The Legacy of X-Division
Moshtagh Park Flower Garden
The garden was well maintained, for a city at war. Birds chirped in the trees. The wind rustled through the bushes. The sounds of traffic were distant. Alex and Thea sat on a bench overlooking the Zayandeh River. Angelica, Billy, Ruby, and Tania sat on the riverbank, just taking in the sights. Alexandra, Magnus, and Tania were at a nearby picnic table, eating
doogh they bought at a food truck a block away.
“Nice to get out of the lab every now and then, isn’t it?” Thea said.
“Yeah, it is,” Alex said, “When was the last time we were in a park like this?”
“Kyparades Park? We didn’t have much time after we relocated to Damascus.”
“Kyparades…” A dark memory crossed his mind.
A body hanging from a crane. Protests in the streets of the Ostend. Drones shooting from above. A line of Argus’ men advancing in lockstep. Josh’s smugness.
“You’re under arrest.”
“Oskar.”
Thea realized what she had done. She put her hand on Alex’s. “Oh. I…I’m sorry.”
Alex’s eyes watered up. “I used to wish Oskar was still alive to see us. He would’ve liked you. But with how everything’s gone so far…I’m starting to think he was one of the lucky ones. He died before everything went to hell.”
“But he still died in a brutal and terrible way. Nobody should die like that.”
“In a way, he was spared from what happened afterward. He never had to live through Bloody Tuesday, the committee’s tyranny, Red Christmas, and this war. If he didn’t die there, he would have died an even worse death later on. Like how Rahul and Chris ended up. Their deaths couldn’t have been pretty.”
Oh God, where do I start with them? They were in the car right behind us, with Alexandra’s grandparents. We should’ve been in the clear. But something happened, and they crashed. I hope they died then and there. I shudder to imagine what would have happened if the mobs got them.
Alex clenched his fists. “Rahul and Chris were good people. Why did they get such horrible deaths? Why do good people end up with horrible fates? And why do bad people like Josh get rewarded and celebrated?”
Angelica shook her head, as if both agreeing and disagreeing at the same time. “That’s how life is.
C’est la vie.”
“It must’ve been even worse for you in Bremerhaven and Alençon.”
Angelica nodded. “I lost count of how many people we lost in Bremerhaven. As for my hometown? I lost everyone. The whole town got massacred. They all died for the crime of being French.”
Thea looked down at the grass. “I’m so sorry. My brother…he did all that. I’m partially at fault too.”
“Don’t blame yourself,” Billy said, “What your brother did is what he did. It does not reflect on you. His actions are his, and your actions are yours. Yes, even if you’re following orders. Ruby and I would know.”
“Chief, don’t beat yourself up over something that happened twenty years ago,” Angelica said.
Billy averted his eyes. “I still feel I haven’t atoned enough yet. You may have forgiven me, Angelica, but I doubt Alex and Alexandra and Tania will.”
“Huh?” Alexandra said, confused.
“What?” Alex said.
“What do you mean?” Tania said.
Billy looked away. “Seeing their faces, I recognized people I once knew. X-Division. Angela Hansen and Anders Humboldt helped me back in 1992.”
A light went off in Alexandra’s head. “I knew there was something familiar about Alençon. It was my mom’s first case.”
“And my dad’s too,” Alex said.
“I repaid their help…by joining Sentinel. Me and Ruby, we were Sentinel enforcers.”
Everyone stared at him and Ruby. Their expressions ranged from shock to anger.
Sentinel?! Chief Marks was Sentinel? How is he here then?
“Ruby, please tell me he’s joking,” Magnus said.
But Ruby nodded. “It’s true. We had no choice.”
Tears rolled down Billy’s cheeks. He struggled to speak, but words still came from his mouth, as if forced. “We could only follow our orders. I killed so many. So many whose only crime was being inconvenient to Sentinel. The worst part was…I thought it was the right thing to do. I thought I was saving the world. Turns out I was just a murderer. I almost killed Anders Humboldt and Angela Hansen a few times. Fought Diana Frank and Olga Kirova as well. Tormented Angelica and her mother in 2015 for helping X-Division.”
Not only that, but he has a history with all of our parents? And Tania’s aunt?
Ruby jumped in. She looked like she was in significant distress, but she still spoke. “I almost killed Annie Humboldt, when Angela Hansen and my own mom were looking after her. I was even ready to kill my own mom. I didn’t do it, but I still have nightmares of following through. Worst thing is, I felt like I
wanted to do it. That
she was the evil one. That
she deserved to die, and it was my
duty to kill her.”
The group sat quietly for what felt like forever, trying to process the revelation.
I can’t believe it. These two were enemies of X-Division. They served Sentinel. Tried to kill them. Enforce the conspiracy’s will on the world. They did all that. And quite possibly more.
Thea spoke up. “What matters is you feel remorse for it. That’s good. You realized what you did was wrong.”
Billy was unwavering. “But it was too late. We were with Sentinel for over 15 years. Our death counts went into the hundreds. My incident with Angelica was only the tip of the iceberg. I’m not sure if we can repent.”
“I think you’ve done a lot of that already by resisting the committee. In a way, the committee is like Sentinel, only less hidden.”
Ruby thought for a moment. “You have a point. But we still failed. Alençon and Perpignan are empty ruins. I can count the number of survivors from both towns on my own hands.”
“Face it, we all failed at some point. I failed to protect Eva Anniona in Bremerhaven.” Angelica winced as she said the name.
“I saw my mom die right in front of me.” Alexandra wiped away a tear.
Alex forced himself to speak, even if the memories were too painful. They had to know the truth. “I lost Chris and Rahul. Both of my parents. I don’t know where my uncle on my mom’s side is, nor do I know about my grandpa and aunts on my dad’s side. They’re all probably dead.”
Thea, meanwhile, had no trouble speaking. “My brother’s gone insane, so he’s dead to me, although I don’t mind. He’s no brother of mine.”
Yeah, that’s fair. I’d be shocked if you did
mind.
That seemed to get through to Ruby, who nodded angrily. “Oh, like my own brother. Kurt Moreau. An Argus stooge. Probably working right under Theodor.
Nartre.” She shook her fist and spat his name.
Thea chimed in as well. “Just another one of my brother’s disposable puppets. Like those mechanical drones of his.”
“I can’t contact my mom, and I know my aunt is dead now,” Tania said.
“And she was killed by Josh, of all people,“ Alex said.
Frakking Josh. The worst monster of them all.
Tania raised an eyebrow. “Josh?”
“An old bully from my middle school days. He joined Argus and went off the deep end. Killed my mom and probably my dad as well.”
It turned out almost everyone in their group had a history with Josh as well.
“Killed my mom too,” Alexandra said.
I know. I was there.
“Slaughtered my entire squad and got me fired from the Athanatoi,” Angelica said.
You too?
“Works on behalf of my brother. Pretty much his personal hitman at this point. Almost killed me.” Thea involuntarily shuddered as she recalled that.
I don’t know what I would’ve done if Josh killed Thea. Even if I did, I don’t know if I could’ve
done anything.
“We would all have died if Olga hadn’t intervened when she did,” Magnus said, “He killed her too.”
Don’t remind me again...
Ruby took out a phone and played a video. “This is footage I recorded when we were crossing the border and got attacked by an Argus squad. Before Tania set off an EMP and stopped the recording, I got this.”
They crowded around the screen. The recording had been made at night, but they could still clearly see Josh’s face as he pursued the rebels on a motorcycle.
Why the frak is it always him?! Of all people to torment us, it just has
to be him
every time! It feels like the universe cursed me to have to suffer at his hands ever since middle school. Why can’t he just leave us all alone?!
Alex gritted his teeth and pounded the bench. “That’s him, alright. That motherfrakker even stole my mom’s motorcycle.”
And to add insult to injury, he steals a precious family heirloom! That thing’s been in our family for almost a hundred years! And now he’s using it too...murder and loot and brutalize people! It wasn’t enough for him to make me suffer, but he wants to destroy my family legacy too!
“And that…are those Olga’s gauntlets? The ones Aunt Jessica made for her?” Tania pointed at Josh’s arms.
Angelica shrugged. “I was too busy riding shotgun, and you’re one to talk, you were driving.”
“That guy took out a lot of our men on his own,” Billy said, “Damn. We all have a history with this guy.”
You could say that again. Also putting it very
lightly.
Tania’s face hardened. “He killed Aunt Olga. He’s my enemy too.”
“He’s our enemy,” Thea said, “He’s tormented every single one of us for years.”
And I doubt he will stop anytime soon. Speaking of which...
“If he’s on the border, he’ll probably cross it soon,” Alex said, “Come after us here in Isfahan.”
“My brother will most likely send him when he and the committee learn the princess is in Isfahan,” Thea said.
I...oh. Frak.
“So, if we all came here, did we just...screw this city over?” Angelica said.
Thea shook her head. “Not necessarily.”
“What do you mean?”
Thea pointed at everyone. “Look, all of us are gathered in one place along with the princess.”
She looked at Alexandra. “Alexandra, you said the princess had some kind of supernatural abilities?”
Alexandra flipped through her notebook. “From what I can tell, yes. Her capabilities can’t be scientifically explained.”
“And Alex, Josh is obsessed with killing you. That’s why he took out all of X-Division. You have ties to every single agent. And through you, we are as well. We’re all targets.”
True.
“So you’re saying we should pack up and run again.” Magnus looked terrified.
Alexandra took his hand. “No. We know they’ll come. We can plan for it.”
“
Hein, are you crazy?
Plan for an Argus attack?” Angelica looked incredulous.
Thea nodded. “It’s quite straightforward. Once the committee learns Wilhelmina is in Isfahan, they’ll send an army to kill her. Like they did in Tsarberg, logistics and strategy be damned.”
That is
what happened in Tsarberg. The committee sent an army to rush there within a week. Made no sense, but somehow it still worked.
Alexandra flipped to another page in her notebook. “Wilhelmina told me when her hiding place in Yavdi was exposed, the regent Elias Anhorn himself—one of the founders of Jerusalem—arrived to kill her. Once he learns Wilhelmina survived and is here, he’ll try again. In person.”
“General Remmele said there’s credible intelligence that my brother went with Elias Anhorn to Tsarberg. From there, they launched the attack on the bunker. If he attacks Isfahan, he’ll likely accompany Anhorn. Especially when he realizes Alex and I are here.”
Alex realized where they were going with this. “And in that case, he’ll bring Josh.”
“Two high profile committee leaders and one bully turned Argus,” Thea said, holding up three fingers. “All in the same location at the same time.”
She dramatically closed her fist. “The perfect place to eliminate them all at once.”
“Hold on a minute!” Angelica said. “Most of us aren’t soldiers! They’ll slaughter us.”
Thea nodded. “I know. We’re not soldiers. But some of us are scientists. Scientists in charge of the most powerful reactor known on the planet to date.”
Alexandra flipped to the back of her notebook. “I could lure Theodor and Josh into the lab and blow it up.”
Magnus shook his head. “We’ve gone over this. You’d die. We’re not going to let you do that.”
“I’m keeping the option on the table. If we’re really going to do this, we have to at least consider it.”
“No, we shouldn’t consider it,” Angelica said.
“Why’s that?” Alexandra said.
“There’s a lot we can do before resorting to that. We’ve got me, Billy, Ruby, Tani…”
Tania looked at her. “
Tani?”
“What, you don’t like that name?”
“I mean, I’m fine with it, but you just sprung it on me out of nowhere, and I already have a shortened nickname, so…”
Angelica smiled. “Okay, Tani it is! General Remmele’s creating a new division under his and the princess’ direct command. Since the Reich doesn’t exist for now, it’ll pretty much be our own personal army until the war ends. There’s the firepower we need.”
“Assuming we get through to General Remmele.”
“Tani, you’re a fellow commander. You can talk to him. Alexandra, you can talk to the princess. I’ll leave that up to you.”
“Who made
you the leader?” Magnus crossed his arms.
Yeah, I don’t remember voting!
Billy nodded. “Yeah. I’m older, I outrank you, and I’ve been in my job since before you were born.”
“Sorry, Chief, but sometimes, you’ve gotta leave it to the kids,” Angelica said.
Another light went off in Alexandra’s head. “I just realized something.”
“What?” Alex said.
“Humboldt-Frank, Hansen, Kirova, Tesla, Haus, Marks, and Moreau. I know these names, or recognize them from my mom’s case files. All of us are people whose lives were affected by X-Division. Angela Hansen was my mom. I myself was my own X-Division case as a kid.”
“Anders and Diana were my parents,” Alex said.
“Olga Kirova was my aunt,” Tania said.
“Diana Frank was my mentor. I was named after Angela Hansen. You know...my name and all.” Angelica gestured to herself.
“X-Division helped me in 1992,” Billy said.
Ruby joined in. “And me not long afterward. Angela always could call on my mom for help.”
“The Teslas have worked with X-Division on multiple occasion, putting it lightly,” Thea said.
Alex brought it all together. “Josh tormented us all and wiped out X-Division.”
“And I’m…just here,” Magnus said.
Everyone laughed.
“I think Thea touched on this before,” Alex said, “It’s kind of funny how we all ended up in the same place.”
“I was just about to say that,” Thea said, “How is it that all of us are here? Through almost entirely random coincidences, we all ended up in the same place at the same time.”
Alex thought a little bit. He looked into Thea’s eyes, remembering the events that brought him here. They had met when Thea coincidentally ran him over. But the circumstances that led up to that were also random chance. Trends in the economy he couldn’t predict, going to school the way he did, everything felt like it both led up to Thea while also making it feel like a freak coincidence. Was this the same thing?
“Maybe it’s fate,” he finally said.
“It’s like the universe wanted us all to meet up,” Alexandra said.
Or suffer together at Josh’s hands.
“Growing up, my mom always told me about the Dola,” Tania said, “Not necessarily deities, but they’re personifications of fortune and luck. They’re assigmed to each person at birth. Maybe our Dola brought us all here for a purpose.”
“So the universe wants us to reform the X-Division?” Alex said.
Angelica pointed at herself. “Technically, the old X-Division’s still around, as long as I’m still here.”
“I’m not sure we’d be up to the task, though,” Alexandra said, “Billy’s the only cop, and Angelica’s the only Athanatos here.”
Billy shook his head. “I don’t want to be a federal agent again, though.”
“Me too,” Ruby said, “Not again.”
“We don’t have to be X-Division, Alexandra,” Alex said.
“What do you mean?”
“X-Division was our parents’ work, not ours. We took different paths. We don’t have to follow the same road they took.”
Angelica looked at him. “We…don’t?”
Tania took a deep breath. “Mom always taught me that the reason the gods don’t interfere in the world is to give us the freedom to choose who we want to be. The Rozhanitsy may decide the day of our deaths, but before then, we’re free to live our lives however we want. We’re not our parents. We can still do good and carry on their legacy in some other way. Even if their legacy was Jerusalem and this war, we can set things right again—in our own way.”
“Look, Angelica, it’s perfectly fine if you want to leave the Athanatoi,” Billy said.
“Wait, you want to leave?” Magnus said.
“I was thinking about it. Once this is all over. If it ever ends and there’s still an Athanatoi to quit by then.”
“This
noia wants to open a bakery.” Ruby playfully jabbed at her.
“R-Ruby!” Angelica turned red. “I told that to you in confidence!”
Thea smiled, though. “Really? A bakery? Sounds admirable.”
“You th-think so?”
“Yeah! You should teach me how to bake like you someday!”
“I’m not sure I’d be up for that. I’m a terrible teacher.”
“Have you thought of where to set it up?”
“Definitely nowhere in the Reich. After what happened, I don’t want to risk another committee popping up and taking my bakery away. Maybe Oslo. If it’s still habitable. Then Clara and Sylvia can come visit.”
“I could too,” Tania said, “I live in Stockholm. Or at least lived there.”
“And me,” Magnus said, “Sylvie’s my cousin, after all.”
“Tani, you live on the other side of the country, though.”
Tania shrugged. “Who said I had to stay in Stockholm? I can’t wait to try your brioches again.”
“Maybe I’ll move to Scandinavia once this is all over,” Billy said, “Assuming the place gets cleaned up so I don’t immediately die to nerve gas.”
“What about you, Ruby?” Angelica said.
“Why’re you assuming I’d go to Scandinavia too?” Ruby said.
“Because you almost always does what Billy does. At least from what I’ve seen. Or is it
something more than that?” Angelica playfully jabbed back.
Ruby laughed. “Look, we actually tried ‘something more’ for a little bit before realizing it doesn’t work out. I only do it because I want to, and our goals and interests just happen to align. That being said, I’ll also consider Scandinavia. Got nothing left in the Reich. What about you kids?”
“Us?” Alexandra said.
“Yeah. Got any plans once this is all over?”
“I…haven’t really been thinking about that,” Alex said, “We’ve been so focused on surviving the immediate future. With this war and our work and all, we haven’t had time to plan ahead.”
“To be honest, I don’t think I want to go to Scandinavia,” Alexandra said.
“Why’s that?”
“Sure, I would like to visit, if it’s safe. But I’ve spent the last four or so years here in Isfahan. We rebuilt our lives here after escaping the committee. When we first arrived, we thought it would be temporary,. But the years went by and the committee only got more and more powerful. Every day, our chances of going home went down. Our own homes back in the Reich are long gone. Our families are most certainly dead. Magnus and I talked a lot about this lately.”
“Alexandra and I are thinking of staying in Isfahan, permanently,” Magnus said.
“We’ve got new lives here. New jobs. New homes. And with luck, we can raise a family here too, if Persia survives this war. We’ve laid down roots. I don’t think we’ll leave easily.”
“What about you two?” Magnus looked at Alex and Thea.
“Well…If you two are staying…I think we’ll stay too,” Thea said.
Alex nodded. “I’ll support what Thea wants. If she wants to stay, I’m staying too.”
“So we all know what we’re going to do in the future,” Tania said.
“Now let’s all hope we survive to see that future,” Angelica said, “I’m already surprised all four of you survived.”
“Yeah, I imagine the Impala’s wreck didn’t do any favors,” Alexandra said.
Angelica suddenly realized something. “Wait, I have an idea. Why don’t we recover it?”
“For what?”
“To repair it, obviously.”
Alexandra looked confused. “What good would that do? It’s been rusting for four, five years. We’d only just crash it again.”
“I know,” Tania said, “We could give it a betharium-based engine.”
Thea and Alexandra both looked at her. They both opened their mouths, but Thea spoke first. “A…whole betharium reactor for a car engine?”
“Would be the perfect chance to try miniaturizing the reactor. You say you want to roll out the betharium reactor to the rest of the world, right? Well, it’s not going to do that much good if it’s the size of a room.”
“She’s right,” Alex realized, “If we could reduce it to the size of a car engine, imagine the possibilities. We could—”
“Transition all cars away from internal combustion engines,” Magnus continued, “With better range and efficiency and—”
“No carbon emissions.” Alexandra understood immediately. “This is perfect. The committee’s tainted environmentalism. It’s made sure everything related to clean energy is now closely tied to the committee and supporting it.”
“Yeah, you can’t see a solar panel without thinking of the solar panel array and cabbage patch they put where the Grand Temple of Cordoba used to be.”
“Or the solar panels covering the abomination that was built on what used to be Restoration Island,” Angelica said.
They changed Restoration Island?! From the tone of her voice, I don’t want to know.
“So naturally, if—no, when—the committee falls, there will be a backlash,” Tania said, “The people will associate renewable energy with the committee. That’s not even considering the fact that if we want to restore those cultural sites, we’d have to actually destroy those solar panel arrays. Then what? We’d have to go back to fossil fuels. Maybe that was what the committee intended by linking Tabula Rasa so closely with its renewable energy efforts. If this ends someday, I’m sure the people will actually
want to go back to fossil fuels. The fossil fuel industry was a huge opponent of the committee back in the day.”
“So all renewable energy sources have been tainted by the committee,” Alex said.
Angelica held up a hand. “You’re missing a word there. All
existing renewable energy sources.”
“Because betharium hadn’t been discovered and exploited yet, nobody knew it was a clean energy source. Until now.”
“So the committee never associated itself with betharium. There’d be no stigma.”
We could still promote it without being called committee war criminals.
“Exactly! This could be the future, right here.”
“Assuming we live to see it,” Alex said.
“We’ll live to see it, I know we will,” Angelica said.
Alex looked at Angelica. “We will?”
Angelica nodded. “I’m sure of it. I have a good feeling.”
“
Da, me too,” Tania said.
Thea raised her bottle of
doogh. “How about a toast?”
“A toast?” Magnus said.
“A toast to the heirs of X-Division. To the legacy our parents left us. To the legacy we’ll build on our own.”
“Sounds grandiose,” Alexandra said, “But I’ll take it.”
Everyone raised their bottles.
“
Prost!”
“
L’Chayyim!”
“
Zum Wohl!”
“
Is Iyían!”
“
Santé!”
“
Cul sec!”
“
Salut!”
“
Skål!”
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