Episode 4 - Cold Fusion

  Chapter 29 - Precipice

  I bury my head in my hands and sigh, feeling the oppressive weight of the silence that remains in the room.

  “I’m not trying to be difficult,” I gasp out with a sigh. “I just don’t want…”

  Everett leans backwards, putting the tablet down and beginning to braid his hair with practiced hands. “You don’t have to explain yourself to me.”

  “No, you're right. I don’t.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  I pause, the apology catching me off guard. He won’t meet my eyes, focusing instead on his hands as they braid. “For what part?”

  “Everything.”

  I almost scoff. He sounds sincere but I just can’t believe it. “What would you know of it? Free-man.”

  “You are technically one now too. The fief your serf status was tied to at Murasaki was purchased along with your contract to free you. Aquila holds you only though contract, just as Aquila holds my own.” He ties off the end of his braid, letting it hang over his shoulder. “Look, maybe I don't quite get it... but it's not so bad here, in the scheme of things.”

  “Great,” I groan. “In the scheme of things? You’re already ‘Executive Hawthorne', soon to be owner one day. You will actually own your own contract.”

  “No, I…” his response drags out as he chews on his thoughts carefully. He opens his mouth, and seems to decide against whatever he was going to say. Then he leans forward, taking one of the sweet fruit fritters from my stash and offers it to me.

  “Take it.”

  “Why?”

  “My Dad took me beyond the dome once…”

  That was not the sentence I expected next. I lift my eyes, searching his expression. Pooka watches through me, listening keenly. Everett's brows are tight, the lines of his jaw strained as if he’s clenching his teeth. I take the offered snack and split it in two. It tears unevenly around the fruit and the glaze coats my fingers.

  “He scavenges beyond the domes, he has a whole team that specializes in it. It’s depressing out there - empty open places like you couldn’t believe with only broken memories. But he took me to a cliff once, over a big hole in the ground that had all these bands of soil in the side. There were layers of rock and dirt in different colors, all stacked up over and over as the hole went deeper. He said that a river carved it once upon a time. It eroded the soil and made the valley slowly over thousands and thousands of years. He gave me a jam sandwich to eat. The air was crystal clear and the sky was blue, and the white mists almost seemed to retreat around our habitat. I remember that sandwich and the valley more than any other memory I have with him.”

  There is a tree. On the edge of a cliff.

  It stands alone, clinging with wind-beaten roots to a sheer rock face. When the rain falls, though it trickles away the tree ekes a meager drink. When the sun shines, its leaves burn to brown despite needing the light. But in the cool of the morning, a wind blows gently and leaves rustle in the air. Dew collects in the shade. And the tree lives.

  We remember running, four hooves barely touching the ground as we rolled and flowed. The wind danced with us, the skies called to us. As we toss our head, feeling the mastery of our relentless body, we turn to our rider. She’s a old woman, with a face I’ve never seen and a smile I wish could be mine. Her eyes are warm brown. Like sienna, like my own.

  We live and die on a cliff.

  “When was that?” I ask, shaking the images that diffuse to me from Pooka. I’m not sure he meant me to see that second set.

  “Hmm? Oh, I dunno. Old enough I remember. Maybe like seven or eight?”

  “Why are you here then? At Aquila?” I ask suddenly.

  Everett looks up, taking a fritter for himself and biting into it. “My Dad has no use for me.”

  “Use?”

  “They need big symbionts to go beyond the dome. They pull the habitats or fly and scout ahead of the expeditions. Plus there’s no tech out there. What would Pell do?”

  “Regina wanted his symbiont-” I clasp my hands over my mouth too late.

  There is a flash of anger in his eyes that starts as a glare at myself, then turns inwards as he looks away. He rubs the glaze from his fingers on his shirt. “Yes. She wanted his bloodline. And she got me. They both got me.”

  "She didn't try again?"

  Everett barks a laugh of dark amusement. "Hah, she wishes. I think he caught onto Mum's tricks."

  “Why go along with it all then? Why stay at Aquila and lead everyone?” I question. I take a bite of the fritter finally, letting the sweet taste chase away some of my black mood. The filling tastes like apple, faintly spiced.

  He squints at me, sniffing once as he considers if he wants to answer. “I’m good at it. And… I didn’t always.”

  I suck on my finger, cleaning the glaze from my hand with my tongue. “What changed?”

  Everett turns now, his discomfort level for the conversation finally reached. “I fucked up. And I faced the hypocrisy of what I thought I was trying to do when Mum bailed me out and all my comrades went down instead.”

  “You gave up?”

  “I learnt my lesson,” he raises his voice slightly. “I protect what I can now. There’s no- Look, I owe a debt, for what was needed to get me out of that shit.” There is a pause like he’s going to say more, then he rubs his eyebrows with his fingers and the moment seems to pass. We drift to silence, then he leans back on the bed, propping one elbow up against it. “It's my turn now.”

  I almost laugh at the audacity. “I never agreed to that.”

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  “I told you a story. I get one too. Seems fair.”

  “What kind of story do you want?” I ask suspiciously.

  “Well it seems unfair you know who my parents are. What about yours?”

  I stiffen slightly. “I already told you about my Dad. He worked as a taxonomist in the R&D labs at Murasaki. We’d document appearance, size, abilities of symbionts and then it got passed up the chain for the labs working in applied research. New cars, battery technology, biochemistry for fermenting commodity products. They did a bit of it all really.”

  “And what about your mother?” His voice is a low grumble.

  “I never knew her.”

  There is a pause of shock. “How? Your parents were unlicensed?”

  “Yes. I was technically conceived before she manifested.”

  Everett blinks in shock. “And she was purchased after you were born?”

  “Uh, sort of. She was likely pregnant with me when she manifested. Then she was purchased and I was given back when her new company didn’t want me.”

  Everett’s expression is bordering on dawning horror as he listens. “They gave you back? You are sure she was pregnant when she manifested and didn’t get pregnant just after?”

  “I mean we don’t know for sure, the timing was about right. I think they just got rid of me honestly, didn't want the burden on a new employee or something…”

  Dad knew my Mum was different. And I am different too. I inherited his hair, and her eyes according to him. The chances of it being a mistake had to be low.

  “Be very careful,” whispers Adrian in my ear suddenly, a desperate edge of urgency in his voice that I’ve never heard before. “Trust me, please. Be very careful with what you say. This story is news to me as well and I brought you to Regina’s attention. I would not recommend you keep on talking about this. The fact Murasaki did not know these full details is… concerning. We can talk later when you are in private.”

  He is right. This is not information that the masters need to know.

  “I’m surprised you don’t know how truly fucked that story is. Most HR departments would have escalated you for approval to add straight to the cull list. If what you say is true, that’s dangerously close to your blood being used for manifestation twice…”

  Suddenly my heart feels tight, Pooka's and Adrian’s words ringing in my ears. “Maybe I was born after. And they just didn’t want a baby getting in the way so they sent me back to her last partner. I dunno? It doesn’t need to be a big deal.”

  Everett is already deep in thought, his eyes darting as he analyzes. I can’t back out of this now. Then his conclusion stops my heart. “You actually can’t control your symbiont, can you? At all? It's not inexperience that's made you volatile?”

  I am coming back. I will rip and tear and burn this one.

  “Please,” I beg, leaning into him in my desperation. “Please don’t. You’ll get me culled. You’ll get killed too.”

  “By Pooka?” he accuses.

  “Yes.”

  I bite my lip at the frozen silence that passes between us, his jaw tense. His hand turns on the bed to push himself upwards. He stands. He steps over me.

  And he locks the door, the deadbolt turning with a hollow snap. Pooka, where are you?

  I am coming!

  Everett’s shoulders roll as he takes a breath with his back to me.

  “Adrian. What does Mum know?” he demands. “I know you were listening.”

  There is a very long silence. My eyes dart around the room looking for something, anything, in case I need to defend myself. Does he have a knife on him? Tucked under his clothing or up his sleeve?

  “Regina does not know about this,” replies Adrian in both our ears.

  “Did you know?”

  “I do not tell the secrets I know, Rhett. That is my oath to Aquila.”

  “So you knew?”

  Adrian is silent.

  He lifts a hand, and turns to me, dragging his palm down his face with exaggerated exhaustion. “No one can know about this. I already vouched for you, both of you. But I need to know I can trust you… If I’m going to help protect you.”

  “I, uh… What?” My jaw almost hangs open with shock.

  “I ran with the black market gangs my Dad sold some of his salvaged goods through before I manifested. We moved people sometimes. Nothing like you, but plenty of odd, dangerous, symbionts. Mum is ambitious… but she’s the same as every other Executive at the end of the day. An uncontrolled symbiont is bad fucking news-”

  A knock on the door startles us both. Shion’s voice calls from outside. “I’ve got the coffees. Come get the door, I don’t have any free hands.”

  “Just a minute!” replies Rhett, his eyes fixed on me. He lowers his voice. “Give me a reason to trust you, right now! Why are you stealing from Aquila?”

  I will destroy! I will beget blood and fire and terror upon them! I will be as lightning and thunder!

  I don’t want to be alone. I don’t want to be threatened anymore.

  “I’m building a communicator to try and contact my Dad,” I blurt out, leaning forward on my palms and knees. “That’s it, I swear. Please… Pooka is coming!”

  Everett softens a moment, sincere empathy relaxing his face for the shortest of moments. His cobalt eyes gleam with emotions I’ve never seen on his face. Then he clenches his jaw, that mask of casual indifference he wears like a second skin returns. “We’ll talk later.”

  He clicks the door open, and Shion steps within, offering him a canned coffee. “What were you two up to?” she asks. She looks down at me and her expression shifts to concern. “Rhett? What happened?”

  “Nothing,” says Everett, cracking the can open and taking a sip.

  “Nothing?” returns Shion. “She’s basically - oh, nevermind. Yes, probably for the best you stay with me.”

  Whatever ideas Shion has about what happened when she wasn’t here, Everett seems in no mood to correct her or clarify. He taps his canned coffee against his chin and sits cross legged to keep on working, this time opposite me leaning against the apartment wall.

  “I’m fine,” I reassure Shion. “Let’s get this work done, please.”

  Shion steps within the doorway, putting herself between me and Everett almost protectively and hands me down a canned coffee as well. I brush one shaking hand against the fabric of my shirt to wipe away the last of the glaze from the fritter, then take the can.

  Out the door, Pooka lands like falling fabric on the handrail across the walkway with an ominous silence. His form is indistinct, billowing outwards in a simulacrum of his Aquila wings, but wider than a man is tall and blotting out the lights of the port with his dark mist. Claws clench the railing where his mass congeals and the metal buckles with a crack that has both Shion and Everett lift their head to look out the door into the empty darkness.

  His red eyes burn at the center of his form with all the fury of his vengeful memories.

  Please, I beg.

  I will permit you to plant these seeds. And we will see. But if they turn on us, I will have no regrets for what I must do.