Chapter 20: Suspicions
Janice was back in her lab. She was staring intently into her monitor. She was looking at a camera feed. She was looking at Lucas.
She squinted her eyes as she looked upon him. Lucas rested in the bed. She couldn't see his face. But something caught her eye. It looked like a glitch at first, but unlike a simple glitch, it was continuous. It didn't go away. Certain parts of the screen would blur, like there was something moving around in there causing the distortion effect.
Something was in the room with Lucas, but he didn't react. Could he not see it? Because she certainly couldn't see it. She could only see the distortion it left behind in the camera.
Janice clicked off of the camera and went to a website. "H.S.A. Personnel Logs." She searched the name "Lucas Miller." It came up with three results. All three had their profiles crossed out with the word "deceased."
There was a man with brown hair and black eyes. Lucas Jacob Miller was his name. There was another man named Lucas Erich Miller. He had red hair and grey eyes. Then there was the last one. Lucas Isaiah Miller. Blond hair and blue eyes. Just like the other three, he was dead. She clicked on the profile and a page opened containing detailed files on Lucas Isaiah Miller. His height, his weight, his parents, as well as his spouse. But Janice wasn't interested in any of that.
She read his history. "Lucas was drafted into the Retriever Operation at 16 years old. He participated in it for 4 years."
She went to the bottom of the page. In large red text it read "Presumed Dead." She read the details about it. "Lucas Isaiah Miller went missing July 28, 2057. He had left Unit 55 to retrieve missing documents. Lucas didn't return. He was presumed dead just a month later, and his wife was compensated for his work. His body, nor any trace of him has been found. A standard community hearing was held in his honor instead of a funeral."
Janice felt sick reading this. Absolutely sick. She had a dead man in the same Unit with her. Unit fifty-five was all the way in Missouri. Lucas, a man who'd gone missing from Unit fifty-five somehow made his way with a girl to Unit Twenty-one in Nevada.
"That's not possible. There's no way something like that could've happened," Janice thought. There's only one possible answer. Lucas is an apostle. An apostle disguising himself as the man Lucas Isaiah Miller.
But Lucas being an apostle opened so many doors to horrifying possibilities. What if Stella and the child were too apostles?
Janice tried to make sense of all of this in her head. If they were apostles, how come she could extract blood from them? She utilized her knowledge of apostle biology.
There were two types of apostles. Organic, and angelic. Organic apostles operate just like any other animal, with a couple minor exceptions. They eat, drink, they have digestive systems, they defecate, they sleep, you get the idea. Angelic apostles are ones like Lurkers. The only reason they can function is because of their cores. Without the cores, they cease to exist.
The baby, Stella, and Lucas could all be organic apostles. That would allow them to more or less function just like regular humans. But there was one way to confirm this.
Janice stood up and walked out of the room with a passion she hadn't felt in a long time. She returned to the room where she had extracted the blood from all of them. She knew exactly where she had put Stella's and the child's. She found them. They were labeled and everything. The blood was still there.
But there was one problem. She had no idea where Lucas' had went. She didn't remember where she put his. She searched the room. She didn't label his! Damnit! She thought back to what she did after extracting his blood. She knew she had. She retraced her steps. That's what brought her to the counter. She had placed the vial on the counter. She saw the capsule she had used for him. It was right where she had put it.
It was empty.
Lucas was an apostle. It was indisputable. But what about Stella and the child? She still had their blood. Could they possibly be human? But if they were human, why would they be traveling with an apostle. Is it possible they don't know?
Lucas was a strange case. He looked like an Organic apostle, but an organic apostle wouldn't be able to regenerate their blood, and Angelic apostles wouldn't have blood. What the hell even was Lucas?
Janice was stumped. Her knowledge didn't serve her. She didn't know what Lucas was, and now her life was in danger, and if Stella and the child were also humans, they were in danger too.
But she devised a plan. Dinner was at five. She wanted to see how Lucas reacted to the food. Would he eat it? Would he like it? She needed to see.
She also needed to know if he had any knowledge about the real Lucas Isaiah Miller's past. She had every detail about his life on her monitor. She would know if he was lying.
Janice left the room and went back to the lab. She walked up the stairs and onto the octagonal platform. She approached the door and put her card against the terminal, and the door opened for her. She checked her back before entering, making sure she wasn't being watched. The door closed behind her.
Lucas was still in bed. He turned over and saw the angel standing in the middle of the room. There was a ceiling fan. It had a light, and it was shining down on the angel, and despite being under direct light, it had no shadow. That was one strange characteristic about the angel. It didn't fit into the world around it. It looked like it was completely fake.
Lucas sat up and looked at a clock that was perched above the closet. It was four o'clock. Just one more hour before dinner. He didn't plan on actually eating, but he'd go just to be with Stella and Jonas.
He wondered though; what was being served? Maybe he'd try eating for the first time again if he felt like it.
Lucas shoved past the angel and left the room. He entered the living room where Stella still sat. This time, she was the one who was a sleep. Jonas, however, was wide awake and was crawling around on the couch.
Lucas came to Stella's side and shook her softly. Her eyes opened as she woke and she looked up at Lucas.
(Lucas: "We better start heading over to the lab. This place is a maze, so let's get a head start.")
She nodded as she stretched. She ran her fingers through her hair and extended her legs. She got up slowly, groaning like she was an old woman. She picked up Jonas, as well as her backpack which was resting beside the couch.
They left the room and trekked down the halls. Lucas almost forgot how barren and lifeless the halls were.
Stella tapped Lucas' shoulder with her elbow. Lucas looked at her.
(Stella: "Why don't you hold the baby. I'm tired.")
(Lucas: "No. I'm not holding the baby.")
(Stella: "Oh, come on. You totally bonded with Jonas yesterday.")
(Lucas: "I keep forgetting I slept for a day.")
(Stella: "Yeah, you got an adequate amount of rest. Can't you let me take a break from playing mom?")
(Lucas: "Yeah, well I'm not playing dad.")
Stella stuck the baby out to him. Lucas sighed. He took Jonas from her and he carried him the rest of the way to the lab.
It must've taken thirty minutes to arrive to the lab. They were wandering around in circles for a while before they realized where they were.
Stella knocked on the door, and after a couple seconds it opened. Janice held the door open for them.
(Janice: "Why don't you guys just take a seat at one of the desks.")
Lucas sat at a desk on the far right side of the room, next to the platform. He sat the baby down on the desk, and he sat back in the seat.
Stella sat at a desk parallel to his. She looked at the monitor up and down, trying to deduce how it functioned. Janice brought them plates with food on them. It was cooked and everything. She placed the plate in front of Stella first, then she gave Lucas his.
He looked at the food. He didn't know what it was. It looked like shredded beef. Lucas pushed the plate away. He didn't feel like eating. Janice watched as he did this.
(Janice: "Is something wrong with the food?")
(Lucas: "No, no, I'm just not hungry.")
Stella stared at the meat. She didn't know quite what to make of it. Something about it seemed off. It wasn't right.
(Stella: "What is this?")
(Janice: "It's my special recipe. Leftover rations from the Goods Department.")
(Stella: "Mhm, it looks super good, but I ate at the room. I brought some food with us.")
(Janice: "Huh. Whatever. I'll eat it.")
She took the plates from the both of them and set it aside. Janice sighed heavily. She took off her glasses and rubbed her face.
(Janice: "Why don't we take some time to get to know each other. Hell, it's been years since I've talked to another person, so I have plenty to say. But how about you guys. Where did you come from?")
Neither Stella or Lucas knew what to say. There wasn't much to say.
(Stella: "I was living up in the Sierra Nevada mountains. I've been there for a long time.")
They both looked at Lucas, waiting for him to explain where he came from. But the truth is, Lucas didn't actually know how he got there. He knew where he came from. He was from Missouri, but how he got from there to here was a mystery to him. But he couldn't just say that. They might get suspicious of him. So he lied.
(Lucas: "I've lived in California for almost all my life. And then I found her, and now I'm here.")
(Janice: "That was very concise. Too concise. I want details. What brought you this way?")
(Lucas: "Well, I came across a radio at a gas station that was saying something about "world restoration" or something like that. It also mentioned Unit Twenty-one, which is how I got the bright idea to come here.")
Stella nodded. She was buying it. Janice didn't react to what Lucas told her. She knew he was lying. Lying right to her face. She couldn't trust anything he said.
(Janice: "How old are you?")
(Lucas: "I am… um… thirty? I don't know. I haven't kept track of my birthdays.")
(Janice: "What is your birthday?")
(Lucas: "September 19, 2036.")
(Janice: "You are thirty-two years old. The rapture began on February 1st, 2049, which meant you were twelve. It's been twenty years since then. Today is August 24th, 2069. You are thirty-two.")
Janice evaluated what Lucas had said so far. He lied about living in California, she wasn't sure about the radio story, and he told the truth about his birthday.
Excluding the radio story, Lucas was 50/50 when it came to telling the truth and lying. This wasn't going anywhere, so Janice changed the subject.
(Janice: "Do you know anything about biology?")
Lucas shook his head.
(Janice: "You know, it's hard being a biologist down here. We have greenhouses, but I've never had a green thumb. We also had livestock, but I wouldn't know how to take care of a cow, or even a chicken for that matter. That's why I turned to apostles. They were the easiest to test on. Are you familiar with the term "disintegrative reconstruction?")
Lucas shook his head once again.
(Janice: "Essentially what disintegrative reconstruction is, is how most apostles recycle themselves. Apostles are immortal. They can't technically die. What you see happen when you 'kill' an apostle, when they turn into dust and disappear, that's disintegrative reconstruction. Or at least the disintegrative part.")
(Lucas: "You mean flaking?")
(Janice: "That is not the official term, but yes. Once they, as you would say, flake, they go to what is called the 'origin point.' This origin point is the rift where all the apostles came from. The flakes go back into the rift, and reconstruct themselves back into its original form, and it's rereleased back into the world. That's the working theory at least. There is no way to know if this is correct, but we are ninety-nine percent positive that's how it works.")
(Lucas: "That's cool. Why do you bring it up.")
(Janice: "It's just a cool fact about apostles. One I thought you should know about.")
Lucas nodded. There was an awkward moment of silence between them.
(Lucas: "Welp, thank you very much for the lecture, but I'll be going back to the room.")
Lucas picked up Jonas and gave him to Stella. He then left the lab without saying another word.
As he was walking down the hall, Lucas gasped for air. He wasn't breathing throughout that entire ordeal. Janice was onto him. He didn't know how she found out. Had he done something wrong? Did he accidentally reveal his immortality? Was it the blood? Did she find that the blood disappeared? Lucas was panicking. He didn't know what to do. He just got here. He just got here! There's no goddamn way she found out this quickly! He had to find a way to make her believe he was human. He had to find a way. If she told Stella the truth about him, he felt that their relationship that they had built up so far would be thrown out of the window. That was the last thing he wanted. He couldn't have that. Something drastic needed to happen.
Janice needed to die.
Lucas slapped himself. He couldn't do that. That would solidify the fact he wasn't human. Even if it was all pretend, Lucas liked being human, and he wasn't going to throw that away just for the slight chance Stella would still accept him as human if she found out he killed Janice.
Lucas needed to think, but his mind was drawing a blank. He needed a plan, and quick. He wasn't going to kill Janice. It's too risky. Stella would never trust him again if he did that.
What he needed to do was gain Janice's trust. Just because she was onto him doesn't mean she's figured it all out yet. If he could just prove to her he's human, then he could leave the Unit knowing Stella would never know that Lucas wasn't really human. He didn't know if it was going to work. But it was better than nothing.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone