The Sowing

I’m too late. The Ultra Imposer indoctrination of my brother has already begun. He’ll eventually end up another lab rat like Digory, his mind and body subjected to countless experiments. But Digory was selected because he’d proven himself strong. With Cole being programmed so young, who knows what kind of monster he’ll be groomed to be?

I look back up at him. Then I stagger backwards, the flare gun clattering to the floor. And still Cole stares at me, eyes unblinking, as if I’m a total stranger.

Cassius walks up behind him.

“Stay… away… from my… brother…” It’s more of a wheeze.

But Cassius rests his hands on Cole’s shoulders. My brother looks up at him, the way he always looked up at me whenever he wanted my approval.

Another wave of intense pain, accompanied by nausea, almost makes me pass out. My vision blurs…

This can’t be happening…

Cassius sighs. “It’s your rejection that forces me to do this, Lucian.”

He looks up at a hovering cam, and then I see his face plastered all over the jumbotrons once again. “Citizens of the Parish, behold. At last I’ve apprehended the terrorist known as the Torch Keeper, Lucian Spark, who has conspired with Talon and her cohorts to destroy us from within. Behold the face of the most insidious of traitors, revealed at last and brought to his knees on this most momentous of days.”

Then I see myself, bloodied and pale, crawling like a wounded animal… and shots of Squawkers on their way to take me into custody, before the screens go dark.

Another wave of anguish wracks me. My back presses against the roof railing and I somehow manage to push myself up. If I’m going to die, I want to do it on my feet and looking Cassius in the eye.

I can barely see from the pain and dizziness and the hot tears streaming from my eyes as I look at the smaller of the two shapes in front of me.

“Cole…” I choke out.

I stagger against the railing, weak, teetering as the cold wind lashes my face.

Cassius’s shadow engulfs me. He grips my head, pulling me close. “I tried to spare you this. But my feelings for you are a liability. You can’t escape your true nature.”

“My true…?”

“The rebellion is lost. Tycho is being purged of his humanity—and his pain—as we speak. And Cole belongs to me now.” He leans in close, his lips brushing against mine and moving to my ear. “I’ll let you in on a little secret,” he whispers. “Cole isn’t your brother.”

This can’t be true. I’m delirious. I can remember Cole as an infant. His tiny fist clenched around my finger. The anger gives me a final surge of strength. “You’re… lying. Cole is a Spark.”

Cassius’s eyes deadlock with mine. “But you aren’t,” he says calmly. “You aren’t Lucian Spark. Your true name is Queran Embers.”

Cold envelops me. I no longer know what’s real and what isn’t. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“The Sowing Protocol. It’s the method developed by the original settlers of the Parish, who perfected a physics-based cloning system that can replicate a human being at an atomic level. Every single molecule is copied, preserving not only an individual’s physical attributes but also their memories. The cloned embryos were to be implanted in future generations, so they could be reborn again and again, achieving an immortality to rival the Deity—or the Begetter—or whatever one chooses to call it. The entire Recruitment process we both experienced is much less random than it appears.”

My head’s spinning and my body feels like it’s been sucker punched. “No. These are just more of your lies and manipulations.”

He shakes his head. “All this time, you’ve been trying to destroy the Establishment. And the irony is… you are the person that founded it, centuries ago. You built this place, stone by stone, upon the suffering and blood of countless innocents. And now you’ve been reborn, resurrected as a cloned embryo implanted in your mother during a routine medical examination.”

“I don’t want to hear anymore…” I whisper.

His eyes water and a tear streams down his cheek. “All the things I’ve done since I discovered the truth—some of them terrible—were all in an effort to try to crush the Establishment once and for all and save you, the only person I’ve ever truly loved. Even though you are responsible for all this.” His arms reach up toward the turrets and spires of the Citadel, then drop limply to his sides. “But I’m starting to realize I can’t do both.”

It’s too much. I just want to shut my eyes and be swallowed by oblivion.

Beside him, Cole lifts the dagger one more time, aiming for my heart.

I push away from Cassius and tumble over the railing, spinning, flashes of color assault my waning senses, just wanting it all to end in that final darkness—

The impact jolts every nerve ending in my body. I expected death to be infinite blackness and peace. Why hasn’t the pain throbbing inside me stopped?

“Get him inside, quick!” a voice shouts from far away.

That voice is familiar… I’ve heard it many times before… but where…

It’s Arrah.