The Funeral (The Chosen, Act 1, Part 7)
Act 1:
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6
June 16th, 2166
Funerals used to be something sacred, a last chance to say goodbye to your loved ones. The bodies of the dead were buried or burnt, ashes scattered in places that used to be important to them while still alive. But things had changed, wasting organic matter like that wasn’t an option anymore. Not after the natural resources hadn’t been enough anymore to keep the growing population alive.
To keep humanity from starving on a large scale, a solution had been introduced, based on an old book. After someone died, their body was collected by the authorities, transported to a processing factory and broken down. It wasn’t enough to replace grown and artificially produced food, but the processed remains of the dead qualified as a food supplement for the poorest of the poor.@suesa
Or at least that was the case when a human died. Dead aliens were a different story, and their bodies were problematic. At first, that hadn’t been an issue, as the aliens just took care of their own, without telling humanity what they actually did. But with the introduction of hybrids, humans needed to adapt to this new species, this danger for their ecosystem.
Uncertainty had prevailed for several years, until a chemist named Zachary Nowacki discovered, that the dead hybrids could be used as an energy source. The human part allowed for proper incineration, while the alien part increased the heat by a multitude.
This chain of events and inventions finally lead to Mia and Joel standing in front of a small incinerator, located in the nearest power plant. Joel was holding Mia, stabilizing her, as she could barely stand. Her face was swollen from crying almost constantly the past few days, and her color resembled a frequently washed sheet: greyish white.
The interrogation by the police hadn’t taken as long as Joel had expected it to, they had let him go after just two hours of questioning. He had reverted back to his role as a priest, telling the officers half-truths. Yes, he had been aware of Xeraias’ involvement in the drug trade. No, he hadn’t participated himself. Yes, he had lied to Mia about who he is, could the officers please keep this a secret? There was no reason to upset the poor woman even more. No, she wasn’t involved in any of the illegal activities either.
Questioning of Mia had been just as short, as the case seemed clear to the police. The hybrid had been involved too deeply into the drug business and finally paid the price for that. No need to waste precious resources on further investigations. There had been just one thing the officers hadn’t believed: That Xeraias was truly the father of Mia’s child. They had pushed and pushed to make her give up the name of the real father, even suggesting it might be Joel. But Mia had repeatedly told them they were wrong, until they finally gave up. It didn’t matter anyway.
Mia started sobbing again, and Joel pulled her tighter. A man approached, headed into their direction. He was pushing a cart, which was covered with a thin piece of cloth. But the shape under the cloth was clearly humanoid. The hybrid. Xeraias.
”You’re the wife?” The man asked Mia. She nodded, unable to speak through her tears. ”I need you to sign this.” He handed her a form and a pen, but Joel snatched it from him, skimming the page.
”This says that your office can keep all personal belongings found on the corpse, including gold teeth and jewelry”, Joel said, anger in his voice. ”What is this? Are you trying to rob a widow? Hasn’t she suffered enough?” The man turned a dark shade of red.
”It’s normal procedure”, he explained. ”It’s how we’re paid for our work. The law prevents us from charging a fee, but somehow, the people here have to be paid. You have to understand us here!”
”I don’t have to do anything, this is robbery! I demand …” Mia’s hand on his arm interrupted him.
”Don’t”, she whispered. *”It’s not worth it.
”But …”
”Joel, please.”
He gritted his teeth and handed her the form, which she quickly signed. The man took it from her and quickly stuffed it in one of his pockets, as if he was afraid that Joel might take it away again.
”Thank you, Ma’am.” He then opened the door of the incinerator, pushed in the corpse with the blanked, closed it again and pushed a button. Roaring flames wound around what once had been Xeraias.
Joel could feel the last strength leave Mia’s body and had to try harder to keep her upright. Without his support, she would surely have fallen to the floor and have hurt not just herself, but the baby too.
”We should go home”, he suggested. There was no reaction from Mia, but she didn’t fight him when he carefully carried her to the exit.
The walk home felt longer than it was, as Mia’s weight dragged Joel down. He clearly felt all the missed workouts, all the days he had been lazy in the last six months, instead of training his body. But he needed to be there for Mia, he had promised it to Xeraias. And he couldn’t just break a promise to a dead man. Hybrid. Person.
Finally, they walked through the door, and Joel put Mia down on the bed, where she curled up into a ball of sadness.
”Please”, she said weakly, ”I need some time alone.”
”Of course”, Joel replied. ”I will go out for a bit, but will return later. You get some rest.”
Leaving Mia behind didn’t feel right, but Joel knew, that she needed space and time to grieve. As there wasn’t much else he could do to alleviate her pain, he felt like he should give her at least that.
He walked through the streets of the city that had become so familiar to him during the five months he had lived here. Once so intimidating, now a common sight. Even the aliens didn’t feel as dangerous anymore. Joel was at home.
A hand suddenly reached out from a dark alley and pulled him from the street. It happened so quickly, that Joel didn’t have a chance to react, before he felt a hand pressed against his mouth.
”Don’t scream”, an unknown voice said. ”I belong to the society. I’m here to give you your new orders. Nod, if you’ve understood.”
With his heart beating up to his throat, Joel nodded slightly and was immediately released.
”You couldn’t send me a text message or something?” He asked dryly. The person who had surprised him, a tall woman, rolled her eyes.
”That’s not safe enough. And you left most of your equipment in your transport capsule.”
”Oh, yes. I forgot about that. So, you said you have new orders for me?”
”Yes. We’ve heard about the hybrid’s death. We know, that you suspected that he was the chosen one.”
”You did? But why did nobody contact me?”
”Because we didn’t share your opinion. But now we think we know who it is instead.”
”Who?”
”The child.”
”The child? Mia’s child?” Joel was taken aback. ”I don’t even think it’s Xeraias’ kid, and you think it’s the actual chosen one?”
”We have reliable info that the child is, indeed, fathered by the hybrid.”
”That’s a first.”
”Indeed, it is. And that’s where your new orders come into play. Your new and only objective is to stay with the mother until she gives birth. And then you take the child and bring it to us.”
Thats interesting! I just discovered your story and will follow it. But future is full of surprises. You never know what can be done with dead bodies in the future :) Keep it up!
@apsu will hate you :D
I can never hate anyone who's using corpses as fuel for energy.
I did feel alike bit bad about the other parts though :'(
Finally I have had the time to sit down and catch up on this series. I can't bear to just "skim" your stories. I need to sit down somewhere quiet with some tea or something and really read them.
I'm really enjoying it so far. I like that Joel seems to be exhibiting some aspect of personal growth. Your characters are never flat, the main ones at least... one of the many joys of reading a @suesa story.
Don't you dare to touch the child you bastards!
Leave Britney alone! That's the name of the unborn child. Britney Bubba Bobberson.
Uuhhhm
We call hem our sweet Triple-B before hir career as a professional wrestler starts.
According to Google Zachary Nowacki is an account manager. Not sure if energy calculations are right.
Hmmm, how do they track Joel? He wasn't aware that he is being watched.
Zachary Nowacki ..... Junior
And c'mon, he's wearing a suit made from mini-robots. A GPS implant is easy.
I forgot about the suit :)