Septifiria; The Becoming

Chapter 17

   It took a bit of struggling to lift the dead weight that was Gin Saha into the back of the car, and then to belt him in, but they managed it. Septi glanced back at Kin and Kane, who had taken the middle row.

   "I'm sorry about this," she said. "But time is one thing you don't have on your side. Because C.A.M.M. has the law on their side, they could kill you or just make you vanish from the public records."

   "But we aren't mutants," Kin protested. "They wouldn't-"

   "They would," Mes said. "With the new laws that the president put in place, they have access to all your medical records, which say that you have the extra gene."

   "We have the-" Kin trailed off, shocked. "But why did they kill our parents? They weren't mutants either."

   "They were strong carriers of the gene," Septi took up the explanation. "The C.A.M.M. agents learned this, and to prevent them from having any more kids with the gene, they killed them."

   "How do you know so much about our family?" Kin's question, though a very good one, surprised Septi.

   "I'd rather not disclose my sources," Septi said after a slight pause. Her heart had skipped a couple of beats and her fingers had gone white on the wheel, under her gloves. She took a shaky breath and glanced into the rearview mirror. "Guys, it's late. Just relax. We can wake you up when we get there." Kin shrugged and leaned back, and within fifteen minutes was asleep. Kane, on the other hand, stared out the car window, watching the signs closely.

   "Whatcha doing?" Raram, asked who was sitting between him and Kin, asked. He started and looked at her.

   "Just watching," he answered shortly.

   "Look, if you need to know, the VI4C is located just outside of Vegas," Raram said, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Just don't tell the CAMMies that."

   "How do I know you're not CAMM agents in disguise?" he asked, looking like a trapped animal, his eyes darting around and his body language tense, abrupt, and extremely uncomfortable.

   "Oh, for crying out loud!" Raram said, drilling him with an intense stare. "Can the CAMMies do this?" A teddy bear appeared in her hands, and then it turned into a small snake, which curled up her arm, becoming a bracelet before vanishing. His eyes widened, and Raram sighed.

   "What the heck was that?" he asked, very much shaken.

   "An illusion," Raram said, looking away from him. "That's what I do."

   "So it wasn't real?" he asked. Raram bit her lip, thinking of how to explain it to him.

   "According to all of the senses, it was," she said. "It's a mind game, though, meaning that it's technically not real. Really hard to explain."

   "I see," he said, turning to look back out of the window. When Septi finally pulled into the VI4C's driveway much later, his eyes bugged again.

   "Oh, good. We're home," Raram said, yawning.

   "Yeah," Septi said, parking the car. "Could you guys help me carry him in?" she asked, glancing at Gin.

   "I'll help," Kane said. Septi nodded.

   "We'll need someone to sit with him, in case he comes around. Pity that Dr. H is no longer with us," Septi said sadly, pausing for a moment.

   "Yeah," Mes said, jerking awake from her dozing. She glanced around, then added, "so we need to get him out of the car somehow."

   "As if getting him in wasn't bad enough," Raram grumbled, crawling into the backseat and unbuckling him. "What's-your-name? Kane, you've got to help me. I'm going to pull him out of his seat, and then push him. Point is, I need you to catch him.