“We will get you a locked tablet. You can show us what you want to make, and if it is safe, we will send it to the CAM.”
Zero chuckled and nodded. “I will go to my room now. Goodbye, purple pretty.”
Torun stared as the little girl walked through the wall and sat on her bunk with her feet swinging. She started singing and light took shape, filling the room with butterflies and birds that kept her company.
The researcher smiled slightly. “Cadet, walk with me, please.”
“I have already sealed the non-disclosure agreement for this facility.”
“Um, no. That isn’t what I am talking about. Did you feel anything when she touched you?”
They were walking toward the secure wing of the facility. “Um, yes. There was a jolt, and I felt... stronger? Enhanced senses are my activation, but this feels like extra.”
“Can we run some scans on you every six months or so? We want to keep an eye on your progress and watch out for any unusual activations.”
“I have mine. We only get one. Right?”
“The radiation she emits is similar to that of the activated. She might be triggering something else.”
“Do you think it was dangerous?”
The researcher put her hand over her abdomen. “I hope not.”
“Oh. Right. You are carrying?”
“Yeah. I guess that it is going to be a girl if they are going to be best friends.” The researcher chuckled.
“Do you know why she is thriving and the others are fading?”
“It’s classified, but she is soon going to be the only one of her kind, whatever she is.”
They walked into a med centre, and he was introduced to the curious medics. “He had direct contact with the little girl. She would like to be addressed as Zero.”
The room was still, and then, they exploded into action, goading Torun to the scanner and checking him up.
“Cadet Torun, you have had a five percent increase in muscle mass, your tendons have increased in tensile strength, and you are going to need mineral supplements because your bones are thickening.”
Torun flexed his hands. “That is what it feels like. Like I am about to have a growth spurt.”
He could feel the ache in his bones, and then, the injections started. After half an hour with the medics, he was released as long as he turned to the team trainers in his home city.
“You mean the program medics, right?”
The researcher shook her head. “No, the team trainers. If you can pass your exams, you are going to be fast-tracked into the teams. I hope you didn’t want to be an accountant or construction worker.”
Torun looked down at his hands. “No, I wanted to be in the teams. I just thought it would be eight years before I got there.”
“It will still be a few years. We don’t know if this is a boost, a long-acting effect, or something that will make you explode.”
Torun blinked. “What has Zero done to others?”
The researcher smiled. “Nothing. We didn’t even know she could speak until today. What was the first thing she said to you?”
He was embarrassed as everyone was staring. “Um, she liked my skin.”
“Exact words, please.”
“Purple. Pretty.” He would have blushed if he could. “Then, she took my hand, and I felt the rush.”
“Describe it.”
They recorded the details, and he was interviewed for all interactions with Zero.
He was brought back to his tour group with an explanation that the little girl belonged to one of the researchers and had gotten lost and refused to leave him.
The others in his group teased him about being attractive to all ladies, no matter how young.
He had left the facility, and the tiny girl in her tiny uniform had been standing on the roof and waving at him until the shuttle he was in was out of range.
He had no doubt that she was safe and warm inside the moment he was gone.
Three years later, there was a violent explosion at the research facility. Everyone found themselves outside the buildings, safe and sound. Torun had read the report. There had been no sign of Zero. He had just been put on his first team and had been on the scene.
The wreckage was absolute; there was not one computer or one wall standing. The destruction went all five levels down.
He had gone to find one of the first researchers he had met, and the man was blinking in shock. “Where is subject Zero?”
The man blinked. “Who?”
The lack of knowledge was worrying. He asked a few more of the researchers, and none of them knew what he was talking about had erased Zero.
Fifteen years later, he helped a young woman near a program education centre out of wreckage near the campus. The moment her hand slid into his, he felt the same surge of energy. The woman had smiled at him, but her eyes were a soft hazel.
Torun’s heart had thudded in his chest, but he had fallen back to etiquette training. “Would you like to join me for coffee?” He blinked. He was supposed to excuse himself and exit.
“I have just had coffee, plus this shop won’t be rebuilt for months, but there is an ice cream place across the street.” She smiled, and his heart pounded against his ribs.
He held her hand formally, and she moved through the rubble like a queen. His team was talking with others who saw the attack.
Over ice cream, he tried to do his job while watching the smooth column of her neck and the curls of her brown hair over her shoulder. “Did you see who did it?”
She snorted. “Yes.” She brought a name, address, and image of a rupture class activation. “This is him. He blew up, knocked the car loose, and it crashed into the storefront. He had been dating Selatha, and she broke up with him. Rejection is not something he can deal with.”
“Selatha is the counter person with the broken leg?”
“Yes. They had dated for a while before she broke it off. He didn’t take it well.” She smiled and
