Rowan cursed her luck as she stood under the porch of the small café where she worked. The rain was heavy and coming down in slicing sheets. There wasn't much wind, but the air was cold and the little gusts clawed at Rowans' skin, making her shiver and break out in goose bumps.
"If you want to wait around hun, I can give you a lift home in about an hour, after I finish up." Rowan turned to the middle aged, portly woman in her stained apron and warm, rounded face.
"Thanks, Mary, but I should be Okay." Mary beamed at Rowan, her kind face made only more homely with the crows-feet wrinkles at the corners of her eyes.
"Alright darl, but you let me know if you change your mind. That's some dreadful weather to be walking home in." Rowan nodded her thanks at the owner of the café, and her boss, turning back to the road.
Already the rain had turned the dirt into mud, and small rivulets were pooling into large puddles. Rowan sighed and tried to cheer herself up with thoughts of a warm bath and a hot cup of cocoa when she made it home. The sky was dark and heavy and it showed no signs of letting up.
Resigned to the fact she was going to have a long, cold and wet walk home, Rowan stepped off the porch and into the miserable rain. Within minutes she was cold and soaked through. She hugged her small bag to her chest and she kept a brisk pace to keep herself warm, almost jogging as she followed the Main Road down the hill, leaving the small boutique shops along the main road behind her.
Sumac City was not actually a city. It was a tiny town in a rural area, comprised of only a handful of boutique stores. It was nestled in a huge valley of sloping hills that supported a huge dense forest that gave way to the rural farms of the area. Most people that lived in Sumac City lived on farms outside the actual town centre. Rowans' house was outside the main city, a good 45 minute walk, although with Rowan's current pace, she was making good time.
The main road that Rowan followed, reached a small intersection that was little more than gravel thrown over a dirt road. Rowan turned down this, slowing down as she was forced to tread a little more carefully.
The sound of the heavy rain was deafening, and she didn't hear the sounds of the bushes on the side of the road rustling as something moved alongside her.
As a matter of fact, she didn't see the strange creature jump out in the road in front of her, as she had her head down, trying to keep the rain out of her face, and she almost tripped over it. She stopped just short as it came into her view, and she froze, staring at the bizarre thing that blocked her way.
It was about the size of a medium dog, insect like in appearance, with a huge V-shaped head and a strange beaked mouth. Its eyes were huge and pink with slit pupils, like a cat. It was mottled brown and had four legs, and a huge bulky body. It looked… Weird.
"Well hey there little guy. You're an interesting critter." She had to speak loudly over the rain, and she knelt down, bringing herself to its level. She wasn't sure what it was, or even if it was friendly, and she kept her hands to herself, just looking at it, trying to sate her curiosity.
It tilted its strange head to the side, and she smiled. She gave a small shiver, as a gust of wind pierced through her.
"It's freezing little guy." She said standing back up. She gave the creature a wide berth, not wanting to alarm it, but she walked on, continuing on her path down the road. She glanced back over her shoulder, and was amazed to see the awkwardly bulky creature was trotting along, surprisingly agile on its four legs. It was following her, its eyes focused on her. She veered off to the side of the road and stopped under a tree trying to shelter from the weather as she watched as the creature joined her a moment later.
"Are you following me?" She asked, absently. She almost fell over in shock though when the creature suddenly nodded. "Wait... Did you just nod?" The creature clicked its beak and nodded again, still watching her with its unblinking stare. Rowan stared at the creature, stunned that it was obviously sentient.
The sky darkened and the rain seemed to fall even harder. Rowan looked around before returning her focus back to the creature. It didn't seem bothered by the rain or the cold at all.
"Look little guy, I'm freezing cold. I need to get home." She said with a reluctant smile. She unslung her bag that she had been hugging to her chest and rummaged around. She pulled out an apple she hadn't eaten at work, and knelt down, offering it to the creature. It stared at her with a completely unreadable expression for a moment; before it reached out and took the apple in its strange beaked mouth, devouring it in one go. Rowan smiled at the creature, and reached her hand out, gently touching the strange head crest.
"Wow, you're really warm!" She said, surprised. She had been expecting something insect like to be cold to the touch. The creature snapped its beak again in reply. She looked at the creature, could see a strange calculating look in its huge eyes. She smiled at it again, before she stood up, and started for home again. The creature followed her, and she kept glancing back at it, amused as it trotted along in the muddy rain.
Finally, she rounded a bend in the road, and she saw her house. It was only small and dome shaped. It was a capsule house, one that could be easily shrunk down to something that fits into a pocket and moved, but this one had been standing in the same spot for almost a year now. It even had a garden in the soil near the door. She rummaged in her bag again, and grabbed her keys, unlocking the small door.
The creature didn't even wait to be invited inside, and simply pushed past her as she opened the door. Rowan chuckled at this, and slipped inside after it, flicking on the lights and activing the small wall heater. It would take a while for the house to warm up, but it was better than freezing.
Inside, the main room housed a small kitchen, desk, lounge, TV and a few shelves. A small door led to the bedroom and bathroom. It wasn't much, but it was her home and she was proud of it. The creature was already wandering around, inspecting everything with a strange curiosity.
"Make yourself at home, little guy. I'm going to go have a quick shower and get out of these wet clothes. I can make us some dinner after." The creature looked back at her and nodded. She chuckled to herself, still utterly amazed that the creature was smart enough to understand what she said.
Cell watched her disappear into the bedroom and heard the shower turn on. His mind was running rampant, and he was amazed he had actually found her. She looked so different from the Rowan he knew. She was younger, barely 18, if his maths was correct. Her hair was longer and a richer shade of auburn and she didn't have the lines on her face and the resolution in her eyes that the future Rowan had.
But differences aside, it was still Rowan and he couldn't help but feel elated. What's more, is standing in her small house, he could smell her everywhere. And the smell was richer in this time line. Not necessarily more potent, but richer in flavour. He carefully inspected her furnishings. The small desk she had was piled with books and papers and a small, cheap laptop. More books were stacked on the floor next to the chair. The lounge was worn but still looked comfortable, and the TV was an old model. The sink was stacked with dishes and clothes littered the floor.
Rowan wasn't exactly neat, he mused to himself. But he didn't mind. Her smell was incredibly comforting, and he hadn't expected that. He had felt a huge pang of pain as Rowan had offered him the apple in the rain, remembering Rowan's corpse buried with the apple in the future, and he had struggled to force himself to eat the apple. It had tasted like ash, but it was the symbol of the act, that was important, the symbol of accepting her hospitality.
He was lost in his own sombre thoughts when Rowan emerged, clean and wearing a pair of bumble bee pyjamas. Cell watched her as she smiled at him, using a towel to dry her hair, before tossing it on a pile of clothes near the door. Washing pile, he assumed, staring at it for a moment.
"So little guy, any ideas what you want for dinner? I have sausages, pasta, tacos, salad, potatoes, if you want baked potatoes, umm… Oh, I can make pizza. I forgot I had those bases…" She drifted off as she rummaged through her fridge and pantry. Cell just watched as she preheated the oven, cut up the sausages and some vegetables, grated some of her block of cheese and spread it out over two pizza bases. After she had them cooking in the oven, she flicked the TV on and sat on the couch.
Cell made his way over slowly, considering the furniture. His body was huge and bulky and his legs were short and squat. He would have a hard time getting up on the couch, and settled on the rug on the floor. Rowan watched him ease himself down and after a moment, she slid off the couch next to him.
The two locked eyes, staring at each other for a while.
"You are one incredible creature." She said after a while in a tone of amazement. He tilted his head slightly to the side, quizzical. "I'm trying to figure out what you are. You don't look like you're fully formed yet." She gestured to his underdeveloped, shrivelled wings on his back. Cell nodded once, confirming her observation.
"Right. So… Are you some type of insect?" Cell shook his head. "A dinosaur?" Another shake of his head. "Are you an alien?" Cell paused, considering this. He technically had the DNA of aliens in his genetic makeup, but he had been created on Earth. By definition, he was an Earthling. He shook his head.
"You hesitated on that one." She said with a grin. Cell clicked his beak at her, wishing he could at least talk to her. "Do you have a name?" She asked after a while. Cell nodded. "Can you tell me?" Cell looked at her for a long time, before he picked himself back up and waddled over to the desk. He looked up at the lap top, then back at Rowan.
"Oh!" Rowan exclaimed, and leapt to her feet. She turned the lap top on, and opened up a writing program, and put the lap top on the floor. Cell hesitated for a moment, and looked up at Rowan. He turned back to the lap top, and using one foot, which was awkward and poorly designed for typing, he managed to type out 4 letters.
Rowan looked at the screen with an amazed expression.
"Seru? Your name is Seru?" Cell nodded once, and felt his chest tighten as she said it.
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Seru. My name is Rowan Graves." Cell nodded again and clicked his beak. "Can you tell me what you are?" She asked with a grin. Cell wondered how much he should tell her, and turned back to the computer.
"Experiment." Rowan read. She frowned. "Did you escape?" Cell considered this. He nodded once. Rowan smiled at him. "Well, I'm kind of on the run too. Tell you what, you can stay here and hide out with me if you want. I guess we can be fugitives together!" Cell clicked his beak again in agreement.
Rowan quickly learned that Cell had a monstrous appetite. He would eat anything, and everything she put in front of him, no matter how much or how little or what it was. He devoured the pizza she offered him in seconds, and watched her hungrily as she ate a couple of slices of her own, before she relented and gave him the rest.
Time passed by quickly, and Cell became more acutely aware of the personality differences between the two Rowans. In the future, Rowan had been wise, reserved and carried the weight of the struggle just to survive on her shoulders. She had appreciated the little things, especially a hot bath and a full stomach, and she was completely fearless, dealing with new things and sudden unexpected surprises without over reacting.
This Rowan, was young and naïve. She worried about little things and tended to over react to new situations. But she still had the same intelligence, and was able to come up with unique solutions to her problems. She was more materialistic, pining over new clothes and gadgets she couldn't afford on her meagre salary. But she was a hard worker, and she was a quick learner too.
Cell quickly adjusted to Rowan's daily routine. She worked 5 days a week from 7-4, and usually struggled to be awake in time. Cell had taken to being her alarm clock, something he took sadistic delight in, ripping open the curtains and flooding the bedroom with light, before head butting her until she got up. When she was gone, he would usually sleep.
However, he also spent a good deal of time on the internet. Rowan left her lap top on the floor for easy access for him. She had even made a series of ramps around the house to make it easy for him move around. Getting onto the couch or the bed was extremely easy now. He spent a lot of time keeping up to date with news and current affairs, and was always absorbing knowledge. The internet was a fountain of information, and Cell lapped it all up.
Cell had taken to the habit of meeting Rowan half way when she walked home, and she would tell him about her day. On the days she didn't work, they went for walks and picnics together. The two would argue and debate any variety of topics, when they were at home, with Cell giving his side through the laptop.
4 years flew by. Cell had more than doubled in size, and he knew that soon, it would be time for him to finally mature.
Rowan burst through the door, dressed in a very seductive red dress.
"That, bastard!" She roared.
She threw her purse on the floor and stormed angrily into the bedroom. Cell slowly pushed himself to his feet and ambled awkwardly after her. He was uncomfortably large now, and it was becoming a pain to move around. Burying himself underground and simply waiting it out, although boring would have saved him a lot of awkwardness during his final months of maturing.
Rowan was slumped against the wall, her knees pulled to her chest, and her face buried in her arms. Her shoulders shuddered as she sobbed. Cell made his way carefully around the bed, aware of his large size in the cramped room. He settled in front of Rowan, and waited. He was used to this.
Rowan no longer suffered from the oppressive fear that her abusive father would find her. Becoming restless, and craving social interaction, she had begun dating some of the younger men in the town. Brian had become her latest object of attention.
Cell had watched her over the years, with a pang of jealousy, as she often spent evenings out on dates. None of her relationships ended well however, and although Cell knew why, he couldn't bring himself to point it out to Rowan. She was protecting Cell from discovery and she struggled to commit to any relationship. Even the friends she had in the town were more casual than anything else. She had a reputation for being a loner, preferring to go home in the evenings rather than stay out partying all night. They could never know about the strange creature she shared her life with.
"He said he's tired of being strung along. He said he can't wait for me to figure out if I want to commit to him or not." Rowan said, after a long while. She wiped her eyes on the corner of her bed spread and stared at Cell, who stared back. She threw herself around his neck, burying herself against his warm body as she started to cry again. Cell let her cry herself out, knowing that all he could do was give her the comfort of his company. He smelt faintly of fresh turned Earth, a reassuring and comforting thing. It helped calm her down.
"Sometimes… Sometimes I wish you were human, Seru." She said after a while, finally easing herself away from him and looking him in the eye. "I'd be so much happier then." Cell felt his chest tighten and he suddenly found he couldn't look her in the eye, lowering his gaze from hers. She cradled his face in her hands, leaning forward and gently kissing the top of his beak in a friendly show of affection. Cell moved out of the way as she stood up, and watched as she headed into the shower.
He knew she didn't see him as a man, that he was a super-intelligent creature to her, never more than a friend. It made him angry, and he returned to the couch to seethe internally. He knew he wanted her, knew the feelings he had shared with the Rowan of the future had carried over and only strengthened his resolve to have her in this world too. He felt helpless, waiting for his body to mature.
But, even after he had matured, he couldn't linger with her for long, he knew. The androids… His purpose burned with a fierce desire, and as he thought of finally becoming complete, he felt his heart surge. He would achieve his goals. He would fulfil his purpose. And then… And then he could consider Rowan. But the androids would come first. His body quivered with the anticipation of achieving his purpose, and he allowed himself to dwell on that for a while. It wouldn't be long now, he knew.
He heard Rowan get out of the shower, and shortly after she emerged wearing her silk boxers and a tank top. She sat on the floor, leaning back against the couch and Cell, who watched her as she combed her waist length hair. He could smell her strawberry shampoo mix with her natural scent and it heated his blood.
Rowan flicked through the TV channels, settling on an old war documentary.
"You never did finish telling me why you thought the global empire was a bad idea." She said conversationally, as she plaited her hair. Cell clicked his beak at her. He had been lost in his own thoughts.
"I know you said that unifying the whole world under one leader made it vulnerable and slowed the development of weapons, but you never really explained why that was a bad thing." She looked over her shoulder at his face, that was focused intently on her own. "I mean, if the whole world is at peace and the prosperity is at its highest in recorded history, why does the development of weaponry even matter? It's unlikely there will be any wars. The emperor has been pretty good at keeping the peace." Cell snorted, a strange sound and he lifted himself up off the couch and ambled slowly down the ramp onto the floor. Rowan grabbed the laptop from the table in front of her, and placed it on the floor.
It took a moment for it to boot up, but Cell was soon typing away. He had become better at typing with his ungainly 3 toed foot, but it was still awkward.
"No defence against non-political unexpected attack." She read out as she leaned against him to read the screen. She frowned, staring at the words on the screen for a moment. "I don't get what you mean by that. How could a non-political attack be a threat?" Cell clicked his beak again, a habit he had developed in this form as a sign of agitation.
Aliens. Science. Experiments. Tests. He wrote. Rowan was silent for a moment, thinking.
"I think I get what you're saying. Because there is no global conflict, we've stunted the progress for our own personal defence, in case there was an alien invasion, or a mad scientist goes on the war path." Cell gave her a curt nod. She looked at him for a long time, obvious conflict in her eyes. She had asked him several times about his origin, but he had only ever given her vague answers. He had decided long ago, that he would tell her, when he could talk to her face to face. Mostly, he was procrastinating, not wanting to tell her the whole truth, and just enjoying her company. Things would change between them when he matured. A fact he knew, but avoided thinking about. He had thought about it a great deal, running different scenarios through his head.
"We interrupt this regularly scheduled program for a live Emergency Announcement." Cell snapped out of his thoughts, turning to the TV. A very tense reporter was standing in a city street, a street that was littered with empty clothing. He felt his hearth skip a beat and his whole body tense.
"What on Earth..." Rowan began as she focused on the TV.
"Nikki Town is under attack by a Monster. Thousands of people are missing in the creatures' wake, leaving only their empty clothes and… Oh my god, RICK, LOOK OUTARRGGHHH" The camera dropped, changing the field of view from the reporter, to his feet. There was a gargled yell, before the reporters' clothes fell in a crumpled heap to the pavement. A green, three toed, black-clawed foot appeared for a moment on the screen before it disappeared out of view. The screen flickered to an error message suddenly.
Cell felt his body go numb with the realization of what was going on, even though it should have been impossible.
"Oh my god, a monster? And Nikki Town is only about an hour's drive through the valley…" Rowan said. She turned to face Cell, and her face paled. Cell's eyes were incredibly wide, but his pupils were tiny, and his beaked mouth was agape.
"Seru, are you okay?" She asked. Cell finally regained his composure and closed his mouth and gave her a tense nod. He quickly typed something out on the screen before he moved to the middle of the floor. Rowan leaned over to read what he had written.
"Evolve?" She asked, looking at him, just in time to see him collapse nosily to the ground. "Seru?!" She leapt to her feet, as her best friend's eyes glassed over, and his warm mottled brown colour faded to grey before her eyes. His legs slumped, lifeless and his head tilted forward. She stopped herself from rushing to his side, as she heard a liquid sound come from within the hard shelled body.
A sudden brilliant flash of light, almost blinded her, and she stepped back, shielding her eyes, only daring to look when an almighty crack, like a snapping tree branch, reached her ears. She blinked, trying to adjust, unable to believe what she saw, as the ridge down Seru's back split in half, opening with a wet crunch.
It had been four long years since Cell had stood on 2 legs. He arched his back, stretching out his spine, feeling it crack satisfyingly. His tail uncurled behind him, and he felt his wings flex. He looked down at his hands, which were no longer stubby little things. They were flexible, long and useful again. He made fists, felt his sinews tighten and his muscles ripple. The energy he had been storing for the past 4 years flooded his body, giving him renewed vigour and strength, and he could feel it saturating the fibres of his muscles and tendons. But the energy had diminished somewhat over the four years of inactivity, and his body was new, and it felt weaker than he remembered. He tilted his head slightly, looking sideways at Rowan. She seemed smaller now, and she seemed afraid.
'No, not afraid', he thought to himself, 'Surprised.' He opened his beaked mouth in a smile.
"Hello, Rowan."