Taylor opened the door and walked in. I followed behind him with Eko by my side. My breath stood still as the room filled my eyes. This place was now my home… I have a home. This wasn't fake or a fantasy, this is real. I took a few more steps forward and examined the house. To my right was Commander Taylor's room. To my left was the kitchen. The realization dawned on me that I could have true food instead of scraps from dumpsters.
Taylor motioned me forward and I did as I was told. I passed the kitchen table and couch for the living area. In front of me were two rooms.
"That one," he pointed to the one on my left, "is more of a work place. That room," he gestured toward the other room, "is yours." He took off my backpack that he kindly carried for me. I took it from his grasp and placed it on the bed. Eko looked up to me with expectant eyes. I grinned while I reached into my pack.
I pulled out a special collar that I created just for Eko.
"What's that?" The Commander questioned.
I chuckled, "It's a collar."
"Well, I know that!" He countered.
I looked up to him with one eyebrow raised. "Then why did you ask?"
He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall. "Not many people from 2149 have animals, so how did you find a collar?" I could take his words as an insult, but why should I? Obviously by merely observing me, I wasn't in the wealthy part on the living scale, so it was clear why someone such as I wouldn't be able to even look at an animal. The only ones able to keep pets lived in fancy domes. Those places were only for purebred animals. A dog such as Eko, part wolf part dog, wouldn't be accepted.
I began to wrap the device around Eko's neck. "Over my years, I've learned quite a bit about technology. I made this collar to enable-" I was cut off.
"It's about time, Iris!" Eko's voice entered the room and the collar flashed red when he spoke. That meant everything in the contraption was working fine.
"Now that mutt can speak?" Commander Taylor questioned.
Eko growled at Taylor, "Who you calling a 'mutt'?"
"Calm down, boy. Remember, Commander Taylor was nice to offer us his place to stay for a while."
The wolf shook his shoulders. "Doesn't mean I have to enjoy his company."
"You said that you made this collar?" I nodded in return. "You expect me to believe that you took a regular collar and somehow made it to where an animal can speak?"
"With all the technology that I was offered to examine, I created some of my own inventions."
"Would those be the classified jobs?"
I glanced at him, "Yeah."
"Mind telling me what you did for those jobs?"
By habit, I simply shook my head, but why does it matter whether I tell him or not? I came to Terra Nova to forget and run away from that life. I might as well pour it all out.
"Well," I began, "what does it matter what I did. That part of me is gone, forever."
"Iris." Eko said as I looked at him. His voice was soft and fragile. "So we… have a place to sleep for a while. We don't have to worry about people trying to kill us in the middle of the night?"
My eyes glanced at Commander Taylor, but back to Eko. "Yeah, Eko. We don't have to worry anymore."