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A couple months after Kevin and Alia escaped the secret CIA facility in the Pacific Northwest, the scientist known as Fritz Parsons, was still gainfully employed at the facility. He no longer had Kevin in order to start new experiments, but the two had started many things and Parsons would be busy combing through the data for a long time. Parsons was able to determine that even the functional replicas of things that Kevin was able to create, were still technically distinguishable from other comparable things that sprang up through natural processes. The individual components seemed to function the same, but complex analysis on the atomic level revealed that Kevin’s creations lacked the dizzying spontaneity that naturally occurring things can exhibit at such a microscopic level. Kevin’s creations could exhibit the same properties, but they achieved the result in a completely different way that baffled Parsons.
The seed that Kevin had created in the lab, did begin to sprout, and a couple months after Kevin’s departure from the facility, it was clear that the plant was growing at a much faster rate. Parsons couldn’t explain why, but the tree was as tall as he was after two months and Parsons could only marvel at the wonder of the whole thing. Kevin was practically a god, capable of creating life if he took the time to understand the intricacies. Parsons wondered if the same is true for whatever creator was responsible for the Earth.
Losing Kevin was definitely unfortunate for the US government. Kevin had been in the facility for at least a year and they had no better understanding of the device in his head than the first day he had arrived there. But deep down, Parsons was happy for Kevin’s escape. The government would have never let him out of their custody. He would have been their weapon until the day he died.
Today, Alia is in a drugstore, in the feminine hygiene aisle, desperately searching for pregnancy tests. It’s not the fact that her period is irregular that causes her panic, she had been heavily medicated most of her life and the medication had disrupted her regular cycle. Even though the Alia has sworn off her sun gazing to access possible futures, afraid that her meddling has consequences that she can’t fathom, she has other powers that aren’t easy to swear off. Like the mind reading. When she arrived at the drugstore, she heard the woman that she had pushed past curse her rudeness even though the woman didn’t open her mouth to say a word. Alia sang a song to herself as she made it to the aisle, it was the only way she knew how to keep the other voices out. She is panicked, almost certain that she is pregnant, because of that mind reading ability. She could feel something new emanating from her uterus, the feeling that all human minds produce, and this one felt as tiny as Worthington’s parasite that she had detected before the conflict in Durham, NC. This one did not feel malevolent at all, but it also didn’t give her the same sense that she got around other pregnant women. The mind inside her felt familiar, but very different, and the only way that she could be sure that she was pregnant was to take a test.
She bought three different brands and rushed home. Kevin was out roaming the neighborhood for any indication of zombies, and Alia was happy for the privacy. Inside the bathroom, she pees on each one and lines them up on the sink to wait for the results. And each one says the same thing. Alia knew what they would say and she fights back tears.
“This is how is starts, every time.” She says to herself. She swipes all of the tests into the trashcan and she rushes from the house, determined to put a stop to this before it could escalate.
As Kevin drives around his neighborhood, he remembers to call Ivan. He knows that randomly searching for zombies is mostly all for nothing, the chances of him finding another one this way are slim and he eventually convinces himself to go home. When he is home, he calls Ivan who sounds aggravated.
“Everything alright?” Kevin asks.
“It will be. Clay’s in some trouble I think, but I have to trust that he can handle it. If I try to step in, it’ll only make things worse. What’s up with you?”
“I need your help,” Kevin explains. “If you could come to Wilmington, that would be great. I think we got a zombie problem out here.”
“Oh, don’t say that.” Ivan grumbles. “I can be there later today. I can’t stay here. You mind if I bring Clay’s sister?”
“Not at all.”
When they are done, Kevin looks for Alia, and he notices all of the garbage in the bathroom trashcan. He picks up one of the pregnancy tests, and his eyes go wide. He tears up before he even understands his own emotions, but it made him extremely proud to think that he and Alia would have a child together. Kevin puzzled, wondering where she could possibly be. And before long, she enters the front door.
“You’re pregnant?!” Kevin almost yells. “I’m so happy. This is awesome.” He moves to hug her and stops when he sees that she does not share his enthusiasm.
“I wish you hadn’t saw those.” Alia says. “Sit down.” The couple sits in the living room and Kevin can’t hide his concern. “They were false positives. I just got back from the doctor. I’m not pregnant.” She holds Kevin’s hand and he seems to be reeling from the news. He had never really thought too much about being a father, but when it seemed like a reality, it made him more excited than he has been in a very long time.
“Oh,” is all Kevin can manage and Alia hugs him to console him.
It is best this way, she thinks. It is best that he never know that she aborted the baby. And she could forget that it ever happened. As she holds Kevin in her arms, she smiles, happy that for the first time in a long time, things were no longer on any course that she had ever seen. Her life with Kevin is on a timeline that even the sun could not anticipate and she is genuinely happy for that. The baby that she and Kevin would have made together, would have driven Kevin mad. She never understands why, but in the other futures, the knowledge of their child makes Kevin unhinged. In at least one of the timelines, Kevin forced the abortion on her and he never forgave himself for it. But there was no more baby. He didn’t even know that it had existed.
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