The Cypher’s Kiss: A Choice Based Short Story
By Cathleen Rootsaert
I LOVE YOU: STAY THE NIGHT
You spend your first night together and hope there will be many more.
Figuring out how to make that work is for another day — today is for daydreams.
Later that morning, standing across the Enclave, you answer glances from each other with tiny smiles. Your secret sends thrills through you. Ammien is wonderful and you’re in love.
If only it lasted longer than one day.
On the way to a Shaper globe to harvest coolant, Ammien is teasing, even flirting, with another Freelancer on the team. Why are they doing that? Ammien knows that you're also connected. Your face grows hot. Your heart thumps. It’s then that, flying along a deep crevasse, you lock up. Unable to control your suit, you tumble and spin toward the jagged ground.
Ammien alerts your team and suddenly you have a Freelancer on either side of you. They try to calm you. They try to slow your descent. You manage to regain some control just as, at the last minute, the Freelancers divert your course and you land by skidding along the mossy bank of a nearby lake.
It's lucky you aren't killed.
Later that evening, you, Ammien, and the team meet in the Enclave to debrief with senior Freelancers. Even in the crisp air of the Enclave, your back pressed against the stone wall, you are sweating. Ammien is vibrating with internal panic. For you, the guilt of endangering your team and the worry for the one you love is unbearable.
“What happened?” asks Freelancer Yarrow. No one speaks. You look at the ground as he paces and demand answers. Freelancer lockup is never treated lightly. Gradually, Yarrow puts together the truth of your affair and dismisses the other pilots. "This is very serious," he says. “You think we are foolish? No. Hard experience. These rules keep you safe. They keep us all safe This must end, you hear me?”
You both plead. You're in love. You say that you’ll be careful. You say you won’t take missions together. Yarrow scoffs. “You don’t understand, as long as you work in the same enclave, everyone is at risk."
It's a terrible scene. Ammien gets so angry, you think they might strike Yarrow. Finally, he simply says, "Enough!" and walks away.
And now you sit with Ammien on the wall, tears pouring out of their eyes. You don't cry. You're too gutted to cry. Your hope is broken. All you can say is, “I love you, Ammien. I love you.”
"There has to be a way to fix this."
"One of us can get a different job," you say.
"It won’t be me. I’ve studied to be a cypher since I was eight years old. I won’t let you quit, either.” They turn to you, eyes full of fire. "Forget them! They don’t know us. We can keep our love a secret."
But you know it's hopeless. You'll be watched closely.
"Please," Ammien begs. "Do this for us. Otherwise... I... I don't think I can ever speak to you again. I love you too much."
Now, you feel tears begin to well up in your eyes -- all the unfairness rising in your throat to choke you.
After considering, you turn to your love and say,