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N
o one seems
to want to leave me alone, which is making me a little crazy. The pull I felt down at the water yesterday is getting stronger and stronger as I stay away from whatever it is I’m supposed to find. I
need
to get down there, but that’s not going to happen while I’m being watched so closely.

“We’re going to a party tonight. Make sure you’re ready by six,” the Creator says, coming into the room.

“Why?”

“Excuse me?”

“Why am
I
going to a party. I’m no one.”

“I would slap you again, but I can’t have you looking anything less than perfect tonight. You are going so that I can show my best creation off. London, Moscow, and China did their jobs. Australia failed, but you are left. You are the one who will bring me glory, because you will destroy all eight that are left.”

“Nine. There are nine of us. I’m well aware that I must die as well.”

“I’m glad you’ve come to terms with that. Of course, you’ll stay alive until the Muses are gone, but yes, you will need to kill yourself after that task is complete.”

Do I have a choice about my destiny? No. I do not. When there’s no choice, what else can I do but accept it? I suppose I could fight, and not do their bidding for them, but I honestly don’t want to. I’m more than happy to finish this, even though I didn’t start it.

“I have. I’m fully committed to what needs to be done.”

“Good. Now put on one of those pretty dresses you’ve bought for yourself, and make me look good. No. Make me look
great
.”

“I will.”

She turns on her heel without another word, and I’m left standing there with my heart beating. I place my hand over it, wondering why I even have one; we’re somewhat human, but I instinctively know that if it stops, I’ll still live. Or maybe it’s not instinctive; maybe it was part of my conditioning. The Creator wouldn’t tell me even if I asked, and what’s the point anyway? I’m going to die whether I know or not.

I stand up straighter, knowing any show of weakness will be punished and mentally giving myself a slap. I walk over to my closet to pick out a dress, and everything to go with it. I’ll show up, and show myself off, just as expected. And then, if I can, I’ll look for what I need to find, even if that shouldn’t matter, either.

J
ennifer
and I felt the pull near Wilde’s house yesterday, but there were too many tourists around, so we couldn’t investigate. We’ve got to be careful, because if we’re caught, it’s certain death for us, or at least a cell while we wait for death. We staked it out for the rest of the day, noting when the workers and guards came and went. Tonight, we’re going in.

Since we’re near the college, and a number of pubs, there are still a good number of people on the streets. We’ll never find a time when there’s absolutely no one out, so we decided to just go for it. The people will either be too drunk to notice us, or just think we’re a couple out for some romance. We won’t be stealing anything nor doing any damage, so there should be no reason to remember us.

We laugh as we cross the street, our arms entwined. No one pays us any mind, just like we’d hoped. As we turn to the back of the house, Jennifer drops her arm from mine and sets about opening the back door. This is our spy DNA in action, scoping out weaknesses and picking locks. Pretty damn cool.

Once we’re inside, I disable the alarm with no problem, and we follow our feelings to what was once a formal dining room. The call is so much stronger in here. We know we’re definitely in the right place. I let her walk in front of me to the right side of the room, where she drops to her knees.

I join her, and we both run our hands over the boards. “I’ve got it,” she says.

I move closer and help her pull the loose pieces of wood up, finding a hidden staircase below. We look at each other and nod. We’re definitely going down there.

“We’ll have to put the boards back, just in case.”

“Yeah,” she agrees. “Since they were loose, we shouldn’t have a problem pushing them up if we have to backtrack, or come back this way.”

We both grab some boards, and I let her go in front of me again. Once we’re far enough down, we place the boards back into place before jogging down

underground. I feel like the stairs go on forever, but we finally end up in a small room. There’s no furniture in the room, only various pieces of metal, computer parts, wires, and some tools I’ve never seen before.

I’ve never seen them, but I know how to use them, and what to build. The realization of this startles me a little, and I step back. This
isn’t
my spy training.

“We think this is another ‘gift’ from them to our DNA. We don’t know if it’s something they added, or if the species we partially belong to just simply knows it all and takes over automatically.”

I silently ask my Muse which one it is, but he doesn’t answer. I guess it doesn’t matter. “Do you know how to make the modifications?”

“Yeah, I totally do.”

“Teach me what you know, Jen. I promise to try and be a good student.”

“I may not be a good teacher—I’m not too patient.”

“I’ll take my chances.”

“Pick up those big pieces over there and start putting them together; we’ll take care of the modification last.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” I tell her with a laugh.

It feels good to laugh, and I almost think it’s a part of me I lost—the ability to be funny and laugh. It’s a fleeting thought, but I know I’m going to hold onto it. If there’s even a chance I can bring some of my past back, I’ll do everything I can to never let it go.

I
t takes
us three days of walking before we feel the pull, the inexplicable need to get to the very thing we’re looking for. It’s in the Luxemburg Gardens, under the giant pond by the castle. A pond that is heavily patrolled by the military—both while the park is open and closed.

“This is going to be all you,” Lauren tells me. “You’re going to have to convince them to let us jump in, and tell them to forget they ever saw us.”

“I know I can do it, but I’m not sure how.”

“Alejandra said she has to visualize what she wants done, and then she concentrates on the human pushing the thoughts into their head.”

“Maybe I should try it out on someone else first? Just something simple?”

“Yeah, okay. How about if you ask that girl to take her shirt off?” she asks, pointing to a beautiful blonde nearby.

“A girl?”

“I like girls,” she says with a shrug.

“You like
her
.”

“Like is a strong word. I absolutely think she’s hot, but I’ll have to reserve the liking for now.”

“Well, let me try and help you out, my friend.”

I walk over and stand closer to the girl and her friends. I imagine her slowing pulling her shirt up, and over her head, and then I concentrate on mentally sending her my command. She gets a funny look on her face, and starts lifting it up. She gets it to just under her chest when I start to laugh. My lack of focus causes her to stop. She shakes her head and drops the shirt like it’s on fire.

“Damn. So close,” Lauren says.

“Yeah, and it’s wrong, too. I don’t want to make girls—or guys—undress if they don’t want to.”

“You don’t know that they don’t want to.”

“But I also don’t know that they do.”

“Okay, valid point. Let’s try something else.”

For the next few hours, I hone my skills. I progress from getting people to take funny—and fully clothed—pictures, to winning a game of chess by convincing my opponent to make bad choices. I try my mind control out on people of both genders, all different ages, and various ethnicities, too.

“I know time is of the essence, but I don’t think I could manipulate a toddler right now,” I say, sounding as worn out as I feel.

“You brain needs to rest,” she agrees.

“My body, too. I need a total re-charge.”

“Let’s get you back to the hotel, and you can pass out for as long as you need to. We
do
need to get things done as fast as possible, but not at the risk of you collapsing while trying to manipulate someone.”

“Thanks,” I tell her, and mean it. We’ve definitely broken free of the bonds the Creators tried to hold us to, and it feels good.

A
lejandra successfully convinced
the police by the palazzo that we belonged there, and it was okay to let us walk into the palace. I knew she had the skills, but seeing them in person is pretty awe-inspiring.
I
almost believed we belonged there, and her powers don’t even work on me.

Once inside, it didn’t take us long to find the area we were looking for. The invisible threads pulled us tighter, causing us to ignore all of the other rooms in the place. We step into a grand pool room, the lights off, but the water still shimmering in the moonlight streaming through the windows.

Without thought, we walk into the water, not stopping until we’re submerged, and standing in front of an ornamental gate. Well, what’s supposed to look like a non-functional gate. We share a nod, and both reach out to pull it open. Swimming inside, we turn and pull the gate closed before going further into the unknown.

We end up in a room that’s set up with drains similar to the ones in the ocean. There aren’t fans, but neither of us seems to mind how our clothes are when we see the materials we need in the adjoining chamber. Alejandra told me I’d know what to do when I saw everything, and she was right.

I walk forward and start assembling things, as she does the same. We’re at it for hours before we’re ready to fall over with exhaustion.

“Do you want to go back to the hotel?” she asks me.

“I’m not sure I can. This…it took a lot out of me, and not just physically.”

She nods. “Yes, you could. We can make it back, but I think it’s better if we stay down here.”

“I agree. I don’t think anyone will find us since we left the grate as we found it.”

We curl up on the floor, and I fall asleep. I dream for the first time since I was activated. I remember the past, but I haven’t dreamt about it until now.

In the dream, my parents are pushing me on a swing at the park when a woman comes up to them. “She is supposed to be at conditioning,” she tells them.

I keep swinging, pumping my legs hard, until I hear my father cry out. I look back and see my father on the ground. He’s bleeding, and as I watch, my mother joins him on the ground. It’s her mouth that’s bleeding, while his nose spews blood everywhere.

I want to cry out and fight the woman, but I somehow know, even though I’m just a little girl, that it will only make things worse. I remain quiet as my swing is brought to a stop, and arms pull me out of it before I can fall. I go limp in the woman’s arms, pretending to give in, but knowing I’m not ever going to forget that she hurt my parents. I’ll never forget, and I’ll never forgive. One day, I’m going to make her hurt, too. I don’t know how, but I’m going to make it happen.

I wake up in a cold sweat, feeling the conviction now just as strongly as the little girl in the dream. Now I have a means to do what I wanted to then. I will bring justice for my parents and what they were forced to do, even if it kills me.

I
t’s under the Atomium
, because of course it is. Our alien “parents” probably chose it because it’s basically a giant model of an elementary iron crystal. I’m not exaggerating about the giant part, either. When we were pulled to it, I read up and found out that it’s 165 billion times the size of the real thing. It’s definitely more cool and interesting than the flower carpet, but it’s also even more tourist filled.

That’s a good thing because we can study everything we need to without standing out, but it’s also pretty bad. This isn’t a place that’s open just during the day, or just at night; it’s packed all day with people going through the five public spheres, and at night it’s lit up so beautifully that everyone and their brother has to take a hundred selfies to send out to the social masses.

“We’re just going to have to go for it,” Levi says after we spend two days and nights looking for a way to go in unseen. It’s not practical for us to keep waiting. “We don’t have Alejandra or Sabrina here, but we can be charming, right? I mean, you’re like the super stud.”

“Please don’t ever call me a “stud” again, but yeah, I can get us where we need to go. It may not be clean, or pretty, though.”

“That’s fine. Once we’re in, there will have to be another way out—or we’ll make ourselves one.”

“Sounds like fun.”

“If our lives weren’t in danger, it just might be.”

“I’m going to hold you to that.”

“Deal.”

We bump fists, instead of shaking hands, and then dart through the tourists to the sphere that’s closest to the ground. The plan is just to get us in. Levi puts his back to the door to keep watch as I start to work on it. Things are going really well until he leans forward and starts kissing my neck.

I almost fumble my lock picks, and I want to back up, but he wraps his arms around me, and pulls me

closer. “There are some police officers behind you. Just keep working and I’ll keep acting,” he whispers in my ear.

I sigh in relief, because I may not know much about myself, but I do know I’m not attracted to guys. I hear the lock click. We only have 30 seconds to get inside and disarm the security system. “Levi.”

“Wait for it…now!” he says, spinning and darting through the door as he pulls me in behind him. He’s got the alarm taken care of before I even catch my breath.

“I hope we never have to do that again,” I say, lifting my t-shirt to scrub furiously at my neck.

“You didn’t like my sweet, soft lips on your neck?”

“Your lips are not sweet or soft, and no. Just really, really no.”

“You’d do the same if you had to.”

“Yeah, so that’s another hope—that I never have to. Can we stop talking about this, and never mention it again?”

“Sure. Well, actually no. I mean, I’m gonna have to tell Sabrina I was kissing someone else while we were apart.”

I don’t respond, because what can I say to that? Moving into the circular structure, I drop to my knees and press on a section of the floor that calls to me. My hands sink into the floor, and then I’m falling forward through it.

I managed to land on my feet as Levi drops next to me. We both stand, and I survey the contents of the secret room. I don’t know how the hell I just fell through the floor when it was solid, but I don’t really care about that at the moment; I just want to start building.