The Sorting Room

by Angelina Singer

  ✷✷✷

  “So… you’re in Toxic Exposure, right?” Anthony’s feeble attempt at small talk with Garth, the greasy behemoth, is cringe-worthy.

  “No crap, Sherlock.”

  “How is that?”

  “Pretty dope. The chicks dig the bod, so I get a lot of action. Makes the job all worth it.” Garth thrusts his hips as if the point needed any more explanation.

  Anthony tries to smile politely, but the sheer thought of what action meant made him squirm. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that this guy was a womanizer, and a dangerous one. Anthony is much too proper to ever think that way - his little sister makes him want to be a better man everyday, because she is so innocent and he’s her only protection. He is about to pull out his cell phone to pass the time while the girls are talking, but before he can, the door from the hallway bursts open.

  A wordless Miranda marches through it as her fist collides with Garth’s nose, and a loud crack fills the room.

  ✷✷✷

  “WE’RE DONE!” Her powerful fist knocked him flat on the floor, likely since he was caught off guard. He recoils and cringes for a moment, and then springs up from the ground and takes a shot at Miranda.

  “That’s NOT how you treat a girl. EVER.” Anthony catches Garth’s wrist, mere inches before his fist made contact with Miranda’s face. His face turns beat red, his jaw clenched in utter rage and embarrassment.

  “I will ALWAYS do as I please.” He shakes Anthony’s grip off of his arm as easily as if it was just a little child’s grasp. “And YOU, bitch, are going to pay for that.” He pushes Miranda against the wall, as her eyes widen in fear, likely not for the first time.

  “I… I told you, we are DONE. Us, and the band. We’re DONE.” Miranda’s lip trembles precariously, as a single chaste tear threatens to trace a path down her cheek.

  Anthony slips out the door with Luna in tow. “I’m calling the police, he’s hurting her.” “But wait, you didn’t get to talk to her… I wanted you to meet her.” Anthony empathically shakes his head. “Another time, we have to leave now. I am not getting mixed up with that nut job again.”

  “Yes, officer, I’m here at the Regal Throne Auditorium on Elm Street… there’s an abusive man hurting a girl… yes, okay. Thank you.” He ends the call and breathes a sigh of relief. “Well that was intense.” They both get back into Anthony’s car and drive away before any repercussions from their actions follow them away.

  “So, if you don’t mind me asking… what in the world did you tell Miranda to make her snap like that?” Luna’s violet eyes darken as she began to panic. She didn’t want to concern him with her source of shame and terror, and it was hard enough having to tell Miranda, but it was quickly becoming apparent that this was something that she had to say.

  “He… hurt me. Really badly.”

  “How? What? When?”

  “The other day…”

  Luna continued on with what details she could remember, tears streaming down her face as she continued. Anthony was in such shock that he stopped the car.

  “Luna, I’m taking you to the hospital, you’ve been assaulted.”

  “No, you don’t have to, please don’t -”

  “I have to. Just a quick check to make sure you’re okay. We’re friends, aren’t we? You have to trust me.”

  Luna opens her mouth to protest, but realizes that it might be better just to go along with it. She sits silently in her seat until they arrive. Neither of them says a word until then.

  CHAPTER 6

  “You want me to go where?” Delphine clutches her covers in shock. Evander and Onyx are talking with her in her habitation pod about the plan they have devised to save both her and Luna from a disastrous fate worse than death.

  “To Earth. You don’t… belong here without the ability to see the glowing of an orb to its intended receptacle.”

  Delphine begins hyperventilating. “But that isn’t my fault! Am I in trouble?” Onyx and Evander exchange glances. “No, you’re not, because we haven’t told anyone who would tell Zephyr. If he knew, that would be a problem. But no, it’s okay. We figured out how you can fix everything.”

  “Me?” Delphine points to herself in utter disbelief. “Yes, you, Delphine. We want you to go to Earth to take Luna’s place.” Delphine shakes her head in confusion.

  “I still don’t understand. And I’m… I’m so scared.” She breaks out in tears, and Evander calmly pats her back, but can do little else to console her. Emotions like sadness are very human, and sorters who are not secretly retracted humanoids have a difficult time expressing that properly.

  Onyx nods calmly and continues explaining. “When the… incident… happened in the Sorting Room, you changed the course of fate. By sending Luna to Earth, certain… terrible events… have happened to her, which made it against the regulations of the Upper World to bring her back.” Delphine nods, sniffling loudly above the pillow she is tightly clutching to her chest.

  “So, we want you to go to Earth to fix the original problem of Miranda and Anthony… and then live there for the rest of your days.”

  “What? So you’re banishing me?” Delphine begins sobbing hysterically now, while Evander tries to rub her back more vigorously, but his attempt at consoling her just makes her more tense.

  “No, absolutely not. If anything, we are giving you a chance to live. If Zephyr finds out about your disability, then you’d be sent to the Underworld. We’d like to offer you a chance at life before that happens.”

  Onyx and Evander take turns trying to explain their plan to Delphine, but they cannot get many words in before she starts crying loudly again, her entire body heaving in agony and terror. After she has cried all the tears she could muster, she is finally quiet enough for them to continue their explanation.

  “So… it’s really my only chance to live? Go to Earth, get Miranda and Anthony together, and then live as well as I can?”

  Onyx nods. “Yes, that’s the generic idea that I had.” Her gaze turns to Evander.

  “But… but… you promised you’d do anything you can to protect me… are you just giving up? Is this it?” Evander shakes his head.

  “Oh, my dear, don’t you see? I am doing everything I can to protect you. This is me protecting you. If I don’t do this, you’ll be forced to suffer and ultimately be obliterated. I will not let that happen.”

  Delphine slowly nods. “Okay… but what does this have to do with Luna?” Onyx and Evander exchange glances. “By taking her place, you will be her redemption and correct the mistake you created. You’ll get Miranda and Anthony together so that she won’t have to. Then, since you will be taking over her mission, she’ll be freed up in that aspect to be one step closer to coming home.”

  “That, wouldn’t be enough? What’s the next step? When will you get her back? If I’m doing this, then I want to be sure it’s… worth it. Both for me, and for her.” Onyx solemnly nods.

  “I can assure you, that it is. And it will be. The next step involves the… correction of her unfortunate… condition. I have not worked out the logistics of that part, completely, but Evander here…”

  “I’ve been working on some technology to get her back, even with her condition making her exempt from being a sorter in the Upperworld. It’s against the rules to have her growing a human fetus inside of her, it’s a rare occurrence, of course. Actually, this really has never happened before. Anyway, once she’s here… and safe… I can surgically have the offending substance removed from her body and destroyed forever. That’s why time is of the essence… if the… fetus… gets too big, and it becomes its own entity before we can get her here, then there won’t be anything I can do to help her. And remember, time moves much faster on Earth than it does here, so we have to enact this plan as quickly as possible. Jade has managed to slow down time substantially until the mistake is corrected, but it still moves relatively quickly. But I can’t get her back here until we get you properly to Earth and you get
in contact with Miranda and Anthony. Then, and only then, I can bring her back.”

  Delphine slowly nods, realizing how critical this situation has become. She is simultaneously relieved to have a grand purpose, but also terrified of leaving the Upperworld forever - it is all she’s ever known.

  “Delphine, but just so you are aware… I’m going to lead you to someone on Earth that can help you find your way to Miranda and Anthony. Since this is a rogue operation, I can’t enable a monitor to watch you on, but I can talk to you through your embedded communication device in your wrist. At least, until it leaves your body after 24 Earth hours. I’ll talk you through everything I can in that time frame.”

  Evander speaks up for the first time in a while: “I know this must be incredibly difficult to take in… are you all right with this?”

  Delphine hesitantly nods, but her face is still flushed with tears. “I’m… okay. I just need to know… when? How long until…”

  “Until you are transported to Earth? As soon as the transporter room is left unattended, we’ll be getting you in there. I’ve checked the log schedule in the system, it seems it should be available in about eight Earth hours.”

  “That’s not very long, is it?”

  “No, it’s not.”

  CHAPTER 7

  “Anthony, please stay with me… I’m scared.”

  “Bubblegum, they won’t let me in the exam room because I’m not your family. But I’ll be right here when you’re done, okay? I’ll stay right here. I promise.”

  Luna takes a deep breath and tries to be brave while an orderly leads her into a sterile room behind another closed door.

  Anthony sits in a chair in the waiting room, and notices the time on the clock - 3:30.

  “Hi, yes, Sunny Side Kindergarten? I’m going to need to request a home transport for my sister, Felicia Stevens… there’s been an emergency, and I’m helping a friend right now… Yes, I’ll accept the additional charges. Thank you.” Anthony ends the call while clenching his jaw. The extra daycare fee didn’t bother him as much as the fact that his sister might think he forgot about her. He’ll have to explain it to her later. Or, at least, as much of it as he could to a six-year-old.

  After about half an hour of waiting, a sobbing Luna is led from the exam room, carrying a folder of notes, by a kind but concerned nurse.

  “Are you the boyfriend?” Anthony looks up from his magazine. “Who? Me? Oh no, I’m just a friend. Is she okay?” The orderly sighs and pats Luna on the back. “Well, if you aren’t family I really can’t say. But I’m sure she’ll fill you in. Best of luck, dear. It’s a long journey but I believe in you.” Luna continued sobbing and Anthony just looks at Luna, waiting for answers.

  “Bubblegum, what’d the doctor say?” Luna shakes her head and just hands him the folder. He opens it gingerly and tries to remain composed enough not to scare her, but the documents and test results show enough. Maybe just words on paper now, but her condition was one that was going to stay for a solid nine months, and then after that, a lifetime of struggle.

  Luna has no true understanding of what was happening, but she could sense something was very, very wrong. Since she is not completely human, her condition would not develop at the same rate as it would for a full-blood humanoid - it would be much faster. In her case, it seemed it was detectable after even one day, perhaps a side-effect of the time discrepancy between the Upperworld and Earth. The doctor believed it’s been five weeks - Earth is certainly a strange place indeed.

  “Hey, um, congratulations? Maybe you don’t want to hear that. This is terrible, I know. I just… I’ll help you, okay? You can… stay with me as long as you want. My little sister and I, we don’t have a lot but I’ll share what we have. Okay? Just breathe. It’s going to be okay.”

  “I don’t understand… what happened to me…”

  “No one ever truly knows why these things happen… they sometimes just do. I’m so sorry Luna. I truly am.” He embraces her in a tight hug, and Luna can feel his muscles relax, but hers did nothing at all. He was different, yet similar to Onyx. Both are caring and selfless, but there wasn’t a connection like she felt with Onyx. She comforts herself with this realization, as Anthony was meant for Miranda, and she herself was beginning to worry that maybe she was getting in the way of her own mission. But now she knows.

  ✷✷✷

  As quietly as he can, Onyx straps Delphine to the table in preparation to be zapped to Earth by the molecular scrambler in the small transporter room. His hands nimbly fasten the connectors, rendering Delphine completely vulnerable. But she isn’t struggling - no. She has accepted her fate and is ready to start a mortal life on Earth.

  Onyx is rattled by the recurring flashback of the day Luna was sent to Earth. He absentmindedly touches his finger to his lip, which now begins to tingle in remembrance of the intimate moment they shared, much to the chagrin and shock of onlookers in that pivotal moment. He himself did not fully understand it, but it shattered his world. He could not, would not, perceive his existence in the same way ever again.

  Evander holds her hand. “Delphine, you should know that you will be sorely missed. This… was not how things were meant to go. I wanted… I expected… to get to show you the ropes here, and I thought I’d be working alongside you for eternity. I see now, that will not be the case. But I did want it to. You will be missed, my dear. Take courage, be brave, and live as happily as you can. I will never forget you.”

  With a tiny nod filled with pain and dread, Evander slowly nods to Onyx to flip the switch. Delphine’s slim frame tenses, then relaxes, and rapidly disappears in a cloud of glittering dust.

  Evander’s face stiffens, and becomes slightly pale. But he doesn’t cry - he just solemnly nods and walks out of the room. But Onyx… Onyx is remembering Luna even more vividly than before. The banishment of Delphine has reopened a barely-healed wound. Now, even more than ever, he is determined to get her back, as quickly and carefully as the last glittering particle floats to the floor.

  Onyx leaves the transport room, and follows Evander back to his habitation pod.

  “Evander… what are we… what are we going to tell everyone? What are we going to tell Zephyr?” Evander smiles nervously and shakes his head. “Nothing at all. I cannot think of a single thing to say.” Onyx hesitantly nods. “Well, we did technically find her a new job…” Evander shakes his head. “Even that is classified information. The by-laws state that no one is ever allowed to change occupations in the Upperworld.” Onyx nods. “Very true. And the worst of it is… it may imply a defect in the Sorting Room.”

  Evander leans closer to Onyx. “Do you think she is… a retracted humanoid also?”

  Onyx stops in his tracks, slightly offended. “What does that have to do with anything?”

  “Since she is unable to sense the glow of an orb.”

  “Irrelevant. Luna and I both can, and we’re…” Onyx cannot bring himself to say it. His recent realization about his own origin shook everything he thought he knew to shreds. And being that he holds a position of responsibility and prestige in the Upperworld, it destroyed the confidence he had in himself.

  Evander realizes his verbal blunder and pats Onyx apologetically on the back. “I’m… I’m so sorry Onyx. That was very improper of me to say. Well perhaps… there is another reason.”

  “If we don’t figure it out… unqualified sorters could crop up. This could spell disaster!” Evander nods. “I know… we’ll… have to think of something.”

  Little do they know, that their conversation is being listened to. In the shadows of the Upperworld directly outside of the transport room, Jade hears their conundrum and is ready to strike.

  “Delphine is gone? Well that’s not right… and she was unable to sort? Fascinating.” She drums her fingertips mischievously on her chin, willing to break apart everything the guides were working on, as a conniving grin oozes across her lips.

  CHAPTER 8

  Paralyzed with confusion and w
orry, Luna forces herself to breathe deeply while she sits in the passenger’s seat of Anthony’s car. Suddenly they are both at a loss for words.

  “So… um… do you like pizza? I know of a great place… I’ll call now and order some takeout. I’m sure my sister’s hungry too, so we can bring it home and eat.” Luna nods, even her minimal amount of words stuck in the back of her throat. Is this why I lost my embedded communication device? How will I get home? How will anyone help me?

  All these thoughts begin to make her shiver. Her mind is running a mile a minute, and Anthony is oblivious to her internal struggle being more deep and twisted than simply just an unwanted child. Onyx, will I ever get to see you again? You… you promised…

  “Here it is. I’ll… go get it. Just wait here.” Anthony stops the car and then carefully opens the door to get the food. It suddenly seems as if her precarious condition subconsciously affects everything he does now - he even appears to walk more carefully than his typical jaunty strut. Within a few moments, he emerges from the building carrying two large, flat cardboard boxes.

  “Alrighty, and my house isn’t far from here.” He inserts the key into the car’s ignition, beginning the short trek back to his humble home as the calming, delightful scent of the pizza fills Luna’s nostrils. “You know, this is… going to be hard, I know. But I meant what I said earlier about supporting you. You can stay with me and do whatever you need to be comfortable. I’m so sorry this even happened… I wish I knew sooner so I could have helped you more.” Luna nods gratefully, but she still clings to the hope that one day, she’ll be back home where she belongs, a silent prayer on her lips that Onyx will come to her rescue… and that somehow, Anthony will find his way to Miranda, as Luna is quickly running into a bunch of dead ends.

  “This is it.” Luna looks up from her silent reverie at a smallish, cozy house that has clearly seen some levels of neglect, with vines marching up the sides of the building and some rogue weeds dotting the lawn substantially. But the glow inside of it is welcoming against the backdrop of the bright purple evening sun.