DISCORDIA

[ 20 ] high time

     THE CHILL HIT HER IN FULL FORCE when she reached open air and her body shivered involuntarily. Looking around, she couldn't see any sign of Bellamy anywhere and took a few steps forward. She stopped and cocked her head to the side when there was a wisp of luminescence floating in the distance over the water. Frowning in confusion, she watched the ghost light quickly move away towards dry land on her left.

     "What..." she stared in growing bewilderment as it stopped at the edge of the tree line and pulsed, as if beckoning for her to follow. Somehow feeling inexplicably drawn to the spectre, she found herself quickly heading in its direction. She stumbled in her haste, chasing the light deeper through the woods. Everything started to blur in front of her like oily shadows of a dissonant song.

     "We are infinite." The soft voice of a young child whispered in the wind, and she could hear the pitter patter of feet running in the distance. Her body felt weightless, bouncing across the ground as if gravity and time had suddenly discontinued. All around her, she could see dark silhouettes twisting between slim tree trunks as if lying in wait. The child's laughter continued to echo through the encroaching darkness of night.

     Jinny stopped in her tracks as she watched the child fall over the edge of a cliff. "No!" she cried out even though it was already too late. Then a bright blaze erupted in the sky overhead, hundreds of falling stars shooting out from its core like burning debris. She had to hold a hand up to her eyes to block out its blinding intensity.

     "We are infinite." Jinny spun around just in time to see a figure step out from behind a tree trunk and her eyes widened in surprise. It was a woman with dark brown hair and bright hazel eyes. A jubilant grin spread across Jinny's face as she ran towards her. She reached out and enveloped the woman in a tight embrace, pressing her face into the clean cotton scent of her white blouse. It was the last memory she ever had of home and she choked out a dry sob before letting go to look up.

     "Mom, what are you doing here?" she asked. "Did I... die?"

     "No," her mother said with a soft smile. "You're not dead. I'm so proud of you, Jinny. You did it, you finished what I couldn't accomplish."

     "Only because they floated you," Jinny shook her head. "It took me years, even with the key you developed. The algorithms were so abstract, too many variables that couldn't be accounted for. There was so much garbage but oh, my God, you wouldn't believe what I found."

     "What did you find?"

     "Everything we ever hoped for and more," she cried breathlessly. Her veins were flooded with epinephrine, causing her hands to tremble with exhilaration. "Neural networks, heuristics- mimicking cognitive functions, ability to learn and solve problems. It's amazing, Mom, I wish you could see it all."

     "But I can't," she whispered, her tone suddenly turning to ice.

     Jinny stopped and stared at her, a chill shooting down her spine as the hairs on her body stood erect.

     "I can't because you killed me."

     "N-No, I-I didn't-"

     Something suddenly grabbed hold of her ankle and she stumbled away in fright, tripping backwards onto the ground. A hand clawed out of the dirt in front of her, digging through the dense earth to make way for the rest of its body. Jinny scrambled back to her feet just as a broken and scorched face emerged from the hole.

     "You killed us," her mother said. "It's your fault."

     "No, I never-" Jinny shook her head feverishly. She felt her eyes were pricked with emotion that she quickly swallowed back down.