12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Poor Wyn finds out the truth.

I sat on the ground right outside of the greenhouse, watching Zoltilvoxfyn give Seth a potted plant. He wouldn’t meet Seth’s gaze as he explained its care and what type of hybrid it was. Seth nodded along, eyes equally on the ground, and one of his fingers traced the round, spotted leaves, the stark pink a drastic contrast against his pale skin. Kal was nowhere to be seen, which surprised me. He seemed incapable of leaving Seth for more than a few minutes at a time, but I supposed miracles did happen.

Carrying the dark blue pot, Seth asked, “Is Caleb around?”

“I’m here,” I shouted, even though he couldn’t hear me.

Sunshine started, which made me laugh. “He’s over there,” he replied, gesturing to me.

Seth turned in my direction and waved shyly. “Hey.”

“Hi. What are you doing today? Anything fun? I hope you are doing something fun,” I said, bouncing, and Zoltilvoxfyn dutifully translated.

“I’m going to see Wyn and have a conversation with NAID in front of a group of scientists.”

“That sounds awkward.”

“It is,” Seth said as his free hand burrowed into his hoodie pocket.

I couldn’t know for certain, but from the bright sun and cloudless sky, I assumed it was too hot for a hoodie, but maybe he was one of those people who was always cold. That had never been my problem. I was a born and bred Californian—flip flops and shorts forever.

You’d never know from my jeans, t-shirt, and tennis shoes. I hated that I couldn’t change my clothes. It wasn’t like I’d known I was going to die that day or that I’d be stuck forever in the same clothes.

“Can I come?” Wyn would be there, but more than that, NAID was there. While she wasn’t Nana, NAID wore her face and had her voice. It was better than nothing, and nothing was all I’d had previously.

Seth tensed, clutching the potted plant to his chest. “You want to come?”

“It sounds fun.”

He stared at the ground, not responding. Zoltilvoxfyn glanced at me, and I shrugged. I didn’t have to force my way in; if I followed along, they would never know I was there, but it would be more fun if Zoltilvoxfyn came along to translate my words.

“Maybe this will help Caleb find his tether,” Sunshine offered.

“Tether?” Seth asked.

“To move on, he needs to find what ties him to the mortal plane, so he can break it and depart.”

“How will this help?” Seth asked.

“My thoughts exactly,” I added. Zoltilvoxfyn glared at me, and I chuckled, understanding. He was trying to force Seth to let me come.

“I do not know,” he answered.

Seth squeezed the plant to his chest, studying the ground, clearly planning on saying no.

“It’s okay. I can come another time,” I relented.

“N-no,” Seth said, though he looked like he wanted to take it back the second the word was out of his mouth. “It’s fine. I need to take the plant to my apartment first.”

“We can follow you,” Zoltilvoxfyn said. “Or meet you at NAID’s hub.”

“I’ll meet you there.” Seth slipped into the trees in the direction of the palace. A drakcol with dark gray scales, who was staring at a screen, peeled off from behind a tree and followed along. Neither Zoltilvoxfyn nor Seth noticed or they didn’t care. Their glazes slid over him, as if they couldn’t see him.

Maybe he was a ghost like me? I immediately rejected that thought. The drakcol had a tablet, and Zoltilvoxfyn would’ve known if that dude was a spirit. Still, no one paid any attention to the drakcol as he followed Seth from a discreet distance.

Shaking it off, I moved to Zoltilvoxfyn’s side, and his tail flicked in my direction, hovering near my ankle before sliding away. I wanted his tail to touch me, even though I wouldn’t perceive it.

“I feel bad,” I commented.

“Why?”

“Seth didn’t want me to come, but we forced our way in.”

Sunshine pushed his long hair behind his tapered ear. I swallowed, eyes locked on his elegant fingers, then to the earrings he wore. The golden cuff on the inner part of his tapered ear was oddly sexy and highlighted its length.

What was it about this dude? Every movement pulled me in. Another brush went across my arm, as if fingers ran down the length. I shuddered at the almost imperceptible touch, trying to cling to it, but it vanished impossibly quick.

“We could not go,” he offered.

“We could, but I really want to.”

“Then we will go this time, and maybe not again. I do not wish to stress Seth out, and if I do, it will be hard to become friends with him.”

“You will. Soon. I know it. The two of you will be great friends.” I bounced on the balls of my feet, aching to hug him or at least pat him.

“Perhaps.”

We met Seth downstairs near NAID’s private hub, which was separate from the main. The Network of Artificial Intelligence for Drakcol or NAID was a single entity that had many different parts connected to the main hub, but this NAID was different. The Council of Seekers wasn’t exactly sure what had happened, but she’d gained sentience.

Some scientists believed Seth Harris was responsible for the sudden change. No NAID had gained self-awareness yet—she was the first—but he’d claimed that NAID had done it all on her own. There was another theory that because she hadn’t been connected to the main hub when the Admiral Ven left for Earth, she became her own entity.

In the end, no one was certain.

Kalvoxrencol was in charge of her independence project, and Seth played an integral part because she showed more independence when she spoke with him than anyone else. They were friends.

When Seth saw us, his expression tightened and his hand slid into his oversized black jacket. I’d expected to see Kalvoxrencol trailing him, but Seth was alone—again. I wasn’t sure where my little brother was, but it was hard to imagine him leaving Seth alone this much.

Something must be happening that I wasn’t aware of; something that Kalvoxrencol wasn’t telling me, and that made a worthlessness grow inside of me no matter how much I hoped to banish it. I needed my brother to rely on me as much as I depended on him. But he never did—none of them did.

Caleb skipped toward Seth, beaming brightly. My jaw tightened. I didn't know why Caleb liked Seth so much, but it bothered me. It shouldn’t, yet it did for a reason I couldn’t explain.

“Seth,” Caleb called, and I reluctantly told him.

“Caleb. Zoltilvoxfyn,” Seth carefully said my name, drawing it out.

“Tell Seth he can call you Fyn. He struggles with your long names,” he said, then added in a rush, “Nobody else gets to call you Sunshine. You’re my Sunshine. No one else’s. Just mine. Not that I’m being weird or anything. Don’t read into it. It doesn’t mean anything. I promise.”

“I will not tell him,” I replied, ignoring the fire that burned in my gut from Caleb’s subtle claim. As he said, it didn’t mean anything.

Seth blinked. “Excuse me?”

“My apologies. I was speaking with Caleb. He gave me a shortening and told me to share it with you.”

Seth laughed. “Your name was too long, huh?”

“Told you,” Caleb shouted as he jumped. In the short time I’d known Caleb, he didn’t do anything by halves. He was so loud and exuberant, moving incessantly. He was so alive, even if he no longer breathed.

“I shortened Kal’s name pretty quickly as well.”

“I call him that too,” Caleb said, though he quietly added, “Not that he can hear me.”

His obvious sadness tugged on me, so begrudgingly, I said, “Caleb calls me Fyn.”

“Cute,” Seth said.

“It is,” Caleb replied.

“We should go in,” I said, ending the conversation about my drastically shortened name. I wasn’t particularly fond of it, but I had a hard time saying no to Caleb for some reason.

The lab was decent-sized with screens on every wall. All, except the large monitor in the center of the room, was full of code readouts. The center monitor displayed an older human woman with a tower of curls on her head. She was perfectly blue like NAID normally was, but her unique countenance was different from the usual silhouette.

A group of scientists hovered near the monitors. A few I recognized in passing, but I didn’t recall their names. One of the scientists stood out from the group. I’d never seen him before; I would’ve remembered. He was shorter and leaner than most drakcol, but what caught my attention was that he was the most attractive person I’d ever seen in my life.

He had soft pink hair that was cut in military fashion—short on the sides and longer on top. His light purple scales had slips of gold and magenta skin showing around them. His wide blue eyes roved over us as his full lips pulled into a smile when he saw Seth. The scientist drew Seth into a hug as his tail curled about Seth’s wrist.

“That’s Wyn,” Caleb said. “He was on the Admiral Ven. Seth recommended him for this position.”

“Interesting,” I muttered. Normally, I didn’t speak to spirits when other people besides my family were present, as strangers tended to react badly, but I didn’t want Caleb to think I was ignoring him.

“He followed me around the ship.”

“How?”

Caleb leaned closer to me, almost touching. “He was chasing a phase variance, which was me. Or rather, I was causing it. Sometimes I affect technology with my ghostly self.”

“Interesting,” I repeated, and he grinned. My tail shifted in his direction, but I stopped the motion. A swooping sensation, as if I was free-falling, went through me, and I ripped my gaze away from Caleb, then started. The whole lab was staring at me.

I looked at the ground, hair falling around me like a shield; darkness swelled in my chest and spread like a miasma, coating my cells until I felt as if I was wading through mud. Each breath was slight and rough, like something pressed against my chest, grinding my lungs into my spine.

They all thought I was insane. I straightened, bracing for the inevitable whispers. One of the scientists muttered something to their colleague. My gut tightened and my tail coiled about my ankle, but I forced it away. I would show no weakness.

Kalvoxrencol might have been the royal troublemaker, absorbing the eyes outside of the palace, but everyone within the palace stared at me and whispers followed in my wake.

Seth stepped forward, fisted hands shaking. “Prince Zoltilvoxfyn has a guest with him today. A ghost from my world named Caleb Smith.” One of the scientists scoffed, and Seth’s expression turned harsh. “If anyone has a problem, they can leave and be reassigned.”

My soul clenched. My family always protected me, but I hadn’t expected Seth to do so.

Wyn moved to Seth’s side and offered me his throat. “Prince, where is Caleb Smith?”

“Right next to me.”

He looked at the space next to me, but on the wrong side, and said, “Hello, Caleb Smith. I’m Wyn.”

“Hey,” Caleb said. “We’ve met. Sort of. I mean, I met you, not that you know me. I was on the Admiral Ven. Both trips. Tell him it’s a long story. I don’t want to get into it again.” I relayed his words, trying to ignore the blatant staring from the rest of the group.

Wyn’s forehead creased for a moment before his mouth fell open, tail thrashing. “You’re the phase variance.”

“Yep,” Caleb replied.

“I was chasing you.” Wyn shook his head, tail writhing in agitation. “I can’t believe it. My superiors thought I was incompetent with all the reports I sent. They are doing a system purge on the Admiral Ven as we converse because we figured it might be a coding error. Though I did track the phase variance here as well.”

“I came down on the shuttle with you,” Caleb explained.

Wyn scrubbed his hair, making it stand up straight. “Well, that explains everything.” He turned to NAID. “Are you sensing the phase variance?”

“Yes,” she replied, and Caleb tensed beside me.

Wyn said, “I wonder if we can somehow project Caleb or find a way to be able to hear him. Our technology can perceive him, so perhaps it’s possible.”

“It would be fascinating to try,” NAID said, her disembodied head bouncing on the screen in a way that made me distinctly uncomfortable. “I would be happy to assist you.”

“Then I could talk directly to Caleb,” Seth said, smiling. “I would like that.”

“Me too,” Caleb said, but his eyes never left NAID.

When Seth and Wyn refocused on NAID, I leaned toward him, my hair disappearing into his shoulder. “Are you well?”

“No,” he said. “That’s my grandma.”

“That’s NAID,” I said. “She doesn’t have children, let alone grandchildren.”

“I’m not an idiot, Sunshine. I’m talking about the face she’s wearing. That’s my grandmother.”

My soul stilled, and I looked at NAID again. I’d seen her once or twice, but I’d never given much thought to where her human aspect came from. This face, though, belonged to one of Caleb’s family.

“Shall I ask her to change?”

“No,” he said. “It’s fine.”

“I would ask for you, Caleb.”

“Thank you, but it’s nice to see her, even if she’s not my grandmother.”

For the rest of the session, I stayed quiet, except for when Caleb talked. Instead of listening to Seth and NAID converse as they apparently did on a weekly basis, everyone was more focused on Caleb and how to reprogram the sensors to perceive him. I didn’t know if Wyn and NAID would succeed, but I hoped they did. Caleb deserved to be seen and heard by others.

Though, perversely, I craved to keep him all to myself. I liked his focus being entirely on me because mine was certainly on him. Every bounce, smile, and word drew me in. He was like a star that I was helpless to orbit.