Vivi

VI

Vivi walked down the stairs. The lower level was a viewing area, the ceiling high, the walls and floor completely transparent. Below was the Earth. She could make out its curvature but it still filled the whole view. There were the Rocky Mountains, the sea... Vivi could pinpoint the dark green splodge directly below where Trust was. Home.

The sense of perspective filled Vivi with love and awe. Everything felt so meaningful right now, everything felt true, as if she were observing a precious diamond.

To counter the vertigo, Vivi imagined a wooden viewing deck with a few chairs, a mini-bar, some houseplants and a decorative fountain. With a wave she added a sparing few vines along some of the walls, creating contrast with the mind-boggling planet-scape, reminding the viewer that they were in a house, not just floating in space.

Vivi was sorely tempted to lounge at the viewing deck straight away. Instead, she took two bottles of cola from the bar and made for the stairs. She briefly admired the art deco design on the cola bottles, featuring a blue silhouette of the Statue of Awakening overlaid on a starburst, framed with hearts and stars. "Vivi Cola". How did she come up with this stuff?

"Hi," said Vivi to her captive as she came up. "Do you want a cola?" She proffered a bottle to the masked man. The man shook his head.

Vivi put down one of the drinks and opened the other. The bottle was sealed with a glass stopper and came open like magic in her hands. Even the flavour, she realised, was a little different, a little whimsical, a little bit uniquely her. Fruity. Bubblegum? Never mind.

"I'm sorry about this," said Vivi. "I didn't want to be mean. I... I just want to talk."

The man said nothing.

"Can you take your mask off?" asked Vivi. "I promise I won't tell people who you are."

The man continued to say nothing.

"I mean, if I wanted to reveal your identity I could force it off anyway," said Vivi. The man stayed silent. "Oh, I'm sorry, I don't mean that aggressively," added Vivi suddenly. "I just mean... oh gosh, what do I mean? This is awkward. Can I start over?"

The man made a gesture. It took a moment for Vivi to understand. He was pointing at his ear and shrugging, then pointing at his ear and shrugging again.

"Are you... deaf?" asked Vivi. "Oh..." she tried to remember her sign language. "Deaf?" she signed. If that wasn't the word for dog. She thought it was the word for deaf.

Her captive nodded.

Vivi felt compassion for the man. "Hmm..." she sounded. She thought about what she was going to do.

Vivi looked up at the man again. He had taken off his mask. His face was deathly white, an image of shock and helplessness and a little anger. He was young, Vivi realised. Maybe not even eighteen.

"I just want to talk," said Vivi. Her voice resonated with the feeling of power. "You want to be able to talk too, right?"

The man's eyes went even wider and he raised his hands to his ears. "You... you healed me."

"I... I'm sorry, I know I didn't ask first, but I figured this is the only way we were going to get anything done..."

"I don't owe you nothing," the man barked. He seemed livid. Beyond that, though, something in his vibe made Vivi stop in her tracks. Underneath the surface, she sensed, there was a lot going on.

"I... I'll give you some time," said Vivi. "Tell me if you need anything." She started to leave.

Vivi stopped a moment and as an afterthought imagined the crystal prison cell expanding to three times its size; the palace around it shifted and expanded organically to accommodate it. She imagined a sofa, a table and comfortable chair, paper and pen, some snacks and fruit, a beautiful crystal carafe of water, and a stack of books. Moby Dick, The Bible, Harry Potter... will that do? Oh, better leave it be. Vivi turned her back to give the man privacy with his feelings and left for her bedroom.