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PREVIOUS SCENE
The second flashback scene for Chapter 2. The title of this chapter is "An Age of Reason."
Ashlin was wearing fresh, new clothes. Chris was still in the shower when she got the text alert popping up in her AROS augmented window. She was currently waiting outside the house, next to the tree. The text window remained open.
The person she was waiting for soon appeared on the dirt trail leading up to the house. It was a boy, roughly the same age as Ashlin.
This was the third trip back to that place. Every trip back was tough on Ashlin. It was a great experience and all, but all that she ever wanted was to bring Chris and Allen along. Sadly, she couldn't. It wasn't in the cards for them, according to those who knew about how all this worked in some procedural or legal sense.
"Well, time to go." she said to herself. She picked up her bag with all her clean clothes inside, including her new swimming suit she was meaning to try out. She closed the holographic window and, with a depressed sigh, Ashlin made her way out into the field.
"Yo!" the boy shouted as he came running up. "Good to see ya again! Bus is waiting. Stupid thing stopped at the end of the road."
"It's okay. We're cool. I'm ready to go," responded Ashlin. There was tension in her voice. She put a smile on her face.
"You nervous about meeting Athena again?" asked the boy. "I know she's a bit of a grouch, but ya know. She means well."
"No, it's fine! I like Athena. Think of her like she's my grandmother!"
"Oh, my god! She totally is like our grandmother!" the boy laughed. Ashlin laughed also.
"Hey! You, uh – remember the proceedure? Gotta make sure!"
"Yeah, yeah. Did the whole AROS procedure," Ashlin scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Did the brainwashing thing. Younger brother is still in the shower. So weird I don't even say goodbye to 'em!"
"You'll get used to it. When you leave, they don't remember you exist, but when you come back, it's like you never left! I don't know. I'm okay with it, but I'm not all that big on goodbyes. That's just me. Anyway, let's go! Bus is impatient and all!"
The boy started off back down the road he just came down on, but then he noticed that Ashlin wasn't following him.
"Forgetting something?"
"No, no. It's nothing… really."
"Alright. Fine by me, but we do need to get moving, ya know."
Yeah, I know. I get ya. Let's go."
The trail leading up to the main road was a long one. The boy thought this was odd. It wasn't clear in his mind why Ashlin's family was still allowed by the powers that be to live out in the middle of nowhere. It wasn't a bad deal though. It was far better than living in a sanctuary city. The cities were trash dumps in every sense of the phrase.
"You have any brothers or sisters, Duckett?"
"No. Can't say I do,” the boy answered. His eyes remained on the woven dirt road. “Not sure what I would do with something like that. I have cousins though, if that counts."
"Depends on how well you know 'em."
"We used to spend a lot of time together. Knew 'em all well then. That was before I stumbled into Nia. After that, I didn't have time for anything here on Earth. Not like I don't care anymore. Just that you have to choose which universe is more of a priority to you."
Ashlin looked back at him with a worrisome look.
"What do you mean by that?" she asked.
"You say you wanna make something of yourself. Niamaterian will give you that, but look! You're only one person! I've been trying to get into that place I was talking to you about the last time. Gearshift Eden Research and Development. Few months ago I applied for an internship there. Got a response back, few days later, saying they were too full to accept interns. Complete lie! They're always short, over there! They didn't accept me cause of my scores on the IEQT. My scores were slightly below average! Now I have to endure another two months studying up on everything! Either that, or just give in and cheat like everyone else does. Hook my brain up to a data learning module, have it pump knowledge into my head! Next thing ya know, I'm Albert Einstein – like Kathryn! That's how you're supposed to do it, I guess. Not happy about it, but that's the way it is."
"I get it. You have priorities,” said Ashlin. “You go after them. I respect that, but I feel there's, like, some priorities you can't away from, regardless whether if they're here on Earth or in Nia. Ya know?"
"Such as what? Family?"
"Well, I told you about our mom, right?"
Duckett sniffed loudly. He was agitated by his allergies. They tended to flair up whenever he was back on planet Earth.
"Yeah. I remember that," he said. "What was it that happened again? Some lung thing?”
“Acute lung disease. Acute meaning it happened quickly. Thing is, you get lung disease from doing things like smoking and drinking your whole life. Both of our parent's are too boring to do any of that stuff, so I don't know. I don't get it."
"Wow. Sorry that happened."
"Yeah. Thanks. Feel sorry too, mainly for leaving the rest of them to pretend not to wallow in front of each other. My younger brother – he tries to lead a normal life. He's fooling himself. I don't know. Perhaps that's how guy's are, I guess. Doesn't make sense to me."
Duckett didn't know what to say. This conservation was getting too heavy for his tastes, and his thoughts didn't necessarily involve the word 'family.' As far as he was concerned, Ashlin’s family was going to be fine. For some reason though, Duckett was reluctant to state this. He wasn't sure why.
Guys would rather tough it out through thick and thin, but having something to fall back on was important. He understood that much. In contrast, girls and women were more nurturing. Ashlin was no different. It was hard to deny there was something warm and motherly about Ashlin.
"You know what? Sometimes, families are supposed to suck,” Duckett said aloud. “They can totally embarrass you! Make ya wanna rip your heart and lungs out in front of 'em! That's my family! Well, ya know. Most of the time. Sometimes, they're bearable."
"Pretty harsh language, Duckett."
"Yeah, but like I said – it's bearable. Sometimes, they're bearable."
They finally approached the end of the road, where the ordinary-looking 'school buss' was waiting patiently.
The doors opened. Duckett and Ashlin walked on up.
"You don't wanna stay with your family?" asked Duckett.
Ashlin looked back at him. She already had one foot inside the bus.
"I do, but I have a reason to do this. Don't ask me to explain it! I can't put it in words. I have to do this. I can make room for them in my life. I just need to figure things out, clear my head, find out what I wanna do in Nia. Not like I don't feel guilt! Quite the opposite, but this needs to be done. I'm glad you all chose me to be a citizen of Niamaterian."
Duckett said nothing. He only nodded. He still wasn’t sure about this.
Does she really believe what she just said, he wondered. It was impossible to tell by her weirdly blank expression.
"Please move along. All non-passengers, please stay clear of the doors."
Ashlin's tense stance was broken by the bus' overhead recording.
"Right! We're coming, we're coming!" Ashlin yelled out.
"Please insert your return ticket into the slot provided. Thank you."
NEXT SCENE (Coming Soon)
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