by Dan Krokos
I put the lid down and sit on the toilet, easing the band over my eyes. My finger skims down the side until it finds the small button that enables the copy function. The pain is brief now, almost negligible, as the microscopic tendrils snake through my brain.
Thinking back on that moment, the way the water resembled dark glass, I prepare to hand the memory over to the machine.
Instead, the machine decides to hand one over to me.
A memory Mrs. North left behind.
The elevator ride is the longest of my life.
She’s never summoned me before, not like this, not without notice. I can’t help thinking that after decades of waiting, this is it. We will finally be called to serve. I make a mental note to record this memory later, so the others can hear the words as they come from her mouth, not from mine.
I clasp my shaking hands behind my back. The elevator doors open, and I step into her office. The glass walls form a pyramid, but she’s left them tinted. The sun is just a small glowing marble on the left pane.
She sits behind her desk. It’s the only piece of furniture in the room.
Without looking up from her papers, she beckons me forward with a hand. I cross the plush carpet and kneel at her desk, even if it makes me feel silly. Things are done differently here.
“Rise,” she says.
I do.
Her armor is scaled, but golden instead of the black I wear. The scales shine like mirrors. Her hair hasn’t lost its red-gold luster yet, as mine has. Her face is still seventeen, like the Miranda I’m raising as my daughter. I must appear old to her, so very old.
She studies me with youthful eyes that have seen more than I can imagine. Perhaps, if I please her, I will be able to see as much one day.
“I summoned you because I would like to hear of your progress, from your own mouth. Is everything on schedule?”
“Yes,” I say at once. “There may be a minor snag, but your test will go on as planned.”
“What kind of snag?”
“Nothing to be worried about. I think Rhys is suspicious of the Roses’ true nature, and I believe he will try to investigate further if left unchecked. I recommend we remove him from Alpha team.”
“That’s very sad. Do what you think is necessary.”
Her attention goes back to her papers. I can’t tell if I’m dismissed or not, but I don’t want to risk turning my back without permission. This woman is my true mother, the source of all Miranda clones, my own blood, and yet she makes me feel like a cockroach. Insignificant, a pest to be crushed underfoot.
My mind goes to dark places as the seconds tick by, and the urge to see her new weapons is too much. I’ve put my time in. I deserve to see them.
I work up some nerve, and ask, “May I see them?”
“Them?” she says, seemingly surprised I’m still here.
“Your...the ones you will have working alongside the Roses. The ones who will conquer our world.”
She smiles. “Afraid to say their name? Afraid they’ll hear you?”
Since she’d know if I was lying, I don’t. The monsters have a name, but I heard if you think it, they can hear you. I don’t want them to hear me.
“Yes. A little.”
This seems to amuse her, not disappoint.
“I wouldn’t want to plague your sweet sleep with nightmares.”
“Thank you.”
She dismisses me then, but must sense my disappointment, because she calls after me, “Be patient. You will see them soon, along with everyone else in the world.”
I take off the memory band and set it in my lap. The door to the apartment opens and I hear four people come inside and kick off shoes and open cupboards and laugh at someone’s joke.
Two years. That’s how old the memory is. So much time has passed.
Mrs. North has a creator of her own. And there are monsters that will conquer the world. Monsters with a name Mrs. North is afraid to say.
“Miranda?” someone calls for me. It sounds like Peter or Noah.
I look down at my hands holding the band, and wonder what my team will have to fight next. I wonder what could strike fear in a heart as black as Mrs. North’s.
Then I realize it doesn’t matter.
Whatever it is, we’ll face it together.
Table of Contents
False Memory
Contents
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