Immortal

  ‘They should focus on education in non-Cure countries,’ Daniel said with confidence. ‘If common people are educated, they understand that unless their countries become democratic and meet other requirements, they will be declined the benefits of the Cure. As soon as enough people learn this simple truth, they will take down their oppressive governments themselves, without the US ever having to get involved. Experience shows it’s the only effective method of making permanent changes for the better.’

  ‘Help them help themselves?’

  ‘Exactly. Give them information and knowledge and let them turn it into a weapon. People rarely accept changes that are forced upon them by invaders, even if they would benefit from those changes in the long run. It’s much better to help them make the changes themselves.’

  ‘You’re so right,’ Amari said after a moment of silence. ‘The US have been trying to bring changes to troubled countries since mid-20th century, and they always failed. But they never amended their tactics, they always stuck by the same strategy: a military invasion...’

  ‘If you liked what Eiko can do, maybe I can show you more,’ Amari offered, watching the delivery hover-waiter disappear in the distance. Their jumbo platter of perfectly cooked prawns, fish, crabs, baby octopus and other seafood filled the living room with an amazing aroma. ‘What is your favorite place for having a meal?’

  ‘What do you… oh, you mean one of those simulations,’ he said. ‘I’m more of a here and now guy.’

  ‘C’mon, just try one. You can’t criticize if you don’t try.’

  ‘Ok, you’ve got me. But I’d rather you chose.’

  ‘Ok,’ Amari said, ‘since we’re having a seafood platter, let’s try… this.’

  The sun fast-forwarded across the sky and hung two feet above the horizon. Its glow changed together with its position, becoming soft and orange. Sound of waves and scent of the sea breeze reached their ears and nostrils. The carpet turned into the finest sand, white and soft like talcum powder. Seagulls flew high above their heads, and palm trees cast shadows across the beach.

  ‘Help yourself,’ Amari passed Daniel a side plate, examining his expression with a little smile.

  ‘Thanks,’ he said, taking the plate and acknowledging the change of atmosphere with a glance around the room. She couldn’t figure out what he thought.

  ‘It’s not too bad, is it?’ she asked.

  ‘It’s all right,’ he still seemed unimpressed. ‘So is this how you visit all the places you want to see?’

  ‘A lot of them,’ she said. ‘It saves time and is safe. Plus a lot of the places on Earth are still inaccessible by hovercars, unless you have a pilot’s license. Although I can’t get all the things I wanted to download.’

  ‘Like what?’

  ‘There are some in Africa, like the Great Migration,’ she said. ‘There is just no software available – ’

  Amaranthine’s idatron flashed. Nectar was trying to initiate a communication. She only allowed a verbal signal to come through.

  ‘Amari, have you heard what happened?’ his voice was highly agitated.

  ‘Yes, I’ve just been watching the news,’ she replied. ‘And last night…’

  ‘One of those bastards flew right into my office!’ Nectar didn’t let her finish. ‘They only allowed me into the building five minutes ago. It’s a complete disaster! And I’m afraid your office is not in a good state either. The widows were blown out, my desk smashed to pieces, heaps of dust and debris everywhere. We won’t be able to operate from here for some time.’

  As she listened, Amaranthine looked up at Daniel, a question in her gaze. Daniel shook his head.

  ‘Let it be our little secret,’ he whispered to her. She smiled at him.

  ‘You’re kidding!’ she exclaimed, trying to sound convincing, which wasn’t hard, as Nectar was too disturbed to notice anything. Besides, she doubted he’d believe the truth if she told him. ‘I saw some damage done to the top of our building on TV, but I wasn’t sure if they reached as high as our floor.’

  ‘They damaged only our floor!’ Nectar clearly regarded the fact as gross injustice. ‘I’ve got the insurance people coming in as soon as possible to assess the damage so we can get the repair team in. I don’t want this to keep us out of our offices for longer than a few days.’

  ‘What do we do until then?’ she asked.

  ‘Just work from home,’ he said, ‘and be on your idatron at all times.’

  ‘Sure, I’ll do that,’ she said.

  ‘This attack will keep the media busy for the next few days anyway,’ Nectar added, ‘so it’ll give you a chance to come up with a good strategy for the next few months of Carpe Diem’s tour. In fact, do you know what, now that you have some time on your hands, I’d like you to go and watch a couple of concerts, stay around the band, gather some more info about their personal lives. I want you and Collins to brainstorm this and come up with something good. We need a lot of material to last us the duration of the tour, we need the best strategy. When the dust settles on that attack, when people get sick of listening about it day and night, we’ll need something good to get their attention back on the band.’

  ‘Cool, I can do that,’ Amaranthine said. ‘Sounds like a great idea, boss.’

  ‘Ok. We’ll be in touch soon.’

  Nectar hang up.

  ‘Sounds like we’re going to Asia together,’ she said, smiling at Daniel. She tried to make that smile come out natural, but she wasn’t sure if she succeeded.

  It was incredibly hard to hide the ecstatic happiness she felt inside at the thought of spending the whole of next week by his side.

  Daniel took off in his hovermobile, having agreed to pick up Amaranthine the next day so that they could travel to Japan together. As usual, he steered his hovermobile manually. But he was very, very close to inputting the destination into his board computer and letting the vehicle take him home whilst he would have time to think.

  He was experiencing a very unfamiliar mix of feelings. A mix he didn’t know how to untangle and how to cope with.

  When the news of the attack hit him in his hotel room in LA and he realized Amaranthine was in grave danger, he blacked out for a few moments. He didn’t remember getting out of the hotel, or getting into his hovercar. He only regained consciousness and focus when he headed for New York and started planning how to save her.

  The thirty minutes it took him to get back to New York were an agony. He listened to the reports constantly and his brain worked in full swing, frantically trying to come up with a plan that would allow him to get to her and get her out of the trap before the terrorists blew up her office building. When he got close enough to Manhattan, he circled it once, picking the best side to approach the skyscraper and get to her floor unnoticed. Then, without any further thought, he started executing his plan. He knew stealth was his only chance of succeeding. He took that chance, obsessed with one thought: Amaranthine mustn’t die. The thought of her being killed horrified him.

  He forced himself to focus and went for it.

  He had an incredible amount of luck to get to her building and all the way up to the top floor without being taken down by the terrorists. It was a move beyond bold; it was pure madness. But he managed to pull it off. Even at the crucial moment, when he had to find a place to park his hovercar, he was lucky. Nectar’s office window had been blown out, and his vehicle just fitted inside.

  When he didn’t find Amaranthine in her devastated office, he panicked, thinking she fell out of the building. But he refused to lose hope in finding her alive. He put himself in her shoes and quickly figured out she must have left the office in search of an emergency exit. He followed the signs to the staircase.

  It wasn’t until he heard her faint voice and then saw her, sitting on the floor amongst broken glass, with cuts and bruises all over her body, but alive, that he realized what made him undertake this mad plan. What beckoned him and forced him to rush to her rescue.

  He was t
otally and utterly in love with her.

  It was love that made him risk his life to come for her. It was the unbearable thought that he could lose her, that he could never see her again, that pushed him and gave him the courage to do what he did. He tried to remember if he ever felt that way about a woman, about anyone. But he couldn’t.

  He suppressed the urge to lock her in his arms and kiss her there and then, by the fire exit of a building that could be blown up at any moment. He forced himself to think clearly and get them out of hell.

  When they got to her apartment, the urge to cuddle her in his arms, to kiss her neck, to touch her skin, returned, and again he had to suppress it. She was in shock, it was clear from the first glance. At this moment, she needed a friend, not some guy pressing his advances on her. But her vulnerability made her even harder to resist.

  And then she fell asleep, curled up on the sofa like a child, looking more beautiful than ever, despite smudges of dirt and blood on her face and hands, despite her soiled and crumpled clothes and her hair covered in dust… He looked at her and daydreamed of the moment he would be able to express all his feelings and… be truly with her.

  But the longer he sat by her side watching her sleep, the more his reason banged through the feelings, and the more he realized that what he was dreaming of was impossible. She was one woman he could never be with, however much he wanted her. First, because he saved her life and expecting more of her now that they were before, would be taking advantage of her gratitude. And second, because they belonged to two completely different worlds and their relationship was condemned to failure; there were too many differences between them. Even if it worked at first, it would inevitably end in a painful and bitter split-up. Daniel didn’t want to live through such a scenario; he would rather remain friends with Amari than risk losing her as a result of a short romantic affair. A successful Mortal-Immortal relationship was a utopia, a dream, a fantasy that, if ever attempted, inevitably ended in a disaster.

  Amaranthine stirred slightly, sighed, squeezed his hand and fell back into sleep. As she moved, the ruby in her pendant flickered on her chest. Daniel remembered where this jewel came from and what it meant to her. What it symbolized.

  She would never become a Mortal, and even if she wanted to, he wouldn’t allow it. Being immortal, adhering to her parents’ will, was the only link she had with them.

  Therefore, he would never reveal his feelings to her. Just like before – after Carpe Diem’s last private concert, when he saw her with Phoenix – he would distance himself from her and the time they spent apart would do the job.

  He looked at her sweet, pale face, at the storm of her dark brown hair, still shiny despite all the dust that rested on it. He slowly slipped his arms under her neck and knees, and lifted her up. As he carried her to her bedroom, she embraced and hugged him, but didn’t wake up. Despite the dirt and dust she was covered with, he could still smell her perfume, the faint scent of orange blossom, emanating from her skin and hair.

  He decided to stay the night and sleep on her sofa. He expected she would need some company the next day to come to terms with what had happened. He wanted to make sure she was alright, especially if it turned out that her office building was really blown up.

  He managed to keep his promise to himself the whole afternoon he spent in her apartment; he didn’t reveal his real feelings. He enjoyed her company, but at the same time he knew he would have to leave her, and never spend so much time with her again. It was too dangerous.

  And just when he was slowly beginning to accept the fact that from now on they wouldn’t spend any significant amount of time together and his will wouldn’t be tested in such a painful manner ever again, Nectar phoned.

  So now he was on the way to his apartment, and tomorrow morning he would be back to pick her up. They would travel to Tokyo together and spend at least a week with each other; they would go to two Carpe Diem’s concerts and then brainstorm ideas for the marketing and PR of the band. They would have meals together and in the hotel they would stay in neighboring rooms. There would be nothing but a thin wall between them for at least seven nights.

  Daniel sighed.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  ‘Are you sure you don’t want to travel by Peregrine?’ Nectar asked again. ‘I’ve no problem paying for it. If you go in your hovercar, jetlag will get you.’

  ‘No, it’s ok, honest,’ she repeated. ‘I need to do some work on the way so I need peace and quiet. I can always get a jetlag-adjustment at the hotel.’

  ‘All right then, as you wish,’ Nectar, clearly preoccupied with other things, sounded content that she’d just take care of herself. ‘Keep me posted how it goes in Asia. Hopefully you’ll be able to return to your office in a few days.’

  ‘Ok, I’ll be in touch as soon as I’ve had a look around,’ she replied. ‘Don’t stress over the offices, it could have been worse.’

  ‘Easy for you to say. You haven’t even seen this mess.’

  ‘And I don’t want to,’ she said. ‘I’ll see you when it’s all back to normal.’

  ‘Aren’t some lucky.’

  Ha, he would definitely not believe the truth if I told him, Amari thought. It was such a good idea to keep it a secret. It saved her from going over the details of that horrid night with the police, her boss and colleagues, and, worst of all, the media.

  ‘Daniel will be here in three minutes’ time,’ Eiko announced.

  ‘Perfect.’

  She spent the three minutes going over her luggage yet again. It was quite hard to fit in outfits for all possible occasions, and at the same time not to look excessive, especially when she didn’t know how long she’d be there for. She managed to limit it to two medium-sized suitcases and a large handbag. She summoned her hovercar and put the suitcases inside it. It would follow her and Daniel’s two-seater to Tokyo.

  ‘Morning, sunshine,’ he greeted her with a big smile when she got into the passenger seat. ‘How are you?’

  ‘Great!’ she smiled back, casting a quick glance at him, trying not to stare too much at his muscular, perfectly toned arms that showed from under his short-sleeved shirt again. ‘You are dead on time.’

  ‘Well, you know us, Mortals,’ he joked, ‘we don’t like to waste our precious time.’

  He started tapping into the touchscreen and after a few seconds his joystick retreated to the depths of the panel. Amaranthine took a deep breath.

  ‘Daniel?’ she braved it.

  ‘Aye?’

  ‘You can steer manually if you like.’

  ‘You sure?’

  ‘Positive.’

  ‘Ok,’ he said slowly, casting a glance at her as if to make sure she really meant it.

  ‘Your piloting skills saved my life,’ she said. ‘I’d rather you kept them sharp.’

  ‘Ok,’ he said again, reassured now. ‘Let me know if you change your mind.’

  ‘I won’t,’ she said with confidence, relaxing in her seat and tearing her gaze away from the muscles of his arms that flexed as they took charge of the joystick. She looked ahead, beyond the horizon.

  ‘So,’ she said when they left the Statue of Liberty behind and only the Atlantic stretched ahead of them. ‘I get a notion you didn’t think much of Eiko’s beach simulation yesterday.’

  ‘Like I said,’ he cleared his throat, ‘I’m more of a …’

  ‘…here and now guy,’ she said. ‘I remember.’

  ‘Yeah.’

  She was silent for a while. ‘Can you explain that more?’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘What does here and now mean to you? And how is it different from what we did? I mean, we had a great meal and we had Eiko project a beach around us. Research shows that these simulations have the same soothing effect on our nervous systems as real interactions with nature. The sound of waves, gull’s calls, the light of a sunset, the sea breeze. If we can have it all without leaving the apartment, why not use it?’

  ‘Becau
se it’s not real. It’s not the same as going to a real beach and listening to real waves and gulls and smelling the real sea breeze. It’s just a simulation, not nature.’

  ‘Many things haven’t been real in human lives for thousands of years,’ she said. ‘It started with the fire. It was the first thing that changed our lifestyles, made us independent of nature’s cycles. We didn’t have to go to sleep at sunset and be exposed to coldness and predators at night. Our intelligence and skill in using fire allowed us to extend our day and our lives. Everything after that, from the wheel, the use of tools and animals, the steam engine, antibiotics, discovery of fossil fuels, IT Revolution and finally Immortality Revolution, were just further improvements. Aren’t mind-reading computers and their simulation programs just the next logical step? Where do you draw a line beyond which you label things “unnatural”?’

  ‘You’ve got a point,’ Daniel said. ‘But there is a trap in this way of thinking.’

  ‘Which is?’

  ‘Less and less people realize that simulations are just that: simulations. Those who create them know it. But for those who just use them, without thinking where they come from, simulations become reality. And if they had never experienced the real thing, the only picture they have is polished and perfect, without any faults. They think the beach has no mosquitos and sand flies, waves are always gentle and seagulls never drop shit on your head when they fly by.’

  Amaranthine laughed. ‘I think most people would take that last argument as an advantage of simulations, not an encouragement to go to a real beach.’

  ‘Probably,’ Daniel said. ‘But that majority do not understand that bad things happen to us for a reason. Let’s say a gull shits on your head. You run to your hotel to wash it off, and on the way back you discover something you wouldn’t have discovered otherwise.’

  ‘Like what?

  ‘I don’t know. Whatever. A poster announcing a live band playing that night, or a diving trip you’ve been dying to go on. And if you’re really lucky, you spot a bar that sells the cheapest and coldest beer on the island.’