Convergence III: Fulfillment In Becoming

Chapter Sixteen: Self-Awareness and the Art of Breaking Through

It is July in the year 2061, and it is the end of Nick Althorne's life.

Ella wasn't alone standing in the middle of the destroyed street. Jackie was watching from a safe distance, ready to strike when Ella did her part.

And Ella didn't know how to do her part, other than the important bit.

Distract Nick.

"Okay. Whoo. Here we go." Ella muttered to herself. And then she raised her voice. "Nick?" It echoed through the area. "Nick!"

Whooshing surrounded her, swirling as she called their name.

"Ella."

Nick stood right there, a distance away, but still in front of her.

"Nick." Ella sounded deflated, almost forgetting her job. "I can't believe it's you."

Nick tilted their head, their hair swirling like they were underwater. "What's the difference?"

"What's the difference?" Ella repeated. "The difference is that this isn't you! You wouldn't..." Ella was distracted momentarily, from the sight of Nick clenching their blackened fist. "...you would never do this."

"Are you sure?" Nick asked bluntly. "What do you really know about me?"

As Nick walked forward, Ella stepped back. "I-I know you like M&Ms, and playing video games, and staying up way too late! And you love science, even though everything in your life should have driven you away from it, you've always loved science! And you care about Jackie, and you care about me!" Ella seemed more panicked as they came closer. "I've never once questioned if you really loved me, because you show it every day! You threw a kid off his bike for me, you rode all the way to Wellfleet on a motorcycle for me, and you traded your mortality for me!"

Nick stopped when they came close enough to her. "So why are you so afraid of me?"

Ella's eyes were wide, filled with palpable fear. She was breathing quite heavily, and it's like her heart rate was displayed over her head. "That's the thing, Nick! This is nothing like you!"

Nick snapped all of a sudden, their words like a blade cutting through the tension. Ella had never heard them so serious before, and certainly not directed at her. "I made a deal that got me here so I could live a little bit longer than this goddamn book would have let me!"

"What--?"

"Yeah, Ella. Yeah. How do you think your life would go if the narrative was constantly pitted against you?! From birth to death?! I wonder if you know how the first sentence of this chapter goes."

"What are you talking about?!"

"The only way to fix my suffering, our suffering, is to end it. Once and for all." Nick spoke through gritted teeth, flaring with supercharged particles. "I'll tear every page from this series and burn it, word by word. Then, I'll write a new one. One where we live happily ever after, right out of a fucking fairytale!"