Control Group 5

Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

"So, there's something you need to explain to me." I bounced onto Dimitri's bed, shocking him from sleep. Having a con for a father had bonuses. Knowing how to break into Dimitri's house in the middle of the night was one of them. The lifeform sensor had assisted, telling me where I could find Dimitri. I could sense his parents sleeping in the next room, so I spoke quietly.

"Raya?" Dimitri rubbed his eyes.

"Who else? Tell me why your name isn't on my brother's lists of club members. There's no Dimitri. He doesn't exist."

"Well, I could hardly show up at your school using my old name, could I? Dimitri is my middle name. My real name's Max. Max Antonov. And my real hair color is a lot lighter than this. It's a weak cover, I know, but it was the best I could do."

I unfolded the piece of paper in my fist, searching for Dimitri's real name. There it was. "Good, that's what I'd hoped. The Corporation - whoever they are - seem to forget about those that were in club once their memories have been erased. I've checked with some old club members, none of them remember a thing about their testing days."

Dimitri nodded and climbed out from under his pale grey sheets. He was wearing only boxer-briefs. Realizing this, I averted my eyes, but not before getting a good glimpse of his six-pack.

"Dimitri - should I still call you that? Or should I call you Max?"

"Stick with Dimitri," he said. "Max is my old name. I've come along way from that name. Plus, it's better that you stick with my cover story. In case we run into anyone from the club, you know."

I nodded. "That makes sense. Dimitri, why do you think they didn't erase my memory right away?"

"I would guess it's because they're lazy. If you suddenly dropped out of the club, and didn't remember anything about it, the other members might get suspicious. They might look into things, they might see that someday their memories would be erased."

"I think that's what happened to Jordan. I think he found out that his ex-girlfriend had been forced to forget. But... But I don't understand why it hasn't happened more often."

"I think that's why they have the Contract." Dimitri returned to the bed now that he was fully dressed. "There's a clause, remember. After you graduate, you're out, and you're never to come to a meeting, or to mention the club. It wouldn't seem all that suspicious then if you ran into an old club member and they didn't remember anything. You would just assume that they were pretending."

"Right," I said. "Paperwork. Paperwork is keeping everything from being exposed. Only Jordan didn't believe Lana, or something. And he started digging." In the back of my mind, I wondered if Lana had just been pretending. Maybe she did remember the club. Maybe I had been too willing to see something that wasn't there. No. She was too convincing. Too innocent. There was no way she remembered.

Dimitri came over to where I was sitting on the bed. He was fully dressed now, wearing blue jeans and a blue t-shirt with some kind of funny equation on it. "I'm really sorry about your brother, Raya. It will get easier. You'll remember him. The memories will hurt, but not always so bad."

I stood up. "So I found a lead."

Dimitri looked at me, and then moved in the opposite direction, giving me space. "I figured. It's five in the morning. What kind of lead is it?" Dimitri slipped on a lined hoodie. Put his car keys into his pocket.

"The scientist kind. A man. Dr. Stanwick. Jordan's notes say that he used to be the lead scientist at Bio-Loom." I followed Jordan out of the house, keeping my footsteps quiet as we snuck past his parent's bedroom.