The Queer Rebels

Chapter 9: Manifesting

There are so many questions in my mind, it's impossible to focus.

I must've gotten lost in my own head, because a moment later, a stranger with purple hair and smooth round cheeks taps me on my shoulder. I swivel my head to see that Marcy is standing with Jenelle and Tyree is facing a thin, red-headed boy.

"Looks like we're partners." The stranger smiles. "Nice to meet you. I'm Alex. They, them."

"S-sorry," I stutter, embarrassed to make such a poor first impression. "I must have zoned out. What are the directions?"

Alex laughs, their full-moon face splitting into a wide grin. "It's a lot to take in, isn't it?"

"Yeah," I agree, lifting my eyebrows and taking a deep breath. "It's kind of seismic. And–sorry, again–but what do you mean by 'they, them'?"

"Those are my pronouns," they explain. "I'm non-binary. How about you? What's your name? What are your pronouns?"

I've never been asked that before. People usually just look at my thin frame and reluctantly long hair and assume that I'm a girl. But looking at Alex—their short hair, stocky build, raspy voice, and smooth cheeks—new possibilities open before me.

"I'm Charlie. He, him," I introduce myself, feeling almost giddy. "How long have you been here?"

Alex holds out their right hand, balls it into a fist, and then dramatically flares out their fingers, revealing purple nails that match their hair.

"About a month," they answer, still smiling. "And this is about all I've learned."

They shake their hand again and their nails return to their original color.

"Alex is being modest," Sequoia says, appearing next to them. She rests her hand on Alex's shoulder. "How did you sleep, Charlie?"

"Very well," I answer truthfully.

"Good, good." Sequoia smiles, her bright lips revealing her sparkling white teeth. "Hold out your hand."

I obey.

Sequoia turns my hand palm up and then traces a line from the blue veins on my wrist up to the tip of my middle finger. "Everyone has biotech potential. It comes down to your choices, not your biology. No one is forced to modify their brain or body if they don't want to. But if you do choose to tap into your own neural interface, the possibilities are endless."

As she touches me, my skin gets goosebumps. My ankle buzzes, and I remember how easily and quickly my injury was healed. "Last night, Harry had a device that healed my ankle."

Sequoia nods. "Yes. There are machines that can do amazing things. But with nanotechnology and biomodifications, you could have healed yourself." She winks at me. "I'm going to continue to circulate. Take turns seeing what you can discover."

When she walks away, Alex leans close to me. "What happened last night?"

I tell them about my twisted ankle and how quickly it healed.

"Dude," Alex says with a shake of their head, causing their purple bangs to sweep across their forehead. "These people have access to tech I've never even heard of before."

I laugh. "I know. And to think that when Harry first suggested that I leave the city, I was worried he was some Luddite."

Alex shivers. "Those guys are just as bad as the government. But just in the opposite way."

"Yeah," I agree.

The Luddites have killed more than one innocent bystander with planted explosives. Their argument that technology is destroying humanity loses credibility when they've literally destroyed human lives. But this isn't a topic I want to discuss with someone I just met, so I turn my attention back to Alex's hands.