79. The One

        Realizing she was late, oblivious to her damaged appearance, nerves overrode confidence as Zara hurried into the Infrastructure office even though she was doing the Right Thing. She tried her best to slip inside unnoticed but it was futile, she could feel everyone looking at her, she could hear gasps...
         Nerve wrecked, she glanced around, it was like the Lashing all over again, a thousand eyes were focused upon her, some even stood to get a better view, all of them had either shocked or snickering faces! Was she so late?

         For a moment her mind went blank, she couldn't remember where she was or what she was supposed to be doing but she knew where her desk was...

Doing her best to ignore the attention, she hurried on to her desk, convinced it was all just a really bad dream. But when she got to her desk, the chair felt real, her desk was really there... It wasn't a dream... Everyone was staring at her... What had she done? 

        She couldn't remember anything at all! Panic began to set in, she looked at the things on her desk, trying to remember what she was supposed to be doing or where she was supposed to go… There were new tablets to file... When to her horror, a big red drop of blood landed on the desk below her. "AAAAgh!" She jumped back, reaching for her head in shock... IT WAS WET! She glanced at her hand.... IT WAS COVERED IN BLOOD!!!

         Nolan watched her fret from the layout table, reminded once again why he hated going down into the design offices as Zara walked into the room; it was Endless Drama down here. Zara again? She looked awful, she was covered in dirt, her wig looked terrible already, he caught a glimpse of her scalp!!! What the Hellias happened to her hair? 

        Memories of the train trip reminded him of things he wished weren't true. He knew what happened. She had some serious malfunction issues, coming to work looking like that! Amazed by her lack of self respect, he watched her sit down at her desk and behave like a nutter as if nothing was wrong, mind blown. He had lusted over her? How could he have been so deceived?

         But he wasn't convinced he could believe what he was seeing, either. She was once a genuinely bright gen, genuinely attractive... Something was really wrong. This wasn't the same nerdy girl from the boat, this was someone else, why was this happening to her? Was she just a flawed example?

         Mental vignettes of carts full of Moha Lab expirees on their way to the Dogon Diner returned for re-runs.... This was how they ended up there... It was natural... Some gens just didn't make it... Feeling compassionate for her now, he walked over to ask what happened. "Zara? Are you okay?"

         Zara looked up from the drop of blood to behold a vision, convinced now that this really truly had to be some crazy dream... "Nolan?"

         "I think you need to get some Medical Treatment" he advised.

         "Medical Treatment..." He was right... Medel had spoken to him... What did it mean? Was he The One? The One Who Would Save Her?

         "Zara!" Nolan could see she wasn't really conscious, he snapped his fingers in her face.      

         She blinked and looked around the room, wide eyed now. "What happened?" For a fleeting moment she recalled the Foreman yelling at her as he snapped his fingers so rudely in her face. She glanced at her hand again... "Look! I'm bleeding!"

         "Yes. I think you need to get some Medical Treatment!"

         He scanned the room for a suitable candidate to accompany her downstairs but everyone quickly sat down, looked away and got back to work.

         "Let me take you downstairs for Medical Treatment" he offered, holding out his hand.

         "Oh... Okay..." Zara tried to remember why Nolan was suggesting she receive Medical Treatment, perhaps it was a sign he really did care about her.... Was this a sign that he was The One after all?

         "Come." He reached for her hand.

         Zara took his hand and followed him out the office, but there was no spinny vortex feeling this time, even though his hand, holding hers so tenderly, his care, felt so real...

         Zara sat silently beside Nolan in the waiting room of the Moha Lab, trying to savor the moment but snapshots of the incident at the site office were beginning to flash back now. Competing with horrific snapshots were the magnetic eyes of Dr Seton judging her from the gilded frame on the wall, it took every atom of self control not to look.

         She tried to block his eyes out and make light conversation with Nolan now that he was finally making a move on her but the throbbing pain was increasing, along with the images of the Foreman, raging, the Graduation Ceremonial Sacrifice, everything was suddenly speeding up, mashing up… She felt sick.

         She scanned the room, a familiar waiting room now... Naturally her thoughts returned to Eden… It had been such a long time since she first met such a beautiful goddess: the day her life fell apart. Had she said No to Dena that day and worn the clothes that were labeled Zara, perhaps her life would have turned out better, perhaps she would have enjoyed the Vine Club?

         It was a dawning moment of realization. How fleeting time had been, how easily life could be ruined by making just one lousy wrong choice. And why did it have to be here, at rock bottom, that she finally got a chance to sit next to Nolan, alone?

         Thoughts of love began to blossom forth, chasing the dragons away. Secrets she yearned to tell him were suddenly tingling her lips, secrets of how she really felt about him… Did she dare utter them?
         Heart pounding at the thought she stiffened, bracing herself for bravery, summoning the courage to do such a thing. An inner debate began immediately, an inner voice that was bold and outspoken, an inner voice she never dared let out was reasoning with her now. "Tell him!" Then the other voice, scolding. "Don’t!" Perhaps if he knew how she really felt he would reveal the same feelings for her? 

        "Tell him!" 

        "Don’t!"

         She turned toward Nolan, overcoming the pressures of life's fleeting chances... But just as her lips opened to utter those touching words, the door opened and Adon emerged to greet them, clutching a red folder, just in time to remind her of her place. 

        "Your Honour" he saluted, surprised to see Nolan bringing Zara to the lab, in person. "Zara?"

         It was comforting that he recalled her name. "Yes, Your Honor!"

         "You can call me Adon" he reminded with a smile. "How nice to see you again! Mighty Medel! What on earth happened to your head?"

         "My head?" Zara asked, reaching for her head... 

         The Grill was quiet at 2 o'clock once the luncheon rush was over, it was a good time to discuss some final arrangements for the Old Empire. The waitress topped up the goblets while the goddesses poured over the latest spanner in the works. Reports from the lab indicated one of their Wig Program Golden's was facing a premature Expiry Assessment. Zara's accident report didn't look good.

         "Look at this one…" Hedena passed it to her sister. "Glow Boy... Look at his stats. I doubt Seton will let us sacrifice that one for the Final Graduation Ceremony!"

         "Hmmm... " Medena scrutinized the details of the report, she knew all about Zara’s glowing Product. "What a coincidence..." She was definitely interested. "Oh, I think he'll recommend him himself!" She stamped Zara's file with a fresh expiry date without any more thought. "He'll consider it a windfall, trust me! Where's his folder?"

         Hedena knew there were things she wasn't up to speed on and it bothered her. She leafed through a wad of red folders stacked on the table and found his file, reminded of his name. "Orien" she passed it to her sister. "Double Serpent, Nummo bloodline. He's at the Ephra Institute right now."

         "Yes, I know." Medena took the red folder and began to leaf through his stats.

         "He's been doing very well, I hear."
         "Yes..." Medena pondered his unique attributes whilst leafing. "He has a glowing reputation. The timing is incredible, isn't it? Atalon would have designed him for the Final Graduation Ceremony himself, had he been the real Creator God."

         "It's a real Gift from Medel then" Hedena agreed, but it was a glitchy gift. "I don't understand... Why not keep him for breeding if he's such a good subject for the Crystal Program?"
         "The Nummo bloodline is useless for cloning" Medena explained.

         "What?" Hedena frowned.
         "Those double Serpents are such a pain in the ass, we can create a Glow Boy but we can't reproduce them in the lab. We've tried, trust me. That’s why Atalon's shipping the Crystal Gen project to Ebar, there's better bloodlines to work with over there."
         "Good! I'll bet the Crystal Program is a disaster" Hedena had little hope for it. "Atalon has no idea what he's getting himself into. Who told you all this?"

         "I heard it at the Salon" Medena replied. "You ought to go there more often!"