ABANDON

Chapter 57 -- Free

"Jane." Josh's voice came from the speaker of the TR.

Evan looked up from the piles he was sorting.

"Oh please be there."

The sound was coming from Evan's left. He got up from his squat and walked between his sorted piles to the TR.

"Jane? Jane? Jane? You're not there, are you?" There was the loud sound of static, as though someone had breathed into a microphone. "Come on Jane, I really need you to be there."

Evan picked up the device.

"Come on, come on. Be there. Hello? Hello? Hello?"

"Hello." Evan parroted.

"Whoa! Who is that?"

"Who is that?" Evan repeated.

"Wait, are you a kid?"

Evan snickered.

"Uh, hello kiddo... Um, may I speak with Jane please?"

Jane clutched her brother. Her head resting on his shoulder. All around her were monsters, watching.

She hadn't even been able to say goodbye. She hadn't been able to thank him, there were so many reasons to thank him. He had always been there for her, even when they fought, he had always been there. She felt like she had lost something unique and precious, and she had. Both of them had worked to keep their relationship real. Neither of them was willing to let that go. They had studied together, run together, worked together, starved together, and laughed together. And because Jane could feel the monster listening, she let herself feel it all. This is what it is to be human, Jane thought.

We understand.

And Jane could feel that they did, feel that in the last few hours, they had learned more about themselves and their creators than they had in the two hundred years previous. And in the last few hours they had learned to associate the images they saw with words.

We understand the emptiness and drive of revenge, the bitterness and power of hate, and the precariousness and strength of belief. We understand mistakes, and shame, and regret. Do you hate us for these things and for what we have done? Do you hate us for what we are?

"No. I do not hate you." Jane said, "I know what you are. You are the tiger that hunts in the night. I feel the regret along with you, feel sorrow for your mistakes, yet I am happy for you, thrilled for you, because you are living. Do all you can, fail and keep trying. Learn from your mistakes, become better than you were before. You are free."

Starting out slow, then increasing in strength, the monsters clicked their hard fingertips against the floor. Jane put her head back on her brother's shoulder and listened to the sound, like a giant heartbeat. The rhythm matched Jane's own heart, could they hear it? Could they feel the sorrow that radiated out from it? Sorrow that covered the entire world. Yet inside that swirling black pain was a pillar of strength that came from within her. She could finally tell herself the truth, feel the truth, and she wouldn't drown. Black eyes and black claws surrounded her, their cadence beating out the rhythm of life, and Jane realized she was free.

Soon looked from the entrance to the rocket to Sama and back again. She could wait no longer. She darted out of the dune buggy.

"Soon!"Sama called, "What are you doing?"

"I can't sit there anymore."

Footfalls pounded the metal stairs outside. Someone was shouting Jane's name. Jane lifted her head from her brother's shoulder. The monsters that had surrounded her were gone.