A Happy Family

 A Happy Family

    Family is a tricky subject for me. Understandably, I think, if you've read the story thus far. Family is meant to make you feel safe and secure. They're your first guide on how to live and survive. A unit that is supposed to trust and rely on eachother.

    My first family was a failure in that regard. Even my father, who made it clear how much he cared for me, never managed to make me feel secure by any measure.

    My second family was an improvement in security, at least. Who could hurt the monster with weapons built into his body and the backing of an original arbiter? But considering one parent was already dead and regarded as property that could be destroyed at any time, it came with its own form of insecurity.

    My third family was the most secure. A strong and caring unit that went out of their way to support eachother. That's why I had to leave them behind.

    In nature, a lone wolf is one that leaves the pack to carve out it's own territory and find a mate. More than half of lone wolves die before they can establish a territory of there own, and even less defend it long enough to start their own pack. Looking at it that way, it could be seen as a miracle that I'd made it to a third pack. In truth, it was more of a curse. Every pack that took me in was cursed as soon as they showed me kindness. Despite knowing that, I still let it happen, more scared of being alone than of the harm I might do to those around me.

    Sure, I was too young to realize it for the first family. With the second, I was well aware that I was the problem and it was my own hands that tore it apart. Even after all of that, I still let a third group take me in and treat me like one of their own. Like a human.

    You're not human, I remind myself. No more human than the mother you murdered. Not deserving of the love and kindness that others have shown you. You only ever repay it with violence and pain. And now it's time to hurt another family member.

    The door to the appartment swings open to reveal a man in the prime of his life. He has medium-length brown hair and short stubble that is growing in uneven. His usually golden eyes are instead a light brown that make me squint. The man shrinks back, recognizing me for the villain that I am, but misreading the narrowing eyes as something equally sinister.

    You used a duotar? I ask the man in my head.

    An aging one, just like I told you I could when you accused me of being a doomer, he responds.

    You didn't pulse and shimmer.

    Any arbiter could play around with that aspect of the duoverse. It made lying to people about what they were seeing all the easier if it looked like it wasn't part of the duoverse.

    You didn't think to tell me that while I was obsessed with the idea back then!?

    I gave you IIs that could see outside the duoverse... other than my own duotar.

    "You really are a piece of work," I say out loud while stepping into the appartment.

    "Did I not already do everything you asked of me?" The man outside of my head responds.

    "You did, Ca- professor. Thank you, though I'd say that my part of that bargain was well worth it to you."

    Careful, kid, I didn't go by Canis at this point, the man in my head reminded me.

    "Careful, bro, I have friends that you couldn't even imagine who would be happy to make you disappear," the man outside of my head warns me.

    "Bro?" I feel the man inside my head cringe, but note that this version of Canis really is about the same age as me. Several years younger actually.

    "I'm doing everything you asked! What more do you want!?" A chuckle came out of my mouth, but not at the question. It was hard to hold back while hearing the professor whine about how pathetic he looked in his own timeline. "I'm serious! Get out! My wife will be home soon."

    The laughter dies instantly.

    "I'm sorry, professor. I wasn't laughing at you. Well, I was actually, but I was laughing at the much older copy of you in my head. He finds your clothing, hair, word choice, and... really? Even the posture? He doesn't like this trip down memory lane. Lets leave it at that. May I have a seat?"

    The younger version of Canis slams the door before pointing me to a living room. Apparently too angry for words, he pushes past me and moves some clothes that had been left on a sofa before taking a chair.

    "I'm sorry to disturb your life again, professor, truly. This will be the last time."

    "Good," he snaps, adding a, "why are you here then?" before I can explain.

    I suppress a laugh as Canis groans once more.

    "I actually need you to do two things." This time it's the younger professor that groans, with almost the exact same tone as I just heard in my head.

    "You put my family in danger. Dragged us into all of this geopolitical insanity even though I wanted nothing to do with it-"

    "You wanted nothing to do with The Fall?" I ask.

    "And why, pray tell, would I want the world to end? I quite like sunlight, thanks."

    "Oh, right, things are different since I saved your wife."

    "I saved my wife!"

    "And I told you when and how."

     Me and the professor glare at eachother, but he breaks the challenge to stare off to the side.

    "So what do you want?" He asks, this time with less venom in his voice. 

    "First up, I need you to reach out to your old friends again. There's a password that they've come up with by now that can shut down their weapons."

    The professor whines like a dog that has been given a command it doesn't like.

    "You told me last time that I needed to avoid them at all costs! I handed everything they gave me over to the authorities."

    "But you made copies." The professor froze, eyeing me silently. "Oh come on," I continue. "You may not know me, but I know you well enough to know for a fact that you wouldn't trust me, the megacity think tank, or the authorities enough to just get rid of such valuable information. I need it. Now. I'll leave once I have what I need." 

    The professor stood up with a huff and left me alone in the room. Well, almost alone.

    Nice place, Canis. Surprisingly comfy compared to the lab in The Republic.

    I stand and take a tour of the living room. Everything is forest colours like the lab in the future. Green, brown, black, and gold, but instead of hard edges and cold floors there are bean bags, rugs, and blankets.

    Wait, look back. The book shelf. I do as Canis asks, letting him look through my IIs to revisit a memory. The pictures. Can you get closer.

     I step forward, careful not to knock the table which has a partially painted toy on it, and look at the collection of photos framed on the book shelf. I can't help but laugh again, picking up one of Canis and Gelu dressed in fantasy clothing with weapons made of foam.

    Is this that cosplay thing?

    It was a LARP, and I only went once. We used the costumes a few times after that though.

    "Ewwww," I say it out loud while slamming the photo down. "Why are you both like this?"

    I expected Canis to laugh as he and Gelu always did while messing with me, but he stayed silent.

    You okay?

    The one in the black frame. Can you pick it up and look closer at it.

    I grab the photo without protest. He deserves at least that much.

   The picture is of Gelu and Canis in formal clothing. It's the cleanest I've ever seen the professor, from his clothing, to the shaved face and slicked back hair. Gelu looks as perfect as she always did in The Republic, but I notice crows feet she didn't have on her duotar. Both are grinning at eachother as if caught in the middle of a joke only they know. Surrounding them are a group of people I feel like I almost recognize, but can't place. After a minute of staring at different parts of the photo I finally ask Canis.

    What's so important about this one?

    It didn't happen, he responds in a somber tone. Not to me anyway, nor my Lulu.

    "Put that down!" The professor, the young one, storms back into the living room with a hard drive in hand. I do as he asks, but then pause before taking the hard drive.

    "When did Gelu make up with her family?" I ask

    "Who?"

    "Sorry. Your wife. In my time, she was named Gelu and you were Ignis. You don't need to know that... when did your wife make up with her family? The other you wants to know."

    The professor takes the photo and smiles. He runs two fingers over the edge of the frame. Now his eyes shine with joy that almost turns them the gold that I know in the future. It is odd. He isn't much younger at this point than the first time I met him, but without the beard it is so easy to read his emotions.

    That, or he became a lot better at hiding his true feelings after the loss of his wife and The Fall.

    "I thought you said he was me?" The professor asks.

     "A different you at this point. He said that Gelu never made up with her parents. She only talked to her sister and cousins." I examine the photo again, realizing where I'd seen some of the people before. Photos that Gelu kept hidden away. Poorly, since I found them when I was a child. They didn't have her in them, so I hadn't realized they were her family.

    "This is our anniversary."

    "What year?" I ask, echoing Canis.

    "Last year." The professor turns to look me straight in the eyes. "Tell him, after her near death experience, she decided life was too short. She made up with her parents and they finally accepted me. We had to get married again, but their way. This is a few days after. Our true anniversary, though they didn't know it."

    "Thank you..." is all I can say as Canis has gone silent. It takes me a minute, but then I add, "I hope you two will remain happy for the rest of your lives."

    The professor places the photo back on the shelf and glares at me once more.

    "There was no other meaning in that," I assure him. "You deserve it."

    "You don't know us, and I don't trust you." Now he sounds like the professor Canis I know.

    "You don't have to. I told you, today is the last time you'll see me. I just have one more- what? Can I at least wait until we're leaving? We need him for the netjack?"

    "Excuse me?"

    I let out a quiet growl. "Canis... that is, you, asked me to tell you 'you better treasure her more than all the heat in the universe.'" The professor's eyes go wide, then he softens like a puppy offered a treat.

    "You really are in there. Fascinating. I did it. Tell him-"

    "He can hear you." The professor's face sours again, but he continues.

    "If you have any other questions, feel free to ask. We're happy, despite everything your cyborg has dragged us into. We have eachother and that's enough."

    Canis laughs in response, the sound echoing in my mind. It calms me. In spite of the circumstances, I'm still glad to hear it. It feels like home. "He says, that's all he needs to know, but don't rub it in."

    The professor smiles back. "Okay, so what else is it that you need?"

    I take the netjack off of my belt, placing it on the table.

    "This is a netjack. It's a weapon from The Republic that releases nanobots which-"

    "Self replicate and break down technology. I know. It's in the file I gave you. Theoretical for now, but the nanobots themselves were going to be used in The Fall."

    "Damn, I didn't realize the tech went back that far. In that case, I just need you to bleed on it."

    "...excuse me?"

    "Just cut yourself a little and let a drop of blood fall on the handle. It's biometrically locked for arbiters. If you bleed on it, the Canis in my head should be able to reprogram it."

    "If I do this, you'll leave?" The professor asked, glancing over at a clock.

    "Of course. I'm sorry I had to disturb you at all."

    The professor wastes no time. He has barely left the room when he returns with blood dripping out of his finger. Touching his finger to the netjack, he faces me, one eyebrow raised.

    "It actually worked? Okay, do your thing, Canis. Thank you, professor. I'll be on my way."

    The professor follows me out of the appartment. Manners aren't something he worries about, so I know he's making sure I actually leave. He's nice enough to say "take care" as I step through the door, but the tone is cold. Before I can match that energy, another voice calls out from down the hall and makes me freeze.

    "Fuuchan!?"

    I can't bring myself to turn my head to the side and instead look the opposite direction for a fire escape or large enough window. I'm about to push past the professor and go out one of his windows when Canis stops me.

   Don't you run, kid. Let me see her.

    "It's really Fuuchan!?" Her excitement is like a knife in my gut. Each step I hear as she approaches feels like the blade being twisted.

    "Don't make me do this, professor. I really can't."

    The professor in front of me's face twists in confusion, then frustration as he looks out the door and sees his wife.

    Please, Fulgur. Just let me see her. Even with your reboots it's been months.

    I turn to the direction of the voice, slowly, having to fight for every inch. Even once I do, I keep my head down, staring at my feet.

    "Holy shit, it really is Fuuchan!" Painted toes in sandles appear in my vision. Every cell in my body shrinks away in protest. Bile rises in my throat, even as my stomach feels like its sinking through the ground. My hands pull back instinctively as she tries to reach for one.

    "Oh, I'm sorry," she says, suddenly quiet. She sounds as if all the air has been pulled out of her.

    "No, I'm sorry..." I look up, making sure that she isn't hurt, but simply find her fidgeting with her phone. 

    "My sister is a huge Alban fangirl. Sorry if I made you uncomfortable. Wait, why are you sorry?"

    A sound comes out of my throat, part laugh and part choke. Gelu is looking right at me, embarrassment giving way to concern. "Are you okay? What are you doing here?" She asks. I just continue to stare in silence. Its Gelu, but for the first time in my life I'm seeing her without makeup. More than that, there's a flush to her cheeks, crack on her lip, dark circles under her eyes and sweat beading on her forehead from running up the stairs. All things that she could never do as an I'mprint.

    She's even more beautiful than I remember. Thank you. Canis' voice reverberates in my mind, then I hear the same voice from my side.

    "Hey, hon'. Fulgur stopped by to get some more inspiration for his story. I told you someone had been asking about the brain scan technology for a sci-fi book." The professor steps out of his appartment, wrapping an arm around his wife as he gives her a kiss on the cheek.

    "No freaking way! You could have told me it was Fuuchan! You saw my sister carrying his plushie around with the others! Can we take a photo? We have to take a photo!? She's gonna flip!"

    "You didn't read his book, did you?" The professor asks nervously.

    "No way. Even Chloe doesn't read it. She said it's way too dark, but she liked the art from the Alban chapter."

    The same sound comes out of my throat, but this time along with more laughter following it.

    "Is he okay? It sounds like you mindbroke him with whatever you told him about brain scans."

    "Sorry," I say, wiping a tear from my eye that could have come from the laughing fit. "Of course we can take a photo."

    "Amazing! Sweetie, can you take it? No wait. You need to be in it too! Maybe Chloe will actually start to like you if you she knows you're friends with Fulgur Ovid. Let's go to the living room!"

    "Friends is..." the professor lets the rest of his sentence fall silent as Gelu pushes past us. He grimaces at me for a moment before shrugging and heading in.

    Your sister-in-law likes catboys, sweetie, I think to Canis.

    I never liked her either, he laughs.

    When I get to the living room Gelu has set up a tripod to take a photo. I take my place beside Canis, expecting to be at the end of the photo, but she pushes me and him to the side so she can be on the other side of me. 

    "Okay, ten second timer is set," she announces. "Can you guys squeeze in real tight? It's an old phone so the camera- ah! Sorry had it set for 3 seconds instead. Here we go!"

    Gelu leans so hard against me that I think she might hurt herself. Instinctively, I pull my arm back, getting the metal out of her way. As she leans into me, I smell the perfume that became part of her duotar, but paired with other scents. For a moment I am a child again, being cradled as she rocks me to sleep. My face sours once more as I pull myself away from the memory. I wish I could smile for the photo, but I'm fighting at this point just to not run away.

    "Everyone say cheese!" She shouts, resting her head against my shoulder. I wrap my hand around her waist, grabbing the professor at the shoulder. Habbits from meet and greets. The professor grumbles and I feel myself flush red. Then I feel something that pulls my attention away from the photo. My head twists on its own, looking down at Gelu's stomach.

    The camera flashes and as soon as it clicks, the professor rips out of my grip and grabs at the phone. I'm still staring at Gelu who smiles back at me before joining her husband.

    "Where exactly were you looking!?" The professor asks, spinning the phone my way. Gelu giggles, noticing my red face and the way my eyes look down below her face.

    "Can't show that one to my sister," she teases, elbowing the professor.

    "It's not what you think!" I argue, my cheeks turning from pink to crimson. "I have to go!"

    "Don't come back!" The professor calls as I tear out the appartment. The door slams so loud I feel the ground shake all the way at the elevator.

    I'm already jamming the ground floor button with my finger by the time Canis finally asks, so what was that about, kid? Don't tell me I need to be jealous. He laughs at first, but when no response comes his tone matches that of the younger, human version. Seriously, what was that?

    Gelu... whatever her name is back here. She's pregnant.

    ...You're sure?

    You built the cynets, professor. There were two heartbeats.

    We ride the elevator down in total silence. A ping on my neural net alerts me to a message from the professor. The photo of the three of us takes up space in my vision. 

    "My wife told me to send you this and invite you back to take a proper one. Don't come back," was the message along with it. 

    We'd only taken photos together when I was a child, I realize. After the slaughter in the slums, I'd ignored every attempt to take a group photo. Even the ones Gelu stole of me and Canis always showed me glaring or giving her the finger when I realized what she was doing. I ignore the warning in my IIs telling me that I am about to power down completely until the elevator dings.

    Kid, we need to protect this world, the professor says. Then he adds, I'll rewrite the netjack code. If you need anything else, just tell me what to do.

    I take one last look at the photo before returning to power saving mode.

    "You've got 32 hours, professor," I reply.

    I have 32 hours.

Art by Camille: https://x.com/nyctochrome/status/1912747855783113099