Stars Of Memory

Chapter 2

When she wakes, it is 09:57. She scrambles out of the bed, frantically pulling on a fresh pair of clothes. Jīvitaya races down the hallway, jerking to a stop at the bottom of the stairs, Looking down at her tablet, she pulls up a security camera field. It projects itself in front of her and to each side so she can look at all the cameras at once.

She looks at every camera, checking to make sure that no one was there. After confirming that there was no living thing in the house with the exception of herself and the rabbits that were currently racing around in their network of play tunnels, Jīvitaya presses the button on the key to raise the cardboard castle. She rushes up the stairs and presses the second button, correctly anticipating the rabbits that are barreling towards her. She sits down on the floor, letting them jump on and lick her until they are satisfied. When they are done, she gets up to prepare their food. After she places the food bowls down, she steps over to a screen built into the wall and states her password. A map of the house pops up on the screen. She taps on the room and the screen changes to show the controls for that room. She taps on the floor of the map and programs the garden to rotate up.

A panel of the floor sinks and slides under the one next to it to reveal a small piece of garden. Once the rabbits have finished eating the greens in the garden, another garden piece would replace it and allow the plants to regrow. Then Jīvitaya sets up the food to automatically refill. She turns off the wall screen and walks out of the room after giving each rabbit a banana slice and a baby carrot. After stepping out of the house, she checks the time on her tablet. She decides there is enough time to walk, so she goes past the hovercar and down the road towards the city. Halfway to her destination, she hears footsteps behind her. She glances back, but no one is there. She turns to face forward again and the footsteps resume. She taps on her tablet and a tiny camera slithers over her shoulder. She waits a moment to make sure they are still behind her before activating the camera.

A video feed pops up on the tablet to view what the camera is seeing. It is the male that was watching her at her house, but there was someone, or something else with him. She turns around again, but this time they don't disappear, instead they pick up speed. So Jīvitaya dismisses the camera and starts running while she slides the tablet into her pocket. They speed up as well, but she can hear the man's companion struggling as it tries to sling whatever it is carrying over its shoulder. She runs faster, trying to get to her destination as quickly as possible, and hopefully losing her pursuers in the process as well. Sadly, when she is a block away from her destination, they are still right behind her. She runs even faster, yanking open the door and slamming it shut behind her once she reaches the building. A brown-haired man stares at her, pale blue eyes wide with shock.

Trying to catch her breath, she gasps, "Are you Aro Daniels?" He nods shakily. "Then seal that blasted door before those things get in!"

He stands there gaping at her for a moment before jumping into action. He pulls out his own tablet and taps away on it for a moment. With a hiss, the door handle melts into the door and a clear panel snaps down between them and the door. It is about a foot thick. Aro Daniels leans toward her and provides a few words of encouragement.

"Nothing can get through that, it's too thick." As if it was cued, there is a slam on the door, causing it to quiver and rattle. He places a gentle hand on Jīvitaya's arm. "They can't get in here. So don't worry. Come, sit down." She nods and moves over to the couch beside the stairs, out of view of the door. Aro sits down at the other end of the couch, facing her. "Who was chasing you, young one? Why did you contact me last night? At least, I'm assuming that was you."

Jīvitaya responds shakily. "I think they're the aliens. Whenever I try to look at them and they notice, they disappear. But you heard them at the door, you know they're real!"