Cured (5 page)

“
Miss
Avery-Rose Optime, daughter of the famous Prunella and Apolleon of
Olympia, the reigning champions of the Prime initiation challenges.
They still hold the record for completing their initiation in the
fasted time, but more importantly, their love story is famous
worldwide!”

I barely heard her words. There was a loud
buzzing sound in my ears and I could not concentrate on Regina’s
voice.

Regina turned to me, her direct tone breaking
through the buzzing drone, “Ms Optime-“

I interrupted her instinctively, “Avery,
please.”

Regina’s smile stretched into a manic grin.
“Right. Aye-ver-ee” She exaggerated every syllable of my name. “Do
you realize that we have now Cured every Descendant on Mount
Olympia, and only one of them has been labelled a Prime?”

It took my
mind a while to process what she had said. A Descendant had become
a Prime? I snapped out of my numb state, filled with hope. Could it
have been Felix? 


“
Uh, if you
don’t mind me asking, Regina, who is the new Prime?” I whispered,
shielding my mouth form the microphone so the masses couldn’t hear
me. I knew my care for Felix would be construed as selfishness.
After a life of luxury, it would only be fair for him to be a Norm
in their eyes.

Regina furrowed her brow and looked at a
stack of papers. “Hmmm, it looks to be a young man named Fee-lix
Fidus.”

I felt a subconscious smile creep across my
face. Felix would live a good life.

“Ah,” Regina noticed my grin, “Do we have a
little crush on Felix, do we?”


I blushed scarlet. “No, no. He is my best
friend.”

Regina
giggled in a sickeningly sweet fashion. “Riiiight.” She winked at
the camera that was recording her and I suppressed the urge to
punch her in the face. “Anyway, Avery, do you think you may be a
Prime after all?” she asked, turning back to me.

I knew for certain that I was no Prime. I
wasn’t particularly gifted at anything, let alone evenly gifted
across the board.

“I strongly doubt that” I mumbled.

Regina looked even more excited.

“Well, let’s just wait and see!”

She handed me a tiny white pill and a
medicine cup full of water. Then she turned back to the crowd.

“Let’s count her down, Norms! Ready?” 
My
hands were shaking so violently that the water was sloshing
everywhere. 
“Three...”

I was happy to notice that Regina was
counting alone; no one had taken her up on her offer to count me
down to my doom.

“Two...”

I raised the plastic cup to my lips and took
a sip of the water, ready to take the pill.

Just as Regina leant toward the microphone to
end her countdown I noticed a movement to my left.

Precisely as Regina said “One,” a body much
bigger than my own barged into me. I dropped the cup of water to
the floor and was wrenched into a sudden embrace. I looked up to
see Felix’s beaming face. For a second, but no longer, he caught my
eye and winked. Still wrapped in a tight hug, Felix discretely
grabbed my hand, which was still holding the Cure, and prised my
fingers open, removing the pill and replacing it with a new,
slightly larger pill. I turned to look at my friend,
bewildered.

“Follow my lead,” he whispered into my ear,
“Fake it.” He then released the vice grip he held on me and stepped
back. The whole process had taken no more than five seconds.

I stood, dumbfounded as Felix sauntered to
the front of the stage where a shell-shocked Regina stood, mouth
agape, watching his show. Felix ignored Regina’s stare and stepped
up to her microphone.

He cleared his throat and tapped the
microphone to ensure the sound was working. A loud crackling from
the speakers boomed over the otherwise entirely silent crowd. Every
eye was trained on Felix.

“
So sorry to
interrupt, guys!” he finally addressed the crowd with an easy grin.
I shook my head, doubting my friend’s mental stability and
wondering if the Cure had rendered him not only a Prime, but also
clinically insane. From where I stood, directly behind him, I
couldn’t read his expression, but I noticed his hands were
trembling at his sides. What was he doing?



Regina
finally came to her senses and blocked the microphone with her
hand. She turned to Felix, “What on earth do you think you are
doing, young man?” she whispered angrily.

The crowd
stood, shocked. No one had ever interrupted the Curing ceremony
before. Ever. Felix gestured to the microphone, silently requesting
the stage. Regina reluctantly removed her hand and stepped back,
allowing Felix to speak. 
He cleared his throat again.

“I’m terribly sorry to interrupt the Curing
proceedings,” he began, “You see, as a Descendant, my father has
been preparing me for duty lately. I’ve barely spent a day on
Olympia this year, instead I’ve been attending conferences and
meetings with my father and other Alphas. As I’m sure the majority
of you now, Avery is my dearest and oldest friend, and I haven’t
seen her in a long while thanks to my hectic training regime. And
then, just now whilst I was backstage with the other new Primes, I
noticed her voice. And, my friends, whilst I am very sorry for
interrupting the proceedings, I just had to come and say greet my
best friend after our lengthy separation. And I had to wish her
luck for her Cure.”

Felix bowed away from the microphone and
turned to face me, but still held the microphone to his mouth.

He had spoken with such sincerity and
conviction that Regina nodded at the both of us in approval before
taking the microphone and covering it with her palm to muffle any
noise.

“A touching story, Mr Fidus,” she whispered,
“But let’s ensure it never happens again. Go back to your challenge
preparations please.”

I noticed a fearful expression flash across
Felix’s face. He quickly replaced it with a grin and waved at the
Norms, before loping off stage, his other hand still closed firmly
in a fist, holding my Cure. He did not look back at me.

“Sorry for that slight interruption, folks,”
Regina addressed the crowd again, “Please be assured that the
ceremony will now be proceeding as per usual.”

One of the
Labour Norms who had escorted me from the HoverCopter to the stage
returned with a new cup of water. Regina snatched it from his grasp
and turned to me again, handing over the new cup.

“Avery-Rose, now you may take the Cure.”


I held my
breath, trembling as I raised the unidentified pill to my lips. I
had no idea what it was, or what it would do to me. But I trusted
Felix. At this point I had no other option. I set the pill on my
tongue and gulped it down, chasing it with the water.

I had watched enough Cure proceedings to know
how recipients usually reacted. Those who were morphing into Norms
usually fell to the floor, fainting for a few moments as their
brain composition was altered dramatically. Primes, however,
usually just looked bemused, as though nothing was happening. Then
their eyes would light up and they would smile. For the first few
days they lived on a constant high, elated, their brains adjusting
to the new enhancements.

I waited for a few seconds. Long enough for
The Cure to have taken effect. But I felt nothing. The crowd
watched me, waiting, anticipating my reaction to a pill I had not
taken. I had to do something. I had to pretend.

Felix had said that he wanted me to follow
his lead. I assumed he meant that I should act as though I too was
a Prime. I decided to trust him and pray that he had a plan. So
with that, I plastered a smile on my face that I hoped was a
convincing imitation of the usual bemusement that overcame new
Primes’ expressions. I raised one eyebrow and looked at Regina, at
the crowd, and at the cameras. I paused for another ten seconds.
Everyone waited, staring wide-eyed in anticipation. Then I grinned,
one of those ecstatic smiles usually reserved for Christmas morning
or other such special occasions. I unknotted my dress, and let it
fall to the floor. I then stalked up to the front of the stage,
praying that I looked as confident as Felix had done. I grabbed
Regina by the face, and kissed her smack on the lips before turning
to the crowd.

“Thanks for your time, I wish you all the
best of luck for your own Cures.” I wiggled my fingers in a wave
borrowed from my mother, and swept off the stage, hoping that no
one noticed my trembling knees.

Chapter 9

I descended the stage’s stairs shakily,
shocked by my own performance and sure that I was caught out. There
was no way I could convince the entire population of Olympia that I
was a Prime. What had I done?

The same two Labour Norms from this morning
approached me when I reached the bottom stair. Only now did I
notice how tall and muscular they were. I could see their biceps
straining against their black t-shirt sleeves. They looked angry.
Certain that they must have known about my blatant deception, I
held out my hands in surrender, ready for them to detain me. The
largest Norm frowned at me confusedly, before shaking my hand as
though I had been holding it out in greeting. The two men then
bowed their heads toward me in the same way that Norms are required
to address Primes. I stared at them as they enacted the universal
gesture of respect. Bewildered and unbelieving. They didn’t know my
secret. They righted their posture and I tried to regain composure.
I needed to maintain the façade, convince them of my apparent Prime
status. Channelling my mother, who was the epitome of a
conventional Prime, I instinctively twirled my hair around my
finger, a habit of hers that I had always despised, but know for
which I was eternally grateful. I spun my locks into a bun, just as
she had done this morning, and found some clips elsewhere in my
hair, to fasten it. Only, then, did I speak to the men.

“Hi there!” I smiled enthusiastically,
forcing elation into my expression to mimic that which was expected
of new Primes.

“Come with us please, Ms Op-”

“Avery, please call me Avery.” I
interrupted.

The Norms looked confused. I realised that
they weren’t accustomed to Descendants speaking to them in a
amicably.

“Err, right. Okay then. Avery, please follow
us.” the largest Norm said.

The men led me to a large glass building. I
recognized it from the WallScreen News, but up close it was far
more daunting.

Standing at the base of the structure, I
looked up, craning my neck back as far as I could. The top of the
building still disappeared into the clouds. The sun glinted off the
glass panes, so the whole building looked to be glittering.

One of the men stepped up to the enormous
glass door and placed his eye on a sensor screen build into the
wall. The machine scanned his eye with a slight humming noise.
There was a high-pitched beep and the door swung open.

We entered the building all at once, easily
fitting through the wide doorframe, even with the three of us
waking side by side.

Inside was a single enormous room. Polished
white marble floors covered the expansive area. They shone
blindingly bright from the light coming through the glass walls. A
single piece of furniture interrupted the otherwise empty room. The
large black desk stood in stark contrast to the whiteness of the
space. One of the two Norms pointed at the desk and lightly pushed
me in its direction before turning to go.

“Don’t go!” I said, grabbing the largest
one’s sleeve. “I need you.”

The man smiled kindly, but shook my hand away
from his arm.

“I didn’t even get your name.” I said, but
the men were already leaving the room.

“But there is no one else in here,” I
protested, shouting after their retreating figures, “I don’t know
what to do.”

The men closed the door behind them and I
heard it seal shut and click as it locked automatically.

“Nice to meet you too.” I yelled after them
and my voice bounced off the walls. I suddenly felt very alone.

I walked the length of the room to the desk.
On the surface lay a single piece of paper with the heading
‘Newbies’ and six names listed under it. There was also a fancy
looking pen lying next to the parchment. I picked it up and began
to write my name at the bottom of the list. I wrote the ‘A’. Then I
stopped. The other names were written in perfect penmanship, with
the exception being ‘Felix Fidus’ which was written in Felix’s
usual rough handwriting, although I could see that he had attempted
to write it on a slant.

My suspicions were confirmed. He too had
faked his Curing. I scratched his name from the list. If anyone
were to see it, they would know that he was not a Prime. I thought
about the calligraphy in which Mother wrote all her party
invitations. Her handwriting always looked as though it had been
printed by a WallScreen because her hand was so steady. I had never
been good at art, nor calligraphy, but it would be obvious that I
was not a Prime if I wrote in my usual childish scrawl. I turned
the paper to the side as I had seen my mother do countless times as
she wrote out invitations. Then I slowly printed my name in an
imitation of her swirly, slanted font, which was barely legible
because it was so loopy. Then I did the same for Felix’s name. When
I had finished I stepped back and admired my work. Not too
shabby.

I set the pen back down on the desk and
looked around, wondering what happened next. There was a faint
clacking of high heels coming in my direction, so I tried to stand
with precise posture, like Mother, and opened my eyes wide. Primes
always looked alert. Regina Quaint entered the room through a
hidden door to my left.

“Hello again, dear,” she offered a cold
smile.