[IN PROGRESS]
Martha and James are soulmates trapped together in a never-ending reincarnation loop. Not a bad way to spend eternity, but they wanted more. They wanted a child. Serafina is born and Martha and James are elated to love and raise her a...
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October 14, 2002 |31|
James shifted the package of electron microscopes from his left arm to his right as he approached his daughter, sitting cross legged against the wall. Their eyes were closed, but he could see the REM beneath their tiny lids. He stared at them in wonder. Serafina had told Martha and him about their ability to commune with the distant future, but he'd never seen it in action. Is this that?
He set the package on one of the lab tables and the tiny sound echoed in the silence of the gleaming workshop. Two months earlier, Serafina had directed them to this property on the outskirts of Los Angeles County at the edge of the California Grapevine. It included a defunct RV repair shop they could convert and six acres of open property, offering privacy that would come in handy down the line.
The door opened behind him as Martha entered the shop. Recognition flashed on her face and she came to stand next to James with the same curiosity. "Are they?" she whispered.
"I think so," he whispered back. James had only found out about Dr Tanaka, Rosa, and the rest of Project Savior a lifetime ago after 261 in the dark. Now, his daughter was talking with one of them by virtue of their magnificent and mysterious brain. He assumed rousing them from the trance was unnecessary if not harmful. But before he had the chance to try, Serafina opened their eyes and inhaled sharply.
"Oh, hey," they said, blinking their eyes and rubbing the sides of their head. "You're here too, Mom. That's good."
"Hey sweetie," Martha said. "Was that... Were you..."
"With Rosa?" James added.
"Mm-hmm," they answered, pinching the bridge of their nose.
"Nice," he said. "How is she? How's the Northwest Quadrasphere doing?"
Serafina stared at their father for a moment. "Not well."
"Oh, right. Stupid question."
"Common mistake," they said as they got to their feet. "In fact, they only have a couple of days left until their ability to phase between universes is compromised. Granted, it only takes a few minutes for them to log a single lifetime of ours so there's still time. But... it sounds like Rosa and most everyone else in 2235 is losing their will."
"I can only imagine," Martha said with empathy James knew was sincere. It hadn't been that way for long. She'd been apoplectic at the thought of Dr Tanaka conspiring to sentence their daughter to immortality. His remorse a lifetime ago in her apartment had seemed so sincere and his plea for them to procreate, so genuine, that the idea of it being a manipulative scheme was the ultimate betrayal. But after Serafina's repeated assurance that Rosa and the rest were entirely caught off guard – and that the idea of a child was only meant as a desperate attempt to inspire Martha and James to reinvest themselves with the future – she came to sympathize with their desperate plight, teetering on the edge of extinction.
