An Unintentional Evil

by Elsie Charlotte

  Sirus was annoyed, not with Aurora, but with himself because he didn't know what to do for a few months.

  He wanted to give Aurora time to handle this himself but that clearly wasn't working so Sirus was going to force him up. That's the only way Aurora was going to get better.

  So Sirus planned to leave.

  Aurora woke up from the noise. His eyes opened slowly and he found himself looking up at the ceiling in the living room, he just couldn't remember how he got there. The noise persisted, it was coming from the bedroom. It took him a moment to get up, but he did. He walked over to the room, finding Sirus tossing clothes on the bed. He practically cleaned out the closet.

  "Are you leaving?" Aurora asked quietly.

  He wouldn't be surprised. Aurora tried to get himself up everyday but had a hard time. He could feel Sirus' frustration with him.

  All the crying and hopelessness. Was Sirus tired of him? That's what Aurora thought.

  "We're going somewhere for a year." Sirus answered, but he didn't say anything else.

  Aurora was surprised. Where were they going to go for a year? He moved some of the clothes aside so he could get in bed again.

  The thought of leaving was nice, though he didn't know all the details.

  He even laughed quietly to himself. "You're an idiot." He said. When Sirus looked over to him quickly, Aurora smiled weakly. "They're not going to let you just leave." He said. "And the system won't approve an extended leave of absence for you."

  "You're making it hard to want to go anywhere with you."

  "I'm just saying." Aurora said. "It's not like Rhea would do an override for you either. She hates you."

  That wasn't going to stop Sirus.

  Aurora liked the idea of going somewhere. He just wasn't sure if he had the strength to make it outside. It's a great idea though, getting away for a few months.

  "You're not that good at executing plans." Aurora said to him, but he smiled kindly.

  That's what happens when his other half isn't around.

  This was the most Aurora talked since he's been back. Maybe it was the idea leaving. It almost made him excited, as much as he could be while he was terribly depressed.

  He almost fell asleep again just because he hadn't spoken in a minute.

  "You don't take naps." He mumbled quietly.

  "I think you're doing all the sleeping for both of us, Aurora." Sirus definitely wasn't going to take a nap when he has to find a way to be approved to leave for at least six months.

  Aurora waved him over anyway.

  Sirus stopped what he was doing and got into bed with him. It was a good thing that Aurora was talking more, and it might not last, but that was improvement. It was a big deal. Sirus had pulled Aurora close to him, moving his arm around him.

  Aurora couldn't remember the last time Sirus actually touched him. It's been months. Aurora took the chance to get close. His head was resting on Sirus' shoulder, and he closed his eyes. There was something familiar about having Sirus close to him, Aurora missed it a lot.

  He should get away.

  He'd be much happier.

  "I'm sorry." Aurora said quietly. "I know you don't like being lonely." He said.

  Sirus didn't like it. Aurora being so quiet was odd. Not having him around at work was worse. Things weren't the same and Sirus wasn't the only person to say that. No one has stepped up to take Aurora's place temporarily. They just pool all the work together instead.

  They know he's coming back.

  But it's not that soon.

  "You're delusional." Sirus said, but Aurora knew.

  He was already dozing off. He couldn't help it. The fatigue got to him again, but at least this time, he hadn't had that numbness in him like the world was just a void.

  It was the first time he fell asleep and didn't have a nightmare.

  During the night, Sirus had woken up. He was holding on to Aurora but one of his arms felt numb. He had to move Aurora off him. He shifted in bed and so did Aurora.

  Sirus didn't mean to wake him.

  Aurora barely moved. He was still tired but that wasn't anything new. He was always tired. He hoped that Sirus wouldn't move away far. It was better to sleep when Sirus was next to him. His hand caressed Sirus' fingers gently before he felt the need to go back to sleep.

  "I miss you." Aurora mumbled quietly and closed his eyes.

  Sirus knew what that meant, especially with the way he was pressed up against Aurora.

  It's been months.

  He figured that Aurora was just tired, that he didn't know what he was asking. Maybe he was delirious, he was mumbling to himself.

  But Sirus missed him, too, so it was a start.

  Sirus had taken a few days to get everything together, but his leave of absence request was rejected immediately by the Computer. When he asked for an override, that was no better. He knew Rhea would say no, so he was going to fight it in person.

  "Sirus." Rhea looked up from all her work. "What an unpleasant surprise." She was dull. She knew why he was here.

  "I'm not going to threaten you." Sirus made that clear, though he wanted to add that he could threaten her if he doesn't get what he wants.

  "I know why you're here." She put everything down and looked at him. "Spousal leave is for spouses, Sirus. You're not going to get approved if you don't have a spouse."

  She didn't think she had to make herself clear. The rules, codes, policies, and laws were written pretty well and not to be deceiving. Sirus wasn't approved for spousal leave because legally he didn't have a spouse.

  He still thought it was a good idea. "Just approve it, Rhea. It's not like anything is going to happen."

  She rolled her eyes and went back to her work again, she didn't want to be bothered. "That's not how it works."

  "It's for Aurora." Sirus said. Rhea looked towards Sirus slowly. She has never heard him say he was doing something for someone else.

  She saw the solemn look in Sirus' eyes. For once he wasn't angry. Rhea didn't know what to say to him. She was only prepared for hostility. How was she supposed to handle Sirus if he wasn't yelling at her?

  "We're...leaving for the year." Sirus needed to get Aurora away.

  "You care about him." Rhea already knew. Sirus would do anything for him, even quit his entire life if it meant Aurora would get better.

  The plan was temporary but for the year they would go somewhere else.

  Sirus almost didn't answer to what Rhea said, but the look on his face answered it for her. He does care.

  "How is he?" She was concerned about him. This was the first time she had access to review his profile and his numbers weren't looking any better than how they were months ago.

  She figured he was still depressed.

  Sirus crossed his arms over his chest, his expression no longer showing interest. Rhea did ask a personal question and he didn't like that. "We had sex for the first time in months." He said plainly. "It was phenomenal."

  Rhea sighed to herself and pinched the bridge of her nose. Why did she expect a genuine answer from Sirus? She should've known that Sirus wasn't the type to tell her the truth either, just like Aurora.

  "It's a good idea." She agreed with Sirus' plan to leave. "I just wanted you to come in here and ask me yourself." She smiled widely.

  That didn't make Sirus happy, considering what's been happening. "I should-"

  "You're free to leave, Sirus." She didn't need to hear his threats. She already got enough of that. "You have one year."

  Hopefully that's all the two of them needed.

  By the time they came back, things had changed.

  Aurora looked much happier than when he left. There was brightness in his eyes and color to his face. He had cut his hair extremely short, just like how he used to when he was younger. His mood was much better than before and he was managing, too.

  He was taking care of himself.

  And he also had a little one to take care of.

  He held a two mo
nth old in his arms as he was greeted by everyone that was waiting for him.

  That was his daughter he was holding on to, and her name was Celeste.

  Chapter Five

  Celeste was a prodigy.

  Just like her father, she had the mind to do whatever she wanted. Just like her father had the strength and will to take on anything she wanted. Just like her father had this need to make everything better.

  Unlike her father she kept to herself.

  What she could use to her strength, she kept a secret. Not for her sake but for everyone else.

  She was twenty-three when a friend of her parents approached her with an old experiment. No one had talked about it before, and she thought it was only in the engineering phase. It was only with good intentions that she said yes to finishing the project.

  It was what her father started.

  She had the finished blue prints, but for two years she wondered why she hasn’t seen a finished model. Was her parents’ friend keeping it to herself? Or was it never completed?

  All she got was the blueprints.

  Nothing else.

  She thought the idea was amazing.

  A device that could store memories and allow people to rewatch them. It was an amazing idea. It could help so many departments and the civilians. This could change how systems are ran, protocols, everything.

  Celeste dedicated herself to her project.

  But she had no one to talk to about it. It had to be a secret for a reason. That kind of research, what she was planning to do, it was illegal for a reason. The negative impact that this implant could cause would be tremendous.

  She just doesn’t know it yet.

  She chose to stay out of the Defense Department. As much as she was a prodigy, she wanted a quieter life, something simple. Her research was a secret, she needed something that wasn’t stressful. She worked at a watch tower for the Department of Transportation. It was easier, quieter, the hours weren’t terrible, and the Computer gave high rankings for contribution to society.

  Until she could figure out how she was going to get her project functioning, she was going to stay here.

  Her best friend worked beside her as well. They were closer than that, more than just friends. Though, Celeste would say she was in love. Her best friend knew, but never turned her down.

  Celeste puts her heart into everything.

  She gives herself to everything.

  So her best friend didn’t know what to do. Committing to Celeste was a big deal.

  “I’ll be right back.” Celeste had gotten up from her chair as she set down her ear piece.

  She was tall, she was six inches taller than her friend who stood at five feet four inches. Her silver hair was long, reaching down her back, her roots black instead. Celeste moved to tie her hair up and picked up her jacket from behind her chair.

  The girl with the fiery red hair turned around quickly when Celeste said she was leaving. “Where are you going?” It was abrupt, she didn’t want Celeste to go anywhere. It was a quiet day and they didn’t have that many flights to watch for the next hour.

  Why leave when they could stay together?

  “I have to fix Dri’s arm. It’s been like... glitching or something.” Celeste said and scrunched up her nose, her maroon eyes looking around.

  “Oh...” Zinnia looked down. “Are you coming back?” she asked.

  “Why? Need something?” Celeste smiled slyly.

  Zinnia immediately knew what that look meant and she began to blush a little as she scoffed at the comment. Her dark eyes had moved away again, because she might’ve had dirty thoughts running through her mind, though she knew the time and the place.

  It was a quiet day.

  “If I don’t make it in time for shift change, I can meet you back at your place.” Celeste suggested. “It’d be easier to take my time anyway.”

  "Yeah, like I'm going to let you get the chance." Zinnia turned away again. "If you're coming over, bring food."

  "If you're already there-"

  "Celeste!" Zinnia was hoping she wouldn't say a smart comment.

  There were others around.

  She shushed Celeste but Celeste smiled at her. Celeste could only imagine what would happen later on this evening.

  "I'll see you later." Celeste whispered to her before turning away to leave.

  There were a few things she had to take care of today, one of them being the repair to a glitched arm.

  Sometimes she did work with the prosthetics. She took on projects to upgrade the systems and functions now and again. But there was one person she was a personal engineer for. That wouldn’t change for a while now.

  She walked quietly down the street with the others, seeing the drones wheel by and fly by. People were loud around her on their phones, doing their jobs, keeping up with life. That’s how the city was. She loved it, she never wanted to move somewhere quiet, but the work she does, what she involved herself in, that's what she wanted to be quiet.

  She wanted to be stress free and she chose wisely. Her job was easy. She was meant for more but she didn't want it.

  She thought about how far she might get on her research today. She thought about who she might try it on because she needed someone.

  Then she thought about work.

  There was a lot that ran through her mind as she talked, but she forgot that she left to meet up with someone to do an upgrade on their prosthetic arm.

  The sun was beginning to set, the astral projections lighting up the sky. When it rained, there would be a clear dome protecting the city, depending on if the Department of Environmental Services felt like putting it up. Celeste looked around quietly before finding the person she was looking for. He was standing close by the Capitol building when he saw her.

  He was in army uniform, a gold badge at his chest, his ID number on it. He wasn’t armed with weapons today. He was worn out, like it was all just training.

  She went over to him.

  She had this look in her eyes like she was walking to her other half. Anyone would be able to tell. The way she looked at him was the same way she looked at Zinnia. If there was one thing about Celeste that anyone knew its that she never hides her emotions.

  She walked over to him and smiled. “What’s it saying?” she asked him. They walked inside together.

  He had a prosthetic arm, but it’s been years. Ever since he met Celeste, she was the only person he would let work on his prosthetic. In fact, she was the one that made him a new one from scratch. No one had an arm like his.

  It was silver. He purposely wanted people to know that it wasn’t real. He knew others wanted one that felt just like a real hand, but he was lucky to get a prodigy engineer, he might as well use that. The arm had many functions that civilian people didn’t get on their devices. He could handle more, have more strength, more capabilities. It was more than just an arm to him even if it was a part of him.

  He didn’t necessarily have to get it upgraded all the time, but he liked seeing Celeste around, so he didn’t mind it.

  “It’s one of those routine upgrades.” He said to her as they found a quiet place to sit.

  She moved her hair behind her ears and pulled her tablet out to see the system. She would avoid his eyes in the beginning and blush because she was slightly nervous. But in a few minutes she would be back to herself.

  “You know you can override it.” She said, lifting his arm up to see if he did anything to the light metal yet. “I gave you that function for a reason.”

  “I wanted to see you.” He said to her.

  He was always direct. He said what was on his mind, he told her how he felt, and he made it clear that she was what he wanted. Celeste was just as forward as he was, maybe even more so. She said what was on her mind too, and she never held back, even with someone she liked.

  She looked at him, right at him, and he didn’t look away. She noticed his dark eyes, the ones that looked black until bright lights would show they were a
dark hazel. His dark skin would glow under the light too. He would smile and she would swoon. She loved his face, his eyes, his lips, his jawline, everything. If she wasn’t careful, she would put her hands on him, on his face, in his thick hair.

  She had self-restraint.

  “I have a girlfriend.” She looked down at her tablet again and started the upgrade. "Well..." she kept her eyes away. "She says she still wants to keep things casual but I..." she knew what she wanted, but she didn't know how to say it so she didn't sound selfish.

  She's been with Zinnia for a while now, and what Celeste wanted and what Zinnia wanted were two different things. Celeste wasn't a casual kind of person. That's not how things worked for her.

  Dri knew this. He knew what he was getting himself into.

  Celeste looked at him and smiled. “She's bringing more of her things to my place, and I kiss her everyday.” She said, trying to make a point that it wasn't so casual anymore.

  "That's definitely a sight to see." Dri teased her and she hit his other arm.

  "I'm not going to bore you with details, Dri. You probably don't care about what I do to Zinnia." She could tease him back.

  "What about what she does to you?-"

  "Dri."

  "You started it." He laughed with her.

  He was interested to hear nonetheless. He leaned his head on to his other hand and looked at Celeste dreamily. He could watch her talk all day. They’ve been acting this way together for months, and he wanted her to say yes. He’s kissed her a few times, and she kissed him back, but she insisted that she had a girlfriend.

  And as open as she was to a polygamous relationship, she never brought up the idea to either of them.

  The way she talked about Zinnia was the way she would talk about Dri to anyone that asked her. Dri knew what he was dealing with, well who.

  And he wouldn't stop chasing Celeste even if another woman had her.

  “Dri...” Celeste couldn’t stop smiling. She looked down, almost shyly as she tried to focus.

  He just watched her, his full lips curving into a smile. The way he looked at her, he didn’t look at anyone else the way he did with her.