Smiling at Baxten, I slip it into my NanoTech trouser pocket for safekeeping. “I’ll take it as a good sign.”
My brother nods and we take our last few steps to the door. Now within range, the familiar static of the eLink scratches at my brain as it connects. Baxten’s face flashes through my mind and I frown, accepting his conversation. I’ve enjoyed our interaction better without it.
~You’ll have to tell me all about your explorations later. You’re kind of a mess. Take a few minutes to clean up and maybe even take a five-minute Lotus.
Baxten steps forward and pulls back the door to the Helix. My senses are assaulted with the manufactured air and backlighting.
Our reemergence goes unnoticed by those milling about the long cylindrical halls. Just outside our Living Quarters, I take my place in front of the small optical scanner to gain access to our residence. The eLink connects in conjunction with the scan and a reminder is prompted.
... Runa Cophem ... Congratulations. Our records indicate your professional appointment awaits. Check in with the ScanReaders within the next hour for this momentous occasion. Should you need further instructions, please visualize them now.
I briefly wonder where exactly I need to go to check in and a map, virtual images, and face are downloaded into my memory.
Opening the door, my eyes sweep the space as I stand in the main hall of our LQ. The dark grey walls are accentuated by two doors on either side and a large table at the far end. Same as always. The table is practically an extension of Baxten, usually filled with virtual blueprints and scanner parts.
~You should really go take a shower quick. It will help calm your nerves.
I turn my gaze to Baxten and he nods his head to the first door on my left. Reflexively, I run my hand across my hair and pull out a twig; a hazard of being outside. He chuckles to himself and walks down the hall to his quiet space on the right. We’re both lucky enough to have a window view, not that he really ever notices his.
I can stare outside for hours, trying to imagine what life had been like before humans terraformed Pendomus. Most of the time, I ponder the life outside. Why the trees no longer grow leaves like the ones did on Earth. Or maybe they had been different on this planet? I’ve imagined different scenarios where the trees could produce leaves of fire or liquid leaves flowing in the breeze. I can see Pendomus in colors I’ve not seen in existence, but full of possibility.
The door to my mother’s quiet space is partially open and I take a step forward. Her room is spotless with only the simple gray lotus chair placed in the middle of the three meter by three meter space. I click her door shut just she enters from the main hallway.
My heart lightens and I breathe a sigh of relief. She’s come home to attend my professional appointment after all. Her dark brown hair stands out on the top of her head, however, the white lab coat looks crisp and clean as it drapes over her standard issue NanoTech garments. As a RationCaps Chemist, her position is highly esteemed. Without people like her, we wouldn’t be able to survive. She creates the food that nourishes our bodies and keeps us healthy. I suppose that would be really impressive to most, but all I really ever wanted from her was love and attention.
Neither of which have been in supply, despite their demand.
Stumbling to the side, I wave to her. She briefly catches my eye and the corner of her lips curl upward, but falter. The crackling of the eLink alerts me of her intentions. The sudden juxtaposition of her smiling eLink photo flashing in the recess of my mind with her current expression is disheartening.
~Hi, Runa. Long day. I’m going to go redirect.
Entering her quiet space, she closes the door behind her without so much as a second glance.
I take another step backward, reeling from the brief conversation, and wondering if she’s really here for me at all. She didn’t even mention my professional appointment. For as long as I can remember, my mother has been distant and aloof. Even more so than other people inside the Helix. Baxten tells me mixed stories. Usually, how it’s my fault she’s distant. He enjoys telling me about what she was like when he was younger and it was just him and my parents. Supposedly, she was the most amazing woman he’d ever met. She was kind, loving, and affectionate. Then I was born and everything ceased. As if the life had been sucked out of her the moment I arrived. Other times, he tells me our father’s death threw her over the edge. Either way, I don't ever remember a time when I felt her approval.
Most of the time, I’m not sure why her disdain should even matter? No one inside the Helix expresses many feelings for one another. At a very young age, we’re taught emotions, particularly for other people, don’t lead to rational thinking. Close relationships are discouraged, even inside our own family hierarchy. Yet, if you are passionate for your work, that’s considered to be ideal. The whole thing has always seemed backwards to me. You can be passionate and excited for your role in society, but emotions are not helpful? Isn’t passion for your profession still an emotion?
Needing to hurry, I walk down the hall, opening the second door on the left, directly across from Baxten’s quiet space. There’s not much inside, the walls are white with a tinge of gray, just like the rest of the Helix. Inside sits my own dark gray lotus chair and of course, some extra NanoTech garments in the small closet. Grabbing a dark gray and red set for my appointment, I walk to the allayroom to shower.
I set my new garments across the allay and close the door. In the mirror, the series of loose braids hovering over the rest of my white-blonde hair are somewhat messy, but overall, not terrible. Leaning forward, I stare into my amber eyes, trying for the hundredth time to imagine them deep brown like everyone else’s. It doesn't work. Instead, I look tired. The bags underneath do nothing for me, but a little sleep therapy should take care of it. Baxten thought it may help calm my nerves before my ceremony anyway.
I’ll go there next.
Turning the water on, I stand in the warm stream, letting the water flood over me. I take a moment, allowing the warmth and the texture to take over my entire perception as if the only thing in life at this moment is me and the water. I love the way it revitalizes me.
After a few minutes, I finish cleansing and hop out. Wrapping a towel around my body, I take my time combing through my hair and rebraiding the long strands before reaching for my new garments. Gray covers each piece of my attire from head to foot with only a few red lines at the seams to break up the monotony. My boots are standard black, but they’re comfortable, reaching up to my ankles.
Something small tumbles to the floor when I pick up my used NanoTech Trousers. I kneel on the floor and find the small icy-crystal from earlier. Turning it over, it lacks the luster from outside, but sparkles none-the-less. When I place it in the palm of my hand, my skin still tingles.
My token is still with me.
Carefully placing the crystal in my new trouser pocket, I send my dirty clothes to be washed and walk back to my quiet space. Baxten towers over something at the large table in the main hall, his face full of excitement.
I can’t wait to have a purpose like he does. To be granted access to learn more, do more. Until my professional appointment gives me privileges to more knowledge of the planetary history, I’m left struggling through without all of the known details. Excitement fills me again because soon I’ll have that access. Taking a deep inhale, I close the door to my space and walk to my lotus chair. I take a seat, crossing my legs and placing my hands in my lap. The lights dim as the sleep therapy machine senses me and turns itself on. From behind, the brain calibrator emerges and encompasses my head. Resting back and closing my eyes, I wait. Seconds later, the familiar electrical charge tickles the top of my head. My hair follicles tingle slightly as my brain recharges, mimicking the primitive way humans had once slept. Luckily we no longer need to spend a third of our lives in stasis. Instead, our daily sleep therapy intake ranges from five, to thirty minutes per day, leaving more time to be productive.
Images of my day fla
sh behind my closed eyelids and before I’m aware, the lights turn on again, signaling the end. I untangle my legs and stretch.
As expected, I’m clearer, calmer, and the day’s events seem more manageable.
A smile breaks across my face as I remove the little crystal from my pocket. Taking a few slow steps, I place it on my window seam, allowing the natural light to pass through.
“Back soon, my good luck charm.” I whisper.
Baxten’s eLink photo emerges in the recesses of my mind.
~Are you ready, Runa?
~Yes, let’s go. Is Mom ready?
I walk out into the main hallway to a confused expression on Baxten’s face.
~Runa, I told you. Mom’s not coming.
My eyes flit to her closed door.
~But she’s in her quiet space?
Baxten shakes his head.
~No, she left when you were in sleep therapy.
I drop my gaze to my hands.
~Oh, I see.
Wrapping his arm around my shoulder, he leads me down the hall.
~C’mon, kid sis. Let’s see what your future has in store… Just keep in mind, whatever you end up doing, you’re not getting the large table to plunk sticks and rocks on. I’ve already claimed it.
I laugh with him as we leave our LQ behind, walking the bare corridor to check in with the ScanReaders. We don’t have far to go. Since Baxten’s professional appointment as a ScanTechnician, we were reassigned to a new LQ closer to the ScanReader department.
~This won’t take long. It’s really only a formality because they want to give you your department badge. You basically walk in and they hand you your professional badge and they’ll eLink all of your assignments for tomorrow.
Baxten winks at me, ushering me inside the room.
~Great. I don’t think I could handle much more suspense.
My pulse races as we reach the standard chrome counter inside the ScanReader lobby. A woman with short brown hair blinks, expressionless, at us.
According to the eLink broadcast in my mind, her name is Andrea Rupox.
~Proceed.
I bite my lip, but offer my information in return. She nods, already prepared for me as she pushes forward my badge. My smile beams as I take it from her and nod in appreciation.
~Thank you.
The moment I have the badge in my hand, it lights up and a series of maps, procedures, names, faces, and access levels are downloaded in my mind. My footing falters and I turn back to Baxten and the woman named Andrea.
~I’m sorry. There has to be some mistake. This can’t be the correct appointment.
Andrea’s expression is skeptical as I walk back to her, trying to hand the badge back.
Baxten grabs my wrist, confusion written across his face.
~Runa, what are you talking about? The scans are never wrong.
I shake my head, trying to fight the panic welling inside.
~I don’t know what to tell you, Baxten. The scans are wrong. They have to be.
Grabbing his hand, I thrust my newly acquired badge in his palm. The emblem with a moving metallic blaze in the center puts a stop to his rebuttals. Instead his mouth drops open and he lifts his wide eyes to mine. Neither of us say the word etched across the top of the badge. I close his hand around it and shake my head.
~There’s no way.
I walk out, leaving my brother standing in the middle of the lobby with the remnants of my childhood idealism. In that instant, I know what I have to do. They won’t allow me to disavow their placement. There isn’t precedence for something like this.
I need to leave the Helix.
Because after everything I’ve been through, there’s no way I accept the role of Cremator.
3
Traeton
WHO WOULDN’T LOVE TO EXPLORE more of Pendomus?
I’d be a fool if I said the thought wasn’t utterly enticing. I’ve been hanging around Fenton on and off for nearly eight years now and he’ll manage without me just fine. Besides, he and Kani have their thing going now. They need a third wheel about as much as I need to be one. It’s not like I’ll be gone forever.
Well, unless we manage to get ourselves killed.
The thought comes unbidden to my mind, but I shrug it off. I’ll have Ash with me the entire time and that guy could pulverize someone with just a look. I know I don’t know everything about Pendomus and we would be going far into the desert realms of the planet, but some things you can only prepare for so much. Eventually, you have to ignore all the worries or concerns and take the leap. I follow the last bend of the cavern system and enter the space leading out to the frozen world. The soft glow of daybreak illuminating the opening is like a magical portal to a new world. Outside, exploring—that’s where I love to be.
I take a deep breath and walk out into the light. When the cool air hits, the breeze lessens my agitation instantly. Beyond the select few in the Lateral, I’m the only one who possesses first-hand details about the area around us. The topography of the planet. Of course Delaney would ask me to go on this mission.
Of course I’m going to accept it. There really was no other choice, but I couldn’t let them know that. Still need to exert a little bit of free will, right? Keeps them on their toes.
The weight of the sonic resonator hanging loosely over my back reminds me of my current mission. I’m not just out wandering to clear my mind, I have to start my patrol of the area. There are people to protect and I’m not doing a very good job if I’m stuck in my own head.
Out here, you never know what might find you. Hundreds of animals were resurrected and released, few which behave in a friendly manner.
My lungs crackle under the coolness of my inhalation. The wind’s scent is intoxicating, as oxygen courses uninhibited through my veins. The dank air inside a cave just isn’t like this. The sky’s amazing this morning as I start out, taking a moment to glance up through the trees. The branches are magnificent, covered in sparkling frost. Over my shoulder, a twig snaps, making me spin around. My eyes scan the area, but see only the awesomeness of the sundog hugging the Safe Haven’s obscure entrance like a pair of parentheses. Pinks and purples contrast the white of the snow, making the edge where the rainbows meet appear to vibrate. Nothing is so awe-inspiring as the colors and wonder you never see inside the Haven. Colors even Kani can’t replicate in her otherwise beautiful paintings. For some reason, they’re too elusive.
As I continue onward in my circumference around our base, the woods are silent. The only exception is the sound of my feet trudging quietly through the snow. Focusing on the muffled crunching, I continue to put one foot in front of the other and create distance between the Haven and me. I watch for signs of predatory animals and people. We can’t assume the Helix will let us be, if they find out where we’ve been hiding. Preparation is key and all that.
Somewhere through my rounds, the trees fill with the sounds of little gray birds. The sounds are cheerful at first, but after a while, start to grate on my nerves. A little peace, that’s all I want. As if monitoring my progress through the trees, they follow me in the branches overhead.
I flick my hand at them, trying to get them to fly off. “Go away. Shoo.”
Luckily, they get the idea and dissipate. Leaving the birds behind, I catch myself smiling again. I’ve been a bit self-reflective, but I know this is going to be a good thing. I’ve been in need of a damn adventure, anyway. I much prefer the wide-open spaces of the unknown to the suffocating closeness of monotony. With a little luck, maybe I’ll even be able to get to know Ash better. The man never talks.
A piercing howl slices through the trees, ripping me from my thoughts. The hairs on the back of my neck rise, causing me to crouch in a defensive position. The forest is suddenly silent and my instincts scream to run—which doesn’t happen often. Usually I’m the first to run towards the fray. My only problem is, I’ve got not clue which direction the sound came from.
Frozen to my spot, my eyes follow th
e birds and the way they’re flocking—all heading in the same direction in the distance. Their irritating calls turn into horrifying screeches. In the distance, the sky blackens with their convergence as they appear to be circling a tree in the distance. I flick a switch on my vibration detector just as another howl invades the silence. This time, my instruments confirm the howl came from the same direction as the birds.
A sudden streak of gray and red whizzes through the air. Rushing forward to get a better look, the streak is actually a girl with long, white-blonde hair. Her face is bloody and her body limp. After a moment, her body slides across the ground and hits a large tree, as if something is maneuvering her. The only problem is, I can’t tell what the hell it is. Or where the hell it is.
The thundering in my chest convinces me I need to take action for the sake of the girl. Without conscious effort, I run toward her and whatever is orchestrating her body’s movements. I need to figure out what the hell is going on here.
Pulling the sonic resonator around to the front of my body, my fingers stroke the virtual keypad, giving the command to stun as I race through the trees toward her.
Could this be the Morph?
Stories have circulated for a long time about a killing machine no one can hunt. If this really is the Morph, now I know why. No one can see the damn thing.
After moments of stillness, the girl lifts her arm. Something glints in her hand and she swings whatever the weapon is above her. I curse myself for being so slow as I finally get close enough to be in range to stun the creature without hitting her. Not wanting to be seen, I flatten against the tree and clutch the sonic resonator tightly.
As I spin around to take aim, the girl musters a burst of energy as she scampers up the tree trunk. Her struggles are evident, as she haphazardly reaches for a large branch and nearly falls back down. She manages to get a few feet up the tree before a gash on her leg splits open and paints the snow red. More horrifying, however, is the outline of the Morph as it appears in her blood.
The Complete Pendomus Chronicles Trilogy: Books 1-3 of the Pendomus Chronicles Dystopian Scifi Boxed Set Series Page 2
