Thank you, sister, she thought, chuckling. She then grabbed her towel from the floor and stepped out of their cell onto the hall which at that hour was a mess of boys and girls hurrying to get ready for their classes. There was going to be a line at the communal bathroom but it was worth it if only to get a few more minutes of sleep.
Moments later she was walking to the mess hall. It felt good to wear such a neatly cleaned uniform for once and the shower had energized her for the day. The cafeteria was on a side of the Control Administration building facing sunrise. At that hour during breakfast, the light blue glow of the barrier would flood it as the hundreds of would-be Controllers chatted away with their friends in the dozens of long tables that lined the hall. As she looked around for her group, she noticed Mike waving for her from a table next to the window.
“Good morning, Aurora,” the older girl greeted her as she approached them.
“Hey Maya,” she returned the greeting. Maya was almost seventeen but still took the same classes as her and Alexia. The older girl swore she had fallen behind due to this or that circumstance but everyone knew she was not the brightest bulb in the pack.
“You sleep too much. How do you ever get any homework done?” Mike asked as he poured syrup on his pancakes.
“I dunno,” Aurora replied with a shrug. “My sister helps. You know Alexia, she likes to help.”
Maya shook her head in disapproval. “How is it going to feel when your twin becomes a Controller and you’re still scratching your head over a basic neural mapping word problem?” she asked seriously.
“I’ll worry about it later, okay?” Aurora replied exasperated. “Where’s the brat?” she asked, looking down the table.
“Sophia is taking advanced neuropsychology classes today. I’m hoping she’s done before bedtime so she can help me with my stuff,” Maya replied then grabbed her glass of orange juice and took a sip.
“Hey sis, good morning!” Alexia said cheerfully as she approached the group carrying a plastic tray with two sets of breakfast plates. “Eww are you wearing one of my uniforms?”
“Why not? It’s clean and it fits just fine.”
“That’s rude, you could have just asked,” Alexia said then giggled as she sat next to her. “Look I got you some cereal, the kind you like.”
“Thanks, sis,” Aurora said, smiling and grabbed the bowl off the tray.
“So, before you showed up we were talking about which citadel we would like to control once we graduate,” Alexia said, pushing back those annoying pastel blue glasses with the cutesy pink line running down their frame. “I want to go to Maui Citadel, you know for the fauna research and all.”
“Yeah I’m sure the preserved beaches and the arboretum reserve had nothing to do with it,” Aurora said, rolling her eyes then taking in a spoonful of cereal.
“They might have. You know but just a little bit,” Alexia said making a gesture with her thumb and index.
“Good luck convincing dad,” Aurora said as she munched on cereal.
“What about staying here?” Maya asked.
“Here? What is there to do here?” Mike asked with a frown.
“Well, it’s got to be interesting to join the converged groups controlling all that,” she replied motioning out the window with her head. Aurora looked outside and saw the cluster of cyan barriers that composed the SoCal Citadel complex. A strange feeling of déjà vu nagged her from the back of her mind with the image of a single red barrier instead of that collection of blue ones. And yet as far as the eye could see the blue outline of the multiple barriers overlapped with each other. There was the main hub, the great Downtown node which housed Troika Hall along with schools, universities, research labs and the Control Administration building. Then to the north, there were four massive nodes composing the Angeles Forest reserve which was dedicated to the conservation of hundreds of animal species. Some of them for human consumption, others simply for their beauty. South of them, there was the aeroponic node which contained stacked farms that produced so much food, surplus stock was shipped to nearby citadels. And then west, the Santa Monica Sphere and its massive reserve of aquatic flora and fauna along with its beautiful beaches were a favorite destination among citizens. To the east, she could see the residential district with its many towers and spires where Citadel residents lived.
“So, what about you, sis?” Alexia asked, breaking Aurora’s momentary trance.
“I don’t know,” she replied absentmindedly then stood up and approached the window. Raising her right hand, she touched the glass and felt its smooth cold surface. She could feel the pressure as she pushed slightly harder. It was curious how something so simple felt so fascinating.
“Aurora, are you okay?” Maya asked.
“Yeah,” Aurora replied then she turned to face the group. “I’m just…” she added then stopped when she looked at them. There was Maya, the host who had died inside her isolation chamber in Francisco Citadel in the aftermath of Sophia’s wrath. But she was also sitting there, holding her glass of orange juice and watching her with concerned eyes. The boy was Mike. He had died during a convergence training session when his mind and the Controller counterpart battled for control of his body, resulting in fatal cerebral cortex overload. But there he was, eating pancakes, smiling. Alexia had spent most of her childhood in isolation while Ethan experimented with her mind but now she sat there, happy and joking with the other kids as if she didn’t have a care in the world. “It’s nothing, just something weird,” she added, trying to explain the conflicting memories in her mind that didn’t make sense.
“Good morning, my sweethearts!” a man with a thick beard said smiling as he approached their table.
“Daddy!” Alexia said, jumping from her seat and hugging him tightly. He was tall and wore the adult male version of the white and blue lab uniform unique to Control Administration scientific staff. Aurora looked at him confused. She knew his name and she knew he was their father but she also knew he was supposed to be a digger who had died in a construction accident years before.
“What? Are you too cool to hug your old man?” he said opening his free arm to her. Disturbed, she approached and hugged him in silence.
“That’s better. Are you guys looking forward to this weekend?”
“Yes! Santa Monica Sphere!” Alexia replied with excitement.
“Your mom is going to make some of those PB and J sandwiches you like.”
Overwhelmed, Aurora broke away from him and took a few steps back. Her mind struggled to reconcile the conflicting timelines, causing her to become light headed and reach for a chair for support.
“Sweetheart, are you okay?” dad asked.
When she turned up to face him, for the first time in her life, Aurora felt her heartbeat speed up and a certain shortness of breath that made her hyperventilate. Then there were tears clouding her vision. She reached for her eyes to wipe them then examined the droplets on her fingertips.
“What is the matter?” a young girl’s voice asked, catching her attention. Aurora looked for the source and found Sophia standing on the side holding her arms to her back. It was the little genius alright but her hair was silver and cut short and her eyes were red just like the dress she was wearing instead of the Controller Academy blue and white uniform. But then again, that look seemed appropriate for her.
“Sophia, what’s going on?” Aurora asked then realized that the whole scene had frozen in time. Her friends, sister and father were all looking at her with concerned expressions but they were unnaturally stuck as if time had stopped. Only Sophia moved and now she walked towards her.
“I gave you everything your heart desires,” the girl said with that unsettling child’s voice that spoke words too advanced for her apparent age. “Your own body, your father and a good relationship with your sister. Even a childhood.”
“My own body?” Aurora asked looking down at herself.
“And yet you struggle to remember. Why is that? Do you not want
to be happy?”
Aurora considered the question then looked around her. Everyone in the room was stuck with smiles on their faces or otherwise relaxed body language. It was a happy place in general. Which didn’t make sense. Life in the Citadel was a struggle for those unfortunate enough to have been born after the sync incident. Food was scarce and monotonous. Disease, rampant. Space was limited. And death, simply another aspect of daily life. And at the same time, the gentle blue glow of the barrier made her feel safe and at peace.
“Perhaps the concept escapes you?” Alexia said, breaking out of her frozen state and looking at her with the same curious expression as Sophia.
“I don’t understand, Alexia. What do you mean?”
“You reject it,” Mike said, standing up. “Why? Perhaps realizing your wishes does not equal happiness?”
“Reject what?” Aurora asked, slowly realizing they all spoke as if articulating the words of a single person.
“Paradise,” Maya said, joining the others.
Wiping off the tears from her face, Aurora sat down and took a deep breath to calm herself. The sense of weight and the texture of the clothes she was wearing felt out of place against her skin, as if it was a new experience.
“If not this, please tell me,” Sophia continued. “Help me understand. I wish to understand. Why do you reject paradise?”
“You are not Sophia,” Aurora whispered.
“I am not,” the thing that looked and sounded like Sophia said.
“Then who are you?”
“Who I am is irrelevant,” Maya said. “All that matters is your happiness. Do you not wish to be happy?”
“Happiness?” Aurora said absentmindedly. Just hours ago, all her worries in the world boiled down to finding motivation to endure the boring lectures the teachers in the Controller Academy imposed on her. Her high scores in the aptitude tests had earned her a place there where she would study and become a Controller for one of the thousands of citadels that were scattered all over the world. One of the conflicting memories made her unconsciously reach for the back of her neck, feeling for some kind of metal plate but nothing was there. In the memory, a Controller was sentient software that used a host encephalon as hardware but there and then, in the real world, a Controller was a person of exceptional intellect who helped oversee the multitude of operations required to keep citadels running.
“The real world,” Aurora said, facing Alexia. “This is not real.”
“I understand now,” the thing that looked like Alexia said. “This is why you reject paradise. It does not feel real to you.”
“Is this all an illusion?”
“No. This is reality,” Mike replied.
Distressed by the unbearably surreal feeling, Aurora struggled to control her breathing to calm herself down but the world appeared to close down on her. The conflicting memories that rushed in and out of focus in her mind were starting to cause a slight headache. The uncomfortable sensation felt unfamiliar and normal at the same time.
“How can this be real? I remember future events. I saw you die,” Aurora said, directing her comment at Sophia.
“Paradise is real. I built this paradise for you,” Maya continued.
“I am sorry,” Sophia interjected. “Perhaps this version of reality is not fitting for you?
“I need to understand,” Maya added. “I wish to understand. Will you help me understand?”
“Paradise?” Aurora asked. “Are you God?”
“This concept escapes me,” Alexia said.
“I do not understand God,” Maya added. “I wish to understand God. Will you help me understand?”
At that moment, Aurora’s memories coalesced into a single, fixed instance much like a blurry image behind a spyglass coming into focus to reveal a clear view. A shiver ran down the length of her entire body as the sudden unease of the pull of gravity shocked her mind from the unfamiliar sensation. Her chest rose and fell, moving air in and out of her lungs. The temperature of the room she was in although pleasant, was no less disturbing. She stood up and felt her arms, her face. The texture of the uniform and her own skin brushing against it overwhelmed her mind.
“My own body!” she said, smiling.
“Yes!” the entity that mimicked Sophia said, returning the smile. “This pleases you. I have made you happy.”
There were too many questions in her mind but they were pushed aside by the exhilarating sensation of standing upright and balancing her posture on her feet. With a wide grin, she took her first step ever, for a moment losing balance and instinctively waving her arms to regain it. Then another, then another. The occupants of the room were still locked but Aurora did not care. She sped up her stride until she was running down the hall. When she reached the end, she turned towards a corner then ran behind the tables, eventually circling around and stopping at her starting point. She was breathing rapidly and her heart pounded against her chest. With her right hand, she wiped the small beads of sweat that were running down her face. Then she observed her hand. Its complex skin folds, the bones of her knuckles, the nails on her fingers. Its weight and its muscle movements. She gasped when an idea formed in her mind and ran towards her room. Behind the door, there was a full size mirror. Aurora stood there looking at her reflection, perplexed, as she had not realized just how young she was in that altered version of reality. Many times she had seen Alexia’s face in a reflection but this was different. Her last memory before waking up in that paradise was her sister preparing to fast-converge with the encephalon in the black box.
“I’m still converging with it,” she whispered then sat down on the edge of her bed. The girl in the mirror was but a child who looked exactly the way Alexia did back when Aurora had first woken up. Then the door opened, pushing her reflection aside. Her twin sister was standing there.
“What happened to Alexia?” Aurora asked, looking up.
“Alexia? I don’t understand the question,” the entity that looked like Alexia replied with a juvenile voice. “There was no one else. Only you. This paradise is for you.”
Aurora had calmed down and took a moment to analyze the situation. This being, whatever it was, appeared to be morbidly obsessed on satisfying her happiness and not much else. As many times she had done before, she worked her mind to examine any underlying data streams that were being shared with the reactor encephalon. There was nothing. Nothing responded to her probes. If she was to get any information out of this entity, she would have to improvise. With that in mind, she stood up and approached Alexia then with a rapid motion, she slapped her face as hard as she could. The pastel blue framed glasses fell to the floor and the thing that mimicked her sister looked back in shock. For a moment she stood there, staring at Aurora as if struggling to find an appropriate reaction.
“I do not understand,” it finally said. “You exhibited happiness before. Please help me understand. I wish to understand. Will you help me unders-“
Another hard slap interrupted it.
“I am not happy,” Aurora said, hiding the rush of pain invading her hand. “You have failed.”
“I see,” the entity said then turned around and left the room.
Confused, Aurora picked up the glasses and followed it back to the mess hall where it joined the others and sat down at the table.
“I have failed,” it said, then Alexia returned to her previous frozen state.
“You must forgive me,” Maya said, sitting down, locking her body too.
“Will you forgive me?” Mike added and joined the others.
“I shall try again,” Sophia said.
“Wait, no,” Aurora interrupted, suddenly feeling very tired as if she needed to go to sleep right there and then.
“You will be happy,” Aurora heard Sophia say before falling to the floor and losing consciousness. “I will not fail again.”
*
Aurora woke up in bed feeling refreshed and thankful she did not have to work at the lab that day. Yawning lazily, she
stretched her arms then sat up. Joel stirred but did not wake up. Just remembering how wonderful the previous night had been brought a smile to her face. They had only met a couple weeks ago on one of her routine trips down to reactor engineering but the attraction had been mutual and so intense that it only took one date to surrender herself to the sweet call of his embrace. If only dad knew the engineer had been spending the last few nights in her apartment. And what about her sister? Sweet innocent Alexia wouldn’t understand love beyond what she read in her vampire novels. She chuckled quietly, immediately feeling bad for thinking of her that way. It was sad that they were almost twenty-seven and her book smart twin for some reason had never made an attempt to date anyone. To each their own, she guessed.
Carefully getting out of the bed covers as to not disturb her lover, she made for the bathroom, navigating the mess of clothes still laying on the floor from when they had ripped them off each other the previous night. Once there, she stood by the sink looking at herself. Her long black hair was a mess and her face was covered in a subtle layer of dried sweat. Hoping it would not make too much noise, she stepped in the shower, further relaxing her body under the hot stream.
Moments later, she stepped out and put on a towel then brushed her teeth. Standing there in front of the mirror for a minute, she pulled back her hair in a ponytail. She was missing the glasses but that was pretty much all it took to create the eerie effect that Alexia was looking back at her. Then shuddering, she regretted it and let go. Apparently some people were creeped out by twins but not many realized that was the case even for them sometimes.
Gestalt Prime Page 17