The Killing Jar (31 page)

CPI-AO-301, NEW YORK

AUGUST 26, 2232

He tapped his knuckles on the door and waited. His stomach twisted in knots like man bound for the noose.

Dr. Arrenstein opened the door and didn’t punch him. Theo figured that was a good start.

Without a word, Dr. Arrenstein walked back to his window with a drink in his hand.

The open door was the only sign Theo could come in. He walked in but didn’t go past the leather sofa. Instead, he stood behind it and tried to think of how to start. A thousand times he’d replayed this conversation in his mind, but now that he was here, his mind was blank.

Dr. Arrenstein turned around and leaned against the window frame. Sparse stubble covered his chin and his eyes looked glassed over.

Theo had no doubt he was quite drunk.

He’d never seen the director so casual. The top two buttons of his shirt were unbuttoned, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He sipped his drink and stared at Theo, waiting.

Somehow, Dr. Arrenstein always made him nervous, even more so now. The hairs on his arms stood up as if he were on trial.

“Is there anything I can do? For Mable I mean.” He’d heard the rumors.

“She’s resting in her room. I think it’s best that we don’t bother her.”

Theo nodded. He expected no less. “So it’s true? She had a bug?”

Dr. Arrenstein nodded in return. “Was that all you wanted to know?”

Theo gulped down his fear as best he could. “I, uh, I wanted to talk to you. If you have another minute.” Theo’s hands fidgeted in front of him, refusing to be still.

“I have lots of minutes. What do you have to say?” Dr. Arrenstein spoke with even tone and a hint of something else, fun? Maybe he enjoyed this.

Even if he did, Theo was resigned to his fate. He straightened his stance and cleared his throat.

“I know I messed up and you have every right to rearrange the teams, but I want to request to stay with Mable.”

Theo watched as Dr. Arrenstein became entranced with the ice he swirled in his glass. He drained the last of the liquid and said, “What makes you think I would ever agree to that?”

“I didn’t. But I owed it to her to try.” Theo sighed. It had been a bad idea from the start. Acknowledging his defeat, Theo turned for the door.

“Kaufman?”

Perking up, Theo turned and answered, “Yes, sir?”

“I expected better from you.”

A choke rose in his throat. Theo didn’t know how to respond. Seventeen years old and he was still nothing but a disappointment.

Theo walked back to his room with heavy steps. How did he get this way? How did he become this person? He sported some of the finest genetics this side of the Atlantic, and still he couldn’t find his place.

He failed as a Scholar in less than a day. He’d failed so spectacularly, he managed to kill a boy in the process. At CPI, he lasted longer but still blew his changes at any sort of success. And he’d nearly killed Mable.

Theo was lost. He had everything going for him and he still couldn’t make anything of it. Would he always be so useless? It was a blanket of disappointment that threatened to suffocate him.

He had to make a change. He had to do something, to prove he wasn’t a total loss, if only to himself. He would go back to basics and figure out a way to make it work.

Alone in his room, Theo sat at his desk and set to work on the only meaningful project he could think of. He dismantled his tablet, desk lamp, and the alarm over the door but was still a few parts short.

Desperate for the last two pieces, he jogged across the corridor to Osip’s room. “Hey, do you know where I can find a coin cell?”

Osip stared back at him as if he’d spoken in an ancient Siberien tongue. “A coin huh?” He ran a hand through his long blonde hair and blinked.

“A coin cell. It’s a small Lithium-based power source for microbots.”

Osip chuckled. “Yeah, I don’t think we have anything like that around here. You can always order one.”

Theo cocked his head to the side. “Order one? From where?”

“Kinda like we do for clothes. Got your tablet? I can show you how to download the apps.”

Theo spent ten minutes reassembling his tablet before he could bring it to Osip. “The tablets come pre-loaded with the basic Closet app. Clothes, shoes, all that jazz. There are a few others you can download. This one is for media. I really only use the music but there’s books and vids, too. This one, the Gear Door, has all kinds of tech stuff. Any kind of tablet upgrades, screen replacements, that sort of thing. If you need some robot shit, that’s where it’ll be.”

A wide world of opportunities opened before him. Theo skimmed through the home page of the tech app and already spotted a few items that could work. He wouldn’t know until he got them in his hands and opened them up. “Nick keeps tabs on what we order?”

Osip narrowed his eyes and smirked. “What are you up to?”

Theo shook his head and decided it was worth the risk. “Thanks for the apps.”

“Yeah, no problem.” Osip laughed as Theo collected his things and left.

At his own desk, Theo allowed himself only five minutes to pull together enough songs for a decent playlist. It wasn’t the well-thought out masterpiece of some of his old ones, but it would do. He turned on his audio devices and set to work.

LUNA COLONY

AUGUST 26, 2232

While Abraham had no memory of attending school of any kind, he was certain this wasn’t how it was done.

After a full day of work in the greenhouse and animal room, after making dinner and eating with the children, after reading time and putting them to bed, Charlene offered to teach him.

“It’ll be fun. Maybe it’ll help you remember something?” Her dark eyes were bright as she looked up at him with a smile.

Abraham shrugged. “I guess it can’t hurt.”

“I’ll get the tablet. You get the wine?”

“Meet you back in five.” Abraham fished a decanter of red wine from storage and poured them each a glass. Charlene bounded down the hall and slid into her chair a moment later.

“What am I going to learn?” He handed her the glass and sat in the opposing chair.

She kept her eyes on the tablet and made several motions before she answered. “Animals.”

In the air above the table, a dozen different creatures hovered. “Okay, you’re options are: domestic animals, African safari, rainforests, arctic, plains, freshwater, marine, or specialty groups. Those are the ones on islands or some of the more unique environments.”

Abraham stared at the display at a complete loss.

“How about rain forests? That’s a nice easy one to get started.” Charlene tapped a red-eyed creature. She took a sip of the wine and cringed. “It’s better,” she lied.

“Okay, so first of all, a rainforest was an area of dense tree and plant growth. They would get incredible amounts of rain every year, so they were always really humid. The plants would fruit year round. It was a really lush place to live.”

The screen showed a wide forest so vast, he could only see the tops of the trees. On and on it stretched, putting his little greenhouse to shame. “This is on Earth?”

“Oh, no. Not anymore. The last rainforests were documented in the 2060s.”

“What happened to them?”

“We cut down the trees for a few centuries. Then after the war, no one really cared about saving the planet anymore. Everyone just kind of decided Earth was lost, so everyone took for themselves. Whatever parts were left were gone in a few years.”

It sounded like a story to scare children. All this green on Earth and humans killed it? It didn’t seem possible.

“Anyway, so with all the trees,” Charlene continued. “There are a ton of animals called herbivores, or animals that eat plants.” The trees gave way to a series of creatures. She pointed to each one as she described them. “A lot of them are insects. Caterpillars that become these gorgeous butterflies. Leaf insects look like leaves and stick insects look like sticks. More beetles than you could believe. Millions of species of beetles. Then there are some larger herbivores, like fruit bats and squirrels, some birds like macaws, toucans, that sort of thing.”

Abraham gaped up at the display, trying to take it all in. He sipped his wine in silence as she went on, about primates, about reptiles and amphibians that lived in the humid forests. There was even a crab that lived in some kind of water-filled plants. He was in awe of the sheer diversity of animals.

“Am I going too fast?”

“What? No.”

“You’re just staring. I thought I lost you.”

“It’s a lot.” There was no use in denying it.

Charlene swiped the display away. “We don’t have to do it all at once. We can do more later. We could make this part of our routine if you want. Wine and lessons after the kids are in bed.” She smiled and leaned in awaiting his response.

Abraham smiled back. “You won’t be tired after teaching the kids all day?”

“No. It’ll be nice to talk to an adult for a change. I love those kids to death, but sometimes I just need a real conversation, you know?” She took a big sip of wine.

He couldn’t help but feel that he failed her in that respect. Abraham was hardly a talker. “What happened to the last man that was here?”

“Gregor?” Charlene shrugged. “It just didn’t work out. He was great for the first few months then he started to lose it. I think he wasn’t geared for it. He got tired of all the work and he never really connected with any of the kids.”

Abraham blinked. Without his work in the greenhouse and the children, there wasn’t much left in Luna. No wonder they’d taken him away. “And the one before that?”

“His name was Josh. He really liked it here but he couldn’t get any of the crops to grow. We ate corn and potatoes at every meal. I was so sick of eggs for breakfast.” Charlene chuckled. “Who would have thought? On Earth, eggs are expensive. Here, we ate so many we begged him for anything else.”

Charlene stood without warning and walked around the table. When she reached him, she slid a leg across his lap and straddled his thighs. “We’ve never had it so good.” She leaned forward and left a slow, lingering kiss on his cheek.

Abraham’s heart threatened to pound clear out of his chest. Never had she been so close, so bold. Was it the wine? He couldn’t even think with her pressed to his chest.

When she pulled back, she leaned her head back and laughed. “Too fast?”

Abraham nodded with eyes wide. He had no idea what was going on.

Charlene leaned forward again. This time, she wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed. For at least a minute, they sat that way, locked in place.

Feeling like a fool, Abraham reached his hands up and stroked along her back. Charlene accepted his touch without argument. She only pressed her cheek against his.

As the minutes passed, Abraham could feel his pulse slowing, returning to normal. He was content to be so close to her, and she was content not to urge him onward.

Charlene leaned in and kissed his cheek before she sat up straight again. “Can we do this again tomorrow?”

Abraham didn’t know if she meant the wine, the lesson, or the five minutes of close, silent contact. Either way, he answered, “I’d love to.”