Efferent

Chapter 21

"W-what do you mean?" I stuttered slightly, clutching at my heart and looking over to Clark. He scuffed his foot across the wooden floor and shook the hair out of his eyes, not meeting my eyes. I took a deep breath. "I am powerless?"

"We ran some tests, while you were asleep." Walter spoke, pacing the foot of my bed slowly and methodically. "It seems that we were able to pinpoint the cause of your short-circuiting, and indirectly, the cause of Efference."

I drew my knees in close to my body, placing my chin on top as I felt my eyes go wide. "And?" I inhaled sharply, unable to look away from his wrinkled and worn skin. "What is it?"

"You seem to have a blockage of neurons passing through your cortex, which is causing your abilities to stall, like a clogged tube, forming a build up of power that you cannot access." He paused, and pursed his lips. "The rapid fire of these neurons is what allows your brains to preform the way that they do."

"H-how am I not brain dead than, if all of my mind share is blocked?" I clutched at the blankets surrounding me. "I should not even be able to talk to you, if that were true."

"Agreed," Walter hesitated. "I too, was also confused by this."

"Show her the diagrams," Clark stated from the back of the room, eyes glued to my face in an insistent matter. "The scans, I mean."

"Ah!" Walter put his finger up, and began rummaging through a file he had placed on top of his newspaper earlier. His eyes slid over to Amelia, who had a blank expression. "Amelia, will you go check on Blaise? See if he is recovering. We can not afford to all lay around while Katherine and her army of Afferent lay siege to our shelter."

She blinked, and then nodded, swiftly moving out of the room as Clark moved closer towards the bed. Walter pulled out a black and white photograph, clearly depicting my brain. What I could not identify however, were the scattered spots of light across the membrane, which seemed to cluster towards the front of my brain.

"What are those?" I hovered a finger over the burst of light. "Why is it like that?" I looked up to Clark, who placed a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"Ardyn, that is your neuron cortex." He swallowed, "Where your abilities come from, right Dr. Ross?"

Walter pulled out another image, this one of a normal brain, lacking in the bursts of light. He placed his finger above the same area in the second picture, "The cortex here, see, is much smaller than yours." Walter looked me directly in the eye. "Thanks to your, Miss. Danvers, we now have evidence to support our theory of a genetic mutation that reacted with the serum differently than the original test group."

"So, because I have a larger brain, I can control minds?" I simplified, overwhelmed and a bit confused.

"Somewhat," Walter continued, "It really was the fact that your cortex was enhanced by the serum because it reacted with the formula. This caused the rapid fire of the neurons, which ultimately cause Efference. These neurons are also affected by fluctuations in adrenaline, most closely linked to strong emotions such as fear and anger."

I swallowed dryly, and nodded, unable to look away from the two scans. Clark stepped forward, leaning down so that he was eye level with me. "I have a theory," He said, "It has not been proven yet, but I believe that the Afferent have a normal-sized cortex and therefore are weaker and are more susceptible to mind control."

I nodded, emptily. "It seems like sound logic." I sighed shakily, "I just can not comprehend it. I am no longer Efferent."

"For the time being, Miss. Danvers," Walter shrugged. "But that is not to say it is impossible to restore."

"We will get it back," Clark offered, "We have to, if we are to defeat the Afferent. We can't do it without you, Ardyn."

"How?" I choked out, tears welling up and blurring my vision, "Is there even a way?"

"There is." Clark grasped my hands. "Tell her, Dr. Ross."

"The formula I developed can enhance the neurons even more, build up the pressure behind the blockage until it floods through and seeps it away." Walter paused once more, his hands stilling as he organized the file and placed the scans back into their slot. "There is one problem concerning that, however."

"What is it?" I pleaded. "it can not be too terrible."

"I am no longer in possession of that formula." Walter looked sullen. "The government confiscated it for their own private practices."

"So we steal it back," Clark squeezed my hand, his volume rising slightly. "We do not have another choice. It would be more likely the government would side with the Afferent if they were informed, rather than us. Controllable power is much more valuable than power with a conscience of its own."

I gestured out of the window. "How will we escape unnoticed? Last time we exhausted our power before we had even left the forest."

Clark sat down on the edge, rubbing his temple as he thought. The silence stretched on, and Walter observed us closely. I could feel his gaze prodding into the back of my head, but I was too focused on Clark to react.

"We have something that might be able to help us," Clark finally looked up, "But you will not enjoy it." I swallowed, but remained still. "Travis is in the recovery room with Blaise and Amelia-."

"What?" I interjected loudly, "How could you let this happen?"

"Ardyn, you do not understand-."

"He is a maniacal robot controlled by our worst enemy! What could I possibly not understand about this, Clark?"

"You broke her control, Ardyn!" Clark stood up, chest rising rapidly, as we fell silent. "Katherine can not influence him anymore, but he remembers everything."

"Has he shared any important information?" I whispered hoarsely, "Anything to help our cause?"

"He refuses to speak to anyone," He shook his head and clenched his jaw, a muscle twitching slightly with the movement. "Anyone, except you."

"Me? Why only me?" I looked away, pinching my brow, "I could have killed him."

"No, Ardyn." Clark responded. "You would not have killed him."

"But?" I added, when the look on his face appeared tempered.

Clark shook his head, refusing to meet my eye until the words were spilling out of his mouth. "You could not have killed Travis," He reiterated, "But you could control him."