Sector 6 - Jaril
Vivian Drowel
“I don’t think you know what you’re asking.”
“I know exactly what I’m asking for, Wade.”
“It’s suicide…”
“That’s a bit melodramatic.”
“No, it isn’t. It’s apt, given the circumstances. This is reckless.”
“You think I don’t know that?”
“They will kill you if they found out you even suggested it. Hell, they will kill me if they found out I didn’t report you for just thinking about something like this. I can’t do this.”
“You’re in charge of the Order’s equipment and supplies. You can do anything.”
“Not this,” Wade said, then sighed. “This…this is…”
“I know,” Vivian said, looking away from the communication device and letting out a sigh. She was on Jaril with Jack and Traq, having recovered for a few weeks from their ordeal on Eldun.
Her body was still sore, but she was more determined than ever to make this newfound goal a reality. The more she thought about everything that had happened, the surer she was she needed to see this through.
Originally, the goal had been to keep Traq out of the Ministry and protect him from ever receiving an implant. Now, however, she felt like they didn’t have a choice but to make him more like the members of the Ordo Mens Rea.
Argus was back at the Ministry, hiding out in his chambers and speaking with her. He was on edge and nervous, more so than normal because of the seriousness of her request.
“To give an implant to a non-sanctioned child would be blaspheming against the Ministry. I know the creeds, Wade. I know all of the Ministry laws. But he has potential.”
“Too much potential,” Wade replied, rubbing his face with his hands. “I saw him that day, Vivian. In the woods. He did things without an implant that only a few of us can do with one.”
“You didn’t see this,” she said. “On Eldun, he exhibited more power, and he did other things, too. Not just telekinesis. I think he is telepathic too.”
“Impossible.”
“So we thought,” Vivian replied. “But he is something else entirely. We need to do this.”
“The records are strictly monitored.”
“You can change them.”
“There are backups.”
“You can change those, too.”
“The backups have backups!”
Vivian said. “I get it, Wade. It’s dangerous. But we need to do this. We need to find out what his limits are and what he is capable of.”
Argus was silent for a long moment.
“Do you know how the implants work?”
“They enhance our abilities. For me, telekinesis. They make it possible for me to use my power.”
“Yes, but do you know how it works?”
“No. I don’t know,” Vivian replied. “If anyone told me, I’ve forgotten.”
Argus shook his head. “You haven’t forgotten. No one told you. The thing is…I don’t know either.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know how they work,” he reiterated.
“You maintain them,” she said. “They don’t trust you to know?”
“No. They don’t know either.”
She hesitated. “What?”
“No one understands exactly how they work. At first I thought it was a closely guarded secret and they just weren’t telling me, but I found out that no one actually knows. I mean, we know how to replicate and grow them, but—”
“Grow?” Vivian asked incredulously.
Wade pursed his lips. “It isn’t important. What is important is that we think about what to do next and make a clear and rational decision.”
“What are you saying? What do you think we should do?”
“Maybe we should bring him in. If you think he is as powerful as you say…this might be beyond us.”
“No,” she said. “That isn’t happening. You said yourself: The Order isn’t accepting any new students. Not now. Maybe never again. The Minister blames us personally for Darius’s fall, and they would lobotomize Traq the second he showed up.”
“Maybe that is for the best.”
“Are you even listening to yourself? He doesn’t need to join the Ordo Mens Rea. Just give him the implant.”
“You’re missing the point.”
“Clearly.”
“Do you know why we are called the Ordo Mens Rea?”
“No,” Vivian replied. “But again, it doesn’t seem—”
“It means the Order of the Guilty Mind.”
“Right…”
“But before we were the Ordo Mens Rea and the Ministry adopted us, we were a heretical cult.”
“What?” Vivian asked, surprised. “I’ve never heard that.”
“Of course you haven’t. This isn’t canon and the Ministry scrubbed it from memory. It was over eight hundred years ago. They found our cult on a distant planet using the implants and worshipping…well, worshipping something. The records aren’t clear on that. We fought them. They won. And they adapted us and brought us into the Ministry.
“Then they purged our history, removing all records of what we were prior to the Ministry. But Vivian, it was bad. The things we could do…the people we hurt. You cannot repeat this Vivian. Any of it. It’s heretical information, and even whispering things like this could get everyone killed. Everything I’m telling you is dangerous.”
“Then why are you telling me?”
“Because I want you to understand just what you are asking. There are many within the Ministry—and I mean many—who think executing all of us and ending what the Ministry began so long ago would be a good idea. All of us. We don’t fit into their sacrosanct view of the galaxy.”
“And you think the Minister is one of them?”
“I don’t think. I know he is. But right now we are in the First Citizen’s good graces. We represent the Shields and his ambivalence keeps us alive. Our usefulness outweighs the Minister’s hatred of us. But, what you’re suggesting where Traq is concerned…it could tip the scales. If they find out I sent one of the implants out of the Ministry…”
“And he would kill us?” Vivian asked. “You really think he would murder all thirty thousand of us?
Wade hesitated. “I wouldn’t put it past him.”
Vivian shook her head. “It’s worth the risk, Wade. I’m telling you, Traq is something else. He changes everything we think we know. I will keep Traq away from the Ministry, and you will change the records. No one need ever know he has an implant. But we cannot pass up this opportunity.”
“Gods, you are persistent,” Wade said, scratching his chin. He was silent for a minute, staring at the wall and thinking. “Fine. I’ll do it. I’ll modify the registry and get Traq his implant. Where do you want me to send it?
“Where would work?”
He thought about it for a minute. “There is a doctor on Terminus who used to work at the Ministry. He put the implants in, and he left the Ministry on not so great terms. There are spies watching him, but most were recalled when the Union split off from the Republic.”
“You think he will help?”
“I doubt you intend to give him a choice,” Wade said. “When I ship the item, it’ll arrive after only a few days. You need to be there and make sure he doesn’t report it.”
“I can do that.”
“He might need some convincing that it is in his best interest…but, whatever happens, he cannot report this to the Ministry or we are all doomed.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll send you an address. But Vivian, once this is done, there is no going back.”
“I know.”
“I’m not sure you do,” Argus Wade said, shaking his head. “I don’t think you understand what is at stake…But Vivian, if this goes wrong, you will.”
