Chapter Six, The Price of Safety

“Yeah, it’s a pleasure to see you again too Rei. Now where have you been?” Rei’s sister demanded, before her eyes locked onto Marigold, noticing her for the first time. “And who the hell is this? Do you know what Alexander is going to do when he realizes you brought a stranger down here?”

“I have an idea, yeah. But hey, since you’re awake and all, could you look this kid over?”

Marigold didn’t have time to react as Rei pulled the baby she carried from her arms, holding the infant up for his sister to see.

The still unnamed woman gasped, stopping cold for an instant before taking the child into her own arms. “A pink-eyed Siren? Alive?”

“Strange way to react, Kay… I mean being surprised Pinky’s alive and all.” Rei’s voice was cold. “I mean, considering I was somewhat shocked by Marigold here telling me how she’d found him on the top of a pile of dead babies in a hospital incinerator room.”

“Rei…” Kay tried to interrupt, to stop his rant, but the male Kitsune was having none of it.

“I play eye in the sky for Alexander, despite it being painfully evident that I’m not really welcome around here, and yet something like this… which scares the shit out of me by the way… doesn’t even seem to be a surprise to you. Why is that?”

“That is because it isn’t a surprise.” A soft, almost sepulchral voice from directly behind her caused Marigold to jump and spin around. She found herself eye to eye with the glare of a ghostly pale and wire thin man.

A man with vivid pink eyes.

“The Australasian Grand Council decided, in their infinite wisdom, to execute ninety percent of newborn Sirens not delivered through their breeding programs about eighteen years ago. The same decision required the immediate destruction of every pink eyed newborn no matter where they were delivered.”

“And you didn’t think I should know about this?” Rei demanded.

“No.” The pale man said his wrinkled brow tightening as he focused his glare on Rei. “Frankly, it would have inspired you to do something stupid. Or stupider than usual, as the case may be.”

“But why?” Marigold spoke up, before she could stop herself. “Why kill infants?”

“In the grand scheme of things, it’s because of fear. Sirens, even more than Kitsune shape shifters, frightens those in power. As for the specific targeting of pink eyed sirens... that is due to the statistically proven tendency we have towards greater psionic power and talents.” The pale man replied, holding out his hand for Marigold. “I do not believe we have been properly introduced?”

“I’m sorry. I… I’m Marigold Sullivan.”

“Marigold … My name is Alexander. And, I’m afraid, I must apologize to you.”

“Don’t you dare!” Rei snarled behind her, causing Marigold to look back to see his sister physically pulling him away from her, and Alexander, despite the seemingly larger man’s attempts to pull free.

“Apologize? Why?” Marigold asked, looking back at the older man nervously.

Alexander smiled sadly. “This.”

Marigold’s world vanished in a flash of blinding pain, like someone had ripped her skull open and poured salt on every exposed nerve they could find, only worse. Every event and footnote of her life, every sin and triumph, marched through her vision like a parade of soldiers who treaded across her optic nerve with sandpaper soled boots. She didn’t hear herself scream, although she knew somewhere inside her that she must have. She also didn’t see the floor rush up to meet her.

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Marigold groaned as she returned to consciousness. Dimly she could hear two male voices, muffled just enough to be incomprehensible to her ringing ears, arguing. A cold, wet towel was pressed to her forehead as she moaned. “Don’t open your eyes yet.” A female voice, dimly Marigold remembered it as belonging to Rei’s sister, instructed. “Your optic nerves are going to be a bit jumbled for at least a few more minutes. Just lay back and rest.”

“Wha… what happened?” Marigold managed to stutter out, inspiring a sigh from the other woman.

“You were Deep Probed.”

“Deep Probed?” Marigold worked the words around in her mouth. “What does that mean?”

“In simple terms, he forced your mind to pump all the information stored in the memory centers of your brain through your optical and auditory centers, so he could watch them. It was so he could be sure you could be trusted.”

“It hurt…”

“I know.” Kay said softly. “That’s why he apologized.” She continued weakly.

“Does it hurt for him to do that, too?” Marigold asked. She very sincerely hoped so.

Kay paused, and instead of answering she said “Open your eyes, slowly. Your sight should be recovered by now.”

Reluctantly, after the hesitant tone in Kay’s statement, Marigold opened her eyes. It took a few moments for them to clear before they focused on the Kitsune woman. The other woman sighed and looked relieved. “You can see me.” It wasn’t a question, and in fact Marigold suspected she hadn’t meant to say it.

“Was it possible that I might not have?” the nurse demanded.

Another pregnant pause, only this time Kay did answer. “In very rare cases a Deep Probe has been known to cause permanent blindness and deafness.”

“Not to mention comas!” Rei’s angry voice startled both women, neither having heard the door to the small room open. “And heart attacks, and deaths… but who cares as long as this perfect little hole in the ground is preserved, right?”

“That’s right!” Alexander yelled, following Rei into the room. The Kitsune male scoffed visibly as he sat down on the bed Marigold laid upon. “There are people up there who would destroy us the second they found out we existed.”

“And how many people don’t know where their mothers and fathers live because of the need for your so-called safety?” Rei demanded. “How many memories have you deleted… and how many died in the process?”

“Many. Not that I think you’re attempts to scare Marigold are appropriate.” Alexander replied coldly. “And there are more than a few here who have ‘forgotten’ their children even exist, for the same reason. They were threats to our community and our safety here.”

“Oh, a veiled threat! I’m honored.” Rei snarled. “We both know Kay’s taken precautions so you can’t do that to her and me. Your star gene-splicer is too valuable for you to risk her leaving, after all.”

“Rei! That’s enough!” Kay snapped. That was the last straw for the baby, who had been nearly forgotten in a crib in the corner of the same room. His piercing cries filled the small bedchamber with the klaxon of his fear. Kay rose and hurried to the crib and tried to calm the child.

Rei, enraged and unable to do anything about it, stood and tried to push Alexander bodily out of his path. The older man grabbed the younger’s arm, stopping him. “You are not my enemy Rei, no matter how much you seem to want to be. Your help among our agents in the City is invaluable, but you’re always welcome here if it’s grown to be too much for you.”

“Up there, at least, I have choices. Down here, you take those away from us.” Rei snarled. He jerked his arm free and was gone an instant later.

“Are… are you going to delete my memories?” Marigold asked as Kay rushed through the door after her brother, the baby in her arms.

“No.” Alexander replied, sitting heavily in the chair Kay had just moments ago vacated. “You are no threat, especially not with an older, Kitsune, sibling.” Alexander smiled softly. “And he's a Captain in the expeditionary force, no less!”

“Um… Yes…” Marigold nodded, not comfortable with how much this man knew about her.

“You’re very proud of him, look up to him, even though his Kitsune shape shifting intimidates you at times.” Alexander smiled softly. “To be fair, Rei intimidates me sometimes, even if I can kick his ass two falls out of three.”

“How? I saw him… against those InSec men…”

“I was an InSec assassin, before I went rogue and found this place Marigold. I can read his moves as he decides to make them. Even as tuned as he is, that’s a very real advantage for me.”

Marigold nodded, her eyes searching the man's face. “You aren’t going to let me leave here, are you?”

“Your heart condition wouldn’t let you survive the deletion I’d have to do to allow it, no.” Alexander spoke softly, but firmly. “Frankly it’s blind luck that it didn’t kill you when I probed you. For what it’s worth, I won’t risk removing the memory of your brother so you’ll be able to keep him in your heart, though you can’t visit him.”

“Were you? Really sorry I mean?”

Alexander stood, walking to the door of the bed chamber. “When I apologized before probing you?”

“Yes?”

He switched off the light. “No.” He answered calmly. He shut the door, leaving her in darkness and with her own thoughts.