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068: The Thing That Wouldn't Die 069: Good Riddance 070: Decision  Post:
10.01.2007Date: 02.01.2196 Time: Morning The Thing That Wouldn't Die
Phoenix kicked an empty bottle, sending it tumbling across the street. It landed
in the opposite gutter with a satisfying clinking sound.
He couldn’t stand being cooped up in his room any longer and had to get out.
Now, he walked dejectedly down the street. Under a starless sky, streetlamps and
lighted bar signs provided the only light. Apparently this town never slept.
Even in the wee hours of the morning, throngs of raucous partiers stumbled from
one tavern to the next. He was jealous, wanting for one moment to be as happy as
some looked, to be just as blitzed out of his mind as some of them were. He
wasn’t big on alcohol. Not being able to think straight was just too much of a
risk. But, he wasn’t thinking straight right now anyway, and he desperately
wanted to forget.
The list of things he needed to forget was rather long.
I want to forget about where I am right now.
I want to forget about the blue-haired girl and what happened earlier tonight.
I want to forget about what could have happened, but didn’t.
I want to forget about Aran and Lattis, and what that all implies.
I want to forget about my father, and the fact that he’s dead, that stupid
message he sent, and how he hid all this from me while he was still alive, and
what I’m supposed to do about it, and what will happen if I don’t do something
about it.
But mostly,…I want to forget about Maia.
Somehow he found himself on the steps of one of the quieter bars, pulled in by
nothing more than lack of reason to stay out. He sat down on one of the vacant
bar stools. The bartender was a middle-aged man, tall and stout. Besides his
mustache, what little hair he had left kept itself to the sides of his head.
“What’ll it be?” he asked.
Phoenix pointed to a bottle of clear liquid up on a shelf behind the bartender.
The bartender grabbed it, poured some into a small shot glass, but withheld it
from Phoenix.
“That’ll be sixty credits,” the bartender said.
“I have to pay first?”
The bartender nodded.
“What kind of bar is this?”
“Hey, if you’ve got a problem with the way we do business,” the bartender
pointed violently towards the door, “nobody’s going to stop you from leaving.”
“Okay, okay,” Phoenix muttered. He fumbled with his pockets, searching for any
remainders of the change he had swiped earlier that evening. Finally, after
searching each pocket and coming up empty, he found a solitary coin. “This is
all I got,” Phoenix said. He showed it to the bartender who shrugged his
shoulders and started to put away the alcohol.
“Hang on, Chester. This one’s on me,” said a voice off to Phoenix’s right.
Phoenix turned. There was a man he had never seen before standing there, waving
a few bills in his hand.
“Do I…know you?” Phoenix asked, cautiously.
“Nope.” He said simply.
“Then why--.”
“Anyone just walking into a bar this late, alone, completely sober, and without
any money surely deserves a break,” he said with a smile. He sat down next to
Phoenix, slapped the bills down on the counter. “And, I’ll have what he’s having
too.” The bartender shrugged, poured a second glass and slid them across the
counter before walking away.
“Thanks…uh…”
“Th’rin’s the name. And you?”
“Quad’rek,” said Phoenix.
“Pleasure to meet you, mate.”
“Likewise. Thanks again,” Quad’rek said, lifting his glass.
Th’rin nodded, raised his glass as well, and in unison, they both downed their
drinks. The clear liquid that had looked simple and serene sitting in the glass
was now scraping its way down his throat. Quad’rek gasped, trying to suck in
air.
Th’rin chuckled. “Not much of a drinker, I see.”
Quad’rek shook his head, still trying to breathe.
“Special occasion, then?” Th’rin queried.
Quad’rek coughed more and then shrugged.
“Ah,” said Th’rin, knowingly. He set his emptied glass back down on the counter.
“Women problems then?”
Even though he could breathe just fine now, Quad’rek faked some more coughing.
“I see,” said Th’rin, apparently taking Quad’rek’s coughing fit as an
affirmative answer.
“Well, you’re in good company, mate” Th’rin stared off in the distance.
Quad’rek noticed the effects of the beverage kicking in already. He felt a bit
more relaxed, and with each moment that that passed, he minded Th’rin’s prying
questions a bit less.
When Th’rin spoke again, his voice dropped to a near whisper. “I’m in love with
a woman, but she’s too obsessed with her career to even notice me.”
“Sorry to hear that,” Quad’rek finally said.
“Don’t be. She’s bad news. It’d probably be worse for me if we were together.
She’s evil.”
“Aren’t they all?” Quad’rek asked. Immediately after asking the question, (2)syl’s
face popped into his head. What’s so evil
about her?
Th’rin chuckled softly. “Good point.” He reached into his coat pocket and pulled
out a lighter and two cigars. He offered one to Quad’rek who declined. Th’rin
shrugged and shoved one in his mouth. He held the lighter up to the cigar. A
tiny arc of energy flickered at the lighter’s business end. Quad’rek stared,
hypnotized by the plasma’s eccentric dance. It sparked as it caressed the cigar
with flame. Like a small sever-whip.
“So, what’s your story, mate?” Th’rin asked. Quad’rek snapped out of his trance
as quickly as Th’rin snapped shut the lid on the lighter.
“There was a cute girl. She betrayed me. Nothing too original.”
“Left you for someone else, did she?” Th’rin shook his head. “That’s the worst.”
Quad’rek shook his head. “Not really. I was…hiding from someone, and she told
them how to find me.”
Th’rin leaned back and stared at Quad’rek. He took a long puff of his cigar.
“I…see.”
Glitch it. Tongue untied. What the glitch did I just drink, anyway?
Th’rin smiled. “Women seem to have a way of making life interesting.”
“Agreed,” said Quad’rek.
* * *
Phoenix slowly walked back towards the hotel. (2)syl had probably cried herself
to sleep by now. He didn’t want to see her right now anyway.
Th’rin was right, women do make life interesting.
Though it was only a month, to Phoenix it seemed like he and (2)syl had just
spent the last few years together, and, yes, it had been quite interesting.
I suppose it’s only natural that she came on to me like that. And then, I pushed
her away. That wasn’t natural, at least from her perspective. Was she right? Am
I really still in love with Maia?
Even hearing the sound of the name Maia,
even seeing the image of her face, framed in golden hair disgusted him. He was
betrayed by a woman, just the way his father was. How could he forget that? Then
again, when he did manage to forget those pieces, he could remember the fun they
had doing “jobs” together, her laughter, the taste of her lips,…He had never
felt so comfortable with any other woman, with the possible exception of (2)syl,
lately.
Maybe there was some kind of mix-up. Maybe it wasn’t really her who turned me
in. But how else could it have happened? They said that she led them straight to
me. There’s no getting around that.
Phoenix sighed. Something shiny in the gutter caught his eye. It was the bottle
that he had earlier kicked from the opposite side of the street. He kicked it
again, sending it back across the street. It struck the curb and shattered.
Can you love
and hate someone at the same time? If so,
then maybe (2)syl was right. |
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Post:
10.01.2007 Date: 02.01.2196 Time: Morning Good Riddance [s103]
It was not yet mid-morning,
and it was already a bad day for
Nothing like a good dismemberment to wake one up in
the morning. An angry (2)syl stood before him, sever-whip in hand. With the subtlest of movements, she guided the plasma wire between his legs. She grinned, evilly.
I don’t think I’ve ever
seen that look on her face before.
"You've already demonstrated that you know nothing of what I want,” she said,
emphatically, “Don't presume to tell me now."
"I...didn't want it to end like this between us!"
(2)syl deactivated the sever-whip.
"I think that's the first honest thing you've said to me in quite some time,”
she said, frowning.
"No, there were others. I just--"
"Why are you here? You were waiting for me. Why?"
In actuality, he had been hoping not to run into her this morning.
Unfortunately, due to the aftereffects of the alcohol, he hadn’t been paying
attention to where he was walking and nearly smacked right into her on his way
back to the hotel, which eventually led to this conversation. He did, in fact,
want to see her later in the day, to give her the Skreamer and try and smooth
things over before they went their separate ways. He was about to start a long
journey, and one way or another, she wasn’t going to be with him. To
"I knew you were going to leave,” Phoenix said, “I've seen it in your eyes
before, but never so clear as...well, last night."
"How observant,” (2)syl said sarcastically.
Good.
Either it’s working, or she was just
planning on leaving anyway. “Now what?” (2)syl asked. “You want me to stay?"
Yes…and no. "I think that
maybe if…" he said, looking away.
"Tell me your real name,” she said.
"What?!" he said, obviously startled.
"Tell me your real name, right now, and I'll stay here with you. Work things
through. Give you another chance."
He shook his head. "Don't ask me that. I can't tell you." There are only a
handful of people who ever knew my real name. Half of them are dead, and the
other half want me dead too.
"Fine," said (2)syl. She turned and started walking away. As she did, he saw
that she had her backpack strapped on. She
really means it. Her pack was faded. Their packs had been practically new
when they found them in the haven in the droid city. Now, faded in the harsh
sun, (2)syl’s pack was tattered and smudged with grease and dirt. One strap had
a tear in it, allowing some of the padding to peek through. One of the zip tabs
had broken and had been jury-rigged with a bit of scrap metal.
She and I have been through so much together.
"Wait!"
(2)syl refused to turn around. He grabbed her arm and gently, but deliberately
put something in her hand.
"What is it?" she asked. "I don't want it," she said without giving
"It's a Skreamer,” he said, ignoring her previous statement.
"What the glitch is a Skreamer, and why the glitch would I want one?"
"It's a single-pulse transmitter/receiver. You activate it. You can send me a
message. No matter where you are on the planet, no matter where I am, I'll get
it."
(2)syl finally looked at the device, flipping it over a few times in her hand.
"Press the top,”
"Sorry, I don't want it," she said, casually, and walked away, flipping it in
the air.
"You should take it,"
"...wasn't nice...glitched...woman,” he wheezed.
"I'm not taking the Skreamer,” she said, stubbornly. “Don't come near me again.
I don't need you, and I don't want to see you again! It's pointless!"
Does she really mean that?
After all we’ve been through, she doesn’t want to have anything to do with me?
"If that's what you want, syl," he said at last.
"No. This isn't about what I want! It's about what you want! Or rather, what you
don't want. Really, that's what it's been about all along. I just didn't realize
it until now."
"Is this how it's going to end between us?"
"I guess so," she said simply, and turned to leave. Phoenix stood there watching
as (2)syl walked right out of his life. He half expected her to stop or look
back. She didn’t. She just kept walking towards the gates to the town. Phoenix
watched her for a few minutes longer, then turned and headed back to the hotel.
* * *
In the privacy of his room, |
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