Cantral The Entra

But has it fixed us?

"Come on," Ramet says, "we're going for a walk. Or a run. Or a climb. Something, anything."

Ramet waits by the open door for me, she stares at me until I step outside. The moon is bright and contrasts starkly against the black star-strewn sky. A different set of birds and bugs fill the air with their chirps and squeaks. A unique experience if I don't include the simulation rooms, and I don't. The simulation rooms taught me nothing about reality.

I follow Ramet. We amble along the stream, that declares the barrier to the forest. Trees stand in formation behind the boundary line, like soldiers waiting for battle. Shadow claims them, their presence fades to black. A hooting comes from within the fortress, drawing us in, we cross the babbling brook and slip between the trees.

Our boots trample over the spongy ground, built from decaying remnants of forgotten leaves. My hands brush against mossy trees and their soft fuzz tickles my skin. Trunks climb upwards, they must touch the sky, but their looming presence, now I'm beneath them, feels less threatening and more benevolent. They're not soldiers, they're trees, homes for animals, they breathe life into the world. There's a freshness here I've never experienced before.

There's Energy all around me. Under my feet, the roots of trees tangle through the ground, bugs tunnel through the soil. Above my head, leaves covert the sun's energy, birds fly in formation. How can Haroc believe this to be a waste? How can he believe the Universe doesn't want to be filled with all this life?

"I can be a better person," Ramet says, "I want to be, for you, for Fendan, for everyone. And for myself."

"Yeah?" My scepticism isn't because I've heard all this before, because I haven't. It's because Ramet has always been watertight with her beliefs and ideals. She's stubborn to the extreme.

"You don't need to say anything. I'll prove it to you." Ramet takes my hand, and we walk in silence barring the scattering of footsteps behind us. Ramet turns. "We have company," she whispers.

She yanks my hand and pulls me into a run. We sprint round trees and stop at a wide trunk. I'm laughing and Ramet is too. Why is laughing and fun with Ramet so easy?

"Climb," Ramet whispers.

My hands grip the nobbled bark of the tree's trunk and my feet notch into grooves. Ramet climbs too and we race each other to the first branch.

"I win," I say, as I pull myself onto the wide branch, that creaks under my weight.

The tree's complaints grow as Ramet joins me. "You win." She smiles.

I smile back. You win, such a simple statement but nothing is simple with Ramet. This time however, nothing follows the admission, like, "because I let you." Ramet's highly competitive nature is a constant annoyance, and I was never just her girlfriend; I was her competition too. Throughout our entire relationship she has worked tirelessly to one-up me at every opportunity. But is this simple admission proof of a willingness to change, or has keeping me turned into another type of competition?

"Why are we up a tree?" I say as I watch our stalker, a garbled view through a myriad of oval leaves. "It's just Zafira down there."

Zafira walks cautiously, her head darts from side to side, and I hear her whispered shouts, that call our names. I reposition myself, ready to jump from the tree but Ramet stalls me, her hand rests on my arm.

"Cantral." Ramet shuffles closer. "I want some time alone with you. Just a few minutes, then we'll find her."

"I did a lot of thinking about us when I was in that cell," I whisper, from my pocket I retrieve the letter I wrote Ramet and hand it to her.