Virus

A work of fiction.

I finally caught up with Nax on an empty street in Berlin. She stood under a linden tree, her phone in one hand and an unopened umbrella in the other. She wore her hair long and auburn and she had a light coat on, suited for the early spring weather. 

Many of the windows of the houses lining the street stood open and people looked at us curiously. We used to come here often, to Earth, Nax and I. It was a nice spot, away from the stress of the job. Unfortunately they developed nuclear capabilities recently and were now in the process of destroying the planet. We did what we always do. Unleash a virus, reset civilization. 

“Exca. You took your time,” Nax said. I had a sharp pang in the pit of my stomach upon hearing her voice. Until then, I didn’t realize how much I missed her.

I heard sirens in the distance. Of course I didn’t know if they were for us but one gets paranoid, especially in times like these. 

“Let’s go, Nax,” I said. “Please.”

“Yes,” she said. “Let’s.” She touched her teleportation necklace and was gone. The umbrella clattered to the ground.

I rolled my eyes. The locals will love this. I pulled out a device to track her signal. Istanbul. Great.

I arrived next to Nax on the dome of the Hagia Sophia. This town looked so different from the one we had just left. I would never get used to the diversity here. 

“Look at this city, Exca. These people value their past. The struggle that came before. The golden ages. Here everything happens so quickly. They rise and fall and rise. Do you know when the last house at home was built?”

I shook my head. It broke my heart watching her like this. She, who once was one of the most important scientists in the greatest empire the galaxy has ever seen. 

“One thousand years ago. Nothing changes. We are stuck in an endless loop of bureaucracy. We are unable to see our flaws.” Now it was her time to shake her head. She looked sad.

“I gave them a vaccine,” she said flatly.

I sucked in my breath. She has finally lost it for real. This was treason. How can we reset a planet without a virus?

She saw my reaction and stepped closer, brushed her fingers against my hand. Why can’t I just love someone normal?

She reached behind her back and unclamped her teleportation necklace. 

“Take this. Tell them I died.” 

I stepped back. “No. Please. Come with me. We can fix this. All of this. I love you, Nax. Don’t do this to me.”

She smiled but in her eyes, the sadness remained. “Come here.” She wrapped her hands around me and laid her head on my chest. Her hair smelled of roses and of nostalgia. 

“Good bye, Exca,” she whispered. I teleported. With her necklace.

I rematerialized on the ship that was supposed to take us both out of this system and back home. I was alone.

I clenched my fist around her necklace. Then I shook off my anger.

“Good bye, Nax,” I whispered, straightened my shoulders and dropped her necklace into a trash chute.