This is my Story Page.

(This story contains themes or mentions of physical violence, gore, or abuse.)

Gemma and Rose streamed through the cold. Rose shook, and moved behind Gemma to ride in her wake. Gemma never minded – Rose was the fire to Gemma’s ice. Neither of them relished the journey ahead. This would be their first adventure since the new rule was set in place, and of course the fates chose Nathan’s house.

His house was only three minutes away – three minutes of traffic-ridden hell. Nathan’s was a crystalline home, with mirrored walls and panels. Much more pomp and glory than their tiny pile of metal scrap. The smallness of it, however, kept them from being noticed.

Gemma and Rose had been threatened ever since the Great New Rule: no two of the same kind were to co-habit or touch. It caused circumstances to be open to kidnap, and that drained resources of the Empire. Their capitulation to Nathan’s whim was an example of their powers taken for granted.

Gemma dodged one obstacle to the next. Piles of rock flew by, barely missing their faces. Rose was grateful for Gemma’s years as a pilot. Still, she could feel the discontent emanating from above.

Gemma’s hands screwed into fists. She was convinced Nathan wanted more than their company. Rose and Gemma could light crystal by their presence alone. Nathan would take advantage of anything that would keep the bills down. Gemma was wary of a deeper motive, and she was eager to get the job done.

One more minute until arrival. Rose moved up to Gemma and squeezed her hand through her suit. Black market body suits were now necessary as a precaution against touch.

“If you’re right,” Rose said, “he’ll be satisfied when the place is heated and lit. And we get free food just for being there.”

“It’s true,” Gemma chuckled. “Just a hell of a commute for a sandwich. We should start charging.”

“And what would that make us?” Rose challenged. “Peddlers of our gift? No. Remember, gratitude, Gemma. We get to be with each other --”

“With free heat and light, I know,” Gemma sighed. “I just hate it when they change the rules!”

“There is only one real rule, you goose,” Rose chuckled. “We can never touch.”

“Is that easy for you? How am I supposed to get by without poking your dimples? Ever again?” Gemma’s voice cracked, and Rose looked down at their joined hands through the suits.

“But here we are,” Rose said. They kicked their feet out and ran on the surface of Nathan’s domain, gently slowing themselves down.

Nathan’s ostentatious tetrahedron of a home rose before them. One crystal panel stood open. He ushered them in, and they entered with care.

“Gemma,” he nodded, then: “Rose. Thank you both for the journey. Would you like some refreshment?”

Nathan gestured toward a table filled with samplings of tiny cucumber sandwiches. Gemma rolled her eyes at Rose, and Rose rolled hers in return. Nathan’s cucumber sandwiches were the equivalent of taking one dollar and handing it to them in nickels. The host himself wore a mustard-colored suit. The color jarred with his pink home.

Gemma ate a few sandwiches, and Rose made small-talk with Nathan. Yes, his health was good. No, there were no plans for marriage in the future. He did not want children. Yes, he was content.

Rose looked over at Gemma, brushed her hand across her mouth as a hint, and Gemma grinned through cream-cheese and bread. Rose shook her head in mock-disgust.

Then they took off their gloves. Gemma moved to one side of his home, Rose to the other. In a moment and through no effort of their own, light glowed from dim to nearly as bright as the sun. Nathan accessed a side panel and banked the light, dialing it back down to a comfortable glow.

“Got it!” he yelled, because their hands began to sing.

“Ready for the heat?” Rose called.

Nathan placed both feet on an insulated panel in the floor. “Ready!

Gemma and Rose removed their boots. Their bare flesh conducted intense heat into the crystilline structure, hotter with every second that passed. It grew until steam emanated from the walls, it’s sound like a train whistle, and Gemma wondered at Nathan’s ability to take the heat.

“That’s it!” Rose screamed. “Bank it!”

Nathan jammed his foot on the insulated panel. The heat was almost gone, save for leftover steam. Then he fainted on the spot.

Gemma rushed over to feel his forehead. Pulse: okay. Temperature: a little high, but coming down. He would be alright.

“Will he be okay?” Rose asked, breathing hard from the transfer.

“Nothing lost,” Gemma reassured Rose. “Except maybe his dignity. That’s why you pay your bills, especiGemma when you have the money.” They pushed themselves to full height. “Let’s get our gloves and boots on, in case we accidentGemma touch.”

“It’s not likely,” Rose said. “We’d have to run into a serious quake of some kind, or not be wearing our bodysuits. Thank goodness these things are comfortable!”

Gemma grunted. “I’m still not happy about it.”

“We’re still together,” Rose said. “Focus on that. Back home?”

“Back home,” Gemma agreed. Both dug their feet into the ground, ran to gain speed, and pushed off. They streamed through the cold, headed for their tiny dust ball of a planet.

They were silent at the approach. Gravity was not as strong as Nathan’s, and they touched down gently. Their scrap heap stood before them, held together by struts. It scarcely looked habitable, and that was their intention.

Inside, Rose took a glove off to heat the walls and floor. Their bodies glowed when unchecked, so light was never a problem.

“Do you ever miss the old days?” Gemma asked.

“What do you mean?” Rose sat down on a makeshift chair.

“Well,” Gemma sat beside her, “before we had to wear these suits. Before we separated. I know we couldn’t talk to each other like we are now, but we were part of a whole.”

“Hmm,” Rose tapped her chin. “It is tough. Still, I wouldn’t give up free will for anyone but you.”

“Awwww,” Gemma grinned, and gave Rose a teasing shove.

“I mean it,” Rose insisted. “You’re my other half. I love you, Gemma.”

Tears gathered in the corners of Gemma’s eyes. She picked up Rose’s gloved hand and kissed it. “I love you back, Rose,” she said quietly.

Whether or not Rose heard, she did feel Gemma’s hand loosen in hers.

“Gemma?” Rose asked. Gemma squinted her eyes, but could not get Rose in focus.

She held both Gemma’s hands in her grip. Rose shook them, and called her by name. There was no audible response, though Gemma’s mouth moved.

“Gemma!” Rose cried. She dropped to her knees. “What’s wrong? Tell me! You have to tell me, or I can’t make it better.” She shook Gemma’s shoulders, and felt the tears on her cheeks when her beloved made no response. Only bits of foam emerged from her mouth.

“Poison,” Rose breathed. “It’s poison. What did you eat, Gemma?” She remembered the cucumber sandwiches. Nathan, that son of a bitch!

“Gemma, I’m going to turn you on your side, okay? Nathan tried to poison both of us, but he only got you. That means we have a fighting chance! Somehow, we’ve got to pump your stomach.” Rose wiped the sweat from her forehead, hot from their ordeal.

Gemma’s eyes were near-crossed, and she shook from head to toe.

“Oh please, please, be okay,” Rose pleaded, then propped Gemma up against her chest.

“I’m going to stick my fingers down your throat, okay?” she said, but Gemma made a high-pitched noise.

“It’ll be fine,” Rose reassured her. “Just let me try. I think I can get the poison out.”

Gemma looked up at Rose, tears visible. “Not fair,” she croaked, and tried to pull her head back as Rose reached for her open mouth. Their naked skin touched --

--Gemma and Rose collided in a burst of light as bright as the sun, as photons do. Their eyes shone like gold, and Rose held Gemma’s face in her hands, sealed her ravaged mouth with her own. With a final declaration of love, the two became one once more.

Grown as a single photon in a laboratory, Rose and Gemma had been split and entangled. Never to touch, never to collide with outside structures, but given free will.

The scientist that split them never dreamed that entangled photons could have the capacity for love.

~*~

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