The Departure Protocol

Chapter 10

"Coward," she whispered with a smile. "It's ok. I think I need to rest after all of this anyway."

As Wared led her out of the hall, he noticed Henrin and his men standing around the departure chamber in deep and quiet conversation. Henrin was gesturing and pointing while the others listened and, on occasion, nodded.

Once in the car, they rode in silence. Wared kept repeating the events of the failed departure over and over in his mind. Nothing seemed to have been out of the ordinary. Tarun's departure was exactly the same as all of the other ones he had seen. Yet, something had gone wrong. Tarun had not departed. He was still here.

Wared dropped off Kyra with a promise to check in on her later. He had a feeling rest was not something he would be able to do, not with the knowledge that his uncle was alive and well. As soon as Kyra disappeared inside her house, Wared engaged the autopilot and set course for his house. He leaned back in his seat, closed his eyes and tried to relax.

But, his mind was having none of it. He gazed out the window at the passing buildings and the pedestrians on the sidewalks. How long would it take for the news to spread that a candidate had failed to depart? What did it mean for Tarun himself and, by extension, for him and his family? When his mother called, he knew the news had to be spreading fast. He activated the video feed as he answered it.

"Tarun's departure failed?" his mother blurted out before he even had a chance to greet her.

"Of course I do. What happened? Were you there? Did you see it?" she said and leaned closer to the camera. "Is he ok?

"Mom, slow down, ok? Yes, I was there, I saw it all."

"Tell me, Wared," she insisted.

Wared sighed and proceeded to tell her about the ceremony, how it seemed like it was proceeding as normal. Until it wasn't.

"Poor Tarun," his mother said with a sigh as she shook her head. "It's all over the news, you know."

Wared closed his eyes and ran his fingers through his hair

"What are they saying?"

"Well, it's a miracle, obviously. Departure failures are extremely uncommon. They're saying there's something special about him. Can you imagine? Tarun something special? He surely deserves it, don't you think?"

"Ok, mom," Wared said with a sigh. "I'll be home soon."

"Home? No, no, that won't do. Go over to his apartment, get him a set of fresh clothes and bring them over to the hospital. I'm sure he's not going to want to wear what he had on during the Departure for long."

"Don't you think they'll give him fresh clothes at the hospital?"

"Sure, but there's nothing like wearing your own garments, Wared. Please just do as I ask, for the sake of your uncle."

"Ok, mom," Wared said and sighed.

"Call me when you're on your way home, ok?"

"Yes, mom." Wared disconnected the call and gave the vehicle AI a new destination. He then turned on the news on the video screen.

"...an unprecedented development, without a doubt. What do you make of this, Ari?" a female news anchor said and turned to her male counterpart.

"They say it's a miracle. Nothing like it has happened in recent memory. We have heard from sources inside the Protectorate that events like these signify something of importance. In the few instances in our history that departure failures have occurred, the candidate was immediately elevated to Elder and member of the Supreme Council ."

"Supreme Council and an Elder. What does that mean for Tarun Ra'Han?"

"From what I heard, Tarun Ra'Han is no longer expected to depart. His new, elevated status prohibits it. Instead, he becomes the advocate for the rest of us, those who have yet to Depart. He becomes our most significant supporter."

Wared shook his head and turned off the broadcast. Elder? Supreme Council? Tarun? It seemed unreal. He couldn't help but wonder what Tarun thought of that.

As he approached Tarun's building, traffic ground to a halt within a block.

"Identify detour," he said to the car AI.

"Detour unavailable. All routes to your destination are blocked."

Wared sighed. He stepped out of the car and looked up ahead. Cars were blocking the street all the way to Tarun's building. He heard shouting and cheering in the distance.

"Please continue to destination when the road is clear," he said, exited the car and made his way through the thickening crowds. As he approached the apartment building, he heard the Tarun's name being chanted.

"What's going on?" he asked a random person closer to the front door.

The man turned around, tears streaming down his cheeks. "Didn't you hear? Candidate Tarun has ascended," the man said, his eyes wide. "He has ascended!"

"Ascended? What does that mean?" Wared said but the man had already turned around and continued shouting Tarun's name. Wared slipped down a side street and entered the building using a back door. As he walked through the lobby, he saw the crowd outside chanting Tarun's name. He took the elevator up to Tarun's floor and stepped out, relieved to find that there was no-one by his apartment. Just as he reached for the door handle, he froze and felt a chill run down his spine. The door was open.

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