The Way of All Flesh: Illusions Can Be Real

by Corey Furman

  The tears were slipping freely down her cheeks when she hung her head and started to move into the kitchen, but she hesitated looking at Luna.

  “Luna,” he said harshly. “Go lie down in your room – now.”

  When she didn’t move, he picked her up by her arms and gave her a shove in the general direction of their room. She turned the stagger into mechanical motions as she shuffled down the short hall. He turned back to Maré and said, “Well? What are you waiting for? You can either go make dinner or I’ll have Luna come back with the lash. Your call, Maré.”

  This time she obeyed.

  While Maré was in the kitchen, Breylin went back to his room to find the controller. A casual feel for it in the covers of the bed revealed nothing, and he ended up stripping it entirely. When he found nothing, he searched the bathroom, again finding nothing. He got down on his hands and knees and examined the entire floor. Zilch.

  Its disappearance was odd. He went to the vid screen in the corner of the room. “HomeSys,” he said. “Display the location of the collar controller.”

  The screen displayed a finely detailed floor plan of the house in white lines on a blue background, with a small, red reticle along one of the walls in the girls’ room. “So,” he said under his breath. “That’s where it went, huh? HomeSys, deactivate it.”

  The old terminal made a few tones, and the reticle faded from the schematic.

  Since he was sure he’d put it in his pants this morning, he couldn’t imagine how they had gotten it from him. Then it occurred to him that he had that scuffle with Harry, and that it could have easily slipped out of his pocket while they were rolling around. It must have been then.

  It didn’t matter, of course. He got the spare controller out of the back of one of the drawers. Instead of using it though, he decided to let them dig the hole they were in a little deeper.

  He sat down at the kitchen table as Maré was finishing the preparations. “Go get Luna,” he told her when the stove alarm emitted its final tones. She looked at him with dry but puffy eyes as he spoke, and left when he was done.

  When they came back, Luna sat down at her place. He could tell she was intentionally avoiding meeting his eyes. Indifferently, he wondered if it had been her who had secreted the controller in their room.

  Maré took her seat after she sat a plate of spaghetti in front of him first, then theirs. Immediately they began to eat.

  He broke the peace. “Thank you, Maré. This seems quite hot. I think I’ll enjoy this,” he said with a mirth that was completely at odds with the strain in the small space.

  “Um, thank you, Sir,” Maré replied uncertainly.

  “Sure, dear. You know,” he said to no one in particular around a mouthful of food. “I seem to have misplaced your collar controller.”

  Luna’s head shot up to look at him when he mentioned the object. Yes, it was her that took it. Maré must know, yet she manages a straight face…

  “It’s a funny thing, isn’t it? I normally keep it near;” he laid his hand on Luna’s forearm and smiled at her as he continued. “I never know when it will be needed. Can you two keep an eye out for it, please?”

  Luna’s tears were dripping onto her plate.

  “Oh, don’t be upset, dear,” he said to her. “It’s such a minor thing, and I’m sure it will turn up soon.”

  Without taking her eyes off her plate Maré said, “We will bring it to you if we find it, Mr. Breylin.”

  “That’s all I ask.” He picked up his fork and ate a mouthful. “Mmm, it’s gotten a little cold…”

  “Can I heat it up for you, Sir?”

  “Thanks, Maré. That would be great – but why don’t we let Luna do it?”

  She jerked at the mention of her name, but she got up, wiping her eyes and nose with her sleeve. She put his plate into the warmer, hit a few buttons and stood there while it worked. At its tones, she took it back out and set it down at his place.

  He grabbed her arm tightly and pulled her so that she had to lean down close to his face. “Thank you, Luna,” he whispered to her, and immediately she began to emit a soft whine. He let her go and said, “please, finish your dinner.”

  She sat down hard, put her head in her hands and quietly sobbed.

  “Eat, Luna,” he said. “I haven’t fed anyone in a long time, but I assure you I remember how it’s done. It’s an experience you won’t forget, either.”

  She began to wail as she slowly picked up her fork.

  “May I help her, Sir?” Maré asked plaintively.

  “As you wish, but shut her up.”

  She got up and kneeled down next to her, then put her hand on her shoulder. “Listen to me, Chroma, you have to eat. C’mon, I’ll help you.”

  Luna looked at her and nodded, and Maré began to feed her.

  Once Breylin had emptied his plate, he pushed back from the table, walked around them and left the room.

  When she heard his door shut, Maré stood up and looked in the living room. When she saw that he wasn’t there, she returned and whispered to Luna, “keep eating. I’ll go get that damn thing and get it into the disposal unit.”

  Luna nodded, and Maré went back to their room.

  Breylin went right to the vid screen and switched on the cameras throughout the house. The top left quadrant showed the kitchen, just as Maré was turning from the doorway to the living room. She bent down to Luna and whispered something to her. Breylin tried to turn up the gain on the mike but it was over too fast for him to catch it. She was already turning and leaving the room.

  She came into view in the top right quad on the cam in the living room. He watched her steal across and down their hallway while keeping an eye on his door.

  On the cam in their room, Maré was climbing onto the bed and moving a holo frame. She took something small – obviously the controller – and tucked it into the back of the waist band of her pants and was climbing off the bed.

  He went to the door of his room and waited. When he thought he heard the tiny click of their door, he gave it a few seconds, then quickly jerked the door open. She was in the living room halfway to the kitchen, obviously startled.

  “Mr. Breylin, I –”

  He advanced on her fast, grabbed her by her arm and twisted it up behind her back, causing her to yelp with pain. “Shut your mouth!”

  He shoved her into the kitchen, past a horrified Luna and down onto the top of the table. Maré’s plate crashed to the floor. She was screaming now, and flailing around for purchase with her free hand as Luna was rising and backing away. Immediately, he grabbed her clothes, and felt the device through the fabric. “What do we have here, Maré?! Something we’re not supposed to, isn’t it?!”

  “I’m sorry, Sir! I’m sorry!”

  Luna was hugging herself and screeching, too.

  He picked her up by both arms and slammed her back down, hard, causing the rest of the things on the table to jump. “I told you to shut your mouth!” He rifled around and brought the controller out. Laying his torso over hers, he showed it to her and spoke softly. “You’re going to pay dearly this time, Maré.”

  “Sir, stop! It was me! Please don’t hurt Maré!”

  “No, Luna, don’t –!” cried Maré, but Breylin tightened his grip on her arms and she cut off. He stood up and looked at Luna for a few heartbeats. “Well, what do you know?”

  He pushed off Maré and came around the table while Maré stood up. He held up the controller to a frightened Luna. “Here, you wanted it – take it.”

  She just looked at him.

  “No, really – go ahead.”

  When she hesitated he shocked her by snatching her hand and thrusting the small device between her fingers. “For all the good it will do you. It’s been disabled.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the other unit. “This one’s active, though.” He pressed a few buttons, and they went rigid. “See?” He pushed a few more button to release their legs, th
en grabbed them both by the hair and dragged them screaming into the living room.

  He shoved them around so that they were facing each other in front of the window, then pushed more buttons on the controller, freezing them in place. “There we go.” He produced scissors, showed it to them, open, close, open, close. Luna mewled while he cut her clothing off of her. Her skin pebbled up with each piece that came off. “Hang on, I’ll be back in a minute,” he said as he moved to the lift port.

  When he came back, he had a long, thin strap that he hung on Luna’s shoulder. He roughly shoved Maré up to the window, then he produced the controller. He pushed buttons, and Luna could move. He grabbed her by the neck and she screamed and struggled against him, but with their size difference it was no use. “You wanted freedom from the collar, Luna – let’s give it to you.” He dragged her to the front door and out into the storm.

  Outside, the wind-driven rain lashed them as he hauled her over to a large stone sitting in a field across from the house. He shoved her into a sitting position next to it, back first, then he tied the strap first to one of her wrists, around the rock, then the other wrist. She wailed the whole time. He bent down so she could see him deactivate her collar, then he cut it off her and dropped it in her lap, followed by the defunct controller.

  “There you go, Luna, you’re free!” he yelled over the wind. “Have a good night!” He turned and walked back to the house.

  Inside, he found Maré with tears streaming down her face. He used the controller again to allow her collar to release her.

  Immediately, she went to her knees. “Sir, I’m begging you, please bring her back inside! Please, Mr. Breylin! She didn’t take the thing – I did!”

  “Maré,” he said as he took a knee next to her. She was cringing and weeping with her face buried in her hands, but he lifted her chin so that their eyes met. “I don’t really care who took it – it’s not important. Now stand up.” He took her by the arm and guided her back to the window. “Stand right there – don’t you move.”

  From the corner of her eye she could see him go down their hallway. When he disappeared from view, she looked out at poor Luna, naked and soaked, and obviously crying in anguish – though from this side of the glass, Maré could hear nothing but the squall as it rushed around the house, and the staccato of rain striking the glass centimeters from her face.

  Breylin returned, and he held up the lash so that she could see it. “Maré, you stand there all night and watch your precious Chroma. She stays there all night, and you stay right here. That’s your punishment. If you move from that spot, I’ll know – just like I knew about the controller – and I’ll strip the skin off you using this. Don’t test me, because I promise you’ll regret it.”

  He shut off the lights on his way into his room and slammed the door.

  Maré continued to cry while she watched Luna long after Breylin left the room. Unable to do anything but stand uselessly, she felt like her insides had been torn out. Luna appeared to be sleeping; at least Maré hoped she was. Her chin was down and her thrashing had ceased. A cold fear gripped her heart as she did her best to avoid thinking about the alternative. She began to mewl, wishing she could just do something, anything.

  Since the sun never moved – with the cloud cover it couldn’t be seen, anyway – she had no way of telling how long she had stood there, nor how long it would be before that bastard Breylin would go bring her Chroma back inside. Hold on, Luna! But watching her was intolerable. She started flexing her knees and shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

  Next she tried leaning on the window sill for support, and then she just leaned her forehead on the glass. When the cold of it began to seep into her, the memory of that first touch after waking up as she stared out at Jupiter back on Paradise Station flashed into her mind. For a while she tried to focus on the happy memories of those times, but the spell broke when she noticed Luna had raised her head and was looking right at her. She was crying again. Maré realized that Luna must be able to see her standing at the window, and she began to cry a fresh round of her own tears. She couldn’t take the sight any more, and she sank to her knees and buried her face in her hands.

  A high whistle pierced the darkness and a white hot line of fire stretched itself across her back. The terrific pain of the lash broke the disorientation into which she had lapsed, and she screamed. Stars, Breylin is here in the room!

  She didn’t have long to think the implications through, because he grabbed her by the neck and jerked her back to her feet. He shoved her head back to the glass and said, “I warned you, didn’t I? But I’m a good father, always willing to patiently retrain his children when they need it.”

  “Please Sir, I’m sorry I disobeyed – I just couldn’t watch anymore. We’re both so sorry, please bring her in, Mr. Breylin …”

  “She’s staying right where she is and so are you, Maré. And I’ve told you before – you just have to tell your muscles to obey, and they do. Maybe I should help, since you have nearly five hours to go.”

  She couldn’t see what he was doing, but in a few seconds she felt a slight tingling from her collar, and from the neck down her muscles went rigid.

  “That should do. And don’t worry about falling asleep – if your collar senses you going under, it will feed you some adrenaline. I would try to avoid it if I were you; too much of that and you’ll really be miserable.”

  She heard him pad out of the room and shut his door, much more quietly this time, and unwanted, nervous laughter bubbled out of her.

  Looking out, she could see that Luna had once again lapsed into unconsciousness, and her tittering died in her throat. Her mind retreated from the sight, pulled back from what Luna was going through, and how she had failed to protect her. Bitter tears replaced the nervous laughter, it almost seemed like someone else was shedding them.

  Twenty Five

  Breylin’s vibralarm woke him up at 5AM, just as it did every morning. He silenced it and rolled over, but his mind began to hum with dull and indistinct thoughts, and sleep wouldn’t return. Exasperated, he sat up and turned on the light. When he had collected himself somewhat, he threw the cover back and swung his legs out. As he began to rub the slumber from his eyes, he remembered the condition he’d left the girls in. It’s mornings like this, he mused as he rubbed his eyes, that I wish I hadn’t given up those damn expensive stimpacks.

  He relieved himself and got dressed quickly. Walking into the living room, he found Maré with her head pressed up against the window, moaning softly. If she were aware of his presence, she gave no indication. There was a huge smear on the glass in front of her, where the tears and snot had streamed from her eyes and nose. It had clearly been a long night. Coldly, he wondered if she’d learned anything.

  He pressed a button on the collar remote, and she dropped bonelessly to the plastic floor in a miserable, whimpering heap. Now standing over her, he could hear her trying to form words, but he couldn’t decipher what she was trying to get out. It didn’t matter. He bent closer and nudged her with his hand, but it made no difference.

  He scooped her up and carried her sideways down the hall to her room, elbowed the lever and shouldered the door open. Inside, he clumsily laid her down on the bed. He reached for the light, and when he turned back to her to take her shoes off, he noticed the holo frame that they had used to hide the collar controller. Forgetting her shoes, he moved around the bed so that he could reach the thing. It was an image of their false parents. “I’m your father…” he whispered. Jealousy welled up inside him, and he had a notion to smash the image, but he checked himself; now wasn’t the time. I’ll address this issue later. Instead, he put it back on the shelf, face down, then he left the room to go get his other daughter.

  Outside it was still raining, but the bluster had mostly died off. Luna hung loosely by her wrists, lifeless. He got scared that he’d gone too far and killed her. He felt for a pulse on her neck. Panic began to thrash itsel
f in the back of his mind when he couldn’t find it, but then as he moved around a bit, he discovered the slight twinge. She was alive.

  As the rain began to seep through his hair and down the back of his neck, he undid the knots on her wrists. Her arms felt cold and rubbery under his hands. Leaving everything else behind, he picked her up and brought her into the house.

  Maneuvering Luna into their bedroom, he found Maré watching him from half lidded eyes. She had more or less rolled onto her side. “Move over,” he said, “so I can lay your sister down.”

  “She’s not… my sister…”

  “She is your sister, until I say otherwise. Now move over.”

  She winced, as if she regretted her words, but she shifted closer. Slower than he liked, but she got there. “Now, strip back the cover, she’s cold.”

  She grabbed the cover and did as she was told. As Breylin laid Luna down, Maré made the effort to sit up and reach for her. “Stars!” she said when she felt her shoulder. “Is she still alive?!”

  “She’ll be fine, but you might not be. I’m going to jack up the heat, so it’s going to get pretty warm in here.”

  “How long before we know?”

  “Know what?”

  “If she’ll be alright or if you’ve killed her.”

  He fought down nagging guilt and his flaring annoyance with her. “Watch your tone… and I told you, she’ll be just fine. We just have to get her warm.”

  Maré began clumsily stripping off her own clothes, then slid under the blanket and covered her with her body. Maré began to shiver herself, but she huddled closer to Luna. Maybe being left outside all night must have been far worse than he’d imagined. He wished it hadn’t been necessary.