Page 14 of Ramshackle
2. Reviewed care plan with the patient, including diet changes and supplements to take. Training limitations will be put in place for the safety of the patient and fetus.
3. Kitchen staff will be provided a list of approved meals and snacks.
4. Science department will be provided recurring status notes of current limitations.
5. Supplements were provided to the patient today.
6. The president was updated per his request and will be copied on all future notes.
I stare at the proof of her pregnancy with me on the island. The rest of her pregnancy is uneventful, and I skip past all the doctor visits and unremarkable training notes until I find one that mentions my birth.
September 26th
Raegan Laivins. 6 pounds 8 ounces. 20 inches.
Born to Merina Laivins and Charles Whitmore.
I take note of my father’s name. There was no mention of him in any of the earlier notes, but maybe I’ll see his name more after this.
Training Note 1270:
Subject is continuing to refuse completing tasks in her training. She is proving uncooperative, unwilling to use her gift, and I am unable to re-assess her threat level and current control over her gift at this time. Recommending psych eval for feedback on motivating the subject before I’m forced to retire the subject in the current program.
Medical Note:
Following a thorough interview and discussion with the patient, I have determined that the birth of the patient’s daughter has changed her goals and they no longer align with the company. The patient wishes to go back to a regular life to raise her daughter and has asked the company for assistance to return to her home country with a fake identity. I advised that this is not an option for her, especially now that her threat level cannot be confirmed after so much time out of training. Any willingness the patient has at this point will hinge solely on her daughter. Strongly advise an alternate training program or separation from the child.
I keep scanning through the next pages, but they’re all the same.
No progress.
Training has stalled.
Unfocused on anything beyond her daughter, so they try separating them. This only makes her worse.
A news article falls from the stack. I bend and pick it up.
Terrorist bombs office building downtown
At 3:17 pm, on Wednesday, October 3rd, a bomb was detonated in the lobby of the Gifted International building. The explosion caused the five-story building to collapse, trapping victims inside. There have been over twenty reported fatalities so far. Rescue teams are still searching for survivors.
The terrorist was identified as Merina Laivins, a woman in her early twenties who had gone missing seven years ago during an investigation of a similar explosion at a mall parking garage. Her body has been recovered from the rubble.
I grip the papers and slide down the filing cabinet until my butt hits the floor.
She couldn’t have died from her own explosion. The notes on her gift were clear that her gift protected her during it.
Someone killed her.
There’s a final report at the end, with a note that her daughter, Raegan, was taken to the States by Merina, and her whereabouts are unknown.
I close the file and hold it against my chest. She risked her life to get me free. I’m sure of it. She got me to Grams and then went somewhere that would get their attention and used her gift as a distraction. Grams must have known what was going on because I spent my early childhood in Alaska, as far away from the islands as she could get without having to leave the country.
She wasn’t a terrorist.
She was a human being who made a mistake, and GE swooped in to take advantage of her. And then she risked her life to save her innocent daughter before she could be caught up by them, too.
“I hear you were poking around the Records Room last night.” Gordon’s words trip my concentration, and my gift destroys only half the mound at once rather than all of it. He tsks loudly at my failure.
