Chapter Seven: On a String

Arkain knocked on Suri’s door.
Suri
Come in. 
He walked in.
Arkain
Hey, your door was open.
Suri
Yep, that’s why I said come in.
He walked down the hallway.
Arkain
I’m smarter then you think.
Suri
Okay, I never said you weren’t.
She walked into the kitchen and he followed. 
Arkain
So.
Suri
You are just as weird as I thought you were.
Arkain
I told you-
Suri
No, no, it’s okay, I never said I didn’t like weird. Ordinary is boring.
Arkain lost himself while watching her cut carrots for dinner. 
Suri
Ouch!
He came back to his senses as she cut herself with the knife. Quickly he ran over and grabbed her hand.
Arkain
Oh what happened?
Suri
I don’t know, knife slipped.
Arkain
Alrighty, let me see.
He let go of her hands and she opened her fist revealing her palm where she had just cut herself. 
Arkain
I thought you said you cut yourself? 
She looked down and saw her hand was not cut at all.
Suri
What? I did. Well, or at least I thought I did. 
Arkain
Maybe it just didn’t cut through? 
Suri
Maybe.
She finished dinner and they sat and ate. 
Arkain
This is really good. Nom nom. 
Suri
You’re just saying that.
Arkain
No, I mean it, I really do.
He smiled. 
Suri
Thanks. 
She smiled.
Arkain
No problem, gorgeous.
Suri
Oh, shut up.
Arkain
I’m just kidding, you’re not gorgeous.
Suri
How relieving. For a second there-
Arkain
You’re beautiful.
Suri
Oh, well ,Thank you.
Arkain
No, don’t tell me that, your not beautiful because I said it, you are because you are.
Suri
So cheesy I could make nachos. 
Arkain
Well, do you like nachos?
Suri
Yes.
Arkain
Well then, we will be making a lot of nachos in the future. I also can do string cheese. You can call it a talent.
They laughed, this was the first time either of them has felt normal since this all began. 
Suri
Thanks for coming. I needed the company. 
Arkain
Well, I needed some, too.

President Nicholas Romberg sat at his desk in the oval office. In this year of 2048, the world powers are at a peace thanks to the President and his administration. After being elected sixteen years ago, he accomplished more than any of his critics thought he would. With economy thriving, wars defeated by diplomacy, and hope flowing through every nation on the earth, he has now been elected for his fourth term.
Romberg
Amya, I do not think peace will continue for much longer. 
Amya sat across from him, her long blond hair flowing just past her ears, while her blue eyes glimmered in the sun that broke through the curtains on the windows. 
Amya
Peace ends with dispute, and dispute is a never ending thing. 
He walked to the window. 
Amya
Peace is held on a string, a very thin one. The hand of a child can cut it. Never rely on it, for it can not hold you for long, nor can it hold the entire human race. 
Romberg
We had such high hopes. What happened? 
Amya
Humans are humans, Nicholas. The peace they all yearn for is just a mirage, and the mirage can only be viewed for so long. 
Romberg
One would hope for a time they could live in that mirage. 
Amya
Life is more complicated than that, why should we expect humans to be any less? 
Romberg
True. If my mother could see the idealist I've become.  
He opened the curtain. 
Romberg
I fear there is something you want to tell me. Something more than you wish to. 
She took a sip of her drink.
Amya
You’re a great man, Nicholas. Perhaps one of the best presidents I’ve ever had the chance to work with. Quite inspiring, like my days with Jefferson and Lincoln, and that I am truly grateful for. A man of your stature knows that with such high a position, comes great risk, and so, I bring you just that. 
Romberg was looking out the window to the sun. 
Romberg
Risk, I thought I wasn’t afraid of that word anymore. 
Amya
You’ll find you never are truly unafraid of anything. Fear is a given, it’s what you do with that fear that matters.
Romberg
You always know what to say.
Amya
I’m afraid I won’t with these next words.
He turned to her.
Romberg
Well, out with it then. 
Amya
Earlier today there was an incident at a school in California. 
Romberg
Yes, well, I’m sure we have many of those- 
Amya
An entire school was murdered, or at least local authorities think so. 
Romberg
Think so? 
Amya
It's complicated. Bonka found an alarming amount of unnatural power in the air. 
Romberg
It was one of you?
Amya
Yes, unfortunetly.  
Romberg
This isn’t good. Amya please tell me there is some kind of mistake. 
Amya
I wish it were. Although we do not know who the source is, we know the truce has been broken. 
Romberg
How do you know? 
He looked at her in fear. 
Amya
A drop of blood was found in the school. 
Romberg
So then, this treaty you told me of when I was inaugurated, it’s true then?
Amya
Very.
Romberg
What happens next?
He sat down.
Amya
I don’t know completely. 
Romberg
Don’t ease me with a lie Amya. They are coming for me, correct? 
Amya.
Yes, that we know. We are already preparing to move you into safety. I’m gathering my people and we shall be ready in a week. 
Romberg
Do we have that much time? 
Amya
All we can do is hope.
He rolled his pencil on the desk.
Romberg
So much for peace. 
Amya
With your death, so dies it.
He put the pencil in the cup on the desk. 
Romberg
Where did we go wrong? 
Amya
We didn’t go wrong. Evolution for your sake did. 
Romberg
I did my best. 
Amya
That’s all the world could ask of you.
He sat up straight. 
Romberg
I’m afraid. 
Amya
I know. Rest assure they will not kill you until I’m dead. 
Romberg
Let's hope it does not come to that. 
Amya
Be brave Nicholas, for your people, and for yourself. Before all of this, before you knew of the existence of my kind, you weren’t afraid of death. 
Romberg
That was before I knew of forces greater than the likes of cancer and man made destruction. Forces that could crumble everything mankind has fought for. 
Amya
We’ve always been here Nicholas, you just never opened your eyes. 
Romberg
Sometimes I wish I never did. What do you think of the future? 
Amya
Even that, Nicholas, is on a string.