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  Asher? I asked, feeling a little wary. So wary in fact, that I put down the tools I'd been working with. Something told me this conversation was going to take all of my concentration.

  Kind of, he answered. He didn't sound like he wanted to continue, but I waited, no way was I cracking first. I'm Adrian.

  What the fuck? I demanded instantly. You answered to Asher last night.

  No. Asher answered to Asher last night.

  But...I trailed off. I mean, what else could I even say to that? He'd just dropped a massive bomb shell on me, and my head just wasn't processing it. It was kind of like being stood on a rug and whoosh, it was pulled from under your feet quicker than you could say 'magic carpet ride'.

  Let us explain, he said.

  You'd better, I replied. I didn't add that his explanation had better be good. I think he already kind of knew that really. I mean, how could he not?

  Tonight, Zel. We'll all explain.

  All? That didn't sound good. Who was all? Surely that should be both if he meant himself and Asher. All implied that there'd be someone else there too, which was just...mind boggling.

  All. But please trust me Zel?

  I don't know. I wasn't going to lie to myself, my trust levels in him were pretty low at the moment. If he wasn't lying about his name now, then he'd been lying to me about it for months, which was just as bad, if not worse if you asked me.

  Just give us tonight? he asked instead. I sighed, knowing that I'd already given in. Curiosity would have been the final nail in my coffin, and I think we both knew it, but I should still maybe have held out a little bit longer.

  Fine. But you get ten minutes.

  We might need longer than that, he responded.

  Ten minutes is what you get, Adrian. Not a moment more. And I wasn't joking either. I'd time it, and the second the timer hit ten minutes, was the second that I was out of there.

  I hope we can change your mind.

  Well that was ominous. It didn't fill me with dread at all. Not one bit. Stupid men not understanding when to stay quiet.

  Don't count on it, I told him.

  I can hope it, though. He did sound hopeful. I'd given him that. So maybe the way he felt was genuine, but the way I felt right now? It was just kind of confusing if you asked me.

  Bye, Adrian, I said, closing the connection between us and placing a firm lock on it before he could say anything else. If I kept talking to him, then there was a high likelihood that I'd end up caving to him, and letting him have whatever he wanted. And while that may be me, I didn't think I was quite ready to give that, given the circumstances. Maybe once he'd explained himself.

  I pushed all thoughts of Asher-Adrian, and whatever they had to say to me, out of of my head. That wasn't going to get my mask adapted so that I could speak tonight, nor was it going to do any of the other things that I wanted it to.

  ***

  I paced across the roof nervously. I'd been early admittedly, but the nerves were still getting to me as I tried to ignore all the many different scenarios that were going through my head right now. They ranged from someone wanting to kidnap me to harvest for organs, and this all being a practical joke. At this stage, I wasn't sure which of the two was worse. I also really didn't know what to expect. I mean, I'd been given nothing from Asher, no Adrian earlier, and I hadn't even realised that Asher had something to hide. Or had I? I mean he'd seemed off admittedly, but no major flags, not with him standing so close to me and making me all hot and bothered.

  "Zel?" Asher's voice cut through the darkness and I jumped despite myself. Damn, he was going to be the death of me at this rate. I turned around slowly, already wondering why I hadn't faced the direction he'd come from the night before. I mean that would just make sense right? Instead, I'd been an idiot and paced about.

  He emerged from the darkness, looking as equally delicious and dark as he had yesterday. But there was a major difference. Well, two actually, though it was taking my brain a little while to catch up on the existence of the second one. To Asher's right was a man only slightly taller than me, with what looked like light brown hair, and a pair of wide-ish rimmed black glasses. I wondered why he wore them. If my research was to be believed, eye problems that required glasses had long since been eradicated. They could even be fixed at birth if the doctor's actually noticed they were there. It had to be Adrian. I wasn't entirely sure how I knew that, but something in my gut told me it was true.

  Which just left the question on who the man to Asher's left was. He was somewhere between Asher and Adrian in size. Tall, but not overly so. Broad, but not by too much. Even his skin seemed like it was a mix of the two, closer to my own tone than to them. He was watching me with a pair of dark eyes - probably brown - looking a little wary. A thought played at the back of my mind. If I'd unknowingly been talking to two men, then three wasn't completely outside the realms of possibility. And from the look in the third man's eyes, there was definitely something more than there should be there.

  I played back the multitude of conversations I'd had with Asher, well with the As, and to my surprise, I actually could split it into what seemed to be three different personalities. Huh, how had I not noticed that before? Well, other than the fact that I hadn't actually been looking for it I guess.

  "Are you going to say anything, Zel?" Asher asked, his low voice warming me inside despite the fact I was confused and a bit pissed off about the whole thing. I mean, they'd been lying to me for months, and this wasn't exactly a little lie either.

  "Plenty," I snarled, surprised by the venom in my voice. Least I'd been able to figure out the mask so that I could actually speak, otherwise I doubt they'd have been able to actually sense my true feelings. Well, they would a little, but not the true depth of it.

  "Well?" he asked again after I didn't elaborate. I focused on my breathing, somewhat soothed by the slight metallic scent of the air as it passed through the filters.

  "Who's he?" I asked, nodding towards the man on the left.

  "Aaron."

  "Next question. What's with the As?" I watched as they exchanged glances, and I had a sinking feeling that they weren't actually going to tell me. That was just peachy. I didn't have to listen to them if I didn't want to. Without thinking about it too much, I spun on my heels and marched towards the edge of the roof, intending to lower myself from it and go to bed. Not that I'd actually be able to sleep, but it was the thought that counted.

  "Zel, wait..."

  "Why?" I asked, not turning around. I don't think I could. I was a little teary at the moment.

  "Can you keep a secret?" one of the others, I think it was Adrian given the direction of his voice, asked.

  "I kept you one didn't I?" Wow. I sounded really bitter. That wasn't good at all, I should probably work on reining that in a little bit. Ah, screw it, they'd been messing with me for ages, they needed to hear it.

  "True," Asher chuckled.

  "So, why the As?" I asked again, taking a deep breath and turning around so I was facing the three men again. Adrian was looking at me with an adoring look on his face, while Asher just looked amused and Aaron still glaring at her as if she was the one in the wrong. She chose to ignore him.

  "They're not our real names," Adrian said softly, but I didn't look at him, instead, I was fascinated by the deepening scowl on Aaron's face. Maybe he wasn't happy with the other two telling me things?

  "And your real names are...?" I prompted.

  "Inconsequential," Asher growled.

  "Because?" Yeah, I was being a bit of a dick, but so were they, and I did kind of deserve answers at the very least. A proper explanation would be even better.

  "Because we haven't used them for over two decades." It was Aaron that answered this time, and as much venom as had been in my voice, now appeared in his. I looked around them again, really studying them and trying to access their physical state. I wouldn't lie, there was nothing unpleasant about that task in the slightest.

  "You don't look a
day over thirty," I said, looking Asher straight in the eye. He laughed, actually genuinely it seemed.

  "I'm twenty-seven," he responded instantly, and I was satisfied that he was telling the truth. That seemed about right. Well, realistically, all I could really tell was that he was older than I was, but not by that much. Helpful, right?

  "So that means you stopped using your real name at seven?"

  "Yes." He nodded, and I noticed the other two nodding off to his sides too.

  "And you've used Asher ever since?"

  "Yes."

  "Does that not make Asher your real name?" I cocked my head to the side while trying to make sense of it. To my mind, if he referred to himself as Asher, and that was who he identified as, then that was who he was.

  "I suppose, yes."

  "Good. Moving on," I said, anxious to get through the rest of the questions that were already forming in my head.

  "Why didn't you tel me you were three different people?" I asked, watching carefully. They hadn't admitted that Aaron had been involved at all yet, but something within me was sure he was. Call it a woman's intuition or something, but it was definitely on high alert over this.

  "At first, we didn't realise we were all talking to you," Adrian said, taking a step forward so I could see him more clearly. His eyes were magnified by his glasses, and I was almost sure that'd I'd end up lost in their intense blue gaze if I let myself. Maybe not a good sign when I was trying to sort out the mess they seemed to have left me.

  "How could you not realise?" My surprise made itself known, much to my annoyance.

  "We all use the same line, and were all on at different times to begin with?" Asher suggested. Aaron snorted, and we both turned to look at him.

  "What?" I snapped.

  "Looking back it seems ridiculous that we didn't notice," he said, finishing with a snarl. Great. What had I done to him to make him so snarly with me?

  "I know the feeling," I muttered, annoyed at myself for being completely taken off guard by them too. I was smarter than that. Or at least, I really should be smarter than that. "So, after you discovered it..."

  "About two months ago. Then we discussed it and decided it was too late to clue you in, we needed you too much," Asher said.

  "Needed me? For what?" I let out a small squeak and hated myself instantly. I really needed to pull together, the way I was acting was kind of pathetic right now.

  "Your brain," Adrian said softly. I took a few steps back, panic building within me.

  "So you do want my organs," I whispered, more to myself than to them, and took another few steps back. This wasn't going well, not at all.

  "What? No, of course not!" Adrian spluttered nervously and the other two just looked on. He wasn't getting any help there then. Interesting.

  "Then what?" I asked him, choosing to ignore the others.

  "Your ability to look at information like you do and work out how to create a solution. Your skills for that are unbelievable, Zel. Far higher than we'd expect any human to be capable of."

  "What are you saying?" My voice shook, though I wasn't sure why. Adrian took a step forwards, but I didn't move back, it didn't feel anywhere near as threatening anymore.

  "That you're incredible, like no one we've ever seen of or heard of before. What you did with the mask, to let yourself breathe, it's truly amazing." His words came quickly as his excitement made itself known, whether over me, or just the way my mind worked, I wasn't so sure. Maybe a little bit of both? For some reason, that bothered me. I wanted him to be interested in me for me, not just in what my brain could do. Whoa. Weird thought there. Not so keen on that one. I shouldn't be feeling so attracted to any of them, not with the lies and the way they were looking at me now.

  "Thanks. I think." I touched my mask as I spoke. It only covered my nose now, a special program I'd put in place projected the filter out in a force field like manner which filtered the air even before it hit my mask. It still needed some refining, true, but the basic premise was clearly working, especially given I was still standing and not in a dead heap on the floor.

  "How did you do it?" he asked in awe and something switched inside my brain. No, I didn't want to tell him that. I shook my head, but he was still waiting patiently. That wasn't going to change my mind though. If he truly wanted to know, then he needed to gain my trust back. Which was another odd thought if you asked me. I'd never realised he held it until this moment. Not Asher the collective, just this voice of him. Something deep within me was telling me that this was who'd sent presents as parts and the one who talked to me for hours on end about the possibilities of science and what it could achieve, particularly when it was combined with the mechanics I so loved.

  Thoughts like that really weren't making life easier for me.

  "I don't know," I said eventually, mostly just so I could break the awkward silence that seemed to have stretched out between us. That hadn't been my intention at all, and now things had already got weird. To the left, Aaron snorted, and I turned back to look at him. At least he'd moved this time. Now he leaned against the side of the building next to where we were stood. It was a few stories higher than the one I lived in and I believed that it was part of what was shading the light.

  "Don't look at me like that, Zel." I shivered. The way he said my name was...electrifying. I'm not sure if that's even the word I was looking for. But it was certainly like nothing else I'd experienced or expected. It sounded dark and dangerous, and like there was a promise for something. Though for what I didn't know. "All I meant was I doubt you've forgotten how you did something."

  I scowled at him, but mostly because I knew he was right. I wasn't about to forget how I did anything, that just wasn't how my brain worked. More than that though, I often made meticulous notes while I tinkered, well, when I remembered anyway. I often got a little carried away ad had to retrace the steps in my head in order to write it down properly. But, without fail, I always finished writing down my process within the five minutes that my tinkering ended.

  "She doesn't have to tell us if she doesn't want," Adrian said calmly.

  "Then why the hell are we here?" Aaron demanded. Ah yes, good question, I had to wonder that myself. What were they doing here? And why me? I was nothing special, just a twenty-three year old tinkerer who couldn't go outside unless she built herself something that meant she could. I may not rate my skills quite as highly as Adrian clearly did, but even I knew that what I could achieve wasn't normal.

  "You know full well, now drop it," Asher barked, cutting off the reply that it had almost seemed certain that Aaron would make. Interesting. Aaron's personality seemed more powerful than Asher's, yet Asher was the one clearly in charge. The dynamics between them were fascinating, and I'm sure they'd be even more so to someone who actually studied psychology and that side of things. Maybe I should ask Mother who we knew that could do that for me. Just the thought of that made me smile. She'd be horrified, especially upon learning that I'd been talking to people that lived normal lives.

  "You don't want to tell me then?" I asked, looking Asher directly in he eyes. I felt like he was the most likely to answer. The softest of the three even, though even saying that felt funny considering his huge size. Guess there was no explaining the way my thought process worked.

  "It's not so much don't want to..." he trailed off, looking a little uneasy before glancing to the side and exchanging a look with Adrian.

  "It's more that..." Adrian tried, but then stopped talking, not wanting to complete what he was saying.

  "They don't think you can handle knowing yet," Aaron answered for them. I looked at him properly and he pushed away from the wall, moving towards me in a way that could only be described as prowling. There was something powerful about it. Something almost thrilling. Not in a being hunted way, but in a way that made me feel like I was the centre of his attention. It was more than a little heady. I'd never been around a man full stop, never mind three I felt attracted to, one of whom was making me fee
l like the only girl in the room. Though I guess I was the only girl on the roof, so that did make some sense.

  "What if I think I can?" I directed my question to Aaron this time, feeling that he was now the most likely one to give me answers. Funny how it was switching between the three of them, almost like it depended what the subject was as to who had the power.

  "I don't think you can, Zel. But that doesn't mean you won't be." He was standing within touching distance now, and it was all I could do not to reach out and touch him. I don't think he was actually trying to affect me in the way he was, but there was no escaping it, and the last thing I wanted was to give him any actual power over me. Wait, maybe that was wrong. Maybe I just didn't want him to know that he already did have that power over me.

  "And when will I be ready?" I sounded surprisingly husky, even to myself. But then, that could be a result of just using my voice a lot more than I normally did. On a day-to-day basis, the only times I spoke out loud was when I talked to myself while working, or when Mother and I sat down for dinner. It'd been better when I was younger. Mother had worked shorter hours then. There were some points where I'd even felt like there was a proper Mother-Daughter bond between us, but they were very quickly squashed by a simple statement or action from her. I wasn't even sure why she had me. They'd long ago started to encourage women not to have children. It helped combat the raising population density that was playing havoc on the world.

  "Maybe in three hours, maybe tomorrow, maybe next week." He spoke softly, his voice doing similar things to what Asher's had done earlier to me. It was safe to say that this man definitely had power over me. Far more power than I liked.

  "And you'll tell me then?" I asked hopefully. He nodded, and lifted a hand to touch the mask where it was fastened to my nose.

  "Yes, Zel. I'll tell you then."

  Chapter 5