Remarkable

Chapter 4

Dayton turned right after we exited the elevator and walked down a long, narrow hallway, right to the door at the end, which was marked 4-M. He knocked three times and then relaxed his arms beside his thighs, patiently waiting. I tried not to panic as we waited for what seemed like a century before the door was opened by a fairly short, completely bald man with rectangular glasses, kind brown eyes, and a large nose. He was wearing heavy-looking dark brown robes.

"Mr. Dayton," the man said, his eyes almost closing entirely as he gave us a small nod.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?"

He barely seemed to notice me. Dayton gave him a respectful half-bow and smiled warmly.

"Keeper Mercer, I have found a very special Remarkable today."

"Oh?" the man asked, raising his eyebrows but still not looking directly at me.

"Yes." he nodded vigorously before gesturing to me with is right hand.

"Angelina, this is Councilman Lynden Mercer. He is the keeper of all the historical files and facts for the Remarkables. Keeper, this is Angelina Sanchez. She is a Fulfiller."

Mercer's mouth opened in a perfectly round "O" as he finally turned his full attention to me. His eyes opened the widest they had thus far, which was about half-way for most people. He stared at me for a full 30 seconds before tearing his gaze back towards Dayton.

"You're... certain?"

Dayton nodded again, even more enthusiastically this time.

"I tested it. She's the real deal."

"We must inform the others at once." said Mercer as he took both of my hands in his very gently and peered back into my eyes again.

"You have a very rare and special gift, Miss Sanchez."

"So I've heard. Please, call me Lina."

The Councilman smiled widely and stepped back a couple of paces, opening his door fully and gesturing for us to come in. He led us past a small but very neat kitchen and into a cozy-looking sitting room with 2 matching recliners and 4 fluffy cushioned armchairs. The cushions were old-fashioned, with intricate blue and tan designs highlighted with gold thread throughout, and the pillows on the recliners were similar in color and design. The coffee table had a dark metal base and an all-glass top and was perfectly proportioned in the middle of the room. Mercer asked us to sit and retreated to a room on the other side of the apartment, presumably to contact the other council members. Dayton and I sat in adjacent armchairs and gazed around the room.

"Normally we would meet in the conference center, but I didn't think about calling him and setting anything up. This is pretty much what we would consider an emergency subject." he said, sounding half concerned and half informative.

After a couple of minutes of silence, Mercer returned to the living room and informed us that he had contacted the other council members, and they had all agreed to meet at the Conference Center in two hours.

"Until then," he added, squinting towards me,

"I am going to give you a quick history lesson regarding Remarkables."

I glanced at Dayton, who smiled encouragingly, and then turned to Mercer and nodded in agreement. He sat down slowly in the recliner across from us and cleared his throat.

"According to our history, Remarkables date as far back as 300 BC. There are 9 different types Remarkables: Alterers, who can view and erase memories, Shifters, who can mimic objects and/or people by touch, Seers, who receive visions of the past and the future, Influencers, who can read and impact the emotions of others, Soothers, who can heal and absorb pain, Conjurers, who can materialize and control the elements, Sanctioners, who can enable and disable remarkable abilities, Primals, who can commumicate with and influence animals, and Fulfillers, who can grant the desires of themselves and others. Some Remarkables have more than one ability, though it is a rare and often inherited skill. For instance, Mr. Dayton here is a Sanctioner, a Fire Conjurer and an Alterer. His mother, may her soul rest in peace, was a Santioner and an Alterer. Most Multi-Rems, which is what we call Remarkables with more than one ability, only have 2. To find a Rem with 3 is extremely rare, almost as rare, in fact, as finding a Fulfiller."

My gaze shifted to Dayton's face when Mercer had begun talking about his abilities. It seemed to be very difficult for him to hear his mother mentioned, judging by the painful grimace on his face and his determination to stare at the ceiling for about a minute. But, a sense of pride emerged through his handsome features as we both listened with rapt attention to what an anomaly each of us apparently was.

"Our records show that Rems were not appreciated or accepted by regulars at any time when they were discovered. So, in 1476, our ancestors created Lyria. We have resided here ever since and have harvested an extraordinary civilization. Upon having a gathering place, the citizens of Lyria came together and decided to elect a council of wise and honorable men and women who would lead our people and keep our sacred traditions alive. It consists of 7 people: The Keeper, the Commander, the Teacher, the Sustainer, the Mediator, the Prophet, and the Designator. When one of them resigns, either by death (which is most common), illness or wrongdoing, another citizen is elected to replace them. I am the current Keeper. I maintain and regulate our historical documents and make sure that everyone who lives and visits here knows the truth about our ancestors. Nyle Masten is the current Commander. He is the leader of our Regulators and Sanctioners. He is the one who Indecent Rems are brought to before they are sentenced. The current Teacher is Janiyah Renner. She organizes the education of our young Rems and Regulars."

He paused to let me speak after seeing the puzzled look on my face.

"There are Regulars in Lyria?"

"Yes, of course. There are those who are born into Remarkable families and those who either fall in love with Remarkables or form friendships with Remarkables and choose to live among us. They are sworn to the same secrecy that Rems are and face the same consequences if they break that secrecy."

I nodded slowly, digesting everything he had told me so far.

"The Sustainer's duty is to ensure that our essential resources are grown, gathered and stored properly. The current Sustainer is Dane Daniels. Rayne McNiel, our current Mediator, is the youngest member of the Council. She keeps the peace between the Council and the rest of the citizens, the citizens individually, and the Council ourselves. The current Prophet, Kyren Landcaster, is the oldest member. His duty is self explanatory: he stores prophecies, chooses who to reveal them to, and records new prophecies, either spoken by himself or by other Seers. The final member of the Council is the Designator. The current Designator is Danielle Spencer. She is responsible for training and educating Rems regarding their gifts. Each member of the Council has people they have appointed to help them carry out their duties.

Many Rems, both Pure (meaning good) and Indecent (meaning bad), spend much of their lives outside of Lyria, intermingling with the Regulars of the world. The Pure Rems prefer to stay hidden from Regulars, but over time as Indecents decided it was easier to live, and reign, in the Regular world, they hid their Indecency until they disappeared and popped up in the most unlikely places: political positions, both of high and low standing, religous roles, celebrities, even doctors. Of course there have been a few that took the lazy path and tried to make it as magicians and circus performers as well. Most Sanctioners work and sometimes live in the Regular world, as their main duty is to find Rems to activate or deactivate. So, there is a branch of Sanctioners known as Regulators, who find Indecents in hiding and bring them to us for judgement and sentencing. Fulfillers are by far the least common of our people. Since the beginning of our time, there have been less than 10 that we know of (8, to be exact)."

"Is that why I have to meet with the entire Council? Because I have an extremely rare ability?" I asked tentatively.

"Well... not exactly." said Mercer, with a sidelong glance at Dayton.

"If I may, sir?" Dayton said respectfully, receiving a nod of approval from his elder.

"Maybe this is a good place to stop, at least until we meet with the others."

"Perhaps you are right, Mr. Dayton. Tea, anyone?"