CHOSEN: A Paranormal, Sci-Fi, Dystopian Novel

by A. Bernette

  Chapter Sixteen

  Ready

  Antarctic Research Center

  Rupert fidgeted slightly as he smoothed his clothing and ran his hands over his neatly styled locs. He stood outside of Mave’s door dressed in a handsome formal outfit. It was finally time to head down to the ARC Gala.

  He wasn’t sure he really felt like going or that they really had time for it this year. It was their eighteenth year and in that time the ARC had grown up, in a way. Much like a regular eighteen year old, there were still some challenges as it tried to figure out what it wanted to do.

  The door to Mave’s room opened and what he saw nearly took his breath away. He stood there staring at her like he’d seen an angel.

  She was stunning in her long red dress with gold beads lining the edges. A long matching red silky wrap draped over one shoulder. She had on the earrings he’d bought for her two years ago on her birthday. She’d only worn them once before, at the Gala last year. In his eyes, she was the first and last. She had no idea what she did to him.

  “You look absolutely beautiful.” He gave her a kiss on the cheek despite wanting more than anything to touch his lips to hers, even if it smudged her lipstick, but he wouldn’t.

  Her streak of silver made her look even more refined and elegant and he loved that she didn’t feel the need to change who she was naturally.

  “Are you ready for this?” Rupert asked after taking all of her in.

  “If by ‘this’ you mean the Gala…no I’m not but let’s go and try to have fun. We only get this once a year. We’ve worked hard these past few months and it’s going to get even harder. How about we take one night to relax, handsome? We deserve it,” she smiled at him and smoothed his tuxedo.

  If only she weren’t already committed. She sighed and took his arm as they walked toward the great hall.

  ***

  Stephen banged on Stella’s door impatiently.

  “Can I come in?”

  After talking with him earlier, Stella had gone into her room to sleep. She’d only gotten up an hour earlier to get ready, and he doubted she was, but thought he’d check.

  “Hold on,” Stella answered through the door. She needed to zip her dress. She only bothered wearing one because her mom ran the ARC and she was asked in past years not to embarrass either of her parents too much. She got it up and zipped. Despite it being a dress, she had to admit that she liked it and she liked how she looked in it.

  Of course almost anything was less boring than the regular assigned uniforms with their stain friendly three color options. Would you prefer grey, black, or navy blue? None, thank you. So tonight Stella was wearing a pastel blue dress that dropped just below her knees and her favorite boots, similar to what the SEP Agents wore but in a darker hue of blue. Her curls were free with the exception of a butterfly hairclip pinned on the right. She even decided to put some lip gloss on. Anything more was too much trouble.

  “I’m still holding…” Stephen knocked again. Stella had forgotten he was out there as she looked in her mirror admiring herself.

  She opened the door. “Sorry. So should I wear the matching jacket or should I wear this scarf Ms. Ida made me?” Stella held both of them up.

  Stephen looked at them and then looked at her. “Do you really want me to choose?” he said with a confused look on his face.

  “No. I guess not. Are you wearing that?” her nose wrinkled as she pointed to his outfit.

  Stephen looked down at himself in the black slacks and plain white dress shirt before answering with a shrug. “Yeah, it’s my more formal wear and it meets the requirements for the Gala. It is mostly comfortable so I think it is suitable.” Stella just shook her head.

  “Close the door Stephen,” Stella ordered, sounding like Zura. “I want to ask you something about the report and all the stuff you all have been doing. I don’t know for sure but I’m not feeling so good about this whole situation. Mom is worried and I don’t know how I know but I don’t believe any of these people are really doing something that’s going to fix it. I’m afraid that when we are actually grown up there’ll hardly be any safe place to live. What if they decide to just bury it, so to speak?”

  “Well, they could try but I don’t think it can stay buried. The evidence will speak for itself. It is nearly impossible to hide an earthquake. Besides there have already been a couple of earthquakes, and the one in Southern Allegiance was above a five on the Richter scale. It’s not a major earthquake, but it’s more than can be ignored, especially considering the fact it wasn’t even on a known fault line.”

  “But you can bury the truth and not give people options to avoid those earthquakes or bury it and not have a way to prevent them from happening in the first place,” Stella snapped back, unsatisfied with Stephen’s response.

  “What did I do?” Stephen backed away. “I’m in the same situation as you Stella. I don’t know exactly what’s going to happen. I know what we are reporting for the most part, but no one has all of the answers. What I do know is that it isn’t practical to think that you or I can just march into UniCorps or the World Consensus and say to them ‘stop pumping, or else’. The probability of that giving us a positive outcome is essentially zero.”

  Stella rolled her eyes and pressed her lips together. She decided to check the time instead of attempting a response to Stephen. “I guess we better get down to the great hall. Mom will be giving her speech in just a few minutes. It’d be rude for us not to be there. Besides I’m up right after that.” She grabbed the jacket and a small bag and followed Stephen out the door.

  “I hope Ms. Ida is here. I think she’s going to love this.” Stella opened the bag and let Stephen look inside.

  Stephen furrowed his brow. “What is it?”

  “It’s a piece of body decoration from the early twenty-first century, before they began using stones and gems almost exclusively for conducting energy. A private owner donated her collection to the school and they put them in the shop as collector items. I think you put it on your finger. I’ve seen pictures of people wearing things like this in museums.

  “Is that what you needed the extra lubles for?” Stephen asked, taking a guess.

  “Yes. Don’t tell mom, but I didn’t really use any of those forty lubles on snacks. I spent all of it plus some I’d saved on this and it was worth it. I know Ms. Ida is going to be excited when I give it to her. She’s going to love it.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Gala

  Antarctic Research Center

  The twins could hear the sounds of talking and the live band coming out of the great hall as they tread quickly through the corridors. Once they arrived at the doors they looked at each other and walked into the great hall together.

  Johan marched over to meet them as soon as their faces crossed the doorway and hurried them over to their table, near the front of the hall beside the small stage where the band was set up.

  Stephen tried to take it in but it felt overdone and was too much for him. There were so many people working the event compared to the number of people actually there from the ARC for the party. Stella took her seat between Stephen and Johan.

  Zura was sitting beside their father looking at her notes on her tablet. It was a beautiful sleek clear tablet that she could write on, read on, take notes on, and more. Despite having had it for months no one had ever seen her pull it out until now.

  Johan touched Zura’s hand and she looked up with a slight jump. Even with all the noise in the room, he’d managed to startle her. She loved her work and was great at it. That didn’t change the fact that she hated having to stand in front of all of them and talk about how great they were and how important the work they were doing was, and remind them of why their sacrifices mattered and why what they did mattered, and so on. This year felt even worse, knowing what was at stake and keeping it from them.

  If she thought it would be okay, she’d simply say, “You’re all amazing and we are all doing our part to save the
world. Thanks everyone for another hard working year. Let’s dance!” After the thought about it, she laughed. That would be easy enough. Yeah it would be.

  Zura looked at the time and stood up. As she began to walk toward the stage she could feel everyone’s eyes following her. She carefully climbed the few steps to the stage and the band quieted, along with the guests and service staff. Now, they were waiting on her. She regretted not taking a drink of water before getting up.

  Her mouth felt like she’d taken a teaspoon of cinnamon. She tried to clear her throat. Her eyes focused on the short speech she’d written on her tablet and with one more glance at her waiting audience, she began.

  “Good evening everyone. Thank you for being on the ARC for another year. I can hardly believe it’s been eighteen years since we first came here with a vision for changing our world for the better. Because of you.” She paused realizing she couldn’t say what she’d originally written and decided to take the much simpler direction.

  “It’s because of you that we celebrate tonight, your commitment and your sacrifice. I want to thank every one of you for another year of hard work. Tonight, we’re going to party!” Zura was surprised by the applause and appreciation for the short remarks even if she wasn’t done.

  “Before the band begins again we’re going to start the party off tonight with an upbeat and very special piece from one of our younger people on the ARC, my daughter Stella. She’s performing a classic piece from the mid twenty-first century on the piano.”

  Stella pushed her chair back and inhaled, letting the breath slowly move out of her as she walked over to the beautiful baby grand piano that she’d fallen in love with years before. Every eye was on her. She sat down and slid her fingers across the keyboard, feeling it, becoming one with it.

  For this song, she didn’t need to look at the sheet music. She’d learned to play it by memory two years before and had continued to practice until she felt she could play it smoothly, her fingers having memorized every movement. She’d even snuck away to the auditorium at camp to practice, when she could get away.

  She lined her fingers up at the starting point and began to play. The first notes filled the room and the music filled her, creating a magical experience. As her fingers slid across the keys effortlessly she seemed to radiate. She could see the rainbow created from the notes as sound became light waves in motion. With every key stroke she created her own light show.

  It didn’t bother her that no one else in the room could see it moving through the air and all around them as she played. It was beautiful, like the Aurora Borealis, just more vivid and filled with every color of the rainbow. They all correlated to the notes Stella played using the vibrations of the baby grand piano. They couldn’t see it, but they felt the chills as the music vibrated around them.

  Mave would often look up and around into what seemed like empty space. She could see something but it wasn’t an experience she could share. Stella’s fingers continued to dance along the keys, graceful, strong, and sure. She’d begun playing before she could write and even if many other things didn’t make much sense to her, this did.

  Stella finished her piece and sat there another moment taking in the applause and watching the colors fade. She then stood with a bright smile across her face, curtsied politely and then threw up both her hands as if to say ‘yes, look at me’. That’s Stella, Johan and Zura thought simultaneously. She bounced back to her seat the smile staying with her.

  The band filled the room with music to eat and dance to, and for the next three hours everyone on the ARC had the chance to forget all of their worries and just enjoy the night. The food was delicious, the drinks flowed freely, and the dessert table was all but raided by the twins.

  Stella found Ms. Ida shortly after her performance. She was standing near the back of the room watching the party unfold and making sure her staff were all on task. Once Stella spotted her she made a beeline to her with the bag in one hand and pulling Stephen along with the other.

  “Ms. Ida!” Stella gushed giving her a huge hug. “How are you?”

  “I am just fabulous. As are you! You are getting better and better every year Stella. That was absolutely beautiful. ABSOLUTELY Beautiful! I just loved it. I remember grinding my teeth through your pecking out Chopsticks for the first time and now that!” Ms. Ida said gleefully. Then she turned to Stephen. “Oh Stephen, and how are you doing? Anything exciting happening?”

  “I’m fine. Nothing exciting’s happening,” Stephen answered almost incoherently before putting his head down.

  “I went to camp last week. I just got back this morning actually, but when I was there I found something I thought would be just perfect for you so I had to get it because I just knew you’d love it.” Stella handed Ida the bag. “Go ahead. Open it,” Stella said anxiously.

  Ida chuckled at Stella’s impatience. “Okay. Okay,” Ida said as she reached in and pulled out the ring.

  “It’s body decoration!” Stella said almost squealing.

  “It is, isn’t it? It’s gorgeous. It’s a ring.” Ida tried a few fingers before finding one it would fit. She held her hand out for the twins to see. “This is absolutely stunning. Almost too special. I have to know, where did you find it?” Ida asked.

  “It was in the campus store at my science camp in Southern Allegiance. A private owner donated it to the school and they had it in their campus store. When I saw it, I thought of you. Do you love it?” Stella could barely contain her excitement.

  “I love it. Thank you,” Ida said and gave Stella another hug. “I’ve gotta get back to work for a while. I’ll see you again tonight, though. Promise?” Ida said before hugging Stella once more. “Thank you again, Stella.”

  Ida walked away with her long flowing fuchsia dress, bangles, arm bands and wrap going with her. She had a big fuchsia headband with feathers in her silver blonde hair. Stella could see the individual feathers moving as Ida breezed away.

  “Stephen, we have maybe one and a half hours before everyone starts breaking away from the party. I want to see that folder or file or whatever you were talking about, before people start wondering where we are. Let’s go look at it now.”

  “You go ahead of me and I’ll follow you in a couple of minutes. I’m going to grab another cupcake. Do you want one?” he asked.

  “Grab me a cookie. Two cookies. Be there in five minutes Stephen. Don’t get caught in a conversation. No statistics tonight,” she said escaping through the side door. Stella walked quickly back through the corridors, to their family unit.

  Stella hurried down their hallway and stopped at Stephen’s door. She tried the handle. He hadn’t locked it, as usual. She decided to go in and wait there instead of her own room. Everyone was at the party, and she wanted answers. No, she needed them. She had to see it and process it for herself so it would really make sense. Stella plopped down on Stephen’s bed, shoving a pillow behind her then immediately stood back up and started pacing around his bed.

  Stella looked out the window but quickly remembered that out here, there really wasn’t anything to see. She sat back down and waited. The days were beginning to change. It was no longer daytime all day and instead the sun was only up almost all day. The sun was beginning to fade and shadows were forming outside where the building cut off the lowering sun.

  Stephen pushed the door open with his hands full. He had two cupcakes and a plate full of cookies. They’d be almost sick in the morning but neither of them cared. It was worth it. Stella often joked that she had a separate stomach just for dessert.

  Stephen carefully set the plates down on the edge of his desk before sitting down in his chair.

  “Look away, Stella,” Stephen ordered.

  Once he was sure she wasn’t watching him, he slid his hand under his desk and took the memory microdot out of its hiding place. He used the reader again to open the storage and project it to his smart wall.

  The folder ‘Noah’ showed up and he clicked on it to reveal the man
y files under the folder.

  “Wow,” said Stella. “Those are a lot of files. Have you looked at any yet?”

  “Not that many,” he said. “I haven’t had much of a chance but there are a few I wanted to start with. You see this one? It is called ARC Reborn.” Stephen clicked on it and it opened schematics of the ARC layout including residential units on the main site and then the smaller satellite sites.

  “Look at this,” Stephen said. “Have you ever seen or heard of anything besides this level and the one below? Did you know there was another level down?”

  “The ROC room and lab are down a level so I guess it’s not unreasonable that there is another level, right?” she reasoned.

  “Yes, but from these images it looks like an entire floor running the length of the entire ARC that is all below the level of the ROC room. The ROC room is on the same level as the storage and supplies and that safe room dad showed us. I didn’t even know that the level we did know about was the same size as the main level,” Stephen said while pointing to the diagram on the wall.

  “I wonder what that next level is for. Maybe in case there is a change in weather above ground, it’s a little more protected under there,” Stella suggested, searching for an answer.

  “Okay, we now know there’s a second level and it’s much bigger than I thought. There’s a whole third level that’s the same size. I wonder what else there is,” Stephen said curiously before going back to the Noah folder.

  “What about this? HPT folder?” Stella asked a she pointed over Stephen’s shoulder.

  Stephen clicked on it and there were files of human population trends and projections for the past two hundred years with projections for the next two hundred years. There was a map showing density of where people lived around the globe, and another one showing the fault lines.