by Lucy Adler
She couldn’t give up.
It didn’t matter how much it hurt.
It was happening. She was releasing her friend...
Wasn’t she?
Then, something else began to happen.
Something that surprised and terrified her all at once.
The humming.
Loud. Crushingly loud.
Unrelenting.
Daria started to panic. Her hands shaking, her knees weakening.
“No, no, no, no...!”
She tried to focus more. To overcome by sheer force of will...
But it was too much.
She was overwhelmed now with pain... both in her body and her mind. The vibration, the humming, the reverberation from head to toe, threatening to shatter her very form and substance.
Then she felt a hand, reaching out to her.
It touched her hands, placing itself over them.
But it wasn’t comforting her. It didn’t relieve or ease the pain.
“Brix...?”
Then the hand pressed down and squeezed her left hand as tightly as it could.
And Daria let out a horrible, agonising cry.
____________________________
Helena had watched patiently as Daria seemed to be struggling. She didn’t fully understand what the gift was leading her to do, so she didn’t want to interrupt. At the same time, she was hopeful that whatever it was, it would work.
But when Daria’s body suddenly convulsed and she began screaming in obvious pain, Helena decided to intervene.
Brett had been waiting in the hall, just outside the door.
“What’s going on?” he asked as he came flying into the room. “What was that?”
“I don’t know,” Helena replied as she leaned over Daria, holding her by the shoulders. “I can’t wake her!”
Daria was shaking, as if she were having a seizure.
Brett froze for a second, the violent scene catching him off-guard.
“Come here and hold her!” Helena said. “I need to try to reach out to her.”
As Brett rounded the bed, he noticed Brix’s hand.
“Is Brianna awake?” he asked, taking hold of Daria and nodding towards the bed. “It looks like she’s squeezing her hand.”
Helena shook her head. She looked frightened.
“I - I don’t know what’s happening. Just let me try to connect with her.”
Brett was doing his best to keep Daria from falling out of the chair. She was still shaking but he didn’t want to risk hurting her by resisting her movements with too much force.
As Helena closed her eyes, she looked anxious.
____________________________
Helena was one of the rare ones. And as such, her dream-state shimmered and sparkled with purple lights. Stars and beacons shone against a deep, endless background, creating the appearance of a beautiful, if otherworldly, night sky.
But Helena wasn’t there to linger in her own dream-state.
She focused on her friend.
On Daria.
She quickly reached the secondary veil between them.
It felt dense and heavier than she expected. But she pressed through and entered the blackness between them, that meeting place that allowed contact while still shielding the private sanctuary of every sleeper.
“Daria? Daria, can you hear me? It’s Helena.”
There was no response.
“Daria? Tell me what’s happening so I can help you. Don’t fight this alone.”
Still no response. Only silence.
But then...
A voice in the darkness.
A croaking, snarling voice.
“Hello, Lena.”
Its sound had changed, but she recognised it nonetheless.
“Charlie?”
“I’ve missed you, my love.”
25
Year: 50
(10 years ago)
FORCES OF NATURE
Lena stared up at the slowly rotating blades of the ceiling fan. She could hear a bird outside the window, chirping and whistling.
She had no idea where she was, but it was clearly someone’s home.
The bed was comfortable, the blankets thick and cosy.
She sat up and glanced around the room. There were a few photos of a couple who looked like they were roughly the same age as she and Charlie.
Just then, the bedroom door opened.
“Oh, you’re awake.”
Lena frowned. She recognised the woman but it took her mind a moment to place her.
“You’re from the hospital, aren’t you?”
“That’s right,” the woman replied. “I’m Dr. --”
“Kingston?”
“Yes, but you can call me Theresa,” she replied with a smile. “Do you mind if I sit and talk with you for a few minutes?”
“Where am I?” Lena asked, rubbing the back of her head and neck.
“You’re at my house. You’re safe, don’t worry.”
Theresa sat down on the edge of the bed and held out her hand.
“Do you mind if I feel your forehead?”
Lena leaned forward for her.
“Cooler now. That’s good,” she smiled again. “You were burning up when I got you here!”
“What happened? Why am I here?”
“You don’t remember anything?”
“Not really. But it feels like its right there, on the tip of my mind.”
“Well, you were a patient at the Astor. Do you recall that part?”
“Some of it.”
“You were checked in as Lena Smith. But that was obviously to hide your real identity. Or, rather, your husband’s identity.”
“Charlie...”
“That’s right, Dr. Charles Reston. He was visiting you regularly. In fact, you told me that he was ‘taking’ something from you. Do you remember that?”
Lena rubbed the back of her neck again as she waited for her mind to catch up.
Then, something clicked.
“Wait! I remember a white, cylindrical object, with blue lights on the top. And... a needle.”
As she described the device to Theresa, Lena suddenly recalled her last evening at home.
And the men in the white van.
She felt fear and anger in equal proportions.
“I saw the object, too,” Theresa said. “But what was he doing with it? What was he ‘taking’?”
“I don’t know for sure but I think... I think he was trying to get at whatever causes that purple glow on the scans. Whatever is up here,” she said, tapping the side of her head.
Theresa looked thoroughly surprised. And confused.
“I didn’t know that was possible,” she said. “I know doctors have examined the brains of sleepers after death, but I didn’t know they were trying it while they were alive.”
“I don’t think it’s an official thing!” Lena said with a nervous laugh. “I don’t know, it’s just a hunch. But I think Charlie has been going his own way for some time now.”
As she spoke, her dream of their walk by the lake flashed across her mind again.
Their paths diverging.
The darkness overtaking him.
“But why did you get me out of there?” she asked, changing the subject. “Don’t you deal with sleepers for a living?”
“You mean help them pass from this world in peace?” Theresa replied. “Yes, I do. And to be honest, I don’t know why I did what I did for you. Something came over me and I just felt like it was the right thing to do. I suppose it’s one thing to help protect society from certain... threats. But it’s another thing to turn someone into a lab rat.”
“Threats? So you think I’m dangerous?”
“Yes.”
Theresa replied with a certain practised confidence, like someone reciting a creed or motto. But as Lena held her gaze, her confidence waned.
“Well, I don’t know about you personally. But I know that your kind is dangerous.”
“That’s what I’ve seen. And lived.”
Theresa got up sharply and walked over to a bookshelf mounted on the wall. She grabbed the digital frame that was patiently cycling through its images.
“This one,” she said, pausing it on one photo in particular. “This was my father. He was a kind, generous, loving person. I’ve never known a better man. But thanks to a few rebellious sleepers who decided to set his lab on fire with him inside, he was killed while working for the good of all people everywhere.”
Lena took the frame and stared at the picture. He really did look like the quintessential big-hearted father. She could see it in his eyes.
“I’m so sorry, Theresa. I really am. That’s awful, absolutely awful.”
“So yes,” she replied, taking the frame back, “I do think sleepers are a threat and danger to society. And yes, you might be, too.”
“But you said it yourself. ‘A few rebellious sleepers.’ It isn’t fair to generalise, is it?”
“Until we understand your affliction, better safe than sorry.”
“So what did you take from me while I was asleep?” Lena asked with a piercing look. “Am I your little rat now, in a different sort of lab?”
“Excuse me?” Theresa replied, clearly offended by the accusations.
“Well, you’re a doctor, aren’t you? Charlie used me and then committed me to the hospital. Who’s to say you’re not planning to exploit me as well. I mean, better safe than sorry, right?”
“Well, technically I’m not a Guild member. But I get it,” Theresa replied, rolling her eyes. “You made your point. But at the same time, it doesn’t change the fact that what you’ve got up there is something strange and different. Something that enables you to do things that are outside the laws of nature. Like when you spoke to me at the hospital. You got inside my head, and that’s a terrifying thought for those of us without your abilities. Surely you can understand that.”
“I do. In fact, I’m scared, too. I don’t understand it all myself. I’ve never met anyone else like me. I’ve only ever heard the same things you have, about the dangers of not responding to Sendrax. I mean, I’m married to Dr. Charles Reston for goodness sake! I know the whole spiel, that’s for sure!” she laughed.
Theresa looked down at the floor. She was obviously thinking about something.
Her fingers tapped the sides of the digital frame.
“I think I can help you,” she finally said.
“What do you mean?”
“I think I can help you make contact with other sleepers. Sleepers who aren’t at the hospital, I mean. You know, maybe help you figure this all out.”
“How?”
“Well, sometimes, when my patients are going through the Process, they occasionally mumble and say things out loud, things they’re unaware of at the time. Usually it’s just gibberish. But there’s been one place that seems to pop up from time to time. They call it ‘the settlement’.”
“What settlement, where?”
“I think it’s in what used to be Yellowstone Park.”
Lena frowned.
“The park? Really? What makes you think that?”
“There’s been talk going around for a while, mostly amongst Guild members, but we hear about it at the hospital sometimes, too. They think a small group of sleepers are living off the grid up in that area. Well, as off the grid as anyone can be these days.”
“So why haven’t they gone after them?”
“No reason to. The violence stopped years ago. People agree that sleepers are dangerous, so very few will harbour them. As long as they’re not trying to stir up trouble or hinder the growth of Progress, why create conflict? Leave them out there with the other animals, I suppose!”
Theresa caught herself.
“I’m sorry, Lena. I didn’t mean...”
“It’s ok.”
“So, anyway, if you want, maybe I can take you out to the edge of the city. I’m afraid that’s as far as I’m willing to go. But you might be able to find someone there who’s headed that direction. Maybe to Cody? It’s not too far from the old east entrance.”
“Why, though?”
“I told you, I don’t really know. But I do know that I felt like things sort of flipped on their side in that moment at the hospital. Like turning a playing card sideways and realising how thin it is. I just got a sense, a feeling or something. And I guess I need to see where it leads.”
Lena reached out and squeezed Theresa’s hand.
“Thank you. Thank you so much.”
“You don’t have to thank me. It’s the right thing to do,” she replied, not making eye contact. Then she stood up with a deep breath. “Alright, we need to make this happen soon. The last thing I need is for Jim to get home and start asking questions.”
“Your husband?”
“Yup. And prospective Guild member!” she laughed.
“I see,” Lena laughed with her. “Then we better get moving!”
____________________________
They decided to wait for nightfall to make their journey to the north side of Progress, to the edge of the Road Network. Not that the lights ever went out in the greatest city on earth. In fact, the roads were so well lit, you almost didn’t need headlights to drive at night. But still, it seemed fitting for Lena to make her escape after the sun had gone down.
Theresa’s car glided swiftly and silently along the magnetic highways. They passed row after row of towering office buildings, their sleek designs glowing like some kind of hi-tech art exhibition beneath the darkened sky. Retail districts also peppered the landscape, their massive digital billboards competing for the eyes of eager shoppers who were just getting off work. Then, as they reached the outlying neighbourhoods, the city’s profile dropped off sharply, as block after block of private homes stretched out into the distance.
“It really is an impressive place, isn’t it?” Lena commented.
“What is?”
“Progress.”
“Of course it is!” Theresa laughed, as if it were too obvious to say it out loud. “And it’s only growing more impressive each day. It’s practically a force of nature.”
As their journey continued, Lena lost track of time. Nostalgia and sadness crept over her mind. Despite the upheaval of the last two years, and the outrage she felt over Charlie’s behaviour, she couldn’t shake the fact that she missed their old life. That she missed loving him the way she used to.
Eventually, the last residential neighbourhood passed out of sight. The Road Network carried on past fields and hills, having been laid with the city’s future expansion in mind. A little while later, they arrived at the last fuel station, and the edge of the world beyond Progress.
“I’m sorry again, but this is as far as I feel comfortable taking you,” Theresa said as she turned off the road and found a dimly lit parking space in the corner of the lot.
“Don’t be sorry. I’d rather be left here alone than whatever the alternatives were back there.”
Lena could tell that her new friend was struggling. She hadn’t spoken much during their drive.
“You know, Theresa, the Astor isn’t the only sort of hospital there is. Perhaps you might consider a change?”
“Perhaps.”
“Well, thank you again,” Lena said as she opened her door.
“I’ll see what Jim thinks,” Theresa replied.
“What?”
“About changing jobs. I’ll talk to him about it. Maybe we both need a change.”
Lena smiled as she stood outside the car now. She reached back inside and they shook hands.
“I hope we meet again,” she said. “And under better circumstances!”
“Agreed!” Theresa said with a smile.
Lena shut the door and they gave each other one last wave as the car slowly pulled away.
Then, as she watched her friend disappear down the road, a voice called to her from behi
nd.
A familiar voice.
And it sent chills up her spine.
“Hello, Lena. I’ve missed you, my love.”
Lena spun around, her heart catching in her throat.
“Charlie? But, what are... how did...?”
Dr. Reston stood before her, his hands in his pockets, his face attempting to mimic something warm and welcoming.
“I’d never let you out of my sight when you’re so unwell, my love. I simply couldn’t. Not as your doctor... or your husband.”
“No, of course you couldn’t. You need to be in control, don’t you, Charles?”
“Need?” he replied, looking up for a second as he thought about her words. “More like ought.”
He took a step closer to her but they were still roughly a car’s length away from each other.
“Why have you gone down this road, Charles? You had a choice. Lots of choices. You still have a choice. Why are you doing this?”
“This isn’t about me, Helena. This is about humanity! The good of the entire human race. The future!”
“You mean the cure?”
He didn’t reply as he took another two steps towards her.
“So you’re telling me that you’re doing all of this, sacrificing everything, including me, just to realise the vision of Caxton and Meyers?”
“You make it sound like such a small thing. Think of it, Lena! It’s freedom, pure and simple. Freedom to do or be anything you want, without the shackles of human frailty. And we’re close. So very close.”
She noticed his eyes drifting from hers, up towards her head.
“You hold the answers, Helena. I don’t know why, but whatever it is that makes you people different, it’s particularly potent in you. We need you, my love. I need you.”
“Why do you keep saying that?”
“Saying what?”
“‘My love.’ Did you ever really love me, Charles?”
His face suddenly turned. His fake warmth faded into a cold stare.
“How could you ask me that? After all I did for you? After all I tried to do to make you well?”
“Maybe I never needed to be fixed. Maybe you were... wrong.”
His stare now sharpened into a sneer.