by Jodie Kobe
Chapter four
V I V I A N
Before the clock hits 7:00 AM, I try calling Rian.
He’s either a really heavy sleeper or just away, occupied by something else. And I have no idea how loud the ringtone is if there even is a ringtone.
My arms get a bit of exercise as I maneuver myself around the rooms by rotating the wheels of the wheelchair. I haven’t needed to take a trip to the bathroom yet, but I'm guessing I'll have to soon.
The kitchen’s completely bare of food so I have nothing to eat as my stomach begins growling. What frightens me (as I search through the kitchen drawers for equipment) is the new silverware I find. At first, they are boxed up so I have no idea what they're supposed to be. But as I pull each one of the items out, I see they’re rectangular stainless-steel objects as wide as my index finger.
Something tells me they’re a new and improved version of forks, spoons, and knives–all in one.
After struggling with them for a few minutes, I decide that when the time comes, I’ll figure out how they work; not right this minute. I'm about to put the box away when something catches my eye. A tablet on the counter. I reach for it and place it on my lap. Black text fills the white screen. I stare at the words, trying to figure out what they mean.
It's supposed to inform me of something, according to the text I read. There seems to be no other way to exit out of this, so all I can look at is this document. I take a deep breath and skim over the whole thing.
Words about Earth, the air, and previous life trickle into my head, but they don't stop, even as I avert my eyes from the tablet.
Something is triggered in my mind, and I find myself reaching for a memory. It's barely there, but I can see it.
I see a darkened sky. I see streets. I see people with fear on their faces. They're not quite sure what will happen to them, but they wait.
They struggle to breathe. The air is too thin, too sharp, too dangerous. They inhale dust, cough it out, then collapse.
I see trees. Their trunks are rotting faster than normal, peeling apart and crashing to the ground.
Then comes the black wave. Dust, fog...mist?
Nothing then. The image leave my eyes. I groan and rub my forehead, trying to get the headache out of my head.
A deafening buzz shakes the whole room. I jump.
I realize my legs have started to move.
Forgetting about the sudden sound completely, I start tapping my toes on the wheelchair’s footrest, smiling to myself.
I’m reminded of the buzz as it strikes again, followed by a beep, beep, beep.
Clueless about all these sounds and what I should be doing, I stare at the ground until the beeping from my room gets louder. What if that’s how the ringtone sounds when someone’s calling?
I shoot out of the wheelchair but nearly fall to the floor. The kitchen counter is there to support me.
“Alright,” I say aloud. “Slow down.” I guess I'm not used to walking yet.
Pressing myself to the wall for balance, I make my way into my bedroom, my eyes scanning the surroundings around me for the source of the sound. They land on a silver cube perched on the nightstand. I stumble over to it to pick it up, noticing the size is almost as big as my fist. As soon as it’s resting in my palm, a familiar voice escapes out of it. Rian’s voice. He sounds tired.
“Hey, is that you, Vivian?”
“Yes, it’s me,” I say.
Another loud buzz sounds and my free hand flies up to cover one of my ears. “What’s going on?”
Rian’s voice replies slowly, “It’s a warning alarm. It goes off every three or four days.”
“What does it mean?”
“It warns us about what’s happening outside...you know, on Earth.” His voice sounds hesitant.
Perplexed, I stare at the cube in my palm for a few seconds before clearing my throat and saying, “I thought we were on Earth.”
I could practically see Rian shaking his head. “Uh...well...we’re a couple of hundred yards below the Earth’s surface, so technically, we’re inside Earth. You all right in there? Nothing’s falling apart, is it?”
The room looks fine to me. I cringe as another buzz sounds. “No.”
“It has to be loud enough to wake people in case of an emergency.”
I decide to ask, “So what is going on outside?”
There’s a soft laugh and then Rian’s voice follows, “Can I explain that later? I need to wake up first and get ready.” A pause. “It’s 7:24. Might as well wake up. I need to tell you few things. See you in..an hour, I guess.”
“Yep,” I say after I hear a soft click, telling me he hung up. Too late, he didn’t hear you.
I settle on a quick shower. Thankfully, the water isn't too complicated to turn on. Handles and valves have been replaced with a touch panel (there are regular options for cold, warm, or hot as well as others that I don’t want to try out), but it's not too bad. I’ve been given a small bottle of shampoo yesterday. It doesn’t smell too bad. Something with flowers and coconuts.
I sort through all the clothes I’ve been handed yesterday and pick out a white sweatshirt and white jeans. The only blue t-shirt stands out from all the white they’ve given me. I pull it on with the sweatshirt over it. Since I don’t have any shoes, I pull on whites socks reaching just below my ankles.
Hoping this won’t look too strange, I step from the room and out into the hallway, immediately spotting people and children heading back and forth. I merge in with them and stroll toward Rian’s room, keeping my hand lightly on the wall for support.
I don’t remember where Rian's room is so I check the names on the doors as I pass them. A few girls linger by some of the doors, talking in a group. They block the corridor.
As I mutter an “excuse me” to them, one turns to me and asks, “Are you okay?”
I don’t know if she’s being mean or just cares for no reason, but I answer her. “Yeah. Why?”
She points to my feet and I think she’s criticizing me for wearing socks without shoes. She must think I’m crazy, that’s why she asked if I am okay. But instead, she says, “I noticed you were limping.” By now, her small group of friends have turned their attention toward me.
It’s because I haven’t mastered walking yet, I want to tell her.
Instead, I say, “I’m fine. I bumped my ankle on a door frame a few minutes ago.” If I started telling her about how I was revived yesterday and had to be dragged around by a tour guide the whole day in a wheelchair, she’d classify me as “the new girl” and might cling to me all day, providing me with “help.” I don’t want that. I have Rian.
“Are you sure you didn’t sprain it?” Her eyebrows knit in worry although I do not care.
I wave her away and continue walking. “I’ll be fine. Thanks, though.” I glance back at her as I walk away and see her shrugging to her friends. I hope my limp isn’t that bad.
Rian's door should be somewhere close to that main, white hallway. Glancing at all the names on the doors I pass confuses me after quite a while. I spot the name Ryan and nearly stop walking. Realizing it’s not Rian’s door, I continue.
After several minutes of searching, I finally come across his door. He told me he would be ready in an hour. He still might be busy, but I knock anyway.
Surprisingly, it doesn’t take long for the door to open. Once it does, it reveals a neat room with more furniture than I have. A wet-haired Rian stands by the door. He's not not dressed in his white lab coat, but in dark jeans and a gray t-shirt.
I am surprised to see him this way and by the looks of it, he’s surprised to see me here. He looks me up and down and a small smile lifts at the corners of his mouth. “I take it you know how to walk now?”
I shrug and ask him, “I’m not too early am I?”
He squints into the room and mutters, “7:54.” Then turns back to me and says, “No, of course not.” Stepping back, he adds, “You’re welcome to come in if you’d like. I�
��m just trying to finish a few things up.”
I open my mouth to tell him I can wait outside, but decide against it. I try giving him a compliment on his room as I step through the door.
“Your room looks great. How long did you live here, exactly?” The door slides closed after me.
Rian rubs the back of his neck, thinking. “I believe it's been...two years.” He gives a little laugh. “But I really don’t know. I hate when people ask me that.”
Oops. I'm just trying to start a conversation. I hate awkward silence. “Sorry.”
He waves my apology away and strolls over to a small glass desk in the corner of the room, where a black tablet lays. I instantly remember the clipboard I have not been given back yet. I still want to read about my past life.
As Rian sits down at the glass desk, I notice another object at the corner of the table. This one’s familiar. A glass cube with a sculpted wolf head inside. It’s Dr. Janelle’s cube—the one that Rian stole from her desk.
Rian is scrolling through documents as I speak up, “Rian?”
“Hmm?” He looks at me.
“Are you ever going to return that?” I point vaguely at the cube but Rian seems to know what I’m talking about.
He leans against the chair and says, “Janelle hasn’t noticed it’s missing yet. But if it bothers you that much, then I can return it today, okay? Unless you want to keep it?”
I shake my head. “No, I don't. How would you know if she hasn’t noticed it’s missing? She might be searching for it right now, worried sick.”
Rian shrugs. “Not my problem. She’s lost things before. I have as well...and I’ve never gotten them back.” He reaches behind his desk and pulls out something that looks similar to the glass cube with the wolf head. But instead of the wolf, there’s a bear. “Janelle’s as well.”
My eyes widen. “You steal things from her?”
“I’m suspicious of her stealing things from me.”
“So you steal things from her?” I repeat fiercely. “Pretty things?”
Rian shrugs again and focuses his attention on the tablet.
I keep silent with my hands behind my back, listening to muffled conversations out in the hallway. It’s so quiet in this room that I hear my stomach grumble a few times. Since Rian is so focused on the tablet, I don’t think he hears the rumbling.
After a couple of minutes of silence, Rian says, “You can sit down if you want. I’ll finish this and we can head out.”
I nod and lower myself down onto the floor. When Rian said I can sit down, I don’t think he meant the ground. There are a few chairs by the wall but I don’t care. I look around the room instead.
It’s the same shape and size as mine. Instead of a white bed though, it’s black. The carpet is flatter than mine from being walked on but it still looks clean and white. There is a small kitchen to my left. I immediately think of food. My stomach grumbles again. What type of food do they have here?
Rian stands up abruptly, startling me. “Okay, I’m finished. Let’s go. I’ll explain things while we walk.”
Rian starts talking once we set foot onto the main white hallway. He tells me he was assigned to escort me around for a couple of days until I familiarize myself with this place, or just get sick and tired of seeing him everyday. We are going to the cafeteria for breakfast. He warns me about it being crowded, so if I'm claustrophobic, I should tell him. But I don’t know if I am so I don’t say anything. We’ll find out sooner or later.
We walk casually while people pass us, hurrying to get to their food.
“Is it possible for every seat to get taken before we get there?” I have to yell for Rian to hear. The hallway is noisy with footsteps and voices.
“It could happen,” Rian replies loudly. “Many people eat inside their rooms instead of the cafeteria so that does free up space. Some hate how crowded it gets. Others just hate talking to people.”
“Where does all this food these people eat come from?” I ask.
“People make it.”
I'm confused. “Make it?”
Rian nods. “All food here is synthetic. It's created from chemicals. You mix two substances together, let them sit for a few hours, mix them again and add another chemical...and you get mush, which you can form into food.”
Before I can give any kind of reaction, someone rams into me from the right, causing me to slam into Rian, who stumbles into someone else, which causes a guy to drive his fist into someone in front of him. I right myself and help pull Rian up to his feet. The girl he stumbled into lays on the floor as well, her hand over her head.
A large portion of people have stopped walking to focus their attention on us. I hear a gasp and watch as Rian helps the fallen girl to her feet. She looks no more than fifteen. I hope she's not hurt.
Before I can say anything to her, a hard hand clasps my shoulder. I spin around, startled and freeze when I see who's in front of me.
Curly brown hair, tall, same eyes as mine: brown. His face is so familiar. Even though he looks taller and muscular than ever, I recognize who it is right away. He has a huge grin on his face.
“Piers?” My brother. I don't know how big the disbelief on my face is. We stare at each other for a few seconds, him grinning from ear to ear while I stand, dumbfounded.
He pulls me into an unexpected hug while I'm still dazed. He's my younger brother. Was my younger brother. He has been aging while I stayed young. We've switched. I'm his younger sister now.
When he pulls away, I manage to stammer out, “H-h-how old are you?”
To me, he looks past twenty-five. He's actually grown really tall. I have to look up to see his face.
How long have I been dead?
Piers' voice is low when he speaks. Not at all what I've remembered it sounding. “Twenty-nine. Aren't you proud of me, little sis?”
He's still beaming while I can't even plaster a fake smile on my face. I'm suddenly aware of the silence in the hallway with Piers' voice echoing off the walls. I glance around the room and meet Rian's gaze. The look on his face tells me he's shocked as much as the people who had stopped to watch us. I doubt they understand what's going on.
“What a happy family reunion,” Piers says. I don't understand why he ran into me like that. Is he insane?
“Why did you do that?” My voices rises. “Slamming hard into people isn't a greeting! You hurt someone.” I gesture to the girl still standing next to Rian. He has an arm drooped protectively over her shoulders. She still has her hand over the side of her head, and her eyes are cast down to the ground.
Piers grimaces and the smile finally wears off his face. “Sorry, I got too excited. But come on, didn't you miss me? I'll be honest, I missed you.”
I'm still furious. If Piers would have introduced himself differently without using violence, I might have been jumping up and down with joy. But smacking into me to get my attention? I'm not calming down that easily.
“Yeah, I missed you,” I say sharply. “But you just had to run at me, didn't you?”
Piers frowns and crosses his arms. “Look, you should be ecstatic seeing your brother alive and well. Just because I made some stupid mistake doesn’t mean you should start whining and pouting. Be tough.” He spreads his arms out. “You don’t look wounded to me. Does anything hurt?”
I shake my head. I still can’t get over the fact that he’s grown so much. “I just think it’s strange seeing you older than me,” I say.
Piers pulls me in for another hug and this time I return it, putting a small smile on my face.
People have finally started to move away, losing interest in our conversation. But Rian still stands there with the girl by his side.
“You’re heading down for breakfast, yeah?” Piers asks me. “Come on, let’s go before all the good spots are taken. I’ll introduce you to my friends.”
Friends? How long has Piers been staying here to make friends?
He starts pulling me after him but I stop him, wanting to
introduce Rian.
“Piers, wait. There’s someone you should meet first.” I gesture to Rian, who automatically loses his current stiff stance, replacing it with a more relaxed one. “This is Rian. He’ll be my guide for a few days until I know how to get around by myself.” I face Rian and say, “Rian, this is Piers, my brother. He’s supposed to be five years younger than me but—”
“Blame science,” Piers cuts in. “Science made me into what I am today.”
Rian’s forehead creases. “And what exactly are you today?”
Piers grins. “Older than Vivian.”
He bursts into laughter at the stupid joke while Rian and I exchange glances. I shrug and we both wait until Piers calms down. It doesn’t take too long, but the young girl by Rian’s side decides she has had enough of us. She ducks from under Rian’s arm and dashes away. Rian watches her go.
Rian laughs.“I guess she didn’t get hurt that bad.”
I’m about to say something to him when Piers interrupts. “Sorry about that. It's not your fault.” He stretches his hand out to Rian. “It’s nice to meet you, by the way.”
Rian doesn’t seem to want to shake Piers’ hand. If a large muscular guy offered to shake my hand, I would be reluctant to do so too. I wouldn’t know how strong his grip would be. My puny hand would be crushed.
Rian finally shakes Piers’ hand although the act looks wimpy and limp. I want to laugh because of how small Rian looks compared to Piers. Though I doubt I look any bigger.
We start walking with the rest of the people toward the cafeteria. Piers is the one who starts talking.
“It’s good to see you two. Although I barely know you.” Piers points at Rian. But Rian seems to have his mind wandering elsewhere.
Piers reaches out and starts ruffling my hair. I duck away from him and he laughs. “You look so scrawny, Viv. What’s up?”
I shrug and say, “I could ask you the same thing. What happened to you? You used to be scrawny and short, now you’re…” I gesture to my brother.
Piers pats his biceps and laughs again. “You heard of something called working out?”
I am about to ask when he started, but we reach the large cafeteria doors. The entrance is jammed with people, and I'm not quite sure how we're going to get through.
All three of us are instantly separated as others start streaming in and pushing people out of the way.
I glance at Rian and Piers, who are now a few feet away from me. There is no space left to squeeze past anyone to get to them, so I decide to stay where I am.
I finally get past the doorway. There is a long line ahead of me, but I can tell it’s moving fast.
The long tables are filled and I’m wondering how in the world people find open spots in this place. This reminds me a lot of school, and I'll probably be the lonely person with no one to talk to.
Rian and Piers have completely disappeared so I’m left standing here by myself, clueless to how I should get my food. Do I just pick it up? Say something and they give it to me? Where's Rian?
As the line continues to move, I listen to the conversation around me. If the front of the line was in my line of sight, I would be observing it every step of the way.
Soon there are only three people in my way of getting my food. I peek over their shoulders to observe their actions.
I see a touch panel. The guy in front of it types something, walks over to a small conveyor belt, and waits. A few items slide out, and the guy picks them up.
Looks easy enough.
Okay, my turn now.
I reach the panel and stop, my eyes skimming over the blue screen. There appears to be a list of various foods. Synthetic foods. Rian told me all of this food is man-made.
My hand wavers over the panel before I press a random food I’ve never heard of before. Reeflins.
The second word I choose falls under the BEVERAGE category on the list. Water.
I move away, and the next person goes. The conveyor belt spits out a rectangular can and some kind of spherical object wrapped in what appears to be cloth. Reeflins, I'm guessing?
With the food and beverage, I move through an aisle between the tables, searching for a place to sit.
As I spot a few people standing in the corners and eating their food, I start to doubt there are anymore open seats left. If people standing, should I stand too? Piers or Rian can find me faster this way.
Sighing, I head over to one of the farthest corners in the room. Three girls hang out here, but I avoid them.
I sit down in the corner, surprised by how clean the floor looks. Once I start unfolding the cloth from the reeflin, the three girls slide over to me with smiles on their faces. They look to be somewhere between thirteen and sixteen. Younger than me, for sure.
Like most of the people here, they wear white clothing. The girl with her hair pulled into a ponytail is the first talk to me.
“So,” she says. “You don’t have anywhere else to sit?”
I shake my head and pick up my can, trying to find a way to open it.
The girl continues, pointing to the reeflin. “You like reeflins?”
I almost shake my head, wanting to tell her this is my first time being here. “I want to try them,” I say instead.
She grimaces. “They’re not very good.” The other two girls nod in agreement.
I shrug, unsure of how I should answer that.
I pull the cloth open and stare at what’s in front of me. Some kind of bread. Not what I am expecting.
“What’s inside it?” I ask the ponytail girl.
“Uh…” she turns to one of the girls for help but they just shrug. “Something brown, I think.”
I’m almost reluctant to try it. But not because they said it’ll be gross, but because I feel awkward with the three girls staring at me, waiting for my reaction. I tear a piece off and pop it into my mouth. It’s hard to chew, I can say that. But as I swallow it, I realize it’s not that bad. I reach for another piece.
“You like it?”
I shrug. Yes, I do.
They finally move away from me and start whispering. I strain my ears to try to listen to what they are saying, wondering if they’re talking about me. But they’re too quiet.
I’m halfway done with the reeflin when I start wondering where the trash bin is. All these problems with no one here to answer them.
“Vivian!” A voices booms out, causing me to jump. It’s definitely my brother, I conclude as I look up to see who the voice belongs to. Yep, sure is.
Piers is heading my way, followed by two guys who I believe are his friends.
“Vivian,” Piers repeats again. “What are you doing here?” He motions to the corner I’m sitting in. I notice a few people have turned my way. Oh, why does Piers attract attention to me that easily?
“I couldn’t find anywhere else to sit,” I mutter, glancing down at the food in my hand. “Where’s Rian?”
“I assume the tour guide’s hanging out with his friends. I saw you sitting here all by yourself and I started laughing.” Piers grins.
“Yes. Thanks for that,” I say, getting to my feet. I hand him my can of water. “Can you open this?”
He raises his eyebrows in confusion. “What is that?”
“I honestly don’t know. Water?”
He nods and twists the can with both of his hands. A click comes from the can, and he hands it back to me.
Since the lid is missing, I can see a gray-ish liquid floating inside. It isn’t too mushy as I stir it around.
Piers doesn't say anything else. He only turns around and starts making his way toward the tables with the two guys by his side. I follow, and one of the guys falls behind to talk to me.
“Hey” is all he says.
I reply nonchalantly with “Hey.”
“How are you getting around so far?”
I look up at the guy, wondering why he would randomly come up to talk to me. Then I notice he’s a scientist I’ve seen before. He’s the guy w
ho gave me a haircut and measured my temperature the first day I was awakened. Although he’s not dressed in a lab coat, I still recognize him.
“Good,” I say slowly. “How did you meet Piers?”
“Uh—he works for me.” His answer sounds more like a question.,
“Piers is a scientist?” I say it loud enough so Piers hears. I didn’t mean to.
“What? Surprised?” Piers calls over his shoulder. “Not what you expected of me?”
I keep my mouth shut. Never in my life did I think Piers was going to be a scientist. As a kid, he was always interested in constructing buildings. He read about them all day. That's one of the things I remember.
“How’s Callum doing with helping you around?” the guy asks.
If he never mentioned anything about helping me around, I wouldn’t have been able to guess who this “Callum” is. I’m not too familiar with Rian’s last name.
“He’s doing fine. But I need to start memorizing these places,” I say.
The guy nods and jogs up to Piers and his other friend.
Piers and his two friends finally stop walking and sit down. Piers points to me and tells his other buddies around him that I’m his sister, Vivian.
A girl next to Piers scoots over to make room for me and pats the empty seat, giving me a smile. As I sit down, I notice her hair looks like it has been dyed, which it probably has. In most places it’s solid black, but doesn’t look like a natural color. I think I can see red peeking from the black dye.
She introduces herself to me and I immediately recognize the name from a door I’ve seen yesterday. “I’m Verity.”
I smile. “Vivian.”
“How old are you?” The girl—Verity—asks.
How old do I look? “Twenty-one.”
“Oh. You look older. I’m eighteen.” She pauses, thinking. “If I had to guess, I would say you’re from the 19th.”
“The 19th?”
Piers turns toward us and snorts but doesn’t say anything.
Verity explains, “The 19th century. You know, the 1800’s.”
I hold my breath, trying to stay calm. Really? The 19 century? “Why do you think that?” I try to keep my voice light.
Verity doesn’t hesitate. “Your hair.”
My hand automatically flies up to my hair and I scoff. “I’m not. I’m from 2024. What’s wrong with my hair?”
Verity’s eyes shift away and I hear her mutter, “Oops.”
I face Piers. “What’s wrong with my hair?”
Something small hits my face and falls onto my lap. I recoil, my face scrunching up. I glance down, spotting a black hair tie. Really? Is my hair that bad that someone wants me to tie it? I pick it up with two fingers, looking around at all the people around me. I take a deep breath but don’t say anything. All of their faces are serious so I don’t know who threw it.
Piers elbows me and chuckles. “Nothing is wrong with your hair. Verity just has her own opinions,” he mutters quietly.
“Of course she does,” I say coldly. Then force a laugh. “You know what? Fine.” I pull my hair up and tie it using the hair tie. My face feels exposed when I finish. I leave it like that—in a high ponytail. “Does it look better now?” I ask Verity.
She frowns and tries apologizing. “Look, I’m sorry about—”
“No, it’s fine.” I cut her off and give her a reassuring smile. I don’t think it looks too reassuring because her face expression doesn’t change. I wave my hands around my hair. “It’s better this way.”
She sighs and looks away, turning to the food in front of her instead. I remember the can in my hand, still filled with the liquid. I look toward the front of the room, where I see the conveyor belt and touch panel still in use. The line is there. What if Rian’s still waiting?
“Am I allowed to go up there again?” I motion to the line. My stomach is still complaining. I haven’t eaten for years.
Piers nods. “Yeah. It’s not like they keep a record of who went how many times. I’ll go with you if you want. You won’t be able to find us again if you go by yourself.”
I shake my head. “Nah, I’ll manage.” I’m not planning on going back here anyway.
Piers lets me go and I squeeze out of the tight space, heading toward the end of the line. At least it’s shorter than before. I didn’t leave the can of water behind. I want to try this new water.
Sipping out of the can while I wait in line, I’m surprised again by how this tastes like. I am expecting the water to have a strange taste but it doesn’t taste like anything. Not even like water.