Select (Select #1)(80)
“I warned him to shut it down.”
“We don’t know what happened yet. Maybe he fell.”
“I heard about what he did five seconds after he did it. He didn’t fall. He performed for hundreds of people. Years of planning and searching in this godforsaken place, and now we need to leave before I said we were ready. And we have no one.”
“He’s talented, Novak. We can use it.” Lati’s voice was calm, but the first note of alarm was moving into it.
“I can’t use it. He can’t be trusted.”
“Look, the pressure built, and he broke. They’ve been held too tightly here. Remember how much easier it was to blend in when we were growing up? We had so much more freedom than these kids; there was none of this technology hanging over us, ready to document our every move. And this forced division of our kids? When we get to the next place, we won’t have these concerns, and he’ll be fine.”
That sat terribly in the air for a moment. The pause held Angus’s life in the balance. Finally, Novak looked Lati dead in the eye and said, “You’re not coming with us.”
Lati’s tone remained calm. “What are you talking about?”
“You heard me. I suggest you and your family leave town as soon as possible. If it hasn’t happened already, they’ll make sure they get a sample from him—hair, blood.”
Lati acted like his friend was joking. “This is me, Novak.”
“Shut up right now, and you can take your money with you. You’ll need it. You know more about where we’re going than anyone—make a scene or talk to anyone and you’re cut off financially. And you know I will have people watching you for the rest of your life.” Novak turned to leave.
Forty years of friendship erased.
Lati followed him, drawing closer to where I stood. “No one threw you out when you jeopardized everything.”
Novak jerked around. “You’ll survive. You’ll be on the run your entire life, but you’ll survive.”
You could see the moment Lati realized it was final, and he changed tack completely, years of stored-up hate pouring out. “As a leader you’re full of shit. You have all the skill but none of the compassion of our great ones.” Lati gestured to Angus’s room. “I let you convince us to alter the development of our most talented children who were ‘interfering with your visions.’ What bullshit. Who would we be if we hadn’t been trained? I know what you’re trying to do: eliminate your and Liv’s competition so you can stay in power. We’ve always elected our leaders, and you’re trying to create a fucking royal family. And at the expense of our children, Novak. My son and your daughter. I’m glad Angus somehow found a way around you. You and your fucking predictions you’re making come true. Really, you’re just like them, another greedy billionaire trying to stay in power.”
Lati took one more step even closer to Novak. “The funny thing is, now everyone is starting to doubt your visions. We’ve stayed here too long, sitting on our hands while we’ve waited for you to hear voices. There isn’t a chosen one out there for you or Liv. It’s just a story, Novak. No one can come wholly over to our side in our exact image. You have a daughter who’s proof it doesn’t work like that. If you want a next generation, they’ll be like her. A version of us, but not the same. We’re lost whatever you do.” Lati began backing away.
“If what I’m planning is so fucked up, why do you want to be part of it?” Novak smiled at Lati. “It’s because you know nothing in the ‘real world’ comes close to it. You know you will never feel complete again. Good luck taking care of your family when this world goes to shit. It’s coming sooner than you think.” Novak pivoted to walk down the hall and saw me standing there. He knew I’d heard everything.
He paused imperceptibly before passing me without acknowledgment.
Shell-shocked, I stood motionless in the hallway, the entire world tilting on its side.
I lost all touch with my surroundings and any sense of time. But then Liv’s voice penetrated my stupor. She’d reappeared at my side. Through a fog she was saying, “They said we need to leave.” She pulled on my sleeve, trying to get me to follow her out the ER entrance.
“No,” I said, coming alive.
I didn’t want to see him. Novak had messed with our very nature. He had made me believe I was nothing special, and then he’d deliberately separated me out in hopes of stunting my abilities permanently. You didn’t do that to your own child. Or anyone else’s. The authority he thought he had, even over our bodies, made me want to be sick.
“Come on. Julia, what’s wrong with you? We’re all waiting for you.” I realized she’d missed the entire thing. Liv still had her hero. She grabbed my hand. Why would they be waiting for me? We weren’t a family. I was a failed experiment from Novak’s youth.
They were waiting in the shadows, to the side of the building entrance. Novak and Victoria were the portrait of themselves, not at all disheveled despite that it was almost dawn.
For the first time in my life, I would only look at Victoria, though I felt Novak waiting to catch my eye, his presence thrumming through the air. It was going to be different now that it was out in the open between us. He didn’t have to pretend. I knew who I was, and I knew he’d tried to stunt me and the other Lost Kids. It looked like he had managed to succeed with Roger and Ellis.