When Q entered the
mainframe, he felt like he had finally made it home. The room was large, mostly steel, with hollow
grates across the floor, doing their best to hide the rivers of wires that snaked
across the cement floor underneath.
Computer banks lined the walls, and if anyone else were to walk in there
they would assume that Q was in charge of a large team of programmers. The reality was that when it came to Aria, he
was the only one he trusted with her.
Aria was special.
He had programmed
countless holographic pop stars in hotels all over the world, but none of them
were like Aria. None of them seemed so
alive.
His eyes fell on the
crystal that rested in the center of the room, nestled in a black, metallic
nest. The second the door closed behind
him the crystal flickered a rainbow of colors, and then sprung to life. A beam of light glowed, and standing before him
was Aria, dressed in a simple blue summer dress, her long red hair flowing
untamed down her back. She looked
exactly as he had remembered her, before his mother, before the curse, before
everything had gone wrong.
“You made it back.” She
smiled, her green eyes watching him. “I
was getting worried.”
“I could never stay away
for too long, you know that.” He smiled,
and almost walked over to her, to embrace her.
He caught himself. No matter how
alive Aria seemed, the reality of the situation was that she was nothing more
than a ghost, a hologram his computer had created.
He knew that wasn’t
entirely true, though. Her form wasn’t
real, but the spirit that was driving it, that made it smile, and laugh at his
stupid jokes, was.
He walked to the other
side of the room, glancing through the door that led to his living quarters. The hotel had placed his bags in the small
living room. Otherwise, everything was
untouched.
“I’ve been going over the
songs you left for me.” The sound of her
voice made him turn. “I thought you were
going to let me use some of my own stuff.”
Q sighed. “The hotel likes covers.” They had this conversation every time he got
back. “We can sneak in some of your
original stuff. Don’t worry. They never
seem to pay much attention, as long as the butts are in the seats.”
He walked towards her,
knowing that he didn’t need to touch any of the computers. She wasn’t a program, or not just a program,
she was real.
“I missed you.” She
reached out, her hand stopping just centimeters from his cheek.
How badly he wanted her
to touch him. He missed her touch. He missed so much about her, but being able
to still have her in his life made all of that worth it.
“I missed you, too.” He
raised his hand, placing it just over hers.
It wasn’t close enough to break the illusion, but just close enough to
give the appearance of contact.
His eyes moved past Aria,
and to the crystal in the center of the room.
That damn crystal. His mother had
used it to trap Aria’s soul inside of it, and now it was the only thing keeping
her with him. He wanted to smash it, to
free her, to let her pass on, but he couldn’t stand the idea of living a life
without her in it.
He was being selfish, he
knew that, but it wasn’t his fault that she had been trapped. But it had been. If he hadn’t fallen for her, then his psycho
of a mother would have left her alone.
“What are you thinking
about?” Aria stood there, her hands clasped behind her back, her big eyes
watching him with the curiosity of a child.
“Nothing.” He smiled,
walking over to a chair in front of one of the computer banks. “I’m just tired, I guess.”
“I forget what it feels
to be tired. I think you programmed it into me, once. I’m pretty sure you did. I think I remember what it was like to be
tired, but… I’m not sure.” Aria walked towards him. “I… I forget a lot of things.”
“Will you forget me?” Q
leaned forward in his chair, resting his chin on his hands.
“Never.” She laughed.
She had forgotten
though. She had forgotten all about her
life before she had been trapped. He wondered if she even remembered what it
had felt like when they had kissed for the first time, or when they had made
love, hidden away on a private beach. He
wondered if she remembered how he had declared his love for her that night,
lying there naked and coated in sand, lit only by the large, full moon.
To her the world only
began when he had been able to revive her soul from the spirit world, using his
holograph technology. He had managed to
salvage her personality, the things that made her Aria, but he had been unable
to bring back all her memories.
He looked up, and
realized that she was watching him. He felt
a chill run down his spine. The way she
looked at him, the way she bit her lower lip and clenched her hands made him
uncomfortable. He hadn’t seen her look
that way in a long time.
Aria looked scared.
“What’s wrong?” He stood
up, resisting the urge to rush to her.
“I don’t know.” She shook
her head, her hair whipping back and forth.
“I just feel… I don’t know how to describe it. There’s just something not right.”
“Try and tell me.” He took a step towards her.
She laughed. “It’s gone now. Doesn’t matter.”
When their eyes met
again, he knew she was lying. That
scared him more than anything. Aria had
never lied to him, had seemed incapable of it, and yet that terrified look in
her eyes told him that she was not telling him everything.
“No time to worry about
it now.” She cocked her head to the
side, winking. “I’m on in ten.”
“If you aren’t feeling
well, then maybe we should cancel the show.”
“Nope.” She shook her
head again. “I’m fine!”
“Then we’ll talk after,
okay?”
“Okay.” Then, with a nod, the light from the crystal
flickered out, and she vanished from the room.
Q stood there, a cold
sweat clinging to his skin. He felt it
too. There was something in the air that
felt off. He had refused to acknowledge
it till now, but that feeling had been with him for a while.
Ever since he had left
his mother’s house.
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