Free Socket 1-3 - The Socket Greeny Saga by Tony Bertauski Page B

didn’t.” His smile faded from his
smooth face. No sign of whiskers.
    “How old are you?” I asked.
    “Same as you. Do you find that odd?”
    “You seem pretty okay with all this
yourself.”
    “That’s because I was born here. I’m a
Paladin breed. I was made to do this. You are a genetic mutation
and that’s why so many Paladins are all enthusiastic about you.
They love mutations. They have this false hope that nature will
provide the right combination of DNA to improve our race. But if
you want to know the truth, you are just an abnormality, a random
chance. If you think about it, it’s like squirting paint on a
canvas hoping it will become the Mona Lisa.” He twitched. “Do you
understand?”
    Did I just get insulted?
    Broak clasped his hands behind his back and
looked into the pond below. He sniffed the air and sneered, then
brushed a bit of dust from his chest. The grimmets rustled
nervously, never taking their eyes off him.
    “Whether you know it or not,” he said
without turning, “you are somewhere in between, dear Socket.”
    “In between what?”
    “This world and the one you came from, where
the regular people live.” He looked over his shoulder. “I sincerely
doubt you can go back. In case you haven’t noticed, they don’t know
we exist.”
    Whether South Carolina was my home or not, I
knew right then and there I didn’t want to end up wearing a onsey
in jungle colors. And the dear thing was really stepping on
my nerves.
    Broak walked along the rocky ledge. The
grimmets stirred a cloud of dust getting out of his way. Broak
glared at them crawling along the branches. He brushed his chest
off again.
    “You don’t like this place,” I said.
    “I am not a fan of the Preserve,” he said,
wiping each arm, dutifully. “It is absolutely filthy. It is
unorganized. Unpredictable. Pivot belongs here, not me. After all,
the Paladins built it for him.”
    “They built what? That tree?”
    “The entire Preserve.”
    5.2 square miles of tropical jungle, all
for one person? “That’s impossible.”
    He brushed both arms, both legs, licked the
back of his hand and rubbed it off. Clean as a cat. Broak squatted
next to Pivot, brushed the hair from his eyes. Pivot did not
move.
    “He is a mutant. Like you. Although you had
the benefit of your father’s association with the Paladin Nation,
Pivot came from the general population. He was an accident. I
suppose we found a Mona Lisa, after all.” He looked at me. “What do
you suppose the odds are of finding two?”
    “Let’s get something out in the open.” My
gut lit up. “Are you looking for a fight? Because it feels like you
are, and I just met you.”
    The rehearsed smile creased his porcelain
cheeks. “It’s a great moment in history, dear Socket.” He raised
his hands in celebration. “I’m the perfect breeding. Pivot’s the
lucky mutt. And you… well, we’re not sure what you are, just yet.
Let’s just say you show promise.”
    “Not that this matters, but I don’t give two
shits what you think. I don’t care if I ever read another thought
or stop another moment in time. You can drop me off back home, if
you like. I was happy with my old life.”
    Then it hit me. Happy with my old
life ? Every day of my life felt like pushing a boulder up a
hill waiting for something to happen. It was always that way, like
I was missing what I was supposed to be doing. Now that I was with
the Paladins, I didn’t feel like a freak.
    Broak pulled Pivot up and put his arms
around us both. “Pivot’s special. And I don’t mean the he-can’t-see
kind of special, either. The Paladin Nation needs him. They need
me. And, if what we’ve seen so far from your preliminary tests, you
just might be special, too. Whether you like it or not, we have
been chosen by a higher power to serve. All we can do is celebrate,
dear Socket.” He leaned close, his breath odorless. “Long live the
Paladin Nation.”
    He shook us once, twice and let go.
    “Now if