The Experimental Cosmos

12. Dare To Hear It

I am standing in the long queue of initiates as the trains roll into the arena and adults start to descend and make their way towards the headquarters.
There are 200 initiates in a slot, and almost everyone I know is with me on mine.

Yesterday night we convinced Miranda to come meet our parents over some butterscotch ice cream, and so she stands playing with her shirt buttons, the most nervous I've seen her since we met.

Beside me Kalani is almost dancing with joy, and Astha just stands with a pleasant smile on her face. It suddenly strikes me that we have never met any ADULT from the Outside yet, and today might be the day.

Ms. Sarah stands at the gates, announcing the name and relation of every person that crosses inside, and each time we see a shuffle in a different part of the queue as someone rushes to meet their parent.

My heart is almost beating out of my chest. I crane my neck and peer into the other queue, where Jay, Louis and LC are standing. I spot them quite easily due to Louis' shock of yellow hair, but then I realise I am too nervous to be able to smile and start to turn away.

Just like at the night of the farewell, however, Jay spots me before u can do so and this time, he winks, raising an eyebrow at me.

This does make me chuckle, and I bite my lip and then smile and look away, the knot in my stomach easing a little.

Jay's mother is announced first, and I watch as they walk away, but just as I turn back, Ms. Sarah's sound echoes in my ears-
"Nebula's Mother, Jasmine."

Mother. It is my mother who got to come. Why does this make me so nervous? And scared? Why does it ring a bell?

My feet stay rooted to their spot for a moment, but then, the feeling vanishes, and I rush happily to her. She hugs me tight, but just for a moment before she does, I think she looks a little disappointed. For what? And what is it that I am missing??! Something is scratching at the very surface of my memories but I can't seem to clear the fog in my mind enough.

I take my mother to my dorm, which is still empty because I am the first one of us to be called.

Just as I am about to sit next to my mom, my laptop beeps a reminder, and as I open the screen, a wave of haunting memories hits me like nausea, and for a moment I wish I really had forgotten it.

Mom notices my expression and asks me if everything is alright, and at first I smile and nod, but then I feel-

This is my MOM ! I found out secrets now but she has always been my mother. And I decide that I trust her enough to dare. So I sit down beside her and lean back to where we had hidden the sound monitor control and start its 280 seconds. Then I tell her about the time limit and tell her everything I had learned in the past few weeks.

For a moment she just looks at me. Then she says, "Those vials you found in Jay's bag- they were labelled with handwritten names right?"

I nod, not even daring to breathe.

She takes a deep breath and says,
"Sodium Pentothal is provided by the Central to undercover scientists with only numbers on the bottles and labelled as a variety of different drugs, so that the suspected Abstruse don't come to know.

The Central very often drugs random foods so that the truth can pop out. The numbers you saw in the diary were all the bottles and supplies of it present in our town at the moment, so I would be able to keep away from them.

Jay's dad was an ex-scientist. He felt the need to make amends for his evils, so when he got intel that I was under radar, he started providing me that information."

My head is full blown spinning now, and only one thought is able to make itself clear.

" Mom, are you an Abstuse? "

" Baby, that is not decided and proven yet. "

Is the only thing she says, and if she would not even admit to her own daughter, I really hope for her sake that she really isn't one, but that much seems pretty clear.

Just as I am about to say something else, Astha comes into the room with her father, a tall and lean middle aged man with skin the colour of crisp brown toast.

We all greet each other, and Astha tells us that her father's name is Anil.
He smiles at us and we start talking about our families and lives.

Just then the door swings open and Bella strides inside, followed by Violet, who is her mother, and also the Art Mafia of the Reticence.

Violet practically shoos us out of the dorm, and just as we stumble outside, we run into Mr. Will Hector, who gives us his usual curt greeting, but then his eyes fall on my mother.

For a moment he almost staggers away, but then he collects himself, gives her a curt nod, and strides away.

We all look at her questioningly, and she shakes her head and says, "We are the same age",the ghost of a faint smile passing her lips.

We pass Cherry in the hall, talking to LC's father, and as soon as Mike spots her, he starts to try and make conversation with Kalani's mom,but she pretty obviously tells him to be gone.

For the first time in weeks, these glass walls seem almost human, and I start to inhale, but just then the speaker system croaks again, announcing the end of the visiting time.

As we all file out to the headquarters to watch our parents leave, I suddenly see Astha run towards the dorm, hand over her mouth, chest heaving with gasps.

I run after her and catch her emptying her guts into the toilet, and after I have Calmed her down a little and put some water in her, she breaks down in my arms.

"Oh god, I almost slipped up today, Nebula, why... Why am I like this?!!
WHY am I made like this?!!
I am soo tired of these secrets..."

I gently pull her in front of me and tilt her chin up to make her eyes meet mine and ask her what had happened. What she says next makes me spiral back into the thanatophobia I had felt just hours ago-

Looking me dead in the eye, Astha says-

" I remember every second of our initiation. I remembered it after the chip was blocked, and I have realised I won't forget even if I tried."

I am making sure I try my best to explore each character in this story. Please vote for my story if you like it and tell me your thoughts about what could happen ahead in the comments!!