Blank Slate | ONC2023

Chapter Four: Collateral Damage

I allow myself five minutes in the bathroom before dragging myself back to the heroes. While five minutes is not a lot, it's enough to shake the chill out of my fingers and ease the tight grip my heart has on my lungs. I can do this. I can get out of here without messing up. I just have to keep a lid on it until I am alone.

Shaky amusement slides through my teeth and onto my lips, wavering like a climber's grip about to slip. Nothing like no pressure.

As I approach the heroes, their conversation abruptly cuts off and Aben waves away one of three holograms hovering over his holowatch. David smiles at me and waves me to a seat.

I pause, eyeing them as I stiffly sit. What were they talking about that they didn't want me to hear? Do they suspect me? A hand squeezes my throat and I struggle to take a steadying breath. They can't already. I haven't done anything. Except lie about everything important, a thought in the back corner of my mind hisses.

David clears his throat, leaning his elbows on his knees and pointedly not looking at Aben. "That aside, So far we've established that Blank Slate has something to do with you and knows your location. In this case, there are two options: go to a safe house or implement security measures."

They're thinking of making me move? They can do that? My stomach turns into a cold lump of steel, heavy and burning, while the rest of me leaps around in a chaotic mess of alarm. There must be some things of Blank Slate's hiding in there, like clues or possible memorabilia that'll trigger a memory or something. I can't uproot and leave it behind for the heroes' pickings.

I shake my head as calmly as possible, curling my fingers into tight fists inside my pockets. "I don't want to move." Please don't make me do this because then I'll—I'll have to run away or hide or something.

Aben scowls and cuts the air in front of him with a sharp gesture. "Your location is compromised. Blank Slate knows where it is and he could come back any time and get through any defense with his power. In a safe house, he doesn't know where you are and we'll be able to install layers of security that'll at the very least slow him down."

Galah nods as she spins her pink stick between her fingers. "Think of it as a vacation house. Our safe houses are pretty sweet." She grins, spreading her fingers out wide. "We use them all the time while traveling, and they're decked out with the best mattress you can imagine."

"Yeah." A smile flashes across David's face, briefly loosening the tightness around the corners of his eyes. "It's a lot like vacation. We'll accommodate all your needs and we'll tell your boss that you'll be, uh, out of service for a while. Heroes' orders."

He looks at me, seriousness falling back into place. . "Or you can opt for more security. We can set up cameras—infrared only and not invasively, of course—security fields over the doors, sensors, and check-ins for as much safety as we can provide. But as Aben said, there's still a big risk."

"A huge risk—"

David shoots Aben a glare so cold it probably was lower than zero kelvin. "But ultimately it's your choice," he says to me, not taking his eyes off Aben.

Aben's face says otherwise, but he folds his arms and leans back on the wall, eyes smoldering.

Holding back a grimace, I drop my gaze to my lap, my thoughts tumbling around like a thousand plastic balls in a washing machine. My choice. Is it really? Or if they think a safe house is better will they force me there anyway? Aben seems all for the safe house and Galah seems to be in favor, but David is pretty adamant that it's my choice.

David seems to be the leader here and, from what I vaguely remember about heroes and from my brief googling, heroes follow the chain of command pretty strictly so he could override. But would he? Is this all a front put on for the pretense of not exerting complete control?