Family Reunion, by James Wylder
Hotaru leaned her head on Sang Ki’s shoulder. He was typing, which was practically like saying “Sang Ki was in the room.” His eyes darted, and windows popped up and down.
“What are you typing honey?”
“Er, let’s see, I’m recoding Gongen’s oxygen factory AI’s, since I convinced Natsu I could get them to run more efficiently, and I’m reading up on Quay biology, and writing an essay for the Ryuu Post-Gazette about the work Fei, and I have been doing.”
“You could just do one thing at a time.”
“Not when I’m writing an essay. I hate writing essays.”
“How far are you?” his face went funny, “almost done, I just can’t end it.”
Hotaru nuzzled into the groove in his neck. “well I’m done for the day, and Aladdin is off with his friends, so you can show it to me if you want.” He smiled, “absolutely. It’s weird that Aladdin is almost grown up. What do you want to do when he moves out.”
She hadn’t really thought about that. And she didn’t really have an answer, so they bathed in the light of the monitor for a few minutes.
“Sorry,” Sang Ki was the master of awkwardly moving on from topics, so want to read it?”
Hotaru smiled, and turned the monitor towards her.
Human Life In the 25th Century
By Jhe Sang Ki
People have died for a long time, and since the industrial revolution at around the same age. There have been a few leaps since then, but generally people have assumed we have hit the border of how far we can extend human life while that life can still be actively, rather than passively lived. However, from the last two decades of work with Dr. Tam Fei-Yen, and Doctor Liquid Snake-“
“-Doctor Liquid Snake? Seriously?”
“Just read the essay.”
“-as well as Aequitas of the Quay, the limits of human life may be extended beyond what we had previously dreamed. While this does not mean immortality, an in fact a very strong argument can be made for immortality as an ideal being immoral do to the limited resources we have access to as a species, it does mean that the high end of 150 may be underestimating things.”
“How would we do that?”
“You could read the rest of the essay.”
“Its seventy pages long.”
“Is it? I guess it will be a serial piece…”
“How Sang Ki?”
“Well, by using techniques to rejuvenate parts of the body we thought unrepairable without damage to one’s own self, like the brain, using some medicine we got from the Quay and Shi, and some discoveries we made by ourselves based on it.”
“That’s exciting.”
“I certainly hope it is. I don’t want to live forever, and I don’t want to outlive everyone I know, especially you, but if everyone lives longer, I’m fine with that.”
“That sounds exactly like you.”
“Well I’d certainly hope so.”
Fei was a Doctor. Not just a small time Doctor anymore, but a huge one. At least that’s what the council on medicine was saying and the Nobel committee.
“Congratulations to you and Sang Ki,”Natsu said, sipping his champagne.
“Why thank you President Natsu,”
“Please just call me Natsu.”
“Are you serious?”
“No. Always say President.”
“Natsu!” Kalingkata slapped him on the shoulder, tipping a bit of his champagne onto the carpet. Natsu’s bodyguards didn’t look pleased, but this wasn’t the first time.
“Ah, Kalingkata. I was just congratulating Fei and you on your awards for your work on gene therapy. A Nobel and a medical council award in the same here? I can’t help but be jealous. Or I would be-“
“-If you hadn’t already won both, we know Natsu.”
“Ridiculous, I’m just proud of my protégé, and my friend.” Sang Ki looked over, it seems Hotaru had talked someone into yet another multi-year business contract. He couldn’t help grinning, when she was happy, he was ecstatic. Sang Ki took a sip of his champagne, cheers to you Hotaru.
“Kalingkata, let me introduce you to a couple here I’ve worked out a new shipping deal with in Maverick space, Geraldine and Michelangelo Hypercube.” The champagne didn’t fly out so much as sloppily glob out as he turned around, slopping down his tuxedo.
Beside Natsu were a man and a woman. The man was tall and muscular, like some sort of Grecian statue, every part of him perfectly sculpted by nature, his blue eyes twinkling with inborn warmth, his long blonde hair flowing in ways that made women and men jealous. If it wasn’t for the twisted, horrid scar on his left cheek, no one could argue he was the most beautiful man they had ever seen. It wasn’t up for argument; there was a reason he was named Michelangelo. The woman looked more like a maverick, her entire right arm, leg, and eye were all missing and replaced with mechanical ones. Her own brown hair was straight, but mousier then her husband’s. Her eyes locked with Kalingkata’s. Her metal hand crushed her champagne glad. Some other people talked, but their words were just garbled. They kept eye contact.
“JackBox.”
“Kalingkata.”
“Hey.”
“Indeed.”
“How’ve you been?”
“Thirteen kids.”
“I expected that.”
“Fourteen if you count one he had before we met.”
“Oh. Still sounds about right.”
“You?”
“Five.”
“So are you going to introduce us?” Michelangelo spoke.
“Oh, sorry,” Geraldine snapped into reality, “Michelangelo, this is my ex-boyfriend Kalingkata.”
“Fei, Natsu, this is my ex-girlfriend JackBox.”
There are some moments in life that are just so awkward no one really knows what to say, but no one can break out of the moment to leave it. Instead, the people involved resign themselves to that fate, and hope for someone to break the strain of awkward.
“Sang Ki! I landed a deal with DroTech.”
“Congrats sweetie.” Hotaru looked at the awkward states. “Who are these guys?”
“They’re uh,” Fei cut in, “Hotaru, Kalingkata has told you about Geraldine Hypercube before right?”
He had, “oh, well nice to meet you.” Hands were shook.
“So, Sang Ki end up a good dad?”
Hotaru poked Sang Ki in the side, “of course he did.” Geraldine nodded, and looked down at her feet.
“So any of your kids here?” She said, still looking at her feet. Hotaru looked at her feet too. She could see the gizmos working in her right one.
“Yes, Aladdin is here, and Kotone, and Jari, and the twins, actually that’s all of the kids. All of the kids are here.”
“I’d love to meet them.”
“Some of our kids are here, not all of them, it’s hard to get them all in one place.” Michelangelo added.
Fei and Natsu began to wonder if they should back out of the conversation.
“Actually, I think they headed out early.”
“I just saw Anya and Ulysses-“
“No, they headed out. And I think we should to. It was a pleasure meeting you Jhe Hotaru, and seeing you again Kalingkata. We’ll talk again soon Natsu.” She turned to Fei, “and sorry we didn’t really get to chat, Doctor.” She grabbed her ridiculously attractive husband by the arm and tugged him away from the group. Natsu thought, and thought he shouldn’t say it, but really, he couldn’t resist.
“Kalingkata, you had a Maverick Robot Girlfriend who’s married to Michelangelo now with fourteen kids?”
“Yes, yes I did.”
“I didn’t even know you had a girlfriend before Hotaru!”
“Natsu, shut up.” Sang Ki muttered.
“Shut up, Natsu.” Fei Grumbled.
Hotaru just punched him. The body guards didn’t even flinch. Its wasn’t the first time.
Hotaru, Sang Ki, Natsu, Fei, their spouses and all of their children went out to dinner that night. Aequitas came by, though the food wasn’t much to his liking and he seemed to have fun playing with the younger kids, he didn’t stay long after a series few words with Sang Ki and Natsu, but for a moment they were an extended family. It was good to see them all together, the kids chatting, a few of them clearly interested in dating now that they were old enough. They wouldn’t be together again like this for years. Maybe ever. Gongen floated in its orbit, and on its back rode their smiles. Kalingkata and Natsu were laughing about something, when Kalingkata stopped, and stared into his glass.
“Something wrong man?”
“No, nothing.” Natsu didn’t ask further. Hotaru did though, a few minutes later.
“Is something wrong?”
“Yeah, I just, I hadn’t seen her in decades, since she got kicked off Gongen, I was happy to see her, but it seemed like there was something she wasn’t telling me.”
“People change. It was probably hard for her to see you.” Sang Ki shrugged, “nothing for her to hold back, thirteen kids with Michelangelo, and me married to the best woman ever born? It would have been fine if she’d just stuck around longer.”
Hotaru smiled, “world keeps turning.”
“Let’s go to talk to the others, you don’t live forever you know.”
“And you can’t know everything.”
“That’s what you think.” They chuckled as they walked over to their laughing friends, the laughs vanishing the higher you went, till all there was, was space.
For all the stars in the Universe, only one had Earth Gongen and Titan orbiting it. Long ago they had just been blips in telescopes, and now they were large colored marbles that passed by Geraldine’s eyes. “You didn’t tell him,” Michelangelo said, and Geraldine could hear the disapproval in his voice.
“He’s got his own life now Michelangelo. Him and that Hotaru woman go well together. He looked happier with her then he ever did with me. It’s better to just leave the past in the past. Not dredge it up. He’ll never know. Frankly that’s best for everyone.”
“Not know what?” Anya and Ulysses came in, followed by Zoroaster and Cleopatra. There were ten other Hypercube children. She’d made quite the family with Michelangelo.
“Nothing Ulysses.”
Out of all the kids, 12 looked pretty similar. Anya and Ulysses were different though. Anya was brilliantly blonde, and Ulysses had black hair and looked more Asian. She remembered when Michelangelo and her got married. She was still JackBox then, renegade near-do-well. Five months pregnant with another man’s baby, but he didn’t care. He had a newborn daughter from that Cartel whore. Or at least Geraldine liked to think of her that way. She always thought Michelangelo and Kalingkata would have gotten along great, Jhes and Hypercubes as the best of friends. She knew that couldn’t be though.
Things could only get more awkward.
“Ulysses, Anya, you love your mommy right?”
They looked at each other, that question came out of nowhere. “Of course mom.”
“Never visit the nest. Promise?”
“Promise.”
“Promise.”
“Good,” Geraldine leaned against the windows and watched the passing stars. She was older then she had been. She could still close her eyes and see Kalingkata, 20-some years younger, without a wrinkle or grey hair, laughing as she made terrible puns for him in their apartment over breakfast. She held her spoon with her metal hand. Her real fingertips touched his.
That was all gone though, and Michelangelo had been a better husband and father then she could have dreamed. But in a lot of ways Kalingkata never left.
And the ship slipped through the darkness towards Titan, a tiny blip on the whole of reality, swallowed up amidst the entirety of their lives.
“What are you typing honey?”
“Er, let’s see, I’m recoding Gongen’s oxygen factory AI’s, since I convinced Natsu I could get them to run more efficiently, and I’m reading up on Quay biology, and writing an essay for the Ryuu Post-Gazette about the work Fei, and I have been doing.”
“You could just do one thing at a time.”
“Not when I’m writing an essay. I hate writing essays.”
“How far are you?” his face went funny, “almost done, I just can’t end it.”
Hotaru nuzzled into the groove in his neck. “well I’m done for the day, and Aladdin is off with his friends, so you can show it to me if you want.” He smiled, “absolutely. It’s weird that Aladdin is almost grown up. What do you want to do when he moves out.”
She hadn’t really thought about that. And she didn’t really have an answer, so they bathed in the light of the monitor for a few minutes.
“Sorry,” Sang Ki was the master of awkwardly moving on from topics, so want to read it?”
Hotaru smiled, and turned the monitor towards her.
Human Life In the 25th Century
By Jhe Sang Ki
People have died for a long time, and since the industrial revolution at around the same age. There have been a few leaps since then, but generally people have assumed we have hit the border of how far we can extend human life while that life can still be actively, rather than passively lived. However, from the last two decades of work with Dr. Tam Fei-Yen, and Doctor Liquid Snake-“
“-Doctor Liquid Snake? Seriously?”
“Just read the essay.”
“-as well as Aequitas of the Quay, the limits of human life may be extended beyond what we had previously dreamed. While this does not mean immortality, an in fact a very strong argument can be made for immortality as an ideal being immoral do to the limited resources we have access to as a species, it does mean that the high end of 150 may be underestimating things.”
“How would we do that?”
“You could read the rest of the essay.”
“Its seventy pages long.”
“Is it? I guess it will be a serial piece…”
“How Sang Ki?”
“Well, by using techniques to rejuvenate parts of the body we thought unrepairable without damage to one’s own self, like the brain, using some medicine we got from the Quay and Shi, and some discoveries we made by ourselves based on it.”
“That’s exciting.”
“I certainly hope it is. I don’t want to live forever, and I don’t want to outlive everyone I know, especially you, but if everyone lives longer, I’m fine with that.”
“That sounds exactly like you.”
“Well I’d certainly hope so.”
Fei was a Doctor. Not just a small time Doctor anymore, but a huge one. At least that’s what the council on medicine was saying and the Nobel committee.
“Congratulations to you and Sang Ki,”Natsu said, sipping his champagne.
“Why thank you President Natsu,”
“Please just call me Natsu.”
“Are you serious?”
“No. Always say President.”
“Natsu!” Kalingkata slapped him on the shoulder, tipping a bit of his champagne onto the carpet. Natsu’s bodyguards didn’t look pleased, but this wasn’t the first time.
“Ah, Kalingkata. I was just congratulating Fei and you on your awards for your work on gene therapy. A Nobel and a medical council award in the same here? I can’t help but be jealous. Or I would be-“
“-If you hadn’t already won both, we know Natsu.”
“Ridiculous, I’m just proud of my protégé, and my friend.” Sang Ki looked over, it seems Hotaru had talked someone into yet another multi-year business contract. He couldn’t help grinning, when she was happy, he was ecstatic. Sang Ki took a sip of his champagne, cheers to you Hotaru.
“Kalingkata, let me introduce you to a couple here I’ve worked out a new shipping deal with in Maverick space, Geraldine and Michelangelo Hypercube.” The champagne didn’t fly out so much as sloppily glob out as he turned around, slopping down his tuxedo.
Beside Natsu were a man and a woman. The man was tall and muscular, like some sort of Grecian statue, every part of him perfectly sculpted by nature, his blue eyes twinkling with inborn warmth, his long blonde hair flowing in ways that made women and men jealous. If it wasn’t for the twisted, horrid scar on his left cheek, no one could argue he was the most beautiful man they had ever seen. It wasn’t up for argument; there was a reason he was named Michelangelo. The woman looked more like a maverick, her entire right arm, leg, and eye were all missing and replaced with mechanical ones. Her own brown hair was straight, but mousier then her husband’s. Her eyes locked with Kalingkata’s. Her metal hand crushed her champagne glad. Some other people talked, but their words were just garbled. They kept eye contact.
“JackBox.”
“Kalingkata.”
“Hey.”
“Indeed.”
“How’ve you been?”
“Thirteen kids.”
“I expected that.”
“Fourteen if you count one he had before we met.”
“Oh. Still sounds about right.”
“You?”
“Five.”
“So are you going to introduce us?” Michelangelo spoke.
“Oh, sorry,” Geraldine snapped into reality, “Michelangelo, this is my ex-boyfriend Kalingkata.”
“Fei, Natsu, this is my ex-girlfriend JackBox.”
There are some moments in life that are just so awkward no one really knows what to say, but no one can break out of the moment to leave it. Instead, the people involved resign themselves to that fate, and hope for someone to break the strain of awkward.
“Sang Ki! I landed a deal with DroTech.”
“Congrats sweetie.” Hotaru looked at the awkward states. “Who are these guys?”
“They’re uh,” Fei cut in, “Hotaru, Kalingkata has told you about Geraldine Hypercube before right?”
He had, “oh, well nice to meet you.” Hands were shook.
“So, Sang Ki end up a good dad?”
Hotaru poked Sang Ki in the side, “of course he did.” Geraldine nodded, and looked down at her feet.
“So any of your kids here?” She said, still looking at her feet. Hotaru looked at her feet too. She could see the gizmos working in her right one.
“Yes, Aladdin is here, and Kotone, and Jari, and the twins, actually that’s all of the kids. All of the kids are here.”
“I’d love to meet them.”
“Some of our kids are here, not all of them, it’s hard to get them all in one place.” Michelangelo added.
Fei and Natsu began to wonder if they should back out of the conversation.
“Actually, I think they headed out early.”
“I just saw Anya and Ulysses-“
“No, they headed out. And I think we should to. It was a pleasure meeting you Jhe Hotaru, and seeing you again Kalingkata. We’ll talk again soon Natsu.” She turned to Fei, “and sorry we didn’t really get to chat, Doctor.” She grabbed her ridiculously attractive husband by the arm and tugged him away from the group. Natsu thought, and thought he shouldn’t say it, but really, he couldn’t resist.
“Kalingkata, you had a Maverick Robot Girlfriend who’s married to Michelangelo now with fourteen kids?”
“Yes, yes I did.”
“I didn’t even know you had a girlfriend before Hotaru!”
“Natsu, shut up.” Sang Ki muttered.
“Shut up, Natsu.” Fei Grumbled.
Hotaru just punched him. The body guards didn’t even flinch. Its wasn’t the first time.
Hotaru, Sang Ki, Natsu, Fei, their spouses and all of their children went out to dinner that night. Aequitas came by, though the food wasn’t much to his liking and he seemed to have fun playing with the younger kids, he didn’t stay long after a series few words with Sang Ki and Natsu, but for a moment they were an extended family. It was good to see them all together, the kids chatting, a few of them clearly interested in dating now that they were old enough. They wouldn’t be together again like this for years. Maybe ever. Gongen floated in its orbit, and on its back rode their smiles. Kalingkata and Natsu were laughing about something, when Kalingkata stopped, and stared into his glass.
“Something wrong man?”
“No, nothing.” Natsu didn’t ask further. Hotaru did though, a few minutes later.
“Is something wrong?”
“Yeah, I just, I hadn’t seen her in decades, since she got kicked off Gongen, I was happy to see her, but it seemed like there was something she wasn’t telling me.”
“People change. It was probably hard for her to see you.” Sang Ki shrugged, “nothing for her to hold back, thirteen kids with Michelangelo, and me married to the best woman ever born? It would have been fine if she’d just stuck around longer.”
Hotaru smiled, “world keeps turning.”
“Let’s go to talk to the others, you don’t live forever you know.”
“And you can’t know everything.”
“That’s what you think.” They chuckled as they walked over to their laughing friends, the laughs vanishing the higher you went, till all there was, was space.
For all the stars in the Universe, only one had Earth Gongen and Titan orbiting it. Long ago they had just been blips in telescopes, and now they were large colored marbles that passed by Geraldine’s eyes. “You didn’t tell him,” Michelangelo said, and Geraldine could hear the disapproval in his voice.
“He’s got his own life now Michelangelo. Him and that Hotaru woman go well together. He looked happier with her then he ever did with me. It’s better to just leave the past in the past. Not dredge it up. He’ll never know. Frankly that’s best for everyone.”
“Not know what?” Anya and Ulysses came in, followed by Zoroaster and Cleopatra. There were ten other Hypercube children. She’d made quite the family with Michelangelo.
“Nothing Ulysses.”
Out of all the kids, 12 looked pretty similar. Anya and Ulysses were different though. Anya was brilliantly blonde, and Ulysses had black hair and looked more Asian. She remembered when Michelangelo and her got married. She was still JackBox then, renegade near-do-well. Five months pregnant with another man’s baby, but he didn’t care. He had a newborn daughter from that Cartel whore. Or at least Geraldine liked to think of her that way. She always thought Michelangelo and Kalingkata would have gotten along great, Jhes and Hypercubes as the best of friends. She knew that couldn’t be though.
Things could only get more awkward.
“Ulysses, Anya, you love your mommy right?”
They looked at each other, that question came out of nowhere. “Of course mom.”
“Never visit the nest. Promise?”
“Promise.”
“Promise.”
“Good,” Geraldine leaned against the windows and watched the passing stars. She was older then she had been. She could still close her eyes and see Kalingkata, 20-some years younger, without a wrinkle or grey hair, laughing as she made terrible puns for him in their apartment over breakfast. She held her spoon with her metal hand. Her real fingertips touched his.
That was all gone though, and Michelangelo had been a better husband and father then she could have dreamed. But in a lot of ways Kalingkata never left.
And the ship slipped through the darkness towards Titan, a tiny blip on the whole of reality, swallowed up amidst the entirety of their lives.