AEON Paradox| Chapter One: Gelato
Lena Molokov’s hand tapped nervously against the steering wheel of the SUV, steam billowing from hot breath as she waited in the frozen car-park for the right time to move. Why did it have to be her doing this? It was supposed to be Reggie. She was not qualified for this level of field operation and this was out of her league. Of course, the idiot had got himself shot, and she was the only person they had to spare. She could not have refused, even if she wanted to. If they failed here, it was all over. No pressure.
With an impatient huff she leaned forward, peering out the front window towards the old abandoned cathedral that loomed over the parking lot, its once mighty stained glass windows now shattered and broken, the limestone weathered and crumbling beneath layers of graffiti as it towered in front of a backdrop of dusky orange sky. She let out a small, amused laugh. The irony that such an ancient and powerful symbol of religious wealth had in just forty years fallen to abandon and disrepair. And all because of a global energy crisis and the discovery of umbra.
It meant little at first outside the religious realms. Umbra was simply putting a measure and name to the energy that coursed in every living being and existed even in small traces in the inanimate matter of the universe. Most with an ounce of sense could define that energy even on a basic level as the soul or god and of which those great religious empires thrived in making sense of. It broke the mystery and their power plummeted. Where it got dangerous for people like Lena, however, was when that energy was harnessed to generate electricity with no harm to the user or environment. No one could have predicted the inventor overstepping private enterprise and releasing the technology for free to the world. It changed everything.
Suddenly, entire countries with limited access to resources could suddenly access electricity in the palm of their hands and with little impact on the surrounding environment. And like most revolutions in technology, the world evolved swiftly, much like it had in past revolutions. She held no illusion that this history of events was not a result of where she sat now.
They had been trying for years to prevent evil people from using such technologies to abuse people like her. People they now termed as Sensitives. A name used to describe select individuals with higher densities of energy that enabled them to harness and manipulate their own umbra in various and once perceived, supernatural ways. Identified easily with the new technology, many among them were exposed and exploited. Their secrets held for countless generations were no longer underground, her own family among them.
Inadvertently, this patent began a chain of events that exposed hidden communities of sensitives and introduced even more diversity in an already heavily diverse and complicated world. And as expected, there was a divide in the global community between those who believed this was a good thing and others that considered it a great threat.
Lena was in the latter category and for good reason. She had seen firsthand the destruction it had caused when authorities tried to control people who they feared as other and dangerous should they not follow their rules. Lena was here to correct a wrong. One that all of them, her sister, her brothers and countless friends, had tirelessly worked on for years to get to this point. To this particular day.
This was the crunch. The ‘could not fail’ moment, and they had left her at the helm. What was worse, she wasn’t sure she had the gumption to do it. It had not meant to be like this. She was out of her element. Her job was behind a computer with the data. That is where she excelled. To actually be here. To actually be physically in the car. A car that should they not succeed would spell disaster, was overwhelming. This part, unlike the others, could not be undone.
“You got this, Sis. I’ve seen you decrypt a quantum AI in forty seconds on your phone with your pants around your ankles taking a shit. This is way easier.”
Lena snorted at she thought of brother’s crude comment the evening before around the dinner table. Different skill set, but she got his point. She was good under pressure. This was no different. She just had to move. Not her finest strength, but she trained just like her siblings did. She knew how to fire a weapon and hold her own should she require it. Nothing quite like impersonating a ride share service to abduct a child on a Friday evening.
And this was not just any kid. If they didn’t get her now, they were screwed. To succeed here would set in motion a chain of predicted events that would end the suffering of three generations. Letting out a sharp exhale, she glanced at her watch. It was almost time. Reluctantly, she pressed the start button on the SUV as the engine roared to life, sputtering for a few moments before falling into a steady purr.
“Steady now, Lena,” she muttered to herself as her hands gripped at ten and two, her eyes catching her phone mounted on the dash as it lit up with the expected ride share.
Good. Her hack had worked perfectly. Not that she’d expected it wouldn’t. She was the best at her craft. It was now or never. Shifting the car into gear, she reached out and accepted the ride — the screen changing to a map and guidance to the location three blocks away as she reversed out and drove.
She did not need navigation for this. They had been scoping the location for months, looking for the right places where they could wait with little notice from the targeted apartment complex. From their data gathering, the child would be with an older woman, most likely sensitive but not confirmed and definitely working with the enemy. She would pick them up, drive to the local gelato place, Giovanni’s, then park closest to the intersection of Queen and David Street nearby. From there Octavia, her sister, would intercept the car and secure the child while Lena took care of the woman and they got the hell out of there.
“You mean, Kill her?” Lena had demanded of her sister the night before, the thought making her sick. Sure, she had orchestrated many a task where lives had been taken, but directly by her? Never. This would be a first, and a task her family was almost prideful to give to her. She knew she had no choice in this. It was the only way they could cleanly dispose of the threat before they revealed how dangerous they may be. They could not risk her being a brawler or kinetic and creating an offensive they could not counter without drawing far too much unwanted attention.
She was going to have to be swift and fast and that meant ‘a dirty shot with a sudden stop.’ Octavia’s distraction was her one and only opportunity to remove the weapon from her jacket pocket and shoot the woman before she had time to react.
It scared the shit out of her, her insides twisting as she knew the moment was drawing painfully close, not to mention what trauma this would inflict on the child they were there to save. Octavia had assured her she would not let the child see anything, but in such close quarters, Lena was not so sure, nor was she immune to what a nine-year-old could remember later in life.
She turned the corner as the complex came into view, not realising she was holding her breath as her eyes locked on to a little girl with blonde hair dyed pink at the tips and dressed in a bright turquoise coat and soft purple boots, exactly as described. It still stunned her at how accurate their oracle sources could be, and so wrong in other cases. Time was fickle and changed course too easily.
The girl looked up at a larger woman, holding her hand as they conversed animatedly with one another. There was trust. This little girl was familiar with the woman. It made Lena’s blood boil a little that they would go to such lengths to infiltrate into innocent lives. She held onto that feeling. She knew it would benefit for what was to come. Maybe somehow make it easier to pull that trigger. Composing herself and releasing held oxygen, she pulled into the cab rank, winding down the passenger window as she forced a welcoming smile for her fare, who waited just beyond.
“Quick run this evening?” she asked them.
“One second ma’am” the woman announced as she took out her phone and checked what Lena assumed was the app before rounding to the front of the vehicle and comparing the licence plate with the one registered.
Lena had been right to make sure that information lined up. And here Octavia had teased that she was being too nit picky with the details. Who was laughing now?
Seeing all was in order, the woman reached out and opened the back door for the little girl, assisting her inside and strapping her in as the child chatted to her about the flavours she wanted to try once they reached their destination.
“Out for a dessert run?” Lena enquired, attempting small talk once again as the woman climbed into the passenger seat. She was relieved that in this part of the world, most rode shotgun and she did not need to insist. It was crucial to the plan.
“Auntie Mimi promised when I finished my homework we could get ice-cream!” the little girl declared excitedly from the back seat.
“You heard the lass!” the woman smiled warmly.
“She earned this, but with my bad leg and all, walkings not an option.”Lena hid her befuddlement at how warm this woman seemed. She had not expected it, not from their people.
“Well, I can help there. Strap in tight.” She replied with a forced smile before flicking the indicator and merging back into traffic, heart in her throat. So far, so good. Smooth sailing. She could do this. She had not been born and raised in the family business for no reason.
Everything moved fast, her mind barely keeping up with each street they passed until the yellow street sign for David street came into view. Prickles rippled up Lena’s back as she spotted her sister Octavia. Tall, dark-haired and beautiful. Dressed in a simple loose white singlet and navy, high-waisted pleated pants with stiletto heels and a large folio tucked under one arm, she blended into the crowds of office workers, striding with the flow of commuters as they made their way to the nearby underground station.
“Look Mimi! There it is!” the girl called excitedly from the back seat as Lena pulled in to the designated parking spot, watching in her periphery as her sister strode toward the vehicle, appearing she would pass, before turning a sharp left as the woman went to open her car door to exit. With a sharp shove, Octavia pushed the woman back into the car before rounding to the other side, wrenching open the door and sliding in beside the little girl. Lena gulped as her hand gripped around the pistol, wrenching it free as she glanced back desperately to her sister, locking eyes as she nodded to Lena.
“Now!” Octavia barked.
Fuck!
Lena’s attention returned to the woman, now recovered from the shock of being shoved. Eyes flared. Recognition. Reaction. Lips moved as the woman uttered something. Shit, she was a conjurer. Lena tried to wrench the gun free, screaming when it caught on the threads of her jacket and resisted, a pressure building in her skull. Not good.
“Now Lena!” Octavia roared as she turned to the child, gently placing the tip of her finger to her forehead. “Sleep now, sweetheart.”
“I can’t” Lena screamed as the child slumped into the seat, her head hanging loosely. Octavia’s eyes darted, swiftly analysing the situation before she suddenly shot forward, hand around the woman’s throat from the backseat.
“Shut up. Don’t breathe, ever.” She hissed into her exposed ear. Lena winced, realising she had failed at her one critical task. Panicked, she watched as the woman fell silent, fingers grasping to her throat, face going red as lungs refused to be overridden by Octavia’s command.
“Via — I — it got stuck — I -” she stammered as her sister sat back in the rear seat and pulled on her seatbelt.
“Just drive, Lena, and don’t look. It’s not a nice way to go, you can analyse faults later.” Octavia said with an icy calm.
Lena’s grip tightened on the steering wheel, pushing down her disappointment in herself. Octavia was right. Now was not the time. She just had to remember her training.
She glanced out towards the populated street, alarmed by the eyes and pointed fingers as she pulled swiftly back out onto the road. There was no ignoring the twisting and rasping of the slowly dying woman on the seat beside her, but she did her best to focus on the road. ‘Awful way to go’ was an understatement. The stories of the simple brutality her sister could inflict with a touch and word were legendary, but she had never seen it in person. Lena vowed then she never wanted to see it again, relieved that the child had not been awake to witness it.
Soon a greater silence fell on the vehicle, Lena sensing the moment the woman was no longer with them and braving a glance in the rear-view mirror, unable to hide her shame as Octavia gazed back, stern.
“Are they in a position to conduct the transfer?” Lena asked shakily, knowing there would be no talking about anything else for now. Octavia was more informed about the next steps of the mission. Information kept on a need to know basis. All she knew was they needed to get this child to a farmhouse a few hours away and preferably without pursuit. So far, so good. Lena did not know where or what would come next. She was a replacement, after all. Better for security and the greater mission.
“Focus on one step at a time, Lena. Trust that I would have told you should things change. You did well. Messy, but we made it out with the child. That is everything.”
She nodded shakily, biting her lip. They had done it. One shot. A success, no matter the minor improvisation. This was a good thing. She just prayed it would be enough. It kept circling in all their heads like it always had. This was the only way to save everyone. But why then was her gut still twisting with a deep impending dread?
She shook it away, focusing on the road. She had to have faith that when they arrived, Yuri, their brother, would be there waiting for them and successful in the subjugation and detainment of the child’s mother.
They all knew what they were doing was ugly, but it was necessary. They needed both the parent and child, and they needed them divided, and It was crucial to keep the mother in the dark for as long as possible. They needed her to react by taking away what was most precious to her.
To save them all, they had to create a monster.
© 2023, EJ Llemon
