Next

~Two Weeks Later~

“Hey guys.” Beta sat down in his uncomfortable wooden chair and scooted up toward the table made of much better material. Matrix grunted and Hershey shot out a quick ‘Hey’ before returning to his explanation of the atom. “So being the smallest unit of a chemical element, an atom makes up practically everything around us and inside us. So basically, there is no Biology without Chemistry.”

Beta nodded along, nibbling on a single slice of kiwi.

“So pretty much blah blah blah, science stuff,” Matrix commented as Hershey tried to go on.

Hershey scoffed. “Don’t be sour just because I went to school and you didn’t,” he mocked.

Juju and Moonshine snickered as Matrix flipped him off.

Beta forced a laugh to go along; he’d been doing a lot of that lately. It wasn’t that the food wasn’t good, or that the people he hung around weren’t nice, it was all fine. But, unfortunately, there was no shaking the underlying truth that he simply didn’t belong there. He had been so used to knowing everything, and now he had to settle for a ‘need to know’ basis with people he could never relate to.

Well Beta couldn’t settle any longer.

He wanted to know more.

He wanted to know everything.

Whoosh!

Beta could tell immediately that the door to their room had opened. At first, he wanted to jerk upward quickly and see who it was in the middle of the night, but his instincts were kept at bay. Beta could hear shifting, and he could only assume that it was Matrix.

And someone else.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Matrix’s voice whispered. “He could wake up!”

“Well unfortunately the hall isn’t any safer, and it can’t wait until morning,” the voice was feminine, stepping into the room and shutting the door. “It’s about Beta.”

“Oh, is it now?” Matrix’s tone was sarcastic. “What about him?” Beta imagined his arms crossed, therefore they probably were.

“Well, less about him and more about how he got here. Look.” Beta heard a ruffle of paper being transferred. “The Resurrectors on Earth discovered the murder of a few families in this Colorado neighborhood. They think the rest of the neighbors that survived are Syncs and killed the rest.”

“Alright, so we’ll be expecting more Pernas I guess,” Matrix said. “Why was this so urgent again? Didn’t you already tell me about this?”

There was a brief silence before the woman spoke again.

“This is from two weeks ago…and we haven’t seen a single Perna since…except for him.” Beta could practically feel Matrix’s confusion.

“But—”

“Let me finish,” she interrupted. “This isn’t what’s strange, in fact this is normal. Pernas, for whatever reason, don’t make it to Plato.”

“What do you mean they don’t make it?”

“I mean they just don’t. I have no idea why, no one does. The point is: Beta should not be here.”

“…Okay, but he is,” Matrix stated matter-of-factly.

Beta didn’t have to see to get the gist that she was annoyed. “Yes, congratulations Matrix for using your underdeveloped brain for its original purpose. I applaud you. Something is wrong with Beta, and the other higher-ups aren’t too happy about it.” She forced air out through her nostrils. “We can’t afford him causing any problems.”

“Don’t worry,” Matrix whispered, and Beta could feel his eyes on him. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t.”

Knock knock knock knock knock.

The door opened and, luckily, the bright face he remembered was still there.

“Hey…there!” Julia said, and already Beta knew that she had forgotten his name. He wasn’t mad, in fact he expected it.

“Are you busy right now?” Beta asked.

“I’m almost always busy,” she said, opening the door wider for him. As Beta walked in, ready to pour his heart out to her, he spotted the young woman on the bed. “Oh,” Beta said, looking directly into her heavy, silver eyes. “I’ll come back later.”

“No no, it’s fine,” Julia assured, going over to her desk. “I mean when are you gonna make time, yeah?” Beta side-glanced the woman staring him down, her frown evident. “What brings you over?” she asked.

Beta walked inside the office and turned toward Julia. “I just…I have a few questions…to ask you.”

Julia closed her door, gesturing for Beta to sit on the bed next to the Stak. Seeing the look in her eyes, he didn’t budge.

At first Beta started small, seeing as there was no reason to rush things. “Why don’t you age?”

Julia stood still, the smile still plastered on her face, but she wasn’t saying anything. Beta could tell by the shift in her eyes that she didn’t know. “Well—”

“Because the moment you die your body goes to a stand-still,” Beta said, answering his own question. “The cells that would die or get damaged don’t die or damage but just sit there, having no purpose, not moving you closer or further away from death, because in a way it doesn’t know you’re already there.” Julia’s mouth opened and she let out a little chuckle. She was about to speak when Beta kept going. “The only thing that still grows is your brain, and even that’s a bit slow. Good thing is when you get back to Earth, everything starts back up where it left off.”

The Stak in the room’s eyes widened as she whipped her head around to Julia, yelling in a different language. Beta turned to her, smiling, and pointed as if to congratulate her thoughts. “Yes, you can indeed get back to Earth. Would you like to know how?”

“Beta,” Julia said, her tone—even when she was serious—still light.

Beta turned back to her again, shooting out another question. “So…how do you die Julia? Like how do you get from Earth to here?” he asked.

“Oh, just another miracle made by Lucienne.” She started to blush; seemingly excited that she thought she knew the answer. “I mean…they say that he actually brings them up here himself using the will of his mind. Apparently, he’s so busy raising bodies that he never has the time to bask in his glory.”

Beta stared at Julia, impatience leaking through his eyes. “Alright but how does he do it?”

“There are just some things that need to go unsaid,” she said, keeping that smile on her face. “Did I ever tell you the story of how Lucienne became the leader?” Julia said, not waiting for Beta to answer. “He wasn’t even one of us, but once he touched down on Plato, we just instantly knew that he was special, it was quite the miracle he showed up, as it was the age when we all started to change. He showed us how to use our powers and how to control them. He’s like…God.” Beta looked at Julia strangely.

“No,” Beta said simply. “He’s not, not even close.”

Julia side-glanced the Stak still sitting up on her examination table glaring at him. “Альбина, Albina darling, you can go now,” Julia said, and the Russian woman spat on the ground before leaving, slamming the door behind her.

Once she was gone, Beta went straight into an explanation. “Lucienne doesn’t bring us here, there’s a system to it. A force handles the to-and-fro of it, there’s even an explanation to why the humans haven’t seen bodies flying around space yet but you wouldn’t know any of that would you?”

Julia’s eyes looked wider somehow; she looked more innocent, more vulnerable. “How do you know all of this?”

Beta didn’t answer her question, instead he asked another one. “Do you know what Syncs are Julia?”

Julia’s head lowered as she whispered. “You know I don’t.”

Beta rubbed his eyes before explaining. “The humans discovered them about 3 centuries or so ago, but they didn’t become a problem until about 60 years ago. Turns out a completely new race has dropped down on Earth. They’re smarter, more adaptable, and all in all, much better fit for Earth than we were...minus their unfortunate craving for human meat.” Beta silenced himself, awaiting Julia’s response.

“Doesn’t that just make them Staks?” Julia asked, finding herself curious.

“Not at all. They’re very different. It’s said that Syncs had to adapt when they were outcasts to the desert. All they had to eat were the humans that still lived there. Staks and the rest of us were given our curses by the grace of death.” Julia’s lips pursed and she found her whole body clenching, feeling uncomfortable. Beta still went on. “You know how it was: Just insects and animals until humans came along, right?”

“Yes.”

“And then the humans domesticated the animals?”

Julia just nodded.

“…Eventually that’ll be the human race.”

Julia widened his eyes and stared at him. “What?”

“You see, humans have always had this thought fixed in their brains that we were the dominant race and that we always will be. They’re wrong. The world is still evolving and now, new creatures have come to replicate what the humans did to the animals…” Beta’s vocal cords stuttered, his brain contemplating sending the message he truly believed. In the end, he felt she needed to hear it. “...and they deserve every bit of what’s coming.”

Julia snapped, her hair snapping with it, astonished by his bitterness. “How can you say that? They’ll commit terrible acts that we should be trying to stop!”

“The first sighting of them were two peaceful owners of a bed and breakfast in Maryland,” Beta said, sounding spiteful.

“And the latest sighting was in Colorado when it managed to kill you! Beta you can’t seriously be vouching for these things—?”

“Five seconds ago you didn’t even know what these things were?!” Beta exclaimed, looking disappointed. “Look, I don’t care how you feel about the Syncs I really don’t. Julia I barely know you, but I know enough that you don’t deserve to be lied to.” Julia nodded frantically, waiting for him to say more, her anxiousness crystal clear.

She wasn’t ready for what was to come.

“I told them you told me about the Syncs,” Beta blurted out, catching the rapid change in her facial expression.

“What?” she hissed.

“I told Matrix and he’s in on some hierarchy thing. If he knows, they’ll know.”

“I didn’t even know what Syncs were before you just told me, you said it yourself!” Julia countered, raising her voice. Beta had never seen her frowning before, and he was ashamed that he was the cause of it.

“I’m sorry, okay! I-I panicked and when I panic I say stupid bloody things, but I can’t take it back now!” He paused, soaking in Julia’s hopeless gaze. “I’m sorry, but you have to run.”

Julia watched him pull a piece of paper out of his pocket and place it gently on her examination table. Beta took a step back, grabbing the door handle and pulling it open. “Run back to Earth,” he said and shut the door behind him.

Beta couldn’t find his way to sleep that night, thinking way too hard about what he had done. He had done it again, what he always did: Come out as the bad guy.

She was wrong about them, Beta told himself. The Syncs can’t be as guilty as they say.

“They’re guilty enough.”

Beta shot up violently, looking around the room. Hearing the voice had startled him. Turning to Matrix’s bed, thankful to see he hadn’t stirred, he checked the rest of the room for the source.

Suddenly it was dead silent.

Instead of relish in the brief silence, Beta decided to fill it with thick noise and spoke. He knew for a fact that voice wasn’t in his head. “What do you know about guilt?” Beta replied to the wandering voice.

And that’s when it came.

The dark figure appeared before him, made of pure shadow and no real perception...at first.

But then it began to take a real shape, and Beta could see the shape of a woman. But it got even more in depth after that, creating hair shapes, skin tone, eye color, until a real woman appeared. She had short brown hair that went down to her neck and pale skin. Her eyes were a dark, subtle green and her lips were small and salmon-colored. She wore red plaid and blue jeans with sandals, her face was relaxed. It wouldn’t have meant much to anyone else, but to Beta he saw his past in one sweep.

And it broke every wall around his heart.

“What do I know about guilt? I know that you feel it in you as we speak,” she said. “Hello, Beta.”

Beta’s eyes widened and his lips parted slightly, emotions flooding back. Things, places, images that he wished to never experience again...all coming to ruin him once again.

“Mum?”

Suddenly, the air became rigid and Beta felt the change, getting a sense of false identity. His mom lowered her head. “No,” she said. “This is just a form I’m using. I’m in your head...this is just what you choose to see.”

Beta shook his head, growing his walls back. “Right, because I’d choose to see the mother I’m never getting back.”

His mother blinked. “Well it’s not like I died,” she said.

“If you had maybe I’d be able to see you again,” he said bitterly.

She tilted her head to the side. “She’s not your true mother, is she?”

“Well you would know, you are in my head are you not?” Beta answered. When the woman said nothing, Beta sighed and kept on. “She was the only mother I really had so…yes. Even though I didn’t get to know her my whole life, she was a mother to me.”

“Yes, she was. Until the…incident.”

“What do you want?” Beta hissed, and that hiss is what woke up Matrix.

“Just a bit of your time, is all,” she said.

“Well what else do you know about me?” Beta asked, and Matrix turned his body so he was facing Beta as he stared at a nonexistent being.

“Surprisingly, not as much as I would like to.” Instead of moving, she leaned forward and stuck out her arm. Beta felt something actually substantial land on his forehead, which really made him feel like all of it was more than just in his head. “There’s a block in your mind that’ll only let me see so much…What is that?”

Beta let the silence linger for a moment, shutting himself down even more. “A block. You’re not very smart for an apparition,” Beta said, keeping it together.

“And you’re not so dumb for a newcomer,” she replied, moving back to her normal position. “Listen, as much as I’d like to stay and chat all night…I have things I must prepare for, and so do you. That’s why I’m here.”

Beta’s eyebrows closed in on each other. “What things?”

“Beta,” Matrix finally called out, leaning up in his bed. Beta and his mother turned to Matrix. “Are you having a seizure? A stroke? Are you drooling? Seething? Light-headed? Seeing clowns? A shih tzu? Tay Swift? Should I call someone?” he asked, slurring his words together.

“We’ll talk later,” his mother said, turning back to Beta. “Looks as if you have some explaining to do.”

And just like that, just like before, his mother was gone.