The Seer’s Sister: Prequel to The Magic Eaters Trilogy

by Carol Beth Anderson

  At that thought, a wave of knowing hit Rona. We’re supposed to volunteer at the rec center together—Ellin, Trett, and me.

  It was the first prophecy of any sort Rona had experienced since Wednesday, and relief washed over her. She had no idea what a rec center had to do with the end of the world, but it was all she had to go on. A strong nudge certainly beat utter silence.

  Rona sat up and threw some clothes on, then took her flex to the living room, where she settled on the couch. She looked up the rec center and started reading their volunteer requirements.

  Trett arrived at Ellin’s house a little after nine in the morning. Rona let him in and gave him a one-word greeting, then turned and walked away.

  Trett shrugged. That’s Rona. He walked down the hall and knocked on Ellin’s door.

  “What?” Ellin sounded groggy and annoyed.

  “Can I come in?”

  “Um . . . okay.”

  He entered and sat on the edge of her bed. Ellin was sitting up, her eyes squeezed into narrow, blinking slits. She was still in her pajamas. “You’re cute when you’re sleepy,” he said.

  She scowled. That made Trett smile bigger. He moved closer to kiss her, and she held her hand up. “My breath stinks.”

  “I don’t care.” He nudged her hand out of the way and kissed her.

  Ellin yawned and rubbed her eyes. “I didn’t know you were coming over.”

  “I emmed you.”

  She picked up her flex and firmed it, then read the em he’d sent her less than two minutes earlier:

  I’m at your house.

  She laughed. “You didn’t give me much notice.”

  He shot her a rueful smile. “I was afraid if I gave you any notice, you’d use that time to go to the library.” He didn’t know what time she’d left the school the last two nights, but he suspected it was late. The librarians there trusted her. In the past, they’d let her stay for hours past closing.

  Ellin bit her bottom lip and looked down at her flex again. Her messages from Trett were still open, including the two she’d never answered the night before.

  How does she do it? It had been less than three days since she’d wept in his arms, tortured by her sister’s vision. The next morning, she’d thrown herself back into her studies. It was like the vision had never happened—or more accurately, like she was determined to forget it. Trett wanted to help her walk through this crisis, if she’d just let him.

  Part of him wanted to say all that to her, but she needed him to support her, not accuse her of being in denial. Even if it was true. He settled for, “I’ve been concerned about you.”

  Ellin shook her head helplessly. “I’m sorry I didn’t get back to you yesterday. I honestly meant to. I was in the middle of something both times you emmed me, and then . . . I lost track of time, I guess. I really am sorry.”

  I’m used to it. Trett banished the thought and gave her an understanding smile. “How are you, really? Any more information from Rona?”

  “Nothing from her, but let me show you some of what I was researching last night. It wasn’t all for school.”

  His eyebrows rose.

  Ellin navigated on her flex, then handed it to him. “Read that while I’m getting dressed and brushing my teeth.” She smiled, kissed his cheek, and walked into her bathroom.

  Trett began scanning the article, which was over a century old. It was all about the last known seer, who’d died shortly before the article was written.

  “I marked the most important part,” Ellin called through the bathroom door. “Second or third page.”

  Trett found a paragraph Ellin had marked with a green, hand-drawn arrow. He read it to himself.

  As was the case with seers of the past, Tyr’s mind disintegrated at the end of his storied life. This is how his wife described it: “One day, his visions became unreliable. In fact, I don’t recall any of them coming true after the first one failed. At first, he seemed fine, other than the continued false prophecies. Eventually, however, he lost all sense of who he was.”

  Trett continued scanning the article until Ellin returned.

  She was wearing sleek, red pants that hugged her curves and a cream-colored shirt that, while oversized, was somehow insanely flattering. She sat next to him on the bed and gestured to the article. “What do you think?”

  He gave her a sly grin. “I think you’re beautiful. And you just brushed your teeth.” He set the flex down, leaned over, and kissed her.

  Ellin returned the kiss but broke it off after a few seconds. “The article, Trett,” she said with a small laugh. “Come on, focus. What did you think of it?”

  He picked up the flex and returned to the passage Ellin had marked. “It’s interesting. I’ve always heard about seers losing their minds, but I never really thought about how it happens.”

  “Me either,” Ellin said, “until last night. Apparently, it’s like a switch flips. One day, every vision comes true; the next, none of them do. I read other articles, and the pattern was always the same.”

  “I would have assumed it was gradual.”

  “Well, it does take years for a seer’s mind to completely degenerate. Inaccurate prophecies are just the first symptom of a bigger problem.”

  Trett nodded. “So I guess if any of your sister’s other visions prove false, we’ll know that’s what we’re dealing with.”

  “Yeah,” Ellin said. “I just wish—”

  She was interrupted by the bedroom door opening.

  “How about knocking?” Ellin snapped at Rona.

  Rona ignored the jibe. “Do you two have any plans this morning?”

  “We’re going to, uh, do something,” Ellin turned her head away from her sister to look at Trett with a desperate expression that clearly said, I don’t want to spend the day with my big sister.

  Trett was still focused on the article and the prophecy, and his mind refused to generate any fun activity ideas. “Yeah,” he said, “we’re . . . hanging out today.” He gave Ellin an apologetic shrug.

  “Well, I have a plan,” Rona said, “and I want you both to join me. You know that senior rec center where you volunteer? I think we should all go help there today. I feel like it’s something we should do.” She gave Ellin a significant look.

  Ellin had never told Rona that Trett knew the truth, and they ended up having pointlessly vague conversations when he was around.

  Suddenly wide awake and cheerful, Ellin said, “Let’s do it. I haven’t been there in a few weeks. You’ll need to register as a volunteer, Rona.”

  “Already done.” Rona took a step into the room. “I’m glad you can both come. I think it’ll be a very important way to spend our time.” The look she gave her sister was so intense, Trett almost burst out laughing.

  The Singing Tree Senior Recreation Center was a gorgeous building made of white granite. The stone, of course, was grown in a vat. Ellin wasn’t quite sure how it worked, but no one had quarried real stone in at least a century.

  Ellin had been to the rec center plenty of times, but she was still impressed every time she walked in. It was even nicer inside than out. Behind the front desk was a large room where elderly people played games, lounged around wallscreens, and socialized over drinks and snacks. Some people sat in quiet corners, relaxing or reading. Transparent walls at the back and one side of the room revealed exercise equipment, a pool, and a springball court. To the right was the entrance to a state-of-the-art medical clinic. The entire place was busy without being crowded.

  Throughout the nation of Vallinger, nearly every city had at least one such facility. The city of Stollton was large enough to have over a dozen. They were all paid for through taxes, and any qualifying resident had unlimited, free access.

  Rona, who’d walked straight to the front desk, turned around. “I signed us in. Ellin, they said they already have enough volunteers in the clinic today. We’ll all just spend time with the seniors. Talk to them, play games, whatever.”

  They walke
d in, and Ellin soon found herself adopted by a group of enthusiastic women playing a complicated card game she’d never heard of. It didn’t take long to realize they’d probably only invited her to play because she made them all look like experts.

  The women’s friendliness made the game fun, despite Ellin’s dismal scores. They thanked her for volunteering, commented on her quick grasp of the game’s rules, and complimented her blue eyes, which she’d colorized the year before.

  After playing for an hour and a half, Ellin took her leave and wandered through the main room. She stepped into the exercise area. Trett’s back was to her. He was doing bicep curls alongside a surprisingly spry man whose wrinkled skin marked him as at least a century old.

  A smile teased the corners of Ellin’s mouth as she watched Trett. He was thin, so most people didn’t realize how toned he was under the loose shirts he favored. He’d taken off his long-sleeved shirt, and his undershirt was taut across the muscles on his back as he lifted the weight bar toward his chest.

  The other man finished his set and stood. As he stretched his arms, he saw Ellin. He jabbed Trett in the shoulder. “One of us has an admirer, and I don’t think it’s me.”

  Trett did one more curl, then stood and turned. He grinned at Ellin. “Ready to go?”

  She returned the smile. “Only if you are. I could watch this all day.”

  Trett laughed and said goodbye to his workout partner. Then he pulled on his loose, green shirt and joined Ellin. The other man sat and started another set.

  “Let’s see what Rona’s up to,” Ellin said.

  They meandered through the main room until they discovered Rona sitting on a long couch with several seniors, watching a classic comedy episode on the wallscreen. She was actually laughing, not something she often did. Considering how uptight she’d been that week, Ellin was glad to see her finding some release.

  Ellin and Trett stood behind the couch and watched the rest of the episode. When it was over, Ellin tapped Rona. “Ready to go?”

  Rona got up. Once she was next to Ellin, she said, “This was a good activity for us. Surprisingly . . . uh . . . calm.”

  Ellin raised her eyebrows. If nothing happened to justify her premonition to come here, does that mean it was a false prophecy?

  They walked back to the front desk, and Rona signed them out. Just as they turned to exit, a man and woman approached the entrance door carrying a large box. Ellin rushed to hold the door open for them.

  “Thanks,” the man said. “Wouldn’t want to drop this.” They set the package down, blocking Rona and Trett’s route to the door.

  The woman pinched the corner of the black box, and the sides and top melted into a fabric-like substance, which fell to the ground and pooled all around the object. All the shipping and delivery companies used versaboxes these days. The woman slid the flexible material out from under the cargo and folded it. Later someone would form it into another shape for the next delivery.

  The item they’d delivered was a squat cylinder made of some material that looked like textured silver. Trett stepped closer. The object came up to his waist. “Is that a Threed?”

  “Sure is,” the man said.

  “Those are expensive, aren’t they?” Ellin asked. A Three-Dimensional Projector, or Threed, created realistic holographic images. With one Threed plus a good speaker system, the rec center could show well-known plays and concerts, and it would take a sharp eye to realize the actors and musicians weren’t in the room.

  “Very expensive,” the man replied. “Good thing this place has a benefactor.” He picked up a small card from the top of the Threed and handed it to Ellin.

  “Enjoy,” the card said in messy handwriting. The signature was illegible, but a name was printed on the bottom of the card: ALVUN MERAK. He was the founder, president, and majority shareholder of the largest technology company in the world. Among other things, they made flexscreens. When Rona had scraped up enough cash to buy the flex wrapped around Ellin’s forearm, she’d made Merak even richer.

  “The best benefactor any place could hope for,” Ellin said. She gave the card to Trett, who read it and smiled before handing it to Rona.

  Rona read it. Her eyes grew wide and rolled back into her head, and she dropped to the floor, shaking, her mouth gaping open in a silent scream.

  6

  SATURDAY, QUARI 6, 6293

  -63 DAYS

  The problem with visions was that they occasionally looked like seizures.

  The problem with seizures was that, thanks to modern medical technology, they rarely happened.

  So when Rona had an intense vision in public, it attracted way too much attention.

  Thankfully, Ellin had handled such situations for her sister for years. “Everything is fine,” she said, raising her voice over the concerned exclamations of the delivery workers, the front desk staff, and at least ten seniors who’d rushed in from the main room. “Please step away; this will pass quickly.”

  A man at the front desk held a flexscreen and was speaking urgently to someone at the in-house clinic. Ellin pushed her way to the desk, pulling her own flex off her arm. “This isn’t an emergency,” she said. She pulled up the virtual medical card she kept on her flex and shoved the device in front of the still-panicked man.

  The man tried to push her flex away.

  “Please read it!” Ellin said.

  At last, he stopped talking long enough to read the screen. “Oh,” he said, meeting Ellin’s eyes. “Pardon me.”

  She took her flex back and watched him dismiss the clinic worker.

  “Thank you,” Ellin said. “I’ll take her to her doctor as soon as she’s calm.”

  The medical card was an excellent digital forgery, and it always worked. It disclosed a mental illness which caused Rona to experience seizures that didn’t physically harm her. While mental healthcare in Vallinger was excellent, everyone knew some illnesses of the mind could only be treated, not cured.

  Ellin squeezed back through the crowd and knelt next to Rona, who was now scowling at everyone around her.

  “I’m fine!” Rona said. “Let me get up.”

  A few people resisted until Ellin showed them her flexscreen and assured them she’d take Rona for immediate help. The people clustered around Rona stepped back, allowing Ellin to help her sister to her feet. Moments later, they were on the sidewalk outside, along with Trett.

  Rona led the way, walking briskly. She turned her head toward Trett. “Has Ellin told you about my psychological condition?”

  “Actually,” Ellin said, “I told him about your true condition three years ago. He knows about your gift.” She hadn’t planned to make such a disclosure, but they had bigger things to deal with than Rona’s potential anger.

  Rona stopped walking and grabbed Ellin’s arm, hard enough to make her flinch. “You what?”

  Ellin lifted her chin. “I told him. Because I trust him. Now I’m telling you, because we don’t have time to keep playing games where you give me obvious clues about the visions you’re having. You can tell us what we need to know, and Trett will help us do whatever needs to be done.”

  She knew she was overstepping by volunteering Trett, but he smiled and said, “Absolutely. I’m in.”

  They all started walking again.

  “So, you know the truth,” Rona said.

  “Yeah,” Trett said. “It’s pretty great, really. A seer.”

  “Shh—don’t say it in public. You also know what happened this week?”

  “Yes.”

  “What did you see in the rec center?” Ellin asked.

  “I’m not talking about it here. Let’s get home.”

  When Rona entered the house, she went straight to the sofa, pulling her flexscreen out of her pocket and firming it. Ellin shook her head. Rona’s flex was always buggy since she carried it around wadded up like a handkerchief.

  After closing the door, Ellin and Trett joined Rona in the living room. Ellin sat next to her on the cou
ch, and Trett situated himself in a chair.

  “What did you see?” Ellin asked again.

  Rona didn’t seem to hear the question. She was frantically typing and scrolling on her flex.

  After asking once more with the same result, Ellin leaned over to see what Rona was looking up. Several news stories were open on the flex. Every one of them was about Alvun Merak.

  “Was Merak in your vision?” Ellin asked.

  Rona looked up, her lips smashed into a pale line. “No, he wasn’t in my vision.”

  Trett kept his tone light and friendly. “Rona, if you tell us what you saw, we can use our own flexes to help you search for whatever you need.”

  “Fine.” Rona tossed her flex next to her on the couch. “When I saw Alvun Merak’s name on that card, I had a vision where every person in the rec center was dead.” She sounded as dispassionate as usual.

  “Just like what you saw the other day?” Trett asked.

  “Yes.”

  “How do you know it has something to do with Merak?” Ellin asked.

  Rona stood, crossing to the center of the room and facing them both with her hands on her hips. “I know because I know. I can still feel it. Alvun Merak will do something that leads to everyone dying.”

  “You said before it’s not everyone,” Ellin said.

  Rona barked a laugh. “I’ve seen three living people in all these visions. The ratio isn’t good.”

  Ellin didn’t know how to respond to that. She shifted her attention to Trett, giving him a desperate look.

  “Rona, why don’t you have a seat again?” Trett suggested.

  Rona’s jaw tightened, but she followed his advice.

  “Let’s think this through,” Trett said, his low voice soothing. “Hang on.” He took his own flexscreen out of his pants pocket. Unlike Rona, he kept it folded neatly in a protective case. After he’d firmed it, he navigated through its menus, and the wallscreen across the room turned on. Several seconds later, a news article about Alvun Merak was on the wallscreen. The title was “Merak Wants Your Money—But He Doesn’t Want to Keep It.”