Rating. SFW
Word Count. 4023 words
Triggers. none
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“You’re going to feel a little pinch.”
The needle pierced the skin just below her shoulder. Sucking in a breath between her teeth, Bowen tensed for just a second as Dr. Sellers pushed the plunger of the syringe gently until it tapped the bottom. Before she knew it, an adhesive bandage was pressed over the miniscule wound. “Done.”
Visibly relaxing, Bowen put pressure on her arm with her free hand. “Remind me, what is this supposed to do again?” she asked.
The medical practitioner, a dark woman with shiny green cat-eye glasses, rose from her seat and disposed of the syringe in a nearby plastic container. She wore an ankle-long white coat over a dandelion sweater and burgundy slippers that appeared a size too small. Pulling her gloves off, she grabbed a pen, giving the top a nip, and logged a note on her clipboard.
“The implant”, she began without sparing her a glance. “Is a regulatory device engineered with the unique biology of Orbona and a generous donation of Eva 9’s DNA. Its purpose is to modify your genetic makeup to better acclimate to the environment. Earth’s terraformation and our hiding in New Attica have left us woefully incipient to the changes of our planet. Humanity has become heritably maladapted and at risk for diseases, natural disasters, even dangers we are not yet aware of. Instead of waiting for evolution to slowly change our characteristics, we are kickstarting the process.”
The obnoxious clicking of the pen disturbed the quiet.
“For the next six months I will be observing, and recording, any changes you experience. All three of you will be due weekly for checkups.” A meter away, leaning on the doorframe, was Bowen’s twin. A tan girl, around 5 '6, with a diamond shaped face and a thick mane of red-tinted bronze, Volta looked just different enough to avoid confusion with her identical twin sister. Bowen, on the other hand, had lighter honey brown tresses and a beauty mark under her right eye. Both of them, and another male participant, volunteered to be test subjects. More like coerced, in Bowen’s case.
“How did I let you talk me into this?” She muttered just loud enough for Volta to hear.
“Easy”, her doppelganger smirked, pushing off the doorframe. Clad in a scoop back tank and jacket combo with loose-fitted trousers and boots, she sidled up to her sister, settling a hand on the unbandaged shoulder and pecked her on the cheek. “You would never let me do anything risky alone. You love me too much. And anyway, this implant could be a game changer. I’m tired of sitting around on my butt when I could be doing something useful.”
Unable to repress a smile, Bowen shot her sister a knowing look. “You know, there is a lot of useful work to be done around the colony if you’re so bored. You didn't need to sign us up for an untested experiment that will need invasive surgery to correct if things go sideways. And that’s only for the implant. We will have to live with the changes it makes for the rest of our lives-”
“Yeah, sis, I understand the risks. Excuse me for wanting some adventure in my life and to help Bliss.” A sharp tapping interrupted their argument. Dr. Sellers pushed up her glasses as she made her way back to them, finally looking up from her clipboard.
“You two are good to go”, she said, lips pulled tight. “Remember, I expect both of you to be back here in a week. Seven days. One-hundred-and-sixty-eight hours.” Her scrutinizing gaze landed solely on Volta. “We still have calendars in Bliss. Make use of them.” The young woman in question responded with a sheepish expression and a shrug of her shoulders. Volta was terrible with time and dates.
“Yes, ma’am.” She gave her a salute.
“Good. Then off you go.” She shooed them off with a wave of her hand, bangles jangling.
Bowen rose from her seat and the two of them left the shallow bunker, exchanging light, playful shoves. Outside, the colony of Bliss buzzed around them like drones in a hive. After the fall of New Attica, Queen Ojo generously granted them a parcel of land big enough to shelter all the refugees while they rebuild some semblance of civilization. Engineers, scientists and manual laborers all trekked back to the rubble of their old home frequently to scavenge tech and items hidden in the debris, using banged up air breakers and muntrunners to haul their finds back to the colony. With good- old fashioned human ingenuity and plenty of teamwork life was becoming normal again after seven long months. However, the life they were aiming for would be significantly simpler, focusing on coexistence with the natural world. Finding a good balance was proving difficult.
Off white rectangular homes that clashed with the encircling vibrant alien forest replaced the strict minimalism of New Attica architecture. Businesses were reduced to makeshift stalls until more shelters were built to house the people and the Great Hall was expanded upon as the center of the colony. It would serve as a core network that archived human history digitally as programmers worked to revive damaged omnipods and access their vast train of data. East of the settlement were large gardens and greenhouses attached to an unfinished lab where producing the staples of human agriculture was top priority. In every corner of Bliss there was a job to do, a goal to achieve and a neighbor to help.
Even the bulk of savvy teenagers were hard at work trying to recreate hologaming while learning to program.
It would take years, if not decades, to develop Bliss to New Attica’s level. Bowen desperately missed all her creature comforts, from cotton pajamas and easy access to sweets to social media and plain lack of responsibility aside from finding a part-time job. Now that she thought about it, it didn’t make her sound very mature.
In a split second, the twins ducked as an industrial bar of steel was swung in their direction. It flew just over their heads, a hair away from colliding with them forehead first.
“Whoops! Sorry!” A man around their age with a carrot top and a gap-toothed smile switched the steel to his other shoulder away from the two. His smattering of facial freckles dimpled as he gave them an apologetic smile.
“Babe, watch where you’re swinging that thing”, Volta scowled.
“I’m sorry, Vo. It just got away from me. You know I’d never do anything to hurt that pretty face of yours on purpose.” He barely flinched as she delivered a punch, knuckles digging into his side. Nick was on the brawnier side, about 5 ‘9, and built like the very steel he carried. He could hold his own against a worthy adversary, so playful or not, his girlfriend did little damage. Not that he would point it out. He liked keeping the peace.
“Right”, she smiled, leaning up to kiss him on the lips. Bowen found herself shallowly rolling her eyes.
Nick grinned as he pulled back. “Don’t be jealous, Bo”, he teased. “You can have a kiss too.” He laughed as Volta elbowed him in the ribs. “Or, I can set you up with one of my pilot buddies.”
She was quick to respond, and firmly. “Thanks, but no thanks. To your buddy and the kiss. I have no idea where my sister’s lips have been.” She avoided the displeased look her sister shot at her, instantly feeling as though her eyes were burning a hole right through her head.
The last thing Bowen wanted, or needed, was a relationship added to the chaos that was her life. Talk about irresponsible and messy! At least that was what she told herself, making it easier to avoid peers of the opposite sex. Nick was alright though.
“That reminds me!” He interrupted her thoughts, turning to Volta as if he just remembered where she came from. “How did the trip to the doctor go?”
“I’ll tell you later”, She promised, patting his chest twice as she swung them around in a forty degree angle.
“I’ll check my very busy schedule.” Their dopey flirting was starting to attract stares, causing Bowen’s skin to prickle. Like being poked by thorns.
“Alright, alright, that’s enough!” she finally piped up, wrapping her fingers around Volta’s arm and giving an insistent pull. “Aunt Joyce is making us dinner and my arm is starting to feel sore. Let’s go.”
Volta and Nick shared a last kiss. “Bye”, she waved.
“Bye”, he waved back. “Love you.”
She didn’t answer, turning her back to him as she fell in step with her twin. Bowen glanced back over her shoulder to catch Nick with an uncharacteristically conflicted expression, eyes following them as he stayed in place. Like a pitiful pet who was just brazenly ignored by their master. She could practically see his ears droop.
Turning her eyes forward, she let them wander to sideeye Volta who had gone quiet. How awkward.
Passing by the arched entrance to their colony, they both stopped at the same time when they spotted a quintet of armored guards from Solace speaking to Violet, the leader of Bliss.
A sanctuary born botanist that fought on both sides of the battle for Orbona’s Heart, and a friend to Eva, she was voted in charge by the people of Bliss for her kindness, intelligence and survivalist skills. Everyone trusted her. She was reluctant at first to take up the position, which gained her more popularity, and only agreed to take charge temporarily. That was months ago. If you asked Bowen, she was doing a darn good job of running Bliss.
“I wonder what they look like under all that armor”, Volta continued, her dark brown gaze holding steady as if she had the power to visually pierce through the layers to the underneath. Neither had any idea what they looked like behind their helmets, but Bowen’s guess was that they resembled Queen Ojo. There was little evidence to support her theory. Call it a hunch.
She noticed a subtle shift in her sister’s stare and squinted quizzically. Is she…?
The slight movement of Volta’s lips proved her correct. “I don’t think so”, she objected, wrapping long, slender digits around her twin’s wrist. “That is none of our business.”
With a pout, Volta let her sister drag her away without protest. “Oh, don’t act like you’re not interested.”
“As a matter of fact, I could care less.”
“Uh-huh”, she deadpanned, clearly not convinced. “If you’re seriously not even the tiniest bit curious, I have to wonder what’s wrong with you. When was the last time the Queen’s entourage were here?”
“Again, not our business. Violet has it handled.”
Volta audibly sighed. “Whatever.” She could see her turn to stare once more at the visitors out of the corner of her eye as she led her home.
With their bellies filled with grilled corn couscous, susti-bars and juice, the girls hugged their Aunt goodnight and retired to their shared bedroom just as the sun disappeared behind the enormous trees of Orbona. From her bed, Bowen could hear the sound of sloshing water and clinking tableware echoing from the kitchen. Aunt Joyce must be doing the dishes.
What menial chore bots used to do for humans, now they did themselves. The plump, pear-shaped woman didn’t seem to mind though. She would often hum something off key while her hands were busy scrubbing and drying. She used to order her omni to play new age music while she was idle or busy doing work. With a fraction of them destroyed and the majority confiscated to be worked on, she could only listen to her favorite tracks in her mind.
Her voice wasn’t too terrible. Joyce Li was no chanteuse, but Bowen often found herself lulled to sleep by the lyrical humming nonetheless. Sometimes, it found its way into her dreams.
Instead of the woman who raised her, the familiar almond eyes and face as round as a plate faded into a blur. The song was the same, but the singer changed. Long brunette hair the color of oak, gentle and delicate hands so soft against her cheeks, dark blue draped on her person and lips that moved. Talking to her. No longer singing. But she couldn’t hear.
Even her face was unrecognizable.
Even still, Bowen knew who she was.
She disappeared when the girls were seven. Joyce was a dear friend of hers and graciously took them in so they didn’t slip through the cracks. She never shied away from talking about Elizabeth Kole with her daughters, but as their memories grew fuzzier through the years, they just stopped asking altogether. Bowen didn’t know why she went silent, but she knew Volta never liked looking back.
A shuffle disturbed her reverie and the soft sound of the window opening had her sit up. “Vo?” She locked eyes with her sister halfway through the aperture, a pack slung over her shoulder. Volta froze, the night sky and the pale light of the broken moon framing her silhouette. Bowen could hear her exhale and watched as she hesitantly stepped back inside, busted.
This wasn’t out of the ordinary. Volta snuck out most nights, but only after Bowen was fast asleep. She would wake up in the middle of the night and see her twin’s bed on the opposite end of the room empty. Where she was going and what she was doing was never brought up. Until now.
“There is a door”, Bowen continued, settling her hands on her blanketed lap.
“Yeah…I know”, was all she got as a response.
A moment of silence passed through them as Volta slowly stepped backwards to sit on the edge of her bed. The moonlight shining on her hair from the window made it glow a soft blue. Bowen was suddenly reminded of how jealous she had always been of her. They were identical twins and yet Volta had the perfect shock of wavy hair that never seemed to stick out of place; perfectly warm tan skin, long perfect eyelashes, perfect white teeth and she was so perfectly loved by everybody she met. She was a lustrous star.
“Are you sneaking out to see Nick?”
“No.” She clammed up under Bowen’s inquisitive gaze, avoiding eye contact.
Another moment of silence passed as Bowen thought about how to ease the tension. “You are aware that I know you sneak out every night, all night, right?”
That seemed to get her to relax a smidge. Rolling her shoulders, Volta reared back with a soft groan. “Are you serious?” she asked incredulously.
“Yep. And so does Aunt Joyce. She never stopped checking in on us during the night. She just never says anything because you’re a grown woman. Aaaaand, you’re a notoriously late sleeper.”
“Well now I feel like an idiot.” With a muffled flop, Volta fell back on the mattress. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I thought if you wanted me to know what you were doing, you would eventually tell me”, Bowen explained, grabbing the hem of her blanket and folding it away from her legs. Planting her feet on the cold floor, she rose from the bed and shuffled over to sit beside her sister. She wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close until their heads bumped. “Took a little longer than I expected though.”
Enveloping them in a navy blanket bordered in cream, her left hand reached for Volta’s. “I just didn’t want you to worry”, her sibling murmured, clasping her paw and relaxing as warmth spread between them.
“Okay, I was a little worried”, Bowen admitted, feeling like she was as transparent as a glass of water. It shouldn’t be a surprise. Her sister knew her the best. Maybe even better than herself. “Can I ask where you were going?”
Pulling away, Volta let the blanket fall from her shoulders. She had that twinkle in her eye she usually got when she was thinking of causing trouble. Her more cautious twin had to brace herself for what she was about to reveal.
“To see Violet”, she finally divulged, this time bereft of her earlier guilt.
“Violet? Why?” Bowen questioned, brow raised.
Her twin leapt off the bed. “Well, it’s been Violet for the last month, but before her I was with James. Before him, Hailey. And before him I was hanging around Stef.” She seemed to tremble with excitement as she began to pace, words cramming together in a quick succession of prattles. It all melted together, giving Bowen a cognitive overload.
“Wait!” she interrupted, rubbing the sudden ache in her temple with two fingers. “Slow down. I don’t understand.”
“Bo”. Her twin turned to face her, stilling her body as well as turning off her rapid-fire speech. “I’ve been training. Survival fitness, alien tech basics, a bit of engineering, learning to pilot an airbreaker; you name it, I've been doing it. Similar to the regimen of the sanctuary born, except preparing for life on Orbona, not Earth. Everyone has been helping me when they can, usually at night. By myself I’ve been working on my own skimmer and I even have a new omni prototype. See, look.”
She held up the back of her hand to show off a sleek, thin circular device embedded in her fingerless glove. Volta called out its name and it blinked to life. A monotonous masculine voice resonated from inside.
“Hey, Omni.” Bowen balked while staring hard at the omnipod. She was struggling to register her sister’s big confession, although some part of her had reasoned that she was getting up to some kind of mischief while she was away. However, she assumed it was more boy trouble or young adult rebelliousness. Not secret meetings with half the settlement to play secret agent.
She laughed to herself. It was in classic Volta fashion to become so intertwined in colony matters she had no business being privy to. Worming her way into obtaining an omnipod and getting one-on-one time with their leader shouldn’t be so shocking, and yet, somehow, she single-handedly managed to convince multiple people to bend the rules for her own benefit.
“It’s not a big secret or anything”, Volta continued. “But don’t go around making it a big deal, okay? With the state of the colony, my escapades could ruffle some feathers.”
Bowen just nodded. She had a feeling that if she responded, she would overreact. However, her silence spoke volumes. Volta looked at her expectantly, brows knitted together and front teeth nipping her lower lip. How was she so excited about going behind the colony’s back? Her family’s back?
She sighed, relenting. “Okay. I get it. I’ll keep my mouth shut. If this is what you want to do, I’ll support you. I kind of have to if Violet is calling the shots.”
A genuine, relieved smile graced her features. “Thanks, sis.”
“Don’t thank me. You know I hate keeping secrets.”
Having gained her blessing, sort of, Volta slipped through the window and disappeared into the night, leaving Bowen to ruminate. It would be a couple hours before she could comfortably fall asleep without thinking about her sister.
Her dreams had begun to change. There were no people, no animals, no plants; just a white bodiless void. Her feet touched an invisible barrier, giving her the illusion of standing, but every movement was heavy and slowed as if walking through a dense mud pit. No matter how hard she tried, her limbs remained stubborn, pushed back by an unseen force. Driven by an urge she could not name, Bowen trudged forward and when she stepped on an undetectable trigger, veins of bright light burst through the white like cracks running up a wall.
The network bloomed all around her, seeming to open up and reveal shades of green. More colors joined the display, the oranges, reds, blues and purples taking shape. Bowen recognized the flora of Orbona surrounding her from all sides like a warm, cheerful hug. The strangeness and lonely feeling she often felt in Bliss, was replaced by an unexpected connection that made her heart sing and eased her mind.
Then an ethereal figure emerged from the vibrant wonder.
She opened her mouth to speak, but found she did not have a voice.
No. This is not home. I want to go back! Back to New Attica! How it used to be! Where life was simpler and people were happier. Where they were sheltered, protected and free! It was a bubble that mimicked the Earth undamaged and perfect, shielded from the reality outside. Its people lived in leisure, stress free and waited on hand and foot by bots. They lived within the peak of evolutionary bliss.
Whether or not the figure could hear her thoughts, it simply repeated:
No! The figure waved what could be perceived as limbs forward, materializing an inhuman shadowy silhouette. It stood two times larger than her, looming intimidatingly like a hunched beast. Through the blur Bowen could make out four arms and a fluked tail. White eyes with no pupils darted around as the shape turned, stance tense, displaying a defined head much bigger than hers. It was strangely familiar and clearly alien.
She gasped as its gaze fell on her.
For an unnerving moment it stared straight through her and she questioned whether the alien could actually register her presence. The hulking behemoth, apparently unsatisfied, stomped towards her, sending a chill up her spine. Attempting to move, her heart stopped when her legs refused to budge. Her muscles were locked in place and no matter of yanking or mental willpower gave her back control. Lifting her head, Bowen yelled silently at the unearthly being spectating her fear.
Let me go! Let me go! Again, her thoughts went unacknowledged. Please! Help me!
Her hands clawed desperately at her thighs and when she looked up again, the object of her fear stood directly in front of her.
All motion stopped as she stared, perturbed, at the wall of muscle blocking her line of sight.
Finally, she was given a voice that broke through the silence; a discordant hiss of exhalation that blew from between her lips like a howling wind. The volume startled her. It startled the alien too. Its massive frame sharply flinched and Bowen expected one of his large arms to barrel towards her, but the pain of a swipe never came. Rather, its posture was curiously relaxed.
With great reluctance, she turned right to where the watcher observed them.
“What are you trying to tell me?” she asked, finding that her voice sounded strangely foreign.
As if summoned, the figure floated towards her, carried by light. Its brilliance, blinding and warm, reached out to touch her breast, setting the area aglow. “Do not fear”, it avowed. “We are with you.”
“Ow!” Bowen cried out as the feeling of flames licked over her heart, making each pump burn, sending searing heat racing through her veins. She jerked back, chest still alight, as her muscles tightened and her body trembled feverishly. The pain bloomed like a rash down her body, causing the skin to tingle with an acute itch while a heavy nausea settled over her like a storm. Her head felt heavy and suddenly it was hard to breathe. “What did you do to me?”
“Do not fear. We are with you.”
She grabbed her head between her hands, squeezing. “Stop it!” She yelled, backing away as if she could run away from the sensations plaguing her. She couldn’t see them anymore, the alien and the watcher. Whether her eyes were open or closed, her only focus was the blaze burning her from the inside out.
Bowen moaned as she was brought to her knees, catching a glimpse of her reflection beneath her. The person writhed in agony as they were consumed by light. As she was consumed by light.
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