J. Spelbring: Perfection

Four members of the search team, two assigned to each dog, stayed close to the canines. Another group of three trailed behind. All of them had Electroshock weapons hanging from the sides of their utility belts. The vision of perfection was to be brought back alive. Although, sometimes, unfortunate accidents do happen . Angela wiggled her foot and felt the pressure of the holster against her leg. The doctor might refuse to see the danger, but she wasn’t going to be caught by surprise again.

“There is no telling which way she went,” Dyllon said, breaking her out of her reverie.

Slack-jawed, Angela glared at him. As if she needed him to inform her of the obvious. “I’m well aware of the situation,” she muttered.

“I was just saying.” Captain Jones waved his arm in an arc in front of him, like he was showing her the scenery. The remaining part of the sentence died on his lips when her expression twisted into a scowl. Shoving his hands into his pockets, the captain turned away and looked off into the forest. “How would you like to proceed, Detective?”

“Search around the trees closest to the water within a fifty-meter radius. If your men have to leave the stream, make sure they understand to go back to the exact point where they left.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Her mouth curved down. “She’s not your average Renegade. She is smarter, faster, trained, and can be quite deadly.”

Dyllon turned back toward her with a quizzical expression.

“Make sure your men understand the situation.”

“Maybe, if I was better informed, you would find the whole unit more useful.”

Raising her brows, she responded, “I have told you everything that will be useful in the investigation. You make sure your team understands.”

She left Dyllon in charge and went back to the base camp, which was pitched close to the point where Ellyssa had first entered the wooded area. A few other people milled around the site. Two men were checking supplies, while a man and a woman were gridding a map into two-and-a-half centimeter squares.

She went to the table where her map lay already gridded. It was an older map from the 1940s, but it showed all the small townships that’d existed during the time; the modern charts lacked the details of towns that had been abandoned.

A few years after The War, people had been instructed to move to the bigger cities where they could work or in the outskirts to farm. Having all citizens in close proximity led to better control. All the smaller communities were now rotting away.

She used a compass to measure the equivalency of fifteen kilometers on the apex and drew a circle around the area where Ellyssa’s scent had disappeared into the stream. While studying the chart, she listed all the small towns on a piece of paper.

When she was done, she reluctantly pulled out her cell phone to call the doctor. He wouldn’t be pleased with the lack of progress.

Flipping the phone shut, Dr. Hirch opened the door to the lab. He controlled his outward appearance, but deep down, he was worried about the whole situation. Ellyssa had gotten farther than he’d expected.

“Report your progress,” he said to the assistant. He managed to keep his voice smooth and steady.

“Almost done,” Leland answered while he finished applying the adhesive to Aalexis’ temple, where he would connect the next electrode.

Dr. Hirch’s youngest daughter sat unmoving, waiting. Her blond hair was slicked back and pulled into a ponytail. Rows of platinum curls cascaded down her back where the hair escaped the confines of the elastic band. Except for the ringlets, thinner lips, and the defined chin, she looked almost identical to Ellyssa when she was thirteen.

When the doctor entered, Aalexis regarded the doctor for a brief second, expressing no real interest in him and appearing docile. He knew better, though. The young girl was extremely intelligent…and dangerous if the situation called for it. She soaked in her surroundings, mentally preparing for all scenarios. Plus, his daughter’s growing ability to control her power was moving remarkably ahead of schedule.

Holding onto the thin black cables of the electrodes, Leland turned toward the doctor. “Any news?”

“Yes. They picked up her trail, but lost it,” George replied, while checking the green spikes moving across the monitor’s screen in rhythmic patterns. No rise, no sputter, just sixty BPM, as always. The only time there was ever a slight increase was during periods of extreme physical exertion.

Leland cocked an eyebrow. “Oh.”

Dr. Hirch penciled the number down on the chart marked Subject 74. “Ellyssa made it to water. Angela has the dogs working on it now.”

“Your detective will fail,” said Aalexis, her tone matching her expressionless face.

George turned toward his daughter, but the young girl said nothing else. She stared at the doctor with cold eyes.

He ignored her statement. “How are you feeling today?”

“Fine. Thank you,” she answered, without inflection.

“Good,” he said, checking the connections before returning his attention to Leland. The younger man was situated at his desk, positioning his computer monitor. “Are you ready?”

“Almost. I’ve finished the new programming. We should have a better read on the electrical output.”

“Good.” He smiled at Aalexis. “And, are you ready?”

“Of course.”

He walked over to the set of square steel weights and pointed at the five kilogram. “Move it,” he instructed.

Aalexis’ smooth forehead bunched, then relaxed as the monitor beeped at the slight increase in her pulse before returning to normal. The weight lifted off the ground and danced in the air.

“Place it on top of the other one,” George said, pointing across the room.

Following the weight with her eyes as if guiding it with her sight, Aalexis moved the weight without effort and stacked it on top of the other, aligning the sides perfectly.

George never ceased to be amazed, no matter how many times he’d seen her perform the feat. Concealing his emotions, he glanced at Leland. His assistant stared at Aalexis with his jaw hanging open.

“Leland.”

The younger man nodded and checked the monitor. “Same as before. Most of the activity is in the frontal and parietal lobe, and there is activity in the occipital lobe as she moves the object from place to place.”

George directed his attention back at his subject. “Now try the twenty-five.”

The heavier weight moved just as effortlessly to the side of the room, as if feather-light. Aalexis stacked it on top of the others.

“Any changes?”

“No. Same brain waves. Same activity. Of course, the neurological firing is off the charts for a normal human. Not for her, of course.”

“Very intriguing.”

“Why so, der Vater ?”

George broke his gaze off the recently placed weight and onto his daughter. Frowning, he said, “Your skill is growing beyond what was expected.”

Aalexis held the doctor’s gaze. “You let the physics of your known world cloud your judgment. Once you understand the atoms, how they move, how they hum in sequence, what charges them, you would understand.”

Without so much as a flinch of her porcelain-smooth face, the twenty-five kilogram weight lifted off the ground, followed by the five kilogram. A stapler from his desk and his notebook joined in the eerie dance. They floated weightlessly in the air, hovering in space. “There is no weight or gravity to hold down the influences of your mind.”

George stood transfixed; his composure melted, unable to stop gawking until a gasp from Leland grabbed his attention. He glanced at his young assistant, who was standing next to the floating chair he’d recently occupied.