The Originators

CHAPTER 14: IF EVERY WISH CAME TRUE, WHAT WOULD HAPPEN? (LAURA)

I.

On Thursday, I'm in the car with Merc heading to my parent's house.

I had moved my Pallet phone's signal into my palm implant. We're almost there, when my palm starts to pulse. The Halo-R found Cass. It reads, Subject: Found Cass in Elite Town, or as we refer to it "E-Little Town".

I keep reading. Apparently, she's with a man none of us have met before. None of us have ever heard of this man. I look at my palm, blowing it up to get a better look. The Holo-R uploads his image. The upgrades in pixel quality for the Pallet mean the visual is extremely clear, close to virtual. However, I hate virtual, plus it turned out virtual screwed everyone up. I shut it down.

This mystery man is tall, blond, and beautiful. He is transfixed by Cass like she has instantly found a home within his heart. She is awash in his golden glory; holding her pale hand, he raises it to his check. I see him mouth, "My one and only love. You are mine. I never thought I'd find you again." They start walking towards some building. The tracking puts them somewhere in E-Little Town, heading towards some kind of club.

It appears Cass has a gentleman caller.

I query the Holo-R to identify the man Cass is with. It reads, "Name unknown. Worldwide databases produced no ID based on physical appearance. Fingerprint analysis produced no match."

"Merc, we need to leave for E-Little Town right after dinner with my parents. I never wanted to visit them to begin with."

"Who, your parents?"

I raise a brow.

"Laura, surely they can't be that bad."

"They aren't, but they are. You know how familial love is. It's an addiction that began as a high and now lingers as a really bad low."

Merc let out an inelegant hoot.

"Laura, you know no one ever gets to choose family."

We arrive, and I punch in a code to let them know we've arrived.

"Hello. Welcome to our home Merc." My mother ushers Merc into our house.

He walks in; shakes hands with my father and my brother-in-law, Gregory. They all stare at each other. I ignore everyone, disappearing out the back door onto the wood patio. It's surrounded by greenery, petunia's, lilacs; naturally, standard roses.

Ana promised me the island would never be touched by what happened elsewhere on the planet. Thus, the island is encased in a normalcy bubble. The inhabitants would not suffer, nor do without, as long as they were actually on the island. If they left, no guarantees. In my mind, there was never any doubt the island would survive; as long, of course, as the planet survived.

I take out a cigarette from a pack left over from Rome. Striking a match from the matchbox against the wooden deck's rail, it's lit. I inhale, relishing the false tranquility it provides. I lower myself to sit on first level of the patio, waiting for the birds. The staggered, electrically-powered waterfall is switched on. I look back and see my father nod at me.

I lift a hand. "Thanks."

It sputters; as first layer floods with water, the water moves down to the next level. The sound of water soothes me.

Birds swoop down, waiting their turn to bathe, play, drink. A little brown bird alights, skips back, and darts forward to dip itself in the rush of water. It delights in the game of water falling, halting; then flooding the next layer of the pond.

I inhale, exhale; laughing softly. No need to startle them. Then the regal, Prussian Blue Steller's Jay squawks an ugly, jeering sound for such an arrogantly handsome bird. It always has a sibling or parent around. When it lands, it scares the other birds away. It bows its head to drink. It never looks around as it relies on the familial warning system, a series of primal screeches.