I simply stare at Morris, trying to digest his words. He’s just told me exactly what I’ve always wanted to know, ever since this whole thing started. “I know that there are other Districts,” I admit to him. “I found them a long time ago, when I was analyzing the Residents’ data.”
“Yes, I am aware. And you never told anyone, besides Crane. You keep secrets well.”
“Where are they, who’s running them?”
“There’s one in Florida, Arizona, Kansas, Washington, and Alaska. They have five of their own Sovereign, people much like us, managing the District. Those five Districts are run by the original Entities, scattered within the managing Sovereign. They are the ones who planned this entire project, and there are more, all over the world.”
“But why, what’s the reason for this?”
“Population control. Nature was always able to do it herself with plagues, diseases, flus, droughts, and floods, but we've been able to defend ourselves against them, and as a result the population has bloomed into an uncontrollable virus, tarnishing our planet. We needed to act, and there were some that felt this was the best option. The governments weren't working. The wars were getting worse. It was only a matter of time before someone launched another atom bomb, it’s just all the other countries had their own. You know what would have happened. If we didn’t do this. It was time to start over, before things got worse.”
“You believed in this… this plan?” I ask him.
“I thought it was the best way to select the finest of the species to continue on. I don't agree with the bombings, but it was the fastest way to disable the society. Be thankful that you and your family were chosen. This wasn't a sudden happening. This event has been planned and in the works for years, all over the world. We expect the population die offs to begin in phases. First from the bombings, then illness and injury, famine, and by the remaining population’s own destruction. They will start killing each other, form alliances, gangs, and the Districts will remain secure, selecting from the good Survivors when necessary and leaving the bad Survivors to kill themselves off. But we will always be searching for the Sovereign we missed, they will always be allowed in.”
“And if you failed, if this project failed, what then, Morris? What would you have done after obliterating the free world?” It’s a question I can’t help but ask.
He shakes his head. “There was no option for failure. We knew this when we started. Japan was a success, and now the U.S., Canada was reformed ten months ago, as well as Australia. The Reformation is occurring all over the world as we speak.”
“How do you know they were a success? We have no communication with the outside world.”
“You may not, but we do. The Entities converse on a weekly basis with updates, news, ideas to help the populations cope. Phoenix has been the most successful, and we have you to thank for much of that.”
“Why are you telling me this? I’ve barely done a thing to help, all I’ve done is ruin these people’s lives.”
“Because I am a Funding Entity and I'm dying. I don’t have much time left. Now, I am passing my power on to you. You will be the first new Entity.”
“I want nothing to do with this. I don’t want your seat. I don’t want to be a Funding Entity!” I tell him, shaking my head in disbelief.
“It’s too late. We’ve decided, and it’s final.”
“Who else then? Who else is an Entity?”
“Crane, Alexander, and Elvis.” They were here the whole time, right next to me, directly under my nose. Morris and Elvis befriending me, getting close to Lina. Crane my nemesis, threatening me at every turn. And Alexander remaining as passive as ever. “You’ll learn about the others later.”
I watch Morris as he speaks, listening closely to the rasp in his breathing. “What are you dying of?”
“A variety if things. There's my heart, it hasn't been ticking the same, and the guilt of knowing what I took part in, being responsible for all those deaths out there. I know it's time. Some can live with what they’ve done, but it’s taken a toll on me, these things always do for those who were pure of heart.”
“What about the Reformation political group everyone was talking about before the bombings? How do they fit in?”
“You must not have made the connection, Andromeda. The Reformation, the Entities, they are one in the same.” I pause to think about the information he’s just given me. “You are not to speak of it. The District Residents are not to know who we are, and the children are not to know. The Funding Entities know this, I know this, Crane knows this, they selected you to know. You are the youngest of the Sovereign, you will carry this information until you die, and at the last moment you will choose someone to pass it on to. The world as we knew it will no longer exist. I will not threaten you with punishment because I know the one Crane delivered to you was enough.”
It’s those words that make me wonder if Crane was really so secretive in kidnapping me, and if others knew the entire time what was happening, waiting until the last minute to rescue me. “If this is about survival of the species then how do you know you are doing the right thing? Darwin even said it’s not the intelligence, it's the ability to adapt.” He just watches me, my face twisting in confusion. “Why did you choose me? Why was I chosen for this? I am nothing special. I don’t want this.”
“No, Andromeda, you are more than that, you were chosen because you are strong enough to handle this and smart enough to adapt. You always have, in everything that you’ve done. We’ve been watching you for a long time. Right now, in this moment, you are responsible for reworking the entire human race, for creating better people who don't have to suffer with poverty or illness-” I don’t give him a chance to finish.
“This is not my place, my plan. I've ruined their lives. That’s all I did. I took away their freedom, their ability to control their own future. We tell them what to do, what to wear, what to eat, where to work, who to reproduce with. There is nothing great in that.” I shake my head, trying to control the raising panic in my chest. I don’t want this, and this is not me. The things I’ve done, it was all because I was scared of a tiny man, it was not because I wanted this.
Morris interrupts my thoughts. “What would they have had to look forward to, before now? They are happy. They have meaning again. They will be thankful for all that you have done, your hard work, your sacrifices, all that you have given them.”
“I don’t believe it, Morris. And these people who were chosen, the best of the human race, what happens to them?”
“They will rise up and care for the others just as you have. They will make strides in medicine, research, advance our technologies. Think of the energy we could refocus. There’s space travel, allowing the protected species to once again populate the earth, advances in medicine, cure cancer. It will be much easier when the world isn't controlled by the poor who are fighting for their share of everyone else’s prospers.”
“And what happens to me? To my family? Where do we go from here?”
“That, Andromeda, is for you to determine.”
We sit in silence for a long time. I listen to the sound of the songbirds chirping outside the window, the buses driving by, the children laughing as they play in their yards. Morris squeezes my hand.
“Andromeda, there’s one last thing.” He pauses, long enough for him to recover from a bout of coughing. “I don’t want to do this to you, but the Entities have made a decision before you can go on, their last decision before you become one of them.”
I don’t see how it could get much worse than this already. “What?” I ask.
“You have to choose a pair.”
“No,” I answer instantly, shaking my head. This is too much, too much information, too much to think about already, and now Morris drops this bomb on my head.
“We can’t have the values of the District ruined by this. Of all people, the one who pairs the Residents, they look up to you, they trust you with their future. You have to follow t
he rules. Everyone has a pair. We will have no fatherless children here.”
I want to laugh-the first scandal, being blamed on me. “This whole thing is a scandal, Morris. The creation of the Districts, the bombings, it’s the biggest scandal in the history of man. And now you want to pin this on me? All I’ve ever wanted was to live my life in peace, to raise my family. That is why I stopped doing genetic research. This is too much.” I stand, walking away from his bedside, pacing the room, trying to calm my racing heart. The fluttering in my stomach getting stronger, harder. I lay my hand on my bulging abdomen, trying to soothe the baby back to sleep.
“We never asked you who the father was. We can only assume it’s one of a few people. Either way, Andromeda, you need to choose someone to raise that child with you.”
I continue to shake my head in disbelief, pacing. Now they care what I want. It’s now at this desperate moment with Morris dying-that they want to give me a choice in my life, in my daughter’s life. All we wanted was to escape, to be free, but it’s too late now.
“Anyone, it has been discussed that we will even consider releasing Ian to you, if that’s what you want.”
Oh my God, Ian. I sit back down next to Morris. I think to the few times we’ve talked since he’s been taken off the medication. At first he was confused, now angry and unsure of himself. But each time I was with him, I didn’t have that feeling, the one that made me say yes an instant after he asked me to marry him. That feeling that I had to have him, that he was mine. It was gone and I was only filled with sadness and guilt at the fact that I ruined us. What we had is in the past, we will never be able to recover that. No, I can’t pull Ian back into this. He has another child, another pair. He’s been through enough. All I can do is leave him to recover. I’m sure Crane would not take to any more distractions. It took him long enough to recover from the medication, and now he’s trying to figure out what is wrong with the reactor and get it back up to full power. Another distraction, which could impede his job, could have dire effects on his life. Crane won’t go for it. He’s distracted the Entities before so he could perform his own method of punishment. No, I can’t do that to Ian. I can’t hurt him more.
That leaves Adam, or some stranger to choose from the population. Or perhaps I could just ignore them, the demands from the Entities, especially now that I know who they are. Perhaps I could just go on with two fatherless children.
“Andromeda?” Morris asks, just before erupting into another fit of coughing. He covers his mouth with a tissue, when he pulls it away he tries to crumple it in his hand, but not before I see the flecks of blood. “When my soul has left this earth, you will take my place. Until then you need to find it within yourself to follow the guidelines, find a pair for yourself.”
It is the worst last wish I have ever heard from a dying man.
It must be the hormones, the information that Morris just dumped on me, or maybe seeing the blood on his tissue. I stand to pace the room again and to get myself a drink of water before telling him goodbye so I can return to the Pasture and contemplate my future, again. But as I stand, I notice bright sparks clouding my vision. I feel myself stagger, reaching out to grab the back of the chair but I miss, my head feeling heavy and foggy.
“Andromeda?” I hear Morris ask. It sounds like he’s under water, or maybe that I am. I can’t focus. My knees give out. I can sense that I’m falling and I try to reach out and grab something-anything-to stop myself, but it’s no use. The last thing I can will myself to do is turn slightly to the side so I don’t land on my stomach and on the baby.
--
Someone is pulling at my eyelids, shining a bright light into my eyes. It feels like the sun is shining straight into my cornea causing my head to throb. I raise my hand to push them away, but someone stops me, holding my hand still.
“It’s okay. She’s conscious.” I recognize Dr. Akiyama’s voice as I blink the brightly colored blobs from my vision.
“What happened?” I ask as I look around the room.
It’s only the doctor, Sam, and Adam, sitting in the corner of the room.
“You fainted.” Dr. Akiyama crosses his arms, looking concerned.
“What?” I ask.
“Are you feeling ok, Andie?” I hear Sam ask from the chair next to me.
“I’m fine,” I tell him.
“Your blood pressure is a little high,” Dr. Akiyama continues.
“I’m sure it is,” I snap back at him.
“You need to relax more. You’re into the second trimester now.”
“That’s a nice joke, Doc.” I try to push the conversation with Morris away from my mind.
“We did a sonogram while you were out, just to check the baby and make sure he was okay.” I glance over to Adam, who’s watching our conversation intently, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. The gray uniform shirt pulled tight against his biceps.
I turn my attention back to the doctor. “Did you say he?”
“Yes, you’re having a boy, congratulations.” He smiles, waiting for my reaction. I’m sure it’s not what he had hoped. I stare at the wall, holding back tears. “If you don’t take it easy I’m going to have to admit you. Of all people, you know what can happen with high blood pressure during pregnancy.” I just shake my head at him. I do know. Seizures, blood clots, liver failure. It’s not good. “I’ll check on you later,” he tells me.
As Dr. Akiyama leaves the room. I turn to Sam, trying to avoid Adam’s glare from the back of the room. He just raises his eyebrows at me. “Are you going to talk to him?” I press my lips together, trying to control my expressions. “I talked to him already, Andie, it’s your turn.” He stands up, walking across the room towards the door. “Don’t open this door until you two have held a decent conversation with each other.” He points his finger at both of us then closes the door behind him, clicking the latch into place.
Now it’s just Adam and me. We only look at each other for a long time. I’m afraid to speak, afraid that he is still so mad at me. I reach up, grasping the owl charm between my fingers, trying to think of what to say. What could I say to redeem myself? To let him know I’m sorry I never told him, that I’m sorry he had to find out from someone we both despise.
The words of Morris are fresh in my mind. I need someone, before I can take my place as Sovereign when he dies. The thought of Morris dying brings me sadness because he’s the one I’ve always been able to rely on, the one who truly looked out for me and Lina besides Adam. Now I’m being forced to choose my own pair, at a time when the only two men I have to choose from I’ve pushed as far away as I possibly can. Still, I have that longing, that human need to have someone continue on with me. I can’t deny it any longer.
Adam moves first, walking towards me, sitting in Sam’s seat next to the bed. Close enough for me to smell him, to see the tired lines under his eyes, worse than they were just a few hours ago when he drove me here. It’s strange, that I could muster all the courage to speak to an entire community of people just a few weeks ago, and now I can’t even muster an ounce of it to start a conversation with the one person I can trust here.
“I’m sorry,” Adam starts.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper back. “I should have told you as soon as I found out. But you said…” I sigh, searching for the right words. “We both said it isn’t right to bring a child into this.”
He reaches forward, pulling me towards him, pulling me onto his lap, like he used to. I wrap my arms around him and bury my face in his neck, trying not to cry.
“It’s a boy,” he whispers in my ear.
I pull away from him, wiping at my face. I take his hand and place it on my swollen stomach so he can feel the motion of the baby inside. I watch his face closely, waiting for the frown or the anger that has accompanied his face for so long, but it never shows. Instead, a slight smile starts to spread across his lips as he looks up to me. He stares into my eyes, his face so close, and presses his lips to mine.
Dr. Akiyama releases me from the hospital, under strict orders that I am to return home and rest. I stop to visit Morris before I leave, only to find him sleeping, the rasp in his breathing worse.
Part III
The Tour
CHAPTER nineteen
“You’re going on tour,” Crane tells me as we stand in the Committee room.
“Actually, I’m not going anywhere,” I reply with the same disdain in my voice that I used to use. I’ve finally found myself able to stand up to him and I can look him in the eye without breaking out in a panicked sweat.
“The other Districts need you. There’s tension. The Entities want you to repeat the speech.”
“So, you want me to repeat the speech?” I ask. “I don’t really care, Crane. My presence will do nothing for the other Districts. The only reason it worked here was because I knew these people. The Residents from the other Districts don’t have any idea who I am. It will only make things worse. I’m not leaving here. I have Lina and I’m pregnant. I’m not risking my life for people I don’t know.”
“Ah, Andromeda. You have been chosen to go, therefore, you will go. And before you return you will have chosen your own pair. Before you give birth to that child.” He points harshly at my abdomen. “Think of it as your initiation as a Funding Entity.”
“Who else is going?” I ask crossing my arms, trying to cover myself, still ashamed of the situation I am in.
The Phoenix Project Series: Books 1-3: The Phoenix Project, The Reformation, and Revelation Page 42