Branches of Longevity Challenge: The beginning of a new journey

As Coryana awoke, she felt immense pain in her stomach. She was so exhausted by her escape and the stress she went through, that she had fallen asleep as soon as she had reached her room the day before. She then understood, that she had completely forgotten to eat. The stinging pain in her stomach made it almost impossible for her to get up out of bed. She looked around the room and suddenly she remembered, that Roxani had told her about the COM. She turned on her right side and stretched out her arm as far as she could, but the stinging pain intensified through her movements. Coryana let out a moan of pain, but she had to do something, the pain would not go away on its own. She slid further over to the edge of the bed and tried to stretch her fingers far enough to active the COM system. Finally she succeeded, „Roxani….“ she said with clenched teeth, in a desperate motion to endure the pain. „Coryana? Are you okay? You sound like you‘re in pain?!“, Roxani was worried. „Hang on, I’ll be right there!“, just a few minutes later, Roxani rushed into the room. Coryana had pulled up her legs and was holding her stomach. „What’s wrong?“ Roxani inquired. „I… didn’t eat…. Yesterday… my stomach… hurts…“, Coryana replied, while still enduring the pain the best she could. „I will bring you something light to eat. I’m sure it will get better once you eat.“ Roxani was cheerful, now that she knew she could help Coryana easily.

While she was waiting for Roxani to return with the food, Coryana pondered about her escape and what she was going to do at this hideout. How would she continue her journey? Who should she talk to, to discover the whereabouts of her engineers and sister Sophie..? She decided to start by asking Roxani if she knew anything. And if this wouldn’t be the case, she would ask her, if she knew anyone else who could help her. Although the minority group was keeping her safe for now, Coryana couldn’t help but feeling suspicious. Surely they wouldn’t let her stay, let alone help her, without gaining something themselves.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Roxani, who came into the room with a tray. „I asked them to cook some chicken soup for you, I thought it might be easier to digest for your stomach.“, Roxani smiled while placing the tray on the metal table infront of the bed. „Take your time, if you need anything call me over the COM again-“, Coryana interrupted Roxani „ Could you… please… stay? I would… like to… talk to you,…. If… you have…. some time… to spare….“, Coryana still had a hard time speaking with the stinging pain lingering in her abdomen. „You should eat first, you can’t really hold a conversation if you are in pain. It’s fine, Sarin told me to take care of you today and don’t worry, we will have penty of time to talk, after you finished eating.“, Roxani reassured her. Before Roxani left the room, she looked back, Coryana was nodding and Roxani smiled kindly in return.

Once Coryana was alone she forced herself to sit up on the bed. Every move she made caused the stinging to intensify. How am I supposed to eat, if I can’t even reach my meal? Coryana was troubled and frustrated, letting out a loud sigh. Okay, you can do this…., She thought to herself. Trying to distract herself she looked around the room, while still sitting on the edge of the bed. The walls of the room were light blue, it was a small room, but all the necessities anyone would need were provided. The room had a small dresser made of metal and she saw a set of metal chairs at the table, where Roxani had put her breakfast. Suddenly Coryana realized that even the bed, she was sitting on was made of metal. What purpose does it serve to have everything in here made of metal? She was intrigued, but she continued to scout the room with her eyes. Coryana noticed a door next to the dresser, she figured it would lead to the bathroom, since she could not spot a toilet or shower anywhere. As she looked to her left, she saw a small metal shelf containing books hanging on the wall. In the meantime her stomach pains had become less and she stood up, then slowly she began approaching the chair at the table. She sat down slowly, trying not to cause herself any more pain. She took the small metal spoon and scooped up some of the chicken soup, the smell was so amazing, she felt like she was about to eat the most delicious meal she ever had. There were lots small pieces of chicken, carrots and soup noodles in it. She slurped the soup off of the spoon, in case it was still too hot. It tasted better than she could have imagined, but the stinging intensified once more as the soup reached her stomach. She proceeded to eat the soup in a cautious manner and as Roxani had predicted, the pain lessened, the more she ate.

Once Coryana had finished her meal, she stood up and walked over to the COM system on the wall next to the bed. Coryana pressed the button, „Roxani, are you there?“, „Yes. I will be there in just a moment!“ After a short while Roxani entered the room, „Should we sit down? I assume you have lots of questions, right? By the way, you sound much better, how are you feeling?“. Coryana nodded and sat down at the table opposite of Roxanis chair. „I am feeling better, thank you. The pain has gone and the soup was outstanding. Yes, as I mentioned earlier I wanted to have a talk with you. Well, I hope you don’t mind but I will just put it bluntly~“ „Go ahead“, Roxani replied smiling kindly as always. „Do you know who my engineers are or where my sister Sophie Guerra is? She should be around 27 years old now…“
„Well, I don’t know who your engineers are, you should probably ask Sarin about it. Normally he would be the one sitting here right now, talking to you, because you were asigned to him. But he had some urgent business to take care of today, that is why I am here instead of him.
Regarding your sister, well, I have only heard some things from Sarin. He has been gathering information on you, including your background. He told me you will not find a person with the name Sophie Guerra, because it seems she was adopted by another family when she was 5 years old. She probably had to give up her family name…. I’m sorry I can’t tell you more than that, Coryana….“, Roxani looked troubled by the fact, that she could not really help Coryana. „It’s okay… Thank you for telling me what you know….By the way, who is this Sarin you mentioned? And why has he been gathering information about me?“, Coryana felt uneasy about what she had just heard, since she didn’t even know much about her background herself. „Sarin is the man that brought you here. Here we gather Intel in general, that is partially how we survive, we sell Intel and of course to protect ourselves. But don’t worry, even though we gather information about people we are helping or have business with, that Data is not for sale. Since Sarin is in charge of you, he needs to know as much as possible, not only to help you find information about your family, but also to help you on your future journey. I am sure, you won’t be satisfied by just getting information, you want to go look for them, don’t you?“

Coryana felt somewhat relieved with Roxanis explanation. „You’re right, I want to find Sophie and my engineers. I want to know exactly what happened and if my creation had a special purpose. I had recordings of my father engineer, but to be honest, I doubt that I was created out of love…. Besides, I want to change this rotten world. Very few seem to notice, that things only changed for the born race. My race still has to suffer in the exact same way as it had under the Statutes rule. I have only heard about the Statute from the recordings, but I also learned a little about how my parents were treated….“, Coryana was sad. „So, then you know the names of your engineers?“ Roxani seemed surprised. „No, I am talking about Sasha and Greg Guerra, the couple that raised me. They will always be my parents, even if I was only with them for 5 years…. They were the only ones who ever showed me love and affection. They truly cared for me,….but they are no longer in this world….“
„Are you sure you can trust the recordings Coryana? What if that person lied to you?“ Roxani started to become suspicious of the validity of the recordings. Coryana was caught off guard, she had never considered this possibility. Could this be true? She suddenly felt like the floor had been torn from beneath her feet.
It couldn’t be true.
It just couldn’t.

To be continued….