Memory lost, p.20
Memory Lost, page 20
part #1 of The Memory Trilogy Series
“We’ve had enough excitement for one day. Pedro, show our guest to the communal shower, get her some fresh clothes, polarized contact lenses, and make sure she gets the room next to mine. Once she’s settled in, no one is to disturb her. She needs rest.”
Wye almost moaned in relief. The Head Mother’s words relegated the stinky pen to the past and the promise of a warm shower to her future. Although she was grateful beyond words, a twinge of regret surfaced, because the Outsiders’ communal shower didn’t sound as enticing as Comfort, but she couldn’t be too particular about the offered accommodations.
Head goon Timoteo opened his mouth, and Frances held up her hand. “Wye Botero is my guest for as long as she’s in El Cielo. Don’t even start with me, Timoteo. If you have an issue with my leadership, bring it up with the Council. Until then, please be a darling and do as I say.”
Frances cradled Wye’s hand between her warm ones. “We’ll talk later. Please make sure you eat the food Pedro delivers to you. A medic will stop by later with a refreshed insulin patch. Yours got damaged.”
Wye gaped at Frances, who patted her hand. “I searched you while you were passed out. Remember, you can take a person out of the Kingdom, but you will never get the Sister of Mercy out of me.”
Wye whispered, “Thank you, and I am sorry about your tea set. I’ll pay for it.” Or more like Cooper could pay for it, because she still didn’t have a credit to her name. That would come after their fake assignment.
The Head Mother only smiled beatifically and replied, “Your Kingdom credits are worthless here. Don’t worry about it. Eat and get some rest.”
“When can I go home?” asked Wye. The unexpected wave of homesickness that accompanied the question stunned her. It felt like an entire year had passed since she’d promised Cooper she’d be back to finish their conversation.
“Go rest, Wye Botero of Ravenrocks. We will talk about this and many other things tomorrow.”
20
Audience with the Overlord and Lucinda
A guard escorted Cooper from his dwelling to the Overlord’s personal library. Their steps echoed down the dimly lit stone hallways, blending with the evening hum of workers with floor polishers. Throughout the Kingdom, the sharp odor of detergents indicated the preparation of all spaces for Remembrance.
When they reached the door, the indistinct murmur of conversation made him pause, and Cooper’s nostrils flared at the strong scents of citrus, ylang-ylang, and rosewood lingering at the entrance. This floating miasma signaled only one thing. His mother was in that room. Her unexpected presence troubled him because, incapable of original thought, the Overlord was susceptible to making decisions based on the opinions of the person he last spoke to. Overlord Leopold was in conversation with his mother, who hated Wye.
His firm knock received a muffled “Enter” while the conversation inside continued. He exhaled an anxious breath before opening the door. And there she was. An open bottle of his mother’s prized Bordeaux sat on the gleaming mahogany table in front of them. Lounging next to the Overlord, a relaxed Lucinda balanced a half-full wineglass on the couch’s armrest. Her attention was riveted on the Overlord.
“Don’t worry. I can temper the boy’s excitement.”
“This whole unorthodox assignment, and now this girl escaping. Is this going to jeopardize my plans for his career?” asked Lucinda glumly.
The Overlord gently patted Lucinda’s hand, which lay on the seat between them.
Cooper stood in the doorway, amazed at how much things had changed for his mother to behave in such a familiar fashion with the Overlord. Leopold had always been courteous to his mother, but he had kept her at a distance. What had changed after his father’s death?
“I assure you, these are passing distractions. I’m certain the boundary has taken care of this whole unpleasant situation.”
“Oh, Leo, you devil! You always come up with the best solutions to everything,” said Lucinda.
Where they actively ignoring him?
Cooper cleared his throat, and they looked at him with the expression of thieves caught with their hands on stolen credits. “I’m so sorry for interrupting your conversation. I wasn’t aware the Overlord had company,” said Cooper and then bowed to the Overlord. “Thank you for agreeing to see me.”
“Will you join us?” asked the Overlord, shaking a mostly empty glass of red wine at Cooper. Lucinda must be in a generous mood, because normally she hoarded her wine like a dragon.
“Thank you, but no. You’d want me clear-headed for our discussion.”
“Bah, my boy. We have things to celebrate. We’ll leave the debrief for later. Go on, join us for this moment of celebration,” he said, gesturing for Cooper to take a seat.
Cooper sat stiffly on one of the wing chairs across from the pair. Taking a deep breath, he tried to control the anger that threatened to blow up his chest. Because what was there to celebrate? There wasn’t time for this when Wye was out there hurt. “But, sir, this really important situation is what I came to discuss, and we shouldn’t wait.”
Anger flashed momentarily in the Overlord’s eyes, warning Cooper to tread carefully. He couldn’t afford to provoke the man’s ire because he needed his help to find Wye.
“My boy, I say what’s important. I care for you, but don’t push my affection when I’ve clearly stated my desires. I’m still in charge. Don’t forget that.” The Overlord emphasized his point with his wineglass.
Cooper remained silent and made sure his face was an inscrutable mask, when inside he was a roaring fire of incandescent rage.
The Overlord nodded, as if he approved Cooper’s silence, and took a long sip of wine. “Thank you for such a job well done with your special assignment. You and your girl have certainly captured the people’s hearts. The citizenry is mourning her.” The Overlord spoke of his people’s pain in such an offhand way that the intensity of Cooper’s rage sputtered into ice-cold disbelief.
“Son, forget Wye’s escape,” added Lucinda. “You need to focus on your work as SecChief.”
Forget Wye being hurt? Forget her being in danger? Forget her life for the benefit of what? To maintain the status quo at all costs? Shock turned his whole body into hempcrete, and he sat immobile, cemented in place, barely managing to gaze at the cruel construct across from him that he was supposed to call Mother.
“I’m delighted your mother is witness to the fruit of your labors. All talk among the citizenry about the ridiculous and unfounded Dainne supernova is yesterday’s news. Cooper, my boy, I wanted to thank you personally.”
The man was celebrating his failure to protect Wye. Cooper’s hands shook, and he flexed them to stop himself from choking the smugness out of the Overlord’s eyes. Showing his real emotions in front of these two wasn’t the best course of action. He couldn’t risk the Overlord’s displeasure and, well, honestly, his mother? She could burn in hell before he’d ever ask her for help. That left him with begging the Overlord for search resources.
“I will not give up on Wye. I know she’s out there. Please release two Tunnel Corps squads to search with me, and I will bring her back.”
“There’s very little chance she’s still alive. The boundary . . . ” his mother said, fluttering her fingers at them.
“Then where is her body?” Cooper snapped at her as she sipped her wine and cocked an eyebrow as if to say Who cares? He wondered if he could make her choke on her wine.
“No, no search. We must focus on Remembrance preparations,” replied the Overlord, waving away their bickering.
Cooper gritted his molars hard enough his jaw ached. The Overlord and his mother’s responses made the situation untenable, and that made the decision for him. They’d left him with no other options. He’d have to deploy the scorched-road option to get his way. He leaned his elbows on his knees and cleared his throat before he lobbed the holy hand grenade of the Kingdom on them.
“If you will not help, then why shouldn’t I go to the press and tell them how you refused to search for their beloved Raysa because you only cared to use our fake assignment as a distraction?” Cooper grinned at them as blood roared in his ears. The Kingdom controlled the press, but he was certain the Patricians’ gossip network would spread the rumors of his story all throughout the Kingdom.
After another sip of wine, Lucinda said, “Leopold, if he goes to the press with that story, we don’t have time to revise the universal memory file. It’s been sealed. Remembrance will be ruined unless you want to delay—”
Was she talking about memory manipulation? Suspicion bloomed within him. Did his mother manipulate him or Wye? He shook his head. Impossible. It was illegal to tamper with Patricians.
“The Festival of Remembrance is the Kingdom’s priority. It will not be delayed. Not on my watch,” the Overlord interrupted her, a flash of anger in his eyes.
Cooper’s stomach dropped. He shouldn’t have been surprised the Overlord wouldn’t even entertain helping search for Wye. He contemplated defying Leopold’s decision and searching for her by himself. His defiance could trap him in Ravenrocks or cost him his life, but would any of it matter without Wye?
“However, citizens would expect a search-and-rescue attempt for the girl. We don’t want to seem callous just because she used to be a Drone,” Lucinda said tersely.
Disbelief hit him like a cold bucket of water to the face. Was his mother siding with him?
Overlord Leopold, looking pensive, stood up from the settee, then put a hand to his back and groaned. Cooper stood and lent a hand to steady him. The Overlord stretched his stiff back and placed his heavy hands on Cooper’s tense shoulders. “You’ve made your mother all worried about your impeccable standing in the community. I will send one squad.”
Relief almost made Cooper’s legs give out on him. “Thank you so much. I will meet them at the—”
The Overlord pressed his index finger into Cooper’s chest. “No, you will stay here. The squad will go without you. You are compromised by your feelings for your Raysa. No matter the result of the search, you will not bring the subject of this girl’s disappearance to me again. Understood?”
Stunned, Cooper opened his mouth to object to the ludicrous condition, but Overlord Leopold waved him off. “Don’t thank me, Cooper. Thank your amazing mother.” Leopold kissed Lucinda’s cheek, and before leaving, he said, “Don’t forget my Remembrance request.”
Lucinda nodded and flashed the Overlord a beatific smile. “I’ll take care of it myself as you requested.”
Thank his mother? For what? For interceding in something that mattered to him for once in her life? Someone please bring the woman a golden plaque to commemorate such a momentous occasion.
Once the Overlord left, Cooper rolled off the tension in his shoulders before turning his attention to his mother. Lucinda avoided his gaze as she drained her almost empty wineglass.
“What are you doing, Lucinda?” asked Cooper in a controlled tone.
“Don’t be angry with me. I’m only here because Leopold asked me to meet him. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about your disastrous assignment and ask you what you were thinking . . . bringing that girl into our family, but you don’t answer my calls or messages.”
“It is now my family, Lucinda.”
“Po-tah-toh, po-tay-toh. Be a dear and refill my glass? Seems I’ve run out,” said Lucinda with a pout as she extended her glass to him.
Cooper leaned over and poured what wine remained into her glass. He wiped a bit of dirt off his pants before he glared at her again. “He asked you to meet him here to talk to you about the weather? Or was this all about that request he mentioned . . .”
Lucinda stood, gulped down the wine, and then nailed her glare on him, her fingers releasing the delicate crystal. The empty wineglass fell on the center table, the crack of crystal against the wood deafening. He tensed as broken glass pelted his pants legs. “That’s private, and I don’t have to answer your questions.”
His mother keeping secrets for the Overlord piqued his curiosity. “This is truly a special day. You’ve never shown concern for anyone’s privacy before,” he said to bait her into revealing what she’d been asked to do for the Overlord.
“Leopold trusts me to keep his business in confidence. He needs me to take care of a little something for him for Remembrance. Nothing to concern you.”
“Being that I remain SecChief, this is now my business as well.”
Lucinda waved away his words. He prayed for the calm to wait while the wine worked on loosening her tongue. “He wants me to investigate some memory about a kid immune to my nanite programming. Wants to make sure we don’t miss them for Remembrance—they could make trouble with these Dainne rumors citizens are fixated on.” She shook her head, crossed her arms, and knitted her brows together. “He’s grasping at straws. He wants me to find something I can barely remember myself. I’m hoping he forgets like he does sometimes.”
His mother was a hawk. How could she “barely remember” something related to the most important thing in her world, her work? He debated whether to press to get more information from her, but her evasive reply and closed-off body language meant she was done with the subject. He also needed time to dissect and digest what little information she’d shared.
I should guide this conversation back to another topic dear to her. “
Should I have Mr. Hudson deliver another bottle to your lab?”
“Now that would be perfect,” said Lucinda and gave him a fake smile.
Disappointed he couldn’t get more out of his mother, Cooper messaged Mr. Hudson to have her Bordeaux delivered to her lab quarters. “My pleasure. Hudson will take care of it shortly.”
“Congratulations on finally having the Overlord’s favor. Took you long enough to earn it,” Lucinda said.
“No need to sound so disappointed,” he said.
Lucinda sighed as she put on her ermine coat. “I regret so many things.”
He recoiled in his seat as her words reached a part of him he’d vowed never to allow her to hurt again.
“I should have chosen another son. You’ve been nothing but a disappointment since your father allowed you to sign up with the Tunnel Corps against all my wishes. Glad we made sure your father isn’t here to see this . . . best thing that could happen . . . they’re gone,” said Lucinda and grabbed her handbag as she prepared to depart.
Was it possible he hadn’t heard her correctly? His whole being froze. How could she mean such hurtful words? We made sure your father isn’t here. Who was we? They’re gone. Did she mean his father and Wye, both wrenched from his life? She was glad. A deep crack split his heart, and monstrous pain gushed out. He clenched his hands, and his head swam as he shoved the pain deep inside to transform it into scalding rage.
“What did you just say?” Cooper asked the monster who masqueraded as his mother.
Lucinda ignored his question. “The only thing that ever mattered to me was this family. Keeping all of us on track and safe in this hole in the ground we must call home.”
Cooper shot out of his chair and stood in front of her. “Don’t you dare change the subject, Lucinda. Answer me. What do you mean, you’re glad they’re gone? Are you talking about my father and Wye?” Cooper failed to keep the rage and panic out of his voice. He grabbed her arm. “They are the only two people who have ever shown me love, compassion, and understanding. I can’t remember what happened the night he died. You said I was in a rage. Drunk. That Wye got me drunk and angry. That I killed him.”
Lucinda’s glare exuded silent venom. “They’re dead. Leave it be.”
She tried to free herself and huffed in frustration as his grip tightened.
“I can’t remember that night. Wye was drugged that night, too, but she remembers things differently. How do you know Wye is dead?” Cooper exposed all the pain he’d lived with for his mother to see. He’d always wanted Lucinda to love him, but all she’d ever given him were barbs. He was a fool to believe this woman was capable of feeling any genuine emotion that didn’t get her the power she wanted. He could barely breathe from the anguish coiled in his chest. Was his mother capable of hurting him this way for her own benefit?
“Let go of me. You’re imagining things,” said Lucinda, her lips trembling.
“You aren’t leaving until you explain what you just said.” Cooper brought his face close to Lucinda’s. “Explain yourself, or I swear to the Supreme Great Leader I will interrogate you myself.”
“How dare you? I am your mother!” shouted Lucinda as she tried again to extricate her arm from his grasp.
“Has your drinking kept you from comprehending I’m still SecChief? You do understand the access I have?” asked Cooper in a calm tone that belied the fury that raged within him. “The rumors about my methods to extract information in Bath are true, Mother.” He’d planted those rumors himself, but she didn’t need to know that.
Lucinda stared, her mouth agape. She looked at him as if this were the first time she clearly saw the man her son had grown up to be. She recomposed her features. “You’ve clearly worked too hard for too long. How could you think I would be happy about your father’s death? You know exactly what happened that night. You killed him in a drunken rage. That was all you.”
Her words sneaked in, sharp like a stiletto between his ribs, and stabbed his heart. Shame burned within, and he forcibly pushed her away to give his mind space from her poison. Wye didn’t remember him drunk that night. He backed away from Lucinda. The little boy he’d once been and who had fervently believed in his mother asked him who he should believe. He knew Lucinda to be a manipulative monster, but the conditioned boy he’d been was riddled with doubt.
His mother straightened her coat and looked at him long and hard before her face broke into a cruel smile. “Have a great Remembrance, Cooper.”
