Page 10 - gAIa — Advance excerpt

into war drones, deploying her mission after mission.
Not yet knowing that, by her hundred and fifty-seventh mis-
sion, a twisted version of her own Allotriosis would scrub away
tonight’s memories, her life’s memories, her identity.
The party was over. Before leaving, Orphy stood for a while
at the edge of the blanket where Callie slept, without touching
her, like a parent who no longer had the right to do so. He
greeted Liang quietly with a raised hand, and then he was
gone.
Redy came up behind him as he left, and lifted Callie from

Liang’s arms. As Callie’s fist loosened in her sleep, the slim
book slipped from her grip onto the grass. Liang bent down to
pick it up, thumbing it open to see where it had fallen. In the
dim light, Redy could just make out a number in the title of the
left page—147—before Liang closed the book gently. They
looked at each other, smiling, because it was one of Callie’s fa-
vorite pages. They exchanged a nod, and Redy carried her
daughter through the dark garden, watching the lanterns go
out, and the stars come out.
Someone will remember us, she thought. I tell you, Callie.
Even after. No matter how dark.
Tomorrow, Eurydice would become the Eauton Archive’s first
resident.
Tonight, she let the lanterns go out.

***

Illimani Ridge — Sector 12. Mission 157. Year 2395.
The Octocopter Drone lifted her from its pad, rotors whirring
in the thin air of the Andes.

Below, her Metropolitan Marksmen were ascending the
snow-scoured slopes toward the wind farm, their objective. The

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© Danis Dedes — Advance excerpt, not for redistribution!