The Three Sisters

Mari was surprised at how fast she adjusted to boot camp.

Everyone suffered from having to wake up early and go to bed late, but Mari already had a schedule like that her entire life. She had to get water for her family every morning, be the first to arrive at class, and be the last to leave as well.

Other recruits couldn't handle the extreme requirements placed on cleanliness. The moment they complained the more they had to clean, but Mari loved it. She had never lived in a place so clean. She had never had a pair of good shoes and a pair of good boots! The military gave her a uniform and leftover shirts from the recruitment events and Mari felt like a queen.

Everyone was quite sure she was insane.

One day, during lunch, Mari's favorite meal of the day, Tiffany finally asked her why she was so happy.

"Are you doing that thing where people lie to themselves to feel better, because I think it's working really well for you," Tiffany said.

"Lie about what," Mari asked.

She took a huge bite out of her giant grey lump of something that was injected with all the nutrients any recruit would need, and mixed with spices to cover up the lack of taste. The other girls at the table made short groans of disgust and Mari looked in confusion as to what she did wrong. She kept on doing things "wrong" which confused everyone and couldn't understand why.

"What did I do Seraphina," Mari asked.

Seraphina was the girl from the van who gave her the bobby pin. Her long brown hair was gone and now all that was left was a patch of brown fuzz. Seraphina kept on touching her head every day, and it had become a tick, checking when her hair would return. She was rubbing the patch of fuzz on her head, soothing herself, when she again, had to explain to Mari what she had done.

"Mari, this is not food," Seraphina explained. "Imagine food had a nightmare. This is what it would be."

"So it's still somehow related to food," Mari replied.

She took another bite, and more people groaned at the table. Seraphina pushed her tray away and stuck to drinking only water.

"I still don't get how you can eat that stuff," Tiffany said.

Mari stopped eating and told them about how wonderful everything was during boot camp.

"This is so awesome," Mari exclaimed. "We get three meals every day! The showers are hot! And we get our own beds! We don't have to share them with anyone else!"

"You like sharing a giant shower room with forty other chicks," Seraphina asked. "Didn't know you swung that way, Mari, eh?"

"It's not like that, stop it!"

Tiffany decided to stop complaining about the food at least. She wondered what kind of life Mari lived up until then to be happy just to have her basic needs met. But after the life she herself had led, she understood that sometimes its best to not ask, and people would tell you when they were ready.

While everyone was making jokes, their defenses down, it was the perfect time to put them all on edge.

"WHY ARE YOU ALL SITTING? STAND! STAND! TO ATTENTION!"

LT. Wood came into the mess hall, her robotic voice put up at max volume, causing everyone to cry out in pain. She had lost partial function of her vocal cords and damaged her mouth in a mission but of course, there was always a place for her in the Imperial Military. She was more than happy to serve in any way she could.

LT. Wood's voice came from a small speaker at the side of her neck. Her mouth sometimes twitched when she spoke, but never opened, and parts of her mouth were severely scared. She was a ghastly figure to the recruits, even when she genuinely smiled. She rarely moved her facial muscles anymore, so when she did smile, she put extra effort into it, and it looked a bit more monstrous than happy.

LT. Wood loved her job.

Mari quickly shoveled the grey goop into her mouth and stood erect in a line with all the others. Everyone tried to make their best imitation of a dignified statue as Lt. Wood came down the line, but Mari did not fare well. She was still chewing by the time Lt. Wood got to her. Lt. Wood turned the small knob on the side of her neck to lower the volume. Her voice became soft and matronly.

"What are you doing, dear," Lt. Wood asked.

"Eafing," Mari said through muffled chews. "Sarry."

"Don't worry dear, take your time."

Mari chewed even slower, and all the other recruits started to giggle as Mari did not understand that Lt. Wood was being sarcastic. Lt. Wood became angrier as more people broke formation and tried to stop laughing. When Mari finally finished eating, Lt. Wood told her in the sweetest voice possible that she would be cleaning out the shed that evening, all on her own.

Mari was the happiest person at boot camp but ironically was one of the most often punished.

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Everyone was asleep while Mari was still cleaning out one of the obstacle equipment sheds.

She didn't really understand what she did wrong but at the same time, she liked being alone in the shed. As much as she enjoyed boot camp, she needed some privacy every now and then. While trying to put all the weights away into the correct slots, a loud thump was heard on the roof. Mari froze in place, nervous, because the only light in the shed was coming in from the window.

Loud footsteps were heard for a moment, and then silence.

After a minute of fear, Mari made the decision to see what was on the roof. She told herself it was possibly a lost delivery drone that fell on the shed. When she went outside she saw a boy looking down at her.

"Get off the roof," Mari shouted.

"No. This isn't your roof," he shouted back.

"It's not anyone's roof!"

The boy made a soft pfft noise and started laughing.

"Don't laugh at me," Mari shouted. "This shed is my responsibility!"

"Do you really want to clean this? Wouldn't you rather do something else?"

"Yeah...okay..."

It didn't take much convincing but Mari wasn't sure how she would get on the roof. The boy jumped off it and landed on the ground with a loud crash, leaving a small crack in the dirt. Mari's eyes flickered blue in the dark, under the moonlight from surprise. The boy sneered at her and started his interrogation.

"You're that Weaver I heard about," he said.

"No, I'm not a Weaver, I'm Mari."

"Fine. I'm Eric. Mari, why is a Weaver like you here?"

"I can't be a Weaver, don't they hate electricity? Aren't you one? Who jumps off a building like that."

Eric held out his left arm, his wrist went limp and said maintenance mode. 

Little clicks and whirs could be heard as parts of Eric came undone. The entirety of his arm was man-made. The inside parts glowed a soft green, the same color as his eyes. The wires imitated major blood arteries, pieces of silicone were put in various parts to imitate the human feeling of muscles and fat, and the top of his shoulder was carefully wired into a converter that was attached to the organic parts of his body.

He let Mari inspect his arm up and down. He was used to the curiosity, but let her get close because her ignorance seemed natural and not malicious.

"Can I touch," she asked softly.

"Sure."

Mari reluctantly touched one of the major green pulsing wires.

Eric let out a blood-curdling scream and Mari started screaming.

"Oh no, we need to get you to the infirmary, we need to-"

Eric started laughing as his left arm clicked back into place. Mari had another prank on her, but this time at least her life wasn't put in danger. She glared at him in silence even after he apologized, and he felt bad, so he offered to take her up on the roof.

"How," Mari asked.

"Just come here."

He grabbed her by the waist and she panicked by the over-familiarity from a boy she had just met. He grabbed her tight, launched them into the air, and landed on the roof as if were perfectly natural. He let her go and little sparks came out of her fingertips and her palms became sweaty.

"Are you a Weaver," she asked him.

"I am about 2% short of legally being a cyborg," Eric said. "Lost parts of the left side of my body in an accident when I was a kid."

"Oh my gosh, are you OKAY," Mari shouted.

There was an awkward pause when Mari realized what she said.

Eric started laughing again and she turned red all over. Her lack of socialization was starting to catch up with her, and she was lucky everyone found it funny instead of troubling.

Eric sat down on the tin roof and patted the spot next to him for her to sit down at. She joined him and Eric informed her that he was in fact, okay. 

"I lived, clearly," he laughed. "My parents didn't though."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"It's fine. I mean its not but, my aunt and uncle are my parents now. They're all I need."

"Is that why you came here? I came here to make my parents proud," Mari said. "To take care of them when they get old."

"Nah. I just came because I didn't know what to do. At night I like to stare at the Three Sisters and ask them for guidance."

He pointed at the three moons of Centrium, and Mari found it interesting how he referred to them.

"Never heard them called that before. I've heard them called 'The Triplets'."

"Well they're the Three Sisters," Eric said with confidence. "They're the children of the All-Father."

"What's that?"

"They call him Optima now. Weird name if you ask me."

"That's my last name," Mari replied.

"Still weird."

She playfully flicked his left arm but he made no reaction and she realized he couldn't feel a thing and it made her grumpy.

Eric looked at her skeptically and was convinced that she was not a Weaver.

"You don't know any of these things and yet you can control one of the Ten Paths," Eric asked her.

"I...I don't know any of that."

"If you want to know more, come with me to the park. The big one near the center of the Fadeno. When we have our next free day off I'm going there to meet some friends. They can teach you more."

"What are your friends like? Are they cyborgs too?"

"No," he chuckled. "But I know they'd like you. You're different, Mari."

Mari did not like being different. She liked being in a group. This made her sad and Eric was confused because he meant that she was special. 

"I don't want to be different. I think I'm fine."

"Well if you change your mind I'll be at the fountain at Parking Lot A. I'm getting a ride there that day in the afternoon. See ya."

He stood up, leaped off the large shed, and ran off into the dark. Mari spent a few minutes relaxing in the dark watching the Three Sisters.

"Wait," Mari said to herself softly. "I can't get down."

Mari was stuck on the roof until someone came to get her in the morning.