The Last City Page 14
After several moments however, the lines began to appear. The swirls at first were faint, but then darkened as they formed upon his skin, and he turned his arms over and back, examining them.
“Too often though, it’s too much of a distraction while I’m working and I have to request the Unit to remove it. But as you can see…”
He didn’t need to finish.
“I think he wants to fight you,” I said, remembering Jordan’s remarks when he’d beaten the simulation.
“Yeah, I’ve been expecting that,” he said, and replaced his shirt, grinning at me as he did. I wanted to smack him.
“Though I don’t know what took him so long,” he continued. “He should have reached this level a long time ago.”
I sat with him a while longer. The soup was too good not to eat every drop. It tasted almost exactly the same as my grandmother’s, which only brought me back to how he was able to obtain that much information out of my head.
“So, we’re back to biology lessons?” he asked with a smirk, and I glared at him in frustration.
“At least let me get the question out before you answer it,” I complained.
“Why?”
“Mason!”
“What would you like first? How I’m able to hear your thoughts? Or how you and Jordan can sense each other? The processes though, are related. It’s all just information.”
“Just don’t make my brain explode,” I sighed in response.
The corners of his mouth twitched, as though he was holding back a laugh, and he stared at me for several moments, before speaking.
“Inside your brain there are nerve cells that contain receptors and transmitters, sending and receiving information. In between the receptor and the transmitter is a tiny gap called a synapse. Neurotransmitters diffuse across the gap to the receptor.”
He stopped and stared at me once more. “Yes?” he asked, making sure I understood.
I was better with pictures, but I wasn’t completely lost. So far it sounded simple enough. Kind of like the Wi-Fi back in my apartment on Earth.
That thought caused him to laugh harder than I’d heard him laugh before.
“When those transmitters in your brain send information, that information doesn’t necessarily need to be received by the receptors in your brain. And your receptors are capable of receiving a whole lot more than just what is inside of you. For yourself and Jordan, because your biological frequencies are naturally harmonized, you can sense each other’s frequencies, your brainwaves resonate within one another. What feels like your soul being pulled out of you, is your brain and the nerves throughout your body, chemically and electrically interacting with his.”
Our brains interacting, not our souls after all. But from just knowing how it felt, caused me to wonder if there was a difference. And I decided that no matter what Mason said about the technical process, I still preferred to think of it as our souls touching, connecting, and warming one another. And soul-hug sounded better. I didn’t so much care for the term brain-hug, that was kind-of gross.
“But we don’t hear each other’s thoughts,” I said in a shaky voice, unsure if I wanted to ask further questions.
“Are you sure about that?” he asked, and I had to think back and wonder if maybe we had. But I was quite certain I would have known and remembered if we did.
“Your sense of touch, and your emotions are the strongest senses and reactions within you, so naturally you would feel those more than anything else. But when next in Jordan’s presence, try to pay closer attention to all that passes between you.”
“Hmm,” was the only response I could manage. The grunt of a caveman - or in my case cavewoman - puzzling over fire. “I told you not to make my brain explode,” I mumbled as I looked away from him. I could now see myself setting a new goal, a new task, to understand a whole lot more about… everything, than I currently did. Hopefully, I, like everyone else on this planet, would be granted several lifetimes.
Mason tried to stifle his laughter at my thoughts, but he couldn’t hold it in, and the sound of him coursed through me. It felt good to hear. Something that I can at least give back to him, after all he’d done for me.
“Ah Lydia,” he said, as his laughter subsided. “What you give back to me is seeing both you and Jordan happy.”
“He’s important to you, isn’t he?” I asked.
“He lost a lot. We all did,” he lowered his voice and sadness shadowed his eyes. “Those of us that are left, have become like family. We need to do all we can for each other.”
I didn’t yet know all of their history, but hearing him say this reminded me of the Spire memories he was willing to share, and I felt a need to stay and ask him to share some of his own. But I’d been gone long enough. And even though I was sure Jordan would know where I was, I had left him, and I needed to make it right.
“Where to, in case he inquires?” Mason asked.
I didn’t need to think about it though, and I didn’t need to respond. He would know where to find me, and I knew where he would be waiting.
∞
The walk down the spiral stairs and the march along one corridor after another seemed to take forever. And the thought of traveling that long distance through the city back to him, was inconceivable. I just wanted to get there. I was still wearing the warrior suit that I’d put on the previous night, and when I stepped into the daylight, I pushed off into the air. I soared high into the sky, feeling the cool wind rush against my skin. It was exhilarating, and I relished the feeling as I flew as fast as I could across the city.
Sooner than expected, the city ended and was replaced by enormous trees; the forest spread for miles. But I knew my destination, and I soon came upon the pale green sails of our treehouse.
As I started to descend through the tree tops, I began to doubt if he would be there. Perhaps he was waiting for me at Tira-Mi.
I shook my head and closed off my feelings. Whether he was there or not, I didn’t want to sense him. I didn’t want to call him to me. I didn’t want him to sense me either. I just wanted to be there. And if he wasn’t already waiting, I knew he would come.
But as I landed, I wasn’t surprised to see him seated on the couch. And at the sight of him, I forgot how to breathe, yet again.
As I climbed the two small stairs, my eyes locked with his. And before I could take a step into the room, he was before me, picking me up and holding me close.
The rush of emotion that filled me was overwhelming, as I released my soul to mingle with his, and I opened myself up to him. His love coursed through me and around me, but woven within was the pain I’d caused him. Leaving him, was the last thing he’d expected me to ever willingly do.
He began to apologize to me again, but I placed my fingers over his mouth, silencing him. He had nothing to apologize for.
“I’m sorry,” I told him. “I shouldn’t have left you like that.”
He kissed my fingers before removing them from his lips. “No, you shouldn’t have,” he softly responded. He leaned in, and his lips caressed my cheek to my ear where he whispered, “Please don’t do it again.”
He held me tight within his embrace, for the longest time, as though afraid to let me go.
“You need to get out of this suit,” he finally said. I hoped I didn’t smell too awful.
“I know,” I responded. “I can’t stay in this thing another minute.” I had to have been in it for over twelve hours now. I’d slept in it as well.
He released one arm from around me, to wave his hand in a quick sideways motion across the front entrance. And I looked back to see a dark sheen now covering that one exposed wall. Still clear and bright enough for us to see out, but providing us privacy from the world outside.
He then slid his hands up my arms, curled his fingers beneath the suit at my neck, and ripped a new seam several inches down. He tore through the fabric as easily as if he were tearing through paper.
And I whispered to him, “Don’t stop.”
13
The Last City
We watched the sunset from the front room, sitting as we hadn’t for a very long time. Quietly, peacefully, enjoying the afternoon and each other.
I ran my hands along his new markings, tracing the dark patterns as they blended with the contours of his arms. Each line and swirl formed around and along a muscle, accentuating its size and shape.
“I hope you like it because it doesn’t come off,” he said with a grimace. “I think they chiseled it in.”
“Actually,” I said, smiling. “It does come off. You’re forgetting what your Central Unit can do.”
He smiled back, and seemed to consider me for a moment before responding. “Do you want me to remove it?”
I traced one dark line over his shoulder and up to his neck. It didn’t really matter, even if he did remove it, the Central Unit could just as easily bring it back. But I thought about it for only a moment. He’d gone through a lot for this, and it suited him. But more importantly, he seemed to enjoy it, as though he was proud of it.
“Keep it,” I whispered.
∞
It was several days before we made an appearance in Tira-Mi. I didn’t want to return. When the ward had attacked me through Grid, Lena was there with Haize to talk me through calming my nerves, and their serum’s of course, had not only soothed my mind, but had also healed my body. Lena knew the emotional terror I’d gone through. She should have known better than to willingly terrorize me in my bed at night.
And when we entered the dome, I tried to conceal my thoughts, I tried to focus only upon training. However, when I looked up I saw her striding toward me. Her upper lip was curled in anger, and she spoke before I could muster the courage to say anything at all.
“How many times a day do you wish you were strong like me, fearless. I hear it constantly. I’ve been hearing it almost since you came here. Well, that’s exactly what I’m doing. Making you strong. So, get over it already!”
She walked away without another word, without even waiting for a response. And I was glad she did. I stood there staring at her back, all kinds of words ready to spring forth. Instead, I kept it all inside. She really thought she was doing me a favor by forcing me to endure terrible things. I didn’t know what to make of it, and my mind reeled back through each and every experience, beginning of course, with the most recent, and then stumbling back to the moment I’d come to Threa. And then back even further, to my life on Earth.
And I saw it, the pattern of me, of who I’d become, from childhood to adult on Earth. And from the moment I’d arrived on Threa until now.
On Earth, all I’d endured had weakened me almost to the point of non-existence. But here on Threa, every moment since arriving, after all I’d suffered at the hands of the ward and the Guardian, my experiences here only made me want to fight harder.
Maybe she was right.
And really, I was fine; no dents, no scratches, except perhaps my ego, and I couldn’t help but wonder what exactly I’d been mad about - What she’d put me through? Or the fact that they continually reminded me that I was not strong enough to be one of them. That I was weak, that perhaps they saw me the same way that they, and I, saw Rebecca. And perhaps I was. Maybe I only thought I was stronger than what I really was.
I didn’t expect this last thought to stay with me. Normally, my self-berating thoughts came and went. But this one lingered. It pulled me down to that dark place where truth and despair intertwine, becoming that realization that we are not who we think we are, and reality is held up to our eyes, forcing us to face our shortcomings.
What pulled me out of sinking further into that darkness was Jordan all around me; his arms, his soul, his breath, his voice, all pulling me back to him.
“Don’t let her do that to you,” he whispered. “You are stronger than you think.”
But even if I wasn’t, I had to stop being afraid. I needed to learn to react instinctively, methodically. It was what they did. It was how they’d survived.
“Come on,” he said, and pulled me along through the dome.
∞
By the end of training I was exhausted, physically and emotionally, from holding in all I felt.
“Take me home,” I whispered.
He picked me up and carried me all the way. And I didn’t care about looking weak to anyone who saw. I just wanted to be as close to him as I could possibly get.
However, once we’d made it back to our cottage, Mason was waiting for us, yet again.
Do you have some kind of sixth sense about when we need to be alone? I thought, knowing he could hear me.
“The others are on their way,” was all he said, as he left our dining table to greet us.
“Others?” I asked.
“Who?” Jordan added. “And why?”
“Lena, Dax and most of the Council. Your house has been shielded stronger than any other structure here. No thoughts or sounds will either penetrate or escape these rooms,” he said. “Only you and Jordan can connect through the shield, for safety reasons.”
I remembered he’d mentioned that once before, but since then, I hadn’t thought much of it. “Why aren’t other buildings shielded like ours?”
“Hammond’s and Rebecca’s house is, but the rest…” he sighed. “It hasn’t been necessary.”
I couldn’t help but wonder though, if his words meant that it was necessary now.
“And… I wanted to speak with you both first,” he finished.
“What’s going on?” Jordan asked.
Frustration pushed its way out of Mason in a throaty groan, and he stepped back to the table, indicating for us to follow.
Once we were seated, I glanced between them both. Whatever it was that Mason was going to say, was going to be bad in a number of ways. I knew this by the way he was staring at Jordan - with hope.
“How much do you remember of that last attack?” Mason asked him, and then added. “The attack upon the city, before we installed the Guardian.”
“I… really don’t…” Jordan began.
Mason lowered his head. His eyes darted across the table until they came to rest upon his hands, splayed before him.
“I’ve been remembering things though, since that day in your workroom. The images on the memory table were familiar, somehow. But I can’t make sense of what it is I’m remembering,” Jordan quietly explained. “It’s just pieces, images. Things that just… can’t be right.”
“Come to the Spire,” Mason told him, but a worried look passed across his face. “I can help you make sense of it.”
Jordan nodded an agreement, and a weight seemed to lift from him.
“Tell me,” I quietly asked Mason. “About the attack.”
“We knew they were coming, but we weren’t strong enough to stop them. Almost every person within the city was scanned. All memories, all imprints of who they were, stored, in case the worst should happen.”
“I don’t remember any of that,” Jordan said, his eyebrows coming together as he attempted to focus.
“It was a very long time ago,” Mason told him. “You remember something though, don’t you?”
Jordan shook his head as though trying to clear a fog. “Why don’t I remember it?” His words came out as more of a thought, spoken aloud, meant only for himself, and I sensed his confusion turning to concern.
“When they came,” Mason resumed, speaking slowly, clearly, while staring once more at Jordan, watching his reactions. “They devastated this planet. Destroyed everything, every spec of life.” He stopped, and held his breath for several moments before resuming through an exhale. “We are the last city of Threa.”
The last city. I wasn’t sure if I’d heard that right, or if he even meant what I thought he meant. Threa couldn’t be the last city… on the whole planet. That kind of destruction couldn
’t possibly happen, at anyone’s hands.
Even as I thought this, I felt the tension in Jordan intensify, as it swirled toward anger, but his face remained a mask.
“Why don’t I remember it?” he asked again.
“The Central Unit decided it was for the best. It blocked out the event, and altered the memories of almost everyone who’d… survived. It knew we were this planet’s only hope, and it did all it could to help us rebuild, somewhat in peace. It was necessary.”
“But there is almost nothing left of that in my mind. Just… glimpses, shadows. All I have is of here, the city as it is now.”
“It’ll come back to you,” Mason promised. Then almost pleading, he added, “I can help you.”
“You wiped his memories?” I asked, as his words sank in. I was still trying digest the planet-wide devastation. I needed to be sure I’d heard him right, and I needed to keep up with the conversation.
“The Central Unit did,” Mason corrected.
“Along with the memories of everyone in the city,” I finished. The disbelief that he would let the Central Unit do such a thing was too much. The picture that Mason was drawing, of the destruction both inside and outside of the city, was becoming a worst-case-scenario nightmare, something that I doubted, even I could dream up.
“Lydia, if you woke up one morning and found everything outside of your town was gone, totally and completely gone, nothing left but ash,” Mason began, most likely figuring it would be easier to deal with my simple questions first, before moving to all that Jordan was going through. “What do you think would happen? There would be an uncontrollable city-wide panic. And it would only make things worse. More people would have been lost.”
The emotions emanating from Jordan shifted my focus to him. I knew what Mason was saying and why, but his words, along with the chaos churning inside Jordan, was too much to take in, all at the same time.