5 An Unfinished Medley

1984 May

It was early morning when child services arrived. They found Katherine's sleeping figure with a syringe inches away as was usual. She had forgotten to pay the rent. Again. Alana stared at them impassively as she answered the questions her mother was not in the right state of mind to. Yes, she felt perfectly safe at home. No, her mother did not usually leave the apartment so filthy.

A lie if she had ever heard one.

No, she didn't want to go stay with someone else.

Foster care was out of the question. She had heard the stories and seen the impact of the system in this life and the last. If she were lucky, she'd end up with an abuser rather than a rapist. Considering the year, she would be fortunate if she didn't end up dead under someone's backyard. The woman leading the team was an old friend of Katherine's. That was probably the only reason they left. Katherine was written off with a warning and a card for addiction services. They left Alana with a contact number that did nothing to stop her from glaring as they left. It was too close. She resolved herself to keep a closer eye on her mother.

Ding!

Notification: Level up!

Library System: Capricorn II is now level 20 and capable of quicker complex thought and processing of 4,000 words per hour. Max level reached! Would you like to evolve Capricorn III?

YES or NO

Ding!

Notification: Evolution!

Library System: Capricorn II has evolved to Capricorn III! level 0 capable of complex thought, mind defence and processing 5,000 words per hour. Strain on magic core has reduced. New form processing…

Alana had barely glanced at the notification before she was in her mindscape grilling Capricorn on the meaning of mind defence. He explained that he could now stop the intrusion of foreign energy to some degree. The triskelion could only protect information regarding the children of Gaia - which was to be expected really. Now she had something to protect everything else.

The name was a curious thing though. There was a saying that an absolute only serves to affirm the existence of its opposite. She wondered briefly what sort of mind attacks could be performed in this world. The humans here had seemed average to her, but this, along with the existence of a magic core, indicated a more sinister presence. Witches perhaps? Fae? Mutants? Twilightesque Vampires? Only time could tell. She gave Capricorn her thanks for his services despite him technically being a construct of her mind. He seemed pleased.

Progress with Aquarius was quite different.

"Summon: Aquarius," Alana stuck out her hand to catch the soccer-ball-sized slime.

"Pew! Pew!" The slime rolled its way into the trash bag Alana had prepared for it. She watched as one by one the slime dissolved and then replicated each object in the bag. The process was fascinating to watch as the creature was semi-transparent. Matter seemed to turn into bubbles in the slimes stomach before vanishing. Where did the objects go? She had every intention of finding out. Aquarius couldn't copy living beings as they were too complex and refused to eat an entire bag of objects in one go which was a shame. The little slime, however, had no problem storing and reproducing multiple objects if they were the same thing. Ding!

Notification: Evolution!

Inventory System: Aquarius I has evolved to Aquarius II! level 0 capable of storing up to 3 objects. Summoning cost decreased.

Alana smiled with satisfaction.

1984 August

Linda's apartment was a palace compared to the dwelling of Alana's single parent. It was for this reason that she had elected to stay with the old woman over the last month when offered the opportunity. Linda had been more than happy to lend the couch, knowing the situation at home was far worse. Home was barely two doors down, but it seemed a world away as Alana unlocked the door. Katherine would be out shopping at this time, so she intended to give the place a quick clean and leave some rent money for the landlord if he came by.

The last time she had given her earnings to her mother, it had been used to fund her less endearing habits. She had learnt quickly not to repeat that mistake no matter how much her mother begged. Alana quickly picked her way past some discarded rubbish while holding a hand over her mouth to block out the stench of urine. Had a cat got in again? She was surprised to see her mother sleeping on her bed at this time of the day but shrugged it off as a rough night. With a click of her tongue, she nudged the sleeping woman slightly, so see if she'd be waking up anytime soon. Nothing. Go figure. She gave the prone body another once-over.

Her chest wasn't even moving.

Everything seemed to slow down for a moment before reality hit her like a freight train. Panicked, she checked her mother's pulse once, twice and then a third time. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Fear washed over her as nausea settled in her stomach.

"No. No. No," she muttered with panic clenching her heart. The shock of the scene had not yet paralysed her system, and she frantically turned the woman to examine her fully. Bloated skin greeted her vision. Blood dripped unnaturally from blue eyes and a foaming mouth. The stench of decomposing organs assaulted her senses, and she gagged. Not a recent death. How long had she been here? Alana stumbled back and tripped her way to the door. She was shaking and wide-eyed as she stumbled out of the apartment. She slammed the door behind her, hoping it would somehow dispel the visions of her mother's corpse from her mind.

She had been there a week at least. Her mother's corpse had been rotting for at least a week. She dry-wretched over the sink in Linda's bathroom, but nothing came out. Her hands were washed in scalding water several times before she tore them away from the liquid and curled up in the bathtub. It was wrong. It was disgusting and cruel how she had run from that corpse. The image of the body in her mind made bile rise in the back of her throat. She trembled, but the tears wouldn't fall. It was pathetic, but she didn't know what else to do. Her eyes stared unfocused at the wall for hours until they began to weigh down. She was tired, far too tired to think with the trauma burning her inside out. She wasn't sure how she slept, but she did, and the absence of thought had never felt sweeter.

She hadn't told anyone about the body. She couldn't find the words and didn't know if she wanted to. It would mean going into the system. Was it selfish to look out for herself now that her mother was gone? Was caring for the living not more important than caring for the dead? She should have kept a closer eye on her mother. She should have gotten her off the drugs. She should have been there. Should have, could have… She didn't. Child services would catch up with her eventually, and she'd be sent to a home. Maybe it would be a fitting punishment for her sins.

Jake Matthews considered himself to be a good kid. He was a well-behaved son even when his father disappeared for business trips each month. He was a decent student performing above his age level. He also thought himself to be a loyal friend. That last expression of his goodness had become less of a virtue and more of a fault over the past week. He cast a concerned eye towards his close friend, Alana Hales, and sighed. Her expression was closed off where it had once been teasing and seemingly unaffected by the world around it. She had been withdrawn these past days, and he didn't know why.

"Are you feeling alright?" He had asked the same question barely minutes ago.

"Fine," she replied. She was lying, and it left a bitter taste on his tongue. He couldn't force her to tell the truth. He wouldn't.

"You can tell me anything, you know that, right?" He tried to smile.

"Yeah." He wouldn't find out until late-September what that answer meant.