"Genesis"
Chapter 7
I felt as if I had just closed my eyes to sleep when I was awoken by sunlight streaming in through the window. I blinked and stared at the clock on the bedside table; 6:40 am. I groaned and rolled over. My mind began to run in circles, making any attempt to further my slumbers impossible, and so with reluctance I gave up. Rolling onto my back I folded my hands behind my head and stared idly at the ceiling. So this was to be our first real day in Gero's care, I mused. As much as I disliked the old man there was something about him that drew me to him. It was as if there was a hidden side to him... that what we had witnessed was only a mask, put there to distract from the real Gero. The more I thought about it the more convinced I became that there was another side to this Gero... a side that I fully intended to find.
A gentle knock on the interconnecting door drew me from my thoughts and I looked up to see Krystal gazing at me from around the door frame. I motioned for her to come across and patted the bed for her to sit. I smiled as I noticed she was still clutching Miss Fluffy her teddy bear. Right now we both needed as much familiarity around us as we could get.
"So this is our new home?"
"Looks like it."
"Jay?"
"Yes?"
"I don't know if I can do this..."
Two tears escaped from soft blue eyes and rolled down porcelain skin. I raised my hand and brushed them away, at the same time I pulled Krystal close to me and stroked her hair just like our mother used to do.
"It will all be okay, Krystal... I promise," I said with more conviction in my voice than I felt. "All we need to do is to obey Gero's rules and stay out of his way."
Krystal sighed and sat upright again. "Yes, I know..." She smiled at me. "I will try."
"Good. Now let's get dressed and head down for breakfast."
Krystal went back through the connecting door to her room and I wandered to the closet to find something to wear. My mind was still turning in circles as I continuously thought about why Gero should suddenly come forth and want us. The more I thought the more frustrated I got. Frustrated at my own inability to work out what was going on. My subconscious was working over time and I knew that all the information that had been fed to me so far was locked away in the recesses of my brain where it was slowly being analysed and put together.
I dragged my t shirt over my head and tugged at the hem, tucking it into the waist of the blue jeans I wore. I brushed my hair, staring into the mirror at the reflections' face as if I would be able to find the answers in the image's eyes.
No such luck.
Tying up the laces of my sneakers I tossed my hair back and straightened up. I headed for the door, pushing all thoughts of Gero's ulterior motives to the back of my mind for now.
Breakfast was a quiet meal with only the obligatory words being exchanged. As I chased the last piece of strawberry around the now empty plate I glanced at the 'android' that was waiting on us. He seemed to be almost human. The body movement was a little stiff and the voice wasn't quite right, which even to the inexperienced such as myself told me that he wasn't the human he was supposed to be. But still he was very life like. Idly I wondered just how Gero was able to make a robot appear to be so real. Unfortunately I was to find this out a lot sooner than I realized.
#
The next few weeks passed in rather a blur of activity. Most days were spent with our school work and then when we weren't being taught we were usually completing homework. The work wasn't hard and Krystal and I found that we were pretty much ahead in our studies. Gero dropped in from time to time to make sure we were following his orders properly and seemed to be quite pleased to note that we were doing rather well.
We managed to do quite a bit of exploring at weekends and found the area surrounding Gero's home to be one of never ceasing enlightenment. Nature abounded and the creatures seemed to be friendly, having not had much contact with humans they therefore had no reason to fear people. These were some of the more happier times. Krystal and I would pack up a picnic lunch and head off into the wilds. All day would be spent exploring the area, making friends with the wild life and generally relaxing, letting all the worries fade for a while. Inevitably though, all too soon we would have to head back to the mountain and the home within.
Not that Gero was cruel to us... on the contrary he was very generous. We wanted for nothing. All our meals were taken care of so we were never hungry. As we grew so our clothing was replaced with larger sizes and followed the changing fashion trends. This was a particularly sore point with Krystal as she was very fond of shopping and had her own likes and ideas on clothing for herself. Being unable to select her own apparel did not go down well... part of being a girl I suppose. I couldn't have cared less. Just as long as I had clothes that fitted and suited the current season I was happy.
Our education was closely monitored and we were encouraged to study more on those subjects we were good at and given extra help in the areas we needed it in. Meal times became an interesting part of our day. Mainly dinner time. You see, this is when I got to work on Gero...
Breakfast was always a series of grunts or monosyllablistic answers as Gero always hid behind his precious newspaper. Not that I could blame the guy. It was, after all, his main way of keeping in touch with the outside world. He rarely left the mountainside home, preferring instead to either send one of his 'servants' to get the necessities from town or ordering what he needed from the Internet and having it delivered.
Lunch was also a pretty silent affair and more times than not it was just myself and Krystal, Gero having failed to realize the time or just too busy to be bothered to eat.
But dinner time.
Now that was a completely different kettle of fish. Gero was always there for dinner and with nothing else to distract him I was free to ask, pry and quiz him on the androids.
There was also the matter of the lab.
So far we had been unable to access the lab or get much information out of Gero as to the type of experiments he did in there. But I wasn't about to give up. Gero seemed to be quite happy to talk about his 'androids' and the success he was having with them and slowly I started to pick up on Gero's methods and understand some of what he was saying.
Our lives once more began to settle to a normal routine and before we knew it several more years had gone by. We were both now in our final year of study and looking forward to a future that we could carve together. Our whole life lay ahead like a blank piece of paper, just waiting for us to write the words of our lives upon its surface.
Krystal was still unsure of what she wanted to do with her life. Maybe teaching. She had a knack for being able to impart knowledge so that even the most complicated thing seemed so simple after her explanation. And me?
Well I had discovered I had a flair for the sciences. Physics, chemistry, biology... I just couldn't get enough. I was like a huge sponge drawing in and absorbing as much as I could. This seemed to make Gero even happier and he began to spend more time with me.
This was exactly what I wanted.
Slowly I managed to draw Gero more and more to me. Long discussions on the various physical properties of elements... the reactions of biological systems to chemical changes... the long term effects of the environment on altered systems and so on ensured that we spent a lot of time together. Gradually my plan began to work. Gero began to let little snippets of information on his current android experiments slip.
Over the period of a few months I managed to learn enough from Gero to get a reasonable understanding of what he was up to. It kind of reminded me of something. [1]
Krystal wasn't very happy with me and finally it all came to a head. We had gone out for the day. A break from studying for our final exams was needed and Krystal had managed to organise a picnic lunch and in no uncertain terms informed me that I was going along too. No excuses.
As I trudged along behind her, the knapsack feeling heavier with each step so my mind did its usual trick and wandered off on its own little tangent. I had almost cracked Gero. If Krystal had left me alone I'm sure he would have given in.
As if reading my mind Krystal broke into my thoughts.
"Just what is it you are up to, Jay?"
"What do you mean?"
"You know exactly what I am talking about," she returned.
I stopped in the clearing and lowered the knapsack to the ground, doing my best to evade the question. "Ummm, want to give me a hand?" I questioned and opening the bag I took out the blanket and passed it to her.
Krystal scowled and she got that determined look on her face. The one like a dog with a bone and I knew that the subject was only temporarily dropped.
We spread the blanket and unpacked the food. Sitting in silence we munched our way through sandwiches, cake, cheese and biscuits and washed it all down with lemonade. Wih my stomach now happily satisfied I lay back and rested the back of my head in my folded hands and stared idly at the clouds.
Krystal pulled up a piece of grass and began to chew on it, her face deep in thought.
It was only a matter of time...
"Jay?"
"Yes, Krystal?"
"What exactly is it you are up to? And don't try to fob me off with some pathetic excuse either!"
I sighed and closed my eyes wearily. I should have know she wouldn't drop the subject. "I really don't want to discuss it, Krystal."
"But, Jay. I am your sister, we have always shared everything. I can see and sense you are onto something... Don't shut me out. I don't want to be alone." There was a catch in her voice.
I raised myself on to my elbow and looked across to her. Was I that wrapped up in my own obsession that I had forgotten my sister? The answer stared straight back at me. Quickly I moved across ad drew Krystal into my embrace. "I'm sorry," I whispered. "I didn't realize that what I was doing was affecting you this way."
Krystal looked at me with pain in those blue eyes. "Don't shut me out, Jay... Please don't do that, you are all I have left of my family." A sob choked its way out.
I stroked her hair gently. "I won't shut you out and I'm so sorry If that's the impression I have given you, but I didn't want to tell you what I was doing as I didn't want you to get involved and possibly get hurt," I soothed her gently. Finally she seemed to settle.
"Please tell me, Jay," she said quietly.
"Okay then. I know Gero is up to something. He is on the verge of making a major break through in his experiments. I am earning his trust." I stared at Krystal and she nodded in reply that she understood.
"Being able to converse with him on his own level I am hoping he will trust me enough that he will let me into his lab and therefore I can learn just what it is he is up to in there."
Krystal shifted. "And once you do get into the lab and learn his secrets, what then?"
I stared out across the landscape, the question going through my head... "What then?" Exactly... Once I got into the lab and found the secret, just what was I going to do next?
I had no idea...
~ T B C ~
[1] Jay is thinking of the classic... "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelly.