Psych Investigation Episodes: Episode 1 (A Young Adult Scifi / Fantasy) (28 page)

One of the first things Michael noticed was
that Melissa did not seem happy. She was sprinting after him with
her fist raised into the air. Even from this distance, it was
obvious that Jack had snuck away from her. As the two neared the
van, their voices were picked up on the high frequency audio. It
was a high tech receiver capable of picking up audio even from a
great distance.

“
Jack, what did I say about
leaving my sight?”
Melissa shouted.

“
You’re not the boss of me!
Ouch! Stop slapping me, Melissa. Ouuuch! Wow, just for that, I’m
not letting you borrow my mom’s season two collection of
Glee.”

Even the slap was picked up from the audio
transmitter.

“You jerk, you already said you
would, so you can’t take that back now. We’re watching it when I
come over tonight.”

“Whoa, you’re coming over?
That’s sweet!”

“It’s just for the mission,
Jack, and don’t you forget it.”

Michael giggled like a schoolgirl and Paro shot
him a reproachful look.

 “
Does anyone have any
popcorn?” Michael asked.

Sarah laughed, and when Paro glared at her, she
held out her palms and smiled. “It is kind of
entertaining.”

“The van’s over here, idiot.
Where are you going?”

“Oh, I thought you said they
were parking by the left entrance.”

“No, I said the right entrance.
You don’t listen to me when I talk to you. All day long you ignore
everything I say.”

“That is
NOT
true, Melissa. I only ignore the things that don’t
interest me
.”

Slap!

Paro grunted—it was a low, rumbling sound. “I
can’t believe we have a second Michael on the team now, especially
when I didn’t even want the first one.”

Michael tipped his cowboy hat. “You’ll thank us
later!”

It was very difficult to hear the man, being
that he only spoke in short whispers. It was further complicated by
the constant screech of jets passing low overhead. The airbase in
Kuwait was always pretty active, with convoys and planes arriving
and departing at frequent intervals.

It was hot too, which made Sebastian grumble
every time the heavy wind blew scalding sand in his face. Sebastian
pushed the torn brown letter across the small table. The man picked
it up and examined it for only a moment before sliding it back
across to him.

“You wish to find him,
then?”
he
whispered
.

Sebastian had to strain his ears every time the
man spoke. He was covered from head to toe in cloth, revealing
nothing more than his fierce eyes, which told a great deal about
him. Though all his other features were masked, the complex and
dark world that lay behind those haunting eyes were enough to send
a shiver down Sebastian’s spine.

“
I’ve proved my worth, haven’t I?”
Sebastian asked. “All that’s left is for you to give me the
location.”

Even concealed behind the brown cloth,
Sebastian had the uncomfortable notion that the man was smiling.
“Check your left breast pocket, Mr. Harris.”

While Sebastian kept a straight face and
allowed no sign of fear or emotion to seep through, he calmly
reached into his shirt-pocket and felt a small paper folded
inside.

When did he—
Sebastian ripped the
thought from his mind.

“Do you have … any news?”
the man whispered.

“
Not much, but I do know those kids
of yours are causing quite a stir. You ever going to trust me
enough to tell me your real name?”

“But I have … Mr. Harris. My
name is Redemption.”

“
Suit yourself.”

Jack was impressed by how much they had done in
such a short time. Only two miles from his house, they had rented a
large garage to act as a temporary base of operations. Laptops,
equipment, and numerous personnel shuffled from activity to
activity.

“
How did you get all these people?”
Jack asked.

Paro put an arm on his shoulder. “Well, murder
is a very serious thing, Jack. And the more serious and numerous
the crimes, then naturally the more resources we use in stopping
them. Come, have a seat, we have a lot to talk about.”

Sarah and Kazou were already sitting at the
square table, shuffling through files and discussing notes. Melissa
dragged him into a chair next to her, while Paro and Michael sat
across from them. Sarah and Kazou stopped whatever it was they were
doing the moment Jack sat down and eyed him with
interest.

“
So,” Jack said, “I’m supposed to
learn more about my whatever it is and then I can go home, right?
But can we make it quick, please? It’s Friday.”

Jack didn’t know why that tense look Paro
sometimes wore appeared on his face. Jack had been cooperating just
like he’d been asked. Michael gave Paro an odd, questioning look,
and Paro returned a nod. The cowboy then turned to face
Jack.

“
Buddy,” Michael began, “We got the
results of your blood. You’re not a Telekinetic like we thought.
That’s why we’re all here today.”

Jack shrugged. “Is that a bad
thing?”

Michael stumbled for an answer, so Sarah took
over. Melissa bounced on her chair in agitation, and she looked to
be as confused as Jack, if not more so.

“
It’s not a bad thing, sweetie,”
Sarah said. “It’s just not an easy thing.”

Melissa tensed and lost her patience. “What is
this about, guys? If Jack’s not a Kinetic then what is
he?”

“
An Unrestricted,” Paro
said.

Jack flinched, because in reflex to the answer,
Melissa grabbed his shoulder with the strength of a bull. “Ouch,
Melissa! I thought I already paid my pain debt. This isn’t fair.
Now I owe you a slap.”

“
What do you mean he’s an
Unrestricted?” Melissa asked, ignoring Jack entirely. “How can that
be possible?”

Jack had no idea why Melissa seemed to care
more about this than he did, but from the time he had spent with
these people, Jack had learned a few tricks to getting along with
them better. Namely, just nod and pretend you knew what was going
on. It amazed Jack how much that worked for him in life. It worked
for him in school, and now with these people.

Jack tried to imitate Melissa’s behavior. He
stood up from his chair and threw his arms around in mock
outrage.

“
What! How can I be an Unrestricted?
Oh no and stuff. This is so bad. I can’t believe it. I guess now
we’ll just have to do whatever it is we do now that I’m
Unrestricted, right, Paro?”

Melissa dragged on Jack’s arm and pulled him
back into the chair with a scowl on her face. Jack didn’t care—he
knew he just nailed it. He was becoming a professional at
pretending he was informed about things.

“
Jack,” Paro began, “do you remember
what I taught you about Psychs? Recite it back to me, so I know you
understand.”

Jack grinned. He once again stood up and
addressed the team sitting around the table. He knew the answer to
something for once!

Jack cleared his throat theatrically. “There
are four types of affinities people can be born with. Telekinesis,
which is what you guys said I was, which lets me move stuff.
Telepathic, like Sarah, which makes you do brain-stuff or whatever,
and then there’s Manipulators, which can … manipulate stuff? You
guys don’t have one of those so I don’t really know. Oh, and then
there’s Reinforcers, like Melissa, which makes you strong but also
really mean and stupid.”

Even the technicians at the end of the
makeshift base of operations turned to look at the source of the
popping crackle, as Melissa’s slapping hand whirled across Jack’s
face. His cheek lit up in white-hot pain, and Michael started
giggling uncontrollably. Kazou for some reason looked
wounded.

Paro ignored the ordeal and continued. “An
Unrestricted, Jack, is someone who is not born to any type. They
still have something that is preferred, such is the case with you
and Telekinesis, but they are not limited to simply the basics of
the other affinities. They can do as they please, even combining
several together in ways that are … for better or worse,
astounding.”

Jack nodded. “Got it. That actually makes a lot
of sense. So I can use things other than Teleke—aww, man does this
mean I’m gonna have to learn even more stuff?”

Michael waved an arm. “No, Jack, we’ve already
decided to treat ya as a Telekinetic. In fact, the people of our
organization would rather prefer it if you didn’t play around with
any of the forces you got at your disposal.”

“
The problem, Jack,” Paro said, “is
that because of the inherent destruction that you’re capable of
causing, you’re not allowed to simply walk away from us anymore.
Because of this discovery, I’m afraid that from this point forward,
you’re going to have to become a member of our team. It’s either
that or a fate much worse, which I can promise you don’t
want.”

Jack’s mind reeled in shock. So he wasn’t going
to be done with all of this nonsense, after all?

“
For how long?” Jack tried to keep
his voice from cracking, but he was beginning to feel a creeping
fear.

Sarah looked saddened “Forever, Jack. You can
never be free.”

Jack tried to find something to say back, some
way to respond, but before he could so much as open his mouth he
was distracted by Melissa’s fists smashing into the table, causing
it to shake.

“
Like hell, Paro! Are you telling me
that Jack’s not going to be allowed to live his life just because
of some formality?”

“
Melissa, calm down! I’ve warned you
about these outbursts.” Paro stood up from his chair and pointed a
threatening finger at her.

“
This is more than just a
formality—it is law. Do you even know what risks we were willing to
take to keep Jack out of the facilities? We were willing to throw
down our lives to stop that from happening.”

“
Yeah, but—”

“
Melissa, it’s okay.” Melissa looked
shocked as Jack put a comforting arm on her shoulder and stood up
to face Paro.

“
What did you just say about putting
your life on the line?” Jack asked.

Paro sighed. “Normally they send Unrestricteds
off to the facilities where they can be brainwashed and turned into
killing machines. We all agreed that we would risk our lives to
prevent that from happening. The end result was an agreement that
you could still live a somewhat decent life by joining us
instead.”

Jack smiled at Paro. It was a pure and honest
smile that Jack hoped would communicate his feelings of gratitude.
“Thank you, Paro. You did something really great for me, and while
I still don’t understand everything, I’ll join you guys. Thanks,
all of you, for standing up for me.”

Sarah wiped a tear from her eyes, and Michael
simply put his feet on the table and smirked. Kazou nodded in
silence.