Unison (The Spheral) (47 page)

She entered the bedroom, jumped on the bed and lay in front of Flora. I remained until Flora petted her. After I completed some chores, I returned with a piece of chicken breast and dangled it in front of me.

Shisa lifted her head.

“You earned this. Your technique is more effective than a curate.”

“She jumped off the bed and snatched the chicken breast from my hand.”

“Thanks for your help.”

Flora still lay on her side facing the window. She probably needed more time alone, but I had to get her ready to run.

“I have something I’d like to show you.” I turned on the light and sat beside her. “When we get to New Athenia, the first place you’ll want to visit is the Alexandrian Repository. It contains books from around the world. You can’t check them out, but most of them are scanned into the digital library. The knowledge contained within its walls overwhelmed me. I wanted to set up a cot and move in, but the librarian turned down my request.” I placed my holologue in front of Flora.

She picked up the holologue and peered into the optic. On screen was an image of a man standing beside a woman holding a baby in her arms.

“What do you think?”

“I’m…not sure.” She studied the image, and her eyes filled with tears.

“You may not be thinking, but you’re definitely feeling something.”

“It’s a beautiful picture.” Flora sat up and leaned against the wall. “I never cried after seeing anything beautiful.” She handed me my holologue. “Hope you’re right about the scourge not being real because confused emotions is one of the symptoms.”

“You’re not ill…or confused; I had many moments such as the one you’re experiencing. There isn’t anything in Unity that evokes that kind of emotion.” I examined the image. “No words are required once you recognize a truth. It speaks by pulling itself out of you where you can see it, and when you do, it’s as though you’re seeing for the first time.”

“What truth is this?”

“The man and woman are the baby’s
parents
. The woman is referred to as ‘mother’ and the man, ‘father.’ The baby is
born
from the woman and remains with her parents until adulthood.”

“Born…like an
animal
?” Flora grimaced and turned her head away.

I showed Flora an image of a pregnant woman. “Not all babies are grown in tanks. Outside of Unity they’re brought into the world by its mother.”

“Impossible.” Flora gave me back the holologue. “We’re not animals. Only animals grow their young inside them.”

“We’re not that much different. The fetus grows in the mother’s
womb
, just like it does in all mammals. Three quarters of a year later, the baby is born. All the Outsider women have children this way. When we get to the other side of the tunnel, you’ll see for yourself.”

“I don’t believe it. Something this big could never be kept secret.”

“Several women who’ve ventured past the beacons have mentioned Outsider women having babies like wild dogs. They were immediately reintegrated and told they were suffering from the scourge. Even if they spoke out, whatever the Overseer deems as truth is accepted—regardless of whether it’s true. It’s an easy sell. All the Corporate Hierarchy has to do is agree with each other in public, making anyone who doubts their wisdom think they’re alone. You must be very secure in your own thinking to break free from the Unitian herd.”

“Why can’t Unitian women make babies?”

“A signal sent to the implant prevents conception. When you passed the range of the towers, you became fertile.”

I felt uncomfortable discussing the mechanics of what that meant and found a page that explained female reproduction. After Flora read through it, she winced.

“Seems barbaric…and disgusting.” She contorted her face like a child who had just been served dark green vegetables without any seasonings.

I couldn’t help but smile at her reaction. “Only because you haven’t known anything else besides the incubation tanks.”

Flora lifted both of her brows. “Our way seems more efficient…and civilized.”

“Most mothers don’t seem to mind and even look forward to the experience.”

I thought about Aaron and James. The day of their birth was traumatic. After five incarnations, I could still hear Holly’s screams. Even as she screamed out in pain, she refused anesthesia.

“I want to be lucid when they come into the world,” Holly said.

“You will, in comfort. They have medicine—”

“I had enough of the safe and artificial environment of Unity. I want to feel everything, even pain because it’s real.”

Holly wasn’t the only one in pain that day. As she screamed, she squeezed my hand so hard that she nearly broke it. I took it without complaint. If Holly could endure the pain, so could I, and the reward was worth every agonizing moment. Her screams were replaced with the cries of my sons, echoing against the tiled walls. I was euphoric when I first laid eyes on them.
Where are they now?
I always asked when I thought about them. Holly and Lidian were together again and would have a child of their own soon. I accepted that’s how things were meant to be, but I was also torn. While I loved Holly, Flora existed beyond the physical definition of love. The admission troubled me because that meant I was willing not to have my sons.

I climbed the ridge and examined the motion sensors and cameras. Both were functional. How Kai managed to get past them without being detected was a mystery. It was almost as though he knew where the sensors were located.

I returned to the cabin and was relieved to find that Flora had migrated from my bed to the sofa. She was reading one of the history books in my holologue. 

“The Ancients chose their own life assignments,” she said.

“The Athenians still do.”

“Do they have astronomers?”

“They do…and the Science University has an observatory on top of the labyrinth. It’s open to the public on weekends.”

Flora smiled. “When I was a child, space fascinated me. I wanted, more than anything, to be an astronomer.”

“The Ancients traveled all around the planet in flying machines called airplanes.” I sat next to Flora. “Large ships glided through space, and they came close to developing faster than light travel, but the Great Cataclysm brought an end to the space age. There was even an Earth colony on Mars.”

Flora’s eyes beamed as mine did whenever I discussed this topic.

“I used to write about adventures in space,” she said. “I wrote almost everyday—before doing my homework. One of my schoolmasters threatened to erase all my stories from my holologue if I didn’t improve my grades, but I couldn’t help it. Whenever I wrote, it made me feel as though I was somewhere far away from Unity.” Tears rolled down Flora’s cheeks, and she wiped them with the back of her hand. “In each session I made myself the captain of a spaceship, and I led my crew to other worlds. As ridiculous as it sounds, it made me feel better.”

“Not ridiculous at all. I could see a woman piloting her own spaceship
and
conquering Unity with alien allies she met in space.”

She widened her eyes. I wrote a story like—” Flora smirked, “—you had access to my files.”

“And what you wrote is not beyond the realm of possibility…including Kai being stripped of his clothing in the middle of the Overseer’s assembly.” I crossed my arms. “Oh, the creative things I would do if such a device existed.”

“You liked that one.” Flora smiled.

“Your imagination and determination is inspiring. Had you been born before the Great Cataclysm, you would’ve stood a good chance of commanding your own ship. Growing up I had similar dreams.”

“Like what?”

“I had visions of flying through space and landing on a world inhabited by felineoid aliens. By strange coincidence, the mythology about the founding of New Athenia mentions a race of felineoid demons. As they descended upon the city to destroy it,” I stretched out my hands above my head, “a magical shield descended from the heavens and saved the day.”

Flora rolled her eyes and smiled. “If only my imagination was that vivid,”

“Wrap your imagination around this possibility: New Athenian scholars believe humans still live in the Mars colony, and that some of them may have colonized other worlds by now.” I smiled to myself. “I hope that’s true.”

“Why?”

“Think about all the things they would have discovered. They’d have a lot to teach us.”

“They could also tell us about what we lost.”

“Time holds many secrets. After I left Unity, I naively believed I’d learn the truth about the Great Cataclysm. When I first saw the Ancient ruins on the other side of the old tunnel, the mystery became even more elusive.”

Flora angrily handed me my holologue. “No one elected the Corporate Hierarchy as the guardians of truth. They twist it and shape it to advance themselves.” She began to cry. “But even worse than that, they steal our dreams by keeping us from living them.”

I held her hand. I knew this was difficult for her, to openly display so many of her emotions in one day.

“I never believed in the Sacred Oath, or that the Overseer was worthy of worship. When Kai asked me to track the Overseer’s assassin, I wanted to meet and congratulate the Outsider who assassinated him.”

“Why did you give me such a hard time?” I asked.

“I couldn’t trust you. Your strange behavior made me think you had the scourge.”

“Strange? I thought I was rather charming.” I gave Flora my best smile, but she wasn’t impressed.

“Your arrest would’ve earned me a position in the next Overseer’s private security team. I would’ve been able to give valuable information to the Strikers. I couldn’t give up my cover for an opportunity like that—even if it meant turning you in.”

Or killing me.
I thought back to my fourth incarnation. I couldn’t imagine the inner-conflict Flora must have endured to pull the trigger. “That sounded like an ambitious…and dangerous plan.”

“One I can’t take part in anymore,” Flora said. “You need to contact the Strikers and tell them you’ve been compromised.”

“I already sent a message to my appointer.”

“You’re handling this a lot better than me.”

“What they did to you can be beaten.”

“How? I don’t even know what thoughts are my own any more.”

“None of them are. They all came from what you learned in Unity. Think of it that way, and it will be a lot easier. All the knowledge you acquire—from this day forward—will be yours to assimilate, however you see fit.” I fixated on the picture of Old Woman and Torrin. “Wish I figured all this out sooner.”

“You look sad when you say that.”

I gazed out the window to keep my emotions from spilling out. “When I first showed up here I refused to listen to Old Woman. She tried to free me, but I thought she had the scourge. Back then I only considered my own aspirations. I was so caught up in reaching my goal of becoming a Chosen, I had no time to think about the consequences of Harmony until it was too late.”

“What did you expect the Overseer to do with such technology?”

“I used to believe in the Sacred Oath and never even considered such a question,” I looked at Flora, “until you interrupted my induction and asked if I could promise Harmony wouldn’t be misused.”

“Are you sure you lived before? That wasn’t me.”

“You confessed to doing it.”

“I wanted to. My friend asked me to go with her to protest Harmony, but I never showed up. She’s the one who interrupted you, and she got away with it. I regretted not going with her.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“I was scared of getting caught. Strikers don’t keep anyone who draws attention to themselves. It’s too risky.”

“Who was your friend?”

“Danielle.”

I was acquainted with many women in Unity and had only met one Danielle. “1314-203?”

“2F. You know her?” Flora asked.

“She was one of my mystery dates.”

“Danielle played a lot. She liked the easy credits she could earn there.”

I leaned back against the couch and took a moment to process this new information.

“The way you look, you almost seem disappointed it wasn’t me,” Flora said.

“Why would you have confessed to something you’ve never done? What would you have hoped to gain?”

“If you got me mad enough, that would’ve been motivation enough…I have a bad temper.”

“I’ve known you many lifetimes, and there’s so much I either overlooked or misinterpreted.”

“Not that I believe you, or your
strange
story, but you should listen to me more this time around, or you’ll see my temper again.”

Flora smiled, bringing me back to our first incarnation. I desperately wanted to take her in my arms and kiss her, and it took all my will to restrain myself. A brisk walk with Shisa helped reconnect me with my present incarnation.

When I returned, Flora was asleep on the couch. I carried her to my room and stayed up the rest of the night thinking about everything I was about to leave behind. The cabin had become more than a home to me. It tied me to Torrin and Old Woman. Their influence kept me fighting, and in many ways I felt as though I continued where they left off. Ruminating over the legacy I was about to lose reawakened my resentment towards Flora. After arguing between my feelings of love and hatred for her, I decided to start clean. It wasn’t fair to judge Flora on her past. If I did that with her, I’d have to judge myself…and I had done far worse things.