UnDivided
Page 52
And so he beams for her, to project the impression that he already is happy. Roberta once told him his eyes came from a boy who could melt a girl’s heart with a single glance. She probably never considered how effectively they could be weaponized against her.
“It’s dawn,” Cam says. “I don’t know about you, but I’m up for an early breakfast.”
“Splendid. I’ll let the kitchen know when we get back to the mansion.”
As they leave, Cam turns to take one last look at the room full of preconscious rewinds.
These truly are my brothers and sisters, he thinks. And they must never be allowed to be born.
Part Four
* * *
This Lane Must Exit
HEADLINES . . .
* * *
National Geographic, May 4, 2014
SWAPPING YOUNG BLOOD FOR OLD REVERSES AGING
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/05/140504-swapping-young-blood-for-old-reverses-aging/
* * *
BBC News–Scotland, June 24, 2014
WOMAN TO BE FIRST IN UK TO HAVE DOUBLE HAND TRANSPLANT
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-27999349
* * *
ABC News, September 25, 2013
DOCTORS GROW NOSE ON MAN’S FOREHEAD
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2013/09/25/doctors-grow-nose-on-mans-forehead/
* * *
The Boston Globe, March 19, 2008
EX-DOCTOR CONFESSES TO STEALING BODY PARTS
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/03/19/ex_doctor_confesses_to_stealing_body_parts/
* * *
The Huffington Post, July 6, 2013
HUMAN HEAD TRANSPLANTS NOW POSSIBLE, ITALIAN NEUROSCIENTIST SAYS
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/06/head-transplant-italian-neuroscientist_n_3533391.html
25 • Starkey
Safe within the isolated power plant, Mason Michael Starkey luxuriates in his particular addiction. He knows he’s a junkie now. The chemical receptors of his brain have tuned to the ecstasy of power. It pumps through his veins, feeding his body and spirit so that he thrives in the kind of glory he never dared to imagine in the days before his unwind order. He should thank his adoptive parents for signing it, and setting in motion the gears that have turned him into something far better than what he was. The wayward stork has now become for all storks the new symbol of liberty.
Especially now that the old one has seen better days.
“Did you hear? They’re sending the Statue of Liberty’s old arm on tour,” Garson DeGrutte told him, “like they did with King Tut, and all that crap from the Titanic. Like people are gonna pay to see an old copper arm.”
“People will,” Starkey said, “because people are nuts. They’ll hold on to bits of the past like they’re still worth something.” Then he looked Garson in the eye. “What would you rather have: shreds of the past or the whole of the future?”
“You know my answer!” Garson said.
As should be the answer of every member of the Stork Brigade. The future—Starkey’s future—is like Fourth of July fireworks: bright and bold, loud and dramatic, but deadly for those in the trajectory of the blasts. The Juvenile Authority fears him, the world is talking about him, and with the shadowy support of the clappers, there is no limit to the heights to which his fireworks will soar. It’s true that revolutionaries are always vilified by the societies they seek to take down, but history has a different perspective. History calls them freedom fighters, and freedom fighters have statues erected to them. Starkey is determined that his will be made of metals far finer than copper.
• • •
A team of mercenaries sent by the clappers now supervise weapons training because the storks’ arsenal has gotten so complex and diverse. After all, a thirteen-year-old shouldn’t use a handheld missile launcher without proper instruction. Starkey has conveniently forgotten that training was Bam’s suggestion.
Starkey, who wants to know how to use each and every weapon, trains with his own private instructor. He doesn’t want the storks to see his learning curve. They must think he already knows this stuff. That he’s the consummate guerrilla.
As for everyone else, the storks are each assigned a specific weapon, and train on that weapon for four hours a day.
So far there has only been one mishap.
• • •
Starkey decides that a good stork should be rewarded, and Garson DeGrutte is a good stork. Trustworthy. Dedicated. He follows orders without question, and has the right attitude. For this reason, Garson deserves some of the perks of Starkey’s power. So Starkey pays a visit to a girl named Abigail, whom Garson has been not-so-secretly pining over.
As it turns out, Abigail is the same girl who gave Starkey a lousy massage two weeks ago.
He finds her washing dishes, and with a single gesture dismisses everyone else at the bank of industrial sinks.
“Is there something you want, sir?” the girl asks timidly.
Starkey gives her his winning smile, and reaches up with his bad hand to brush back her hair, which has gone limp from the steamy dishwater. His gloved hand brushes her cheek as he does. She purses her lips as if the touch from his glove pains her. Or maybe terrifies her.
“It’s dawn,” Cam says. “I don’t know about you, but I’m up for an early breakfast.”
“Splendid. I’ll let the kitchen know when we get back to the mansion.”
As they leave, Cam turns to take one last look at the room full of preconscious rewinds.
These truly are my brothers and sisters, he thinks. And they must never be allowed to be born.
Part Four
* * *
This Lane Must Exit
HEADLINES . . .
* * *
National Geographic, May 4, 2014
SWAPPING YOUNG BLOOD FOR OLD REVERSES AGING
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/05/140504-swapping-young-blood-for-old-reverses-aging/
* * *
BBC News–Scotland, June 24, 2014
WOMAN TO BE FIRST IN UK TO HAVE DOUBLE HAND TRANSPLANT
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-27999349
* * *
ABC News, September 25, 2013
DOCTORS GROW NOSE ON MAN’S FOREHEAD
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2013/09/25/doctors-grow-nose-on-mans-forehead/
* * *
The Boston Globe, March 19, 2008
EX-DOCTOR CONFESSES TO STEALING BODY PARTS
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/03/19/ex_doctor_confesses_to_stealing_body_parts/
* * *
The Huffington Post, July 6, 2013
HUMAN HEAD TRANSPLANTS NOW POSSIBLE, ITALIAN NEUROSCIENTIST SAYS
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/06/head-transplant-italian-neuroscientist_n_3533391.html
25 • Starkey
Safe within the isolated power plant, Mason Michael Starkey luxuriates in his particular addiction. He knows he’s a junkie now. The chemical receptors of his brain have tuned to the ecstasy of power. It pumps through his veins, feeding his body and spirit so that he thrives in the kind of glory he never dared to imagine in the days before his unwind order. He should thank his adoptive parents for signing it, and setting in motion the gears that have turned him into something far better than what he was. The wayward stork has now become for all storks the new symbol of liberty.
Especially now that the old one has seen better days.
“Did you hear? They’re sending the Statue of Liberty’s old arm on tour,” Garson DeGrutte told him, “like they did with King Tut, and all that crap from the Titanic. Like people are gonna pay to see an old copper arm.”
“People will,” Starkey said, “because people are nuts. They’ll hold on to bits of the past like they’re still worth something.” Then he looked Garson in the eye. “What would you rather have: shreds of the past or the whole of the future?”
“You know my answer!” Garson said.
As should be the answer of every member of the Stork Brigade. The future—Starkey’s future—is like Fourth of July fireworks: bright and bold, loud and dramatic, but deadly for those in the trajectory of the blasts. The Juvenile Authority fears him, the world is talking about him, and with the shadowy support of the clappers, there is no limit to the heights to which his fireworks will soar. It’s true that revolutionaries are always vilified by the societies they seek to take down, but history has a different perspective. History calls them freedom fighters, and freedom fighters have statues erected to them. Starkey is determined that his will be made of metals far finer than copper.
• • •
A team of mercenaries sent by the clappers now supervise weapons training because the storks’ arsenal has gotten so complex and diverse. After all, a thirteen-year-old shouldn’t use a handheld missile launcher without proper instruction. Starkey has conveniently forgotten that training was Bam’s suggestion.
Starkey, who wants to know how to use each and every weapon, trains with his own private instructor. He doesn’t want the storks to see his learning curve. They must think he already knows this stuff. That he’s the consummate guerrilla.
As for everyone else, the storks are each assigned a specific weapon, and train on that weapon for four hours a day.
So far there has only been one mishap.
• • •
Starkey decides that a good stork should be rewarded, and Garson DeGrutte is a good stork. Trustworthy. Dedicated. He follows orders without question, and has the right attitude. For this reason, Garson deserves some of the perks of Starkey’s power. So Starkey pays a visit to a girl named Abigail, whom Garson has been not-so-secretly pining over.
As it turns out, Abigail is the same girl who gave Starkey a lousy massage two weeks ago.
He finds her washing dishes, and with a single gesture dismisses everyone else at the bank of industrial sinks.
“Is there something you want, sir?” the girl asks timidly.
Starkey gives her his winning smile, and reaches up with his bad hand to brush back her hair, which has gone limp from the steamy dishwater. His gloved hand brushes her cheek as he does. She purses her lips as if the touch from his glove pains her. Or maybe terrifies her.
