The Sky Drifter

by Paris Singer

  “Well, obviously.”

  “What do you mean? How can you be so sure?” I turned my head to face One, curious at the certainty with which he’d spoken.

  “I know a lie when I hear one, Simian. Not that it’s hard to see through her, anyway. She’s as convincing as your hairy friend is at making people believe he doesn’t have a huge gut.”

  As much as I disliked believing One over Iris, he confirmed what I believed. Iris had avoided answering my question, and her argument that everything was in my mind would have been more persuasive if One wasn’t there with me, seeing what I saw. As for him being infected by some virus, if he really had been, why would it only have manifested itself then? It was far too convenient.

  “I don’t care either way, though,” he continued. “This, whatever it is, has nothing to do with me. It’s your problem, and the sooner these idiots realize it, the sooner I can leave.”

  “Damn it, One,” I spat in sheer frustration of his stubbornness. “Can’t you see they’re after you, too? Whatever is happening, they want us both. Open your eyes!”

  One remained silent, and with knitted brow, looked from the barricade of inhabitants to the four we called friends, then asked, “So, what now?”

  “I have no idea,” I replied, a feeling of gladness that he’d accepted the situation glimmering inside my spreading fear.

  Something began to materialize in the space between us and the barricade. Above the green and purple grassland, outlines of small squares formed and spread, the space inside changing from the view ahead to a faint darkness until it became a hole the size of a door. It looked exactly like the one I’d seen in the alley, only bigger.

  All of a sudden, a figure emerged from within. The tall, slender figure of a Simian-like girl stepped out of the dark space. She was unlike anyone I’d ever seen before. Her thick, wavy, dark green hair flowed just past her shoulders and she wore a tight, sleeveless blue suit, which enhanced her yellow skin.

  Without uttering a single word, she raised her arm and pointed toward One and me. I heard one loud grunt followed by another. I turned to see both Morex crashing lifelessly to the ground.

  “Hurry!” she suddenly cried, looking at us and waving rapidly toward herself.

  “Who the hell is that?” asked One wonderingly.

  “Come on!” she persisted urgently.

  It was then that I noticed her eyes. They were the same piercingly blue eyes as the mysterious girl’s. Her face was no longer pale, her hair wasn’t a straight, black bob, nor was she still short with a red coat, but her eyes—her eyes had remained the same.

  “Go,” I cried at One, and as I dashed toward the mysterious girl, the massive barricade of residents ran, too. I glanced rapidly back to see One right behind me with Iris and Pi closely following.

  “Come on, it’s about to close!” frantically cried the mysterious girl.

  The barricade of silent residents, like a great herd, thundered toward us at unbelievable speed as the increasingly louder sounds of Pi and Iris echoed violently in my ears the nearer they came.

  The dark space ahead gradually became smaller, and the mysterious girl shouted for us to hurry as she stepped back through it. One suddenly dashed past and ahead of me, reaching the hole and diving head first into the darkness beyond.

  The sea of residents had almost reached me, their every feature now distinguishable, as with reaching hands they grabbed wildly at the air in front of them. As the hole continued to close with alarming speed, I could no longer see the mysterious girl. With my only chance of escape about to vanish, I dived forward through the small opening that remained.

  Just as my body crashed down onto a hot, hard surface, a sudden intense pressure squeezed my ankle. I flipped around just in time to see Pi’s powerful, hairy hand wrapped around my limb, his face so filled with savage hatred and rage he was virtually unrecognisable as he dragged me toward him. Before he’d had a chance to pull me back through the hole, however, it closed, his hand and forearm de-materializing into a spray of small squares that vanished into thin air.

  My heart beat wildly and my head spun. Before I could think, the mysterious girl grabbed my arm and effortlessly pulled me to my feet. Something was wrapped tightly around my head at eye level. I quickly reached up to grab it, pulling it first away from my eyes, then over my head and to the ground. Looking instantly at what it was, I saw a pair of thick, wrap-around goggles with a brown strap made of some material I couldn’t identify.

  “What is that?” I cried.

  “They made you see what they wanted you to,” dryly answered the mysterious girl. “We haven’t much time. It won’t take them long to figure out what happened and locate us.” She spoke in a snappy, authoritative tone.

  The space I now stood in was enormous. Its curved walls were quite a distance from me in every direction, and seemed to form a dome. The floor, like the walls that encircled me, looked viscous and oily, yet was neither wet nor sticky. Above, a series of platforms, some short and square, others long and rectangular, went up as far as the eye could see, disappearing into pitch darkness. These were linked by what I thought looked like escalator banisters, whose single platforms were flat and rectangular, the bottom one at my left.

  I noticed a strange puffing sound coming from all around me. It didn’t take long to find its source, for strewn around the floor, walls, and below most of the platforms above were what I could only describe as small viscous, mossy blobs. Each pulsated, and through various holes and tubes on them puffed out a white mist, which evaporated almost as soon as it’d left them.

  “I’m not going anywhere until someone tells me what’s going on. Who you are and where the hell this is!” One stated angrily, standing ahead of me.

  “There isn’t time for your stubborn behaviour. If you co-operate, and we survive long enough,” began the mysterious girl, tightly grabbing my arm as she hastened in the opposite direction to One, “I’ll explain it all to you both, but we must leave immediately.”

  As I walked clumsily forward, trying to keep up with her, I saw the two Morex lying side by side on the floor ahead, both wearing similar pairs of wrap-around goggles around their heads. They looked dead.

  Out of nowhere, a renewed surge of anger flowed through me. It had all been too much. The strange series of events that had led up to that point were as mysterious and perplexing to me as they’d been when they’d first begun, and I was no closer to understanding any of it. In a moment of sheer panic, One and I had placed our lives in the hands of the tall, yellow mysterious girl, who’d hounded me aboard the Sky Drifter without a single word of explanation, and even now refused to reveal her secrets, demanding we blindly follow her. My face hurt from the fight with One, my best friends had turned into violent aggressors and the entire residency of the ship had been out to get me. I’d had enough.

  I put all my weight into my legs and roughly pulled my arm from the mysterious girl’s grasp, causing her to abruptly stop and look at me with a shocked expression.

  “No,” I cried, “I’m not moving from here until you tell me what’s happening once and for all!”

  Her face became intensely serious. The mysterious girl said gravely, “You don’t understand. If we’re found, we’ll be killed.”

  I noticed she dropped a rectangular object from her hand, which looked like a type of pistol.

  “Well, you’d better make it quick then,” said One wryly, crossing his arms.

  “And you can start by telling me what that thing you just dropped is,” I added.

  The mysterious girl looked at One, then at me again, let out a cry of frustration and snapped in frustration, “It’s a gun I used to kill those two.” She nodded at the Morex. “It has limited energy, so it’s useless now. Now, come on. We need to move! I’ll explain more on the way.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  “DON’T JUST STAND THERE looking at me. Come on!” cried the mysterious girl as she hurried ahead again.

  I quickly
glanced at One, who with knitted brow muttered something under his breath and ran after her.

  I still felt light-headed as I watched them speed ahead, my mind filled with a thousand questions that screamed to be answered. Everything I’d known was gone, and ahead lay the path to a dark, uncertain future, which I’d walk, not with the friends with whom I’d shared most of my life, but with a tall, yellow girl who remained as mysterious as the first time I’d seen her. And the one whom I’d considered to be my very worst enemy; the person with whom I now shared a face.

  Whatever lay ahead, my life would never again be as I’d known it, and as I plunged into a shrouded, uncertain future, the safety and comfort I’d felt would no longer be certain.

  Soon, I reached the wall of the dome where One was already standing as he watched the mysterious girl press a series of small squares on a control pad. A large double door hissed noisily open to our right, letting a flickering blue light pour out onto the floor in front of it.

  Without a word, the mysterious girl hastily walked through it and out of sight. One and I stood beside each other, staring at the door ahead. He turned to me, and said, “What are you waiting for, Simian?”

  “You first, No Face,” I retorted, realizing I could no longer call him that. Despite the tough outer persona he wanted to convince me of, One’s eyes betrayed him. It was the same look of fear I’d seen in my own many times before.

  “What are you, scared?”

  “You are, you mean.”

  “This isn’t the time for a game. Get over here now!” The mysterious girl stood just beyond the door, a look of impatience and anger all over her face.

  One and I briefly exchanged glances, still daring each other to go first. Sensing the growing fury emanating from the mysterious girl, I sighed and conceded to go first, hurrying ahead through the door as One smugly followed.

  Beyond the door was a small arched passageway, leading to a room bathed in blue light and shadows. Directly ahead was a single door. On either side rows of display screens reached as high as the ceiling above, which was barely visible, and provided the room’s illumination. Left and right were further screens, below which control panels lined the walls.

  The mysterious girl leaned above one of the control panels to my left as she furiously typed on its keypad.

  “What is this?” exhaled One, looking around the room at the display screens with a disturbed expression.

  I walked closer to the wall ahead, focusing on one of the screens. Shocked and perplexed by what I saw, I turned my attention to another screen, then another, and another. Every one of them showed a different part of the Sky Drifter from various angles. There was Shabli’s, various parts of town, classrooms, and the academy canteen, the stadium, locker rooms and arena. Even my quarters were displayed.

  “What is this?” One cried suddenly, turning to face the mysterious girl. “Are you spying on us?” He glared at her with an intensity I’d never seen in my eyes.

  The mysterious girl turned, her uneasy face solemn with regret, she dropped her eyes to stare at the floor ahead of her and said, “You’ve been watched since your births. Both of you.”

  “What are you talking about?” spat One.

  Furrowing her brow farther, the mysterious girl raised her eyes to look at us and speaking gravely said, “Everything you know is a lie. None of it is real. The Sky Drifter was created for you so a better understanding of your species could be achieved.” With an uncomfortable look on her face, she uttered, “I’m sorry.”

  One stood motionless, his gaze still fixed on her. The dread that now replaced his anger mirrored my own as breath caught in my throat and I felt all the blood drain from my face.

  “You’re lying.” He exhaled.

  “We have to move,” said the mysterious girl, walking toward the small door. “It won’t be long before they try to contact your watchers and send someone to find out what’s happening.”

  “I don’t believe you,” uttered One in a low voice. “You’re lying.”

  “You can see for yourself I’m not,” replied the mysterious girl impatiently, nodding at the display screens. “Your every move has been watched, your every reaction and decision monitored and recorded. All so they could study and learn from you.”

  “Who’s ‘they?’” I asked, struggling to keep my last shred of composure. I wanted nothing more than to scream, to fall to my knees and cry, but more than that, I wanted the answers to questions that had plagued me ever since I’d first seen the girl with the red coat, which now seemed like an age ago.

  “You know them as the Morex,” replied the mysterious girl, “but I don’t know if that’s the true name of their species.”

  “The Morex?” I repeated disbelievingly. “One’s friends are behind all this?” I just couldn’t understand how that was possible or even likely.

  “Yes and no. The two you’re accustomed to were incorporated into the simulation to watch and guide One. They weren’t part of the program, but researchers on a team and part of the species responsible for what happened to you both.

  “You’re lying!” cried One, suddenly spinning to face her with clenched hands, revealing the tears that flowed down his face.

  “I wish I were,” solemnly replied the mysterious girl, turning back to face the door. “We have to go.”

  All of a sudden, One charged at her, shouting, “Take me back right now!” Before he could do anything, the mysterious girl had spun round, grabbed his shoulders and slammed him against the wall.

  “Look,” she cried abruptly. “I know this is an impossible truth to believe, but you must. Once they learn you’ve fled, they’ll search the entire ship and kill you and me for freeing you. In fact, I suspect that was already their intention. Do you understand?” The mysterious girl looked from One to me with knitted brow as he merely gazed blankly back, tears streaming from his eyes.

  I didn’t know if I could trust her or not. What little I knew of her didn’t inspire a lot of faith. It seemed to me I didn’t have a choice but to play along and follow her as she wanted. If there was a truth to all she said, that would be the way to find out. I nodded and walked a couple of steps forward to show I was ready to go.

  Without waiting for an answer from him, the mysterious girl simply said, “Good,” and let go of One, heading once again toward the door.

  I glanced at him, who was still gazing vacantly ahead, no doubt lost in his troubled mind. As I looked, though, I had to force myself to remember who I saw was One and not a mirror image of myself. In that moment, he no longer was the object of my hatred. If what the mysterious girl said was true, none of what he and I had gone though was real, and had all been by design. If that was the case, I couldn’t hold a grudge over him. Besides, we both found ourselves in the same bizarre situation, together on the cusp between reality and illusion.

  “Come on,” I said softly. Without saying a word, One stepped away from the wall and walked automatically to the door, which the mysterious girl had just opened.

  A thin veil of white mist enhanced and reflected blinking red lights ahead. Stepping though behind the mysterious girl, I saw we’d entered a long, wide tunnel whose floor, walls, and curved ceiling were intermittently illuminated by small, slow-moving, insect-like creatures with long, spindly legs. The white and red lights themselves came from their large, spherical behinds, which were disproportionate to their thin, stick-like front halves.

  Among them, and hanging from the ceiling, were the same mossy blobs I’d seen in the dome, each pulsating as they puffed white smoke from their various orifices.

  “What are these things?” I asked, trying to avoid touching their hanging, mossy strands that hung from the ceiling.

  “Don’t worry about them,” replied the mysterious girl. “Their purpose is to provide the air we’re breathing.”

  “The air we’re breathing?” I repeated, confused.

  “They feed on dark matter and excrete oxygen, which is the mist you can see.”
<
br />   “Wait,” I began, suddenly feeling queasy, “do you mean…What we’re breathing in is…”

  “Yes, it is.”

  I fell silent, trying in vain to hold my breath as much as possible.

  We reached the end of the tunnel, whose door hissed open, revealing a great space beyond. Multi-level platforms ran vertically along the cylindrical wall above and below the one on which we stood with walkways criss-crossing from one side to the other at various angles. The encircling wall was a mix of glistening dark metal and gray stone. Red and yellow vines hung at various points with the ever-present mossy blobs pumping out their white mist, veiling the entire area, making it hard to see very far. The only source of light came from the same insect-like things I’d encountered in the tunnel moments before, which slowly crawled around the entire area in their hundreds.

  As soon as the door closed behind us, the mysterious girl stopped and extended her arms to either side across our chests, barring our way, and hastily surveyed the area. Pre-empting the question that formed in my mind, she said, “There are no guards, but this is a widely used walkway leading to various areas, so we must proceed with caution.”

  I looked at One, who stared unblinkingly ahead. It’s difficult to admit, but the evident distress he suffered made it easier for me to move forward. It made me feel stronger. I didn’t understand it then, but seeing my own face furrowed and pathetic, gave me the courage I needed to fight against it. Despite that, an unexpected compulsion caused me to place my hand on his shoulder to comfort him. I’d expected One to shrug it off immediately, but to my surprise, he didn’t.

  “Let’s go,” instructed the mysterious girl as she sneaked along the right path, keeping close to the wall.

  I’d started to follow her when I noticed One hadn’t moved from where he was, so I quickly walked back, and placing one hand on his arm and one on his shoulder, directed him forward. Moments later, the mysterious girl, who maintained a vigilant eye, stepped away from the wall and onto one of the many criss-crossing walkways leading to a higher platform on the other side.