Particle Romance

Particle Romance

Ally and Rose streamed through the cold. Rose shook, and moved behind Ally to ride in her wake. Ally never minded – Rose was the fire to Ally’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 David’s house.

His house was only three minutes away – three minutes of traffic-ridden hell. David’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.

Ally 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 David’s whim was an example of their powers taken for granted.

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

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

One more minute until arrival. Rose moved up to Ally 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,” Ally 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, Ally. We get to be with each other --”

“With free heat and light, I know,” Ally 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?” Ally’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 David’s domain, gently slowing themselves down.

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

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

David gestured toward a table filled with samplings of tiny cucumber sandwiches. Ally rolled her eyes at Rose, and Rose rolled hers in return. David’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.

Ally ate a few sandwiches, and Rose made small-talk with David. 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 Ally, brushed her hand across her mouth as a hint, and Ally grinned through cream-cheese and bread. Rose shook her head in mock-disgust.

Then they took off their gloves. Ally 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. David 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.

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

Ally 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 Ally wondered at David’s ability to take the heat.

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

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

Ally 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,” Ally reassured Rose. “Except maybe his dignity. That’s why you pay your bills, especially when you have the money.” They pushed themselves to full height. “Let’s get our gloves and boots on, in case we accidentally 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!”

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

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

“Back home,” Ally 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 David’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?” Ally asked.

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

“Well,” Ally 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,” Ally grinned, and gave Rose a teasing shove.

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

Tear gathered in the corners of Ally’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 Ally’s hand loosen in hers.

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

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

“Ally!” 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 Ally’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, Ally?” She remembered the cucumber sandwiches. David, that son of a bitch!

“Ally, I’m going to turn you on your side, okay? David 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.

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

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

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

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

Ally 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 --

--Ally and Rose collided in a burst of light as bright as the sun, as photons do. Their eyes shone like gold, and Rose held Ally’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 Ally 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.