Project Sable Rose, Wolfheart [online e reader TXT] 📗

So just tell me where we’re going!”
“Fine. We’re going to say hi to your sister, Deseray.”
“Deseray? Really?” She was thrilled. The bird gave an excited screech. “That’s wonderful!”
“It is.”
“What about Sable? Can I see her too?”
“No.”
“What?! Why not?”
He frowned, looking away. “Because we have to work around her schedule, and her handler keeps her very busy.”
“Like Sable would take that!”
“She seems to be enjoying it. He said she gets anxious when she’s sitting still, as if she doesn’t know what to do with herself in her free time. She has to be following an order of some kind.”
That didn’t sound anything like Sable. The girl hated to be told to work all the time, without breaks and something that entertained her in between. But then again, it wasn’t like Terra had ever wanted or even liked birds, and now she couldn’t think of going an hour without her falcon.
“Oh well. Let’s go see Deseray.” She tried not to sound as hurt as she felt.
Terra followed her handler down the hall, up three flights of stairs and into a much different hall. It was intended for people without sight; nothing sharp or hanging, all tile floors and soft walls that wouldn’t echo. Echoing would cause confusion for those who weren’t used to it; like Deseray. As they walked, the dorms all had different doors. They had different textured mats or no mats at all. There were numbered.
It was honestly very eerie and bare, but it was ingenious for its purpose.
Soon, they stopped at a door. It had a red mat and the number and letter P1. Terra knew instantly that her sister was the first Pyrotechnic, and that’s what that stood for. Inside, she could feel pain and anger. Terra could hear a man talking about controlling emotions – which was only pissing Deseray off.
“We should go in before that man in there is no more than cinder stains on the carpet…” Terra advised her handler.
He opened the door and followed her in.
“Hey Deseray.” Terra interrupted the lean skinny dude scolding her about control. He wore an outfit that screamed ‘I-think-I’m-all-that’.
“Who the hell are –“
“Terra!” Deseray was hugging her before Terra’s heart could beat a second time.
Relief, love and grief slammed into her like a tsunami wave. Terra fought to stay on her feet, to not be drowned and consumed by the powerful emotions that had ambushed her.
“Deseray…” The psychic whispered, feeling suffocated by the intensity.
“I’ve missed you.” Her sister told her.
“I…can’t…breathe…”
“Oops.” The pyrotechnic gave a false laugh.
“What’s up with this room?” Terra turned on the boy. “You’re the retard pretending to help her, right? What’s your name, asshole?”
She instantly felt his anger, Deseray’s joy and amusement and Leon’s shock.
It isn’t like her at all! What is going on here? Should I have her leave…?

It was Alex’s thoughts. She tried to block everything out, but instead she seemed to hear more.
That’s more like Terra. I’m glad she’s not changed much after all. Maybe one day I won’t be afraid to hurt her…
Who the fuck is this bitch? She should get outta my face and mind herself!

Overwhelmed, Terra grabbed her head and tried to block it out.
“Damn it!” She growled. “Stop thinking so damn loud!”
Leon and Deseray were both beside her, their concern only making it worse.
“Get. Away. From. Me.” The new psychic growled.
“But, Terra…”
Leon took control. “I knew this was a bad idea. Her energy levels are too high. I’m sorry, Deseray, for bringing her here on such a day. Forgive me for my misstep, but we must leave immediately.”
Terra allowed him to lead her away. She felt a tug of concern, hate and love from somebody, but the pain in her head…it was so much…

****

Deseray listened to her sister’s heavy footsteps and realized it was partly her fault. She’d somehow triggered the painful energy-thing that her older sister was suffering through. Turning to Kyle, her handler, she glared at him.
“Why don’t you try to be useful like that Leon?” She demanded. “Did you hear him blaming her for mistakes made by the medical team?”
He grunted. “I can’t help it if he’s fallen for her. But I’m not that kind of guy. I don’t get personal.”
“Then stop lecturing me and tell me why you’re here!” She tried to keep the anger from her voice; she knew by now that anger was dangerous.
I can’t kill him. I have a feeling that this much anger will do some serious damage.

“S-sure. Look, I’m sorry I blew up like that.” She heard his leather jacket shift as his shoulders sag. “I got in trouble for not controlling you better. My pay was docked – again.”
“Fine. I’ll try harder, alright? It may be useful if I could get out once in a while like Terra does.”
“She goes to gardens and stuff to train her bird and give her focus. If we did that, you could reduce the entire place to ash.”
Slumping herself, Deseray found her way to the bed.
“But I do think I have a solution. You need something to help you find your way around.” He pulled something out from behind his back. She heard his breathing quicken, but wasn’t sure if it was fear or excitement. He handed her something metal.
It was long and strong, and about her height. She felt it slowly.
“A staff?”
Why must I be so helpless?

“Yes. I asked about a guide dog and they said that it was too dangerous with your…abilities. When you have control of them, then I might be able to get you a shepherd or something, but by that time…you’ll be well able to sense your surroundings…so…don’t count on it.”
“Thanks.” It was frustrating to feel relief and even happiness over a metal staff.
“I’ll slowly help you learn to fight once you can control your ability over fire, alright? It’s completely different than shooting bullets at a distant target.”
“I’ll bet.”
They were quiet for a while. The pyrotechnic listened to his breathing and heart rate; he was anxious. And there was something else…
Is he not as uncaring as he portrays?

“Is there something else, Kyle?” She asked quietly.
“I’m just trying to think of somewhere safe for you to…get used to people being around. To their heartbeats and breathing, to their movements and voices…”
“What about the café?” Deseray asked hopefully. “You always get my food for me…”
His heartbeat shot up in a pattern Deseray was sure was panic.
“Fine.” She snapped.
She heard him force himself to relax. “It’s a bit crowded for you yet, isn’t it?”
“How am I supposed to learn then?” She demanded.
Kyle took in a breath. “I have it!”
“Where?”
“The library.”
“The…what?”
“The library. It’s always full of new kids who aren’t fit to be combatants learn all the book stuff. The book worms, med professionals and computer geeks are there even after they are integrated into their jobs. But it’s not nearly as crowded and loud as the café. That and most of those people are relaxed.” He, however, was getting more and more excited. Deseray could hear the wind his hand made as it zipped through the air. He was apparently being very expressive with his gestures. “They are even-tempered – friendly, even.”
“Really? There are people like that here?”
“Your sister was, wasn’t she? Before all those changes were made?”
“You mean Terra?”
“Who? I was talking about that Sable Rose. She was cussing out her handler and programmer today.”
I feel sorry for those two.
“Yeah. She was mildly friendly if you didn’t step on her toes.”
Unless she knows you, anyway, she wasn’t the friendliest. Granted, she didn’t go out of her way to piss people off like that bastard at the shooting range…

“Snap out of it. Do you want to go or not?” Kyle sounded a little irritated.
“Sorry; I was remembering Sable. The library is better than here. Maybe I can get an audio book or something about technists.”
“Well, after you get some social training in, that’s fine.”
“What do you want me to focus on?” She asked quietly as he lead her out of the room and down the hall.
“For now, just talk to somebody and listen to their voice, heartbeat and breathing patterns like you do with me.”
“Right.”
And she followed him, with an irritating and depressing amount of excitement, toward the one place she thought she’d never see.

Chapter Five
Riddle's Quest

The thud of somebody beating on Sable Rose’s door pissed her off. It’d been a very difficult day and she was particularly sore. The pain pills didn’t seem to kick in fast enough to relieve the ache in her knee or elbow.
Setting down the violin that had become – somehow – a very vexing but relaxing thing to do after training, the woman limped to the door and swung it open. Then she lifted an eyebrow at Jayson.
“What are you doing here at twenty-two hundred?” Then she spotted the case in his hands. “And what’s that?”
“Oh. It’s a new training tool, since you’re getting better at your physical therapy.”
“Really?”
Another gift…? What the hell…?

She waved him in. Whatever was in the bag was making her uneasy.
“Yes. You need to learn how to activate and control computers; it’s a vital skill for a technist team.”
“So…this is work related?”
“Sure. Let me show you something.”
He set it on her table and pulled out a laptop.
“I know how to operate a laptop.” Sable growled, going up to touch the on button.
“Sable, wait –“
Anguish bolted through her every nerve, putting her on the ground before she knew what was going on. It was as if she were being electrocuted by a thousand volts of lighting. Jayson was right there, saying something her mind couldn’t understand. Her vision blurred in and out.
Slowly, her mind cleared and the feeling faded.
“Can you hear me, Sable?”
“Yes.” The technist groaned. “What in the Emperor’s name was that?”
He sighed. “I couldn’t risk you taking short cuts and turning it on and using it normal. I would lose you to another handler and you would lose all your freedom as well as personal memories – and the desire to have a personal life altogether.”
“What?” She was able to move to the bed. “Then how do I work it?”
“With your mind, Sable Rose. You need to access it and learn it using your mind.”
“I can do that?”
She vaguely recalled him saying the same thing to the men who’d refused to be her stupid handler simply because she didn’t have the obedience program thingy.
“Indeed. It’s unique even for most technists. I made the program and hardware, but it’s more or less because you can now access your entire brain, including parts that only psychics can. But thanks to the explosion, those parts are now only accessible when you feel electric currents or some kind of computer.”
“So…how do I do it?”
The programmer’s cheeks flared red. “I have no idea. I’m a programmer, not a brain scientist.”
“Oh.”
Why should I do it at all?

“Then forget it.”
“Huh. I would have thought you wanted to see your sisters more than that.”
Anger mixed with hope. She wasn’t sure which was stronger. “What do you mean?” She had him against the far wall of the room.
“I-I mean they will let you see your sisters if you behave yourself and learn to use those wonderful abilities of yours.” He