Call them Birds of a Feather

Chapter One: Call them Birds of a Feather

On the day before school started, Kit's mother emerged from her room
but for the first time in days. She was still dressed in black, but her
eyes looked dry. "Here," she said putting five pounds into his hand.
"This is for you. Spend it in town. See a film or something. No buts,"
she said firmly as he tried to protest. "You haven't smiled for days."
She obviously thought that the death had affected him, thought Kit as
he left the flat. He felt slightly guilty and at first considered using
the money to buy some flowers for her, but greed overtook him and he
found himself on a bus heading towards the center of town. He knew
where he would go; he had wanted to go ever since it had opened. NetUK,
the Internet Caf? had opened in Greendale Crescent at the beginning of
July. Kit had never been on the Internet let alone had a computer of
his own. He was fascinated by the technical world and loved anything to
do with the future. Kit detested people who lived in the past. As far
as he was concerned, computers were the first step towards a better
world. It took him quite a long time to find the place, although after
he saw how massive it was he wondered how he could possibly have not
spotted it before. His first thought was that it was enormous. He no
longer wondered how they had managed to squeeze five hundred computers
into one building because the answer was now blatantly obvious. As Kit
approached the counter, he began to wonder how he could phrase his
request. Before he could open his mouth however, the man at the counter
asked him his name. "Oh," said Kit in slight surprise. "Kit Rielly."
The man glanced at his screen. His eyebrows knitted. "Christopher
Rielly?" he asked. Kit started at this. "Well yes," he admitted. Before
he could ask why his name was essential in 'surfing' the web or re-tell
the saga of how he called himself 'Kitoffer' early on in life, he left
the counter abruptly asking Kit to follow him without even looking back
to see whether he was behind him. Kit assumed this was part of the
service and thought the man was leading him to a machine. Nevertheless,
he wore a puzzled expression on his face as he silently followed the
man down two flights of stairs to a black door where the man knocked
sharply. Kit's bafflement increased when the door was opened by the man
he recognized as the frock-coated figure that had attended his father's
funeral. He was much better dressed today; with his brown khaki
trousers, boots and a red t-shirt which had the same golden bird sewn
on it. "This must be Christopher, then?" He spoke to the man more than
to Kit himself. The man nodded blankly as though in a trance then
turned abruptly and walked back up the stairs. The man opened the door
wide enough to let Kit in before re-entering. Kit nervously entered a
dark room lit by red and purple lava lamps. He saw that he and the man
were not alone in the room. Sitting down on black leather sofas were
two boys and three girls. "Take a seat, Christopher," commanded the
man, switching on another lava lamp. "Or do you prefer to be called
Chris?" "Well actually it's Kit," he began, still standing. "But I must
have come to the wrong place. I was looking for the Internet Caf?." A
giggle from a blonde girl plastered with make-up silenced him. An Asian
girl sitting next to her gave her a disapproving glance while the other
girl, a dark haired Italian, gave him a smile. "The computers are
upstairs," explained a boy with fiery red hair. He had a tinge of an
Irish accent. A dark haired boy with sticky-out ears carried on "We
were all brought here. We've been waiting here for about five minutes."
"Yes Kit," said the man who had come to his father's funeral. "But even
so, you're early." Kit, now terribly confused could only ramble
something about never phoning for a reservation and coming into town
spur-of-the-moment. "We all came spur-of-the moment," sighed the blonde
American tossing her light hair. "Miss Selfridges's closed an hour
early. It was really unexpected. I just came here to send an e-mail
home. "I wouldn't be here if my PC hadn't gone and got a bloody virus,"
said the boy with the red hair. "Well was this your plan, Will?" smiled
the Italian girl. She seemed to think it was a joke. "No," replied the
big-eared boy. "I only brought Bianca here because the Art Gallery was
shut. The Asian girl shrugged. "My dad made me come." They all now
stared at Kit, waiting for his explanation. "Oh I get it now Kit,"
cried the man. "You decided not to stop at the florists after all,
didn't you?" Kit was so astounded that he collapsed onto the sofa in
between Will and the red-haired boy - much to the amusement of the
blonde girl who giggled again. "Who are you?" Kit stammered ignoring
the girl. "I think we'd all like to know that," sighed Bianca, whose
beautiful smile was finally wearing thin. The man silently moved over
to another part of the room. Kit realized that there was a computer
screen on the wall the size of the Mona Lisa. With a touch of a button,
the screen came into focus and a large picture of the man came into
view. By it's side was a golden bird with sparkling rubies for eyes. As
the red-haired boy muttered something about height, resolution and
pixies, Kit realized he was dreaming the nightmare, the nightmare he
had dreamt for years. He was baffled as to what was going on, but he
was not going to let it end the way it always did. "Stop!" he cried
jumping up. The other children looked at him in surprise, but the man
surveyed him with a cool glare. "Why should we stop Kit?" he asked
calmly. "Look," Kit said, trying to keep his voice level. "You can call
me crazy if you want, but - I'd explain but there isn't time. I've seen
this before - " He paused, furious to see that the blonde haired girl
was giggling again. "So&;#8230;" said the man slowly. "You have
premonitions." "Will you listen to me?" Kit yelled, exasperated. There
was no time to explain the inexplicable. "WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!" he
exclaimed, knowing he sounded melodramatic. There was silence for a
second that felt like a lifetime. The girl stopped giggling. The man
stopped being vague and aloof. He strode up to Kit. "How?" he asked,
simply. "There's a bomb," said Kit, breathlessly. "Hidden in the desk -
can stop it with green button - must not press red button." The man
hurried over to the desk in the corner and began rummaging through the
doors. The Asian girl screamed and pointed to the screen. "Look!" she
gasped. The photograph of the man had vanished and in its place was a
giant digital clock that was counting down from twenty seconds. Kit
shook his head uselessly. He knew, deep down, that there was no time to
evacuate the building. Suddenly Will was on his feet and charging
towards the desk. "Move!" he commanded the man, monosyllabically.
Quickly the man moved aside. Kit watched the seconds on the clock slide
away. Only fifteen seconds&;#8230; did his mother know he loved
him&;#8230; if only he had got her a box of chocolates after all?
"I've got it!" yelled Will, triumphantly. Kit, not believing his ears,
looked up dizzily and saw Will's fist slammed down on a green button.
Kit turned his gaze on the screen to see that it had stopped counting
down. There were only seven seconds left. "007" remarked the read
headed boy. "I like it." Everyone was so relieved that no one bothered
punching him one.

*

"I can't really explain it well," admitted Kit, some time later. They
had been moved to a different room and despite the terror of the
afternoon all of them (including Angie, the blonde giggler, had decided
to stay.) "But ever since I was a kid&;#8230;" "Kid Rielly," said
the redheaded boy (Finn) with a smile. "I like it." Everyone ignored
him. "Ever since I was wee," continued Kit. "I've had dreams - about
the future - and they usually come true. I can't usually stop them."
"And I can't explain how I knew where that bomb was," said Will, eager
to bring the attention back to himself. "I just knew all of a sudden."
"And tell me Will," said the man in the manner of psychiatrist, "have
you been able to find things before?" "Well," began Will "I've always
been able to find things, but I just put that down to common sense. I
mean, everyone can guess which part of a library a book is in. And
can't everyone find their mother's keys all the time?" Kit had to admit
that this was true. His mother was constantly complaining of losing her
keys whilst holding them in her hand. "But can you find other things?"
asked the Asian girl, whose name had turned out to be a longer,
unpronounceable version of Ruq. "Do you know where my fountain pen is
at the moment?" Will shrugged. "No idea." "Perhaps this is a good time
for me to introduce myself," said the man. Kit had almost forgotten
that the man was there. "My name," he continued, "is Pee Aitch Zero
Three En One Ex." All of them looked stunned at this. A lot of middle
names," nodded Finn. "I like it." "I suppose we call you Phoenix?"
asked Ruq, dryly. Angie phrased what the rest of them were thinking.
"Why Phoenix?" "Well, he always wears a Phoenix," said Ruq as if she
were talking to children just out of nursery. "And if you write down
the characters he just mentioned you'll see what reason number two is
for yourself." "PH03N1X" commented Finn. He was surprised to find that
everyone tuned in on "I like it." Will, who seemed to have designated
himself chairman, sat back in his seat and said "Well, Phoenix, perhaps
you had better tell us why we just avoided being blown up by a
bomb."

Phoenix moved his rocking armchair closer to the group and began.

*

"It was no accident that the six of you came here. If your mother
hadn't given you money, Kit, you still would have come into town. The
same goes for all of you. Call it destiny if you will. The reason is
the six of you are special. You each have a talent that can only be
explained as a phenomenon. You have already seen the power of Kit and
Will's talents. From the dream Kit had, I am certain that they saved
our lives. And remember that the power of six will be three times as
powerful. But you will say that I am evading the question. Well, the
answer begins - I hope it does not end - with a boy who is about your
age at the moment. Next year he will create a computer virus so
powerful that it will linger for five hundred years. By the time of my
birth, the machine will have become such an influence on the world that
the computer virus will be a human illness." "Okay now I really have to
stop you," said Ruq. "I'm not a computer expert - " Phoenix coughed
"six web pages." Kit saw that the others would all be involved with
computers in a big way and this made him feel vulnerable. The internet
was obviously something the others took for granted whereas he would
probably start a virus of his own just to get access to a computer.
"I'm not a computer expert," Ruq continued, as though everyone had six
web pages. "But I do know the difference between a system virus and a
human plague." Angie ruffled her light hair. "What do you mean 'at the
time of your birth'? You must have been born in the seventies." Phoenix
cleared his throat. "You're obviously not acquainted with the legend of
the Phoenix." Kit could feel his eyebrows furrowing. Bianca suddenly
laughed and threw her attractive head back. "Very amusing Mr. Phoenix,
if that is your real name. I must confess," she admitted rising from
her seat (Kit was suddenly struck by the height of her, "you almost had
me convinced." She looked around at the others. "You should all know
that the legend of the Phoenix is of a golden bird." Here she paused
and glanced at the emblem on Phoenix's red t-shirt. "This bird grants
wishes but in order to make it live eternally every hundred years or so
it explodes into fire and is reborn at whatever time its wishes are
most required." Bianca walked over to the sofa on which Kit was sitting
and held her hand out to Will. "You speak well. You should become an
actor," she smiled, and then added "Or maybe you already are? Is this
"caught on camera" or something?" "If my performance is so good why
don't you believe me?" asked Phoenix. He was not bitter, just confused.
"Because," replied Will taking Bianca's hand and standing up. "You're
not a bird." At these words Phoenix took a lighter out of his pocket
and set his tongue on fire. While Kit's jaw remained open, the flames
quickly spread to Phoenix's shoulders, arms, body, legs and feet. Kit
saw the expression in Phoenix's eyes; not fear, not horror, just a calm
acceptance. Somewhere in the back of Kit's head he heard Will say "Does
he know that there wasn't a cigarette in his mouth when he did that?"
Kit knew that he had had a dream like this as well but in the heat of
the moment could not remember what had happened next. Bianca screamed
but Kit was in no mood to console her. Had she not caused this? Phoenix
had only ignited his tongue when she and Will had prepared to leave.
Phoenix couldn't die, there was too much to explain. Why had he been at
Kit's father's funeral? What was the virus? "Someone call 999," said
Ruq, standing up. She swiftly whipped out a coat from Angie's Miss
Selfridge bag and covered Phoenix. Reality came flooding back to Kit. A
man was dying. He crouched down beside Ruq and helped her roll him over
and over. It was no easy and within seconds the others had come to
their senses and were helping. Then, all of a sudden the load became
lighter, a lot lighter - far too light. They realized they were pushing
nothing but a burnt coat. After the group had exchanged looks of horror
and puzzlement, Kit gingerly lifted Angie's beaten coat off the ground.
Underneath lay a pair of brown boots, black jeans and a red t-shirt;
all that appeared to remain of Phoenix. Kit turned to look from one
disbelieving face to the other. "This is all my fault," whispered
Bianca throatily as Will tried to use the opportunity for a hug (he was
unsuccessful). Kit agreed with her but he remained silent. "But why?"
was all Ruq could mutter. "And how?" "I don't like it," said Finn
quietly. Angie broke into sobs. "My coat's ruined!" she wept. Kit
turned to stare at her as did everyone else but she took no notice. She
was looking at Phoenix's red t-shirt. "Look," she said pointing. Kit's
eyes flickered back to the piece of clothing wondering whether Angie
had designs on that now that her blue coat was black. What Angie had
notice, however, was the emblem of the Phoenix on the t-shirt. A few
seconds ago, it had been the size of a bird's claw. Now it was growing
- at an alarming rate. Kit got to his feet and backed away from the
emblem that was now the size of a dustbin lid. It grew and grew and
their eyes compelled them to keep watching. It became too big for the
t-shirt, so by some magical power it spread its wings and flew out of
the cloth. It formed a third dimension and Kit found himself looking at
a live bird. It was magnificent with gold plumage and beady red eyes.
It flew over to Will and landed on his shoulder. Squawking in a voice
that sounded almost like Phoenix's human voice, he said "You're wrong
Will, I'm very much a bird." Then the bird tossed its beautiful head
and laughed so heartily that the others could not help joining in.
Through their laughter, Bianca sincerely apologised for doubting
Phoenix's intentions, but he dismissed it all and claimed the fault to
be his own. "I should never have told you everything on the second
meeting," he squawked, shaking his magnificent head. "That is why you
should all go home now." The group protested but he was insistent.
"What I have to say will shock you too much."

"Phoenix," said Angie slowly, "I have just avoided being killed by a
bomb, then I watched a thirty year old man set fire to himself with a
lighter and explode into some nonexistent bird. Nothing you could say
could possibly shock me now." How wrong she was. "Very well," said
Phoenix. Kit knew had he been human he would have sighed. "I'm not
going to transform again, it's even uglier than setting myself on
fire." Kit briefly wondered what could be uglier than a person setting
himself on fire, and then realized that he did not want to find out.
"So to answer your question Ruq - regarding the difference between a
system virus and a human disease - the internet and the world will
eventually become one. By typing www.goitaly.com, your computer will
enable you to travel at the speed of electricity down your phone line
and into the tourist information center in Rome." Kit's face shone with
excitement. Phoenix saw this and nodded solemnly. He flew off Will's
shoulder, circled the room and came to land in the middle of the small
circle they had formed. "You may smile Kit, at the wonder of
technology," said Phoenix, "but it's not all good. Most of you know
that cybersex is rife in teen chat rooms. In five hundred years it will
be real. Well at least they'll call it real. There will be little
passion, little emotion involved. The only reason it will become so
popular is that people get all the fun out of sex without the
consequences. I'll explain the medical side later, but basically
through cybersex the sperm is unable to fertilise the eggs. Naturally
it solves the problem of teenage mothers - but it will decrease the
population dramatically as well. Out of every single good thing comes
ten bad and the disease will be one of them. It is designed to target
the poor and the weak. The rich will defend themselves and while the
good and honest are dying, the evil cheaters will raise an even more
corrupt race, a race that will kill off mankind. At the rate we're
going, the world may not even see the next millennium." This speech
wiped the grin off Kit's face. It was still confusing, but the pieces
of the jigsaw were beginning to form the puzzle that Phoenix had set
them. "But how do we fit into this?" asked Bianca eventually. "It's
obvious isn't it?" drawled Finn, who seemed to be taking it in his
stride. "He wants us to help him stop this virus before he creates it.
Probably with these talents we're supposed to have." "But what
talents?" exclaimed Kit in frustration. He still had doubts about this.
"I mean everyone gets d?j? vu." "And I couldn't find Ruq's pen," added
Will. "Let me explain one thing before I go on," Phoenix said
scratching the carpet with his left claw. "Your powers, no matter how
potent, will never work against each other. Will, you are able to find
anything inanimate in the world, but not anything that is owned by or
is in possession of one of the others. Kit, everyone does get d?j? vu
but not many people have been known to change the predicament that they
see. And yes," he went on now extracting tufts of black from the floor,
"you all have talents. If you think, you have all been able to do
things that no one else could." Kit looked from one face to the other.
It was still hard enough for him to swallow that someone believed his
dreams. All his life he had been haunted by this individual quality.
Now it seemed that he was not the only one who was different. The
others (apart from Will) seemed unwilling to admit this. "Very well,"
said Phoenix flapping his wings. "I'm going to have to show you. Finn
when you told your mother you were going out, where did she think you
were going?" "To the music shop," Finn replied immediately. "Did she
tell you that?" "No," answered Finn slowly. "Then how did you know?"
Finn thought for a moment. "Well you can always tell, can't you?" "No I
can't," said Phoenix abruptly. "But you can. Has in never occurred to
you why you always win at cards?" Finn leaned back on the sofa and
shrugged his shoulders in a casual way. "I've been playing for a long
time." "What's you worst subject, Finn?" Phoenix asked. "There was no
hesitation this time. "English." "But how do you know how to answer
your teacher's questions correctly each time?" Finn could only shrug.
"Don't you see? You know what she is thinking." This statement left Kit
torn between shock and disbelief. Finn however looked slightly awed but
not worried. "So I can read minds," he said slowly. "I like it." "What
can I - we do?" asked Angie, eager to turn the attention back to
herself. "Well that's easy!" exclaimed Will, his ears sticking out even
more. "You are Angie, sorceress of the Andes, chatterbox
extraordinaire!" Kit joined in the laughter. Only Bianca patted Angie's
arm and tried to console the girl who was now the colour of a tomato.
"Unfortunately I cannot tell you girls what your talents are," said
Phoenix suppressing a smile. "Angie and Bianca became outraged at once.
"Why not?" they demanded. "Because you were all supposed to work them
out for yourselves." "But you told them," Bianca pointed out. "Will and
Kit already knew and I just helped Finn a bit." "As far as I'm
concerned," said Ruq, "none of us have any talents at all." Kit looked
across at her annoyed that she should attempt to destroy this living
fantasy, but did not interrupt. "Kit said it himself, we all get deja
vu. Will was right as well, everyonce can find their mother's keys,
they always leave them in the same place. And Finn, I don't mean to
doubt your intelligence but a lot of boys know all the answers to
questions orally but don't test well." "That's very true," nodded Finn
in agreement. "There see!" exclaimed Ruq. "I'm perfectly willing to
accept that in five hundred years the computer will dominate lives to
an extreme. I am even willing (with some reservations) to believe that
Phoenix has traveled back in time - but I'm afraid it's impossible for
me to accept that six children can take on the World's greatest virus
creator by the power they hold within." Kit could see Will grinning but
he hoped that Phoenix did not set himself on fire again. Phoenix,
however did not seem angry. "So you have faith in everyone but
yourself. I suppose that will do for now, although the time will come
when your inner faith will be the only thing that can help you." He
paused, spread his wings and landed next to a lava lamp. "The only
thing that really matters is whether you accept the challenge of
preventing the virus." Kit had no questioning in the matter. He wanted
to escape the boredom of home life. He wanted to believe Phoenix. He
wanted it all. He walked over to the dazzling bird. "I'm in," he said.
Finn came next closely followed by Bianca and Will. Angie came too.
They turned to look at Ruq who folded her arms. "I'm not promising
anything," she said resolutely. They continued to stare at her. She
reluctantly stood up and walked over to the rest of them. "But I'll do
what I can," she sighed. "Thank you," squawked Phoenix. "Now each of
you take a feather from my tail." Kit started at this. "It won't cause
me pain," Phoenix reassured. "Just pull hard." Kit gingerly pulled one
of the feathers and it came away easily in his hand. The others
followed suit while Kit felt the glossy golden feather. It was warm and
shiny and seemed to renew his strength. "Each of my feathers shows that
we are joined," said Phoenix. "We are united in our quest. We are
feathers of the same bird. We are birds of a feather."

*

The excitement of the afternoon had left Kit so thrilled that it was
not until seven or eight o'clock that he remembered he would be
starting at Berwick High the next morning. After he had left the
building with the others, they had exchanged surnames, email "addys",
and (for Kit's benefit) phone numbers. It came as a surprise to Kit
that almost everyone else was about to begin First Year at a Private
School. William Conrad and Bianca Molteno already attended The
Caledonian College, "Edinburgh's most esteemed co-educational school."
Ruqsannah Yusuf and Finnigan O'Shea were going to begin at Robert
Burns' Academy. However, they would be taught in two different
buildings. It was unlikely that they would see each other much out of
NetUK. Angie was the only one who was not going to Private school apart
from Kit; she was going to Grammar. To be precise, it was called Graham
Bell's Grammar School and although parents did not have to fork out
five thousand a year, their sons and daughters did have to pass a
difficult entrance exam. Kit's mother would have like Kit to go there
but now that her support of income had gone, he needed to work after
school to kept their lives together. Graham Bell's was just too far for
Kit to travel to and back everyday. Kit stopped at the florists on his
way home as he still had the five pound note in his pocket. He bought
his mother some of her favourite flower; tiger lilies. The shop keeper
Mr. Fox knew Kit and his mother well. Had he not been on holiday, he
probably would have come to the funeral. Mr. Fox insisted on sending
the flowers from himself but sent stargazer lilies instead as a form of
sympathy. Although Kit resisted, he was glad that he still had the
money. His mother was pleased to receive them and even more pleased
when he lied to say that he had used the money to see a play in the
festival. "That's my boy!" she smiled. "Always wanting some culture.
Was it one by Shakespeare?" "No it was&;#8230; it was Greek," Kit
invented quickly. "About a golden bird called a phoenix." "I used to
love the Greek legends," Kit's mother sighed putting the flowers into a
vase. Kit quietly went to his room before she could ask him any more.
Settling down on his bed, he drew the golden feather out of his pocket.
This morning he had been anxious about school, but now he had been
initiated into an organization that would be wiping the Internet of
viruses, the former seemed trivial. With the feather was his pass into
the world of graphics, electricity and capricious power. K1T mattered
in that world, a lot more than he did in this.