True Calling by Siobhan Davis

Author:Siobhan Davis [Davis, Siobhan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780992930417
Publisher: Siobhan Davis
Published: 2013-08-12T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 17

I try to analyse what it means. Is she starting to remember me? Us? Only I’m not sure if that’s possible. Agent Dale had explained the nature and purpose of the Vita to me.

There was so little time for me to say goodbye to Ari that spring day. Malcolm had taken me into his confidence a few weeks before the change happened. He wanted me to go with them to Novo and had arranged for me to attend an assessment. I ticked all the boxes except for one; I failed the medical assessment on account of my heart condition. And despite my desirable computer skills, my youth, my otherwise strong physique, good character and Malcolm’s personal recommendation, my application had been declined. I only received word the day before the scheduled journey; Malcolm had been appealing it to the highest levels within the new regime, to no avail. My bag had already been packed. All I could think of those last few hours was if, and when, I would get to see Ari again. We had plotted and planned and made fervent promises to keep in daily contact. We made a pact: to not ever lose hope of seeing each other again.

But it was unchartered territory and who were we? Two kids in the first flush of young love. My own reality was happening on Earth. The new authorities took to power immediately and wasted no time in exerting their control. Life as I had known it, altered dramatically overnight. Forced to leave school and find work, separated from my family, my past times and freedom drastically curtailed. All my attempts to email Ari failed—I received one bounced mail after another. I couldn’t understand why she didn’t make contact with me. I went through the whole gamut of emotions. Denial of what was happening, swiftly followed by anger, at her, at the authorities. I then sank into depression, distraught at her loss and the futility of my situation. Gradually I resigned myself to my fate and learned to accept it. I never stopped pining for her though, and hoping that someday, somehow we could reconnect.

When Agent Dale explained that all Novo residents memories of those left behind on Earth had been wiped that first day—when the nostalgia elixir was administered and the Vita was inserted—I felt relieved to finally have an explanation. Ari hadn’t chosen to forget me, she’d been forced to. Then despair set in. If she can’t remember me, and she’s forbidden from returning to Earth, how will we ever find our way back to each other? And if we do, will I be the only one who has retained those feelings? Or will it all come flooding back to her? It was upsetting but still the most hopeful I had felt in the two years since I’d last seen her. If I can find a way to get to her, I will find a way to make it work. She fell in love with me once before and it can happen again.

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