The Perfect World (The Perfect World Series Book 1) (38 page)

“Then why didn’t you tell me?” Ms. Linda demanded, calling out his straw man. 

Cyrus shrunk a little bit in his chair, feeling even more guilty. “I was afraid you might react the same way after living here so long.”

Ms. Linda’s expression shifted between understanding and annoyance. “I know I’m a bit short-tempered Cyrus, but I lived in that world longer than you did. I would never react the way a lot of people here would. I was given a destiny after all, one that I didn’t have any say in and couldn’t change. Believe me, if you had told me about this, I would have understood.”

“Okay,” Cyrus sounded contrite, “I’m sorry.”

“I hope you trust me a little more next time,” she said as she ruffled his hair. He was about to say something, but she just waved it away. “No, don’t bother. I’m not really angry. In fact, I’m really proud of you for trying to put this together. However, I would advise you not to get your hopes up too high.”

“Because the politicians may not even look at it, right?” Cyrus guessed. “Julian said as much.”

“Well, I’m glad he did. It’s better to know that the path you walk is going to be a difficult one, than to think it will be easy only to find out that you’ve gotten into more trouble than you bargained for.”

“I know it will be difficult. Still, I have to give it a try, right?”

“Technically, you don’t,” Ms. Linda said to him with one of her knowing smiles. “Most people wouldn’t bother in fact. It just goes to show that you aren’t most people.”

Cyrus raised an eyebrow at her. “I thought you knew that already.”

That caused Ms. Linda to chuckle. “I certainly did. You and Scott were never like the other kids. It was hard not to see that early on.”

“Melody too?” he asked after a moment of hesitation.

Ms. Linda’s face became a bit sadder as she said, “Yes, her too. She was like you two as well.”

A moment of silence passed between them before Ms. Linda spoke again. “Is that why you’re doing this? For Melody?”

“Yes,” he admitted.

Cyrus was surprised to feel Ms. Linda put her arms around his shoulders and hug him. “I’m sorry, Cyrus,” she said in a soft voice. “I know it must be hard for you, finding out about destiny and what it may mean for her. I hope that there will be a way to help her in time. However, I don’t want you to have your heart so set on her that you can’t see anything else around you.”

“What are you saying?” Cyrus had tensed at her words.

“I’m saying that you need to be able to move on if the worst happens. Pinning all your hopes on something that might not come true will only limit you in life. It won’t make you happy.”

“Living without her won’t make me happy.” Cyrus knew this was a fact for him.

“For a time, that will be true,” Ms. Linda admitted in a kind voice that differed very much from her usual stern tone. A voice that very few people ever got to hear. “However, you’ll find that life goes on. You can either choose to get by and never actually try to move on or you can find someone else who you can be happy with.”

“I don’t want to find someone else,” he responded stubbornly.

“Don’t say that, Cyrus,” Ms. Linda admonished with a small slap on the back. “Whatever you do, don’t limit yourself in your life. You never know what the future can hold.”

Cyrus said nothing to this, even though he thought it was good advice. Still, he wasn’t going to give up on Melody. He hadn’t even begun to fight yet.

His mother sighed. “Well, it looks like stubbornness runs in this family.”

“We learned from the best,” Cyrus said, trying to lighten the mood.

“Glad to know you learned something from me,”  Ms. Linda said wryly as she let him go. “I do support you in this Cyrus. I just want to make sure that you’re aware that if things don’t work out, then life still goes on. It always does.”

His mother studied him a moment before walking back to her room, leaving Cyrus to watch after her. Her words had left him with a swirl of confusion, anger and determination churning in him all at once. He wasn’t sure if that was her intention, but there it was.

Her words stayed with him in the following days, but he still continued on with his petition. With the help of Xavier and Julian’s mother, he managed to get the signatures he needed rather quickly. He was amazed by how much support he had gotten. After all, the signatures were gathered, all he had to do was press submit to get the petition sent to the government office. As a backup, Cyrus also printed out the petition and went to the office himself to turn it in. The staff was friendly enough, though he felt like they were trying overly hard to be nice to him.

Now, all Cyrus could do was wait. And wait he did until it drove him crazy. Every day he checked the status of his petition and every day it just said, “processing.” After about two weeks of this, Cyrus became fed up and asked for advice from Scott.

Scott shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know that there’s much we can do about it, Cyrus. You’ll just have to be patient and wait.”

“For how much longer?” Cyrus demanded.

“For as long as it takes to get an answer or …” Scott trailed off.

“Or to know they’re not even going to consider it,” Cyrus finished for him.

“Right. Then, we take matters into our own hands. Something will happen one way or the other Cyrus. You’ll just have to wait until then.”

Cyrus didn’t like it, but he decided there was nothing that he could do but comply for now. Another two weeks passed with no answer, with Cyrus getting frequently more agitated as time passed. Finally, on a dreary, snowy February morning, Cyrus turned on his electronic notebook and checked his petition status. He sucked in his breath when he saw that the status had changed to shelved.

“Scott, come here and look at this!” Cyrus called urgently. Scott yawned as he walked over to Cyrus and the computer.

“What’s up?” he asked as he rubbed his eyes.

“This! The status finally changed, but it says shelved. What does that mean?” Cyrus pointed to the screen.

Scott looked at the word and his face turned solemn. “It means that they’ve put the petition aside.”

“What? Why would they do that?” Cyrus demanded.

“It happens a lot actually. The politicians decide which issues are pressing, and which can wait for later.”

“So, they’ll get to it eventually?” he asked for a confirmation.

“Maybe. Maybe not,” Scott replied honestly. “Petitions that are shelved often never see the light of day again. It’s just a way for the politicians to avoid uncomfortable issues.”

“Do you think that’s what they’re doing with mine?”

“I’m not going to lie to you, Cyrus. I’m pretty sure that is what they’re doing.”

Cyrus was quiet for a moment, then he balled his fist and slammed it into the table. The noise was enough to draw Ms. Linda to them as she was getting ready for work.

“Cyrus, why are you beating on the kitchen table?” she asked with a hint of annoyance as she ran a brush through her hair. “I don’t believe it has ever done you any harm.”

“It’s the petition,” Cyrus told her, ignoring her joke. “They’ve shelved it without even looking at it.”

Now, his mother was by his side, glancing over his shoulder. “Let me see.” The small woman stood on her heels to see over Cyrus’s broad shoulders and saw the same word that had so aggravated Cyrus. Shaking her head, she put a hand upon his shoulder and said, “I’m sorry Cyrus. You were warned this could happen though.”             

“Isn’t there anything we could do?” Cyrus asked, feeling heartbroken and fiercely angry.

Ms. Linda thought over the question. “There is, actually. We can go to the government office and ask them about the petition in person. We should at least be able to get some answers that way. I’ll write you a note to get you out of your classes for this Friday, and we’ll go there together. Sound good?”

Cyrus gave his mother the most appreciative of smiles and turned in his chair to hug her. “Sounds wonderful.”

“Good, then eat your breakfast. You’ll need to be leaving for physical training soon.”

Cyrus impatiently went through the next couple of days until Friday finally rolled around. He, Scott and Ms. Linda all got up early and got dressed in nice clothing to go to the government building.

It was a long walk to the center of the Pittsburgh dome to make it to the government building. The three of them were all a bit cold when they finally made it inside the warm building. They entered through a pair of revolving doors and felt relief as the warm air hit them.

Ms. Linda led them to the secretary sitting behind the front desk and asked, “Excuse me, is there a way to talk to someone about the status of their petition?”

“What do you mean?” the older woman asked. “Do you want to just check it’s status? If so, you can do so online. There’s no need to disturb anyone.”

“It is not our intention to disturb anybody, as you put it,” Ms. Linda spoke evenly. “But, I think you’ve forgotten who these people work for. They work for us, and they have chosen to shelve a petition that received the required number of votes. We saw that much online ourselves. We merely wish to know why. I don’t believe that is asking a lot.”

Cyrus watched as the woman behind the counter started looking pretty nervous and smiled. Ms. Linda wasn’t somebody you could easily ignore when she wanted something. The secretary finally got to her feet, straightened out her skirt and said, “Just wait here a moment. I’ll bring somebody who can help you.”

“Thank you,” Ms. Linda said to the secretary’s retreating back.

“She couldn’t wait to get away from you, could she?” Scott commented as he watched her dart away.

“She’s not used to having her orders questioned,” Ms. Linda replied with a shrug. “Most people would have probably given up after what she said, but I’m a bit more stubborn.”

Cyrus noticed that a lot of the people that were walking around seemed to be either in a hurry or not wanting to be noticed. “Looks like you’ve scared the whole building, Ms. Linda.”

“They are all acting like they’re in a hurry to get somewhere,” Scott commented. “You think they’re really busy today?”

Ms. Linda observed them for a moment before drawing her own conclusion. “No, there’s only one person I know of who can cause this much panic with only his presence.”

“You don’t mean …” Scott started.

“Huo Shen must be here,” Ms. Linda confirmed for him. “Only the man renowned for being a living, breathing fireball could cause people to flee for cover.”

Scott made a face. “Why do you think he’s here?”

“Likely he’s working with John Eldrick on something.”

“Is he really that bad?” Cyrus had to ask. It seemed strange that one person could cause this much trouble. Cyrus remembered the long-haired man with the stern face from the hospital, and though he had had a few harsh words, Cyrus hadn’t found him to be a terrible person. Granted, he had only spoken with him one time, so maybe it wasn’t a good impression.

“He’s a bit intimidating to deal with,” Ms. Linda informed him. “He knows what he wants, and he’s a real pill to deal with when someone gets in his way. He also doesn’t tolerate fools easily.”

In his mind, Cyrus thought this sounded a lot like Ms. Linda, but he decided not to say as much. “If he’s so hard to deal with, then how does he keep his position?”

“It’s because he’s talented,” his mother answered. “Huo Shen may have a difficult personality, but he is a smart and innovative leader. The economy and living conditions in the Hong Kong and China domes are a testament to that. Also, when the raids were more prominent, his were some of the most successful. You can call him a lot of things, but incompetent isn’t one of them.”

“Isn’t that him?” Scott pointed down the hallway incredulously.

Ms. Linda and Cyrus looked at the same time and saw that indeed, Huo Shen was coming towards them along with John Eldrick. Huo Shen had a long black braid going down his back, and he was wearing the same type of black business suit that Cyrus saw him in when he was at the hospital. His face was as stern as ever, and Cyrus could see people turning away from him as he walked past, as if scared to draw his attention.

John Eldrick was almost the polar opposite. He had a lighthearted expression and he greeted everyone he saw with a friendly nod of his head. His business suit was gray with a light blue undershirt that matched his eyes. The pair were quite a contrast as they walked down the long hallway.

It was just then that Cyrus noticed that the secretary Ms. Linda had talked to was the one leading the pair down the hall. He turned to Ms. Linda and said, “You don’t think they’re coming to talk to us, do you?”

“That seems to be a fair possibility,” was all she said in return.

Indeed, before they knew it, the pair was standing in front of them, and the secretary pointed to them and said, “These are the people I told you about.”

“I see. Thank you very much,” John Eldrick replied politely as she returned to her desk. The leader of the US domes turned back to them and said, “It’s good to see you again, Cyrus. How are you doing?”

The smile on John’s face was warm and his tone was genuine, so Cyrus felt himself relaxing. “I’ve been doing good. What about you?”