Death looks gigantically down...;
 

On a bench overlooking the park, in a park overlooking the city, Jarodsat. His hands were clenched into tight fists as he stared down at thosearound him, nervous butterflies tickling his stomach. She had agreed tomeet him. It was a park not unlike the one he had fled so hastily froma little over a year ago, a lake rested in the folds of the earth belowhim, and children played with remote control boats.

He saw many parents cast furtive glances up at him, a strange man byhimself watching children play was a suspect thing these days, and hisappearance suggested no better. Dark smudges lay as reminders of sleeplessnights under his eyes, his hair, too long, was dishevelled and his expressionbleak. He did not know what to expect of their sudden reunion.

"You should have forgot about me." Parker's voice startled him, andhe turned to see that she had slid noiselessly into the seat beside him.

"How could I?" he asked, and a brief, pained smiled flickered acrossher features.

"By finding the life, the family, you were denied. By settling downwith some nice woman with no past and having a family of your own. By movingon."

"I tried you know." He replied, looking back across the park, "thislast month I did nothing that I thought of as a 'Parker thing'. Nothingto attract your attention, nothing to get you to contact me."

"I thought you were dead...;" the words were out before she could stopthem, tumbling from her mouth as she grimaced with regret. Jarod turnedto look at her, no just his head but his whole body, studying her carefullybefore he spoke.

"Death by the Centre has never been a huge threat, especially not afteryou left. Why would you fear for my life?" he spoke slowly, each word withmeasured control, trying not to betray his anxiety as he watched tearsslip down her face. For a long moment she was silent, refusing to lookat him.

"Pretenders die Jarod." She whispered, and Jarod's hand clenched, hestill didn't understand.

"Everybody dies Parker. Sooner or later." He stated, carefully watchingher reactions, noting how her hand tensed, her mouth tightened.

"Pretender's die sooner than everybody else Jarod." Her voice was hoarsenow, her pain obvious, but still Jarod pushed.

"Explain it to me." He grated, his cool veneer was slipping beneatha weight of tension, he had to know. Now Miss Parker turned to face him,her eyes probing.

"Did you ever wonder why I was the only female you came in contact with?Why I was sent away once you reached a certain age? Why they performeda sexuality experiment, why they kept you so isolated? Why they neededyou back so damn badly, so quickly?" she questioned, and Jarod, confused,searched her face.

"They kept me isolated because they didn't want me 'contaminated'. Theywanted me to be objective...;" he trailed of as Miss Parker shook her head.

"It was more specific than that Jarod. They wanted to prevent contaminationfrom something in particular." Jarod's breathing was shallow now, shortgulps of air that took all his effort.

"What?" he whispered.

"Pro-creation." She whispered, and Jarod stared incredulously at her,ready to question her, but she held up her hand, cutting him off.

"Think about it Jarod. They performed a sexuality experiment to seewhich gender you were attracted to. They allowed us to be friends, butonly to a point. As soon as we started showing overt signs of sexual interestin each other I was sent away to boarding school, leaving you with yourall-male care-takers. And the sexuality experiment had already proved thatyou weren't interested in them! Every sim you did had no reference whatsoeverto sexuality, everything you did was made sure it was kept well away fromthat area.

Once you escaped they had no way of controlling your environment. That'swhy the Centre wanted you back so damn quickly. We all thought it was becausethey were losing money, but when has the Centre ever given a damn aboutmoney? It's because you went out into the world and were exposed to yourown sexuality."

"But why would they try so hard to keep me away from it? What does itmatter wether I've had sex or not?" Jarod asked, he still wasn't completelysure.

"Pretenders are genetically perfect Jarod. Their survival skills, mentalabilities and social abilities are all off the charts. They are, in effect,the perfect human being. And what does every perfect or near-perfect beingattempt to do Jarod?" her eyes were filled with tears now, and comprehensiondawned across Jarod's face as he answered.

"Tries to pass its perfection along to others." He whispered, and MissParker nodded.

"Exactly. A Pretender's, at this stage in their evolution, sole purposein life is to pass its perfection along to others, so the rest of the racemay obtain it's perfection. By pro-creation. After they have done this,until the rest of the race is just as 'perfect', by evolutions standardsthere is no point in their existence.

The Centre wanted you back so quickly because they didn't want you tohave enough time to 'pro-create'. They knew that once you had sexual relationswith someone then you wouldn't have much time left. Your biological clockis ticking so to speak, its just going faster than everybody else's." shefinished, and Jarod looked down at his numb hands, realising she was holdingthem in her own.

"I'm dying?" his voice was harsh with shock and pain, and he barelynoticed Miss Parker's nod.

"Angelo predicted you have five to seven years, counting down from the...;act. Over time you'll steadily worsen, you'll lose all of your abilities,weight loss, memory loss...; it goes on." She finished quietly, strokinghis hand in a gesture of comfort which he didn't notice.

"How did you find out?" he murmured.

"Remember that folder I was holding that day in the park? It was allin there. Angelo got it for me, even did some research of his own. Apparentlythe Centre had been carefully watching some confirmed Pretenders who wereraised in society, that's how they were able to gather this information.It was an experiment which you were involved in, you in isolation, severalother Pretenders on the outside of the same age, see which lived longest.Surveillance included being aware of all sexual activity. All of the Pretenderson the outside started to show signs of sexual interest by a certain age,almost instinctive, and three or four years after they experienced theirfirst sexual encounter, or 'lost it' so to speak, they all headed downhill."

"And...; what of them now?" Jarod asked tremulously, not sure if hewanted the answer.

"None of them survived." She replied gently, and Jarod blanched, causingMiss Parker to frown worriedly. He was taking the news even worse thanshe had expected, but then again he had every right to the reaction hewas having.

"Why?" he cried brokenly, "why couldn't I just have a normal life likeeverybody else?" and then the tears started, Jarod's harsh sobs drawingalarmed glances as Miss Parker drew him close, rocking him against herbody and trying not to let her own tears fall.

A void within the filmy heaven...;
 
 

Miss Parker had taken Jarod back to her apartment, noting Jarod's dryamusement that they not only had been in the same city, but lived extremelyclose to one another. A faint smile had graced his lips briefly, givingher a moment of hope, but when she had next glanced over to him he waswell on his way to utter despair. In the elevator he had leaned heavilyagainst her, stumbling as she led him through the door of her apartment.She began to worry he was in shock, leading him to her bedroom where shehad tucked him under her covers and fixing him a hot, sweet drink.

He had sipped at the drink, his ashen face regaining some colour, beforetiredly pushing it aside. Gingerly she had placed it on the bedside table, surprised when she felt his strong arm wrap around her waist, draggingher onto the bed beside him. They lay like that for a long time, Jarod'sface pressed against her skin as she held him, his ragged sobs keepingthe silence at bay. Tenderly she had stroked his hair, trying to sootheaway the cries that wouldn't stop, relieved when exhaustion claimed him,his even breathing telling of sleep.
 
 

feedback please : Kitty_amazon@yahoo.com
 

Part 4