kill you for this,” Isa whispered.

      
“You can try,” Colonel Amori said. He
pressed his body to her, and she choked back her disgusted response. “You
forget who has the power here.”

      
He pressed his hand against her hip,
holding the handle that controlled the microbionic cells.

      
“Should I do it?” he breathed. “Should I
save him from suffering?”