Lovers Underwater by Chrys Romeo - HTML preview

Flying into the Future

In the following days I started to sneak out of the room, learning to use the elevator. I went down to the basement a few times and discovered there really was an underground tunnel that opened under the ocean and probably went to some underwater laboratory, a nuclear bunker or some other experimental base. I could hear traffic and echoes of distant engines coming from beneath the waves.

I focused on going up. I knew my way out would be to fly away from the top, not descend in the complicated tunnels beneath the building. So I went to the roof a few times, looking for a place to hide and wait for a helicopter that I would take over. The only place I could stay hidden was behind the elevator chamber or right above it. A helicopter landed there once a day: I was certain of it because I could hear the propeller approach and then take off. The sound entered the corridors and reached the elevator, making me eager to get to it and escape. I noticed it usually happened around noon.

I wondered if there were dry continents left on the planet. I knew there had to be more buildings like that in the middle of the ocean, but I needed to know what was beyond the horizon.

One day, I visited Seloren's room again, just around noon, when I knew the helicopter would come to the roof and we could make a run for it.

She was awake, watching what looked like a scientific documentary running as a hologram in the middle of the glass table.

“Hey. How are you?” I asked her.

She didn't seem surprised to see me come through the door. “I'm okay. And you?”

“I found a way out. We can fly off in a helicopter! We just need to go up to the top.”

I sat by her bed. She didn't seem very enthusiastic about my idea.

“So how about it?” I insisted. “Don't you want to get out of this place?” She hesitated before she answered.

“It's a bit too much for me”, she said eventually, unwilling to elaborate. “I don't think I'm prepared for such an adventure.”

I hadn't expected her reserved and reluctant attitude. She didn't even make an effort to move, to get out of the bed. She didn't seem to have the slightest curiosity for what was ahead of us. I wondered if the hospital confinement or the freezing-unfreezing process had influenced her mood and her mind to give up trying to improve the present situation.

I explained, hoping to convince her:

“I want to see what's out there. I want to see what this future can be for us. I'm sure there's a lot to learn and discover. I want to do this with you, but if you don't feel it's something you want, then I'm taking off by myself. I won't be here forever, to see if you decide or not. Either way, I won't stick around, waiting for nothing to happen. I'm going out there. I'll take my chances with the helicopter. And it has to be now.”

I paused, waiting for her to answer. She didn't reply. She was staring absently at the documentary in the middle of the room. Her blank attitude made me wonder if she had been given some tranquilizer.

“Seloren! Did you hear me? I'm leaving anyway, but I'd rather go with you. Are you coming?”

I extended a hand to her. I didn't want us to separate again, but I knew I would have to let her be if she didn't feel it mattered to her to join me. I knew there was a future for us in that new world, but I was ready to face it alone if she didn't want to risk flying away with me.

Finally, she looked at my hand, as if from a distance, while I was waiting in front of her.

“I'm sorry, Ky. I can't go with you.”

That reply was unexpected. Where was the girl who had been willing to go anywhere with me, no matter what? I realized we weren't the same as we used to be, after having stayed frozen for who knew how long. But I was eager to live in that new world and somehow I hoped I could bring her with me, to that future of endless possibilities, an entire universe expanding outside the walls.

“I can't believe you're considering remaining here! Are you content with this lifestyle? Sitting around watching holograms?”

“What if there's nothing else but this?”

“Do you even remember anything before this place?” She looked away.

“I'm not sure what I remember.”

“We're not holograms, we're so much more than that! We're alive and there's a world outside!”

“It's unsafe. That's how I feel. It scares me.”

“So you're choosing safety instead of freedom?”

“Yes.”

“Is comfort better than truth?”

“For me, it is. I'm not sure what the truth should be anymore.”

“I guess you need to figure it out on your own.”

I could hear the sound of the propeller spinning somewhere above, beyond the hologram windows. She didn't move. I knew I had to go. I suddenly understood we had different views in our minds and we weren't on the same page anymore. I wished I could have convinced her to come with me, but I didn't want to force her into anything she didn't feel like doing. It wouldn't get us anywhere, anyway.

“I'll come back for you someday”, I said.

“Maybe you'll get bored in here and change your mind. I'll come back and tell you what's outside of your safety walls.”

I had to hurry. So I rushed out, along the corridors and then directly to the elevator.

I didn't meet any nurses in the halls. The building seemed empty, like most of the time. I often wondered if the people were holograms too, but I knew at least some of them had to be real.

The helicopter was indeed on top of the roof, a silver shiny new model that I hadn't seen before.

I grabbed the handle to open the door and, to my surprise, someone was already there, in the pilot's seat. I looked at the helmet and the blonde hair flowing on her shoulders: it was a girl.

“Hop in”, she smiled as if she was expecting to see me.

“Wanna go for a tour?” I sat next to her.

“Sure... so, you're allowed to take me for a ride?”

“I'm not exactly allowed, but not forbidden either.”

She smiled a lot, so I wondered if she was a hologram too.

“So this is what women of the future look like.”

“Like what?”

“You're stunning, for a pilot. I didn't meet any women pilots in the time where I come from. There weren't many.”

She laughed.

“Well, there are now.”

She started the helicopter. I looked at the flying board: bright screens that I didn't know, many blinking lights that I didn't recognize. The aircraft was perfectly balanced. It almost flew by itself.

While the building became a small gray cube, as we were gaining height, I kept staring at the wide empty ocean.

“Where are we going?”

“To the continent.”

“So, there's a continent!”

“Of course there is.”

She laughed again. Most of what I said seemed to amuse her.

“How did you know I would come for a ride?”

“I saw you the other day, lurking behind the elevator. I knew you'd be tempted to come and join the flight, sooner or later.”

“Those people in the building... will they be upset you took me with you?”

“Not really. Don't worry. You're not a prisoner, just a guest. You can go wherever you want. I'll take you back, if you say so.”

I thought about Seloren. Leaving her behind was like a claw in my mind, an upsetting, unfinished idea that something was not as it should have been. However, I had to move on, for the moment. I couldn't do anything for her by staying there. I wondered why we had been isolated from the outside new world. Being free seemed a simple choice.

“Why didn't they tell us the truth - that we can leave anytime?”

“They evaluated your subconscious minds and decided you're not ready for the outside world yet. The future is different from what you knew a hundred years ago.”

I had no proof that she was telling me the truth, but I had to trust her somehow, since she was flying the helicopter.

“What about the underground tunnels? Is there a nuclear base beneath the ocean bed?”

She didn't reply immediately, but kept smiling.

“Well... it isn't a nuclear lab anymore. It's been inactive for many years. We turned it into a storage area. We keep equipment there and it's probably going to become an underground factory, if we can install everything properly. Actually, that's the reason you

found my helicopter: I'm flying there every day to bring new stuff for the construction site.”

I still didn't know if I could believe her. Yet I hoped she was telling the truth.

Soon, the water was replaced by land: green forests and solar panels shining among them, green fields and wind turbines as tall as sky scrapers, many flying devices like a swarm of bees in air traffic lines, floating screens, most likely holograms, that announced the weather forecast and music could be heard everywhere, coming from flying spheres that looked like disco balls.

“This is like a huge party!”

“It's not a party. Music is important for harmonizing the energy and the atmosphere. We control the weather with it.”

I was astounded by the many things I had to discover.

“So what do you want to do?” the gracious pilot asked me, while we were landing on a platform in the middle of a shiny city of solar panels, antennas and suspended gardens.

“I want to learn.”

“What would you like to learn?” I looked around, fascinated. “Everything.”

In the following weeks I adapted to my new life of the future. It was a wonderful world of miraculous discoveries and I enjoyed taking huge leaps ahead into my own evolution as a citizen of a better planet. Everything moved faster, appeared more  diverse, functioned impressively, precisely and continuously improving. I updated my knowledge and was given the chance to be a pilot again. Those helicopters of the future really surpassed my imagination. There were no accidents whatsoever, on the ground or in the air. Everything went smoothly, every second, in any direction. Technology was so advanced, it kept itself functioning perfectly. My life was suddenly taken to a new dimension, turning out amazing and interesting beyond my doubts. I discovered something new every day and was happy in that world.

The only thing that made me get lost in thoughts, from time to time, was the fact that Seloren had not been able to join me in that new life. I still hoped she could find the will to surpass her fears, get beyond those walls, regain her confidence in the possibility of happiness and enjoy sharing that new experience with me. I waited a few months, then one day, I decided to go look for her again, to try and convince her to come out of that shell.

I flew the helicopter over the ocean. I knew where the building was located. The hologram museum was actually a shelter for people who needed time off, to heal from something or reconsider their lives. They had unlimited available accommodation there, until they were ready to join the world again.

I landed the helicopter on the concrete rooftop. I recognized everything, but it also seemed like such a long time ago, even if only a few months had gone by. I felt I was a new man, full of energy and plans, ideas and joy to live in that new world of a future I had only dreamed of. I was much more confident and aware of how precious every day was. Life had become so interesting and uplifting. I felt energized and inspired. However, Seloren's absence was something I couldn't forget about.

So I entered the elevator, descending to the halls, to reach the room where I had last seen her.

I wanted to retrieve her and bring her back to light. I didn't know if it was what she wanted, but I had to try. Somehow, I still loved her in some deep, undeniable way and I had hope that we could be together again, if we wanted it enough. Even if we had drifted apart, becoming almost strangers to each other, I knew there was a chance I could change that. The future was a miraculous place: it certainly had enough space to include the miracle of love too. It had to be an option still available for us, after everything we had been through together. I told myself we deserved to be happy in that wonderful world of the future.

I found the room and opened the door, but the bed was empty: she wasn't there. I turned around. There was the nurse who had greeted me on the first day.

“Hello Ky”, she smiled at me.

She seemed glad to see me again. “How are you?”

“I'm good. Excellent, actually. I was looking for Seloren. Where is she?”

The nurse shook her head.

“Oh, she left last month. She was offered a job in a new eco-park. She felt better, so we let her go.”

I asked to know the park location from the nurse's files.

And I went there. I had to find her. Somehow, I was glad she had gotten out of the hologram museum. I was glad she had found something worth doing, something that would make her feel alive and confident again. I didn't know if she still wanted to be with me, but I had to try and find out.

The park was actually a sort of a natural reservation. I found her outside in the sunshine, checking the irrigation system over some exotic plants.

She sensed me looking at her and turned around. The sun was behind me, so it was getting in her eyes. She raised a hand to make shade and see me better.

“Is that you, Ky?”

She wasn't wearing sunglasses anymore, but had some contact lenses that reflected the light.

“It's me. Wanna go for a walk? I haven't seen you in a while.” She smiled.

“Indeed, it's been a long while...

I was suddenly happy, just as I had been the first time we got together, in the woods, in the rain. I realized we had come such a long way in time, and we still meant something to each other. It was a valuable love that I didn't want to give up just like that. If there was anything worth saving between us, I knew we would start again and learn to be happy together, in that unlimited future of endless opportunities.

The water sprinkling from the irrigation system was spreading above us, making small rainbows in the air. She stood there in her lab robe, smiling at me.

“So how about it? Let's walk together”, I said and extended a hand to her, as I had done the last time.

Only this time we were outside in the sun, breathing freely, enjoying our life and the future.

My words were almost symbolic. Let's walk together was an invitation that meant more than a simple walk in the park. It began with a few steps. A first step. I waited for her answer.

And then she reached out her hand and held mine, under the sprinkling light, drops of water from the eternal cosmic flow, an entire universe of endless sun and timeless love.