Tethered Twins

Emmie Keyes

The first sense that came back to me was the power of hearing.

The noise was overpowering. I could hear the screams of every person Tobias had taken control of. In amongst the chaos I could hear Rex apologising for what he had done. I could hear his every thought and how he longed to regain control and stop Tobias. Rufus too was worried and obsessed about grabbing a frying pan and beating Tobias with it.

The thought made me want to laugh but I couldn’t articulate the sound. I felt like a passer-by observing Tobias’ power but with none of my own.

My other senses were lost in the ether and the collection of other sounds were not familiar without any other context. I could hear Grace shouting and yelling at Gabe to stop. I had no idea why and hoped that she hadn’t been possessed by Tobias as well. Although if what The Deck told me was true that should be impossible.

Then I could hear my father. I knew he hadn’t been turned so I must have been able to hear him through someone else like Rex.

“Emmie has been successfully transfused,” he said.

“Good,” said Tobias. This time it was his voice I could hear. There was no one else speaking his words for him. His voice was real and filled my head, blocking out every other sound.

“Emmie,” said Tobias. “Welcome to the greatest experiment of all. You are now a part of the world that was created twenty one years ago and soon you’ll be able to see the true extent of what was done to me that day.”

The blackness all around me started to light up slightly and in one corner there shone a bright beacon of light. It moved towards me as if Tobias wanted to show me something.

As the light reached me and filled my vision I could see inside the Olympic stadium again. Am I seeing through my own eyes? I wondered. The view was not what I expected. I could see Tobias from head on and as the view shifted I could see myself in a chair held in place.

The view moved closer and I could now see my face up close. My eyes were wide open and I was staring to the sky, just like Tobias had been. My arms were limp and I seemed lifeless.

“Am I dead?” I asked and I could hear the words emerge from elsewhere. The voice was not my own. “Rex?” I asked and I could hear his voice repeating me.

The view startled backwards away from me and I then realised what was happening. I focused on the floor and the view shifted downwards. I gasped in shock as the realisation hit me and then saw a hand raise up to stop the gasp.

I was controlling Rex. He was carrying out my every thought and saying my every word.

I looked around to try and get my bearings and saw Rufus standing totally still. In a heartbeat I was pulled away from the vision and towards a new bright light. As I approached this one I could now see through the eyes of Rufus and was looking back at Rex. I moved his arm to wave at Rex and then switched back to Rex so he could wave in return.

“What have you done to me?” I asked and the words were echoed by both Rufus and Rex.

“That’s nothing,” said Tobias. “With this power anything is possible. We can change the world in any way we wish. Imagine being able to take over anyone at any time. The possibilities are infinite.”

He was right. This power could change the world for the better. If we took over corrupt politicians and the people who were destroying society then we could shape a better world. Yet everything I had seen of Tobias made this seem like an impossibility. The man was obsessed with war.

I pulled away from the bright light. “In time you will be able to control many people at once, it will make you unstoppable just like I am now.”

In front of me I saw many more lights emerge. “What are they?” I asked.

“They are all people I control and with each minute I can control even more. My own private army,” he replied.

I looked through one of the lights and was stuck in a body that could not move. In front of me were soldiers from The Deck shining a blue light in my face. They were trying to stop this chaos. Beyond those soldiers I could see Gabe and Grace fighting each other. I had suspected Gabe was unstable but this was something entirely different.

“What have you done to him?” I asked.

“Gabe?” replied Tobias. “He’s the test subject for a new serum we have been perfecting. I must admit it was quite handy having him back at TethTech when we needed a test dummy. It unlocks people’s raw strength, although it looks like it had some unexpected side effects.”

I tried to move my new body but it was stuck from the blue light. All I could do was watch as Gabe tried to kill my best friend.

--<><>--

Grace Wilkerson

“Why are you fighting us?” asked Grace. “Are you working for Tobias?”

Gabe didn’t reply, he just kicked his leg out towards Grace’s chest. She grabbed his leg with her hands and twisted it, trying to force him downwards. He swung his arm around and punched her on the shoulder knocking her off balance and releasing his leg.

March jumped on to Gabe’s back, holding both arms around his neck and his feet around Gabe’s belly. Gabe reached backwards with his hand to remove him but March swung his body weight to one side taking Gabe down with him. They both tumbled onto the floor.

“Do you need our help?” shouted Chris, hearing the commotion behind him.

“No,” said Grace. “You have to hold the line.”

Chris looked ahead at the orange eyed people who were still being held in place with the blue lights. “I hope you gave these guns long batteries March,” he joked.

March tried to push Gabe off of him but he wasn’t strong enough. Gabe pulled his fist back ready to punch March. Grace kicked dirt from the floor towards Gabe and it hit him in the face. He moved his hands to his eyes to try and clear his vision and by leaning backwards he released March from the bulk of his weight.

“You have to stop!” shouted Grace. “I don’t know why you are doing this but this isn’t you.”

Gabe stood up on his feet again and cracked his knuckles. He formed a fist with his right arm and led with his left foot towards Grace. As he threw his fist forward she ducked and tried to avoid the impact but he anticipated it and hit her on her left side. She struggled to stay on her feet and he caught her with an upper cut with his right fist this time sending her tumbling backwards and on to the floor.

“No!” shouted March, who tried to grab Gabe but was stopped by a kick to his leg. He felt the full force of the impact on his knee and it sent him down to the floor.

Gabe sat down on top of Grace. “Now to do what General Kull couldn’t do.”

The General, thought Grace and then she remembered the man who had tried to sexually assault her. The man who had almost broken her back. It was all about to happen again. “This isn’t you!” she screamed at Gabe.

March tried to crawl towards Grace to help her but Gabe kicked him in the face, stunning him.

He grabbed Grace’s top and started to tear it off her. “No!” she screamed. As Gabe went to place his hand on her chest a loud gunshot echoed through the air.

Gabe placed a hand on his shoulder where the impact had occurred. Blood started to seep from the wound and he let out a groan of pain. The second and third bullets hit him in his chest, sending him over onto his side. The final impact was the butt of Grace’s gun as she knocked him off her and onto the floor.

“Why?” asked Grace, as she looked down at the gun in her hand. “None of this is right.”

She walked over to Gabe and opened his shirt. Two bullets had hit his bulletproof vest and the first bullet was lodged in his shoulder. He’d survive. She hoped.

She walked over to March and helped him to his feet. “I’ll be ok,” he replied and he hobbled over towards the stadium entrance.

“Hold the line,” Grace said to Chris.

He turned around to confirm the request but did so in time to see Gabe’s hand as it grabbed Grace’s foot. Thinking on instinct Chris turned around and shot Gabe in the chest again.

“No!” shouted Grace and she watched in horror as the line was broken. Chris turned around to try and block the gap but it was too late. A swarm of orange eyed people ran towards The Deck breaking through their defences. One of the team was knocked to the floor and an orange eyed man starting punching him repeatedly.