Derailed - 7. Blinding Light

Chapter 6

I must have dozed off at some point during the ride; it was an hour to the outer station and I hadn't slept well the night before. The last thing I remember was Seth sitting next to me still messing with his glove, wanting to make absolutely sure it was working properly. So I laid my head up against the window as I watched mile after mile of tunnel rush past us.

I woke up to the sound of Adrian’s voice over the speakers in the car we were riding in. I looked over to see Seth had fallen asleep as well. His head had slumped over and was resting on my shoulder. I hated to wake him up. I wished more than anything that we could just stay like this for a little while longer, but Adrian's voice came over the intercom.
“Awww, you two look so cute,” he said in a mocking baby tone. I looked up wondering how he could see us when I noticed the security camera next to the speaker. Annoyed by interruption of what was a great moment, I laid Seth down in the seat. I walked over and decided to give my new glove a test. I pointed my hand a few inches from the camera lens and with a quick flick of my wrist disabled the camera permanently. I heard Adrian, now in a semi-pissed tone, come over the speaker.
“I hope you know you’re paying for that. I don't take public vandalism lightly.”
Still happy at how well my new toy worked, I decided to give it another go and just as easily disabled the speaker too. I heard Adrian start cussing as the dismantlement of his sound system caused a large amount of feedback to begin hissing in his ear. I sat down next to Seth, looking at the speaker now hanging by a wire, bouncing back and forth against the wall with the shaking of the train. I looked over to see Seth waking up rubbing his eyes
“What was that hissing sound?” he asked, blinking his eyes and trying to fully wake himself up. Adrian was right, he was extremely cute when he slept I was almost mad at myself for waking him up. But it was well worth it to teach Adrian a lesson about spying.
“Nothing, Adrian is just having some technical difficulties with the intercom system,” I said, smiling at the speaker as the single wire that was supporting it finally snapped and it fell to the floor with a loud crash. Seth got out of his seat to see what made the noise. He bent over and began to examine my handy work, going over it several times before he finally smiled and laughed to himself.
“I doubt he’ll forgive you for this. He spent a good amount of time rigging all this up,” he said, holding the cut wires up for me to see.
“Well at least now we know the glove you gave me works just fine,” I said with a smirk on my face. “But then again why wouldn't it? He made it too,” I said, now laughing through the words. It was all a part of Adrian's ability; he could look at any object and literately see how it worked, from all its mechanics to wire workings. He could also use this ability to learn to operate and repair any machine or vehicle. This made him the best suited person to run the subway system itself. If he needed to, he could learn to fly a jet like a pro in a matter of seconds.
Seth and I had just finished our fit of laughter when Corbin and Mark entered through the back door of our compartment, Mark looking as stern and serious as ever, a drastic change from a few hours ago when he was fighting with Corbin.
“I'm glad you two are enjoying yourselves, but now isn't the time to be messing around, guys. We’ll be reaching station B in a matter of moments,” Corbin said, looking at us both as a father would when he’s trying to be serious for his children’s sake, while holding back his own enjoyment from the situation.
“Ahhh lighten up won’t ya Corbin? It’s not like this is anything dangerous or something,” we heard Adrian yelling from the cockpit of the train, due to his lack of intercom system. Corbin got a slight grin on his face as he saw the little round dismantled speaker lying on the floor.
“You should really build an intercom system for this train, Adrian. Maybe then you wouldn't have to yell so much.” This caused us to erupt into a fit of laughter, except for Mark, who just leaned against the window staring at the same blank grey stone wall rush past us, he almost looked anxious about something. It was about another five minutes, but soon we felt the train begin to slow and screech as it entered the exit station, or station B, as we often called it.
It had been almost four years since I saw it last, but it still looked just as dark and desolate as I remembered. Only a few lights still worked and they were covered with a multitude of cobwebs, a huge contrast from our station at the other end of the city. The sight of it brought tears to my eyes as memories began to fill my head. The last time I had seen this place was only hours after my mother had been captured. She had been captured, and then I tried to sneak out of the subways, insisting that I would go and find her. It was Seth who had stopped and convinced me that it was insane to go off alone and even more insane to try to find her on my own. I had refused to leave the entrance station, in hopes that she might come back. Seth had stayed with me for the next three days while I waited and every hour or so I would stare at the flight of stairs that led to surface and would contemplate sneaking off, but Seth would always remind me that she wouldn't want me running head first into something reckless and end up getting caught myself or worse, so I continued to wait. Eventually the realization that she wasn't coming back sank in and I continued on with my life without her.
Corbin had wanted me to move on and head to Xaven. He felt that the memories of my mother and the station might be too much for me and it wouldn't do me any good to dwell on the past. And in some ways, I felt he was right, but I had a new purpose in life. I swore that one way or another I would someday return to the surface and find a way to free my mother. I couldn't do that if I left the city, so I volunteered, as my mother had, and joined Corbin's cause. I had lived there before as the son of my mother, but now I live there as part of the team.
“Hey... are you ok?”
I looked over to see Seth walking up behind me. He was worried by the welling up of tears in my eyes, brought on by the memories of my mother. I quickly wiped away the tears, feeling somewhat embarrassed by the outburst of emotion and worried that I would only prove Mark's point, that I'm emotionally unstable and a threat. Sometimes I wish I could be more like him and not have to worry about turning into a mess every time my memories began to eat at me.
“Yeah, I'm fine. It’s just a little much is all,” I said, forcing a smile. I seemed to be giving a lot of forced smiles lately. I don't think I could remember the last time I had smiled for real, or without the gnawing fear we kept in the back of our mind, knowing that at any minute anyone of us could be taken from us.
Corbin began walking towards the stairs leading up to the surface and I felt my heart come up into my throat as I realized that in a few seconds, I would be seeing the sky for the first time in almost 10 years. I wonder if it even still looked the way I remembered it, or if it had somehow changed since then. Was the sunlight still the same as I remembered it? I didn't even know if my memories were accurate or just fabrications I had made up as the years went on. Either way, in a matter of moments I was going to find out.
I began to follow Corbin when I felt a hand grab my shoulder I looked over to see Mark with his usual blank-slate look.
“I wanted to give you these before we get out there.” I looked down to see him holding a pair of dark tinted sunglasses. I couldn't figure out why he would want to give me these, but I figured he must have a good reason; it wasn’t like Mark to do anything without one. So I took them without really questioning his intentions. He walked up the stairs and joined the rest of the team waiting at the doors. I followed behind him. I felt my heart begin to pound as Corbin swung open the doors and the light from the sky filled my eyes.
At first I was paralyzed by the vastness of the sky itself, but the sight only lasted a split second because the minute I stepped out fully into the light, I was blinded. It was as if I couldn't open my eyes at all. The sunlight was too bright for me to handle and I immediately began stumbling around. It was Seth who grabbed hold of me and helped me navigate my way to a spot to sit down for a minute.
“Cameron, man, you gotta calm down; it’s been so long since you've seen real sunlight that your eyes need time to adjust,” he said, somewhat laughing. He helped guide me to what felt like a cement bench and sat me down. I had my hands still clamped over my eyes to try to block out as much of the blinding light as they could. It was then that I remembered the sunglasses. I grabbed them out of my pocket and quickly slid them over my face. No sooner had I put them on than the tint began to grow darker and darker until I could finally open my eyes and get a good view of my surroundings. We looked as though we were in the middle of a city street, or what was once a street, but now it looked as though no one had walked this sidewalk in years. I looked up to see tall buildings with old boarded up windows. What windows weren't boarded up, were broken out. The entire surrounding area looked like an absolute ghost town.
“Are we still in Manhattan?” I asked, getting up from the bench to get a better view. This looked nothing like I thought it would; the images and memories I had were always full of crowded streets and constant activity.
“Yeah this is still Manhattan, or rather, what’s left of it. Most people moved out of this part of the city. They all either live at the base or inside the tower,” Mark said, walking up next to me.
“What tower?” I asked. Mark pointed behind me without saying anything. I turned to see what looked like a black mass sticking out over the other skyscrapers; even they were nothing compared to this thing. It looked as though it stuck up through the clouds. The sheer size of it literally blocked out part of the sky. The very sight of it was intimidating.
“That’s the Century Tower; it was built about seven years ago as part of a program to help conserve space. They tried to take the greater parts of the city and condense it into one mega structure. Once it was built, people abandoned most of the city. All activity takes place either within or around it. You have everything you could imagine all in one place; everything from homes, schools, stores, government offices, you name it, it’s in there. They even have one floor that’s dedicated to growing synthetic crops. People nowadays can spend their entire lives inside a single building. Of course, it’s only the rich and high society types who can afford to live there. The rest, the less fortunate, have just huddled outside the base and spend most of their lives looking in and dreaming of the day they can afford to move into the tower.
“Yep, and according to Tim, that’s where we need to head. Our pick up spot is an old church about a mile from the base,” Corbin said, taking a drink from a bottle of water he had brought with him. “Adrian's gone to grab the truck now, he should be back soon.” He finished the bottle and threw it over his shoulder and then turned to see Seth lying down on the bench staring up at the sky.
‘I guess the fascination hasn't quite worn off for him yet,’ I thought to myself as I looked up to finally get a decent eye full. It was a much darker shade of blue and more vast than I had remembered it. It looked as if the entire planet could be swallowed whole by it at any given moment. Staring up at it for too long almost made me dizzy and I had to look back down before I lost my balance.
“It really is something else, isn't it?” I turned to look over and saw Mark starting straight up with me. His gaze locked on a cloud passing by. He seemed to be somewhere else entirely, almost as if he were dreaming or imaging something. The idea of Mark dreaming brought a slight smile to my face, it was almost impossible to imagine. He finally looked back down at me and looked at the sunglasses he had given me.
“I'm glad to see that the glasses are working well for you. I hadn't really had the opportunity to test them out before now. They should make the processes of adjusting you eyes much smoother.” I hadn't noticed until now, but the tint of the glasses was getting lighter and lighter as my eyes became more accustom to the sunlight. I couldn't figure out why Mark would even bother to help me. After all, it was he who didn't want me to come at all. I weighed the idea of asking him about the argument he and Corbin had earlier, but decided that it was better that he didn't know I had been listening in.
“Besides, you’re no good to us or the mission if you’re blind. You'll only get in the way,” he said as he walked off and joined Corbin. His words once again made my blood boil and I considered sending the glasses flying into the back of his head, but I didn't want to give Corbin any reasons to get upset before the mission even began.
No sooner had I gone back over to join Seth at the bench than I heard the roar of the engine as a large semi truck pulled onto the street at an insane speed. It came right for us as Mark, Seth and I jumped out of the way, leaving Corbin in the path of this two ton behemoth. It continued until it was about 50 yards from Corbin. Then it began to screech as the brakes were hit and it was sent skidding down the road, where it finally halted a few feet from Corbin, who never once moved or flinched despite his situation. I saw Adrian in the driver seat looking like he was having the best time of his life and beside him was a man in the passenger seat that I had only a few vague memories of, but I knew right away that it was Tim, due to the numerous times he had sent messages telling us of yet another group of refugees he had gathered. The sight of this little stunt had caused my heart to skip a few beats. Adrian hopped out and went around to the front of the truck and looked down at the distance between the truck and Corbin's position; it was less than an arm’s reach.
“Hell yeah! One foot closer than last time!” he said, somewhat celebrating his dangerous stunt. Corbin, however, didn't look too amused at all. Adrian noticed this and stopped celebrating his small victory.
“Aww, come on, Corbin, even if I hit you, it’s not like you couldn't just snap your bones back into place in a matter of seconds,” he said, laughing a little.
“I was kinda hoping he would have hit you. Then I wouldn't owe this jerk 50 bucks,” Tim said, hopping out of the truck. Tim was a rather tall man with overly curly light brown hair and a goatee that matched it perfectly.
I watched Tim pay off his bet to Adrian and join Corbin at the back of the truck. He opened it up and he and Corbin helped Mark and me climb in as Seth jumped a little and appeared right behind them. Once he made sure we were all in, Corbin closed the door, putting us all into darkness I found a place to sit against the far wall. Corbin pulled out and turned on a flashlight to give us a little bit of visibility in the blackened truck.
“OK, here’s how things are gonna play out,” I heard Tim say, “Adrian is gonna drive us to the first checkpoint, at which point he’s gonna tap three times. Thats the signal for Mark and me to start working our magic. Mark is gonna make sure that those nano things give Adrian a clean reading. Meanwhile, Adrian is gonna give the story that he’s just making a supply delivery to the tower, at which point I'm gonna put up an illusion that should make this truck seem full of nothing but boxes. Once we’re past, we’re gonna head to the church, make the pick up and leave pretty much the same way.”
“Sounds like a pretty fool proof plan,” Seth said, going over it in his head.
“Yeah, well let’s just hope we’re all as smart as we think we are,” Tim said, leaning back against the wall of the truck. I laid my head back as I felt the engine pick up and the truck begin to move. It was a pretty rough ride considering that the road we were driving on hadn't been repaired or kept up for nearly 7 years and Adrian didn't bother to drive slowly so we were all left to bounce and slide around in the back. This didn't fare well for Seth as he tried to grab hold of the sides to try and keep himself as still as possible. But it seemed to be no use and he was jerked around right along with the rest of us. Several times he looked as though her were going to lose his lunch and every time this occurred we would all try our best to get to the opposite side of the truck.
This continued on for what felt like forever, so when the roads finally got a little less rough we all breathed a sigh of relief as almost all of our asses were so sore we couldn't wait to arrive and be able to get out of the mobile metal bouncy house. Now able to, Seth sat in the middle of the truck and put his head between his legs and began breathing in and out as deeply as he could. Seeing this you couldn't help but feel sorry for him.
I found myself my own little corner of the truck and closed my eyes and once again began going over mentally what Magashi had taught me throughout the years. I still wasn't sure why I was bothering if this was a simple pickup missing, but for some reason, I had a strange sensation of doom and it only made me all the more nervous as we grew closer and closer to our destination.
After about 15 minutes the road finally became steady and we began to slow some, which meant we must have entered a more populous area and Adrian could no longer drive like a maniac. You could almost feel his disappointment radiating from the front of the truck. It was Tim who finally spoke up.
“OK guys, a quick word before we get to the checkpoint. This is a fairly complicated illusion I have to be able to make them not only see the boxes but make them think that they’re actually there. I don't have to tell you that it ain't easy making someone think their touching something that’s not really there and one thing that makes it harder to produce is all you guys moving around. So should they decide to inspect the truck you all have to remain quiet, the slightest noise could fuck it all up so when we get the signal don't breath don't blink don't even think cause I would really like to make it home in one piece. With that being said, once I create the illusion I will probably only be able to hold it for about one minute at the most.”
“What happens if the inspection takes longer than anticipated?” mark asked, wondering about this rather large flaw in our plan.
“In that case, you had better be prepared for a fight.” He looked around to make sure we all understood and were in agreement with his plan, he took an extra second to make sure Seth understood that this meant he would have to try and get his stomach under control for at least a minute, as we were all pretty sure a barfing box would blow our cover.
By now the road had become completely smooth and we knew that it wouldn't be much longer before the checkpoint would come up. Seth now feeling somewhat human again gave his glove one last final adjustment. I decided to do the same, seeing as even if something were to go wrong, I wouldn't have much to work with inside this truck. I reached out mentally to scan the area for any loose objects that could become a quick bullet if I needed it to, but found nothing but us in there. For a split second I considered using Mark as a human cannon ball, but quickly shoved the image out of my head with a slight chuckle. I would be completely reliant on my hand combat training until I was able to make my way out of the back of the truck and could find something worth throwing.
We heard a quick three knocks from Adrian, which was the signal that we had arrived and for Tim to begin with the illusion. We all sat close together in the far end of the truck and looked over at Tim, who looked as though he were in some kind of a deep trance his eyes had gone completely white and they had a sort of eerie glow. I knew that he had gone to work already, now our only part was to remain still and calm no matter what. I closed my mouth and softened my breathing as much as possible and closed my eyes and waited.
Two minutes I said in my head and I began counting the seconds 1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi, 3 Mississippi, 4... The truck pulled up to a stop and I heard a very gruff voice begin to speak.
“State your name and business here,” the man said, sounding like he'd rather be anywhere else in the world. I continued to count in my head... 8 Mississippi, 9 Mississippi, 10 Mississippi...
“Milo Shostakovitch I'm here to make a delivery to the tower,” Adrian said in the best Russian accent he could muster up. Even then it sounded completely fake and forced. If Tim’s faulty powers didn’t give us away, Adrian's terrible acting would. We won’t even make it into the city before our cover is blown.
I continued to count in my head as I heard footsteps outside the truck as the guard walked around to the back of the truck... 20 Mississippi, 21 Mississippi, 22 Mississippi... The door swung open and we stood face to face with the guard he looked blankly around the truck before stepping up inside and taking out a flashlight he shined it around a few times and took a couple steps further inside and turning to leave. But before he made it to the edge, a small almost unnoticeable rumble sounded as Seth’s stomach lurched, the guard spun around and began darting the light from his flashlight quickly around the truck shining it directly in my eyes on several occasions I closed my eyes and held my breath and continued to count silently to myself... 45 Mississippi, 46 Mississippi, 47 Mississippi, 48 Mississippi, 49 Mississippi... I clenched my fist and waited for Tim’s illusion to break at any second and for us to spring into action. Then I heard Adrian came up behind the truck.
“Could you please hurry it up? I am on a very tight schedule as it is, sir,” he said, sounding hurried and almost flubbing his already fake sounding accent
“Alright, alright. Don’t get you panties in a bunch. I’m coming,” the guard said, as he walked back to the end of the truck and hopped out. Tim’s illusion gave out right as the guard closed the door. For a split second I swore the guard looked directly at me. My heart sank as the door shut the rest of the way. The guard returned to his post to open the gate and let us pass.
We simultaneously gave a sigh of relief as we felt the engine pick up and the truck begin to move. Seth just curled up tighter into a ball. Despite having made it past our first big hurtle, my nerves only seemed to get worse. Something still didn’t seem right, as the image of what seemed like the guard looking directly at me flashed in my head.