The Genesis Saga

Rann stared out the window towards the fire pit from her room on the second floor as Adrian and Reya spoke to each other. A feeling of unease came over her as she listened in on the conversation.

“Shut the window, babe,” Beor said, standing behind her. He reached over gently and slid the window shut, cutting off their voices. “I don’t think we’re supposed to hear this.” He was dressed in checkered shorts and a black t-shirt, ready for bed. All he was missing was Rann. Grabbing the curtains, he drew them closed, cutting off Rann’s view.

“Why him?” she asked, still standing next to the window. “Why does she talk to him instead of me?” She recalled finding Reya in that room, the red lighting barely hiding the bloodstains. She was the one to find her. To hold her. To bring her back to the ship. Yet, she wasn’t extended the same trust as Adrian.

“You’ve already done so much to help her, babe. You found her. Freed her. You were there for her when she was in the hospital. I’m sure that means a lot to her. Why can’t he be there for her now, when she needs it?”

“It’s not fair.” Rann pouted, upset. “You remember what Reya was like in the hospital. She was nothing but a shell. She refused to talk about what happened. Why can’t she trust me with that?” Beor collected Rann into a long hug, letting her rest her head against his chest as she worked out her feelings.

“I don’t think it’s about trusting you or not. She probably wasn’t ready to talk about it yet, and now she is.”

“But to a stranger?”

“A stranger that was also captured by her tormentors. Somebody who understands what she’s been through.”

“How is being experimented on the same? How is that relatable?” Rann’s tears of frustration wet Beor’s shirt. He planted a tender kiss atop her head as he waited for a moment, just holding her.

“Because they both understand each other’s pain. That’s not something you can do for her. I have no doubt she’ll tell you when she’s ready. Let her have her moment of healing, babe. You’ll be there for her when it’s time. You always have been.”

“It hurts, feeling like an afterthought.”

“I’m sure she has her reasons. The experience was traumatic. Just the fact that she’s opening up in and of itself is a good thing.” Gently, he guided her towards the bed. She let herself be moved by him without protest and sat down on the cream-coloured sheets. She gave one last look towards the window as Beor settled in beside her on the opposite side.

“It still hurts.”

“I’m just saying, it’s been weird,” Reya said. Her shoes crunched against the debris on the forest floor as she walked alongside Adrian, who was still barefoot. They were taking a morning walk, where Reya was doing her best to answer Adrian’s incessant questions about the local wildlife. She hadn’t thought he’d be so interested in the topic when she’d offered but was more than happy to play tour guide. She reminded herself that he was literally seeing the world around him for the first time.

Adrian carefully stepped around a fallen log, avoiding some of the sharper looking branches that lay around it. The blue pine needles littering the ground didn’t bother him as he trekked through them. “Weird how?” The topic of Rann had come up during their walk and Reya was venting her frustrations about her friend. She was mostly upset in Rann’s sudden change of behaviour.

“I don’t know,” she stomped, frustrated. “It feels like she’s avoiding me. Whenever I try talking to her, she makes an excuse to run away. It’s always ‘check on the weapons’ or ‘clean the ship’ or ‘take inventory.’ Once was enough, but how many times can you claim to be cleaning the ship before it gets suspicious? She hates cleaning the ship.”

“That certainly sounds odd. And there’s no reason you can think of that might be causing her to act like that?”

“That’s the thing!” Reya exclaimed. “Literally nothing has changed. Ever since the night of the campfire, she’s been flaky. Was my singing that offensive to her? Because that’s about all I can think of.”

“I don’t think it was the singing.”

“Then what was it?” she said, her voice rising. “What did I do? I wasn’t sure at first, but now I’m certain that there’s something going on that I’m not aware of.” The pair stopped at one of the large magenta pitcher plants. Reya paused her tirade to show Adrian that the nectar it produced was actually edible.

“Maybe you’re reading too much into it?” Adrian said, licking the sweet juices off of his fingers. It tasted like peaches, reminding him of home. He dipped in hand back in again for a second taste, much to Reya’s amusement.

“No way,” Reya shook her head. “I’m sure something’s going on. I just wish she would tell me. She usually never keeps things from me. It’s been a week now and I’m starting to get worried.”

Adrian and Reya had been spending more time together in recent days. After he’d pointed out that he was being ignored, Reya had kept an eye out and realized that he was right. The only times that Adrian seemed to really interact with anybody was at mealtimes or when he was spending time with Tassie, working on their project. Adrian was determined to have his favourite musical instruments recreated and spent long hours working with Tassie to make that a reality.

Reya wasn’t spending time with him out of pity. She did so because she had come to enjoy his company. Their conversation by the campfire added a new depth to him that hadn’t been there previously. That didn’t change the fact that apart from her, and now Tassie, Adrian was still isolated. The others seemed to actively avoid him and were uneasy in his presence. Perhaps with the exception of Beor, who seemed at least somewhat comfortable around him.

Jyn was another topic altogether. Ever since the day at the beach, he’d been crabby and unsociable. He engrossed himself in his work, offering to help Rann whenever she tried to escape Reya. His interactions with Adrian were increasingly charged, and Reya was worried that something would happen soon unless somebody intervened. Now that she thought about it, she hadn’t seen Jyn and Tassie together in weeks.

While she fretted over her interpersonal relationships, Adrian continued to rob the poor plant of its livelihood. Deciding he was finished with it, he slowly began ambling on towards a small grove of bright blue mushrooms. “What are these called?” He pointed to his newest discovery, catching Reya’s attention.

“Those are dancer mushrooms. They’re pretty good in salads. Hard to find, too. I’m surprised that there are so many of them in one place.”

“Dancer mushrooms? That’s an odd name for a mushroom.”

Reya shrugged in response. “I’m not the one that named them. We can look it up on the data slate when we get back later.”

“Sounds good. So, back to Rann. If the problem’s not you, then maybe it’s something she’s going through? Have you tried talking to Beor? He might be able to help you figure it out.”

“I did. He was pretty evasive about it, which is why I’m getting so concerned. He said it wasn’t his place to interfere.”

“So that’s how you knew something was up.”

Reya nodded. “He confirmed my suspicions, but prying answers out of him was like talking to a brick wall.” Reya brought Adrian back onto the trail that they’d left earlier in order to go deeper into the woods, and they started walking back towards the house.

“I think the only way you’re going to get an answer is if you talk directly to Rann about it,” Adrian said. “I know that isn’t what you want to hear, but at this point it’s the best option.”

Reya sighed in frustration. “That’s not something I’m looking forward to. What if I’m wrong and there’s nothing going on?” She kicked a rock from the path and watched it rebound off a nearby tree with a light thump. She was getting nowhere, which further upset her.

“I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding. Things will be fine. If ever you want to talk about it, let me know.”

She smiled in response. “Thanks for the offer. I’ll keep that in mind.” It was nice to have someone give her an objective point of view on the situation. They continued to go over possibilities, Adrian voicing his opinion based on what he knew about Rann, which admittedly wasn’t much. He ultimately proved to be of little actual help in resolving the situation but was perfect for her to sort her thoughts and emotions with.

Reya entered the house, determined to get to the bottom of her issue soon. She just needed to find the right time to pull Rann aside privately. It wasn’t going to be easy with how crowded the house was at times, but if Reya could manage to spend a few hours alone with Adrian, then she could surely find a way to sort out her issue with Rann without the others overhearing.