Toka-Ace #1: The Re-Emergence

I flushed out my eyes with water in a sink. After ten minutes, I felt good enough to stop. I still rubbed my eyes with a cool cloth every few seconds. My eyes were burning and raw.

I knew that we were in a house, but I didn’t know exactly where.

But Andrew was with me helping me to flush my eyes out.

After a few minutes, I stepped into the living room. There were two men and a woman whom I did not recognize in the room. One was holding a gun and standing near the door, his gaze outside, looking for signs of trouble.

The other woman was sitting on a couch. She was leaned forward typing on the tablet that she had set up on the coffee table.

Katherine’s arms were folded. Her glare was fixed on me, and her foot was tapping impatiently.

I didn’t care what kind of mood she was in. I was feeling just as confrontational. “You ruined my plan.” I said scathingly.

“I saved your life.”

“Life?” I echoed. “What life? What is there for me? I don’t have a future, not with Tovlin after me.”

“You should have let me think of something,” Katherine said.

“You were going to leave Andrew.” I accused. “While you were taking your time thinking, I was doing something to keep everyone I care about safe.”

“All you did was give up,” Katherine hissed.

“That’s what I said,” Andrew commented.

“Shut up Andrew!” I exploded. “I was trying to keep all of you safe! What would have done to protect our friends? I don’t need all of you accusing me of being a quitter. And you,” I addressed Katherine. “How would you have saved Dominic and Carla from Tovlin’s androids? Or Elyse? Or Andrew? Huh?”

Katherine snorted.

“We were under your protection,” I sneered on the word ‘protection.’ “And we were still tracked down, and Andrew was still taken, while you were off doing God knows what.”

“This is getting us nowhere.” One of the men spoke up as he walked to the middle of the room and stood between Katherine and me.

He was taller than me, standing at least six foot four. His hair was black, with noticeable strands of gray. His five o’clock shadow had graduated into gray stubble. He was not particularly strong looking, but he had a solid build. Something about him seemed familiar.

“We have to think rationally, and come up with a plan,” He said.

“Dr. White?” Andrew said.

Now I remembered. Doctor Adam White was a friend of my mother’s. He had been our family physician when Andrew and I were younger. He went into psychology after being a pediatrician. The last time I saw him was when I was thirteen.

“It’s nice to see you boys again,” Dr. White smiled. “I hope the two of you are doing well.”

“We’ve had better days.” Andrew quipped.

“Allow me to introduce everyone,” Dr. White said. He gestured toward the other man who had long brown feathered hair that reached his collar and fell in front of his face so that his sharp black eyes were barely visible. His ears seemed unusually pointy. He greeted me with a nod.

“That is Francis Gerald,” Dr. White said.

He gestured to the woman who was on her tablet.

“Yasmine Dugan.”

Yasmine had short blonde hair and blue eyes. Her gaze was fixated on her screen and she did not deign to greet me as Adam introduced her.

“We are all former Tovlin operatives. We are the handful that stopped Tovlin twelve years ago, minus Beatrice,” Adam said.

“You four?” I questioned.

“Five,” Dr. White corrected.

“Guys, we need a plan,” Katherine said impatiently. “Tovlin is sure to come after us.”

“Correction. We just don’t need a plan for Troy or for us, we need a plan for all the altered children.” Yasmine looked up from her tablet. “I propose that we take them and make a run for it.”

“You’re talking about seriously changing the lives of children who know nothing and are targets through no fault of their own,” Adam objected. “If we could...”

“What would you rather them do?” Katherine asked. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but Tovlin will come after them either way, for all we know Tovlin has already started to move on the others like they did Troy, so their lives will change no matter what.”

“You didn’t let me finish,” Dr. White said. “I wasn’t debating the fact that something needed to be done. If we could just get to the kids before Tovlin does and explain the situation and also unseal their powers, we might stand a much better chance at keeping these kids safe.”

“Despite what you might think of his earlier plan we should ask Troy about his take on this issue,” Francis said dryly. “Since he’s the only one here likely to understand how the kids will react.” Then he turned back to looking outside, both his hands gripping the gun.

Katherine, Yasmine, and Adam turned their eyes on me. “Well what do you think?” Adam asked.

I paused. I’ve never liked being put on the spot. But I needed an answer, I needed it now and I needed it to be good. “I agree with elements of things what each of you said. We do need to tell these others what’s going on. Then we need to take them and their loved ones and make a run for it.”

Adam, Katherine, and Yasmine looked at me as if they were expecting me to say more. Francis kept his eyes out for trouble.

I looked over at Andrew and then back to the former Tovlin members. “The way I see it, we have two problems. First, we have to move faster than Tovlin to get to these kids, and second we would have to ensure that they and their families are safe.”

“The important thing is to get the kids out of there after all. They are the ones being targeted,” Katherine pointed out.

It annoyed me that Katherine could be cold enough as to just write off these kids’ families.

“Maybe you’re right, Katherine,” Adam said. “Maybe all Tovlin cares about is getting their test subjects back. But I think that Troy is right too. We must make an effort to get their families out of harm’s way as well. Tovlin has shown that they don’t care who gets in their way. Let’s say that we get one of the kids before Tovlin can, then Tovlin attacks their family member as a way of luring him or her back into their clutches. Do you want to deal with an angry grief-stricken, powerful kid? Do you want to be held responsible for the death of a sibling or parent?”

“So we must try to get the entire family out of the way,” Yasmine said. “However if push comes to shove, then all we can do is get the altered kids out of there and make a run for it.”

Katherine spoke up. “That sounds like a good plan. Time is of the essence here. So the last question is: how do we execute the plan?”

Yasmine started to talk. I listened for a minute but my eyes started to bug me, so I went to the bathroom to rinse them with more water. I turned on the faucet and cupped some cooling water into my hands. I brought my hands up and flushed my eyes out.

“Man that stuff seems like it’s murder on your eyes.” Andrew said.

“No kidding,” I said. I had my eyes shut.

“Pain or no, I’m glad to have you safe, man,” Andrew said.

“Thanks,” I said appreciatively. “Can you hand me a towel?”

Andrew pressed a towel into my hand. “I’m just glad that Katherine and the others showed up when they did.”

“Hey, man, let me ask you something,” I said.

“Sure, what?”

“If you were in my shoes, and Tovlin had taken me, what would you have done?” I asked.

“Um,” Andrew started. “I would have tried to get you back. Or are you asking if I would have traded myself for you?”

“I just don’t like people thinking that I’m a quitter,” I said. “I’m not, it was just that it seemed like the only way to save you and protect everyone.”

“I get that much,” Andrew said. “But these are the guys that killed Mom. I wouldn’t want them to get what they want. I want them all dead.”

Andrew was right. I felt disgusted at myself. While I was trying to keep everyone safe, I was about to hand myself over to the organization that killed my mother. What was wrong with me?

I used the towel to finish wiping my eyes.

“Feel better?” Andrew asked.

“Not really,” I answered. “But I feel good enough.”

I was a child still, prone to moments of incompetence. I wondered if I would be of any help at all in whatever Katherine and the other former Tovlin members planned to do, or if I would screw up. I wondered what Mom would have said to me in this instance.

I threw the towel onto the towel rack and went back into the living room. “Ah, Troy, good,” Adam said. “We have a plan but we need your help.”