The Catalyst

Chapter 10: Decisions

Chapter 10: Decisions

         The rest of the day passed in a blur of Thanksgiving wishes, packing, and last minute assignments. Before Dameon knew it, he was hauling his suitcase onto the spacious luggage rack and sitting in the metro trans side by side with Gloria and Cyrus, watching the Stop for Domenos University disappear behind them as the sky faded into twilight.

        Next to him, Cyrus heaved a sigh and sat back in his seat. "This quarter's gone by pretty quick, huh?" he said lazily, relaxedly. But his eyes gave him away. Even as he spoke the words his eyes darted around like a cornered animal, anywhere but Dameon's face. The events in the lab that had taken place just hours ago had obviously not left his mind.

        Gloria tossed her golden head, "Not nearly fast enough," she complained, "I didn't think it would ever end. Seriously, my hands are getting cramped from having to wave them around all the time and tap screens all the time just to write a stupid research paper! You get to do experiments - I get to write about 'An Analysis of President Ezra Faye's Tactics in the Second Korean War of 2067'." She sketched air quotes with her fingers, shaking her head, "Honestly? I'm starting to regret choosing a degree in military history. It's not all gory stories and global conflict - we have to do all kinds of strategy analysis of wars that happened forty years ago as well."

        "You've been saying that at the end of every quarter for the past two years" Cyrus shot back, "Which is getting annoying, by the way. In a week, you'll be begging for break to end."

        Gloria looked at him, affronted, "Fine then. If you're going to be so snippety, I'll talk to Dameon instead." She glanced at him, but Dameon didn't look back. He remained in his rigid position, gazing at the intra wall next to him at the dark city passing by.

        "Dameon?" Gloria said, more softly this time, "You OK? You haven't been talking much."

        Finally Dameon twisted back around to face her, "Well, I'm not exactly much of a chatterbox." he said wryly. Gloria laughed, but there was a touch of uneasiness in her voice.

        "Touché. Fine, I'll leave you alone to your thoughts. As usual."

        Dameon smiled ever so slightly, and as he tilted his head, his eyes met Cyrus's, and held them for an eternal moment. Green met black, and Dameon felt the tension brimming between them. And then Cyrus dropped his eyes, and the moment was broken.

      Gloria swiveled her head between them, perhaps sensing the standoff. Thankfully, she appeared to wave it off. "What stop do we get off at for the connecting  metro trans?" she asked loudly.

        "This line is local to the Northeast," Cyrus answered immediately, "If we want to get to the trans-continental line we should probably get off at Livingston, New Jersey. It's a smaller mega city, so the Stop won't be too crowded."

        Gloria slumped down in her seat, grumbling about how they kept changing the metro lines and Stops, but Dameon sat bolt upright. Livingston.

        "That's pretty close to Newark, eh?" he said, trying hard to sound casual. Cyrus narrowed his eyes, "Yeah...yeah, it is. Only about twenty miles or so. Why?"

        Dameon's mind whirled. Even yesterday, this information would have meant nothing to him. But the revelations at the lab, and the protest that he had seen on News at 12 had awoken something inside of him. Memories that he had tried to bury deep, and were now inconveniently resurfacing.

        Next to him, Gloria also went rigid. Dameon glanced down at her. Her face was expressionless, but he had been friends with her long enough to recognize the tight lines around her mouth. Although he had never seen her act such about Newark, it was not an uncommon reaction. She had never told Dameon anything about her family, or what her life had been like when she had lived in the slums of Salt Lake City. However her current expression was exactly the same as whenever either subjects were broached. But Dameon had never tried to wheedle the truth out of her. After all, if she had a past that she wanted to keep hidden, he could respect that. She was not the only one with secrets.