Secret Value of Zero, The (14 page)

◆
   
◆
   
◆

Sterling reclined on his chair, his face inquisitive. Meke’s eyes flickered toward Arya, who stood nearby, face impassive.

“Well, it seems like Trove made a soldier out of you. He said good things about you.” Sterling rubbed his chin. “I have an assignment that I think would suit you. I hope you will accept.” His eyes gleamed, “We’re planning to break into Genex and free all of the patients.”
 

Well, that was unexpected.
 

Meke almost allowed herself to smile. Maybe, she could finally stop these institution guards from kicking and pushing the sick Zeroes. She hated standing aside and watching it, but she had known that she couldn’t do anything. Now, maybe she could do something.
 

“Good, I thought you would like that. The team will leave next week. Everyone will meet tomorrow to plan logistics.”

Meke sighed inwardly. This was the part that she dreaded the most about the soldier’s life: teamwork. She hadn’t worked in a group since—well, now that she thought about it—since ever.
 

“Who’s on the team?” Meke asked.

“You’ll know a few of them. Trove, for one, is going. Theria is going as well. There will be four others.” Sterling said.

The mention of Trove’s name gave her foolish warmth. At least she would know someone.
 

Sterling raised his eyebrows. “Well, will you do it?”

“But I’m not sure I understand the purpose of the mission,” Meke paused. “Why you’re rescuing the patients now. You left them behind before.”
 

Sterling paused, staring at his hands. His star shone back at him. “I know what you think of me. I did what I did for good reason. I didn’t like it, but—it had to be done. Maybe now I can rectify that.”

Meke frowned, wondering if he was doing it for her benefit. If he was, it did her too much credit. She would do it, for the patients and herself.
 

“I’ll do it,” Meke said.
 

Sterling slapped the desk. “Excellent,” he said, waving his dismissal.
 

Meke got up and left the room, slightly dazed.
 

She had done it. Soldier Lichota. It had a certain ring to it. She tried to take the small pleasure that title gave her, but knew it was only a title. The real proof would happen soon, not now. Training meant nothing more than preparation. Now came the reality. She would put herself forth for judgment.

She had to hope that all her hard work wasn’t for naught. That she showed herself beyond that stupid empty thing on her hand. That she would do some good. When she reached her door, she felt Arya approaching her.

“I just wanted to wish you good luck,” Arya said. “I’m going away and I won’t be back until after you leave.”
 

“Thank you.”

Arya paused, and then smiled. “You did it. I’m impressed. It’s not an easy thing, training with Trove. I don’t think I’m up to his standards.”

Meke flushed, not knowing what to say. Arya inhaled. “I know it probably doesn’t mean much, but your mom would have been proud. I, well, I still think that it’d be safer for you to stay here with the doctors. You could—well, never mind that. You did a good job and you did what you set out for.”

Meke couldn’t move her hands to make the simple gesture of thanks.

Arya ducked her head. “Well, I need to go prepare,” she squeezed Meke’s shoulder. ”Good luck. Stay safe.”

As Arya walked away, Meke wanted to run after her and hug her. Instead, she stayed where she was, feeling Arya walk through the Barracks. Meke tried to imagine what her parents would’ve said if they had been alive. Good things, she hoped.
 

MEKE COULD feel them before she entered the room. Six people were scattered throughout the room. Some clustered together, some stood alone. Trove and Theria were there, of course. The other four were strangers to her: three men and one woman. Meke swallowed. She had meant to arrive early, but everyone else had arrived earlier.
 

Meke opened the door and found all pairs of eyes on her. One pair belonged to a short, thin man with a pointed, scruffy chin. His uniform’s shoulder seam hung past his shoulders, making him seem smaller than he was. His eyes swept up at her and then moved onto a new target. A perfect equilateral triangle shone on his hand: an Equi.
 

The other two men were so ordinary-looking that Meke couldn’t remember if she had seen them before. Middling height, average build and lackluster brown-blond hair. They were unremarkable in every physical aspect. Squares shone from their hands.
 

Other than Theria, there was only one other woman. She was small, so small that the top of her head only reached Meke’s shoulders. Her black hair shimmered under the bright lights, mesmerizing Meke. Another Fiver.

Meke had a strange nauseous feeling in the pit of her stomach. These people were strangers. She had no idea if they would smile, frown, or worse, laugh as she played at soldiering. This is what you asked for, she reminded herself. Thinking of her parents and the patients, she walked inside. She felt every pair of eyes on her. Some flitted to her hands. Others remained on her face.

With a slow exhale, Meke placed herself at the edge of the group. Trove approached and patted her on the back. The pat fell so hard that Meke almost stumbled forward.

“Now it begins,” Trove said. Meke nodded, not trusting herself to say any more. “Let me introduce you to the team,” Trove said, guiding her around the room. “Theria, you know.” Theria looked up with disinterest, and then returned to polishing her daggers.
 

“And this is Levin,” Trove pointed at the thin man. Levin grinned at Meke, showing off chipped and crooked teeth. Equis didn’t get the medical treatments that most Squares, Fivers and Stars got. In fact, Meke’s own front teeth were also crooked.

Meke smiled back, heartened by the ramshackle smile. Levin said something to Trove, who chuckled in response. Meke raised her eyebrows at Trove.

“Levin was just telling me how good it is to get someone else to pick on now.” Meke frowned. “That was a joke,” Trove said.

“Oh,” Meke flushed.
 

Trove, after chatting with Levin, moved toward the two men. The two men appraised Meke. “This is Daniel,” after pointing at Daniel, Trove nodded at the slightly bigger man, “and this is John.”

Both men nodded curtly at Meke. They said nothing to her or to Trove.

“And the last, but not the least, Trang.” Trove brought Meke toward the small woman.

Trang pursed her lips at Meke. She leaned back, and tilted her head. After a few moments of careful inspection, Trang shrugged and murmured something to Trove.

“Trang said that she hopes that you and the mission are worth the hassle,” Trove said, face tight.

The docs throughout Prosperon proclaimed Zeroes liars, worthless and burdens on efficiency. Sometimes, Zeroes even seemed inhuman, degenerate. Meke hadn’t quite expected them to embrace her. The words only reminded her of what she knew; she had a lot of work to do.

Once gathered, they reviewed the hand signals and made up a few of their own. Meke supposed that it was the one concession to her presence. Their signals were simpler than sign language, so it was easy for Meke to memorize them all.
 

As they were learning the made-up signal for air-blast, the one powerful weapon remaining in the Prosperon arsenal, John rose to his feet and turned to Meke. He pointed a thick finger at her as he shook his head.

Trove rose slowly, staring down the shorter man. John glanced up, his jaw set. Trove took one step closer and John had to tilt his head to meet Trove’s eyes. The room was motionless as all eyes were on the pair. Meke started to rise, but Levin’s hand held her back.

Trove’s lips moved slightly—so slightly that there was no hope for Meke to understand. Whatever Trove said, it had its desired effect. John glared in Meke’s direction before plopping down into a chair.

She felt Levin shift behind her. He nudged her and handed her a handheld.
 

John is just a Square moron. He thinks that you’re lying about your eyes. He says it’s too dangerous to have you around. He also thinks this mission is stupid. I think he’s just trying to get out of real work.

Meke smiled. She wasn’t so sure about John being lazy, but the idea cheered her nevertheless. She had told herself that her teammates wouldn’t welcome her with smiles and open acceptance, but seeing it in front of her made Meke want to shrink back. Exhaling, Meke told herself that John’s words didn’t matter.
 

Now Daniel examined Meke from across the room with nervous eyes. It was the same look many non-Zeroes gave her, the look as if she was contagious. Meke forced herself to return to Trove’s instructions. He flicked on the holograph, displaying the institution in its glory. Meke had forgotten how beautiful it was: a simple white box that became part of the mountain.
 

Meke inspected the institution’s lower levels. She had lived there for eight years, but she had been oblivious to the subterranean maze under her. The lower levels held the drug production, testing and autopsy rooms. Meke shuddered at the thought of Amelia and Tino lying in the bare rooms.
 

Meke had told them all she knew, which wasn’t much. She told them about the guards’ schedules, some names and where the patients’ rooms were. It felt strange, retelling all these things that she had lived through for eight years. Now these days felt long past and faded in her memories.

As they finished for the day, Meke’s brain buzzed with information. They hadn’t decided how to get into the building yet. It was no easy feat. Surveillance cameras lay in wait everywhere and the codes changed every day. Trove said that they had generated a program that would copy the codes, but it would only work in two-hour blocks. They also had to contend with the thirty to forty guards protecting the institution.
 

Yet, everyone looked bored. Theria twirled her dagger, nonchalant. John and Daniel kept looking at their handhelds. Trang bobbed her head as if she had heard it all before. Even Levin let his eyes wander.

It was all easy for them
, Meke realized. It would be an in-and-out operation. They weren’t going undercover. Nobody would spy on anything. According to the records, there weren’t very many patients there anyway. Trove said that they would slip in during the night and slip right back out.
 

As everyone exited the room, Meke stood by the holograph, staring at the floating image of her old room. Trove slapped Meke’s back as they exited the room. With a gentle tug, Trove ushered Meke to a corner. With a swift flicker of his eyes around him, he positioned his back to the hallway. Nobody could see what they said, not with Trove’s large mass blocking their view.

“Would you be willing to tell me the precise nature of your vision?” he asked, rubbing his neck.

Meke sighed. She had been pushing and testing the boundaries of her vision on and off for the last few months. The boundary felt fuzzy and imprecise, like her sense of things and distance simply dissolved. She didn’t know if she could give Trove this information. She had turned this thing foisted upon her into something her own. It felt as if she told anyone anything about it, it would become less hers.

Trove’s chin looked rough with stubble and his eyes shifted about.
 

“Why are you so worried about this mission?” she asked. “It seems straightforward. We have the code-cracker that gives us some time. The others aren’t taking it seriously.”

“That doesn’t mean that I don’t take it seriously. Anything can happen,” he paused. “You shouldn’t follow the others’ example.”

“Why not? I can do something simple as this, surely.” Meke said.
 

“It’s not that simple. You should know the best of all that this isn’t just a mission for you. This is your chance, Meke. I don’t intend to waste it for you.”

Meke looked up from her hands. “Is this just a fake mission, designed to test me?” She wasn’t sure which was worse, that she needed testing or that this particular mission was all for show. Meke thought of the patients. “And you’re my babysitter.”

Trove remained still at that, then he spoke. “That’s not fair, neither to me nor to Sterling. I don’t think the purpose of this mission is fake. He just took an…opportunity to achieve two ends at once.”

Meke didn’t know about that. “What about your babysitting duties? I don’t want to be coddled.”

Trove laughed. “Coddling? I don’t think that’s the right way to put it. You’re new. Anyone would put you in an easy mission with experienced soldiers first. You start small, remember that. I’m just around to make sure you’re safe,” he said. “Plus, it’s nice being on a mission where we actually save lives, instead of the other way around.” Meke stared at the wall, then nodded. “Good, now will you tell me what you can see?”

Meke inhaled and said, “All right. I’ll tell you what I can see. But I don’t quite know—” Trove’s eyebrows knitted together, “—I haven’t been able to test my boundaries.”

“Perhaps we can do that.” He glanced at her. “Treat it as a strength, not a thing to hide,”
 

Meke raised her eyebrows. “Now I’m an asset? I don’t think John agrees with you.” Meke said.

“Ignore that little-minded man. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about."

“You don’t think I’m lying?”

Trove laughed. “If you’re lying about this, you’re an excellent liar. I know what I see every day, but just because I don’t understand it doesn’t mean it’s not real.”

Meke suddenly felt like Trove deserved his Fiver status. Meke squeezed her hands together. “All right, then,” she said. “Let’s go.”

◆
   
◆
   
◆

A blast of cool air made Meke realize how hot her cheeks were. Trove had decided that the outdoors was the only place that they could test her range. The sun filtered lazily through the leaf-laden canopy, making Meke notice the few spots of red, yellow and brown among the green leaves.