Page 131 of Gates of Tartarus

I nod but protest at the same time, “Really, it’s not necessary…” but Fallon is already out the door. Elizabeth moves immediately to the chair beside me and grasps my hands.

“She sometimes forgets that she’smyassistant. Anyway, how are you? Really?” Concern pours out from her like water from a cup, washing over me, cool even through my shields, and I tilt my head laughingly.

“Youmustbe worried if I can feel you shielded. What happened to the logical Ms. Cole?”

She shakes her head, a small smile on her lips. “The logical Ms. Cole goes right out the window when a friend is in trouble, I’m afraid. Please, Kailani. What in the world happened? It’s like getting blood from a stone when asking foranyinformation from your team. Are you alright?”

I give a small nod and sigh. “Mostly, I guess. Nothing’s working quite right up here at the moment” – I motion to my head – “but I can feel it coming back online slowly but surely. More slowly than surely. It’s like quicksand up here right now.”

Frowning, she stands up and walks to her desk, making a note on a paper there. “Have you had a scan? We can arrange one for you, away from the hospital. I imagine you won’t want to go back there. Make sure there’s no internal bleeding they missed. Would you feel comfortable releasing your records to our medical department? Some of the top neurologists in the world work for us. I can have them review your results.”

I shake my head. “They were pretty confident nothing was wrong. I think it’s just... it’s just like hairline fractures in an arm, for example. I can feel the fractures in my head, and they hurt. All the time. It’s just about healing now.”

She sighs and moves back in front of me. “I’d really feel much better if you’d let me have my people take a look, but I do understand. Would you at least keep the offer in your pocket? If your vision is affected, or you start to feel ill? Please?”

“Of course, Elizabeth, and thank you.”

Fallon comes back in at that moment, face slightly flushed, hair slightly askew, as though she’s been rushing, but her movements are slow and deliberate once she enters the room. Placing a lovely assortment of small bites between Elizabeth and myself, she moves immediately back to her corner and picks up her tablet. Elizabeth watches her go with a small frown, which she quickly wipes away when she feels my eyes upon her.

“Now, Kailani, you missed my logical side? Well, let me let you in on some exciting work we’re doing at the moment. Waves!” She says the last word triumphantly, as though it will mean something to me, and looks mildly disappointed at my lack of enthusiasm before continuing. “We’re making some amazing progress studying waves, my friend. I think you’ll find it fascinating.”

Completely confused, I furrow my brow. “Waves? I’m not... I don’t understand.”

“Sound waves, light waves… and brain waves.” Real excitement is building in her, I can feel it pressing against me, and I swallow hard. She notices and frowns. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I say, holding my hand to my stomach. “I’m sorry. Everything is messed up. I can feel your excitement, which would normally be fine; it’s just with everything that happened, I’m having trouble…”

Narrowing her eyes, she holds up her hand for a moment, stopping my babbling, and looks over my shoulder at the unfortunate Ms. Agnew, who is on her tablet, typing furiously.

“Fallon,” Elizabeth snaps out. “Whatareyou doing?”

Fallon looks up and blanches, clearly surprised at being addressed. “I… Ms. Cole, I was just…” she stutters and casually swipes the screen in front of her, making it go black.

Elizabeth stands and walks over to her, holding out her hand. Fallon grips the tablet tightly but ends up passing it reluctantly to Elizabeth.

“What are you typing so frantically while my guest and I are discussing private matters, Fallon?” she says tightly, voice bland, belying the crisp edge of fury which laces her words.

“I was taking notes, Ms. Cole.” Fallon is cowering like a bird caught in a net, and I see Elizabeth’s fingers go white on the tablet.

“No need for notes, dear.” Elizabeth's voice is ice. “This is just a quiet meeting between two friends. There’s no information here that could be useful anywhere else.”

Fallon nods, and Elizabeth makes her way back to me, tablet still tight in her hands. “I wonder sometimes,” she says to me, quietly enough that Fallon can’t hear her. “I think I may have to… well. That’s another topic for another day. Where were we?”

“Waves,” I reply, and her face lights up.

“Yes, Kailani.Waves. We’ve done remarkable things as humans to help us interpret different types of waves. Glasses, laser eye surgery, binoculars, telescopes, microscopes. Hearing aids, cochlear implants, radio… Every day we have assistance in our interactions with light and sound. We’ve figured out how tocreatesound, how to record those waves, how to create light, interpret both into images and noise that can be broadcast. We’ve broken through, physicallybroken through, waves of sound. Think about that for a moment. We’ve created a space beyond sound, Kailani. Torn the fabric of sound apart. And someday, sooner rather than later I think, will do the same with light. And how does your brain work?” Excitement laces her words. “Waves. Five different types that we know of. Beautiful, unknown, little understood brain waves. And we think we’re on the precipice of understanding those waves. Of understanding why some people can ‘hear them’ for lack of a better term, while others can’t. What is your gift if not just being able to interpret or receive those waves more accurately than other people? And we’ve made glasses, we’ve made hearing aids – what if we can make something to help interpret those waves?” Eyes shining, she leans forward and takes my hand. “At some point I’d like to see how that beautiful brain of yours works, Kailani. Whenever you’re ready. Because brains like yours, and Maela’s, could help us learn to interpret the world around us on a whole new level.” I sit, entranced, listening to Elizabeth, her excitement contagious. “Your gift is no different than seeing, or hearing, Kailani,” she says. “Maybe that’s why it’s called a sixth sense, of sorts.”

From behind me, Fallon clears her throat softly, which is usually her signal to Elizabeth to get back on track. “Ah. Yes. I’m sorry. I got swept up in the moment. You came to see me for a reason, I assume?” She smiles down at me, and I’m reminded of my mission.

Shifting uncomfortably in the chair, I say quietly, “I need to speak with you privately, Elizabeth.”

She purses her lips, looking thoughtful. “Of course. Your brute squad indicated as much, but I have to say, you know my feelings regarding the team, and if this relationship is meant to be a two-way street, then keeping me apprised of the situation is vital. I don’t love being told, ‘By the way, Kailani’s in hospital, so you’ll deal with us now’.” Elizabeth frowns. “It’s not like I was asking for your social security number, just a brief update on your condition. And I must say, when they were recalcitrant regarding passing along information, I got a bit stubborn. Ah well. We’ll move along.”

“I think, if it’s possible, we should speak somewherenotin the office.”

Elizabeth nods slowly, as though she’s thinking. “You’ve intrigued me now. Fallon needs to trail us to alert me of any emergency situations, but she can be far enough back that it will ensure our privacy…” Clearly running through options in her head, she thinks rapidly. “In our main courtyard there’s a fountain... that should work…” Calling out to Fallon, Elizabeth asks her to clear the center courtyard, and we make our way down to the empty area.

It’s all stone and glass and open to the outside. We enter through heavy glass doors on the lowest floor of the building, and a beautiful, hidden little sanctuary appears before us. There is a surprisingly loud fountain, peaceful, but definitely audible, and several stone benches. The entire thing reminds me of something from England in the 1800s. Heavy, fragrant flowers hang off climbing vines, and moss is growing artfully between rough stone squares on the floor. It’s at sharp odds with the surrounding, modern architecture, seeming, somehow, a quiet heart in a robotic body. Elizabeth motions to Fallon to wait on the other side of the courtyard, far enough away that I’d need to raise my voice significantly for her to hear me over the bubbling water, then turns to me.

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