Manipulator (17 page)

He walked slowly away from the scene, wallowing in his own thoughts.
It’s finally over… Or is it?
He countered himself. Owen waited until they had a little more distance from the crowds around him before he spoke to Nick who was still walking alongside him.
 

“I’m not stopping,” Owen said in a slightly hushed tone to Nick as they walked away from the scene. He kept his eyes peeled open looking out for Kate, but more importantly, he was looking around to make sure that no-one was listening in to what he was saying.

“I’m with you,” Nick replied confidently and without question. “Where you go, I go. This shit isn’t right Owen, I sure as hell hope you wouldn’t walk out on me if I needed the help, so I sure as hell aint going to walk out on you.”

“This might not be safe,” Owen pointed out. “You saw what they did to Marcus. That man invented PRoGRaM and he was killed. They’d have no trouble taking care of a couple of nobodies like us.”

“Doesn’t matter to me. I’ll see it through to the end. Like I said, I’m with you,” Nick said, the determination obvious in his face. Owen nodded in appreciation, happy that he had someone he could count on, even when things got tough. Through the crowd, he spotted Kate, talking to some N.Y.P.D officers nearby. “Kate!” Owen called out, waving her over to them.

She looked around at the sound of someone calling her name and spotted Owen and Nick easily through the crowd. She quickly cut off her conversation with the officers that she was talking to and jogged over to where Owen and Nick were. “What’s happened with you two?” she asked.

“Officially?” Owen said. “It’s over. The FBI has taken all of our equipment, even the portable stuff. They’ve shut down the New York operation completely. We’re going to have to wait around for a call before we find out what’s going on. What about with you?” Archer asked, wanting to know her situation.

“My boss says I need to stay away from the FBI for a while,” Kate said. “That was him who I was just talking to. He say’s that they’re dealing with enough shit at the moment, and they say I should take a leave of absence. I think it’s bad. I think they’re trying to put some distance between me and them, like we made a bad call.”

“It’s not you, I guarantee it,” Owen said. “Your boss authorised the op, and as far as Sterling, our boss see’s it, this is all his fault. They’re just trying to space everyone out so that they have time to think and to sort everything through.”

“What are you two thinking anyway?” Kate asked. She could see the mischief brewing behind Owen’s eyes. He had a plan, and she wanted in on it.
 

“Unofficially?” Owen said in a hushed tone. “It’s nowhere near over. Not for me.”

“How is this not over?” she asked.

“They’re not going to stop me finding Alex Morgan and Ethan Darkes,” Owen said. “I’m going to do whatever it takes to find out the truth. Nick’s with me. Are you?”

She didn’t reply at first, obviously thinking over her reply. “I had an older brother. He died a few years ago. I loved him immensely, and we got on incredibly.” The sadness was evident in her voice, but Owen genuinely wondered where she was going with what she was saying.

“He died in an accident when I was seventeen. If someone turned around to me now and told me that his accident,
wasn’t
an accident, I’d do everything I could to find out the truth. Even if it meant bending a few rules. I’ll help you Owen. There’s just one problem.”

“Which is?” Owen countered.

“You don't have a PRoGRaM device any more. Not even a portable one. You said they took it away from you. We can’t do anything anymore,” Kate said, laying down the facts as she saw them.

Owen walked in silence for a few seconds, then he pushed himself out in front of Nick and Kate and began to walk backwards at a pace that matched theirs.

“Well,” he countered with a sly smile forming on his face. “I think I know someone who can help us with that.”

“There’s something else as well,” Nick butted in, holding his small tablet computer in one hand and tapping at the screen. Owen and Kate looked at Nick as he looked up from his screen, turning it to show the two of them a picture of a man.

“I’ve found Alex.”

Chapter Thirty Three

Date: December 9th 2035

Location: New York Streets

This time, it was easier to talk. Not being stuck in a cramped space with others helped them to feel more comfortable about calling their contact. They walked along the busy New York City streets, blending in easily with the crowd that surrounded them. Certain that they weren’t being followed, they casually pulled out their disposable mobile phone for the second time in one day. As they walked, they kept one hand inside a pocket of their long winter coat, and used their other hand to punch the memorised number sequence into the phone.

They hit the call key and brought the phone up to their ear. It stopped ringing after a few seconds.
Somebody has answered.
They thought, but once again, the recipient was waiting for the caller to make the first move.

“Marcus is dead,” they said quietly as they walked in amongst the crowd. “You did well.”

“Good.” The man on the other end of the phone spoke slowly, thinking about his words before they left his mouth. “Did Owen see my face?”
 

“No, he didn’t. He would have told us if he had seen anything.”

“This is good news,” the man replied, sounding obviously relieved. “I take it that this investigation is now over?”

They sighed as they walked along the street, keeping a keen eye out on their surroundings. You could never be too careful in this game. “No. Owen apparently knows how to get another PRoGRaM device. He needs my help to get to it though. We’ve been cut off by all branches of the FBI. Do you want me to block him and stop him from getting it?”

The voice on the other end of the line didn’t reply. They were thinking.
It certainly is an interesting development.

“I’ll call you back,” The man said without so much as waiting for a goodbye.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

They slipped the phone back into their pocket and continued to walk down the New York City streets, keeping their hand on the mobile, waiting for him to call back.
Maybe they just needed to talk to their boss about it?
 

Even though they had met with the man on the other end of the phone in person before, neither of them had met their boss. The boss was seriously elusive and secretive. Whoever they were, they funded PRoGRaM from the very beginning, before selling the designs to the FBI. They were the ones pulling the strings of this secretive operation.

They felt the phone buzz in their pocket. They took it out, and decided to reverse the roles. This time, they waited for the man on the other end of the phone to speak first.

“About our situation,” the mans voice said slowly. “it will look too suspicious if you try and block Owen from obtaining another PRoGRaM device. I’ve just spoken to our benefactor, and they quite like where this is going. It certainly is very interesting. Give Owen what he wants. Let him wear himself out.”

“Why ask me to help Owen then?” they asked, confused by the logic.

“That all a part of the experiment now, isn't it?”

His words hung between them. Satisfied that the man had finished talking, they decided to change the topic of conversation. “There’s something else,” they said as they quickly glanced around, double checking once again that there was nobody following them.

“Go on.”

“Owen has found Alex Morgan.”

The man on the other end of the phone laughed a little. “Alex Morgan was moved out of the way a few weeks ago. We put him somewhere that we thought Owen would never find him. But it looks like we've really underestimated Owen and his sidekick.”

There was a long pause as this last statement sunk in. There was something in the voice of the man on the other end of the phone.
It sounds like fear…
They continued to walk along, phone to their ear before they decided to speak. “Are you scared?”

“Why would I be scared Kate?” the voice spat back at her.
They used my real name over the phone. They must be scared of something.

“Well...” she said. “They’ve found Marcus. They’ve found Alex. How long is it until they find you, Ethan?”

PART FOUR: ALEX MORGAN

“I’ll do as I please. My mind is not to be imprisoned.”

Pramoedya Ananta Toer

Chapter Thirty Four

Date: December 10th 2035

Location: Unknown

Goodbye Annie.

A flash of lighting, a change of scene. Once again, the world dissolves from one reality and into another. Everything I was looking at moments before is gone, including the sun, only to be replaced by the moon.

It’s dark here now, wherever the hell 'here' is, and the rain is throwing itself down, soaking me through. I’m standing in the middle of a crossroads, seemingly in the middle of the city, with four endless roads stretching out into the infinite.

Redford Avenue.

And here, there’s one lonely building, sitting on the corner of the crossroads. No features, no colour. Nothing about this building stands out, except for one thing, and one thing only.

A red door.

I look down all four roads to see nothing and nobody nearby. The rain is still hammering down from above. The puppet master controlling me forces me to walk over to the nearby red door, only for me to find that it's locked. I rub my hand down the smooth red wood and over the metal numbers forty five, which are right in the middle of it.
 

I'm forced to walk around the windowless house, and inspect it closely, yet I see that there are no other entry points. After a full lap of the building, I end up back at the red door, but it doesn’t want me to go inside. Not yet.

I turn around and walk away from the house, until I reach the pavement. For some reason, I cannot step down onto the road. Instead, I perch on the edge, waiting.

The rain is still firing down, bouncing hard off the ground. I’m soaked through, but I don’t mind. For some reason I stand and wait.

Almost as if I’m waiting for something to happen.

It's true. I know that something is coming.

A creaking noise behind me brings my mind back from it’s emptiness. It came from the house. It came from the red door. I turn to see that it’s slowly opening. A slow creak releases as the door opens wider, but this time, I could have swore that it called my name.

Owen.

Owen Archer.

It’s calling to me.

The door stops moving, now fully open. Although, I cannot see what lies within. All that exists is a small ray of light coming from the open door and piercing the consistent darkness all around me.

It wants me to step inside.

Into the red door.

Into 45 Redford Avenue.

My body feels torn. Should I stay by the road, by the emptiness that surrounds me? For some reason, this body that I’m in feels compelled to stay here. Almost as if it know’s something is going to happen. Almost as if it’s afraid of what lies in wait behind the red door.

Or instead, do I turn away from this crossroads at which I stand, take a leap of faith and walk towards the light?

I see the next part before I hear it. Some lights appear, far, far away in the distance. They're to my left, down one of the four endless roads. Gradually, sound begins to accompany it. A rumbling noise building up, slowly getting louder. I stand still, watching, mesmerised by the lights coming towards me, seemingly unable to move myself. I realise that I’m staring at a car coming at full speed down the road.

I know that car! I realise as it gets closer. I know that driver! It’s Annie’s car! It’s me! And Annie, she’s there too, she’s the one driving.

But why are we out here? Why are we driving in the middle of nowhere?

As I look on in confusion, the car gets closer. It’s thirty feet away now, and I can see Annie in the drivers seat. But she doesn’t notice me. She can’t see me standing on the side of the road waving my arms at her, trying to signal her to stop the car. She has to stop, because I know what happens next.

I’ve been here too many times already.

All around me, time begins to slow down. Not to a total stop, but to a tantalisingly slow pace. The raindrops falling from above begin to slow in their descent, and the speed of Annie’s car seems to drop slowly.

But I know how fast she’s driving in reality.

As for me? For some reason, I’m not affected by the change in the flow of time. Whoever is controlling me seems to be able to move my body completely freely and unhindered. I can’t pretend to understand the rules of this world. I just have to abide by them.

The next part is the part I hate. The part that I want to change so badly. I stand on the side of the road unable to move, forced to just stand and watch. There I am, wanting to shout out her name to try and get her to notice me. To try and change fate. To change what I know is going to happen.