Chapter 18. The story of a little girl

He couldn't fall asleep for many nights now. Arriz knew it was unnatural, but wasn't able to change it, because at night he was left alone with his thoughts. And those thoughts were worthy of a death penalty from One Breed…

Octavia was amazing. Her visit ruined his believe that all higher level hybrids were blood-thirsty monsters. Before seeing her, Arriz was trying to excuse his sympathy towards the students by their low level, leaving them close to humans. But now he saw an eight and a half level hybrid – and there wasn't a shadow of hatred towards her in his soul.

It wasn't about her attractiveness only. His telepathic abilities gave him a chance to see her soul, and it was equally beautiful. Octavia had been completely honest with them from the first phrase she spoke. She believed every word she let them hear – about the hybrid way, advantages and sacrifices they had to face.

Those words shattered the ideals of One Breed. And that was the last thing Arriz needed after he had barely made himself believe them again! During the meeting with Octavia he'd been holding on to his father's medallion, as if the tiny object could protect him, fill him with correct beliefs. It didn't work. Her words and emotions were going straight into his heart, shaking it, staying there forever.

And now the doubts were back again, tearing him apart. After the exams he was to return to the Organization with the data that could destroy Ceres – and he no longer wanted that! Arriz couldn't even tell if he stopped wanting it or he had always been terrified by that thought, but his training didn't permit him to accept it.

He had only one reason to hate Octavia: the way she influenced him. He almost became the one his mother could've been proud of – and then she appeared, the embodiment of everything he had always wanted to be.

He knew that those sleepless nights wouldn't save him, wouldn't solve the conflict between his duty and his soul. But he wasn't able to do anything about them.

The sound of the door opening distracted him, making him sit up on his bed. He remembered locking that door… and no-one should've come at a time like this, the artificial window was showing it was still night!

His room was small, so he could see the door from the bed. It opened for a second, then closed, leaving the uninvited guest inside.

Identifying the intruder was too easy. Arriz didn't need his telepathy for that, because even the starlight imitation from the window was enough to see the white bandages covering the hybrid's face and hands, while the black uniform made the lithe body nearly invisible.

In other circumstances Arriz would've felt her approaching in advance: Karajo had a very strong and recognizable aura. But he was lost in his thoughts and he didn't expect something like that to happen!

"What's going on?" - was the only thing he could pronounce.

The situation was so unreal it made him doubt he was awake. Karajo broke a whole set of rules at once, but she didn't seem to care. She crossed the distance separating them quickly, and soon Arriz could feel her hand on his throat, blocking his oxygen.

He tried breaking free of her hold, but it was no use. His strength didn't stand a chance against a hybrid's powers! Though the situation probably looked comical from aside: Karajo was much shorter and thinner than him, and her dark clothes and bandages made her look like a ghost. But Arriz couldn't appreciate the comedy, because he ended up trapped in his own bedroom!

Once the first wave of fear wore off, he understood that Karajo wasn't trying to strangle him. She could do it, but held back not to harm him too much. It was hard to breathe, and yet still possible! Once he noticed that, he forced himself to change tactics, relaxing in her grip.

"Quick wit," Karajo commented. "I came to talk to you, but I had to make sure you wouldn't make too much fuss about it. I'll let you go now. Say something too loud – and I'll break your jaw just to be on the safe side."

Arriz was by no means happy about the situation, and the idea of obeying that freak disgusted him. But he knew she could actually do it. Karajo was one of the hybrids he couldn't figure out, so he had to expect anything from her.

"I can't say I like your idea of talks," he said, rubbing his neck. He wasn't sure there'd be no bruise left. "And you broke the door… What the hell is this about? Could've just approached me during the day!"

"Too many people around. It's a private talk."

"Was it truly necessary to cripple me for that?"

"I haven't crippled you yet," Karajo folded her arms over her chest. "But I can. Just so you know the difference."

"Don't! Listen, can I at least put something decent on?"

He was still in bed, covered with a blanket, and she towered above him – in this position their height difference didn't matter.

Judging by her answer, she liked that.

"Stay where you are."

"I don't really feel comfortable like that!"

"I don't give a damn."

The only thing he could do was suppress his anger. She had too many trump cards at hand – and he couldn't even use his telepathy against her, the gift was too weak so far!

"Fine!" He laid back on the pillows demonstratively. "Talk, if you can't be civilized about it! What did I do to get your attention?"

"You gave me too much of yours. You've been searching for my personal file. You kept asking everyone about me. You tried following me around to learn the secret of my power."

He thought he was prepared for this – but her words just pushed him back into shock. He'd been doing all those things, but he was sure she didn't notice! He was a telepath after all… and yet she caught him off guard. He spent the next couple of seconds just looking at her, unable to say a word.

Her eyes were shimmering green in the dark. He didn't know why.

"How?.." he'd finally managed to utter. "The twins?.."

"No, they didn't betray you. They share your interest and tried to follow me. But we're competitors, which explains their interest. And your case is special."

"Because I'm a human?"

"Because you're a terrorist."

She said it casually, as if it wasn't a big deal, but that casual tone made her even scarier. Karajo wasn't trying to lure the truth out of him, or check him, or make him ashamed. She just stated a fact that wasn't too extraordinary to her.

She wasn't guessing it, she knew everything for sure. The weight of the medallion on his chest suddenly got so heavy that he was afraid it would crush his bones.

Arriz didn't know what to say, because any excuse would sound fake at this moment. Luckily, Karajo didn't expect any reply from him, she continued talking.

"Don't worry, I'm the only one who knows so far. Your friends have no idea about it, and I'm not planning to tell them. Me and them are on one side, but our ways are not the same. I��m planning to kill you personally, but later. Right now I just want you to stay out of my way during the exams."

"I'm not…" he began, but grew silent abruptly, not knowing what to say.

"You're not what? A terrorist? You're amusing, and an amusing enemy is not a threat. I decided to give you some answers, just to get you off my back. Don't waste my time on trying to prove you're not part of "One Breed". That's not under discussion."

"How did you know?" he was finally able to ask. "And when?"

He still wasn't sure how to react to this. He felt like a mouse trapped in a cat's claws. And most importantly, he had no idea what game Karajo was playing.

"When?" she repeated thoughtfully. "The day you came here. Which made it even more fun to watch the others slowly accepting you as their friend. To me it was never an option. But before I explain to you what gave you away, let me tell you a story. It's a sad story without a happy ending – a spoiler for you. Do you know what happens between a child passing all tests successfully and flying to Ceres?"

"Medical examination," Arriz replied. He had to play by her rules so far.

"That's right. There are special child hospitals for that. The children with high potential are brought there for furthers exams. It's a very important phase that can last for weeks or even months, so the kids have to live in those hospitals. It's not too bad, it's actually quite fun with everyone there being so friendly and happy to see you. One big holiday! Unless, of course, a hospital is seized by terrorists. Sure, those hospitals are guarded well, but you can't foresee everything. For instance, around three years ago the terrorists from One Breed managed to capture a children's hospital right in the center of a big city! Everyone inside ended up hostage. It was a creepy event – all over the news back then! Have you heard of it?"

Arriz nodded slowly. He could already feel where this was going, but he refused to believe. It couldn't be true!

"There weren't any hybrids inside when this happened," Karajo continued. "Just kids without a single gram of the hybrid matter in them, their parents and the hospital staff. All humans. But it wasn't important for the terrorists – those humans helped the Second Breed, they deserved to die."

"Don't…"

He didn't want to know. Somehow the prospect of knowing what was happening inside the hospital on that day filled him with greater fear than Karajo's appearance.

But there was no pity in her.

"It was easy for them to take control over the hospital. They killed the guards at once, together with all the doctors. They left the kids and their parents alive though. They weren't planning to spare them, they simply thought that the ones who chose the hybrid way weren't worthy of a quick death. The main target of this attack were the hybrids who'd come to free the kids, so the kids were used as a bait. But they weren't hiding their plans to kill everyone in the end."

His weak control over his telepathy was working against him. Arriz could not only hear her words, he could see the flashes of her memories in front of his eyes. An airless room, tears and blood on the floor, people wearing black clothes… and the horror. A wild, animalistic sensation that comes when you realize your death is looking you straight in the eye.

Those were the things those kids had to face. The kids who dreamed of becoming heroes.

"And the terrorist who was guarding you was my father."

Even saying it was painful, on the very primitive, almost physical level. But Arriz had to voice it, because otherwise the guilt would just overflow him, killing him from inside.

"That's true," the shimmering eyes were watching him calmly. "I didn't expect you to guess it. Yes, I was in the room he occupied. He wasn't screaming at us, or shooting like his buddies. He was just telling us of the fate that awaited us – so evenly and confidently. He told us about the chemicals they were going to use, about the pain we would feel and the agony we'd go through. And naturally, we deserved it for betraying humankind."

He saw it all through her. His father's eyes, filled with hatred… Arriz wanted to destroy those memories, rip them out of his mind at any cost, because they were ruining the image of a loving Daddy he'd been working so hard on to create!

They were ruining his lies.

"He knew he was going to die, and that made him stronger," Karajo explained. "He wasn't afraid of anything. I don't know why nobody tried to escape. I couldn't – my mother was there too. She got a job in this hospital as a nurse to be close to me all the time until I left for Ceres. We sat in the corner together, trembling from fear that was overwhelming us. She kept whispering that everything was going to be alright. But she didn't believe that, and I didn't believe her."

"Karajo, I don't want to know… Please…"

"Why not? That's the mission you've been following. The goal that justifies all means. You father believed that. I kept looking at him for hours, and I remember that faith in his eyes too well. That's when I learned to hate… I couldn't imagine such a dark feeling in my heart before! But once it appeared there, I realized it was for good. Then he kept his word: he and his friends brought chemical weapons with them."

Arriz knew a lot about it – he had studied the subject when he was a cadet. Chemical and biological weapons were the basis of the Organization's arsenal. Killing hybrids was very complicated, nearly impossible with mere bullets. So One Breed had to create the chemicals that burned them from within.

But those weapons were to be used against hybrids, strong opponents, warriors! Not against a bunch of horrified kids and their poor parents. Arriz was trying to tell himself that his father couldn't do it, just couldn't! But Karajo's memories were already bringing the cruel justice into his brain.

His father could do it. And he did.

"It all begun with the arrival of hybrids, their main target. They threw a bomb into the room where I was. It was filled with paralyzing gas, and its effect was immediate. I fell on the floor, unable to move. I was the youngest of all the kids in the room, I didn't stand a chance. My mother fought it a bit longer, but she only had enough power to cover me with her body. Then they brought fuel… they burned us. I could hear screaming and gunshots, but couldn't see anything save for fire and smoke. I couldn't breathe. The paralyzing gas numbed my pain, but only a small part of it, and I still remember the moment the darkness took me from there."

She was slowly unwrapping the bandages from her right hand while she was saying this. Arriz couldn't move his eyes away from her, as if her movement controlled him. The gauze was falling onto the floor like snowflakes, baring the dark scarlet skin underneath it. Ugly skin, wrinkled, covered in scars. It still had small wounds on it, leaking puss and blood.

And Karajo's voice sounded so cold by now that she seemed dead.

"When I woke up, it was over. The fire was off, and the hybrids were carrying us out of the building. Do you know what else I remember? My mind stayed clear just enough time to feel my mother's corpse being ripped off my back. The fire was so strong it melted us together. She took part of my skin with her. When I realized she was dead, I wanted to follow her."

She was looking at her hand thoughtfully and peacefully. The pain was over for her… but it had only just begun for Arriz.

"I was different before that, and I viewed the hybrid world differently. My mother adored them, ever since I can remember myself I knew I had to join them. When I passed all the tests, I was ecstatic. I wanted to be a hero… like those little idiots Octavia had mentioned. But the fire changed everything. I understood that I had to become a hybrid, but not to save anyone. I had to kill. It was a heavy duty, but someone had to take it. Being an assassin is not my dream, it's just something I have to do, so that the hospital nightmare would never repeat. That's why I have to become the best in my class, to rise as far as I can. When I reach Octavia's level, there won't be any terrorists. Ever."

"Then why am I still alive? If you recognized me at once…"

"Oh, I did," she assured him. "I spent hours looking at your daddy, long enough to recognize his features in you. Your eyes, your face, even your laughter… it's all his. You are him, and looking at you makes me remember the hatred I felt back then. But I can't kill you. If I do that, I'll get expelled and won't become a hybrid."

"You could've told the headmistress…"

"Don't you even dream about it!" Karajo laughed. "First of all, nobody would believe me, and I don't have any proof. He wasn't your father officially! I know that, because I've been gathering the information about him since that day. Derek Songo didn't have any family, no-one left for my revenge. Now imagine my surprise when I first saw you! That's the second reason why I'm not telling them about you. I want to be the one who kills you, and you joining the Organization makes things easier for me. I'll track you wherever you are, Earth is not big enough to hide you from me. And then I'll kill you. From now on you'll live thought each day knowing you'll die soon. I came here to tell you that."

He could see why this was so entertaining for her: waiting for death was worse than actually dying! But strangely enough, he wasn't afraid. His father's past terrified him, but not the punishment he was going to face. There was even some twisted form of justice in here…

Karajo hid her mutilated hand under the bandages again, and he sighed in relief.

"The hybrids didn't have to save me," she concluded. "Many kids died that day, and I could easily join them. But my test results were supreme, one of a kind even. The Second Breed decided not to waste them, and I got an urgent hybrid matter injection. It saved my life. It didn't make me look normal though, as you can see, the burns were just too deep. But I don't really care how I look. I only care about how strong I am. All of that is the reason why they call me an experiment. Does that make me sound like a monster to you? Well, according to "One Breed", we're all monsters here. But of all kids on Ceres, I'm the best candidate for that role. And I was turned into that monster by Derek Songo and the Organization he served. Never forget that."

He couldn't forget. All those words and images burned into his memory… just like the fire burned her skin. Karajo waited for a couple of moments, curious about his answer. But Arriz had nothing to say. She headed for the door, disappearing in the flash of light from the hallway. And the telepath was left there, staring at the ceiling until the artificial window lit his room with morning light.