Orpheus | Installment Eighteen – Becoming

“On the long way up from Hell, he listened hard
To the footsteps of Eurydice behind him
At first making sure (though forbidden to look back)
She was still there. […]
For Eurydice, he’d given the performance
Of his life, had almost given his all for her
Sweet eyes and ears, for the incomparable body
Of her womanly wisdom. She was his accomplice,
His accompaniment, his countervailing confluence,
Who could tell him, always, which was the finer nuance
And the right embellishment.”

– “The Return of Orpheus”, by David Wagoner, 1998

Becoming

“Those who wake… do not regret the dream.”
― Raphael Carter, The Fortunate Fall

Akira interlaced his massive fingers right in front of his face, showing them to Mike and Lisa as if he was an illusionist about to perform a magic trick.

“Alright… Let me try to be clearer. See my hands? They’re like a net. Or, even better, like a tight mesh. Look…”

The images projected from the screen of his high-res foldlaptop were clear enough to be comprehended even by an amateur.

“Where did you find these?”

From the couch, Michael tilted his head to a side and watched. He watched the human-shaped 4D grid that shaped his own body. Light blue over a dark backdrop. That was the project. Orpheus. The screen split in two and, next to the spinning form, another one appeared and it was a female body. Figuring out who it belonged to was easy.

“I done told you. I went in through the back door. Been copying a lot of stuff on my femtoserver for a few hours now. From preliminary tests to designs, to reports, to medical files. I ain’t playing now that I’m in. I wanna know everything, and I wanna know it before the system kicks my sweet ass out… ‘Cause it will, eventually.”

“And they’ll find out it’s you?”

Lisa had grown fond of Akira and hated that he and his grandmother had to be involved in this.

“Nope. They won’t. But getting in again will become a giant no-no, so this gotta be quick and effective.”

The screen projected a close-up of Michael’s and Lisa’s hearts. And the electrode grid enveloping them in a tight, dangerous embrace.

“OK, there it is… I think I even know how it’s called.” Akira sat on the corner of the desk. His gaze met Oshi for a moment. “The grid is Borealis2. And it’s a secondary system managed by one of those two chips in your cerebellum. Borealis1.”

“Jewel…” Mike narrowed his eyes. “I think I heard Sydney call it Jewel, or something… I thought it was a person.”

“Yes, she was talking to it, but it ain’t no person. Jewel++ is the mother chip. It’s artificial intelligence. And pretty advanced too, I gotta admit. Once I got in, I was able to find out quite a bit about what this shit can do, at least in terms of monitoring. It’s pyramidal. Jewel++ manages Borealis1, which in turn is in charge of Borealis2… the net. Got it?”

Lisa sat in one of the vintage armchairs in the office and tucked her feet underneath her body. She looked small and very young, but there was a strength in her that had never been there before. Or maybe it had just been there all along and now had merely found a way to emerge from oblivion.

“And what can it do, Akira?” Her brow furrowed. “What was it, that Sydney saw about us?”

Akira bit his lip.

“Well… technically, she could see everything. Those chips are implanted inside your brain, so they have access to all kinds of information. Which means that she… ah, managed to experience everything you did.” He scratched his cheek. “Also, Jewel++ allows virtual participation to sensory events. The files… eh, the project files…”

Lisa stared at him.

“The project files…?”

“While you guys were being cloned, Miss Bankmann also had a special suit manufactured on her measurements. Pretty personal stuff. It’s very similar to a sexsuit, only enhanced. Like, big time. And, according to the file logs, Jewel++ recorded several events occurring in the operating system showing virtual participation in what the machine calls… ah…” His cheeks reddened. “…Coupling.”

“What?” Michael squinted his eyes.

His face flushed, Akira checked his tablet.

“May 26th… 128 minutes… May 29th… 77 minutes… and so on, and on…” His eyes stayed fixed on the screen. “I can even give you the exact locations and times of the day, if you want…”

“So – wait. Let me get this straight: that bitch was there while Mike and I were fucking?”

“Lisa, were you always this foul-mouthed? I don’t think so. But yeah, she was there alright. She virtually lived the whole thing with you, as if you were engaged in some phantom threesome. By the way, 128 minutes, guys? You are too much…” Albeit still flustered, Akira really couldn’t stop himself and snickered.

Michael rested his elbows on his knees and hid his face in the palm of his hands.

“Can she still do it?” At this point, Lisa was too enraged to get embarrassed. “Can she still spy on us?”

“Not as long as you’re in here. The Carpe Librum is shielded,” Miss Oshi interjected.

“That’s right. The problem is that you can’t stay here forever. You’re gonna have to leave eventually.” Akira pulled at his goatee. “Like I said, what we can do is try to deactivate Borealis1, ‘cause if I were you, I’d never want that grid to start tightening around my heart… squeeze it into a pulp… or send it into electric shock… or whatever.”

“What about Jewel++? Can’t we deactivate that? I mean, if it’s pyramidal and that’s the main chip…” Michael massaged the back of his neck.

“No, brother, we can’t. Too risky. Your boss – or whoever engineered that chip – was pretty sleek. There’s a security system. I make it quick: the moment you try to turn it off, it…” He held his breath for a moment.

“It explodes.” Miss Oshi, sitting at her desk, hands clasped before her face, kept her voice even as her eyes moved from Mike to Lisa. “And we don’t want that.”

“Fucking shit…” Lisa covered her mouth with both hands for a moment. “There’s a micro-bomb in our skulls…”

“…Yeah.” Akira’s shoulders slumped. “Basically, that’s what it is. Your creator got it all covered, just in case… Your brain… Your heart. And that’s why we’re gonna take care of Borealis1. Think about it: if that’s out of the way, it means no more seizures, no more active conditioning. Miss Bankmann can still watch, but she cannot touch.”

“Yeah, but she can still watch.” Mike’s voice sounded arctic-cold. “And there’s nothing we can do about it. We’ll keep being fish in her aquarium for the rest of our lives.”

“Well, that depends.”

“On what?”

Akira tilted his head and his eyes shimmered. Once again he looked like a big kid. A big kid with a big revelation in store.

“On where you are.”

Lisa stood up from the chair and walked over to the liquor cabinet.

“Aki, we can’t live locked in this library forever… I mean, no offense, but…”

“Oh, none taken,” Miss Oshi chimed in. “That’s not what he was talking about. Jewel++ only works on planet Earth… Its range and output are insufficient if you move to any of the cloned planets orbiting around the Earth. So basically your plan can still work out.”

“Yeah, if only we had the money to do that,” Mike mumbled.

“Well, that’s not going to be a problem…” Miss Oshi rose from the chair and slowly walked around the desk. She stood right next to her nephew. “Mike… Michael. Lisa. I don’t think there’s any other way to say what I’m about to say. You do have the money to move to one of those planets. Because Akira and I have already managed to deposit the sum you need on a brand new hyperbank account that we set up just for you.”

“It’s encrypted. Nobody’s gonna find out unless you want to.” Akira looked very pleased with himself.

“What? No…”

Mike, too, rose from the couch, shaking his head. His voice sounded slightly affected. He was about to get emotional. Lisa just turned around, lips slightly parted, a glass in her hand.

“Ma’am… Michael is right. It’s not fair. We cannot accept.”

“Yes, you can. And you will.” Miss Oshi smiled, and it was a beautiful sight. “In order to make money, you need to leave this place and work. But Miss Bankmann will know, and she will never allow any of that. And if you can’t leave, all this will be for nothing. You two are beyond special. Inherently, and for my nephew and me. We are grateful to consider you our friends. And we believe you deserve to be happy.”

Akira was back to being embarrassed and flustered, but still looked quite proud of himself.

“Grandma’s right. You weren’t the only ones studying where you come from. She and I did too. And after all the pain you guys had to go through… back then especially… it just wouldn’t be fair… you know… for this not to end well. You can’t stay here any longer. And as much as that saddens us, nothing like a different planet can help you recover… and live. So please… please guys, just do it. Just go. And be happy.”

Silence.

Akira giggled.

“Plus, grandma and I are filthy rich, so this shit’s not really impacting our finances… but I don’t wanna brag…”

Michael heard Lisa sniffle and looked over at her, his eyebrows rising. Silently asking her for confirmation of what he knew was inevitable. In her eyes, he saw everything that he needed to see. And he understood that she was wondering why, in their previous existences, finding someone who was true and loyal and honest and had their best interest at heart had been so difficult. Impossible almost. This new life wasn’t easy either, but there were still glimpses of light on the gloomy stage where all the actors were forced to play their roles.

“Thank you…” She spoke under her breath, gratitude almost clouding her vision. “Thank you so much.”

“Yeah… OK… Thank you… Thanks, guys.”

Michael blushed and bowed his head. It wasn’t easy for him to accept money – a lot of it – for nothing. As a gift. He was a proud man, he always had been. Nothing he had obtained had ever come for free. But in this case, he knew that pride couldn’t take him or Lisa that far. In fact, their egos could get them in a very unpleasant situation. Worst case scenario, even killed. It was time to pretend that pride wasn’t there and just accept what was offered.

And for Lisa, he knew it was just the same.

Given the circumstances, it was inescapable to wonder how much of who he and Lisa were about nurture, and how much about nature. It was becoming increasingly clear that only part of their personalities was genetic, and much of what they knew and believed was learned rather than innate. The superimposition of two different existences could only do so much. Michael and Lisa were genetically identical to their originals, but with two sets of memories now forced to coexist in the same individuals. The reminiscences they had inherited and those that had been programmed in their brain. It didn’t matter how fake the latter were: they hadn’t gone away. Maybe they never would. Lisa and Michael would have to learn to live with them and always remember that they were not real – that those events dating back to their infancy and their lives before meeting again, simply did not exist – because they hadn’t been created yet.

However, the different environment and current circumstances could make them act very differently than their original counterparts. Whereas the original Michael would have never even thought about using a gun, this Mike was ready to pull the trigger if necessary. Whereas the original Lisa wouldn’t perhaps have forgiven Michael so quickly, this Lisa had done it right away. And that was thrilling in a way: the blending of the different personas living inside them was the foundation to build something different. It was a brand-new journey – a unique one.

“OK – there’s something I don’t understand, though.” Lisa scrunched her forehead. “Why do we need to deactivate that chip, if we’re leaving the planet?”

“Because Miss Bankmann is not going to let you get away easily, my dear… You are both too precious for her.” Miss Oshi gave her a sad smile. “And the moment you’ll step out of Carpe, you’ll have to reach Level 5 because that is where the orbishuttles are. As you move around the levels, we can manage to keep you shielded for a little while, but when you check into the shuttleport, you will be monitored and vulnerable… Sydney has complete control over you out there. You can’t just disappear without her noticing. She’ll know, it’s inevitable. If she decides to stop you, right then and there, she can. If you’re lucky, she’ll make you have a seizure, pass out on the spot and then retrieve you. But if you’re not that lucky…”

“She’ll kill us.” Michael’s voice was barely audible.

Miss Oshi nodded her head.

“And that’s why we must take care of that implant first. She’ll still be able to follow your movements… but she won’t have the chance to do anything about it. Or at least, we hope she won’t.”

“But even before that, Lisa, I’ll have to work a little to create a fake AA pass for you. Because you can no longer access the upper levels, remember? I have my pass, but not yours. Not yet. And we’ll need badges for Electron Enterprises, too. Both you and I.”

“Why? Why we gotta go back there?”

“Because, Mike, the only way to deactivate that implant is through the main machine where the software is installed. And that stuff is inside your goddamn company… On Floor 25, according to my maps. I can’t do anything from here. As much as I love to do virtual, it wouldn’t work in this case. I need to be there in person, and you’ll have to be there with me. And that means that I’ll need to clone a couple of badges for Lisa and me… I can manage to fuck the virtual surveillance system over for a few hours, while we’re in there, but we gotta get in first. All three of us.”

Mike sighed, his gaze dropping. That was the last thing he wanted. He understood that they had to reach Level 5 to leave the planet, but the company? He didn’t want to go back there. It was hard to admit, but he was terrified. He was afraid that Sydney could reel him back in again, just like she had done in the past. And even more, he was scared to death that something even worse would happen to Lisa. Sydney had agreed not to destroy her the first time around, but right now? At this point, she knew that Mike would never come back. She was probably enraged and vengeful. He couldn’t imagine her being merciful again. Also, he suspected that she was psychotic.

A shiver ran through him.

“Lisa…” He patted the spot next to him on the couch. “Come sit here with me…”

She stared at him for a moment, then walked closer to him and bent over, kissing him softly on the lips. She sat down by his side and took his hand, sandwiching it in between her own smaller ones. Her touch was warm and comforting. It was incredible how intrinsically connected they felt. He had told her nothing, and yet he was sure that she knew how he felt. Perhaps centuries of love and emotional entanglement did that to people.

“Did you hear them? We’re gonna have our chance, baby. You’ll see.” Her eyes were soft, soulful. “Everything’s gonna be alright.”

“One more important thing about the planet you’ll move to.” Miss Oshi went back to her desk and sat. “It’s going to be Zariah 3. I do have some friends over there. They can find you a house – no problem. You can get a job. It’s a fascinating place, and I am sure you’re going to love it. But… for you to get there as a family unit, you will have to get married first. It’s planet policy. Otherwise, it is unlikely you’ll be able to get in… Residency ticket or not. Money or not.”

Akira extracted a licorice bar from his pocket and unwrapped it.

“So, whatcha wanna do? Want me to create a fake-ass marriage certificate, or you gonna tie the knot for real?”

Michael and Lisa stared at each other.

Carpe Librum, seven days later

“Are you ready?”

Miss Oshi’s soft voice made him smirk. He zipped up his jacket and turned to face her. Subconsciously, his hand came to his leg holster and to the gun that was secured there. He didn’t even like touching it – he could barely imagine using it. And yet…

“Honestly? I wish this was the beginning of my honeymoon, Miss Oshi.”

“I understand. This world must be very different from the one you now remember.” She tilted her head and glanced at his gun. “Do you think you could bring yourself to use that thing, if necessary?”

Well, apparently Miss Oshi was a mind reader.

“Ah, I’m not a fan of violence…”

“I know you are not. Neither was your original.”

He looked at her straight in the eyes.

“However, I don’t know if being a man of peace equals to being smart, nowadays….”

Miss Oshi just studied him for a moment. Then a light smile spread on her face.

“So… How do you want me to call you? Mike or Michael?”

He snorted and checked the back pocket of his pants. Yeah, his badge to enter Electron Enterprises was still there.

“Whatever you want. I can’t see the difference anymore.”

The old lady nodded her head slowly. She got it. The fusion was complete – no more a clone and an original. Only a man. And Mike was pretty sure that she knew the same thing had happened to Lisa.

It was around midnight, and they were getting ready to leave and go up to Electron Enterprises. It had taken about a full week to develop and fine-tune a plan that made sense, and that covered pretty much all angles. It hadn’t been an easy task. There had been so much to discuss, so much to decide. Some compromises had to be reached. Some unsolvable issues had to be addressed.

And right now – well, right now it was no longer time for big talks. The only thing they could do was proceed as planned and hope that everything would go smoothly. None of them was a hero. And sure as hell, none of them wanted to become a martyr or a casualty. Michael’s death the first time around had been more than enough. He didn’t want anything like that to happen again. Not to himself, not to Akira, and certainly not to Lisa. He just wanted to be free to live his life. It was incredible how things changed and always managed to remain the same.

“But anyway, yeah… at this point, I’d use the gun. If I ever felt threatened. Or if someone else was in danger.”

Michael took a deep breath and glanced at the door, hoping to see Lisa appear. He had last seen Akira in the cafeteria – he had told Mike that he would wait for them in the main hall, but he needed a snack before leaving.

Up to Level 4 and to Electron Enterprises. Mike with his AA pass, Aki and Lisa with their fake ones – one to move across the levels, the other to enter the company. Michael had to trust his hacker friend. He needed to believe that everything would end up working out well.

“Even if the person threatening you was Sydney?”

He scoffed.

“I hope I won’t have to resort to anything like that. I really don’t wanna take down anyone. But there’s a reason why I’m taking a weapon with me…” He cleared his throat. “Just in case.”

“I am glad to see that you’re back, Michael. All of you.” She stared into space for a moment. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Why did you believe her instead of Lisa? Why did you trust your creator instead of the woman you love and who loves you?”

He stopped cold, his eyes narrowing. The question was unexpected and it had startled him. It was asked with a calm, even voice, but was blunt nonetheless. And it dug into a wound that was still open and gaping.

“You know she gave me drugs… I told you…”

“I do know that was the main reason, yes.” Miss Oshi raised her eyebrows. “But were those drugs strong enough to completely impair your free will? To brainwash you to the point that you couldn’t formulate a thought on your own? I am just playing the devil’s advocate here, Mike… Since you may have to face her again, sooner or later… I just don’t want you to give her any more weapons than she already has.”

He stood perfectly still, biting the inside of his cheek.

“You think she found fertile ground for her plan, don’t you?”

“My opinion doesn’t count that much. Only facts do. Only truth matters. I just wish you could always remember that neither you nor Lisa have a master, and that nobody can separate you if you don’t want to. Don’t let anyone play with old fears and doubts… Just trust who you are.”

Mike lowered his head.

“Had I been sure of what I thought and believed, maybe she wouldn’t have succeeded. That’s what I think. She saw my weakness and used it against me. And I’ve been taking a long hard look at myself for that.”

“Proactive self-assessments aside, Mike… what about now? You think she can still do that?”

This time he looked up, staring at her.

“No, she can’t do that now. We’re stronger. We’re a solid unit.”

Miss Oshi nodded her head.

“Then you have all you need to sort this out.”

“Yeah. But if Lisa or I don’t come back, ma’am…”

“Don’t even say that.” Her hands closed in fists, but her face remained stoic. “I want all of you back here as soon as possible.”

“I know, I want that too. But you gotta let me say it.” He walked over to her and took her thin, fragile hands in his own. Miss Oshi was so small and tiny. He bent over slightly and kissed her cheek. “If we don’t come back… if this backfires on us in any way, please know, that we are so very grateful for what you and your nephew have been doing for us. Thank you, Oshi.”

Oshi smiled. A sad, tiny smile while she held onto Michael’s hands.

“You’re welcome, dear. Just come back, OK? I wish I could go with you… But I’m too old, and I’d only be a hindrance.”

“And yet without you, none of this would have been possible.” Mike smiled. “You’re the best interference that’s ever happened to us. And you remind me of my mother.”

Oshi’s eyes lowered, and she sighed.

“Where’s your bride?”

Michael straightened his back.

“Good question. I’ll go looking for her… and then we’ll have to leave. Akira is waiting for us in the hall.”

He found her in their bedroom. Which had been their hideaway, their little nest for the last few days. Especially after their wedding – which had been a small and yet romantic event. It felt weird, to be able to remember the huge mansions they had once been accustomed to, compared to the tiny space they now shared. But the truth was that Mike and Lisa only wanted to be close. “Where” was a vague concept that did not exactly apply at the moment.

They could have waited. They could have gotten married after trying to take care of their neuronal implants. But they knew the risks, they knew the possible outcome contemplated by the worst-case scenario, and not only they had told Akira that they didn’t need any fake marriage certificate. They had decided to do it for real, and right away. No matter what would happen next.

“We don’t have to do it now, Lise…” Lying on his stomach, his hand cradling his head, he watched her perfect, tanned beauty wrapped in the white sheets. “I mean, I’d do it. But not because we’ll be moving to Zariah 3. Just because I want to.”

“You’re so freaking romantic. Still wanting to marry me after a bunch of centuries. Not tired of me yet?”

“Never.”

His crooked smirk made her giggle, and her cobalt eyes smiled at him. God, she was so gorgeous, her hair all wild and her cheeks flushed. Letting his eyes run over the curves and valleys of her body, he thought of her as a work of art. And he was sorry he could not immortalize that very moment in his memory, forever. But alas, all things considered, it was fair to think that it would be stored in his DNA anyway, just like many other moments he had thought were lost. For eternity.

“Well, good then, ‘cause I wanna do it now, too.” She rolled over, coming to rest next to him. Her head on the pillow, her eyes shining up at him in the dim light. Her lips parted as she reached over and brought his head closer, kissing him, deep and slow. “Would you marry me, Mike Jackson?”

He tasted the sweetness of her kiss and backed off slightly, licking his lips.

“Who’s asking? Which one of the two Lisas?”

Her full smile was bright enough to make even the darkest night as luminous as a supernova.

“Both.”

Michael ran his finger along her jawline. His face turned serious.

“You don’t look scared at all, baby girl. And I know you know what we gotta do is dangerous.” His eyes narrowed. “Why do you look so calm?”

She, too, let every trace of playfulness slip away, but her face remained serene. She captured his wrist and kissed the back of his hand. Soft, butterfly kisses that ignited a series of small explosions in his body and his heart.

“You can’t possibly know what it was like, for me, to face life without you… back then. You were gone, so you have no idea… The longing, the regrets. I would keep thinking about all that had happened between us… all the time, until my head hurt… I just couldn’t stop. With time, I learned to survive with it, despite it. But it never really went away… the struggle to have to live without you. I loved you and missed you until the day I died, Michael.”

It felt as if his heart was being squeezed in a vise. Automatically, his hand moved to the back of her head, his fingers gripping and kneading the solid muscles of her shoulders, holding her close to his body. The need to physically touch her and make sure she was there, too intense to be ignored.

“So… you know…” Lisa just shrugged. “When we broke up that last time, I decided to leave because I couldn’t bear to be with you and live in fear of losing you again… if that makes sense. But eventually… it was your absence that destroyed me. That absence became a presence reminding me that you were no longer there with me. Nothing could be worse than that. And that’s why I won’t make the same mistake ever again. I’m with you… and I’ll stay right here. Whatever happens. What we gotta do now can’t scare me as much as the idea of being without you again. That was hell, Mike. Nothing compares. Not even a bomb in my brain. And you know Sydney… if she lashes out, it won’t be on you. You’re her sweetheart. She’ll retaliate against me. And I’m not scared of that either.”

But he was. He was scared to death to lose her, now that he had found her again.

Michael quietly stepped inside the room and smiled at her reflection in the mirror.

“Hey…”

Lisa turned and walked over to him without a word, wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling his head down and searching his lips. The kiss was sweet, slow, deep, with a desperate quality and a longing nuance that he immediately perceived.

When he pulled back, he took a moment to observe her. In fact, he stayed in the moment and took in her presence and her essence. She was his wife again. And he would do everything in his power to protect her. That ‘til death do us part shit would have to wait for a very long time.

No matter how hurried and cobbled together their wedding had been – it still meant the world to them. Their vows, spoken in front of a holographic pastor, without any witnesses because they were no longer needed since artificial intelligence took the place of real people in this kind of ceremony, had come from the heart. Those words would have been different in their previous existences, but that didn’t mean that their foundation – love – wasn’t just the same.

The holographic setting – Akira’s idea – had been an unexpected, nice touch.

Lisa and Michael’s wedding had been celebrated in one of the main rooms of the library. Only, it didn’t look like it. It looked like a beautiful, sunny beach. They had gotten married before a simulated ocean that seemed so very real, to the point that just by seeing it Michael had felt like crying.

Wearing simple jeans and t-shirts, he and Lisa had exchanged the words they had been waiting to say for centuries. The sound of the wind, of the waves crashing against the rocks, had been the auditory background of an emotional silence that had been finally shattered, revealing a light, gentle melody.

“Lisa… You and I have traveled through life and death, through time and space to be together. And that is why I choose to marry you again. I want you to know that I am in love with you. That I want you by my side as we continue our journey through this existence. No matter who we are, no matter where we go, I know why we are here: to walk this path together, wherever it leads.”

Michael put the ring on her finger and held onto her hands as he spoke, staring into her eyes. And they were more beautiful and breathtaking than any ocean – real or fictitious. He saw her chin tremble and Lisa bit her lip. Then she smiled, and he felt an immense peace wash over him.

“Mike… Michael. I marry you because I want to share with you the beauty and the joy of existence, and because I want to be there to share your sorrows and help you overcome them. I was, I am, and I always want to be your partner and companion, because I love you. And being with you is like finally coming home. Please, don’t ever leave me again.”

This time, she put the wedding band on his finger and she did it with trembling hands. Those rings were far from the romantic platinum bands that they had chosen so many years earlier. They were, in fact, GPS trackers bonded to their skin at a nanomolecular level. There was hardly any romanticism in weddings nowadays, especially in hurried ones. They were nothing but legally binding unions, mostly because of resource shortage and the infertility plague – and the latter was another issue that Lisa and Mike would have to address eventually. And yet, once again, it didn’t really matter. At that very moment, everything was perfect just the way it was.

The holographic priest, and they had no idea where the real man really was on the planet, smiled, watching them.

“Throughout this ceremony, Lisa and Mike have vowed, in my presence, to be loyal and loving towards each other. They have formalized the bond between them with words spoken and with the giving and receiving of rings. Therefore, it is my pleasure to now pronounce them husband and wife: Mr. and Mrs. Jackson.”

The faint beep-beep-beep of the underground machines signaled that the ceremony was correctly recorded and stored in its file.

“Mister Jackson… you may now kiss your bride.”

Mike barely registered the pastor’s slightly mechanical voice. He just smiled, then framed Lisa’s face with both hands. He cocked his head to a side and placed light kisses on her lips, closing his eyes.

“I love you, baby girl… I swear I do.”

The feeling of her breathing against his skin stirred another wave of ancient emotions inside. But it was her voice that became death and rebirth all at once.

“Forever, Michael. I will stay with you forever, I promise.”

Now, Lisa looked as if she was ready for battle. She wore black latex pants, a black t-shirt and a leather jacket. She was not armed, or, if she was, her weapon was not in plain sight. Her hair was tied in a ponytail, and the complete absence of any make-up not only made her look even younger than she was, but also didn’t hide the tired, calm awareness painted all over her face.

Just as he stared at her, she stared back at him, studying him.

“I’m ready… If you wanna get going.” Her arms were still wrapped around his neck and now slid down, her palms resting on his chest for a moment. Then she stepped back.

“Lisa…”

“What?” She narrowed her eyes and gave him a quick smirk. Her eyes were unusually bright that night, and looked almost like quicksilver. The mercurial hue was a testimony of her conflicting emotions and her strong will to keep them at bay and be strong for him. As if she wanted to make amends for the times she felt she hadn’t been strong enough in the past.

Something stirred in Michael’s heart, and the little hair on the back of his neck rose. A sudden terror pervaded him. Something was wrong – he was too scared, too worried. He realized that he wanted her to stay right where she was. He didn’t want her to go with him and Akira. But he couldn’t understand where that thought came from. Was it his old Alpha-male streak resurfacing? Was it nothing but protectiveness?

“I am OK, Michael.” Oh, she knew. He blinked, his gaze dropping, suddenly not wanting to reveal too much about his concern. “I really am. Come on… Let’s do this.”

“In a minute.”

“Weren’t we in a hurry?” Her dry chuckle was devoid of all joy. She, too, could keep up the charade only for a little while.

“Yeah, but gimme a minute anyway.”

Lisa stilled. Then she took his hands and pulled him closer, glancing up at him, her eyes smoldering and sultry for a second.

“You know what I was thinking?” Her body came in contact with his, caressing him.

“What?”

That smirk, again. A little more playful this time.

“Once we’re done with this thing and we can finally leave, we should seriously start working on that family expansion…”

He had to smile. His big hands closed around her tiny waist and he kept her still. Still and close to his body.

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah, really…” Barely a whisper, while her warm hands rubbed his chest once again. He bent his head and they kissed. Just soft, little pecks, because that was not the time to get carried away and they were in a hurry. They had a time slot, and it had to be respected. “After all, we only have three more non-fertile years ahead of us…”

One more kiss.

Wasn’t it bittersweet that, now that they were both on the same page as far as kids were concerned, they were unable to procreate?

“No, Lise… you do. We’re not sure I will ever be able to-”

She silenced him with another kiss. Then she backed off.

“You will.” Her hands came to rest on his cheeks. “We will have our family. Just like we were supposed to do all along. And in the meantime, we better start practicing… just in case this infertility thing is just bullshit.”

He smiled, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Alright, then…”

When had his girl become so firm and unmovable? Michael wondered if the years she had lived without him had changed her so profoundly, or if the absence of the traumas of her first existence had wiped away her fears, her doubts, and any insecurity. Maybe it was a bit of both. Well, thankfully, his courage was intact as well.

As he took her hand and they left the room together, walking quietly toward the hall where Akira had been waiting for them, Mike thought about how they had made love in the holographic beach setting, right after their wedding. It had felt like lying in the sand. It was so realistic that, at one point, he had almost smelled the salty breeze coming from the ocean.

When Lisa had sat astride him and had taken him inside her body, sighing, her hands on his chest as her hips started to sway slowly, he had envisioned their future just like the way he had always desired it. A happy future. A fulfilling future. A life made of love, trust, and peace.

He had held her in place as he moved, delighting in the feeling of her fingers stroking the tensing muscles of his abdomen as he thrust into her. Their eyes had locked, and everything around them had disappeared. Despite the absence of anything resembling a real home or a definite tomorrow, all was perfect. She was there, and she was back at being his wife.

Sitting up, he had held her in his tight embrace as the intense pleasure washed over them, wanting more than anything else to hold her like that forever, feeling her hot breath, her moans and words of love in his ear, her body and soul close to his.

Michael couldn’t imagine that, in only a few hours, that same body he had loved through the apparently impossible paradigm of immortality would be once again in his arms. Only lifeless. That soul that he had worshiped, feared and adored for eternity, and that reverberated through her aqua eyes, would be gone. And that he would be staring into the blank, glassy irises of his dead wife.

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