Unison (The Spheral) (60 page)

On my first day back at school, we went to the Unity Museum of Overseers. I was bored with the exhibits until I glanced at a picture of the previous Overseer. Standing beside him was Torrin. I recalled the picture of him with Ingrid and dreamed about them that night.

The next day, during Master Franklin’s drawn-out lecture about the writing of the Sacred Oath, I had a vision of the cabin. As I stared out of the panoramic window, Sutara materialized next to me as a child. She pulled me by my forearm.

“Come with me,” she said.

“Where are we going?”

“Home.”

I followed Sutara to the door. When she opened it, we stepped out into Middle Crest and walked along the path in front of the Crossings.

“You must find a way to leave your village,” Sutara said.

“I’m not allowed out of the dome.”

“You must…if you want your nightmares to end.”

“If I get caught, they’ll put me in reintegration.”

Sutara stopped and crossed her arms. “I cannot believe you said that.”

“What?”

“When I met you, you did whatever you wanted.”

“I was older, and remembering was easier.”

Sutara climbed on to the large rock and sat. “I cannot blame you for being scared. It’s difficult to capture all the memories when your memory returns at such a young age.”

“I’m
not
scared.” I put my hands on my hips in protest.

“Prove it.”

I thought for a moment and then snapped my finger. “Next summer I’m going on a camping trip. I can leave then, but I still don’t know where to go.” I thought about Torrin and Ingrid. They were living in the cabin now, and they were helping Unitians escape.

Sutara spoke my thoughts aloud. “You can go to the cabin.”

I crossed my arms. “That’s what I was thinking.”

“But I said it first,” she giggled.

“Technically I did, because you’re not born yet.” I narrowed my eyes. “How can I see you if you’re not born yet?” 

Sutara’s expression turned grave. “Beyond time, beyond space, we are always. But not here. I cannot go on much longer. You must make it this time.”

Sutara began to fade and when I took her hand, she vanished.

Master Franklin forced me out of my vision when he slammed his pointer on my desk. “Is my lecture
boring
you?”

All my classmates stared at me in anticipation of my typical incendiary response, but I didn’t feel typical anymore. “I don’t feel well.”

Master Franklin looked at his holologue. “You’re excused for the rest of the day. Report to the hospital for a—”

“I’m not sick. I had a bad dream last night, and I couldn’t get back to sleep.” I looked around the room again, wishing everyone would get back to their own business.

“What was it about?” Master Franklin asked in a way that seemed he didn’t believe me.

“I fell off Emerald Mountain and died.”

His face softened. “After all that you went through, that’s understandable. Dreams sometimes bring out what we fear most. Don’t allow your accident to control you. You must confront your fear, or it’ll control—” He grabbed his head and winced.

“Are you okay, Master Franklin?” I asked.

A black aura surrounded him. “I haven’t been getting enough sleep either.”

I quickly climbed onto my chair and placed my hands over his head. My body temperature rose as a rush of energy surged through my body. After my hands cooled, I retracted them and hopped off the chair.

Master Franklin stared at me aghast. He took both my arms and examined them. “What did you just do to me? I feel rejuvenated—as though I just got a few hours sleep.”

I could feel every eye in the room peering at me.

“Damon?” Master Franklin asked.

His aura expanded about a half meter all around him. Terrified, I ran out of the classroom and bumped into an approaching purple sleeve. I kept going without looking back to see who it was.

I placed my hand over Wade’s mouth, and he opened his eyes. “Keep quiet. It’s me.” I released my hand.

“Damon? How did you get—”

Wade’s roommate moaned.

“Let’s talk somewhere else.” Wade got out of bed. “I know a safe place.”

We remained quiet until we entered the dining hall.

“Where did you go after you ran out of class?” Wade asked. “No one would tell me what happened to you.”

“Don’t have time to explain.” I threw my pack on the table.

“How did you get in here?”

“I tapped into the main database and got the override code to unlock the door. My implant ID marker wasn’t even scanned when I entered.”

Wade gawked at me, and I gave him the kind of smile that communicated how it was worth waiting eight lifetimes to see him on the receiving end of one of our escapades.

He stared at my pack. “Where are you going?”

“I’m leaving.”

"For how long?”

“Forever.”

“Why?” Wade asked.

“Can’t tell you now, but I’ll come back for you when I find a place to live.”

“I don’t want to leave Unity.”

“It’s better outside than here.”

“You think living with the Outsiders is better?” Wade stepped back and seemed afraid of me. “You have the scourge.”

I started to think it was a mistake coming here when I saw the fear in his eyes. “There’s no such thing as the scourge.”

“How would you know that if you never even left the dome?”

“When I come back, you’ll see that I’m okay. Then you’ll—”

I heard the door creak open. “I thought you said it was safe in here.”

“It is.” Wade looked towards the door. “Slock. I forgot it was ice cream night. Master Simon always comes down to finish up the leftovers.”

I picked up my pack and ran to the window. “That’s why his belly is fatter than Ganesha’s.” I lifted up the pane while attempting to figure out who Ganesha was.

“Who?”

“Never mind.” I peered at Wade.

“You’re starting to act as weird as Lidian,” he said. “I told you that would happen if you hang out with him.”

“I can’t wait till you go back to hating it here. You were a lot more fun.” I climbed out the window and headed to the access where I hid myself in a delivery crail. Once outside, I waited for the unpacker to leave with his first carry and then ran towards the protective cover of the forest.

FAMILY

A
s I ascended Emerald Mountain, I was surprised when I remembered what path to take. I even recalled the location on the high ridge where I could get the best view of the dome that now gleamed under the moonlight. Everything was exactly as I remembered, right down to the transceiver hidden behind the large rock. I recalled my final days with Wade in my previous incarnations. Such despair I had never known in my young life. I wanted to run back to the safety of Unity, but Torrin and Ingrid’s image was scorched into my mind.

My enthusiasm resurrected after I climbed onto the eastern side of the eroded ridge and gazed upon the large mountain. Several hours later I found the waterfall and glanced down at the valley where I spotted the cabin. Excited, I ran down the path until I tired. When I arrived, Torrin was sitting on the chair on the porch.

He stood when he spotted me. “Did you come alone?” He nervously looked around.

“Are you Torrin 1248-032-3M?” I asked.

“How do you know my name?”

Ingrid opened the door—only she wasn’t old. She appeared as she had in the picture that hung on the wall inside the cabin. “Where did he come from?” she asked Torrin.

“I’m a passenger,” I replied.

She walked over to me. “You’re one of the youngest I’ve met.”

“Not as young as you think.”

“And one of the most precocious ones.”

Ingrid took my hand and led me inside where I remained. She couldn’t have children of her own and believed my visit was part of some divine path to motherhood. The early return of my memory was equally fortuitous. After eight incarnations, I finally had a mother and a father. Torrin was initially against my remaining in the cabin, but we soon bonded over fishing and long hikes in the woods. It filled me with sadness whenever I thought of Wade being raised by strict and emotionally distant Overmaidens. During one of our return trips across the old tunnel, I begged Father to rescue Wade from Unity.

“When you told him you’d go back for him, what did he say?” Father asked.

“No. But that’s only because he was never out this far before. I know he’ll change his mind once he—”

“If he doesn’t want to leave now, nothing you tell him will make him want to come with you.”

“I know he’s not happy there.”

“Maybe. But we can’t risk taking a boy out of Unity against his will. It will draw attention to us and risk Freedomline.”

“How about Lidian? I know he’d want to leave.”

“I’m sorry. We can’t risk it,” Father said, stressing each word.

I looked ahead into the darkness to avoid showing him my disappointment.

“Don’t give up on a reunion. Perhaps in a few years, your friends will be ready to leave on their own.”

I had only to think about my initial reaction to Wade and Ingrid to agree with my father, but Lidian was different. He never liked living in Unity, but I wasn’t too concerned; I knew Tyrus would look after him.

I spent the next year learning from Father, and my remaining levels were completed in New Athenia. My audition on violin impressed the music schoolmaster, and he personally sponsored me for residence. He invited me to live with his family and had two sons close to my age. It was an invitation I eagerly accepted as dorm life reminded me too much of Unity. I returned home every summer to help Father with the transports and even brought him to Littlefield. While Mother believed I lived before, he never took the claim seriously until Wilfrid recognized me as Nomad. During every transport, we’d visit him on our return. In my eighteenth year, Father and I began building a new cabin for me. It took us a little more than ninety days to complete. I was pleased with the design: one spacious room with a loft for my bedroom, which had a window facing the mountain. Since I was only home during the summer, Father used my cabin as an inn for passengers who wanted to rest before leaving for the old tunnel.

The two summers that followed passed quickly. On my final transport before returning to New Athenia, I was surprised to find Nasia among the passengers. In my previous incarnations, she left Unity the following year. I planned a rescue operation, but Nasia no longer needed rescuing. She was in a relationship with a man she met at University and who was also part of the transport. After we emerged from the eastern side of the tunnel, Father gave his usual harrowing lecture about what happens to Unitians who dare to return to Unity. Nasia hugged her mate tightly after the deliverance. I was relieved she wouldn’t be filling out a request for death in this lifetime but disappointed Wade would never meet her. Would he rebel against the Corporate Hierarchy without Nasia’s influence? That question would haunt me for the next few years.