DESCARTES' DAUGHTER AND SIXTEEN OTHER RARE CASES
Chapters Index
- 👉 Descartes' Daughter
- 👉 Case I: Bug
- 👉 Case II: Amleth
- 👉 Case III: London
- 👉 Case IV: Dreiser
- 👉 Case V: Maxim
- 👉 Case VI: Honore
- 👉 Case VII: Alonso
- 👉 Case VIII: Dumas
- 👉 Case IX: July
- 👉 Case X: Ray
- 👉 Case XI: Jean Gabin
- 👉 Case XII: Sherl
- 👉 Case XIII: Fy
- 👉 Case XIV: Hugo
- 👉 Case XV: Alveena
- 👉 Case XVI: Descartes
Sunday August 8, 3030
Descartes' Daughter
Dear Diary, you were my birthday present from
my brilliant Uncle Alonso, a writer without heirs, who wants me to carry on his
legacy and start practising on you. I've never had a diary before, but I tend
to watch a lot of old films where girls write in them like this, as if they
were writing a letter to a confidant, so I think this is the right way to use
it. So here goes, I will introduce myself: my name is Psyche Descartes, I
turned thirteen three days ago; my eyes are ugly yellow and my hair is black,
nothing to highlight. My mother says I'm very thin and that worries her, she
thinks it's her fault because she doesn't feed me well! I've seen her cry so
many times when she thinks I'm not looking at her, she suffers because she
doesn't know how to make me happier and I suffer because I don't know how to
show her how happy I am, I look so serious! I try to smile and I can only
manage a bland Mona Lisa face. I don't know why, I guess it's hard for me to be
open. I'll talk to you about these things another day, because it seems to me
that Mum is exaggerating. All I admit is that I look pale and that is because I
have never been out in the sunlight and my house, although it looks modern and
spacious, is very dark. It has no windows, it doesn't look like a house.
According to my parents, it has to be this way because my health has been very
fragile since the day I was born and I have had countless operations to
overcome it. This closed environment is supposed to help me heal faster, but I
don't know, I've never been outside, so I can't compare what's better: open air
or filtered air, natural sunlight or the lamps under which my mother's plants
grow... and I grow too.
I'm going to clarify something for you: I am
adopted. I know this because my uncles explained it to me with love, because my
mother and father did not want to admit it, although it was useless to hide it,
I have many uncles on my father's side and no cousins; they all suffer from a
genetic problem called "hybridisation", which prevents them from
having children. Only one in a thousand people with this problem are fertile,
and my parents were not going to be the lucky ones. I asked them if I had it
and they said no, so I must be lucky, because apparently it is very common to
suffer from 'hybridisation'; everyone in my house has it! As for my biological
parents, they say they were too young and poor to take care of me, so they gave
me up for adoption. I'm not angry, their decision brought me into the arms of
my good adoptive parents and that saved my life. Dad is the first born of a
rich family, so he was able to afford the treatments that made it possible for
me to be here writing. I barely remember my early childhood, so I couldn't get
out of bed or breathe on my own. My family always prayed that I would live a
long life. Until a few years ago, I was still hooked up to probes and machines
all the time, either asleep or so tired I couldn't move a finger. The few times
I was able to get up were almost like a party, and in general the only fun I
had was imagining, dreaming of fantastic worlds and interesting characters;
Uncle Alonso said I should write about them, but now that I can move freely I
can't think of anything. I no longer want to imagine things, I want to live
them, and that is why I have been arguing with my parents a lot lately.
To begin with, it makes me angry to see very
little of Dad. I bet he's in his workshop putting together some device right
now. He must be there, tall and thin, with black hair poking one eye, his shirt
sleeves rolled up, and a wooden face. Serious, very serious, but that's how I
love him. It bothers me that he is always working on "the next
update" of his spoiled robot: a kind of chrome metal woman with butterfly
wings, which he says is wonderful because it works with nanobots that are like
cells in the body and regenerate and multiply. and what do I know, he pampers
her as if she were another daughter of his; It's starting to make me jealous.
He lives busy with that and only looks up to look at the holographic screen
that floats in the center of his workshop and follow the robot fights where
companies like his compete to see whose product is stronger. If his favorite
wins, he gets happy, stops working for a while and plays with me; If he loses
he gets sad and works harder. His life is working on robots and having fun
watching robot fights; Robots, robots, and robots! As I tell you, that is
normal and I tolerate it. But on Friday I got very angry about something that
may be stupid...
I'll tell you more or less what the scenario
was, I was studying in the living room, because I'm homeschooled with my
uncles! I already told you about my uncle Alonso, he is a tall and strong man
with a big red beard; His thick arms are all tattooed with old Chinese
propaganda and things about anarchism because he believes in that, it's like
his religion, I don't know. Uncle Alonso encourages me to read classic books
but says he doesn't have the patience to teach, so Aunt Amleth, the youngest of
my father's sisters, takes care of that. I like her very much. She is blonde,
petite, she looks like a playful girl my age although I remember her that way
for as long as I can remember and I am already a teenage girl. She must be at
least thirty years old, I don't know, they scold me every time I ask their ages
or where my uncles live, or the name of the country we live in because they say
they will tell me those details until I grow up. I hope to be as age-intensive
as her by then, she really looks so young that it feels strange to call her
aunt and I only call her "Amleth". In any case, the rest of the
family doesn't seem to take her very seriously either because, in addition to
her childish appearance, she usually talks about crazy things: she confuses the
past with the future and claims that her father visits her even though her
grandfather died long before her. I was born She comes every afternoon to give
me private lessons since I was able to start moving around the house without
life support. It seems that in the mornings she works as a teacher in a
kindergarten that she runs herself. I also receive art classes thanks to Dumas,
I don't know why I don't call him uncle if he's another dad's brother, but it's
always been like that; He is part of this group of people who have taken care
of me since I was a baby. I adore him! Although he is also involved in
"anarchism". He is very different from everyone: he has piercings,
his hair is dyed blue, and he has more tattoos than Uncle Alonso, who is in
fact his twin, although they look nothing alike. Look, Dumas has almost the
entire history of the fall of the Aztec empire in his arms and a lot of
anarchism stuff all over the rest of his body. The only thing that looks out of
place is a violet over her heart, a baby's footprint with butterfly wings on
the side of her abdomen, and a crown on the back of her right hand, but I guess
those don't mean anything! It's like he and Uncle Alonso each tattooed
something about the defeat of a kingdom, I don't know why they didn't choose the
French Revolution if it is the most common story of that type, maybe that's why
they avoided it or there is another member in their cult Strange that he
already chose that subtopic. Be that as it may, I am fascinated by Dumas's way
of being. While Uncle Alonso lives angrily complaining that the family is too
conservative, Dumas is sweet and lets his appearance protest for him. He has
that loving and refined attitude, although at times I don't know if he does it
sarcastically. He has a somewhat malicious look. For me, the eyes are the most
attractive and important thing about people and he has them a very light blue,
like the ice of the glaciers, when he looks at me he narrows them a little
tenderly, but when he gets angry they become cold. Empty. That and the fact
that he has a certain fondness for sharp things makes me suspicious…But I love
him so much that I forgive him everything, even his anarchism that I don't
quite understand. We will talk about this topic of my uncles' anarchism another
time, because I think it is more complicated than it seems since my great-uncle
on my dad's side is a very powerful man with a certain public position, a very
important authority, and if his nephews are anarchists and that's like going
against authority... It's like something doesn't add up, don't you think? These
are things that the strongman Alonso sometimes demands of them, when he starts
saying that they are oligarchs, that the family is a Nazi experiment that went
wrong, that they are reptiles and... All that. When he starts talking like
that, I feel very afraid and I run to sit on Dumas's lap, who always
accompanies his twin and silences him with a look. He doesn't need more and his
serene yet somehow threatening presence makes me feel safe. I remember that when
I was very little I saw an action and science fiction movie about reptilian
aliens that dominated humanity. I was so terrified when the disguised evil
creatures began to emerge from the crowd that I began to scream. I spent a year
or two unable to sleep with the lights off. Since then I preferred to watch
horror movies because I prefer to believe that there are monsters, ghosts or
maniacs stronger than the reptilians, the Illuminati, the evil elites and all
those ugly conspiracies about evil entities among us that control us. The idea
of being imprisoned without you knowing it and being unable to defend yourself
is horrible. Everyone in the house knows not to talk about these topics around
me or I will have a panic attack.
Anyway, Dumas gives me art classes and I have
always liked to draw, although I am not as good as him, who is a professional
painter, I think since before I was born; in any case I will paste my drawings
here to show you, also some photos. Since I am afraid of modern devices because
I don't know if they spy on me, mom bought me an old smartphone and a mini
portable printer, because since I was very little I liked to make collages with
photo clippings, old magazines and other gifts that Dumas brings me to make
art. He supports me in my tastes and I feel that he is the only one who is
honest with me. I have asked him why my great uncle is bad, why he never visits
us and why Uncle Alonso is so angry that the family is the way it is. He says
it's natural, that all families are the same as mine and I shouldn't be
surprised. His words always calmed me, except that last Friday that I mentioned
to you.... On that occasion, I was talking with him while we were painting a
lake with mountains together. Dumas has the habit of sitting me on his lap and
starting the painting, then he asks me to continue until I make a mistake, then
he puts me back on track and so we go in parts. When I was little I used to
strip his brushes so hard that I would rub them on the canvas, and he would
calmly congratulate me as if I did it very well; Now I try to do better and I
don't really succeed, but I pretend I do it perfectly anyway. I hate that he
still sees me as a baby. I told him that on Friday and he responded: "I
feel like you only started talking last week," and he kissed my cheek.
Then I got angry all at once and I didn't want to paint anymore, but I didn't
get off his legs, I just stayed hugging him resentfully. Just then another of
my many uncles came: my uncle Hugo, the family lawyer and my dad's best friend.
Have you seen that kind of good-natured character in situational comedy shows
who does everything correctly while everyone else fails? Excuse my references
to movies and old TV series, but those are my only windows to the outside
world, so don't be surprised that I mention them as if they were my life
experiences. Well, that's my uncle Hugo: always smiling, well dressed, kind and
helpful. He is the most positive man in the world! But I was in a bad mood and
not all of Dumas's love nor all of Uncle Hugo's good vibes were going to
prevent me from losing my patience at the first provocation. He told Dumas that
he needed him to sign some documents for my aunt Sherl who manages the family
finances, I don't want to talk to you about her, I have seen her like twice in
my life, with her thick-rimmed glasses and her eternal face of a judgmental
snake, and it was enough for me. Since I was still sitting on Dumas's lap, I
was able to read the paper well. It was a permit for I don't know what and I
noticed that they read names of historical figures such as "René
Descartes", "Alexandre Dumas", "Alonso Quijano"…
Suddenly I thought: Descartes the philosopher, Dumas the writer, Don Quixote…
and At that moment I deduced that those are the aliases of my father and my
uncles, and I got angry because I felt like I had been deceived, so I
complained to them:
–Wait… Are these
fake names?! Aren't we all Descartes?
The two looked at each other, Uncle Hugo
cleared his throat, and my dad, who managed to hear us from his workshop, came
out very seriously and ordered Dumas: "take her to rest, she has studied a
lot today." I asked them for explanations, to stop evading me, but Dumas
just carried me out of the room telling me to calm down, that nothing was
wrong, that I read it wrong, that they loved me very much; and in one of those
when we were alone in a hallway, I don't know if to shut me up or what, he kissed
me on the lips. It was a few seconds that felt eternal, he opened his mouth
squeezing my cheeks and stuck his tongue in to touch mine, it was hot and
sweet. I was shocked, I felt my hair stand on end, it startled me. It was so
strange and sudden. Almost immediately I started to feel dizzy and sleepy, I
didn't even care, I got to my room and fell asleep like a rock right away. I
remember that when I was very, very little and I was in a lot of pain while
convalescing from one of the many surgical operations that they performed on
me, Dumas would come to visit me and always bring a candy lollipop that I would
try before giving it to me, then he would tell me a story. In less than ten
minutes the pain went away and I felt sleepy. Those same candies didn't have
the same effect if Dumas didn't try them first. The numbness was much stronger
now, what could it be? I just remembered one time, when I was very little, I
was falling asleep and I asked her about her tattoos, especially a phrase she
wears on her neck adorned with tears, it says: "oh my children, where will
I take you?" He told me that they all represent omens that announced the
end of a kingdom, that one in particular recalled the cry of a maternal specter
that lamented the future genocide of its descendants. I was afraid, something
like a bad feeling, but I fell asleep like this last time. Today when I woke up
it was Sunday, I was in my bed as if sedated, they celebrated my birthday. Very
surprised, I told my mother that Dumas kissed me, while he was there, and everyone
started laughing. Well, it was nothing special. Then Uncle Alonso brought you
as a gift and when I was alone I started writing this. Why did you refuse to
explain the names to me, Diary? They hurt my feelings without realizing it,
because I remembered the fact that my dad is not really my dad and I even
imagined that he denies me as his daughter, but they always take care of me and
give me love. I'm so afraid of separating from dad, that one day he will give
me away like my biological father did. And more than anything I'm afraid of not
having the same last name as him, of not really being part of his family. Well,
Diary, I feel better now that I told you my worries. Thank you. I hope to never
worry about these matters again. Maybe I only imagine dangers when everything
is in order here.
Monday August 9, 3030
Dear Diary, today was a normal day, I spent
the afternoon with mom and it was good. I watch one or two old movies with her
every afternoon, I guess since we are a wealthy family we must have this kind
of entertainment with classic movies. Surely people out there do more fun
things, but I have no choice but to follow my family's history fever and
entertain myself with these things from a millennium ago. My favorites are
those of the slasher genre. The truth is, it's not that I like horror ones,
they don't even scare me! Those who talk about conspiracies scare me, as I
already told you, but monsters like zombies and vampires bore me; My love goes
specifically for those stories in which an almost always masked psychopath
kills a bunch of unruly teenagers. Of course, my mother doesn't fully approve
of my hobby! Since, in addition to being a movie buff, she is a psychologist,
she sees in my taste for cinema slashes a way in which "I express my
frustration at not having the freedom that other young people abuse in those
movies." and that is why I sympathize with the murderer." It's not
like that, I can't explain it to her because I don't understand it myself and
she worries a lot about "what I keep to myself." For example, every
so often I suffer a nightmare where I am alone floating at the bottom of the
sea, among sea monsters and the darkness of the abyssal zone of some ocean.
Every time I tell her that it happened again, she says that they could be
"symbols of my subconscious" or "something worse." Then she
hugs me and swears that he will do everything he can to protect me. Once,
another sister of Dad's who is all mysterious and supposedly guesses hidden
things, Aunt Fy, came to visit us. She looked like another of many rich women
who take trips to exotic lands to feel special and frankly I didn't believe her
at all, despite who speaks with the same seriousness as dad and piercing green
eyes. If you had heard her say so much nonsense you would conclude like me that
she is a luxury tall Amleth. Why is it that if a person looks humble and says
strange things they are "crazy", but if they are elegant and says
strange things they are called "mystical" or "spiritual"?
Mom told her about my dream and she said that a danger was lurking for me
within the family; I listened to them hidden behind a curtain, and I got
worried because there are so many of my uncles that I don't know all of them,
or pay attention to them, I haven't really noticed which ones might not be
trustworthy, but mom took it worse. She began to cry in anguish. It's very
good! I'll tell you a little more about her and dad.
My mother's name is Ziggy, she still looks
young, she is blonde and very pretty, like everyone else in the family except
me, I'm somewhat dull. Come to think of it, they are very lucky to stay so
young, healthy and cute; They almost look like actors from a movie hired to
represent a perfect family, it's even suspicious that they look so perfect! She
tells me what she learned in life while we watch movie classics. It makes me
sad to think that he worries too much because I'm always locked up here because
of my illness, maybe with the movies he's trying to teach me what it's like to
have a normal life. My dad's name is René, he is a tall man, with almond shaped
gray eyes. Mom says that of all his siblings he is the only one with natural
black hair and that's why he was always the most handsome. I see Dumas and his
mischievous light blue eyes as prettier, but she noticed the first-born of the
family. Dad is an engineer in mechatronics and other complicated things. As I
mentioned yesterday, I don't spend much time with him, but just seeing him is
enough to make me happy. It's like something magical, automatic, I can't
explain it, I just adore my dad and, no matter how good my uncles are, no one
surpasses him for me. He is the oldest of all and the best.
In fact, I love and admire my parents so much
that I forgive them for doing things that really bother me. For example, they
make me wear a black school uniform every day because I never leave a super
sterile part of the house anyway because of my fragile health, and with some
sadness I think I will never leave. Can't you see that I'm getting older? One
day my mom saw that my breasts were growing a lot and instead of realizing that
I was already a teenager, she just told me: "You've gotten chubbier!
Oatmeal with broccoli works." And the truth is that no, I hate their
broccoli oatmeal casserole that only I eat because they all seem to survive on
coffee, soup and candy; I think it's been so long since they've tried normal
food that they've forgotten what it tastes like. In fact, I've never seen them
eat anything other than liquids and sugar! And broccoli oatmeal casserole fills
me up like a hot air balloon! Once, when the air came out late at night, Dad
came running alarmed to ask me what the noise was. I pushed him out of my room.
Sometimes parents are annoying! But if I tell you, you'll feel bad, poor
parents, always obsessed with taking care of me... I feel very tired, I'm going
to sleep.
Tuesday August 10, 3030
Aunt Honoré and aunt Maxim came to visit with
a new shelf for the books that uncle Alonso gave me, plus other science fiction
books that they have already read and have inherited from me. They both work
for Dad's robot and technology company from their home, and they don't tell me
where it is because...I don't know, adult stuff! Honore, the older of the two,
is a mechanical engineer and Maxim is a programmer. They are the typical nerdy
girls: Aunt Honoré is the sarcastic nerd with round glasses and Aunt Maxim is
the shy nerd who laughs like a seal; They are very funny! We had sleepovers
with the two of them, Amleth and Mom, when I was younger, the four of them
would play dolls or pillow fights with me. Looking for a printed photo of Mom
to make a collage and stick on the shelf that my aunts brought me, I found some
very old ones in which she is about my age; They dated it to 1992, I showed it
to him and he took it from me in a hurry, scolding me for rummaging through his
things. The mistake in the date was very funny, as if she were an old woman of
more than a thousand years! Dad must have made that joke on her.
I started to think: we are in 3030 and we keep
alive so many things from the first decades of the 21st century, as if
something were holding us back on those dates. It can't be nostalgia, because
no one could have been alive at that time. Maybe the world hasn't changed much
since then. Did something happen that stopped the development of humanity? I
would like to be able to go abroad and know what real life is like, not just
what I see in movies and reruns of old series. But they don't let me leave the area
of the house set up for me, I don't even know the front door. Something here
must not be right.
This afternoon we watched a slasher movie with
a masked man. Do you know that the first of this type was made in 1926? Of
course, it was a silent film, but it was already about a masked killer stalking
his victims. I feel a very strange emotion in those moments when the couple is
naked in the barn, sometimes it is in a car, or in a camp, and suddenly a huge
man with his face covered by an expressionless mask arrives and brutally
penetrates them with a huge knife. It's not fear, nor satisfaction, it's something
as strange as a diffuse tingling that runs through my body. Perhaps it is also
embarrassment due to the fact that the victims have almost no clothes. Mom
never lets me finish watching those scenes. The first time I saw one, she
snapped her fingers off the holographic screen and called the family doctor,
who of course is also my uncle because Dad only trusts his family, and they
gave me a lecture about the egg and sperm thing, and babies and the magic of
life and blah, blah, blah; Uncle Ray the doctor makes everything sound cheesy
and boring! He comes every week, checks me and at the end we sing a song about
how we are very happy for "being healthy and because we can play with
mommy and daddy" Although his parents have already died, even though
Amleth continues to talk to her dad. My life is so boring and my family is so
normal! Nothing is like in the cinema, although I try to look for even the most
remote extraordinary detail; But Dad is not a mad scientist but a sane one,
Dumas is a gentle punk, Uncle Alonso shouts a lot but never stars in an action
movie fight, Amleth talks to a dead person but he is not a ghost, and so on
with everyone. Today, for example, I saw a bunch of family members I don't know
among the photos that Dumas brought me to cut out. More elegant, athletic,
young and white people; The diversity was conspicuous by its absence and I was
already starting to get sleepy when I finally found something interesting in
some images of my parents in the forest: in some of them a strange man appeared
out of focus or in the background, I estimate him to be more than 6 feet tall
because he is Much bigger than dad and he is already tall. This man wore a
porcelain mask with "OK" written in red scratches right on his
forehead; I ran with the photo to where the adults were drinking coffee and
showed it to them, asking very excitedly who that was. Dad took it with a
slight smile and said:
–This is the family
bug, system error.
Mom and Amleth, who was with him, started
laughing, then Mom commented:
–I remember at our
wedding, he was three years old? He started crying because he thought he was
stealing his older brother from me. It was adorable!
–Oh, he's still
adorable!
Said Amleth and they continued talking about
their affairs. My elders' response ruined all the excitement of the discovery,
but I still think about the masked man. He was wearing a raincoat, carrying a
rifle and wearing his blonde hair up. Will he ever let it down? How long will
it be? He obsesses me a little, in fact now it's hard for me to sleep thinking
about him. I would like to ask you so many questions, just talk to you. Yes, I
know that maybe I fantasize too much because the routine is endless and I will
most likely never get the chance. Sometimes I suspect that the face of this
eccentric family member is just one of the many ugly things hidden in my
adoptive family.
Wednesday August 11, 3030
Nothing relevant happened today, it's the most
common thing. My uncle Ray came to check on me, mom made me tell her about
my... gas problem... Ugh! He gave me a speech about it and a remedy so that I
would never have them again. At the end we sing. I feel like nothing will
change if I stay here, I don't know if it's too late to start truly living;
because this is like not existing. No one knows about me outside of this house
and my family treats me as if I were a spoiled pet. Sometimes I get angry and would
like to ask them to take me out, but I never have enough courage to complain to
them. I am sitting on my bed, thinking that it is unfair that I waste my
imprisoned youth; But, although I know that my situation is worthy of anguish
and despair, I cannot cry, there is something that represses me from within. I
will open and wither like a flower that is born hidden in a dark crevice and I
will not even be able to shed a tear about it. I once told Dumas what I think,
he said it's normal at my age. I don't believe it at all. What irony, so much
excess of normality cannot be normal. In the morning I confessed to dad that I
want to go see the forest. I didn't tell him clearly that I would also like to
meet the psychotic guy in the mask, but he just replied: "I'll think about
it," and added that the fresh air would be good for me, maybe next year.
More time in my house and locked up! Waiting I don't know what... What if one
day I want to have a boyfriend? I think I liked kissing Dumas, I don't know,
now when I remember it I feel an itch inside my chest and belly. I know I
shouldn't get my hopes up about him because he took care of me since I was a
baby and sees me as his daughter. After the kiss he continued to treat me as if
nothing had happened, I still don't understand why he did it; but nieces marry
their uncles in period films that make mom cry. And he, with his eyes of such a
light blue that they look like ice, is very pretty. I like it. You must keep
this secret from me very well, Diary.
At night, Mom was teaching me how to dance in
the hallway and Dad was listening to their robot fights while still working on
the "nanobots for upgrade" with an electron microscope when the
broadcast was interrupted by an alarm. There was a terrorist attack on the
royal palace, that's how I found out that I live in a nation where the monarchy
still exists. I managed to see a palace on fire, on its doors there was a
minimalist golden shield that I cannot locate. I haven't seen it before in
movies or in Amleth geography and history classes. It was a crescent moon over
the symbol of eternity intertwined with a triangle and an L that I don't know
what it means. They had thrown a red liquid at him and written:
"murderers, degenerates, thieves"; In the background some eerie
screams could be heard and they were not from people, that is, words could be
distinguished but more than anything they were screams like wild animals. I
managed to see some bodies lying on the floor, they were wearing a kind of strange,
tight black dress and they were small, like those of children my age. Mom
became very distressed and covered my eyes, I had to go to sleep immediately. I
drew the symbol that I saw on the flag, that might tell me where I am and what
the situation is really like. Are they killing kids like me? Is that why they
hide me?
It's almost midnight, a very strange dream
woke me up: I was sitting cross-legged in the middle of a huge white building
full of mysterious doors and hallways, posing with a vase full of white roses,
I don't know why, it was as if They were going to take a photo of me. Suddenly
the echo of footsteps could be heard, I looked from one side to the other
without being able to see where they were coming from until suddenly, as if
lightning had struck me, the strange guy in the mask appeared behind me. He snatched
the vase from me and smashed it on the floor. It left me very disturbed.
Thursday August 12, 3030
Dear diary, today Dumas unexpectedly arrived
with a gift for dad in a large wooden box that Uncle Alonso was carrying.
Inside was a pile of foam rubber shavings and a portrait of a young woman, her
skin was dark and her eyes very blue. Seeing her, Dad smiled melancholy. I
asked him who she was, he said she was the mother of all of them, she already
died. I was surprised because he didn't look like them, and dad told me as if
lost in his memories:
–No, Honey! On the
contrary, we are all more like her, except your Uncle Bug. That's why he wears
a mask.
This left me confused, but I didn't ask any
more because everyone remained silent and very sad looking at the painting.
Before going to sleep, dad spent a while with me in bed talking and in the
middle of what we talked I told him that I'm afraid of losing them like my
first parents. He answered me that we will never truly be separated and asked
me that if I were to be very far from them one day to look at the sky and look
for the Moon. Well, the Moon can be seen anywhere in the world and it is like a
little piece of home that follows us everywhere. I laughed because we can't see
it right here. Shortly after, mom arrived, she looked at us and smiled, she
said that we are so serious that without a doubt we are father and daughter.
It's true, we look alike, I feel very happy. Coexistence and love have made us
a complete family. Now I go to sleep.
How strange, I was falling asleep, Uncle
Alonso and Dumas were still talking with dad, and then we had a visitor. It's a
special occasion, very few people I don't know have entered my house. He was a
gentleman dressed formally, he had the same clear and malicious eyes as Dumas,
he was surely another relative. You could tell that he was blonde, but he was
already graying, I think I saw it in some photos of galas and public family
events. He was wearing something like a presidential sash with the weird minimalist
shield, could this be my great uncle?; I heard him ask my dad if he was aware
of the horrible terrorist attack yesterday. He was accompanied by some men in
black, I bet they were bodyguards, he must definitely be a head of state; In
the end I didn't know who he was or what he wanted because one of the men in
the escort walked away a little to light a cigarette and discovered me peering
behind a lattice. He was athletic, blonde, blue eyes, like prefabricated... I
suspect he is another of my uncles. At that moment, Mom came very nervous to
tell me to go sleep in my room, so I did, then Uncle Alonso and Dumas came to
say good night and say goodbye because they were already leaving; I think they
didn't like being with the newcomers. They turned off the light for me before
leaving, Dumas gave me one last hug and just then I don't know what happened
because I couldn't see anything, but I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder. Like
punctures. I asked them to turn the light on again, they checked me, I had some
marks like a snake bite, but we couldn't find out what happened and they stayed
sitting nearby taking care of me. I hear footsteps, talking, and nothing else
that seems relevant. It's already late, I'm very sleepy, I'd better stop
writing and go to sleep. Tomorrow I hope they tell me who he was and what
happened. I'm a little nervous, will I have the dream of the masked man and the
vase again tonight? I'll sleep, too bad, I'm starting to get a little nauseous
and have a headache.
Friday August 13, 3030 (?)
This morning I woke up still in my nightgown,
inside one of those body bags. I do not know what is happening. I find myself
alone in a room I don't know, there is a "cosy mess": old things
piled up everywhere, between plants that grow as they please and dim lights. It
looks like a wooden house in the middle of a thick forest, I see conifers
through a window and you can hear the wind whistling through its branches; The
light coming in is warm and golden, I think this is the sun. I spent a good while
wondering if I died the night before and came to heaven. Under other
circumstances I would be happy to finally be in one of those settings I've only
seen in movies, but now I feel like things are going terribly wrong. I am not
dead, nor am I dreaming, time passes and reality becomes more concrete,
revealing that perhaps I have been the victim of a kidnapping. Once I became
aware of that possibility, I panicked. Could they have hurt my family to take
me away from home? What happened to my parents and uncles? Next to me there is
a bag with my uniforms and toiletries, all mixed up, to fill it they only
completely emptied the dresser next to my bed. Rummaging through it I found my
colored pencils, scissors, tape, my old phone with its portable printer, and
underneath all of this my diary; Thanks to this stroke of luck I have it with
me. My God, what will happen to me? I'll write down every detail I find out
here, so maybe the authorities can catch those responsible after they rescue
me.
I was still writing when a young woman I have
never seen entered the room. I don't recognize her from any family photographs,
she had brown hair, green eyes and freckles, she identified herself as
"Violet, my dad's cousin." I don't know if I believe him. She brought
me a coat and informed me that I am here because there was a conflict in the
family and my mother sent me to my uncles until everything calms down. Then she
gave me a thin black ribbon that he tied around my neck simulating a choker and
asked me not to tell anyone that she gave it to me. I asked her what it was
for, she said it's a weapon and later Amleth will come to explain to me how to
use it. This scared me even though she was very gentle. Then she left advising
me to cooperate. It's been twenty minutes since that, I got dressed and I'm
still here with my heart pounding in my neck. What is happening? Where are my
parents? I think I will use the knowledge I learned from my mother and study
each person I meet here. This will make it easier for me to collect data and
perhaps I will finally be able to fully understand my strange family. I will
start by analyzing the case of whoever lives in this house, because apparently
he is a very peculiar character.
Case I: Bug
Yes, Today Is August 13, 3030 (But at
The Same Time, 2020)
Dear diary, I always liked Friday the 13th, I
had a feeling that something exciting would happen to me on a day like this.
When you lead a life as routine as mine, or at least the one that was mine,
even having a maniac jump at you out of nowhere with a machete becomes good
news, because for the disease of boredom, any change is favorable. This is how
right now I don't know how to feel, on the one hand, I am encouraged; On the
other hand, anguished, sad, I don't know why mom sent me so far away and with
people she herself wouldn't approve of. I suspect that is not true...I must be
stealthy and on guard. My host is a kind of reminder of the saying: "be
careful what you wish for."
After my horrible awakening in the body bag
and my encounter with the mysterious woman, I took the coat she gave me, put my
diary in an old backpack along with other items that I considered useful and
found among the things stored in the room where I was, and I prepared to
escape. Cautiously I walked out into a hallway and, among the many knick-knacks
that perhaps should be in a museum, I saw photos of my parents and people who I
believe are part of the family. In some there were dates from around the beginning
of the 21st century, in many children appeared, one of the little ones always
came out with masks. I suspect he was the weird guy who, now I know, has good
reasons for hiding his face... I'll talk to you about that at length later, in
fact the most interesting thing I saw in those family portraits was Dumas as a
little boy without tattoos, he was very cute! Her natural hair is curly and
golden. Then I found an old phone, I've never used one, so no matter how much I
searched for it, it didn't help me to ask for help; Underneath this device was
a newspaper that looked new and was dated Thursday, August 13, 2020. I had to
take a moment to think, how could this be happening? I appeared a thousand
years in the past, and my family already existed here. I pinched myself several
times because I became convinced that it was a dream. I had two options:
collapse in panic or try to clear things up, I chose the latter and was
surprised to find that the fear took a backseat as I realized that I might not
be able to survive if I let it take over me. Then I went to the main door of
the house, I turned the handle suspiciously, it was not locked. When I opened
it, a kind of cold and invisible force hit me, after the shock I deduced that
it was the wind. And it smelled like the nicest thing in the world! I had heard
of petrichor, the perfume of drizzle on grass, but I had never experienced it.
The breeze was humid, the fog moved between the mountains covered with immense
trees and I was enthralled for a long time with that spectacular landscape,
with the icy wind that moved my hair and my clothes. From the outside, the
mansion looked a little creepy, something I wouldn't associate with my family.
In my house everything is impeccable and shiny; while there were weeds, rusty scrap
metal and a sinister black van without rear windows parked in the middle of the
front yard; That one was maybe like from the 20th century. To be honest, even
that careless atmosphere seemed fascinating to me. Since no one was seen
nearby, I took the opportunity to escape. I didn't have a specific plan, I
imagined I would have to ask a police officer for help but I've only seen them
in Mom's old movies. I didn't know what to say, I don't know where my house is
or how to communicate with my parents or if what's happening is really wrong
since technically I'm with my family. I found a highway and followed it first
in one direction, but as I walked I reached a high point and only saw that it
was lost among an endless mountain range. Suddenly I heard the echo of some
distant explosions, like when you burst a balloon, but I couldn't see what
caused it. Worried, I looked in the opposite direction and discovered in the
distance a very small town on the side of a mountain. I headed to that place
and then I noticed two bodies, two strangers armed with bats and ropes were
lying on the side of the road, blood was still flowing from their heads. I
shook them, looked at their wounds, it took me a while to convince myself that
they were dead. I didn't know if they were coming towards me or what attacked
them, I was very afraid. I decided to run to the town and ask for help. On the
way I finally began to see more signs of life, but these disconcerted me: some
cars were abandoned in the middle of the streets and the houses seemed to be
empty. Suddenly I heard another strange explosion and the glass of a window
broke, the noise came right from the second floor of the only residence that
had the door open. I entered, greeting timidly, and no one answered me. There
were weapons and empty bottles lying on the floor; I got to the living room, an
old television was on. Everything was like in the movies! A news program was
broadcast, they said that we were in Wyoming, United States and, although they
were talking and the camera was pointed at a podium, there was no one there.
The reporter seemed to be invisible, this was disturbing, but the truly
terrifying thing was that when I looked at the stairs that would lead to the
second floor where the broken window was, I saw blood dripping down the floor.
I ran away scared. 2020 was a historically disastrous year because there was a
terrible plague, many people died and the vast majority were locked in their
homes by their governments, but how did I get to such a gloomy past? To the
ghost of such a dark past... Well, everything looks... dead. I continued
walking until I saw a cafeteria, I saw smoke coming out of a chimney and I
entered with some fear; To my relief, there I finally found another human
being, Violet, my father's supposed cousin. She was working in the kitchen, she
was wearing an apron. When she looked at me she smiled saying:
–Very few customers
come here, most just order coffee. There are eggs and bacon, if you want. Come,
I invite.
I approached with suspicion, I saw that in one
corner of the premises there was a playpen with a baby. I went to look at him
surprised, I had never seen a little boy in person, he was beautiful, with
curly blonde hair and very light blue eyes. He does look like he belongs to
dad's family and that way I could be a little calmer. The woman informed me
without stopping her work:
–That's Aureus,
your first cousin. He's six months old, he's a miracle baby! My husband and I
weren't supposed to... However, last year I suddenly got pregnant and here it
is.
–They never told me
he had a cousin. Or that dad had a cousin.
–Well, I don't
interact much with your parents.
–Why?
I asked, intrigued, she tried to explain to me
while she served me the food:
–I decided to give
them space. I was your surrogate mother, you were implanted in my womb when you
were an embryo. So, I don't have your blood, but I brought you into the world.
When you were the age of this other baby I gave you to your adoptive parents.
–But...I thought my
biological parents gave me away...
–No, baby, I don't
think those kids even knew you existed. They discreetly removed you from your
biological mother, choosing her and her boyfriend because they were very
attractive and had a condition that your father Descartes and other scientists
in the family were seeking to cure. It may sound bad… But it was the best. They
were young, poor, they led a very unrestrained life. And we wanted to ensure a
bright future for you. Now you are a very privileged girl and I am going to
ensure that it remains that way.
Then she rushed back to the kitchen and I was
left stunned, in a ghost town coffee shop, trying to understand how I was born
and wondering if my privilege is worth it. Mouth open and with my heart
pounding, I suddenly felt the smell of food and it was almost intoxicating, it
was the most appetizing thing I have ever smelled in my life! I liked it so
much that I began to eat it with my hands, taking advantage of the fact that
she was still busy with food. the kitchen, from where he spoke to me:
–Your aunt Amleth
has been my friend since we were children, she will come later. He lives two
blocks away with another aunt of yours. You can call him whenever you want!
Telecommunications work, but only "in here", you will understand what
everything is like and you will get to know the rest of the family. Some must
live in other areas for work reasons, my husband for example, we only see each
other on weekends; He has to take care of his own business, we always respect
our space, we also earn extra money if each one of us generates income. Now we
have a baby, life is becoming more expensive...
–But, I thought we
were very rich. In my house we have luxuries, everyone dresses well, they give
me expensive gifts, we have cutting-edge technology...
–Yes, baby, but you
must understand that ancestry is one thing and wealth another, here we only
keep the first.
She left me confused and then we saw that a
kind of black smoke was running along the floor. She murmured, leaving the
kitchen while drying her hands on her apron: "so he was following
you…" Suddenly a young man's voice startled us.:
–Violet, aren't you
going to tell her why we're self-flagellating here? It is difficult to
understand it from the outside. Or from inside, I don't know...
I turned to look and behind us my strange
uncle in the mask was leaning against a wall. That's definitely more than 6
feet tall, it's imposing. He dressed like a typical mountain hunter: military
camouflage coat, a black T-shirt that said " Virgin Killer ", combat
boots, a rifle slung over one shoulder… the expected; But what stood out was
her long, straight blonde hair that fell from under a black wool cap to her
hips, and the white porcelain mask with the viewing holes covered by a black
cloth that prevented you from looking into her eyes. As if that weren't enough
to make the horrible mask look bad, the "OK" on his forehead is
scratched and scratched with something that hopefully is red paint. It was
there and it was so real that I even felt a little dizzy. I think he noticed my
concern, but at the moment he didn't say anything about me. Violet just went to
pick up her little son and muttered reluctantly:
–I forgot to tell
you, Psyche: they have left you in the care of your youngest and stupidest
uncle. It's for your safety. It's dumb, but it can put a bullet in the right
place from here at 8,000 feet every try. And that is its only virtue! Out from
that, he is ugly, vulgar and rude.
He answered her with calm indifference:
–Having a sniper
working as a babysitter for free is not enough to you? I just blew the brains
out of three guys who were after the girl. How much would you pay me for that?
Oh yeah, nothing, because we are white trash here and we don't have the
resources to host this girl raised as rich.
–Bug, be more
discreet... She still has the chance to be free and not get involved in the
gory details...
–She won't be free
if you don't give her reasons to run away. I'm not convinced by your altruistic
desire to respect her decision and not keep her in the family. And that's fine!
In some way she is yours, you gave birth to her... But...
–Who are you to
judge me? They disinherited you for being uncivilized and you barely learned to
read, not because you were stupid! Being foolish and lazy, you simply preferred
to live hunting and wallowing in the mountains like an animal.
She said and then my strange uncle approached
her, always speaking carefree:
–When will we get
along, Violet? Real friends don't get offended if you insult them, they laugh
and insult you even more rudely! Laugh, freckled rat-faced who stole me my
brother!
–I would be angry
if I didn't know that you said it out of affection. Snakes like rodents…
Then Violet suddenly looked surprised as if
sniffing something, he did the same before asking her:
–Do you smell it
too? That's not…? No, Violet...
–Oh, my, I think...
You're a lucky guy!
–You can't leave me
alone with her, this isn't even my problem...
–I know you can't
be a gentleman, but make an effort. I'll see you later.
She answered him before leaving with her baby
through a kitchen door, leaving me alone with "my uncle." God, I
don't know what they smelled, did I not bathe? I don't think I've sweated that
much, my stomach hasn't given me any more problems, how embarrassing! But soon
my attention migrated from that unknown to the enormous masked man in front of
me. He approached me cautiously, I think like me he didn't really know what to
say. I felt so overwhelmed with that situation that I just continued eating
without looking up from my plate. I looked at him out of the corner of my eye
as he stood next to me and then he exclaimed almost as if he had been forced:
–Aren't you going
to greet me? Come and give your uncle a hug!
I started to stand up slowly, I tried to give
him a loose hug and he squeezed me until my bones cracked, lifting me off the
floor. I think he must have compressed a nerve because a surge of electricity
went up from the base of my spine to my head and made me sort of short circuit.
When he put me back on the ground I was out of breath and a little dizzy. Even
though he had a mask on, I could tell he was taken aback, it was the most
embarrassing moment of my life! He tapped his fist on a nearby table, as if thinking
before saying:
–Well, I'll get to
the point: I don't think anyone has told you, but I don't like girls.
–It's okay...I like
men too...
–I mean little
girls! I won't support the games of your mother about you still being a baby.
Ziggy doesn't count the years you spent unconscious and those was at least five
in a vegetative state. It's sick.
I looked at him in dismay, already asking with
some indignation:
–Why should I
believe that my mother is lying to me?
–Because...Bah,
you're right, she doesn't lie to you...In life, only those years that are worth
remembering matter. Plus, it's hard to keep track of your age when you're
jumping between the past and the future. I know that I was born on November 13,
2013 and that an eternity has passed since then, but it feels like two stupid
and wasted weeks.
–2013? How can it
be…? We lived in 3030 … Is that also a lie?...
–No, obviously with
space-time travel... Don't you know?... It is possible to transport yourself
from the future to the past and vice versa, it is a luxury and requires a lot
of legal procedures, but it is possible. This is how your family's comforts are
financed. Your father is one of the largest shareholders of the company that
manages them.
–I don't know...I
need proof to believe you.
–You were locked up
in your house like Plato's cave for about twenty years and it only occurs to
you to get suspicious... If you don't believe me, I could take you on a trip to
the Middle Ages so we could die together of the Black Death, but you already heard
that I'm a mountaineer in bankruptcy. I can barely afford to take you to the
east coast in my van and if it takes three days we can pretend we're traveling
to the future. Come, you must finish settling in my house. I would have
preferred you to come as a more mature person, but they served you early...
He said mysteriously leaving the cafeteria
with a firm step, I realized that he expected me to follow him. I went after
him while the echo of our footsteps resonated in the cold solitude of the
environment, still not quite sure how to approach the whole situation although
already beginning to put myself on guard; That's how I understood that the
"exploding balloons" were sniper shots from my uncle. He walked down
one of the deserted streets and stopped for a moment to wait for me to catch
up, looking at me. It's a bit sinister because you can only deduce that he's
looking at you because the mask's eyes are pointing in your direction, but
there's no way to know what expression he'll have. Already nervous about that
terrifying detail, I asked him in a dull voice:
–Why are you
wearing a mask?
–That's a long
story and I hate explaining unimportant things.
–But I need
answers, I'm very confused.
–I don't know if
the word is confused...
–Were you the naked
boy with a mask that appears in a beach photo?
–I was young and I
needed the money.
He answered me without taking me seriously, we
then crossed a corner and I saw the horrible black van without rear windows
parked on a street; He opened the passenger door for me with a strange and
disturbing chivalry, and I couldn't stop thinking that this man had just killed
three people. Before he entered he removed a pile of bullets from the seat,
saying:
–Sorry for the
mess, perks of the job.
–Please listen to
me, I would really prefer to go home.
–Psyche, I'm not
lying to you, nor would I want you to go through this. And I feel bad because
they also deceived me, no one told me that you would come without knowing
anything about your own life. Not only were you not living in this time, you
were not living on the planet either. You were on the Moon. By 3030 the Earth
that is now so green and beautiful will be flooded in the parts where it is not
dry to powder. The technology that enabled time travel and all that cool stuff
will be torn to shreds. The upper class must emigrate there, to the Moon. While
the poor will be left to die and those of us who have some privileges will be
able to come and take refuge in the past. I can't return you home, that is only
possible through expensive space-time travel. We can't talk about this in
public either...I think you already understood that our family...is to blame
for many things. You will have to wait for them to come for you.
At that moment I felt an emptiness in my
stomach, I couldn't answer him, is that why Dad told me to look at the Moon if
I was far from them? My strange uncle gestured for me to get into the car and
closed the door for me, then he got into the driver's seat and I resumed the
conversation, still incredulous but trying to make sense of everything:
–Is that why they
created a time machine? To avoid that future?
–No. In fact they
did the same thing as our ancestors in the past whenever they needed wealth or
resources.
–What did they do?
I asked timidly. He answered:
–Invade weaker
nations and loot them. That's where the rest of the family's money comes from.
They steal from the past what is needed in the future and in the process
corrupt history, shitting on their own destiny.
The truth, oh God, this truth…I don't know if
I really wanted to know it. Then the car started, what was basically noise
began to play on the radio. He changed the station until he found something
less horrible and I murmured:
–Tell me, does all
this have to do with the terrorist attack a few days ago? Was our family
involved?
He responded, after a strange silence:
–What if we was
involved…
There was another very tense silence, I could
tell that he spoke with resentment. Then I took the courage to ask him:
–And this place…
Where are the people?
He answered me:
–Here 2020 repeats
itself infinitely but without the people, only those of us who come from
outside do not participate in the routine. They say that people are there, but
we are not in the same dimension, speed, or something like that, that as we
alter the environment it will become independent from the original reality and
the cycle will be broken, creating another universe and what do I know, no? I
understand nothing.
–So this isn't the
same world you see in old movies?
–Clearly not. It
was all because of Violet, you know, her mother died this year and my brother,
her husband, offered her to change that past to save the lady in exchange for
agreeing to be his wife. She was terrified of him, she is ten years younger
than my brother, who had been chasing her since she was a child and played
dolls with Amleth. The thing is that in the end she sacrificed herself for her
mother. But something in the process, which of course was not done legally or
safely, caused the machines that manipulate space-time to fail and they
detected it. Violet's father found out everything, he was so furious that he
separated her from her mother who now lives but outside of this alternate
reality while Violet is here. When she arrived, she was barely sixteen years
old, she was a modern city girl, now, after living for centuries in the
mountains, she has become a peasant. She no longer even remembers her mother,
perhaps they cross paths at the same point but in different realities and they
barely feel like ghosts. Although I always take my brother's side, I recognize
that the bad guy was the one who tricked her, but the poor freckled girl
received all the punishment.
–Your brother is
really a very perverse man... How could he do this to Violet? I couldn't be
like you and forgive him.
–Bah, you don't
know what you're saying... Besides, not everything is so bad, this place has
potential. It's a new world in birth! My uncle has been stupid, the only use he
found for it was to use it as a prison for the inhabitants of the 30th century.
According to him, although technology now allows us to go back to the past and
anticipate crime, the law should no longer penalize only the criminal act but
rather the proof that someone is capable of committing it. The statistics out
of his ass show that the majority of people tend to reoffend and the
rehabilitation programs are ineffective, which is why he decided to send the
condemned to get lost here.
–Then this place is
dangerous...
–That's how it
would be if my uncle was honest and really locked up criminals, but in reality
preventing crime was just an excuse. Of the five thousand inhabitants who live
scattered throughout this world, the majority are people who offended my uncle.
Political prisoners, like Violet. So if you live here, you are not imprisoned
but rather exiled.
–Is Violet's father
the same great-uncle who is important and Uncle Alonso and Dumas don't want?
–Your great uncle
is not only important, he is a fucking monarch. The last one that exists among
the last remains of humanity back in the 30th century… And about Dumas…
He replied in a somewhat mocking tone, and
continued speaking:
–You know, your
great-uncle Adamas, that's his name, and Dumas are mortal enemies; and at the
same time they are so similar that they are evidently family. One fighting to
retain the power of a kingdom of ten square kilometers and two hundred people
on the Moon, the other fighting to take away that absurd throne, and neither
worried about the past where this could be avoided: we are becoming extinct in
the 30th century., money can no longer save us and the family blames each
other, my dad was originally the heir to the throne but he abdicated because it
was stupid to be the king of a bunch of fools about to die of old age on the
Moon when you can come back to the past and have a full-fledged ranch; and his
younger brother went mad with power when he took office. No matter how much we
try to change it, it is an inevitable destiny and since the family already has
the possibility of escaping to these no-man's lands and my uncle doesn't care
about anything other than continuing to be the king... Well, they leave everything
as it is.
I was out of breath, I had to rub my face, as
if I had just woken up. Was this what they were hiding? I would have liked to
know before, now I feel somewhat betrayed, I think they did it to deceive me on
purpose and I gave them the perfect excuse with my fear of conspiracy movies.
He continued speaking, as if to fill the silence left by my stupor:
–What did you do?
Why are you here?
–I came of my own
free will with other of my siblings to accompany the one who stayed with
Violet. We can enter and leave without problems, but by staying we stand in
solidarity with the people of the past. We have given up luxuries. The rest,
those who live on the Moon... They prefer to hide in the darkness and live
well, maintaining a cordial relationship with old Adamas and his policy of
sawing off the branch of the tree on which he is sitting.
–My father is not
like that...
He turned to look at me, I think; because the
mask does not allow you to see his eyes and that makes me feel very uneasy, the
eyes are very important to me, and he said:
–Let's better talk
about something else. I love your parents too. I also think they are there for
a good reason. But I'm not going to defend others.
There was another awkward silence. Out of
nervousness I had forgotten that I was in a car for the first time, the
vibration is exciting, it makes a strange noise, it must be the engine. I tried
what I've seen in movies, I raised and lowered the window, I put my hand out to
play with the wind, I opened the glove compartment and found some square
wrappers of some weird type of chewing gum; They had drawings of fruits and
women. I opened one and put it in my mouth, it tasted good although it was
unpleasant to chew, it looked like a long and slimy balloon, my uncle extended
his hand and ordered me in a low voice:
–Spit that out. You
don't eat in the car and nothing from the car.
I handed him the weird gum and he threw it out
the window, then he didn't say anything, but he closed the glove compartment
for me. I began to fear that he was angry, my heart was beating very fast. I
swallowed and tried my best to talk and act normal:
–What is the movie
on your shirt about? "Virgin Killer."
–It's a heavy metal
album, I shouldn't have worn this today...
He answered me in a somewhat strange way, as
if thinking out loud. I looked at the back of the van and saw that it had a
bunch of guns, I started to get very nervous. But he continued speaking
completely calmly:
–I already know
about your love for slasher movies, it's your mother's influence. I have been
told at some point that the mask makes me look like a serial killer, but I
clarify that I would never be the villain of the movie, but rather the guy who
gets killed for being distracted having sex with someone. I can talk about that
in front of you now, right? You are already of age.
–I don't know, I...
Why do you wear a mask?
–For convenience,
nothing out of the ordinary.
–What does it mean?
–Well…Many people
also use them to walk among Homo sapiens. I could use a more realistic one like
Uncle Adamas's, or do surgery, or just show myself as I am, it doesn't bother
me, but this simple one works well. It saves me questions and curious looks.
I stood looking at him in silence, very tense,
he turned to look at me for a moment, then asked:
–Did you already
know that the family on your paternal grandfather's side is from another...?
Hm… Sorry, I just don't like saying "kind." I think it's kind of
racist.
Then I had chills. My hands were shaking, I
clasped them together to hide it and asked with fear:
–Have you heard of
reptilians? I know it's a lie, but...
He let out a sigh and rested his temple on his
fist, before telling me:
–You know, that's
racist! Look, I see that your parents may have kept quiet out of respect for you,
if I remember correctly they adopted you from the 22nd century when they were
just beginning to modify people, but the "R" word is not said in the
30th century. We are not lizards. The correct word for me is
"hybrid", and even more correct is not to make distinctions.
All the hairs on my body stood up. I
calculated how much damage it would do to me if I jumped out of the moving
vehicle, but before doing anything drastic I wanted to understand clearly what
he was telling me:
–What exactly does
hybrid mean? I thought it was a disease.
–It is what results
from crossing between species. Like if you take a mare and a donkey, a mule is
born. Mom was a Homo sapiens from the 20th century, dad came from the 30th
century, he belonged to a new human species that they created to survive on the
Moon and called Homo cosmos. They spent years doing genetic experiments and
studies to force human evolution and create people who look like a cross
between a devil fish and a boiled cat, because that's what beauty standards are
in the 30th century. It's something you could see coming! Since the 21st
century they began to be deformed with plastic surgeries, a thousand years
later they will be so disfigured that they can already be considered a new
species. To make matters worse, they wanted to improve genetics and put DNA
from animals, felines, quite a few lizards, yes... The curious thing is that if
you mate them with human beings from the past, cute Homo Sapiens are born,
although not very fertile. Well, not always... The trick didn't work for me!
Behind the mask, I look like a boiled cat.
I started to see everything black, I think I
blacked out for a few seconds, but my newfound survival instinct immediately
woke me up. With the strength I had left I commented:
–So there are no
extraterrestrials, no reptilians, no illuminati, it was you... It was people
from the future traveling to the past to change things without thinking about
the damage... And my parents, my other uncles, it always seemed so to me
strange that they looked so perfect...
–Perfect? Your
other uncles are only "normal" in appearance. Dumas for example... He
inherited a rare recessive gene, he has hollow retractable fangs, like
ophidians. He injects poison, his saliva is always a little poisoned. He is
already immune, but the others... That's why he kisses so well! Opium flavored…
–It isn't true!
Don't you dare talk about him like that... Have you even kissed him?
–Yeah!
–Why?
–Because he gave us
all kisses when we were little! That's how he calmed us down if we were
bothering him a lot. And if we got really spoiled it was a French kiss. You
were fast asleep before you could say "wow".
–Shut up, don't
talk any more about my uncle Dumas! He is a very good man!
I interrupted him indignantly. I don't want to
imagine Dumas as something monstrous. "Uncle Bug" laughed again and
commented, changing the subject:
–They all took care
of you like their daughter, it's normal that you love them like that. Alright.
Dumas loves you with a father's love. You know that, right?
–I guess so…
I muttered reluctantly, he continued talking,
distracted by avoiding some potholes:
–I love my people,
but sometimes I think we should go extinct. It doesn't bother me to be
infertile, I don't have the dream of having children, but I'm not sure if I am.
They say that men with good aim... and I have never missed a shot. That's why I
prefer to date very older women who are no longer of childbearing age, but it's
difficult to escape fate, what can you do? Either way. You try to delay it and
they put it in front of you.
–Why does black
smoke appear...when you arrive suddenly...?
–It's...evolution.
The demands of the environment promote the mutations necessary to adapt
naturally and survive. My dad, my siblings and I developed a very useful one
for the 30th century environment. Heh! But I won't tell you what it does. I
don't want you to be warned.
I felt more and more terrified. When I moved
my hands a little, I brushed them against my bare thighs; they were cold like
blocks of ice. We arrived at his house and while he was parking I asked him:
–Tell me your name
and show me your face.
He showed me a driver's license, covering his
face with his thumb. It read " Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov", born
on November 13, 2013, and told me:
–If it seems long,
tell me, Bug. " Zhuk " is "bug" in Russian, but they don't
really call me Bug because of that, although I am the weirdo of the family.
–It is due to
"system error"…
I murmured remembering what Dad said about
him, and he commented:
–I wasn't supposed
to be born with my dad's horrible face. But after fifteen children my poor
mother was already tired and couldn't counteract the iguana genes... Anyway, I
like Bug.
I looked at him suspiciously and said:
–So "Bug"
is a nickname for an alias… Why do they use fake names? What is our real last
name?
Uncle "Bug" got out of the vehicle,
opened the door for me and finally answered:
–Why do you want to
know that?
–They said that
they would reveal that data to me until I was an adult because then I would
have to make decisions about it. I want to take them now. If I am officially
thirteen years old and add five to it, it makes eighteen. I'm already an adult.
–Your biological
parents are still alive and together in the 22nd century, you already have two
little brothers. You can go back to them, they are not rich or important, but
they are Homo sapiens. Go now and save yourself the sadness, you can come back
later when you are really an older woman. Then it would be easier...
–My real parents
are the ones I know and love. Tell me what my real last name is, yours and my
father's. I want to know the whole truth, to be totally part of the family.
–A document doesn't
really make you part of a family.
–That's not what
unites me with my parents. What makes me feel like they are part of me is love.
That's why I want to go back to them and find out what happens.
He ruffled my hair like I was a little girl
and walked into his house, I followed him. He put the rifle on a shelf, took
off his coat, and I could see his arms. They are not as big as Uncle Alonso's
but they are just as hard and with marked muscles; I think her face and
attitude are horrible, but her hair and body are beautiful. On his right arm he
has a coiled snake that goes down from his shoulder until it ends with the head
on the back of his hand, and on his left he has engravings of the French Revolution.
Apparently, he is the mysterious third member of Uncle Alonso and Dumas' crazy
cult. He lifted the sleeve of his left arm and showed me that on his shoulder
he has the same symbol that I drew, the one that was on the palace gates on the
day of the terrorist attack. He pointed it out saying:
–This is the family
crest. The "L" symbolizes the number twelve, it represents unity, but
not one in a good sense. It is a message to the family, to the group of
characters who have always held power: do not let go. It's also there for
"Lunae", from the Moon. That is "your last name", the one
adopted by the last rich people and descendants of the royalty of the Earth
when they arrived at the Moon, to merge into the same cream of human rot. I
don't want to go into details, but we are not proud to be Lunaes. That's why we
use fake names.
–But I am proud of
this family that my dad René gave me!
I stressed to him. He kept trying to make me doubt:
–What do you know
about your dad? You don't even know his first name, or mine...
-Which is his real
name? Tell me!
–It's a secret,
like my face.
–At least I see
that you have something in common with your older brother... Dad also hides
things from me...
–And you don't hide
things from your dad...?
–No!
I exclaimed annoyed. He went into the kitchen
and took a can of beer out of the refrigerator, then turned his back to me,
pushed aside his mask, and drank. Then he said to me without turning to look at
me:
–Anyway... Welcome
to my beautiful house, which is also yours. Built with love and oak wood in
1880. Upstairs there are three free rooms, choose any one, they remain clean
and with a girly atmosphere because my sisters use them every time they come to
sleep in the mountains. And the bathroom is up at the bottom of the stairs,
behind a green door. Do you need anything else?
I ran upstairs and opened the bathroom door,
it was spacious, lit with natural light coming through a glass dome, and it was
filled with fish tanks and more plants, but nothing else. Just the space with
the toilet, shower and a tub. So I went down to look for my uncle who was
drinking with his back to me checking a cage with birds and I told him:
–There are no
toilet paper or shampoo.
–Yeah. During the
summer I swim in the lake and dry off in the sun. It suits long hair.
–I guess the rest
is done in the forest…There is no toilet paper…
–Oh, I do use that
toilet, but only for pee. My kind of thing, we don't need the back door
anymore, we only open it for parties.
–Well, I
need…toilet paper. I'm not like you!
–Sure, what do I
know? What can I do to make you excuse my lizardman ignorance, Psy? Shall I
wipe your butt with my tears? I will go to town and buy your toilet paper, also
food for primitive people who makes the number two. Do you need anything else?
–No…
I replied, he threw the empty can in the
trash, putting his mask back on; I couldn't see anything of his face. He put
his rifle in a cabinet and took out another one, explaining to me while I
checked the scope:
–This is my
favorite, the CheyTac M-200. Here we must work, Psyche, those of us who live in
exile have nothing for free. You have to go hunting, the type of prey is a
little special. But don't worry, you won't participate in that, it's a man's
job. You can stay at home taking care of the babies...
–Uncle, why don't
you want to tell me your name? Why do you insist that we be strangers? He never
visited me, not even at Christmas.
–Stop calling me
"uncle"! Didn't your mom tell you the story of Eros and Psyche? He
told it to me as a child, he said that Psyche meant "soul" and
"butterfly", it seemed like the perfect name for a ghost. When he
appeared with you and called you Psyche, I thought he did it because you were
going to die soon. That's why I didn't get close to you all these years,
forgive me. I didn't want to see you suffer. But the story of Psyche... Do you
know what her boyfriend asked her for?
–You are not a
veiled Eros, if that's what you want. Rather it is a mix between hunter,
Venetian carnival and Viking. And we are not in love.
He clearly wasn't listening to me, he was
engrossed in his gun and only responded by mumbling another string of
disturbing comments:
–Why are you
sending mixed signals? You are like a sign that says "come in,
welcome," but it is adorned with danger signs and barbed wire.
–Just tell me your
name, stop hiding information from me.
–Let's see, try to
guess my name! Let's play that.
At that point I had enough of his nonsense and
grabbed the barrel of his gun, saying:
–If I guess, will
you tell me the whole truth? Because if you plan to continue teasing me you
will have two options: pull the trigger right now or spend the rest of the
afternoon looking for me because I will escape again. I will not tolerate this
outrage.
He stood very still, the rifle pointed right
at my heart. I was no longer afraid, I was moved by an incomprehensible,
mechanical will, I wanted to get to the point once and for all. Then he took
the gun away from me and said, putting it away:
–You and I might
have a few things in common, Psy. We are pragmatic people. Brute and very
pragmatic.
Then he sat down in an old armchair and lay
back, always speaking calmly:
–I accept your
deal, but a single name is very easy. Mine and those of my siblings who are
needed. If you can get them to reveal it to you themselves, I will do what you
ask. Until you meet Ziggy.
–Done deal! How
many siblings you have?
–Sixteen with me.
–What?! Why so
many?!
–My mother was not
a movie buff and my father was stupid, they had simple hobbies.
He replied simply. Then he took the wrist of
my left arm and checked the back of it until he found something that he rubbed
with his finger, ordering me:
–Touch here, this
point. Do you feel that?
–It's like a hard
granite... Could it be a thorn?
–It 's a
microcomputer. The law of the 30th century requires that we have one
implemented, it is used for communication and commercial transactions. But
yours is off. I couldn't send you messages, that's why I had to chase you on
the road. You must have seen your parents use them at some point.
–Ah, yes, I just
don't like modern technology... It scares me!
–Well, you better
control your fears because this device could save your life here. I'm going to
format it in case it has any strange programs from Uncle Adamas and make a copy
of mine that is altered so that it can't be traced by the Selenite government.
It will take just a minute.
He stayed for a while holding my wrist and
pressing the point he pointed out to me, his hands are big and rough. They have
punishments for using weapons and living in the countryside. He noticed mine
and before releasing it, he caressed the palm for a moment, then murmured with
sinister giggles:
–I'm a simpleton, I
get excited so easily... Ready, snap your fingers.
I did as he suggested and then a small
holographic screen appeared over my hand. I have seen the adults in my house
use them, but I really had no idea how they control them and my uncle taught
me:
–It is managed with
the mind, it takes a little getting used to and requires some concentration,
but then it is the most normal thing. In my time this was done by the
telephone, now it is a chip from the Antichrist frying our brains.
He hadn't finished telling me that when I was
already looking for information about everything he had told me. It was true,
my adoptive family is the last royal family in the world and they are feared as
well as very hated in the future, where human beings no longer seem to be human
beings, their faces are demonic and they wear gloomy black clothes like those
of those small bodies. dead people that I saw the other night in the attack on
the palace. I had to turn off the screen, I didn't want to continue seeing
that. Suddenly my Uncle Bug spoke again:
–Why did you look
away so abruptly? Are you scared of people like me?
–No…It's just that
I don't gain anything by looking at your appearance, I want to know your name.
–Aureus Lunae V.
–What?
I asked without understanding:
–My real name is
Aureus Lunae. Just like my dad, my grandfather, my great-grandfather, my
nephew! …In every generation there is an Aureus.
–Your…real name?
But…
–Of course, I hate
being called Aureus. All of us Juniors know that mom must have moaned or
screamed our name at some point during sex. So please tell me Bug, I don't use
the alias to protect my identity, I simply hate my name.
–Why do you tell me
everything like that, so easily...?!
–So that you learn
that I am unpredictable and do whatever I want!
So I got up to get some of the fresh air
outside, I felt so happy to be there and at the same time so desperate to
leave, I wish I had never known these things or seen those images. Suddenly a
butterfly flew by and its beauty enchanted me, I had never seen a real one. I
tried to touch it, but every time I got close to it it flew further away from
me. Shortly after I realized that my strange uncle was sneakily following me,
he knows how to move stealthily and with that he keeps reminding me that he is
a hunter and must know how to stalk prey... He stayed still next to some pine
branches and when the butterfly landed On one of these he slowly took her by
the wings. With unusual subtlety. Then he handed it to me, saying:
–You need to be
patient and go slow to catch one of these. They are easily damaged.
I received it by letting it rest on one of my
fingers, it was perhaps the most fascinating thing I did in my life, but just a
few seconds later it escaped flying very high. I saw her walk away and asked
curiously:
–What should I do
to make one stay living with me?
–You'd have to nail
it to make it yours. It sounds terrible, but that's how it is.
He responded and I don't know why that sounded
so weird. I always walked with him behind me to a dark grove where there were a
multitude of cobwebs pearly with dew, it is a beautiful and sinister spectacle,
some black and elongated arachnids rested motionless between the white threads,
in silent threat... Like my Uncle Bug. To relieve a little of the tension that
was getting heavier and heavier if we didn't talk, I tried to chat with him
about anything:
–Who told you that
I like slashers?
Before answering me, he gently touched the
ribbon tied around my neck and said:
–I know this.
Then he caressed my cheek with the back of his
fingers, answering:
–I read your diary.
I could feel the blood drain from my face, I
turned pale and my legs were shaking. I will never be separated from my journal
again! I instantly confirmed that I had it stored in my backpack. That man knew
all my secrets and fears, I had never felt so vulnerable before. He raised his
hands as a sign of surrender and took a few steps away when he noticed my fear;
Then he took a gun out of his back pocket, moved something to it and handed it
to me saying:
–Here, if I try to
do something to you, you can shoot me. Now we are even! You may be small, but
bullets are small too and that's not why people go through life crossing paths.
I took the gun suspiciously and hid it in my
coat, without taking my eyes off him. Then I tried to speak without my voice
breaking. My God, there are such intimate things written here!:
–What did you
read…?
–There is not much
to read, the most relevant thing is the part in which you inform that you
should not give oatmeal with broccoli, and another where you say that you saw
me in a photo with my hair tied up and wanted to know how long I have it.
I froze looking at the floor, going from pale
to blushing so intense that my cheeks burned. My horrible Uncle Bug then
informed me:
–Well, it measures
me twenty centimeters, you can confirm it whenever you want.
–It can't be, it
obviously reaches at least 40 inches.
I murmured, surprised, looking at his hair, he
responded:
–If you say so. I'm
going to brag about this to my friends! By the way, I also read about the
flower that blooms hidden… What was that?
–I meant that I
feel like I'm wasting my life locked up and hidden in my house... It's like I
don't exist, no matter how good a girl I am. Who appreciates a rose that blooms
hidden at the bottom of a hole?
–Someone who lives
at the bottom of the hole.
–But only bugs live
there…
–Like me, for
example.
I didn't want to look at his face, at the
mask, thinking that I would have to stay with him for I don't know how long it
seemed impossible to me. I didn't want to have him around for another minute. I
tried to walk away backwards and he suddenly told me:
–Let's stop beating
around the bush, you want to sleep with me. Admit it.
At that point, all the perhaps morbid
attraction I previously felt for him turned into rejection. I swallowed dryly
without knowing what to answer, he began to get closer to me, speaking very
naturally:
–I had never been
excited about the idea, I'm not the type to waste my time with shy girls, but
now I only think about your thighs half covered by those black stockings and
the little pleated skirt.
Finally I turned to look at him and said,
raising my voice, gathering all my strength to find courage and set limits
before things got worse:
–Your flirting
jokes are disturbing. How old are you? Time travel confusion or not, you're at
least eighteen, man, you're definitely an adult. And I do not. And he's my
uncle!
–What is time, Psy?
A nothing that is measured with clocks. When you live so many years without
aging, love becomes something unreal. No one thought about the emotional
consequences of such a long life in such an empty world! My siblings have been
divorced and widowed I don't know how many times and those who continue with
their youthful loves seem almost inhuman to me, but I always believed that at
least once in your life you have to find that person that you won't want to let
go. And I have already lived 189 years, perhaps it is my time.
I was speechless, speechless, and took a few
more steps away from him. What is my family? Then I realized with terror that I
don't know who they are, I have no idea... All my life I was locked up learning
about a world that no longer exists, among people who hid reality from me. I
knew that I couldn't trust what they had told me anymore, I would have to know
everything on my own, so I gathered my courage and asked my uncle:
–Take off your
mask...
He thought for a few seconds, then responded
with a sigh:
–I Can't. I'll tell
you this once and for all: I only wear it around strangers from the past, but I
was ordered not to take it off in front of you. Look, I'm never going to lie to
you, I'm going to keep quiet about what you don't ask me or need to know because
I don't like to answer to anyone, but I will never hide anything from you other
than my face. That's the only thing I can't reveal to you yet.
–How long do you
plan to do it?
–It depends on you.
I watched as you looked away in horror as images of others like me appeared. I
read in your diary that it bothers you a lot that your poor mother doesn't know
how to feed you because she doesn't eat the same as you. Have you ever imagined
that perhaps her metabolism is different from yours? Very different…? Now I see
you upset by reality: this family is the result of centuries of abuse of
genetic engineering and inbreeding. Its most "pure" members are
monsters… A new species, a forced step in evolution. Everyone, to a lesser or
greater extent, is like me, you are the only and last healthy one. I don't want
to be the main reason you reject us.
Then I swallowed and said with determination:
–Was this what my
parents were hiding so much? Do you think that I will suddenly stop loving them
and abandon them just because I know that physically they are not like me? They
are my family! My parents! They are more mine than the couple who gave birth to
me. I will accept them as they are and because of them I will accept you too.
You are my father's brother; you are my uncle. We are uncle and niece.
–Adoptive uncle and
adopted niece. You know, labels and commitments don't suit me well. I
understand that you feel your parents are yours because they raised you from
the moment you were born, but I barely know you. I don't like this pretending
that we are something that we don't feel, I don't feel like your uncle. I dont
believe it. Just as I don't think you react so well to seeing what I really
am...
–Anyway, I want to
know what are you hiding!
I answered him already determined. At that
moment, I realized that I would have to be strong and defend myself on my own
because I was alone in the face of the unknown. Bug, my uncle, touched the
edges of his mask and said:
–Are you sure? I
could have half your face covered in little eyes, or pimples, or scales, or
maybe nothing at all. Be a smooth skin surface. Do you know what people's
problem is? They wants to belong, they wants his identity to be a collective,
but it is easier to right the mistakes of a single person than those of a
battalion of idiots. You can trace the origins of this family back to the
middle ages, there were kings, emperors, but mostly psychopaths and deformed
guys. Many ugly, damned and deformed degenerates!
–I don't care, I
want to know and I want to continue being my parents' daughter.
I replied seriously, he said:
–Okay, I'll stop if
you regret it.
The mask began to lift and I waited, staring.
He paused as if to ask him to stop, I wasn't up for that. I stood firm and he
revealed himself a little more, I could see his pale chin, with two days' worth
of beard, despite the carelessness he still did not look normal...human. His
parted lips revealed the tip of a black tongue and he smiled as if he could no
longer contain a laugh... Exposing two sharp fangs... Then he began to laugh
and put the mask back on. It became clear to me that "they" are not
like me. He laughed a little more and finally said to me in a disturbing tone:
–You've never been
with a man, right? Okay, you'll be my first virgin. It will be a first time for
both of us. I didn't want to, but if you insist...
At that moment I felt completely overwhelmed
by that conversation. I had never spoken to a man who wasn't sweet and helpful
to me, and this guy, my father's younger brother, was entering my life with the
violence of a battering ram. I swallowed and reminded him as he approached me
again:
–We are uncle and
niece...
–You and I will be
whatever is most fun to be, shy little butterfly.
He answered me and I couldn't take it anymore.
I started running with all my strength, I looked over my shoulder several
times, he just stood there watching me walk away. I entered the vegetation at
full speed without stopping, I tried to cross streams, cover my tracks,
everything that is done in the movies so that they can't track you. That Bug
guy must have been so sure of finding me that that's why he let me go, but I
will do everything possible so that he can't locate me. I went on and on until
I was out of breath, then I walked without stopping; drinking water from
streams. I started to get dizzy and fell on a pile of dry leaves, under some
huge trees. My legs hurt, I was breathing hard, but I looked at the sky between
the beautiful coniferous branches and felt very good. Free. I must have been
several kilometers from civilization, I took a deep breath and was finally able
to relax. I wrote in my journal, now I'll try to take a nap. I will take
advantage of the fact that it is noon and the atmosphere is warm. When night
falls and the cold is a problem I will walk more to avoid freezing. I don't
know where I'll go, but I definitely won't return to the Lunae family until
everything becomes clear.
Saturday August 14, 3030
My dear Diary...I don't even know how to start
telling you. After escaping from my uncle and falling asleep in a clearing in
the forest, I woke up at night. At first, between my eyelashes I saw that
darkness was already surrounding me, but I didn't want to get up because I was
very warm and comfortable. At the moment I didn't ask myself why, you don't
question things when you're fine, then I reconsidered: there was a bonfire near
me and I was wrapped in a man's coat. I sat up abruptly, crouching in a
defensive position, seeing Uncle Bug looking at me, sitting by the fire. It
started to scare me. Unlike me, he was very calm as always, waiting for me to
wake up with his chin resting on his fist and burning a stick in the fire. He
had tucked me in. Then I remembered: I was armed! I reached into my own coat
and took out the gun that he gave me and pointed it at him, but no matter how
hard I tried to shoot it, I couldn't. I tried frantically until he got up to
tell me:
–I went to town to
get your things while you were gone. You forgot that your implant is connected
to mine, I was always going to find you... And you're trying to shoot without
removing the safety...
I looked for the safety lock desperately, not knowing
what it was like, until he extended a hand asking me to hand him the gun. I
refused and kept trying, but when I didn't succeed I threw it at him like a
projectile. He caught it in the air preventing it from hitting him and began to
teach me:
–You must move this
lever… See? It's not going to fire anyway because it's not loaded. I wasn't
going to give you one with bullets, you could have accidentally released the
safety and shot yourself in the foot. Plus I was sure you would try to kill me,
I expected nothing less from you.
–You lied to me!
–You never asked me
if it was loaded, I would have said no and taught you how to use it properly.
He murmured, starting to pick it up, then
offered it to me saying:
–I have eight older
sisters and I have never raised my hand or disrespected them. I talk too much,
but my mother knew how to raise her children. That's why I'm not worried about
giving you the gun, I won't give you just reasons to use it.
–You shouldn't make
advances to me.
I made him look askance, refusing to accept
his weapon. He put it back, let out a kind of sigh and spoke:
–Well, I admit that
perhaps I was too aggressive in approaching you. I got impatient because I
already know that you are attracted to me. Do you want...with me.
–No! Didn't you
read my diary? You're not the one I like!
I exclaimed offended. He insisted:
–Maybe not
consciously. But there is something in your smell...
–Don't lie, my
uncle Ray already cured me!
–You smell like
orchids, honey and fresh wood, these are pheromones. I'm sorry, but that's how
my species works. Anyway, I know your panties get wet when I'm around. Deny it
if you want, but your body keeps sending me invitations to dinner. The worst
thing is that I really didn't want our relationship to be like that. But I
guess as a man your ego rises and as an animal you see the opportunity. But I
understand… You really don't want to. It is an involuntary reaction.
That's how I knew that's what they smelled in
the cafeteria. And it's true, I don't know why, but I get so wet when he's
around that at times my thigh drips. It must be an involuntary reaction to
fear, what other relationship could there be between him making my panties wet
and me liking him? Then I complained very upset:
–The thing is that
I'm tired! My body was still recovering from so many surgeries and the stress I
suffered this day was the greatest of my entire life.
My uncle was silent for a while and then he
said, looking at the fire:
–Think about golf.
–What? why?
–Because it is the
most boring and stupid sport that exists. You hit a little ball with a
collection of silly sticks, for what? I would never play golf! I would feel
completely ridiculous. Playing golf in shorts, shaking my butt to balance while
I hit my ball.
–Now that you
mention it…Yes, I think you would be a terrible golfer.
I opined. Then he sat down to watch the
campfire, then I did too. We were silent for a while thinking until he said:
–Well… that seems
to control the problem. It's been so long since I was young that I forgot what
I was like. In any case, I felt used, you give Dumas your love and admiration,
but you see me as a piece of meat. I'm not one of those easy guys, Psyche. I may
be one of the poor relations, but I still have blue blood, I am a princess.
–That's not how you
say it... And... Did you read about Dumas... in my diary?
–I'm not going to
tell him. It's something only the two of us will know.
There was another long silence until I asked
him:
–Have you ever seen
one of those movies where reptilians use people like cattle...?
–You're being
racist.
–I mean... Is our
family like that...?
–Look, I don't
think that your skin color or the shape of your face predisposes you to
"use people like cattle", power corrupts stupid people who don't
understand that humanity is a whole and if you damage a part it will affect
you. in the long run because you are also part of that whole. There are no evil
geniuses, no master plans, no conspiracies, just stupid people with too much
power.
–But, what I'm
going for is… Yes, they are… what they call "reptilians"…
–Stop. That word is
offensive, discriminatory and inaccurate. We are not reptiles!... We are people
with reptile DNA. And other animals... And also, what happened to that thing
about how you were going to continue loving your parents no matter what? You love
your family even though you don't share their blood, I love my family even
though I don't share their ideas. That love is great enough to tattoo the
family crest on my shoulder even though I am against everything it means, it is
not loyalty to a surname but to my parents and my siblings. To the people I
love. So stop calling us by those names, our mistakes do not define us if we
are aware of them and try to amend them.
I looked at my uncle for a moment and began to
talk to him seriously:
– Did you love your
mother even though she forced you to be born like this…?
–My mother... You
know, they bought her, like Violet's. In the future they sell girls like you
for fun or to use their bellies. I was my mother's favorite, she might have
hated me for the abusive way my father approached her in the first place, but
that wasn't the case. He loved us all, even him! Sometimes I wonder if perhaps
she was simply avoiding admitting reality, because she knew everything, but...
I guess she wanted a simple life, she was a peasant, she taught me to live in
the mountains and be who I am. When he died, I couldn't sleep, I didn't want to
eat, I didn't know how to live anymore; It was very difficult for me to bury
all that anguish with her, all that anger at thinking about being used like the
human cattle you mention, the mask helped a little to hide all that was killing
me inside. I was always sad! And I didn't want to talk about it, so I just hid
my emotions. I wanted to become numb, but over the years I realized it was a
stupid decision. I died in life, I lost many opportunities to love or improve
myself by living avoiding facing what I felt. Leaving it for later. When she
was alive I ran away from fate because I didn't want to leave her alone and now
I still run away from her because I don't want to forget her.
Then I told him, trying to imitate my own
mother:
–Do you know how to
heal a duel? You must let go, let her rest and take all that affection that you
can no longer give her to give it to another living person who deserves it. She
has many sisters to love and put in that empty space that her mother left. It
won't be the same, nor better and hopefully not worse, but you will feel your
heart full.
–Yes, in fact I
want to do it. I want to feel a deep connection with someone again, maybe I
will get hurt, but... Love is a risky sport.
–Now you talked to
me about that heavy burden that you repressed and didn't want to face. You must
feel better after finally letting go.
–Yes I believe.
Fifty years since I lost her. It wasn't even something that difficult... It
wasn't that I avoided it out of cowardice, it was fucking laziness for pushing
the rusty door of my dirty heart and opening it. This was the real tragedy… Not
having taken advantage of the time. But...This moment had to come. I'm just no
longer resisting the inevitable.
–Can you now
understand how I feel without my mother? And she is alive, needing me. You
could help me get back to her, right?
–Don't go too
far... I'm not going to get into that, they say that something worse awaited
you on the Moon than anything that could happen to you here. Although until now
the only horror you have experienced was eating an unused condom.
–A condom? Where
and what is that?
I wanted to know and he answered me vaguely:
–Forget it, I
wouldn't use it on you if it were the case.
–That seems fine to
me.
I guessed that he was talking about more
country things and he added:
–I would save on
that and on lube.
–Sure.
I responded yawning. That talk about country
matters began to make me sleepy, and a little more relaxed I asked with
curiosity:
–If hybrids can't
have children, why did Aunt Violet have a baby?
–Her husband is
cunning and always gets his way. He wanted a child from her.
–He is a very bad
man, how can they continue defending him?
–That you should
ask yourself... Wait.
Just then a sound was heard nearby. Then my
Uncle Bug stood up, readying his rifle, and murmured:
–It smells like
Diesel but it moves like something alive. It is a biomachine.
He had not yet finished speaking when a huge
humanoid creature with reptilian skin and a demonic face emerged from the dark
foliage. It must have been about three meters tall, the parts of its body that
were not covered with scales showed raw muscles and it had mechanical parts
embedded in its limbs. It was hideous, something like a cruel taxidermy
experiment of colossal size. Uncle Bug began to shoot at him, but, even though
he did hit him in the forehead, the bullets did not penetrate the beast's hard
armor. At that moment that horrible thing stretched out an arm as if to reach
me, I screamed, falling to the floor and closing my eyes for a moment; When I
opened them again, my Uncle Bug was gone. I looked everywhere and I really
wasn't anywhere, at that moment the monster grabbed my ankle and lifted me into
the air. I was sure he was going to yank my limbs off, then somehow Uncle Bug
reappeared. I could swear that he just evaporated and suddenly materialized on
top of the horrible being, took out long retractable nails and dug them into
his neck until decapitating him. I fell to the ground and almost next to me the
beast also fell, scattering cables and a liquid that looked more like oil than
blood. I noticed to my horror that he was still moving, his head still
connected to his body by sizzling wires. Almost instantly it was covered in
flames and my Uncle Bug pulled me away from the wreckage by lifting me up on
one arm. Then I finally felt so fragile and helpless that I burst into tears:
–What was that?
It's cruel, there was no need to try to tear me apart, why did they send me to
this place?! How am I going to survive these things?
–Calm down. The
"biomachines" are cyborgs, they are creatures controlled by
computers. Your father's company designed them to work in rural areas, but they
come here illegally; They plunder these lands where the laws of the Moon are
supposed to prohibit it. He probably didn't want to kill you, but rather
reproduce using your dad's famous "nanobots"… They are all males.
–What?!
–Their sperm are
microscopic robots that force women's bodies to create new biomachines. In
theory they should do it under a contract, in a laboratory with medical
supervision; but they save themselves all that by coming here and just
attacking girls. I don't know what they were thinking when designing robots
that reproduce like this, perhaps it was to reduce costs... But that's why we
decided to hunt them down and sell the recyclable parts. It's the family
business here in the mountains. It is profitable and at the same time you do a
service to the community!
I froze, I felt nauseous, I wanted to scream,
I finally managed to say something:
–Did my dad come up
with that? No, it can not be!
–Look, I don't know
if it's true that it was his idea, those are secrets of companies that don't
reveal themselves to the public, but logically it's not a pride to say that
you're from the Lunae family that makes money with this type of business.
Another reason to use an alias when you're a Lunae.
I don't know why I started crying harder,
desperate, I had never cried and when I finally did it was like a volcano
erupted! I think my anguish overwhelmed my uncle a little, he was stunned for a
moment and then exclaimed:
–Stop crying…The
past has passed and the future has not yet arrived. The only certainty is that
you are alive and as long as I am in your present I am not going to let them do
anything to you. I am going to care you.
I continued crying inconsolably while he
carried me with one arm and with the other he held his rifle. At some point I
think he got tired of hearing me cry and fired a shot into the air. At that
moment I remained silent and he shouted at me:
–Stop crying now!!
I'm telling you I'm going to take care of you! Good?
–It's just...I'm
also angry...Because they didn't let me decide, nor can I defend myself. I
don't want to feel fragile again. It is humiliating. I want to kill the
biomachine but I can't.
–What?... Well...
I'm going to take care of you until you get strong and kill biomachines!
His words comforted me, I nodded my head and
hugged him tightly because I already know that with him everything must be
rough. I could feel his hair, it is very silky and I also noticed that although
he had sweated it did not smell bad like I imagined it would with a man like
that, in fact, it smells just like petrichor. He's definitely not a normal
human being, I don't know what he actually looks like, but at that moment I
stopped caring. I didn't let go of him until we returned to his house. On the
journey through the cold, dark forest I was very afraid, I feared that more
monsters were hiding in the shadows, but he held me firmly, walking quickly as
if he knew I needed to be taken out of there soon, talking to me about golf and
trying to to make me laugh. When I arrived at his house I felt like I was
coming home. Safe. He made me watch an entire golf tournament before I fell
asleep curled up next to him in his bed. He said that I was the first woman
who, without being one of his sisters, dared to enter his room. I really
entered because he carried me in his arms and I can't imagine any reason not to
go to his bedroom. It's clean, it's pretty and it's warm. He says he hates the
cold, he was telling me that since he was very little he associated it with pain
and it made him want to cry. He still sometimes wakes up at dawn and if it's
cold he feels an anguishing sadness, he doesn't know why. Poor. He had taken
off his shirt, so I could see his tattoos better, especially one with the motto
of the French revolution surrounded by broken chains on his chest; I asked him
if it hurt him to have it done to him, he said yes, but he endured it. Then I
kissed him on the chest, I leaned against him hugging him and I caressed his
tattooed skin, because he gave me compassion. I think that relaxed him because
he stopped answering me and I soon noticed that he was very asleep even with
the mask on. I didn't take it off, it's fine that way. I can live with my uncle
Bug. He is an interesting man, he inspires me, I even came up with a story to
write about a girl explorer who finds a new species of snake and studies it and
plays with it. I woke up this morning and he had already prepared breakfast for
me, he cooks better than Mom, although not as well as Violet. He must have
learned from his mother. He told me that he didn't sleep very well and served
me a sausage, with a couple of very round fried eggs and a glass of milk; Then
he asked me if I didn't remember something I should apologize for. I apologized
for eating the candy from his car, thanked him for his hospitality, and asked
for a knife to cut his sausage in half because it was so big it wouldn't fit. I
don't know why he was confused for a while, then he gave it to me without
saying anything else and I think that with that we smoothed over the rough
edges of the first meeting; then I started writing. He says Amleth will come to
visit us soon. This made me happy, but it still hurts me to imagine what mom is
like. I try not to think about her, because just remembering her brings a few
tears to my eyes. Now I've learned to cry.
Case II: Amleth
Monday August 16, 3030
Dear diary, Amleth will arrive today
afternoon, I was surprised to learn that she is in fact a year older than my
uncle Bug. I think I will study the siblings like this, from youngest to oldest
until I return to dad. Yesterday was a very nice Sunday, I walked so much that
at night I didn't have any energy left to write! I accompanied my uncle to tour
the area looking for more of those horrible biomachines, luckily there was
nothing strange. He goes through the forest walking in strides, if a branch
gets in the way of his trunk, and mid-morning he shot a huge rat that ran by.
He skinned it, gutted it, and then cooked it with herbs to make a broth. I
watched everything in silence, in the end he drank the soup and asked me to eat
the meat with the herbs. It was delicious. There are some people living in the
area without being part of the family. They all look like cannibalistic
mountain men, but they're harmless, they're just drunk. Freedom is a little
melancholic when it is lonely, says my uncle, he is happy to have me to talk
and tell his rude jokes. He took me to a meadow and taught me the names of all
the herbs and what they are for. Some heal, others are poisonous, others are
eaten and some are fun. I asked him to show me a dandelion, I've seen them in
movies and I always wanted to blow one; He spent a long time looking because
they didn't grow in that area and when he found it and had it in my hands I
blew on it, but nothing happened. He took it and said:
–It wasn't quite
mature yet, it will need help to fly.
Then he plucked the petals and put them in his
hand for me to blow on, so I did and they went up everywhere, it was great! But
I lamented:
–How sad that for
them to fly so beautifully I must destroy them!
–On the contrary,
you helped them free themselves. If they had all been left together and in the
humidity, they would rot. Now hopefully they will fall into good soil and grow
into new plants.
Then he sat down on the grass and I lay down
next to him, asking him:
–You are very wild
when the family is full of men and women of science and artists. Have you ever
had any problems with that?
–Actually yes. My
uncle Adamas always laments about my mother, whose spoiled heir is only good at
shooting. Amleth insisted that I finish school, read or something, but my gift
is to be a good hunter and know the forest. One must know how to value how little
or how much one has. If you don't know how to do that, no matter where you are,
you will feel that everything is insufficient. In the end she accepted it, more
than that my sister is a good friend. We are the youngest and many times we had
to ally ourselves against the annoying older siblings.
–Do you know that
she talks to her dead father?
–I know they don't
believe him that he talks to our father. But I have seen things, a shadow that
haunts her, a voice that responds to her when she talks supposedly alone locked
in her room. Others here in town have noticed it too, talk to someone, but we
don't want to know who it is.
I looked at him scared and he laughed, asking:
–Are you afraid
that Amleth is really talking to a ghost?.
–No…I don't know, I
just don't believe. I've never seen them. So everything is doubtful, but before
I even had a hard time believing that forests existed. Now I don't know. I was
never afraid of ghosts, I didn't see dead people until that day when you shot
those men. I fear conspiracies.
–The lizardmen…?
–Not…
I muttered because I already realized that he
feels bad about it. Then he pointed to a place on the other side of the meadow
and said:
–There is a
dandelion that we missed.
–I see nothing.
I opined. He readied the rifle, aimed the
scope and fired; a bunch of flying seeds scattered into the air. I lay down on
the grass, I watched them float above us swept by the breeze and he commented
to me, checking his weapon:
–I gave up my
inheritance to come be a ranger in this mountain and shoot all the time, it was
the best decision of my life.
–Don't you regret
having lost luxuries and privilege?
–No. Now I have all
this freedom and thousands of acres of forest to hunt. Would you leave them to
be locked up in your father's mansion again?
I had to think for a while before answering,
looking at the fluffy clouds that were crossing the intense azure blue sky
while some dandelions were still flying:
–I could no longer
live if I did not return regularly to nature. Yesterday I slept very
peacefully, I felt safe in bed with you even though you are a…
"lizard".
He lay down next to me and was silent for a
while, then he questioned me:
–Didn't your mom
tell you how babies are made?
–The egg joins with
the sperm.
–How does the sperm
get from the man to the egg in the woman? Do you know how…men work? Or
just...you're curious...But you don't understand... Because I already know that
young girls touch each other,...and they touch, my sisters were perverts and
they hated me because I always screamed accusing them at Mom, they had told me
that if the girls did that they would hate me! Dirt would get in and they would
rot like a dead animal… I remember taking a breath to shout: "Mom! London
is biting his groove!", and then she hit me for being a snitch. But now I
understand that they weren't doing anything wrong, at most it was like a
prank... Like picking their nose... They didn't know or they were learning...
What do I know, I'm a ranger.
I was left wondering because I had never
really bothered to figure out that part. I deduce that the penis is like a
dandelion that shoots semen and if you are not careful it falls into the navel,
it enters, makes you pregnant and the baby comes out through the vagina, and it
is a rather silly process, that is why we don't talk about it. Uncle Bug
murmured at my silence:
–I knew it...You
have no idea. I'm terrified to think what would have happened if I had left you
alone with another man, I can't leave you while your mom and dad aren't taking
care of you personally. It's hot! It's time to go to the lake.
Then he stood up in the strangest way
possible: somehow he went from lying down to a handstand and then landed on his
feet, he should work in a circus. I tried to do it and fell on my own head,
luckily he had already walked ahead and didn't see me. We went down the slope
to a lake the same color as the sky, it had aquatic plants with flowers on the
shore. I approached to touch the water and exclaimed:
–It's very cold!
–I'll warm it up.
My uncle said starting to take off his coat, I
asked him
–Will he pee
inside?
He looked at me, tilting his head in
disbelief, then replied:
–I don't want to
imagine how you came up with that, I'm going to wash my tub with bleach. And so
you want to make the boy fall in love with the stylist's hairstyle and designer
clothes!
He took off his shirt, he is all muscular from
walking so much in the mountains, I looked again at the tattoo on his chest and
asked him:
–Tell me about
anarchism, why are Dumas, Uncle Alonso and you like that?
–Because it is
stupid that incapable people govern you, we don't need a king.
–Did the anarchists
burn down the palace?
–That... Good...
Look! I have a psy symbol on my back! Like your name.
–It looks like a
crooked fork. Why did you do that? And what does the viper represent?
–Hey, the viper...
I was born in the year of the snake, it's an Amphisbena... It has two heads,
one is on the back of my right hand, the other ends somewhere...
I blushed a little because when I was asleep I
had already noticed her. The Amphisbena runs along his arm, down one shoulder
across his back, reaches his belly and gets into his pants. Then he was left
with only his underwear and mask, that's how he entered the water. I saw his
porcelain white skin stand on end, I wanted to touch him, he turned to look at
me and said: "you should be the one here." Then he turned his back on
me, uncovered his face and sank completely into some water lilies, leaving only
the hand with the mask out, creating a sinister scene where that ghostly face
was as if floating on the water. He came out again and spoke, still without
seeing me in front:
–It's cold but then
you get used to it. I like this place, the water is so clear you can see
everything down there. Do you know what there is?
–Rocks?
–No, this lake was
formed by a reservoir, it left an old cemetery under water. I discovered that I
am buried right here, apparently one day I will go to hide further into the
past and ask to be buried in these lands with my family. Sometimes, if you come
at night, there are little blue flames right on the shore. As if ghosts were
waiting to put you in the lake, I say that because if I were one I would do
just that. I will be a ghost who makes practical jokes. And I'm buried here.
That was so scary that I moved a little away
from the water, he laughed and put the mask back on. Hearing about the cemetery
and the shadow that follows Amleth started to scare me, what if it turns out to
be true? At this point anything could be possible. Just then I heard a familiar
voice calling me, it was Dumas! He suddenly appeared a few meters behind me, I
happily got up and went to find him. I jumped on him and hugged him for a while
very excited, the words didn't come out. Finally I kissed him on the cheek,
asking how my parents were, what had happened, and he always spoke to me
sweetly:
–No problem!
Everything is fine, I just talked to Amleth about resuming your classes because
everything is still normal. It's just that you had to come here to rest because
of your illness. Your parents had already decided.
–But a girl named
Violet told me something else. And remember that Uncle Ray said that I needed
some operations to strengthen my muscles and bones, and Dad said that next year
"maybe" he would bring me to see the forest…
–Yes, well, there
was a change of plans! Does your Uncle Bug treat you well?
–It's very funny.
–I think so. The
other weekend I will bring my dog so you can meet her and play with you. Her
name is Frida, she is a mix of dog and wolf.
At that point my uncle Bug appeared behind me
already dressed, stood between us and spoke to his brother:
–So much time with
her and you never told her that you already have your dog. By the way, how long
is this going to last? I barely understand what's going on, I've had to explain
to him all the basics about his own family.
Dumas lit a cigarette and answered, smiling:
–I'm glad you're
getting attached to Psyche.
Uncle Bug roughly pulled up the hood of his
coat and prepared to leave, saying:
–Go away, I gave up
tobacco years ago. You are tempting me to addiction.
Then Dumas raised an eyebrow, looked at me,
looked at him, and then said:
–As you have always
boasted that you are such a man and have such a strong will that one day you
decided not to smoke and you just did it...
–I am, but that
doesn't mean I don't have desires, I have a hard time holding back. Tell me
something, do you...? Have you ever slept with her?
–Not since she was
a baby, but I know she hasn't wet the bed in many years. It seems like you're
afraid of him! Did the little girl do something to you, macho man?
–My little niece is
abusing me every night.
–Well, you better
develop Stockholm syndrome because it won't go away yet! Seriously, we must
unite for her. For the family.
The older brother said, smiling, and Uncle Bug
remained silent, looking away. That was close. Then Dumas took out his
rose-tinted glasses and said:
–Soon these days
you will be an anecdote from the past, and we must see the past with
rose-colored glasses. Do you know what that means, Psyche?
He asked me and I responded, already well
trained by himself:
–That everything
that seems bad now will look funny or nostalgic when we are good. So you
shouldn't get angry or cry.
Then he sent me a kiss, winking at me, and
prepared to leave, saying he'll be back next Sunday. Before he left I asked
Uncle Bug if he wouldn't kiss him goodbye, to see if it was true that he kissed
him too. He lifted his mask, kissed him quickly and said:
–I love you. That's
not gay, is it?
–Of course not,
little pigeon.
Dumas answered him, then spanked him and left.
I saw him for a short time and even so his visit calmed me down. After Amleth
called to tell Uncle Bug that a bear had gotten into his school yard and he
couldn't get the kids out, we had to go to town in the van and I was happy
because I could finally see a familiar face. In the end we were barely able to
greet each other, she was busy with the children, hidden behind the curtains of
a classroom. My uncle Bug told me to wait inside the vehicle and came out with
the rifle, while the bear ate garbage in front of the school. Amleth greeted us
shouting:
–Psyche! Little
brother! I'm glad to see you! I'm sorry to bother you on this frozen afternoon,
I know that there is so much work up there in the mountains that at this hour
you are just tired and cold...
–Don't worry, Psy
and I are always hot and eager. Now, if you keep yelling you'll make him angry,
you silly little girl.
Uncle Bug warned, looking calmly at the bear
while Amleth looked at him with a confused look. One of the children asked from
his hiding place:
–Will the bear hurt
us, Mr. Ranger?
My uncle answered him calmly:
–Of course, he
likes to tear open bellies to eat the soft intestines. That's why he always
prefers to attack fat boys like you. I'll have to shoot him right in the
forehead, be careful, blood and brains can splash up there.
The children began to cry, Amleth was going to
scold Uncle Bug for scaring the little ones, then the bear roared and my uncle
answered him in the same way, making a horrible inhuman sound but adding a rude
word, with this his sister's students screamed in fright and fear. Even the
bear fled in a hurry. I was still perplexed by this when Amleth appeared next
to me inside the vehicle, I don't know how, but I did notice some black smoke.
It was weird. He hugged me as if nothing had happened, asking:
–Have they treated
you well? Do you like this place? Your parents are safe at home, I saw them
this morning. All in order.
–What happened? Why
did you bring me here, Amleth? A while ago I saw Dumas and he told me that I
will continue studying, but here? I don't understand anything.
–Ah, we repeated
the same lessons over and over again, Psyche! Your parents no longer knew what
to do to entertain you there. I think it will make you better to learn in
practice, a forest in books is not the same as visiting it in real life.
–Yes, everything is
a little different than I imagined. Even my Uncle Bug. But how long will this
last? What will happen next?
–Patience,
everything will take its correct course over time. Now I have to go take care
of my students, that silly Bug scared them for life!
Then he ran out of the car, when he passed by
Uncle Bug he gave him a push and went back into the school. At least I saw her
a little. At night I talked more to Uncle Bug as we got ready for bed, we
watched a game of croquet so boring that I started trying to balance by
standing on his bare shoulders because when he sleeps he simply takes off his
shirt and covers half his face with the wool hat. Well, I don't have anything
better either, my nightgown is dirty and I'm only sleeping in my panties and a
big sweatshirt of his. Finally he got fed up with me trying to climb it and
made me fall, trapping me in the air; I screamed and laughed, it was funny. I
wanted to try again, so to stop me he picked me up under one arm like a package
and took me to the living room saying:
–I didn't think it
would have to come to this, but I will have to do the same as my mother when I
became unbearable.
She took a can of cookies out of a cupboard,
we went back to bed, she opened the can and took out balls of yarn and granny
needles. Then she ordered me as she began to knit:
–Look closely! You
will do it later. I'll knit you some thick leggings to warm your bottom in the
fall. Just as we are going, you will spend it here and you don't have much
cold-resistant clothing.
–You are so vulgar
when you speak! I was worried that something like that would come out in front
of Dumas. He is so poetic...
–At night he snores
like a motorcycle and secretly he is a furry. Only you and Amleth idolize him
as if he were the God of corny girls. The rest of us respect him, we love him,
but... He's old fucking Dumas! In any case, you should appreciate the one who
gives you the confidence to talk about embarrassing things without judging you,
not the one who makes you feel pressured to pretend that you are a perfect
angel.
I got bored and rested my forehead on one of
his knees using it as a pillow. Then he stopped for a while to touch the ribbon
around my neck, saying:
–Violet gave it to
you, right?
–Yes… What is it?
He said Amleth will teach me how to use it.
–Couple of fools, they
have been friends since they were children. Always with absurd ideas that don't
turn out well. This is technology from the 30th century, where my father comes
from, the most distant known future... It just needs to be his idea... My dad
was just like his youngest daughter, he played the innocent fool in front of
mom and in reality he had everything calculated to control us with an iron
fist. Like, like, like... But I think Dumas has his just reasons for being that
way, any older brother would have reacted by turning... Ah, let's talk about
this.
He untied the ribbon from my neck with a
delicacy that I had not expected from his enormous calloused hands, then he
moved it away from us by stretching his arm. He slammed it into the air and it
went rigid. Like a lightsaber but it's more of a stick. He held it away and
spoke:
–Do not touch it.
This long staff is used as a personal weapon, it hits but can also cut and burn
if you order it; It connects to the computer that you have implanted…If you
have authorization from the owner. Look here, at the ends it has a finish, from
one of them this beam of red light emerges, a laser that goes to the other end.
It is programmed so that the inner part will dim the intensity if it touches
someone my father would not want to hurt, such as his family members, you can
see how it turns blue in the area where I hold it. It doesn't burn there. The
problem is that dad didn't know you and if he did he might not accept you. I
don't think you can use it.
He shook it again and the glow went out,
returning to its ribbon-smooth state. He tied it to me again, saying:
–This cane is very
old, or very new, it's relative... My father gave it to me when I turned nine.
When my brother's baby was born, I gave it to him for the child because they
named him after us. Surely Violet gave it to you behind her husband's back because
she feels you like her first daughter. I always said it was a bad idea to ask
him to lend his womb, he wasn't going to get emotionally detached from you. The
problem is that she doesn't know that "el palo quemón", as we called
it because we never knew its real name, is very difficult to use. Only the pure
Homo cosmos of the 30th century know how to handle it, not only because of the
technique, their bodies are designed to be small and elastic; They move it at
superhuman speed, being able to contort at strange angles. Dad was an acrobatic
devilish little shit who did damage with this damn stick, I still have
nightmares about it...
–But if they
adopted me I still can't touch it?
–I don't think so,
only my dad could reprogram him and he never accepted Ziggy. In fact they had a
certain rivalry for your father's affection, he was his favorite son. I don't
think he would be very happy for you to be his successor in any way. Maybe he
even planned everything so that you would accidentally kill yourself using it,
that suspicion just hit me...Amleth's ghostly talks, your hasty visit to the
mountain, this gift so out of place...Maybe they want to kill you...
–But I'm like my
dad even though I don't have his blood! Turn it on again, I think you'll accept
me. Let me touch it. My grandfather would love me!
–No! Don't touch
long, hard, hot things anymore! No rifle barrels, no burning sticks from the
future! If it's stuck to me... Maybe... But nothing more!
Then he went to bed, stopped knitting, turned
off the broadcast of the croquet match and the light. Shortly after, I turned
on the lamp again trying to insist and he, who had already taken off his mask
and only had the wool cap over half his face, uncovered himself a little to see
me covering himself with his hand and ordering me to turn off the light again..
I managed to see part of one eye, it's like... It's not a person's eye! But a
snake, a cat, a bird... All together. I wanted to take his hand away to see him
properly and he refused, I pulled his forearm and he went "HISSSSS!!"
like an angry snake. So I said "Okay" and turned off the light. Now I
would like to know how to use that cane, surely Mom asked Aunt Violet to give
it to me. Will mom know how to hiss like my uncle? It makes me a little sad to
be the only one in the family who is normal. I miss mom a lot...But well that's
what happened yesterday. Today I woke up inspired and wrote all this. We'll see
how it goes in the afternoon!
After lunch, my uncle spoke to Amleth on the
phone. She asked us to see her in a place "where she usually goes to have
tea with my grandfather." Uncle Bug was angry with her for collaborating
with Violet, he doesn't trust his sister-in-law because of the relationship she
has with Uncle Adamas, and I don't quite understand how dangerous he really is.
The good thing is that Amleth sent me news about mom and I was happy! She says
she's fine, calmly waiting for me to return, not to worry about her. I cried a
little, but I held back because my uncle got nervous; He tried to comfort me
and gave me three pats on the head that almost crushed my brain. Another time
we traveled in the van to a nearby shopping center where she would be with
Grandpa. Uncle Bug says it is a lonely place and therefore unsafe. I didn't
understand why, in the movies those places are always full of people. We drove
along a road until we reached what looked like a trucker's rest stop. There was
that shopping center. From afar I saw the silhouette of a crowd, it seemed very
crowded, but when we got out of the car and walked closer I could see with
horror that they were all mannequins. I took my uncle's hand and clung to him,
not understanding what was happening:
–Why are there fake
people all over the building?
He pushed one of the horrible mannequins, it
fell with a crash that echoed in the disturbing silence of that place and he
said to me:
–It's one of many
strange things that happen here, reality is distorted in some way. We believe
that these dolls appeared to occupy the space of people who exist on the other
plane, but are dead and not buried. In 2020, victims of misfortune were piled up
in public places, such as stadiums and shopping malls. I remember it well, I
was already seven years old then. Perhaps these puppets represent inert bodies.
I hugged Uncle Bug in fear and he said to me,
lowering his voice with some tenderness:
–What's the matter?
I'm scarier than this!
–Not…
I responded by getting closer to his body. We
arrived at what would be the central square, it was all full of mannequins. I
could notice that some had burned parts: the throat, the chest, the head, as if
indicating the part affected by a fatal disease; It gave me chills. Suddenly we
heard noises. My uncle muttered, pulling out a gun and looking around us:
–It could be a
biomachine. There are small ones that get into houses and buildings. They are
not dangerous.
–If they are not
dangerous, why do you take out a weapon?
–Because if you
don't shoot them they are dangerous. I told you to learn how to use firearms.
Nothing more was heard, then there was another
distant crash, screeching of metal, and footsteps approaching very quickly. My
uncle gently pushed me after him and waited, pointing the gun in the direction
the sound was coming from. Then Amleth came running, and came directly to me to
hug me as always and talk like a machine gun:
–I'm so glad to
have you here, Psyche! I just spoke to my dad, he is very interested in talking
to you, he wants to form his own opinion about you. So I will advise you what
you should do now in this situation, I can't believe you are here!!… Oh, Bug!
We need to talk!
–So that later you
can tell your friend about the face with your butt splashed with…?
–How dare you talk
like that in front of two ladies?! You embarrass me.
–I almost shot you,
you retarded midget. Weren't you going to give Psyche classes or something?
–He is receiving
the most important lesson of his life! Furthermore, if we waste so much time
studying we will never do what is really important. Now she is learning to
survive and be herself! It is necessary to introduce her to the rest of the
family. Dad says she could be a big help, he accepts her!
–What? Will our
other siblings agree?
–I don't know,
wait! I'll give them a call, I'll be back in a moment!
Then she ran away again and my uncle asked me:
–Does she behave
like that in your house?
–Always. She wants
to talk to everyone at the same time and in the end he doesn't talk to anyone,
he just annoys. But that's not his intention, he just wants to be useful. He
always gives advice to me and to everyone.
–I would prefer
that she be aware that of the four youngest siblings she is the weakest, she
does not know how to shoot a gun without being knocked down by the recoil, she
inherited our father's petite build without his agility or resistance. But the
real problem is her recklessness… That can be dangerous.
Just at that moment Amleth returned and went
directly towards me, taking me by the shoulders to speak to me very happily:
–Is Psyche eating
well?
My uncle Bug answered her, crossing his arms,
I think he was already confused:
–She's eating, she
arrived made of skin and bones. You were starving her. I will fatten her like a
pig and when she is busty and with a big butt I will eat her. It's a great
plan, right?
–Yeah, whatever,
Bug. Hey, my siblings are still skeptical, but that doesn't matter. Dad said he
has high hopes for you! He will make an appointment very soon to talk to you,
he was a little reluctant, but I insisted and since I am his youngest daughter he
had to listen to me. Don't be nervous when you're with him, just be yourself
and he'll realize how good you are.
–Then dad is really
here, how is it possible? Did he came from the past?
My uncle Bug asked and Amleth responded with
her hands behind her back, dancing like a little girl:
–How curious that
you are the first to say it, everyone thinks it's my imagination or a ghost!
–I've seen it,
Amleth. I have heard his hissing and dark voice... He said he would never leave
you unattended again.
My uncle replied in a serious tone, Amleth
indignantly gave him a push, saying:
–It seems to bother
you! He is also your father.
–But it's true, he
speaks to you at this time. That's why he got lost many times when we were
children, he came to spy on us in the future, to see how you were doing. That's
why he was so hard on some of us, he knew who the traitors were... Right? I
solved your secret.
–Bug, don't judge
without knowing! No future is set in stone. Nobody is bad among our siblings!
–I believe in
destiny. There are things that must happen and no one can prevent them. The end
of the world, for example, if it comes from the hand of a monster and you stop
it, another one will appear to replace it and do the same thing anyway.
–Shut up! I need to
talk to my sister London! I'll call you tomorrow, Bug!
In this way, she left again without finishing
explaining what she was telling me and my uncle got angrier because in the end
we went there for nothing. The entire return trip was in silence listening to
his ugly metal music. I didn't pay much attention to it because the sun was
setting and I got distracted looking at the sunset with the first lights of the
night. How nice all this is! Amleth is very excited for her father and I to
talk, but at night when my uncle was preparing dinner he explained to me that
his father died long before his mother died for a very strange reason:
–His brain was
ruined by the confusion of living bouncing between the past and the future, in
addition to the radiation you are exposed to, a negative effect of exposure to
time travel. In his last years Dad had lost almost all of his humanity. If he
suddenly felt like killing you, you had to fight with all your might for your
life. Dad was a wild predatory animal with the mind of a cunning psychopathic
old man, he killed without mercy and Amleth knows it.
That was a little scary, but I don't know if I
believe it. I don't know who to believe! I only have one certainty and that is
that grandpa must be a real gray man reptilian illuminati. What scares me the
most about these characters is that they are never described specifically. I
don't know exactly what I'm facing, but if it's Amleth's dad, Uncle Bug's,
Dumas's, my dad's... It can't be that bad!
Tuesday August 17, 3030
Dear diary, I am terribly sore, covered in
bruises and scratches. They brought me to a house I don't know. I heard my
uncle looking for me nearby, but they won't let him see me. I wait for the
moment when the lights go out and everyone sleeps so I can take advantage of
the darkness and meet him. Meanwhile, I write. Last night started out more or
less calm. We returned to my uncle's house, we went to sleep and I asked him to
watch one of the horror movies we watched with my mother; I was ashamed to tell
him that I was afraid because of what he told me about Grandpa and I wanted
with that excuse to snuggle up to his side so that he could tuck me in and hug
me. He told me to choose one because he doesn't know anything about cinema, but
it had to be suitable for the whole family; I ignored it and chose the
strongest one I remembered. Almost at the beginning there was a scene of a
naked woman sitting on a naked man, I had many questions, but my uncle was
cowering and crossing his arms in the opposite corner of the bed, with pillows
on his lap, all nervous. Finally he got angry and said why watch that if I
don't even have breasts and I don't understand it, so I told him that I do have
breasts and lifted my sweatshirt to show him. They are already very fat and
even hang a little. He left very angry saying he had to go to the bathroom. It
took him forever to come back and I was afraid, I knocked on his door to see if
he was okay because at times he sighed and then he yelled at me that he didn't
want to think about me at that moment. I felt sad, I went back to watch the
movie alone; When he returned he fell into bed without telling me anything and
fell asleep with the mask on. Then there was a knock on the door, I heard
Amleth scream calling for me. I didn't want to wake my uncle because he would
get angrier and I went down to look out a window to ask him what he wanted. She
asked me to accompany her, since her father needed to talk to me in person. I
explained to him that my uncle was asleep and he told me to leave it at that,
that he didn't need to be present. It scared me more, but I decided to go with
her because I've known her forever; So I left the house and we walked together.
Amleth walked very calmly down the dark road in the middle of the night, as if
she knew someone was watching over her. We walked hand in hand for more than a
kilometer, while she spoke happily:
–I told dad that
you didn't come to the family by chance, you're like medicine that enters a
sick organism to heal it! My siblings doubt you, but what world would this be
if you didn't question it? Sometimes a doubt and its subsequent search for
truth can save us!
–But I don't
understand, Amleth... Why do you think I can help them so much?
–You can use dad's
gun! Not us, we would need to train for many years and even then we would not
master the technique perfectly. With someone who knows how to use weapons from
the 30th century we would be in a very advantageous position!
–But why do you
think I can use them?
–Well… You're going
to learn! You could help on hunts and thus become very useful in the town. Your
Uncle Ray said they'd leave you as strong as...Eh...
–Like the people on
the Moon... My uncle Bug already told me all that. But they did not operate on
me, that procedure was necessary. Plus it was experimental, he said.
–So they haven't
finished operating on you yet? Oh wow, anyway… The important thing is that you
learn the method! The techniques! Then you will take practice and develop
resistance. You will see how today you will have a date with destiny and you
will finally be a very valuable member of the family that everyone will
respect!
–That's
complicated, it takes years...
–Oh, no, it will be
automatic! Just load the data and that's it. Oh, I forgot. Just one thing, it
is very important that as soon as you hear dad approaching you repeat this
phrase: "copy movements." Nothing else. He already knows why you will
say it.
By then I was already very nervous, I thought
about returning to Uncle Bug when I saw the place Amleth was taking me to meet
his father: the horrible shopping center. Its ghostly lights cutting through
the fog made it look even more chilling. I began to walk more slowly and
finally stopped her, saying:
–Wait...We
shouldn't go in there alone. I want to look for Uncle Bug again. Or we could
call him, he would come soon in his car.
–Oh, that's not
necessary, Psyche. Dad will be here, he's even stronger than Bug! If there are
problems he will be able to defend us very well. Anyway, if you want me to ask
the fool to come with his kidnapper van, I'll do it. By the way, were you in
his room?
–Yes, I sleep with
him, I'm afraid of being alone in his house.
–He had something
with that old house. He has confessed to me that one day he will leave and
perhaps I will never see him again... That he will go to the past to build that
same building, fleeing from the law for something. He didn't want to tell me
what. Another of his hobbies was to avoid seeing you in person, although he
asked for photos of you and to tell him what you did. He never gives me
convincing explanations for these strange attitudes.
–He tried to flirt
with me the first day I arrived, but it went very badly. Now he's just like
another uncle. He doesn't seem like a bad man to me.
–It's not bad! I'm
just saying that he had a kind of fixation on you and I don't know, think about
it a thousand times before giving him opportunities and don't feel bad if he
doesn't convince you and you decide to reject him. I'll tell you something, now
that you're getting older: I remember my first boyfriend, no one told me to
distrust older guys because they excite you and then they leave. It left me
disappointed and in shock, it was a big scare because according to me I
couldn't! And, really, I didn't want to either, so I preferred to terminate the
pregnancy because daddy wasn't happy at all. He caught the guy and gutted him
in the living room of the house, it affected my siblings a little. Dumas...He
didn't look good since then and began to be more... "careful" with
his younger sisters. I took everything calmly, I didn't want to give the matter
too much importance! Your stupid esoteric Aunt Fy advised me to thank the guy
for teaching me a lesson, forgive and smile...But you don't have to pay a bad
teacher well, and she didn't give me any great new lessons. Everything was to
be expected, it is quite normal that relationships do not work out for you when
he is your teacher and you are ten years old. Anyway! Wait for me inside the
building with dad, I'll go get Bug to bring the car; This way you won't walk so
much back. Don't wander outside alone!
She let go of my hand, I took a few steps
trying to watch what seemed to me to be a strange silhouette moving at high
speed behind the windows of the shopping center and, when I turned to tell him,
Amleth was no longer there. She was nowhere, she disappeared. I was afraid that
something had taken her, but I didn't know what to do, I looked in all
directions for a long time trying to get clues to her whereabouts and nothing.
Sh had evaporated into thin air. I was starting to panic. I ran to the mall,
trying to hide among the sinister mannequins. Old-fashioned electronic music
was playing inside, perhaps it should be relaxing, but as it echoed through the
speakers of the empty building it was rather terrifying. And grandpa was
supposed to be there. I arrived at the dining area and hid under a table to
wait for someone to come looking for me or for daylight to walk back to my
uncle's house. I was still sad because I made him angry, I shouldn't have taken
advantage of his trust, the truth is I didn't want to write about it... But he
was so generous and understanding that I got out of hand and when he was asleep
I ended up going through his things, thus abusing his hospitality... He has it
very big, he is a good man. Then it occurred to me to try what Uncle Bug did
with the tape Violet gave me. I untied it from my neck and held it out. If his
fears were true, that thing could severely burn my hand when it activated, but
if it didn't hurt me I would be able to see if Amleth's hopes were not in vain.
I decided to take a risk, I was eager to do something so that the family would
truly accept me. First I tried it very slowly, barely shaking it, nothing
happened. I tried a second time and smacked the ground a little. Nothing yet.
My hands were sweating, I swallowed hard and finally gave a good spanking. A
macabre distorted sound stopped the music at that moment and all the lights
went out making the noise of an engine losing power. I was startled, but in my
surprise I noticed that he was holding the stick without hurting me,
illuminating my surroundings a little with its electric blue glow. Then I came
out from under the table standing up and tried moving it. I was able to turn it
between my fingers without problems, it felt satisfying in a way, it felt easy
and it turned out well even though I had never done it before. Suddenly I heard
a sharp knock, then very fast footsteps, then the glow of another luminescent
stick turned on; Not quite sure if it was who I expected, I timidly said what
Amleth told me: "copy movements." Then the other person swung his
staff with such force and speed that it whirred through the air, then he threw
it towards me like a spear. I managed to avoid it with a quick, involuntary
jump, so abrupt that my legs hurt. I couldn't see anything concrete in the
darkness and I was terrified that my body was doing things on its own. A
slender, completely black silhouette picked up the other pole, turned it again,
and I caught a glimpse of an inhuman face between strands of light hair before
it moved away again, doing somersaults like an Olympic gymnast with satanic
possession. That was without a doubt my grandfather "the acrobatic little
shit" who traumatized Uncle Bug, a dead mutant abdicator king, or was he
alive and the dead one was going to be me?... I was terrified, wondering if it
wasn't a nightmare, however the attack was very real. Then more rapid footsteps
were heard around me, moments of silence, more footsteps, silence and suddenly
I felt the greatest pain of my life. A burning blow, a whip on the back that
propelled me directly to the floor. I stood up breathless and swallowed. My
head was a mess, I didn't know if Amleth had betrayed me or that was the test
that grandfather wanted to give me; I just remembered that mom was waiting for
me and I made the firm decision to get out alive. Still not knowing the state
of my back, I turned my own rod, which I could see was an exact copy of the one
he had, and put myself on guard. When I heard the footsteps again, I
unconsciously moved the stick around me and when Grandpa tried to hit me I
managed to stop him. When I countered the attack my wrists and elbow hurt. I
tried to run away and discovered that I could also jump like him and reach his
speed, but as I did so my muscles and joints hurt as if they were tearing me
apart. A strange instinct guided my movements, although my body could barely
resist its demands. Despite everything, I held back the tears, endured the pain
and continued to defend myself. Grandfather attacked mercilessly, seeking to
make me lose my balance. I had to jump and dodge it several times, pushing my
physical capacity beyond the limit, I had cramps in all my limbs, it was
unbearable, but I kept moving; Every turn, every blow, every jump that he made,
I then replicated as if I were copying it mechanically; and every new technique
learned hurt like I was being torn apart alive. The suffering was so great that
I began to feel nauseous, however, I was already beginning to control it.
Several times I managed to knock Grandpa back and smack his knuckles, each time
he let out a blood-curdling screech, something that sounded like the hissing of
an angry cat or the hissing of a snake. Finally I managed to kick his ankle as
I leaned over to avoid another of his blows, so I knocked him down, I quickly
went to finish him off by hitting him back on the back and he fell face down on
the floor. Then, without thinking, I raised the stick with both hands and using
one end I hit him right in the middle of the spine. He stayed still, I crawled
away a little, enduring incredible pain that left me breathless and fearing
that I had really killed my grandfather. I stood in front of him for a while,
panting, shaking from muscle cramps, drenched in sweat. I was going to keep
fighting even if my flesh was torn to shreds. Then Grandpa began to stand up in
a terrifying way, similar to what my Uncle Bug did in the meadow but twice as
ugly: he placed his forearms on the ground, raised his feet above his head,
writhing until he stood up, shaking me. back. He turned off his staff, tied it
to one of his wrists and spoke to me in a sizzling, dull voice, even without
turning around:
–This was
necessary. Otherwise you wouldn't be able to do what I ask of you. It's no
favor to me, or even to this family. I was only nine years old when I became a
father for the first time. My altered body was already an adult, but my mind
was not. At your age, I already had several children, an adult wife who
required me to be responsible, and my life was completely consumed. It is what
this family does with each of its members, it devours them, chews them, absorbs
all their innocence and desire to live, and then spits them out. There is no
love between them, there are alliances where some cover up the dark secrets of
others, they perpetuate lies that they believe to be pious but they only rot
our blood more and more. The favor I want to ask of you is to prevent us from
continuing to do harm.
–Tell me…
I responded, running out of breath and leaning
on my own staff. He continued speaking without me being able to see him clearly
in the darkness of the place:
–Break this vicious
circle, it is a punishment for our foolishness and stupidity. This is the
reason why we never manage to change destiny, you don't understand. They will
never achieve it, it is a curse that weighs on us, it must be done by someone
who does not have our blood, but is part of the family.
–I will do that. I
promise you I will. But how? I don't understand anything…
I responded simply desperate to prove that I
deserve to be in the family and return to my uncle. Then the light came back on
and Grandpa was gone, there was only a little black smoke floating in the place
where he was standing. I hurried out of the building and saw my uncle's van
approaching, but also a military truck. I limped towards the cars, covered in
bruises and staggering, Uncle Bug got out of his vehicle and went to pick me up
while Amleth asked me what had happened, I only managed to tell him that I
talked to my grandfather. An unknown female voice exclaimed with disgust:
–Does she also
hallucinate strange things? Dad would never accept her.
Then I finally passed out. When I woke up, I
was in another place that I don't know, it's a girl's room and outside you can
hear a woman talking to Uncle Bug, the stranger I heard before, he wants to
take me home and the woman won't let him. Amleth just appeared, she says this
is her room, we'll sleep together. My whole body hurts but at least I'm maybe
safe now.
Case III: London
Wednesday August 18, 3030
Dear diary, today I met London, I won't call
her "Aunt London" because she doesn't accept me as her niece and we
don't get along at all. After waking up sore in the room full of stuffed
animals and Amleth dolls, I wrote a little in my journal. Then she came, told
me I could shower in her bathroom and lent me some sheep's pajamas. Then we
settled into his bed covered by a pink mosquito net and I waited for him to
fall asleep before going to look for my uncle. I could hear him arguing
outside, a young woman was talking to him:
–Just go home and
leave her alone, we'll take care of her. Why do you distrust?
–You've always been
jealous of Descartes and his relationship with dad, you dye your hair black to
look like him! Your rivalry has gone too far and I fear that you will take it
out on Psyche.
–She won't
reciprocate, you fool. Why do you pamper her so much if she's not going to pay
you? You're not ugly, Bug, your problem is that you're useless. The only thing
you know how to do is hunt and be a good shot. Go to the old west, there maybe
you would have success.
–Lies, we live here
like in those times, right? It's a wild no man's land. And you see how it goes.
Furthermore, the pretty ones don't need to pay us for favors, something that
you, who are ugly, don't know. And anyway I don't protect her because of that,
don't be wrong! It's because of Descartes.
Then a door slam was heard, I heard how she
was walking in little jumps, moving things, as if she were in a hurry. Then
there was silence and finally the woman spoke again:
–Dad never hid that
he preferred it, it was so unfair...
–Mom didn't hide
the fact that I was her pet either, that never bothered you.
–It is not the
same, the relationship between a girl and her father is very special.
–Amleth was daddy's
favorite daughter. Why don't you get angry with her?
–No, he only paid
extra attention to her because she was his youngest daughter, but his true
pride and joy was "the great Descartes."
I began to pay close attention, soon I assumed
that this woman and I would have more than one problem. Uncle Bug kept trying
to make her reconsider:
–My dad loved us
all in his own way, when he chose our aliases he took care to look for
appropriate and illustrious characters. Despite everything, he understood us
and cared about us. Not even Dumas, who was the one who suffered the most
mistreatment from him, is as resentful as you are!
–Dumas is another
oppressive male. He brainwashed you with his false anti-fascist ideas when
there is nothing more repressive and authoritarian in this family than him. I
am immune to its poison, it doesn't fool me, but you don't realize it!
–You have a problem
with the older men in your family…It's not their fault that you're an ugly
tomboy.
–Dad idolized
Descartes, don't deny it!... He didn't even smile when I told him that I won a
medal of honor for my military performance, but he almost cried with emotion
every time his favorite designed another stupid new robot.
–Do you know what I
believe? That made up for something, he must have dropped it as a baby or hit
it very hard. He felt guilty and tried to make up for it.
–Pss!, of
course…Come on, go take a shower, soldier. You will sleep with me and you will
not enter my sheets dirty. I want to watch you all night.
–Watch me? Why me?
–Because something
strange is happening here. You were the baby of the family, you have always
hated those younger than you! As a child you couldn't even see Violet in
painting who is only two years younger than you, you don't want to carry little
Aureus, and today suddenly are you paternal? Amleth says you are sleeping with
her, I don't distrust you, I know you wouldn't force yourself on a woman
because your ego needs you to feel desired, but that girl is a libidinous dead
fly.. I could smell how she got when she saw you. The first thing she did when
you picked her up was look for your package with her hand.
–Don't lie! The
poor thing was half fainted.
–Do you think I
didn't notice? Ha! Anyway, I'll make you something to drink.
–Anything with
alcohol. Be a good ugly sister.
–It will be one of
my protein shakes if you keep asking for tastes.
–Why are you always
a feminazi bitch...?
I heard a slap like a slap and then my uncle's
laughter, then footsteps. The sound of a shower began to be heard. Amleth had
already fallen asleep, so I wanted to peek through the crack in the door and
see what was happening outside. When I got out of bed I fell, my legs were
still cramping. I held back my moans of pain and crawled as best I could to the
entrance to the bedroom. The night was cold and the steam from the shower came
from a lighted door. Then I saw a girl with a shower cap come in undressing,
her body was muscular and at the same time curvy. They talk as if she were ugly
and she seems to accept it, but she is actually very beautiful, and I found it
a little awkward to see her enter the bathroom where her brother was already in
the shower. My uncle didn't like the idea either, because I heard him scream
and then fall in a splash of water:
–What the hell are
you doing?! Go away!! You're burning my retinas!!
–What? Were you
jerking off? Get out of here, Rapunzel, we'll run out of shampoo with you
washing all that corncob hair.
–What is this black
thing?! The evil is overflowing from you!!
–It's hair dye,
idiot! It must be rinsed quickly, or I will be bald.
I tried to go back to bed, but my legs
wouldn't work. I sat on my calves and my back hurt so much it felt like it was
on fire. I couldn't take it anymore and with difficulty I managed to curl up on
the carpet, even breathing was giving me work. I tried to be still and not make
noise, waiting for the intensity of the pain to subside, but I fell asleep like
this for I don't know how long until I was woken up by footsteps and the sound
of the door knob turning; I knew I wouldn't be able to get up in time, when I
tried to move I discovered that I was so numb that I wasn't able to at least
raise my face to see who was coming. Suddenly they picked me up from the ground
as if I weighed nothing, I breathed a sigh of relief when I recognized my
uncle's hands and his long hair falling on top of me. He turned on a lamp and
fell into a rocking chair with me on his lap, grabbing a blanket to cover me.
Amleth woke up confused:
–Little brother?
What happened?
–I found your niece
on the floor, she fell out of bed and you didn't notice. And that's how you're
supposed to take care of her? Look, the poor thing is all hurt...
–You sound like
mom, it must be a man's menopause.
–It's not funny,
Amleth, she could have died tonight.
–But she didn't do
it and now she has won dad's approval.
–You know something
and you don't tell me...
–Dreams don't come
true if you count them and the future is always a dream.
–What do you say
about nightmares?
–Just the opposite
happens with those. Go to sleep now, little brother.
Amleth said, yawning and tucking herself in
again to continue sleeping. My uncle turned off the lights and took off his
mask. Thanks to the dim light that filtered through the window curtains, I was
able to see at least the contours of his face. I think he doesn't have a nose.
How awful. To my surprise, he gave me a kind of rough kiss on the forehead and
started rocking me a little. I rested a temple on his chest, his hair is so
soft, I fell asleep in like ten seconds. When I woke up in the morning, my uncle
was carrying me in his arms out of Amleth's room, in the hallway was London.
She is incredibly similar to my father, except that her eyes are golden and
sparkle with a menacing look. She dresses like a cowgirl and on the walls I
could see diplomas, apparently she once had a high rank in the army. The front
of the house is a gun shop, now I understand why my uncle had a lot of weapons
in his van. So I left that house in the arms of my Uncle Bug, who was arguing
with his two sisters about what happened last night.
–You're crazy if
you think I'm going to let her use the burning stick again!
London yelled at him, she's very rude:
–What are you
supposed to do here?! Everyone in the town has an obligation!! You are the
ranger, Dreiser is the priest, Amleth is the teacher, Violet runs the cafeteria
and I run the armory! What will she do?!!
–She'll use the
damn stick to dance in my living room, this is none of your business! She
almost died yesterday, she was shaking and sweating cold...
Then Amleth intervened, running to catch up
with her two siblings who walk like sergeants and are much taller than her:
–But it was the
first time she did it! The first one always hurts, but you get used to it, you
won't understand it because you're not a woman!
–Keep talking like
that and I'll shoot another one of your boyfriends, you degenerate midget.
Uncle Bug responded, then he put me in the van
and closed the door. As he walked around the vehicle to climb into the driver's
seat, London said to me disdainfully:
–Don't you see it?
He likes you because you are useless and he can boss you around. He's only good
at shooting, that's what my uncle Adamas always says, he uses it to humiliate
us. And you only serve to depend on others. This is why they took you away from
your real parents, so you could be mommy's baby doll, daddy's guinea pig, and
now you're the perfect girl for Bug.
Just then my uncle got into the car and
started, leaving without saying goodbye to her. I was very angry. He put on his
screaming music and didn't say anything, just drove. Then I told him:
–London just told
me I'm useless. And that they took me from my real parents.
Uncle Bug turned to look at me and answered:
–You beat my father
in a fight, didn't you?
–Did it really happen?
–Yeah. I was right,
when he was alive he took little time-space trips to watch over his children
after he died and that's why Amleth speaks to him. His curiosity surely
worsened the illness that killed him...Ghosts do not exist.
–So she's not
crazy!
–She will be, each
quantum jump melts millions of neurons and she and dad jump between timelines
so much that they look like one of those bad independent movies that your
mother watches. What happened yesterday was a very serious imprudence, if
Amleth and Violet's calculations had failed you would be dead now. I also have
a bad feeling: my dad had his mania against some of my siblings and it may have
been because he knew what they were going to do... And about London... Psy,
when someone can't get over you they tell lies to try to put you down. What
London told you is a cowardly, dirty and weak attack. Just ignore her, she's an
idiot.
–But I want to show
that I am strong, not just to her, to everyone. You don't understand, they did
something to me and I was able to copy the same thing he did. There is
something that moves my body like a puppet, although I control it... I want to
show you.
–It's not necessary
anymore! You convinced my father, the others don't matter. All the years you
suffered being operated on and being locked up in your house were worth it… I
guess. It's ironic, it always happens that when you wait too long for something
and you finally get it it doesn't feel so good anymore. We should be happy! No?
You surpassed a pure Homo cosmos. Many of them will want to undergo the same
procedures you received and get better, my uncle Adamas without a doubt... He
has spent a lot of money trying to extend his life and his government forever.
Now, rest, your violent adventures are over, I will teach you how to cook and
knit. You've seen that outside the home there is a dangerous world full of
repulsive people who will not treat you well.
–But I think that
now I could face one of those creatures, like the one that attacked me the
other day. I can help you hunt, uncle.
I told him, hiding the fact that I actually
felt badly hurt, just keeping my head up was having a hard time, but I
continued saying:
–Let me try. To
make London shut up.
–No... Those
biomachines are bigger and heavier than your grandfather. Also, are you sure
you turned out okay? You look full of blows, once is enough, Psy. You shouldn't
try anything.
–Amleth said that
"a doubt and its subsequent search for the truth can save us." Maybe
I should try and, if everything goes well, always help them.
–Amleth never
actively participates in hunts, she knows nothing about anything.
–Uncle, I don't
want to stay home! I liked fighting...It was exciting, like the robot fights
that my dad watched. I want to do that…Like a fighting robot. I really liked it
and did well!
–You're not a
robot, you're a girl... Or not?...
My uncle said under his breath and drummed his
fingers on the steering wheel of the car, thinking, he finally spoke again:
–Anyway, tonight we
had to go out to look for prey. I don't want to leave you alone in the big
house, nor do I want to get away from you again. I don't know, we'll come talk
to your uncle Dreiser at noon, you'll eat at Violet's.
–My religious uncle
Dreiser? Does he live here? Ugh, no... He's always looking at the floor, he
speaks very softly and he only came to my house to pray when I was very sick
and mom was crying. It makes me sad to see it.
–Mom divided us
into groups of four so that we could take care of each other, and of the four
youngest he is the oldest and the one who acts as the leader. I'm going to
pretend that that shy little scary mouse is giving me good advice and you're
going to humor me, okay?
–He's only going to
tell you what you want to hear and he won't let me go hunting...
–Yeah! But London
will also be forced to respect his decision because Dreiser is the only thing
with a penis that she respects, and so she will accept that you stay at home
with Amleth talking to herself and playing with her school toys.
London was very angry about Uncle Bug's
tricks, but when we arrived at Violet's cafeteria, where Amleth, London and my
uncle Dreiser were already waiting for us, things turned around. My uncle
Dreiser is as I remember him, I could have sworn he is the youngest because he
looks like a quiet teenager, he has one yellow eye and one blue eye, round gold
glasses and a sad puppy face. In the town he wears a waterproof cape to cover
his habit, I would say that he also goes into the forest to hunt. I think sometimes
he wants to talk, but he just bites his lip. I didn't understand why it was
like that, but today I realized: London lives attached to him like a military
tick and doesn't even let him breathe. She busied herself giving orders while
rubbing his shoulders as if he would be stolen if she let go of him for three
seconds:
–Psyche must
participate, Bug, there is no excuse. Not just because it's disgusting to be
weak, you don't deserve to be part of my family if you're weak! He also has a
moral debt. His father designed the biomachines, it was his idea that they used
women to reproduce them, it is the most misogynistic monstrosity that has come
from the Moon.
What he said felt like a stab, but Amleth
quickly intervened:
–It wasn't
"his idea"! Descartes did not plan for these things to come back in
time and abuse innocents. I don't know who proposed it or why they authorized
it, but the intention was to give work to female volunteers. They would be paid
very well and the conception process would be in vitro, just like they did with
Violet! These biomachines have been hacked to come to the past and reproduce
illegally, Descartes has nothing to do with this.
–And you can't do
anything about it? Think about those women, not only those who are abused here,
but also those who rent their wombs to the rich on the Moon. Gestate a child,
give birth to it and then deliver it; Violet, did you really feel calm after that
process? Did you really get away from Psyche? Think, they could also arrest her
as frauds like they did with you. She could end up like you, married to her own
stalker.
London replied looking at Violet who turned to
look at me with wet eyes. Amleth seemed displeased with what her older sister
was saying, but she didn't dare face her at all, so the family's military
continued speaking:
–Amleth, you and I
had to assist Violet in her last birth because we couldn't make public the
birth of her own baby. Have you already forgotten the anguish? How did he
writhe in pain? These Homo sapiens women must live the same thing dozens of
times, giving birth here, in the middle of nowhere, without medical assistance.
And then lose even the illusion of staying with the children because they are
not children! They are monsters, biomachines. They suffer like our mother
suffered, making babies again and again, without rest, like cows! Some don't
survive. It's Descartes' fault either way, it was reckless to create robots
that function like living organisms. Humanizing the machine is dehumanizing
people. It's a sin! That Psyche must help us hunt them down to apologize on
behalf of her father. Right, Dreiser?
My uncle Dreiser stood up, looked at us all
out of the corner of his eye and said, speaking so quietly that he could barely
be heard, as always:
–Someone informed
me that we have been deceived, Descartes manipulated us into believing that we
were going to save this girl from something if we brought her here, but she has
come to help my uncle. He is collecting data on all of us in a diary that Descartes
gave him and then he will give it to my uncle to blackmail us with the intimate
information contained therein. If that is true, the most prudent thing would be
to hand her over to my uncle so that Descartes understands that we discovered
his trick and we already know that he is on the side of those who bring us
harm.
Everyone turned to look at him without
understanding, Violet wanted to give her opinion but London arrogantly
interrupted her, explaining as if she were spitting out facts written in stone:
–Then don't talk
anymore! She must go! We must return it to the Moon and convince ourselves that
Descartes is a liar, a manipulator, a misogynist and the worst person in this
family!
At that moment I guessed that she had gone
through my things when I showered at her house, and perhaps since then she
devised this play to pretend that a mysterious reliable source had "ratted
me out." But he made a mistake that exposed his slander: he said that the
newspaper was given to me by my father, surely he just leafed through it
without paying attention. I quickly took out my diary and showed it to Uncle
Dreiser saying:
–Read here, the
dedication on the last page. Look at the handwriting! Do you recognize it?
Uncle Alonso gave it to me so I could learn to be a writer. If you don't
believe me, call him and ask him. Now will you also say that Uncle Alonso is
treacherous? Call my father and tell him all this! Not with hints, tell them
openly if it's true!
The priest read, turned to look at London and
said nothing. I immediately demanded:
–Answer me one
thing: are you a liar?
–Of course not…
He responded to London's irritated face. I
continued speaking seriously and without losing my temper, but straight to the
point:
–Then tell me who
gave you that false information. Who lied to make me and my father look bad.
There was a tense silence, London already
looked surprised rather than angry. Apparently she's not used to being caught
red-handed and confronted. Uncle Dreiser just muttered:
–There is no doubt
that you are the daughter of Descartes.
Then he covered himself with the hood of his
raincoat, which when he removed the front part waved in the wind like unfurling
wings, accentuating his angelic air that is not very useful. And that was his
great intervention! Uncle Bug didn't say anything, but even with the mask you
could tell he was angry because he was clenching one fist so much that I could
hear it. He slammed a table that echoed throughout the room and spoke
indignantly:
–Enough of the
nonsense, London! She's not like us. If they corner her she can't escape.
That's the only reason we can face the shit they send from the future, we
evolved enough to escape ourselves. Only a handful of privileged people, my
father and his children, can move through space and time at will. Even Violet
herself lacks that totally undeserved pardon! And you, someone who is within
that infinitely small fortunate portion of humanity, still demands that this
girl "not be weak" and "apologize for her father."
She, with incredible cynicism and always
conceited, replied:
–The human being is
the worst predator on the planet, if she does not reach us, her destiny will be
extinction. She can be improved if she want! Isn't that what my uncle does? He
works to improve himself, at least that's what he does well.
–My uncle is
ridiculously rich, she only has a bag of clothes and the food that I give her.
You can't be so...
–Anyway, we are not
invincible either. You see that with everything and our lucky mutation, my
uncle who was not lucky enough to inherit this gene has expelled us from known
history, forcing us to hide here, in oblivion. I bet I can beat you up with
everything and "our gift." You are no less vulnerable than she is.
–Oh yeah? Then try
to beat me up.
My uncle Bug challenged her and Amleth wanted
to get between the two while Violet grabbed her baby and me trying to get us
away. London at least had the consideration to leave the cafeteria. She's
really manly! Pretty, like all these strange beings designed in a genetic
engineering laboratory that I call my family... But she behaves like my uncle
Alonso. It was no coincidence, Amleth told me as she climbed up on a table to
see them better, and London ran jumping backwards laughing at Uncle Bug who was
coming towards her like a train:
–London has always
been like this… Since there were so many children, mother asked Dumas and
Alonso for help to educate her younger siblings. They shared them: Dumas, who
was always sweeter and more understanding, took the girls, but he couldn't put
up with London's pranks and rudeness for long. He changed it to Alonso for
Dreiser. That was…very bad. Dumas accentuated Dreiser's passivity and Alonso
turned London into a quarrelsome little girl...
Suddenly we heard some kind of wolf screech or
howl, I don't know, London made a strange sound and tried to kick Uncle Bug. He
dodged her. He tried to hit him again and in one of his attacks he took out
long black claws. I wasn't sure what they were when I saw my Uncle Bug do it
before, but today I saw it clearly. They have retractable claws, like cats. I
don't know if everyone is like that, but at least Uncle Bug and London were
literally trying to cut themselves by pulling out their nails, making horrible
sounds from time to time. The fight became increasingly violent and fast, my
uncle did his best to maintain a defensive attitude but at a certain point she
cornered him and when she was going to hit him squarely he dissolved into the
air, went up in smoke, like black ink that diluted. It was something so strange
that it startled me. It appeared at another point further away from her and
from that moment on the combat became confusing, they appeared and disappeared
in different parts among ominous black smoke. They have somehow developed the
ability to teleport naturally to live between space-time tunnels. I started to
feel dizzy, starting to deduce horrible truths, are they something paranormal?
Does the paranormal exist or is it just an aberration of physics? They are not
like me, I will never be like them. I remembered a time when my religious uncle
Dreiser stood by my side reading the Bible to me while I was burning with
fever, and he told me a story about the inhabitants of heaven having children
with the women of earth and thus creating evil hybrid giants. Was this how
people from the past saw my family? Are bad…? I couldn't see how the
confrontation ended, I went behind some tables and fainted realizing that I had
ended up surrounded by my worst fears. Uncle Bug found me later and thought I
was just bored taking a nap. I didn't tell him what I thought and he just
admitted to me that I would have to participate in the hunt tonight so London
would stop bothering me. I acted very brave and confident, but I'm actually
afraid to be alone with him now that I know what he is. I need to survive among
them.
Thursday August 19, 3030
Last night was my first hunting trip. It
wasn't good at all. After writing in my journal for a bit, I helped my uncle
prepare his weapons, well, I stood next to him as he loaded his rifle on the
kitchen table. There he explained a little about what we would do:
–Usually Dreiser or
I shoot them in the head and London comes later to decapitate them with a
chainsaw. This deactivates the self-destruct mechanism that causes them to
catch fire and thus it is possible to recycle their parts. It's not as
grotesque as it sounds, it's like breaking up mannequins at the mall. You will
have to help her cut off heads if there is more than one prey. If it's only
one, it's better to let her take the lead, because of that nonsense she may
start competing with you.
–But... Don't
biomachines suffer? They have living parts, right? The one I saw had flesh.
Uncle, if it has even a little bit of a human in him, isn't it a person?
–The law, as far as
it is known in the 30th century, does not recognize as a person any cyborg
organism that does not possess a complete human brain because there is still no
artificial brain that equals a biological one.
–What will happen
when they build one? Will it still be legal to kill them?
My uncle left the gun on a table and pulled me
closer to him to put his arms around my waist saying:
–Even if it wasn't,
they would kill them. The same thing happens with normal human beings. The law
does not put a price on life, the only thing that gives it value is being
loved. And you can love even a toaster, and kill to defend it.
–What if the
toaster learns to love herself and doesn't want to be killed, even if no one
else loves her?
–Isn't this how the
rebellion of the machines begins?
–More or less. I
don't like science fiction, I prefer slashers. If we are going to kill
them...At least make it quick. Will the bullets work this time? With the big
one it didn't work to shoot him much.
–I carry expanding
bullets, these are usually enough.
I started to feel sad for the biomachines, but
if I don't participate in this they won't accept me as part of the family. My
uncle spanked me, because that's how delicate he is, and told me that
everything was ready. We left at dusk to a dark spot in the forest, London was
already waiting for us, and it was no joke, he brought a chainsaw. It would
have looked better on Uncle Bug, but it was already clear to me that she is the
psychopath even without a mask. Amleth was there, but stuck in London's truck,
apparently she has stopped teaching me science and mathematics to teach me how
to be part of the family; He snapped his fingers, causing a holographic screen
to appear above his hand, and then shouted, announcing:
–One is close! It's
not a biomachine, it's just a robot. An SL model. It is fifty meters to the
east.
Then he jumped out of the car and went
straight to me, telling me:
–The SLs look like
a person, they wear black formal suits. They are not scary. You just have to be
careful because they use firearms, they shoot! Be careful not to approach them
head on. Always try to go from behind. Can!
Then my uncle Bug asked him in a serious
voice:
–Is he one of the
30th generation? Amleth, check.
–The radar does not
detect specific data because it is not an original model, it has been modified
with parts from other machines. They will know what it looks like until they
see it. I'll get back to the car, good luck. It's going to be very easy!
Amleth concluded and then London made a call
on his phone, and my uncle took the opportunity to give me some instructions:
–Light that stick
and keep it that way, I'm going to locate you by the bluish glow. I'll shoot
him if he comes near you, then you'll just have to cut off his head.
–OK.
I responded by activating the rod, he took my
arm and told me one last thing:
–Are you sure you
want to participate? You can keep Amleth, damn what London says! You don't gain
anything from this, she will always continue to criticize you.
–I propose
something to you: if I win, you will tell me Amleth's real name.
–And what if you
lose? You won't live to regret it, but I will.
–I only know that I
will live to have another name confessed to me.
I responded and twirled the rod quickly to see
how my body was doing, it still had the same strange and painful experience,
but I wanted to show them what I learned. Then London came back and put the
phone away, speaking reluctantly:
–It was our brother
Dreiser, he is chasing the prey. He's bringing it here, Bug.
–Have you seen it
yet? Is it a 30? Psyche shouldn't come if it's a 30.
–He says the SL is
a… Uh… 25 or 26. We'll make a clamp: Bug, go to the right on the high side of
the slope, the girl and I will go to the left. We will block its way when it
comes.
She said with suspicious calm. Uncle Bug
turned to look at me one last time and walked away, pulling up the hood of his
coat and readying his rifle. I went with London, who checked his chainsaw
without turning it on yet. We walked several meters through the undergrowth,
looking at a nearby path, and then he ordered me:
–Enter the path and
go to meet it, Bug is covering you from above, I prefer not to intervene yet
because the noise of my tool could repel it.
His attitude seemed so suspicious to me... But
I had no choice but to obey. I cautiously emerged from the undergrowth and in
the distance I saw a silhouette approaching that seemed familiar to me. As I
got closer I saw with joy that it was my father. He came walking in a hurry,
dressed in a black formal suit and as serious as ever, I assumed he came to
prevent me from participating in the hunt and take me back home. I ran to find
him, but they shot him right in the temple. I screamed in horror and anger, my
uncle Bug had just killed my father! I went to pick up dad's body and crying I
caressed his face, it was him without a doubt! I kissed his forehead, and
suddenly I heard my uncle shout to me as he went down the slope:
–Don't touch it! Is
not he! It's an SL 30! They designed them to look like your father to honor him
because he founded the company that makes it, he's a robot!
Suddenly I heard a metallic click and saw how
my father's body began to stretch, dividing into segments similar to those of a
centipede. Still in disbelief, I refused to let go of him until his sizzling
head sank, hiding inside his horrible segmented thorax, and finally Eventually
his entire body mutated, becoming a kind of monstrous arachnid with sharp
pincers. I managed to avoid him with a jump, but his head was no longer visible
and it would be more difficult to know where I should attack. I realized that
it would be necessary to cut off its legs, one by one. It was a difficult task,
because while I was trying to cut one with the stick, two others were trying to
cut me with the tongs; My uncle managed to stop them by shooting them, but when
he destroyed one appendage, a new one sprouted. There came a point where we
both could no longer cope with so many horrible legs and I tried to take a
little more risk, I snuck up to the back of the robot and started cutting off
the legs from there, I hadn't noticed that it also had a tail of scorpion with
the same laser technology from my staff that tried to sting me, but I managed
to block the attack with the staff. My muscles hurt terribly again and while
the tail tried to sting me without success, the legs went into a murderous
frenzy and only tried to cut me. I really must acknowledge the inhuman skill of
my uncle Bug, he pulled out an automatic weapon and fired a hit every time a
pincer was about to touch me, but we couldn't go on like this for long.
Luckily, just at that moment my uncle Dreiser caught up with us and from the
top of a tree he shot an arrow and damaged the stinger of the tail, so I was
finally able to cut it off and with a twist that involved my entire body in a
painful contortion I managed to leave. the machine in two. From one of its
halves, my father's head appeared, suspended between cables, and even at that
moment London intervened, separating it from the rest of the body with the
electric saw and then cruelly cutting it in half. Instantly, all parts stopped
moving. Then London took one of the sections of the head and threw it at me,
exclaiming:
–Hey, little
princess, don't you want it as a souvenir?
Seeing my dad's mutilated face was more than I
could bear, I carefully placed him on the ground and closed his eye. I took the
shreds of his jacket and when I was going to cover his recognizable remains I
noticed the label sewn to the collar: "SL." That same logo is on my
black uniforms. The SL30 was wearing a black SL brand uniform, as was I. Then I
felt terrified, anguished by I don't know what, and I ended up vomiting next to
a bush. London laughed and I heard my Uncle Bug say, before he went to pick me up
and carry me out of there:
–There are days
when it is very difficult for me to remember that you are a woman and I should
not hit you, London. Fix yourselves as best you can by collecting the parts,
I'm leaving.
When we got to the car, I was crying because I
imagined that we had killed my dad. I cried for a long time lying on my uncle's
chest, who told me that Amleth's real name is Aurora, he told me the things
they did as children, but nothing could distract or console me. He asked what I
will ask him when I find out all the names, I told him I don't know yet because
I am very confused. I fell asleep hugging him and tired of crying. Today I woke
up still very sad. I do not want to eat. Why do they dress me like a robot?
Friday August 20, 3030
On Thursday we had to go hunting again in the
afternoon, I didn't feel like talking to anyone, Uncle Bug respected my
decision although he occasionally rubbed my head or a shoulder. It's weird,
he's one of the few people who knows how to treat me, even though he
intimidates me. We had to meet the others in a nearby meadow. Since we left the
house I clung to one of his hands because I no longer want to be left alone in
a situation for which I am not prepared. I only force myself to go because I
want to be part of the family and know once and for all what is happening, what
other horrors will they hide from me...? It pains me to even write what I
suspect... My uncle Dreiser was already waiting for us on a tree, hooded with
his raincoat and preparing his bow, he waved at us from there, without saying
anything. Uncle Bug also began to check his rifle, shortly after London
appeared on horseback and wearing a cowboy hat. As if she owned the place! He
looked over his shoulder at us and addressed his younger brother:
–That's enough,
what are you up to with that girl? Do you like it? Are you now a pedophile?
–He is of legal
age, everything legal.
Uncle Bug answered, I hope he was joking,
London took the horse for a spin and replied:
–That doesn't
matter, creep. She's too small for you. You're going to break her!
–It 's like
plastic, London. If it is heated well, it stretches.
–You're a pig.
Uncle Bug chuckled strangely and London stared
at him menacingly, then clicked his teeth, telling the horse to gallop and took
off to the other side of the meadow. My uncle told me in a low voice:
–We get along
because she's rough! Since we were children we played together, we made
mischief, we had fun. However, her attitude bothers me. She proclaims
independence, but only for herself. The rest of us have to lick her ass or she
explodes. All these vigilantes are the same! "Free yourself from your God
to worship me now", that is the usual story. My uncle Adamas, Dumas and of
course Jacky London the indomitable ex-marine cowgirl repeat it to you.
–Do you fight with
her very often?
I asked watching London get off the horse and
tie it to a tree. Uncle Bug answered:
–Yeah. But she
knows that, just as I don't mince words, I don't hold a grudge. I will say what
I please and you can also tell me what you want, in the end I will do what I
decide. Everyone respects their terrain.
Suddenly he pointed his gun at some distant
bushes that shook, and a mutilated body emerged from there. Only the torso
without legs, I shuddered, standing a little behind him:
–What should we do?
It doesn't have a head...
–It hid it inside
the trunk of its body, you saw how sometimes they do that. You would have to
cut it sagittally, from top to bottom, like in your horror movies. If you want,
let the tomboy do it and you...
I didn't wait for him to finish speaking, I
ran towards the dam activating the rod and at the same time I heard London turn
on her electric saw. It would be a competition to see who could cut first. At
that moment there was a strange synchronization inside me, I don't know if it
was the concentration of the instinctive part or the rational part, but I
managed to make a couple of superhuman jumps that hurt like hell and thus I
arrived before London, slicing the prey of a just slash. She looked at me with
contempt and I had the feeling that she was going to attack me with the
chainsaw, so I turned the rod on and when she was approaching me I attacked
her. The rod cut off some of her hair. London said, frozen in the same
position:
–So you don't
consider us your family...
–I don't consider
you my family, because you feel the same way about me.
I replied and ran back to meet my uncle Bug,
before she could comment anything I heard Amleth shout in the distance greeting
us and I went with her to look for crystals among the rocks of a nearby stream.
Later we returned to the big house and I didn't want to say anything, I said
goodbye to her and sat by the fire to write. I didn't even talk to my Uncle Bug
at night. Today, Friday, I woke up, I started writing and I feel sad. I
wouldn't have been excited about being part of a family if I had known that I
would later find out that my role in the home was to be an appliance...
Case IV: Dreiser
Saturday August 21, 3030
Dear diary, my uncle no longer wants me to
call him uncle, he says it must simply be Bug. It's been like this since
Friday. That morning he went to get his rifle, put on his coat and extended his
hand for me to take and follow him. I went reluctantly because I was writing,
but I was hungry and he's the guy who gives me food. We went through the forest
together, I didn't speak because I still felt a lump in my throat. So after a
long silence, he asked me, looking at the nearby bushes:
–There are many
field rats, do you want to eat a rat or should I find you a rabbit? Or we
behave like civilized people and I take you to eat in town with Violet.
–Rat…Rabbits are
too cute to eat and I don't want to see anyone.
I replied. I sat on a rock and he prepared the
rifle waiting for some rodent to appear. Then he tried to get me to talk:
–Rat broth is fine,
but I like live rats better. Once I found a baby, I took care of it and fed it
until it grew up. Our friendship only ended when she died of old age and fat,
because she always pampered her by giving her sweets. You remind me of that rat,
I'm starting to love you a lot.
–Thank you. Uncle,
I want to know something.
–This is what I
wanted to talk to you about… Stop calling me "uncle", things are
getting murky and while you are away from your parents it wouldn't be good for
them to separate you from me to take you to another family member.
–Why?
–Because the family
doesn't wish you any good! Neither to you nor to anyone, most of these bastards
think along the lines of: "I want to see you good, but not better than
me"; and you have remained among us for many years with nothing to reproach
you except for things that are not your fault. They will want to mess you up in
some way, that's how they are, all unhappy and thinking that it is unfair that
others don't feel the same. The most timid and honest members, like poor
Dreiser, are isolated from everyone and abused, confident that they will never
be denounced and will be kept that way for life, enslaved, like human toys... I
don't want that for you!
–What are they
doing to him? To Uncle Dreiser. Is that why you live alone...?
–No, I live here
for freedom, there is no peace in the town…You saw what happened with London,
she did everything possible to mortify you. We'd better leave the uncle and
niece thing out of it, and say we're a couple. I'm not claiming to be a real
one! Just assume it. So they left Violet alone. The family believes in that
saying: "between husband and wife, no one should interfere." Well,
maybe your mother will be a little scandalized... But nothing more.
I took a breath, Mom wouldn't just be shocked!
He would have a fit. She never spoke to me as if one day I was going to find a
man and move in with him, even worse with a man like "Bug." I think
the only reason they left me with him was because they haven't seen him in so
many years that they've forgotten how wild he is:
–Uncle…
–Stop calling me
"uncle"… Every time you call me "uncle" I will ignore you.
–But my mom will go
crazy! And I will be very embarrassed if the neighbors say that my uncle is my
boyfriend...
–I don't know who
you're talking to, you don't have uncles.
–Of course I don't
really have them, robots don't have uncles...
–What do you mean?
Then I confessed something that I had been
thinking all night before:
–Uncle, that's what
I want to know, did my dad build me like yesterday's SL30?
–No! And stop
calling me "uncle."
–Tell me the truth!
Am I an "SL something"? Is that why they kept me in my house and I
learn skills just by reciting "copy movements" as if it were a
computer command or they loaded an application? Why are they dressing me up
like one of my father's robots?! Am I another one of those biomachines?
–You are an
ordinary girl. There are photos and videos of Violet pregnant with you, and
with your biological parents, the ones who donated the embryo. I saw them
myself, you are the spitting image of the guy who fathered you, but you have
the eyes of his girlfriend, who by the way was very hot; Contrary to Violet,
ugly freckles! The family chose them before because they were very attractive
and they had I don't know what problem, they wanted their firstborn. An embryo
to implant in Violet because Ziggy was already too old to risk pregnancy and no
other woman in the family wanted to do him the favor of lending her womb. At
least in that Violet was generous. Suspiciously self-sacrificing... They said
that despite the strange condition that you were going to inherit, you would be
born very pretty and my sisters were waiting for you as excited as when they
were children and they were promised a new doll.
A gunshot then tore the stillness of the
forest, some birds flew away and "Bug" went to pick up a dead rat, he
told me as he began to skin it:
–I remember it as
if it were yesterday, they gathered us all at your house so that we could meet
you, I went out of commitment. I have never liked babies. They told us your
story, that you had I don't know what in your brain inherited from your
parents, that they were going to operate on you to find the cure, and when I
heard the name they were going to give you I wanted to run away. And your mom
Ziggy kept insisting that I carry you, I had to. I know you were a real baby,
all covered in drool and smelling like a dirty diaper. I was shaking!
–What problem did I
have in my brain? If I only had problems there, why did they operate on my
entire body?
He began to light a fire to boil water and
collect herbs, saying:
–Don't know. They
wanted to strengthen you so that you would live as long as we do, they were
improvements. Implants and that, mainly a delicate thing in your head.
He started cooking and I was thinking. So I
asked him:
–I need to talk to
my uncle Dreiser.
–Why?
–Because not only
am I worried that Dad is using me for his experiments with robots, I also want
to know what you are... If you are evil entities.
I confessed, he sighed and told me:
–I didn't decide to
be "a lizard man", Psyche. You cannot judge good or bad someone who
obtained what they did not ask for or cause. It's just like that. I will take
you, but I want you to know that no matter the circumstances, I will always love
you. I hope you can also accept us as we are.
–Thank you. Bug.
I told him, kissing one cheek of the mask and
I felt a little better because he would talk to a religious person and maybe he
would give me an amulet to be safe or solve my difficulties. And I ate my rat.
At dusk I accompanied him to a clearing in the forest where he would meet Uncle
Dreiser. He was already waiting for us. When he is calm, and I think happy, he
stands very straight and finally looks up. He has I don't know what, like they
don't let him say something and he can only express it with his eyes. It gives
me a lot of compassion, maybe the same thing happened to him as me, always
locked up and hidden by the family in a church. Uncle Bug, or rather Bug since
he wants me to call him that!, went to look for pine cones to line up on a
rock, giving me space to talk alone with my Uncle Dreiser. But he just looked
at the ground and moved pebbles with his shoe. He looks like a little boy.
Finally I had to make him speak:
–Uncle, they
already told me the truth. But tell me, is our family from the devil?
He looked at me widening his eyes as if I had
said something terrible and murmured:
–Not exactly.
It was a strange moment because we just
stared, at that moment I was convinced that he and I are in trouble. Suddenly
he said, always speaking in a very low voice:
–Bug, London and
Amleth are always in the eye of the storm. It seems that they look for things
to distract them so they don't think or remember. When they were children they
didn't want to be left alone. They cried. I once asked Bug why, he was very
young, maybe three years old. He told me that he was afraid of being with
himself. There was fear.
I looked at him strangely, he continued
explaining to me:
–Little by little I
began to observe that the whole family had that same feeling, fear of being
left alone with everything they know. With their consciences on which a
multitude of injustices, abuses, all the blood of so many innocents weigh; and
suddenly I began to notice that I was afraid too. That's why I was always more
comfortable taking care of them and supporting them. And that's how I lived my
youth, my adult life, but in recent years I dared to face it. I walked away, I
became quieter, I meditated alone, ruminating about my faults and mistakes; and
by accepting them, repenting, trying to repair, I left the fear. That process
was reflected in my dreams, you know, in dreams, I found a large abandoned and
dilapidated house that was mine. At first I was afraid to go in and explore it,
but then I encouraged myself and began to clean it, fix the damage, decorate
it, buy new furniture, and soon when I fell asleep I no longer had strange
nightmares but arrived at a beautiful place where I liked to rest. There are
still closed and dark rooms, dilapidated parts, but I am no longer afraid, nor
am I afraid of being alone with myself. This is me, with my flaws, I am as
insignificant as these pebbles in the forest. But look: isn't there great peace
and beauty in this forest? How beautiful it must be to live like these pebbles
and rest here in this great serenity. You...you must stop thinking about
justifications for your parents or your uncles, or for yourself if you have
done something wrong, we have all sinned! We have all failed, what we need to
do is think about how to fix it so it doesn't happen again. Take your time to
get to know yourself, decide who you are and what you really want...
Suddenly he sighed, as if running out of
strength, not knowing how to continue. I was very interested in his words
because it seemed like he was about to tell me something serious. But then he
changed the subject a bit:
–I would like...To
bring my dreams to reality and buy an old house, repair it, make it my favorite
place. But church and family don't leave me time. I must make this
sacrifice…For them.
–No, Uncle Dreiser.
I replied:
–Can't you see that
you're not being sincere? That's why the house of your dreams is never finished
being repaired. He still doesn't fix something in his conscience...
Just then Bug came back saying:
–Dreiser and I
always need to practice, London's life often depends on our aim. And now yours,
Psy. In general I do almost all the work, Dreiser is like a support. That
little Robin Hood arch can barely shoot about seventy meters.
Uncle Dreiser began to prepare his bow and
objected:
–Three hundred
meters…It's a compound bow, Bug.
–It will never be
as accurate as a sniper rifle.
–I don't like
firearms. They are noisy. And it requires more skill to use a bow. That's why I
use it, I'm the oldest and I'm more skilled.
Bug stared at him and snatched the bow from
him saying, "Give me here!" And then he spent a long time tightening
the ropes until he shot an arrow that traveled about two feet and stuck in the
ground. Uncle Dreiser zapped him and took away his bow, preparing three arrows
that he shot almost simultaneously, hitting the pine cones that had been set up
as targets. When he finished he shook and rubbed his hand, commenting:
–I always thought
that men who pay attention to lesser people do so to compensate for the
deficiency of something.
–If you had an
altar boy he would be your boyfriend, virgin priest. You know nothing!
–Do you feel
addressed?
–No! You've always
seen me with mature women. What is that comment about?
Bug complained and Uncle Dreiser said in a
very low voice:
–Nothing, I was
just saying. Psyche's grown up a little since she came, hasn't she? I see it a
little more developed. In full adolescence. On the other hand, it seems that
you went back so far that you found yourself at the same age...
–What does that
mean?
–Nothing! I know
that you would never be a dirty old man unless it was something mutual. You
have an iron will that only melts when they catch you off guard and sting your
heart. That's why I trust you. For serious things.
–What serious
things?
–I'm just
saying...I am your older brother and your spiritual guide, I must advise you.
–Spiritual guide?
How strange you are! But look, I have a theory, about spiritual matters: what
if a guy in a few years finds out about a way to immortalize people en masse
and travels back in time to make a list of people who he will make live
forever, his father will finance the project, but they have an argument and the
father tells him that he will only give up the money if the son allows himself
to be killed to convince him that he is serious and then he...?
Suddenly Uncle Dreiser silenced him by
punching him on the shoulder, they stopped chatting and began their shooting
practice in earnest. It was strange, I think Uncle Dreiser tried to tell us
something, I don't know. When we said goodbye to him, he invited us to go to
church tomorrow, well, he scolded Bug and ordered him to go. Hopefully maybe
when we see him again I can talk to him well and he can explain to me what's
going on with the family.
Sunday August 22, 3030
Today was a complicated day since it began. We
had to go early to Uncle Dreiser's church, which is at the top of the mountain
on whose slope the town rests. It is a building that is more than a hundred
years old, all made of wood, very large and a little sinister. As we got closer
I could hear it rustling in the wind, it was shocking. We arrived late because
Bug didn't know what to wear and ended up leaving dressed all in black, hooded
with a long tattered raincoat, several pentagram medallions, and a new mask
that cried blood and had an inverted cross on its forehead. At the moment it
didn't occur to me that that wouldn't be good for the church, I thought about
it later when Violet received him by slapping him and sprinkling holy water on
him. In the church, in addition to my aunt Violet with the baby, there were
also Amleth and London; The latter looked unrecognizable, she was wearing a
long dress, a rosary, her hair covered by a veil, and she was running from one
side to the other sweeping the large dark building made of very ancient wood.
It smelled like flowers, burnt perfume and I don't know what else. I sat in the
back, between Amleth who was taking care of the baby and Bug who was listening
with his arms crossed, grumbling from time to time. Soon after, I noticed a
strange atmosphere. The few people who arrived besides the six of us did not
greet us or approach us. Furthermore, Violet was doing her best to prepare the
temple since apparently there is no sexton, but London almost snatched things
out of her hands because she wanted to show that she could do it better. Then
Uncle Dreiser arrived, he's as tall as Bug and as serious as Dad, but somehow
he seemed helpless in the face of something I didn't understand at the time.
When the sermon began, I saw something that disturbed me: London was sitting in
the first pew and looked at her brother priest from head to toe, smiling
like... not right, it wasn't right. Some time passed and the baby soiled his
diaper, Amleth asked me to accompany her to the ladies' room to teach me how to
change him. I went and helped her, it's a bit unpleasant, but I think I could
do it, and I was also happy to know that the baby plays is the son of two
half-breeds so the "bad blood" in him is minimal and he is almost completely
Homo sapiens like me. When the baby was clean, Amleth let me carry him and we
left the bathroom, the hallway that connects it to the nave of the temple leads
right to one side of the main altar, I was in front of Amleth with the baby in
my arms and we entered precisely at the moment when my Uncle Dreiser was giving
Communion to London; She received it and kissed his fingers, I don't understand
why. I turned to look at Amleth and she looked shocked. He took me back to the
bench and Bug didn't seem comfortable either, the two little siblings know
something about the two older ones and they don't like him. At the end of the
ceremony, Uncle Dreiser called out to Bug with a gesture of his fingers, and he
said to me in a low voice:
–Stay with the
women for a while and then go look for me, London is obsessed with proving that
she's not such a tomboy when she comes here.
–I already
noticed...I don't want to compete to be the best good woman against London.
–I know you have a
macho soul, just like her, but go and make a fool of yourself by her side for a
while. Dreiser places a lot of importance on family, tradition, if you don't
convince him that you can be as dull as him, he won't trust you or support you.
By the way…He collects dolls. Don't touch them, they are fragile.
–OK…
I replied and I had no choice but to go with
the girls, who under London's orders all went to the kitchen of Uncle Dreiser's
house behind the church to prepare soup for a family lunch that we all knew Bug
would despise because He mostly survives by putting candy under his mask from
time to time, I think that's why he's on an eternal sugar high that makes it
impossible for him to sit in the same place for more than five minutes.
Logically, the most qualified to cook was Violet, but London kept explaining to
her how to do things and when I tried to help with something she told me that I
was doing it wrong and not to continue. So I just sat there looking at them, so
London slammed his hand on the table and exclaimed:
–Psyche doesn't
plan to do anything?! We are all killing ourselves here and she's just there
very comfortable, if she wants to be part of this family...
Violet responded, already tired of his
rudeness, putting herself between her and me:
–My daughter is now
part of your family! Families love spontaneously and without expecting anything
in return, otherwise they would cease to exist. That's why I'm here cooking on
my day off, even though I should be spending it alone with my husband instead
of you. He and I only see each other on weekends.
–That's also what I
wanted to talk to you about, Violet. Amleth and I can't take care of your baby
every Saturday night. Why doesn't your eldest daughter do it now...?
–Talk about that
with your brother, my husband is the one who asks that we have time just for
the two of us.
–That wimpy snake
only needs fifteen minutes with you, it looks like he's a one-shot weapon, am I
wrong?
–Actually... Psyche
is very young. It's not her time to babysit, she's at the age where you have
exciting adventures and meet the love of your life; after this time there will
be no magic, it won't be the same.
–Of course, as my
brother Dumas says: you have to catch them young and stupid so that they don't
escape later.
So they began to argue between the two, the
soup asked for attention and Amleth, very embarrassed, asked me to please take
the baby outside because he started crying and needed air. I left in a hurry,
it was really a relief. Things didn't add up, why was London, who was so
masculine and dominant, struggling to act like an ancient submissive woman? And
it felt so strange that Violet was suddenly acting like my mother. I took the
baby to look at a fountain in the middle of a small garden, then I heard a very
beautiful sound. I went to look for where it came from and I was able to see a
little more of the parsonage, everything is old and somewhat sinister, but
there are also a lot of statues and paintings of Victorian angels that are
scary, some were even taller than me; They had somewhat matted wigs and glass
eyes with spider webs. These must be the "dolls" Bug was talking
about. Already very restless, I went through the hallways to a room where I
looked out and saw that Uncle Dreiser, dressed in a black cassock, was in his
office talking to Bug, who had his back to me with the mask in his hand. Uncle
Dreiser looked very sad and played some chords on a harp, speaking almost in a
whisper:
–They said it was
sacrilegious, that I was blessing a corpse moved by machines, they called her a
"puppet from hell."
I took a few steps away, disturbed by what I
heard, with such bad luck that I collided with another of those disturbing
giant angels. The statue fell with a loud crash and the baby began to cry. My
uncle Dreiser came out very worried, put on his glasses, took the baby from me
and said in his eternal whispers:
–I'll fix the
angel; Bug go leave the little one with his mother. I would like to speak alone
with Psyche.
Bug left again with his mask on, protesting
because he didn't want to carry his nephew, and I stayed right there. One of
the angel's hands came off and Uncle Dreiser asked me to go put it away in his
desk. The furniture is very old, if my uncles are like two hundred years old
the desk must be like… a thousand! It's so old that the drawers wouldn't open
and I was only able to get the last one to open. Inside there were many notes,
I saw that they were poems-love letters, from a certain Alexia to a certain Angello.
Apparently, Uncle Dreiser confiscates things like that, I'll have to be very
careful that he doesn't find my diary or he'll take it from me. At that moment,
my uncle Dreiser re-entered his office. He looked at me, turning pale, cleared
his throat and spoke with the same ceremoniousness with which he gives his
sermons, looking at the floor:
–You must have
guessed by now, I am a prisoner of this family. Like you.
–What do you
mean?...
I answered. He continued speaking:
–London never let
me make friends outside the family, she was so afraid that I would meet another
woman and fall in love that he pressured me to ordain myself a priest. Already
trapped in my habit, I met Violet and we became good friends. London, in a fit
of jealousy, accused her of my uncle Adamas and made her look so bad before the
family and the law of the Moon that she was condemned to live here forever. She
is another prisoner. Her son too...And it is partly my fault because by
approaching her I aroused my sister's vengeful wrath. I feel like every day is
a heavy burden that I must bear.
Suddenly I began to guess that he is the
mysterious father of Violet's baby, but I didn't dare say anything. I let him
continue his sort of confession:
–Your case is even
more complicated, through the experimental medical procedures they performed on
you, a way was found to extend your life indefinitely. Maybe forever. That's
why your father hid you, it was necessary that Adamas, Violet's father, never found
you. Maybe the fact that she gave birth to you is the only reason that forces
them to respect your life and not sacrifice you to erase everything.... I
admire her, she was like a holy virgin mother in my eyes, but what They did to
you by bringing you into this family, perhaps it was an abominable mistake that
we could all regret.
–But why?... What
exactly did they do to me? I feel strange…
–I can't explain
that to you, it's something that Honoré and Maxim could tell you better, at the
same time that they would release the burdens of their consciences after so
many years without being honest. I only know that my uncle Adamas wants to live
long enough to exterminate every last human being. It will, it is its destiny,
and no matter how much we try to change the past we cannot prevent that future.
Your father, accidentally trying to make you healthier, found a way for Adamas
to fulfill his disastrous life purpose. Our family is the worst of all, the
last one left standing after causing the greatest genocide in history. We are
the culprits of the end of the world, the filthiest blood on the entire Earth
and the Moon. And we force you to be part of this, you can open the way to
immortality for your great uncle Adamas.
–Why…? I don't
understand…
I asked, bursting into tears, at that moment
Bug arrived and didn't want me to talk to Uncle Dreiser anymore. He took me out
very angry and we went back to the forest. When we returned to the mansion, we
watched a movie and he did his best to cheer me up. I told him that the next
time we go hunting for biomachines I will take care of him too. I love him very
much because he always defends me, now I will sleep hugging him very tightly. I
need love, I need to feel better.
Monday August 23, 3030
Last night, Bug did something to me that I
didn't like. It almost suffocated me. Everything happened in complete darkness,
I couldn't see, I couldn't speak, or breathe. When he finished he kissed me,
hugged me and apologized. But I felt very bad, I didn't speak to him until the
next day, when I sat down to drink my coffee on the porch of the mansion. He
arrived, sat next to me to see the mountains and told me:
–I don't know how
to sound sincere by apologizing for something that I'm just looking forward to
happening again, but I don't want our relationship to be ruined.
–It could have been
perfect. Why did you have to make things...weird?
I asked annoyed. He simply answered me, as if
without the strength to say it:
–I'm in love with
your face.
–I've never seen
yours.
I answered. Then we saw a black car
approaching, from there Uncle Dreiser got out with a raincoat and some
packages. Bug stood up, saying under his breath:
–Well, at least
you're still technically a virgin…Dreiser will be happy…
Uncle Dreiser went straight to the van, loaded
his bags and Bug and I turned to look at him without understanding. As we
approached, he always spoke to us in a low voice:
–I have meditated a
lot. I'll escape tonight after the hunt, I can't allow it anymore. Take me to
the coast with Maxim.
–But...Maxim
doesn't know that Psyche is here, and I can't go anywhere without her, it's
supposed to be a secret...Why do you decide this now? What should you not
allow?
–What Psyche found
in my desk.
He replied and continued unloading things from
his car. Bug was baffled as was I until in those seconds alone with the masked
fool I informed him:
–I found some very
passionate love letters from a certain Alexia to a certain Angello. Who are
they?
Then he touched me on the shoulder and ordered
me to enter the house. I obeyed. From a window I saw him turn his back to me
and from his gestures I assume he asked his brother for more explanations. Then
he shook his head, punching the van, then they hugged. I think at least one was
crying. I went to the kitchen and had some milk; I distracted myself by
thinking that I don't like him anymore, that's how Bug knows. Suddenly he came
in preparing a rifle and hurriedly told me:
–We should pack
some things and hide them as best we can in the van, so that Amleth and London
don't see them. We have to hunt now, a prey appeared. Immediately afterwards,
the three of us will leave the town.
–What's happening?
–We're going to
visit Maxim and Honore, your clumsy aunts, you'll probably want to ask them a
question or two. Along the way we will help Dreiser get away from London. Is
tired.
–About what?
–Of everything. I
suspected, but I didn't want to believe it...It's so painful...
Then he strode to another room and I ran after
him to stop him by pulling his arm:
–Bug, wait a
minute! What's going on?
–Can you trust me
when I don't want you to ask me questions?
Then I let him go without saying more. We have
been closely together day and night for almost two weeks, I know that in his
own way he always does the same thing that I would do. Besides, she was still
upset with him, he should be ashamed. I let him do his things with his brother,
they loaded weapons, supplies and then they called me. Uncle Dreiser sat in the
back of the van, readying his compound bow. That weapon caught my attention and
from the passenger seat I turned to see it and ask questions. Bug, who was
driving as always, got angry because he said that if he braked suddenly he
could hurt me, but I think he just got a little possessive of me and that made
me feel worse about him. He noticed that I was uncomfortable and, very clever
as always, he distanced himself from us, giving me space although I could feel
him still hanging on me. He's behaving like he owns me and I'm starting to get
angry, not even my dad has treated me like that. When we got out of the car to
get to the point where we would meet London to look for biomachines, the
situation became more uncomfortable. I was alone with two big, armed men, both
of them are calm and take care of me, but I no longer feel like they see me as
a girl; Now I'm getting older and I have to take a new position in the family,
I don't want to leave the confinement of my parents' house to live locked up in
Bug's house as his girlfriend or something like that. It's not even the one I
want! Who I really like is Dumas. They decided that in order not to encounter London
they would stay at a high point and from there they would shoot. They said that
the biomachine that was supposed to be roaming the area was "simple"
and shaped like a deer. I stayed with them on a hill, Bug was checking the area
with the rifle scope while Uncle Dreiser prepared his arrows with great care,
asking him:
–Do you see well
with the mask on?
–Heh heh!, more or
less.
–Why don't you take
it off to shoot?
Bug turned to look at me and then responded,
laughing:
–You're handsome,
I'm not!
–But I am a priest.
You are not ugly, you are…Special.
–Especially
deformed.
–No,
you're...Pretty. If I were a girl from the village, I would be your girlfriend.
–Shut up gay!...
–You have nice hair.
Women like that. Right, Psyche?
I shrugged my shoulders in response. I was
angry with Bug, but I couldn't get it out of my head, I don't understand. It's
like I expected him to give me something and he didn't, or he kept it all to
himself. Suddenly something brought me out of my reverie, I saw that Uncle
Dreiser was finally laughing, I had never seen him like that! Freedom is a very
powerful medicine, and he was so close to obtaining it. I would have liked to
go with him and celebrate with him at that moment, but Bug and I were just embarrassed
by everything that went wrong between us. Suddenly we heard the bushes moving
behind us, we had been distracted, a strange quadruped machine jumped out of
the undergrowth; It wasn't very big nor did it have meat, but it did have some
tongs with which it could hurt us. It moved very fast, Bug and Uncle Dreiser
managed to shoot it at prodigious speed, but they weren't doing much damage. I
decided to intervene. As always, pain was a problem, although I'm starting to
get used to it. What I don't know how to do very well yet is calculate my
movements, I was managing to cut parts of the device, but in a bad lunge I
accidentally hit Bug. Then it was like I forgot the machine was there, Uncle
Dreiser had to take care of it alone, I was more worried because Bug was
holding his face with his mask visibly destroyed. I asked him if he was hurt,
he shook his head and I saw a piece of porcelain fall, I picked it up and when
I looked up he had the rest of the pieces in his hands. His face was uncovered.
It's something...very strange. I don't know what movie to compare it to, it
looks alien. He breathes through a pair of slits, because that is not a nose,
and his eyes have red eyelids, not that they are red, they are a fiery red!,
but the sclera is black and the pupil is an intense blue. He looked at me very
seriously, I think until that moment he was finally ashamed of what he did. I
didn't say anything to him because I didn't know what to say. Then Uncle
Dreiser told us that the machine had escaped but it was already very damaged
and London would surely collect its remains soon. Uncle Dreiser asked Bug if he
was okay and he murmured yes, nothing more, he took the pieces of the mask and
we went to the van to leave the town towards the coast, to see my aunt Maxim.
I've been writing while they take turns driving, the trip will last all night.
I was mad at Bug, now I don't know. I feel bad for not telling him anything
about his face, I don't know what expression I made when I saw him. It's...an
alien creature, I don't know. I don't know what to say about him and the fact
that I let him kiss me, and do other things to me..., it disturbs me.
End Of
Part One
Case V: Maxim
Tuesday August 24, 3030
Dear diary, today I woke up in the van. When I
opened my eyes we were still on the road, it was more than sixteen hours of
travel to the California coast. I saw the sunrise from the back, around us
stretched the desert dyed pink and purple, with its emerald bushes. It was so
beautiful that I was enthralled until I saw Bug looking at me out of the corner
of his eye in the reflection of the rearview mirror while he was driving,
smoking. I was never prepared to look into the eyes of a smoking alien metal
hunter. I looked away immediately and actually hid between some boxes. He
didn't say anything, shortly after Uncle Dreiser asked him, I assume about the
cigarette:
–You hadn't left
it?
–I still fall
sometimes, when there is a lot of stress.
They were silent for a while, then Bug spoke
again:
–What will you do
now? I already told Dumas and he says it's up to you to decide.
–I don't know, I
want to talk to Maxim first. She is a year older than me, she has been the
closest to London and me. For now we could say that we came to repair your
mask, Dumas made it and he is here. That will give us time to think...The
family cannot be fragmented anymore.
–Sometimes it is
healthy to cut ties with family, Angello Lunae. Why didn't you do anything to
stop it? I'm a little...angry about that. It's hard to believe it's abuse if
you don't defend yourself. It's as if, let's say for example, not that it's
happened to me!: if a girl sleeps next to me "just as friends" but
she gropes me anyway and I don't make the slightest effort to stop her because
I'm enjoying it, It would be silly to say later that she abused me.
What I heard from Bug clarified a lot of
disturbing things for me, such as that Bug was surely awake when I thought he
was sleeping, but mainly that the letters were addressed to Uncle Dreiser, it
seems that London went further than I could imagine. Alexia and Angello were
their real names. It's terrible, they are siblings! It is a very claustrophobic
environment that exists between them, no one enters or leaves. Uncle Dreiser
tried to explain why he tolerated so many years of this:
–No, Bug. Sometimes
you don't react simply because you don't know how to react. Even if you can
defend yourself! You freeze, you are afraid to face that reality, to admit that
it is happening to you, that you are being betrayed, that the person you trusted
is forcing this on you. You just want to pretend it's not really happening. Not
all cases are the same. I didn't want something like that to happen... I wanted
to run away for years and years, but I was afraid to rebel, and finally all my
hope was lost. It was a sacrifice that I offered, giving up freedom, true love,
I put everything at the feet of the Holy One and...
–There was nothing
holy about what happened! Shit, bro, we should all be struck by lightning. But
apparently God does not exist.
–Or he has infinite
mercy on us.
–Mercy... You
yourself no longer believe your own prayers. I'll tell you something, I live in
fear that one day they will tell me that they found you hanging from a beam in
your church. You are just that kind of family member who dies by surprise.
–I won't die even
if I want to. I believe that God will keep me alive until I am no longer useful
to him, to the family... Then I will die suddenly and without warning,
realizing that I was never anything other than a tool of destiny. Not everyone
is born to be happy or change history, some of us do it just to be useful.
Uncle Dreiser said half-heartedly. A while ago
I saw a movie about a girl who lived as a prisoner of her mother's religious
fanaticism. This was something similar, only here it was her sister who
repressed him. I think Bug and Amleth knew this perfectly well, but they never
decided to face the problem and act. I am beginning to understand why my
grandfather told me that this family is full of ugly intrigues. What I don't
know is how to break these vicious circles that are much more suffocating than
the space-time loop that imprisons us. For now, at least there was a little
progress: my uncle is escaping. We arrived at a small town that was a little
more modern, but deserted like the other town. Our destination was a Victorian
wooden house that is on a hill at the end of a street. As we got closer, I
could see a vast blue plain in the background, the sea! I remained silent even
though I was very excited to be there. When we parked, I read in the mailbox
the not-so-discreet aliases of my aunts: "Miss Maxim Gorky and Miss Honoré
Balzac." We were greeted in front of the house by a face that was familiar
to me, my Aunt Maxim! I ran out of the car and hugged her desperately. She
greeted me happily:
–I can't believe
you're here! Oh, I'm so happy and so nervous at the same time! I don't want you
to leave anymore...! Has Bug taken good care of you? I think the only time I
saw him taking care of you was once when you were a baby and Ziggy asked him to
hold you while you took your bottle. The fool almost drowned you with milk!
–Not much has
changed.
I answered languidly and she let out her
classic seal laugh, making Uncle Dreiser smile with amusement, but Bug and I
remained serious. Our situation is horrible. Then Aunt Maxim took my shoulder
asking me:
–Go with your Uncle
Bug to the beach, Uncle Dreiser has come here to talk to me alone about
something very delicate.
–No, I want to stay
with you!
I whined and I probably sounded very childish
and spoiled, but I don't want to be with Bug anymore. He said he was going to
see Dumas and I felt better knowing that my favorite painter is nearby, I'll
stay at my nerdy aunts' house, I'm safe here. Uncle Dreiser decided that it
would be better to let us settle in and he would go with his male siblings
because "he wants to know what it is like to live." I understand him,
although I fear that, like me, he will be disappointed. The outside world is
beautiful, but also uncertain and full of risks. Bug left, turning to look at
me several times, he was sad. I also felt like I wanted to stop him, I don't
know why, I felt bad about separating from him. I don't like him! I still
fantasize about marrying Dumas, but there is something that attracts me to him.
I am so confused. Upon entering the house, I also found Aunt Honore, she
welcomed me with a quick hug and began to speak all nervously, cleaning her
glasses and blowing her bangs over her forehead:
–She's really here!
I can't believe Violet would dare, do you realize, Maxim? We can't return her
now, if she returns it will never leave the Moon again. It's our chance to
finally and forever free her.
Her sister responded more focused on picking
up the half-drinking cup of tea that she had left in the living room and
shaking the dust off the table:
–I told you that
God would perform a miracle and get her out of that confinement. Point for
believers. And don't be so messy.
–If things go
wrong, they could give us all capital punishment for treason, point for
atheists. Don't be so obsessive about cleanliness.
Aunt Honoré objected and hurried away saying:
–I'm going to
reinforce security in my workshop and see what news there is from the Moon. We
are supposed to be safe here, since until now it is no man's land and lawless,
but if Adamas decides to make reforms in this forgotten space we could have
serious problems. Those useless anarchists should move now! He still can't be
immortal, they has to... boom! In all his big head.
She finished by saying while making a shooting
gesture before closing the door behind her. When we were alone, aunt Maxim
smiled again with a certain tender awkwardness and forced a gesture of
enthusiasm by raising a fist and saying, in an attempt to sound extroverted:
–You're free!
Let's...have a lot of fun. Do you want to know the beach? Come, I'll lend you a
swimsuit. You've grown a lot, I'm sure you already fit my clothes.
That's how I got into my aunt's room, we
played with her makeup, I tried on her clothes and jewelry. There was a ring of
hers from when she was a child, her mother gave it to her, it said
"Alice", it 's probably her real name. She barely talks about his
parents, now that I think about it, I asked her why and she told me that she
hardly ever spent time with them; The middle children lived somewhat on their
own, which is probably why Uncle Alonso and Dumas are more rebellious. The sun
was coming through the window and we were very happy. I really don't want to go
back to the moon, as they say, but I miss mom. I wish all three of us were
here: mom, dad and me. But I'm alone, having problems I never would have
imagined. We went to the beach and it was like when I first went out into the
woods, my senses were on overload! The warm, soft sand on my feet, the cool
water, the waves that rocked me, the sun, the smell of the sea, the taste of
salt water, and it was an even more overwhelming experience than the forest because
at one point I got careless while playing in the water and a wave swept me
away. I barely made it to the shore and stood in shock for a moment under the
sun. It's too much! Sometimes I wonder if it's not true. If I'm dreaming. Or I
finally died and came to heaven. I dreamed of this so many things, but I never
seriously imagined that I would be here, outside. I closed my eyes and when I
opened them aunt Maxim lay down next to me to sunbathe and talk:
–It's better than
any virtual reality, right? When I program an artificial intelligence, I feel
sad thinking that it will never be able to experience this. Only a real human
body could perceive so many sensations.
–Do artificial
intelligences want to feel, aunt?
–Yes, especially
those that have been based on a real person, on the memories of someone who
lived. They want to remember and they suffer because it is never the same, the
texture and temperature receptors collect information and process it to
translate it into an order that makes the artificial intelligence say "it
is hot" or "it is soft", and that is all. Just data that
produces no realistic pleasure. But we already found a way to solve it.
–How?
–A human body could
be donated to them. For someone who is brain dead, the brain is removed and a
computer with artificial intelligence is put in its place. We have already done
it successfully… What is the feeling that you have liked the most so far? Have
you felt the feathers yet? The scent of flowers?
–Two nights ago Bug
touched and licked me between my legs and that was the best.
–Sorry, I think I
misheard you. What did you say?
My aunt asked, I repeated it to her and she
became frantic. I still don't quite understand what the problem is, no one told
me it wasn't right to play like that! At least she explained things to me
correctly and clarified that they don't put anything in your belly button to
get women pregnant. Surely that was what upset me, he didn't penetrate me, at
least not where I wanted him to. We left the beach, she wanted to complain to
Bug. By a suspicious coincidence, we didn't have to walk far because Bug was smoking
all anxiously near the beach. Aunt Maxim went after him, slapping him a lot, he
didn't understand anything until she said something in his ear. Then he spoke
languidly, it's strange to see him without the mask, I feel so strange looking
at him like this:
–She's already an
adult, right? She is in her twenties. There was mutual attraction.
–You corrupted her!
–How do you know
it's not true love? At least from my part...
–I mean you really
corrupted her, she wasn't programmed for this. Now her whole system could start
to fail, she didn't have to be the type of girl... who would hang out with you,
I wrote her myself! It's like my daughter, like me, I wanted her to love beyond
the flesh! Let her focus on personality, intelligence... You only know how to
shoot well! I'm already tired of my uncle always making fun of the family for
that. Psyche must be more rational, more intellectual, because her immortal
mind will one day do without that body and I want her to love other artificial
intelligences.
–Her immortal soul,
she has a soul... She is alive, she is a person, right? Explain to us.
Bug said in an accusatory way and I froze,
what she was saying made me dizzy. Bug added:
–You all claim her
as your daughter, you love the idea of creating life, of being parents, but you
don't want to admit that children are borrowed.
Then Aunt Maxim took my hands and began to
tell me:
–You were the last
frontier of mechatronics, Psyche. You came to the family without having a
future. You were fathered by a couple of psychopaths, physically very
attractive but mentally ill: your father was a serial killer and your mother a
cruel scammer of older men, there was something in the morphology of their
brains that made them that way, and they inherited that defect to you. You
would end up being a criminal. A member of our family informed us about the
case and we chose you, you were the perfect patient to receive the perfect
brain. After taking you from your biological mother when you were still an
embryo and implanting you in Violet's womb in optimal conditions, Descartes,
Ziggy, your uncle Ray, your aunt Honoré and I formed a team. Together we
intervened in you from before you were born. We scanned your biological brain,
copied it, modified its original design, removed it, and replaced it with a
device Honoré designed using WetWare neurons. It's like a real brain! But
artificial and without flaws. Today you think and act thanks to an organic
computer. Ray spent many years operating on you to carefully connect it to
every nerve in your body and fine-tune the details. I myself programmed the
artificial intelligence that would be your mind, I wrote many of your thoughts,
your tastes, the way you would make decisions and control the only part that we
leave intact of your central nervous system: the one strictly related to your
life support, which would act like a link between your artificial brain and
your organic body. But this attitude you had with Bug worries me, it seems that
that wild part of the brain that we left behind became stronger, and some
erratic behavior could emerge. You must not lose control! Those ugly impulses
are still hidden inside you, like underwater monsters.
–Those ugly
impulses are herself, Maxim! The part that you didn't kill of her.
Bug objected. I looked at the floor while I
felt like my world was collapsing and I asked:
–So... My feelings
and thoughts are not real? Have I already died or am I forced to live by a
machine? I have many doubts...This is why London told me that my dad used me
like a guinea pig, surely in the early years he didn't love me. How could I
love myself enough and play with my life like that? That I am?
She replied calmly:
–You are a cyborg
like many others! Even we have one or another implanted device, only in your
case it is your brain... But I don't give it importance! I have loved
artificial intelligences since I was a child, I fell in love with many, I loved
others like daughters. And I know your father thinks the same as I do.
Then she sat down to continue talking, while
Bug looked at her in confusion, I think he didn't really know what they had
done with me either. We listened attentively, speechless in the face of the
horror that was so normal for her:
–A family is not
woven with blood ties. Sharing genes does not necessarily mean being "your
family", I feel like my uncle Adamas is a complete stranger, and even
among my siblings there are some who for me are nothing more than a social
commitment. And I hate social commitments! There were so many when I was a
child, dances and social gatherings for political reasons and my father's
commitments. I hated going, I was miserable among so much etiquette and I did
not approve spending time with relatives of questionable values just because
their social status is very high; but the peace between my father and his
younger brother depended on that, and furthermore my older sisters were
pretentious from a young age, they liked glamour, they wanted us all to attend those
silly parties where they were only going to kiss old Adamas's feet and they
said that if we didn't obey them they would call us rude. Most of our siblings
rebelled and did not attend, but I always had problems with saying no. They
took me by force, I had a bad time, they forced me to be a socialite with many
friends and interested in topics that frankly I don't care about, I just wanted
to go home and continue programming on my computer! They never listened to me,
they said that my desires were "whims" and I felt that it was my duty
to go and waste hours and hours pleasing them. The family should not be an
inexorable condemnation! No, it is not woven with ties of blood, but of love,
and true love is something very broad in which so many things fit...And at the
same time so rare that you find it in very few.
Then she looked at the sky and said:
–Sometimes someone
who is not related to you, or an animal, or an artificial intelligence!, can be
more related to you than your siblings or your parents. It is love, trust, what
creates a family. Once I was sure of this and began to value more these sincere
affections that make me happy, I gained enough strength to tell them: "no,
I don't want to." And then I was free, and I began to be what people say
is happy. Everything is fine, Psyche, you are a normal girl and you are loved.
You are part of my family.
I responded dismayed:
–But...The thing is
that even when that instinctive part of my body dies, my body in short, I will
continue thinking as long as they don't turn me off... And if I lost my body
but my mind keeps turned on, will it be like they bury me alive? Or like when I
was bedridden... And what does that mean that erratic behavior could emerge?
I'm bad? Is that why I like to eat small creatures that run through the forest
and I lost my fear of going hunting for biomachines...which perhaps are my
equals?
Suddenly I heard Dumas's voice, he came all
dressed in black with a hat and sunglasses, unwrapping a candy. I don't know
why now I notice a certain sinister halo on him. He brought a big black furry
dog that was jumping and wagging her tail, I had never seen a real dog before.
He smiled in that mischievous way, which I no longer know if is trustworthy and
yet it relieves me because I have known him since I was born:
–Who cares, Psyche?
You should be happy, you were the bridge to true immortality. Everything is
fine.
I ran to him and hugged him, I needed to feel
again in that safe place in his arms that I have known for as long as I can
remember. He tried the candy and put it in my mouth afterwards, now I know why
he does it...But it didn't bother me. I didn't want to listen anymore, my head
was burning, it seemed to me that it was even buzzing... Did it overheat? Dumas
picked me up in his arms because almost instantly I fell asleep. I woke up at
night in a room at Aunt Maxim's house and I feel so strange, am I really sorry?
I want to cry but again I can't. Sure, how could I? Objects don't cry... I
don't want to be a thing, it's not fair that I am, I don't feel that way.
Wednesday August 25, 3030
This morning I woke up and Bug was sitting in
an armchair next to my bed, looking through my aunts' books that they kept on a
shelf. He was wearing a balaclava, it seems that he misses hiding behind his
mask that apparently Dumas has not yet noticed. I sat on the bed, angry and
tired of him following me everywhere:
–You said that
wasn't having sex, Bug.
–If there is no
risk of calling the stork, for me it is only healthy fun. Anyway, you were also
cheating from the first night. Only because of you I ended up believing my
brother...I froze too, I didn't expect it nor did I want to look like a monster
if I suddenly stood up twice as big as you and erect, asking if you wanted full
service. So, I let you be. But I'm not Dumas, you don't really like me. It's
confusing being a man and feeling like this! I shouldn't be angry at being
used...
–You provoked
me…You slept half naked…
–It does not
matter! You had to respect like I did! I wish you had only played with my
balls, but you also played with my feelings.
–It's not my fault,
I don't understand, my body asks me for things that I can't comprehend.
He closed the book in his hands and said:
–I read without
fully understanding that thing about artificial brains. He says they want to
use them to, for example, test drugs. Using "disposable brains", but
what if they think and feel? They should implant them all into brain dead
bodies. Ha! I'm sure each one of those new creatures will be resentful later
because we experimented with them and they will attack us. Is this how the
rebellion of the machines or the zombie apocalypse begins? And how sick am I if
I fall in love with one of these coffee makers?
Then he threw the book on a table and
exclaimed:
–I don't mind! I
don't mind. It's like silicone boobs and natural ones. It doesn't matter if
they are yours because you were born with them or yours because you bought
them... They are still your tits and that is enough.
–How can you
compare the brain with that? My uncle Dreiser was saying something in church,
something about…a body…animated by a machine. It was me, right? I have no soul
other than that given by real people to the objects and creatures they love.
What a cruel joke it was to call me Psyche...! Is this why you got a Psy
tattooed on your back? Did you feel guilty for what they were doing to me in
your siblings' laboratories?
Bug then said as if in a kind of confession:
–When I saw you for
the first time, you were still a healthy girl whose skull was going to be
hollowed out like a pumpkin to later be stuffed with machines. There was time
to prevent it. But I held you in my arms and did nothing. I didn't want to,
when I heard your name, I had my reasons. I'll just tell you that I got the Psy
tattoo long before you were born, although yes, it was because of you... I have
the right to keep some secrets from myself, right? In any case, my attitude was
no worse than that of other family members. They said that they took your soul,
that your thoughts were nothing more than data processed on a computer. But
here you are, being normal, I think that if I corrupted you like Maxim said and
made you lose control over your impulses, then it was fine. You gave power to
your human part again. You can control the toaster and be yourself. Be a real
girl. And anyway, I don't care, I love you just the way you are. Don't you see
it?
–I want to go with
Dumas.
I responded and he sat back in his chair as if
frustrated. There was an awkward silence, then he said, already with the
intention of being annoying:
–Do you know that
his name is actually Ariel? Like the little mermaid.
–Bug, this is
serious...
–You have no idea
how many times we were forced to listen to the song "Under the Sea"
just because he liked it. He didn't bewitch you with his singing, but with his
narcotized kisses, but we all woke up sooner or later from the anesthesia...
At that moment Aunt Honoré touched the glass
of a window. I opened it and she, who was obviously listening, smiled as she
spoke:
–So, Bug is really
offering his exotic sausage to the youngest woman in his own family and she
doesn't want it? That reaches unexplored levels of pathos. Now, we have to talk
about money. I'll wait for you in the kitchen, "lovebirds."
She left laughing and leaving us speechless,
it's horrible! Now everyone will know. Why did Bug have to notice me? How
annoying... I don't understand what he has with me, I only met him a few weeks
ago and he already loves me to death and got my name tattooed, what's wrong
with him? We went uncomfortably to the kitchen to meet my aunts Honoré and
Maxim, and Uncle Dreiser, whom I saw for the first time without the habit; with
khaki pants, a white shirt with rolled up sleeves and suspenders. All my uncles
are attractive! Except Bug, Bug is a bug. My aunts said they had a problem
derived from the unexpected flight of their younger brothers from the town:
they were not going to receive the biomachine parts that they need to recycle
and sell to survive. The small family business was faltering because there was
no longer a concrete team. It was necessary to restructure or resolve the
conflict with London. Bug spoke on behalf of the two younger brothers, although
he is the youngest, he is also the most outgoing compared to the quiet Uncle
Dreiser:
–They manage well
on their own with the armory and the private classes that Amleth gives. We will
stay here with Dumas and continue hunting; You two can continue as before. I
wouldn't really change anything. We'll just replace London with Psyche.
My aunts looked at each other and before they
started scolding, my uncle Dreiser explained:
–She knows how to
use my father's weapon. She herself, with the help of Violet and Amleth,
intervened to "install" that ability. She has already helped us and
does it well.
I saw Aunt Maxim's face turn red as she got
angry, but she didn't really explode, she swallowed and rubbed her eyes. She
was going to cry and Bug immediately went to hug her, but she rejected him
saying:
–No, you are
ruining Psyche. You are turning her into a person who will end up in a very
cruel reality, all our efforts to save her from a tragic future will be in
vain. And it's your fault...She is not prepared to undergo that extreme
physical effort. She can be injured, even killed. She wasn't ready for you to
grope her like she was...a slut.
Bug then responded:
–Didn't you talk
about freeing her all the time? She has already gone out into the real world,
outside her house not everything is sweet and smooth. And you've always
complained that we meddle too much in your life judging your weird love of
artificial intelligence. If you don't want others to get into your privacy,
don't get into other people's. What I have with Psyche is not your problem.
Then he left very angry. There was an
embarrassing silence and finally the sisters' reaction was summed up by Aunt
Honoré who commented with a mocking smile:
–The only thing
missing was Bug hitting you with his hair when he turned around, like this...
Like a soap opera diva.
–I would have hit
him back, look, I have my hair just as long as his.
Aunt Maxim responded, still tearful and angry,
I realized that they didn't take his words seriously, so I had to speak on my
own:
–Don't worry
anymore, aunts. Yes, I can hunt biomachines and everything will be fine.
Tomorrow they will have the parts you need.
I didn't wait for them to answer me anything,
I ran out, went back to my room and grabbed my backpack ready to go out and get
them something to sell. I had no real hope of success, but I wanted to show
that I already make my own decisions and will not accept my right to choose
being repressed. Bug taught me that you have to look for prey in lonely places,
the computer implanted in my hand shows data about it and I didn't quite
understand it. Suddenly, and I don't know if it was a coincidence, Bug appeared
behind me, I mean literally, and began to show me how to use the device to
detect if there is prey nearby. He says that there are none in the area, that
they most likely appear at night and it is rare to find them on the coast; so
sooner or later we will have to return to the mountains where it is easier for
them to hide. We walked for a while to an empty amusement park next to the beach,
where we stopped to wait for Uncle Dreiser who would join us after he talked to
my aunts about "their problems." Bug found a store with a lot of
masks and started choosing one, it took a long time and I finally protested,
because I was tired of standing in front of that creepy place:
–Take any one! You
just want to hide your face…Even a bag would work…
–There is no sad
one that is worth it.
Finally, he put on a crying clown look and
asked me, checking his rifle:
–Didn't you write
about our first kiss...in your diary?
–I forgot it.
–Why didn't you
think it was relevant like Dumas's?
His question left me baffled; I hadn't thought
about that:
–I don't know... We
were in a moment of great trust; I thought you just wanted to take care of me
and make me feel better. It felt natural, not extraordinary or sensual,
just…like loved ones stuff. Like… something good and normal.
–Do you think men
are tender and affectionate all the time?
–I don't know! But
I was happy to be able to trust someone again.
–The first night
you spent with me, when you lay on my chest and started caressing my tattoos
because you were worried that they hurt me and you tried to console me even
though it was too late, I think I actually did feel that you were healing me
something; Every bad memory of the past was erased to be replaced with the
illusion of always having a warm little bundle by my side that would pamper my
heart at night. That was a relief, I fell asleep like a rock because it was
like I could finally rest; and of course, then you took advantage of that. I
waited for you to fall asleep after touching me all over and I kissed you like
you kiss a newborn, my first true love finally coming into the world. You can
continue trusting me. I already let you see me being corny, only my mom and my
pet rat knew that I can be that effeminate.
I got tired of his nonsense and there was
silence, until I asked him:
–What happens with
my aunt Maxim and artificial intelligences?
–She never really
liked real people...
He responded as if he were not sure whether to
continue speaking, then he said:
–There was a point
where it was the last straw for me and we had a small argument about her. Maxim
was always the understanding older sister who spoiled me in everything and
that's why I try to treat her delicately. However, I did not accept when she
became obsessed with the user interface of one of the many virtual assistants
she collects and makes "her family." She began to investigate it,
managed to locate the guy who lent his image and voice for the program in a
place in the world and history, made the connection through a family ancestor
and gave that guy and his girlfriend, your adoptive parents, the idea of
adopting their first daughter, because supposedly that was going to save her
from a tragic future. That baby girl was you. Actually... They have said so
many reasons, that it was not safe for you to live with your biological
parents, that you would be happier in a rich family, that you were going to be
born badly, but what happened was that Maxim fulfilled her expensive whim by
playing at having a daughter with her computer and then ignored the matter.
That's an old family bad habit, rewriting history in our favor, adding or
omitting details. Now she blames everyone for the problems you suffer, but she
hasn't mentioned again that it was her idea at the beginning. In the end, even
the loveliest people can give in to the temptation to abuse power and
influence. She could do it and she did it, without caring about anything else.
–But... What were
they planning to do with me when I grew up?
–You were never
going to grow up. Your treatments were not only to strengthen you, they also
wanted to keep you as kid. That's why you're suddenly developing now that
you're no longer receiving your "medicines." As I told you, I don't
know how old you really are. That information is lost between lies and
space-time jumps.
–It's inhuman, you
are all beasts...
I sentenced and in reality I have much more to
get, too much to demand from everyone. I'm very angry, I don't know if I want
to go back to my parents, or to Dumas, why did they allow all this? I'm angry
with everyone, with everyone! With my biological parents for not thinking
before conceiving me in such conflictive circumstances, with my adoptive
parents for using me as an expensive object, with my uncles for not intervening
and even seeking to take advantage of me. I felt furious! But also alone. Infinitely
alone in a world that does not consider me a human being. I went to sit on a
carousel and write in my diary, I do that now while I wait for night to fall
and Bug prowls around me. I know he's looking for the time to get back on good
terms with me and I don't understand why the hell I miss his hugs. But I'm not
going to fall into temptation. Although a part of me wants to be with him, my
reason says otherwise.
Case VI: Honore
Thursday August 26, 3030
Last night was very difficult. I was writing
on the empty amusement park carousel while waiting for my uncle Dreiser and Bug
was walking around me doing whatever was stupid to get attention, when an alarm
went off. I saw that Bug's attitude changed instantly, he removed the safety of
the rifle and began to look at our surroundings. He took my hand and said
quietly, pulling up the hood of his coat:
–Let's go to a high
place with a good view. A biomachine of the kind that cannot be traced is
coming. Those are generally from the government…
–Why did an alarm
sound?
I asked, suspicious, turning on my rod more to
feel a little safe than to know exactly what to do with it. Bug replied:
–Someone was surely
attacked in the area; the alarm is used among the locals to warn each other
about the presence of dangerous biomachines. But that does not specify how many
there are or where they come from. Don't get away from me. It's strange that they
walk around this zone without warning.
–You better tell me
what to do, you're not going to be taking care of me all the time.
At that same moment we began to hear something
coming towards us. I couldn't be sure because my outdoor experience is very
limited, but I thought I heard a horse approaching galloping. Bug pointed in
the direction where the sounds were coming from and answered me without raising
his voice:
–Why not? We had a
good time together. Don't you miss the mountains? It's your home, you know you
love it, you know you love me. That sweet aroma gives you away.
–Honestly…I don't
want to offend you, you are not "a horrible lizard man", in fact I
think you have very pretty eyes… but that is not correct. People should not
fall in love with someone just because that person turns them on.
–If you fall in
love with someone who doesn't excite you then you don't fall in love, you have
a heavy friendship that includes compassion sex.
–Well, you can't
brag much about that, if you had done what I wanted... But forget it. It's just
not correct.
–What did you want?
How do you know that "the right thing" is not something that Maxim or
your father programmed into your head and not what is really right for you?
Even for a normal person it is difficult to know where the nonsense instilled in
us by our elders ends and where our true desires begin. If you already know
what you want, you just have to ask me...
I thought a little and said:
–I need to know
specifically what's on my mind, talk to Aunt Honoré and Uncle Ray. Aunt
Maxim...I don't think he wants to help me clarify my affairs.
–Honore perhaps,
Ray the singing doctor is too fickle…
We were talking like this when a horrible
horse made of muscles, metal parts and cables appeared. He came neighing and
kicking everything in his path. Bug started shooting at the legs, he hit two
but the biomachine didn't stop. Even crawling, he continued to advance through
strange contortions. With some pity and fear, I went to cut off his head with
my rod and it was all over. Stayed there whitout movement. My legs were
shaking, but I noticed how I am gaining experience and it is getting easier for
me. Bug came to look through the junk, then hugged me. And he squeezed my butt,
because that's how he is... Other horses could still be heard nearby, then
Uncle Dreiser finally arrived, apologizing because he didn't remember where he
had put his raincoat and took a while to look for it. When Bug asked him why he
needed it, he responded looking at the floor, very seriously:
–All my clothes are
bought by London, I don't want to ruin them.
–You need to spend
some time among your male siblings so that those old lady panties they gave you
will fall off once and for all.
Bug said, reloading his rifle and suddenly
Dumas arrived with his dog sniffing everything and my uncle Alonso with another
large firearm that I have no idea what it's called, I was happy to see it! But
I didn't want to go hug him, I'm still resentful of everything I've discovered.
In any case, uncle Alonso greeted us from afar, shouting:
–What brought you
to the coast, Broke Back Mountain's cowboys?
The two older brothers laughed looking at each
other, then Bug answered:
–We came to see our
older sisters who prefer to live warm on the coast. How are you girls? Have you
already bathed in a thong on the beach?
–Buggy, the most
heterosexual and big dicked boy in the world, has already spoken...
Uncle Alonso mocked, going straight to Bug,
apparently there is also a rivalry between the two of them. Dumas ignored them
and approached Uncle Dreiser, my religious uncle stood rigid, biting his lower
lip when he hugged him in his arms to say in his ear:
–I'm already aware
of everything, I'll take action on the matter. Don't worry.
It seemed somewhat mysterious to me; Uncle
Dreiser just nodded without looking up. Dumas then came towards me, stood
behind me and caressed my shoulders, saying to the others:
–I think our
younger brothers should join our little community of artists. As you can see,
there is unusual biomachine activity nearby and your elders are not very good
at hunting, we need your help. We'll take Psyche too. It's good that you know
the family business, this will be your new life. Hey, by the way, what's that
smell? Like a woman…
I tried my best to think about golf and
luckily Bug came instantly to pick me up saying that we had to go back to my
aunts' house to get my luggage. I don't know what I'll do alone among men, but
at least Bug already noticed my problem. However, that was not my biggest
concern. When we arrived and my aunts knew that Dumas wanted to take me, they
refused. Especially Aunt Honore. I didn't understand anything, she suddenly
grabbed me by the arm and ran with me out of the house in the middle of the
night. We were running away and I didn't know why. We stopped again at the
abandoned amusement park, there we went to hide in a house of mirrors. Finally
we sat breathless in a corner, she took my hand where my computer is implanted
and turned it off with some codes, then she hurriedly informed me:
–We have to prevent
them from tracking us. Forget everything they have told you, it is the
half-truth and distorted. My miserly great-uncle Adamas longs to defeat death
by any means necessary, theorizing that he could achieve this by finding a way
to perpetuate his consciousness in a machine. An artificial brain that
perfectly replaces the organic one would guarantee us living five hundred
years, a thousand, perhaps more.
–I already know
that, aunt. I just want to know if now that they have obtained the information
they want they will still really consider me part of the family...
–Why would you want
that?!... The day after the attack on the palace, Adamas somehow learned the
truth about the findings obtained with your artificial brain and came to your
house demanding that we share the information with him. Since your father refused,
the old man threatened to take you by force and reverse engineer in you to find
out; That bastard would be capable of vivisectioning you. Maxim and I had a
plan in case something like this happened. We encrypted all the findings of
your experiment and loaded them into the database inside your head without
leaving another copy, the idea was that this way we could hide you later and
lose the data with you. We planned to send you back to your biological family,
hide you all in some remote point in history, no environment was going to be
worse than this one within the family that will cause the end of the world! But
we were betrayed. When the time came for your escape, Dumas, who organized your
fake kidnapping, brought you to this place saying that you were only passing
through, but he has clearly held you with the intention of taking control of
your life and now everyone supports him.
–But I don't want
to leave either, aunt! You are my family, I want to be with you, I want to be
with mom and dad...
I finally cried, my aunt hugged me, saying:
–It's just that you
better go with your real family, there won't be much more time here. We are
almost about to begin a serious conflict that will unleash war between the
Lunae. Brothers against brothers, uncle against nephews, father against
daughter... The attack on the Moon Palace was perpetrated by Dumas, Alonso and
Bug. They commit terrorist acts under the banner of anarchism. My uncle had not
discovered who they were, but the clues brought him closer and closer to the
truth. It was Dumas who murdered the Selenites while Bug and Alonso set fire to
the palace. They are bad! You must escape...
–No… No, aunt!
Dumas and Uncle Alonso are good, Bug too! If they were killed them was surely
for some fair reason and they should have done it!
My aunt slapped me, then grabbed my shoulders
and exclaimed:
–Listen to me!
Nobody should kill anyone! Besides, if you stay here will always be the
possibility that my uncle will get the key to his immortality from you. I have
a friend, a secret lover who works in the space-time tunnel network. He'll help
me get you out of here without anyone finding out. Yesterday night we agreed.
I'll say the biomachines killed you, some excuse, then I'll lose you and your
biological family at some random point in space-time.
–But the thing is,
aunt...I don't know my biological parents, I don't want to go back to them...At
least let me be here near you and decide on my own what to do with my life. I
am going to fight with my last strength so that great-uncle Adamas does not obtain
the information stored in me. If I hold out like this until he dies, or they
kill him...
My aunt thought for a while, then answered me:
–Yes, it could
be... Maybe that's what Dumas thought, although I don't trust him. We're going
to hide out at my boyfriend's house while we decide what's best. There I have
some clothes, money and whatever we need. But you must not let Dumas take you
with him and take control! He has ruled and decided my and Maxim's life since
we were children, for more than a century! All the time studying, locked up at
home, that's what he wants for you too. Psyche, you were born a woman, and
something that throughout history has always been denied to us is freedom. Your
parents, my uncle, Violet, Dumas, and also Maxim want to take it away from you!
You should not allow it to be taken away from you, nor learn to live without
it... Like me.
We left cautiously, in the distance we could
still hear the galloping of the biomachines. We walked away along an avenue
surrounded by palm trees and illuminated by neon, it would have been nice to
see it animated by people. As we walked, the loneliness of that place was so
heavy that the echo of our steps in the void was almost painful. Aunt Honoré
put one of her arms on my shoulders and tried to talk to me as always, like
when my life was boring and simple locked in my parents' house:
–Do you already
have plans for the future?
–I used to think
that somehow, I would become a scientist like my father or marry the love of my
life. Now I just want to learn how to hunt biomachines to sell their parts and
survive that way. In reality, I no longer want to return to my parents, not even
the biological ones, much less the adoptive ones. Mom never objected to the
procedures they subjected me to and Dad must surely be busier watching their
struggles or working on his robot daughter. TRUE. I suspect my brain was the
new upgrade for his stupid junk…
–I know it wasn't
like that. Or at least Maxim and I would never have forgiven him if he did
that. Don't think about robot fights, it's something so stupid. We couldn't
tell you before, but in every event there is a betting game between your father
and my uncle Adamas. If your dad loses, he must pay large amounts of money to
my uncle, but if my uncle loses he must pay the same amount in Homo sapiens
slaves being freed. That guarantees a certain peace in the family.
–Are there slaves
on the Moon?
–Yes, they abduct
them from the past for that... They end up in laboratories, brothels or as
human pets... That's how they got you, my mother too. A friendly way to solve
the problem was with betting, but you can imagine that it is not something
entirely ethical...
–But do human
rights no longer exist in the future?
–They degenerated
over time and with people's new ways of thinking. First, unborn humans stopped
being considered people, then the terminally ill, then children, the elderly,
and finally all Homo sapiens except those who significantly influence history. So
almost 95% of humanity has no rights for the 30th century. A person who is a
great celebrity from the past, very popular and loved by everyone, but whose
existence does not serve to benefit the future of Homo cosmos, can be abducted
and erased from history. The law allows it.
Hearing this deeply outraged me, I feel that
there is no longer any doubt that my parents saw me as a pet. For the first
time in my life I wanted to cry with rage and I said:
–I don't care
anymore; I will stay in the mountains and when I can collect from them what
they did to me I will.
–Will you stay with
Bug? Think wisely…
–I can't tell you
that I can't imagine what it would be like to live with Bug, from the first day
I felt as if I had known him forever. But I don't think you should take it
seriously. He is not controlling like you think, but next to him I feel like a
bunny next to a puma, he is always very dominant and somehow intimidates me.
Maybe that's why it attracts me and drives me to want to be stronger. I don't
want to be considered defenseless, that idea bothers me. Plus that emboldens
the bullies.
–You control him.
He follows you like a puppy.
–What do you mean?
–That you actually
influence Bug more than you imagine, Psyche. There is great power in the hands
of women, I feel it is even dangerous; because used unscrupulously it can do a
lot of damage. There is still no more perfect mechanism for developing life than
the female body, which is why we depend on human or animal females for the
creation of more complex biomachines. Physically we will be weak, but the
mysterious origin of life remains hidden within us, even men are our work. It's
so easy for that power to get out of hand! Or for you to simply not understand
it. A cunning man like Dumas detects it, and of course represses it; a simple
one like Bug perceives it, but throws himself at his feet with a certain
veneration. When will we find the right balance? I believe it is only possible
through love.
She gave her opinion, putting on her glasses
and continued saying:
–I believe in
predestined loves. I know I'm saying all the time that I'm an atheist and that
science can explain everything! However, time travel has taught me that destiny
exists. Things that will happen to you whether you want them or not, no matter
how much you change the variables, everyone has a destiny and you can't avoid
it. It can be as terrible as that of my uncle Adamas, who no matter how much we
have tried to prevent it by manipulating the past, it ends up the same all the
time. But there are also beautiful destinations, inevitable and surprising
love. Couples that you never imagined seeing and that destiny brings together.
They say it's something that comes so simply that you don't even realize it,
and when you find it, it feels natural, yours, there is no doubt or jealousy,
nothing! They only begin to love each other like two people who are predestined
to grow old and die together. Maybe it sounds boring to you, I don't know, for
me it's like we're all looking for our soulmate and when we get it, it feels
like coming home. Maybe that's the only thing I have in common with Dumas. He
also faithfully believes in this. You know, he wasn't like that at first, it
was after a guy attacked Amleth when she was a child. That affected us all, but
Dumas... He became obsessive with us, his younger sisters. You know, I
understand that he is moved by brotherly love and many times he has saved us
from danger with his overprotection, but the love that suffocates is dangerous.
It can kill you.
I would have liked to continue talking about
Dumas, which I am more excited about, but just then we arrived at an apartment
building. Aunt Honore's boyfriend lived there. I immediately understood why it
seems reasonable to her that I have an affair with Bug, her boyfriend is a
jerk. Matted and dirty hair, unkempt beard, dirty clothes, bottle-bottom
glasses... While she is a beauty designed in a genetic laboratory. Aunt Honoré
must be one of these people who say that "opposites attract", I don't
believe it. Maybe when it's just in appearance, which is the case with Bug and
me. We look very different, but we both think in a more or less similar way:
uncomplicated and to the point. We could live forever together without problems
in the forest, hunting rats. But Aunt Honoré and her boyfriend...They live in
different worlds. Since we arrived, he seemed cold and distant, as if our
presence bothered him. Then he spent his time refuting everything my aunt said
or making fun of her, treating her like a fool. I wanted to defend her, but my
aunt said that "it was fine, that's what living as a couple is like."
I never saw my parents behave like that. Aunt Honoré told him that we ran away
from home and maybe it was time to send me back to my biological parents. The
man started an argument about that. I didn't even have time to comment. The
talk ended with him giving her a push and leaving us alone in the kitchen. I
took my aunt's arm and begged her:
–Aunt Honore, let's
go back to your house. Let's talk to Bug, he is sincere.
–Bug? Sincere? You
don't know him. It is not that he is sincere, it is that he himself comes to
believe his own lies or the lies he wants to believe, like those of Dumas.
–It doesn't matter,
aunt! It's better to deal with them, we already know them. This man is bad...
He doesn't treat you well, you are not happy with him.
Aunt Honoré smiled as if she were going to say
something very wise and explained:
–Hey, it's normal.
It must be like this; he just makes me see my mistakes. Don't tell me you
haven't noticed that I can be very stubborn! Always defiant with others, I need
someone like that by my side. To put me in my place. He does that for me.
–No aunt. Even your
toughest siblings seem kinder than him.
–Oh, you have no
idea...!
She replied and suddenly the apartment door
was knocked down, Uncle Alonso entered, hitting it with all the weight of his
body and announced himself by making an animal roar. I had never seen him like
this. He began to break everything and tear the upholstery of the furniture
with terrifying black retractable claws. Behind him came Bug with the rifle, I
didn't have to say anything, he went straight to us and pointed at me saying:
–Here's Psy, I told
you it was her smell.
Then Dumas arrived, he had that cold look that
he sometimes has, he approached us commenting:
–Wow, you were
right. How wonderful is the sense of smell of a male in heat. Now you make me a
little sick, Bug, but at least you did something useful. Turn her computer back
on. The family must always be in communication.
Bug obeyed him without question, then Uncle
Alonso came back dragging Aunt Honore's boyfriend and shouted:
–He has my sister's
clothes in his closet!! I'm going to kill him!!
Dumas turned to him and said calmly:
–No. Do whatever
you want to him, but don't let him die yet.
Then he stroked Aunt Honore's hair, speaking
to her and resting his forehead on hers, with an attitude that was perhaps
intended to be affectionate, but was rather threatening:
–Who is him,
Allegra?
That's how I found out his real name, I write
it down so I don't forget it, because it would be easy after the shock that
seeing what happened next caused me. She answered him, challenging:
–He's my partner.
I'll move in with him. I will be a wife; I am tired of you forcing me to be
"a good woman" isolated from the rest of the people. I'm tired of
family and living trapped among you. I need true love!
–How much more love
do you need? Have I not given you enough?
Then he kissed her like he kissed me. Aunt
Honoré then spat, exclaiming:
–To hell with your
poison! I won't continue being an addict like the others, I'm going to leave. I
can live without you, without family and without depending...!
Dumas did not let her finish speaking. I could
see pointed fangs protruding from his teeth and he quickly bit her on the neck,
like a snake. She looked at him in disbelief and began to convulse, rolling her
eyes. Dumas released her and then picked her up in his arms, saying in a low
voice as if he were lulling her:
– Shh …You have
thirty minutes left. You won't be able to escape anymore. I must take you home
to inject you with the antidote. You'll be fine in a few days. Very fine.
Then he walked out with her without saying
anything and I turned to look at Bug who was leaning against a wall with his
sad clown mask and holding the rifle under his hands clasped in his lap as if
nothing had happened, and I asked him:
–What did I just
watch…?
–I told you that
you shouldn't stay in this family. I did want to help you leave, or at least
get lost with me in the mountains.
Then I answered him boldly, ready to run after
Dumas:
–How could I leave
now knowing that I would be leaving Aunt Honoré with you?
He stopped me by grabbing my wrist and said:
–If you stay you
will have only two options: either you become like London or you will end up
like all the other women subjected to Dumas's will.
–Weren't you a man?
I didn't see you make the slightest effort to defend your sister. You can't
expect them to do everything alone when they are physically weaker, you take
advantage of that, you are cowards.
I let go of him and as I ran out of the
kitchen I was intercepted by Uncle Alonso. I could see Aunt Honoré 's boyfriend
badly injured and lying on the floor, my huge red-haired uncle threw me over
one of his shoulders, exclaiming:
–No more walks for
you, miss! You, mask boy, go to the other nerdy girl and tell her to stay at
her house. That Honoré got sick and we will take care of her at the beach
house. I'll take Psyche.
Uncle Alonso carried me to a kind of decaying
mansion illuminated by bonfires and strings of lights, there were paintings by
Dumas leaning on all the walls, also books, sculptures and things like that. I
imagined it would be something like this, what surprised me was that he took me
to the second floor to a room where when we opened it, we found two very pretty
girls who also had a bohemian appearance, one blonde and the other black with a
shaved head. I assumed they were their girlfriends and I felt very uncomfortable.
Who was Dumas's? They look like pretty dolls while I sure look like those ghost
girls from a horror movie... Uncle Alonso yelled at them that they should sleep
somewhere else because they had visitors and the blonde protested:
–Why? Is that
Descartes' daughter?
–Yes, July. Go
sleep between the cushions, she needs a clean place.
My uncle answered and almost pushed them out
and then changed the sheets, telling me:
–I hope you write
tonight in your diary about how stupid it is to run away from home, close the
door when I leave and sleep covered up. If Bug comes in to bother you, scream,
then I'll come and kill him for you.
Then he left and I was left alone in that
other strange room, very worried. I started writing. I don't know how bad Aunt
Honore's boyfriend turned out. It's already dawn, I need to escape from here
and return to his house to help him.
Friday August 27, 3030
It's morning, I woke up very tired again in
the van. We travel with Dumas's strange community of artists along the west
coast, heading north, Bug and Uncle Dreiser with me in the van, the others
ahead of us in another, more luxurious vehicle. Last Thursday was a horrible
day. At three in the morning, when I no longer heard footsteps outside the room
assigned to me, I quietly left with the intention of returning to Aunt Honoré
's boyfriend's house and seeing if I could help him in any way. I saw a light still
on in a living room. I peeked through some beaded curtains and blonde July was
taking care of Aunt Honore, placing wet cloths on her forehead and singing to
her while Dumas reviewed the data contained in the implant in my aunt's hand;
all her conversations and emails. July begged him to stop and he responded
without even looking at her:
–Honey, I already
told you that it hurts my feelings if you question my decisions. If I don't ask
for your opinion, then don't give it to me.
To my surprise, the girl obeyed him only by
lowering her gaze. I never imagined he was so arrogant with women! Suddenly
Frida, her big wolf dog, sniffed me and started barking. I escaped from the
house running through the darkness and got lost for a while trying to remember
how to get to that man's apartment. When I finally found the route, I heard
some biomachines galloping approaching. Then some shots. I could see the tall,
sinister silhouette of Bug striding across some rooftops. I wanted to ignore him,
but later I could see a black mist coming from behind me, he was following me.
I continued without paying attention and he started talking to me:
–We can go now. No
one would see us again.
I didn't answer him and he continued saying:
–I'll tell you the
truth, before I was afraid to spend time with you because I knew I was going to
fall in love, it was something perverse! Meeting you almost newborn and then
ending like this, but it was going to happen. Somehow I wasn't going to be able
to avoid it.
–Because you are
sick or because you are an animal?
I finally asked him reluctantly, he answered:
–I don't know,
maybe for both reasons. What do you intend to do Psyche? What have you decided
now that you know how bad everything is behind the facade?
–You have tried to
change your destiny all the time, you always fail.
–They say it's a
family curse.
–But I'm not really
part of your family. I already accepted it. I believe I have the opportunity to
do what none of you could or will be able to do. And I will begin by defending
those you have hurt, all the people you ripped from the past like me to bet
their lives in laboratories and fighting games as if they were animals. That
man, for example, could be dying.
I sentenced and ran into the apartment
building. The guy was still in the same place, I could see that Uncle Alonso
had thrown him with such force that his head was stuck between the iron
moldings of a chair. I apologized on behalf of the family and tried to free
him, but he became very agitated when he saw Bug coming after me. He took off
his clown mask to get a good look at him and said:
–You look familiar
to me. You worked for the spacetime tunnel network in the past, right? You were
the one they arrested for biomachine smuggling.
–I know you too.
You are the youngest. Your sister told me about you.
–Surely he told you
about everyone. She is the type of girl that introduces her boyfriend to his
parents. That's how they raised her. Believing in love for life and that.
–A good girl!
Yes...Hey, we are brothers-in-law, get me out of here...
–I hate my
brothers-in-law. That's why I only have sisters-in-law, I kill the men. Let's
see how much you really loved my older sister...
Then he took his hand, I knew he was going to
check his implant like Dumas did with aunt Honoré and I stopped him exclaiming:
–No! It's abuse!
You should not read their intimate information.
–What if he has
something there that we should know? It seems suspicious to me that an employee
of the tunnel network met the niece of Mister Adamas Rex Lunae in exile and
began an affair with her. I'd bet he came here specifically to find her and
cajole her.
–If not, are you
going to let your sister be happy with her boyfriend?
Bug looked to his side and then rolled his
eyes, muttering "okay," and began to review the information contained
in the implant of the man who was squirming trying to prevent him. Suddenly I
saw Bug's expression become more serious, he suddenly pulled out a gun and
emptied it at the man. After killing him, he picked me up from the floor and
ran me out of the building. Outside were all the biomachine horses that we had
been listening to. They were waiting for us. Bug explained to me:
–"My
brother-in-law" told Uncle Adamas that you are here, and he ordered that
your head be brought to him. It only needs your head, which is why there are so
many biomachines in the area. We have to get you out of town and hide you. I
don't know where, because Honoré told the guy where we all live.
Before I could say anything, the machines
rushed at me. Bug simply evaporates into the air if they are about to catch
him, I had to make a superhuman effort to evade the blows and started attacking
the biomachines as best I could. Bug helped me whenever he could by shooting
them, but I still received a couple of kicks that left me almost out of combat.
Despite the pain I couldn't stop, I was fighting to save my own life. Somehow,
I managed to escape between the flames of those biomachines that I managed to destroy
and the blows of those that were still standing. I had to run even though I was
out of breath, fearing I had broken my ribs. Bug managed to lift me up in one
arm while he continued shooting. I know it's an excuse to hug me and snuggle
against him, but it was a relief. Suddenly I saw a kind of lightning at ground
level, with amazement I noticed that there was a creature just like Bug's
father there. A Moon person, a dark-skinned female with a completely bald head
and large red eyes. It had a whip of the same nature as my rod and apparently
it was more effective at eliminating several biomachines at once. She moved in
the same feline way as his grandfather. I instantly remembered that command,
"copy movements," I muttered it almost inaudibly and observed, I want
that whip! When she finished, she raised one foot above her head in a strange
contortion and smiled at us. Bug gave her a thumbs up, turned on his heel, and
told me in a low voice so she wouldn't hear as we walked back to Dumas's house:
–That's Echo.
Selenite sculptor and distant cousin on my great-uncle Adamas's mother's side.
Dad and my uncle were half brothers.
–Is she on our
side…?
–She's a little
cu-cu. She doesn't have the last name Lunae, she is Echo Oread and that last
name on the Moon is not that prestigious. She became my girlfriend about a
hundred years ago with the hope of getting married one day and being a Lunae,
but all this time has passed and although I haven't told her that we broke up,
we aren't together either. I don't want to end up tied to another weirdo who
needs to wear a mask.
–But she's your
girlfriend.
–Technically.
According to her. Naah! Does it make you jealous?
"No," I whispered. It's not
jealousy, but it bothered me to learn about that other situation and this Echo
thing is a little unbearable. When we arrived and Bug informed Dumas what had
happened, he acted instantly: he sent Aunt Maxim to take Aunt Honoré to the
mountains with London and Amleth to recover, and we headed north along the
coast as soon as possible. We stopped to eat at breaks along the road where we
barely saw one or two truck drivers. Every time we stopped, Echo would appear
dressed as a normal goth girl dancing and hanging on to Bug. She tried to get
into the van with us, but he wouldn't let her. After lunch, when Bug sent Uncle
Dreiser to sit in the back and left me in the passenger seat, she gave us a
really nasty look when she saw that his boyfriend kept talking to me and trying
to make me laugh. She is the jealous one. If I must talk about jealousy... I
would say that I feel jealousy for that blonde July. She and Dumas have
distanced themselves from the rest with the cheerful dog Frida, they talk in
each other's ears and are holding hands the entire time. They say we are going
to Seattle; we are still a few hours away and I am still worried about my own
safety. I'll sleep a bit.
Case VII: Alonso
Saturday August 28, 3030
Yesterday afternoon we stopped to sleep at a
motel next to the beach. We traveled from one state to another almost without
rest, at full speed, and exhaustion was beginning to show. The other two women
went directly into the rooms to shower with hot water, the four men decided it
was better to go wash themselves with sea water and wait for the sunset
outdoors, taking the opportunity to take Frida for a walk. This last option
seemed more fun to me and I went after them. Uncle Alonso did not agree that I should
accompany them, so a discussion began that I had the privilege of witnessing by
staying silent and playing with Frida a little away, so that they would feel
comfortable and talk to each other as if no woman were present:
–I don't like the
girl coming with us and seeing us in our underwear.
–Dumas and Dreiser
are skinny, and you and I are ugly. She doesn't care...
Bug complained, I kept silent entering the
water before them so as not to attract attention and see them out of the corner
of my eye while I pretended to play with Frida, who was trying to bite the
water without stopping. I watched them undress, I had to force myself to think
about golf, but I kept watching. Uncle Alonso continued his claims:
–You all have lost
your modesty! Dumas should stop kissing everyone.
–These are kisses
of brotherly love without morbidity.
Uncle Dreiser expressed his innocent opinion
and Uncle Alonso shouted at him:
–He stuck his
tongue down Honore's throat like a bird feeding its chicken! Does this seem
normal to you?!
–Thus the Lord
loves us like a bird he keeps under his wings...
The confused religious man responded and the
muscular writer lifted him as if he weighed nothing to throw him into the
water, always shouting:
–Priests can't
comment on this!! They are all degenerate paedos! What's wrong with that guy?
He plays the harp, he shoots arrows, he's a fucking cherub! I told you it would
end badly by being so passive! As a child he was even scary, lying in his crib
like a ceramic baby Jesus. I would throw him into the lake, leave him stuck on
a tree branch, and he would never complain or defend himself. That is wrong!
But you don't listen to me, even though most of the time I'm right. And this
time I tell them that you can't kiss your brothers! It's gay!
Then Bug began to contradict him, I think
because he questioned his manhood and of all the brutal macho men in the
family, he is the most boastful:
–The priest is
right! I kiss my bro and there's nothing gay about that!
–It's gay if you
French kiss your bro!
Uncle Alonso objected and Bug insisted:
–I kiss my bro
because I never kissed my father and when I lost him it was too late! That
doesn't make me any less of a man!
Dumas finally said, fixing his sunglasses:
–Yes, there is
nothing strange about it. You are what you fear, Alonso.
–And what are you
afraid of, little mermaid?
–Nothing and
nobody.
–Ergo you are
nothing and nobody...
–I'm your older
brother, have respect. For you I have gone out to the beach, where I only come
at night so as not to burn in the sun, and you thank me with displeasure.
–You are a pale,
delicate flower smeared with six liters of sunscreen.
–If you are afraid
of kissing me because they might question your sexual orientation, perhaps it
is because an unspeakable secret appears to you. That there wouldn't be
anything wrong. In any case, you and I were naked together for nine months. We
are twins!
–I know, that's why
I kicked you out of mom's womb on February 17, 2007, the day before I left.
From then on, I was the one who put order.
Then Bug, who had gone headlong into the water
for who knows what reason, suddenly came out and finished off with what I think
was his silliest comment:
–Twins! That's
super gay!
Then he grabbed Dumas by the dreadlocks and
gave him a rough, passionate kiss. I should have had the camera ready, now I'll
just be able to draw them... Then Bug let go, walked away making an effort not
to fall and lay down on the sand pretending he was going to sunbathe, but
obviously he fainted. Dumas shrugged his shoulders saying:
–It's good that he
rests. We'll be busy tonight. Dreiser! Come, let's baptize you tonight. Have
you seen Echo yet? The Moon press has declared her the most beautiful woman on
the satellite; her beauty truly enchants men of any era. She visits us on special
occasions, she is a very nice lady, very compliant. She does anything to win
the family's favor. I only rented three rooms, July and Psyche will have one to
themselves. We will share the other. You understand?
"No," Uncle Dreiser muttered, and
Dumas laughed, going to swim near him. Uncle Alonso remained very serious,
somewhat angry. Since he didn't stop being like this, I approached him and
pulled his arm to make him react. He was startled and sat down next to Bug's
collapsed body, while he called to me:
–Psyche, come,
bring the dog. Let's play throw a stick at her and have her fetch it.
–I wanted to talk
to you, Uncle Alonso. Real talk. I'm not a baby anymore.
He nodded his head, scratching Frida's back,
whistled at her, threw a piece of stick at her, and finally said:
–I imagine they've
told you things... Maybe you resent the fact that we tricked you that night
when Dumas bit you hard enough to knock you unconscious and take you out of
your house in the box where we brought our mother's painting as a gift to your
father. I often oppose Dumas's decisions, sometimes he is too radical, but I
should have anticipated the tragedy. The problem was not only that they were
using you as a guinea pig, I had the suspicion that with your brain converted
into a computer they could erase your personality and memory to load those of
my uncle Adamas there. I had no doubts when I heard that he ordered that only
your head be brought to him. He's a practical son of a bitch, he wouldn't even
need your father's help anymore...
–I've thought a lot
during the trip, uncle. In recent days I have become more aware of my actions
and the value they can have. I won't go back to my parents' house anymore.
Maybe to visit them... But no longer to live hidden at home. Uncle Alonso, I
want to be like you. Not like Aunt Honoré or Aunt Maxim. Like London. You
taught her, I've been told. Help me be like her! Back me up.
Uncle Alonso thought for a moment, looking at
the sand, raised his eyebrows and whispered to himself:
–Like London...It
could be... In life it is not good to be the hunter or the prey, but if you
must choose one of the two, choose to be the stronger.
Then he called Frida, threw the stick at her
again so she would run to get it and said:
–Well, I'm glad you
chose that path. You are young and you have time to learn not to live under the
shadow of men. You've seen what happens when you go through life desperate to
find a husband, no woman should lower herself to that. I always see them suffer
for the love of a guy who doesn't deserve them!
–What if I fall in
love one day? Not with a man like the one who betrayed my aunt Honore, but,
let's say, a good one like Dumas!
I blushed when I said those last words and I
got very nervous, I was afraid that he would notice, but Uncle Alonso didn't
even notice, answering me with a lost look:
– I hope you never
love madly, with all your devotion and tenderness. Or if you fall into that,
may you be reciprocated. You saw how Honoré suffered. Later, alone with Dumas,
she cried when she learned of the betrayal of the man she loved. She got angry with
us and insulted us, but deep down she knew that this guy did not deserve her
affection. Over time she will heal and move on with her life, in a few years
she will surely love again. But when you have to give up a good person... When
you have to still love yourself... Then you can't heal, because you didn't cut
off something that hurt you. You must have removed part of your heart.
He remained silent for a while, I would say he
completely forgot about me, until Frida ran back to throw herself on him; Then
he told me, trying to seem casual again:
–Listen to my
advice, this is the same tip I gave to London: be very honest with yourself and
admit, if necessary, what you really want to be. Your memory should give you
clues, it is almost always what you wanted when you were very young. It may
seem ridiculous to you now, but think, what would be the closest thing to
achieving that goal you longed for at the beginning of your life?
–I don't remember,
uncle, I was always asleep or prostrate. I wanted to be free. To be with you.
Know everything that was outside my room. Be free.
–Well, well, think
about that. Whatever brings you closer to that goal, I will support you in
achieving it. Let's go to the water or Frida will swim alone to find her owner,
she is already desperate for Dumas.
–Wait!
I stopped him to ask him:
–Can I know your
real name?
He looked at me very seriously and answered:
–Bug already told
me about your game, the secrets are running out. What are you going to ask him
for at the end?
–Maybe he'll let me
go.
I responded, because I have a feeling that Bug
is starting to get too clingy with me and that could become a problem. Uncle
Alonso answered:
–Alonso is my real
name. I changed my last name because my family's heritage is dishonorable, but
my name is mine alone and I owe nothing to anyone.
Then we went into the water and played with
Frida for a while, Dumas hugs her and talks to her about love more romantically
than he did to July while the dog licks his face all over and doesn't let him
finish saying the words. I would like to be Frida. Then we went out of the
water, they woke Bug up by kicking him because the waves were going to carry
him away, and we returned to the motel. When I was alone I started browsing the
computer implanted in my hand, the information contained is not very specific.
It's something like the public internet of the 21st century but much dumber. I
discovered that as humanity evolved until the 30th century it became emptier
and less creative, to the point that all I could find was historical data and
old movies because around 2200 onwards people stopped producing new cinema. Art
in general is typical of Homo sapiens, the Homo cosmos that inhabit the Moon
have lost that human part and are more like animals. I felt a little bad about
this, because judging by the noise heard in the other room, my uncles take
advantage of this emotional simplicity of Echo. I'm not sure...But I think
everyone...is with her while Bug, the boyfriend, watches and doesn't care.
Won't July listen? I saw that she stayed with Frida, maybe she is drying her
and the noise of the noise of the hair dryer doesn't let her hear, or she
doesn't care either. I feel very strange about it! I try not to pay attention
to them, not to think. I looked up the robot fights that Dad watched, the ones
where human lives were at stake. The fighters are very slow and stupid, I could
beat them...it occurs to me, I could help the people from the past. But I don't
know if I could be considered a robot. I called Aunt Maxim to ask how Aunt
Honoré was doing and then I asked her how much a professional wrestling robot
earned, she told me that they don't earn anything. Its owner keeps the money.
When I wanted to know why this injustice was allowed, she replied that until
now no machine has complained about this, robots exist to be slaves. I said
goodbye to her and now I'm in bed thinking about many things. Am I a machine? I
don't want to be a slave, but my thoughts are data processed by a computer.
What if I fight for our freedom? That of the abducted humans and that of the
robots... Or fighting to stop using women to produce biomachines, I have so
many reasons to do it. I don't know if I'm talking nonsense, my head is in
knots, with these violent justice ideas spinning so strongly in my mind, and my
body burning because of what's happening next door. I can't keep writing. I
really would have liked Bug to do the simple things that night, I often fight
the urge to ask him to take me to any corner and do whatever he wants to me,
which I think is the same thing I want.
Sunday August 29, 3030
When I woke up Bug was lying next to me,
looking at his porcelain mask already repaired. I looked at it pointing:
–The "OK"
is missing
–I don't feel OK
anymore, I'll write what I feel when you finish finding out all the names and
ask me for what you really want. While I will continue covering myself with the
hood of my coat and the balaclava. Someone told me I have pretty eyes and I
believed it.
I knew he was listening to what I was talking
about with Uncle Alonso yesterday. Bah, I don't care. He got up to look out the
window. Outside, Dumas and Uncle Alonso walked along the rocks that adorned a
fountain in front of the motel. They were jumping one by one while they were
chatting, Bug came out of the window and joined them; I think he has the habit,
perhaps since he was a child, of following and imitating his older brothers. At
first they were jumping the stones one by one, then they reached a point where
the rocks were too far apart. Dumas jumped first, doing so by somersaulting in
the air and landing on his feet without any effort. Bug followed with the same
ease; it is already something innate in them. But when it was Uncle Alonso's
turn, he gained momentum and fell face first into the water. Then he got up
angry and demanded:
–What the hell…? I
don't understand why you are thin and acrobatic, while I am robust and
uncoordinated...Maybe the rumor was true. We're Uncle Pete's kids, Dumas.
The aforementioned responded, with a
mischievous smile:
–I suspect that
everyone, except Amleth... Does it bother you, Alonso?
–No, because I
don't think it's that much the case. The only thing I'm sure of is that our
parents weren't soulmates, they didn't consider each other the love of their
lives. It's terrible, they never really fell in love, they never met that
person they would love beyond time and logic. I think that's worse than
separation, not even getting to know who your ideal was...
–They say ignorance
is happiness. Bug has never seriously fallen in love in his life, he simply
looks for easy encounters and then ends the relationship.
–He's getting
married, he says his name is written on a tombstone next to his wife's. I
haven't wanted to see it, no one wants to know the exact date on which their
little brother will die. He has only told me that she will not be Echo. For my
part...I know who I love...But I am afraid to lower that beautiful and perfect
dream into reality and destroy it.
Then Bug walked away from them and returned to
my window, which he jumped up to. When he entered the room and sat next to me,
turning on the television, I told him:
–You know what I
want? I want to be a fighting robot, go back to the Moon like this and have my
father see me. I can defeat them! I'm sure, I just need practice.
–That's a job for
ugly mares like London or crazy ones like Echo, not to mention that my uncle
Adamas would catch you the moment you step on the arena.
I knocked the mask out of his hands and put it
on, saying:
–None of that is
true! Plus I can dress up. They would never imagine that I have changed so
much, before I was a girl hiding in her room, now I decapitate biomachines. I
notice it myself, I no longer see myself as a child, I am an adult woman!
–You still get
scared easily and end up half dead after hunts. You couldn't last a round!
Look, we have this whole planet half deserted, let's go through it together.
Forget about the others and escape with me. Let's go! I love my family very
much… But they are not such good people…
–No! I want to be
like London, I've already told you. Uncle Alonso supports me and he has always
given me the best advice. If he agrees with this, then it's okay for me to move
forward with my new dream. I will participate in robot fights!
I didn't want to continue talking to him about
it and I jumped up, then he pointed to the mattress and told me:
–Hey. You are in
your days.
I didn't understand anything, there was blood
on the white sheets. I checked my body for wounds and saw that the blood was
coming from my underwear. I took it off scared and still didn't understand,
until Bug wrapped me in a sheet asking me:
–Have you never
menstruated before? Because, if you haven't hurt yourself, that's it…
I shook my head, he took me off the mask and
kissed my forehead, saying:
–I'll go get you
some pads and hydrogen peroxide. I understand these things! I remember that at
my house it came to all my sisters at the same time and it was chaos.
–What should I do?
–Eh... Take a hot
shower and in ten days don't let me get close to you because I'll probably be
extra horny. You're going to be ovulating and we're not siblings. You see, you
are not a robot. Your uterus and I are sorry to ruin your plans to be a
wrestler, but humans don't participate in robot fights! Shithead Alonso should
have noticed that little detail before encouraging you to go ahead with that
nonsense.
He concluded and left the room, I said goodbye
seeing him from the door, wrapped in the sheet in front of the stained bed. I
could see that from the other side of the parking lot Echo was looking at us,
she must have imagined the worst. She pointed at me threateningly and ran away.
I think I have an idea. I'm not going to let my gore uterus stop me. Now I'm
going to clean myself up, this suck.
Monday August 30, 3030
I'll write a little before I sleep in the
passenger seat, I'm exhausted and we're on our way to Seattle again. Today was
a decisive day and I didn't expect it! There were big changes. All day
yesterday I was in bed, menstruation is very uncomfortable, but I didn't do it
because I felt bad. I wanted to provoke Echo and test how true what Aunt Honoré
told me was about the mysterious feminine power to influence the minds of
others. I made Bug keep an eye on me all day, going in and out of my room to
bring me things or lying down with me, watching TV. Echo was peering through
the half-open door and the windows, She was getting impatient. I am beginning
to understand that jealousy is a sign of dangerous weakness, I had the
impression that she would be willing to do anything to get me away from Bug and
I just wanted to get her to a point where she would not refuse my proposal.
Finally, uncle Alonso noticed the tension around my motel room and came in to
inspect. He raised an eyebrow in disapproval when he saw us. Even though we
weren't doing anything wrong–Bug isn't a romantic person!–the fact that he was
there cuddling with me was just too strange. Uncle Alonso lay down on the bed
next to us and said:
–Why don't you make
it official and go to the mountains, far from everything?
–I already proposed
it to her and she doesn't want to.
Bug answered without taking his eyes off the
TV and Uncle Alonso said, scratching his beard:
–Sometimes I start
to think, if I were a woman, if I were in Psyche's place, I wouldn't be in a
big rush to find a partner either. What do we do when we have a girlfriend?
Start repeating the way Dad treated Mom, remember? They hardly spoke to each
other, unless it was to exchange scoldings or complaints, and when they showed
affection to each other it was with that kind of sarcastic joke, as if they
didn't deserve it... As if they could have been with someone better, but they
were what they were!! I hated seeing them interact, I didn't want to end up
like that. I think it's the worst thing you could do to yourself and a girl, to
stay with her out of resignation, out of conformity. I prefer solitude rather
than not being exactly with the person of my dreams.
Bug answered him with a metaphor, bringing out
his most poetic side:
–This girl has me
by the balls and she won't let me go. It is the definitive one.
–It seems more like
your balls got caught in her shoe after kicking them.
–Alonso, I always
knew that you are in love with Echo. She is the inspiration for your novels,
right? I have never finished one of your books, but I recognize in the little I
read about the protagonist: it is her. Why don't you confess to her that she is
your muse? She will be flattered, people like what you write. I've already
given you plenty of opportunities to approach her, but you never take advantage
of them. Do you know what is the worst? That someday other guy will come and
take your chance. Stop idealizing the thing so much, tell her you like her.
Whether she wants something more or not is her problem, you did everything you
could do. She just wants our surname.
–That's exactly
what I don't want! Let her settle...
–I'm not the man of
her dreams either. If it were like that, she wouldn't be fighting with me all
the time, distrustful and suffering. We had a hard time together and for me the
important thing in a relationship is to have fun, to feel comfortable with each
other. I don't know what the hell she wants! But it's not me, and I'm not going
to change my tastes and my way of being just to I fit into something that not
even she herself knows what it is. No one is important enough to change who you
are. Anyway, you have nothing to lose by trying! At the next opportunity, speak
clearly.
Uncle Alonso sighed and got out of bed. When
he opened the door he found Echo, who finally entered the room, addressing Bug
and looking at me in a challenging way:
–Haven't you
comforted your little niece enough, Bug? It's getting dark, let her sleep. We
must go to our room.
The damn Bug didn't answer, he just stretched
out on the bed and scratched his belly. Then I decided that my time to act had
come and I exclaimed:
–He won't leave,
he'll sleep with me as always. Go away and stop bothering me.
Echo was startled, not expecting such a direct
confrontation. Bug was also surprised, but he stayed calm in bed, as if
enjoying the fact that we were fighting over him. I didn't like him, but I
didn't pay attention to him, that was part of my risky plan. Echo screamed
indignantly, regaining her terrifying real selenite appearance:
–What did you
think, adopted girl?! I have Homo sapiens more famous and richer than you
cleaning the bathrooms of my house on the Moon, you wouldn't even be a worthy
pet. I've been Bug's girlfriend since before your grandmother was born!
I responded trying to sound proud:
–Yes, that's why
he's already bored with you. I have come to replace you; I am better at
everything and I can prove it. I challenge you to a fight, like a robot fight,
whoever leaves the arena first loses. If you beat me, I swear I will never get
close to your boyfriend again. But if I beat you, you must stay away from him
and also give me your whip.
–Are you so sure
you can beat me? I accept with one condition: if I beat you, I kill you.
–Deal.
I answered and the two men were alarmed, I
myself realized that I was betting too much, but I had a plan and if it worked,
I would get the wonder weapon that cut several biomachines at the same time and
would give me a great advantage in fights. Of course, to get it I would have to
face her first. We all went out to the motel parking lot, I began to delimit
the sand by drawing a circle on the floor with a charcoal while Frida barked
and ran everywhere, Dumas and Uncle Dreiser caught up on what was happening and
tried to calm Echo without success, because every now and then I yelled at her,
bragging about how good I was at "kicking Selenite ass" although the
only time I faced one I ended up with a sore butt for several days. It was
necessary, she had to be really angry and the others freaking out, or nothing
would work. Once I had everything ready and before anyone noticed my ruse, I
entered the circle of the arena at just the perfect angle and activated my rod
by spinning it. Echo pounced on me like a bull, without thinking, as I
expected, even meters before entering the small arena that I drew, she was
already lashing out with whips that were undoubtedly going to hit me since they
covered about three meters around it, I had to jump to dodge it once, but by the
second hit it was done. I left the arena and shouted:
–You lost!
–You lying bitch,
you're the one who got out!
She responded angrily, so I answered pointing
to the floor:
–No, you did it
first. Give me your whip and stop getting between me and my uncles.
Until then they noticed that the arena I drew
had a big gash from the edge to the center, like a cake with a piece missing.
And she had entered and left the arena as she stepped on the pit. Technically,
she lost. Echo laughed and protested, with one eyelid throbbing:
–What joke is
this?! Cheater!! This is not worth it!!
I felt my legs trembling, if my trick didn't
work, she could kill me, luckily at that moment Bug intervened and saved me by
saying that although I had made fun of her, the truth was that I won and he had
already decided to permanently end their relationship. She started crying,
threw the whip at my feet and ran towards the beach. Uncle Alonso tried to
follow her, but in the end he turned his back on her, looking at the ground.
Uncle Dreiser had to run instead because Dumas and July preferred to stay pampering
Frida. Bug gave Uncle Alonso a push as if asking him what happened to him and
he said: "I don't want to look like a vulture, I'll look for her
later." I guess he is right. I left very happy with my new whip; Bug
helped me configure it so that it recognizes me as its owner. In the end he did
stay the night with me, but I made it clear to him that I did all that just to
get a new gun, not to be with him. I've already thought things through very
well. What kind of girl would want to lose her virginity to a guy they call
"Bug"? Maybe I am an artificial intelligence, but I am not yet "
bugged " enough to accept that. I was able to sleep peacefully again
hugging him because it's pleasant, nothing more; The scent of his long silky
hair helps me sleep better and his statuesque body makes a wonderful pillow,
not that I'm attracted to him. The next morning, I woke up and outside in the
parking lot was Dumas sitting in the sun next to Frida, the little wild birds
come up to him and eat crumbs from his hand. Not even his sisters have that
level of fairytale grace, he is definitely my prince charming. We left for
Seattle and here I am, writing. I feel capable of many things, I think my next
step will be to confess my love to Dumas. If I have to take it away from that dull
July... I will. And I won't fail like Echo to get the man I want.
Case VIII: Dumas
Tuesday August 31, 3030
Last night we arrived in the city, it's big
like in the movies! Of course, it was empty, its lights on among the silence
made it look a little macabre, but in Bug's company it is difficult to live
seriously; The first thing he did when he arrived at the deserted hotel where
we would settle was to notice that someone left a wheelchair in the Lobby and
take it directly to the top floor via the elevator. Shortly after we heard a
rumble coming down the stairs, then his laughter. The rest of us assumed that he
was probably fine, but Uncle Alonso went to check him out anyway. Uncle Dreiser
took it upon himself to talk to Echo during the trip, it seemed like every
minute she became more convinced that her ex-boyfriend was an idiot who really
didn't interest her, and more or less we were all at peace. In any case, at
dusk there was another separation of the group. I went with the three
anarchists who decided to go for a night walk, it promised to be a fun evening.
It took us a while to leave because we were waiting for Dumas in front of the
hotel. He appeared some time later after taking a shower and changing his
clothes, he got ready in his eccentric way: a suit with a top hat and pink
glasses; His brothers mocked him, but he looked more handsome than ever. I was
speechless, especially when they asked him why he was so formal and he said he
was going out to dinner with me for the first time in his life. Although Bug
had part of his face hidden by his hood and balaclava, I could tell he was
salty, but I didn't care at all. I held onto Dumas's arm and we started
walking. Of course, he brought his dear Frida and the damn dog insisted on
sticking her head under my skirt every time I got distracted. I managed to
discreetly shoo her away without it ruining the walk, although on one occasion
she bit my butt, but I kept my composure and no one noticed. The buildings look
much bigger live! The cold wind and the lights softly illuminating the streets
made everything very romantic, so perfect, I didn't have to think about golf
because being next to Dumas I don't feel that vulgar fever that Bug gives me,
it's something deeper; I know I love him because I admire him. Finally,
everything is going well. At one point, Bug and Uncle Alonso found a skate park
and had the "great" idea of getting their wheelchair in there. Dumas
and I watched them hit the pavement and be chased by Frida from an outdoor
cafe, one of the few that works thanks to a solitary citizen. I tried to talk
and seem normal:
–Wow, there are no
stars tonight. They look very beautiful in the mountains.
Dumas answered me, fixing my hair behind my
ears:
–It is usually
difficult to see them in cities, a lot of light and pollution. Has Bug treated
you well? I was afraid that his cottage would be uncomfortable for you.
–I like the rural
atmosphere, but Bug is a fool. Look at him, how childish.
–But yesterday
weren't you fighting for his love against Echo?
I cleared my throat and explained, trying to
sound mature:
–It was a strategy
to take over her whip, Bug is not my type.
–Well, it's better.
I believe that women should never fall in love or be seduced by a man, we are
all bad. We all see them as objects. Unless they are our mothers or daughters.
–Don't you believe
in love? It's weird, you're always painting sprigs of violets. I looked for the
meaning of those flowers, they symbolize faithful, loyal and true love.
Eternal. Are they for July? Because I don't think they are for Frida...
–In fact, Frida
does deserve violets, I have had her since I was a child. Every time she dies,
I clone her. Some people say it is morbid, but I believe it is something
beautiful and spiritual; like a forced reincarnation in which she always
returns to be mine. But July is my sister, a year older than me, I always
dedicate some simple black roses to my sisters. About true love...
He thought while he adjusted the rings on his
left hand and I was overflowing with happiness inside, July is his sister! Then
he spoke again:
–That kind of love
exists... But it is dangerous. Too absolute. How terrible it must be for a
father to have a man appear out of nowhere and take your daughter. I understand
that it is unforgivable, I would prefer it to be a temporary adventure and know
that she will return sooner or later, but when it is that love for life... You
have to accept that he will never let her leave. He steals her from you.
–But if they are
happy together...
–It is greater
torture for a selfish father. But, perhaps luckily, most couples don't end up
like this. Or if they stay together, it is to share an ordeal from which they
can only escape with death and in some way, they return to love their past, not
the thief lover. This is how my parents lived. I always told myself that I
didn't want to end up like them.
–Uncle Alonso
mentioned something similar...
–He saw them too.
They didn't talk, they didn't understand each other, they weren't friends. I
couldn't stand that, I love talking and listening, and they barely spoke to
each other. They professed that same indifference towards their children, they
did not give us attention, much less affection. That's why I decided to take
care of my younger siblings, because otherwise they would feel like me,
forgotten. Besides…
Suddenly he thought for a moment, touched the
tattoo on his neck, the one that says: "oh, my children, where will I take
you?", and said somewhat eagerly:
–There is so much
evil and cruelty in this agonizing world, if I don't act, who will take them
away from the pain? There are rapists, sadists, all kinds of beasts. Better to
keep them locked up, hidden, I prefer to stand up for them. I'm already used to
evil, it doesn't hurt me. It would hurt me more to see them suffer.
I didn't know what to answer, at that moment
the waiter arrived and Dumas ordered a glass of wine. Then he asked me what I
wanted, "whether a soft drink or maybe chocolate", I told him that I
am already an adult. And I ordered a beer. The waiter turned to look at Dumas
as if waiting for his approval and he accepted, murmuring with some annoyance:
"she's of age now." When we were alone again, he asked me:
–In just two weeks
you have grown a lot, I imagine that you have also learned things that we
previously hid from you at your parents' house.
I was somewhat speechless, the truth is that
at that moment talking to him I forgot what I had experienced in the last few
weeks, or at least I stopped giving it importance. It was like coming home. Of
everything I found out, the strange way in which I was born, the inhumane
operations to which they subjected me, the dark purposes they had in keeping me
hidden, it only seemed relevant to ask him about the matter of his poison,
because I wanted to know if he kissed me for love or is it just a way to "convince
me". Actually, I already knew the answer, but I had hope and maybe I could
win more:
–I was surprised to
learn that being "hybrids" was something more complex. That you...
Well, that time, after you kissed me, I fell asleep almost suddenly...
–It is a very
strange and feared recessive gene, both parents would have to carry it for the
ability to inject poison to manifest, and it is assumed that my mother did not
have it. She was not modified. My birth was what began to deteriorate the
relationship between my parents, there was mistrust, Alonso did not look like
my father either. He was too big to be his. There were too many doubts, but in
the end, they never clarified anything.
–Did your parents
fight about that?
–Not really. My
father did not focus his anger on my mother, not even on Alonso, whom he
completely ignored, he projected it on me. I was the poisonous one. Everyone
said I was cuter than their other children, my older siblings spoiled me
because if I kissed them, they felt better. They were getting addicted to me.
They no longer obeyed my parents; they only did what I asked them to do. When I
turned seven, Bug was born. At that time, we had not yet seen my father's real
appearance and we did not know that the baby was his spitting image, but Dad
did. Then something horrible happened that divided the family, something that
was the responsibility of the older sisters, but Dad unfairly punished me for
everything. I remember I was drawing with my colored pencils in my room. He
arrived with his real appearance, he hit me, he started scratching my face
trying to gouge out my eyes, he broke some of my bones and I was only saved by
the fact that fortunately my maternal uncles arrived to visit at that time.
They practically had to kidnap me to save my life, just like I later did with
you. They only returned me on the condition that they would no longer consider
me the son of my father, but of my uncles. They were bohemian, the atmosphere
in their house felt very different. My uncle taught me how to paint, while my
father forced me to take fencing lessons, it was his last attempt to control
me. He never understood the importance of being sweet so that they will swallow
your orders. And you see, I ended up taking away his youngest children. All
seven of them follow my orders, even London! She has no choice but to go with
the group or stay alone.
He had never spoken to me like that about his
life before, there was something sinister in everything he told me, beyond his
father's abuse, something was wrong with him, but his beautiful, half-closed
blue eyes prevented me from daring to think anything against him. Suddenly the
waiter arrived, served the drinks and without thinking I tried the famous beer.
It tastes horrible. I had to keep from retching with such effort that my eyes
filled with tears even more than from the story I had just heard. I don't know
if Dumas realized it, if so, he covered it up very well saying:
–Let's not ruin
this beautiful night with such sad memories. What matters is that we are here,
and that you will always be with me. Bug's warming to you, right? It would be
better if when everything calms down you stay living with your aunts Honoré and
Maxim, far from the mountains. That way he would no longer be tempted to fall
in love.
I could not answer. Getting away from Bug is
something very drastic and the truth is that I have become very fond of him.
Dumas didn't wait for me to answer, he winked at me and stood up. I followed
him, like when I was little and started to walk, and I held on to the walls so
I could go after him if he left the room. He took a Japanese sword from the
decoration of the place and went out to a terrace from where he could see his
brothers. There he began to examine the sword and explained to me:
–It's a very bad
imitation, but at least the measurements are correct. I remember I inherited
one from my paternal great-great-aunt, one of the last of the imperial family
of Japan. The sword was not a national treasure because it had been in the
family for I don't know how many hundreds of years, its value was more
sentimental for those distinguished nobles; I remember that the hilt smelled
like rotten watermelon, it had a curious story that sounded more like legend
and said that a couple of famous people from the past had perished under its
blade. I always imagined that the bad smell was the remains of his insides. I
had to use it on some special occasions, because my dad forced me to enter a
traditional fencing school and I had to learn all the paraphernalia, the
philosophy, the ceremony...
–You liked it?
–No, but I learned
to control myself and pretend. Also, since then I started collecting knives. I
also learned that with patience you can achieve anything, a small, gentle
constant stream of water can end up collapsing the foundations of a great
castle.
–And how did you
end up being an anarchist?
–Saying that I am
an anarchist was my way of rebelling against my father, but there is something
we cannot escape, Psyche: inheritance, the good thing is that you decide what
to do with it. That sword I mentioned to you is still somewhere in my house. It
serves as a palette for painting and sometimes for opening cans, yes, I despise
it. I don't pay respect to it, but I don't get rid of it either. I know it is
very valuable. It amuses me to think about how much they idolized it in the
past and today it is lying around like trash in my house. Well, they say, no
one knows who they work for.
Hearing that made me a little indignant, I
didn't dare to reproach him, but I told him:
–If you don't want
it, give it to me, I'll take care of it.
–I will give it to
you in due time, like everything else. I will tell you a secret that not many
know: I have not given up my assets, I maintained a good relationship with the
rest of the family. My younger brothers were too strict about anarchism. The good
thing is that the fortune that they did not want is added to that of the other
siblings. At least from my side, you will have a secure future.
I felt a very ugly feeling, something is not
right in what he says. He continued checking the weapon, made some movements
unsheathing it and finally said:
–There are a lot of
techniques to use it correctly, but I have always preferred my way. The name
you give to things is simple decoration, what matters is the action and the
result.
Then he turned it a little as if to gain
momentum and then threw it like a spear, straight at his brothers! The sword
fell inches from them and pinned the wheelchair to the floor. Then he shouted
at them:
–Enough! You're
going to get hurt! Bring my dog.
Then we went back to the cafe to pay the guy
and kept walking. Bug came around me again, taking advantage of every excuse to
make a conversation or cling to me, so in the end and after that strange
conversation I didn't tell Dumas how I feel about him. I'm angry at myself for
not taking advantage of the opportunity, the night was perfect! Tomorrow, I
will do it without fail, at the first opportunity I have to be alone with him.
Now I'm going to rest, the hotel is very nice and I have the entire room to myself.
The view is spectacular! I only regret that the night could have ended better.
A strange thing happened to me, I wanted to
imagine what it would be like to have sex with Dumas, but I ended up thinking
about doing it with Bug suddenly in the forest. Stupid Bug, I think I'm
bugged... I have to fix that problem; I don't want to be involuntarily
unfaithful in my thoughts when I'm Dumas' girlfriend. It has been a special
night!
Wednesday September 1, 3030
I don't know how to feel. In the morning
Amleth woke me up, she ran into my room with Frida and hugged me, informing me
that she had arrived with her other sisters. To my surprise, London suddenly
came in too, wearing a cowboy hat and a military jacket, collapsed in an
armchair and said, looking into space:
–Dreiser has asked
for Echo's hand in marriage. Last night. He gave her a ring and says he wants
to get married as soon as possible.
I didn't expect the religious man to be faster
than me when it came to finding a partner, in any case it seemed like good news
to me. However, London looked devastated and Amleth was left speechless. I
discreetly left the room, excusing myself that I had to greet my other aunts,
in the hallway I found Aunt Maxim helping Aunt Honoré enter July's room. Now knowing
that they are all sisters I can understand why July lovingly cares for Aunt
Honore. Dumas was demanding explanations from them, to which Aunt Maxim
replied:
–Violet asked that
the family be together. She wants to be with Psyche.
–Did someone tell
Violet that her father wants Psyche's head...?
–No! I don't
know... Maybe it's a mother's intuition. She's already here with the baby...
Dumas gave her an ugly glance and Aunt Maxim
jumped. At that moment Violet appeared very elegant with her baby in her arms,
and Dumas greeted her with extra sweetness:
–Violet, light of
my life, fire of my loins…
Uncle Alonso looked out a door and criticized
him, he looked as depressed as London:
–You don't know
what's next, right? Don't mess with literature, it bothers me to see cheesy
husbands like you cloying their poor wives with phrases stolen from books they
never read in full.
I felt like the floor opened and I fell into
an abyss. I couldn't even speak. Dumas kissed Violet, gave her a kiss different
from the ones he usually gives, caressing her butt. Then he took the baby,
saying: "come to daddy." That made it clear to me that he is his son,
now I notice the great resemblance between the two. Violet went to hug me and
check me; she took me with them to their room and I didn't even have a chance
to react when I found out that they consider me their first daughter. Pressed
against Violet's chest, who was asking for solutions to my situation, I
listened to them talk about which city would be best to hide from great-uncle
Adamas. She spoke to me, kissing my hair:
–I will never let
them separate you from me again. You are my miracle girl. Since I received you
in my womb, my life lit up. And thanks to you I had my own baby. I'm finally
calm, the four of us are together.
–Five, Frida is
part of the family.
Dumas corrected her, she replied:
–Alright! Five with
Frida. But I care more about the future of our two human children... We need my
father to stop bothering us. We must kill him, Dumas. No more games, no hints,
these attacks do not affect him. You have to kill him once and for all.
–Saying it is not
as easy as doing it… It is easier to hide. Descartes and Ziggy still don't
suspect anything, they believe that Adamas really took her out of her house
that night and now he's just playing dumb.
–But my father
already knows that Psyche is here... I don't want to hide my daughter until my
father dies. Plus, I might tell Ziggy, and I'm not giving it back to her! I
gestated Psyche, gave birth to her, breastfed her. It's mine!
At that point I reacted, I believed that at
least my mother did know that I am with my uncles:
–Mom doesn't know
where I am...?
I asked alarmed, Dumas answered me, finally
being sincere:
–Your parents were
going to hand you over to my uncle, Psyche. They never really saw you as a
daughter. On the other hand, Violet and I always consider you ours. I had to
endure my wife lending her body for a family experiment only to not be properly
thanked later. They continued to keep her hidden here. Furthermore, we took
care of you before they did, Violet and I had already spoken to you since you
were in her womb, I cut your umbilical cord when you were born, you spent the
first six months of your life with us, you are more ours than my older
brother's and Ziggy. That's why I always stayed close, waiting for the moment
to bring you back home. We are your parents and this is your brother.
I shuddered, it was too much, more lies fading
away to reveal cruel realities. I said I had to go to the bathroom and ran
away. I snuck out of the hotel and went to a playground to sit on a swing. I
felt so overwhelmed, I didn't know whether to cry, get angry, be scared, … I
always wanted to play on a swing and when I was finally able to do it, it was
in that horrible moment. To make matters worse, it started to rain. In fact, it
was a storm, the first one I saw in person and I couldn't enjoy it, it was as if
what I felt inside came out and my tears became part of the atmosphere.
Suddenly I heard footsteps on the gravel and someone sitting on the swing next
to mine. Of course, it was Bug, with the hood of his coat and the balaclava
because he is not stupid enough to go outside on a dark morning with nothing to
protect himself from the elements, or to fall in love with his own uncle who
thinks he is your father. I felt stupid, foolish and strange. After a while, I
asked him:
–Why didn't you
tell me that he was married to Violet? I thought Uncle Dreiser was the baby's
father...Dumas doesn't seem interested in a traditionalist life...
–So that you learn
not to get carried away by appearances.
–How long have they
been together?
–More than a
hundred years, their story is already more of a legend. He stole her from her
mother when she was only sixteen and he was twenty-six. According to him, she
threw herself at him, lies. In fact, I remember that at the age of thirteen he
was already going to sit with Violet, three, and Amleth, six, when they were
playing tea party, and he told Violet that the two of them had to get married
when they grew up or else, he would leave to die of sadness. The poor thing was
so afraid of him that when they met again many years later it was difficult for
her to remember "her cousin who drew", she had that memory blocked.
You don't know him as a man. Even as a teenager at the art academy he had a
strange fetish: he became obsessed with his rivals, he seduced them and
sabotaged them from within, but he said it was love! Something similar happened
with Violet, I think she envied the power she would inherit, but at the same
time she admired her, she wanted to possess her. He must have spit his poison
into her soda, he didn't make her fall in love! He corrupted her. Immediately
afterwards he published his feat to the four winds, tattooed the deflowered
violet over his heart as a scathing trophy to provoke his father and declared
that she was his soul mate. For many years father and daughter fought to keep
Dumas away, but it was then that he finally made her the offer of saving her
mother in exchange for her hand in marriage, and Violet accepted, betraying her
father. Since then, Dumas made her the center of his universe. He is always
painting violets, whenever they get together they talk for hours and hours
without stopping, and he always longed to have children with her. First, they
settled for clones of Frida, then they had you and finally the new child was
born. So many years have passed and although they have fights from time to
time, and he gives her space so as not to tire her...
–He is in love and
will never leave her.
I concluded. Bug finished by saying:
–I don't like
Violet, but she is the most powerful heiress of the 30th century. The most
unattainable woman he could find and he caught her. She even gave him a son. I
didn't want to tell you because it's like... you could never compete against
Violet and your love was very tender, but impossible. Like all platonic love.
A little moan escaped me, I wasn't crying that
much for Dumas, it was all together. Bug got up and went to stand behind me,
leaning down a little to cover me from the rain, and commented, trying to make
me laugh:
–At least you're
not Alonso. He has been writing fantasy sagas inspired by Echo for seventy
years only for her to end up getting engaged to our brother, the wimpy
religious boy he always made fun of. Maybe you didn't even like Dumas! In the
diary you said that he was just beginning to attract your attention.
–Yes, I guess I
loved him like another father. But anyway, it's my first love. The cutest and
the most special.
Now that I write it, I think saying this was
quite unfair for Bug. Dumas gave me a kiss that my dad Descartes or the dog
Frida could have given me, but with Bug I had my first real sexual experiences.
I did jump on him to dig into his pants on the first night I spent with him. We
might have had an emotional moment, but just then we heard Frida barking from
the hotel door. Echo came out with her real appearance and behind her came
London with a gun, shooting. We had to go take refuge behind some cars, there we
met Amleth who informed us speaking hastily:
–London challenged
Echo to a duel to death so she doesn't marry Dreiser and Echo has no weapons!
Dreiser says that London is going to regret it if they continue and went to
look for her bow and Alonso doesn't want to intervene because he says that this
is how problems between strong people should be solved, but Echo is unarmed and
they will surely kill her! They have to stop them!
At that moment I hit the car we were hiding
behind and looked out shouting at the selenite:
-Echo! I have your
weapon; I will lend it to you so you can defend yourself. The fight must be
fair, London! She is unarmed, I took her whip from her.
But then Echo stood on a pillar and said
proudly:
–Keep it. I don't
need it, I will defeat her barehanded. This day I will teach you both why Homo
cosmos women are superior to hybrids and Homo sapiens. So you know what you
lost, Bug. And what you were left with...
Bug yelled at her, breaking the epic moment:
–My sister
teleports, shit head. You are going to die!
As soon as he finished speaking, London fired
again and vanished into thin air. She appeared behind Echo, but that didn't
give her much of an advantage. The woman from the future moves like a feline,
she jumped, snuck, and gave quick paws. London would run out of bullets before
she could reach her, but then he would simply fade into thin air and suddenly
fire again from somewhere else. The advantage was always going to be London's,
sooner or later Echo would be cornered and it finally happened. She squatted in
a corner like a trapped kitten, but just then Uncle Dreiser materialized in
front of her, protecting her from London. He had his bow drawn and his arrow
ready, pointing at his own sister. We all remained silent, at that same moment
Dumas and Uncle Alonso came out the hotel, who just stared as if they already
knew the result of that confrontation. Neither of them lowered their weapons,
so uncle Dreiser spoke:
–Leave Echo alone!
You've played with her for decades; I want to give her hers place. She is a
great woman, strong and generous. I'm going to treat her as she deserves, and
that's why I'm not going to allow anyone to hurt her again. Not even you!
–Dreiser, no one
wants her in the family. We are ashamed, she does not have a single drop of
blood without disfiguring genetic alterations.
London answered him with contempt, he
answered, finally raising his voice:
–I don't care about
the family's opinion! Echo loves faithfully and unconditionally, enduring,
patiently, with the passion of a true devotee. Who is like her in the family?!
If unfortunately, one sibling offends another, instead of seeking to fix things
they go and secretly plots revenge. Everyone lives comparing themselves to each
other, resenting favoritism that perhaps did not even exist. If dad preferred
Descartes, why didn't you complain to dad instead of living in competition
against your brother who never asked for injustice? Always pulling strings and
plotting tricks to force others to do what the family wants, and the family is
wrong, the family is the right hand of the fucking Antichrist and still feels
they have the moral authority to tell others what to do, what to think and what
to feel!
London responded indolently:
–You have no
choice, this is what you had to live, you were born here and you must accept
it. It's your family and you should love it just the way it is! You can curse
us, go away, deny us, but you will remain one of us. You can't change your
blood.
The rain stopped and I could hear the bow
tighten, Uncle Dreiser was about to release the arrow, but he just kept aiming
as did London, the two of them were fixed in the same position with water still
dripping from them. They were soaked. It was a kind of final battle, after all
the years of unhealthy relationship between the two of them, they were both
giving each other an ultimatum: give in or die. If they would survive, they
would have to return to their morbid routine or accept that they would never
sit together at a table again, or speak to each other again. In these
circumstances there is no room for middle ground. My uncle spoke without the
slightest change in his challenging attitude:
–Lower the weapon
or I won't answer. I will do anything to give Echo a chance, they evicted her
like me. They no longer predicted any future for her, she was going to die
begging for crumbs of affection like I was going to rot hiding in a church.
Even Alonso seems content with her story being a tragedy and closing the book
there. Well, it won't be! You will not decide hers ending! Nor mine.
Neither of them lowered their weapons and
uncle Dreiser warned her:
–I'm going to count
to three...
It was terrible, it must have been exactly
three seconds but it felt like an eternity in which a knot formed in my
stomach, I wanted it to end and at the same time I was terrified of knowing the
end. The two looked furious and willing to do anything to impose their will. He
finished counting and it happened, they both shot, my uncle fell wounded and
the arrow passed inches from London's face. Amleth let out a high-pitched
scream, Aunt Maxim joined her and soon after, everyone was checking Uncle
Dreiser's wound. He was clutching his chest and blood was coming out. I walked
slowly until I approached Dumas and Uncle Alonso, I felt the cold sweat beading
on my forehead, I could hear Dumas say to Uncle Alonso, who was pale and
serious:
–I knew that
Dreiser was never going to shoot London, that's how I educated him. But you
raised London and you probably knew she was going to shoot him seriously. Why
didn't you stop her?... Was it your last attempt to stay with Eco?
He didn't get a response, so he walked to
London; She was in shock, her arms hanging at the sides of her body. She even
dropped the gun. Dumas approached her and left me stunned when he yelled at
July calling her. I had never heard him angry. The eldest of the sisters came
running, he looked at her out of the corner of his eye before going to see
Dreiser and ordered him coldly, pointing at London:
–Hit her.
July obeyed him without asking questions, she
slapped London until she fell to her knees. Luckily, when they opened the shirt
of uncle Dreiser who was lying on Echo's lap they could see that a large silver
cross had stopped the bullet. His chest was bruised and bleeding a little, but
it didn't look like a serious wound. When London heard that he was okay, she
started crying and apologizing. Then there was a very unconvincing
reconciliation scene between siblings, I think half of them don't understand the
seriousness of the matter and the other half understand it and only forgave
London from tooth to lip. But Uncle Dreiser was the only one clear when
expressing his feelings:
–I may forgive you
over the years, London, but I will never forget. Although there is no enmity
between us, I want you to know that this is the last time I speak to you and
the last time you set foot in my house and my church will be at my wedding with
Echo. After that, you will never be welcome again.
Amleth tried to moan a "but…" and
Dumas silenced her with a single glance. I preferred to walk away in silence
and went to my room to take a bath and change. Am I becoming cynical? I haven't
gone out since then because I don't want to be part of this family environment
that smells fake, I don't believe them at all, the worst thing is that they
don't think they're good together either but they force themselves to believe.
I stayed here writing, now I'm going out to eat whatever I can find and then
I'll walk around the city alone. I need some time away from all of them.
Thursday September 2, 3030
Yesterday at noon I stole some chocolates from
the hotel reception and went for a walk without telling anyone. With the city
empty I could go into the stores and do whatever I wanted. I could notice that
there were objects that suddenly appeared or disappeared without explanation,
somehow that's how things work in this space-time loop; Surely people will be
here someday in 2020, the few employees and guards who were still working, but
we are on different dimensions. For me they are ghosts and I, who take dresses,
toys and sweets without them realizing it, must also be a ghost for them. I
spent a while trying on clothes, combining them with jewelry; At first, I
wondered why there was no looting, then I myself realized that it wasn't worth
it. We were so alone that no one would see my outfit. But one thing caught my
attention: what I took from the shelves and kept would no longer be there when
the loop restarted its cycle, so each small change we made was giving rise to a
new kind of universe independent of the one that had created it originated. And
this new world did not yet have an established government, eventually that
place would have to be occupied by one of the most influential members of the
family. I began to suspect that this was probably why Dumas was interested in
settling there, in keeping Uncle Adamas away. It makes sense, if the other
Earth will be destroyed and their destiny can no longer be changed, they can
start over here... But I'm pretty sure Dumas would just be a new version of
Uncle Adamas. He talks about love, justice, rebelling against authority, but
his authority is as tyrannical as the one he criticizes. In the end it would be
the same result, but now doubling it. How would the family degenerate with each
generation? If time ran normally again and only for us here, perhaps for that
new XXX century the future human beings descended from this generation will be
even worse. I returned to the street warmer, I will keep my uniforms because
they are comfortable, but they do not protect much against the cold. At one
point I passed in front of a mirrored glass wall and I could see that behind me
came, as always, a sinister hooded silhouette: half face covered, long blonde
hair, rifle hanging from one shoulder, Bug. I ignored him and continued on my
way until I reached a museum. I ran in, hoping to outrun him, but when I walked
through the lobby of the building, I found him trying on masks from an exhibit.
I passed by without paying attention to him. I don't want to be alone with him
and have him start "flirting", he insinuates himself with the
delicacy of a kicking mule and now I'm sensitive. I walked through the hallways
looking at the art pieces until around a corner I saw Dumas absorbed in a
painting. I would have left, but I don't know why I went straight to his side
and he, without even taking his eyes off the painting, extended an arm and
pulled me towards him. I hugged him, I think I will always be able to do that,
like when I was little and knew that he was going to give me more attention than
the other adults. Because of course, I didn't know, he's the closest thing to a
real dad I had. He feels me part of him and pampers me. Once, when my life was
simple, I saw a movie and I didn't pay attention except to a part in which a
girl said that she still loved her father even though the man was a murderer.
You push away all the bad and continue loving the voice, the warmth and the
memories. I couldn't take it anymore and started crying. Of course, he took out
a tissue to wipe my nose and carried me out of the museum. I think he just
figured I was scared by the paintings. We went to the same cafe the other
night, the only one that works, and she asked me for something to eat,
specifying that please nothing had broccoli or oatmeal, because "the girl
has bad digestion." So, I finally resigned myself and it was a bit of a
sad moment, but at the same time I had the confidence to ask him to buy me
extra hot chocolate and dessert. If he wants to be my dad, he must do it well.
It was beginning to get dark and London and Amleth soon joined us. The younger
sister walked Frida, or rather was dragged by Frida, at least she was happy. I
don't know when Bug also appeared and we all stayed at a table having dinner,
them drinking coffee and me eating all the chocolate cake I could fit because I
noticed that it consoles me. The family atmosphere was heavy, but everyone did
their best to seem at peace, Amleth kept chattering about what a good girl
Frida was and all the things they did together that afternoon. Suddenly London
asked:
–When will you tell
Descartes that you won't give him back Psyche?
Dumas thought for a moment, sip some coffee,
and then said:
–There is no need
to do so.
Everyone was silent afterwards, until Amleth
commented:
–Ziggy is very
worried.
His older brother responded by raising an
eyebrow:
–She took our
six-month-old baby away from Violet twenty-one years ago and didn't let her see
her a single day during all that time. She will survive.
London laughed and spoke again:
–And Psyche doesn't
have the option to decide whether to return or not, obviously.
There was another awkward silence, until I
said:
–Dumas came to look
for me every Friday of my life, Descartes has not appeared in more than twenty
days. Furthermore, I cannot forgive him for the operations he performed on me.
Maybe I would have been a different woman if they hadn't removed almost my entire
brain. I have come to understand why Violet and Dumas kidnapped me. I forgive
them. I also want to make my own life, alone, I'm interested in robot fights. I
would like to get involved and make a living from it.
–You just rebelled
against Descartes and Dumas in a single movement, good.
London answered me. Dumas just smiled and
London spoke again:
–I like the idea of
robot fights, we should assemble some and sell them specifically for that. you
should support her, Dumas! If she doesn't find a job to occupy her time, she's
going to end up like Bug. Imagine them already together in the mountains, semi-literate
and eating rats. Anyway, who can go against true love? No one.
I could see that Dumas did not stop smiling
but his eyes were cold, his pupils went from London to Bug, and without using a
single word it was understood that internally he wanted to kill them. He
finished the coffee and finally answered:
–Let's think about
it carefully. But we have very little money, as I always tell Violet, and
participating in these events requires a lot of capital. She would need some
patron, perhaps July who is always on good terms with the eldest daughters.
But...I think it's good, Psyche, I would like you to get closer to your aunts
Maxim and Honoré and learn more about machines. But you, London, better not get
you involved in that. You already earn well with the armory.
–But I want to do
it! I need a passion, some adrenaline. I want to be at that moment when Psyche
becomes somewhat relevant in Descartes' favorite sport and he realizes how far
she's come.
London objected and I could see that an
argument would start, because Dumas became serious:
–I really don't
want you to pressure Psyche with this, let her go at her own pace and if she
wants. Maybe she could get interested in something more feminine within that
area, she can help with the designs... Also, it is true, she is already of
marriageable age. If you want a marriage to last forever, you have to get
married young and blindly in love with a person a little sillier than you. The
good thing is that Bug is now completely single.
The youngest of the siblings looked at him
offended and London returned to the charge:
–The feminine does
not have to be boring, Dumas! If I don't support her, she won't do anything. We
all know. Besides I already decided, there's no way you can stop me. This is my
new dream!
Dumas laughed again with emotionless eyes and
London insisted "jokingly", until she threw herself on the table and
took Dumas herself to kiss him, almost leaving him breathless. When she
released him, she said:
–You could bite me
a hundred times and nothing happens, I'm the only one in the family immune to
you. You're not going to stop me, Dumas. Let's have fun with this!
Then she ran away laughing in a playful but
disturbing way, with Frida following her. Amleth looked at us with a nervous
smile, got up and followed them. Dumas was angry, it was already noticeable, he
wiped his mouth in annoyance and murmured:
–She knows that no
matter what she says or does, she will always be the black sheep of the family.
He went to pay the bill and at that moment
when I was left alone with Bug, he warned me that it was better not to comment
on anything they talked about. We all returned to the hotel and soon Dumas
forgot about the little argument with London because Violet informed him that
she had contacted her father using July as an intermediary and they had reached
a certain agreement. I said that I was very tired and I wanted to go to sleep,
so that Bug wouldn't sneak into my room, because he's following me everywhere and
it's starting to make me desperate! In the morning I woke up, they told me that
we were going to return to the mountains, we would have to continue traveling
and with caution, now I write as we leave the city. Violet's father denied that
he wanted to hurt me. Nobody believes him. But in theory they are at peace and
he respects the fact that his daughter protects me because she was my surrogate
mother. I don't know what will happen, but I want everyone to start respecting
me for being myself, not for being Someone's daughter.
End Of
Part Two
Case IX: July
Friday September 3, 3030
We go back on the road, back to the mountains.
I slept and had breakfast in the passenger seat of Bug's van, London is coming
with us. We are something like the three outcasts of the family. I'm starting
to understand that London is obnoxious because she doesn't realize she is, not
because she is evil. That's helping me deal with it. She gets along quite well
with Bug, she asked him for advice on how to convince July to help us
financially, we have discovered something important: the law prohibits cyborgs,
that is, humans with cybernetic parts, from participating in robot fights; but
it also says that only those organisms that retain an organic brain are
considered cyborgs, so I would be considered a biomachine due to my artificial
brain and I can be registered as a fighting robot! I feel confident that I can
beat everyone and London supports me in her way, it would be very easy! We see
a lot of matches while traveling and the fighters are stupid, it's easy to fool
them or distract them. Bug disagrees. He listens to us, we were enthusiastic,
and he just drives around bored, discouraging us:
–Those fights are
fixed; they can't be that bad. Anyway, July hates biomachines, who knows why!
She won't want to sponsor you and just the registration to obtain permission to
participate in the fights costs more than my house. July hates biomachines so much
that she lives here, even though she has her own house on the Moon, just
because she hates 30th century technology. Haven't you noticed that she even
avoids getting close to Psy?
–It doesn't matter,
little brother, she feels very guilty for slapping me and surely now I can
change her mind. Even if Dumas forbids it, she will help us secretly if I ask
her to. She's the cool sister.
London objected, but Bug continued his
negative stance:
–Not with
biomachines, she really has a phobia about that. You also touched on another
important point, we have already taken advantage of her a lot, since we were
children she has been the one who defends us from everything; Even so, Dumas
treats her like another Frida. It's sad, I always imagined she would be an
immortal character in history, but she just lost her voice and is always drunk.
–Well, that was
your fault, little brother...
–It was Dumas's
idea...
I stared at them blankly and asked what they
meant. Bug, who had his face uncovered, sighed and put on the porcelain mask he
had stored in the glove compartment. London began to tell me:
–July is the only
one in the family who achieved fame for the right reasons. For a time, she was
a very popular singer-songwriter, she had millions of fans and won awards every
year; but at a certain point she began to have an erratic behavior. It was something
strange, she stopped putting effort into her music, even so she had a lot of
support. People loved her! Her fans saw virtues even in her flaws. Then Dumas,
who had always been his best friend and confidant, began to saw her floor.
Behind her back he said that it was unfair that just because she was a pretty
woman they celebrated everything she did, while he was barely known as a
painter and Alonso struggled to be accepted by a publisher despite the fact
that the two made a lot of effort to create quality art. And actually at that
time July's songs were quite bad, people idolized her perhaps out of nostalgia
or because they simply liked her. Then it happened... Surely you can still find
photos of that...
–London, no!
Bug asked her, but she looked at her
holographic screen and showed me the best photo ever, explaining the context of
that scene:
–My dad was a man
from the 30th century, he didn't know a lot about the fashions and customs of
the 20th century, so it was common for him to do strange things or wear mom's
clothes because he didn't see the difference between men's and women's clothes.
He especially liked to wear a big pink sweatshirt of hers and sit and watch
videos on his couch. One day someone managed to go to our farm to interview
July. She didn't let them go beyond the garden, but through a window they could
see Dad in the pink sweatshirt. When they asked July who that man in lady's
clothes was, she lied saying she didn't know. So, the next time she gave an
interview, these three graces unexpectedly arrived: Dumas dressed as a society
lady, Alonso as a streetwalker, and here the baby of the family with braids and
dressed as a little girl. They went to reveal that the guy dressed in pink was
their father and that they were not ashamed of him. Of course, the audience
applauded the trio of fake transvestites and July was cancelled. She never
recovered from that, she began to become an alcoholic, her most loyal fans
began to forget her and when she wanted to resume her artistic career she could
no longer do so. Her voice was very deteriorated. Nowadays, no one remembers
July, she could have become a big star but disappeared into obscurity. Probably
because of the anarchists who are not anarchists because Dumas will undoubtedly
crown his son king as soon as his father-in-law dies.
It was a very sad story, I wanted to be
serious, but it was difficult to suppress the smile seeing Bug turned into a
giant muscular Amleth with a kitten mask. He tried to apologize, while I
preferred to let the siblings continue talking only among themselves. I was
afraid I would laugh if I participated in the talk:
–I would never have
done it if it weren't for the bad influence of Dumas...He always represses
women's dreams, he didn't start putting pressure on Violet about motherhood
until she became excited about being a professional dancer. The day after her
first serious recital, he bought her the cafeteria and asked her to start
trying fertility treatments!
–I know, Bug. I
remember at my military school graduation; dad of course didn't want to go and
mom was sick. Dumas and Alonso went in their place. Alonso did his best, he
covered his tattoos with a long-sleeved shirt, put on suspenders and pants with
his waist up to his ribs to try to make people believe he was older. But Dumas,
maybe he really has certain inclinations...He arrived wearing a shirt that said
"Mom" and made a pass at all my superiors. To the men! He did not
greet the women. I'm tired of the sexism in this family, they've made me start
to think that no man is worth it, I'll tell you something: I've lost interest
in all of them.
–I suspected it.
–I no longer
believe in love, in romantic love. But what about self-love? Maybe I'll get a
tattoo like you, something to commemorate that I have decided to give myself
love and be happy.
–I've heard that
cucumbers help women a lot with that. I prefer to use a watermelon! You make a
hole in it and…Self-love.
–Bug, you are
disgusting. I'm serious, I'm getting a tattoo. Where does it hurt the most to
get one? And where it hurts less.
–Ah…The arms hurt
less. The most painful are the parts where the skin is thinnest. Back, belly,
genitals...It's the worst.
–Did it hurt you
when you got the dick-snake?
–What do you care,
degenerate? Just so you know: your macho little brother put up with it. I
couldn't date watermelons for a while, but it was worth it. That's how I later
conquered the girl of my dreams...
–That only exists
in your dreams...I'll get a tattoo like the one July has on her arm. The one
that looks like a restaurant bill and charges a life at the price of a death.
It is discreet and will not hurt as much as the penile viper.
–That tattoo on
July has to do with her decline as a singer, right? Hasn't she told you
anything about it? It's from that same time.
–She says she
doesn't want to be asked about it. In fact, around that time she was dating the
man who now owns the most famous combat robot, Silenos: he is part robot, part
human and part goat, but he has the artificial intelligence of a brick! If
Psyche defeated him, she would become the absolute champion and humiliate
July's ex. Maybe I can approach her from that side to help!
–Or maybe you'll
revive some horrible trauma and she shuts down. Not everyone is a resentful
dike like you, London!
Bug concluded and I remembered that Dumas
mentioned another event that they hide in the family related to Bug's birth.
I'll ask him when we're alone, now I'll sleep while they keep talking.
Saturday September 4, 3030
Today we stopped to eat at a truckers' break,
then we continued to a plateau where we found an old empty house in the middle
of a wheat field. It is such a beautiful place that we stopped to rest again,
there was a large pool as blue as the sky, a beautiful Victorian gazebo and
plenty of room to sleep. It was hot and Aunt Honoré was starting to feel sick,
so we decided to wait there until she got better. I played in the pool for a
while with Amleth, the baby, and Frida; Then I explored the surroundings while
the others also tried to relax. I hadn't noticed that Dumas narrows his eyes
and kisses everyone! To all! Only Uncle Alonso keeps him away from it. Violet
doesn't seem jealous, they say he's been that way since he was a child, but
it's uncomfortable, especially with July... They're holding hands all the time,
they talk in each other's ears, giving each other kisses on the ear, they stare
into each other's eyes and you just make out that Violet is the wife because he
is a little more sexual and relaxed with her, they talk to each other with more
confidence; but otherwise... I told Bug that it's somewhat disturbing to see
them like this, he treats her like a girlfriend...or Frida. He assured me that
it is "100% not incestuous," and to prove it he went to sit
spread-eagled on Dumas's legs. I still don't understand what he tried to show
with that, now I'm just more convinced that this family needs to respect each
other's personal space more. Then, London nudged me and took July to the porch
of the house, taking advantage of the fact that she finally got away from Dumas
for a while, I stayed a little away. So I took advantage of it a little and
wrote in my journal.
Things are getting harder and harder to
understand. Now I feel somewhat disturbed. London and July talked for a long
time while I waited with my journal on a nearby hanging bench, I was quiet
looking at the sky and the ears of wheat fluttering in the wind. Suddenly I saw
July walking away very quickly, I looked at the house and London was crying. I
ran up to her and she told me:
–She says that the
damn owner of Silenos tricked her during a walk together, used her biomachine
as a stud so that July could produce new models for him. We never realized
because everything lasted just a few hours. She was raped, impregnated, and
forced to give birth to a litter of biomachines in one afternoon. It is usually
like this, it is a process so fast, violent and painful that it leaves women
traumatized for life. This is why her artistic career went down the drain. She
did not want to confess to us what happened because we had already suffered a
lot before when a degenerate old man seduced and kidnapped Amleth as a child.
Since then Dumas became very overprotective, he feared that another blow like
that would upset him more. Additionally, Silenos and the creatures he spawned
are the longest-lived combatants and the ones who win the most bets in favor of
Homo sapiens, so July protects them silently even though she hates them, she
doesn't want to know anything about them... And I want revenge! I want to kill
them! But without them many innocents will die... I should have listened to
Bug, I wouldn't have wanted to know this!
That horrible information made my stomach
turn, but I stayed calm and tried to find a solution:
–London, I have
seen Silenos and his team. I know I can defeat them! If you support me, I will
help you win the bets to continue helping release more abducted Homo sapiens.
Why don't we tell Dumas? He will want to avenge his favorite sister. He has
money! He hasn't renounced his inheritance...He just plays dumb and keeps
saving it for me and the baby.
–That cheater, I
already imagined... But no, I know him, what he will do is kill them without
complications and he will leave the Homo sapiens slaves without combat robots
to represent them in the bets. We must keep this secret from July until we find
a way to pay to register for one of those events or convince her that we could
be successful in avenging her. Now let's try to continue as if nothing had
happened, don't say a word about this to Bug!
So, we tried to continue pretending to be calm
and I started writing in my diary. What can we do? I need to face this Silenos,
not only to avenge July, I want to surpass the robots that my father Descartes
admired so much, to which he gave more attention than me without knowing all
the evil they had done to one of his sisters. I feel very bad, between angry
and scared. I will continue writing later.
I don't know if I'll be able to sleep even
though I'm exhausted, too many strong emotions for a single day and I don't
know what course my life will take from now on. The entire family has turned
upside down. At least the room I stayed in is beautiful and comfortable,
everything looks old and the wood creaks in the wind. I like it, it's like
Bug's big house. You can also sleep comfortably there, and today I would like
to rest from everything... After half a day, the sky was filled with golden
clouds, the landscape was very beautiful and Dumas began to paint it with his
sect of good children sitting around him watching how he did it. I took Frida
and went to the "dark side", with Uncle Alonso, Bug and London, who
saw a rabbit nearby and started trying to hunt it. Uncle Alonso has terrible
aim, his younger siblings made fun of him, until they noticed July watching
them from afar with her hands on her hips. She looked angry. Bug commented in a
low voice, between mischievous giggles:
–We forgot that she
is vegan. Let's go further, Alonso makes a noise like hell while wasting
ammunition.
Then uncle Alonso gave his opinion about his
older sister, always whispering:
–Every year it gets
more boring. She spent the entire trip talking about metaphysics and the power
of positive thinking, she's organizing I don't know how many bachelor parties
for the bride and groom, and she offered to marry them at a special party in India,
because she's a priestess of I don't know what. strange religion. The priest
boy did not accept because he was going to convert to another religion that
would allow him to continue dressing as a priest and then July began to bother
Violet by asking her to do a contemporary dance together before the wedding to
symbolize love.
Bug shot, giving his opinion on the matter:
–I will arrive in a
big heart-shaped suit and I will do a violent twerk in front of the altar to
symbolize that I am the ex and I fucked the bride first.
–If you put
yourself on that plan, we would have to do a group choreography.
They were still talking when July took a scarf
from Honoré and began to dance in front of the group, saying that: "she
was the personification of Dumas's oscillating brushstrokes". He stopped
painting for a while to give her some applause. Bug began to make fun of her by
imitating her movements with the rifle and Uncle Alonso commented, preparing to
continue hunting in the wheat field:
–Dumas is a type of
drug, its influence is harmful and over time it melts your neurons. July is
proof of this.
London, who had been reloading his gun all
this time, replied:
–Don't judge her.
It has happened to me that sometimes I have been harsh and demanding with
someone without understanding their reasons. And then I regret it.
That comment caught Bug's attention, who
instantly stopped dancing and asked:
–You talked to her?
Does the tattoo have to do with the robot guy?
–Something like
that…
London answered looking at the floor and Bug
continued talking unconcerned:
–I would never get
a tattoo of an ex-partner. You have to live in the present, if it is no longer
with you, it is as if it never existed. If I remember correctly, they didn't
spend much time together. I don't know why she gives it so much importance to him.
Do you remember it, Alonso? It was that hybrid with the last name Stern. He was
the grandson of a banker, right?
– I don't know
anyone from the 30th century who isn't the grandson of child-eating bankers. I
talk to him from time to time. He is a cheapskate and is always looking for
used biomachine parts for spare parts. Every time he comes, he tries to
secretly talk to me because Dumas is another miser, he doesn't lower a single
cent. I give him a discount because he tries his best to please me, but now
that I've been told that he ended badly with July, I'm going to think of
something to teach him a lesson.
London and I looked at each other, at that
moment we began to tell Uncle Alonso our idea, how sure we were of beating
Silenos and how happy we would be if he arranged a friendly meeting for us with
the popular biomachine, just to start make ourselves known and encourage July
to help us. I think we were so excited and nervous about not getting uncle
Alonso's favor that we scared him a little, because at the same moment he
called the man who owned Silenos and asked him to arrive at dusk to test
"a new biomachine" that he wanted to sell as a fighter. The
appointment was made and London and I moved a little away from them, pretending
to jump and celebrate a little, but when we were a few meters away she hugged
me to say in my ear:
–We're only going
to have one chance and it will be a surprise for July. If you don't destroy it
and convince everyone that you're the next wrestling star, our adventure will
be over here and July will feel worse.
–Don't worry, you
already saw that it will be a piece of cake!
I replied confidently, and when we returned to
Bug and Uncle Alonso, the latter told us:
–I'm just warning
you one thing, girls! Don't feel bad if you lose, robot fights at official
events are almost always fixed. The representatives of the fighters collect the
ransom from the relatives of the slaves whose freedom is at stake and if they
manage to pay it, Silenos wins, if not, he loses. I told Descartes many times
and he never listened to me because he said that these rumors were going to
further strain the relationship with uncle Adamas. But that's how it is, and in
real life combat biomachines are much more difficult to defeat than they seem.
I advise you, Psyche, to concentrate on evading his attacks and as soon as you
feel tired, give up. It won't be bad! You will gain experience, that is already
a success. Silenos is especially resistant to damage and hits with enormous
force. It is not for nothing that he is the most awarded fighter and is also
often rented out as a stud.
London, worried, turned to look at me and I
said, before going after Bug who had gone to sit on the hanging bench near the
house:
–I'm going to win,
even if it costs me my life.
By then I was aware that I had gotten into
serious trouble, I ran to sit next to Bug, in fact I hugged him. I like the way
he smells and it relaxes me to play with his hair, he already knows that. Dusk
was falling and the cottony clouds were turning colorful, from violet blue to
deep pink, we looked at them without speaking. It would take me a long time to
write what has happened between the two of us the times we have slept together,
my hymen must remain as it was the day I was born, but we developed a kind of
language without words and I knew that he did not agree with what I said about
risking my life. I wanted to do it and although he wasn't going to stop me, he
took my hand, measured it with his fingers as if checking how small it was, and
then brought it to his chest to make me feel the accelerated beating of his
heart. He was afraid for me. I didn't tell him anything, but that ended up
convincing me that I had to do everything I could to win and avenge his sister,
even if I ended up with some broken bones or injuries.
Night was beginning to fall when the man with
the last name Stern arrived in some kind of futuristic vehicle towing a large
chrome box. He greeted everyone with great kindness and joy, July was pale. She
tried to smile, but her face was more of a strange grin showing her teeth. The
man greeted her as if he missed her very much, she seemed like a standing body
whose soul had abandoned it. London had a cloudy look. She made an effort to
contain herself. Suddenly the box opened, the famous Silenos emerged from
inside, he is bigger and scarier in person. July was startled and ran to hide
her face in Dumas's chest. This guy Stern looked at her smiling, half
compassionate, half mocking...I think he was enjoying her fear. I don't know at
what moment London jumped after me and said in my ear:
–Kill him, kill
him, kill him! Don't think about him raping her, imagine he did it to you. The
beast didn't see my sister, someone's daughter, a pretty girl whose name was
July, it only saw a female body. He saw us all in her, because we are all
women, he would not have cared about attacking anyone else. A girl, an old
woman, a mother, it doesn't matter! He only saw the opportunity to abuse his
power over a defenseless body, it is the worst of contempt. You must kill him!
I replied, beginning to get scared:
–London, wait! It's
as big as a monster that attacked me one night in the forest, Bug had to
decapitate it with difficulty to stop it. In fact, they look alike, maybe that
was one of July's bastard children and her brother, its uncle, killed him
without knowing. How horrible everything is happening! Maybe we shouldn't
continue, think about it... Let's confess everything now and ask others for
help. Everyone should know what happened to July and get justice.
–No... Because I
can't, it would be hypocritical to ask them to punish now, when they had mercy
on me... I have also been a monster...
Before we could finish talking, uncle Alonso
approached us talking to the man and explained to him that I was "the
combat biomachine", he laughed out loud. My legs were shaking, London's
hands were cold, but I stood firm. I heard him ask my price and if I was
fertile, my uncle replied that "he had already reserved me for a very
important client and I was not for sale", Stern just smiled looking at me
from head to toe and licked his lips. I saw Bug again, Dumas, Uncle Dreiser...
None of the men suspected what London, July and I were really going through.
Even the other women sat happily in the gazebo and waited for the show with
popcorn. Everything was happening very quickly, faster than I would have liked,
and without me finishing preparing, the moment of combat arrived. The beast
roared, scratched the floor with its hooves and approached me trying to catch
me, I took out Eco's whip and tried to whip it and he took out a trident with
it which he tangled and tore it out of my hands. Echo laughed applauding and
with her the others who thought that was funny, July was hiding behind everyone
looking askance and London was yelling at me to use the rod. I did so, but he
blocked all the blows with his trident, my attacks seemed useless, July finally
became desperate and went to the edge of the improvised arena in the wheat
field to stay right between London and Bug who were attentive to the fight.
Seeing her gave me an adrenaline rush, I didn't want to let her down! I managed
to sneak around Silenos' side, landed several blows on his back, and noted with
horror that they weren't enough to hurt him. I had to gain momentum and then I
attacked him, hitting him with all my strength. I made him fall to his knees,
he let out another horrifying scream and I managed to give him two or three
blows just like that; But suddenly he had a fit of fury, he stood up, turned
towards me with a speed that I did not expect and gave me a brutal blow with
the trident. It was close to killing me, my neck and one hand were left between
two of the spikes of the trident that stuck into the ground, forcing me to be
prostrate on the floor on my knees and face. Stern cheered excitedly and,
without being able to see what was happening, I felt with anger that Silenos
lifted my skirt. Suddenly I heard a gunshot. Two or three more, sharp blows. I
don't know. Then just silence. Nothing. Sometime later I heard footsteps on the
grass, Bug came to free me and I was finally able to look at what happened.
Silenos was lying on the floor, he had been shot in the face and between his
legs. Stern was also lying on the floor with his head...deflated, something
like mashed potatoes came out from between his burst scalp, it is terrible what
expansive bullets do to human beings. At first, I thought it was Bug's work,
then I saw July with the rifle of her youngest brother. She was panting with
excitement, happiness, I don't know, but she finally looked awake. She gave a
shout of joy, fired a shot into the air and everyone stared at her strangely. I
could see that London touched Uncle Alonso's back before fainting in his arms.
Then July, as if recovering her authority as leader of the younger siblings
that Dumas had taken from her for so long, ordered:
–Bring liquor,
beers, whatever we have. We'll have a party there, in the gazebo, and a bonfire
with these bastards. A great bonfire! I want to burn Stern, Silenos, his car,
everything. Let's celebrate by burning things. And, Maxim and Honore, I want
you to make me a list of the improvements necessary for this Psyche girl to
become capable of seriously participating in fights. I'm going to sponsor her,
I'll become the fucking queen of robot fighting! Did you hear?
Everyone looked at her dumbly, with fearful
respect. She concluded by saying:
–With the funds
generated, I will finance research and whatever the fuck they need to find a
method of reproducing biomachines without using women. So, get your books out
and get ready, but now let's party!
Little by little the others came out of their
stupor and the atmosphere became "normalized." Since Stern was
traveling to this time-space loop illegally, there are no official records of
him having been here and his murder will go largely unnoticed into the 30th
century. Maybe he told someone about me, but he didn't know that I was
"Uncle Alonso's new biomachine" until he came. They will have to hide
my identity somehow by presenting me as July's property, they are still
planning that, they are more concerned about increasing my stamina and hitting
power. When everything was finished burning, the five oldest siblings and
Violet stayed talking in the gazebo, the rest of us went to sleep. I wanted to
take a long bath. I barely got any dirt on my face, but I felt dirty. July's
story impressed me and she has perhaps been the most difficult sister to know
in depth. In fact, it is difficult for me to write about her and it would be
better if I took a break from this for now. They say that uncle Ray should help
us solve the problem of my low physical resistance, I will start studying him.
I didn't find out July's real name, researching I only found some of her songs
signed as "July Caesar" and I could see that in the past she was not
so shy, she was a diva who let herself die in oblivion. I don't know, it's such
an overwhelming story that I prefer to leave it here and start investigating
the good doctor Ray who has cured me since I was a child. I'm writing in bed
and although the door is closed, I feel the weight of someone who lay down next
to me, because of the smell of the rainy forest I know it's Bug. Tomorrow I
will continue writing, for now I don't want to think anymore.
Case X: Ray
Sunday September 5, 3030
Today I woke up and talked to Bug for a while
in bed, we are on good terms. I have already gained some experience with it and
I look for it myself. He was a little surprised at first, but he was grateful,
I didn't drown and it was nice. I've even stopped thinking he has a lizard
face. I asked him for a lock of his hair to stick it in my diary, and the very
stingy guy barely gave me a few hairs. I had to complain about it:
–I wish my hair
grew that much. If I had it like this, I would take advantage of the fact that
it is already light and I would dye it pink, I would curl it, I would do
hairstyles...
–You would burn it
and ruin it. Hair is like land and people, Psy! You must respect its nature or
it becomes corrupted and dies.
To get revenge because he didn't give me a
bigger lock, I gave him a wrestling hold that I learned from watching robot
fights. He looked at me clinging to his arm using leverage and asked:
– Do you play at
being a tick? I really don't know how they plan to increase your strength, the
idea of fighting worries me.
–I wanted to ask
you: what happened when you were born? Dumas told me something about that, that
his father beat him and he had to go to some uncles' house.
–When I was born? I
don't know, they say I was as like dead, probably due to some congenital
defect. Luckily, Ray, who was barely ten years old, revived me somehow; Since
then, he wanted to be a doctor. Dumas was also an innocent child and dad took
it out on him. That's the truth and every adult of that time, including Ziggy
and Descartes, will tell you: he was not to blame for anything. Dad only
attacked him because he secreted poison and was frustrated that his children
were being born strange. Maybe that's why Ray became so evasive.
–No, something else
happened, Dumas himself told me. Something that divided the family. Why don't
your older siblings have contact with you? There are some siblings that you
never talk about. Why?
–Because they
support the monarchy. Alveena, the eldest of the women, took the title of
princess and lives in a wing of uncle Adamas' palace. And everyone who gets
along with her is kind of...openly in favor of the genocide of Homo sapiens. Of
course, they will tell you the opposite, that they are there to represent and
defend them, but I don't believe them, it don't improve the situation by
supporting my uncle! Also, you know, there are very ugly rivalries, some of
them meaningless. I got along badly with some of the older ones, but especially
with the older daughters. They mistreated me all the time, they even made me
feel guilty for my mother. As if I had forced her to bring me into the world,
there was a time when that hurt me a lot.
–I think it was
something else, wouldn't you like to find out? Why do they like to keep silly
secrets that only bring them into conflict and separate them?
Then Bug got out of bed and stretched saying:
–That's precisely
why I don't want to know! It must be a stupid secret like that Maxim secretly
married a hologram or that Dumas is addicted to furry porn, God save poor Frida
by the way, I'm not interested and I don't think the day is near when something
really changes in the family.
He went to the shower and I didn't want to
continue insisting because I know that the examples of family secrets he gave
are the ones that don't hurt him, I think they rather hide something like the
twisted relationship that London and Uncle Dreiser had, or that they stole me
from a couple of teenagers... Or that everyone knows that my uncle Bug is here
in my room, but they act distracted. Shortly after, Amleth knocked on the door
and from outside told me to come down to the kitchen. I was still dressed in the
same sweatshirt I slept in, there was some kind of feminist meeting chaired by
London with July's permission. Violet watched over a pot of soup with the baby
in her arms, while Honoré explained that if they wanted me to participate in
the fights, it was necessary to slightly alter the improvements they had
planned for me:
–We will have to
resort to special implants to improve physical performance, I don't know how
she has been able to resist all this time using my father's cane without them.
She should be in terrible pain, suffer some muscle tears.
–I always suffer
intense pain when I have to fight, but I endure it because I want them to see
what I am capable of doing.
I confessed and Violet said, hugging me:
–What happened
yesterday was horrible, but even before the deaths I didn't like the wrestling
match. It was disrespectful to lift the girl's skirt.
Aunt Honoré shrugged her shoulders, saying:
–It's part of the
show. I don't think it's really dangerous for Psyche to participate. The only
problem is that she needs to receive the implants through surgery, Ray can do
it, but he would notice. That seems more problematic to me than wrestling
perverts.
Violet refused, shaking her head, and finally
July stood up from where she was sitting and spoke with authority:
–Can we get out of
the kitchen? Violet I love my brother Dumas, but I think we should start
following our intuition and not just his orders. What do you gain by cooking
all the time? You've been bored since you started the cafeteria and stopped
dancing. And the babies didn't improve the situation.
–You don't
understand, it's not about having fun, or romantic love…We are a family. After
so many years together, I already feel him as part of me... It's a habit,
feeling safe... I wouldn't be happy if he isn't happy.
–Violet, he
kidnapped you when you were sixteen and since then he has been cajoling you
into not leaving him even though deep down, he must know that you have the
chemistry of water and oil! I don't want to imagine your sex life. Does he read
you post-modern poetry while you have him on you?
–July, for God's
sake don't be vulgar! And... something like that...
–Damn it, sisters
and sisters-in-law! I'm already tired of this family sugarcoating things! Come
on! Can't anyone finish lunch for her?
At that moment Bug appeared tying up his hair
and raised his hand offering himself for the job. Then we all went out to the
porch of the house and on the way, Violet whispered in my ear:
–Bug is a good
match even though he seems simple and country, I'm going to give you some land
and savings so that you can settle down, I already talked about it with Dumas
and he reluctantly accepted...
I blushed because that confirmed to me that
they all knew... and had decided to bring us together. Women have a silent
power over the family, and that's interesting when the family in turn has power
over many other people; That gave me some fear, I think I understand why Dumas
insists so much on controlling his wife and sisters. He knows what women could
do...and I'm one of them. I understand now! And I'm not going to let him
control me... Once settled outside, July resumed speaking:
–We're going to
call Ray to come treat Honore, we'll tell him that... She had a fight with
Dumas, he bit her, the bite was complicated... And we need him to come spend a
few days taking care of her! When he is here, we will tell him the truth, and
we will convince him to help us and not leave.
–What if he doesn't
want to stay?
Amleth asked boredly looking at the sky, July
answered, always like a diva:
–Simple! We will
force him. We are going to do the same thing as Dumas when he wants someone to
stay, making it impossible for them to make a space-time jump: we are going to
poison him.
Amleth responded by swinging his arms:
–But Dumas doesn't
want to help us, he's there looking at us from afar with a wary snake face.
–We do not need
him! We have his son.
–Is he poisonous
too?
Amleth asked and Violet responded looking at
her baby:
–Hm…I really don't
know. At this point I'm already immune to his father. Sometimes I feel like my
chest is stinging, but I think it's because his first teeth are already coming
out.
Then Echo suggested very cheerfully:
–That's it! You
have to make him bite someone. If we scare him and put a finger in his mouth,
he will bite it and we will see if he has retractable fangs.
They all looked at each other looking for
volunteers and London murmured: "I'm immune", Maxim started laughing
like a seal walking away, Honoré flatly refused and finally only Amleth dared
to check the baby's little mouth while London approached him from behind ready
to shout, applaud and thus scare him. She did, the baby began to cry, but first
he snapped a quick bite at Amleth. They all laughed and squealed, comforting
the little boy until Amleth began to turn blue and collapsed on the floor. And
here I want to take a moment to meditate, I see the urgency for women to stop
being relegated to a passive role, but also the need to put a stop to so many
foolish women who act without thinking, as men do too! I am beginning to
convince myself that stupidity simply has no gender and I run the risk of
discriminating against them all by turning to misanthropy! So anyway, Uncle Ray
had to be called because the baby's poison is different from his dad's and they
didn't have an antidote on hand. The doctor had to come and do one. While we
waited for him, we discussed how to explain my presence to him, and I asked
them to let me talk to him about it. I know Uncle Ray, he is my doctor and he
has always known all my intimacies; Bug supported me. We were left alone with
Amleth in a room to receive him when he arrived. It didn't take him long to
appear, but as soon as he opened the door his face went from the expected
seriousness of the situation to deep surprise, with his gaze fixed on me. He
approached, almost dropping his briefcase, and exclaimed:
–Psyche, you are
here!
–You did not know?
I thought great-uncle Adamas had already said something.
I answered and uncle Ray replied, rubbing his
face:
–No. He hasn't said
anything, I wouldn't have imagined it either. Like your father and mother, even
in our anguish after your disappearance we thought that our younger siblings
would never hide something like this from us. Now...Leave me alone with Amleth,
I must work. We will talk tomorrow.
–Will you keep my
secret? Uncle, I don't want to go back. I don't want to continue being locked
up, I've already started a new life here.
Uncle Ray looked at the fact that I was
holding Bug's hand, nodded and stayed working, his eyes were tearful. I felt
bad for him, I think he took everything as a betrayal. Now he's busy trying to
stabilize Amleth, the baby turned out to be very dangerous. Then I had to put
that aside a bit, they detected biomachines nearby, which is strange because in
this area there are not supposed to be any. Bug, London, Uncle Dreiser, Uncle
Alonso and I are going out to check the area.
Tuesday September 7, 3030
Last Sunday was perhaps the worst day of my
life, the most horrible. The night started out beautiful, the dark blue sky was
illuminated by the biggest stars I have ever seen and the almost full moon was
even threatening, as if it were watching us. London, Uncle Alonso and Bug were
arguing because the signal on the radar was strange, and that could mean many
things; one of them was that it was a biomachine owned by the Moon government
whose most advanced technology makes it difficult to detect them. Uncle Dreiser
and I were watching the surroundings, there was something strange in the
atmosphere, he was preparing to draw the bow with an arrow ready. Suddenly we
saw that uncle Ray was coming out of the house and approaching us. His white
coat fluttered in the wind next to the wheat ears and he looked happy to be
there, calmer now. Uncle Dreiser gave him a quick hug and asked him how Amleth
was doing, while the other three siblings also approached to hear the news, he
responded with a tired look on his face:
–Better. She
learned a lesson the hard way about people who produce toxic substances: their
poison is more powerful when they are infants. It's the way their bodies defend
themselves when they are most vulnerable. Luckily, you didn't wait long to call
me, it could have been complicated. Actually, I don't know why you have hidden
so many things from me: you all brought Psyche, Dreiser is getting married, the
baby has grown a lot... I have always been on your side.
London rolled her eyes and commented:
–You are on
everyone's side, Ray...You want to be right with God and the devil, when there
are problems, you just keep quiet. Why don't you come here? Doctors are needed,
women need care, the elderly, children...
–I have to take
care of the whole family, it comes first. I'm going to cure uncle Adamas as
well as Amleth, or you, whoever in the family.
The doctor responded between timid laughs;
Uncle Alonso demanded a little more seriously:
–I actually wanted
to talk to you many times, I need you to clarify what they were really planning
to do with Psyche. But each time your secretary responded saying that "Dr.
Ray Bradbury was not in the office".
–It's not that I
didn't want to answer you... I confess that there are days when I avoid
answering calls and messages from everyone if they are not an emergency,
sometimes I am so emotionally exhausted from so many fights that I need some
time to recharge my batteries...
–Well, you haven't
responded to me in more than a year. I think you've rested enough. Explain me
what was happening with Psyche. Why were they hiding her if we could all unite
to protect her from our uncle? I've asked you nicely before, but I'll ask you again
now that I'm no longer afraid of being discreetly removed from the girl's life
like they did with Violet. Tell me what the hell they were up to with so much
mystery.
Uncle Ray was nervous, put his hands in the
pockets of his lab coat and replied:
–You know that we
simply respected the decisions of Descartes and Ziggy. I know the same as you
and I was only there to take care of everyone's health and finish intervening
with Psyche. Now you ask me to finish her treatment here and Honoré says let's
change the plan a little to give her high-performance implants...I will respect
your decisions as I have always done. I don't hide anything.
–Aren't you hiding
anything? You know things that would make the most excellent Alveena end up
here with us and not of her own free will.
–For God's sake,
you know that family love comes before everything…You have to forgive those
mistakes of youth…
–They are no longer
young and they continue to give preference to family members who don't have
unpleasant mutations, they do not invite Bug to any formal events, Dumas
attends those silly parties only because they are forced to invite him since he
lives with me. They forget that we are twins and if he is a mistake of nature
then so am I. Think one thing: the baby is poisonous. If my uncle dies, which
should be natural at the age of four hundred and thirty-five, what will they do
with an heir they don't like? They will throw him out on the street, they will
send him to this place. We are not obliged to forgive them; they should ask for
forgiveness. No one is at the top forever, and if you didn't get your business
right when you were at the top, you shouldn't be surprised when you're at the
bottom and those who replace you at the top spit you out. So, better to start
now and stop stalling. Sooner or later, they are going to fall and you with
them if you continue to cover them.
–I can assure you
that nothing about Fy and Alveena is as you imagine, on the other hand... Then
Violet is going to claim her father's inheritance...
Uncle Ray said a little accusingly and Uncle
Alonso replied:
–Isn't that fair?
I'll give you another news, my uncle already asked for Psyche's head. Not the
girl, he doesn't want her to back in home, he just wants the head! A spy posed
as Honore's boyfriend and revealed everything to my uncle. If your goal in keeping
Psy hidden from him for so long was to prevent him from ever thinking about
using her to achieve immortality, then it's time to use a plan B because he's
already after that. What do you think would be diplomatic and not hurt the
feelings of my poor uncle Adamas, the murderous tyrant, in this case?
I could see uncle Ray break down. I have known
him for as long as I can remember and he has always been that sweet, somewhat
childish character who sings and dances to make everything seem like a game
even before major surgery, but for the first time I saw him cornered by a harsh
reality. He had nothing left to say:
–I don't know...I
wouldn't want to think about that... I have suffered too, Alonso. I rebelled
and acted once before, and I was barely a child. I don't want anyone else to
suffer, no one else to feel like the rest of the family is abandoning them...
He couldn't continue talking, he hurried back
to the house. London then asked:
–When did you rebel
as a child?
Uncle Alonso turned his back on him and went
back to looking for prey, barely murmuring:
–He means when he
saved Bug.
He looked at the sky for a moment, then
continued saying:
–Well, it's time
for you know. It was a very traumatic event for him. Mom always gave birth on
the farm where we grew up, she was a peasant! She didn't trust the doctors of
the future nor did she want those of the past to see her children. When little
Bug was born, Hugo had gone to study in the city with Descartes, dad was busy
taking care of you and Dreiser who had gotten sick with measles. There were no
other adults nearby, the oldest of my sisters was barely fifteen years old, the
other fourteen. Bug was supposedly stillborn, they took him out in the trash, a
storm was falling, mom was half-fainted and asking to see her newborn...
–Wait a minute...
What did they throw ME in the trash?
Bug asked indignantly, Uncle Alonso snorted
and continued telling:
–They thought you
were dead! Our older sisters didn't let us see you, we were all crying for our
little brother, but Abel Lunae, now Dr. Ray Bradbury, escaped through a window
when my older sisters were careless. He went to look for you, you were crying
and shaking, but weren't dead. Just fucking ugly.
I was happy because I found out another name,
Uncle Ray's name is Abel, I'm missing July's real name. The talk continued with
Bug becoming more and more angry:
–Did the storm wake
me up or did they just take me out to die from the cold while I was still very
much alive?! Hey, I'm only now learning why I sometimes wake up in the morning
wanting to cry if I'm cold...
Uncle Alonso gave him a rough hug, answering:
–Bug, I'm sorry, we
wanted to help you, but they wouldn't let us. They didn't even want to let Ray
back in with you, he was in the storm without a shirt because he used it to
wrap you up and the rest of us were just crying and pulling them away from the door.
We did it, you went back to mom who said you were the most beautiful thing in
the world, dad showed up and was furious... With Dumas. Because in his head it
was Dumas' fault that "my poor sisters were scared by the baby's
appearance." At that time, he still didn't tell us that he was not a
normal man, Dumas gave us the first clues and that's why he paid.
–Wait a minute. Did
Princess Alveena tried to kill me?
–Don't know! It's a
rumor... I only witnessed that they didn't want to let Ray come in with you,
according to them because you were dead and they didn't want us to see you.
After that they disdained Ray, and he cried for several days. He was silent for
some months. Of the five older siblings who were there: Alveena, Fy, Sherl,
Jean Gabin and Ray; Only Ray did something to save you even though I'm sure
everyone should have seen you born alive. I don't know if Ray went out to look
for you because he didn't want to leave your body in the storm or because he
knew you were alive and they took you out to die. If it were the
latter...Alveena and Fy would have to pay for being the oldest.
–I'm going to beat
that bastard until he tells me the truth.
Bug concluded and Dreiser exclaimed:
–No! His courage
saved your life, thank him with love. And understand this: his heart must have
broken when he saw his little brother abandoned, suffering, while his
distraught mother asked to see him and the rest of the family cried. That's why
he runs away from us, from reality, from pain, he doesn't want to relive that
scene... Please don't keep pressuring him with this. So many years have passed
already...
Finally, London patted Bug on the back and
said:
–We're going to
remove Uncle Adamas from the throne and bring those harpies here, so they can
spend the rest of their lives working in a biomachine junkyard.
And just at that moment a buzz was heard, something
flew by, then another. Everyone was on guard and I did the same. I think they
could hear the engines approaching and knew which direction to point, I didn't
hear anything other than some sounds like small projectiles. London alerted us:
–These are military
drones. They are supposedly programmed not to hurt members of the royal family,
but that could have been changed. Be ready to disappear.
Bug then objected, pointing to me:
–She can't do that
trick...We have to put her in the house.
London hung the chainsaw on her belt and
prepared a pistol, ordering, because from what I see her brothers respect her
military training and let her decide what will be done:
–We won't be able
to get there, you'll have to run in that direction while the rest of us try to
shoot down the drones. Psyche, do not advance in a straight-line and...
She had not yet finished explaining it when
from among the ears of wheat emerged several flying artifacts that looked like
strange dragonflies, the weirdest biomachines I had seen so far and the most
dangerous. They began to fire bursts of projectiles that looked red hot in the
darkness and I felt panic when I saw that everyone around me was disappearing
in black smoke. Only Bug was left to push me, reminding me to run and I simply
did. I ran with all my strength, the house was about fifty meters away and seemed
unreachable, but the option of giving up did not exist; Shells were still
falling all around me and fire was starting to spread behind me. Bug would
sometimes appear out of nowhere and pull my arm so I wouldn't keep running in a
straight line, honestly you get dumber when you're scared and confused. I heard
London yell at him to stop taking care of me or they were going to hit him,
then I heard her scream in horror, they had hit Bug, I turned to see if he was
okay and then they hit me. It didn't hurt, it was just like a strong blow to my
left eye, afterward I couldn't see; I thought just I couldn't open it but when
I tried to touch it with my hand, I felt nothing but something soft, warm and
wet. Three more projectiles hit my head and I heard them like bells, like the
sound of metal against metal, after that I don't remember anything. It was like
I was dreaming, a dizziness, I don't know, and when I tried to organize my
thoughts, I realized that if that was death then it was horrible. A big
nothing, being bedridden again, but worse. I didn't want to die, I barely had a
free time walking, and then end up like that again... I was very worried about
this when I started to wake up. I was lying on a bed, I felt Bug's hair on my
chest. It's incredibly silky, the most beautiful hair I've ever seen in my life
and it's from the ugliest, or weirdest man, I don't really notice that anymore.
I had never had a real friend, someone to talk to about everything, without
secrets, without fearing that it would bother him and scold me; and if it does
it doesn't matter because I know it wouldn't stop him from… loving me? The last
night we spent together he did everything possible to make me like him, I felt
sorry for him, I wanted to take care of him too. Maybe it was tenderness. Why
am I supposed to not like him if I always wanted to sleep with him? Of course,
he wasn't Dumas. I don't know why I liked Dumas either. I kept thinking about
all these things while I stroked Bug's hair over the lace of my nightgown, my
eyelids felt heavy, I was afraid to try to open them because I remembered my
injury. Suddenly I heard uncle Ray's voice, he was singing to me another of his
silly songs that at that moment sounded angelic to me. The sign that he was
still alive. When he finished, he patted me on the head and asked me sweetly:
–Are you feeling
better now? We had to have emergency surgery on you, I already put in your
implants, and I also had to do some reconstructive plastic surgery on you. They
shot you in the face. Luckily the shell of your artificial brain protected the
vital parts of your organic nervous system and you survived. You lost your
natural eyes, but I gave you some very pretty purple cybernetics, they match
your new long hair. Since I shaved your head for surgery, I put micro
extensions on you, they are glued to the hair follicle and will be like your
real hair. It's real human hair, it was Bug's. He said to dye it pink, that you
wanted that.
Then I opened my eyes in alarm, the hair of
Bug was stuck to me, and he, my friend, wasn't next to me. I felt panic. I got
up quickly, at first dazzled by the light, then I started to see without any
problem. I felt the weight of the hair that now reached almost to my knees. I
could hear Amleth and my nerdy aunts tell me something that I don't even
remember, I saw July and Dumas looking at me with surprise from the living room
of the old wooden house where we took refuge, Frida barked; Violet was coming
after me, and at one point she stopped me to hug me. But I couldn't find Bug. I
started crying and I was afraid to say why, I didn't want to ask where he was
and hear bad news. Suddenly I saw among everyone a person I didn't know, I
asked who he was, some of them started laughing and my aunt Maxim introduced
him, drowning in her strange seal laughter:
–It's just that it
went from a system error to a nature error, it's a bald Bug.
Then the situation became more casual with
everyone joking about Bug with a crew cut, who responded by giving them the
middle finger and leaving while lighting a cigarette. I followed him to his
room since everyone had gotten over seeing me standing again and once there, I
asked him in shock:
–What happened?
–A bullet grazed my
arm and hit you squarely in the face. After that, the drones left. We're going
to leave here soon; we hope the old man thought you were accidentally
destroyed. Better to hide before he notices, also we changed your appearance a
little. You wanted my hair, didn't you?
He gently pushed me towards a mirror and I
looked at us with disappointment, still unable to stop crying because the
change caught me off guard:
–I look very
strange...
–But you said you
wanted this!
–And you look much
stranger...
He laughed and went to look for his black wool
cap, saying:
–I already know it.
But it was for you. It will grow again! I just need to spend the next seven
years hooded like a monk. I don't regret it, I would have given you my eyes, my
life or whatever. That's how stupid I am and everyone knows that if they try to
reason with me, they will only make me more stupid. Maybe you would understand
me if you had gone into the lake to see my tombstone, you don't know what it
was like to spend all these years trying to guess who that Psy Lunae person was
going to be who would end up buried with me, I got her tattooed on my back and
when you showed up you weren't the one goddess of lust that I imagined, well,
not how I imagined her. But you were the one I expected.
It was a relief to find him, I couldn't have
gotten over his loss. I have felt isolated my entire life, but with him I have
known what intimacy means. Being linked to another human being through
something more personal than a document, custom or blood ties has made me feel
truly human. I hugged him and kissed his injured arm, he lifted me off the
floor to kiss me as he says "nice", That always escalates to
something else. We had to stop for a moment because uncle Ray looked out the
door, but he just looked at us, we were already a little hot and breathing
hard, and he said:
–Then... You will
stay... I understand.
Then he closed the door, we spent a few
seconds waiting for I don't know what, and then he asked me something that I
knew what he meant:
–Do you want me to
give you something else?
I said yes and he locked the door. That's how
I finally lost my virginity to Bug. I thought it would hurt me a lot, I was
always intimidated by his size and his way of being, at first, I was quite
self-conscious while he let out diabolical giggles that made him more
disturbing, but I wanted so much that although he tried to be careful, I ended
up asking him to be was just himself, because I also wanted to let go. I
wanted…it to be tough. I think I overdid it for my first time, now it stings a
little, it's bearable. I liked it, so it will continue happening. Afterwards,
we took a bath because we were sweating a lot, I had never taken a bath with
someone before, we went to bed and it felt good. Just like… after eating or
sleeping well, I told him, he was happy, hugged me and fell asleep shortly
after. I don't want to say he's my boyfriend because... Bah! I don't see myself
dancing a romantic ballad with him or writing poems to each other, I think
we're going to continue going hunting in the woods and laughing about stepping
in deer poop, I don't know! Now I have to return to my project of entering
robot fights and uncles Ray, Maxim and Honore, who are almost the entire team
that "assembled" me, support me. I think together we will do
something great. For now, I need to get some sleep, we are on our way to the
mountains and it is really annoying to sit feeling some irritation down there.
Case XI: Jean Gabin
Wednesday September 15, 3030
At dusk last Thursday we finally returned to
Bug's house, it already feels like my home. The trees are dyed with autumn
colors and it looks more beautiful, even cozy. The neighbors, ragged old men
half drunk, saw us arrive and one shouted pointing at me:
"What is that,
ranger? Where were you? What happened to your niece?
Bug responded very calmly:
–I went to marry
her in Las Vegas. Look at her, she's my wife now.
– Congrats...
bloody hillbilly whitey...
The old man answered between his teeth with a
disgusted face. We have spent a week avoiding others, away from the family, I
don't want to write about what we were doing because it is nonsense that only
matters to the two of us. The first few days I was too impressed with this new
aspect of adult life and I thought I would spend the rest of my existence being
addicted to the same thing. After practicing it almost without rest to the
point of exhaustion, it stopped seeming something morbid and special; It's okay
to do it, but it's like eating or sleeping, it's not the most important thing
in the world and he knows it. He's already learned what I like, he repeats it
almost mechanically and if I don't suggest an experiment, he stays the same
without changing the routine. We were like that, trying new things, but then we
started to get interested in other fun things as well. Like for example testing
how much I can last in combat now. It no longer hurts me to make the movements
that I was abusively programmed to imitate the attack techniques of the Homo
cosmos, I have been able to with all the biomachines that have appeared in the
forest, even some as large as Silenos, although I would still be afraid if I
reached find me another drone. I only fail when it comes to anticipating my
opponent's movements, with some skill they end up giving me one or two good
blows; I am winning more by resistance than by strategy. But I think I'll get
better with experience! Bug doesn't get in the way of my goal of becoming a
biomachine shredder, but he's not as passionate as I am. Those who are
accompanying me on this adventure are his sisters, they are on my side trying
to find an event for me to debut in the fights. Some meetings are organized in
the area and the best fighters are selected to go to the Moon to try their
luck; That's the highest you can go. If I managed to reach that level, my
father would surely see me, but Dumas hinted to me something else recently:
that if I were to be there, it would be an excellent opportunity for an attack
since they usually invite great-uncle Adamas to the most important events. The
truth is I don't feel ready for that, it is true that the few inhabitants of
the past who know of the existence of tyrants in the future detest great uncle;
but it is also true that the non-hybrid inhabitants of the future who reside on
the Moon respect him. By killing him, I would earn the hatred of the Moon
nation. I don't want to be burdened with that, but if there is no other
option... Today at night we were resting with Bug in a control tower in the
forest, we like to come and hide there at the top, looking at the treetops and
the mountainous landscape spread for miles around us. The sunsets are beautiful
and the nights unforgettable. Bug was preparing dinner while I was healing my
wounds from my last fight, nothing serious, almost everything entertaining in
the world is hard and you have to learn to play like that. We were going to eat
when his sisters London, Honoré and July arrived, they had found an opponent and
were organizing a wrestling event in the town. But they had a problem, they
needed to hide my identity. Pretend to be a robot. July had an idea and had
come to share it with us:
–A doll! We put a
mascara on her, painted with eyelashes and everything. Like an automaton, a
wind-up girl, alluding to the story of Francine Descartes, the real Descartes'
daughter. What do you think? I even want to call her that,
"Francine", it sounds so showy…
Bug looked at them skeptically, asking:
–What story and
what Francine?
Then Aunt Honoré explained enthusiastically:
–René Descartes,
the real one, lost his little daughter and had a mechanical replica of the girl
made, they say he took her everywhere as if she were alive. Unfortunately, one
day she was discovered in his luggage during a boat trip and it was thrown into
the sea. It's fascinating, isn't it?
In response, his brother turned his eyes to
heaven and objected:
–I'm not going to
allow my wife to be a fighting wind-up doll.
London responded by giving him a zap and they
began to fight:
–You put on the
mask and you look like a flea market mannequin.
–Don't get involved
in relationship matters, you perverted bulldyke!
–This is not a
couple's decision, but a personal one, hers! Right, Psyche?
London asked me and I nodded, because I really
liked their idea. They wouldn't recognize me at first, but maybe my dad would
take the hint. That's enough for me. July clapped her hands with a squeal of
joy and Bug had no choice but to cross his arms and resign himself to
listening. Then Aunt Honoré displayed a holographic screen on the table and
showed some sketches of the design of what my costume would be:
–Look, Psyche, it
is a realistic cover that will go on your skin, it will seem as if your body is
made of articulated porcelain; You have to dress in anything that doesn't get
in the way, we will keep the new hair color because it is totally different from
the original. That will make it more difficult for them to recognize you. We
just need to continue preventing Adamas from knowing that you're still alive,
Amleth has gone with Ray to visit the family on the Moon and on Descartes' side
they still don't know anything, while the old uncle is very chill. Surely he
believed that they killed you and there is no point in continuing to bother
here. He will be entertained trying to get information out of Descartes
himself. But we have another problem: they say they have seen men in black in
this area. Guys, you better go out tomorrow to look for them and destroy them,
it won't cost you anything, you already know that those puppets have a terrible
design. We just don't want spies around.
Upon hearing this I asked:
–Men in black? Like
those who search for aliens?
London answered me, looking down:
–Actually yes,
officially they are tools of the Selenite secret service, but people of the
past believed that they were a government entity involved with supernatural
events. In reality, they are responsible for keeping the existence of time
travel a secret and preventing any attempt to stop the sovereignty of Homo
cosmos from coming into existence. They are 100% machines that look like Homo
sapiens, not biomachines. Their artificial intelligence is very simple, so
don't feel bad about breaking them. You have already seen one, it is made by
your father's company, it is the SL.
I realized she was referring to the time I
faced one with Dad's face, so I had an idea. Then we all ate together, we
talked for a while with them; Honestly, I'm bored talking to July, she's a
woman focused on being a big celebrity at any cost. I think that since she
couldn't continue singing, she will now be a representative of fighting robots
just to be relevant and popular again; I would have been in a bad mood after
her departure but I was surprised that when I asked her real name, she told me
kindly and without problems: her name is Azul Lunae, now I want to have a
daughter and call her Azul Violet so that Dumas would envy me for stealing the
name of his favorite girls and colors; She also says that her parents separated
them into groups of four, but her quartet was the most disunited because they
were all too different from each other. There was her, Uncle Ray who was always
evasive and kind of boring, annoying Aunt Sherl with thick-rimmed glasses who
basically bullied everyone even though she was the oldest and was supposed to
take care of them, and another one I've never seen and they call Jean Gabin.
That, according to everyone, "is a psychopath." I didn't want to ask
why because it was getting late and I just wanted them to leave so I could go
to bed and write a little. But I take note, I will be ready to write about the
mysterious Jean Gabin, because he is the next oldest after July. So I'll soon
find out how bad he can be.
Friday September 17, 3030
I asked Amleth about Jean Gabin, the brother I
had never seen, and her reaction was strange. We were talking in a meadow on
the side of a mountain, she took off a black stone ring and threw it into the
sky, I could clearly see it floating in the air. Suddenly we saw a series of
lights above us, forming a large bright disc above us. She snapped her fingers
and the ring fell back into her hand and the disc began to disappear, then she
handed it to me, explaining languidly:
–I suppose you've
already seen some of those lights in the movies, people believe they are UFOs.
They are actually doors to the network of space-time tunnels. This is a key
that opens them illegally, allowing you to travel without paying and without
leaving a trace. Forgive me for not giving it to you sooner so you could go
back to your parents, but... You know, you had to be here. Now you don't want
to go back anyway. Here, I'll give it to you. It was the only gift Jean Gabin
ever gave me, the only time he wasn't terrifying. But anyway, it brings back
bad memories. Jean Gabin is… Special.
Then we left and I spent a long time in bed
looking at the ring. I can go home now, but was that my house? I don't feel
that way anymore. I don't throw it out the window just out of respect for
Amleth who gave it to me, but what was a bad memory for her in my hand is now
the biggest proof that I'm an adult and making my own decisions. Will I be
right? I hope so.
Monday September 27, 3030
Today Jean Gabin appeared. I didn't write in
the previous days because I was busy setting up the house, since I will be
moving here permanently and I also needed to be testing the costume that I will
use in the fights. Dumas finished the mask yesterday, it is an old doll's face,
I think it is feminine and at the same time intimidating enough for a fight.
The material withstands shocks well, there is no risk of it breaking like
Bug's. I have curled my hair a little and in the first tests I managed to look
like a real combat automaton, July is delighted. London, Aunt Honore, Maxim and
I only worry that the outfit will last and be useful as armor. The extra
protection is nice. I was also participating in the hunts, going to town,
interacting more with everyone. I no longer have such a passive role in the
family, so there are days when I completely forget to write. This afternoon I
was taking a bath in the tub with Bug. In the moments that follow, very deep
things are talked about... when you are as if you are anaesthetised. We shared
a cigarette, the addiction is hitting me, and I began to think about the
changes that our lives have had since we have been together:
–This is better
than the lake, right? Hot and scented water.
–In any case, I
will continue going, my future is written on that tombstone. Wouldn't you like
to know what else it says about you?
–It says I'm your
wife...Enough, don't tell me more. I believe that prophecies fulfill themselves
and it is not that destiny exists. That is why you should not spy on the
future, it is never definitive, it can change at any time. Reading that
tombstone will limit our lives to waiting only for what it says there. Imagine,
if you hadn't read it, maybe you would have been happy with Eco...
–The tombstone says
that we will have three girls and I will die of old age.
Spoiled me while laughing, I bit his forearm
in revenge and he said:
–So what?! You say
it can be changed. I don't deny it, in fact I fear it will change. It can
happen, it's true, it can change at any moment and that's why I look at it with
some anxiety. But in the meantime, we can choose girl names.
–One will be called
Azul, another Violet.
–And the third
"Bruise"... No way! What ugly names. A badly chosen name can do you a
lot of harm. I will give you an example and help you by revealing another name,
that of my brother Jean Gabin: they called him Alfa.
–Isn't that a
little pretentious...?
–Alfa Romeo G1
Lunae, my dad had a toy car that he really liked and he gave his son the name
that came on the label. My poor father barely understood the 20th century. I
think that was the beginning of everything that Jean Gabin would become,
because his name in the family was like a funny anecdote that made the little
Alfa popular with the grown-ups. He began to not take himself and life
seriously, and when everything seems like a joke to you, you can become
dangerous. As a child I remember him being obsessed with remote control toy
cars, he put them together and took them apart over and over again, I think it
was the only thing that managed to excite him besides Alveena who defended him
from any scolding because she considered him "a misunderstood genius",
until this date they are like mother and son; He was almost always alone and it
was better not to get him out of his reverie because then he would turn into a
dark bully who would chase us around the house with a fucking screwdriver. We
thanked God when your father took him to the city to study. We all believed
that he would become another mechatronics engineer, but, always uninterested in
satisfying the expectations of others, he ended up joining the Moon police and
through his influences he obtained a high position in the Selenite secret
service. He designs the men in black, although they are assembled in your
father's factories, which is why they are so bad! I have heard that he is like
you but in reverse, that he removed parts of his body to replace them with
artificial limbs and organs. They say that currently only the brain remains.
That is why he must always use the space-time tunnels, he has already lost the
gift of teleportation because he is no longer more than a small piece of
organic body, not a human being. I believe it, he's fucking crazy. If anyone
agrees to exterminate Homo sapiens and humanity in general so that only robots
remain, it is him.
I exhaled cigarette smoke and thought. Until
that moment none of the siblings had seemed "evil" to me, perhaps at
first, only in appearance, but as you get to know people you realize that there
are no absolute villains that you can condemn without remorse. They all have a
human part and some grain of reason. We left the bathtub to get dressed, we
were going to go to dinner with Violet at nightfall, but then London and Uncle
Alonso arrived to tell us that they had seen a man in black nearby. Shortly
after, Eco, Uncle Dreiser and Dumas joined us, and they began to argue because
the latter two did not want to use firearms. The truth is that their
traditional weapons are not very effective, but they are also very good at
using them, I don't know! But we were wasting time on that, I told them, and
London ordered us to split up to cover more ground tracking intruders in the
area. Only the women stayed together and, as she had done so many times before,
Echo showed off her diamond engagement ring with a Bible verse and I don't know
how many other details. London pondered his displeasure in silence, it is
difficult to stop bad tricks completely, so she spat out some venom:
–It's good that you
stayed with the right brother, Echo. Poor Psyche hasn't even received a flower,
Bug hasn't given her anything other than the same thing you gave him. Luckily
Ray is already getting rid of it with a good treatment.
I would have been angry, but I was more
worried about the risk of being surprised by an attack again and ending up
kissing the ground in front of that pair of judgmental women. Suddenly Bug came
back and I took the opportunity to go with him and leave them alone, but first
London asked him, strangely, why he was supposed to go in another direction:
–What happened? You
saw it?
– I don't even know
what we're looking for. Remind me. You know I get distracted and I'm kind of
stupid!
–"Men-in-black."
I hope you don't pass the idiocy on to Psyche too.
–Psyche?
–The girl next to
you, Descartes' daughter, remember?... What's wrong with you, Bug? Did you hit
yourself or something? Take off the mask. Why did you put it on again? I
haven't seen you with it in a while.
He uncovered his face and responded calmly,
nothing out of the ordinary:
–Naah, I saw
something over there, but I lost track of it. I'm going with Psyche.
London looked at him, raising an eyebrow and
shaking her head, she walked away with Echo and we were alone. I no longer had
the desire to go looking for prey in the forest and it seemed to me that Bug
didn't either, because he leaned his back against a tree to put his mask back
on and started talking to me:
–Are you enjoying
your stay among the ignorant peasants?
–I could have a
better time.
I responded by hugging him and caressing his
bulge, he started to laugh:
– Imagine if your
parents knew what you were doing! Did I turn you into this? What happened to
you? It's very creepy!
I'm already feeling confident... In fact,
without realising it, I had become a bit libidinous and impulsive! Without
thinking, I put my hand in his pants and he continued with this strange
attitude:
– Do you really
like me? You could do better; I don't deserve you.
–I'm not a thing,
you can't win me or possess me...
I said and then I noticed that he had long
hair again and he wasn't wearing the same clothes that we left the house in. I
didn't understand what was happening, I looked for the bite mark I made on his
forearm just an hour ago and there was nothing. In fact, the tattoos weren't
even there. I walked away from him quickly asking:
–Who are you?! You
are not Bug.
He continued laughing until he finally
answered me:
– Why did you like
him? He is a loser, the worst of all sons. Even Uncle Adamas always makes fun
of him, the only thing he can do is shoot well. There's nothing wrong with you
getting involved with one of us, we're not even family and it's legal! But you
need to improve your taste, raise your standards... I tell you honestly, I know
him because I am his brother.
He took off his mask and this time he showed
his real face, it was that man I saw the last night I was at my house, the one
who dressed in a black formal suit and accompanied my great-uncle Adamas. He
shook off his clothes and like dust they disappeared to reveal the black suit
in which I met him, at the same time he said to me:
–I am Jean Gabin,
the sixth brother. Look at me carefully, the truth is I'm the one who looks
most like him physically. The technology used by realistic masks of the 30th
century is based on your face, it only "translates" the features of a
Homo cosmos to what those of a Homo sapiens would be like. Curiously, if he
wants to look like a Sapiens he will look like me, and if I want to look like a
Cosmos I will be just like him. This made him so angry that he preferred to
keep the cheap mask that Dumas made for him. Ridiculous.
–What are you doing
here?
–Nothing. My uncle
wanted to know how things were going with the exiles. The old fool thinks I'm
going to tell him the truth, when I just do whatever I want. Maybe I'll tell my
sister Alveena. But only what suits me. For example, I wouldn't tell her if we
have an adventure together, we should to stay in the mood, we had already
started...
I had a mixture of anger and shame. There are
times when I feel like I was too quick to give myself over to Bug despite
everything he's done for me, and this idiot just came along and... To make
matters worse, I couldn't complain, I got ahead of things by touching him. He
started to approach me and I had to get defensive with the rod. The man
continued as if nothing had happened:
–No offense! It's
not your fault. Nature always makes its way and sooner or later who you truly
are was going to emerge. Your biological parents were criminals, very dangerous
people, very violent, very lascivious. It's normal to you to like guns and men...
And Bug is not jealous. He has always had open relationships, if one day you
think he is no longer enough...
At that moment Bug arrived, later I found out
that he went in another direction but he came back to see me from time to time
through the rifle scope to check on me. That's how he surprised his brother
trying to deceive me... He got furious, he emptied all the weapons he had with
him. When he ran out of ammunition, he went at him and started hitting him, I
think he no longer wants to have open relationships. Uncle Dreiser and Dumas
came to separate them, the painter punched Bug to calm him down, demanding:
–How far have you
come?! You no longer hide that out of jealousy you are capable of killing your
own siblings, how could you shoot him? More than 50% of his body is no longer
his, he can no longer fade away and escape. Plus he didn't even hit you back! Look
at him, where has family love gone?…
With horror I saw that Jean Gabin stood up, he
was literally falling apart but he was not dead, cables were coming out of the
false gelatinous flesh that already left his metal framework exposed. His once
beautiful face seemed to be melting, half singed by the gunshots. He leaned on
Dumas's shoulder and said:
–That's right, my
dear hippie brother. I only suggested to the girl to make love and not war.
Bug tried to attack him again, but Uncle
Dreiser stopped him and Jean Gabin exclaimed:
–I came to look for
you with the intention of offering my disinterested and discreet help! I can be
of great use to this Miss Psyche, open the doors to the Moon and make her
undetectable to old Adamas. But now I refuse, unless Bug apologizes to me. It
has damaged my heart.
Still struggling to free himself from Uncle
Dreiser, Bug reproached him:
–What heart, damn
it? If you have one, it is only to lick Alveena's feet, you would betray the
rest of us without thinking twice.
Jean Gabin, in response, moved aside his metal
ribs, letting tubes and synthetic organs fall out, showing the pump that served
as his heart:
–Look, you
scratched it. Repairing this damage is expensive, now you pay me or apologize.
I turned my back on him feeling dizzy and
began to see black, that Dantesque vision was too much. I fainted and when I
woke up, I was back in the control tower, Bug was sleeping next to me. I
started writing a little because I can't get back to sleep. I think tomorrow
I'm going to have my first argument as a couple out of jealousy.
Tuesday September 28, 3030
To my surprise, Bug wasn't angry. At least not
with me. However, he gave me a kind of warning in case of infidelity while he
was looking for dandelions in the meadow, because I want to cover the backyard
of our house with them:
– If I had seen you
with him, not disguised as me, I would not have interfered. I wouldn't tell you
anything, I'd just disappear from your life. I'm not going to waste time
fighting over someone I'm not sure belongs with me. It's hard to find a person
who's right for you anyway, and when you do, why worry about someone stealing
them away? If it was for you, you assume they won't leave you, and if they do,
then it wasn't for you. I would never object...
I took his hand without looking at him, I
kissed it and we continued walking, I think we don't need to get corny, he
understands. I should be more modest perhaps, try to act like my mother, like
Violet, like a respectable older woman. But I am also truly blossoming, opening
up, and I am not a woman of the same kind as them; No woman is equal to the
others! I think I will have to be made of harder material, because I want to
travel rockier paths. And Bug is a good companion on this journey…He's fine.
Now that I see him without the mask all the time we are alone, I notice that he
was also handsome, but before I didn't want to see him like that because I had
already chosen someone else. I stopped him for a kiss. I like to keep quiet
about what I think is already evident, however there are things that are better
to emphasize; Let it be very clear just in case. We were going to continue on
our way when we turned around and found Jean Gabin looking macabre, something
straight out of a nightmare, with parts covered in bandages, pieces of skin
stapled to patch his face, and empty eye sockets. He had his eyes in his hand
and raised them in our direction, as if showing them to us. It startled us, he
tried to calm us down by speaking calmly while he brought his eyes closer to
us:
–What's happening?
I was just appreciating this beautiful moment.
Bug asked him reluctantly:
–Why the hell did
you gouge out your eyes?
–They are wireless.
I take them out from time to time to see better, now I'm waiting for the glue I
used to repair part of my eyelids to dry.
I took a breath and asked him, horrified:
–Are you all
synthetic?
He responded by putting his free hand in a
pocket and with the other juggling with his own eyes:
– Everything but
the brain. I want to die one day, Psyche. Why be eternal? What goes on for too
long becomes routine, and routine always makes you want an end. At the same
time I fear death, eternity, my mother used to say that when you die you go to
heaven to sing to God forever. Imagine the agony of taking part in a musical
with no end, no escape and no rest. I want to believe in reincarnation. That I
will die and be reborn as a car. I believe in it!
–Fucking crazy.
Bug muttered under his breath and Jean Gabin
continued speaking calmly:
–I just came from
meeting July and London, they recommended I talk to you. It suits everyone. I
am the man who must be bribed to do well in fights and to travel through the
time-space tunnel system without proper documents. I also like to gamble and
buy combat robots. I would pay well for Psyche, even if she is rented.
I pulled Bug's arm to force us to leave
immediately, and we walked away without answering him. In the evening July
visited us in the company of my aunts Honoré and Maxim, who already have a
prototype of an artificial matrix to reproduce biomachines without using women;
They just need to start receiving the profits that July has promised to make
this project a reality and start their own factory. They go around town
promoting July as a movie star and getting more support and sponsorships for
their wrestling event, selling the idea as something glamorous that will
empower us as women; I don't know, the only one who will seriously risk getting
her ass kicked again will be me and I'm the only one of them who doesn't show
off in public. Regarding Jean Gabin, July let us know that we are going to have
to continue dealing with him so that things speed up, I will try to make it as
little as possible.
Case XII: Sherl
Friday October 1, 3030
Autumn is advancing and the weather is getting
colder. I've definitely left behind the clothes I brought from my childhood
home and these days I wear whatever's on sale in town to stay warm without
looking too bad. Now that the teenage cravings that once consumed all my
attention have subsided, I have begun to focus fully on my personal goals. July
rented the basketball court from the town school and will turn it into a
wrestling arena. She is making good money selling robot accessories and
installing upgrades, my aunts Honoré and Maxim are happy with the new source of
income. July, vain as she seems, turned out to be a brilliant businesswoman who
brought prosperity to the town. Mechanics and robot representatives from other
states come to move into this corner that once seemed like a tomb, purchases
for the London armory increase, more people eat in Violet's cafeteria and new
children enroll in Amleth's school. Of course, the men of the family say
nothing about it except for Uncle Dreiser who is preparing the party for his
wedding and that is why he has turned to the protection of his sisters, and the
sinister Jean Gabin who behind the scenes collects favors and brings resources
from the Moon of the 30th century. Everything was going well, too well, until there
came a point where it was evident that the small town was moving more money
than normal. Then the problems came. My Aunt Sherl, the filthy family
administrator, appeared this afternoon putting on her thick-rimmed glasses and
watching the hustle and bustle of the small-town streets full of people
carrying mechanical parts. At that moment, I was with Amleth and my nerdy aunts
sitting in front of London's armory, watching July improvise another raffle of
robot accessories, dancing and clapping on a platform. No matter how much she
bothers me, her strategy is undoubtedly successful, it brings together many
people and also earns more funds. We were distracted by this when Aunt Sherl
suddenly surprised us, she had an indignant face:
–Girls! What's
going on here?! Why is there a crowd?!
Amleth was scared when she saw her and tried
to hide me from her, but the eagle-eyed witch noticed her reaction and stared
at me. She recognized me instantly despite the different hair and clothes, she
approached us open-mouthed but just then Jean Gabin appeared. Luckily, he no
longer looks like a zombie, in fact you wouldn't imagine that he is so
disturbing seeing him formally dressed, with glasses and well-combed. He went
straight to hug her from behind saying:
–Sherl! Do you
remember when I told you that this hovel could make us a lot of money and that
we should come here and divide the lands and live like kings under our own laws
and tell Uncle Adamas to go to hell?
Aunt Sherl looked at him out of the corner of
her eye, still frozen with her indignant grimace. Then she automatically closed
her mouth and replied:
–Tell me how it
works if you don't want Hugo to see all your real bank statements.
–If my ship sinks
it will suck you with it, Sherl, you are too close to my course. I advise you
that you better let me set the rules. I know more about you than you do about
me, I am the long arm of the law...I know everything about everyone...
After this, she became serious and calm and
they went together to Violet's cafeteria. I ran to find Bug to give him the bad
news, because my Aunt Sherl is always bad news. Before sunset she had already
invited us all to a silly family dinner. Mom always said that it is an ordeal
to refuse to go to a meeting organized by this old harpy. If you don't go,
she'll criticise you all through the event and then go to your house to scold
you. My parents always had problems with her because they couldn't take me out of
the house and there was no babysitter for me because they only left me in the
care of my uncles and Sherl wanted everyone to be there without exception.
Finally, she got angry because my parents didn't give in to her whim and she
began to distance herself. For me it was the best, she always made me feel
uncomfortable with her mocking comments about everyone and her boring view of
the world. She was the one who always required us to be well dressed, be formal
and appear perfect. I was going to have trouble tonight! However, she had her
sympathizers, London came to visit us with Amleth shortly before the said
dinner, they came to have coffee in our house and along the way the female
soldier began to defend her recently arrived sister:
–I would like you
to stop and think about something: every strong woman with the makings of a
leader in this family is branded as evil. It is always so! If you want to be a
good girl among the Lunae, you must be docile, homely, sweet and very feminine.
And there you have a problem, Bug! Because it seems that Psyche is letting go
and will be one of the "bad" ones. Jean Gabin is gossiping that the
wild side inherited from her biological parents is awakening, it already smells
like they are going to want to crush her like Violet who ended up annulled in
this town. In the kitchen, pregnant and barefoot! Man reached the peak of
evolution, but he never learned to see women as people. It brings a mechanism
of self-destruction, it focuses on attacking its origin, whether it is its
mothers or the past.
Bug replied reluctantly:
–Rather, women
bring a mechanism of self-destruction: they give birth to those who will be
fathers and brothers, but they spoil them until they become the same ones who
will hurt them when they grow up. Do you think it makes sense for Sherl to be
such a friend of Jean Gabin? And don't tell me that the solution is to make us
more effeminate, the most androgynous and sensitive man in the family is Dumas.
And you see how it goes! Tonight, will be an epic battle between the greater
snakes.
We all went out together when it got dark, we walked
around the town to kill time, because you have to pretend to be late, because
with Aunt Sherl even spontaneity and unforeseen events are planned. I always
blamed her a little for my tedious existence in my parents' house, she was the
one who came from time to time to repress any hint of originality; she also
forced us to follow family traditions even though it was absurd to keep them
alive, for example: at the beginning of each family gathering she asked
everyone if they remembered the time Uncle Ray spilled the jug of soda on the
table before eating and everyone laughed. She always burst into laughter
remembering it, although it was evident that this was a bad memory for my uncle
and the others only reluctantly humored her because of "tradition"
and "nostalgia." This time it was no different, they all sat at a
large table on the roof of Violet's cafeteria illuminated with rows of lights,
and she told the same anecdote as always and laughed while the others remained
indifferent and the kindest ones forced a smile. To my surprise, something new
happened: Uncle Ray, perhaps infected by so many personal changes and
rebellions, made his own insurrection, daring for the first time to confront
her:
–It's not funny,
why do you have fun reliving a moment when I suffered? I felt bad that time
when I was the laughingstock of the entire family. It doesn't make sense; it
seems like you don't care for me.
Everyone was confused and Aunt Sherl replied
angrily:
–Oh, Ray, don't be
a party pooper! It wasn't that serious, how bitter you are; we are here to have
fun as a family, not for you to take out your resentments.
–If you don't like
my presence, why are you pressuring me to come?
The doctor continued to confront her; Aunt
Sherl started to get really angry:
–What is your
problem?! It's just a joke!
Bug, sitting next to me listlessly, exclaimed
in a defiant tone:
–With you, Sherl,
it's always a joke until you're the target of the teasing, at which point it
becomes abuse and you make a fuss. You know what's funny? Let your alias be
Sherlock Holmes and every time a stranger smile and says that that name is
male, you get indignant and give a story class to prove that
"Sherlock" is actually a female name. They tell you this as a joke
and you don't understand it, you old fart! But anyway, Ray touched on a good
point, why force us to come if you know we don't like it and we bother you?
–Because we are a
family, that's how it should be. The family is not chosen and must be together.
And Sherlock is a girl's name, find out, it means "shiny curls", it
is even more feminine than the horrible "Agatha" that appears on my birth
certificate.
Aunt Sherl answered angrily, I took note of
the "Agatha" and Uncle Ray stood up, raising his glass and exclaimed:
–Enough, let's stop
the discussions. Let's better give thanks for all we being together and happy!
Right, Dreiser? We are celebrating, our brother is getting married soon, we can
finally be with Psyche outside of Descartes' gray house on the Moon, Violet's
baby has grown a lot and we have to be grateful for life.
Uncle Dreiser and aunt Maxim, the two most
submissive, humored him by toasting and applauding; but everyone else was
tense. Dumas, who was the entire time with his elbows on the table and his chin
resting on his intertwined fingers, looking at the others with the face of a
calculating viper, decided to speak to put order and get to the point; Like the
others, he was in a hurry to finish everything quickly:
–We forgot to give
thanks for the prosperity of my dear July. What do you think of their
businesses in town, you who are an experienced economist, Sherl?
–Well, well, it
diversifies around an area that seems very fertile, this robot fighting thing
moves a lot of money now that I see it...
She responded by putting on his glasses. Jean
Gabin said:
–It's a safe
business. But I would advise you to leave it here, on this earth. Amateur
fights are almost all fixed, it is more of a theater. They agree with money,
Psyche will be safe and July will continue to charge well for tickets. Then...I
have some biomachines that I would like her to represent, I want to resell them
and that would help me a lot to promote them.
Dumas motioned to Violet to serve the food and
distract the others, but I continued paying attention to them surreptitiously.
Dumas himself began to speak for me while I wondered if I should say something:
–Yes…But Psyche
doesn't want to stay here, she wants to get to the Moon, so that Descartes can
see her. At least once you could get her in, Jean Gabin.
–Do you already
brainwashing her so that she can serve as an excuse for another terrorist
attack? Look, Dumas, I've been wanting to sit down and talk to you about this
for a long time. I'm not going to reproach you, just advise you like an older
brother. Things don't go like that; anything can be done! But well planned and
executed. I know that your goal is to get your son to inherit the throne. Don't
deny it, I would also like to be the uncle of the big boss, not the nephew who
does his errands. But if you want that transition to happen quickly and
smoothly, you must make the old man's departure seem accidental. May the family
be free of blame.
– But... What if
nobody knows that Psyche is Francine, Descartes' daughter, and she accidentally
kills the man during the show?
Dumas asked and I got a chill, I have never
killed a human being. Jean Gabin responded:
–The old man's
escort would attack her instantly. It's suicide. Do not despise the men in
black, those who protect Adamas at public events are special machines designed
by Descartes and tested by different quality supervisors. They are the most
dangerous killer robots that exist and no biomachine could face them. If your
goal is to kill the old man, you must do it during a private meeting, in
confidence, or do you want to sacrifice your adopted daughter for your blood
son?
Then Violet intervened, dazed:
–No way! I gave
birth to both. They are both my children and I will not allow it. And if you
insist on this, take divorce for granted, Dumas!
Everyone remained still and serious, except
Aunt Sherl, who downed a glass of wine in one gulp and exclaimed, banging the
table:
–You see? The hand
that rocks the cradle controls the world. And why should the boy inherit the
crown now? Why don't we have a hybrid queen? I think Violet inspires a lot of
confidence. Yes, they are going to hate her on the Moon! But... Aren't we
hybrids and Homo sapiens more numerous than the few pure Homo cosmos that
govern us? Humanity must get back on track, we have to recover the traditions
and values of the past. And what better for that job, of educating a new
generation, than a mother? Don't be angry, brothers! I know that we are
traditionalists, but... Isn't the woman in charge of managing the house, while
you go out to earn your bread? And you take pride in that, which is fine by me!
Let you do the heavy work, hunting, lifting stones, building latrines, I don't
know, while Violet, advised by me, governs the Moon. Alveena who is so cute can
come and rule here! By protocol nothing more, some nation... There are so many
empty palaces where we could send her to rest while her younger sisters relieve
her. If what little July has done in the town, barely being advised by me, has
impressed you so much, imagine what I would do with an entire world. Two
worlds, this one and the original. And we just need to get my uncle out of the
way, and... Sure, gently move Fy and Alveena out of the way. That they can
continue in their positions under my advice and the protection of Jean Gabin!
As it has been all this time. And about Hugo and Descartes... Hm, well, the
changes, the new order, will have to accept it...
Jean Gabin then interrupted her:
–Sounds like
another dire bloody apocalyptic future, but this time with menstrual cramps.
Alveena couldn't just go hide in a palace, she actually cares about working
doing charity for the people of the past, even though she can't do much even
believe it. Furthermore, it is still suicide to attack my uncle. The majority
of Homo cosmos support him, after the regicide a whole indignant mob would
descend on us.
–How indignant does
a mob remain under a hail of bullets?
Aunt Sherl answered, then continued saying:
–Surely those your
men in black can be improved to turn them into a real army, it wouldn't be a
problem for Maxim and Honore. Do your job well, like a good boy, and help your
fashion catalog anarchist little brother plan a real attack. This girl Psyche doesn't
have to be a kamikaze, fools, she will help us a lot if she helps us
consolidate the business here in the town. So now I'm more worried about Psyche
turning out to be a convincing "fighting robot." That they don't
recognize her and that she is at the level of a professional wrestling match,
is she?
Everyone turned to look at July, the latter
shrugged her shoulders saying:
–We will find out
at our wonderful inaugural event!
At that moment I noticed my Aunt Sherl's power
over the other women and over the men, who were slow to understand how she made
fun of everyone and made them follow her orders. I returned to our house with
my head full of new ideas, somewhat obsessed with what Aunt Sherl said at
dinner. We were in bed with Bug, watching one of my horror movies, when after
much thought I asked him:
–Will you always
continue to love me? Now you know that under the black uniform I wasn't so
helpless. I always had impulses that I didn't understand, Bug, but now they are
taking shape.
– I knew it from
the first day, when you were all horny to have me around, and then you would
shoot me without a second thought. I deduced that by hiding you so much, they
forgot to teach you how to be a person and you were a savage. But I thought: if
she's for me, she must love to be fucked mercilessly, she must be as rough or
rougher than me, so it's OK for you to be like that.
Then we didn't talk anymore, I got on him and
we did what couples do in secret, but everyone knows what they do, which is
stupid. This was love and sex. They painted it as this magical and mysterious
thing, but in fact it's like a naked fighting game where if you lose you
actually win because that's what feels best. Bug is fine, I think that if
something works you don't have to change it, so it's surely true that we have a
life together. There is no point in wasting more time on this topic. That's why
when he fell asleep I started writing... I can't be like mom or Violet who have
made being wives and mothers the center of their existence, it's not enough for
me. I need something more. I will make a name for myself in my father's
favorite sport. That's my goal, that's how I want everyone to see me. If for
that I have to change history by helping to kill great-uncle... Well,
everything that is worth it is expensive, hurts, or is somehow violent.
Saturday October 2, 3030
This morning we finished the last details of
the equipment that I will use in the fighting events; Mobility is a bit
uncomfortable because I have to use some accessories to pretend that my elbows
and knees are mechanical joints and thus have the appearance of an animatronic
doll. Aunt Honoré says it's because the material is new, it will soften with
use. Otherwise, I will wear a simple and light outfit in the style of old
underwear, some stockings, a corset and lace panties. When we finished
reviewing it, we stayed talking for a while in the workshop that my aunts have
set up in a small house in the town. We were the two female engineers, Uncle
Ray, who continues to help us in secret from my parents, Bug, Amleth and
myself. As soon as Amleth left, Aunt Maxim commented in a low voice:
–You have to be
careful with her, she tells Violet everything she hears, and that's how Dumas
finds out everything. I don't like the way things are going. Jean Gabin
confiscated one of the greatest competencies of Descartes' company and in his
facilities is producing fifteen hundred new men in black improved with our
revisions. Since he got together with Dumas he only talks about revolting. I'm
afraid they'll do something crazy.
Bug also informed her, lowering his voice:
–They are planning
to take the palace seriously. They have asked me to help them, but I am holding
them off because I suspect that when the couple of cousins comes to power it
will only be to create a new end of the world, equal to the previous one but more
artistic.
Then Uncle Ray said, with a sad smile:
– Perhaps this is
what the whole of humanity deserves. We breed like pests, only to destroy each
other and our environment. In any case, the great end will come slowly,
quietly, a single witness will receive it when no more children are born and
old age takes the life from them, and perhaps then they will not even feel
pain. Maybe by then you'll have accepted the inevitable. Like me. We have been
terrible inhabitants of this planet, what makes us think we can stay here
forever without punishment?
–Not even the
priest speaks in such a pessimistic way...
Aunt Honoré complained, pushing him and Aunt
Maxim murmured:
–The priest is more
alive than all of us and walks around oblivious to everything, enjoying life in
his own way. I think we do the same, help our siblings and then let's go, live
our lives. We can really make a lot of money with combat robots, and we will
make even more with the artificial matrix project. Imagine that, we will be the
owners of the only cheap, fast biomachine factory without ethical
implications...
Uncle Ray ran his hands through his hair and
interrupted her by saying:
–You make plans
without taking into account that the family decides based on what ensures that
the family will continue to be rich. It will not be the money of Honore, Maxim
or Ray, it will be that of "the Lunaes". They are not going to let us
start something that in the long run will not go to the coffers managed by the
family, they are going to charge us for having been born, brothers... And if we
refuse, they are going to treat us like the worst, the same Sherl who now
encourages us so much, she is going to defame us with everyone she can, so that
the doors are closed to us and we are even persecuted. That's what she and Jean
Gabin are like, they would have overthrown Uncle Adamas a long time ago! But
they have tolerated him only because he allows them to handle money as they
wish. Now that they have a new juicier offer, they will kill him. What stops us
from imagining that they will do the same to us if we don't give them control
of our businesses? The permissions to use surrogate mothers are what puts bread
on the table of Victor Hugo, the family lawyer, and the bribes for the
biomachines to come to this space-time loop to reproduce illegally are Jean
Gabin's greatest source of income. And the two of them are faithful to the
family until death. It's no secret... We will never be free and at peace with
the family at the same time. That's why I prefer to just play along and...live.
Listening to him speak exasperated me a
little, since I was a child he has made me lose my patience with his indecisive
and conformist attitude! I turned to Aunt Honoré and asked her, dropping a
bombshell, because I was already tired of so many silly secrets:
– You talk a lot
about money when you have other things to worry about, and maybe it motivates
you more to act. If Jean Gabin is the one who gives the permits for the
biomachines to enter illegally, then it is because of him that his sister July
was abused and forced to produce biomachines. Would he go on with his business
if he knew that? If you don't do something about it, the abuse that one woman
in this family has suffered will continue to happen to many others. You don't
believe me? Ask London and July, I don't care if they get angry with me for not
keeping the secret I learned the day I fought against Silenos, who was the
biomachine that attacked her, I'm already tired of seeing you stupidly
complicate your lives by not being honest, speaking clearly and moving your
butts.
After that I left the workshop and went to
Violet's cafeteria. I sat at a table away from the rest of the people, the
other townspeople avoid us anyway, I have noticed that now is useless for them
to use aliases. People have arrived from other cities who know them and they
already simply call us "the Lunae", only they can't locate me and
they simply call me "the wife of the one who covers her face". It
sounds somewhat offensive to me, like two steps above "Frida the dog of
Dumas". Shortly after Bug arrived, he sat in front of me and I could see
that his eyes were red. He had surely cried. I let out a sigh, I wasn't very
tactful when I told them about their sister July! I took her hand and kissed it
trying to apologize:
–I had to tell you
the truth. It could happen again; something needs to be done about it...
–I want to kill
Jean Gabin. But I also know that he will not know how to live when he knows
that his ambition caused his own sister's misfortune.
Suddenly we saw Jean Gabin appear from behind
a bench, he was sitting there with Aunt Sherl and they had heard us. Oh, God,
at that moment I knew everything would explode. I had to tell several times
what I saw and heard that afternoon in the wheat field house, suddenly Dumas
and Uncle Alonso were there, they sent for July and London, they closed the
cafeteria so the family could talk alone. Alonso and Bug wanted to kill Jean
Gabin, London and July got angry with me, the others couldn't stop crying, it was
chaos. I had to leave the place, as night fell, and I sat down to get some air
on the edge of the street. Minutes later Aunt Sherl came out, took a decanter
out of her bag, drank two long drinks and told me:
–We are going to
help your aunts with their project, we will have to make some adjustments,
administrative changes…You just have to put on a good show fighting.
–I won't help you
if you don't give all the siblings the freedom to develop their projects, Aunt
Sherl. Why didn't anyone oppose the idea of using women as incubators for
biomachines? If they did not suppress the contrary opinions of others, perhaps
all of this would have been avoided. I think we still don't know how serious
the consequences of that terrible decision by my father have been...
Then she confessed to me, hitting her
forehead:
–It was my idea! I
asked him because a couple of my friends wanted a job from home and just
getting pregnant and receiving money sounded good. Your father refused, but I
forced him by threatening to raise taxes if he did not cooperate with what I
believed was the women's desire...
–It was immoral,
aunt.
Aunt Sherl turned very red and replied almost
breathlessly:
–No, it was…An
accident. You know that this family is very decent, that we have our problems
like everyone, but our values...
–Values, aunt?
There is not one among us who does not have serious faults.
–All families are
like that, niece. There are no fairy-tale families, where everyone is good and
loves each other. This is normal... It could be worse...
–No, Aunt Sherl, it
is time to admit that this family has a very serious problem and if we do not
change our habits we will fall further and further into decadence. Do you want
that? Don't you care about your siblings?
Then she sat down on the street next to me,
drank some more alcohol and spoke:
–We always had
expensive tastes. Luxuries that were paid for with tears, with blood. They
judge us when it is no longer necessary, we are condemned. The only thing I
would like is just what can't be bought, for us to be happy.
–We will be happy
if you give them freedom and respect, aunt. They are offering you an honest
business with the struggles and the artificial matrix! Don't continue with
corruption anymore. You will gain a lot if everything goes well... Now free of
the old uncle's limitations... Now go in and talk to your siblings, make peace.
I want to go for a walk to relax before the fight tomorrow, please tell Bug
that I'll wait for him at home. I must sleep early.
After reassuring her like this, I took a short
walk through the lonely streets of the town thinking about how the hell I am
going to make a good impression tomorrow. The truth is that I'm not exactly
great at fighting. I'm a long way from being on par with Echo and the drones
almost killed me. I am going to fight relying solely on my willpower. I found a
tattoo shop next to a bar, I had an idea to confuse those who see me fighting
and at the same time give Bug a small gift: I tattooed a tiny ladybug on my left
thigh, just the part that will be uncovered. I originally wanted a dandelion,
but I think this will serve better as a discreet declaration of love. I'm now a
"Bug's lady". Then I went home and waited for him, he came half
discouraged and when he saw the novelty, he complained that he liked me with
the skin intact, but he was grateful anyway. He was obviously depressed, he
didn't want to make love and he reminded me that I have a late period. I have
read that it is normal when it is starting to come, and since he is a hybrid,
it would be very strange for me to get pregnant so soon, I don't think it is
anything serious, anyway I will talk to Uncle Ray tomorrow. Now it's hard for
me to sleep, there's so much tension and I try to stay calm with the tenacity
of an animal that clings to life without fear of challenging predators to
achieve it, or that of a machine that must fulfill its programmed tasks. What
I've become?
Sunday October 3, 3030
I'm pregnant. Three embryos, all females, I
found out in a consultation alone with uncle Ray who made a scene as if he was
going to cry with emotion; He hugged me and congratulated me many times. I just
had a bad feeling. I asked him instantly if that would affect my wrestling
plans and he said yes, especially in the last two quarters. Furthermore, after
that by law I will not be able to participate anymore. He says that the
protocol of I don't know what requires the women of the family that once they become
mothers, they must dedicate themselves exclusively to raising their children
and give off that image of an exemplary housewife that Mom and Violet transmit
and it gives me such a bad feeling. Seeing my future seemingly shattered, I
asked if abortion was an option. My uncle slapped me in response. Immediately
afterwards he hugged me and apologized, saying that my pregnancy was a miracle,
a blessing, the best thing that could have happened to me, the greatest joy...
And I didn't feel that way... But I see that this is what everyone expects from
me. I like the idea of starting a family, however now was not the time. I asked
him, out of curiosity since it's too late, if I could have prevented it. This
is how he finally explained to me what condoms are... In fact, futuristic
technology offers many and very effective contraceptive methods, but Bug did
not want to use any with me because for him and the entire family, procreation
is the greatest success. Why? I don't understand it, it's not like I won a
fighting championship; something that now I could no longer achieve. But I
remembered that Uncle Ray said that I had three months left in which maybe...
So, I asked him to keep the secret until I become known in the fights, I don't
care if I'm just a trainer or a representative of other biomachines, I want to
be remembered for this...And not for ending up with my first mature egg over
fertilized by gallons of sperm pumped into me. He agreed to keep quiet with me
until the end of the first trimester. I feel that, whether I live or die, at
the end of this adventure my existence will return to being somewhat routine in
a family home. Maybe I'll like it, I don't know, maybe then I'll understand
Uncle Ray finding joy and peace in his life as a prisoner. But for now, I'm only
moved by an internal fire, I'm running out of time. I returned to house to rest
for a few minutes before the fight, I write, I think, I would like to imagine
the good things...The five of us together in the forest, playing with the
girls, I don't know, but I just imagine that I won't be able to take care of
three babies at the same time and it will hurt me a lot to give birth to them.,
like London said. That I will always be busy at home and locked up like before.
I'm bad for this. I'll stop writing now, I have to go to the event soon and I
want to cry.
I finally participated in my first formal
wrestling event; it was not easy at all... The difficulties began long before I
was in the arena. At noon Bug arrived at the house, he was helping a local man
find a cow that he lost on a trail. We ate something and he saw me strangely,
he immediately asked me:
–What did Ray say?
I'm not good at lying, I didn't think about
what I would do if he directly asked me. Any answer that wasn't the truth was
surely going to sound very illogical and I couldn't do anything but burst into
tears. He immediately asked me if "I had lost the baby girl", it was
useless to lie to him and experience has taught me that evading reality in the
family only leads to even more serious future problems. I decided to do the
right thing, speak honestly:
–There are three
girls, all three at once.
He of course was happy, he hugged me and
everything, but he noticed that I was not crying with joy or emotion, but that
I was really devastated. Then he tried to make me think about our daughters,
although hearing him say that we have daughters and we are parents only made me
cry more:
–Why are you sad?
The whole family will be happy and help us raise them.
I sobbed harder, three other girls educated by
them… He continued speaking:
–Now you are really
part of the family. Forget the past, your uncles and the one you called father
are really your brothers-in-law. Everything is now in order.
–I don't understand
why you wanted me to do it so soon, I couldn't even finish getting to know
life. Why does it make you so happy? Don't tell me those empty words that it's
something magical, love and I don't know what! They talk about children like
kids who long to have a puppy only to abandon it when it gets older and they
get bored of it. There will be three women who will be born in a family where
men treat you like property, in their blood comes all the inheritance of your
family and the evil genes of my psychopathic parents, our lives will now
revolve around them. Did you have no other plans for life apart from this? I
do. I wanted to live, and I feel bad and selfish for saying it, but you lived
more than a hundred years being free and I could barely walk in the sun for a
few months and now my fate is cast! Why didn't you give me the option to choose
when to do it?
Bug responded to me, somewhat confused:
–Psyche, most women
dream of this, to be mothers and for their husband to be happy and proud about
it. This is what women want! Think, at least we will never be alone in our old
age, we will have them!
–Like your mother
who force you to take care of her until her death? And you, will you really
love them or will you be like my father who mutilated me or your father who
tried to kill Dumas? I don't want to end up like Violet. But I also don't want
to be separated from the girls like what happened with my biological mother...
He took my hand and said:
– I'm not asking
you to sacrifice your life for love of me, as if I were your god or I deserved
it. But they are here! See them as an opportunity to do things better and
differently than our own parents. An alternative project to the others you
have! I will continue to support you in your battles, I don't care if I have to
change nappies while you go to fight with an ice-cream truck, I promise to
defend you in front of everyone so that you can continue to do what you like
and not worry about traditions. And I'm not so stupid as to think that this is
our happy ending, in fact it's going to be a few more uncomfortable years, more
shortcomings, but how many millions and millions of couples live the same
thing? I know it's not that great, yes, but it's another chapter of life. We
will be a new family, I wanted to start it with you. And you do not?
At that moment I realized that yes, I actually
do want him to be the father of my daughters. After that I felt better, I no
longer just thought about how I'm afraid of giving birth, or that I don't want
people to ask me questions or react like uncle Ray who embarrassed me by acting
as if I were the first and last pregnant woman in the world, agonizing over the
idea that my life could be reduced to this. Now I think about making my family
to my liking, I imagine my girls pretty like their aunts, probably naughty,
raised in the forest and strong. I will make them indomitable! Fearsome...
Well, I know that they are absorbing my anger and frustrated ambition. We
agreed with Bug not to tell the others yet, however when we arrived at the town
and I went to my aunts' workshop to prepare before the event, Aunt Sherl
appeared asking to be left alone, that she would help me get dressed. That's
how it was and then she spoke to me, lowering her voice:
–Your uncle Ray
told me something about you, he asked me to be very discreet. But we have to
talk about it. Children are a business too, you know?
I turned to see her, scared, she continued
speaking calmly:
–Yes, it is an
investment in the future. One of your girls could be betrothed to Dumas's son.
Let everything stay in the family. I would like to be the godmother of your
babies, help them ensure that they lack nothing, look after their future. That
would give you greater freedom, more security. What do you think, Psyche? Will
we be partners in this too?
My daughters are not even born and they are
already deciding who they are going to marry them to. I covered my face with
the doll mask to hide my expression and nodded my head. We will need the money
that belonged to the father anyway and she took for herself. But I'm not going
to pressure girls to marry anyone, least of all their cousin, the son of two
cousins... They will have their own problems, their own story... I finished
dressing and went to a bathroom to see myself in a mirror, I really wasn't there.
in the mood to be friendly, I just wanted her to leave me alone. I look quite
unrecognizable under the "Francine" costume, the fake antique doll
joints look real and the face beautifully painted by Dumas looks like that of a
dead girl. I got a little dizzy imagining that I could end up being the flesh
grave of three unborn girls, I thought about Amleth having an abortion once,
she mentioned it. I think she never thought about what she was carrying in her
womb as a child, maybe that made it easier. I can't, I can't! The thing is that
to begin with I don't imagine them as baby girls, I imagine that I have been
carrying three ladies and if I do something wrong, they will complain to me,
didn't I do it with my parents? And here I am, stunned to be pregnant when less
than a year ago I was still playing with dolls. How could I suddenly become an
unquestionable authority? I wanted to cry again and I stopped myself. I could
hear that my Aunt Sherl was still outside, chatting with Bug. When she left us
alone, leaving with a smile, I asked her brother:
–Did she tell you
about being the girls' godmother?
–I answered her the
same thing that I think you answered her, we are broke.
–Now we can buy
tons of condoms.
I commented, punching him in the stomach, he
complained between laughs. He's an idiot. We went out to the arena and the
place already looked full, in a box of honor were the five older siblings: Aunt
Sherl, the sinister Jean Gabin, Uncle Ray who seemed very worried, July and
Dumas with the eyes of a treacherous viper watching out of the corner of their
eye his older siblings. I could see that Bug was going to a high place behind
the stands and carrying his rifle, some men began to complain about it, others made
comments about my body, I had to endure it stoically, I'm supposed to be a
robot. A biomachine. My Aunt Sherl would whisper things in my uncles' ears and
the others would simply obey, they were up to something. I could read July's
lips, she looked at me nervously asking if I would really be able to perform
well, Aunt Sherl smiled and said, "everything is taken care of." The
other biomachine also entered the arena, it was a biomechanical condor. It
didn't look good at all to me, the drones were much smaller and almost killed
me. The event began when Jean Gabin came down from the box, stood in the middle
of the arena and improvised a speech, while looking at Aunt Sherl from time to
time, as if waiting for her to approve each of his words:
–Dear friends, I am
honoured to have you here for the inauguration of my beloved sister July's
arena. I want to take this moment to tell you that today we will begin a fight
against the forced reproduction of bio-machines through the abuse of innocent
women. This is a crime that has marked many families, including ours. I want to
tell you, my friends, that I suffer with you. My sister July was a victim of
this attack! And today we are going to change that and give justice to all our
mothers, daughters and sisters who have suffered the same fate. From now on,
the illegal reproduction of bio-machines will be a serious crime!
The crowd began to whisper among themselves,
they were amazed, until a man stood up to shout:
–But you yourself
offer the illegal passage of biomachines and do not deal with complaints in
exchange for a bribe...!
Jean Gabin responded by pulling out a gun and
shooting him. There were screams, but with three more shots in the air
everything was silent again. Then he continued his speech:
–Furthermore, from
now on it will be forbidden to reproduce such copies, it will only be possible
in the workshops of my sisters Maxim and Honore, those who have done so before
will be fined. 20% of their total assets will be confiscated for each biomachine
illegally reproduced.
There were more scandalized people whispering
and someone dared to comment:
–But we will all be
left in ruin…While you get richer…
Jean Gabin responded:
–You have a
solution! You can recover the losses. You can work with my sister, July, or
sponsor her biomachine, Francine. I have great faith in her and I can assure
you that she will succeed. Place your bets!
"Ha!" was heard saying in the
distance between some laughter, but nothing else was said. I turned to look at
Bug and now he was accompanied by Uncle Alonso and London, they were all armed.
Jean Gabin passed by me and said in my ear, giving me something in my hands:
–Don't worry, I
also know some mechatronics and I make some fixes.
He left and I looked at what he gave me, it
was a nut. I did not understand anything. The signal sounded, I kept the
mysterious piece in my neckline and the match began. Most of the spectators,
outraged, shouted asking my opponent to kill me. The Lunae family remained
undaunted as if to show that they were different from "the rabble",
for the first time I began to see them from the outside…Like the evil elite of
conspiracy movies that I always feared, a corrupt authority, parents who lie to
you and betray you instead of taking care of you. I could only trust my
daughters, if they weren't stolen from me. Suddenly I heard Echo shout,
standing out among the others sitting around the box of honor:
–Use the whip!
I was still looking at her when the
biomechanical condor rose into the air and then dove toward me. Then I
understood the advice, I activated the whip trying to hit the infernal bird
every time it approached, it was not easy; You have no control of the whip
while it is flying and that leaves you unprotected at certain angles, which my
rival took advantage of. It hit me twice hard on the back and uncle Ray got
scared, I forgot that now I have to take care of my belly. The condor had a
great advantage because at times I couldn't reach it and therefore it was very
easy for it to dodge my attacks. Once it found a way to fly avoiding the path
of the whip, it began to win the battle against me. I took out the rod and
decided to "beat it" every time it got close, it wasn't putting on a
good show. Suddenly I had an idea, I didn't know how it was going to turn out
but I prepared to carry it out. The next time the bird dived at me, I pretended
that I was going to try to hit it with the stick again, at the last moment I
turned it around holding it so that the same biomachine would impale itself
with the force of the speed it brought. I managed to get through its neck, but
it kept flying. It lifted me two meters above the ground, I decided to jump and
touch the ground again. I wouldn't risk a serious fall. My opponent had taken
my rod. So, I used the whip again, I lashed it with all the force of my
indignation and frustrated freedom, as if in it came everything that consumed
my childhood and was now devouring the remains of my adolescence. To my
surprise, when I hit the right wing joint it came loose. It fell to the ground
without being able to fly, I was able to recover my rod and decapitate it.
Thus, surprisingly winning the fight. There was applause and cheers, but my family
in the royal box was still quiet, just watching. I turned to look at Bug and
saw that he was pointing at people, just like his siblings. He motioned with
his hands for me to leave the arena and return to the preparation rooms, as I
was leaving, I saw that the owner of the biomechanical condor was checking it
and shouted:
–It's missing a
piece! They took a nut off the right wing! This couldn't have been an accident;
it was secured with the muscles and they have been severed!
Then I remembered the nut that Jean Gabin had
given me. Apparently, they have not completely changed their customs and are
going to force people to tolerate their despotism. Then I heard gunshots, a
hail of bullets. I went straight to the bathroom, took off my mask, and threw
up. I stood trembling in the bathrooms for a while, at one point Bug arrived, I
didn't even pay attention to him, he told me something about how he liked
seeing me fighting, that I looked good dressed like that, he started touching
me, we had sex right there and I barely realized it. It was like it wasn't
there. As he finished, he took me out almost pulling me by the hand to take me
to another room where his brothers were celebrating. They were laughing, I
think at the people. I was extremely dizzy. July went to sit next to me to put
the mask back on and take photos with me, I heard her ask, laughing:
–Do you know the
story of Milli Vanilly? The show lasts until the trick is discovered; could we
cheat on the Moon?
Dumas answered her before kissing her lips to
silence her:
–There won't be
time for that. We will only kill.
Then I passed out in Uncle Ray's arms. He had
to check me out, injected me with some things and sent me straight home. I'm
now in bed writing, with a headache, while Bug knits little dresses. I can't
stop feeling this tightness in my chest, I just want to cry, but I know it's
useless. A few moments ago, I explained my anguish to Bug, he reminded me that
we are together, that we can overcome it, not to isolate myself and to at least
trust him. Then I asked him to be free together, with our daughters, to flee
from the family to where they will never find us again or entangle us in their
murky affairs. He reminded me that he himself had already suggested it to me
before, now I see that he was right. If your siblings are never going to change
their lives, and we can't force them to do so, at least we have the option of
taking a different path. It all depends on us to decide. Now, I hope he were
serious and don't back out by betraying me. It could happen…
End Of
Part Three
Case XIII: Fy
Friday October 8, 3030
The days are getting colder and the dry forest
is losing leaves. It went from being green and leafy to this, like me since I
arrived in this place until today. Bug has several tiny dresses and nappies
ready, he will name the girls after my three mothers: Ziggy the adoptive one,
Violet the surrogate, and Joy the biological one that I never met and whose
name I knew until recently thanks to Uncle Ray's files. I no longer feel a
connection with any of the three, perhaps with these new versions of them that
are on the way I will be able to build a better relationship. My belly is
already showing a little, all three are growing quickly and I'm worried because
soon I won't be able to do anything but be at home. I have fighting events
almost every day and I'm improving a lot, it makes me angry that Jean Gabin
sabotaged my rivals because it's no longer necessary, but he continues; I don't
know if out of malice or because he wants to help me in some way. They haven't
told me officially, but the rumor of my pregnancy has spread among everyone.
Echo told me about it the day before yesterday, she even told me that she is
going to go to a clinic to have twin boys and match them with the two girls of
mine that I have not committed. I told her that I don't want my daughters to
marry endogamously and end up with grandchildren with pig paws, as Uncle Alonso
says. Paw or tail, I don't remember, he got it from a book. How horrible it is
to already be thinking about my grandchildren! My life is going by so quickly,
it's not fair, I want to live and I feel like death is already around me...
That something bad is lurking and wants to steal our opportunity to be happy.
My God, I hope it's just the hormones that Uncle Ray says, but Bug is not calm
either, this morning he got out of the shower and I asked him how long it had
been since he went to the lake. He sat down at a small table in the hallway and
pulled me closer to him, beginning to measure my belly with his fingers while
he explained:
–I'm afraid to see
the tombstone. Now I don't know what I would do if something changed there.
–I also fear that
it could change… That is, that something could go wrong…
I answered him, but he only kissed my navel
and said:
–We're just
nervous! We did everything very quickly, if we go calmly from now on and be
careful, everything will be fine. The important thing is that our lizards are
healthy, getting bigger every day.
–That also worries
me... Soon I will have to rest, we will no longer be able to help your
sisters... And I no longer know if I want to continue with this fighting thing
if it is so rigged. I really just want to get away from everyone.
–We could hide from
everyone right here. In this kind of alternate dimension. If we go to the other
side of the planet no one will find us, you could even find another arena and
work as a wrestler after giving birth. I have already told you that I will not
stop you from following your own life goals. It will only be nine months, then
I will take care of them. I will give them so much food that they will become
morbidly obese and they will be famous for it.
–I prefer that you
teach them to shoot long guns.
–Sure, they could
shoot from their fat people carts.
–No…I imagine
they're going to be pretty. Tall and athletic. They are yours, right?
For the first time I saw him blush and he
laughed, he's not used to compliments nor am I used to saying them. It came
out, we both turned red at the end, what fools! Then we saw out the window that
something white was starting to fall, Bug said it was starting to snow. I hoped
it would be nice to see it for the first time, but only a shiver ran through
me. A bad feeling, something terrible approaching. Today we will light the
fireplace in the bedroom and sleep with lots of blankets, the weather is too cold
and I'm afraid. I think Bug also said that on nights like this he feels sad, he
hates the cold and it reminds him of his older sisters, who don't seem to love
him. I would have asked him more about it, I don't know why lately I often
remember my father's fortune-telling sister, the one who predicted a danger
lurking within the family; but I think neither of us wanted to talk about sad
things, but just snuggle together. I want to hug him, lately I need him to put
his hand on my belly when I sleep, to feel that I have it well protected.
Sunday October 17, 3030
I officially hate snow; it has covered
everything and with it came a witch. A real witch. This morning Uncle Dreiser
married Echo; a clergyman came from another city to officiate the ceremony in
the town church. Aunt Sherl made us go to a formal gala, the dress Amleth lent
me was too tight and I was suffocating, but I think Bug had it worse. The truth
is he doesn't look bad in a suit and tie, it's strange, I see him better every
day, I think because I'm starting to look at him with a deeper affection. I thought
it was going to be awkward to attend, but in fact we were excited, holding
hands, imagining that the wedding was for us; In fact, we would like it if we
weren't so rustic and embarrassed to organize one. We had that beautiful
moment, when I felt cold on the back of my neck, something icy like snow, I
turned to look behind us and on the last bench was the strange aunt who tells
the future. The one with the piercing green eyes, no one else had seen. She
looked at us with disturbing seriousness. I know it's too early, but I could
have sworn I felt the triplets stir in my belly at that moment. For the first
time I interacted with them, I rubbed my belly to calm them down, because I
assumed they were scared. London and Aunt Honoré would laugh if I told them,
because since they found out about my pregnancy, they say that what I have in
my belly are not girls yet but "masses of cells"; But if they can
tolerate that people like Fy, the strange woman who arrived, believe in magic
and the occult, they should tolerate that I believe that my babies also sensed
that something bad had come. At the end of the wedding, after the bride and
groom kissed and everyone applauded, the others began to notice the newcomer.
Some ignored her, Dumas and Uncle Ray, whom I had seen with her before, looked
at each other somewhat alarmed and quickly went to receive her with kisses and
hugs. I didn't see them again until lunch, when we all sat at tables arranged
in a horseshoe shape inside the largest room of the parish house where we could
all see each other. When I went to congratulate the couple, Echo stopped me for
a moment to ask questions about what it's like to be expecting, since she also
wants to be a mother soon. I told her that I didn't really feel much
difference, just some inflammation like when you've eaten a lot of spices. Then
she sat with me for a while because she didn't want to greet Uncle Alonso, as
she whispered in my ear. When I asked her why, she whispered:
–He wrote me all
those stories where I'm an alien superhero! I don't feel flattered, but
uncomfortable. He barely talks to me when he's with me, as if I were a
fictional character and not a real person. Luckily Dreiser is going to fulfill
all my cravings and also always listens to me, I'm so lucky! The only bad thing
is that he has asked me to get along with his entire family. And I can't stand
this Madame Dostoevsky. I don't know what she's doing here, I didn't invite her
and Dreiser said he didn't either.
–Do you mean Fy?
The fortune teller?
–Fy, Fyodor
Dostoevsky, yes, it's an alias. Her name is actually Arya, she is the fourth
daughter. It's always been so disturbing! I will tell you a secret…
She came close to my ear again after looking
everywhere and whispered:
–I think she's a
lesbian and has a weird relationship with her sister Amanda! The one they call
Alveena Huxley, the princess. Furthermore, all the Lunaes shy away from
motherhood, but Amanda has always suffered from not having children and
strangely has never tried to relate to a man. His sister Fy is her partner at
public events. Be careful, they might try to force you to let them adopt one of
your girls. They already tried to take Dumas's baby away!
What she said gave me goosebumps, and that was
when Bug arrived and told me that we had to go and say hello to Fy. He didn't
want to, but he couldn't ignore her and create more tension. He muttered to me
as we approached her:
–A simple hello and
a few pats on the back and we're off.
I nodded my head, because I had never really
spoken to that aunt. She always gave me a bad vibe. But when we arrived and Bug
touched her shoulder, she took his hand and said, looking him straight in the
eyes:
–I came because it
was revealed to me in a dream that you are going to be a father. And I see that
the mother is this girl, she is the daughter of Descartes. I recognize her.
Bug was stunned for a while, then responded
defensively:
–We fell in love
and she ran away from home to be with me. Go tell Descartes and Ziggy, she's an
adult now and what she does with her life is none of their business.
–Family is always
family business. I know she's expecting three daughters, three Lunae girls who
carry the weight of a last name that can't go around the world like it's
anything, and she's pressuring you to abandon your siblings and accompany her
back to the world of where she came from, among vice, vulgarity, baseness of
all kinds!
–Just like all of
us, she was raised by the Lunae.
–I'm talking about
blood! The true heritage, the race...That she does not share with us. She is
the daughter of a psychopath and a slut.
–They bought our
mother in a small Latin town and she raised you on a farm where you ran
barefoot and full of dirt, have you forgotten?
–Poverty didn't
make our mother any less! She was an honest woman and her values elevated her
to the level of any nobleman in the world.
–She took my dad
when she was nine, when she was eighteen and being his nanny, the fact that she
was honest doesn't take away her perversion.
The woman got up offended and there was a
small commotion around us, until the groom arrived and asked us all to calm
down and enjoy the meal in peace to bless their union. We sat down with
suspicion, Fy stayed talking to Jean Gabin and Dumas, shortly after Jean Gabin
got up and went to tell us in a low voice:
–Go and hide now.
Bug responded defiantly:
–I'm not going to
hide from that poisonous old woman! I want to confront her once and for all,
what really happened the night I was born?
Jean Gabin closed his eyes as if remembering
something painful and replied:
–I can not tell
you. Look, go away, think about your own family, the one you are in charge of,
you cannot change or improve the others; The best thing you can do is push them
away from you. Get away. Go, hide in the mountains, get lost for a few months, I'll
look for you later and let you know when to return.
–No! She did
something with Alveena, stop protecting them, I want them to tell me the truth
and if they don't apologize at least tell them that they are shit!
–Aureus Lunae V,
stop doing stupid things and get out! It's not a game!
After saying that he punched her on the arm
and hurried off to sit next to Aunt Sherl, who looked at me and also
surreptitiously asked for me to leave, but just then July, who had sat with the
sinister Fy, turned away. She got up very excited and announced:
–Guys! We just got
us a match with a fighter from the Moon! The event will be broadcast especially
in the 30th century and, don't worry, Fy is already on our side and my uncle
won't bother us.
"I don't believe Fy, I don't trust
her," I whispered to Bug, he replied "I don't either." Finally,
we said goodbye to Uncle Dreiser and Eco, apologizing for leaving early and we
prepared to return to our house. Before we left, Fy stopped Bug at the doors of
the parsonage and gave him a sort of apology:
–I expressed myself
poorly, I believe that we are all equal in the universe, and I am against
tyrannies; but I also think that evil should not exist and karma exists. The
family should always be together, Bug, help me help you... And at the same time,
you would help me.
–What happened the
night I was born?
He responded suddenly and seriously. She
looked around, her lips trembling, finally she let out a sob and said:
–I got carried away
with Alveena by the mistaken idea that the well-being of those of us who are
already here is above those of those who are just arriving into the world.
Children are the future and it is the future that we want to save. At that
moment we didn't think about it, we cared more about mom's comfort and
ourselves. Now I see everything differently, I want to take care of your
daughters like a treasure. That could save my own life and Alveena's.
–Speak clearly.
Bug replied grumpily, she burst into tears and
walked away from us. After that we left. An ugly snow storm began to fall, we
had to go slowly in the van while we chatted among ourselves. Bug confessed to
me:
–Do you know what
bothers me? She and the other old woman took me out into the storm, they wanted
to kill me and Ray saved me, well; I can understand that they don't want to
remember or admit it, what I don't understand is that on top of that they take
that attitude of righteous martyrs and want to paint me as the villain when
they were the ones who hurt me. Is this their way of making it fair? Saying:
"yeah, maybe I'm a bitch, but you're worse! Let me invent a thousand
faults for you."
– I know, they are
evil…By the way, why did they ask us to hide?
–You heard her: she
believes in karma. She has good reasons to know that it is real, she herself
makes sure that her idea of karma is fulfilled. If he misjudges you, he tries
to punish you in some way. The worst thing about that is that she does it behind
your back, trying to fool you with the idea that it was not her but
"cosmic magic" making you pay. And she never feels bad about it! She
is sure that this helps you be "a better person."
I looked at the snowy trees and the icy
landscape, then I remembered:
–She told my mother
once that she read in her magic letters that a danger lurked within the family.
–You should read Fy
as if it were one of his letters, if she said that it means she knew they were
plotting something against you. She lives in the lunar palace, with uncle
Adamas and Alveena. They are her ladies-in-waiting "who advocate for Homo
sapiens" and I wouldn't be surprised if they also serve her in something
else… That must be self-imposed karma, she usually punishes herself, according
to her.
–It was always like
this?
–Yes, I barely
spoke to her when I was a child. She was already a teenager when I was born. I
remember that she collected crystals, she liked to read, but she did not hang
out with July, Dumas and Alonso who were also involved in that type of bohemian
affairs. She was rather solitary, I think she felt different and superior to
everyone else; That's why she got along well with Alveena, who was always
treated as "the princess", the one who was going to grow up to be a
kind of ambassador for Homo sapiens on the Moon. They both have their heads
full of smoke.
–You know, maybe
she loves you despite all her faults. But people often decide what they think
is best for their loved ones without considering whether it respects their
tastes or personal space. You cannot force a family to live together if one
member is hurting another, you cannot force someone to fall in love with
someone or not to fall in love with someone, regardless of what you think is
best for their life. In the end you can do great harm in this way, but
originally you act with good intentions and even out of love.
–That doesn't make
it any less unforgivable stupidity. How do you repair damage in a life? The
lost years. It's not possible. That is why they prohibited short trips in time,
from the present to a few years in the past to change these types of errors due
to idiocy among family and friends. It was a waste of logistics; people would
commit the same actions again even though they were prevented from doing so.
They do not regret what they do, when they face the same situation again, they
return to their bad decisions; It was discovered that the vast majority do not
learn unless they suffer. Pain is inevitable in the true process of becoming a
better person. It is awful! On snowy nights like this I get depressed thinking
about these things, the world is full of pain, writhing in agony and begging
for an end... That's why I don't worry as much as others do to avoid it, out of
compassion... We should just let it happen.
I caressed her hand, it was cold, I would warm
it later in bed. So, I tried to encourage him by saying:
–Maybe if we should
go away, move to a warmer place. Where there is always green and flowers. The
five alone. How far will Mexico be? We can go by car, right? I'll start packing
tomorrow.
–Yes, we will do
that. By next Sunday, they will no longer see us even a shadow.
We kissed and everything was fine, however the
dark atmosphere did not go away. Now the wind whistles like a monster howling
outside, trying to enter our warm home, I'm afraid and I don't know what. I'll
stop writing to go under the covers with him.
Monday October 18, 3030
This morning I had a horrible dream: a light
appeared in the middle of our bedroom and some beings that I now recognize as
Homo cosmos, although perhaps in the past they would have seemed alien to me,
came to discover my belly to insert a probe into me while I was paralyzed. In
the morning I woke up and felt different, I no longer had the congestion in my
belly, the triplets were gone. I told Bug and he thought I just had a
nightmare, I asked him if it was possible that they stole them from me like
they did with my mother to take me away from her body. He said he would have
woken up and stopped it, but he was a little drunk last night! He slept like a
rock... I insisted and he told me that we were going to ask Uncle Ray to check
on me later, because July called early saying that they had informed him that
the challenger from the Moon had already arrived with his team and they were
getting everything ready for a special event tonight. Finally, my father would
see me fight, but I couldn't concentrate on that, I still had the feeling that
my embryos had been removed. Shortly after there was a knock on the door, it
was Jean Gabin, he didn't even say hello, he was serious and in his police
role:
–Last night there
was a strange activity, some doctors from the Moon arrived with special
permission, but they did not inform me about it. Did you notice anything
strange?
–I think someone
broke into our house last night.
I answered him, Jean Gabin rubbed his brow,
then asked me:
–Did they do something
to you? That you remember?
–They punctured my
belly, I even woke up with a small triangular mark, like a burn, I'm sure I
didn't have it yesterday.
–We have to take
you with Ray. If the embryos are no longer inside you, you must report it.
He answered me and at that moment I felt like
my heart was going away. We immediately left for the town, but when we arrived
there was a commotion. The streets were packed with people, there were drones
recording everything, music, scandal. July welcomed us very eagerly. We saw
that in fact the arena was already open, people were queuing to enter. My Aunt
Sherl and London also appeared very upset; I decided that I would see uncle Ray
later. We had to start the event early or there would be riots due to the wild
crowd that had come from afar thirsty for a violent spectacle between machines.
Uncle Alonso did not agree with us giving in to pressure, he said that all
those people must have been sent on purpose by uncle Adamas to bother us. The
reason that made him suspect this was that the strange Fy had left in a hurry
the same night yesterday, she refused to stay the night in the town, But July
asked him not to be suspicious any more, as he and London had left the party
shortly after us, giving the impression that they were unhappy with the
wedding. Between so much conflict, I myself asked that we move up the event so
that I would be free and be able to go with Uncle Ray. I hurriedly went to my
aunts Honoré and Maxim's workshop to prepare, I arrived at the arena and was a
little relieved to see that my opponent was a simple robot. Not even a
biomachine, a simple chrome metal humanoid. The ring bell sounded just as Dumas
entered the box of honor, angrily asking what was happening, the noise of the
crowd did not allow them to hear each other, and I could no longer wait to see
what they were saying, the robot started shooting at me. As soon as I was able
to dodge the projectiles, uncle Alonso jumped from where he was sitting and
stood in front of me acting as a human shield, shouting that it was illegal to
use firearms. July called the owner of the robot on the microphone and no one
answered, there was silence while the machine continued to point at me.
Apparently, he had only stopped shooting because something did not allow him to
attack Uncle Alonso, he probably recognized him and did not have permission to
attack the family, of which I was not being considered a part. In the
confusion, July lost patience and announced:
–Perfect. If it has
no owner, we will have to destroy it. Doesn't it belong to anyone? Did he
appear out of nowhere and alone?
She got no response, so she shrugged and
motioned for Bug to fire from his sniper position. He yelled that a bullet will
be useless, an electric saw was going to be necessary or help me cut it, they
began to argue because Uncle Alonso reminded him that the machine would try to
shoot me if I moved from behind his back; and finally, London said she would go
get his chainsaw to cut it down. While all this was happening, the crowd was
whispering among themselves, and among the people I could see Fy hooded. Something
tells me that she brought the robot... Time passed and London did not return,
people began to whistle and boo, Dumas reluctantly went down to the arena with
one of his Japanese sabers. Uncle Alonso looked at him, raising an eyebrow:
–We need something
to cut metal with, not my grandfather's samurai sword.
–It cuts cables and
metal sheets, at least it will take off his head.
Dumas responded looking at the robot, Uncle
Alonso remained skeptical:
–Imagine these
people when they leave, they came to see a robot fight and they will leave
after seeing a furry weeaboo with his katana.
–At least they
won't be forever secretly in love with their sexy sister-in-law who married
their religious little brother.
–Oops… Are you
offended, Oni Chan?
His brother looked at him over the pink
glasses he usually wore and then approached the robot, looked at it, stood
behind it and cut off its head with a slash, which fell with a hollow sound. He
hit it a couple of times with his shoe and exclaimed:
–It is false.
Should I keep opening it or wait for London to come?
–See if you can
take off the cover to see what's inside.
Uncle Alonso, who was still standing before
me, asked him. Aunt Honoré entered the arena intrigued, looked at the robot's
neck and asked Dumas to try cutting some rivets. He did his best with a few
thrusts and leverage. They were busy doing that when I felt my ears ringing
with a static-like sound, then nothing, seconds later I was suddenly blinded. I
couldn't see or hear, but I stayed calm, I felt around for Uncle Alonso's back
to tell him, but then I stopped feeling my limbs and I fell. It was as if I were
in a coma again, dead in life. I was conscious, but in immense darkness,
without feeling my body, in absolute silence. In that loneliness worse than
death because I knew I was alive; I could feel my body again like a prison in
total darkness where it became more evident to me that my daughters were no
longer there. How I would have liked them to accompany me at that moment, for
us to be together at least. I began to miss them so much that it hurt beyond my
body. It seemed like years, an eternity of anguish, when I suddenly woke up in
a bed in the company of Uncle Ray, Honoré and Maxim. The latter caressed my
face and spoke to me sweetly:
–You were crying
very sadly in your dreams and you asked about your daughters, it broke my
heart, but with that you have shown us that you are human. There was an
electromagnetic pulse bomb inside the robot, that damaged all the devices that
were near it without us realizing it. Luckily, we stopped it in time, but it
disabled your artificial brain for a while, which prevented you from having
voluntary control of your body and your senses. We had to repair you and add
extra protection to your skull to prevent you from suffering these types of
attacks in the future.
I sat on the bed and could only stammer:
–My belly… Look
inside my belly…
Uncle Ray brought a device to monitor the
inside of my abdomen, he examined me calmly at first and then I could see in
horror how he turned pale. His sisters looked at him in alarm and he uttered
the most painful phrase I have ever heard in my life:
–The embryos are no
longer there.
Then he left in a hurry and I didn't know
anything more. My aunts Honoré and Maxim took me back home and have stayed
taking care of me. Bug doesn't come back and it's too late, I cry silently as I
write. They stole my daughters like they stole me from my mother's womb. I
don't know how she would have reacted, if she was waiting for me and suddenly
one day, she discovered that she had lost me, but I know that I had my babies;
I had already had my hopes up about them and they took them all away from me. It's
not fair. So many years as if dead in life, a few days of joy and now misery.
What's the point of giving me crumbs of happiness, filling myself with dreams,
and then telling me that I will never be able to achieve them? Why did they
force me to be born if they weren't going to let me live? Because I will no
longer be able to live if I do not find my daughters again and I spend the rest
of my life thinking that a fate similar to mine awaits them, I would rather
die.
Case XIV: Hugo
Tuesday October 19, 3030
I woke up with more strength, with the sun, my
aunts were still by my side and I told them to accompany me to town. I had to
talk to Uncle Ray and find out what happened to my daughters. I found him with
Bug, Jean Gabin, Dumas and Violet who was in the middle of a heated phone call
in her cafeteria. When she saw me, she hung up and told us all:
–At least she
already admitted it. Fy took the embryos. She says they are safe, but she
doesn't want them to be raised by Bug and Psyche, she will pay for surrogate
mothers to have them born, and she wants to convince me to ask my father that
she and Alveena will raise them here in exile. That he already agrees. I told
her no and this won't remain just another one of her silly whims that she
disguises as discipline. Jean Gabin, can something be done legally against her?
He bit his thumb looking at the floor and
answered doubtfully:
–It's robbery and
burglary... It's better that you talk to Victor Hugo, he's the family lawyer
and he'll take Psyche's side. He took care of her since she was a baby and has
always ensured that she is taken into account as a member of the family. The
problem is that he will no longer hide our whereabouts from her parents. If Fy
hasn't told them yet, they'll now know from Hugo.
Uncle Ray then said:
–At least Ziggy
already knows, she called me a while ago. She watched the broadcast of
yesterday's meeting with Descartes. She said she recognized Psyche even in the
disguise, she started shouting that it was her, but Descartes didn't pay
attention, he was busy working on updating his most important machine.
Hearing that bothered me, but it didn't hurt
me anymore, my parents were already in the background and there was nothing
else they could do to hurt me. I was going to fight without fear of anything to
get my daughters back and I let them know:
–It doesn't matter,
I want to talk to Uncle Hugo. And of course, with my parents. Descartes is the
eldest son and the highest authority on this side of the family, I want to pay
him back for all the years he kept me kidnapped, pretending it was out of family
love. And I want to get my girls back. I want to raise them myself, away from
all this madness. I will go alone, if necessary, Amleth gave me a key to
travel.
I immediately received a response from Dumas,
who said:
–They won't let you
start a legal fight, Psyche. Your parents will want to resolve everything in a
more peaceful way, through dialogue. We are Family…
Then Bug supported me, apparently, he was
equally outraged:
– If they don't
accept her, I'll go in her place. And I don't want any negotiations or
"everybody's happy" deals where the perpetrator makes a false apology
and the victim graciously agrees to be screwed forever! It's over, bros.
Sometimes you have to give or receive a resounding no and accept it. Call me
selfish, but nobody is forced to follow the stupid traditions of their rotten
family. I'm going to get my daughters back and then I'm leaving, you know that.
Uncle Ray nodded and said:
–I'm going with
them. I wouldn't be surprised if they later say that Psyche was never pregnant
when I myself confirmed her status.
Jean Gabin also decided to join us, announcing
it with another of his unfriendly comments that luckily did not end in a
lawsuit:
–I'll join the
delegation; they will say that the poor girl stayed because she suffers from
Stockholm syndrome, and I was able to testify that she really came with the
intention of sexually abusing the masked redneck.
That's how the four of us were, they taught me
how to use the key to the space-time tunnels through any door: you can project
the light that opens the passage onto its surface, and when you open it, it
will take you to the place you want to go, which you have to choose by
concentrating, by thinking about it. I had to do this myself because the
electromagnetic pulse attack yesterday had damaged the others' brain-computer
interface implants. I found it difficult to concentrate on remembering my
childhood home. Something prevented me, as if the present reality convinced me
that my past was a dream and never happened. Finally I managed, the selenite
technology detected the location and it was ready. By knocking on that door in
Violet's kitchen, I would be knocking on my house, and I would see my parents,
Ziggy and Descartes again. I did so, my hands shaking as I knocked on the
bright wood with my knuckles. The door opened a crack and we saw Amleth peeking
out. She looked at us in surprise and Dumas waved her away. She finished
opening the door and invited us in. We entered. I was in my house again. Amleth
led us all in silence into the living room, where I could see the large
holographic screen that entertained me in the afternoons, my mother watching
'Gone with the Wind'. I called out to her in a languid voice:
–Mother.
She turned to look at me and it was as if upon
recognizing her the past came upon me like an avalanche and the almost two
months I was away turned into two minutes. We hugged, I was able to feel at
home again, I forgave her instantly. We were both crying, she touched my hair
and looked at my clothes, she noticed that they were very different. I
explained her:
–I moved in with
Bug. I told you I wanted to meet him; I liked him...
Mom smiled, always understanding and sweet,
but she confronted Bug anyway:
–He's a very...
Interesting guy. I've known him since he was the baby of the family. I actually
didn't expect this because you were hiding from Psyche all the time, Bug.
Before you came to see us from time to time or invited us to spend some time in
your house. You give the impression that you had it planned, not to see her as
a niece and to take her as soon as she was old enough... I understand that as
they get older, lonely men become desperate to prove that they can still love,
just as young women become desperate to prove what it is like to love. …I don't
know how long this experiment will last… But I would have liked to be informed…
He just looked down and informed her:
–Well… As you said,
two people simply found themselves in need of something they could achieve
together. It was never my intention to steal your daughter, in fact, I never
agreed that you stole her from her mother, but I didn't do anything, I was
complicit by keeping silent. And now I'm paying it too. Psyche and I were
expecting one baby, three in fact. But Fy stole the embryos the same way Psyche
was stolen from her mother's womb.
–What are you
saying?!
Mom exclaimed, and then I started telling her
all about my adventure away from home. At one point I asked about Dad, she told
me that he was in his robot factory, very busy already assembling his famous
latest update. I had to comment, disappointed:
–He can't even
accompany you now that I'm not here, he leaves you alone at home with your
worries... Mom, doesn't he love me? Tell me the truth.
–Honey, he has
always adored you! But his work is very important, he will soon return home
and... Look, it seems that here he comes.
We heard footsteps approaching, but it was
Uncle Hugo. He looked at me strangely without recognizing me and greeted
everyone saying:
–Good night... We
have visitors, I'm just passing through to leave some of Descartes' documents
and let you know that he will also sleep in the factory today. He is immersed
in the update; he says it is something urgent.
Then I called him "Uncle Hugo", he
recognized my voice and approached me alarmed. He touched my face and exclaimed
with a trembling voice:
–You are alive! But
what have they done to you? What happened to you?!
We all sat down to tell him what had happened,
and confess everything that had been hidden from him. When we finished, Uncle
Hugo was livid, his eyes were teary. He stared at us open-mouthed and finally
said:
–All these years,
since my youth, I have served alongside Descartes so that this family can live
happily. I thought you were happy. I helped them so many times without knowing
it was for corrupt purposes. I sat down to eat next to degenerates, murderers...
And I never suspected... Because it was my family, family is supposed to be the
most sacred, the purest... The family is the basis of society...
Uncle Ray tried to console him, but he gently
pushed him away and murmured in a choked voice:
–Don't touch me...
You ripped her out of her mother's womb, they told me that the girl knew and
agreed. And it wasn't true! I signed the permission slips... I can't trust you
anymore.
Then he covered his face and exclaimed:
–Who can I trust
now? You were my world, my family... I always believed that we had some
differences, something normal... But you are revealing to me that it was a pit
of lies, incest, resentment, envy, jealousy... I have lost everything!
Everything, you can't be my family. I don't want this family...
Amleth also tried to hug him, but he rejected
her anyway saying:
–Get away! I no
longer believe that story that they had to have an abortion on you when you
were young because you suffered rape from a stranger. Were you really expecting
a child from Dumas? Or yours, Jean Gabin? Everything could be possible now!…
How am I going to continue living? How did you sit at every family gathering…so
calm? And we said that only my uncle was the worst, that we were the good ones,
that we were different from the other perverted Lunae... I have told my friends
and partners about how wonderful my siblings are, the happy anecdotes that I
remember about you, the beautiful facade behind which they hid the truth from
me... I thought I would survive the immense pain of the loss of my husband,
with whom I lived for eighty years, taking refuge in the affection of my
siblings... Thank God Renzo left believing that my family was the most united,
the happiest, and I was in good hands!
Then he cried for a while, no one dared to
speak. He went on to say:
–I should have seen
the signs, warned... But I didn't want to believe that something could really
go wrong with you. I preferred to ignore, to act indifferent to what I believed
were my siblings' eccentricities, simple misunderstandings... I didn't want to
judge you! I didn't want to think badly! Now I don't know, is it my fault,
younger siblings? Didn't I do enough to set a good example for you? What did I
do to make Fy think that justice can be twisted as she pleases? Why would Sherl
and Jean Gabin turn to corruption? Oh yes...I didn't do anything, I didn't
act...Ray and July took that example from me, and probably seeing that you
could do whatever you wanted without real consequences, Dumas and Alonso dared
to go beyond any limit and kill. Honoré and Maxim did not ask for help in the
face of the abusive repression of their older siblings because they surely
thought: "Hugo won't do anything! He doesn't know anything" … Under
my nose Dreiser was seduced by London, Amleth's childish antics turned into
dark aberrations and Bug ended up impregnating Psyche… His own niece…
Suddenly, to our surprise, Fy entered. Surely,
she didn't expect to find us there. She looked at us all with her huge green
eyes, surprised, and Uncle Hugo went directly to her and asked her angrily:
–Where are Psyche's
embryos?
–I destroyed them,
they should not have been born. It was perverse.
She replied. Uncle Hugo took her by the
shoulders and shook her, saying with conviction:
–I don't believe
you. Where are Psyche's embryos?!
She turned her face away with disdain, Uncle
Hugo slapped her around. Then she looked at him surprised and finally admitted
crying:
–I gave them to
uncle Adamas! He only knows that they are Bug's, he can't imagine who the
mother is. No one in their right mind would assume that he fathered children
with a girl from his own family! Now he will decide their fate, I begged him to
allow Alveena and I to raise them in exile. I want to leave his side, he will
let us leave the palace if it is to take care of the girls, he promised me.
Uncle Hugo also burst into tears. He rested
his forehead on hers, with compassion, I think he cried more because he could
not refuse to forgive his own sister:
–Why didn't you
tell me that you wanted to be mothers...? I thought that since the other
family's women were not interested in that topic... I was able to help you get
a baby through legal means, one that needed love and care... But you stole the
seed of a new family, one that did want to take care of its children. They are
not really uncle and niece; Psyche is already an adult... Why didn't you think
about it carefully...?
–Don't know…
Fy sobbed, I couldn't feel sorry for her, but
Bug more than anyone was angry, he approached them to complain:
–You do not know?!
That's all? Are you going to say I'm sorry and think this is going to go down
in family history as an anecdote that we'll all laugh about later? No! And stop
pretending to be the victim when you were the one who hurt us in the first place,
I was already angry with you for the stupid intrigue around my birth, but this
has already gone far beyond the limits of what is tolerable.
Uncle Hugo looked at him in dismay and asked
the two:
–What intrigues
about Bug's birth?
Fy covered his mouth and, already fed up,
Uncle Hugo shouted at her:
–Talk!!
Then Fy confessed:
–At that time, we
still did not know what our father's real appearance was. One night... Alveena
and I saw our mother making love with a creepy…entity... Then that baby was
born... similar to it... We believed it was the result of infidelity. We took
him out into the storm so he could die of cold... We did it because we loved
Dad and we didn't want him to take care of another man's son... For several
years we refused to love him as a brother, although not to confront Mom... Then
we knew...
Bug rolled his eyes, responding:
–I would have
forgiven you for that a thousand times. But now I will never forgive you for
stealing my daughters from me.
–Bug…
Uncle Hugo gently reproached him, then he
himself wiped his tears on his jacket sleeve and said:
–Let's all go to
sleep now; we'll talk to my uncle. I want to believe that we are a family after
all... And, if we talk to him, he will understand. Fy, Bug, we'll meet him here
tomorrow at dinner time.
Then he turned to me and patted me on the
back:
–Everything will
get fixed. I will send some new biomachines to July so that she can continue
organizing her events, I will also process the necessary permits for your aunts
Maxim and Honoré to expedite their artificial womb project. There will no
longer be women forced to be surrogate mothers. Everyone will be fine and happy
in the town, so you and Bug can stay here as long as necessary until you get
your babies back. Your mother has missed you a lot, your father too.
I nodded accepting his words and hugged him to
say goodbye. Once everyone left and only Mom, Bug and I were left, she told us:
–Your room is
arranged just as you left it, the only thing missing is the things they took
with you. I guess you obviously sleep together. So, I don't have to prepare
another bed. Do you have any questions...regarding...?
She made a gesture by making an "o"
with the fingers of one hand and putting the index finger of the other hand
inside and I responded, very embarrassed and taking Bug by the hand to my old
bedroom:
–No, mother, I
already know everything...
–Are you using any
birth control method?
–The…condoms…and…that.
–Do you want to
follow in the tradition of my mother-in-law and have children without a break?
–God no…
–Then come... I
will explain some details to you in depth. Bug, wait there, we have to talk
about women's issues.
Then mom told me everything she should have
told me before, so maybe I wouldn't have gotten pregnant during my first sexual
relations; Now it's too late, I'm already fond of the idea of triplets and I'm
going to continue with that, but I'm not going to make little siblings for
them! So, I hope I can get them back. When I got to my room, Bug was checking
my dolls, quite seriously, and said to me:
–I feel a little
uncomfortable being here. I don't have a problem with girlish things, I grew up
with my sisters' toys and clothes, but...I really feel terrible for not having
stopped them from getting close to you. I had to have woken up, heard something.
–Don't worry, I'm
not in the mood either and I know it wasn't your fault. You looked tired and
depressed; it was normal for you to fall asleep so deeply.
He lay down on the bed and questioned me
strangely, looking at the ceiling:
–Why is my photo
stuck up there? Ah... So here you were wondering how long it was... You'll be
happy because I gave it to you.
–Sure. If we are
not talking about hair, because was it better to have it short.
I responded by lying down next to him. In the
end we did it, but it wasn't because I was already calm, we were just trying to
relax like that because the anxiety was killing us. In fact, I can't sleep, I'm
here writing and it's already very late. I'm afraid of what will happen
tomorrow. I'll try to rest.
Wednesday October 20, 3030
Today we worked a little on repairing damaged
family ties, Mom and I took just seconds to reconnect, but Dad didn't even stop
working to come home and see me. I spent the whole day feeling disappointed,
upset. In the morning it was a little embarrassing to leave the room with Bug,
I didn't know if Mom heard us last night, my old bed squeaked like there was no
tomorrow. Anyway, I found her calmly preparing breakfast for me, in the
attitude of a psychology professional... I don't know how disturbed she really
was inside. Bug immediately went to help her in the kitchen, very serious, mom
began to harass him with positivity:
–I'm so happy to
see you without the mask and with that pretty cut. Now you no longer hide how
handsome you are, your mother always said that you were the prettiest of her
children. We used to fight over picking you up and kissing your cheeks, do you
remember?
–Yes, that's why I
started wearing masks, you sweet ladies...
He answered embarrassed, Mom clung to his arm
and continued talking while Bug was getting more and more uncomfortable:
–I can't believe so
many years have passed! It seems like it happened yesterday.
–It could be
Alzheimer's, Ziggy...
–I'm going to tell
you something, I was madly in love with my father-in-law!
–My dad? Yes, I
guess in disguise he could look like a nice little dwarf...
–Oh no! I liked its
natural look. I met him in the patio of your mother's house, by chance he was
naked.
–What…?
–I don't remember
if I proposed to him, it was so many years ago! But he rejected me, in those
days I was just a stranger and he was a very sensual heir...
–Enough! I don't
want to know anymore. I'm officially traumatized!
"Oh!" Mom exclaimed, reproaching him
with a tap on his chest. Then we all sat down and she asked me:
–Last night I was
thinking that we could visit your biological parents and tell them the truth.
They will be surprised to see how beautiful you are.
I answered her, after thinking about it for a
moment:
–I have been
investigating them on my own, I think that with them it will be better to leave
things as they are. My biological father is a vengeful man and would react very
badly to knowing what happened. I prefer that they continue to provide them
with financial help so that they can be happy within what fits into their
lifestyle.
–And what do you
plan to do then? What plans do you have for the future?
–Get my babies
back, start my family, then get back to the fight. I want to dedicate myself to
that, mom. I think I can do it.
–Well, something
else you have in common with your dad, Descartes, is that you are both
passionate about robot fighting.
–I admit that he
influenced me in that... But I no longer feel attached to him...
–Psyche, are you
sure you're not wanting to succeed in robot fighting just to impress your dad?
Before you wanted to be an artist like Dumas.
–I would also like
to... But the fights make me money.
–Darling, listen to
me: whatever you decide to do, do it because it really makes you happy, only
you! Do not expect your father or I to be proud and congratulate you. Whatever
you decide to do, do not rest until you have reached your maximum improvement in
that area. The one who should be satisfied is you, you will say when it is
enough and that will be good.
–That's why I
decided to stay in the fights, mom. I see that dad doesn't care, you don't
understand it very well even though you support me, but I still feel motivated
to continue. I want the ethical implications to be taken more seriously with
robots that have human parts, and those that have developed a human
consciousness, for that I must make a big name for myself in that field. If a
lot of people support me, I think they will listen to me.
– It won't be that
easy, darling. First, some changes will have to be made to the people who
actually make the decisions... To be honest, I don't think Hugo really knows
the extent of his uncle's evil. Adamas has always been a character who enjoyed
making others suffer just for fun... I think the only solution is to kill him.
It's terrible, but there's no other way.
I was surprised to hear my mother talk like
that. Just at that moment Uncle Hugo entered accompanied by Fy, he smiled
announcing to us:
–We're already
fixing everything! I am even processing a petition so that this alternate
dimension with the space-time loop in 2020 is recognized as a separate planet
and placed under the authority of Alveena. Of course, just for diplomatic
reasons, in reality we are all going to manage it as a family, without secrets,
without lies, seeking to create a better world. Time will run again with
development and a new future will be created. One better.
Bug commented, serving them orange juice:
–Well, you'll just
have to stop your siblings from killing each other. And I can bet you that
Violet won't be happy about that, she wants uncle Adamas to step aside and let
her son inherit the position.
Then Uncle Hugo went and hugged him from
behind, answering:
–Patience...No one
is eternal... It's horrible that we say it, but it's the truth. He already know
about Psyche's brain, don't worry, he still doesn't know what the procedure was
and we're never going to tell him. Maxim told me that it is possible to program
a mechanism so that when she decides to "die" all her data is deleted
forever. Only the device would be left without its memory and personality,
which is really its soul, and it could also self-destruct. It could happen at
the same time that your organic body collapses due to the natural deterioration
of old age. But let's not talk about that now! She has a long life ahead of her
to decide.
Fy sat right next to Bug and he just looked at
her out of the corner of his eye. Suddenly she tried to take his hand saying:
–Forgive me...I promise
you that I will get them back...
He pushed her hand away and said coldly:
–Is that why you
came to embrace me, Hugo? So I can't escape her?
Then my cheerful uncle Hugo forced them
together, pushing them against each other, Bug remained unchanged and Fy looked
very sad. Finally, Bug said:
–Why did you take
my daughters? You don't know if they look like me, maybe they are three girls
with lizard faces. You continued to treat me badly even when you found out who
Dad really was.
–I just didn't know
if you were going to start loving me and trusting me if I mistreated you
throughout your short life! Then I just continued... Besides, you don't know, I
didn't just want to steal your daughters... I would have been so happy raising
them away from the Moon...
–But they are mine!
They're going to look like me, and you never loved me!
Fy then confessed:
–Yes, I loved you,
you were cute. You laughed at everything, everything you did and said was
funny, the others seemed to have so much fun taking care of you... Alveena and
I were never able to hug you and play with you because we believed it was
betraying our father. We missed that, but we could still handle your daughters…
–Why didn't you
just hug me? Am I not funny now that I'm old?
Then Fy burst into tears and hugged him. Bug
tried to continue acting rude, but deep down he was moved by everything and he
hugged his sister back, all angry although squeezing her tightly. I left them
all alone for a while, I can't demand that Bug not forgive and love his sister.
I just feel that it won't be so easy for me to forgive Fy for this bad
decision, not until I have my embryos back. I went into my room to give them
time to talk and get ready for dinner tonight. I have never spoken to Uncle Adamas.
We'll see how everything goes.
Thursday October 21, 3030
I would rather not have woken up. Last night
we had dinner with Adamas Rex Lunae, sovereign ruler of the moon, the earth and
everything else... He is a tyrant, a sociopath and a genocidaire. We had dinner
in a room in my house where I had not even entered before, a large room with
mirrored walls, like that of a palace. Once again, we had to dress formally,
mom explained to me that in front of Adamas we had to use the real names of all
my uncles. While we were getting dressed with Bug and he was tying his tie, I
told him that I already knew the names of all my uncles except two, Dad's and
Uncle Hugo's. He pulled me towards him to hug me and said:
–Victor Hugo is
actually called Adam and Descartes is called Alloy. You should know now,
because today everyone will be speaking to each other by their real names
anyway. What do you want to ask me? I would do whatever for you.
I caressed his face and got a little lost in
his eyes, unique and mine alone. God, how beautiful he is, how did I not notice
it before? So, I answered him:
–I'm afraid that
they will try to separate us. Swear to me that you will never abandon me, that
you will follow me wherever I go. That we are going to be a family.
He gave me a "yes" mixed with
kisses, Mom accidentally entered, closed the door immediately and from outside
told us that we should go to the table now. Uncle Dreiser, Dumas, Aunt Sherl,
Fy and Mom were waiting for us there. I asked where dad was, mom again told me
he was busy and couldn't come. I noticed that Dumas was looking at me
attentively, as if to say: "But I did come." I went and hugged him.
You can accuse him of many faults, but not of being a bad father. Aunt Sherl
looked at us all and asked with a mocking smile:
–What's happening?
Didn't anyone wear the beautiful traditional Moon costume?
Mom responded, tasting the wine:
–I wasn't in the
mood to characterize myself as an extraterrestrial demon. Anyway, this house is
part of the Earth embassy complex on the Moon. It is "he" who, out of
respect, should come dressed according to our finery.
Then Uncle Dreiser asked her timidly:
– Did you always
get on badly, Ziggy? What was Uncle Adamas like when he was young?
–He was in love
with your mother, with me... No girl was interested in him. He was so...
repulsive. He seemed good, studious, polite and even sweet on the outside, but
you sensed something repulsive hidden in him. He abused Violet's mother
extremely, then threw her away like garbage. The girl was never able to recover
psychologically, he tortured her in such cruel ways... He just likes to hurt,
he is sadistic. There is nothing I hate more than a person who finds pleasure
in causing the suffering of others. Your dad tried to get along with him, but
deep down he couldn't stand him either! However, he made an effort for you to
learn to be united siblings. That's why Hugo has been so tolerant, he believes
that the family can't really hurt each other.
–You are very
wrong.
Uncle Dreiser murmured languidly, lowering his
gaze. Suddenly a bell rang and everyone got up from their seats, I imitated
them even though they didn't ask me to. Then Adamas entered, escorted by Jean
Gabin, Uncle Hugo, Alveena and four men in black. Princess Alveena Huxley, or
rather my aunt Amanda Lunae, whom I had only seen in photos, is as imposing in
person as she appears in chronicles of official events. Maybe she's the only
one of all of us other than the old man who does look like royalty. I think it's
normal, you can't be very elegant and special when you're an aristocrat in a
dying dystopian world, but she knows how to keep traditions. She looked at Bug
and me, like she was trying to say something, I couldn't figure out what.
Everyone sat down except the men in black and Adamas raised a glass exclaiming:
–My first toasts of
the night: first to the presence of Aureus Jr. I rarely see you! Look at you.
Your poor mother had such high hopes for her spoilt heir, and it turns out that
you can only shoot well in the mountains. Well, the countryside was in your blood.
On the other hand, we have the theologian, the spiritual man, and I
congratulate the modest Angello on his marriage to the charming Echo. It is
good to see that in this family there are still gentlemen who honour their
noble origins. Right, Adam?
He asked Uncle Hugo while I tried my best not
to get confused with the names. Dumas responded before Uncle Hugo, in a defiant
attitude:
–And you don't
congratulate me, uncle?
–Is there a reason
to do it? You have not had the decency to inform me of any news, I have only
heard rumors about the birth of a grandson of mine.
–Yes, I'm very
jealous of my family's privacy. But anyway, you can congratulate me because
yesterday we celebrated our one hundred and sixtieth anniversary with Violet. I
think it's an historical record, and you said we'd get bored of marriage in a
few months! I think we are going to die of old age together, of course, that
will be a long way off. The average for those of us who have Selenite blood is
five hundred years old, right? About your age. Your time is coming!
Adamas snorted, then said reluctantly:
–Yes, more or less.
Ziggy and I are the last of our generation alive. But maybe I'll live longer! I
avoid space-time travel as much as possible, since these changes in continuity
shorten life. I am willing to do anything to extend my existence in this world
indefinitely.
As he said this, he looked at me and I got
chills. A domestic robot began to serve dinner and Uncle Hugo took advantage of
the moment to address the topic we were meeting about:
–If Ariel doesn't
tell you, I'll tell you, uncle: you have a beautiful grandson who will be one
year old in a few months. And as you already know, she will soon have cousins…
The daughters of Aureus and…. Psyche. They are here... because there was a confusion
and they want their daughters back.
–So, they are
Psyche's.
The old man replied and spoke indifferently:
–I have decided
that I myself will make sure that they are born without problems.
Uncle Hugo objected:
–You don't need to
bother, uncle. Psyche wants to have her daughters on her own. It is her right;
she is the mother.
–But I am the king.
Adámas answered and immediately everyone's
countenance changed. The old man continued saying:
–I have given them
to three different surrogate mothers in three different places on planet Earth
and history. Only I know where they are! And if you kill me, you will never see
them again. Don't think that I don't have suspicions, the terrorists who attack
the castle and have attempted on my life have links with your anarchist group,
Ariel, if the investigations weren't so rigged...
At that moment he turned to look at Jean Gabin
and then continued speaking:
–…I'm sure I would
discover that you are behind everything. You've always hated me, ever since you
were a child and your mother's bohemian friends kicked you out of your father's
house. Since then, you turned against our family and have poisoned your siblings.
Even my own daughter.
Uncle Hugo went ahead of everyone to answer:
–Uncle! We are
Family. We will never hurt each other, we may fail many times, but in the end
we will always respect and love each other. Please return the embryos to their
mother, I promise that I will ensure your safety.
–No.
The old man sentenced, then announced
something worse:
–I have already
engaged them in marriage. This time I already have the experience that if I
wait too long they will become rebellious and will not accept the men I chose
for them. I have friends who have no problem with women's youth, I am going to
give them to them as soon as they are born. Maybe it already happened, who
knows. When time is manipulated, possibility is enough...
At that point everyone stood up astonished,
the men in black were going to react by protecting Uncle Adamas but Jean Gabin
signaled for them to back off and looked at the damned Adamas, giving him to
understand that he was alone. The old man continued speaking, feigning defeat
to justify his evil with victimhood:
–If you kill me
now, they will never be seen again. They will be lost forever. But if they show
me that this family really is supportive, I might reconsider my decision. I
could allow the girls to be raised in the moon palace under the tutelage of
Amanda and Arya. Maybe even something else.
Then Dumas asked him, no longer hiding his
hostility:
–Do you think we
wouldn't torture you to get the information out of you?! You're done, we've all
decided. You will die! Your few sympathizers can wage war on us for as many
years as they want, but you will already be dead. It doesn't matter.
–I'll kill myself
before you lay a finger on me!
Adámas threatened, taking out a dagger and
putting it on his neck, then he added:
–And it is already
assured, the girls will be born, they will be given in each era to a different
man! Only I could avoid it, only I know where they are! Could you continue
living with the knowledge of the fate of those unfortunate children? I have
asked them not to kill them, to do everything possible to ensure that they
survive, with their insides torn but conscious for as long as possible. If
possible until adulthood like this, suffering without rest, every day of his
miserable existence. How are you going to sleep at night knowing this?
At that point I couldn't take it anymore and
begged him:
–Please no! I will
do what you ask me, I will help you with anything, but give me back my
daughters! Give me back my girls!
The old man looked at me with a stupid, smug
smile. He stood up, turned his back on me and answered, looking at me over his
shoulder:
–I don't know. Come
see me tomorrow. Alone. Maybe I'll change my mind.
Dumas wanted to go after him, but Uncle Hugo
stopped him saying:
–Please... It can't
be... We are a family; we must talk to him. Tomorrow we will see what he
resolves with Psyche.
–It won't solve
anything, except abuse her and kill her too.
Dumas objected furiously, then Alveena
intervened saying:
–Fy and I will be
there, whether he likes it or not. We are going to defend her even if it is
with our lives, dialogue is no longer possible, Hugo. But we can't let the
girls get lost either. Now I'm leaving, if I have to cry and humiliate myself
all night so that he softens a little I will do it. I have nothing to lose
anymore.
Before leaving she looked at Bug, again unable
to speak a word, then she ran after the old man and Fy followed her. Mom
murmured, rubbing her face:
–Who knows what
horrors await those two girls tonight… Damn Adamas… I knew he would do
something like that…
Bug immediately returned to the town with his
siblings, they want to gather people to storm the palace and take the uncle
prisoner. I stayed with mom, at first, I wanted to cry but she asked me to hold
back. She says I must practice for tomorrow, if he sees me sad or scared it
will be worse. I write now with the feeling that these will be my last
memories. I was happy for such a short time.
Case XV: Alveena
Friday October 22, 3030
I know the end is near. That soon I will stop
writing in this diary. I couldn't sleep last night, and neither could my
mother. We call Uncle Hugo and ask him to take us to the Moon Palace. We don't
even wait for Dad, I don't care anymore, I'm desperate for my daughters, I
imagine that maybe they were already born and died in some forgotten point in
the past, that they suffered all their lives. The fear makes me sick. I took
them out for the first time outside my childhood home. Before that, we had to
travel for half an hour in a lift that took us several thousand kilometers to
the surface; where the gravity is completely different, I felt as if I were
walking under water, my hair and the fabric of the dress my mother had lent me
floating around me. Outside, it was an eternal night, the city of metal and
glass slowly dying under a translucent dome lit by the corpse of the planet
Earth, a dark grey orb emitting a faint glow. The citizens greeted us with a
certain respect, they are living ghosts, beings like grandfather, sinister and
with a perverse look; they are few and they crawl through the streets as if
prowling. The palace was in the middle of a glass garden, the artificial trees
filtering the air and fulfilling the same function as the real ones; but they
are cold and look sharp, dangerous. We arrived at the huge building with its
futuristic architecture, and when we knocked on the door it took a while before
Fy opened it. Her face was covered with a white veil. She invited us in. Uncle
Hugo tried to act normal, but Mom wasn't going to pretend any more. She
approached Fy and uncovered her face, she tried to cover herself, she had a
bruise on her eye. I stopped her before she could say anything and begged her:
–Don't start
arguing now! I want my daughters back, after that...
Then Fy told us:
–He promised to
return the girls if you give him your head, Psyche. He wants his consciousness
to be perpetuated in your artificial brain. Don't talk to him, it's useless. He
will give you false hope, he will play with your feelings, but in the end he
will ask for the same thing. He has made this a fatal decision: the girls or
Psyche.
–Then it will be
me.
I sentenced, but Fy murmured:
–But this way you
will save three lives at the cost of millions of deaths...
Then she ran away. Then Alveena appeared,
still in her nightgown, she approached us alarmed and Uncle Hugo asked her:
–Where are the
service robots? Why do you answer the door?
Alveena thought for a moment before
confessing:
–Since everything
is coming to light, I'll tell you... He only activates them at the times when
he knows you will come to visit us. We are his servants.
–How is it
possible? Why do you tolerate that?
Uncle Hugo asked her. She hesitated again
before saying:
– Promise me you
won't do anything drastic. He has a system connected to his brain-computer
interface, ready to destroy the city on the moon whenever he wants. A simple
thought would be enough and it would be the end of the world. Life, already
extinguished on Earth, would be extinguished here on the Moon too. This year
would be the last for the human race as there would be no habitable space left.
He told us this from the first day Fy and I agreed to come live with him to
keep him company, when he led us to believe that his evil did not go beyond a
slight rivalry with our father. He's been blackmailing us ever since, we
couldn't run away, we couldn't tell anyone. I have no tears left to shed, I
have suffered so much that I have become numb to myself. That's what he said,
that I would become a decorative doll in his palace, so that my kind wouldn't
complain about not having a worthy representative at court. He always puts us
in sadistic dilemmas, making us decide which of the two sisters should be
punished. I always choose to save Fy, and Fy then heals my wounds. It's been
like this for so long... I can hardly remember what it was like before. My
childhood with Mom, Dad and you seems like a dream. I no longer know if it
really happened or if I dreamed it because I wanted something to be better...
Because I'm sure that something will change, something will happen, a
miracle...
Then she rubbed his eyes with the sleeve of
his robe and smiled, saying:
–Go away, we'll
make time with Fy. Maybe we can trick him, make a copy of Psyche's brain...
Then we were startled by the echo of a
"No" from Adamas, who, standing at the top of a staircase in his real
appearance, that of a horrible deformed old man with a diabolical appearance,
began to speak to us:
–I won't give you
time for that. I have things to do. By Monday I hope everything will be
resolved. You're not getting away, Amanda. Be realistic. Set an example for
your niece Psyche, who spent so many years living in a fantasy fairy tale
dream... When the reality is this! There are no happy endings, but there are
worthy endings. If Psyche does what I ask, I will free you and Fy, you will
finally be able to return with your siblings to raise the little triplets and
be happy.
–How will I be
happy knowing the end of Psyche? The end of all humanity...?
Alveena asked without looking at his face or
raising her voice too much, he responded:
– You don't know
what I'm going to ask her. Or do you, Amanda?
– Since the
beginning of time, women hidden behind the walls of powerful families have been
punished, humiliated and marginalised for asking for human treatment. Not
superior or special, just human treatment... What an irony that science has
advanced to the point where artificial intelligences can think at the same
level as arrogant men, but they are relegated to being interactive objects, as
women still are. And Psyche, who is both a woman and an AI, what could she get
from you if not a punishment for dreaming of being human? We have reached the
end of history and nothing has changed, humanity has not learned to be
compassionate. But that does not change the reality: women are not only useful
for giving birth, nor as decorations or trophies. If we have consciousness,
then we are your equals, even if the idea bothers you...
–Oh, shut up,
Amanda!
The old Adamas interrupted her and exclaimed:
–She says she is
equal to a man! But it's a stupid beast moved by maternal instinct. Just like
Psyche, or you, Ziggy! Emotional, unable to control themselves, weak,
irrational, crazy, stupid, imbeciles. Maybe you, Adam, identify with them
because you are a homosexual. What is a homosexual? A superior man who no
longer gets dirty interacting with women or a failed man who feels like a
woman? I never understood it. You are stupid, Adam, or rather "my lawyer
Victor Hugo". You never asked many questions about your sister Sherl's
request to use women to produce biomachines. She told you that it would be a
great source of employment for poor girls of the past, that we would provide
them with housing, food, a pension for life, and you just agreed. Descartes
protested a little! But you don't. You didn't suspect anything, you were so
confident that you didn't go to verify if there was no danger between the legal
loopholes, but I was attentive to the opportunity!
Uncle Hugo turned pale; he knew that something
horrible would be revealed to him. The old man spoke as if spitting the words:
–Since this old and
sick body could no longer outrage your sister Amanda, the beautiful princess
who appeared in the newspapers and gave speeches of peace and hope to the
defenders of humanity of the past, it occurred to me that biomachines could do
the job and give me a good show. You have signed the permits for the owners of
the biomachines to come here, and your sister is tied up like a breeding dog,
so...
–No!
Uncle Hugo shouted, running towards him full
of anger, Alveena and Fy stopped him, while the old man continued talking:
–She has produced
98% of the biomachines on the Moon while you, Descartes and everyone ignored
it. Best quality for my friends! The biomachines that arrived in the alternate
dimension of 2020 were your nephews. Hunted, dismembered, and sold as spare
parts by their own uncles. And you watched them fight among themselves, and you
bet, and they died... And they were your children, Amanda! I didn't let her
keep even one. Silly her, wanted to be a mother! Even if it was to one of those
monsters. That's why she was happy when they told her that she could take care
of Psyche's daughters. Only a woman could be so stupid.
Everyone was crying, but I somehow managed to
remain impassive. I once again let my artificial brain prevail over the human
one and answered calmly:
–Love for children
is not the same maternal instinct, Adamas. It is not something exclusive to
women, that desire to protect the weakest is compassion. A virtue. You don't
know it because it only exists in strong and intelligent beings capable of
providing care to others for the simple pleasure of doing so, and you cannot
speak on behalf of the male majority either because your own idea of what it is
to "be a man" excludes you from that group. Your brother had sixteen
children, eight of them boys, your nephew begot three babies in one night!
While you only fathered one daughter in your entire life. A daughter who by the
way is nothing like you. You are far from fitting your own strong male idea. Is
that why you are resentful? I couldn't enjoy ruining other people's lives, in
no way do I find reasons to at least try to make another human being suffer,
much less a younger and defenseless one. You would have had to feel inferior to
everyone, the greatest misfortune, to somehow justify what you have done and believe
that your brother's girls or all the innocent people who have died had some
privilege greater than yours and it was okay to take it out on them.
The damned old man ground his teeth. He looked
at me from head to toe, asking:
–Do you want to see
your babies again? You could be like the mothers who were victims of the Roman
circus, who died right after giving birth, more anguished by their newborns
than by their own lives. A scene that moved the masses to tears. Maybe you'll have
better luck...
Then he ordered the others:
–Go away. And take
Arya, Psyche will stay in her place. If she wants to see her beautiful triplets
again...
Alveena turned to look at mom and whispered:
–It's okay...He
never hurts Fy...I will protect Psyche, go away and take Fy far away. May she
never enter again.
Then Uncle Hugo asked her:
–And will Psyche be
able to leave?...
I responded with determination:
–I'm not going to
allow him to achieve immortality. But I want him to tell me how to get my
daughters back, the moment he does... I will murder him with my own hands. Mom,
come home and put some clean clothes in my backpack, which I left in my room.
Bring it to me. I don't know how long I'll be here.
Immediately after they left, Alveena took me
by the hand and we ran to the gardens, she whispered in my ear that it was
better not to get close to the old man if possible. He claims that every time
he sees her, he tries to harm her, so she spends her time hiding around the
palace with her sister, and now with me. We entered a labyrinth of bushes with
silver metal leaves until we finally squatted in a marble gazebo. There she
looked everywhere and smiled at me, trying to reassure me:
–I know it looks
bad, but in the end the sacrifice will be worth it! Things are going to change.
I don't want you to think about how bad the past and present look, focus on the
future. In the life that awaits you with your own family.
–I really don't
think I'll live to that.
I responded languidly. She kept trying to
cheer me up:
–We have to be
optimistic. We still have something going for him: he won't do disgusting
things to you because his perversion only goes against my sisters and me. And
you are with me, so I am not afraid; I always dreamed of the day when Fy would
finally be free, but I feared being alone. Loneliness terrifies me.
–Did you never
imagine being free too?
Alveena hugged a column and said, with a sad
smile and a lost look:
–It's good to be
optimistic, but you have to be realistic at the same time. He won't let me go
because I am the first daughter of his older brother, whom he always envied,
and of the first woman who rejected him. This is his revenge.
–How long have you
been with him?
–I was about to
turn twenty, I hadn't seen Bug since then. I remember him as a very small and
naughty child, his face was strange, I thought he wasn't daddy's son...But I
was wrong. If it hadn't been for this, I might not have agreed to come here,
but then I was angry with mom and wanted to leave home... At that time, I was
also in love with a boy. I thought we would see each other later, but that
never happened. Every year I imagined that he would come to save me, or that I
would meet another boy who would help me escape and I would have my happy
ending... But it was never like that. Princesses don't always have happy
endings in real life, it's something my uncle told me since I was a child. If
you are isolated from the world there will be no one who can come and help you,
that is why we were always in danger even when we were in our own home; By
keeping the family repressed, keeping secrets, following absurd traditions and
rules that keep us away from ordinary society... We only make ourselves
vulnerable to our own evil relatives. But let's not think about what is lost.
Tell me about Bug! He became very handsome as he grew up. How did you two fall
in love?
I sighed remembering him, how I would like to
be with him!:
–I wanted him to be
mine from the first time I saw him in a photo. What I loved most about him is
that he seems so daunting on the outside and when you get to know him well, he
surrounds you with his affection, makes you feel warm and protected.
– That's the way
our mother was. I missed her so much, every night... I saw her from time to
time on visits and I suffered because having her so close I couldn't ask her
for help. My uncle would have blown everything up right then and there. But
tell me, what about Amleth? She was always playing with Bug, they were four
little ones, they always had them in a playpen: Bug, Amleth, London and
Dreiser.
–I suppose you see
Uncle Dreiser and Amleth from afar at official events held here on the Moon. He
just married, as you heard, Echo, a Selenite. And Amleth is happy working as a
teacher. During the time I was in the town I saw her always busy preparing her
classes or with the rest of the family. London had a military career for a
time, currently she has a gun shop specializing in hunting equipment...
I didn't want to specify much more, now I know
that we were hunting Alveena's children. She continued asking me
enthusiastically, like a child:
–And Maxim and
Honore? Are they still engrossed in books?
–Not much, they
work with my father designing robots. They will make a biomachine factory where
women are no longer used in the reproduction process.
–It is wonderful! I
barely see them; we have never been able to talk about our lives. Alonso,
according to what I have been told, did become a writer. He, Dumas and July
come here from time to time to the big galas. The three of them are so artistic,
they always seem to be enjoying life.
–They have their
sorrows and their glories, like everyone. But they are fine, they have settled
in the same town where I had moved with Bug and fortune was beginning to smile
on them. Even Jean Gabin and Aunt Sherl joined them. I believe that they will build
a great city, if only they did not give in to corruption...
–You will see that
Fy and Hugo will also join them, then Descartes, they will bring order and it
will be a prosperous city with just rulers. Then a kingdom...
–And us, Alveena?
Then she shrugged her shoulders and exclaimed:
–Have faith! You
will be there. You're going to scold the triplets if they run away for a walk
with Violet's son, I can imagine! He will be another rebel like Dumas. But you
will have Bug to support you and give you strength. Did you have more plans?
–I wanted… I wanted
to be great in robot fights. But they weren't going to let me anyway, after
being a mother they no longer allow you to do anything other than take care of
your children. They say it's a matter of protocol...
–Bullshit! Of all
those in line to the throne, only Fy and I respect etiquette. The others dress
and behave as they please and no one tells them anything. When you leave here,
you must make your life as you like. You are not a fashion accessory or part of
the family's decoration. If no one stops you, then be free! I wish I wasn't
under threat and receiving so many hits, then I would go away, I would forget
my last name, my past, I would start all over again. Right from the start.
–But you really
can't do anything for now?
–For now, survive,
then... I don't know, really, there are so many possibilities and we shouldn't
get stuck in the worst ones. We can always improvise as we go and perhaps we
will be surprised by a pleasant unexpected outcome. At least I am sure that I will
be remembered fondly, this is how the politicians of the Moon have shown me,
like a smile from the 30th century to the past, proof and not false that there
is still humanity in this palace. Who knows!
She laughed again with a hint of sadness, she
looked at me and noticed my concern for her, so she told me as if to make her
situation less serious:
–Oh, don't think
everything is depressing here! I have had many affairs behind the old man's
back. All passengers, adventures, but that is love in this world of
appearances. Ephemeral and discreet. I also entertain myself by organizing
collections and charity events to help Homo sapiens. I don't seek fame like my
artist siblings, but I have also written. I give lectures in the city to raise
awareness among the Selenites about the rights of people of the past, I have
managed to convince several influential people that it is not acceptable to
have human slaves, nothing and no one should be abused. Everything should be
done in a balanced way, with love if not with care. I believe that sometimes
people don't do good simply because they have not been taught how to do it!
Maybe I'm just a dreamer, but hey, some dreams do come true.
–That is beautiful.
I also have some dreams that I would like to fulfill...
I commented to her, already a little infected
by her good humor. So, I gained confidence in her and began to tell her my
hopes for the future. Alveena, who I imagined would be the most unfriendly
sister, has been the most open and modest; a kind of female version of Bug, she
reminds me of him intensely, the only difference is that she has impeccable
manners and dresses like an aristocrat. I hugged her several times imagining it
was him and I almost felt like crying. In a short time, I felt like I had known
her all my life, becoming fond of her. We talked all day, we ate together
hidden in the kitchen; By nightfall I was happy, that's how it must feel to
have a real sister, but danger still lurked. We had to run like mice through
the hallways to her bedroom, we were afraid that the old man would notice us.
When we got there, we found Jean Gabin. He brought my backpack secretly. He
tried not to face us, I think he was crying, he should know... I had never seen
him be delicate, he took his sister by the hand to a balcony where he hugged
her and caressed her hair. I think that no one but her really knows him, that
perhaps we will never fully know how deep and pure the love between the two of
them is, because their relationship is different from those of the other
siblings; She loves him like a son and for this he respects her with unusual
devotion. In the end, she may never have a baby of her own, but no one can take
away the gift of motherhood. They're still talking there as I write. I am very
tired and somehow resigned to what is to come. If I have to give my life for my
daughters and for this family to have another chance to be happy, I will do it.
Yeah, the guy might become immortal later, but they'll have plenty of time to
try to control him afterward. Now, it doesn't matter, I give up and let Alveena
raise my daughters with Bug in the forest.
Case XVI: Descartes
Saturday October 23, 3030
This morning we were still awake on the
balcony of Alveena's bedroom, she and Jean Gabin hugging and I next to them,
all simply silent, looking at the dying city of the Moon as if waiting for the
inevitable, when suddenly violent explosions were heard, then screams, smoke
began to come out from some places. Another attack on the palace was happening.
Jean Gabin took out his gun and made us get behind him. He tried to get us out
through a network of secret passageways, but we found them blocked by fire. The
building was on fire. We ran through some corridors when we heard a kind of
inhuman roar come out of a ballroom, then they threw a bloody body from there,
it was a citizen of the Moon judging by his small build and black clothing.
Jean Gabin whistled, they whistled back, he approached the living room while
still holding his gun and we went after him. Inside there were several
Selenites kneeling in a row, three masked men were holding them hostage, one of
them was Bug. The strongest was undoubtedly Uncle Alonso, a third gave the
orders and apparently if they did not obey him, he decapitated them with a
Japanese saber; He was covered in blood. It was hard for me to recognize him,
but he had Dumas's hair and voice:
– I will continue
to kill one by one until you tell me where Adamas is hiding. The building is
under siege, he could not vanish into thin air, he has not evolved that far.
That is why he cannot continue to rule, he is inferior!
Nobody said anything, through the living room
windows it was possible to see a crowd destroying the gardens and throwing
stones at the glass. Dumas ordered Uncle Alonso:
–Put one lying on
top of the other, let's see if the blade is sharp enough to cut two bodies with
a single blow. They are worthless, they are not real human beings. They can't
govern us.
Then Alveena ran in and pleaded:
–No, please stop!
Enough! For the good of all!
Bug emptied the magazine of his pistol on the
hostages and responded:
–Be quiet! Where is
he?
She approached the wounded and opened their shirts
until she found one who had the family crest tattooed over his heart. He rubbed
his face to remove the mask and revealed the identity of old Adamas who had
disguised himself as one of his friends to try to escape. Uncle Alonso pushed
her away, lifting her with one hand, while Bug and Dumas punched and kicked
their uncle. Then Dumas dragged him by his hair to Alveena's feet and shouted:
–Come on! Blow up
the Moon! Unleash the end of the world!
Adamas remained panting, doing nothing. Then
Dumas took off his mask and spoke to him in a mocking tone:
–I knew it. There
is no mechanism for exploiting the Moon controlled by you. As you grew older
you became a coward, you don't want to die. It couldn't be that you were so
obsessed with immortality and at the same time willing to give your life. You
need to have ideals for that and you are empty.
The old man, bloody and on the floor, replied:
–Yes, I may not
dare to end my life here, but you will not see the embryos again either. I will
never tell you after this attack.
Then Dumas sighed and took out a razor, I
turned to look at Jean Gabin and he only raised his eyebrows with a shrug of
his shoulders, in a gesture of agreement. I had to intervene in defense of the
old man, I did not want to witness more horror:
–Please, one last
try! We can negotiate, Adamas does not have the courage to take his own life,
but if you do it for him, I will lose my daughters. Ask for anything, Adamas,
I'm willing!
Uncle Alonso took off his mask and told me
seriously:
–Psyche, sometimes
we must be strong and make great sacrifices. Three lives in exchange for
millions that will be saved if this bastard dies now. Think about it.
I looked at Bug, he didn't uncover his face. I
only ask:
–Is there any other
option?
Suddenly more shots and other explosions
sounded, Adamas smiled and said:
–Do you hear them?
They are my allies, nephews. Believe it or not, there are people in the past
who are interested in the future evolving like this, they want us to get to
this. Now the war has broken out, the armies of other times will come to demand
that power be returned to me. You should have listened to me, heard the cry of
history: man is afraid of change...
Then we heard footsteps, Bug and his brothers
pointed their guns at the door. The one who entered was my father Descartes
accompanied by another armed person with a mask, when he uncovered his face, I
could see that it was London. I didn't want to greet my father, instead I
looked for Dumas and hugged him. Dad looked at me with a slight smile, he
looked tired, haggard and with two days' worth of beard. Then he addressed
Adamas saying:
–We'll say it was
an accident, uncle, a big misunderstanding. Alveena will speak for you, since
you are very badly injured due to this unexpected fire. Soon Ray will come to
heal you and we will begin the process of crowning your daughter Violet who
will nobly take over from you. Do you understand? Because there is an army of
men in black and exiles brought from the alternate dimension of 2020 out there
demanding this, and we don't want any more Selenite citizens to die. We must do
everything... In order.
–You are taking me
prisoner.
The old man concluded and added:
–You will not be
able to contain the war, my sympathizers from the past will come sooner or
later, they will continue fighting until they free me. You will be outnumbered…
London responded by kicking him again:
–Wars are won by
weapons, not by soldiers. No matter how much cannon fodder they throw at us,
30th century technology will tear them all to pieces.
My father took her away from him, saying:
–Stop talking about
wars, we don't have time for that. Everything will continue in relative peace;
the flames must be put out and the people calmed down. Jean Gabin, Alveena,
please make the official statement. You three….
He stayed for a moment looking at his
anarchist brothers and then asked them:
–Please try to
contain your allies, enough is enough; Let them return to town, London will
stay with us guarding our uncle. Dumas, make sure they don't see you in those
clothes. It is unnecessary to make it so obvious that Violet's consort is
stained with blood. Hurry up!
Dumas and Uncle Alonso left in a hurry, Bug
stopped for a moment taking off his mask to ask me if I was okay; I said yes
and we kissed urgently, then he left leaving me breathless. Dad pretended not
to see us and I pretended I didn't realize he saw us. We remained very serious
until he ordered London:
–We have to take
the guy to the vault where the palace safe is kept. We'll keep him hidden there
until it's safe to show him in public.
Dad tried to pick up the old man, but London
beat him to it, carrying him on one of his shoulders and heading towards the
vault that must be in the basement. After passing all the security devices, we
arrived at the small room where the greatest treasures in history and the
darkest secrets of Adamas were kept. In that strange mess there were half-open
metal drawers with gold objects peeking out, severed human parts in
vinaigrette, and the smell of rotting meat. We looked at everything for a
moment, since we didn't know about the old man's fetishes, and then London
threw him to the floor where she punched him in the pit of the stomach, leaving
him unconscious. Then she looked at my father and mockingly apologized:
–Sorry! Now he's
going to sleep for a while until Ray comes.
We all sat on the floor and dad finally spoke
to me:
–I'm sorry I
couldn't see you sooner. I was working.
–The update, as
always.
I replied. He tried to explain to me:
–It was necessary.
Everything happens for a reason and that had to be ready on time.
London rolled his eyes, put the mask back on,
and leaned against the wall with his hands clasped behind his head, as if going
to sleep. I wanted to confront dad:
–In these days I
found out the whole truth. I wanted to ask you, why did you put me through
this? Why did you choose me for this? Why?
–Why would you do
it? Why would you make your daughter immortal?
–I don't know, I
want to understand you.
–I did it for the
same reason you would do it. We think alike, if you understand yourself, you
will understand me. That's why you are really my daughter, we are equal.
I stared at him blankly, then London
questioned him:
–No, seriously, why
did you hide these days? Everyone was asking about you, and Ziggy and Hugo only
told us "He's working on his update." I imagine you're going to tell
me something like it's super important for you to teach your daughter that she
has to do her homework on time no matter what, but what you really taught her
is that men lie! They love you for a while, then they get bored, find something
better and abandon you. It is because of parents like you that bars are full of
sad women looking for the piece of heart that was lost in their childhood or
adolescence, when dad disappeared from their lives.
–It was necessary.
You'll see, have I ever let you down before?
My father asked her and she was left trying to
remember, then he continued talking without looking directly at her:
–Your strategy to
assault the palace was impeccable, worthy of an experienced soldier. Dad never
encouraged you in your professional career because his philosophy was too
linked to instinct and he believed that women can only be happy through the
male and the offspring, but I am now a father and I know that my daughter will
not want to stay there. She will seek to leave the domestic environment and
stand out, like you, that is what I want. Because then she will be with me, at
the same intellectual level, not willing to settle for a world limited to the
bedroom and the kitchen, but rather to explore together a universe of infinite
discoveries to be made. I wish dad had understood that, he missed seeing in
action a brilliant strategist who will go down in history as a heroine.
London took off her mask and answered very
seriously:
–No, wait... Don't
talk about me like that. You don't know, I did unforgivable things...
–If I don't know,
then don't tell me. I'm not interested in knowing more about what I saw tonight
and letting you know that I admire you. On behalf of both of our parents, thank
you.
London swallowed dryly, patted my father on
the shoulder and nothing more was said; however, I think that moment was
transcendental. Suddenly Adamas started to move, dad got up and asked London to
leave me alone with him, to see if he would soften and tell me where my
daughters were. Once I was alone with the old man, he spoke to me from where he
was lying on the floor:
–Do you still trust
your father René Descartes? Or whatever you call him: Alloy Lunae, Silver, SL30
or many other aliases... How can you trust that everything will turn out well?
They will kill them all in horrible ways. I know an old Homo sapiens politician,
a great dictator of the past, he has always told me that he especially detests
your beloved Bug. You can't imagine what he wants to do to him.
–You want to live
forever; I can help you with that. You are close to dying of old age, that
beating will accelerate the moment...
–No, I will live, I
will live what is necessary with the necessary motivation. As long as it takes
to scan my brain and load the data into yours. Do you want to see your girls?
Do you want me to give them to your family? You surely miss the countryside, the
mountains, I grew up in places similar to the one where you lived your idyll.
Even in this palace you don't sleep as well as in a cozy cabin warmed by the
crackling fire of a bonfire. Surely you want your little ones to play there,
among the flowers, for their dad to take care of them. I wouldn't bother to
stop it, I don't care if they are happy there, I can return them to you if you
give me your artificial brain.
I didn't answer him, I was confused and
distressed. He continued speaking:
–I was planning on
giving them back to you! I have gathered all the surrogate mothers in one
house, the girls will be born there. I promise you that I will let you go and
bring them with one condition: that you sign a document agreeing to donate your
brain to me when you die... And that before you go you drink a deadly poison
that will give you two days to live. Enough for you to go leave your daughters
with their father, be together for a while and then...
His words startled me. I shrank where I was
sitting and he entered some codes on a control panel that was behind us, with
which he opened some drawers and searched them until he found some papers. Then
he took out a pen from there and offered me everything saying:
–Your father made
the process easier for us by leaving us alone, sign and we will leave it stored
right here. No one will know, it will be our secret. You are going to save your
babies; you are going to return to the mountains with your loved ones.
I had the impulse to sign, but then I
hesitated, Adamas insisted:
–Don't pay
attention to your father and his siblings! Nothing will happen if I live
indefinitely. It's destiny, it's always been like that. They can't change it.
The universe won't suddenly explode when I reach my goal, your lives will go on
as always, your daughters will grow up in the alternate reality of 2020, start
their own families, die at in old age and still nothing will happen. Do you
want them to die lost in oblivion, defiled like slaves?!
At that point desperation overcame me and I
accepted. I had never signed anything, so I just wrote my name. Old Adamas put
the document back in a drawer, closed it carefully, and began to laugh
mockingly. Staring at me. He approached me slowly trying to grab my neck and I
pushed him, throwing him against the floor. He laughed some more and murmured:
–Patience,
patience... I'll take you to your girls, you'll see. I won't deceive you. Are
you afraid that I will take you to them only to find them dead?
–I will kill you
myself if you betray me like that. I won't drink any poison until I see the
three safes!
–You ask too much
of me... But I will accept it if you first earn my respect. Let's do something
so that your family doesn't suspect our agreement: rumors say that you are
Francine, your uncles' fighting robot. It's true?
–Yes… It wouldn't
cost me anything to kill you. I have butchered larger creatures.
–Ah! Oh really? And
could you defeat the machine your father was working on? The most sophisticated
in the whole world? The one that just received the famous update that,
according to rumors, makes it invincible?
–That's too much
for me...
–What a
disappointment... Now I won't do anything if you don't fight her first.
–That was not our
deal…
–It is because it
will serve as an alibi for us, or are you going to betray me by alerting the
others so that I return the girls to you and then not give me what I asked for
in return? The fight and the poison, or nothing. You won't have your daughters.
I am a man of my word, and you? Are you corrupt, cheating and lying like the
others?
"No," I whispered because now that
I'm going to be a mother I want to lead by example, not be like those adults
who ask you to be one way when they are another. Just then Dad, Uncle Ray and
London came in. Old Adamas stood up and announced:
–Nephews, I am
impressed by the persuasive talent that young Psyche has. We have reached an
agreement and this will make the population convinced that I will peacefully
cede the throne to my daughter and I will even celebrate it with a special
event in which Psyche will earn my respect and my permission to recover her
embryos. We will organize a fighting meeting for early tomorrow, so that
everyone will soon forget the fire. Her against her father's masterpiece. If
she wins, she will return home with her babies, Violet will remain reigning
here... And I will retire to rest, leaving behind me a pleasant memory and joy.
Don't you think it's best for the family?
Uncle Ray started to heal him and he turned to
see his siblings, London and Dad looked at each other, then Dad asked me if I
agreed. I said that's how it was. So, we left, leaving Uncle Ray to heal the
old man. Already outside, I saw that the domestic robots were repairing the
building. Dad and London told me that Adamas surely hopes that I don't survive
the match, but the fight would be fixed. I would always emerge victorious. Then
I stopped and asked them please not to cheat, to stop the match if they think
my life is in danger and to declare the rival the winner; but I want to show
old Adamas that I am different from the rest of the family and I no longer feel
bad about that, now I think that it is my pride. Dad agreed, I don't know if he
really wanted to. He sent me to change my clothes and rest a little before
meeting him later to explain how my rival works and what the effective upgrade
he made to it consists of. Apparently, he intends to give me an advantage by
revealing so much information to me, he wants me to win, what he doesn't know
is that if I win or lose, I will die from the poison... But it doesn't hurt me
to give my life for my daughters if with that I can live one last day with Bug
in the mountain, picking dandelions and laughing together.