by Matt Ryan
POLY SCREAMED AND JERKED UP, pulling at the restraints on her arms and legs.
“Poly, I’m right here,” Opal said.
The bright lights blinded her vision and she kept screaming. It had to have all been a dream. She couldn’t have lost Joey. She felt him, just a whisper in the wind, but he was there and she grasped hard to keep him. She screamed, because none of it mattered, let the world hear her screams, let Joey find them and come to her.
She stopped screaming and her eyes adjusted. Taking in the room, she knew she wasn’t in Marcus’s fortress. She wasn’t next to Joey. “Where is he?”
Her mom looked pained. “Same place as always, dear.”
“Why am I tied down?” She pulled at her wrist restraints.
“You’ve attempted to kill me, twice. And you’ve tried to do other things . . .”
“I want to see him.”
“You don’t want to do that, not this time. Let it be different today. I love you too much to see you do it again to yourself.”
“I want to see him!” The door opened. “Evelyn?” Poly asked but it couldn’t be, the girl walking toward her looked closer to seven than a baby.
“I heard you from across the building. Grandma, may I?” Evelyn moved to the vinyl wrist straps and untied one.
“How are you so old? How long have I been here? Where am I?”
“These questions don’t get old to you, do they?”
Poly shook her head, trying to understand her daughter.
Evelyn sighed and walked to the other side of the bed. “You’ve been here for three months, and it’s been the same thing each time. Every few days, you wake from your self-induced coma and want to see Dad. We show you and you relapse, hard. You know how many tears you’ve put on me?”
Poly shook her head, she couldn’t understand it; she’d been there for months, doing the same thing? “Where am I?”
“We’re just outside Sanct. Travis has been very generous with his resources.”
With her next hand free, Poly reached out and touched Evelyn’s long hair. She’d only had tufts last time . . . no, that wasn’t right either. Marcus had accelerated her growth. The memories flooded in and she felt the blood leaving her face and the room faded.
“Here we go again. Mom, stay with me!”
Poly jerked upright and looked at Evelyn’s snapping fingers. She was turning into a beautiful little girl and she hated how she’d already missed so much. “I won’t relapse this time,” Poly said.
With the leg restraints gone, she got off the bed and wobbled around. Opal moved next to her and stabilized her with an arm around her waist.
“There are a few things you should know, Mother.”
“What’s that?”
Evelyn walked with her through the hospital room door and into a brightly lit hall. Poly squinted and looked down the hall to an oval opening, with a woman sitting behind a desk. The lady looked up and saw Poly, her eyes going wide as she dashed around the desk.
Evelyn sighed and stopped walking. She gazed up at her mother with intelligent eyes, far beyond her youthful appearance. “After all this time, nothing seems familiar?”
Fear built in Poly and she felt something deep within, something she didn’t want to grasp yet. “Can you take me to your dad?”
Evelyn pursed her lips and took Poly’s hand. She nodded and started walking. The woman behind the desk approached, but Evelyn waved her off with her free hand. The woman with an oak tree on her chest turned and scurried behind the desk. She typed into her Panavice and watched as Poly strode by with her daughter in hand.
“You said some things have changed?” Poly inquired.
Evelyn gave a slight nod to the woman behind the desk. “I’ve been going through the details of Marcus’s information.” She laughed. “He amassed a great knowledge of the worlds.”
Poly hated hearing his name. “Tell me, how is Joey? Is he awake yet?”
“I found things . . . things he kept hidden from everyone—even his mother. Oh, do you remember how Julie trapped Alice within her special program?”
“Yes,” Poly said, staring at the clear doors at the end of the hall, sunshine and greenery visible beyond.
“I compartmentalized her and placed her in a special Panavice. She can never get out unless I need her.”
Poly gazed down at Evelyn’s Panavice. It looked huge in her small hands. “Is Julie around? How about the others?”
Pain shot across Evelyn’s face or maybe it was a wince. “They are around, but they have a child now, so they’re probably tending to it.”
“Him,” Poly corrected.
“Yes, him.”
Poly wanted badly to see Julie and Lucas’s child, but it didn’t register high on her scale of needs. Right now, she was focused solely on seeing Joey.
They approached the clear doors and Evelyn slid her hands over one of them. A few green dots bounced around on the glass and it swung open.
“Where are you taking me?”
“You need to understand this isn’t easy for me, as I’ve taken you on this walk many times in the past few months. Sure, some things change, and sometimes you even have a couple of different questions, but the end result is the same.”
Evelyn pulled Poly outside and onto a stone path surrounded by grass. Poly thought of the terrible place Emmett put her with Samantha and Joey. But that never felt real, this felt vivid and the colors were bright, the sunshine warm and the person she walked with, precious.
Poly touched Evelyn’s hair, brushing her fingers down its length, to the tips reaching below her shoulder blades.
“You’re doing it again,” Evelyn said, looking sad.
“What?”
“You’re avoiding the subject.”
“I’m not, I don’t even know what we’re talking about.”
Evelyn sighed and gripped Poly’s wrist. Poly’s face lit up at the strength behind those small hands. Her grip felt like a vice at first, but lessened as Poly’s hand fell to her side. Evelyn slid her hand into Poly’s and pulled her along the stone path. The path led down and away from the large white building behind them.
None of it seemed familiar, yet it kind of did. Poly momentarily felt dizzy. “I don’t remember Sanct being like this.”
“Yes, you do. You just don’t want to acknowledge the memories. It’s not much further.”
Her heart pounded and she gripped her daughter’s hand tighter. “I don’t think I want to go. Let’s go back to the white building and talk. I’ve missed so much with you.”
“Come on, you said you wanted to see him, right?”
Poly felt tears building in her eyes and nodded. She hesitated and Evelyn pulled her along. How had she become so strong, so amazing? She couldn’t even be a year old. At that thought, she stopped. “Have I missed your birthday?”
“You haven’t. Come on, I have many things to do still.”
Evelyn pulled her along, down the stone path, meandering on a gentle slope. Poly tried to walk slower but Evelyn tugged at her hand, using her body weight to keep her moving. They rounded a corner of rock outcroppings and Poly froze in place.
“It’s beautiful.”
“You described this to me in one of our longer days. I wish I had more time for days like that.”
Poly gazed at the meadow with bright green grass, rolling upward to a knoll. A perfect oak tree, much like the one on the woman’s shirt, or as Poly realized, the one she made for Joey in the scene generator—the location of their first kiss. She rushed ahead of Evelyn, feeling the grass on her bare feet, walking under the oak tree’s round canopy. Getting dizzy, she lay on the grass and gazed up into the leaves moving in the slight breeze. The sun glittered through the gaps and swayed in and out of sight as the leaves moved with stronger gusts.
She sat up as Evelyn approached. “Is he coming here?”
Evelyn sat down next to her, her Panavice sitting in her lap. “Mother, you are the bravest person I’ve ever known. I watched the
videos and did all the analysis on you, so it surprises me every time when we get to this point.”
Poly wanted her to stop talking and felt tears building in her eyes again. She gripped her daughter tightly and held her for a while. “I love you so much, Evelyn.”
“I love you too, Mother.” Evelyn’s eyes misted up. “Let me take you back to the moment, after Dad killed Marcus.”
“I don’t want to—”
“We put Dad in the healing machine, remember?”
Tears flowed down Poly’s face and she nodded.
“Afterward, we discovered his mind was gone, only his body remained.”
“No.”
“Mom, listen.” Evelyn sighed. “I want to tell you why I think you are the bravest person I’ve ever known.” Her little kid voice was filled with wisdom and Poly sniffled. “You are special, all of us Six are. We can feel on a deeper level, with connections I cannot identify yet, but you knew . . . you knew you were keeping him from moving on. You were the only thing keeping him from finding peace.”
Poly’s body shook and uncontrollable tears fell from her face. Ragged breath and a shaky chin didn’t deter her from glaring at Evelyn.
Evelyn took her hand and wrapped both of hers around Poly’s. “You are the one who gave him that peace. I felt it the moment you gave in and let him move on; it was the most beautiful thing I’ll ever witness in my life, I am sure of that.”
The words crushed against Poly like a train against her chest. She pushed back at it, her effort futile. She went back to the moment in Marcus’s fortress. The feeling she’d been suppressing deep in her gut since the moment she awoke, erupted to the precipice and she leapt up with it. The void filled her again, a world without Joey, without her soul mate.
“No, there has to be a way. We can still save him.”
“No, Mother. He’s gone.”
Something in her wouldn’t accept it, even though her mind screamed it true. “You lie. This isn’t happening, this isn’t real. Who are you?”
Evelyn stood. “Don’t do this. Fight it.”
She watched Evelyn’s mouth move, but the words came out in a mumble and her face distorted and swayed. The black void came to collect her and she welcomed it. Joey wasn’t dead, she couldn’t accept it.
EVELYN FELT THE GRASS BLADES with her fingertips and the morning dew seeped into her black pants. She watched her mother’s limp body be carried away after the men put her on the gurney. Evelyn had done a few different things this time and wondered if she would ever get her mother to accept his death.
“She relapsed again?”
Evelyn rose up and wiped a few bits of loose grass from her knees. “Yes.”
“It’s not your fault. Maybe I should give it a try again.”
Evelyn laughed at him. “Travis, you had the worst run of all of us. We’re getting to her, she’ll eventually find her way back to us.”
“It kills me seeing her like this.” He glanced at her and then away.
Evelyn looked up at Travis, such an interesting man. Like many of the people on Vanar, he had lived a long life filled with despair and triumph. Now, he ran the world. Such a fascinating arrangement he and Harris had. It gave Evelyn hope in humanity that a man like Travis could forgive a man like Harris. She wanted to ask him about Maya, another mystery, and one that had been erased from all the servers she searched. In time, she planned on discussing it with him, among countless other things.
“Have they arrived?” Evelyn asked.
“Yes.”
Her mom left her view and she turned to Travis, holding his hand. “We should go.”
They walked to the rock outcropping and Travis placed his hand on a smooth section of the rock. The rock slid open and they descended down the stairs and into the elevator.
“You know, your grandparents have been trying to visit again.”
“They want to see Poly, not me.”
“Evelyn, you know that isn’t true.”
She did, but she wasn’t prepared to let them back in to her life yet. So much had to be done and she already spent all of her available family time with her mother. Once she got Poly rehabilitated, she could bring in the rest of the family.
Travis looked thoughtful. “She asked about Julie again, didn’t she?”
“Yes.”
“We should make contact.”
“You know how I feel about that.” Evelyn adjusted her footing as the elevator moved.
Travis shifted his feet and looked at the wall.
Evelyn didn’t say anything else as the elevator traveled across the compound and back up into the building. The doors slid open and Travis’s opulent house appeared. She gazed out of the window across the room, taking in the expansive ocean view. She loved the ocean and could spend a great deal of time watching it, trying to figure out the endless intricacies of what made it work. Marcus had written a few papers about the oceans. They were what made the worlds livable. Without the oceans, life would not have made it past the microbial phases.
“You coming?” Travis asked, standing outside the elevator.
Evelyn didn’t answer and walked out, taking in the guests who’d convened in his house, all sitting on the couches and chairs in his family room. They stood as she approached.
“Harris,” Evelyn nodded to him. “Hank, Gladius, a pleasure. Jack.”
“Hello, Evelyn,” Harris greeted.
“I called this meeting because I didn’t want a digital copy of our conversation. I must ask we all turn off our Panavices and place them on the table.” Evelyn moved first and placed hers on the glass coffee table. Everyone else obliged and set there’s down. A quick scan from her and she verified they were turned off.
Hank made to get up, most likely to hug her. She didn’t want to procrastinate on this meeting any longer, so she put her hand up and motioned for him to stay seated.
“Good to see you, Evelyn,” Hank said. “You are truly growing like a weed.”
Evelyn let the pain in her bones register. It reminded her of her dedication to get rid of her child body and reach her full size. She didn’t like the bright looks from Hank and Gladius, like they were regarding a child.
“Thank you, and I see you are strengthening your connection with Gladius,” Evelyn said.
“What do you mean?” Hank asked.
“Your bond is growing, getting stronger by the day.”
“Well, I keep him busy,” Gladius said in a sly way, touching Hank’s leg.
Sex, she’d heard so many adults allude to it, all of whom probably thought she was too young to understand the concept. But the mechanics were simple enough, and Evelyn knew when she had her adult body, she’d explore this thing so many held in such high regard.
Evelyn sat in the only available seat, one of Travis’s oversized chairs. She hated how she had to climb up on it and her feet didn’t reach the floor as she sat.
“Thanks for inviting us here, Evelyn,” Harris said. “How is Poly doing?”
She liked Harris, always straightforward with his wants and questions, not wasting time. “Still relapsing.”
“I’ve seen a lot of wonderful things in my life, but one of the most astonishing is the times I’ve spent when the Preston Six are together. I think if we got the remaining ones together to be there for Poly, we could get her to snap out of it and start to heal.”
“Thank you.” Evelyn let her reply fall flat and Harris sat back in his seat. “I brought you here to discuss what I’ve found going through the information kept at Marcus’s fortress.”
They leaned forward and Harris shifted uncomfortably in his chair, shooting a look at Travis.
“While Marcus made many discoveries, I’ve kept my focus on this one threat, the whole reason he took me . . . the purge people.” She dangled her feet and regretted taking the seat to begin with. “The threat is real and Marcus’s plan was very detailed and well thought out. He found these purged planets early on, and was almost killed several times by these ‘g
reater beings,’ as he refers to them. He believes they are the ones who created these Alius stones. But let’s get to the present.
“Marcus knew that when Vanar was purged, it wouldn’t be able to put up much of a defense. With Earth, he had a chance to put in everything he had learned since the disasters at Ryjack. So he infected our population with a disease, for which he had the sole cure. With this cure, as you know, he implanted a nanobot, one that I can control under the right circumstances.”
“What do you mean, ‘you can control’? There are a few billion people with these nanobots. And to what purpose?” Harris asked.
“With the help of Alice, I can link up with every person on the planet.”
“Why?” Hank asked.
“When they come, they search for the conscious mind. We met a man, Hector, he knew the tricks to keeping his mind clear enough to avoid their detection. First, I want this man. I need to speak to him about the purge.”
“I’m sure we can find him,” Harris said.
“Let me know when you have him.”
Harris crossed his arms and leaned back.
“Evelyn,” Gladius said. “There is a good chance, even in his notes, Marcus could be manipulating you.”
“Thank you for the warning,” Evelyn said, feeling Gladius’s doting eyes on her. “The first step in my plan involves moving me and my family back to Earth, to prepare for the inevitable.”
“Whoa,” Travis said. “You want to take Poly back to Earth?”
“Yes.”
“But she is making progress and is in a safe environment here.”
“She hasn’t made progress and I am starting to question your true motivation with her,” Evelyn’s gaze leveled on Travis.
“What can we do to help?” Hank asked.
“Nothing at the moment, but I do enjoy seeing you two around.” She smiled and crunched up her shoulders. “Travis, and now Harris, have suggested that having friends around Poly could help, and I was thinking you could be there when we make the move.”
“Of course, whatever we can do to help Poly,” Hank asked.
“Speaking of friends, do any of you know where Julie and Lucas are? They seemed to have disappeared.”
