Aberrant: 2011 - Homesick [Complete]

[z-Aura]

Kylie huddled under the fiscus tree, Will's arms tight around her. But even his persence couldn't help tonight, and Kylie felt her eyes welling with tears, even as she mentally ordered herself to cease all crying.

She had thought she had been homesick when she'd moved from Las Vegas to Mexico City to start her job with Project Utopia. But Mexico City wasn't that dissimilar in culture from Albuquerque, and she'd gotten used to hearing Spanish, even if she'd never learned to speak it. But here in Ethopia, everything was different and strange.

Will's "arms" tightened around her, reminding her that he was here for her. With a little smile, the mousey nova slipped her arms over his, holding him closer. If it hadn't been for her secret love, she was sure she would have gone insane a long time ago. He'd helped her through her eruption and all the craziness afterward, and Kylie lifted his hand and placed a soft kiss on his strange, beloved skin. "Thank you," she whispered, grateful for the comfort, even if it didn't touch her pain.

Sighing, she stood up to head to the lab. At least there, she didn't feel lost in a strange world. Among the test tubes, she was almost home.

[z-Aura]

Will's head rested idly on her shoulder, calmly watching her mix chemicals. Kylie smiled softly, resting her head against his as her liquids in the vials combined and gave birth to something new. "Like you and me," she said aloud, turning her head enough to kiss Will's flesh-colored cheek.

*That was such a hard time,* Will admitted, a slight frown marring his perfect features. *So painful, and then I was just afraid for you. Afraid you were going to die, and just when I'd found you.*

"I know," Kylie whispered, shuddering slight. Will's arms formed from the back of her coat and wrapped around her waist, bringing peace and comfort just as they had done the day that everything had changed.

* * *

October 13, 2008

"CONTAINMENT BREACH," the computer said in a voice that was far too calm for the situation. "RADITION LEVELS AT LETHAL LEVELS. LAB IS BEING SEALED. PLEASE REMAIN IN THIS ROOM AND WAIT FOR THE DECONTAIMATION TEAM."

Kylie stared wildly at the flashing computer screen, and her stomach twisted painfully. "Oh, no," she whispered. "Oh, no, please." Turning, she stepped into the decontamination shower, knowing that it was futile already. The treated water soaked through her clothing quickly, theoretically offering her some protection from the radiation now suffusing the lab.

"Kylie?" the intercom snapped into sound, and Kylie reluctantly stepped out of the shower to press the button. "Yes?" she answered, hearing the fear and panic in her voice.

"Shit. I'd hoped you were out of there." Kylie heard the frustration in Devlin's voice. Her supervisor had always been protective of the people under his charge.

"You know me," she said, hearing the ragged hysteria in her voice as she added, "I work myself to death."

"Damn it, Kylie, that isn't funny," Devlin snapped.

"No, it's not, but it's laugh or cry," Kylie giggled, then realized she was crying anyway. "Devlin... I'm..."

"I know. I'm getting a Haz-Mat team scrambled right now," Devlin promised. "You should see the line of novas I have volunteering to come get you."

"No," Kylie said without thinking. "They run too great a risk of contaiminating the area."

"Yeah," Devlin said softly. "That's what I've been telling them. That's a good call, Kylie, especially when I know you want out of there."

Kylie squeezed her eyes shut; when she opened them, her voice was heavy with the truth. "Dev, it doesn't matter. I've had a lethal dose. At this point, the longer I'm in here, the shorter I suffer. But... it's ok, really." She was silent for a long moment, considering her lie. When she didn't get a response from her boss, she prompted, "Devlin?"

For one horrible moment, she thought she had been cut off from him. Then he said softly, "I'm here. I just don't know what to say."

"Neither do I," Kylie said. "I'm going to let you go. Assemble your team - make sure they do it safely ok? I don't want any-" A sob cut her off. "Just be safe," she managed to choke out.

"Ok, I'll be back in a bit, ok, Kylie?"

"Yeah, ok," she said with a smile she didn't feel. When the comm link when dead, she slumped to the floor and began to wait to die.

[z-Aura]

But waiting to die was too melodramtic for her, and soon Kylie found herself on her feet, moving toward her workstation. This was an excellent opportunity to perform more research. Perhaps she could find a way to leave her mark on history forever. It was unlikely that her few days left alive would be enough for such a discovery, but she refused to just lay down and die.

The eufiber was where she had left, and Kylie took another sample from it, noting the time. She began to run her tests on it, focusing on what effects the radiation was having on the eufiber, if any. This research would be helpful to someone, and she diligently worked at it.

The time passed, and Kylie worked intently. All too soon, her stomach roiled, and the woman stopped working to rush to a trash can. Leaning over, she vomited violently into the container. As if the rush of fluids had stolen more than food and bile, Kylie felt a horrible fatigue wash over her. "That's it," she whispered shakily. "That's the radiation activating various chemical receptors in my brain, damaging them."

Sitting back against a desk, Kylie waited for the nausea to leave and her energy return. Her hands hurt a little, and she glanced at them. She was not at all surprised to see that they were red and painful. "Now, I should have a few days of relative good health," she muttered, closing her eyes. "Then, I die."

Standing to her feet again, Kylie staggered back to the eufiber. "I guess you're done for, too," she murmured, stroking the greyish material. There was a kind of cold comfort in knowing that another living creature was here with her. A headache was building between her eyes, and Kylie groaned. "Just what I need. A migraine."

Her fingers had slid into the gray mass, as it was easier to just let her arm droop. A shiver passed through the eufiber, and Kylie blinked in surprise. "Hey, you're not supposed to move," she told it.

*Why not?*

Kylie gaped, but her attention was suddenly occupied by her hand. It was a dark, alien golden color, but she had seen this before.

The eufiber shot up her arm, coiling around her body. Kylie yelped in surprise; then she decided that it was ok. Or rather, it made as much sense as anything else that was happening.

It was a short walk to the breached containment tank, and Kylie was impressed by the level of detail in this hallucination or dream or whatever it was. "My brain is misfiring," she told herself, as she listened to the floor creak under her new weight. Typing in the code on the tank nearly destroyed the number pad; thankfully, Kylie had a soft touch.

Finally, the tank was open, and Kylie reached in, drawing out the Roentgenium. A slow smile crossed her face as she realized she was touching Roentgenium, something that no one else had ever done. "This is worth dying," she whispered, "to touch what was untouchable."

Her hands were the same color as the radioactive metal, and Kylie turned to the wall, seeking out the mirror that someone had hung up years ago. Her face was the same, but it was that alien color, too. Kylie was a walking, talking block of Roentgenium. "What a fabulous dream!"

[z-Aura]

"Kylie! Kylie! What's going on?" Devlin said over the loudspeaker. "The sensors are going nuts! They say the tank is open, that the radiation levels have gone off the chart and we're even getting some quantum readings! What the hell is going on in there?"

"Quantum?" Kylie asked, putting the Roentgenium back in the tank and closing the hatch. She puzzled over this new clue for a moment. There was the possibility... "Devlin, can you see me on the monitors?"

"Yeah, and that's another thing I want to ask you about," Devlin said. "It's hard to tell on the black and white monitors... but are you monotoned now?"

"Yes, I think I am," Kylie said, frowning at her hands. She tapped her middle finger against her thumb, slightly unsettled by the metallic sounds that movement produced. "Devlin, I'm going to need some Mox and some Adrenocilin."

"Oh, why? Wait. Oooooohhhh!" he said. She heard his delighted laugh, and it drew a smile to her own face. "Does this mean I don't get your laptop?"

Kylie laughed and glanced at her coveted machine. All the laughter faded from her face when she saw the sagged wreck of her machine. Another glance around the lab showed that all of the equipment in the lab was slagging, slowly turning black and warping. "Devlin," she sighed, frowning, "no one is getting my computer. In fact, you might plan on using another lab from now on."

* * *

They had written off the eufiber; their surprise when she came out wearing it had been complete. It had taken a bit of negotiation, but they had allowed her to keep it. Kylie was glad; it was the only thing that she had carried out of her lab that day. It was a momento of that long and torturous day.

But there was that lasting memory of that voice, the softest, sweetest voice she had ever heard. She didn't want to admit it, but that memory had burned its way into her mind.

She laid back on her bed, reviewing the day. The mox was crawling through her system, and giving her a bit of a headache. She popped another pill of Adrenocilin, dry swallowing it with a face. With a sigh, she rolled over to sleep, wondering if she had dreamed that wonderful voice.

[z-Aura]

Of course, she hadn't dreamed that voice, and as Kylie now stood in the lab, months later, she had to smile. That had been the turning point of her life; things weren't going to get better after that.

And then, on an impulse, she checked her private messages on that message board she had found. There was a message for her... from Gabriel Law. "What?" she gasped, then rolled her eyes. Digiten was a computer hacker who was fond of harmless pranks. And this had to be a prank.

She opened up a PU intranet message to Digiten, typing, Ha ha, nice joke, DT. But next time, go a little lighter; you had me until the you mentioned the plane tickets. Nice attempt, though!

It was the next day before he replied, Aura, you need to cut back on the uranium fumes. I haven't sent you a prank, involving plane tickets, or otherwise. In fact, you can ask Joan, the IT nun - she's had me working on a big coding experiment and has been monitoring my every keystroke. If you got a message about plane tickets, it's not from me - hand to God.

"Not from... Digiten?" she whispered, a sick feeling hitting her.

"You're Aura, right?"

She spun to see one of the many baseline employees of Project Utopia with a package in her hands. "Yes," Kylie said, "I'm Aura."

"Package for you," the woman said, handing a slim box to Aura.

"Thank you," Aura said faintly, accepting it. Once the woman was gone, she opened it with shaking hands, looking at the contents.

There were plane tickets. "Oh, my god..." she whispered, then dashed for her computer, frantically bringing up the message again, reading it once more.

Quote:

Yes, I am The Gabriel Law. Well, the only one I know of at any rate. Can't say I've seen you around these parts before, you must be a rather new 'poster'.

Tell ya what, you seem like a fan, so, I looked up 'Aura'. Low and behold I found you and decided to do my part for my loyal fans.

Soon you will recieve a package. In that package you will find an autographed photo of myself and the band (I just signed it 12 minutes ago). A hat, a t-shirt, and a host of other swag.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Oh, and tickets complete with back stage passes for our performance next month.

In Japan.

Oh, and I included airline tickets, hotel accomidations, and a limo to take you to your hotel and the show.

Ever been to Japan?

See ya there beautiful.

~Gabe

Some strange emotion was coming over the link with Will; with a shock, Aura realized it was jealousy. "Will?" she whispered. "What's wrong?"

*I don't trust him or his motives,* her boyfriend said, his voice truly upset. *This is very generous for a nova you've never met before. What are his alterior motives?*

Kylie shook her head. "I'm sure it's fine!" she grinned, feeling a blush race up her face. Rapidly typing, she replied:

Quote:

Sorry it took me so long to reply. Thank you very much! I'll be there.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!!

*You're going?* Will asked.

"Yes, I am," Aura said firmly. "I've always wanted to see Gabriel Law in concert, and I'm going."

*Fine.*

Aura sighed. That was not the best way to handle it... but she was going. There was only one bright spot; at least fighting with Will had washed away her homesickness.