Chapter Twenty

The Halikkon meetings were occurring more often and more relentlessly. No matter what they all gathered for, almost no progress was made, and indecision was the theme of each session.

Viktoriya’s parents were both in their home labs, back from yet another two-day stay in D.C. for their science meetings—she forgot exactly what this one was about.

But she knew the members, along with her parents and all their friends, were desperately trying to end the Frost.

And while she hated the Frost in the summer, as it was much too cold to have outdoor swimming days—she didn’t quite mind the cold on days like that one.

Because on days like today, where the blizzards were so severe it affected car automation, she got to skip school altogether and have home lessons.

Well, not really skip—schools were closed. But it still felt quite rebellious for her.

She sat in her favorite place—the low windowsill outside the hallway to her parent’s labs. She watched the snowfall through the floor-to-ceiling windows into their outdoor courtyard.

She slipped her two favorite magnets in her hand. Feeling how they yearned for one another when pulled apart and then repelled as they were pressed together like poles.

The force of the magnets was something she had initially used to soothe herself—when things were overwhelming or overstimulating.

But now, she just liked to have them on her all the time. They were consistent, always wanting to come back to each other. It was pleasant, and she found that the world seemed much more manageable when she had them.

“Hey, Noxx!” Viktoriya said with an idea. “Call Choe.”

“CALLING CHOE,” the AI played over the speaker system.

Now that she was fourteen, she had complete, unrestricted access to all Noxxor’s home commands, including calls out to known, trusted parties without parental guardian lockout.

The phone rang over the loudspeaker once, with no answer.

Viktoriya flipped the magnets in her hand.

Twice with no answer.

Another flip.

Three times no answer.

More snow piled onto the brittle branches of the freezing trees.

Four times…

She sighed. Maybe Choe was out with Aura, or…

“Hello?”

Her face lit up as the voice of her best friend echoed over the speaker. “Choe!”

“Hey Vik, how’s it going? Sorry, it took a bit; I had Voxi off and didn’t see the phone light flashing.”

“No worries,” she replied, standing from her perch and walking into the living room. She plopped on the couch.

“Want to hang today?”

“Definitely!” she excitedly shot back. “My place or yours?”

“Let’s do yours,” Viktoriya decided, itching to get out.

“I’ll ask my parents to drive—the autopilot on our cars wasn’t working this morning.”

“Ours isn’t either, but hey, at least school’s canceled!”

Viktoriya smiled. “Great, I’ll see you soon.”

“See you soon!”

Viktoriya jolted up from the leather couch and sprinted down the hall. She stood in front of the two lab doors for a moment, debating which parent to ask.

And while her dad was undoubtedly the one most likely to say yes to the playdate, her mom was a much better driver.

She pressed the video call icon on her mother’s lab door.

“Hey, darling!” her mom said in a cheery voice, but her face didn’t match—which confused her. Her mom’s eyes were red and puffy, and they didn’t crinkle when she smiled.

She couldn’t tell exactly which emotion this was, even with all her recognition work with Dr. Maribelle, but she knew it meant the conference probably didn’t go very well.

“Can I help you with something, my wonderful girl?”

“I was wondering if I could go to Choe’s? She’s at her Aunt Aura’s for the day,” she asked, still trying to figure out what she was feeling.

The door slid open.

“Oh, I’m not sure, my dear. The roads are wretched, and—you have some home lessons planned, right?”

She expected this answer and was about to give up when an idea popped to mind.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“I know, but if I’m here, I’ll just be annoying you and Dad, and you have lots of work. So, wouldn’t it make sense that I go to Choe’s? That way, I won’t be distracting the two of you, and Choe won’t be interrupting Aura. And I promise that I’ll do my home lessons as soon as I’m back.”

Her mom sighed. “You make a brilliant argument, Vik. Perhaps you’ll make a clever lawyer one day, if that’s what you want to do, of course.”

“Can I even be a lawyer at fourteen years old?”

“I think that many are, yes; at least they behave that way,” her mom said, laughing.

Viktoriya smiled wildly.

“So?”

Her mom simply rolled her eyes.

“So fine! It’s not far, anyway,” as she gave in, then made a shooing motion toward her daughter. “Go get dressed; I’ll be just another minute or two.”

“Thank you!” she said before turning, running through the living room and into the hallway toward the main entrance.

She scavenged through the hall closet, pulling out her thickest winter attire.

She pulled on her HyperVolt jacket, black snow pants, and parka and laid out her hat and mittens.

Her mom took another few minutes, then appeared at the front door, dressed for the storm.

“Ready, darling? What is the charge on your jacket?”

“Um. Seventy percent.”

She nodded, and together they ventured into the blizzard.

The trek to Aura’s was a bit adventurous, but it wasn't a terrible drive with a measure of carefulness and skill.

The elevator beeped on the ninth floor, which opened directly into Choe’s luxurious apartment. Her friend was waiting in the foyer for her. They greeted each other warmly, hugging and laughing, as Viktoriya took her time peeling off the layers of winter clothing she had put on and brushed the snow from the tips of her hair.

She followed Choe through the elegantly decorated living room—it was reminiscent of a castle, though much more modern.

The walls were dark aqua with swirls of lighter shades, so dark you could barely see the blue and green trickling through. The couches were dark brown leather and looked slightly worn, yet modern at the same time.

Aura sat on the couch, flipping through the news. She smiled and stood when they walked in.

“Hi, kiddos! I’ll get you some snacks.”

While she seemed happy enough, if Viktoriya was getting her faces right, she wasn’t Aura-happy, which typically comprised her bounding off the walls and not leaving her and Choe alone.

She desperately wanted to be the cool aunt to Choe.

Viktoriya almost asked Choe what was up with her aunt, but she quickly stopped herself. It was because of the last conference, obviously. It had to be.

Aura had presented along with her parents, and though she didn’t know exactly what happened, she’d overheard her mom and dad speaking the night before.

It hadn’t gone so well.

The two girls continued in silence through the perfectly decorated home to Choe’s room at the end of the hallway.

Aura’s phone rang, and she immediately walked away through the kitchen, out of earshot of the girls.

In contrast to the rest of the house, Choe’s room was the brightest yellow.

Since Choe could only hear with the help of Voxi, her AI hearing aid, the apartment was equipped with many sensory devices for when the hearing aid was off or unplugged.

All the different devices fascinated Viktoriya—like the flashing phone alarm or the holographic screen—especially because they brought the noise level down.

As much as she hated complete silence, she also hated too much noise.

They proceeded across the large room with high ceilings to the play area on the other side, where

they sat at the craft table together.

“My aunt’s been acting weird today,” Choe said as she pulled a journal from the drawer under the table.

Viktoriya nodded, pulling some painting materials toward her. “Yeah, I noticed too.”

Choe picked up a pen. “And your parents? How’ve they been, since coming back from the meeting thing?”

She shrugged as she tried to decide which color to use. “Not sure really, I think my mom is sad, but she didn’t actually tell me.”

“You got that from her expression? That’s awesome, Vik!”

While she didn’t like the idea of being happy that her mom was sad, she was pretty proud of herself for identifying the emotion—or at least something close to the feeling her mother had displayed.

“Yeah, the entire car ride was quiet, except for the occasional swear word. She has road rage in the snow, apparently.”

Choe’s eyes widened. “I cannot picture your mom swearing!”

“Honestly, neither could I, but then she dropped an f-bomb,” Viktoriya said, then slammed her hands over her mouth. “Oh! She told me not to tell.”

“Lips are sealed, Vik, don’t worry!”

The two girls chatted energetically as they worked on their art. Choe was writing a play for them to perform, though she told Viktoriya it wasn’t nearly ready, which certainly did not upset her.

Viktoriya did not really want to perform in a play, but she agreed with her friend because it was important to her. Viktoriya opted to work on a painting, a circular patterned painting style.

She loved how vibrant oil-paint colors could draw you in and decided to paint with blues and yellows—like her favorite wall at home. Next, she painted a repeating pattern of circles interlocking with one another, taking her time and layering the paint to add texture.

“Vik, how does this sound? ‘The burglar concealed his face, making his way silently through the study, where he noticed the safe was already open.’ Does that sound suspenseful?”

“Sort of, yes. Maybe if he could see someone else sneaking around at the same time, too. Maybe the person that opened the safe?”

“Oh! That’s a great idea!”

The chatter slowly waned as they both delved further into their creative projects.

While both girls loved science—that was something they did on their own or with their families.

Together, they took the time to explore their artistic sides, find crafts to make, or dive into a board game.

That, or play video games.

Viktoriya’s painting didn’t take long, and soon she found herself placing her brush down to admire her work. It was simple, but accurate. Each circle was near perfect and repeated in an elegant sequence.

She was about to pull her eyes away from the art, but stayed a moment longer. The pattern—well, any pattern, really—was hypnotizing.

And then she slowly felt herself slipping. She and Dr. Maribelle had been working on techniques to help her snap out of her flash-outs, as they liked to call them. But the problem was, she was actually starting to like them.

Her first flash-outs had been frightening, but now they were oddly comforting. It felt like a home away from home, some place that was familiar and inviting to her.

She let herself become mesmerized by the pattern, knowing that she was safe with Choe. The colors began blurring together, overlapping with one another in a meld of blue and yellow. Her vision faded until even the vibrancy of the oil paints faded to dark.

Time drifted away—as it did with her flash-outs—and suddenly, she couldn’t be sure if seconds or minutes were passing by.

Then there was nothing. Not darkness nor light—simply nothing. Then a sudden, brilliant flash of brightness, and finally, stars.

Then the sensation started—a vibration of sorts, hovering as if she was one with everything and nothing all at once—wholly infused with the patterns and chaos of everything around her.

She was in space, hovering over a massive gray planet, with hundreds of moons circling in a perfect ballet, leaving streaks glowing in their path.

The small moons flew right past her, leaving streaks of light in the orbital ellipses as she descended toward the planet.

It was a frightening feeling at first, something she fought against, but the fighting itself made it terrifying.

When she finally stopped fighting and let the experience flow through her, she found she liked it.

Craved it.

It’s beautiful, it’s… magnificent, she thought.

She hovered there in the nothingness and allowed the feeling of it all to engulf her.