Curses, Fates & Soul Mates

by et al Kristie Cook

  But I did.

  My eyes felt a mild sting and immediately registered that I was underwater, breathing easily, in and out through my nose. Lying flat on my back, I glanced down to find the same ratty, snug jeans clinging to my legs and hips, and a comfy, worn t-shirt floating over my breasts and around my torso. It was tied in a knot at my hip. My familiar, heavy black boots covered my feet, hitting mid-calf.

  Feeling relaxed and sated from my journey, I stretched a bit, moving to place my hands on the Capsule’s glass shield above me. As soon as my fingers made contact, the Capsule jolted and began to buzz softly. Little by little, the body of water I’d been enclosed in began to drain, the level gradually lowering, exposing my cooled skin to chilly, crisp air. The glass lid clicked and slid open, and I gasped from the loss of water.

  “Easy,” a voice crooned.

  My gaze darted up and around, looking for its source, finding no one.

  “Gently lift yourself up, and step out. Welcome home, Skylla Warden. Activation complete.”

  My breathing escalated at the realization that the voice wasn’t here in this room with me, but in my head. Carefully and with great focus, I obeyed its order and began to lift myself from the vehicle.

  What I found was not just a room, but a circular tower, and I was right in the center of it. My breath caught when my brain registered the tower’s transparent walls. Transparent, and completely free of windows, art—any and all obstruction. Their spacious underwater view of the ocean was fresh from a dream. A dolphin pod swam by on the left, and some kind of shark—a tiger shark, I think—gracefully lurked over the glass-dome ceiling. There was no way this place was real.

  No. Not possible.

  Judging by the magical, cerulean blue of the ocean, we couldn’t be that deep. My eyes adjusted to the tower’s light, and as they did, six other Capsules came into view, all situated behind mine, all of their lids opened and on display. One by one, the other Shepherds rose from their vehicles, soaking wet like me, all coughing and gasping as their lungs adjusted to the absence of water.

  A vague confusion rolled in like a fog. How long had I been asleep? Why couldn’t I recall all of the details of my journey?

  Kale’s gaze met mine and he sent me a smirk, his expression relieved and somehow foreign, although it wasn’t rational. I knew him, recognized his face. We’d traveled here, to Lucenta, together. I remembered that much. My brain clawed through the fuzzy memories, sifting through the images and picked them apart, one by one.

  My fingers shot to the back of my neck, recalling how we’d implanted one another before making the trip in the Capsules. Flashes of Central Control’s stone table and ancient fountain statue popped all around me, how we’d been at the San Francisco base station, with the sole purpose to come here, to claim our destiny as Shepherds, and to find answers.

  I let my eyes scan the other five Shepherds, taking in their diverse appearances. Three were women, one who looked close to my age, the other two in their thirties or forties. Their heights varied, as did their hair color. The two men were definitely older than Kale, with peppered gray hair and soft traces of aging along their eyes and mouths. One man was built like an athlete, while the other was thin and lanky. Memories of two other faces faded in and out, faces I recognized, but couldn’t identify. I pressed my fingers to the bridge of my nose, closing my eyes, trying to grasp recollections of their features. The harder I tried to remember, the more distant the images grew.

  “Await instructions,” the voice said, causing me to glance around. I knew I wouldn’t find anyone else, but I couldn’t help myself. A digital hourglass symbol appeared in the upper right-hand side of my vision, with the same bluish tone as the text I’d seen move over the Capsule’s glass window when it told me my destination. The hourglass blinked, and the voice repeated itself, instructing me to await further direction.

  Stretching my fingers and rolling my neck to work out the stiffness, I felt my breathing resume to normal. I still craved the water, but seeing that I was surrounded by it from every angle put my mind at ease. Other than an intense draw to the ocean and my muddled memories of my time with Kale, I didn’t feel all that different since he’d implanted the chip into my neck.

  None of the Shepherds spoke. The disorientation and fascination with our surroundings killed speech on the spot. That fascination grew when a glimmer sparked from the rear tower door. The chrome door rolled open and revealed a single Invader. Its posture was nonthreatening. Leisurely, even. I blinked and rubbed my eyes, then refocused on the creature. We all watched it stride past us and across the room, then up a narrow stone stairway that led to a tall, circular glass tank. A graceful stream of bubbles fluttered up the tank’s sides as it sat empty on the platform at the top of the stairwell. The Invader reached the tank and extended a hand, prompting the door to pop open, which revealed a solid wall of water. Casually walking into it, the Invader immersed itself in the tank, waiting for the door to close behind it.

  “Ten seconds,” the smooth, robotic voice said. The hourglass image continued to blink in my upper right-hand field of vision. The tank went dark, its water inky as it churned and pushed all around the Invader’s body—black against white, white mixing into black. The voice began to count down, backward from ten. At zero, the hourglass disappeared and the water resumed its natural shade. The Invader was no longer floating inside, but was instead replaced by a pretty blonde woman.

  Human.

  I took a step forward, enamored with the process taking place before me. Did I just see that right? Did that monster just turn into a human by stepping into that contraption?

  My eyes narrowed, scanning the beautiful form in the tank. The woman’s golden locks fanned out, her arms and legs gracefully swishing through the water. Her body was covered in a svelte ivory suit, her feet shod in elegant matching heels. Her eyes were closed as she extended a hand to reach for the door handle on the inside of the tank. The door opened and out she stepped, completely dry. There was no trace of dampness, not even in her blonde hair, which was now well groomed and perfectly coiffed. Half was drawn up and pulled back from her face, and the rest was left down, brushing the tops of her shoulders.

  The woman’s face was stoic as she easily strolled down the stairway to meet us in the center of the tower. “Good day, and welcome home.” Her voice was just as smooth as the voice in my head, and just as monotone. “My name is Elara, and I am here to provide you with further instruction. I have chosen to appear in human form for your comfort and convenience. As you are now aware, I am capable of speaking to you via text command, and I may transfer my thoughts to you audibly, but our research has indicated that the human species responds best to the communication of their own kind.”

  I shifted uncomfortably. This woman’s—this thing’s—obvious comfort robbed me of my own. A vague unease churned in the pit of my stomach, which was beyond conflicting, considering every other sense told me I was where I was supposed to be.

  Elara glided back and forth as she spoke, as if walking on air, her hands positioned tidily at her sides. “Upon activation, Shepherds are stripped of emotive human memory—any memory that bonded you to another human being has been erased. Any feeling for those you loved or cared for in your former human life is now forgotten. This is to ensure you are free from all emotional attachment to your life on Earth, which might pose potential risk to your focus on your new role as Shepherd. The wiping of these memories not only serves to eliminate any chance of distraction, but also helps ensure you will be fully committed to your destiny. Your role from this moment will be to select an army suited to your preferences. We have selected the best candidates for you to choose from and have gathered them here, in Lucenta. Once you approve your recruit selections, you will complete your final task. You are now free to speak. Questions?”

  The seven of us glanced at one another. Did we have questions? Um … yeah, a boatload of them. “You say you erased our memories?” I asked, my voice dry. “I remembe
r Kale.” I pointed to him. “I remember how I got here, where I came from … everything.”

  “Memories of your past life were not erased. You will remember places, people, things. Only feelings for those with whom you formed a special bond will be forgotten. Anything that hinders your ability to think rationally, due to an emotional connection, has been eliminated. You might recognize faces and the memories associated with them, but you will not recognize what you felt for those faces. Your emotional attachment to their memories will be nonexistent. Has that clarified your question?”

  Kale’s voice came next. “Skylla and I were friends.” He shrugged, his eyes flicking to mine. “I remember what I felt for her.” His glance felt too intimate, so I looked away.

  “That is an exception. You are both Shepherds. You are permitted to remember one another.”

  “Permitted?” One of the women Shepherds huffed at my side. “What, we need permission to feel something for someone? You didn’t have our permission to erase anything. What if we don’t want this? What if we refuse to fulfill this … role of ours?”

  “Then you are free to leave.”

  “Just like that?”

  “Affirmative.”

  “Wait,” I said. “What is this final task, and why can’t you choose seven others? Others who actually want to serve you?”

  “You do not wish to serve us?”

  “We want answers,” Kale said, taking a step forward, placing himself next to me. “Skylla and I chose to reimplant ourselves. Our chips were removed, but we chose to implant and report to you. We ask that you respect our honesty, spare us, and consider ending the destruction on Earth. Our kind and yours can peacefully coexist, or at least come to an agreement. If you reconsider, I’m sure Skylla and I aren’t the only ones who would be willing to forgive your attack.”

  “What?” I hissed through my teeth, my head snapping toward him. “I never said I’d forgive and forget.”

  Kale ignored me, keeping his eyes on the creature that called itself Elara. “Please, tell us about this task you have planned for us. Tell us why you created us, why you created Earth. What is this all for, if you chose to attack our planet anyway? Why create seven different Earths?”

  “Too many questions,” Elara replied simply. “You are not entitled to so many answers.”

  “The hell we aren’t,” the woman to my left replied. Her green eyes were hard and angry, her voice giving away the same frustration that Kale and I obviously shared. Where was this instantaneous loyalty I’d heard we were to inherit upon service? Those with chips were supposed to willingly surrender, weren’t they? So far, all I’d felt in this room was rebellion. All I’d heard was suspicion. Was I missing something?

  “Wait a minute,” Kale mumbled, stepping in front of me. “Where are our friends?”

  Elara stopped pacing and turned to square herself with Kale. “Friends?”

  “Yeah,” Kale said, his expression confused. “We had … we brought friends with us. Here, to Lucenta. I remember. Where are they?”

  “You are mistaken.”

  “No. No, I’m not.”

  “Negative. You are mistaken. It is natural for your memories to be unclear or disorderly upon activation.”

  Kale turned to me, taking my shoulders in his hands. “Skylla, tell me you remember. You remember, don’t you? The two people we brought with us? Another guy … our age, and a little girl? God, I can’t remember their names. But I can see their faces.”

  I searched my scrambled thoughts for signs of whatever he was talking about, but still came up short. Central Control in San Francisco, Kale and me standing near the operating panel, the seven glowing globes, the Capsules …

  “No,” I said, pressing the bridge of my nose again at the memory block. “Sorry, I can’t see it.… I don’t remember.”

  “The guy was shooting at the Invaders,” Kale muttered, his voice trailing off as he became lost in thought. “I swear I’m not imagining this. He gave us a little girl to take with us and then …”

  “Then what?”

  “She traveled to Lucenta with me, and you traveled with him.” Kale spun around to glare at Elara, his gaze bouncing between her and the open Capsules on the ground. “Where are they? What did you do with them? They came here with us, in those vehicles.” He pointed to the empty machines.

  “Kale,” I said, looking nervously between the two of them. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes,” he shot back. “The guy … you were close to him. You came with him to California to help him find the little girl. He kissed you in a hallway, in a Black Hole. You two were—”

  “Yes,” I choked out. The memories were fuzzy and broken, but became clearer as the fragments rose to the surface and peeked above the distortion. Beauty like fire, a voice echoed somewhere in the blackness in the back of my skull, and a heart like rain. “Hera,” I whispered. “Her name was Hera. And his was—”

  “Phoenix,” Kale finished, remembering. “Jet Phoenix.”

  Elara was right. Any emotion I’d felt for these people must have been erased, because I didn’t feel anything when I thought of them. But I did register their memory, and if I remembered them and made the effort to travel all the way to California with them, and then bring them here, to Grand Central Enemy Territory, I must’ve felt something at one point in time, right?

  “It’s true,” I turned to Elara. “They came here with us. In those Capsules. What happened to them?”

  Elara’s blank expression deepened the swirling unease in my gut. I wasn’t sure what I was bothered by more: her indifference, or that Elara wasn’t really a her at all, but instead an Invader masquerading as a woman. “I will repeat myself,” she/it said. “You are mistaken. You arrived alone.”

  “Hey,” the woman to my left piped up again, breaking our staredown. “None of this is relevant. Why don’t you answer Kale’s questions and tell us what we’re here for? Tell us about this task.”

  Elara’s lip twitched. “There is strong resistance in this room. The Maker will not accept this. It will take time for your loyalty to evolve. You must yield to it.”

  “I thought once you flip the switch, we instantly bow down and kiss your feet,” Kale said, eyes narrowed.

  “Negative. Again, you are the exception. Shepherds have a degree of free will that others in service do not. They also have free will, but when they enter service, they are prohibited from leaving once they are implanted. If they resist or try to escape, they are punished. Unlike them, you all have the option to walk away, with no retaliation on our behalf. This is why you are given a choice to report upon activation. Activation stimulates an inherent sense of loyalty and belonging, but it is your free will that is responsible for the final step of surrender. We want you to desire to serve. The others in service are simply necessary pawns to execute our mission. Their freedom is limited.”

  “Brilliant,” the woman at my side snapped. “Oh lucky us, we don’t get the shaft like the others. In that case, my name is Lorie and you can consider my free will as declaring a big, fat hell no to this whole thing. I don’t want any part of this. Where’s the door?”

  “You have not heard everything. I suggest you stay.”

  “I suggest you show me the damn exit. Right now.”

  “If you do not wish to stay after I have spoken, then I will show you the exit. This is not negotiable.”

  Lorie shot the rest of us a look, but didn’t comment further.

  Elara resumed her pacing. “It is important to understand why activation stimulates a sense of loyalty in the first place. It is because you do in fact belong here, with us. Every human being belongs with us, because the Maker designed it that way. The desire you feel to belong is natural, because it was ingrained in each and every one of you, to know and seek your purpose. The identity blueprint that was assigned to you is your answer to finding that fulfillment.”

  “You have got to be kidding me,” Lorie muttered, crossing her arms. “See, everything you just
spouted about free will a few seconds ago means nothing, if what you’re saying right now is true. So … we only find fulfillment if we submit to your identity-blueprint crap? What does that even mean?”

  “There is a difference between happiness and fulfillment. Happiness is temporal and can be changed by circumstance. Fulfillment cannot. It is internal, and eternal.”

  It was I who groaned at all this mumbo jumbo now. “Okay, Elara. You’re losing us. I know you’re trying to speak human and all, but you kind of suck at it. Can you please speak plainly?”

  “Is this not plain enough for you?”

  “No, it’s not. What are you getting at? Point blank, just tell us. Why should we submit to this master plan of yours? It’s essential we know the mechanics, know the why behind all of it, because your species just landed on our planet—and yes, it is still our planet, even though you created it—and wiped out half of our population. That doesn’t exactly scream peace and warm, fuzzy fulfillment. It certainly doesn’t scream free will. None of this does. You forced the Preselected Keeper Agents to be what they are. You forced the Collectors to do what they do. And what about the labs? All the experiments? The prison camps?” I shuddered, recalling my introduction to their world. “Everything you’re saying is contradictory, do you understand that?”

  Elara stopped pacing, her lashes blinking rapidly. “Stand by.” As she said this, that damn blue hourglass popped up again in the right-hand corner of my vision, blinking as rapidly as Elara’s faint black lashes. Seconds passed while we all darted glances at one another, thrown by the situation in which we found ourselves.

  Elara’s chin jutted out awkwardly and there was a jolt in her speech as her voice revved back into motion. “You are to submit because it is your duty. You are to submit because your presence is crucial to the building of Foundation Zero—the true, flawless, permanent Planet Earth. Foundation Zero is being built based on our findings of the seven prototype models, and you are the chosen Seven Shepherds to help extract the very best human recruits from each model planet and relocate them to this new home. Think of your planet as an experimental model used to create one flawless model. We wish to create a single, habitable planet and coexist.”