Page 14 of Ordinary Secrets

“How are those missions going?”

When Victor gave me this assignment, he told me that there are two other agents doing the same thing I am. Even though I’ve experienced being around an Immune myself, it’s still hard to imagine that there are other Ordinaries out there like Arella. How many more? I have no idea, because according to my extensive research on the z-net over the last month, being immune to Zordi powers isn’t possible.

Victor shoots me a venomous look. “You know the rules. Missions are not to be spoken about between agents.”

I know that. I was just trying to make conversation, but whatever.

“Are you making any progress with the girl?”

He’s not gonna like my answer, but it’s the only one I have. “This might take more time than we thought.”

Originally, Victor and I estimated that this mission would take about two months. Three, max. I spent the entire first month observing Arella from afar. Now I’m almost through week five, and all I’ve got is some hair in a napkin.

I continue, “She seems reserved. Not quick to trust people.”

“Work around it!” Victor snaps. The long horizontal scar on his neck shifts as he swallows with anger. The scar reminds me that a Royal almost took his life too—on the same night my parents died.

“You need to think more like a woman,” Victor says. “If you were in her shoes, what would make you trust someone enough to spill every little detail about yourself?”

I think about that for a moment. The only person I’ve ever trusted enough to tell almost everything to is Liz, and that’s only because she’s seen the worst of my memories. Otherwise, I would always keep my lips sealed around her. Even now, I still don’t tell her everything.

Apparently, I’ve taken too long to think, because Victor scowls at me. “It’s simple. To get, you need to give. If you tell her personal things about yourself, she’ll return the favor.”

“Tell her personal things? Like what?”

Victor bends back in his chair. “I don’t fuckin’ know. This isyourmission, soyou’vegotta figure it out.”

With a nod, I say, “Fine, but I still need more time.”

“The longer you take, the longer you’re postponing the process of figuring out how to reproduce her immunity. We need this to have an advantage over the Royals. Can you imagine how much easier it would be for us to overpower them if their gifts can’t affect us? The sooner we can destroy all their bases and capture their leaders, the sooner we can stop them from killingmore innocent people. So stop wasting time, and go get the information we need.”

Ever since a Royal tried to kill him, Victor has dedicated his life to eradicating the Royals. Over the years, he’s gotten more and more bitter about how they’re still a thriving organization of violent criminals. He’ll probably stop at nothing to take them down.

What Victor doesn’t realize is that I feel the same. I want the answer to Arella’s immunity just as much as he does. I want to take down the people who killed his brother—my father—just as much as he does.

That’s why when I arrive back home, the first thing I do is grab my laptop and log in to the z-net. A few thoughts occurred to me during my three-hour ride home, and I’m itching to do some research.

In the search bar, I type,Is it possible for an Ordinary to be part Zordinary?

My theory is that maybe, by some fluke in the biological laws of reproduction, Arella could be half or even part Zordi. If so, maybe immunity is her gift.

After reading many articles written by reputable professors and medical zoctors, I conclude that the answer is no—being part Zordi is impossible. The Ordinary egg isn’t strong enough to hold a Zordi sperm. The aggressive Zordi sperm always destroys the Ordinary egg upon impact. On the other hand, Ordinary sperm isn’t strong enough to penetrate the cell walls of a Zordi egg. Most of the time, a Zordi woman’s body kills off the Ordinary sperm before it can reach the egg, anyway.

So I ask the search bar another question:Is it possible to block the zense?

Since it’s not possible for a person to be part Zordi, maybe Arella is full Zordi. Maybe her immunity can block that tingle we get in our chests whenever we get near one another.

After some reading, I conclude that it’s also impossible to block the zense. Even Zordis with dormant powers will still activate the tingle in other Zordis.

Back at the search bar, I type,What can make a person immune to Zordi powers?

I get the same information I got all the other times I researched this question weeks ago, which is nothing. The bottom line is that since people don’t know that Immunes exist, there’s no information about them.

But if Immunes have existed since before my parents were killed, how is there not a single article about them? ZIRDA can’t be the only people who know about Immunes. The zovernment has to know they exist too, right? So why isn’t there any information anywhere?

5

TREY

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