Promises (The Chosen, Act 1, Part 5)

_{By 12019 on pixabay.com}

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Act 1:
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

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April 5th, 2166

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”Thank you.” Joel took the glass of water Mia handed him and took a sip. The sun was burning down on him, as he was sitting on the doorstep. Global warming had ruined spring; he had been told. Not like he ever experienced a “proper” spring, the world had already been ruined when he had been born.

”You’re not accompanying him today?” Mia asked Joel, more out of habit than curiosity. Xeraias hadn’t taken Joel with him for two months now. Joel knew why but couldn’t tell Mia. For a whole month, Joel had tried to train the hybrid to control his abilities, to truly become the chosen one. Without success.

Despite Xeraias having previously admitted to showing signs of powers, and Joel being sure that, during their initial encounter, he had been under the hybrid’s influence, no further ability showed themselves and the allegedly existing ones didn’t manifest further.

By now, Joel wasn’t sure anymore if he had done the right thing. Suggesting situations where the hybrid might have used his powers could have lead Xeraias to imagine things that hadn’t been there. It could have given coincidental circumstances more meaning than they were supposed to have.

Joel was still allowed to remain at the couple’s home, but he suspected that after the six months Xeraias had given him, things would change drastically. He knew that he could try and run away, pick up his transport capsule and return to the safety of Antarctica. But his honor wouldn’t allow that. Three months ago, he had made a decision, and now he had to live with it.

Mia had sat down next to him, her hands folded over her growing belly. Joel still wasn’t sure if the father of this baby was really Xeraias. Biologically, it should not have been possible for him to impregnate her. But both insisted that this had been the case. The first few weeks, Joel had watched Mia closely, trying to find signs of unfaithfulness. But there was nothing, for some weird reason, she seemed utterly devoted to him.

”Do you think he will get that promotion?” Mia’s soft voice ripped Joel out of his thoughts and placed him back in the here and now.

”I’m not sure”, he lied. There was no promotion. There was not even a job where Xeraias could get a promotion. The hybrid was still dealing drugs on the street, while lying to his girlfriend about it. And even though his lies were thin and see-through as plastic foil, even though they didn’t make sense many times, she believed him. And Joel didn’t understand why. _@suesa

”He is trying to be better, you know?” Mia continued the slow conversation. ”There is just so much prejudice towards his kind. Humans despise him; aliens think he’s inferior and other hybrids … well, they’re not the most social bunch.” She smiled a sad smile.

”How did you meet him?” Joel asked the question he had wanted to ask for three months now. But the right moment hadn’t come until now.

”In a back alley, barely alive”, she said. Drug deal gone wrong, his buyers had badly beaten him up and left to die. I was on my way back home when I heard his labored breaths behind a dumpster. I tended to his wounds as well as I could, brought him home and nursed him back to life.”*

”Admirable”, Joel said, without a hint of sarcasm in his voice. ”Most humans would have just left him to die, or at best called an ambulance.”

”He’s a feeling being, just as you and I are”, Mia said, her big, dark eyes fixed on his. Suddenly, he felt a lot warmer than the nanobots in his suit should allow. He cleared his throat and turned away.

”This wouldn’t count for most people”, he pointed out, while starting to fidget with his hands. Her company began to make him nervous, and he didn’t like that.

”I am not most people”, she simply said. ”I value life in all forms.”

”But valuing life doesn’t mean you have to …” He stopped himself from saying something offensive and turned as red as a lobster.

”It doesn’t mean I have to have sex with a hybrid?” She said and smiled. ”You’re right, that’s a step above just caring for his health. But during the time he took to heal, I fell in love with him. I know it’s hard to look past that body of his, it’s very alien after all. But he’s also part human. And when you truly love someone, their appearances don’t matter.”

Joel strongly disagreed, but only silently. “Appearances don’t matter” was something, that applied inside your own species, sure. He could imagine dating someone unattractive because he loved them so much. But that someone would still need to be human! A hybrid might be 50 % human, but that meant it was also 50 % non-human.

And that was disgusting.

”I see that you still struggle to understand”, Mia said. ”That’s okay, I don’t hold it against you. I would like to ask one thing from you.”

”And what is that?”

”When giving your boss your evaluation of Xeraias, don’t be influenced by his genetics. Rely on what you know about his personality, his work ethic. Don’t deny him the promotion, just because he is different.”

”I will try”, Joel said, and Mia nodded. She then stood up and went back inside.

Joel watched her walk away and then sighed. He could try as much as he wanted, Xeraias wouldn’t get a promotion. He hated lying to Mia. But even if Xeraias finally showed the powers the chosen one was supposed to have, Mia and her child wouldn’t be granted a better life. Instead, Joel would be forced to take the hybrid with him, so he could be taught by the masters, and prepared for his destiny.

There was no happy ending to this.

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