Just doing my job

“Just keep still and relax.” Kay sat at the controls for the massive MRI scanner, “I hope you went to the toilet before we started, because this is going to take some time.”

“Just try not to fry my brains, ok?” I laughed apprehensively as my head disappeared into the machine, “I don’t have many to start with…”

“I know what I’m doing. And you’re the one who wants to know what’s happening to your body.” Kay sounded reassuring, “Anyway, it’s been a while since we’ve had a chance to just sit and talk.”

“Well it’s not like I’m going anywhere. What do you want to talk about?”

“You and your obsession with family.”

“I would not say I’m obsessed…”

“Nathan, you have always wanted a family: it’s perfectly understandable given that you’re an orphan. Have you ever considered trying to track down your birth mother?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I was left in a Tesco’s carrier bag outside St Thomas’ hospital only a day or two after I was born, with nothing but the soiled nappy I was wearing. Neither the Police nor Social Services could track down my mother, so I decided one day that if she was at all interested in finding my, she’d look me up. I was never adopted, so the records aren’t sealed.”

“And has it ever occurred to you that these feelings of abandonment could be why you are so obsessed with having a family of your own?”

“Like I said: I’m not obsessed.”

“What if I told you that there was a week, just after our little game of chess, where I thought I may have been pregnant?”

“WHAT!”

“I said ‘thought’: my period was just late. What would you have done if I had been pregnant?”

“Well, I would have asked you to marry me…”

“Why?”

“It would have been the right thing to do.”

“Would it? I admit that I love you, but as a friend, nothing more. I don’t regret what happened between us: I knew that you would ever hurt me, or brag to everyone else about what had happened. But as much as I care for you, marriage would never have worked out: we are too much alike.”

“Have you ever considered getting married or having kids?”

“I’ve considered it, but being a powerful telepath makes relationships difficult: you always know just what the other person is thinking and feeling. I plan to have children one day, probably sooner rather than later, but I’ll probably use a donor.”

“Is that wise? You never know what you’ll end up with.”

“Don’t worry Nathan: I’ve taken steps to unsure I have an appropriate source. Now try and relax.”

*********************************************************************

“Well?” Ren asked when Kay came in with the results of the battery of tests she had run me through, “What is happening to him?”

“It is complicated.” Kay had her face buried in a stack of paperwork, “I have some baseline figures for how Nathan’s powers work, but the truth is no one really understands just how and why they evolve the way they do. My best guess is that his abilities were never fully activated when he went through puberty. Something major, probably Charlotte dropping a nuke on his head, kicked started the activation of some latent abilities.”

“What abilities?” I asked, hoping to come to the bottom of what was happening to me.

“Well, your natural energy flow has always been reliant on your daily calorie intake.” Kay explained, “But it looks like your body has changed so that it taps into some natural power flow of the universe, something I don’t understand. It will take time for your body to adjust fully, but I think they’re going to have to adjust your ranking on the list of most powerful superhumans.”

“That’s not helpful.” Ren replied coldly.

“Not helpful?” Kay span round, “Look, I’ve got degrees in medicine, chemistry, bio chemistry, physics and mathematics, but the truth is no one understands just where superhumans above a certain level get their power from.”

“Look, can you two just lay it off for now?” I stepped between Ren and Kay before it came to blows: I’ve seen them both in action, and didn’t want to see them go at it then and there. “Kay, is it ok if we stay here until we figure out what to do next?”

“No problem Nathan.” Kay smiled, a dangerous look in her eye, “Stay as long as you want.”

*********************************************************************

Kay’s veranda was impressive: a holographic field camouflaged it from the outside world, while allowing those inside breathtaking views of the Himalayas to the south. Jackson complained that we couldn’t see Everest from where we were, but that was just the drink talking.

I opened another beer as I leaned back in my chair, intent on just sitting an enjoying the sunset.

“We have a problem.” Kay walked through the French doors onto the wooden patio, “Charlotte is here: her plane landed a few minuets ago, and she’s demanding to speak with you. Don’t ask me how she knows you are here…”

“Charlotte’s smarter than you give her credit for: she knows that this is the one place I’d run too if things got this bad, the one place that the conspiracy wouldn’t dare follow.” I sighed, “You’d better let her in.”

“It’s your funeral…” Kay turned and walked back the way she came.

“You sure that this is such a good idea?” Jackson asked as he finished his beer, “She’s not the same person she once was.”

“Yeah, I know.” I nodded, “But there are a few things that need working out between the two of us.”

“Hope you understand that I don’t want to stick around and watch.” Jackson stood, rather shakily, and walked off.

I sat in silence, trying to compose myself mentally and emotionally for what was sure to be an unnerving event. I was still confused as to my feelings towards Charlotte: in many was I still loved her as deeply as ever, but I had a hard time reconciling the image I had of her as the person I had married, and a cold blooded killer who was willing to kill hundreds of innocent people by blowing up a space station just to make Ren planetary public enemy No.1.

“Nathan…” Charlotte’s voice was soft as she stepped through the doors and out onto the patio, Kay watching from just inside.

“Charlotte.” I nodded, lowly getting to my feet, “Did you come here of your own devices, or were you sent?”

“I was sent: those I, work for, are wondering what you are going to do next. They hope that I may be able to bring you round to their side.”

“Don’t you mean ‘our side?”

“Nathan, I am far from the top of the organisation: I don’t even know who is ultimate pulling the strings. All I do know is that it is dangerous to oppose them. They see everything in Black and White: you are ever with them or against them?”

“Any you?”

“Some would say that it is better to be at the Devils right hand than in his way.”

“Are you that sacred of them?”

“Yes…”

“Then stay here: there is no way they would challenge Kay directly, she’s way too powerful.”

“I can’t…”

“Why not?”

“There are things I have had to do, unspeakable things, mainly to try and keep you alive, but recently to prove my loyalty to them. If I do not return by the appointed time, they will see to it that evidence of the things I have done is released to the press. I still have family in Canada: this could destroy them.”

“I am not going to ask what you have done.” I lowered my head, “But sooner or later this will come down to those who stand with the Conspiracy, and those who stand against it. When that time comes, where will you be?”

“Nathan, I…” Charlotte stuttered, “I’m sorry.”

“You understand that next time we meet, we will be enemies.”

“Although it is not how I would want it to be, I understand. I still love you, but that may not be enough.”

“I know.” I looked her in the eye, “I still love you too, but you are no longer the same woman I married. They tricked you into selling your soul, and that is not something I can compete with.”

“I should go.” Charlotte turned to go, then stopped, “For what it is worth, I hope you succeed: I may well have sold my soul, but they don’t own all of me.”

“Yeah, well, we’ll see.” I turned away, not wanting her to see me cry, “You can tell your bosses not to worry: the world is going to hell in a hand bucket, and I for one am quite contempt to just sit back and watch the fireworks.”

*********************************************************************

“So that is it?” Ren asked after Charlotte was gone, “You are just giving up.”

“Not in the least.” I sipped my tea, “But for a while at least, they will think I have.”

“You have a plan?” Jackson asked, “Count me in!”

“You have to stay here with Kay: we need a second line of attack should our first one fail.” I looked out over the distant mountains, “Ren, Artemus and I are leaving in the morning. There must be more people like us out there, superhumans who are willing to make a stand. We need to find out who and where they are. I have a few leads, and I’m trusting Ren to come up with a few more.”

“My god, you’re planning on building an army!” Kay grinned like a Cheshire cat.

“We need to fight fire with fire.” I smiled slightly, “The game is afoot: anyone wants out, now’s the time to say it.”

“I’m in.” Ren stood.

“In.” Jackson cracked his knuckles, “Let’s bust us some heads!”

“I’m in.” Artemus nodded as sedately as ever.

“God help us: you are all insane.” Kay laughed, “Count me in!”

To Be Continued...