Tin’s interrogation at the COHH secret headquarters wasn’t nearly as rigorous or suspicious as he imagined it would be. He was sure to wear his crown, and he sat before Rhodium and the other metals feeling more nervous than he let on.
“… footage shows the rampage…”
“…we’re so happy you’re still alive…”
“…who knew she would be the greatest asset…”
“… underestimated spirit energy manipulation…”
The board seemed to be taking the destruction of the CZS in stride and they viewed it as a valuable learning opportunity.
“We want you to retrieve Worthington,” Rhodium said finally. “We can’t find him, it’s possible that he is dead, but we want confirmation.”
Tin nodded. “I’ll do what I can.”
Rhodium eyed him and he felt the pace of his heart quicken a bit.
“You think he’s dead,” Rhodium said, trying to assess his tone and mood that she registered as off, more reserved than usual.
“I have no idea,” Tin said. “When he never came back to the CZS, I assumed that he was dealing with something more important than the launch.”
“Well, we know that his two security guys are working against us now, and he took them with him to Knoxville. It’s safe to assume that his meeting with Yuri James did not go as he hoped. What I can’t understand is where they could have taken him that we can’t find him. Worthington’s disappearance has revealed a blindspot for the COHH, we need you to cover the gap.”
Tin nodded dutifully.
“I’m glad to be the board member in the field,” he said.
Rhodium nodded.
“We will need to deal with the Brave soon. I can’t imagine that she won’t follow up a successful attack, now that she has joined up with the Detective and the daughter of Worthington’s last resurrection subject.”
“Whatever happened to that guy?” Tin asked, genuinely curious. He had been resurrected from death by Dr. Worthington with the hope of harnessing the transformation reaction that he had developed from tainted drugs. The result was a man whose head exploded every five minutes and then reconstituted.
“We saved him from the fire,” Rhodium said, “and believe it or not, it did the trick. He was incinerated down to his bones and the rescue team watched him reconstitute. His head hasn’t exploded since he was found. It would have been great to learn this before the launch, but you brought us very powerful men who will do Earth proud.”
Tin nodded, trying very hard to hide his dismay.
Aile is worried about Adam and Manuel and she wants to force them to sleep. They all want to take action against the CZS and whatever dark ties they have outside of Durham, North Carolina, but until they know more, there isn’t much to do.
Aile is brewing a tea that should help them sleep deeply and recover physically, and she stands over a large pot while she contributes to Wendy and Anesuishe’s conversation. Isheanesu and Fang are there as well, but he stands silently next to Anesuishe, and she sits next to Wendy mostly listening.
“Rhode is dead,” Anesuishe says. “I saw his spirit and I know an untethered spirit when I see it.”
“When we find him and Miriro,” Wendy says, “we can learn alot about that place. They must have been there with Tin for a while, they were helping him.”
“I will gladly wring that witch for information,” Anesuishe says. “She sacrificed her own ancestor for power. Rhode had real talents that she wasted. He deserved better.”
“She is hiding isn’t she?” Wendy asks, looking at Fang who works with Anesuishe to search for Miriro’s energies.
“She is very skilled,” Fang says nodding.
“I think Tin can help us find them,” Wendy says. “But I don’t want to blow his cover.”
“You shouldn’t trust that man,” Anesuishe says.
“I know,” Wendy says. “But we don’t really have a choice unless we can find out more some other way.”
“Paul is looking into that organization,” Aile says as she ladles tea into two large mugs. “The one he said he saw at that place. I think they sound familiar to me too. Maybe they sponsored some event or charity I went to back in my tennis days.”
“What kind of organization sponsors charities, police studies in communities, and also makes zombies and sends them into space? Oh, and don’t forget the inhuman ghost magic.” Wendy is exasperated. The more they dig, the more confusing it all is, the more impossible it seems to get a handle on.
Aile feels Wendy’s frustration, but she leaves through the back door where Adam, Manuel and Falon are training with Xiaoming in incantations. None of them can see Xiaoming, but he possesses them and teaches them incantations and sparring techniques.
“Dàbó,” Aile says and Xiaoming emerges from the body of Adam. “Adam and Manuel need rest. You can continue with Falon, but those two are exhausted.”
“We’re fine,” Manuel says, “really. We want to be as ready as possible when we know more.”
Adam is sweating bullets even though the heat of the summer is relenting to the cool of the fall.
“I promise you, the tea I made for you will make your training even more effective. Sleep now, you can get back to it when you wake up.”
The two eventually relent and they go inside, leaving Aile with Xiaoming and Falon.
“How’s it going?” she asks them and they both speak at once.
“Your uncle’s teaching me how to fly,” Falon says.
“I think this one is a medium,” Xiaoming says.
“Are you a medium?” Aile asks. “You’re the one that talked to Stephanie in Durham right?”
Falon nods and sits in a lawn chair under the big umbrella that seems to spring up from the middle of the hexagonal table like a giant flower made of metal and plastic. Aile sits across from her and leans on the metal top of the table.
“I never seen a ghost before I saw your sister. I didn’t want to tell Xiaoming, but I can see him. I’ve been able to see all of them since I first saw Stephanie. She changed me I guess. And I want to do the kind of stuff Wendy does. You think I got ancestors out there somewhere?”
“Of course, but Western customs don’t really have plans for the afterlife other than being in heaven or hell. Christians think the type of stuff we believe in is devil worship, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s respect for the people who made you and it’s their way of protecting you in your life. Christians rob themselves of their ancestors’ ancient knowledge in favor of a shared delusion of paradise. Are you Christian? I shouldn’t assume, I’m sorry.”
“I’m not really religious, but I know my family, my ancestors would have been.”
“I hope I didn’t offend you. I didn’t even take advantage of my ancestors being here for me for a long time. It was hard for me to accept. But I only know what they teach me, what Wendy’s ancestors teach me, and our cultures have things in common. We believe that we can be protected by our ancestors, they can make us strong. And we don’t worship them, we show them respect, and as a medium, we can learn secrets from them that most of the living don’t know.”
“Yeah, that’s witchcraft to a Christian,” Falon says. “But I don’t think that way. I hope I can learn from y’all and maybe I can find my own history.”
Aile smiles, “That would be nice. We can add to the family.”
Later, after Aile goes inside to check on Adam and Manuel, who are both sound asleep in beds on the second floor, she passes the office on the first floor where Paul is pouring over papers that cover the top of Wendy’s desk. She walks in and stands over his shoulder looking at the printouts of stories about an organization known as the Consortium of Human History. There are also stories about a man named Dr. Roy Worthington, one about an award he’d received from the organization in the late nineties.
When Paul notices Aile, he turns enthusiastically.
“I know we don’t know each other that well, but if you don’t mind, I’m at the point where talking this outloud would be helpful.”
“Sure,” Aile says and she leans against the desk.
“This Consortium is about as old as this country. Dates all the way back to the 1700s, and it’s international.”
“What exactly is a consortium?” Aile asks, having heard the word before, but never really understanding its correct usage or purpose.
“It’s an association of like-minded organizations. There’s plenty of them all over the world, consortiums of hospitals that might share best practices, or government agencies, things like that. This Consortium of Human History is an association of organizations that deal in all things related to the study of mankind and its origins. They’re the reason we know as much as we do about the history of mankind, but they got together across organizations that had ideas about human origins, like historical societies and libraries, and organizations that dug up artifacts and studied the remains, like universities or museums with the resources to do archaeological digs, and they basically funded it. They threw money at the people doing the work to answer the questions they wanted answers to, and they found them. So once they found out about history, they turned their attention to the current state of humanity and that led to all sorts of stuff, not all of it good. They funded a lot of the research that people used to justify slavery and white supremacy, but it seems like they pivoted away from that after World War II and they’ve funded a lot of studies that seem to be aimed at community organization.”
“That all sounds like pretty standard stuff,” Aile says, shrugging. “All old institutions have dark histories.”
“Right,” Paul agrees, “and if you stop there, everything’s pretty standard, nothing to see here. But we know better, because we know about the CZS, I saw the connection when I was there, and Dr. Worthington has documented affiliation with this Consortium. So we know that there is more to it. Who’s to say they’re not funding the community organization stuff as a front for something darker? Me, Adam and Manuel got into all this some years back when we found mutated people being experimented on in a low income community, just like the ones the Consortium funded and studied. What if the zombie army that Ivan and Clay got sent into space to lead, are the people this Consortium is supposed to be helping? It sounds crazy, but it wouldn’t be the craziest thing we know to be true.”
“If all of this is true,” Aile asks, pretty convinced of Paul’s theories, “then what can we do?”
“We can expose them,” Paul says resolutely. “We can shine a light on their darkness.”
Aile sees a righteousness in him and she believes that he will fight with all of himself to do exactly what he says.
“You have to talk to Wendy.”
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