Four

    Deryn was confused as she and Baen stood behind a thick sheet of glass that separated them from a sort of enclosure below. It was a square area that was about twenty feet by twenty feet. The floor was a dull cement with various stains marking its surface and the walls were concrete, riddled with gouges and pockmarks. They looked down on a person. A woman. A hunter. She stood in the center of the area, her weapons sheathed and her body relaxed.

    "What does this have to do with laboratories and experiments?" Deryn asked.

    "Everything," Baen replied. "Just remember, we are perfectly safe."

    "Why does...?"

    Deryn's question was lost as a door directly in front of the other hunter slid open, pouring light onto the ground of the enclosure. She watched as a ghostly white figure stepped into view.

    Panic rose from her stomach and through her chest, gripping her throat and choking her cries. It was the same type of creature from the cabin. It wandered into the enclosure and the hunter remained still. She did not move at all.

    Deryn found her voice and threw her hands against the glass.

    "What is she doing?"

    Baen grabbed Deryn's wrists just as she was about to pound against the window.

    "Everything is under control."

    Deryn pulled against his grip.

    "It'll tear her apart!"

    "Deryn..."

    "Baen! Let me go!"

    Deryn stopped struggling and looked at Baen. His eyes were wide and he held her face only an inch or two away from his.

    "She is going to be okay," he said slowly. "Trust me."

    Deryn stopped struggling and looked back down. The hunter was slowly reaching into her coat and produced two long knives. The creature was not reacting to her presence at all.

    "It doesn't even know she's there."

    "That's right," Baen replied, letting go of Deryn.

    "How...?"

    "Because she's not afraid."

    The hunter approached the creature until she was close enough to touch it. She swiftly sliced its throat. The creature crumpled to the ground as it bled out.

    The hunter turned and exited the enclosure.

    "What did you do to her?"

    "We turned her into an effective hunter. A better hunter."

    "How?"

    Deryn stepped toward the glass, her eyes locked on the dead creature.

    "I'll show you."

    Baen and Deryn stood in front of another piece of glass, this one separating them from a sort of examination room. A bright spot light overhead illuminated a chair with a long back, arms rests and an extended seat to accommodate legs. Various monitors and cords were situated along the perimeter of the room.

    "This is where we do brain mapping," Baen explained, producing an apple from somewhere inside his jacket. He held it out to Deryn and when she shook her head he shrugged and took a large bite. He continued with his mouth full. "In order to deactivate the emotional centers of the brain, each area has to be mapped."

    "You lost me."

    "Where?"

    "Pretty much when you started talking."

    Baen swallowed the apple and laughed. "Maybe I should backtrack a bit. I told you we didn't know where the creatures came from but we know why they are attracted to humans and no other sentient beings."

    Deryn wondered her whole life about that particular enigma. Why didn't the creatures prey on all living beings? She once heard a story about a man who believed it had everything to do with scent. He hypothesized that the creatures were drawn to humans' unique odor and wore animal carcasses for protection.

    He was wrong.

    "What are they attracted to?"

    "Emotions."

    She had heard that too, but that theory was impossible to test in the wild.

    "How do you get rid of someone's emotions?"

    "It all starts here," Baen said, tapping the glass with his knuckle, "with brain mapping."

    "This all seems a bit farfetched," she said, turning toward him.

    "And monstrous creatures appearing out of nowhere and decimating most of the Earth's population doesn't strike you as a little out there?"

    "I guess that's just normal for me."

    "Yeah, well, it's not normal and we may be onto a way to start putting everything back together."

    Deryn crossed her arms and leaned against the glass.

    "So how does it work?"

    "Watch."

    Baen nodded toward the glass. Deryn turned to face the room. It was no longer empty. Four people in white uniforms busied themselves with the monitors and equipment while a fifth led a young man to the angular chair.

    He was tall and slim, yet toned and muscular. His thick blond hair stood from his head in various angles but it didn't look messy. When he turned his head toward Deryn for a brief moment she caught a glimpse of icey blue eyes framed by furrowed brows. There was something about his expression that made Deryn feel uneasy.

    He was strapped to the chair and small plastic circles were placed on his forehead and temples. Once he was secure the chair was straightened and raised into a vertical position. A small screen was lowered in front of him until it was level with his eyes. It burst to life with images and videos. The young man's eyes flickered as they registered each one.

    Baen took another bite of his apple. "You hunters are different. Normal people are easier to read so pinning down the emotional centers is an easier process. Hunters tend to suppress so many feelings that it takes time to elicit and track them"

    The young man struggled to maintain a stoic expression but Deryn could see hints of happiness, sadness and anger in his face - slight twitches, lip biting, eye shifting.

    Deryn looked to the monitors around the room. One displayed various lines and numbers while another showed what looked to be a blueish-red blob that kept changing shape and density. None of it made sense to her.

    "Come on," said Baen, leading Deryn away from the window. "I want to show you something."

    "If a hunter's emotions are so hard to...map, why not use ordinary people?" Deryn asked as they turned around a corner.

    "Longevity of the serum."

    "The what?"

    Baen stopped at a closed door. He produced a white card and passed it in front of a panel on the wall. The door slid open.

    "The serum," he replied, motioning to a large glassed-in box containing tubes full of an amber liquid. "Once we determine the placement of an individual's emotional centers the serum is administered to suppress them. We tried it on people with typical emotional responses but the serum wore off. Even though we eradicated all emotional responses the brain adapted and recreated them."

    "But not with hunters?"

    "Not that we can see. That's the amazing part. Once the serum is administered to a hunter's brain its effectiveness shows no sign of degenerating. We figure the serum will never wear off, which is why we developed this."

    Baen motioned to a different set of tubes, these containing a deep blue liquid.

    "This counteracts the serum and restores all brain function to normal."

    Deryn blinked slowly, trying to process the information.   

"It's a lot, I know."

    "So a hunter is given this serum," Deryn stepped along the glass cases, "and they feel no emotion. The creatures can't sense them. They are basically invisible."

    "In a nutshell, yeah."

    "And then what?" She asked. "Destroy them one by one? An army of zombies?"

    Baen smiled. "Not quite like that. We've managed to track and locate what we call 'hives' of creatures. They tend to gather in packs when not attacking. If we can clear out their hives we can begin to reduce their numbers."

    "Okay," Deryn said with a sigh.

    "Okay what?" Baen asked. "'Okay' you're in or 'okay' you are completely overwhelmed by all this new information and you need some time alone to process what you've just learned?"

    Deryn rolled her eyes toward him. Her answer was obvious.

    Baen nodded toward the door. "I'll take you back to your room."

   

    Deryn sat down on the bed, the soft and springy mattress pulled her weight into its form. She was surprised at the comfort.

    It was too comfortable and Deryn shifted her body trying to find a stable position. She laid down and attempted to settle but could not. She was used to sleeping on harder and denser surfaces.

    She slid from the bed onto the floor, her head resting against its cool surface. She closed her eyes and, without meaning to, fell asleep.

    Deryn didn't dream often. It was rare for her mind to immerse herself into a deep repose that would allow dreams to come to the forefront of her consciousness. Usually she experienced such light sleep that the smallest of noises would arouse her. Here she felt safe and for the first time in a long time had a dream.

    It was the same dream each time she experienced one. She is in a large house - much larger than a normal house - everything was taller and it made her feel extremely short. She runs around the house but cannot find an exit. She is not sure why she feels the need to escape but there is something that is frightening her. And always there is a man in a blue coat. Sometimes he speaks to her and sometimes he simply exists within the dream. As soon as she sees him she feels safe.

    Deryn awoke to a knock at the door. She rolled from the floor to her feet and rubbed her eyes. How long had she slept for?

    She opened the door expecting to see Baen. Instead, she was met by a girl around her age. It was the hunter from the enclosure.

    "So you're the new arrival," the girl said, eyeing Deryn up and down.

    "I am."

    The girl was a couple of inches taller than Deryn with a chiseled jaw and strikingly dark eyes. Her light hair was short and choppy. She had a piercing through her nose and wore an old green jacket over the clean and pristine Ochrana garb.

    She stuck out her hand. "Jordana."

    "Deryn."

    They shook hands briefly. Jordana peered past Deryn's shoulder into the room. Deryn stepped aside and allowed her to enter.

    "So you saw the experiment?"

    "I did."

    "Amazing, huh?" Jordana turned toward the pile of weapons on the chair. Deryn had already calculated the most effective weapon to grab and kill Jordana with if she had to. She knew that Jordana had done the same thing. Hunter's habit.

    "Big risk, volunteering for something like that."

    "I lost someone," Jordana lowered her eyes. "Someone special. Now I have nothing else to lose."

    Deryn nodded. She thought about Dion and Fynn and for the first time truly felt the emptiness of their absence. They had been something to look forward to and now that they were gone...

    Jordana chuckled dryly, breaking the silence. "Plus, who doesn't want to save the world?"

    "Do you think it's possible?" Deryn asked.

    "I think this whole situation has proven that anything is, don't you?"

    "Maybe."

    "Come on. There's something you should see."

    Deryn raised an eyebrow.

    "What?"

    "On level one."

    "What's one level one?"

    "The other side of the coin."

    Deryn's gaze most past Jordana and settled on her weapons.

    "You won't need those. Believe it or not, you are safe here."

    "Says you?"

    "Says the six months I've been here." Jordana turned to leave the room. "Grab your coat though. You look too polished."

    "Too what?" Deryn asked, but Jordana had already left the room. Deryn considered staying alone and stagnant but she would rather roam the mysteries of Level One.

    She picked up her jacket from the floor and followed Jordana.

    "Baen never mentioned level one to me."

    They had descended a staircase to Level Two and were now traversing a catwalk that overlooked an expansive area filled with people and industrial equipment. The atmosphere was thick, the steam of the machines mixing with the sweat of the workers who operated them. And it was noisy. Deryn fought the urge to cover her ears.

    "That's because your guardian is tasked with convincing you to stay."

    "My what?"

    "Looks like someone didn't pay attention during orientation."

    They stopped at a steel door accompanied by a white square with a blinking red dot. Jordana pulled the square from the wall, revealing wires of various colors.

    "Your guardian is your moral compass," she said, as she twisted and rearranged the wires. "They're appointed to each of us to keep our judgment in check. Without emotion we may make decisions based purely on logic."

    The door slid open and Jordana replaced the panel on the wall. The opening led to another staircase.

    "Some hunters are dazzled by the luxury of Ochrana." Jordana continued as they descended the stairs. "Others smell the bullshit right away. That's why they leave."

    "I don't understand."

    "I want you to see how the other half lives."

    They reached a door labeled Level One with a warning that entrance was limited to authorized personnel. Jordana performed the same technique on the panel to open the door. Deryn could not see much beyond the dimly lit hallway but she was immediately aware of the smell. It was a musty smell. Not rancid, but stale. As if it had been centuries since the area had been exposed to fresh air.

    The corridor led to a large area that was dingy, but not what Deryn would consider dirty. It reminded her of a market town she had once encountered a few years back. Everything was pieced together like a patchwork quilt - stalls were made with boards and tarps, old furniture was glued and nailed and tied back goather. Whatever this area was it was well lived in.

    Deryn's eyes were drawn to the middle of the space. A large fountain stood tall, rust covering its former magnificence. It was dry and filled with dirt and a myriad of plants.

    "What is this?" Deryn asked.

    "This is the Hub" Jordana explained. "It's the slums of Ochrana. A place for the useful yet oppressed."

    People shuffled by, their faces hard but their eyes were bright and alive. They carried bags and baskets, their trajectories purposeful.

    As the two girls wandered into the crowd they were surrounded by three children, one boy and two girls. They held out their small hands and grabbed at Jordana's pockets.

    "Whoa!" Jordana said. "Hang on!"

    She reached inside her jacket and pulled out a small, white paper bag. She handed it to the children. They smiled wide and tore it open to reveal a handful of cookies.

    "Thank you!" They chimed before devouring the small treats. When they finished they each gave Jordana a quick hug before disappearing into the crowd.

    Everything about the Hub was new to Deryn. She had never seen so many people gathered together. Travelling in large groups was dangerous, which is why hungers chose to be loners. She wasn't used to so much human noise and children. Most children didn't survive out there and those that did, like Fynn, did not have the luxury of running around and playing. Maybe these children weren't thriving, but they were safe.

    They had a future.

    "Still with me, Dee?" Jordana asked.

    "Yeah."

    "Good. While some live in comfort these people work hard and receive the bare minimum."

    "But they're alive. They're safe."

    "True, but why should some suffer while others barely lift a finger? It's safe, yes, but it's unequal. It's unfair."

    "It seems preferential to the alternative."

    Jordana nodded. "And it is. I just think it's important to see the big picture. Do you think if everything ever goes back to normal that these people will be offered any more political power than what they have?"

    "No."

    "Nothing will change except that what's happening here will happen out there. Power corrupts and those who have it will never let it go."

    "You're thinking too much about this."

    "Am I?" Jordana stopped. "Tell me how you feel after the tour."

    They walked across the open space and past the large fountain. A large opening separated two of the stalls and they walked through. Deryn didn't think the air could get more stifling, but it did. They were in a long corridor with doors along the walls. Some were open and Deryn peered in as they passed.

    "Living quarters," said Jordana. "No less than three people living in a space as small as the room you were given. No bathroom. They share community bathrooms and showers at each end of this hall."

    Deryn didn't say anything. The divide between levels one and three was becoming increasingly clear. The elite leeched off the labour of the underlings. The experiment, and the hope it instilled, was an excuse for the unbalanced distribution of resources. Maybe there was no intent for the experiment to help eradicate the creatures. Maybe it was all a ruse.

    "So who do you think we're saving?" Jordana asked. "Them?" She pointed to the living quarters. "Or them?" She pointed upward.

    Deryn had seen enough.