Genesis

Part Three

    Deep within time and space my small pod floated aimlessly in the dark. Cold, and for what felt like forever to land on a planet so barren and honestly terrifying. Now inside this cold shell I sit and I wait. I'm a creature of great importance, so they said. My flesh is pale and warm, my eyes as white as snow and hair like silver silk stands. I don't look normal? Or what was normality exactly? Not like them, and yet I'm searching for someone who will bring me home? They say, time waits for no man. 

And man is my destination. 

Yet for thousands of years those humans had been searching for something. Or someone. Using me as a weapon for something far greater. So I had to escape, I had to find a human. And I finally got away, my pod had burned through the atmosphere. Landing in a vast open space. Now I wait.

   I recalled what the voice had said to me through my mind. You are special, you are our only hope. Find the human, for he will set us free. I had no idea of the importance or who this human was. When you find him, you will know. Seek him out and don't forget who you are. Come home our beloved. My pod hisses and pops, its once solid shell is now nothing more than dust. And I lie in the cold, waiting, watching. Wondering where I go from here. I don't even know where I am. I just pressed a red button in the pod and I landed here. It looked empty and desolate but I'm sure it's not. 

  A snapping of twigs alerts me. I look around but see nothing but dark, shadows cast down on me from the gray hue of the moon behind low lying clouds.

   "Who?" A man speaks softly amongst the shadows. "Who are you?" Panic spreads through me, yet I don't dare move. "Are you okay?" A man comes into view. And I do nothing but stare in awe at his strange yet surreal beauty. 

  "I...I erm, fell, from up there." I said, pointing towards the black inky sky. 

  "What are you?" He asked. 

  "I..I...don't know." The man moves closer, inspecting me slumped on the cold damp ground .

  "You're beautiful," he said. "You're not human."

  "No, I'm not…" I stuttered, unsure of myself. 

  "You do look different." I looked at my hands. The same as the man's hands. "You must be freezing?" 

   "I am… I guess…" 

  "Huh?" he looked puzzled briefly, then suddenly… smiled. "Would you like to come with me?"

   Nodding, I said. "Yes." The man smiled again. Warm, comforting…. Trusting, I guess. I hoped. "Thank you."

   "Do you have a name?" He asked, holding onto me.

  "Erm, I don't know… ."

  "You don't know?." He repeated. 

  "I...I'm dangerous, they said."

  "Who said that?" He asked.

  "People. Nasty people."

  Frowning, the man silently questions the possibilities of my statement, yet he didn't seem afraid or deterred by it. "My name is Tanner."

  "Tanner," I whispered. "Okay… Tanner."

   "I'm surprised by all of this, honestly. I was out taking a detour, then I found you."

   "Yes, I fell...I'm searching."

Cocking his head to look at me. "Searching?"

   "Yes, they said, when I find the human, I will know. But I still don't know what that is." Reluctantly I held on to his arm, yet something deep inside of me swirled and I found myself staring at him again. He is so beautiful. Yet he doesn't look all together. Not like the humans on Liapra. He was different. He smelled different. Felt different. Skin and metal. Was I too trusting? Maybe. But I couldn't sit idle and have something far worse get me. "Why are you out here?" I asked and gripped him tighter when I heard strange noises from around me.

  "I was doing something, but it doesn't matter," he was firm, yet his voice was still soft with it. "Don't worry. There's nothing out here but me, you and stupid dumb creatures."

   "Creatures?"

  "Yes," he paused for a moment. "Do you know where you are?" I shook my head. "This is Fontinial, it's what they call a dead planet."

   "Dead?"

  "Yes, but not dead as in not livable. It's a planet for the vile and wicked. All manners of creatures come here because they have nowhere else to run. No authorities will come out this far either. Only mad men."

   "Does that mean you're mad?"

   He laughed and scratched the side of his neck, sending a chill through me. "I guess I'm a little mad. But not in a bad way."

   I wasn't sure what to make of my saving grace. He was all kinds of strange and I guess I should have been scared. But oddly I wasn't afraid of him, yet this planet freaked me out. They said to find the human. But how was I supposed to do that when I know nothing but that of a lab. I think I was raised in a lab? I cannot recall my life before the horrors. Until one day I heard a voice calling to me through my mind. Telling me I needed to run. I had to escape. They told me I was important. But who am I? What am I? "Where are we going?"

   He looked down at me. He was at least a foot taller than me. "My spaceship."

   "Spaceship?"

   He chuckled. "Well, it's more of a small craft. It's just over that hill," He pointed ahead of us. There was a faint glow and it made the landscape look almost red. Like blood. Like years of collected blood that was now nothing but dust. "Don't worry, it’s completely safe." 

   "I hope so," I said and looked up at him again. He was smiling. Deep dimples grace his face. "Why are you smiling?"

   "Well, it's not every day you pick up something so damn cute." No one has ever called me cute or beautiful. I was just a thing in a lab. They would prod me and poke me. They would hurt me to the point I'd black out and when I would finally come around I'd be shackled back in my small white bare room. Sometimes covered in blood. Then I'd wonder why? Why do they need me? I don't feel like a weapon, but I must be because it was never my blood I was soaked in. I wondered how I came to be like that. Was it in the times when I was out? Did I do things I wasn't aware of? I would ask, many many times and they'd act as if I didn't say anything at all. Then I realized how alone I really was. I was so alone and afraid. Afraid of them, afraid of myself. 

  I sighed and took in a lungful of air, it was thick and heavy, even worse than before. The taste left a bitterness, like a bitter dust. Then my churning stomach caught me. Dampness lingered over nightfall, and the path seemed never-ending. It would lead to a left turn, direct us to a right, and then another straight through the same stagnant sights. Until we finally hit the hill. The air thickened as we descended. Sweat sat permanently over our skins, bringing on a lightheadedness that sapped my spirit. "I don't like this," I mumbled. I started to feel extremely nauseous and disoriented. "I need water."

   "Hold on, nearly there," He was right. His craft was right there. But I couldn't move anymore. My body felt heavy. "Here," He said and scooped me up in his arms. "Just hold on to me for a few minutes," I latched my arms around his neck and leaned my head on his shoulder. I could close my eyes and fall asleep in his arms. But then what if I hurt him? I didn't want to hurt him when he helped me. I wanted to at least say thank you. Yet words failed me. "Here we go," He said. Then a door hissed and popped open. I was still in his arms as we made it onto his craft, then gently he set me down. "I'll get you some water."

  The air grew colder for a brief moment. I stop and look around at my surroundings. "It's very messy." I mumbled, then realised he caught my remark. 

   I heard him chuckle, then he came into my field of vision again. "Well, it's not perfect. Here, water."

   "Thank you."

  "We can't be calling you… I don't know," he muttered and grinned as he looked around for something. "Here, a warm blanket. Now, on the topic of a name."

   "But, I was always just it, or that thing…..."

  He looked over at me. His eyes study each part of me. "Well, those are shitty names." 

   "What would you call me?"

  "Well, looking at you. I'd say Angel," he grins and tucked some of my hair behind my ears. "How about Sela?"

   "Sela?"

  "It's a nice name."

  "What made you think of that?"

  "I heard it once and I liked it. It suits you, don't you think?"

   "Does it mean anything?"

   "I think it means forever. I can't be sure."

   I'm very tired now. I got completely sidetracked with the whole name thing. What I wanted to get onto was the mission I'm on. Maybe if I talk the important part through some good can come of this rambling. "Can you help me?" I asked. Tanner looked at me again and smiled. His dimples are even deeper this time. "Can you?"

   "Depends, really. What is it you are trying to do?"

  "I ran away. I stole that pod and I left. A voice told me I had to run."

   "So you're hearing voices? Doesn't sound too good."

   "I'm not mad," I snapped, then held it together. "A voice filtered through me, like some kind of telepathy. Telling me I had to run. That I needed to save something."

   "Save something?"

   "I...I don't know." I tried to smile back at him, though I didn't know how convincing I was. "I honestly don't know anything," I added. He looked more than interested in my plite which had me feeling suspicious of the guy. I guess I was kind of suspicious the whole time. Who just goes out for a wander in a place like this? Is he really just mad or is he up to something? I needed to know. Although in my experience asking never got me anywhere but stuffed back in a lab. "Why are you really out here, Tanner?"

   He huffed and moved from in front of me and took a seat at the front. He pressed a button. A cracked white noise pierced my ears and then a voice came over the speaker. "What's your report?"

   "It's not here. Not on Fontinial. Maybe it drifted further away, possibly Gronos."

   "Mr. Tanner. If you want payment, find it. Time is of the essence."

   "Yes sir." And the voice was gone. He turned to look at me. "Obviously that was a lie," he said, smirking. "I already found you." My heart sank and my breath hitched. The light of his craft was replaced by the rapid tide of darkness. I couldn't believe it. I shouldn't have trusted him. He knew, he already knew. He must have followed me. I wanted to ask why, but I couldn't speak. I couldn't move. And I couldn't see anything but darkness.