by Jamie Davis
Nick Glenn stepped up beside her as she took a bite. “It’s nice to see you out and about in the community again, Cassie.”
“Oh, hi, Nick. I didn’t realize you were here. I’m sorry I didn’t get back in touch with you sooner. It’s been a little hectic at my house and I’ve had some trouble adjusting to being home again. I’m sure you understand.”
“Yeah, I’ve had the same issues. Our parents don’t seem to understand that we went away and lived independently for three or four months. Now that we’re home again, they expect us to come back and be the little kids we were before.”
Cass smiled in spite of everything that occupied her mind. “Exactly, Nick. You nailed it.”
After an awkward silence, Nick cleared his throat and said, “Hey, Cass, I wanted to apologize for that little ambush party my parents threw the first day you were back. I didn’t want to do it, but they kind of forced me. It was a total jerk move.”
“It’s all right. I kind of figured out what it was pretty quickly. I decided to go along with it for at least a little while and get a chance to see everyone.”
“Yeah, well everyone in the community was a little worried about you when your parents told us about that girl you were living with.”
Cass stiffened at the tone Nick used when he referred to Shelby.
“That girl isn’t what anybody thinks she is, Nick. You know me and what kind of person I am. She’s not some sort of monster who somehow mind-controlled me if that’s what you’re worried about. She’s a girl just like me who went away to college and made a new friend. That’s all.”
“Cass, you know that’s something someone would say even if they were under mind control.”
Cass stared at Nick for a few seconds and then glanced past him, over his shoulder. Nick’s mom and dad watched them from across the room.
Seeing them observing Nick talking with her brought all her frustration boiling to the surface. “You apologize for ambushing me at the party my first day back, then you come over here tonight and you do the exact same thing? How is it you didn’t think I’d pick up on that?”
“Cass, it’s not like that.”
Nick’s shocked expression made her wonder if she’d overreacted. At that moment, she didn’t care enough to backtrack, though.
“No, Nick, I think it is. Go and tell your parents that I’m not some kind of freak. Tell them I’m not under mind control and it turns out Shelby is a lot better friend to me than any of you.”
Cass didn’t wait for a reply. She turned around and walked back over to where her parents were talking with another couple. Elena was over chatting with Cadence and a few other friends from middle school.
“Dad, I think it’s time for me to go. Do you mind if I head back home on my own?”
Her dad started to say something but her mom interrupted him with a hand on his arm. Her mom smiled at her eldest daughter and said, “It would really be nice if you stayed here and mingled a little bit, Cassie.”
Cass fumed at being told no, but she’d gotten her answer when she looked to her father and he nodded in agreement.
“Your mother’s right, Cass. Talk to your friends and hang around. See, Elena’s having a good time. You should do the same thing.”
“I don’t mind talking to people, Dad, but they’re all interrogating me for their parents. Why don’t the two of you just ask me the questions you have for me and be done with it. Stop sending all my friends to do it for you.”
A sad smile crossed her father’s face. “People are worried about you Cass, not just us. You should accept that for what it is — genuine concern for your welfare.”
“There’s nothing wrong with me, Dad. I’ve got a new girlfriend, that’s all. There’s nothing else going on.”
Cass felt like she was repeating the same things over and over again. She was tired of having to defend Shelby to these people, including her family. “You know what? I’m just going to go home on my own anyway. I’m over 18 and you can’t tell me what to do, no matter what you might think. I’ll see you all back at the house.”
Cass headed for the nearest exit without waiting for her parents to answer. Once outside, Cass started down the sidewalk, taking a longer, more circuitous route to return home.
A voice called out from behind her. It was Susan.
“Cassie, slow down. I’ll walk with you.”
Cass snapped an accusing glance at her ex-girlfriend as she caught up to her. “Aren’t you afraid you’ll catch my disease?”
“That’s not fair. I’m not like all the others, Cass. It’s me. We’re not going out anymore, but you can still trust me.”
Cass wasn’t sure she could trust anyone here anymore, not even Susan. She didn’t say anything, though. Instead, she kept walking, but moved to one edge of the sidewalk to make room for Susan to walk beside her.
As they ambled, Susan chattered away about her time at school. Cass didn’t pay close attention, but it was hard not to listen. Susan had found a new girlfriend and seemed happy enough based on what she said. The surprising admission came when she said she wasn’t thrilled with the options available to her from the enclave’s college programs.
“Sue, if you want to go to the University, just tell your parents you want to go there.”
“It’s not that easy, Cass. After what happened with you, everyone’s leery of letting their kids veer away from approved programs.”
Cass cursed and threw her hands in the air. “Dammit, I’m sick and tired of everybody pretending I’m damaged goods just because I went somewhere else. I’m no different than when I left and it’s pissing me off the way everyone’s treating me.”
Susan smiled and placed a calming hand on Cass’s arm. “It’s okay, Cass. I’d be pissed, too, in your position. I know you better than anyone around here. I have to admit, when I first heard about you and Shelby, I was a little freaked out. Then I saw you a few weeks ago at Nick’s party, and I realized you hadn’t changed much at all. I think everyone is wrong about this. Shelby must be really nice if you feel about her the way you seem to.”
Susan’s words surprised Cass. She didn’t say anything in response, though. The pair walked on along the darkened residential streets in silence for a while.
As they approached the street where Sue lived, Cass said, “Sue, I think I want to walk the rest away by myself. Is that all right? I appreciate everything you said. I just need some time alone right now.”
Sue looked like she was about to say something, but then she stopped herself. She leaned in and gave Cass a hug, then turned and walked down the street towards her home.
Cass decided she wasn’t ready to face her parents yet, so instead, she took the turn towards the bike trail that led through the enclave’s small wooded nature preserve. There was a favorite spot there just off the path that would allow her to be alone with her thoughts for a little bit.
As Cass headed into the woods on the bike trail, she pulled out her phone and sent her parents a brief text message. It was strange using her thumbs to do it rather than composing it via her implant.
Mom and Dad, I’m out for an extended walk. I need to think about some things. I’ll be home late.
Several hours later, Cass stared up at the clear night sky and sighed. Her breath billowed out in a tiny vapor cloud due to the chill of winter weather. Cass decided to get up from where she sat on a fallen log in the woods and head home. She’d needed the peacefulness that came from listening to the quiet burble of the stream nearby and the slight breeze in the trees. Cass might have been tempted to spend the night here alone if it weren’t for the damp chill that settled over the area this time of year.
Cass had always found it was an excellent place to collect her thoughts when she couldn’t find a way through a difficult time in her life. She used to come here with Susan all the time and it held many fond memories. Now, all she wanted was to share it with Shelby, too.
Her thoughts reached out and Cass wished she could somehow telepa
thically communicate with Shelby without using her implant. She decided she needed to head back and try to use Cadence’s chip to break through the security system. She’d left it at home when she walked to the Rec Center earlier with her family.
Cass started back towards her house, arriving 15 minutes later. It was after eleven o’clock. As she turned up her driveway, Cass realized most of the house was dark. Her parents had already gone to bed without staying up to wait for her. Relief flowed over her, relaxing muscles tensed for a potential confrontation. Cass didn’t want to deal with her parents right now.
She was just about to reach for the kitchen doorknob when it opened and Elena almost bumped into her as she was coming out.
“Elena, what the hell are you doing sneaking out this time of night?”
“Oh, Cass. I figured since someone spotted you leaving with Susan that maybe you were staying over at her place tonight. That was what Mom and Dad hoped anyway.”
“Why would I stay there? Susan’s not my girlfriend anymore.”
“I know, but…”
“No. Stop trying to change the subject. What are you doing sneaking out of the house again? I thought we discussed this the last time.”
“Cass, you’re not the boss of me or anyone else. You’re not Mom or Dad and you can’t tell me what to do.”
“Elena, you’re not being responsible. Who is it you’re going to hang out with tonight?”
“Phil.”
When Cass’s mouth dropped open to say something, Elena jumped in to add, “He really cares for me, Cass, not that you’d understand that.”
“Of course, I understand, Elena. I told you I’ve dealt with boys like that before. Phil and the others like him are only after you for sex. He doesn’t care about you, Elena. You’re too young to be hanging around someone as old as he is anyway.”
Elena tried to push past her sister to reach the driveway but Cass grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back into the kitchen, closing the door. Cass turned around and stood there, blocking the way.
Elena shook off Cass’s grasp. “Let go of me.”
“I’m not letting you go to hang out with Phil tonight, Elena. Give it up. I caught you. Now go back to bed. We’ll talk about this tomorrow.”
“I’m not listening to you, Cass. You’ve got your own problems. Stop worrying about what I’m doing all the time.”
Elena’s voice had raised in volume throughout the argument. Cass glanced down the hallway behind her sister, afraid that their parents would wake up.
“Keep your voice down. Unless you want Mom and Dad coming out here to find you completely dressed to go out. I don’t think you want that.”
“I don’t care. Let them come. It’s about time they understood that I’m as grown-up as you are.”
Cass winced as Elena’s voice got louder. She really sounded like she wanted their parents waking up. It was insane.
Cass lowered her voice in an attempt to quiet her sister down. “Elena, you’re not making sense. Look, I just want you to be safe and not take unnecessary risks. That’s all.”
“I don’t understand why you can’t be cool with me when I’m perfectly okay with all of your freaky stuff. I keep your secrets. Why can’t you keep mine?”
“There’s a difference between secrets like mine and you doing something that could hurt you.”
Elena rolled her eyes. “I’m not going to get hurt, Cass. I’ve been with boys before, lots. I know how to take care of myself.”
“I don’t care how experienced you think you are, Elena. You’re not going to convince me that it’s a good idea to sneak out with Phil tonight. If you think it’s all right, why do you have to sneak around? Tell Mom and Dad and go on a real date with him if that’s what you want.”
Elena shrieked and flung herself at Cass, pushing her sister back against the cabinets in the kitchen as she made a break for the kitchen door. Cass caught herself with a hand on the counter, regained her balance, and reached out to grab Elena as she went by.
When she grabbed Elena’s arm again, a voice sounded behind her. “What the hell is going on in here, girls?” Her father asked. “You woke your mother and me with all the noise.”
Both Cass’s mother and father stood in the doorway to the kitchen that led to the rest of the house.
Despite being angry at her sister, Cass didn’t want to tell on her. “Dad, Elena and I were just having an argument. It was just stupid sister stuff, that’s all.”
“No, it wasn’t that, Mom and Dad. Cass here didn’t want me to go out and meet up with a boy I like.”
Her mom reacted first to Elena’s revelation. “Why were you going out to meet a boy at this hour? You know the rules.”
“I’m old enough to make my own decisions, Mom. You have to stop treating me like a little girl. Besides which, I’m the most responsible one in the family now, not Cassie.”
Their father put his hands on his hips. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It just means that I’m not taking the risks that Cass is and you should be happy I’m not like her.”
“Elena, shut up,” Cass snapped.
“Or what? Are you afraid I’m going to say something to Mom and Dad about anything in particular?”
Cass blanched at the open threat. She knew what her sister was getting at. “Stop it, stop it right now.”
Cass glared at her sister. She didn’t know how to end this, but she was afraid of what Elena was going to do or say if she kept getting angrier.
“I’m tired of you ordering me around, Cass. I’ve kept your secret and I’m tired of keeping it.” Elena turned to her parents and pointed at Cass. “Do you know your perfect older daughter has a cyber implant in the side of her head? She’s a damned sub and you didn’t even know it!”
“Elena!” Cass yelled. Her mind whirled, trying to find a way out of this horrible situation. “How could you?”
“You can’t keep my secrets, then I can’t keep yours.”
Her dad turned towards Cass. “Cassie, what is Elena talking about? She’s kidding, right?”
Cass met her father’s questioning eyes but couldn’t bring herself to answer him. She struggled with whether she should lie and try to cover up what was going on, or come clean and own up to it. Maybe telling her parents everything would get her kicked out of the enclave quicker.
Her mother took a step towards Cass. “Answer your father. We’re your parents and we deserve an answer from you Cass. None of this is true, right? You didn’t do something foolish and mutilate your body, did you?”
“So, what if I did?”
Her father stepped forward, gripping Cass’s shoulder with one hand and reaching out with his other to grasp her chin. He tilted her head back-and-forth looking at Cass’s face. “Elena, I don’t see anything. Why would you say something so horrible about your sister.”
Cass shot a pleading glare at her sister to stop this whole thing.
Elena sneered and pointed at Cass. “Go ahead. Tell him, Cassie. Tell him how you have your face covered up with fake skin.”
Cass realized they’d reached a point of no return. Elena wasn’t going to back down.
Cass took a step back from her father. “Mom, Dad, it’s not something I wanted to do. There was an accident and when I woke up, the doctors had already done it.”
Her father’s glare hardened. “What doctors, Cass? When was this accident?”
“When I went on my trip to the Bahamas. There was a horrible accident when we were racing jet skis. I got hurt and was taken to the hospital. They told me I almost died but the doctors were able to reverse the injury to my brain with an implant. That’s all it is, Dad. It doesn’t do anything bad to me, it just keeps me alive.”
Cass realized she had to show them everything. She reached up and tapped the corners of her skin patch until the edge peeled up. She grasped the intersection between her forefinger and thumb and lifted the patch away from her face, revealing the metal implant extending from ju
st beyond her eye back to her ear.
Her mother started sobbing and looked away as soon as Cass revealed the implant to them.
Her dad reached out as if he was about to touch it, but then pulled his hand away. Instead, he said, “Cass, how could you?”
“I told you, Dad. It was an accident and I had no control over it. The implant was already there when I woke up at the hospital.”
“You should’ve called us right away. We could’ve had doctors from the enclave, from the movement, come down and assess you. The medical device companies and cybernetics firms push doctors to use implants over other potential treatments. Doctors listen to them because they don’t want to do real medicine anymore, they just want their tech and cyber solutions to take care of everything for them.”
“Dad, it doesn’t matter either way. It’s in me now and there’s nothing anyone can do. I tried to get them to remove it when I woke up. They told me it would kill me or turn me into a vegetable if they did that.”
Her father shook his head, his voice stern. “We’ll see about that. I want one of the enclave’s doctors to examine you. I’m sure there’s something that can be done that those island hacks didn’t tell you about. For now, just go up to your room. I don’t want to see you and that thing on your face anymore.”
He turned his gaze to Elena. “You’re not out of trouble, either, young lady. You go to your room, too. We’ll talk about this with both of you in the morning.”
Cass glared at Elena, then marched past her parents. Cass’s mother flinched away from her when she came close. Cass didn’t even care. She was too angry with Elena to worry about her parents’ reaction to her cybernetics.
Cass headed into her room and slammed her door for the first time since she was Elena’s age. She dove onto her bed and began to cry.
Chapter 21
Cass resisted the urge to flinch or even lean away from the doctor’s probing fingers. She didn’t like people touching her face under normal circumstances. Since her accident, that aversion had magnified, especially for the area around her implant. That was magnified when that person was the enclave’s physician. He was a medical doctor but also a loyal Sapiens Movement member. As such, he was as devoted to the cause as anyone else living in the enclave. Cass couldn’t help but feel like he was examining her the way he might analyze some sort of strange medical experiment.