The Unveiling - Modern Magic: Book 1

Chapter 19

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Chapter 19 - April 26, 2019

Exam week was finally coming to an end, and summer vacation was quickly approaching. This was that time of the year where students were overtly excited, and teachers were less obviously feeling the same. Everyone looked forward to the chance to take a breather from the expectations and obligations of academic life.

The news had been much the same throughout the week. I had tried my best to regulate my apparent interest in watching the news reports. It was probably more than a little paranoid, but I wanted to not be too interested or not interested enough in what was being shown. Thankfully as the 24-hour news cycle began biting its own tail, the attention of the student body began to wane. Repeated shaky views of people gesturing, falling down, and small explosions just didn't hold the interest of a public used to extravagance and flashy catch-phrases.

One new piece of information that made me a little worried was a cut-together clip of a woman. The first showed her eye color a brilliant navy blue. The other showed the exact same woman with dull grey/blue eyes. Thankfully I wasn't the only person intrigued by this information, but I was probably one of a few who was more worried than curious. The information was being revealed and discussed with some expert in video editing being interviewed on the program. The anchor turned back to the woman after the clip, settling into a practiced relaxed pose on the chair. "What are your thoughts, Ms. Killian?"

From her expression, it was clear this wasn't the first time she had seen this specific clip. She was probably asked to analyze it prior to the interview so she could thoroughly discuss her findings. "There are a few things my team was able to quickly determine from these clips. As you have seen in the footage overall, it's hard to setup perfect continuity among all the people involved. One thing we can tell immediately is this video was not altered. There are no standard flags, added, or augmented content."

The anchor was nodding and giving Ms. Killian his dutiful attention as she continued. "This was already the assumption, considering how quickly the video arrived at the various news services on Sunday, but added proof is never a bad thing." She cleared her throat and took a quick drink of water before continuing. "That aside, it's very hard to tell anything else about these clips. Because the camera turns away and apparently returns to this person again later, we have a few very important questions that never get answered."

I felt a knot in my stomach slowly unravel. She was right, there was no footage of her eyes changing color, just the two different eye colors on their own. Ms. Killian continued discussing her findings. "The first possibility for the different eye color is pretty simple: colored contact lenses. Maybe hers fell out? Or if this is a movie, as many have hypothesized, they could have been removed off screen." The anchor nodded to this, accepting the logic behind her analysis. "The other possibility, which is less likely, is that this woman has a twin."

The anchor chimed in, possibly to remind viewers that he was still involved in the interview. "Twins aren't entirely common, but why would you conclude that this is less likely?" Ms. Killian took the minor interruption with perfect composure. Maybe she has some experience with these sorts of interviews.

"If this is a set of twins instead of the same person, one would still need to be wearing colored contacts. When physical features are identical, eye color does not vary by that extreme degree between twins. So in either case, colored contacts were probably involved." The anchor nodded again as the analyst seemed to be concluding her observations and conclusions. "Of course these all could be wrong. There is too little information, even with video footage available."

The anchor smiled, turning back to the camera. "Thank you so much for your expertise, Ms. Killian. We continue to cover the events surrounding Easter Sunday, and as soon as more information is uncovered, we will do our best to get it to you. Coming up next is-" I tapped my tablet, switching the video off. That was far too close. The timing of that woman's genes being burned out could have been completely different, leading to a far more troublesome conclusion by anyone watching the video. We weren't out of the woods by a long shot, but things definitely weren't as bad as I had feared.

I hadn't heard from Aki since Sunday. I ran into Tim in a few classes, but our conversations were short. I did see a similar relief in his eyes that I felt as the week had gone on. I spoke with my mom around Wednesday. The conversation was mostly coded and phrased to seem innocuous. She mentioned regretting that my illness kept me from Sunday dinner, but it had worked out for the best since her day had not gone as she expected. My dad wasn't disappointed because he had been called in to work in the afternoon, staying until late that night. I had promised to talk with Diana and see when would be best for us to get a rain-check on the dinner plans.

I hadn't seen much of Diana this week, but I had known that would be the case. Her exam schedule was much more difficult than mine. I sent her reassuring texts daily, and we had plans to meet up tonight after her last exam. My guess is these plans would mostly involve her receiving a back massage from me, but I would not complain for even a minute. My final exam of my undergraduate career went smoothly, probably mostly due to to my reduced stress, but I wasn't complaining. I walked out of the building, stretching my arms high over my head as I let out a deep breath.

The afternoon sun was striving to hold itself in the sky a little longer than yesterday as I made my way to a table outside one of my favorite cafeterias on campus. Diana had a late exam, beginning at 4pm, but several of our mutual friends had gathered here as a last hurrah before summer. I suppose it wouldn't be as big of a break for some of them, since I was sure at least one or two were planning on staying in town for a course or two during the summer semester. I sat down next to Sam, Tim was already seated close to Amy.

"Exams all done?" I asked the group, receiving a variety of confirmatory answers. I smiled, noticing the absence of stress in the postures of the people at the table.

"Time to party!" Todd called as he walked up to our group. We all laughed; he was more carefree than I remembered seeing him in weeks. "You guys gotta come. My place. Nine tonight. There will be -" Todd leaned back, flexing and his chest and both arms, "- EPIC amounts of booze! And since this is just for us and not some big party, we'll have more than enough to forget everything we did this whole week!"

As much as I wished the whole world could forget the events of the previous Sunday, I had to decline. "Don't go too crazy, Todd. But I think Diana and I need a little breather to relax before we toss ourselves into the lions' den."

Sam gave me a conspiratory eyebrow raise, "A 'breather', huh? Is that what the kids are calling it these days?" The rest of the group laughed as I rolled me eyes. "No, don't tell us. There are delicate ears present that would wilt from deviant details."

I looked around the group, incredulous. "Delicate? Oh, that's ok. Tim can just plug them and hum a tune while the adults talk." I smiled at my friend who mockingly dropped his jaw in shocked outrage.

"I am NOT delicate!" He turned to Amy, giving her the perfect little boy pout. "I'm not delicate, am I?"

Amy laughed and gently patted his forehead. "Of course not..." We all laughed, and the conversation shifted to summer plans. I listened, commenting along, but more than a little of my attention was focused on seeing Diana tonight.