The Tale of Tara and Emiko

XV. Zia

You stare at your coworker, a heavy and uncomfortable silence falling upon the room. There's a lot that can be said, but not much that is wanted to be put out there in the world. Saying it out loud means acknowledging it exists. Saying it out loud makes it real. And neither you nor your coworker has the strength to do that.

"I...I, uh, should go take these to someone," she said hurriedly, scooping up an armful of the papers on the table.

"Aren't you afraid you'll miss the last one?" Instantly you regret your word choice. The last one makes it sound like the end is near.

We have to have hope.

She shakes her head, determination in her eyes. "I don't know if I can handle it. I'd rather be productive before the breakdown." Her voice hitches, oddly similar to the tearful Tara you heard in the first recording. You can hear the resemblance, and you imagine you'd be able to see it too. If only you'd talked to the girls before they went on the expedition.

By now, it seems both of you have wordlessly accepted Tara and Emiko's fate. Your coworker runs out of the room, trailing papers behind her. The paper with the coordinates on it, the most important one of them all, is clenched so tightly in her hands you fear it will rip.

The speaker crackles the second her footsteps recede. Good timing. The recording is eerily silent before Tara's voice is heard. Her voice, and hers alone.

"If you're hearing this, tell them I'm sorry. I messed up, in the worst way possible. And I think-no, I know it'll cost me my life.

"I was stupid to think it was a good idea to abandon Emiko. It was a full flight-or-fight response, and I chose to be a coward. These escape pods don't have enough supplies for one person to survive three days, much less for two people to survive even one."

Goosebumps riddle your body. You feel empty, your mind devoid of thought. Very shocked, but you know it was coming. You hear your coworker walking back.

"I don't remember what day it is anymore," Tara says. "I guess I don't deserve to."

Your coworker enters the room.

No, no no nonono! She can't be here...she'll break...no...

"So if you're hearing this, tell them what happened to me. Tell my mom, my dad, my friends, my sister. Please, tell them I'm sorry I can't join them in Heaven." There's a pause where you hear Tara's labored breathing. The oxygen levels must be dropping. "This is Tara Grey, signing..." Her voice trails off, followed by the unmistakable thump of a body hitting the floor. The sound lines up perfectly with the rustle and fwoosh of the papers in your coworker's arms as they fall to the floor, spinning and twirling and gliding to a rest at her feet. Another one of the world's cruel, sadistic, twisted jokes.

A silent tear slides down from her eye and, caught in the fight or flight moment, you freeze.

Tara's hiss of pain comes from the speaker. "My head...it hurts..." Your coworker looks broken inside as she crumples to the floor, her face twisted in agony. The papers fanned out around her mimic the wings of a fallen angel as she quietly sobs. She can't bear to hear her sister in pain, but you can't move to help her. You feel locked in place, unable to be anything other than useless.

"Selene?" Tara asks weakly.

Your coworker's eyes widen at the sound of her name. Tara's voice is innocent and unguarded. She knows she's going to die. Accepts it, even. It was her fate from the very start.

"Selene...dear sister...I'm so tired..." Tara mutters softly.

You don't know what to do anymore. You can move now, and you rush over to sit at Selene's side, holding her in your arms as the tears continue their relentless march down her face. She sobs silently until we hear the sound that marks the end of Tara's journey. A monotone, digital, finalizing

beeeep