The Tides That Bind Us [AfroFuturism]

Parting Shot

Denden, 3rd May 2163

Zaharah awoke with a start, sitting up and banging her head on something hard and metal. She groaned and tried to turn over, but there was little room to turn around in whatever box she was locked in. Or... the creeper. The creeper was on top of her. Her panic redoubled, and she banged against the metal with her fists.

"Help! Jade help!" she called.

A hiss reached her ears and light streamed in from her left, and the metal moved away on its own. She tried to scramble into a sitting position, but her limbs felt like wet noodles.

"Easy, easy, Zaharah. You're fine."

She looked up, not at Jade, but at Dr Will, and drew her brows in tight. "When did you get here? And the creeper. It—"

"Zaharah breathe." He put a hand on her shoulder. "It was just a memory. There is no creeper here. I promise you."

Zaharah stared at him for a long moment, then looked at Skorpi, who was perched on his shoulder, the past him at the screens, machines and panels behind him. And it all came rushing back like the flow of a tide.

Her mind raced and reeled with everything that had happened over the last few days. The Director was taking them to the EUC that afternoon. The videos, the messages, the hacking. The lies. Cammi was right. All this time, they were right and the people she trusted, the people she called friends, had been lying to her. Her stomach turned on its side and bile pooled in her mouth.

Two years... They'd been lying to her for two years. She shook and tears stung her eyes.

"I know you're a little... overwhelmed right now," Will said. "But I need to ask you a few post-procedure questions. Just to be safe." He pressed a cup of coffee into her hands.

Zaharah nodded and swiped at the tears with her sleeve. The warmth from the cup seeped into her hands and chased the numbness from her fingers. Control the things you can... her mom had said that. She thought she was in control, but she'd been a puppet on a string this entire time.

"All right." Dr Will pulled up a stool and sat facing her, tablet in hand. "What is your name?"

"Zaharah Dev..." She bit the inside of her cheek and squeezed her eyes shut. Her mind was scrambled, and she felt as though she was trying to draw information from two places at once. Or two different timelines at once. "Zaharah Cyan. My name is Zaharah Cyan." She looked up at Will. "Am... I related to Dr Cyan?"

"We'll get to that in a moment. Do you know where you are, and why you're here?"

She nodded. "I'm at the clinic in Denden and... you just gave me my memories back." She took a swig of coffee to alleviate the dryness in her mouth and throat. Dr Cyan had given her the truth too. Exposed the Director. Aleesha Saunders, the giant stepping over all of them. All those kind words and gestures, all the offerings of new arms and hopes for a fancy education in a prestigious art academy. It was all a lie.

"Good." Dr Will's gaze flicked up to her briefly. "What's the last thing you remember from the night of the accident?"

"I..." Zaharah swallowed, images of the creeper flashing through her mind. She looked down at herself to make sure she was intact. No way... That creeper had to be at least twenty feet up when it fell on top of her. She should be broken, scarred up, and then some. "Jade and I were in the shipyard on the north end of Denden. I was running to the garage, and the creeper fell on top of me."

He nodded, tapping away at the tablet's screen. "Are you at all dizzy, light-headed, any numbness or pain in your hands or feet?"

She shook her head.