Tears of Glass

The hand on the old, hanging clock felt colder than the drink in his hand. It stood in place, a sentry. He shifted his collar anxiously and swept back loose strands of hair. The metallic rim of the clock glistened with each passing waiter, it's shine given by the glasses of wine on the carried trays. White with a tinge of greens, dark yellows, and deep reds. In the same way a puddle rests on a busy street. Reflecting each fool on their journey, each signal to move forward or to stay still. Subjected to raw flow of human nature. His thoughts gather once more, Ray found himself staring out in the drizzling rain. It was easy to be swept away in melancholic ambience, as if the world was holding your hand on a thoughtful stroll. He grasped lightly at the tablecloth, subconsciously yearning for the same touch. With eyebrows furrowing and relaxing, Ray looked to his hand.

"You're a lead scientist, Ray. Get a damn grip. Worse thing she can do is not show up. I mean, It's a blind date from Landmine. That app is notoriously known for stuff like this. Carnality and absent lovers." Ray breathes in and out slowly, rationalizing his anxiety into cloudless jesting. Not a dream to be crushed in sight. Cold like the clock above, cold like the data on his desk. He knew he'd just be back in the office again, so why hope for more?

A buzz jumped from his pockets,

Allen • How's it hanging, boss?

Ray • The rope isn't tied yet. Still waiting for her.

Allen • Goodness, you need to get laid man.

Alice • Unprofessional, Allen! The proper verbage is, passionate fornication.

Johnny • Why'd you two send him to the computer to look for a hot broad? Ray, do me a favor and go across the street to Ghenni's. I got a solid 7.5 begging for attention.

Alice • See this is why no one respects you, Johnny.

Johnny • Gets me laid though ;))

Ray • if I need more reasons to jump off the Lando Bridge, I'll come back here. Thanks guys.

Alice • You got this, boss!

Ray rubs in between his eyes, massaging down the nose. His watch stuttered a few times before moving forward, which irritated him slightly. He began to felt embarrassed, because Ray refused to admit to himself that he was anxiously looking forward to meeting this woman, Ava. Even his coat collar was bent in from the constant fidgeting. He straightened it nervously and ran a hand through his tousled hair. Even the sensitivity of his skin felt heightened.

"More wine, sir?" A waitress smiled politely, offering the bottle. The voice cut through the overwhelming, tangled senses.

"uh huh, thank you.." He nodded. Although his eyes became fixated on the woman who had just walked in. The deep crimson dress popped out, a beautiful figure hugged by it's innate selective colour beauty. The entire world dulled in comparison; he swore to it all he'd never seen such a beautiful lady in this city. Riverstone was always a diverse place, but she was otherworldly. Raven pitched hair bounced about, a radiant smile glistened as she passed the front reception. Dark brown eyes, tan skin, and a deep glossy black pair of lips. Captivating more than just his eyes, a few other patrons had to reel up their jaws.

The older waiter simply smiled, folding the notepad with one hand. She pulled the rolling cart of refreshments around, picking out the matching drink to top off both glasses.

"My my, seems your date arrived after all. She's a lucky woman to have such a patient man. I'll let you two catch up before I come back around to get y'alls order." The dirty blonde waiter flashed a wink with a friendly, wise charm.

She walks off without much else said.

Ray was momentarily hyper fixated on the appearance and movement of Ava. By the time he snapped out of the trance, he couldn't thank the waiter for such kind service. Being the man he was, he felt a bit ashamed over that. Nothing a generous tip can't help. Ray scanned around the busy restaurant but lost the waiter in the midst.

Ray reversed the 180 search only to be met with sharp brown eyes and a deep smile sitting across from him. His chest nearly split apart in fear and excitement. Then back to a feeling of shame, he didn't get to seat her like a gentleman.

"Ah! What..how did you..uh..shit where are my manners?" Ray stutters about, flushed in the face and attempting to stand up.

"Ray, hun, take a seat." Ava eyes him from his belt line back up to his own gaze. She flashed a tighter lipped smile. Her confidence defused the nervous situation rather quickly.

"My apologies, I just wanted to make a gentleman's impression--"

"Goodness, I know this is our first face meeting.." Ava giggles softly, "but you are such a cute spazz."

"Well..for the record, I try not to be such a spazz. How did, uh, the flight treat you? Elsin is quite a distance to travel." Ray asked, attempting to break the ice.

Ava looked off to the side, "not the worst flight I've been on. Thank you for arranging it, I'd been so busy with working overseas. I thought this was going to be another hit and miss opportunity, honestly. It's been one mess after another lately.."

"It's no problem whatsoever. I'm happy it all ended up working out for us. Truth be told, I've been in the same boat with work. Messes to clean up, lists to deplete, and never enough time." Ray mentions, furthering the conversation.

"That means we are making our own time now and I am grateful for it." Ava placed a hand on the table. Her gloved fingers stretching across and gripping a menu. She surveyed the options, mind already made up on what to order.

"True indeed. May I also mention how stunning you are in that dress?" Ray rubs his neck. A little bit of sweat disguised in palm so he wiped it on the side of his jeans.

"Hmm, seeing as how you just mentioned it.." She cocked a brow and chuckled.

"Well uh.. that is also true..but I only meant to complimen-"

She bursts out into a dark, rich laughter. Not in a sinister way, but she obviously had fun teasing Ray.

"I'm only messing with you, darling. Thank you. I was afraid I would have to take it off for you to notice it's lovely shade."

Ray wryly coughs, nearly choking on his sip of wine. Another score for Ava.

"Look at your cheeks, they almost match your glass. Priceless." She kicks the air softly underneath the table in delight.

"What? Oh whatever..

"and work, hun.. You're always so hushed about it." Her brown eyes wander around the table, and with a stretched hand she gripped the pepper shaker.

"The nature of it. Its not a light topic to pair with dinner." Ray watched her nimble fingers dance around. As if they had eyes attached.

The restaurant carried candlelight through each corner and shelf it could. Rare to see technology dominated light passed the kitchen. Ray loved it for the ambience, the immersion of being in the company of another. Truth be told, it was quite hard for him to stay in the present moment.

"Oh don't be a shrewd storm, Ray. Tell me something, get some of those clouds off your shoulders." Ava smiled, waving her gloved fingers at him. She sat a chin on her palm and stared at him.

Ray blushed again, unable to get a lump out of his throat.

"Yeah..that's fine..uh, well it's research at the moment," Ray drank a swig of his lemon water, "but this year we'll be getting into the first phase. We're being tasked, almost challenged, to find the imperfections of a specific DNA. Reverse it's afflictions and synthesize a better use for the illness." Ray played with his watch.

Ava's eyes pierced the reflection in the watch. Her face was deadly serious, angry almost. For a split second, he could've sworn they shimmered. Ray immediately looked up to see her smiling face.

"My goodness, another biological miracle.. and what sort of DNA would they want to stem this from?" Ava noticed a waiter approaching and fixed her dress from the slouching.

"Don't really know yet, and it's so fascinating!" Ray's eyes light up, he even excitedly gripped Ava's hand.

"I mean think about the possibilities. What if it's from some dislodged meteor? Could we be looking at one of the very first returns of the Zanloc? Or is it brand new evidence of another extraterrestrial species?"

Ava looked confused and surprised. Then her eyes softened more, grasping the other hand.

"You have a great mind and an even greater heart, Ray."

2:33 AM, Wednesday, Riverstone Shore Medical

Ray and Ava were overlooking Riverstone from a lab window. Another glass of wine in their hands. Their backs relaxed and their shoulders pressed together. In the reflection, they smiled and whispered about small things. They'd point at travellers, poke fun at architecture..time didn't bother Ray.

"Hey, Boss, got some things I need you to look at. After that you can go back to lovebirdin'." Johnny taps him on the free shoulder.

Ray looks to Ava with a tired smile and she nods. Ray and Johnny walk from that room into the research room with the others.

"Fucking hell, have you two seen the cat he bagged? Talk about charm of the caveman nuts on Ray." He laughed, readying the microscope slide.

Alice rolls her eyes, "Hey who says scientists got to be uncharismatic?"

"Right, because you're getting tits and balls thrown at you daily Alice."

"More than you, Johnny." Allen scoffs and breaks into laughter too.

"Alright alright..I got enough depression to last until my next shift." Johnny coughs, setting up the projector. Up on the screen is exactly what they needed to full size. The application of true gene synthesis would barely evolve outside perceived conception. Even if they'd get the parent DNA as flawless as possible..they were missing something vital.

"Digitally separate it again and..."

Ray attempts to finish his sentence when Ava knocks softly on the glass slit of their door. He let her in with a small brow raise,

"Hun, I gotta catch the train.." She smiled, putting small, mundane things into her purse.

"Oh, at this time of night? Let me walk you out to the station at least." Ray shuffled around for coat frantically. His eyes darted around until a hand snatched up the coat,

"Here, Boss. Just don't keep us working all morning."

"Thanks, Johnny. Maybe it's better if you all lock up then. Just keep the program running, leave this office on, but lock up and leave when you guys are finished.." Ray gave a reassuring shoulder slap, and followed Ava out.

--

Time was changing, daylight was a near thought for the average person. Wednesday morning, the middle of the week. The dryest. The surest fire to never burn; point was they were exhausted and the subway became more full as they descended in. Echoes of calm strides, hurried steps, and dashing clamours. Everyone was coming back to life, reanimated..

Ray took out his subway pass, giving it Ava.

"Oh, I couldn't. You sweeten the melancholic departure with the gesture.." she tries to refuse, and Ray awkwardly shuffled it into the fold of her shirt.

Ava gave a flirtatious smile,

"Well when you put it like that.." She pulled him into a kiss, stunning some onlookers in the process. She was in an abnormally red colour however.

"Go get some sleep, Ray. You look like a disheveled bird. I'll be okay, hm?" Her giggle and lips made his heart do loops, Ray sighed.

"I had a great night with you, let's uh..not let it end here." Ray said, holding her hand one last time before turning away.

She said nothing as he walked off. The train flew by the station this time, blowing her dress sideways almost elegantly.

Ray looked to the clock just above but the vision doubled over, he rubbed his eyes.

"8:30..damn..yeah I need to get home.." Ray tiredly shuffled home.

----

9:45 AM Wednesday

Ray finished drying his hair, tossing it back with a comb and some light gel. He threw on his glasses. Cramped as his Riverstone apartment was, it was relatively tidy for his line of work. Scattered paperwork, an organized mess on his desk. Genius and messiness don't always go hand in hand. Sun was already above in the sky, staring down at the city with a bright gaze. Ray opened up the balcony window to let in a fresh breeze. Through the slits of the blinds hanging just above the entrance was a lizard. It's short, dark body disguised in the wood panels.

"Hanging around town today, Sunny?" Ray smiled.

The lizard bobbed and jumped onto the sill.

Message Received:

Allen● Boss, thinking we should call it on this project. Every time we synthesize a new method, the control variable isn't stable enough for the next step.

Alice● Don't listen to Negative Nancy. We're not giving up, but Ray.. we do need to talk about the sustainability of running this project day in, day out. No profit in theory, Ray.

Johnny● Maybe we ought to burn our lab down for insurance.

Ray rolls his eyes. The stress building up where his glasses normally sit, he rubbed the phantom pains.

Ray● We just need more damn time.

Overcast clouds rolled in.

The city was steady, buildings crept around the edges of the windows. Ray and his team worked around the clock, unscrambling the constant and hatching it again.

"I'm starting to get the feeling this thing hates us." Alice mumbled.

She scoffs, poking the dish's barrier. It scooted the petri to the furthest part of the counter. John didn't do much but pretend to light a cigarette, joking he needed another 20 minute smoke break.

"Do me a favour, Allen. Hit him for me." Alice prods Allen. They exchange goofy little smiles and blow up glove hands to hit him with.

Although, a stressed out Ray gets in between them.

"Woah, hey before you start. Let me say something. Next time you run shit lake, call us man, seriously.' John stops him. Cigarette still lit.

Allen snatches a lighter out of John's coat pocket. flicking the lighter and sparking one stick of incense nearby.

"I hear you, John. Allen, an incense- You are the man, thanks.."

"Hello? Don't dismiss what I said. We're here. You aren't the Boss to take the weight off everyone's back, eh? We're a team, dumbass." John speaks up.

He chuckled, knocking on Ray's back.

"Smart ass bonehead." John goes back to smoking.

"Our sanitary limit is going to be off the charts." Fenratti cracks a joke while doing her own tasks.

"Hey, we're not on the greatest budget to begin with. City scientists and cigarette budgets are a reality." John joined along in the light jest.

"Doesn't mean we're above protocol, John. Smoke out there, damnit." Ray sternly commands him. He obeys reluctantly. Something in the lab begins to whir.

"The Structure Sim checked out!" Fenratti bounces in place and starts pulling it up.

Alice turned to her computer, eyes widened but focused on recreating the data manually for transcription. Allen stuck the incense in its holder, rushing over. He smiled, shaking the shoulders of all team members.

"Shit that's one step closer, all we need is to show proof of a live trial at SYDNA-LIFE Headquarters..." Ray adds.

Ray throws his hands on his weary head, almost ready to break down from a blissful fatigue. Their work was adding up. They will have earned their right to fuck off and spend their vacation days in

between phases after they complete the live trial.

THE FOLLOWING DAY. INT. SYDNA-LIFE HQ, LABS.

"Are we sure?" Ray bites his thumb.

John grits his teeth, hiding a nervous tick,

"How fucking sure can we be? We knew this was the first of its kind. Just crank the damn thing, Boss."

Alice smirked with a tinge of exhaustion,

"It's the moment we all waited for, Ray. If we fail, at least we had fun."

"Fun? Let's hope for success, shit..is it so hard to ask for some positivity?" Allen gazed at the ceiling.

Allen grumbled, setting in the access code for the project and recording the process.

Ray took a deep breath in, the machine stirred and ran its test. The code flashing on the desktop and overhead screen, a simulation booted up slowly.

As it did, a head researcher from a far off facility pointed in through the glass before opening up the lab door.

"So these are our experts. Gotta say, I'm curious to see if it was money well spent." The mysterious man spoke as if he were in a documentary from the 1800s.

He shakes hands with Ray but stays outside the door deciding to look in from there.

"Yes, sir, you will not be disappointed. Trials will begin now."

Alice and John kept a healthy distance from the project table, as they were exhausted. Afraid of not making much sense, they left the talking to Ray.

Ray gestured to the screen, watching the levels fluctuate to the desired results. Steadily they stayed constant long enough to consider it proper vitality. After a solemn stare at the screen, the man's lips curled under his goatee.

"Well done.. Well done. You have no idea what this means to our employer. To Riverstone. To Science." A mysterious man in the suit comes in fully.

His gaze was intense, like he'd kill in the name of this project. Ray became unsettled for a short moment,

"And we'll all be a hell of a lot richer."

"Thank fucking goodness." John sighed, lighting up a cig and walking out of the office. Alice stirred with a tired smile. Ray and the mysterious man talk off screen. Allen drinks a cold beer, watching Ray walk off with a cautious gaze. Fenratti danced around with the skeleton in the Labs which Allen joined shortly.

RIVER'S EDGE. INT. BAR. 3 PM.

The group is sitting against the bar. A cloud of tense sorrow and twisted, pained expressions. A new heart breaking story. Fenratti Ginta was found floating in a canoe on Styxalon Lake with a drugged needle in her veins. They say it's a suicide. The group was wrecked.

"Can't fucking believe it..I don't understand why. We were so close. She was so happy to-" Allen's voice choked. He was seen wiping a tear from his face. Alice wrapped her arms around him.

"No one could've seen it coming, Allen." Alice spoke.

Ray clutched his drink, an ice cold beer that barely had a sip knocked off it.

John sat next to him in silence, drinking down a glass of whiskey. He placed it down near his other two with a light thud. He speaks to Ray, a hushed but angered tone.

"It's not like we are working on safety measures for a damn Daycare AC unit. It's heavy shit. That Evan's plague is eating away at people like stomach acid outside the Coalition's reach. Kids, mothers, doctors.. I mean, you remember that fucked up presentation SYDNA-LIFE brought us in on?"

"I know, and yeah I do. But what's your point?" Ray snapped back.

"I'm saying it's no wonder that poor girl killed herself. The guilt. The pressure of knowing we could be their last resort to be saved and all the while, we are waiting around for hours banging our faces against the lab walls until our results come in. Result after result, failures. For months, Ray. Then like that, a breakthrough." John leaned in.

"You'd think that last meeting would've brought her spirits back up." Ray scratched his neck, burying another gulp.

"No man, think about it: it's like getting out of a pool after drowning only for your coach to put weighted floats on you. She saw she'd be trapped in this cycle forever or some shit. I don't know what you expected." John argued.

"If she would've held on, she would've seen the success. I don't know - I don't know what I expected, John." Ray retorted.

"That's exactly your problem, Ray. Your fucking expectations. You think success is going to solve all of our issues. We're in over our heads, man. I told you that when we started. Yet you pushed on, look, there's your damn result. I hope her sacrifice was worth it, Bossman."

John took his leave. A crumpled up set of twenties in his glass and a scent of cigarette smoke in his wake. Ray downed his beer with marbled eyes. The others heard the argument, sitting near Ray attempting to talk to him. Ray couldn't hear anything over the sound of that high pitched whirring layered over the rumbling vibration from his nightmare. Its face burned in his mind when that guilt surged in his chest.

Was it mocking him?

-- 10:35 pm, same day

Ray sat out on his fire escape, smoking a cigarette and enjoying the nightlife roll by tonight. His mind gripped by the recent tragedy, there may have not been much else that could've sweetened his soul..if it hadn't been for Ava.

*Ava: Ray, dear, will you be in town next week?*

The message buzzed his phone, read it carefully and his pulse went dry. A skip. Ray placed it down for a moment, soaking in his surroundings.

Stay here? Is it even safe here? Could WE be safe here?

The packed bags and boxes felt like a joke, he'd fallen in love with this woman, Ray was sure of it. He couldn't leave, not yet.

Ray● I'll be in Riverstone, but honestly I've been thinking about leaving next month..

Ava● Oh..Even better. Ray darling, something like a vacation! You know, I travel constantly, allow me to help plan a getaway hm?

Ray● Ava, I couldn't ask you to do any of that. I barely have any plans in mind.

Ava● Ray, enough. I have chosen you. Do you not understand what that means? If we must hike through frosted winterlands, I'd march alongside you. Whether it were unending brimstone and hell's fallen at our heels, I would be by you until we died on our feet fighting.

Ray felt a warmth he hadn't known until meeting this woman, she found a way to carve through his withdrawn nature. Ava's intensity reminded him of passion in it's aggressive form. She was studied, mystic, and poignant.

Ray● I'll settle for battling bad weather and stale bread, thank you Ava. And yeah, you too. I don't think I'd do any of that for any one else.

-- Sunday, same week 5 am

Ray rolled around, a nightmare proceeded to violently thrash his sleep. A large red haze surrounded his feet where he stood, a grassland unending for miles and miles. A fog, a mist hung around.

'Ray. The Earth Kind.'

Ray felt a presence move their arm through his chest, he gasped for air. Clutching at the aching fire within. He fell down a hill, soon tumbling onto a patched up well hole. Unfortunately, the boards snapped and he plummeted in.

Ray screamed. As loud as he could, unable to shake himself awake. Ray was suspended above darkness, some plane unknown. A forest inside a cave lurked below, he could see the tops of misty trees. It frightened him to imagine being let go.

'Ray. Oh..how far you've fallen..' a familiar voice whispers in his ear. This time it was not sweet like nectar. It was full of a crushing weight, a pressure unbearable as if someone were trying to peel you in layers.

**.Ava.**

Grasping at the sheets in terror, Ray woke up trying to breathe and regain his composure.

"Fuck..fuck. Why did I take this deal?" Ray wrapped his arms around his knees, weeping angrily into them. He had been having nonstop night terrors every night since he got the job. Each time he's gone into the kitchen to mix together coffee and stale toast.

There he was, sitting against the fridge and drinking his mug.

"Another restless fucking morning.."

-- Tuesday, 2 pm: Library

The library was a nice space to unwind from what Ray couldn't normally escape. The decorations weren't many of one kind, each section had a small tribute of the most popular genres of the previous year. It livened up the place to see the voted on tribute genres of the year. It was a quiet community of many kinds of people. Less invasive, he thought.

Fiction had versions of mundane life where people lived civil and morally interesting lives. Coalition authorized fiction consisted of modern technology that propelled them into an age of the stars. Adventures that helped reclaim the mysteries of the cosmos to Humanity. Settling in new territories. An absolute pillaging of resources, of natural order, of the very thing they were in search of.

A utopian built on overwriting the natural world in which the monument of conquer is enough. A small exhibit of armed scientists blasting their way into a new world. With a shiny new city dragged by rope on their way in.

Needless to say, Ray avoided sitting near that one. subconsciously it always bothered him as a kid, but it wasn't until he got into SYDNA-U that a truth confirmed his disdain.

**Supernatural thrillers was the second least favorite of his. Not because of the genre itself, it became another point of contention from in his growing adulthood. The exhibit showing a cyborg man in a trench coat hunting down a scared man in an abandoned hallway. The man being part demon and some other classical freak, he's on the run. The "other kind" deserves death or imprisonment infuriated him throughout his studies. It halted so much work in the exploding fields of science; he felt, no, he knew he could help change that one day. He coul-

A red gloved hand rushes over his hair and flicks his nose

"Ray, I've got my hands on gold. Oh, handsome tie. What's wrong? You got that face."

Ava paces around into view. A dark red business shirt and dark loose tie. A style of dark thin oval glasses, silver chain of beads to hang off her ears. Around her waist a loose studded belt, dark leather and red spikes over a velvety long skirt. Raven locks loose, Ava tilts her head and shakes the books in her hand. One arm clutching a nice set of literature. Until she sees Ray brooding, then her mischievous smile kicks in.

Ray was holding onto a coffee cup, reading a book with his free hand. It was a hypothethical study on the evolutionary differences of other planetary species, slouched and unknowingly furrowed.

"What? My face? Oh, Ava, I was deep in thought."

Ava walked around gloved cloth red hand tracing his shoulders.

"I saw. Now." She dropped her books in his lap. A large groan popped out of his body.

His coffee safe on the table.

"Ava...!" He couldn't scream loudly or else they draw the ure of the librarians. From pained to a curious stare at her selection,

"Vendus' Guide to the Nervous System. Lori Carlton: A Study in Forensics Case Studying.. A bit early for a heavy read, don't you think?' His eyes shot open.

"What's got you interested in that?" She pointed to the tiny hill of books on the table.

"Vanessa Lawyer: A Disclosure of New Age Tech. Dr. Gunther Gordon: A mailman with a Neuroscience Itch. Jordan Jill: On a Search for New life? Aliens? Me too. Victor Pam isn't Alone."

she smirked and sat, "Have you considered that we may be the only of our kind?" Ava inquired. She'd stolen her books back and sat across from him.

"What?"

"Humanity, Ray. What if we are the only human beings? That look like, y'know.." She gestures to her and his figures. Spreading her gloved fingers and silently counting her fingers. Dark eyes softly flicking between the book and Ray.

Ray laughed, merely amused by the way she phrased it.

"And if we are, that's even more of a reason to try to understand. Maybe along the way it will show us we can rise above ourselves, find new ways of living.."

"How naive. How romantic! Oh you'd be killed before you could open that cute face of yours. Brains all over your poor ideals." Ava laughed, her hand to her lips with a mock pity.

Ray rolled his eyes, pointing to her book on criminal psychology.

"Says the woman trying to study a philosophical breakdown of a convicted murderer's compassion." Ray fired back with a chuckle. He tossed a library chair pillow at her, which she caught.

"How else would I seek to understand another species then? What you may romantically find true about humanity isn't so radically different than my own. Humanity has always been too ambitious to ever be harmonious. A criminal is a human with their own mission, circumstances be damned, no? He is caught, he is punished by a system he learned these tricks from and was punished for using them to his advantage. Circumstances. Be. Damned. *Zita'fre*. It's a nightmare, it's an outrage, then it is a message."

Ava turns the page slowly, noticing Ray had been gawking silently in intrigue and a lusting to explore her mind. The lipstick she wore shined like a gemstone for a moment and her tongue crossed it. Back to pursed and focused,

"However, the times when the criminal gets to explain themselves, I must admit, my mind drifts to curiosity. Justify yourself then. Make us feel. It is a game of the system, hm? Is it not?"

"When I said heavy, this is what I meant." A dismissing shake of his head did not stop Ava's deadly serious glare.

"I asked you, Darling: is it not a game of this system?"

"Uh.. what? No.. well I don't know. If the concept of the judiciary system is to imprison those who've broken the laws in place- I guess they can make you suffer song and dance for anything. Even if they made up the game to get you caught." Ray loosens his collar a bit after answering.

"well aren't you full of surprises?" She remarks and sits back to enjoy her book.

"I like this other one better. Its about a fictional study of mad men trapping the most interesting beast to study their behavior. If they must kill a few or a dozen times to achieve that.." She ends her sentence with a shrug. Ava looks over to Ray who genuinely seemed disturbed in a supportive way. She chomps at him playfully and keeps reading.

"Right, right so casual, Ava. As always." He shook his head in disbelief, chittering some more.

"Casual is perspective, darling. Truth is objective. You want to understand someone. You get inside of every aspect of them and study what you pick apart from within." Ava continues on, reading through a section in her book.

A couple of security guards began pacing downstairs, talking on their radios rapidly. A situation took place across the street.

" A hostage was taken by an armed gunman - yeah yeah- holding up a liquor store. Hey you two lovebirds, you deaf? Intercom has been buzzing off the charts -it's time to pack up." A heavy set man with two cyber eyes leaned in and waved his hand around. He gestured for them to go. They didn't waste much time moving out after hearing that.

" Yes sir- Bad situation happening across the way. Don't know, he's saying someone is after him." The guards disappeared into a stairway.

Ava's eyes widened with interest, she left her books neatly stacked with a generous tip. She bolted off after the stairway.. Ray sighed and went after her.

Ray ran outside and down the steps, catching up to Ava who watched by the curb. Police were advising the crowd to stay as far back as possible; they had less eyes where they stood. Not many cops arrived just yet. Ava stared at the scene unfolding,

"It all comes full circle, Ray. Man seeks to comfort the unfathomable burden that it is to exist. In its pursuit, we are left with what we can carry. The rest scrambled for, lost, damaged, forgotten on the way out. To observe is to desire meaning in those we share the world's journey with, perhaps." She mused over the chaos, seeing a man yell through the door. The cashier gripped tightly with a pistol pressed into his temple.

Ray stayed silent.

"Come out, Allen! Come out and we will talk this out."

One of the cops yelled through the speaker, the wave of a gun signaled he didn't want to hear much of what any officers had to say. All the police could do was negotiate without DTUs backing them.

"Ray, do you think it's unfortunate?" Ava questioned him, gazing at him, wondering.

"I don't know, Av. What if he's some psycho on some drug binge? Maybe his wife divorced him..people are complicated." Ray looks to her, slow to speak but quick to return his gaze over.

"Allen! Come out! Or DTU will be our only option-"

It wasn't until the second time he actually heard the name.

"Wait did he say Allen-"

Before Ray could piece it together, Allen bursted out with the cashier in one arm. He aimed the pistol outwards and at the hostage.

"You will listen to me! Or I swear I'm decorating this asshole's face." Allen, in a manic and distressed state, screams in broken panic. His voice hoarse from crying, yelling demands, and a night of drinking.

"That's my brother. Fuck fuck how did he get in this mess?" Ray gasped, watching in horror.

Ava was the one to be silent now, simply holding him close for comfort.

He freed himself from her grasp and tried to push forward. Ray split into the crowd, moving anyone out of the way. Barely close enough to the borders, Ray called his name.

"Allen! For fucks sake, Allen!"

"Hey get back from the crime scene, sir!" The officers push him away. Until Allen points at them,

"No no! Let him through, and I'll release this one!" He almost cackled in terrified relief. Someone he could trust.

The officers worryingly let him through where Allen then took him hostage, dragging Ray inside.

Once inside, they locked themselves in. Allen started to itch his scalp and fall to his knees,

"Ray. Ray..dude, fuck this got so out of hand."

"Allen bro..you gotta talk to me because these DTU guys. They aren't joking." Ray breathed uneasy.

"It all started with that damned project."

"Project Moon Mist" the words left the room cold. Ray nervously shifted after saying it.

"What? Dude, you've been drinking all night. You don't remember, it's done now. We aren't on any projects. Vacation, bro, Vacation. Look I know, ever since Fen died.."

"No.. no Ray they set us up! Fenratti, Alice, John, me, you none of us Ray. None of us!" His quiet sobbing in his arms. He pushes off the counter and paces. "We were never supposed to finish it. That's why they killed her. They're gonna kill me. They're gonna kill us all, Ray."

"What the hell are you talking about, Allen?"

"They didn't think we could replicate it, Ray! We weren't supposed to! They wanted to wipe out anything outside the Albatross District borders. They want to make this the last bastion.." Allen paced back and forth, hearing more squad cars pull up. He twitched with stress and adrenaline. "The, the..the fucking recipe wasn't ours to remake.."

"The blueprints we worked off were discarded as unintelligible before. There was no risk involved at first. It wasn't until we deciphered.." Ray's breath caught in his throat, nearly choking on a realization.

"Took you a second.." Allen mocked, tapping the barrel to his head.

"Allen watch where you're pointing that shit." Ray sat up trying to wrap a coherent thought around what this meant.

"One night I went back to the lab. I forgot. I don't know my folders or some shit. Just before I opened the door, I heard someone talking in a low voice. Going on about how our group went too far, that we were supposed to fail and gather enough clues for the next team after us. The Coalition has always been sinister, but we were just some eager dumbasses, bro. Who the hell did we piss off, I kept saying to myself. I left as fast as I could and hid in my car."

Ray sat with this, shocked but still calm..

"Okay but I don't understand, if that was the case..what do we have to lose? You're making this seem like-"

" That same night, after I waited for that guy to leave, I went in. The whole lab was already cleaned out. Everything."

"I don't know. That's standard procedure, Allen.." Ray began to feel his coworker had gone off the deep end. The only sensible thing to do was to hear him out, maybe he'd calm down.

"Ray. Wake the fuck up, are you still dreaming of a life with that girl? They're gonna kill us off. Best thing you can do is break up now. Otherwise she's dead too." His eyes seemed sincere and scared, Ray's chest gripped with pain. Then like a light they returned to uncontrollable mania, "We weren't supposed to finish that project. But I'll tell you what, I won't let them have the satisfaction." Allen throated the barrel, Ray instinctively wrestled it from his grip and punched him square in the face.

"Allen! Dude, you're fucking losing your mind over this!"

"They won Ray! We were just puppets to something way more monstrous. ..way more violent.. Project Moon Mist its their.."

A bullet whizzed through a wall, sending brains splattering all over Ray's clothes. In a heat of disorientated revelations, the police storming in, and nearly being killed; Ray fainted. Loud shouting, ambulance sirens, a whispering set of voices, then silence.

THE REGIONAL BAY HOSPITAL

Ray woke up with IV tubes running through him, a large fan overhead creaking. The bag was nearly empty, he'd been here all night most likely. Ava peered over at his stirring,

"I knew you'd come back to me, Ray.." She squeezed his hand, relieved. "Nurse, we are ready for discharge." She walked out and flagged someone down.

"Ma'am he's not able to be.."

A few hushed whispers exchange, before Allen drifts off again.

--- A few days later

"Ava. I can't stop thinking about this. He seemed so convinced.." Ray stared into his mug of coffee, one hand through his hair and the other clutched on a newspaper.

Ava sat on the back of a couch, giving a consoling stare at his weary features.

"The more you tear yourself apart over this, the less it'll make sense. Let's get out today. Do something to take your mind off things." She gestured kindly.

"If it were that simple I would've gone out and done so damnit!' Ray bursted from his chair, storming to the kitchen.

"Ray.." She sighed, "You haven't slept since we brought you home from the hospital. If you won't sleep, then at least let me ease your mind with some time out." Relaxing her shoulders, her suit coat wrinkles let go of the tension too. Her dark red blouse underneath fit well over the long dark business skirt.

"The lamp in the living room blew out. I need to grab one anyway. Fine. Yeah. Lets go out."

She nodded softly, grabbing her things.

Ray grabbed a brown wool peacoat to wear over the dark polo and blue jeans.

"Thanks, Ava."

"Of course, charmer." She smiled.

-- 6 months later.

*Ray and Ava decided they'd start a family. Get a clean break from his work and settle down. John had moved out of Riverstone. Alice took a job elsewhere, no longer in contact. This left Ava and Ray to focus full time on parenting.*

"Help me in the vehicle, Ray.." Ava's impatience could not be overstated, they'd been trying to get over to the lab almost every week to check on her health. Ray wrapped an arm around her, helping her in the taxi.

A long chilling wind swept over them, leaves were rustling around in the green trees surrounding the streets this spring.

Ray gets in after her, and off to their special doctor's office, which was operated out of a lab. Similar to the ones SYDNA-LIFE provided. It was at Ray's request, she couldn't trust anyone but this woman. Ray couldn't trust a public building. Ray respected Ava's trust even though he was skeptical of the woman's credentials.

----

"Ava, dear! Ah you look wonderful." The doctor greets them openly, letting them get comfortable in the lab.

"Please, Cheryl. I look like I'm birthing a boulder.." She rubs her aching stomach, unable to sit she leans on the chair. Ray helps her ease into a comfortable stance and gives her a chocolate granola bar.

Ava smirks and eats it quietly.

The doctor warmed the room with her smile. She was a tough looking brunette with a stern stance but moved as gracefully as an angel.

"Appetite is still strong, good. Good. That means your little rose will sprout with full colours." She reassured them, feeling her stomach with a gloved hand.

"Let me grab a finger of yours, gotta get some blood and check vitals." She pricks Ava lightly, and squeezes the shiny crimson out. A tinge of glow came off of it before it was swabbed.

"Rose, heh..a pretty name, don't you think?" Ava smirked at Ray.

"Yeah, love. I think it's nice." Ray seemed nervous about this. He'd never learned how to be a father. Ray's father was an archeologist who died excavating a large temple. He died before Ray was born. His mother raised him practically until he was 17. Then she became sick and passed the year following. His anxieties never relieved, Ray was quick to try and shut out whatever parental stresses arose.

"I need a smoke." Ray fidgeting with his cigarettes.

"Now? Hardly an appropriate time.." Ava began to get uneasy until she saw his face of dread and anxious withdrawal. She breathed out, tapping his hand, "Go. I'll be fine, but try to not hide in those cigarettes okay? They'll only get in the way of watering our rose." Ava smiled sadly.

Ray's airway hitched from biting back an emotion, he walked off and opened the door to leave. He sat outside the building and smoked to ease his nerves.

"I wasn't meant to be a father. How am I going to teach this kid to grow into a proper person? How will I balance my work if it'll put them in danger?" His legs rattled from the constant thought juggling. A smoke trail towards the sky in hopes of phoning divine assistance, maybe.

A car peeled around the corner and took a few photos,

"Hey what the fuck" Ray tried to block the flashes of light and threw the light cigarette at them.

"Hey asshole, the world don't revolve around you! You fucked up our shots!" The paparazzi pointed at a middle aged model who'd been ducking around a car to avoid being seen.

Ray seemed confused by the sudden reveal, there was no woman walking there before. In fact the street they were on was a one lane road, barely had traffic tonight. Perhaps he missed her.

"My paranoia is worse than I thought. "

Either way Ray walked back to the building door before being stopped. The car of cameramen cursed and spit, driving off seconds after.

"Hey, you! Thanks for the save back there. Hard to go anywhere with those cockroaches." The stunning blonde woman tucked her shirt in underneath the long coat.

"Yeah no worries..I can't stand being photographed randomly either. I couldn't imagine that happening every time."

"It's a nightmare. One that won't ever stop following you around." She adds.

"Right. Vultures of the hellish media."

They share a laugh. A taxi pulls up on the side and she starts to put her things in the trunk. Ray is about to close the door to the building,

"Don't let the city swallow you up, Ray." She says before getting in the taxi.

Ray did a double take but lost the words to articulate the rising fearful chill. The taxi drove off.

Two months later

Ava and Ray rested in the heap of a nest of clothes, unpacked baby goodies, and a bag of chips.

They shared the chips, staring up at the ceiling of their apartment. Riverstone was particularly hot this summer, the fans inside barely did anything to combat the awful heat.

"Ray..agh..I'm miserable. Our child is eating me alive. I am dying." Ava moans sarcastically, trying to joke away the pain.

"Today is the last day until we are set for the final stages, Ava. You can make it. We can make it."

"I'd believe you if a mountain wasn't sprouting and attempting to claw it's way out of my midsection." She slaps his arm, signaling him to help her up.

Ray scoffed, helping her up with some struggle. They both stumbled tiredly to the door, putting on shoes and freshening up.

Undisclosed Location

They'd see Cheryl one final time, then be told where the birthing hospital will be.

"Ava! My goodness you are looking primed." Cheryl exclaimed, poking her stomach.

"Careful now, the bomb may be ready to go off." Ray dryly retorted.

Ava giggled darkly,

"I'm ready for this little cretin to evacuate so I may actually enjoy raising the damned thing." Ava's accent became even thicker with pain.

"Soon. Very soon, Ava. Patience isn't a virtue because it is easy to endure." Cheryl added.

"How soon?" Ray asked.

"Anywhere from next week into next month. No certainty. However there are a few documents you and I must go over, Ray. Follow me into the office next door." Cheryl patted Ava on the leg and guided Ray to the other room across the hall.

She sat down at a desk and opened up a few folders,

"Ah man, I feel like I'm the one getting it easy. She's in there carrying the weight of the world, here I am just signing a few papers." Ray steadied his hand from the nerves and insomniac tendencies.

"Ah, come now. Ava, she's cut from a different cloth. She's as strong as she's beauty incarnate. There will be hard decisions on the horizon, she will look to you for strength. This I know, Ray." Cheryl smiles then taps the paper.

Ray takes a moment to relax, rubbing the soreness from his eyes and read into the documents. A few moments pass,

"Doctor, can I be honest with you? All of this seems more like a double down on our NDA..I don't get why I'd have to sign this again." He points to a section in specific.

"Mr. Ray, I'm not sure if you know this but Ava isn't a protected citizen of Alabatross.. She was born off the mainlands." Cheryl leaned in her chair.

"Well of course I knew she wasn't from our district, but this isn't the same form that states our situation. What it reads like is you're asking me to pretend my daughter isn't a real citizen, a human, or a fucking part of our family." Ray stands up angrily, wanting an explanation.

"Ray, I need you to calm down so I may explain."

"No, doc. Its pretty clear even with the legal jargon fuck fest you put on paper. You want me to forfeit the child! What kind of game are you playing here, Cheryl?"

"We are not. Settle down."

"Yeah? 'Parents, under this clause, share any rights with those present. If the company present is tied to any corporate affiliate, those that are linked share the same rights or more.' Are you out of your fucking mind? Ava and I trusted you not to sell us out. How long..have you worked for them, Cheryl?"

" Well shit, Ray. You were always too clever for your own good." Cheryl unloads a pistol from her desk, carefully cocking it back. Ray scrambled out of the office, towards the room Ava was in.

Ray falls into the hallway where Ava's already standing. A pregnant visage of maternal fury. A blood red haze peppered by black specks of energy. She was holding a heavy sword. Creeping up the blade were oozing tendrils and glowing light seeping out from behind the dark ooze. Her eyes burned red like the sun's core, she shoved Ray so hard he flew into a wall.

"Let me deal with her. We have company downstairs." Ava's voice sounded layered over, almost like static and screams of the damned got caught in her throat. Ready to pour blood from every window in this building, she kicked the door in, knocking Cheryl onto the desk. She attempts to shoot her but the bullets get blocked by the sword. The pregnant barbaric woman slammed the sword's flat side and crushed her through the thick oak desk. Leaving Cheryl in a dribble of blood, broken bones, splintered wood, and too much pain to recover from. Her sword disappeared and Ava dragged Ray up onto his feet.

"I am not who you think I am. But I am every bit of the woman you love. Please. Do not despair when you look on me, hm.."

Ava's face was distorted by the evolution taking hold of her. Underneath a mask of hardened bloody sap and glossy obsidian laid those burning eyes, dark fleshy ooze turned to skin down part of Ava's body. Boiling where it dripped. Her mouth melted off with a strange boney jaw protruding and a loose tongue that licks his face.

Bullets start whizzing through random windows, glass shattered around them and flung in random directions. Ava crouched and gripped him tightly. She moved quickly, violently, and let off blasts of primal screeches that shorted the helicopters. They crashed into the building. Ray barely could catch his footing.

Ray was absolutely thrown off course, nothing made remote sense right now. The woman he loved was not even a human being, this was why. This was why everything changed after meeting her. Why Allen and Fenratii were killed. Why was the project classified? Ava was the target all along. She must've been.

*His whole life changed after meeting her. His whole world.*

"Ava..AVA! Enough! We can't run!" Ray shoved her away, which barely budged her, but she let him go out of shock.

"What? Are you mad? Do you see what lies before us?" Ava shouts back, she grabs a large orb of energy from thin air and lobs it at a SWAT van below. It goes up in flames.

"They will stop at nothing to kill you. Us. Our child, bloody hell, are you thinking right now, Ray?" She leads on aggressively.

"Ava! I can reason with them..we don't have to kill them!"

"Do not lecture me on ethics, human!" Her voice boomed.

"There it goes. I should've known. I should've know fucking known..

"Ray, Earth Kind. If you must, speak your mind." Her claws stretch out.

.

A hail of bullets tattered the sunken roof near them, a squad of soldiers were repelling in. In an instant it is filled with smoke, but in return Ava is gone in a flash. Ray yelled in terror, a large desk pins him in a corner.

Screams filled the cloudy room, blood splashed from room to room, walls broke and the ceilings began to cave in. Ray was trapped by the cover. The smoke cleared and Ava sat in the middle of the room, body parts and blood surrounding her in a circle. She was contracting, a ghastly beast to him now; Ray kept his distance in fear, she held her arms out for him to comfort her. The tendrils dragging him closer.

"Do not be so cold, Ray..I am still your partner.."

His eyes welled up with tears, anger, confusion and he backed away from her. Ray grabbed a blood soaked walkie talkie.

"She's contained."

Ava gasped in pain, her bones snapping and regenerating as her form began to change. A large bestial eye formed on her chest, the building began to moss over with dark red plants and fleshy tendrils crept around the plants. The broken windows and doors were covered over with the biological materials she was composed of. Her body sprouted large sharp shoulders, a dark gray, red ashy body. Overgrown obsidian muscles formed tightly into a humanish shape. Half of her face stayed resembling Ava's human appearance and the rest melded into a bloody elongated, obsidian armor. Her stomach popped off her midsection, becoming a womb cradle she stitched into the wall. She encased the entire building floor. It was just the three of them: a family, a family falling apart.

"Out of all these demented little creatures, I had chosen you to help bear this child.." She points to the womb attached to the wall. She'd regenerate her missing, bloody section and pull out a long thin blade.

Ray scrambled away, getting slashed by the blade across the leg. He fell near the womb sac, seeing a baby floating in fluid. Her hands stretched outwards towards the light from her mother's blade glinting behind him.

Ray couldn't help but stare, tears streaming down his face and he broke down. Then he saw a vial peeking from the pocket of a dead guard,

*Paralysis Toxin, High Dosage*

"Save your tears, human." She stopped the blade at the top of his head, "I should have you strung up and gutted for my amusement." The sword retracts and she grips him by the neck.

"Alas, we have a child now..ah my little one.." her eyes flicker with joy before returning to aggression looking at Ray. "We should not fight in front of her. We will figure this out for her sake. Join me, join us and we will live on. Far from these parasites in Riverstone, and this planet." She looks to him, still holding him high up and strangling him.

Ray bites down on the vial and spits it in her eyes and mouth. They both collapse in a bunch, laying face to face in front of the sac.

"After everything..after I had been ready to forgive you..you still chose to..betray.. me.." Ava cried before going limp.

Here it was. The only thing left that kept him human. That made the world make sense. His heart.

"Ava. I'm sorry..." A shameful sob followed.

"Do not be sorry, you made your choice.." Ava stared at him, angry eyes drifting."

Behind them, The child stirred and bit down on its umbilical cord. Then it all went dark in the facility.