CHAPTER THIRTY #2
I gritted my teeth, but my smile didn’t falter.
‘Must be that South Alta blood kicking in.’ I snatched my arm away and strode on to the stage.
Jacinta called my name, but I didn’t turn.
I didn’t hesitate. I’d made up my mind the moment Nova asked me to trust her.
Now I’d make sure everyone else did too.
I faced the hundreds gathered before me and took the final step toward toppling the Fox empire.
‘Most of you know me. Castor Fox, grandson of Dominion founder Albert Fox. And this beautiful young woman trying to join me on stage is Nova Williams, my Pain Carrier.’
Nova elbowed her way past the guards and waved to the crowd.
‘I don’t know about you all, but being a Pain Giver was harder than I expected.
My family’s wealth was meant to make helical disease easy for me.
Sign a few checks, and with one painless incision my burden would become someone else’s.
I was so grateful. It was the perfect system.
I mean, how lucky are we that research showed Pain Carriers can’t feel a thing. Isn’t that right, Mom?’
I turned to Jacinta, and all the color drained from her face.
‘Grandfather?’ I looked at him next. His expression was stone.
‘Then I met Nova and, well, things changed.’ I shifted aside, leaving her front and center.
‘What’s happening?’ Mayor Whit called out.
I looked at the holoscreen as new numbers flashed for everyone to see. ‘Looks like you lost, Stanley. Better luck next term.’ I gestured to Nova while murmurs rippled through the room.
Nova exhaled and stepped forward. ‘Dominion is lying to you. To all of us. I felt every single hellflare. We all do.’
Gasps swept around us. Still, it’d take more for them to believe us.
They’d ignored the protestors for weeks without a second glance.
But now we had their stage, and their attention.
I slotted the microdrive into the holoscreen’s port, uploading a virus to give Apollo complete control.
I nodded once it was in place, and he tapped away on his tablet.
The words DOMINION PHARMACUETICALS SHOW AND TELL flashed across the screen.
He’d done it. I let out a ragged breath while Mayor Whit shouted for someone to do something. AV techs rushed to their stations, helpless. Apollo had successfully overridden the feed and locked it.
Adrenaline pumped in my veins. I shook out my nerves, my anxiety.
Nothing was stopping us now. The moment was here.
A small part of me thought it’d never come.
Gemma looked on, confused, while Jacinta cast nervous glances at Grandfather.
He still thought he was untouchable, even now.
He didn’t rush to stop me because in his mind there was nothing I could say that he couldn’t throw money at.
He didn’t realize the holoscreen he was staring at was being mirrored across millions of homes.
Nova wasn’t done. She had the eyes of the world on her. It was time she shared her story.
‘I know many of you don’t believe a word coming out of my mouth right now.
What are those stigmas around Pain Carriers?
Poor people desperate for a check. Addicts looking for an excuse so a doctor can prescribe their next hit.
I see you, Mrs Whit, with your arms crossed.
You’ve been shaking your head since I stepped on the stage. ’
‘Oh, shit.’ That wasn’t in the script.
All eyes turned to the mayor’s wife, her face burning red. ‘Why are those two on my husband’s stage!’ She waved frantically at security.
Nova scoffed. ‘You still won’t listen. Time to show you, then.’
‘CASTOR!’ Grandfather bellowed.
I signaled Apollo to press play.
I didn’t watch the screen with everyone else.
I already knew what they were seeing – Nova mouthing now!
as I slammed the final button to begin the extraction process.
Seconds later, me banging on the glass, Nova falling to the ground in pain.
More gasps escaped the crowd. So many people stood frozen, jaws on the floor in disbelief.
Some raised their solisPhones to record it themselves, others started shouting.
I stood there in the center of all of it, proud of my girl.
‘She’s telling the truth. She can feel the pain,’ said Ross Graham from SCSN.
‘That can’t be right,’ said another reporter. ‘Wait –’
‘I’m turning it off!’ My voice poured from the speakers.
Everyone leaned in while I locked eyes with Grandfather. He didn’t watch the video, only glowered at me. He curled his fingers into a fist, his mind working. Thinking of all the ways he could spin this narrative. He couldn’t, though. Not this time.
The holoscreen flared, one final burst of light before the helical disease sputtered out.
‘Is she –’ someone gasped.
All eyes snapped to Nova. She opened her hand, the two chips Apollo had extracted from us in her palm.
I joined her side again. ‘Nova Williams is no longer a Pain Carrier, and I’m no longer a Pain Giver. Because in addition to lying about the pain, Dominion has a cure, and they’ve had it for over a year.’
The recording shifted to the files, the notes from Dr Anand, the newspaper clipping of her death, the report from the United States of the West Presidential Office.
Then more. Apollo’s screen captures showing solisAI suppressing anything negative about Dominion, all the leaks about Carriers in pain.
Centaurus’s voice chimed again and again – results not found – as hundreds of testimonials from hidden forums flooded the holoscreen.
My gaze caught on the hurt and surprise in Gemma’s eyes, the fury in Jacinta’s. Then it settled on the stoic stare of Grandfather. It didn’t intimidate me; it made me stronger.
‘Helical disease isn’t some parasitic illness that kills its host upon removal,’ I continued.
‘No one needs to carry it or the pain it inflicts. Dominion knew and kept this secret from you. We all remember when cases began to decline a few months ago. Weeks later, I almost crashed on the RRH – my first hellflare. You almost killed me, Grandfather.’
He flinched, eyes widening just a little, as the crowd looked back and forth between us.
‘You skipped a part, Cas.’ Nova nudged me. ‘Possibly the worst part.’