Marked

Walking beneath the black iron archway made Seffy shudder. The slim band of metal secured to her wrist bleeped, and a light flicked on. Green. So far, so good. The building in front of her was ugly. Only the illuminated cold blue light of the letters gave any real colour to the grey concrete. AMIC. The company that had saved the world. Or doomed it.

The locket hung heavily about her neck. Absently, Seffy wondered who had thought to shape the thing into a heart. Whether they had done that as a joke. If she succeeded, it would carry their hope. A hope to break the slavery AMIC had imposed on those like her. Those that Meadowstar had Marked, blocking them from their abilities unless they accepted AMIC’s ‘help’.

Owen moved beside her, grim in his stolen guard’s uniform. It was how they were going to get past the fact that she hadn’t been registered at this facility. Marked were shifted all the time, and Owen had a copy of her file on the tablet he held. When this was done, she decided that she would have to ask to read it, but she already knew the two most important words in it. Pyrokinetic leech. Not a nice label, but uniquely hers, in the same way the vivid dark red image of fire that covered her upper arm was. Her Mark.

“You ready?” Owen muttered, gripping her wrist.

Staring at the wide doors ahead of them, Seffy nodded. It didn’t matter if she was or not. The process was automatic. They stepped through the door, the bracelet bleeped and vibrated, and Seffy’s world darkened. Only Owen’s firm grip kept her from stopping dead as the light and joy was stolen from the world, darkening even the pure white tiles and whitewashed walls of the inside of the facility to a dirty grey. That was it. No magic. Not until they were in an area Owen felt it safe to turn the bracelet off again. A shudder ran through her. She had never trusted anyone as much as she was trusting him at this moment.

Owen led her out of the flow of people all wearing the same brown uniform she was, stepping towards a wide, white plastic desk. Four people stood behind it, grimly watching the Marked as they returned from their jobs for the night. Meekly returning to quarters for fear that their access to abilities that should be natural would be turned off permanently.

“Here with 7085,” Owen said, his usually soft voice suddenly gruff. “She’s to see Ms Barrett.”

The woman behind the desk studied Seffy, then dropped her gaze to the computer and pressed a few keys.

Seffy held her breath. The Friends had good hackers, but this was the biggest thing they had ever tried.

The woman nodded, handing over a lanyard with a plain white card to Owen. “The lab’s at the back of the building. Follow the main corridor to the post. John’ll give you directions from there.”

Owen smiled at her. “Thanks,” he said, slipping the lanyard around his neck and gesturing to Seffy to follow him.

She did, trying to look like another broken-in slave of AMIC.

Owen gave a brief sigh once the flow of people hid them from the reception desk. “I’m not cut out for this,” he muttered.

“Who is?” Seffy asked.

John proved to be a broad-faced, cheerful guard, and he’d clearly been told they were on the way. “Dull work, playing transport,” he said.

Seffy glared at him.

Owen shrugged. “More interesting than standing in the rain watching the checkpoints,” he said.

John grinned. “True,” he agreed, checking a small tablet briefly. “She’s in a meeting with Roger for the minute.”

Seffy felt herself go cold. There was only one Roger when it came to AMIC. For him to be here meant AMIC had something very big planned. Very big and very secret, for the Friends not to have caught even a rumour of it.

“I’d not want to disturb the big boss,” Owen said, his cheerfulness forced now. “There somewhere I can take her, though? Don’t want her getting restless.”

Seffy bit the skin on the inside of her cheek to stop herself commenting. AMIC employees almost always spoke of the Marked like that.

John nodded. “The lab’s free,” he said. “End of the corridor, turn left, third door on the right. Just wanted to warn you that you might be there for a bit.”

“Thanks,” Owen said. “I’m sure I can keep myself amused.”

Seffy followed him as he moved past the round-faced guard and along the corridor. “Can you, now?” she murmured once she was fairly sure they were out of earshot.

Owen glanced back at her. “Playing the role,” he said. “You know how guards in these places are.”

Seffy shuddered and nodded.

The room wasn’t like any of the labs the Friends ran, but then they didn’t have the money. It was large, with several medical examination tables, complete with curtains that could be moved to shield those strapped to the tables from seeing the others. There were other tables filled with instruments and equipment that Seffy couldn’t name at all. “Where now?” she asked.

Owen nodded to a door on the far side of the room. “Through there, I’d guess.”

“Guess?” Seffy asked.

Owen pulled out a tablet and pressed a button, and she felt life and magic flood back into the world. “You need to get it from here,” he said.

The relaxation that having access to her magic caused vanished. “What?”

“Someone needs to stay here in case that guard or someone else thinks to come in,” Owen said. “You can’t do that, because if you were in here on your own, you’d be screwed.”

“You want me to go find it?”

He nodded. “You’re the only one who can,” he said. “Just be careful. I wasn’t expecting Roger to be here. I don’t like the fact that he is.”

Seffy nodded, stepping through the door. They didn’t have time to keep arguing. The door led to a cube-shaped room in front of a lift. She pressed the button, and the doors slid open with the softest of hisses. The inside of the lift was all mirrors, with a patch of blue carpet on the floor. Seffy stepped into the box, glad that there was only one floor for it to take her to. It cut down on the options.

It rose slowly, but with a smoothness like no other lift she’d ever encountered. It dinged, and the doors slid open once more, and Seffy found herself stepping out into a museum. It was the only word for the rows of displays. History before the Chaos. Then the years between the return of magic and the discovery of Meadowstar. A recorded show of the announcement of the foundation of AMIC and the release of Meadowstar into the atmosphere. A disease they’d gleefully infected the world with.

It was the next display that held what she had come for. It didn’t look impressive. A small glass vial filled with a grey-blue dust. This was Meadowstar. Seffy tore her gaze from it and glanced around. She was still alone. She pressed the palm of her right hand against the glass case, and felt it grow hot with her fire. It didn’t burn her, even when the heat melted the glass, letting her pull her hand back, gripping the tube.

She waited, listening for some sort of alarm. When one didn’t come, she tugged out the locket, snapping it open and depositing roughly half the contents of the tube into it. Then she closed it, restoppered the tube, and slipped the vial into her pocket. Time to go.

The alarms started as she reached the lift. Not a good idea, then. She looked around, and saw a narrow door, nodding to herself when she opened it to find concrete stairs. Hoping that it would come out near the lab - or if not that Owen would have the sense to run - she sprinted down them, fighting not to trip.

She was halfway down when a door below her banged open and the clatter of many feet charged into the narrow space.

“Not good,” she muttered, but she continued to run down the stairs. The other option was to return to the strange museum, and that held no possible escape route.

The five guards stopped when they saw her, raising their guns.

She barrelled into them, stealing energy wherever her left hand touched their skin, until she felt as if she could run forever. Leaving most half collapsed where they had fallen, she continued down. They’d learn soon enough. AMIC had many ways to fight against mages.

Owen was standing in the corridor when she burst through the door at the bottom.

“Tell me you got it,” he said.

Seffy nodded.

Owen grinned and grabbed her wrist again. “Good,” he said. “Let’s add our bit to the confusion before someone decides to lock the main gate.”

Seffy ran with him.

The corridors were bristling with grim-faced guards.

A tall, broad man stepped in front of them, forcing them to stop. “Explain” he snapped.

Owen looked at the man. “This is 7085,” he said. “We were waiting for her to be examined. She’s not got a secure room in this facility, so I’m taking her out. I’m assuming the alarm means the Friends are attacking, and this one’s important enough Juni wanted to see her.”

The tall man frowned, his gaze moving from Owen to Seffy and back. “Some sort of attack upstairs,” he said. “Get her into a dorm, and then get back. We’ll need everyone.”

Owen nodded. “Yes, sir,” he said, the words crisp in spite of the defeated slump to his shoulders.

The man nodded and let them pass.

Owen continued to lead Seffy along the corridor, until they reached the first of the grey side doors. “He still watching?” he muttered.

Seffy glanced back. “Yup,” she said.

Owen used the lanyard to open the door. “Think you can get out if I go back and help them fight?” he asked.

Seffy glanced into the room beyond. “I’ll give it a try,” she said.

He nodded, turning and half jogging back towards the line of the guards.

Seffy waited, and then carefully moved back into the corridor, hoping none of the guards turned back to look at her now.

The skin on her back itched. It took everything she had not to start running. But the noise would attract attention. It was a relief to reach the reception area. For a second. Then the figure standing between her and the doors registered.

The woman was slender, with features that seemed too large for her thin face. Juni.

Seffy stopped, frozen by the sight of her.

“The ‘Friends’ have become far too bold,” the woman said, her voice surprisingly deep.

Seffy reached into her pocket, using her thumb to softly open the vial of Meadowstar. She took a step forward.

“Don’t be foolish,” Juni sneered.

Seffy could taste her pulse, filling her mouth. She walked across the reception. One chance. Closer was better.

Juni watched her, calm, detached. “Did they send in a mute? That would make for interesting experiments.”

Seffy resisted the urge to throw fire at the woman’s face. Magic wasn’t the answer here. She brought out the vial, holding it cupped in her hand. Five steps between them. She threw the vial.

For a moment, Juni’s face crumpled into surprise. The vial struck her forehead, sending blue-grey dust cascading over her. There was a moment of utter stillness, then Juni collapsed to her knees and began to scream.

“Enjoy your Mark,” Seffy said. She pushed past the woman, fleeing into the deepening dusk, Juni’s despair echoing after her.