chapter eight
“So what could it mean?” I asked.
“It means we skipped a lot of unnecessary stuff when transitioning to the new chapter,” Memmi said.
“No, the watermelon! You asked for a memento, I've definitely had watermelon before. I could copy and paste the whole monologue here for you to read, if you want me?”
“No, no, they just got done reading it! And even then, they can click back to the last chapter to read it, it's not that hard!” Memmi said, “But as for what it could mean... well, let's say the watermelon is your heart, right?”
“The blood pumpy thing?”563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡytYp0b9K9N
“The juice is your innocence, your childhood, it seeps out. You ever watch that old Mark Osborne short film MORE? It's kinda like that.”
“I don't understand.”
“Yes!” She said.
“So the watermelon reminded me of my childhood? Well, yeah, that's what happened, I guess.”
“So when you find more of that innocence, that juice, it revitalizes your heart, you're renewed, and that's where the memory came from. It also goes great in mixed drinks! Speaking of...”
“Memmi? I've got a quick question.”
“You're about to say what I am saying is meandering, wandering, it doesn't mean much of anything and is mostly filibuster to pad out the story's length, aren't you?”
“What? No, I... I mean, sure, it is, but more importantly, I'm wondering if maybe there's something that we're missing.”
“Wh... oh, oh yeah, there definitely is. Here. On this piece of paper, I want you to assemble the timeline of your old life.”
“See, I was thinking of doing this earlier!”
“Yeah, we can read, Tammy, but start at the beginning.”
“Well, the watermelon thing had to be early, and then I had a memory about meeting a man over five hundred of some currency, and then there's there was this fight with a monster.”
“And that's all?”
“Yep, that's all I remember. I guess there was talk in the last one, I was going to be an intern with the police, I had a twin brother in the memory, Scott? He ends up moving to this place, Chicago. I think I've heard Constantine talk about Chicago.”
“Ah, Chicago, hog butcher for the world, tool make--”
“Memmi, focus.”
“Right, right,” she said, clearing her throat and pouring a second glass of some pink liquid in a glass bottle, “Well, your past life... you were a brother to a twin, and he left, and you became a... bounty hunter? If you explained that right?”
“I guess.”
“Do you think you went down that road out of bitterness of no longer having a brother?”
“Memmi, I literally do not remember.”
“Are you sure? What if I started chucking words at you to trigger a flashback sequence?”
“Memmi, this i--”
“Argument! Betrayal! Worry, deceit, broken promises, trials, heartbreak?”
“Memmi, I'm pretty sure this isn't working.”
“I'm going to have to disagree!”
“Di--
“I disagree with what you're doing, Scott. All the way to Chicago? But we won't be able to spend time together as brothers anymore!”
“There's the Internet for stuff like that, Cal, you're worrying over nothing. We can make it work! They're giving me an amazing opportunity, I need to take it. I mean, the University is paying for $20,000 a year, and then Horizon is giving me the other 15 grand, letting me attend for free as long as I can keep up with the work. And besides, it's only four years! If things don't work out quite right at the studio, I can come back here to Kennewick. Or maybe you could transfer to the Chicago PD when you're done with your internship and get that criminal justice degree?”
“No, this isn't fair to me! Look, I've done a lot for you, we've all done a lot, and now you're just bailing?”
“Cal, I--”
“No, I don't want to hear i
“--ssagree?”
“Ah, it worked!”
“Uh, oh, how long was I out?”
“Oh, it was only about an argument long.”
“I was upset at my twin brother for moving, but, like, I get what he did. Was... was I a jerk?”
“Maybe! Possibly! We all are, in a way, if you consider it.”
“But, like... I had a gun and all this and that, I think I might have been a...”
“Well, what's important, good person or otherwise, is you're not them right now, but you also are! You're a harsher critic on yourself more than others unless presented with a comment board to post anonymously to, so you're critiquing who you were as who you were, but also as an outsider who sees the good in intentions!”
“So I was a jerk?”
“Whuh? Um, not usually, you might have also had good intentions in the moment! What I would recommend for you is to to keep an open mind, give yourself time to analyze your memories, and then eventually you can make a better judgment as to who you were.”
“Do you think my old body is still around?”
“Yeah, probably. If not, well, you still have that soft little vessel you've been running around in.”
“I have grown kind of attached to being Tammy. People love her, she's cute.”
“Ah, but what's your intentions with your current form?”
“Find out stuff, explore the afterward, an--”
“Ah, you're doing it!”
“What am I doing?”
“You're no longer capitalizing the “A” in “afterward”!”
“Huh. I think I've been doing that for a while.”
“Amazing! You're becoming a metamancer, it seems! That's pretty much an inevitability here, you spend enough time, you can do a lot of things with the medium you're presented. Just imagine if this was a film or something! How would we do that?”
“Will I become... like Kroff or Flant?”
“An after? No, you'll still be human or whatever you were prior, just you have a bit more control over the story you live in. You become the master of your domain instead of some author who probably thinks he's all artsy because he writes on a commuter train every day.”
“Oh.”
“So, with all that said, I think you've got a destiny laid out, now all you need is a little robot thingy and some weapons and you'll have a Destiny!”
“Um..”
“Right, then! You'll bring me other mementos as you find them and we can piece together your life again!”
“Thanks, Memmi!”
“Nothin' to it!” She said, pouring a third drink.
I headed out to the Ridgelands station, quietly stepped into the train, fumbled like I was looking for my token, and once the train shot out of the station and nobody was looking, I leaned back against the door, looking out the side windows. The train dipped below the water and through the darkness, before coming to an abrupt stop. The doors slid open and a horrible creaking groan erupted from the speakers.
I waited in the vestibule for a minute. For two. The train sat in the darkness, the light from inside spilling out to illuminate a little bit of the ground around the train. I poked my head out, and in the darkness I could make out that the side of the train car was silver. I waited in the vestibule for another minute, but the doors would not close. I really had no choice, I needed to get to the front of the train and see if there was a way to move it or ask the driver why we're waiting. I stepped out and quickly made my way to the next train car up ahead, but the doors suddenly slammed shut. I reached for the door, but couldn't pry it open as it rolled out ahead. Was it waiting for me to leave, or was I just unlucky?
I stood there in the absolute darkness of wherever I was. Well, if it was any consolation, I could just wait here for another train. I looked around, trying to make sense of the darkness, and as my eyes adjusted, I could tell I was in a pale ruined metro station.
ns 15.158.61.20da2
