CHOSEN: A Paranormal, Sci-Fi, Dystopian Novel (13 page)

Antarctic
Research Center

Rupert fidgeted slightly
as he smoothed his clothing and ran his hands over his neatly styled locs. He
stood outside of Mave’s door dressed in a handsome formal outfit. It was finally
time to head down to the ARC Gala.

He
wasn’t sure he really felt like going or that they really had time for it this
year. It was their eighteenth year and in that time the ARC had grown up, in a
way. Much like a regular eighteen year old, there were still some challenges as
it tried to figure out what it wanted to do.

The
door to Mave’s room opened and what he saw nearly took his breath away. He
stood there staring at her like he’d seen an angel.

She
was stunning in her long red dress with gold beads lining the edges. A long
matching red silky wrap draped over one shoulder. She had on the earrings he’d
bought for her two years ago on her birthday. She’d only worn them once before,
at the Gala last year. In his eyes, she was the first and last. She had no idea
what she did to him.

“You
look absolutely beautiful.” He gave her a kiss on the cheek despite wanting
more than anything to touch his lips to hers, even if it smudged her lipstick,
but he wouldn’t.

Her
streak of silver made her look even more refined and elegant and he loved that
she didn’t feel the need to change who she was naturally.

“Are
you ready for this?” Rupert asked after taking all of her in. 

“If
by ‘this’ you mean the Gala…no I’m not but let’s go and try to have fun. We
only get this once a year. We’ve worked hard these past few months and it’s
going to get even harder. How about we take one night to relax, handsome? We
deserve it,” she smiled at him and smoothed his tuxedo.

If
only she weren’t already committed. She sighed and took his arm as they walked
toward the great hall.

***

Stephen banged on
Stella’s door impatiently.

“Can
I come in?”

After
talking with him earlier, Stella had gone into her room to sleep. She’d only
gotten up an hour earlier to get ready, and he doubted she was, but thought
he’d check.

“Hold
on,” Stella answered through the door. She needed to zip her dress. She only
bothered wearing one because her mom ran the ARC and she was asked in past
years not to embarrass either of her parents too much. She got it up and
zipped. Despite it being a dress, she had to admit that she liked it and she
liked how she looked in it. 

Of
course almost anything was less boring than the regular assigned uniforms with
their stain friendly three color options.
Would you prefer grey, black, or
navy blue? None, thank you.
So tonight Stella was wearing a pastel blue
dress that dropped just below her knees and her favorite boots, similar to what
the SEP Agents wore but in a darker hue of blue. Her curls were free with the
exception of a butterfly hairclip pinned on the right. She even decided to put
some lip gloss on.  Anything more was too much trouble.

“I’m
still holding…” Stephen knocked again. Stella had forgotten he was out there as
she looked in her mirror admiring herself. 

She
opened the door. “Sorry. So should I wear the matching jacket or should I wear
this scarf Ms. Ida made me?” Stella held both of them up.

Stephen
looked at them and then looked at her. “Do you really want me to choose?” he
said with a confused look on his face.

“No.
I guess not. Are you wearing that?” her nose wrinkled as she pointed to his
outfit. 

Stephen
looked down at himself in the black slacks and plain white dress shirt before
answering with a shrug. “Yeah, it’s my more formal wear and it meets the
requirements for the Gala. It is mostly comfortable so I think it is suitable.”
Stella just shook her head.

“Close
the door Stephen,” Stella ordered, sounding like Zura. “I want to ask you
something about the report and all the stuff you all have been doing. I don’t
know for sure but I’m not feeling so good about this whole situation. Mom is
worried and I don’t know how I know but I don’t believe any of these people are
really doing something that’s going to fix it. I’m afraid that when we are
actually grown up there’ll hardly be any safe place to live. What if they
decide to just bury it, so to speak?”

“Well,
they could try but I don’t think it can stay buried. The evidence will speak
for itself. It is nearly impossible to hide an earthquake. Besides there have
already been a couple of earthquakes, and the one in Southern Allegiance was
above a five on the Richter scale. It’s not a major earthquake, but it’s more
than can be ignored, especially considering the fact it wasn’t even on a known
fault line.”

“But
you can bury the truth and not give people options to avoid those earthquakes
or bury it and not have a way to prevent them from happening in the first
place,” Stella snapped back, unsatisfied with Stephen’s response.

“What
did I do?” Stephen backed away. “I’m in the same situation as you Stella. I
don’t know exactly what’s going to happen. I know what we are reporting for the
most part, but no one has all of the answers. What I do know is that it isn’t
practical to think that you or I can just march into UniCorps or the World
Consensus and say to them ‘stop pumping, or else’. The probability of that
giving us a positive outcome is essentially zero.”

Stella
rolled her eyes and pressed her lips together. She decided to check the time
instead of attempting a response to Stephen. “I guess we better get down to the
great hall. Mom will be giving her speech in just a few minutes. It’d be rude
for us not to be there. Besides I’m up right after that.” She grabbed the
jacket and a small bag and followed Stephen out the door. 

“I
hope Ms. Ida is here. I think she’s going to love this.” Stella opened the bag
and let Stephen look inside.

Stephen
furrowed his brow. “What is it?”

“It’s
a piece of body decoration from the early twenty-first century, before they
began using stones and gems almost exclusively for conducting energy. A private
owner donated her collection to the school and they put them in the shop as
collector items. I think you put it on your finger. I’ve seen pictures of
people wearing things like this in museums. 

“Is
that what you needed the extra lubles for?” Stephen asked, taking a guess.

“Yes.
Don’t tell mom, but I didn’t really use any of those forty lubles on snacks. I
spent all of it plus some I’d saved on this and it was worth it. I know Ms. Ida
is going to be excited when I give it to her. She’s going to love it.”

Antarctic Research
Center

The twins could
hear the sounds of talking and the live band coming out of the great hall as
they tread quickly through the corridors. Once they arrived at the doors they
looked at each other and walked into the great hall together.

Johan
marched over to meet them as soon as their faces crossed the doorway and hurried
them over to their table, near the front of the hall beside the small stage
where the band was set up.

Stephen
tried to take it in but it felt overdone and was too much for him. There were
so many people working the event compared to the number of people actually
there from the ARC for the party. Stella took her seat between Stephen and
Johan.

Zura
was sitting beside their father looking at her notes on her tablet. It was a
beautiful sleek clear tablet that she could write on, read on, take notes on,
and more. Despite having had it for months no one had ever seen her pull it out
until now.

Johan
touched Zura’s hand and she looked up with a slight jump. Even with all the
noise in the room, he’d managed to startle her. She loved her work and was
great at it. That didn’t change the fact that she hated having to stand in
front of all of them and talk about how great they were and how important the
work they were doing was, and remind them of why their sacrifices mattered and why
what they did mattered, and so on. This year felt even worse, knowing what was
at stake and keeping it from them.

If
she thought it would be okay, she’d simply say, “You’re all amazing and we are
all doing our part to save the world. Thanks everyone for another hard working
year. Let’s dance!” After the thought about it, she laughed.
That would be
easy enough. Yeah it would be.

Zura
looked at the time and stood up. As she began to walk toward the stage she
could feel everyone’s eyes following her. She carefully climbed the few steps
to the stage and the band quieted, along with the guests and service staff. Now,
they were waiting on her. She regretted not taking a drink of water before
getting up.

Her
mouth felt like she’d taken a teaspoon of cinnamon. She tried to clear her
throat. Her eyes focused on the short speech she’d written on her tablet and with
one more glance at her waiting audience, she began.

“Good
evening everyone. Thank you for being on the ARC for another year. I can hardly
believe it’s been eighteen years since we first came here with a vision for
changing our world for the better. Because of you.” She paused realizing she
couldn’t say what she’d originally written and decided to take the much simpler
direction.

“It’s
because of you that we celebrate tonight, your commitment and your sacrifice. I
want to thank every one of you for another year of hard work. Tonight, we’re
going to party!” Zura was surprised by the applause and appreciation for the
short remarks even if she wasn’t done.

“Before
the band begins again we’re going to start the party off tonight with an upbeat
and very special piece from one of our younger people on the ARC, my daughter
Stella. She’s performing a classic piece from the mid twenty-first century on
the piano.”

Stella
pushed her chair back and inhaled, letting the breath slowly move out of her as
she walked over to the beautiful baby grand piano that she’d fallen in love
with years before. Every eye was on her. She sat down and slid her fingers
across the keyboard, feeling it, becoming one with it.

For
this song, she didn’t need to look at the sheet music. She’d learned to play it
by memory two years before and had continued to practice until she felt she
could play it smoothly, her fingers having memorized every movement. She’d even
snuck away to the auditorium at camp to practice, when she could get away.

She
lined her fingers up at the starting point and began to play. The first notes
filled the room and the music filled her, creating a magical experience. As her
fingers slid across the keys effortlessly she seemed to radiate. She could see
the rainbow created from the notes as sound became light waves in motion. With
every key stroke she created her own light show.

It
didn’t bother her that no one else in the room could see it moving through the
air and all around them as she played. It was beautiful, like the Aurora
Borealis, just more vivid and filled with every color of the rainbow. They all
correlated to the notes Stella played using the vibrations of the baby grand
piano. They couldn’t see it, but they felt the chills as the music vibrated
around them.

Mave
would often look up and around into what seemed like empty space. She could see
something but it wasn’t an experience she could share. Stella’s fingers
continued to dance along the keys, graceful, strong, and sure. She’d begun
playing before she could write and even if many other things didn’t make much
sense to her, this did.

Stella
finished her piece and sat there another moment taking in the applause and
watching the colors fade. She then stood with a bright smile across her face,
curtsied politely and then threw up both her hands as if to say ‘yes, look at
me’.
That’s Stella,
Johan and Zura thought simultaneously
.
She
bounced back to her seat the smile staying with her.

The
band filled the room with music to eat and dance to, and for the next three
hours everyone on the ARC had the chance to forget all of their worries and
just enjoy the night. The food was delicious, the drinks flowed freely, and the
dessert table was all but raided by the twins.

Stella
found Ms. Ida shortly after her performance. She was standing near the back of
the room watching the party unfold and making sure her staff were all on task.
Once Stella spotted her she made a beeline to her with the bag in one hand and
pulling Stephen along with the other.

“Ms.
Ida!” Stella gushed giving her a huge hug. “How are you?”

“I
am just fabulous. As are you! You are getting better and better every year
Stella. That was absolutely beautiful. ABSOLUTELY Beautiful! I just loved it. I
remember grinding my teeth through your pecking out Chopsticks for the first
time and now that!” Ms. Ida said gleefully. Then she turned to Stephen. “Oh
Stephen, and how are you doing? Anything exciting happening?”

“I’m
fine. Nothing exciting’s happening,” Stephen answered almost incoherently
before putting his head down.

“I
went to camp last week. I just got back this morning actually, but when I was
there I found something I thought would be just perfect for you so I had to get
it because I just knew you’d love it.” Stella handed Ida the bag. “Go ahead. Open
it,” Stella said anxiously.

Ida
chuckled at Stella’s impatience. “Okay. Okay,” Ida said as she reached in and
pulled out the ring.

“It’s
body decoration!” Stella said almost squealing.

“It
is, isn’t it? It’s gorgeous. It’s a ring.” Ida tried a few fingers before
finding one it would fit. She held her hand out for the twins to see. “This is
absolutely stunning. Almost too special. I have to know, where did you find
it?” Ida asked.

“It
was in the campus store at my science camp in Southern Allegiance. A private
owner donated it to the school and they had it in their campus store. When I
saw it, I thought of you. Do you love it?” Stella could barely contain her
excitement.

“I
love it. Thank you,” Ida said and gave Stella another hug. “I’ve gotta get back
to work for a while. I’ll see you again tonight, though. Promise?” Ida said
before hugging Stella once more. “Thank you again, Stella.”

Ida
walked away with her long flowing fuchsia dress, bangles, arm bands and wrap
going with her. She had a big fuchsia headband with feathers in her silver
blonde hair. Stella could see the individual feathers moving as Ida breezed
away.

“Stephen,
we have maybe one and a half hours before everyone starts breaking away from
the party. I want to see that folder or file or whatever you were talking about,
before people start wondering where we are. Let’s go look at it now.”

“You
go ahead of me and I’ll follow you in a couple of minutes. I’m going to grab
another cupcake. Do you want one?” he asked.

“Grab
me a cookie. Two cookies. Be there in five minutes Stephen. Don’t get caught in
a conversation. No statistics tonight,” she said escaping through the side
door. Stella walked quickly back through the corridors, to their family unit.

Stella
hurried down their hallway and stopped at Stephen’s door. She tried the handle.
He hadn’t locked it, as usual. She decided to go in and wait there instead of
her own room. Everyone was at the party, and she wanted answers. No, she needed
them. She had to see it and process it for herself so it would really make
sense. Stella plopped down on Stephen’s bed, shoving a pillow behind her then
immediately stood back up and started pacing around his bed.

Stella
looked out the window but quickly remembered that out here, there really wasn’t
anything to see. She sat back down and waited. The days were beginning to
change. It was no longer daytime all day and instead the sun was only up almost
all day. The sun was beginning to fade and shadows were forming outside where
the building cut off the lowering sun.

Stephen
pushed the door open with his hands full. He had two cupcakes and a plate full
of cookies. They’d be almost sick in the morning but neither of them cared. It
was worth it. Stella often joked that she had a separate stomach just for
dessert.

Stephen
carefully set the plates down on the edge of his desk before sitting down in
his chair.

“Look
away, Stella,” Stephen ordered.

Once
he was sure she wasn’t watching him, he slid his hand under his desk and took
the memory microdot out of its hiding place. He used the reader again to open
the storage and project it to his smart wall.

The
folder ‘Noah’ showed up and he clicked on it to reveal the many files under the
folder.

“Wow,”
said Stella. “Those are a lot of files. Have you looked at any yet?”

“Not
that many,” he said. “I haven’t had much of a chance but there are a few I
wanted to start with. You see this one? It is called ARC Reborn.” Stephen
clicked on it and it opened schematics of the ARC layout including residential
units on the main site and then the smaller satellite sites. 

“Look
at this,” Stephen said. “Have you ever seen or heard of anything besides this
level and the one below? Did you know there was another level down?”

“The
ROC room and lab are down a level so I guess it’s not unreasonable that there
is another level, right?” she reasoned.

“Yes,
but from these images it looks like an entire floor running the length of the
entire ARC that is all below the level of the ROC room. The ROC room is on the
same level as the storage and supplies and that safe room dad showed us. I
didn’t even know that the level we did know about was the same size as the main
level,” Stephen said while pointing to the diagram on the wall.

“I
wonder what that next level is for. Maybe in case there is a change in weather
above ground, it’s a little more protected under there,” Stella suggested,
searching for an answer.

“Okay,
we now know there’s a second level and it’s much bigger than I thought. There’s
a whole third level that’s the same size. I wonder what else there is,” Stephen
said curiously before going back to the Noah folder.

“What
about this? HPT folder?” Stella asked a she pointed over Stephen’s shoulder.

Stephen
clicked on it and there were files of human population trends and projections
for the past two hundred years with projections for the next two hundred years.
There was a map showing density of where people lived around the globe, and
another one showing the fault lines.

“This
isn’t good Stella. I want to see something.”

Stephen
pulled out his other memory microdot and opened up his analysis on where
earthquakes were projected to happen and the impact on population. 

“Look
at this Stella. If we just continue doing exactly what we are doing, we could
make this whole area of Southern Liberty unlivable. That would mean everyone
living here would have to relocate. That’s one of the most urgent area. It’s
showing a lot of activity.”

Stephen
moved the images and panned out to the southern hemisphere and then the globe. “But
it’s not the only area with some scary activity happening. There are hot zones
everywhere and the northern tip of Southern Allegiance may also be at risk, but
there haven’t been as many reports.”

“What’s
that?” Stella said pointing to a region near the Northern edge of Southern
Allegiance.

“It’s
another hot zone possibly,” Stephen said before pointing to other areas dotted
around the map projected of the world.

“And
do those colors show the population density?”

“Yeah,
the darker the color, the more people. When you put it all together you’d have
to relocate nearly half of the world’s population to keep them from being
swallowed by an earthquake or swept away by rising water levels. Or even burned
alive from volcanoes.”