by Almney King
“Your sister nearly got herself arrested again, and worse,” Mom said.
Fern sighed and came to sit beside me at the table. “We were scared to death, you know. I heard that if they take you, there’s no coming back. Did you know that they wouldn’t even tell us?” Fern shook her head. She was almost in tears. “Mom and I would just sit here without any idea of what happened to you. They can do that. And they have the right to do it too.”
I looked at her. Her eyes were wide with fright. I had no words for her, no promises that I would never again endanger my life. It would have been a lie, and I couldn’t lie to her. I pressed the healing pad back against my eye and stood from the table. “I’m going to bed,” I said.
Mother and Fern were quiet as I left. I felt guilty for worrying them, but not guilty enough to end my curiosity. All the things that Ellis told me made sense. What if the greatest lie of Helio Tellus was that there were no lies? What if the world was shifting, and I didn’t even know it? What if I was just some naive child, oblivious to everything around me?
I woke late in the afternoon with a sharp ache in my eye. Each throb of pain was a reminder of last night’s incident. The sergeant’s voice was a continuous echo in my head. “We know what’s said behind closed doors, Corrine. We know all your truths... save yourself the trouble of the lie... Corrine.”
As I got out of bed, I felt a mysterious presence fill the room. They were following me. Whoever they were, I knew they were there. Before last night, they didn’t exist. Before last night, I could eat and sleep in peace. Things were different now. Everywhere I went, their shadow lingered. They were everywhere; in the kitchen, under my sheets. They were even there when I looked in the mirror. I was them. My ignorance confirmed it.
I walked through the apartment in the dark. The television was on in the living room. Fern sat crisscross in front of the halo-screen, entranced by the bright flickering pixels.
“What are you watching?” I asked.
“The authorities, they’re stopping the investigation on yesterday’s attack,” she said.
“Oh,” I mumbled, “why’s that?”
“It was a one man suicide, cased closed.”
I didn’t like the way she spoke. She said it so simply, so sweetly that it sent a chill running through me. “I wish they’d stop taking about it. I really want to see the rotation,” Fern said.
There is was again, that terrifying tone of hers. How could she speak of death like that, like it was the wind blowing on a rainy day? How could she speak of it so calmly? “Did you know Neptune will fall out of orbit soon?” she asked. “They think it will crash into Uranus.”
That’s right. How could I forget? Anything that wasn’t the sky or related to it in some way was just another fact of life to Fern. She was amazed by the sky, utterly obsessed with it.
For years, the galaxy has been shifting. Planets and stars go in and out quite often. Some return. Others journey far out into space and vanish completely. We fear Earth will do the same. So far, we have been fortunate. The moon still shines. The sun still rises. At least, that is what we are told. Seventy years have passed since the Trinity Wars and the sky is still covered in gray. I have never seen the stars. I have never seen the sun. It is a wonder we survive.
“My friends hope the debris reaches Earth so they can collect the pieces,” Fern continued. “I told them it would be impossible. The energy field will keep it from landing in the city.”
“It is impossible,” I said.
“They want to sneak past Norris Tower.”
I crossed my arms. “As long as you don’t get any ideas.”
“I’m not stupid,” Fern said. “Besides, I just want to see Plymouth 2.”
“You’ve seen it plenty of times.”
“I know, but it gets closer every time, and you can see the entire planet glow. It’s almost not a planet at all, but this fireball of color. And the waves of light go in and out like the whole thing is breathing, like it’s alive.”
“If it gets any closer, it’ll run right into us.”
Fern shook her head. “They said that Plymouth 2 has a fixed orbital pattern...”
“So?”
“So they were able to determine the intervals that the planet rotates. They said on its eight hundredth orbit it will be closer to Venus. Sooner or later it will leave the solar system.”
“Says who?”
Fern shrugged. “Them,” she said, pointing to the halo-screen.
By them, she meant ARTIKA.
ARTIKA was the government division established after the Trinity Wars. When ARTIKA was born, democracy, capitalism, and global enterprise became obsolete. The status quo was no longer built on a system of currency. It was built on a system of world order.
ARTIKA controlled everything: technology, media, social behavior, national security. There was nothing it couldn’t create and nothing it couldn’t destroy. She was the mother system, the push and pull of the earth that nurtured all things living. She thrived in the center of Helix City as this massive pillar of light. That energy beaming above ARTIKA headquarters never died out. It was alive.
Through that newly discovered energy, ARTIKA revolutionized the human way of life. The energy, known as halos, was not of the earth. It was supernatural in origin. In 2070, ARTIKA was able to harvest the halos energy. With it, they did miraculous things.
ARTIKA used halos for agricultural growth. Anything we ate contained halos. It was used for everything. ARTIKA used it to filter water, build buildings, light residencies, and power metro stations. Later, however, they developed ways to use halos for more violent and unnatural means.
Eventually, halos became a medicinal drug. It could eradicate diseases and reduce aging. The ARTIKA science division used it for cellular reconstruction and genetic modification. Nowadays, no one experienced a natural birth. Under ARTIKA, couples went through a selective breeding process to decide the outcome of their offspring. Eye color, height, speech, skin color… every detail was sorted, matched, and analyzed before birth.
After the launch of selective breeding, technology revolutionized. ARTIKA built machines, robotic sentinels and other advanced weaponry. With halos, they created hovercrafts and laser shooters, id guns and nano-explosives. It seemed like we were fighting a war again, but all was quiet on the home front. The only hostilities within Helix City were the terrorist attacks organized by the Defiant.
I watched Fern from behind. The room felt cold all of a sudden, like the shadow of the mysterious they had entered. “I wonder if there are people on it,” I whispered.
“On what?” Fern asked,” Plymouth 2?” I nodded. “There’s no life on it. It’s just a giant mass of light, kind of like the sun.”
I stepped closer to the halo-screen. “And you believe them? Everything they have ever told us, you believe it?”
I could hardly see her face. All was dark but the bright flashes of the halo-screen around her. “Of course I do,” she said plainly. “Why wouldn’t I?” Her answer was so final, so sure. Had she not any thoughts herself? Had she not any curiosities herself?
“Turn it off,” I uttered.
She glanced back at me. “What for?”
I moved around the couch and reached for the remote. Fern was quick and snatched it before I could get to it. I grabbed ahold of her. “Give it to me!” I snapped.
“Corrine, let go! I had it first!” We wrestled to the floor. I didn’t know where the sudden violence had come from, but I was determined. I wanted to break the damn thing, throw it at the halo-screen, and shatter them both to pieces.
“What in God’s name is going on here?”
I rolled off of Fern. Mother yanked me by the shoulder. “Have you lost your mind?” she snapped.
I stumbled back into the couch and dropped the remote. “I didn’t mean to,” I panted. Fern stared up at me from where she was huddled on the floor. She looked startled. “I’m sorry.” My head was aching again. The room seemed a bit blurry too.
I needed to lay down.
“Corrine?” Mother whispered. I ignored her, stumbling out of the living room and back to bed.
CHAPTER TWO
VALOR
The following day, I barely left my room. Mother was worried that I was sick. She brought me a glass of water and scanned my id marker. According to the reading, I was in perfect health. Still, things were strange. My body felt twisted, like it was changing, like it was waking up from a one hundred yearlong sleep. I thought about the bombing often. I could hear it, the people screaming and the sirens. I could feel the heat of the fire too, and the smoke all around me.
It took a visit from Ellis for me to regain some sense. He came to the house a week after the incident on Marx Avenue. I stood at the front door, watching the snow fall. A figured appeared in the dark rouse of smog. At times, I imagined it being my father. I dreamed of him rising through those gray clouds on his way back to us. Ten years had passed since his disappearance. He had left without a word. Sometimes I would think of him, but he was nothing to me now. Nothing but a phantom of the mist.
I opened the door for Ellis before he could knock. He burst into the apartment with a smile bright as day. That was so like Ellis. Regardless of his scarred forehead and being covered in snow, he still found something worthy of a smile.
I helped dust the snow from his jacket, then led him into the living room. “Where’s your mom?” he asked.
I smiled. “She went out. Why? Are you avoiding her?”
“Of course I am. She’ll ring my neck for getting you into trouble.”
I shrugged. “It’s not like you forced me. I went because I wanted to.”
“You could have gotten seriously hurt in that attack.”
I sighed. “Don’t bring that up. It never happened,” I said.
Ellis ignored me. He caressed my chin, tilting my head to the side. There was a fierce look in his eyes. “I can’t believe that punk bastard hit you like that,” he grumbled.
I reached up and stroked the fading mark on his forehead. “Looks like we both got it this time.”
Ellis sighed and pulled me into his arms. “I’m sorry. I should have protected you.”
I smiled into his shoulder. “You can make it up to me,” I told him.
Ellis leaned back. He grinned. “Alright then. What can I do for you?”
I took a deep breath, looking at him seriously. “Let’s never go back there,” I said.
Ellis gave me a dubious look. His eyes widened and his mouth parted in shock. He was speechless, like I had asked him to commit murder or something. The room was quiet for a moment. When Ellis finally spoke, his voice was tense. “Have you ever been buried alive, Corrine?”
I shook my head. It was an odd question, but not as obvious as it seemed. Ellis never spoke directly. He liked to talk in rhymes and metaphors. Language was more than words to him. It was poetry.
“No, I’ve never been buried alive,” I said.
“Well I have. I’ve been buried so deep in the dark that I can’t even see myself. And I’m trapped in it. I can hear people down there. They’re sleeping. I’m the only one awake. And I’m screaming to get out because there are a thousand hands down there pulling at me, trying to bury me even farther in the dark.”
Being buried alive, I suppose I understood it now. After that night on Marx Avenue, the world had changed. Had I finally awoken? Was I like Ellis now, someone who had become aware of the dark?
“I can’t make that promise to you, Corrine,” Ellis said. “We were so close last time. We could have seen the other side.”
“What if there is nothing to see?”
“You don’t believe that, otherwise you wouldn’t have followed me. Something is going on. I’m sick of knowing nothing, Corrine. How can I live like this, tracked and followed everywhere I go? These damn id markers might as well be shackles and chains. That’s why my brother left. He couldn’t take it. Everywhere you go, there are rules and regulations and curfews. This city is a prison full of lies. Do you really want to die like this? Do you want to spend the rest of your life being seduced by a lie, or do you want to know the truth?”
He was doing it again, speaking like a Defiant. This was dangerous talk. The mysterious they were listening. I could feel it. Ellis knew it too. He was too inquisitive not to know. That’s why I was afraid. Ellis knew he was being reckless, but he feared the dark far more than he feared death.
I wanted to go with him to that new and unknown world. I wanted to know what freedom was. Mother and Fern wouldn’t understand. To them, this life of comfort was all they needed. But I wasn’t satisfied with comfort. Even if the light blinded me, and the air of freedom overwhelmed me, I had to feel it. I had to see it.
I looked at Ellis. “I want to know the truth.”
Ellis nodded. “Then we’ll find it... together.”
“Ellis, you’re here.”
We turned to see Fern entering the living room. “Hey. What’s going on, little sis?” Ellis greeted.
Fern smiled. “Nothing much. You just came in right? I could make you something hot to drink if you’d like.”
“Sure, I’ll have something quick. I need to get going soon.” Fern smiled again then went into the kitchen. “Your sister’s so adorable,” Ellis said.
“Don’t even think about it. You’re too old for her,” I warned, “and too much of a trouble maker.”
Ellis grinned. He leaned back and placed his feet on the coffee table. Sometimes he was so much like his brother it was laughable. “Don’t take it the wrong way. Fern’s like a little sister to me. Besides, I already have someone I like.”
I perked up at his confession. “Oh? You haven’t told me.”
“Should I?” he teased.
I rolled my eyes. “Of course you should. I’m your best friend,” I said, shoving his feet from the table.
Ellis shifted closer to me on the couch. “We should do a trade then. I’ll tell you the captor of my heart, and you tell me yours.”
I frowned. “That isn’t fair. I really don’t have anyone like that.”
Ellis placed a hand over his chest and sighed. “Ah, you wound me deeply, Corrine,” he joked.
“Here’s your tea,” Fern said, rounding the couch. She handed Ellis the cup. Their hands brushed briefly, and that small innocent touch made her blush like a rose. Fern was naturally kind-hearted, but she had a special sweetness reserved just for Ellis. I didn’t know when her infatuation had begun, but it had continued throughout the years, all the way up to her fifteenth birthday. And even though it was obvious, she never told me of her feelings for Ellis.
“You said you have to leave soon. Where are you going?” Fern asked.
Ellis glanced at me then sipped his tea. “Just around. Don’t worry too much about it.”
Fern pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes, giving Ellis a suspicious look. “The last time you said that, you and Corrine nearly got arrested.”
“Ah, those days are in the past. I promise, little sis,” Ellis lied. He gave her a smile then went back to drinking his tea.
“Corrine, if you guys go out again. Let me come,” Fern said.
Ellis choked on his tea. I, on the other hand, glared at her.
“Absolutely not,” I said.
“Why not? I hate being left behind while you guys... ”
Ellis waved his hand, setting the coffee mug on the table. “Listen, little sis. You can’t just jump into the ocean without knowing how to swim. What if you drown? What if a shark comes along? Well I’ll tell you, you’d die because you didn’t know the way of the water. Do you get what I’m saying?”
Fern looked displeased, but she nodded anyway. “Don’t be too upset about it,” Ellis said. “You’ll get there soon enough.”
“Now that I think about it,” Fern said. “How did you get near the Z-Zone in the first place?”
“Everything has a weak spot,” Ellis told her. “Come here. Let me show you.”
Fern moved a
round me and sat next to Ellis on the couch. He placed his hands on her shoulders and moved her so her back was facing him. “Our id markers are imbedded in our nervous system,” Ellis explained. He brushed her hair aside to get a look at the tracker.
Fern flinched at his touch. I was embarrassed to admit it, but I was a bit jealous that a single touch from Ellis could make her react like that. I wanted to know what it was like to adore someone that much, to look and see only them.
Ellis continued. “So what you do is, you pinch the area around the marker until it feels numb.” He gripped the skin on her neck and held it. “That, or you can press ice against it. When the tracker stops glowing, that means the signal has been lost. It takes a while for it to reload again.”
After several minutes, the light of Fern’s tracker died out. “There you go. You’re invisible now,” Ellis said.
Fern turned around, bouncing in excitement. “I can’t believe it! That’s amazing. Did you figure it out on your own?” Her eyes sparkled in admiration, that brilliant glow so fragile and innocent it nearly broke my heart. I wanted her to smile always. I wanted her happy. That’s why I would protect her ignorance. I would venture into the dark myself, so she would never know what it was like to be buried alive. I would wake her when the time was right, when the darkness fled and the sun shined once again.
“Actually, my brother figured it out just before he left. It’s sort of a family secret, so don’t tell anyone,” Ellis said.
“I won’t. I swear,” Fern promised.
Ellis stroked her cheek then gave her a pat on the shoulder. “I should get going now, especially before your mom comes back. Thanks for the tea,” he said standing.
“You’re welcome,” Fern blushed. She held her face where Ellis had touched her.
I walked Ellis to the door. He hugged me all of a sudden and whispered in my ear. “Tomorrow night. Let’s go find the truth.”
“Okay,” I said.
Ellis turned and opened the door. A chilly draft escaped into the apartment. “Get ready,” he told me. “Things will never be the same.”