The Divorced (Open Novella Contest 2020)

Chapter 1

It was the most peculiar creature Jacob had ever seen.

"Peculiar" was the right word for it because although it appeared almost exactly like him in form and composition, there was something about the way it was standing before him now, so still. He almost thought it stupid. It then jerked forward as if to suddenly counteract that thought. He squinted at the odd thing as it slowly made its way towards him. It was hard to concentrate on, like staring into the sun or a lit lightbulb. Every motion it made seemed to blur its shape, like rippling waves across a pond, obscuring any reflection on the water's surface.

And yet as it edged closer towards him, the cloud of a person began to sharpen. Its image was now not so bold that he could not stare without a headache. Though he could make out almost no details, he could tell that it had a face at least, like his but somehow different.

Step by step, it narrowed the gap between them. He could sense a kind of apprehension that heavied its footsteps. That very same anxiety infected him, too, now. The beat of his heart quickened so fast that he almost gripped his breast in an effort to still it. It was like he wanted it to come closer. Why was that?

A ghost was before him now. Nothing in its face, if one could even call it a face at all, was recognizable or clear to him at all except...except... Yes, something was clearing up now. Eyes! He could at least make out a pair of eyes. And what eyes they were. They were wide as moons, hopeful to the point of being glazed watery with tears, yet bold in their shape and sincere in how they looked at him. He could feel his cheeks beginning to blush. He could not remember a time anyone had ever looked at him that way. There was a certain allure to them which made him want to reach out and pluck those pools of blue out of their sockets and stuff them securely into his pocket like blueberries.

And then a miracle. It spoke! "Wake up" the ghost commanded him in a jarring and all-too-familiar, commandeering voice, rough with authoritativeness. How was that possible? It had no mouth.

"WAKE UP! You've overslept, son!" the eyes yelled again somehow and Jacob indeed woke up to the large digitized face of Greatest GrandFather Merrick, his eyes blazed in a shade of definitely-not-blue and his computerized jaw was tense with impatience.

"I'm up, I'm up!" Jacob immediately sat up, alert and jarred from the shock.

"Tone!" the face warned.

"I am sorry for raising my voice," Jacob told the image in a strained calmness he had learned to perfect but not quite to accept.

"Very well," the image accepted the apology gruffly. Of course, Jacob did not have to fear GrandFather Merrick actually being upset with him as the image was merely a digital rendition of the patriarch, but nevertheless he did not like the idea of getting on his nerves given what week it was. He tried to get his wits about him.

"Time to tackle the day!" the animated face encouraged before the holocam ended the animation and finally left Jacob alone.

With a stifled yawn, he forced himself off the comfort of his cot and resisted the urge to sink his feet into slippers just yet as they touched the icy metal floorboards. He needed to build endurance towards the elements, or "strengthening" as they called it on Andriodus.

In one corner of the room sat a steel square embedded within the floorboards which gathered information on his weight, heart rate, emotional state, and on prompted occasion, blood chemistry. As with every morning, he forced himself onto it with fingers crossed.

"Goodmorning, JacobSon. Your weight as of today is 125 pounds. BMI calculated at 17.4. Better stock up on those proteins!" an automated voice announced through the speaker embedded on the wall.

"Great," he sighed sarcastically. He had been adding extra portions to his meals for the past two weeks, yet his frame was as pathetically unimproved as ever. At this rate, he might as well be losing weight faster than he could gain it. He made a mental note to start making visits to the Health Improvement sector again for daily muscle-strengthening exercises as well.

After changing into a fresh set of clothes, Jacob made his way to the dining area where his father and four-year-old brother, Issac, were already seated, contently enjoying their breakfast without him. His father, Abbot, was a man bordering slightly past what could be considered "middle-aged", with streaks of gray zigzagging across what was left of his dark tuft of hair. A decent amount of wrinkles creased his browned skin from all the years he had spent working the manual labor needed to run their always bright and humid agri-room. And yet Jacob could never remember him complaining about things as petty as looks.

"Ah, it's about time. You slept in an extra half hour!" his father remarked before taking a bite out of one of his protein-enriched wheat squares. A scowl creased his face as he glared at his son, making his wrinkles stand out like cracked glass.

"I just had a rough night, that's all," Jacob replied quietly as he sat down next to Issac, who was oblivious to all but his plate of glazed wheat-squares.

The section of the table he was seated against opened automatically like a slot upon detecting his presence and propped up a ready-made bowl of cereal along with a cup of juice squeezed from a variety of fruits and vegetables from the storage bed underneath the piece of furniture which acted as the family's own mechanical kitchen.

"Shit, I forgot to tell it to give me ham instead," Jacob groaned but dipped his spoon into the cereal without reservation regardless.

"Is food all you can think about now?" Abbot asked him, irritatedly. "You missed announcements."

Jacob's eyes widened in realization. Announcements! "Anything about GrandFather Merrick?" he asked eagerly, his mouth full of cereal.

Abbot's scowl remained unchanged as he spoke. "He has decided to attend the ceremonies in Faction 6 today."

Jacob's face burst into a smile. He didn't care if he appeared too jubilant. He had been waiting for the right opportunity to meet the wise ruler and gain his good impression as all young men his age competed for during Alpha Week, and now with him being just a faction away, practically close enough for him to walk to, now was his chance! He'd get a head start before all of his peers in the base. "That's great! I can fin—"

"Dammit, if you just wait long enough, boy, he'll get here," Abbot muttered, "I don't see the need to rush...".

Jacob was hesitant to reply right away, sensing the agitation in his father's voice. But he knew he had to defend himself. "You know our faction's always one of the last ones he visits."

"Why should it matter? Why should it matter at all if you get to see him? He's much too preoccupied without the likes of us anyway."

"That wouldn't be the case if he could see what I can do."

"Oh and just what can you do?" 

Jacob shifted uncomfortably in his seat and tried to preoccupy himself with his cereal instead of making eye contact with Abbot. Icy floorboards stung as soft as a cushion under his feet in comparison to his father's cold remark. "He'll see..." was all that he could answer.

Abbot let out an unsatisfied grunt and tossed his fork onto his empty plate, making a loud clank against the ceramic. The slot underneath the dish opened and consumed the dining ware, then swiftly closed with a final "suuump."

All was silent for a few awkward moments between them as Abbot finished off his coffee and Jacob his food, save for Issac's naive munching. Finally, Abbot spoke up, "He's only for staying opening ceremonies."

Jacob lowered his spoon back into the bowl. His eyes widened in realization. If he didn't leave now, Merrick would move on to the next faction in a matter of a half-hour or less.

"Better hurry!" Issac laughed and continued on with his breakfast.