It was always a surprise to see her nowadays.
She just got a hold of her own life. She was doing her best to be on her own, and she was doing really well.
“I didn’t know you were here.” Aurora said to her, surprised that she hugged him out of nowhere. It was like she just appeared.
“I just wanted to come by.” She said and let go.
Aurora was a little worried. Celeste might’ve smiled at him, but he wanted to make sure everything was okay. He was about to ask her what’s wrong but she spoke instead.
“Are you going home? You shouldn’t stay up late-”
“First of all, stop treating me like I’m old.” Aurora spoke over her because she started doing that recently, saying that he should sleep more, and watch where he walked, and make sure he didn’t hurt himself or forget certain things. “And I have to stay to make sure sector one gets their direction.” He sighed. “You know how Sirus can be...”
She wanted to know about it but Aurora never said anything beyond that.
"Apparently my new sector one leader is already getting in trouble, and for once it's not Sirus' fault.” He looked at Celeste like he knew the truth about earlier.
“Please be nice to Dri, okay. He likes his job, and he wants to impress you.” Celeste didn’t want Dri to get the worst treatment.
Aurora only smiled.
“You like him?”
She blushed and looked away.
“What happened to Zinnia?” He asked.
Celeste couldn’t explain that she liked two people. It was like they both had half her heart. She looked away further and mashed her lips. She was never really shy, but she was right now. Her dad was asking her questions about her potential love interests and she didn’t know how to answer.
“Everyone is different, Celeste.”
“But it would be great to be with someone for three decades.” She wanted the kind of love Aurora had. Her parents have been together for so long, and she thought it was the most romantic thing.
“Sirus is annoying.” Aurora sighed. “He’s loud and obnoxious, and...” He was about to ramble on but he began to smile, mostly to himself.
Celeste needed to know things.
Aurora may point out most of Sirus’ flaws whenever he talked to anyone, but he glowed underneath the annoyance and anger.
“Will you ever tell me?” She asked.
“One day.” Aurora said. “Just not today.” He added when it looked like she would ask if he had time now. “Come on, I’ll walk with you.” Aurora said when she took his arm.
Celeste wondered a lot about Sirus and Aurora. Any child would want to know about their parents’ lives. Sirus could show her, but the question was would he. Aurora didn’t talk much about the past unless Celeste was involved. He told her about when she was a child, all the things she did, but that was as far as he would go.
What happened before?
She could tell Aurora went through a lot.
"When are you going to retire?" Celeste asked him. "I know you already maxed out on your contributions." She would like her parents to take it easy now. There was no point to over working themselves.
The transition was about to happen, but it seems like Aurora was still going to stay in his position.
"The plan was to have all the department heads appointed for life." Aurora said.
Some of them had already retired. Others were about to.
Aurora knew the truth about his position, Celeste didn't. "Chances are I won't get any time off." He said to make it easier for her.
"Well that's not fair." she frowned. "You can't do this for the rest of your life. You need a break."
"You don't have to tell me." Aurora scoffed. "I've been tired ever since I started this job. It's been..." he thought to himself. "wow, its been years." he hadn't realized how long he was in this position.
Celeste could see the scars on Aurora's neck. They were dark and extremely visible, like whoever did that to him didn't care about leaving a mark.
Did Aurora still have his implant?
They talked for a while longer, but Celeste didn't want to be a distraction. She still needed answers and she only knew one person that might tell her.
Chapter Seven
"Hariette stresses me the fuck out." Celeste laid back in bed. "I've called her five days in a row, and she doesn't want to talk to me." she complained miserably. "Don't fucking give me a project and then not say shit about it. What is she expecting from me?" she tossed her tablet to the side of her bed.
"I mean, she did just give it to you without saying anything else. What did you think you were going to get out of her?" Zinnia asked her.
"I don't know, but not this." she said angrily.
Zinnia lifted herself up above Celeste. "You know, I feel like this whole intelligence thing is a curse." she said. "You're the hottest engineer I know, but the anxiety isn't cute." she said truthfully.
Celeste stared up at her blankly. "I am hot," that was the only part she listened to.
"You are hot." Zinnia agreed with her and smiled as she lifted Celeste's shirt up. "Stop working yourself up." She looked in Celeste's eyes. "That's how you'll get stressed."
"Well, it's easier said than done." Celeste sighed as she looked up towards the ceiling. "I don't like when secrets are kept from me."
"You think people won't keep secrets?" Zinnia was curious. She rested her head on Celeste's chest, her hand still in Celeste's shirt.
"It's not that, it's..." Celeste took a breath. "If you knew something was bad, would you still do it?" She asked.
"What's the outcome?"
Celeste looked away.
The implant is supposed to be a good thing. It's supposed to help. It's supposed to do good. The only reason the project was done was in hopes to implement it for society.
"If you don't want to do it, you don't have to." Zinnia moved up again. "No one is threatening to kill you."
"Yeah, but I'd feel bad disappointing Hariette." Celeste sighed to herself. She physically felt like she had to finish it.
"You shouldn't be doing things for other people." Zinnia warned her. "That's how you get hurt."
"You're so guarded-"
"You can't trust anyone." Zinnia whispered to her and smiled. "I mean, if we were outlaws or spies, that would apply. It's not like Hariette is doing this to hurt you. But if she's keeping secrets, it's her secrets." Zinnia explained. "Not everyone will tell you the truth."
"Do you tell me the truth?" Celeste asked.
Zinnia smiled down at her. "When I said we're keeping this casual, I meant it, Celeste." She continued to smile.
"It's been casual for two years."
"And I like it like that." Zinnia could feel Celeste's unrest.
It wasn't a no strings attached kind of relationship. But Zinnia didn't want to commit too much, not because she didn't like Celeste. Relationships were serious to her, and she knew what Celeste would do for her. It was a lot, and sometimes could be overwhelming.
Zinnia wasn't there yet.
She couldn't stand when Celeste had such a sad expression on her face. And it's not her fault. Her girlfriend was telling her to keep their relationship casual, how was she supposed to look. Zinnia moved her red hair out of her face and smiled. "I have a while before I have to go to work." she hinted that they could do something.
Celeste would always agree.
In fact, she moved Zinnia down on the bed at the slightest hint that they could spend the morning together. Today Celeste was off, and she was going to try and take that chance to harass Hariette once she got a hold of her, but she had time.
Celeste pulled down Zinnia's underwear slowly as she kissed her neck. Her fingers traced her skin slowly, making her tense slightly as she moved them. She took her time to let her fingers move inside Zinnia, but she didn't keep them there.
She was a tease.
Zinnia knew what she was getting herself into. There was a chill going up her spine when
she felt Celeste kiss her chest, right between her breasts. Celeste's fingers were moving slowly, feeling around her first. Her lips trailed down further, pressing on her stomach. She felt Zinnia quiver beneath her as she got closer and closer to where her fingers were.
Zinnia definitely loved seeing Celeste between her legs. There was nothing that could turn her on more.
Celeste's fingers spread Zinnia's skin even more, and she was already dripping. Celeste could only wonder what she was thinking about all morning. Celeste put her mouth on her gently, her tongue lapping over her skin.
Her hands spread Zinnia's legs apart more. She pressed her tongue down flat to taste all of her before closing her lips. She could hear Zinnia's quiet moans and whimpers.
Celeste knew what she liked, what made her cum quick.
She thought about taking all morning, that it should be fun to make her cum more than once.
"Celeste..." Zinnia breathed out hard.
She could feel Celeste's tongue licking inside her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to control herself, but her heart raced while Celeste kissed her skin.
Zinnia lifted her hands in Celeste's hair, pushing it out of her face so she could see her maroon eyes. Celeste looked up towards her, putting her fingers in her mouth before she let them inside Zinnia slowly.
She always put her heart into everything.
Zinnia moaned and let her head rest on the pillow again, her fingers tugging on Celeste's silver hair.
This was how they sometimes spent their mornings.
Their afternoons.
Their evenings.
Zinnia was moving her hips, trying to ride the heat. "Yes..." She breathed out heavily as she got close. "Yes, yes, yes!" She felt Celeste's fingers inside her, too, twisting and curling, her thumb rubbing over her clit as she kissed there, too.
Celeste could feel her thighs press together. Her other hand spread her. Zinnia's thighs were quivering. Celeste was rubbing inside her faster, keeping her at the edge longer.
Celeste wanted to watch her. She lifted herself up over Zinnia's twitching body, her fingers still in her, Zinnia's thighs begging to press together but couldn't. Celeste watched as Zinnia moaned loudly, getting closer to her climax. Celeste's fingers were curling inside her, being squeezed by Zinnia's warmth.
Her eyes shut tight when she reached her climax. Celeste smiled as she kept her fingers deep inside Zinnia to feel her shake. It was always rewarding getting to watch Zinnia cum, especially when she makes a sweet face like that. Celeste had some comments to make, but she waited, mostly because it looked like Zinnia was in a daze.
Zinnia's dark eyes were hazy as she looked up at Celeste. She definitely wasn't done yet. With the way Celeste looks at her, it was hard to resist.
"Take your clothes off." Zinnia said, breathless as she tugged on Celeste's shirt.
At this rate, she's going to be late for work.
Celeste didn't mind.
She was off today and had a few errands to take care of. Well, since Hariette wasn't responding to her, she wanted to talk to someone else instead, someone who was just as involved as Hariette was.
She remembered that woman she saw in the video but she hadn't met her. But she knows her son, that was for sure.
A few things were starting to come together. Celeste was going to get answers today.
Celeste walked into the main hospital of the city.
She knew someone that worked here, but she wasn't here for them. She saw the young man with white hair and glasses. He wore a white coat and a badge on his sweater. She recognized him, after all they went to school together for a few years.
Now and again they would see each other.
Celeste didn't feel bad about going over him with her plan to distract him. She did that with a lot of people.
"Hey, Clover." Celeste smiled as she leaned against one of the tables. She gave a flirtatious glance to the surgeon that was trying to review a few images.
He stopped everything, holding his device close to his chest and blushing as he looked up at her. He had white hair that curled around his face, and his eyes were pale. He was a shy man, though he was really good at his job.
He looked up at Celeste who was slightly taller than he was. There was a redness to his cheeks as he looked at her. His heart raced, too. It's been a while since he's since her, yet an old crush had flared up inside him.
He already knew she was taken, but he couldn't help but dream.
"W-what can I do for you, Celeste?" He looked away to the images again but he had his attention on her.
"How are you a trauma surgeon, but you can't even look me in the eye." she got closer to him, hoping he would look up.
There was something about pressing up against him that made him sputter, she didn't forget. He was terrified yet so turned on at the same time.
It seemed that Celeste would use her charm on anyone.
"I'm just..." Clover didn't know what to say.
"Shy?" Celeste stopped teasing him. She took a step back to give him some space. "Come on, you really need to get out of that box of yours." she urged, and she's been doing that for years. "You have no idea how many people would be all over you if you just let yourself get out there."
"I like the hospital." he said.
"Find yourself a cute physicians' assistant." she was interested in finding someone for him, someone that would be just as shy, but talkative enough to get him to talk too.
"Lets talk about something else, Celeste." he wanted to change the subject.
"Well, I'm actually here for your mom. Do you know where she is?" she asked him, curious.
"She might be in her office. Her schedule was clear today."
"Thanks." Celeste said to him, and before turning away, she said, "we're going to work on finding you someone." she was sure of it.
He wanted to tell her to let it go but he didn't get the chance. She had already walked away.
There was a reason she needed to see Clover's mother.
Celeste hasn't talked to the Head of Health and Medicine before. She's heard of the woman. And she saw images of her. She knew that Clover was her son, but Celeste didn't realize how important the department head was. She was part of the project that Hariette had.
She wasn't very tall. She didn't give off the same energy as the other people she was surrounded with. Celeste could tell she was different. The woman had her white hair tied up high on her head. She didn't have this worn out expression on her face. Celeste had seen this in many other people.
"Doctor." Celeste had walked in the room without so much of a knock on her door.
The woman looked up from her work. She was confused, she wasn't supposed to have appointments today. "Can I...help you?" She wasn't sure why someone was here today.
"I'm Celeste." She introduced herself.
Everything stopped immediately.
Her eyes widened as she stared at the young woman standing in the middle of her room. For a second she thought her eyes deceived her. Then she cursed that she couldn't recognize Celeste the second she came in. She ran over to the door and closed it because this shouldn't be an open conversation.
Celeste was surprised to see her move so fast like she was hiding something. Was she going to get her answers today? Clearly the department head knew that this was going to be a private conversation. "Did Hariette warn you?"
"N-no." The woman said, a little unnerved. "I just have a feeling there's only one reason you want to speak with me."
The project was a secret. No one else should know. The blood had drained from the woman's face as she faced Celeste.
"What do you know?" She figured Celeste knew enough.
"I have the entire blue print, Harlow. I just want to know what happened."
She didn't think one of them would give Celeste access to the back bone of the experiment. Having the blueprints was like having the implant itself.
"Did Aurora do this?"
"He doesn't know." Ce
leste admitted.
There was this pained expression on her face. Harlow was almost sad. It was like she was harboring some terrible secret. It made sense for Aurora to not know. She wasn't surprised to hear this, but after everything that's happened, she had hoped Hariette hadn't thought about the project again.
Harlow picked up a small glove and put it over her right hand. She wasn't exactly thrilled but she couldn't keep it to herself. Celeste already had the blue print, she might as well give her everything she had.
"I only have all the medical information." Harlow turned on her glove and snapped her fingers.
Just like Hariette, she had information buried deep about the project. There were a bunch of images, data about their bodies, and their health.
"The project was a failure, Celeste." Harlow said as she showed it to her. "Hariette sustained physical damage, and Aurora had major psychological damage." She put their health statuses up.
Aurora had red numbers for his mental health. That's what Celeste saw first. The statistics were borderline. Someone with those numbers were either in therapy or taking medications to help.
"Is that after?" Celeste pointed to it.
"No, that was Aurora's baseline." Harlow said to her.
Celeste was surprised. It's not like it meant Aurora was unstable, but he did have anxiety. "I would've never put the implant in him if I saw this." She said. Based on how she knew the implant was supposed to run and the baseline numbers that were being used, she knew that anyone with a mental disorder wouldn't be able to handle it.
"Exactly." Harlow agreed. "I wasn't lucky enough to find out until Aurora told me something was wrong." She explained. "He said he felt his memories. When I explained how neurons worked, he said he couldn't figure out what was real and what wasn't. That's not what the program is supposed to do."
Celeste couldn't imagine what Aurora went through. To actually feel everything.
"The implant can't take previous memories. When Aurora told me what was happening, I figured it messed with his nightmares." Harlow looked at Celeste. "There were a number of Flyers and Coordinators who had PTSD, Aurora being one of them." She explained.
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