The Last Red

Chapter 14: Turquoise

I tilt my head stubbornly. "Only for the lack of options."

He chuckles as smugly as it gets. "Yeah, must be tough having to hide those beauties."

I squint, lost for a moment, then realize he's referring to my eyes. "What're you doing here? Is this where they transferred you?"

"Tsk," he clicks his tongue. "I came for you. Told you I'd find you," he takes determined steps toward me.

I pull a knife out of my pocket so fast he doesn't even have time to process it. "Stop right there," I put it against his neck.

"Woah," he raises his hands slowly, "what earned me this lovely welcome?"

"How are you here, rambling freely?" I ask.

"That's... a long story."

"I'm not in a hurry," I hiss. "How did you know where I was?"

"That's already a question number two."

I inhale with anger. "Are you enjoying this?"

"What's enjoyment? Not replying to irritating questions? Then yes."

We just stare at each other bluntly for a while.

Then he grabs my hand and pulls me in a deadlock before I can react, my back stuck to his chest.

Ok, I never ranked high in combat skills. Crap.

"Your personality switched 180 since you left the block," he says, "I'll give you that. But I don't like talking with a knife at my neck," he takes it out of my hand.

"Get off of me," I say as he loosens his grip and lets me go.

I face him just in time to see him aim the knife at me, then throws it at full speed.

I shut my eyes waiting for the pain to hit.

Nothing.

I exhale, opening my eyes in terror.

He simply bends to pick up the knife out of the sand, a dead phigee stuck on its sharp end.

"So you did live in the Wild afterall," I swallow hard.

"Nope," he lends me his hand. "Like I said, I learn fast."

"I bet you do," I look at him with narrow eyes. "One doesn't get to number one by learning slowly."

He sighs in defeat. "I got military training before joining KTL, okay? But how I managed to be number one in the block is only because I wanted to be number one. Badly. That's all there is to it."

"There's something really untrusting about you, Koben."

"Regardless, let me help you clean that dressing before you die of sepsis."

I take his arm reluctantly. On the plus side, if he wanted to kill me he could have done it by now, so... I guess I can use some help with my wounds.

We walk very slowly toward the set of trees, me half-limping all the way. 

"I bet you can't believe your luck to have run into me. Well," he quickly corrects himself, "run is not really the appropriate word here..."

"I was pretty fine by myself and my cane, thank you very much," I cut him off.

With the corner of my eye I see his lips stretch. "Is that so?"

"Yes," I enunciate through gritted teeth, then continue my breathing in a regular cycle. Inhale shallowly, then exhale slowly.

Inhaling deeply would hurt too much, because my ribs are tender. "And don't think for a second I believe you being here is a coincidence."

We enter the set of trees and I let go of his arm.

"Of course it isn't," he says, helping me sit on a tree trunk, then throws something my way.

I manage to catch it last second.

It's the bracelet he offered me the day before he left. 

"What should I make of this?"

"Check your wig," he says.

I frown, running fingers over my slick black wig, then feeling the fabric over my scalp. Slowly.

Until I feel something beneath it.

I take my wig off and notice there's a tiny chip stuck inside the fabric.

Another tracker.

I meet his eyes in surprise.

"Now you know," he nods once. "Just out of curiosity, what was your plan if someone saw your eyes?" 

"Don't patronize me," I say. "I've got wits. I would've thought of something."

"So it's your wits you rely on," he smirks, undressing my wound.

"Be careful with that," I warn him.

"Yeah, I don't need advice from someone relying on wits, thank you very much." He stops to give me an intense gaze. "Do you even have a spare clean cloth?"

I tilt my head in irony. "D'you think a freakin' crop top is my fashion expression at minus ten degrees?"

He shakes his head, laughing. "You're so lucky to have me, Red." He rips a piece of his shirt, around 3 inches wide. 

"I do have a disinfectant," I say all-important handing him the bottle.

"I'm impressed. She does think of something..."

"Yeah, she thinks of a lot of things. But you can't always have a plan."

"Look where that got you."

"Got me out, didn't it?"

He shakes his head, quitting on our fight. "Weren't you supposed to escape with someone else?" he narrows his eyes. Thought you said we when you talked about the escape."

I clench my jaw. "You heard wrong." I don't feel like sharing my emotions with him right now.

"Voila!" he taps my calf twice when the dressing's fully secured.

I inspect the wound site with suspicious eyes, then twist my lips in surprise. "Who knew you would be somewhat beneficial."

"Ahem," he clears his throat, "somewhat? Excuse me, but I'm used to a simple thank you after saving someone's life."

"Oh, get over yourself. We've got a phigee to cook."

"You good enough to light a fire or should I do all the work?" he teases.

"You'll have to do it. I've got another one of these to take care of," I tap my lower-arm.

"Sure you don't need help?" 

"I got it." I untie my dressing, then look at him hesitantly. "But I'd appreciate another piece of clean cloth."

He shakes his head, then rips another few inches of the hem of his shirt and I change the other dressing as he goes to collect stones.

He throws some branches on the ground then rubs two stones against each other until he lights a fire.

I come closer to get some warmth and watch him skin a phigee. He really doesn't seem to know what he's doing.

"You gotta pull the knife away from you," I tip him, "not towards yourself."

He does as told, then slants his lips in surprise. "Huh, look at that."

"We're very lucky to have so many trees," I tell him. "My family and I used to light phigees' fur in order to cook the meat."

"Yeah, I've heard trees were much scarcer back then around here. Not in the East, though."

"Is there a lot of green there?"

"Green... yellow, turquoise, red... You name it."

I nod multiple times, curiosity killing me. "What does turquoise look like?"

He lifts his head off the phigee and looks away. "It's a very intense color. Like a mix between your eyes and the sky. But deeper."

I nod, chills running down my spine. "I wish I could see it live."

"You will," he casts a deep glance at me. "Isn't that why you were headed northeast?"

"To be honest, I don't know why I was headed there."

He stabs a stick through a phigee and places it over the fire, then looks at me. "Well, I'm hoping it was the Wall. 'Cause that's why I came for you."

I watch the meat change its color from red to beige as the flesh gets roasted. "And there I was thinking you were a knight in shining armor," I ironically declare. "But no, he came to trade me. Well, to convince me to trade myself."

He watches me, expression unchanged. "I thought you gave me this because you were down with the plan," he takes out my necklace from under his shirt.

My hand runs to it.

"Here," he takes it off. "You probably want it back."

I'm not gonna deny that - I accept my necklace back and hang it over my neck.

"Have you changed your mind? Once again..."

I watch him with furrowed brows, not sure of whether I wish to venture to the Wall. It was only an option I wanted to keep open. But I shouldn't strand him along - I need to make up my mind. Living in the Wild's not an option for him. Only the Wall is.

Then it dawns on me - he didn't get accepted.

"What happened at your A.S?" I ask, my heart beating in my ears. I'm finally sitting in front of someone who went through the Screening - finally, I'll know. Not that it matters now.

He takes a deep breath. "There were three possible destinations if I passed," he hands me a piece of roasted phigee meat as he installs himself next to me. "Each of them had one representative there - a human..."  

Koben's P.O.V.

The Screening door opened and a bright white light hit me from within, so strong I had to narrow my eyes to see. 

Even the lady that ushered me in was wearing a white coat. Such a stark contrast to the greyness of the block.

"Welcome, Koben Tanaka L.," she gestured me in with her hands.

There were three other people in the room, each seated behind a little desk of their own, each representing one of the three possible destinations I could be accepted to. But they weren't regular desks - each had a light turned on. I knew that lights on meant I still had a chance to go there.

"This is our number one athlete," the lady proudly stated. "He's been keeping his spot for almost five years. Not once was he taken down."

The adjudicators nodded in approval.

I observed the little digital cards displayed in front of each of them. The first one said A. Klein, below it "Base 1". The second wrote M. Oppenheimer, below it "The O.C.". I didn't even bother to read the third one. I knew The O.C. was what lies behind the Wall. This was where I needed to get in.

"Please, take a seat, Koben. Get comfortable."

I sat onto a glass bed-chair that resembled more of a sofa than a chair.

Two robots attached some wires onto my neck and wrist, right above my Omnia chips.

"We'll start with physical abilities, then proceed to the genetic structure analysis, and end with mental abilities" she addressed me. "Just try to relax and do your best. The screening will be done in virtual mode, but everything you do is equivalent to what you would do in real-time."

As I nodded, a needle was stuck into my arm and some sort of liquid was injected into my bloodstream. 

I felt its effects immediately. I was awake and aware that I was seated in real-time, but suddenly I was able to imagine a virtual situation that they wanted me to portray.

The virtual scene I was made to see in my mind was also projected as a big hologram on a large glass over the side wall - for the adjudicators to follow.

First, they displayed a huge tennis court and paired me against a virtual tennis player. We started a match and the opponent got better at every new set - as I moved up the levels. In the end, I won. 

Next, they gave me a basketball challenge. The same thing happened. With each basket, the opponent was becoming taller and more agile. I still won. 

They moved onto mixed martial arts, then track, soccer and baseball. All with ascending difficulty. And I won each one.

When the liquid dissolved, I woke up to see an impressed group of people.

"Well done, Koben," A. Klein exclaimed enthusiastically. 

But I was hoping to hear from Mr. Oppenheimer instead.

"We would expect nothing less from our longest-standing number one," the lady in white smiled at me proudly. 

She then addressed the committee again. "We shall proceed with the DNA structure analysis."

 As she said it, another small needle pricked my finger and a dot of blood was collected by a robot, then placed onto a glass surface under a digital microscope that displayed my entire DNA structure via a hologram against the wall.

A thorough analysis was portrayed in 10 items listed: ethnicity background, built, muscle structure, fiber length, heart strength, IQ level, genius predisposition, stamina level, and oxy-deoxy absorbance curve.

Each of these ten was followed by a 0 to 10 scale.

None of mine stood at any of the two extremes. All of them were aligned somewhere in the middle. But I already knew that... I never was gifted - I had to work hard to be the best. 

The moment Mr. Oppenheimer pursed his lips in disappointment, I knew I wasn't going to be sent behind the Wall. 

The light on his desk turned off and he stood from the chair in silence, walking towards cubicles at the back. 

"Mr.Oppenheimer!" I yelled after him.

He stopped at once, turning with a curious smile on his face. I guess no one had ever called on him before.

 "I won every single match," I demanded an explanation.

"I know," he said simply. "Congratulations. It takes a great mindset to win against such great players with the predispositions you have. I admire that. Truly, I do," he nodded, ready to walk away.

But before he could turn back, I spoke again.

"I'm the best athlete you'll ever lay eyes on. And I deserve to go to. the O.C."

His curious smile turned into a pitiful one. I hated it from the bottom of my heart. I knew what it meant - 'you're simply not good enough and there is nothing you can do to change it.'

"I'm sorry, boy," he said. "I'm not interested in your achievements. In the O.C. we only care about genes," he shook his head. "And yours are not in demand."

He then turned back and walked into the cubicle where his drone awaited to bring him back to his home. 

"There're still other candidates," I said to the lady in white. "Isn't he going to hear them out?"

"Mr. Oppenheimer flies out only to attest the Screening of the top ten," she nods with a fake polite smile."Shall we continue with the mental ability test now?"

I leaned back onto the chair, shutting my eyes in defeat.

I didn't even care how I would perform on the last test. Wherever I got sent to, I knew I would escape.

"For each destination, they tested one field - physical ability, gene structure, and mental ability," I bite into the meat. "To do that, they threw me into a virtual simulation and analyzed my performance and results." 

I decide to keep the rest to myself.

"I was right," she says sounding relieved. "They would've realized my ethnicity." 

I sink my teeth into the meat. "You must be very happy you got out."

Kayla swallows hard, looking into the distance. "I'm not."

I almost chuckle. "Why? Think you would've aced it after-all?"

"I lied about before," she mumbles. 

I frown. Lied about what?

"I didn't escape on my own," tears fill her eyes. "I escaped with a friend," she looks to the ground. "She, uh - she died in front of me," a tear rolls down her cheek.

"I'm sorry to hear that," I say. And I mean it. I'm sorry about lying to her, sorry about her friend that died, but most of all, I'm sorry that I plan to use her to reach behind the East wall.

"The worst part is," she shakes her head. "Maybe you were right. Maybe I could've gone through with the Screening and passed."

"Maybe," I nod. "But you wouldn't have ended up behind the Wall. Your ranking wasn't good enough."

She frowns, probably wondering how I know her ranking. 

"I'd asked Omnia. You told me your full name," I lift a shoulder in apology. "The Wall rep only flies out to watch the top ten. And I know who the top ten are."

She frowns. "How come you didn't get accepted?"

There's that question. I hate the answer to it. "My genes weren't good enough," I clench my jaw.

She glares at me now. "You really think you could be accepted behind the Wall because I'm purebred?"

I love the fact she didn't say 'I'm sorry.'.

 "If we do it my way," I watch her green eyes flicker in the fire, "yes, I do."

I bite into the meat, observing her brood. The taste's mesmerizing - so much better than nutrients.

"What's going through your mind?"

"A million things, " she shakes her head. "For one, I'm glad you're alive."

"Don't tell you're warming up to me," I try to uplift her spirits.

She bites her lower lip nervously. "I don't really want to warm up to anyone. Everyone I befriend ends badly."

"C'mon, you know that's not true. Besides, you don't really want to live in the Wild all by yourself, do you?"

But she obviously sees through my bullshit. 

"Isn't the way I imagined it, but at least it's a certain freedom."

I can see her clutching the knife in her hand. Poor girl, who knows how many traumas she carries for being a purebred rogue. People must've tried to kill her more times than she can remember.

"Gina," I say now trying to calm her down. "I swear I'm not planning on hurting you."

She doesn't say anything, but I see her hand relax a little on that knife she thinks she's hiding well.

I don't know if it's the dried up tears glistening on her childlike cheeks or the fact I'm tired of constantly keeping things from her, but I decide to be honest about this one. "I know for a fact that they don't t*****e their habitants," I say in all seriousness. I'd never bring her there if I knew they'd hurt her.

"Sounds too good to be true," she scoffs. "So it probably is."

She really is beauty and brains.

"What's it gonna be then?" I lean against a tree, crossing my ankles, "you coming with me or not?"