The Experimentals: Choose your own adventure

Tell Azan

"When I turned 12, my body started to change, " Sariya said, "I started to look older and men started to treat me like I was older, but I was still 12. It was confusing to get all this unwanted attention when I wanted to be recognized for being me. Guys talked to me, but they didn't see me. My step-father...my step-father began to notice as well. He treated me differently and I didn't know why. I was a kid trying to understand the thought patterns of adults and failing. When I was 15, he got bolder. He started brushing against me when we were alone. Touching my hand. Hugging me when I didn't want to. It progressed. One day when my mom wasn't home, he came into my room and pinned me against the wall. I was so scared. Luckily, my little brothers came in and saved me. After that, I tried avoiding him, but knew I was running out of time, so I ran."

Azan remained silent for a minute, then said "You left to protect yourself."

"I know, but I don't know if I made the right decision."

"You'll never know if you made the right decisions. You just have to live with the outcome and not the what-ifs."

"But how? How do you not look back?" Sariya asked exasperated.

"Answer your what-ifs. What if you had stayed?"

She thought about it for a moment. "He would've done something to me, but I wouldn't have been able to say anything. He provided for us because my mom didn't work. I would've hated him and resented my mom even though I couldn't say anything."

He looked at her. "Outcomes aren't always better. They're just different. When you can accept that, you can accept what happened."

Sariya was confused. "What do you mean?"

He shrugged once again. "You're still living in the 'what if's if you keep holding on to your past. You have to realize your happiness isn't dependent on what has happened to you but what you do about it. You can choose to view your past as an obstacle or you can see it as what made you into who you are. It doesn't mean you forget about it or that it doesn't matter. It happened and you chose the best path at the time for you."

She smiled for the first time since she left home and peered at him. "You're kinda smart, aren't you?"

He looked away. "No. I just like to learn. It doesn't mean I know what to do, just what to say. Sometimes, I'm not even good at that."

She realized what it meant for him to find her. "You've been by yourself since Qyllan died?" He nodded and she continued. "Why did your risk your independence for me?"

He looked at her. "Because you're like me and I wanted to save myself. I know what it feels like to be hunted and scared, but I also know what it feels like to have someone look out for you. I've heard there might be other kids out there, but you're the first one I've actually known about. I had to try."

"What am I supposed to do?"

He turned his body to face her and sat up straight. "Focus on your power. Close your eyes. Picture an endless, white space with no boundaries. Breathe in and out. Hold your breath and concentrate on the fire that is in the pit of your stomach. Hold it."

Sariya inhaled and could feel her stomach burning. She thought about her step-father and the image of him fueled her even more, causing her to scream out. She looked down and realized the orange light of her ring disappeared. She shook her hand and nothing happened. "JoJo, JoJo, come out," she said, but nothing happened. She looked at Azan. "My ring stopped working. I had a little figure that would come out and help me."

Azan nodded. "I've heard of the existence of holoavatars, but I've never seen them. They usually hold a lot of energy. I think you've absorbed it."

"How is that possible? What does that mean?"

Azan got up and held his hand out for her. "I'm not sure, but we'll figure it out." Sariya reached out and he pulled her up. They walked back to the house and Sariya contemplated how it felt to absorb the little figurine that had helped her through so much in the beginning. She had not meant to do it, but it had happened and she wasn't sure where to go from there. All she knew was that she hated the thought of being reminded of her step-father and what he did to her, but didn't know how to deal with that either.

Over the course of several weeks, Azan trained Sariya to harness her power and she realized she could absorb energy if she concentrated on the hate she felt for her step-father. She also felt shameful that this was the only way she could channel her power. Eventually, Azan was able to show her how to gather the energy and blast it back into the world. She tried to put the energy back into JoJo when Azan was gone, but it didn't work. She was gone like her mother and brothers were gone and there was nothing she could do.

On one of her walks through the forests, she heard a voice in her ears that sounded like Luke. "Sariya. Sariya, are you there?"

Sariya jumped and fell to the ground as she stared around her, not seeing anything. "Stay away from me, Luke! I don't want to talk to you."

Luke's voice sounded in her ears again. "I need to meet with you. You're in danger."

"How are you talking to me?" She looked around her, bewildered.

He continued. "I paid a hacker to jack into your translator. I don't have much time. Listen, you have to believe me that you're in danger."

Sariya pulled herself up. "Why would I believe you? I had JoJo follow you and she said you were selling me to the trader?"

A laugh sounded in her ear. "Oh, so you sent a little spy who didn't listen long enough? I was asking to buy a girl he was holding, not sell you. Look, you don't have to believe me, but you have to meet me."

Sariya absently rubbed her ring. "I don't know."

"You need to know soon or you'll be dead."

Meet with Luke(1) Don't meet with Luke (1)