Counterfeit

-fortytwo--

--fortytwo-

I WAS ALMOST too consumed in my delight to question Charleston's unease. He knew what this would mean to me, so I couldn't understand why it appeared he had doubts over the arrangement, or why he seemed to be detached from his usual self. 

He opened the door and I stepped past him, directing myself eagerly to the room we had occupied previously. Before I reached it, Charleston latched onto my wrist, turning me around to see his reluctance in full blow. 

I didn't want to push him, but he struggled to give me any thoughts and I didn't like seeing him in a state of such uncertainty. "Just tell me, Charleston." 

He let out a deep breath, let go of my hand to pull it through his hair. "I have to show you, instead." 

We entered inside the room and it was exactly the same as the last time I saw it. My father and brother weren't around, so I began to worry that something had happened to cause their absence. 

I tried to swallow my disappointment before asking,  "I don't get to see them, do I?"

"What?" He rushed to answer. "No, no, of course you do, Pip. " Then, after a few moments, "Sort of..."

"Sort of?" What did he mean by that? I tried to comprehend his words, but they made not even a fraction of sense to me. Every answer since his arrival only left me with more questions than before. 

In a manner of anxious hurry, Charleston stepped over towards the glass panel which stretched from the floor to the ceiling - the same one he had appeared behind when he returned to me. This time, there was no one behind it; the lights were on in the building giving me a clear view straight through the glass. As I went to explain that he wasn't making any sense to me in what he was trying to do, Charleston flipped a switch, the glass illuminating with life. 

Its' neon glow confirmed my former disposition that it wasn't a window, it was a screen. 

Charleston turned to face me, as if perhaps I needed no further explanation, but I did. 

"You are going to see you family." He promised. "But it will be through this-"

"Screen." 

"Yeah." Charleston nodded to my inference, recognizing that I understood what was in front of me. 

"Why can't they be here?" I questioned him. "I know you've said it's dangerous, but you know me, and you managed to get here."

He sighed. "I'm a guard, Pip. Only to get to you, but they don't know that. They're aware who your family are, and that's why I had to be the one to come inside: because I have no blood ties to you. No one's allowed to see their families. I can't get them here without being sent away again, and then the plan will be for nothing. This is the best I can do for you." 

I nodded. "It's okay. It's enough." It wasn't what I wanted to hear, but it was better than nothing. And at least I had the opportunity to talk to them; I knew that MiKinley had been here months longer than I had, and he'd never even been told anything about his family, let alone been given the chance to talk to them. As well as that, now I had Charleston whom I was remembering more and more everyday. 

I wanted to see my family, and I was going to, just not in physical form. 

"There's something I need to tell you." Charleston began. "About the screens." By the tone of his voice, which was one I hadn't heard before, I knew it was very important that I paid attention. He almost seemed afraid. I didn't know how to make of him. 

"When you see them, it's not going to look like a projection. It's going to look like they're actually here." 

"You're confusing me..." I admitted. I knew they wouldn't be here, he'd just told me that. Why was he making such a point about it? 

He exhaled sharply, frustrated that he wasn't explaining it well enough to me. He walked over to me and took my hands, leading me to a seat which he guided me down onto. I suddenly felt a wave of anxiety from his disposition, and I was scared that he was going to tell me something that I wouldn't be able to cope with. I think he was feeling the same. 

"Let me ask you something: what have you been told about this building? What do you think it's for?" 

I pondered, trying to piece together everything I knew about the Grey Range, wondering if it would fill in some of the blanks in my mind. "I know that it was a place where we supposed to be able to see our families, and that no one's ever really been in here before from what I know." 

He nodded as he listened. I could see that my response was helping him. "This building wasn't built for everyone inside to see their families..." 

"Okay?"

He was crouched down before me, holding my hands in his. I felt like he would soon collapse from the weight of all the stress. "It was built for the people outside of The Dormir. So that they could see the state and the progress of the people that they sent here." 

"I don't get it." I felt incredibly naive. "Why is that a problem?" 

"Because most of the people here aren't real."

-fortyone--

Glad that's out.