The Line of Control

Joseph moved efficiently through the web of alleyways with the cover of night to aid him in staying unseen. He couldn’t afford to have his cover blown by any wandering Aeolites. They all knew who he was and the fact that the Harbinger fired him from his job for using telekinesis to kill his contracts.

That was the biggest rule in the Aeolite system. You couldn’t kill your contract using telekinesis.
His mind was racing. Would she sense him long before he entered the club and make a getaway? He’d have to be swift with the Kinetic Pulse jammer if he wanted to get her. His thoughts were interrupted when a man stepped out of seemingly nowhere and blocked his path.

He was about the same height as Joseph, but a lot older and he could sense a deep seated familiarity within this stranger. Joseph noticed that the stranger had the same eyes as him and it slightly threw him off, but he didn't lead on, instead he holstered his weapon and asked what business the stranger had with him.

The stranger’s eyes hardened, showing a new seriousness in the matter and as the rain began to fall, the stranger’s words fell too. He looked Joseph directly in the eyes and started to talk in a stone cold voice.

“You’re going to go into that bar, looking for Sirah. You won’t kill her. It is imperative that you do anything you can to get her to speak and make eye contact with you.”

Joseph scowled and went to pull out his weapon to use it, but the stranger interrupted him
“You need to do this, otherwise I won’t exist, and if I don’t exist, the Aeolites will ALWAYS go after people like you.”

“Who are you?” Joseph questioned sceptically, brushing the tip of the weapons barrel with his calloused fingers

“Dane.”

And the stranger disappeared as quick as he had come, leaving Joseph in a stricken state. Who the hell was that man, he wondered silently, rounding the corner to the front of the bar, where more than a small crowd of people were starting gather. The women were dressed in what might as well have been nothing and the men were acting like animals.

Joseph shook his head, knowing that he could actually control himself and that the giant cloud of hormones had no effect on him subconsciously whatsoever. But after he convinced the bouncer to let him into the club, he soon found why nobody else wanted Sirah’s contract. He couldn’t see her at all, he couldn’t trace her, but hell could he feel her energy. He’d never experienced anything like it in his life. For a long time he thought he was the only Breaker alive.

***

It was a miserable, damp night, and she had been working most of it; working her ass off behind a bar for little more than 7 Cyrons an hour. She should have been working her ass off in the local strip club. She’d get enough money that way, she thought to herself as she pulled the steriliser open, releasing a thick veil of steam that condensed on her face.

Sirah grunted harshly, wiping the water off her face with the back of her hand, only succeeding in smearing the liquid around.

She swore under her breath as her fingertips came in contact with the scalding hot edge of the glass rack. She always forgot, but she’d devised a way to prevent it. Using kinetic energy to get the rack out; if only she’d remember when it came to opening the steriliser. It’s like the pain of burning fingertips was a constant reminder that she was still a human, that her kinetic power was just an extension of herself.

“Sirah, goddamnit girl, get up here, there’s customers waiting to be served,” a young man shouted above the blare of the ear shattering electro music.

Sirah made eye contact with him briefly, but he broke it and pushed past her to get to the still steaming cups. She shook her head and made her way down the bar to the end where people were cramped together waiting to get a drink. She served each one by rote and as the night started to wane, she resorted to Kinesis to carry on the job.

The patrons didn’t seem to mind her using it, it wasn’t anything they hadn’t seen once before, but it wasn’t a common thing, it was in the works of becoming illegal however and Sirah knew. As she did other things behind the bar and resumed using kinetic energy, she had a feeling that she would get caught. Yet she didn’t stop.

Faces. She noticed everyone’s faces; in depth. She caught her reflection in one of the mirrored tiles. Sirah was so aware of herself and the world around her, that she knew she was society’s form of beautiful. And for that, she got a lot of attention.

But tonight there was something different about the bar.

She could feel another telekinetic close by, but wasn’t able to pin point him, because she could feel him trying to block out his thoughts. He was stronger than most she had encountered. Significantly to the point that the barrage of energy was almost too much for Sirah to comfortably withstand. It was definitely another Breaker; however, she tried to ignore it.

She just wanted to go back to her apartment and crawl into bed. Her exhausted body was ready for sleep and closing time couldn’t come sooner.

“Hey, Miss!” came a voice over the constant bass of the music.

Sirah didn’t turn around, but she answered.

“What would you like tonight?”

“Give me a quick fuck.”

Sirah exhaled and replied; “That joke is getting -”

“I wanted the shot miss. Not all men are pigs.”

Sirah carefully poured the drinks together and as she turned around to see who she was serving, it hit her. He was the other telekinetic, and a good looking one at that. Sirah could have lost herself in his energy if Liam hadn’t of barged past her and snapped at her to stop using kinesis on the people at the bar.

“Here you go,” Sirah shouted, handing the shot to the man who hovered the liquid filled glass in the air for a split second, before he drank it.

It was almost like he was taunting her, or was he merely showing her that they were essentially the same and that she should trust him. She couldn’t figure it out. She caught on soon enough though. And when she did, it was like everything around her ceased to move, except him. Except the strange man dressed in black that stood before her.

“I thought I was the only one,” Sirah barely whispered through the silence that she had created by stopping time.

The man’s entire composure changed. Like a massive weight had been lifted off his shoulders. His cloudy grey eyes became bright and Sirah almost mirrored him. She no longer looked tired, her body was more relaxed. But not for long; she couldn’t hold it forever. Stopping time was a dangerous thing to do.
Everything came roaring back to life, the silence becoming a menagerie of people shouting, music blaring and kinetic energies melding.

“My name’s Joseph!” the man yelled over the noise.

“I’m Sirah!” She shouted in return, shaking his hand and sealing their fates.

***

“Sirah, I seen you talking to that man. He’s a killing class Breaker. Strongest of his type,” Liam told her as he locked up the bar behind them.

Sirah pulled her jersey over her head and checked her phone routinely. There was one message. As she stopped to read it, she could barely concentrate on Liam lecturing her with his big words. He knew too much about telekinetics and the Aeolites. It lead her to believe he might have been what they called an Aeolite Blanker.

Blankers are a non-kinetic slave of the Aeolite system. Telekinetics can’t read their minds because they don’t radiate Kymatic wavelengths.

“He’s been sent by another organisation to take you in Sirah. I just know it. Gain your trust and your life while he’s at it. Steer clear of him. They’ll come after you if they know you’re with him in some way. Two in one package for the Harbinger, bring you both in at the same time. How convenient.”

Sirah turned to Liam and made a ‘close your lips’ gesture which rendered him unable to talk. He pulled an unimpressed face, so she let him go but he blurted the strangest thing out into the open.

“Don’t befriend him.”

Sirah shook her head and stuffed the phone into her pocket before looking back to Liam, his piercing blue eyes filled with warning.

“Why?”

“Because two Breakers, together in alliance, spells trouble for the Aeolites, and I’m part of the group they’d send out after you. The Aeolites won’t sit around while two Breakers have their hands down each other’s pants.”

Liam just admitted to being an Aeolite. Sirah was gobsmacked and only able to stand there with an absolutely mortified look on her gorgeous face. Her green eyes seemed to darken a few shades, but it could have just been the lighting.

“Don’t do it. Because trying to separate paired Breakers permanently will have catastrophic events, for both of you and the rest of us. It’s my last warning to you as your best friend and ex-lover.”
And with that, Liam kissed her on the forehead and retracted himself into the shadows of the street, disappearing from view completely.

He left Sirah with a lot to think about. She couldn’t even describe how his last sentence made her feel. She knew what two Breakers could be capable of, but catastrophic events? She wasn’t like that, at least not on purpose.

As Sirah meandered down the street that was illuminated only by fading orange streetlights, she remained immersed in her thoughts. It wasn’t something she did often, but when she did, it was a way to escape from her true surroundings while keeping them within sight.

***

Joseph needed to track her down again. He’d somehow lost sight of her as she made an exit from the rear of the bar. She definitely wasn’t like any other telekinetic he’d ever come across. She had an incredibly strong pulse. He’d measured it earlier and to his astonishment she was releasing 30 Kymatic wavelengths every second.

Most people only radiated 10-15, even his were settled at a meagre 25.
He pushed past a few people, acquiring many rude stares, gestures and insults on his way, but he didn’t care. He had to find that telekinetic and bring her in. She’d fetch him enough money so he could settle down for the rest of his life.

Joseph caught sight of Sirah in the far off distance and just as he made a run for her, the strange man from the alleyway appeared again, placing his hand in the middle of Joseph’s chest. The strangers faded grey eyes held a knowing that Joseph couldn’t put his finger on. It was beginning to scare him.

“Rather than thinking about the nice price she would get you, think about what will happen to her at the hands of the Aeolite leaders. They’ll kill her.”

“She’s a contract, I couldn’t care less if she died the moment I touch her,” Joseph snarled, trying to walk around the mysterious stranger, only to have him mentally barricade the air around them.

“You’ll need her. Trust me.”

“Look, whatever game it is that you’re playing, I want no part of it,” Joseph began to unsheathe his pulse jammer, his face like stone.

The stranger shook his head and took down the mental barriers he’d put up.
“You started playing the moment you shook her hand.”

Joseph screwed his face up and shoved the stranger out of the way, causing the man to shed a tear. He began to jog in the direction he last seen Sirah and that jogging soon turned to running, then sprinting as the rain fell diagonally, soaking him to the core. How did that man know as much as he did? He couldn’t have been an Aeolite. He didn’t have the aura.

***

“I know you’re following me,” Sirah shouted, stopping in her tracks and looking cautiously over her shoulder to see if anyone was in view.

There was no one. Nothing. No audible footsteps, no rustling of clothing, but she could feel Joseph nearby. Following her, but this time he carried a sinister energy alongside him. She wagered to herself that it was the Aeolites who sent him to track her down.

‘Finally, they dispatch someone worth my time. I knew something wasn’t right’ Sirah thought.
The rain had ceased, but the smell of ozone still lingered in the thick, humid air. A thunderstorm was due. Sirah shrugged and turned to carry on walking but she slammed into someone. He caught her and held her at arm’s length, an unidentifiable look in his eyes. His shoulders were squared and his gaze seemed to burn right through Sirah. She could feel it.

“Right I’m not going to disrupt your release of kinetic energy, but if you use it, I’ll kill you right here. No remorse. I don’t care that the boss wants you alive, in fact if I have to I’ll drag your dead body to him.”
His voice was sinister, his intentions even more so.

But Sirah remained passive of the situation she was in. It had to happen sooner or later. Breakers don’t stay liberated for long. She’d managed to steer clear of the authorities for 6 years. That’s a long time for anyone running from the Aeolites. She’d been on the run since she was 15. Her run was now over. But she was mistaken.

“You’re no Aeolite. You’re working for someone else,” Sirah whispered, looking deep into his eyes, trying to figure him out.

“And I’m just doing my job, turn around,” Joseph barked, digging his fingers into her arms and moving her so that she would turn her body facing away from him.

Sirah didn’t resist while he zip tied her hands behind her back. She was angry though and tensed her whole body to make Joseph’s job a little bit harder. Liam had spun her a whole load of bullshit. There wasn’t going to be any alliance here between her and this other telekinetic. Joseph was all business. He had no intentions of making friends tonight.

“Ease up over there sweetheart, don’t want you to burst a blood vessel-”

Sirah could tell Joseph was about to finish his sentence, but they both heard the gunshot and stopped. Joseph pulled Sirah closer to his body so sharply that her breath was evicted from her lungs. She coughed a few times, her chest visibly heaving with each gasp of breath, but she stayed still, completely still. Two sets of footsteps and the tell-tale swish of Aeolite trench-coats filled both their ears as the two men walked and stopped behind Joseph.

They were sinister looking men, both tall and fairly well built. Each one was dressed in a suit, their blazers replaced by large and shiny trench coats that engulfed their entire bodies. They looked like something out of the Matrix, but these men were something far more menacing to society.

“She ain’t your contract Joe. Hand her over or we’ll take her by force,” one of the men growled in a deep unsettling voice, disrupting the energies in the air completely. Even Joseph, as tough as he was, felt a cold void pass through his body with the Aeolites vocal tone.

“Don’t think you’re the only organisation that wants this little piece of ass in their sweaty palms.”
Sirah recoiled at Joseph’s way of being crass and shook her head violently in protest, but he just held her tighter.

“You did our job for us Joe. And while we’re at it, we’ll take you with us. Get a double pay check.”

Sirah silently hoped to herself that Joseph would instigate a fight and let go of her so she could make haste. But it wasn’t him who started the fight. Joseph let go of her though. He threw Sirah sideways really suddenly and before she hit the ground face first, she managed to stop, her face just millimetres off the concrete. She’d halted with such an abrupt jolt it caused a drop of blood to drip from her left nostril and hit the ground, making a tiny crimson splat mark on the concrete. She hadn’t even touched the ground.
Joseph threw a punch but halted when he seen the way Sirah was hovering off the ground.

The brawling and shouting stopped. All focus turned on her, so she let herself hit the ground. Joseph had realised that Sirah temporarily displaced herself. Nobody as far as anyone knew could perform temporary displacement without having a stroke. There are some things that a telekinetic just can’t do.
Every telekinetic learned at a young age that the strain you put on your mind and brain when you stop yourself abruptly just centimetres before you hit the ground can have fatal consequences. Sirah seemed to be okay, but it wasn’t something she’d done before.

“Holy shit, she’s one of those telekinetics!” One of the Aeolite men shouted.

“Yes, she’s a Breaker, didn’t old Cusack tell you goons that you were hunting one?” Joseph retorted, turning to approach Sirah as she lay on her stomach in the middle of the wet stony road.

She expected him to just wrench her up, but instead he helped her stand steadily. Sirah threw him a questioning glance and she then felt his lips brush the tip of her ear making her shudder.

“I need you to stop time again Sirah,” he whispered into her ear, briefly making eye contact with her and then looking back to the Aeolite men.

Sirah started to open her mouth to refuse but Joseph shoved her so hard in the sternum that she fell backwards. Unable to regain her footing, she had to perform another displacement AND stop time. Sirah concentrated hard and imagined everything at a temporary standstill, sending out waves that visibly distorted the air around her body. She was still falling, her world slowly toppling in another direction in the process.

Everything slowed to the point of stopping and it took all of Sirah’s willpower to start moving. The Aeolite men must have been Blankers. They stopped when everything else did. Giving the two time to escape.
It all happened in slow motion to begin with; Joseph cutting the zip tie secured around her wrists, Sirah pulling her arms in front of her and then it was sudden. She was running, they were both running, their feet skidding on the tar-sealed road. Nothing else was moving except Joseph and Sirah. But she couldn’t hold the stasis for long and she collapsed as time resumed its linear movement.

Joseph stopped Sirah from hitting the ground and grabbed her around the waist with one arm. His sinister air had left him and he seemed more relaxed but he wasn’t going to ignore the exploitation of kinetic energy that Sirah had just achieved.

“That was amazing!” He exclaimed.

“Not for my head it wasn’t, that really hurt,” Sirah whimpered, pressing the palm of her small hand to her forehead to ease the headachy feeling she felt.

“Now I can see why they all want your power,” Joseph whispered, a look of awe on his face, “What if I took you for myself. You could work for me, and in return I’ll keep you safe.”

Sirah took her hand off her head slowly and looked up at Joseph, not sure what to even think.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” she growled, contorting her features into an almost cat-like snarl and swiping hair out of her face.

Joseph shook his head, and the look on his face told Sirah that he wasn’t being stupid. He was serious. She considered it. Their power combined against anything else could wreak catastrophic havoc. She then remained indignant to his ludicrous idea.

“The Aeolites. They’re after the both of us. We’ll never be free of them if we don’t do this.”

“We’ll never be free anyway. We’re Breakers. Just surrender me, and then yourself. It’d do the world a good thing,” Sirah protested.

“I’m not letting someone like you fall into the wrong hands. The Aeolites will kill you.”

Sirah looked straight at Joseph and gave him a questioning look, throwing her hands up in defiance. She wasn’t about to co-operate with a hired goon, no matter how good looking she thought he was.

“What happened to you killing me?”

“It’d do me no good to try. You’re stronger than I am. You’d have ripped me in half before I’d attempted.”

“I’ll have to think about it,” Sirah said, turning around and making her way in the direction of her apartment.

She hit an invisible wall and squeaked in fear. Then, rather than breaking the wall down and walking away, she sucked in a huge breath and turned around, leaning against the kinetic wall Joseph had put up to stop her. Not that it could stop her. It wasn’t meant to. Joseph had a feeling she’d say yes. He’d been skimming her thoughts for the past 10 minutes.

Most Breakers banded together in the end anyway.

Joseph watched as Sirah marched up to him, her face hard as stone. He couldn’t concentrate for a moment because he could feel the energy radiating from her. He didn’t notice that she had her hand held out to him until she slapped him in the chops considerably hard. He mentally slapped himself and closed his hand around her tiny one, looking her right in the eyes. She didn’t falter a bit.

“I will help you. But let me get a few things straight. You are the enemy of my enemy. I am not your friend. I am not your girlfriend,” Sirah’s voice was as cold as her eyes, and her hands as Joseph had noticed.