Ashes of Foreverland Read Online Free

matched the trunks of the palm trees on the front cover.
    Later on, she would remember that.
    She watched the traffic crawl, from the sixth-story office. Forty-Sixth Street was worse than usual. She attempted to ignore how long it would take to drive home, but her mind kept doing the math. She thumbed through emails on her phone.
    Another one from the Institute.
    Her lawyer had made it clear for them to leave her alone, that any contact be directed to her attorney. This health screening she agreed to had already eaten a day out of her life. They said she had violated her terms of agreement by engaging her enhancements while on tour. She explained the nature of her condition, that she was prone to seizures and her biomites had auto-engaged when one was coming.
    But the thing was this: she hadn’t felt one coming.
    If she thought about it, the whole auto-engage incident was nothing she had ever experienced. Even if she hadn’t agreed to see a doctor, to document the seizure-induced auto-engagement, she would’ve gone to see him anyway.
    Coco opened his eyes.
    He woke up, she was sure of it. But when she told the EMTs, they assured her everything was all right. They even brought the photographer out, the young man that was snapping photos when she went ape, as someone said. Not a single shot with the eyes open.
    â€œHe never moved,” the photographer said.
    Her phone rang. “Hey,” she answered.
    â€œStill there?” Her husband’s voice piped through the Bluetooth cells implanted near her auditory nerve.
    â€œStill here.”
    â€œHave you heard the results?”
    â€œNo, not yet.” She checked the time again. “They’re running late.”
    â€œOkay.” There was a long pause. “How you feeling?”
    â€œGood.” She told him about traffic and the rude receptionist that still worked for the biomite doctor. If the doctor wasn’t so good, she’d go somewhere else. And, oddly enough, it wasn’t far from the Institute. She could see the front door from the lobby if she stood to the right.
    â€œThought you’d be done,” Samuel said. “We’re back at the car, suppose we could walk around.”
    He said we, but she didn’t catch that. She did notice his voice was a little off; it sounded like he had a cold.
    â€œI’ll text when I know, but it could be another twenty minutes or, I don’t know, twenty-four hours.”
    He chuckled. “We’ll just double-park. I’m sure the parking fairies will understand.”
    â€œWe?”
    â€œMrs. Diosa?” the receptionist called.
    Alex stood slowly and paused before walking toward the receptionist, making sure the floor was steady. That was the other thing she didn’t tell Samuel, just how unstable everything felt. If she stood too fast or walked too quickly, the world felt...unreliable. Like walking on thin ice.
    â€œYou realize it’s an hour after my appointment?”
    The woman behind the counter pointed at the door to Alex’s left without looking, her fingernail tapping on the iPad’s glass. She wrinkled her nose like Alex wasn’t wearing deodorant.
    â€œDr. Mallard got called out.”
    â€œThen who am I seeing?”
    She sighed. “Dr. Johnstone.”
    â€œWho?”
    Alex continued to stare. The receptionist didn’t look up, pointing at the door instead. A sharp letter to Dr. Mallard was in order.
    â€”—————————————
    E nhance Your Life.
    That was written on the only poster in the examination room, attached to the back of the door, an elderly woman beaming at children on a playground.
    Biomites.
    The medical industry introduced synthetic stem cells as the cure-all to human suffering, engineered to replace organic cells in the body, to regenerate damaged tissues, immunize cells and heighten senses. And now the possibility of wireless communication.
    Some