What she was extremely mad about, though, was him going for a second try before he was completely well. She knew how much of a strain all this was causing on his body.
What she didn’t know, though, was what an impact this had on his mind.
****************
Why couldn’t they have just told him the HE was his father, that Katlynn was his mother? Why did it have to be such a great secret?
He knew he should probably keep his mind on the test, but he couldn’t help himself from wandering.
That was probably the reason he had never moved up, never been promoted, no matter what he did. He’d tried so hard, creating new technologies, inventing new things. Most everything at the GCA was either what he made or had been based off of his creations. But they never moved him up. Why? Because they had to keep the secret. The secret that the HE was actually his father. Conner didn’t know why they had kept it from him. Maybe his father felt ashamed that he had let Katlynn down. Maybe they weren’t married and he had to hide it from the rest of the GCA. Conner didn’t know, but wasn’t actually what really bothered him.
What really got to him was the fact that he had succeeded, gone way farther than anyone else could ever have done, and yet what did he had to show for it? Nothing.
Conner had been destined to fail.
It didn’t even matter to him that he had one answer left. He didn’t care whether he got into the HIA or not; he didn’t even care whether he was alive or dead.
It was all just some horrible nightmare. His dreams had been crushed to a fine powder.
Hope was just mere helplessness now.
So he just guessed.
Connor flew through all of the possibilities in the room, then he realized how stupid he had been. I do not begin, yet I do not end. I have no point, but I am meaningful. Find me. It wasn’t a physical point like he had been thinking earlier. Things are not always what they seem, he thought. So many secrets had been kept from him, but the only thing he knew he could stay true to, the only thing that he could control, was what was in his heart. Suddenly, he had an idea. He looked up and suddenly understood what the riddle meant. Love doesn’t really have a beginning, and true love never ends, yet it is always meaningful to the person that holds it in his heart. He understood it! Conner walked to the platform and pointed to his tester's heart.
The tester smiled and nodded. She then turned and prepared his next test.
The room was silent as the watchers were unsure of how to respond to that last test. How had he figured it out? Even Rebecca was surprised.
Connor had to admit, the riddle was the hardest test that he had taken that day.
****************
"Let me be straight with you Agent: This is your decision and your decision alone. It's not my place to be telling you what to do with the information that you gained before you became an agent here. Am I understood?" Adm. Taylor asked. Armaan nodded, then said, "I don't think that I should tell her what I found."
Adm. Taylor waited for an explanation.
Armaan continued, "If I tell her what I did, then she'll take that information and risk other lives without a second thought to the effects."
Adm. Taylor nodded in understanding and returned to his work.
"Well?" Armaan questioned.
"Well," he said," your decision has been made. Go on, I'm a busy man, you know that very well. Do what you think is best."
Armaan left the room, determined to not let Malyssa catch anything from him.
****************
Conner couldn’t believe he had guessed right. Maybe he might be able to last this time. Was he good enough to make it into the HIA?
****************
Imraan swallowed. He knew this might be a problem. He shouldn’t have trusted Conner. “How do you…” His words caught in his throat. He didn’t want them to think he had anything to do with the HIA. “What do you mean?”
“Our sources tell us Armaan has joined the HIA. Haven’t you wondered where your brother has been for all this time?” the HE asked, raising an eyebrow.
Imraan knew he had to be careful here. He couldn’t tell the whole truth, but he had to be careful what answers to give. “I knew he was trying to join the HIA.”
“You did?” The man said it more like a comment than a question. “Then why didn’t you try to stop him?”
Imraan shrugged. “If that was what he thought was best for him, then I figured I shouldn’t stop him.”
The HE glared at him. Imraan wondered once again how the man could look so much like Conner. “His choice involved the HIA,” the HE said steely.
Imraan knew he should have probably expected this kind of answer from the HE because he knew there were tensions involving him and the Chief Administrator of the HIA. Still, he didn’t understand how two men who had supposedly been the best of friends, utterly inseparable, could become so callused between one another. “Why do you have such a big problem with the HIA? What made it so that you hate them so much?” As soon as he asked it, Imraan knew it was a mistake.
The HE gave him such a fierce glare, Imraan felt like he was trying to light him on fire with his eyes. “You are dismissed,” the HE spat out.
“Sir.” Quickly, Imraan stood up and left. He knew he had just ruined all of his chances of making it into any higher offices.
****************
Malyssa studied the eyes of the young man. She knew he wanted to watch the new kid get tested, but she wasn’t about to let that happen. “I know you’re hiding something from me.”
“I have nothing to hide,” Armaan answered. He said it so truthfully that Malyssa almost believed him.
“There’s something more to this cure than you’ve been telling us,” she said.
“Us? Oh, you mean you and the FNTTMS. For a minute I thought you were actually trying to help the HIA. Silly me.”
“This is nothing to joke around about,” Malyssa said angrily. His carelessness was getting on her nerves.
Armaan leaned forward. His eyes were dark. “This isn’t helping anyone, Malyssa. This technology you’re trying to find isn’t going to enhance the abilities of you little ‘soldiers’. It will only hurt them.” He leaned back. “You’re right. This is not a joke. This is not a game.” He leaned forward again and added with a fire in his eyes, “So stop playing with people’s lives like it’s nothing.”
Malyssa was shocked, but she couldn’t let that get to her. “So you do know something.”
“And you know I’m not going to give it to you,” Armaan countered.
“That’s not fair.”
“Neither is it fair that you used my friends as experiments.”
“I can make you tell me,” Malyssa warned. “Withholding information from a government official can get you in lots of trouble, especially when it risks people’s lives.”
“And isn’t that exactly what you’re doing?” Armaan asked steely. “Someday this work that you are doing, these experiments you so carelessly conduct, that’s what will sink you so far into the little hole you’ve dug for yourself, and you won’t be able to get back out.” Malyssa was silent. “I think we’re done here,” Armaan said, standing. Without another word, he turned and walked out the door.
Malyssa stared after him. That kid is really different when he’s serious, she thought.
****************
Connor had it finished. He had reached the last test, and he wondered what it would be. He saw a rack of weapons. What were they for? His question was answered when his tester appeared and asked him which weapon he would fight with. Connor didn't feel comfortable about this, but he chose a blunt sword. His tester picked up the other one and waited for him to attack.
****************
Imraan knew that his chances were gone. He might as well go and join the HIA now, or die trying. He didn't know what to do. He was stuck.
****************