Betrothed Episode One (9 page)

“
You trying to become a tire? Because you’re not round enough.
You’ll have to chop off your feet.”

It was
Mark.

I
shivered and snapped up.

He was
standing in the open door, one hand in his pocket as he leaned
against the frame.

He
stared at me.

For a
few seconds, his gaze had that same odd intensity he’d used on me
yesterday. The one that told me he was looking at me – really
looking at me.

I
swallowed.

Then he
flashed me a smile. “Is that all the hello I get?”

“
M-Mark?”

He
pushed off from the wall and walked into the room, his gait easy
and his glance friendly. “You’re alright now, Miranda. The doc
checked you out. Just a bit of confusion. But once it’s gone,
you’ll be as right as rain.”

I stared
at him.

There
was nothing else I could do.

Miranda?

Mark
knew me.

He was one of the first people I saw after waking up from my
cryo-sleep. He’d always shown an interest in me, always been there
for me.

And now
he was calling me Miranda.

He took
another step into the room, but I pressed myself against the wall
to get away from him.

“
Hey,” he said softly, “it’s okay. I know you’re
confused.”

I
swallowed and found my voice, “I’m not confused. I know who I
am.”

“
You had a tiny little stroke.” He plucked his hand from his
pocket and pressed two fingers together. “And it’s making you a bit
confused. But it will pass.”

My mouth
opened and I shook.

God.
This couldn’t be happening.

If Mark
could see my utter terror, he didn’t register it. He simply kept
shooting me that charming, easy smile.

“
Miranda,” he moved over and plonked himself on the end of my
bed, “you trust me, right?”

I
couldn’t answer.

“
Well you should – and you should trust everyone here. We all
just want you to get better.”

“
Mark, what’s going on? Why are you doing this?” I
croaked.

“
Because I was a newfound once too, remember? I know how
confusing it can be to wake up.” He shot me another
smile.

From his
expression to his tone, it was clear he thought nothing was
wrong.

....

I
blinked hard before a treacherous thought could enter my
mind.

I shook
my head too.

I was
not about to question who I was.

Goddammit, I knew.

I knew I
was Annie Carter.

A stroke
couldn’t invent memories like that. Sure, maybe it could make you a
little confused, and maybe waking up could rattle your brain for a
while, but it couldn’t invent a whole life.

I set my
gaze hard as I stared back at him.

Though
his entire act had been an easy one up until now, I swear it
changed for a moment. I swear he looked at me with a wary edge to
his pale brown gaze.

Then he
forced a smile, his cheeks climbing high into his eyes. “You’ll be
alright, A- Miranda,” he corrected.

He’d
been about to say Annie, right?

The
correction had been quick and seamless, but I was sure I was
right.

I stared
at him, and it was my turn to analyze him in full.

It
sounded terrible considering what he’d meant to me, but how much
did I really know about Mark?

Maybe he
could guess what I was thinking, because he straightened up and let
his brow crumple. “We’ve worked hard to help you, Miranda. And god
knows I’ve always been there for you,” he dipped his head low to
look at me, “so why can’t you trust me?”

“
... I trust you, Mark,” I forced myself to say.

His
smile returned with a twitch. “Well that’s alright now. So, what do
you say to some holo TV? I’ll see if I can get the doc to clear one
for you, and even if I can’t, I’ll sneak you in one myself.” He
winked at me.

After a
few seconds I smiled. It was the fakest smile I’d ever given. The
movement of my mouth and lips was purely mechanical.

If Mark
noticed, he didn’t let on.

With a
happy chuckle, he pushed up from the bed and nodded at the view.
“Incredible, isn’t she?”

I turned
to follow his gaze. “Who?”

“
The city,” he plunged his hands into his pocket and took a
deep breath, “this future.”

I didn’t
reply.

I
watched him out of the corner of my eye.

The
quality of his gaze changed for a brief snap.

I
couldn’t describe it, though.

It went
to a place I’d never been – some complex emotion I couldn’t
recognize.

I
swallowed.

Mark
slipped his gaze towards me and grinned once more. “Buck up, kid.
It’ll all be okay soon.”

“
... In three months, right?”

He
stiffened. I swear he stiffened. I swear I could see his neck
tighten against his trim collar.

“
The doctor said it would take about three months until this
... confusion passes,” I forced myself to explain as I looked at
Mark.

He
relaxed. “He said that, did he?” His gaze darted towards the door.
“Well, he’s the doc, so I guess he’s right.” He looked distracted
for a second as he stared through the open door into the
corridor.

I too
stared into the corridor, leaning past Mark to get a better
view.

Mark
repositioned himself until he stood right in front of me. “You just
concentrate on getting better, okay?”

He
clapped a hand on my shoulder and looked into my eyes.

Well,
one of my eyes. For some reason his gaze lingered on the left side
of my face.

“
... Sure, Mark,” I managed.

He
chuckled, walked backwards, winked, and walked out with a
wave.

I stared
at him.

The door
closed, then disappeared seamlessly into the wall.

Shaking,
I forced myself out of bed. My sweaty feet left wet footprints as I
padded over to the wall.

I ran a
hand over the point where the door had disappeared.

I
couldn’t see it.

It was
just a smooth white wall.

After
several more seconds of checking, running my fingers over every
centimeter of the wall I could reach, I stopped.

I stood
there frozen, driving my knuckles into the metal.

Then I
turned with a sharp breath and pressed my back into the
wall.

I
inhaled and held it in my chest, letting it out in a shaking
exhalation that buffeted my fringe and sent it darting over my
cheeks.

My eyes
were drawn towards the view. I stared at the white towers and the
white clouds darting between them.

I wanted
this to be a dream. I wanted to wake up to realize the past few
hellish days had been nothing but a nightmare.

I knew
that wouldn’t happen.

This was
real, and I wasn’t confused.

I knew I
was Annie Carter.

It just
seemed no one else did.

The days
passed.

Whenever
Mark visited, I asked him about experiences we’d shared, trying to
catch him in a lie.

He was
too smooth.

It was
only when I asked him about my betrothal contract that I saw him
twitch.

He
stiffened, his left cheek contracting.

But then
he found some excuse to leave.

I’d
given him my betrothal contract, and I now realized that if I still
had it, it could be the proof I so desperately needed. With my
identity implant removed, it would be harder to prove who I was.
The Newfound Institute would still have a full atomic scan of me,
as would the Contracts Office. But getting out of this room was the
problem.

Unless I
could prove to the doctor I really was Annie Carter, he wasn’t
going to take me to the Contracts Office just to check.

Then
again, my doctors kept changing. I never saw that kindly looking
alien with the barrel chest again.

I was
fragile, an emotional wreck, and yet a part of me
wasn’t.

A part
of me was waiting and watching for an opportunity.

I didn’t
know what Mark was doing.

As crazy
as it sounded, I still wanted to trust the guy.

Maybe it
was Stockholm syndrome talking, or maybe his constant requests for
me to trust him were working.

He’d been my rock. Without him, I would have gone nuts years
ago.

Most days I sat on my bed doing nothing.

Mark had
provided me with a holo TV, but it only had entertainment
shows.

I
usually adored entertainment shows, but not right now.

I wanted
to see the news. I wanted to see the fake Anna Carter and hear
about the upcoming wedding.

When I
asked Mark about getting some news channels, he just laughed and
told me I hated the news.

Slowly
the pain behind my left eye returned. It seemed to flicker back on
whenever my fear mounted.

I told
one of the doctors about it, fearful it was another stroke in the
making. They took scans, but assured me it was fine.

Relax,
they kept telling me.

Soon I’d
remember who I really was.

They
kept repeating that phrase so much, it was the last thing I heard
when I fell asleep and the first thing I remembered upon
waking.

As the
days flashed by and the pain behind my left eye increased,
something strange happened.

I
started to get the compulsions again.

The ones
that told me what to do.

At one
point a doctor came in to run some kind of brain scan, but rather
than tell them about the piercing pain behind my left eye, I lied
and said I was fine.

Because
the compulsion told me to.

It
sounded like a crazy defense – and it was crazy, completely crazy –
but I couldn’t stop myself.

I had to
get out of here.

I had to
get to the Contracts Office and prove my identity.

So I
started to hatch a plan of escape.

I kept
going back to my window, checking its integrity with prying
fingers. Pretty soon I realized it wasn’t a window at all. It was a
goddamn hologram.

I wasn’t
in a room; I was in a cell.

My
determination to escape grew. Though I couldn’t be 100% sure it was
my determination; the compulsion was growing and growing. And every
time it grew, so too did the pain behind my left eye.

Soon it
didn’t feel like I was in control anymore.

I wasn’t
hatching a plan; my brain was.

And
finally, after about a week of being locked up and studied, my
opportunity came.

A doctor
came in to do a scan, and he dragged a heavy looking device with
him that hovered off the ground a few centimeters on blue glowing
hover pads.

The pain
behind my left eye exploded. It was excruciating. I jerked my head
to the side and clamped a hand over my face.

Far from
looking concerned, the doctor looked elated. The emotion didn’t
last long, but long enough for me to see it flickering in his three
alien eyes.

He took
a step back, bringing up his wrist and playing with a holographic
implant as he sent some kind of message.

A
message he didn’t get to finish.

I did
something.

I swear
I saw myself doing it before I did it. It was just like the strange
vision I’d had when I’d helped Captain Fargo catch the
Borgolian.

I
reached over, my fingers as quick as darting insects. I grabbed
something behind the device, and started manipulating
it.

The
doctor jerked his head around, all three of his eyes pulling wide
open with fear.

Before
he could say or do anything, the device gave a sharp beep then sent
an electric pulse shooting towards the doctor.

He
jolted backwards, eyes rolling into the back of his head as he fell
to his knees then hit the ground.

I sat
there for a few seconds and shook. All over. Like I was
convulsing.

Then I
pushed myself up and off my bed.

I stood
over the doctor, staring down at him as I pressed a sweaty hand
against my mouth.

I saw
myself turn and head towards the door.

I
honestly saw myself do it before I did it.