The Red Girl

by Thomas Davis

  “My last update was that morning on the way to the house. Didn’t I tell you and your mother about the alien object I found?”

  Jake had the entire context he needed to precede with his tale, “You told us that Station security seized the egg and were experimenting with it.” It was best to be vague when lying. Jake planted the seed that would lead his father to the desired conclusion. That Station Security’s tampering with the egg caused the attack. By the look on his father’s face, he concluded that his ruse worked. He also knew that his mother always updated at night. There was no way she had any memory of that day either.

  His mother Annabelle flickered into existence next to Travis. Jake’s heart skipped a beat. He had seen his mother’s true form before but never full scale. She had existed within the robotic Frame since shortly after he was born. He’d only seen her true face in small holograms but never like this. Seeing his parents together in the holographic flesh, Jake felt that they complemented each other.

  “Are you okay, baby?” Anne said.

  “I’m. I’m fine mom.”

  “Why are you hiding your hand Jacob Takeda?”

  Nothing escaped this woman’s gaze. Maybe this was whom Jake got his heightened perception from. Jake shyly pulled his left hand from his pocket and held it up shoulder high. “I didn’t want to worry you.”

  “Oh no. My poor baby.”

  “Mom…. I’m…. I’m not a baby anymore. I’m okay. I need you to understand that.”

  Anne was taken aback by his response but, for the first time, she respected his confidence. Jake had matured since their last meeting. “It suits you.”

  “Mom…. How did you and Pop meet?”

  Anne was surprised by her son’s sudden interest in her past, “Where did this come from?”

  “I don’t know. Just curious.”

  “Well. We met in college. He used to sit behind me in literature class.”

  “I was so cool back then, all the ladies were into me,” Travis interjected.

  “Your dad was really weird and shy back then,” Anne looked at Travis. “But he was funny. No one made me laugh as much as he did.”

  “Your mom was way out of my league but when I first laid eyes on her I just knew,” Travis looked to Anne. “That she was the one.”

  Anne smiled back at him.

  “I was pretty bad at being a husband and a dad but…”

  “Did I make you feel that way?”

  “No. No.”

  Anne reached out her hand in an attempt to comfort Travis before remembering that they couldn’t touch in this state. “Neither of us was perfect.” They shared a longing gaze.

  Anne looked back at Jake and her eyes went wide. “You’ve met a girl, haven’t you?” she smiled. Truly no detail or nuance escaped this woman.

  “No! No. Maybe? It’s complicated.”

  “It’s always complicated,” Anne replied.

  “Yeah but this is really complicated.”

  “Is she nice?”

  “She’s kind, strong, I think you’d really like her.”

  “What’s her name?”

  Before Jake could answer a voice interrupted over the intercom, “I’m really sorry but we have to wrap this up. There are a lot people waiting to use the system.”

  Jake stood up from the chair, “mom, pop… I…” He knew what he wanted to say. What he had to say but he’d never said it out loud. He’d taken these people for granted his whole life and now was the time to finally say those words.

  “Don’t make this weird son,” Travis joked.

  Anne giggled, “You really are the worst, Honey.” She held out her transparent hand near Jake’s cheek, almost close enough to touch. “Take care of yourself son.”

  “We believe in you Jake. Always remember that,” Travis added.

  The holographic projectors stopped spinning and went dark as his parents gradually faded away.

  ***

  Catherine had finally managed to steal herself away from the Outpost personnel and grateful survivors who yearned to meet her after her moving speech aboard the pods. She had one concern that nagged at the back of her mind. What did the boy say in his debriefing with the military interviewers? Everyone was required to give his or her account of the incident. Jake’s account could possibly shine some light on Catherine’s involvement in the tragedy. A Frame going berserk is unheard of. A keen eye with the right level of clearance could possibly identify Liberty Shield as the cause of that incident. And the top brass of the military and government would be pouring over every eyewitness account of what happened on Lhasa. Her name would eventually come up.

  She had been studying the patrols outside the server room for close to two days. Around this time midday there’s always a half hour gap before the next patrol, lunchtime presumably. The console near the door was standard encryption. It was nothing that a tech savvy person like her couldn’t get past in a matter of minutes. The guard made his pass then Catherine leapt into action. Her heart was racing as she hacked the console to open the door. This is like one of those spy movies, she thought. The door into the server room slid open and she darted inside clutching her data pad to her chest.

  The server room was filled with ebon pillars that connected the floor to the ceiling. Intermittent cubes of light danced on the surfaces of each pillar. Catherine never felt so at home as when she was away from others and surrounded by technology. She closed her eyes and caressed her fingers down a server pillar, feeling its myriad textures. She stopped when her hand brushed upon an access port. She opened her eyes, attached a cable to the port, and then connected her data pad directly. She was immersed in her element. It didn’t take her long to find the interview data files.

  Catherine was working on a hack to get around the data file encryption matrix when a deep male voice called out to her, “hey what are you doing in here?!” She looked over her shoulder in shock. It was a military security guard and he was a mountain of a man. His right hand rested on his side arm still within its holster on his belt. “This area is off limits to civilians,” he declared. He slowly approached. Catherine was thinking of a way out of this predicament. The man recognized her and removed his hand from his weapon, “Hey aren’t you Cathy Fisher?”

  “Catherine.”

  “Listen… I know you’ve been through a lot but you can’t be in here. What are you doing?”

  Sympathy. She could use that. There was still a way to turn this situation around and avoid repercussions. She stood up and placed her right hand on his. She intentionally quivered her lower lip.

  “I’m so sorry. I can explain…. There’s a boy. He’s like a little brother to me,” Catherine managed to make her eyes tear up. “He’s suffering after the attack. I’m trying to help him but he won’t tell me what happened.”

  “That’s terrible.”

  “If I can see his debrief. Learn what he went through, maybe I can help him move on.”

  “But this is against the rules.”

  “Sometimes,” She couldn’t believe the next words that were about to come out of her mouth. “You have to break the rules to help the people you care about.”

  The large man’s eyes trembled as he considered lending his aid to her. He just needed a little push.

  “Please. I can’t do this alone,” She meekly held onto his large hand with both of hers. Her watery eyes trembling as she stared into his.

  The man gulped, “Alright. I can give you ten minutes.”

  “Thank you. Thank you so much.” She sat down and got back to work on her data pad, amazed that her ploy was so effective. She couldn’t resist testing her new powers a little further. “Could you keep an eye on the door?”

  “Uh.. Yes ma’am.” The burly man awkwardly jogged back to the entrance to keep look out.

  Catherine couldn’t help but quietly giggle to herself. Just a little. People want to follow, she thought. They’ll bend the knee to anyone with the will to lead. She didn’t need a commanding presence
or a silver tongue. Just a strong will. People would follow her because that’s what they’re wired to do. They instinctually relented to the strong, no matter how that strength presented itself.

  Catherine got back to task. After a minute or so she broke the encryption into the files. “Okay Jacob Takeda, what did you have to say,” she whispered. She viewed the file’s length. Whatever Jake told the interviewer it wasn’t long. There was no mention of the killer Frame or the Red girl. Catherine was in the clear but now new questions had arisen. What was this kid hiding? Why didn’t he spill the beans? She had gotten what she wanted and now her time was up.

  She heard the guard’s lumbering footsteps heading towards her. This was her cue to get back into character. As he grew closer, she stood from her chair, hugged him around the waist and buried her face into his muscular chest. “Thank you so much. I’ll never forget this,” the fake tears were getting easier for her to conjure up. “You’re my hero.”

  “Uh… No problem ma’am. Just doing my job.”

  Actually you just did the opposite of your job, Catherine slyly thought to herself. She feigned gratefulness as she backed out of the server room.

  Catherine had found her sword. The tool she would use to take the splendor that life owed her. She was done being a kindly doormat that others would trample upon. She vowed to kill everything soft within herself. No one would take advantage of her ever again. She would protect her pride even if it made the universe her enemy. It would be a lonely path. She was used to being alone but she would no longer be ignored.

  ***

  Jake walked the hallways of Trinity Outpost. Something was bothering him but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. They joy he experienced after seeing his parents had soured for some unknown reason, but why. He stopped in front of a large viewport. Was he destined to forever be unhappy? Was he cursed analyze the joy out of his every moment? But regardless, something was amiss. He still hadn’t updated. He couldn’t until he identified this unease he felt.

  He touched the bridge of nose out of habit then it hit him. He picked up this awkward mannerism from his dad. It was an unconscious gesture his father performed. A gesture that was ingrained in him. So much so that he passed it on to his son. The hologram of Travis Takeda didn’t engage in the ritual even once. But unconsciously touching the bridge of his nose was a part of who Travis Takeda was. Why would that detail be missing from the hologram? Jake looked to his new hand. It didn’t shake like his natural hand but he could feel his phantom limb trembling.

  Your soul. Your spirit, It is a link to your ancestors. It links you to God, That’s what Adeola believed in.

  Is that what a soul is? The fine details of a person, those little nuances that make them truly unique? “Are we more than just our memories?” His heart nearly broke as he thought of his mother, “Did I ever really meet her, what were her nuances?” He perceived motion around him. A crowd had formed around Jake, as he was lost in thought. They were looking out of the viewport. Jake turned around to see a vast battleship named “the Reprisal” floating by.

  The Reprisal was the jewel of the Terran fleet. It was a vast vessel close to the Arez Juggernaut in size. The refugees of Lhasa crowded the large viewport to gaze at the majestic construct. It was no accident that the enormous battleship was being paraded past the survivors who were having their wounds and spirits mended at Trinity outpost. The military's goal was to reassure the public of their strength. Losing an entire Colony in a surprise attack reflected poorly on them. They relaxed their guard and thousands died due to their negligence.

  There were other ships present but they were hard to see beyond the Reprisal’s enormity. The “Lance of Justice” lurked in the Reprisal’s shadow. It was an A class battleship. Based on the direction these vessels were sailing, it was easy to conclude that this was a retaliation fleet. A flagrant attack such as the Lhasan tragedy could not go unpunished. It was likely these ships were mobilized to bombard the Arez colonies near the edge of neutral territory. The United Terran Systems were on their way to declare war.

  Jake thought of his role in the impending carnage and he felt sick to his stomach. His mistake in his father’s workshop had lead to this. More souls would be lost to violence because of his actions. His mind reeled at the horror that was about to transpire. He felt a tap on his left shoulder. He looked back but no one was there

  “What’s up slick?” It was David Assad standing behind him on his right.

  “David, hey?”

  “Just spoke with my parents.”

  “Your mom?”

  “She didn’t make it out.”

  “I’m.”

  “Don’t”

  “Don’t what?”

  “Stop apologizing for crap you didn’t do. It’s annoying,” David said. He had a frank way of checking Jake. Jake spent so much time engrossed in his own thoughts. He needed a reality check every now and then.

  Jake was trying to think of something comforting to say.

  “It was kinda nice. Seeing them together again.” David watched the ships. “My mom not having to struggle anymore. She’s better off in Shangri-La.”

  Jake decided it was only fair to allow David this sense of peace. He didn’t want to burden David with his new revelations, with the idea of souls.

  David gazed at the ships, lost in thought, until he noticed Jake’s new hand. “Lemme see that.” Jake held up his robotic hand and displayed it to him. “They replaced it that fast? Wow.”

  “Yeah. It hurt like crazy.”

  “I’m jealous. You’re gonna get so much play with that thing.”

  “What?”

  “Girls stupid. They love mysterious broken guys.”

  “I’m broken and mysterious?”

  “You had to cut your arm off to escape a doomed space station. The story alone at the very least gets you a first date.”

  “So you admit you cut my arm off.”

  “Hand!”

  They laughed for a minute before Jake spoke up, “Are we friends now?"

  "Man, you're so weird."

  "Yeah. I kinda just figured that out this week."

  “And here I thought you were a fast learner,” David reached out for a handshake with his left hand. Jacob reached back with his right. "No. I wanna shake the robotic hand."

  "C’mon man."

  "Robotic hand or no deal."

  "Fine," Jake offered his new cybernetic hand. "Jerk."

  David shook his hand to seal the deal. "Gotta admit.... it's pretty Boss."

  Jake let go and held his new hand out towards the viewport. "Yeah, I guess it is kinda boss."

  "So what now? You gonna bring your parents back?"

  "No. War orphans are automatically enrolled into the military academy."

  "That's where I'm stuck going but you have an options. Why would you volunteer to go?"

  "I've been a poor excuse for a person."

  "What makes you say that?"

  "I've been cowardly, selfish. People were hurting all around me and I was too self absorbed to even notice. I don't want to go back to that."

  "It's not living."

  "Yeah, exactly. I feel like I’m moving forward." Jake clenched his robotic hand into a fist.

  “You know that there’s a war coming right?”

  “If I don’t push myself, I’m going to regress.”

  “…..”

  “Friends have each other’s backs right?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I got your back.”

  David laughed to himself, “I gotta admit Takeda. You got some bearings on you.”

  The two boys watched the fleet pass outside the viewport. The road ahead of them would be a difficult one. Rife with hardships and tragedy, but they would face those adversities together, as friends. Weeks later the Colonial fleet attacked the Arez settlements near the neutral zone and officially declared war against them. To this day the fighting rages on with no end in sight.

  Written by Thomas
K Davis

  Cover illustration by Maga Gon

  https://lagonz.deviantart.com/

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