Selected

Vox had said that he would meet Addeck in his room, I took that window of opportunity to sneak back into Vox’s room. I quietly closed the door behind me and flipped the lights on.

The room was the exact same as it had been every time I walked in. But there was something different about it now. It had a haunting quality that caused a shiver to run through me. I quickly walked to the desk in hopes of finding some sort of evidence buried in the drawers.

I flipped through stacks of papers with experiment labels. Different ways of coding DNA and pairing them together. I didn’t understand most of the words in the reports. I skipped to the next drawer. It was locked. I moved on to the last drawer, keeping note to look for keys along the way.

The last drawer had a Search Engine along with some other gadgets. I pulled out the Search Engine, maybe there was a clue in what he was searching. I powered it on and clicked on recent searches. A long list appeared, the first thing on it? Lincoln Bly murder.

I clicked on the words and it brought me to a new list. Why would he be looking through the reports of Mr. Bly’s death? He was there, wasn’t he? Maybe he was gathering information on the investigation. But Captain Pike was the head of the investigation, I’m sure Pike was keeping him apprised of any news.

I scanned through a couple articles that had been recently clicked on by Vox. They all stated the same thing, the details that had previously been released to the public the morning after his death. How Mr. Bly entered the building at 6:00pm and then again at 11:20pm. That emergency services were called 9 minutes later.

One link that had been clicked on was from a small independent newspaper. The title of it’s article was Government Covers up Lincoln Bly’s Murder. Intrigued, I clicked on the article and skimmed through the words.

As the world knows, Lincoln Bly was murdered on the top floor of the Selection building sometime between 11:20pm and 11:29pm last night. Just nine minutes after entering the building, Lincoln Bly was shot and killed. I, like everyone should, have a few holes in this story that I need to point out.

First and foremost is the fact that the Selection building is the most secure building in the world. The security system was designed in 2098 by a Ryker Craft. He designed the system to only allow access to those with proper credentials via what he called the “Eyedentifier”. Ryker Craft died shortly after the security system was installed in a fire which also destroyed all of the blueprints to the system. Craft’s death in itself is still a controversial mystery. There would be no way that someone could infiltrate the system because the system’s set up is not public knowledge. Because of this, since the installment of Craft’s Eyedentifier, the Selection Building has never been infiltrated. There were also no signs of the system being cut off. These facts lead to the conclusion that no one could have broken into the Selection building.

The system has one fault. It only logs who enters, not who leaves. It was recorded that Lincoln Bly entered the Selection building at 6:00pm and then again at 11:20pm. The mainstream media claims that he had a meeting across town at the Library. However, if one were to look into the Library records, there is no indication that there was any such meeting held. This leads to the conclusion that Mr. Bly did not have a meeting at the Library. So, where did he go? What if he never left at all?

Working on the premise that Mr. Bly did leave, he could have brought someone back with him. However, Vox Bly, Lincoln Bly’s son and the new Selection, indicated at the press release that they had been alone. The only two people in the building were Lincoln and Vox Bly.

I set the Search Engine down, unable to read anymore. Was this guy suggesting that Vox was the one to kill Mr. Bly? Sure, they had been alone, but like the author said, maybe Mr. Bly brought someone back with him. When Vox took me to the roof, he opened all the doors, I didn’t have to do anything. Maybe that was the same case, maybe it was someone Mr. Bly trusted.

“Emmary? What are you doing?”

I jumped at the sudden interruption. I spun around to find Vox standing in the door way. I hadn’t even heard the door open. I swallowed. I had been caught red handed. I licked my lips and gave the answer I prepared. “I just wanted to come apologize.” I smiled, “You were right, about me always blaming Addeck and about always defending Koontz. So, I just wanted to say that I was sorry.”

Vox smiled, which suddenly made my stomach curdle. A smile that had once given me butterflies, now gave me a sinking feeling. He took the few steps to close the gap between us and I had to make a conscious effort not to flinch.

“No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said those things about Koontz. I know he’s a sensitive subject right now. I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that.” He brushed a piece of hair out of my face. And bent down to kiss me. Without thinking I looked down at my feet to dodge his kiss.

He straightened and frowned, “What’s wrong? I thought we were making up?”

I cleared my throat, “We are, I’m just a little tired so, I think I’m going to bed.” I tried to rush out of the room before he could ask for more explanation. Or notice that I had been through his things.

He grabbed my hand before I could make an escape. “What’s wrong, Emmary?”

I shook my head, “Nothing. I’m just going to go to sleep.”

He scrunched up his eyebrows in confusion. “Emmary, why is my desk open?”

I frowned and shrugged, his hand still holding mine. “I don’t know, it was like that when I came in.”

“You’re a horrible liar.” I tried to pull out of his grip, but failed. “Why were you going through my stuff?” I didn’t look at him, I just wanted to get away.

“I don’t know, I was just curious.”

“Curious about what? You know you can ask me anything. I thought we trusted each other.” His grip loosed and I yanked away. “What aren’t you telling me?”

I looked up into his golden eyes. They were filled with concern. I didn’t know how to respond. I didn’t know the best way to approach the situation. Should I just come clean? That seemed like a bad idea, but he had already seen through my original cover story.

I couldn’t think of anything else to say. “What you said, about people not being who you think you are, well, it, uh, it got me to thinking about you, and how I don’t really know a whole lot about you.” It was close enough to the truth that I was hoping he’d buy it.

“What do you mean?”

I shrugged, “I don’t know.”

I realized how deflated Vox looked, as if he was a balloon four days after the birthday party. He hunched a little bit and pinched the bridge of his nose. He looked exhausted and tired and completely drained.

Currently there were several parts of me thinking several different things. I felt like my mind was splitting itself into multiple equal portions. One side felt pity for Vox, this was also the side that realized that I loved him. I couldn’t imagine the stress he was going through. He went from being just Vox to being the Selector to being the President all in the span of a week.

The other part of me looked at him with no remorse. This part had already decided that he had killed Koontz and probably his father as well.

Another part was thinking and calculating. This part was trying to plot a way out of the mess I was currently in.

“I don’t know what you want from me. I’ve shared a lot with you. I thought,” He sighed, “I thought we were in a good place.”

I thought about our date that had happened just a few hours ago. I thought about dancing with him at the party. “We were.” I found myself whispering.

He gently took my hands in his. “Then what happened between this afternoon and right now?”

I removed my hands, “A lot.” I took a step back, “For starters I found out that you’re a clone. That in-” It dawned on me.

He was Mr. Bly’s clone. It wasn’t Mr. Bly who had entered the building at 11:20, it was Vox. Vox had left the building with everyone else, only to come back to kill Mr. Bly. He did it. The conspiracy guy was right, it was an inside job. No one else could have gotten into the building without raising suspicion.

Vox squeezed my hands, “What is it?”

I looked up at him. I couldn’t contain this any longer. I needed answers, and I needed them now. I gulped before I proceeded. “I know.” I took my hands from his and put them in my pockets. I switched on the recorder that I had hidden.

He crinkled his eyebrows together, “You know what?”

“The only person to enter the building was your father. At least that’s what the records show, right? Except for the fact that he entered twice.”

I could tell he knew what I was implying, “They said that he left and came back later. Or that it could have been a glitch. Or that-”

“Or that it was you.” I crossed my arms. “Like you said ‘there are perks to having your father’s eyes’.”

Silence filled the air. I couldn’t tell if he was breathing anymore. His facial expression never changed though. It stayed cold hard stone for a few seconds. Then he swallowed, “I didn’t kill him. We only talked.”

“You entered just before he was killed, Vox.”

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He did it. He really did it. I was standing in the same room as a man who murdered his father. I slept with a man who murdered his father. I’m getting married to a man who murdered his father.

“I didn’t do it.”

“But someone you were with did.” Vox didn’t speak and I knew that it was true. “Who was it? Who physically pulled the trigger?”

“It’s better that I not say.”

“You are a monster.” I made a move to leave the room, so disgusted with him. All I wanted was to run out of this house and back to my old life. None of this was what I wanted. I just wanted to be a girl who laid in bed wondering what life in Sector 3 would be like, not having to actually live through this nightmare.

Vox’s hand reached out and grabbed my wrist, stopping me in my tracks. He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Sometimes there has to be sacrifices for the greater good.”

“What do you mean, ‘for the greater good’?” I spat at him.

He met my eyes again, “We’re abolishing Selection.”

Silence filled the room at this statement. He let got of my wrist. So many things started to become clear. The late night fights, the secret meetings, the hushed whispers in the hallway. “We? You mean you and Addeck?

Vox nodded, “He’s the leader of the rioters.” Addeck’s sketchy behavior started to make sense, so did the way Vox defended him at every turn. They were in this together. They started the riots, they bombed the capital, they were behind everything.

I looked into those golden eyes that held so many secrets. “Who else did you kill?”

“No one.”

“No one? What about Koontz? Don’t try to deny it.” He broke eye contact and looked at the floor, that was all I needed. He didn’t have to say anything. I knew him well enough to read his body language. “I hate you.” I seethed through my clenched teeth. “I can’t believe you would do that to him. Actually, I think I was just too stupid to realize.”

He sighed and rubbed his face, “You don’t understand, Emmary.”

“You killed him. And you made me believe that you were trying to help.” I could feel the tears welling up inside, threatening to spill over the rim.

“I didn’t kill him.”

“That’s just a technicality, you asshole.”

He took a deep breath, “You wouldn’t say that to me if you understood what is at stake here.”

“Then explain it to me.”

He thought about it for a second before actually speaking. Like he wasn’t sure how he should put it. He then cleared his throat. “Change is coming, Emmary. And Koontz is a key part of the rebellion. Without his trial being publicized, without people knowing that their children could be matched to a murderer, there wouldn’t be unrest among the people.”

I would have thrown another insult at him, spat that Koontz wasn’t a murderer, but that wouldn’t get me the answers I needed. “You knew how much he meant to me. Why did you have to choose him?”

Vox licked his lips and ran his fingers through his hair. “I know he does, but this was all planned long before you came here.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

He cleared his throat before running his fingers through his hair. “The Bly family has a long history of genetic imperfections. It started with Flint Bly, the inventor of Selection. He had a diagnosis of a variety of mental illnesses. I'm not sure the full story, but he ended up tweaking his own DNA to create the perfect version of himself. That man was known as Cabot Bly. Flint hoped that with the Selection system, Cabot would produce a generation with DNA clean of any imperfections. However, Cabot ended up still passing on the Bly mental illnesses, even with his ‘perfect’ match. So, Cabot cloned himself to make Lincoln Bly, hoping once again that the Selection system would correct our DNA.

"When Addeck was born with a predecessor for a long list of mental instability, Lincoln knew he would need a backup son when Addeck failed. Instead of taking the risk in creating another child with Mother, he created me. I’m the third clone. The cycle has to end somewhere, I decided that it ends with me. All of this ends with me."

He paused, pinched the bridge of his nose, and then continued. "Addeck and I weren't fit to be matched with anyone, so Father had another problem to fix. Who was going to inherit the Selector title when none of his children had mates? So, naturally Father used his power to rearrange some matches around so that we would have at least someone. He abused his power so he could get grandchildren.

"Because of Father’s need for me to be matched, he chose somebody that would have a close enough code that would hopefully offset any bad DNA I was still carrying. But it had to be someone that would be grateful enough to be saved from the shit hole they came from to not ask any questions about us. He chose you.” He smiled, “There’s something funny about that irony. Because he chose you, he had to match someone with Koontz, and well, Felicity was available.”

“So Koontz was my real match? He is actually the one I am supposed to be with. And instead I got a monster like you?”

Vox took a deep breath, obviously frustrated with trying to make me understand. “I'm not a monster, Emmary. I'm trying to bring an end to this fucked up system. This is the only way to get people to realize our world would be better off without Selection.

"Addeck learned the big Bly family secret and told me. We knew we had to do something, we knew it was up to us to change the world." He sighed again. "So, with Felicity being the daughter of some very powerful people, Addeck and I decided that she would make the perfect candidate for an uprising. There would be plenty of publicity over her death. Do you see now? We weren’t targeting Koontz, he just so happened to be the unlucky bastard to get matched with the girl we planned to kill to start a rebellion.”

“So you killed her and then let Koontz take the fall for it.”

He shook his head, his eyes desperate for me to understand. “I didn’t kill her.” He reached for my hand but I pulled it away in disgust.

“But you sent someone to. Who was it? Captain Pike, he seems to be involved in all of this too.”

“Captain Pike has been very loyal to our cause.”

The question that had been burning in my mind since the first night came blurting out. “Why did Captain Pike attack me the first night?”

Vox smiled, “So you would come to me for protection. Our plan was about to unfold and we needed you to trust me with your life. And you can, Emmary. You can trust me 100%. I love you. I'm not going to let anything happen to you. I want you by my side for this.” His smile faded. “But you have to understand, Emmary, I didn’t kill anyone.” He almost sounded desperate.

I shook my head, “No. You manipulated me. You orchestrated Felicity's death along with Koontz’s and your own father’s. You might as well have personally killed them.” I paused a minute and swallowed. The way their death’s were planned out, the way there were organized to show exactly how Selection affects people. “You killed Yale too, didn’t you.”

He swallowed, his eyes were cold and distant. I had to look away from them. “No, Addeck did that without my knowledge. She was a sacrifice. One I didn’t want to make, but it had to be done, she found out about our plans. She threatened to go to the police. When Addeck tried to make her understand, things go out of hand. But her story, her death, it helped plant the seed in people's minds for what was to come. If it weren't for her, we wouldn’t be on the brink of destroying Selection.”

“And you wouldn’t be President.”

“Things are finally in place. With the government out of the way, Addeck and I can bring this society into a new future.”

“You’re sick.” I spat at him.

“Please, Em. Please, try to understand. All of this will be worth it. Please.”

“Stay away from me. You disgust me.” I had to get away from him. My head was spinning with all the new information and I couldn’t process it. Vox was part of some underground rebellion, he was the reason for all the deaths that surrounded this family. All I had to do was make it to the police station with the recorder and it would all be over. Maybe I could even go home. I turned to leave, but Vox grabbed at my hand.

“Please, Emmary. Please. I love you. We can do this together.” His proclamation of love made the bile rise in my throat.

I tugged, trying to break myself free from his iron hand, but it was no use. I was more likely to pull my arm out of its socket than break his grip. “No, we can’t. You are a killer. A murderer. I want nothing to do with you. If any of this is proof that we shouldn’t have Selection, it’s so that way people don’t have to marry a cold hearted bastard like you.”

Another voice entered the conversation. I turned to see Addeck standing in the doorway. “Felicity was the spark that we needed. You, Emmary, are what is going to keep this flame alive and burning.”

I saw a silver glint and looked down at the gun in his hand. A loud bang drowned out the sound of Vox’s protest.