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Kendra is returned to exploration duty, and is preparing to depart. We learn more about Kendra and her abilities, that are in some ways quite superior to that of the technically advanced Hybrids.
For the authors out there, have you ever had a character you are writing about argue with you? My characters are kind of saying, "No, that is not what I am like. I would say this! I would react to this situation like that!"
I am experiencing that with this story, especially with the character of Kendra. But Matthew is starting to push back against my dictatorial control as well!! It is quite interesting.
Kendra's ears were still ringing from the dressing down she had gotten from Lieutenant Kylis, who had threatened her with spending the next month in the brig for leaving the complex without authorization. Kylis, as she often was, seemed angry about not being able to read Kendra's responses. In the end, due to the amount of work to be done, Kendra was informed she would resume her duties, but that if there was one more infraction she would be banned from the team and sent back up to the Celestial Guard for punishment.
Matthew and Kendra were suiting up for another trip into the forest. This was an official trip, exploring the surrounding land to gather samples of both the rocks in the area, as well as many of the plants and flowers that were close by. Other Non-Hybrids and Sub-Hybrids were getting ready as well, dressing up in protective clothing and preparing rovers, which would be loaded up with scientific equipment. The equipment would measure radiation, soil, rocks, and other plants, examining them for usefulness to the colony and possible dangers going forward, including whether any diseases or poisons were embedded in the different samples.
Each rover would be manned by a two-person team with the back of the rover stuffed with equipment, and Matthew had been lucky enough to pull Kendra as his duty partner. That couldn't really be a coincidence, and indeed it wasn't. Matthew had also been talked to by Kylis, and told to keep his friend under control, or he would also be in trouble.
"No one in the unit has mentioned it yet, other than you, the lieutenant, and Sarah. But I'm sure everyone knows," Kendra pouted. "If I hadn't gotten sick, I would have been back to the colony to start the shift."
"Maybe," Matthew replied, as he shoved equipment into the back of the rover. "You were supposed to be with me at the Outpost to help set it up. A lot of our team was back at the colony working, and some were in the field. So maybe not many people planet-side noticed, but I'm sure the command crew knew that someone went into the forests, and maybe even that it was you."
Kendra loaded some drinks and food into the front seat, then stood up and crossed her arms across her chest. Matthew's eyes involuntarily followed the motion, but he quickly looked back at her face, blushing.
"I don’t care anymore," the young girl stated. "Unlike most everyone else, they don’t know what I am thinking, or what you are thinking for that matter. It makes it very easy for us to be honest with each other. Besides, there is a lot less danger out there among the trees and the rivers than among the colony. The animals here, the plants, the trees, they just act according to what they are. But humans cannot be trusted."
Matthew smiled.
"Didn't I just have to come out and rescue you? I don't remember ever having to do that when you were in the colony."
It was true of both Matthew and Kendra. Both of their systems had totally rejected the neural interface with the AI components that both colonists and crew were outfitted with, starting shortly after birth. In Kendra's case, every time the nano-bots had adapted themselves to her nervous system, her body would change, and the connections between the starship's computer systems and her mind were severed. It was as though her body were fighting the technology, rejecting the next stage of humanity.
It wasn't something Kendra was ashamed of, but rather something she wore as a badge of honor. Others, those who could hear the Song, and interface with the Grid, mistrusted her greatly. But Kendra always noticed that as people interfaced with one another, and with the Song, their personalities, their differences, would often fade away. It felt as though everyone started to think with one mind, and, more scary, that they often started to think with the mind of the most forceful personality around.
But Kendra, and Matthew, were obviously different. In the colony-ship of some twenty thousand souls Matthew and Kendra were considered totally inferior, in a society that prided itself on the combined knowledge of all people instantaneously available to all, no one could read, no one could understand, either Matthew or Kendra. And it was the combined opinion that Matthew and Kendra could not possibly understand the rest of the colony either. There were other non-Hybrids and sub-Hybrids, those whose integration was limited, around, but this pair of souls were totally severed from the Song. Only completely independent chips, which didn't require a neural connection, worked within them, such as the embedded trackers, and the temperature and heartrate monitors they were equipped with.
Whereas Kendra's rejection of the Hybrid technology was a mystery, it was better understood what Matthew’s problems were. Mankind had been enhanced in the past two centuries, their DNA, their genetics modified so as to be better able to interface with computers and other electronics. But despite the usual treatments, both natural medicines and nanobot injections, during the pregnancy period, his DNA had come out "inferior", ordinary, non-enhanced. Those onboard had considered discarding him after birth, but his parents had insisted he could join the ranks of the Sub-Hybrids.
Matthew shook his head, trying not to think of how most people in the colony look down on his.
He looked at his friend, this beautiful young woman. She had always had a mysterious gift long rejected by their technical society as supersition.
"So, are there any of them out there?" Matthew asked. Kendra's system may have completely rejected the Hybrid Technology, but she was a special individual. She could sense things, beings, that no one else could. When she was small, she used to talk about them, but others took this as another sign of her inferior genetics, and treated her to suppress her "symptoms". Matthew, however, always believed her. She was always so sincere. Besides, life aboard ship had been repetitive, boring, depressing. Matthew enjoyed the mystery. He wanted to believe there was more to flying a giant metal container through space.
Kendra looked down, at her feet.
"Yesterday, when you found me... my... ability was out of control. I was sensing everything. The trees, the rocks, the land itself. I could feel the wildlife around me. I was overwhelmed."
"Are you sure that wasn't the fever?" Matthew asked. "When I found you, you were burning up."
"Whatever it is that allows me to sense things, instead of whispering to me, it was yelling at the top of its lungs. Today... the extra noise is still there, but it is lower, bearable. Through it however, I can still sense something *different*. I don't know. A Spirit. Or a lot of them. It feels like they are floating on the wind, in the mountains, or beyond the mountains."
Kendra eyes began to lose focus, as she remembered her jaunt, and the previous exploratory missions the week before. She faded away into herself. This was very noticeable in the Hybrids as they were constantly accessing the Grid, but why Kendra did it is a mystery to Matthew. He knew that she would be gone for a couple of minutes, and he always worried about her when this happened. He sometimes wondered if she has seizures, which he had learned from history would often happen to those who had head injuries. But in the case of this friend, it was different. Others believed there was something wrong with her mind. Matthew, however, believed that she might be the healthiest of them all. She was certainly in excellent physical shape, small but strong, and fast.
Matthew moved between Kendra and the other workers, as they prepared for the mission. Though she is known to have these episodes, he wanted to hide it when she "left" as much as possible, as she seemed too vulnerable in those situations. He moved her slightly, taking her hands in his own, and looked into her eyes. Kendra's eyes shifted slightly, and looked into his. Her eyes were a deep combination of brown and grey. As he looked into them, he felt strange. It was almost as though he is falling into the eyes, as if something was drawing him in. Was it Kendra? Or, something else?
"Kendra," he said quietly, trying to reach her. "Kendra, come back." He squeezed her hands, gently stroking the top of her fingers with his thumbs. She responded, almost imperceptibly squeezing his hands back, but her eyes continued to betray that Kendra was somewhere else.
He let go with one hand, reaching up, and brushing a loose strand of hair out of her face. Her skin was soft, smooth, and for a moment he felt himself half distracted by her beauty. Then his mind refocused.
"Kendra," he whispered. "Kendra, there are people around now. I need you to come back." He half said this allowed, has prayed it to the ancient gods of The KshDonar.
After several minutes, Kendra's blinked several times. Whoever was looking through her eyes, the presence faded, and the eyes took on the familiar shine of Matthew's best friend. She noticed his hand brushing the side of her face. She briefly rested her head against his palm and fingers, closing her eyes. She then gave him a small smile, before completely shaking off the episode, and standing up, pulling away.
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