The Soulmate Curse

MYRRH (for healing sorrow) - Part 2

"Ares, please switch off the lights," Finn mumbled in her sleep.

"The lights are off, Finn," said the AI. "That light is from the rising sun. Would you like me to darken the windows?"

"Sunrise? Already?" wondered Finn, yawning. "It feels like I just closed my eyes."

"You've been asleep for exactly one hour and twenty-two minutes."

"It feels like it," said Finn. She stood up from her desk and stretched her back.

"Should I darken the windows, Finn?" asked Ares once more. "You need to rest. Your cortisol levels are higher than average, and you have only averaged three hours of sleep in the last four days."

"I'm fine," said Finn, with another yawn and full body stretch. She undressed and then reached for her running clothes. "Please prep the morning run program. The girls will be waiting for me."

"Yes, Finn."

Finn set up her camera as took the elevator to the lobby. She noticed the old orange ginger cat tucked snugly in the corner on a gorgeous small futon, asleep. She smiled. That futon hadn't been there before. She squinted in the sunlight. These early summer mornings were glorious.

"Morning guys!"

"Hi Finn," said Sorcha. "You're late."

"You're never late," said Ina, her voice dripping with mischief. "Did you have a girl over last night?"

Sorcha giggled. This morning Finn was the one recording her route in the real while her sisters followed along in Augmented Reality. They ran on treadmills in their rooms back home with Finn's route projected ahead of them as an AR hologram. Data from the topography of Finn's route was sent to the girls' treadmills, which adjusted the incline and relative speed to reflect how they would have experienced the run if they'd been right next to Finn on the road. Finn only had audio feedback on her side.

"Good morning girls," said their mum, joining them on VR before Finn could give a snarky come back to Ina's question.

"Mum!" said Sorcha, whooping in delight. Their mum's VR avatar had likely appeared beside Finn's running form on their AR hologram.

"Hi mum," said Ina. "How's the conference?"

"You're not home?" Finn asked.

"Good morning to you too, Finn. And no, I'm not home at the moment. I see you've been keeping up with the home calendar," said her mum, sarcastically. Finn felt a little bad for being distant. She couldn't help it. It hurt to talk to her mum after the last time. Her mum's voice softened. "The conference is wonderful, thank you for asking, Ina."

"I'm sorry, mum," said Finn, sighing. "The last few weeks have been pretty intense."

"Yes, I received an alert from Ares about steadily rising cortisol levels and very little REM sleep for the last few days," said her mum.

"I'm fine, mum," said Finn, a little bit too defensively. "I thought you said you'd trust me to take care of myself?"

"I only asked Ares to alert me if it seemed absolutely necessary."

"You shouldn't be asking her to do that at all."

"Alright, Finn," her mum sighed. "I'll back off. Just promise me you'll get some sleep?"

"I'm working on an important project," said Finn. "When it's all done, I promise I'll sleep for a week."

"Can we just enjoy the run now?" asked Sorcha.

Everyone laughed and they let Finn lead them through the currently empty, and gorgeous, streets of her urban city home.

Finn was scrambling to complete her project. It had been days since she had seen Zhen for more than a few minutes. They'd both been granted leave for a few days from the Think Tank to give them time to finish their contest entries. They were living in the same space, but both had been barricaded in their rooms, leaving only to go to the bathroom or find food. With the tight deadline, even Finn was printing her food. It was priceless to watch Zhen's jaw drop when she saw Finn's food printed in the usual circular shape while everything she printed was still being printed as dick pics. In all that chaos and insanity, every little sliver of ridiculousness was welcomed.

'To the person who brought that old ginger cat back from the shelter and hacked the intercom system so the doors would open to its specific meow, you must cease and desist. Just so you know, that futon will be disposed of by the end of the week. RA.'

Finn ignored the message and continued scrolling through her inbox. She sighed. There were no messages from the penitentiary. She wondered if she should write another letter. Maybe he hadn't figured out the decryption key for the other one, even though she'd made it so he could easily identify it. Or had she made it too easy and someone else had intercepted it? No. She'd been careful. She shook off the apprehension and doubt. If anything, she'd gone overboard with the encryption. She would write another letter. A little simpler to decipher this time. She only had a few more weeks before the trial was over. Much less before her contest submission was due.

"I'm worried about you, Finn," said Ares. She was working through her second sleepless night.

"Don't be. I'm fine," said Finn yawning. She blinked a few times then stood up. She wasn't a coffee drinker, but this was one of those times she really needed caffeine. "I'm going to get some coffee. Please continue rendering the design. We're close to the end. Final stretch."

"Yes, Finn."

"And don't alert my mum on my REM stats, please."

"I won't."

"Thanks, Ares."

Finn almost ran into Zhen who was also just walking out of her room. Zhen steadied her and Finn was suddenly very awake. The hand on her shoulder more startling than a bolt of lightning. There was a girl behind Finn. Zhen made sure Finn was standing on her own, then let go of her shoulder, leaving behind a deeper feeling of loss than Finn was ready to deal with, before walking the girl to the door. It was the girl from that first day at the apartment, not the one she'd run into the other night under the glow of the red lights. Finn felt her insides swirl into a tornado of envy as they kissed goodbye at the door. Zhen turned to look at her.

"You okay?" Zhen asked. How did she look so well rested and perfect? Had they even been working on the same project? Because Finn was beyond tired.

"Can I ask you something?" said Finn, hoping to keep Zhen's attention on her for a moment longer.

Zhen shrugged. "Sure?"

Why don't you like me?

"What happened to that drink you used to make at camp?" said Finn, banishing the thought of the question she really wanted to ask. There was no way she wanted an answer to that.

"Oh, that's... I haven't thought of that for a long time," said Zhen. She smiled sheepishly. "I, um, the formula was stolen. I was careless. Arrogant. I wasn't careful enough with the IP. It was patented by a corporation before I could even blink. They didn't want their coffee sales jeopardised. And I couldn't fight them."

"That's... awful."

Zhen laughed. "Yeah. If I try to make anything like it, my great-grandchildren will still be paying for the fallout when they get kids."

"Do you think they have too much power?" said Finn, suddenly angry. "Corporations?"

"Like MechSoft? The one's sponsoring this contest?" said Zhen. She smiled. "Corporations have a role to play too."

"How are you doing with that, anyway?"

"I submitted my project a few hours ago, hence the... um... celebratory..." said Zhen, looking at the door before her voice trailed at the end. She turned the focus back on Finn. "What about you?"

Finn took a moment to answer. A moment to let her thoughts coalesce into something that didn't make her sound like an idiot. Because right now, she felt like an idiot. Stupid for her affection towards Zhen, because it only led to heartbreak.

"A few more hours before I submit," Finn finally chose to say.

"Cutting it close, Darrow."

"Yeah," Finn said. "I was just going to get some coffee for the last push."

"Don't worry about it. Go back to your room. Keep going," said Zhen, motioning to Finn's room. "I can make you a cup."

Finn didn't have the strength to argue. Or the time. Or emotional bandwidth. Just a smile. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it."

That cup of coffee was made exactly how she liked it, down to the exact right amount of cardamom, which was interesting because she rarely made herself a cup.