Technocracy: AETHER, Part 9

They rose higher, higher, higher still into the sky,

And the whole entire world was now spread out below

Their feet, and then Terry to the right glanced, and cried, “Look!”

And they looked, and then they saw a huge expanse of GREEN,

Green of trees that spread about below them in all ways.

“The trees,” Terry whispered. “The forest?” “No, look!” Marin

Said. “Look over there. Look, there’s a city over there!”

Sure enough, the sky was bright with gleaming city lights.

They all turned. “There’s the Metro Tower!” Terry cried out.

“That is the Arcanyx Building,” Saera said in turn,

As they gazed off at the distant buildings of downtown.

“We’re still in Atlanta!” Ardo cried. “We haven’t left.

They didn’t take us somewhere way far away from here,

They just took us underground.” “And, in fact,” Saera said,

“I believe that I can see my own street, not far off.”

“O-Oh, yeah,” said Marin, softly, for she now could feel

Feelings that were causing sadness to well up again

In her chest and in her throat. But she said, “Yeah, that is

Definitely your street, Saera. That’s where your house is.”

“All right,” Saera said, “then I believe I’ll take us there.”

“Fine by me,” said Terry, so they all flew down and out,

Descending and moving forward, until they, at last,

Touched down in the middle of the empty, quiet street,

Just in front of the house, pretty, neat, and modest-sized,

The house where Saera and her mother both made their home.

Saera glanced across the lawn at it, and she could feel

Tightness, tenderness, a longing, bubble up within

Her chest. And amid the quiet stillness of the night,

A stillness that seemed to be unbroken by the noise

Of cars or of insects, Saera softly asked, “Now what?”

“Yeah, what the FUCK do we do now?!” Ardo shouted next.

Marin gulped. A heavy sob erupted from her throat,

And hot tears fresh-streamed out of her sapphire blue eyes.

“It’s all over!” she said, sobbing. “Everything is done!

We’re finished! Everything’s over! Everything is FUCKED!”

“Marin—” Saera said. “DON’T TOUCH ME!” Marin screamed at her,

Jerking back as though Saera’s pale hand was burning hot.

“Everything about our lives—all of it was a lie!”

Marin cried, sobbed heavily, bent double by her sobs.

“Everything about my life, my whole life was a lie!”

Marin sank onto the bare cold street, and there she bawled,

Shoulders wracked with sobs, tears streaming down her pretty face.

“My own MOTHER lied to me every day of my life!”

She sank and she bent over and cried, and cried, and cried.

A hand touched her gently, but this time she did not flinch.

Turning up her tear-soaked face, she saw that it was not

Saera; instead Ardo now was kneeling next to her.

“What do YOU want?!” Angry, tear-soaked words came from her lips.

“Are you gonna tell me not to be a drama queen?

Are you going to—” then Ardo reached with both his arms

And hugged her as tightly as he possibly could have.

“Shh,” said Ardo, whispering, as he held Marin tight.

And Marin against Ardo’s shoulder heavily cried.

“It’s gonna be okay,” Ardo whispered in her ear.

“I’m sad too, Marin. But I swear, it will be okay.”

And Marin could feel Ardo’s own tears wet her neck’s nape.

And amid her utter devastation, she reached out

And she wrapped her arms around him, in a tight embrace.

So Marin cried just a little more, but now her sobs

Were not so heavy, and gradually got lighter still.

Saera knelt beside the two of them, and now her hand

Once again reached out to Marin, and Marin this time

Did not flinch away from her, and allowed her best friend

To touch her upon the shoulder gently. Saera said,

“Marin, not all of it was a lie. You and I were

Not—ARE not.” Marin pulled away from Ardo, and turned

To Saera, who smiled at her, though her silver eyes

Leaked with tears, yet Saera’s face held gentle, quiet joy.

“Because the Technocracy controlled the two of us,

We both know that neither of us was used as a tool

To advance or manipulate us; instead we BOTH

Were manipulated, by the others around us.”

Saera smiled brighter, and her eyes sparkled with tears.

“That means that we REALLY have been best friends all our lives.

It was not a lie, not a trick someone tried to pull.”

Marin sobbed again, but there was joy in it this time,

And she pulled from Ardo and she into Saera surged,

And squeezed her so tightly Saera felt her lungs would burst.

“Thank you so much,” Marin whispered in her best friend’s ear.

“Thank you Saera. I love you.” “I love you too, Marin.”

And the two of them embraced each other very tight.

“Marin,” came the voice, as firm and solid as hard stone,

And the three of them looked up, where they saw Terry stand

Just over them. He did not cry, though his copper eyes

Wavered a bit, and did their familiar shift to bronze.

“Marin, I KNOW you can do this,” Terry said to her.

“I know you can get through this. I know you’re strong enough.”

And he stretched his hand down to her, down to where she knelt.

“Now, get up,” said Terry. “Get up and move forward now.”

Marin sniffed, and finally her tears were at an end,

And she nodded, and her blue eyes suddenly were fierce,

And she took his hand, and let him help her to her feet,

As Ardo and Saera both rose to their feet as well.

“But, now,” Marin said, as she her face wiped free of tears,

“I have the same question as they did: what do we do?”

“We leave,” Terry said, and he gazed at the other three,

And they gazed at him expectantly, and he realized

That they were expecting him to tell them what to do.

It made him, for just a moment, feel very afraid.

But he nodded, and he brushed his metallic brown hair

Off his forehead some, and he said, once again, “We leave.

The Technocracy controls all of Atlanta, right?

So we leave Atlanta.” “But to where, then, shall we go?”

Saera asked. “Arius was not lying, probably,

When he said that the rest of the world, the world out there…

The world outside Atlanta, is nothing like we know.

We have probably been lied to about history

And geography for all the years we’ve gone to school.”

“We don’t need to have a specific destination

In mind,” Terry said. “Saera, you can still fly us, right?

How we escaped the Technocracy, how we got out,

With you flying us out… you can do that again, right?”

“I believe so,” Saera said. “I feel that I am strong

Enough to allow us all to fly upon the winds.”

“Then we just start flying,” Terry said. “Start flying north.”

Then he turned his head up, and his brown eyes searched the sky.

“There,” he said, and pointed upwards, and away from them.

“See that star up there, the one that’s shining pretty bright?

The one that’s a little gold in color, that one there?”

“I see it,” said Marin. “It’s a little orange, really.”

“That is Gamma Cephei,” Terry said. “That’s the North Star.

If we aim ourselves right at that star, and then we fly,

If we keep flying, then we will be headed due north.

And if we fly… and we fly… and we keep flying more,

Eventually we will leave Atlanta far behind.

I have no idea what we’ll find out there,” he told them.

“I don’t know what the real world, out there, is like at all.

And I know that it could be frightening, dangerous,

We could be hurt, we could be killed out there… but,” he said,

“I’d rather face any danger, and face any fear,

Than stay here and be the pawns of the Technocracy.”

Terry glanced at them now, and they all three glanced at him.

“What I said down there,” said Terry to them, “that was true.

When I said that I would rather face the cold, cruel world

Than stay here, a prisoner, even if I’m kept safe,

When I said that, I MEANT it,” he said. “It’s true for me.

Did you all mean it as well? Is it true for you, too?”

“Yes,” said Saera, nodding. “It is fully true for me.

I shall face the unknown rather than be captive here.”

“It’s true for me, too,” said Ardo. “I sure as fuck won’t

Stay here any more. I’m not afraid of what’s out there!

Besides,” and as Ardo said this he his fingers snapped,

And the spark between them conjured flames into his hand.

“Besides,” he said, “we have all our powers, remember?

We won’t be out there helpless, without any defense.

I bet between all four of us, we can totally

Handle anything out there. So I agree. Let’s go.”

Then the three of them to Marin turned, who stood a while

In silence, her sapphire blue eyes churning with thought.

Finally she said, “I admit… I’m really afraid.

It’s tempting, even though I hate that it’s all a lie…

It’s tempting to stay, where I know that I can be safe.

Where I can be… you know, rich, and popular, beloved.

But,” and Marin’s blue eyes now grew hard and firm and stern,

“But I won’t live a lie any more. I’m sick of it.

Now that I know that it’s all a lie, I don’t want it.

Even if it’s dangerous, out there, out in the world,

I’d rather be out there, because things out there are true.

So yeah, I’m in.” Marin nodded. “I agree. Let’s go.”

“All right,” Terry said. “Let’s go then.” “You mean, go right now?”

Marin asked. “Actually, no,” said Terry, as a thought

Popped into his head. “I mean, we’re all still naked, right?”

“Eep!” said Marin, who instinctively covered herself.

“I’ve already seen everything, fatass,” Ardo said.

“Well, you TOO,” said Marin. “Yours is bigger than I thought.”

“What? What’s THAT supposed to mean?” Ardo barked loud at her.

Marin, having her bravado recovered in full,

Said, “Well I figured because you always were so mad,

So angry, that you were compensating for something.”

“You—” Ardo began. “Not now!” Terry shouted at them.

And Ardo and Marin knew that now was not the time

For their usual banter, so both of them ceased to talk.

“So, I’m thinking,” Terry said. “Down there, when we escaped,

We caused huge amounts of damage. We did quite a lot

Of damage to the Technocracy’s base, and so they

Probably will need some time to regroup, reassess,

Get their heads on straight. I mean, just look around us now.

They haven’t come after us yet, and I bet they won’t

Be able to, for a few more hours, because of

All the damage we did. And so that buys us some time.”

“Time to what?” asked Ardo. “Time to go and get some clothes.

Get some clothes, and also pack some things into a bag,

ONLY one bag,” and here Terry stared at Marin hard,

“Only one bag each, that we can carry on our backs.

And, I figure,” and here his brown copper eyes were sad,

“And I figure, Saera and Ardo, you two, at least,

Will want to say goodbye to all of your families.”

Saera sighed, and now the corners of her eyes grew sharp,

And Ardo’s ruby red eyes were downcast, wavering.

“Saera,” Marin said, “you can get to my house from here,

Can’t you?” “Yes,” said Saera. “I believe I know the way.”

“I can tell you how to get to my house,” Ardo said.

“And I can tell you how to get to mine,” Terry said.

“But…” and now he turned and gazed away off of the street,

Towards the lovely neat house that they stood in front of now,

“But, we’re in front of your house right now, Saera, so you

Should go first. Go in, and dress, and pack… and say goodbye.”