Interference (ON HOLD)

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

She took a deep breath and listened carefully. D always established her first impression of a planet with her eyes closed, using her other senses. First by sound, then by touch. You could sense so much more about your surroundings if you couldn’t see them. To her left, she heard a musical chirping in the distance. Birds. Birds singing were always a good sign.  They indicated clean air. And there was a dull thrumming she couldn’t place somewhere closer than the birds. Vibrations traveling through the air. Rhythmic. Soothing. But not entirely consistent.  

Her fingers found the soft fabric around her body. A bed. It would be hers. The engagements were always very thorough. She would need a home for this one, so they had created one for her. Her fingers travelled up to touch her head, to discover her favourite sensation in any placement. Gone was the smooth surface of her scalp. Replaced by long, thick strands of hair. She traced the strands down until her hand came to rest just below her breasts. She loved when they gave her long hair.

She brushed her fingers against the skin of her face. Down along the curves of her body. The feeling was so different from the smooth, uniform bodies they inhabited in The Commune. D inhaled and danced her fingers against her lips. This was the first time she’d returned to the same persona, but this time, she was six years older. The body had changed.

From beyond the room she was in, she heard the sound of footsteps, a rattle of glass and laughing voices. She let her eyes flicker open and took in the room. The walls were covered in a dark wood paneling, the ceiling in an intricate patterned tin. She pushed herself up into a sitting position and looked around the room. A television set sat at the end of the bed. An open door at the end of the room led into another room. A small kitchen area was visible through the opening. The room was more opulent than she expected. The blankets were soft and plush. The light filtering through the floaty curtains over the window was gentle and inviting.

FauleryValley was located on Blosher, a fairly average planet by all accounts. She’d been to several like it, so she knew basically what to expect. There were easier planets, but there were definitely more difficult planets to reside on.  D pushed herself out of her bed and walked over to the mirror. She smiled as she took in the long, straight strands of orangey-red hair. Her eyes were no longer that flat white. Now they were a brilliant amber colour. Her skin was still pale, but not the see-through transparency of Traveler skin. Freckles dotted the bridge of her nose and her lips were a perfect shade of pink. The bow of the upper lip straightened as her mouth stretched out into a wide smile.

She walked towards the closet and pushed open the doors to reveal a row of dresses. Along the floor were a line of thick-soled shoes and boots. She pulled a lacey white dress from the closet and ran her fingers along the complicated fabric. The grooves of the designs played against the skin on her finger tips. The feeling wasn’t as intense as she had imagined it would be. Bringing her fingers to her face, she took note of the tips of her fingers. The skin was thicker than normal, covered in calluses from use. She glanced around the small space, wondering what could have caused the delicate skin to solidify in such a way. There, against the far wall, a guitar. That would cause this kind of damage.

Details like that helped her understand who she was in this world, much more than the description provided in the assignment room. She didn’t know why the Masters didn’t realize that there was more to an engagement than just the surface details. But this life was different from her, different from anything else she’d ever encountered. She already knew this girl from her previous visit. To have a real understanding of this body as child was something she’d never experienced before. D remembered that shy eleven year old she’d inhabited on her last visit. Remembered the way the body used to feel, how foreign it was, but familiar at the same time. Remembered the moments that had formed this girl’s experience and wondered how that would influence the way she performed in this engagement.

D stepped into her dress, and began pulling up the long white sleeves. Along the inside of her forearms were lines of thin white scars. She searched through the identity profile and found the information she needed. Her lovable child had grown up to cut herself. D closed her eyes and swallowed. She hated personas that required this kind of emotional motivation. She didn’t know how it could be useful for saving Carly. She quickly pulled the sleeves up and slid the zipper shut. The dress cinched at the waist and flared out in the skirt, ending just above her knees. She’d worn dresses like this before, on other planets, but those had been long, confining dresses of proper, stoic woman. This dress was fun and cute. She spun in a circle and watched the lacy skirt billow around her. The long hair spun around her face, coming to rest around her neck and across her face.

She smiled to herself and grabbed the big gingham bag sitting on the table beside the door. A quick look around the room confirmed a piece of information that had been unclear in the profile. She was alone here. Normally, engagements involving minor-aged personas were accompanied by other Travelers to act as parents or guardians. This body was seventeen years old, but this place was some kind of hotel or rooming house. Everything she needed was in this room. It was a self-contained living space. She mentally flipped through the quick facts profile she’d been given, but the back story for why she was living on her own wasn’t listed. She needed that information before she saw Carly again.

Flopping onto the end of the bed, she reached into the bag and pulled out a small white cube that fit in the palm of her hand. The cube had no discernable opening, but when D ran her fingers along the right side, a small latch materialized on the front. She touched the cube to her lips and the top of the cube popped open. Inside was her crystal flower. D pulled the totem from the box and released a slow cool breath onto the petals of the flower.

She felt the energy from The Commune pulse through the totem and into her skin. She closed her eyes and watched the images of this persona’s life flash across her eyelids.  Unlike normal assignments, where they could access all the information from childhood forward, she could only access images from after her last involvement with Carly. This was the information she would need to be able to relay to explain why she’d disappeared and why she was back. She watched it all. Her fictional life played out before her eyes. There were the awkward years of puberty. The teenage angst she’d played out in so many other assignments. Then there were the images of her sitting in a closet, back pressed against the wall, listening to voices shouting from another room. The pain and anguish of another bout of fighting. A sharp piece of metal across her skin. The bubbles of blood rose to the surface. The feeling of relief flooded the image and D suddenly understood why this had happened.

The image changed to a girl on the cusp of adulthood, confident and self assured, unwilling to put up with her parents any longer. Moving out of the house where all the pain resided. Setting out on her own. Moving back across the country to the last place where she had good memories. To FauleryValley. To complete her last year of high school. To find the one friend that had ever really meant anything to her. D opened her eyes, feeling completely like the girl she was supposed to be.

It was time to go find Carly, her oldest friend. D still knew that she was here on assignment, but this already felt different. She felt immersed in the role in a way she never had before. She didn’t imagine that this engagement would be that difficult. She liked Carly, saving her life would be a pleasure. Besides, she’d already done it once before. She pushed herself off the bed and straightened. No longer was she D. Now she was Davey Nesbitt, seventeen-year-old girl, guitar player, former cutter, and aspiring best friend.

She placed the flower into the box. The cube was deactivated and placed back in the large purse she threw over her shoulder. As her only connection to home, it would be carried with her at all times, just in case. Now, she needed to get to work and figure out what had gone wrong in Carly’s life and how she was supposed to save the girl’s life. Again.