What Memory Remains

Alice slept, and as she did her consciousness projected outwards and wandered about. It searched in vain hopes of finding Zenapharr. She didn’t know for sure he was dead, and until she had absolute proof her mind would not stop even as she dreamed. Sade curiously watched as she tossed and turned, wondering if he looked as troubled as she did in his own sleep. He didn’t much about Alice, yet he felt some force very strong within her being. It was a feeling, a strange intuition he could not describe, he just knew.

As he watched over her, he attempted to get in contact with his comrades working under the radar. They were going to check out the remaining rubble of the NOSRAD facility and see if they could confirm his dear friend’s death.

“Sir, are you certain you want us to check this out? We’re not even close and we can see the smoke from here?”

“Yes, Dolan. It’s worth a try.”

“Is there some reason you think he’s alive?”

“To be honest, I don’t. My initial reaction is that he’s dead, but I’m hoping….really hoping that I’m wrong. We need him now more than ever….”

After the radio went back to silence, Sade pondered over the events that had transpired since Zenapharr’s capture. Intelligence had confirmed many suspicions of NOSRAD, but it was very dangerous. Minerva had Sade working the case as a black-ops mission, because of their close connection to NOSRAD. It was during this investigation they learned of the new experiment that the Director was performing, and it wasn’t anything to be taken lightly.

Multiple subjects with magical abilities were convinced to partake of a program called The Purge. It was a process to take away magical abilities, which seemed illogical to want to lose such a gift to be born with. Surprisingly, they found many people living in Nostromus volunteered for the procedure hoping to feel “more Northern” and to escape the societal prejudice against magic users. Yet, this was nothing but a farce.

What subjects were not told was that their magical abilities were not just being taken away, but they were also being transferred to someone else. Also, the process of Purging killed the person having their magical power being taken away. Why they were doing this exactly has still not bene confirmed, but it’s suggested that Director Krane could be building some sort of elite army of magic users. There was still much to be learned.

Luckily, having these informants were the only reason he was able to save Alice. He’d gotten a message from a guard working there to meet Zenapharr at the hospital where Dr. Pennington was held , but he acted right away as he got reports of Zenapharr massacring staff and trying to save a young girl. It was sheer luck though that he’d found Alice the way he did. It wasn’t much longer after that the bomb went off, so fate had decided that he would win out that day.

Alice mumbled something her sleep, and he leaned in closer to see if her could hear what she was saying.

“What are you dreaming of, little nina?” he whispered.

Alice was a year younger, and having tea with her parents and her older sister. It was a simple, happy moment that was one in a few. Her powers had began manifesting, and her parents knew right away she was the one doing everything. Many fights were had about how she needed to control herself more, but Alice only explained that she didn’t know how and this frustration only made things worse. There were few days she was allowed out of her room or the house.

This particular day, everything was going quite splendid. Laughing at her father’s silly antics, they passed tea and biscuits around as they normally did on a Saturday afternoon. Yet, the peace didn’t last long. Alice was trying not to be nosy, but with having the power to read someone’s mind and hear their thoughts, the temptation was too great to resist. She first read her sister’s mind, and chuckled at her sarcastic thoughts of her father’s behavior.

Next, she read her father’s mind and was happy to hear him think to himself how lucky he was to have such a family. Then, she read her mother’s mind and was perplexed by her thoughts. She didn’t completely understand the things she said in her mind, but she knew it seemed like adult stuff. It seemed odd that she was thinking about it now, and the name she kept bringing up finally drove her crazy enough to ask about it.

“Mommy?” She said, interrupting the banter of the other three.

“Yes, sweetie?” Her mother casually replied.

“Why do you think about Arthur so much?”

“Who?” A furrowed brow showed a surprised curiosity.

“Arthur, your friend at work. You were thinking about him a lot just now. I think I’ve heard his name before. You kept thinking about wrestling with him.”

A look of sheer panic came over her mother, and in that moment the look her father exchanged with her mother hushed the entire room.

“Sarah,” their father said with a look of forced restraint. “ I need you to take your sister and go to your room to play. Your mother and I need to talk.”

Thirty minutes later, the two girls heard a door slam after a lot of muffled shouting. Sarah made a point to distract Alice so she didn’t have to listen, mostly with the fear that she would read their minds and hear the entire conversation. It was much to their surprise when their mother threw open the door and stared down Alice so hard it made her afraid.

“You little wretch,” she said through gritted teeth. “You just couldn’t leave it alone, COULD YOU?! Had to go snooping around in grown-up’s business!”

“I’m sorry, mo---“

“Don’t sorry me! Why can’t you be normal, like your sister?”

“I didn’t mean….”

“You didn’t mean to? I find that hard to believe! Now your father’s saying he’s going to leave! And it’s all because you couldn’t leave well enough alone!”

“Mom, stop! She doesn’t understand!”

“Shut up! Stop protecting her! She’s a freak, and doesn’t belong in this family! Now, I’m going to pack up my bags so I’ll be gone by the time your father gets back. And in the meantime, STAY OUT OF MY HEAD!”

She stormed off, Alice now crying heavily into her big sister’s arms. At first, Alice was so sad and hurt. The words only solidified comments by her parents or teachers about her being “different.” And something about the tone, the viciousness and ferocity with which her mother spoke made that sadness change into a dark hatred. It was wild and emotional, something her young six year old mind couldn’t quite control.

Two hours later, all Alice could remember was the horrified cries of her father when he came home. Her mother was in a state of shock, holding a butcher knife covered in blood with the word “freak” carved into her forehead.

Alice’s eyes snapped open, and she bolted upright, almost knocking her head into Sade’s. There were tears streaming down her face, and her hands were red from being clenched so hard.

“Hey, hey. It’s okay now.” Alice put her arms around his waist, and he put his arm around her.

“It’s the same dream I always have. It’s the one about why my parents sent me to NOSRAD. They felt I was too dangerous, but the worst part is I think they’d been looking for an excuse to get rid me, anyway. This was just a convenient straw on the camel’s back.”

“I’m so sorry, Alice...”

“It’s okay. That year seems so long ago now….almost like another lifetime. Since they registered me with NOSRAD, I’ll be eighteen before….”

“You won’t have to wait until then. You’re free to go now. NOSRAD has been involved with some highly illegal stuff, and I’m going to expose them for it. You’re not one of their prisoners anymore.”

“That’s good to hear…I think they wanted me dead.”

“I don’t know for certain. I have a feeling they just used you to get to Zenapharr. But I still don’t get it…why would they want him to go off like that and destroy their own facility?”

“Maybe they it would kill him…”

“Don’t say that yet…I’m having a couple of my guys checking into that. I want to believe he’s still alive somehow.”

“Me too. He was the only person I felt completely safe around….like he understood me.”

“Yeah, me too. You know, this one time at military camp, there was this guy who was so into the rules, he drove us all crazy. So one night, we tied him down to this bed with rope and gagged him. It was the funniest….”

Sade stopped, noting Alice’s far-off glance. There was an obvious look of longing in her eyes. He thought for a moment, then untied a small rope bracelet he wore and began to tie it around her wrist.

“What’s that?” She said, trying to act less interested than she really was.

“It’s a lucky bracelet. Whenever I feel anxious, sad, lonely, anything like that, I move the bracelet around my wrist three times. By the time I’ve done it, I already begin to feel better. Give it a try.”

Alice looked unsure, but did as Sade had instructed and rotated the bracelet around her wrist three times. A smile began to slowly slip out, and Sade clapped his hands in excitement.

“See, there ya go! It’s already working. Told you so.”

“Never said it wouldn’t work ya know.”

“That is true. In any case, I’m glad my good-luck charm worked.” Alice started to undo the latch on the bracelet , but Sade stopped her and looked earnestly at her. “It’s yours to keep. I’ve had a long run of good luck, so I don’t need it anymore. You could use some now.”

“Thank you.”

Sade nodded and smirked. He had always wanted a daughter of his own but never was able to settle down with anyone. His work had always taken up so much of his time, he knew it would be too unhealthy for both parties involved.

“So where are we going?”

“We’re heading to Argyle Hospital. It’s where Zen wanted to meet me originally We’ll check in with my team and see what we can find. Perhaps I can get some more information from Dr. Pennington while we’re doing all of that.”

At that, they enjoyed the steady hiss of the engine and hum of machinery as they continued moving across Nostromus to their destination. Little did they know of the storm that was yet to come.

* * *

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEYRE STILL ALIVE?!” Director Krane yelled.

“Our sources said that Sade from Minerva rescued the girl.” The hooded figure answered.

“And Zenapharr?”

“He was completely blown apart by the explosion. There was even a charred piece of arm that was recovered.”

“I see. Well we have to do something. With the information they have , they could ruin everything. Where are they headed?”

“Argyle Hospital in Prague.”

“Excellent. We can head them off there. I’m going to need to send someone who can guarantee they’ll get the job done. I hear that Sade’s a tough cookie, and I don’t want to chance it.”

“Who shall we send then?”

“I’m still thinking about it. Has the new facility gotten up and running?”

“Yes sir. Fully operational. We’re taking up plenty of volunteers to rid them of their magical ailments. Our army could be strong enough within three months.”

“That sounds fantastic. You will be the perfect person to help them hone their newfound abilities.”

“I got my start with slightly different magick, but I can make it work. Voodoo is very similar it just requires more items to make things happen. And I’m the queen of voodoo.”

“Yes you are. You know what? I’ve made up my mind.”

“Who do you want to send then?

““I want you to send….The Rainmaker..”

Alice slept, and as she did her consciousness projected outwards and wandered about. It searched in vain hopes of finding Zenapharr. She didn’t know for sure he was dead, and until she had absolute proof her mind would not stop even as she dreamed. Sade curiously watched as she tossed and turned, wondering if he looked as troubled as she did in his own sleep. He didn’t much about Alice, yet he felt some force very strong within her being. It was a feeling, a strange intuition he could not describe, he just knew.

As he watched over her, he attempted to get in contact with his comrades working under the radar. They were going to check out the remaining rubble of the NOSRAD facility and see if they could confirm his dear friend’s death.

“Sir, are you certain you want us to check this out? We’re not even close and we can see the smoke from here?”

“Yes, Dolan. It’s worth a try.”

“Is there some reason you think he’s alive?”

“To be honest, I don’t. My initial reaction is that he’s dead, but I’m hoping….really hoping that I’m wrong. We need him now more than ever….”

After the radio went back to silence, Sade pondered over the events that had transpired since Zenapharr’s capture. Intelligence had confirmed many suspicions of NOSRAD, but it was very dangerous. Minerva had Sade working the case as a black-ops mission, because of their close connection to NOSRAD. It was during this investigation they learned of the new experiment that the Director was performing, and it wasn’t anything to be taken lightly.

Multiple subjects with magical abilities were convinced to partake of a program called The Purge. It was a process to take away magical abilities, which seemed illogical to want to lose such a gift to be born with. Surprisingly, they found many people living in Nostromus volunteered for the procedure hoping to feel “more Northern” and to escape the societal prejudice against magic users. Yet, this was nothing but a farce.

What subjects were not told was that their magical abilities were not just being taken away, but they were also being transferred to someone else. Also, the process of Purging killed the person having their magical power being taken away. Why they were doing this exactly has still not bene confirmed, but it’s suggested that Director Krane could be building some sort of elite army of magic users. There was still much to be learned.

Luckily, having these informants were the only reason he was able to save Alice. He’d gotten a message from a guard working there to meet Zenapharr at the hospital where Dr. Pennington was held , but he acted right away as he got reports of Zenapharr massacring staff and trying to save a young girl. It was sheer luck though that he’d found Alice the way he did. It wasn’t much longer after that the bomb went off, so fate had decided that he would win out that day.

Alice mumbled something her sleep, and he leaned in closer to see if her could hear what she was saying.

“What are you dreaming of, little nina?” he whispered.

Alice was a year younger, and having tea with her parents and her older sister. It was a simple, happy moment that was one in a few. Her powers had began manifesting, and her parents knew right away she was the one doing everything. Many fights were had about how she needed to control herself more, but Alice only explained that she didn’t know how and this frustration only made things worse. There were few days she was allowed out of her room or the house.

This particular day, everything was going quite splendid. Laughing at her father’s silly antics, they passed tea and biscuits around as they normally did on a Saturday afternoon. Yet, the peace didn’t last long. Alice was trying not to be nosy, but with having the power to read someone’s mind and hear their thoughts, the temptation was too great to resist. She first read her sister’s mind, and chuckled at her sarcastic thoughts of her father’s behavior.

Next, she read her father’s mind and was happy to hear him think to himself how lucky he was to have such a family. Then, she read her mother’s mind and was perplexed by her thoughts. She didn’t completely understand the things she said in her mind, but she knew it seemed like adult stuff. It seemed odd that she was thinking about it now, and the name she kept bringing up finally drove her crazy enough to ask about it.

“Mommy?” She said, interrupting the banter of the other three.

“Yes, sweetie?” Her mother casually replied.

“Why do you think about Arthur so much?”

“Who?” A furrowed brow showed a surprised curiosity.

“Arthur, your friend at work. You were thinking about him a lot just now. I think I’ve heard his name before. You kept thinking about wrestling with him.”

A look of sheer panic came over her mother, and in that moment the look her father exchanged with her mother hushed the entire room.

“Sarah,” their father said with a look of forced restraint. “ I need you to take your sister and go to your room to play. Your mother and I need to talk.”

Thirty minutes later, the two girls heard a door slam after a lot of muffled shouting. Sarah made a point to distract Alice so she didn’t have to listen, mostly with the fear that she would read their minds and hear the entire conversation. It was much to their surprise when their mother threw open the door and stared down Alice so hard it made her afraid.

“You little wretch,” she said through gritted teeth. “You just couldn’t leave it alone, COULD YOU?! Had to go snooping around in grown-up’s business!”

“I’m sorry, mo---“

“Don’t sorry me! Why can’t you be normal, like your sister?”

“I didn’t mean….”

“You didn’t mean to? I find that hard to believe! Now your father’s saying he’s going to leave! And it’s all because you couldn’t leave well enough alone!”

“Mom, stop! She doesn’t understand!”

“Shut up! Stop protecting her! She’s a freak, and doesn’t belong in this family! Now, I’m going to pack up my bags so I’ll be gone by the time your father gets back. And in the meantime, STAY OUT OF MY HEAD!”

She stormed off, Alice now crying heavily into her big sister’s arms. At first, Alice was so sad and hurt. The words only solidified comments by her parents or teachers about her being “different.” And something about the tone, the viciousness and ferocity with which her mother spoke made that sadness change into a dark hatred. It was wild and emotional, something her young six year old mind couldn’t quite control.

Two hours later, all Alice could remember was the horrified cries of her father when he came home. Her mother was in a state of shock, holding a butcher knife covered in blood with the word “freak” carved into her forehead.

Alice’s eyes snapped open, and she bolted upright, almost knocking her head into Sade’s. There were tears streaming down her face, and her hands were red from being clenched so hard.

“Hey, hey. It’s okay now.” Alice put her arms around his waist, and he put his arm around her.

“It’s the same dream I always have. It’s the one about why my parents sent me to NOSRAD. They felt I was too dangerous, but the worst part is I think they’d been looking for an excuse to get rid me, anyway. This was just a convenient straw on the camel’s back.”

“I’m so sorry, Alice...”

“It’s okay. That year seems so long ago now….almost like another lifetime. Since they registered me with NOSRAD, I’ll be eighteen before….”

“You won’t have to wait until then. You’re free to go now. NOSRAD has been involved with some highly illegal stuff, and I’m going to expose them for it. You’re not one of their prisoners anymore.”

“That’s good to hear…I think they wanted me dead.”

“I don’t know for certain. I have a feeling they just used you to get to Zenapharr. But I still don’t get it…why would they want him to go off like that and destroy their own facility?”

“Maybe they it would kill him…”

“Don’t say that yet…I’m having a couple of my guys checking into that. I want to believe he’s still alive somehow.”

“Me too. He was the only person I felt completely safe around….like he understood me.”

“Yeah, me too. You know, this one time at military camp, there was this guy who was so into the rules, he drove us all crazy. So one night, we tied him down to this bed with rope and gagged him. It was the funniest….”

Sade stopped, noting Alice’s far-off glance. There was an obvious look of longing in her eyes. He thought for a moment, then untied a small rope bracelet he wore and began to tie it around her wrist.

“What’s that?” She said, trying to act less interested than she really was.

“It’s a lucky bracelet. Whenever I feel anxious, sad, lonely, anything like that, I move the bracelet around my wrist three times. By the time I’ve done it, I already begin to feel better. Give it a try.”

Alice looked unsure, but did as Sade had instructed and rotated the bracelet around her wrist three times. A smile began to slowly slip out, and Sade clapped his hands in excitement.

“See, there ya go! It’s already working. Told you so.”

“Never said it wouldn’t work ya know.”

“That is true. In any case, I’m glad my good-luck charm worked.” Alice started to undo the latch on the bracelet , but Sade stopped her and looked earnestly at her. “It’s yours to keep. I’ve had a long run of good luck, so I don’t need it anymore. You could use some now.”

“Thank you.”

Sade nodded and smirked. He had always wanted a daughter of his own but never was able to settle down with anyone. His work had always taken up so much of his time, he knew it would be too unhealthy for both parties involved.

“So where are we going?”

“We’re heading to Argyle Hospital. It’s where Zen wanted to meet me originally We’ll check in with my team and see what we can find. Perhaps I can get some more information from Dr. Pennington while we’re doing all of that.”

At that, they enjoyed the steady hiss of the engine and hum of machinery as they continued moving across Nostromus to their destination. Little did they know of the storm that was yet to come.

* * *

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEYRE STILL ALIVE?!” Director Krane yelled.

“Our sources said that Sade from Minerva rescued the girl.” The hooded figure answered.

“And Zenapharr?”

“He was completely blown apart by the explosion. There was even a charred piece of arm that was recovered.”

“I see. Well we have to do something. With the information they have , they could ruin everything. Where are they headed?”

“Argyle Hospital in Prague.”

“Excellent. We can head them off there. I’m going to need to send someone who can guarantee they’ll get the job done. I hear that Sade’s a tough cookie, and I don’t want to chance it.”

“Who shall we send then?”

“I’m still thinking about it. Has the new facility gotten up and running?”

“Yes sir. Fully operational. We’re taking up plenty of volunteers to rid them of their magical ailments. Our army could be strong enough within three months.”

“That sounds fantastic. You will be the perfect person to help them hone their newfound abilities.”

“I got my start with slightly different magick, but I can make it work. Voodoo is very similar it just requires more items to make things happen. And I’m the queen of voodoo.”

“Yes you are. You know what? I’ve made up my mind.”

“Who do you want to send then?”

““I want you to send….The Rainmaker.”