Most of Now

By Miik YS

Four people attempt to forge meaningful lives.
Iver abandons her dead-end job to join the Expeditionary Force as an explorer. She alters the trajectory of her life far into the future on an alien world.
Perthyn leaves behind the wilderness she roamed for decades to winter in an isolated town. Her simple desire to rest faces complex challenges when people in the town can neither see nor hear her.
Ydin bails on her home to avoid a devastating virus. She hopes to find herself but instead loses herself when ill winds blow her out of her body.
Derbyn settles in a quiet European town to leave her shifting bad memories in the past and to start anew since her daughter is off at university. A loud nagging voice that only she hears threatens her plans, as does her exact double who pops up all over town.
The women risk losing their individual worlds, their very lives.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Miik YS
• Release date: Jul 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005393984

Miik YS

The story is important, not me. I craft stories that are enjoyable at a surface level. The works include other levels of imagery, symbolism, and meaning should the reader want to delve deeper into the stories.

Book preview

Chapter One

Mucilage-1

Dr. Velmenende?

I’m in my lab, Dr. Cwisiwr. Dr. Velmenende called to her while peering into the eyepiece of a microscope.

Dr. Cwisiwr paused in the hallway by the door. Oh, hey, what are you doing in here? Weren’t you here all night? You must be exhausted. She picked up a tablet and scrolled through some results. I just left Sisi. She isn’t doing well at all.

I know. I sat with her most of the night. I doubt she’ll live to see tomorrow.

You’re lucky no one comes down here. If the higher-ups knew you took such a personal interest in your patients, the administration would give you hell.

Dr. Velmenende’s face soured. Aw, they don’t care. This facility’s administration has forgotten all about these long-term coma patients. As long as the families keep paying, they’ve got a steady revenue stream with hardly any expenses. They pay me only a pittance in exchange for letting my mother stay here. You’ve only got duty down here once a week. The only nurse for the whole ward is retired and just here to pick up some extra money part time. Plus we even have to dim the lights when there are no visitors… which is almost all the time. Why else do you think they stuck these patients down here in the subbasement? We’re only one step away from a grave.

Dr. Cwisiwr forced a chuckle. Yeah, I know. I made the mistake at the last Christmas party to suggest to one of the big bosses that we move the patients to one of the floors with windows instead of this dungeon atmosphere down here. You know, as if we actually cared for them in a modern twenty-first century facility instead of simply locking them away in some medieval vault. The bastard laughed at me. He told me that this dark tomb ambiance suited the patients better… for their rest, their peace and quiet.

Dr. Velmenende patted Dr. Cwisiwr on the back. I just wish we could do more for our patients. Life is all we have, so it’s precious. We should do everything possible to live the best life possible while we have the chance. That’s why I work so hard. It’s no different for our patients. I want to give them their lives back if I can because once life is gone, nothing else matters.

One of the machines in the lab beeped and spit out a sheet of paper. Dr. Cwisiwr passed it to Dr. Velmenende. When are you going to fill me in on your research?

Dr. Velmenende scanned the paper. Oh, maybe sooner than I thought. I was only holding off because I didn’t want to cram your head full of useless stuff while the formula wasn’t working, but this looks promising.

Are you going to try it on Sisi?

Are you sure you want me to tell you? Once I do, I can’t un-tell you. If there’s an inquiry, I wouldn’t want you to lie… even if you think it’s to protect me.

Dr. Cwisiwr looked over Dr. Velmenende’s shoulder at the paper. Don’t worry about it. Lucky for you I can’t remember whether I have a good memory or not, so go ahead and tell me. A smile spread across her face.

Dr. Velmenende gathered her dark hair into a ponytail. Well, I already administered it. That’s why I sat with her all night. I really thought there’d be a reaction, but nothing at all, so I reconfigured the formula. The latest version is now Formula 791. That’s what this new analysis was about. She waved the paper.

Testing on patients without authorization… that’s not just grounds for termination, that’s criminal. You could go to prison. Did you at least get her son’s permission? He’s never once visited Sisi, so I don’t know why he’d care either way.

Because if Sisi slips away, he stops paying. I did finally get in touch with him. We had a… let’s call it a bad connection, but I got the impression that I think he was maybe okay with the trial. Dr. Velmenende wiggled her eyebrows.

A nurse popped her head in. Sisi is crashing.

Dr. Velmenende and Dr. Cwisiwr rushed down the crumbling hall to Sisi’s room. The various machines connected to the woman indicated that her organs were shutting down. When her heart stopped beating, Dr. Velmenende employed the defibrillator a number of times, but in vain.

Time of death, 2:19 PM. Dr. Velmenende held the patient’s cooling hand a couple moments, speaking silently to her, before covering the woman’s face with the sheet.

Chapter Two

Life in the Years-1

Iver awoke in a hospital bed. Every limb, every nerve screeched in pain, but she held her tongue, unsure where she was or what happened to her. She passed out. A few hours later, she came to again. Her past, her present, and so her future abandoned her for parts unknown. She recalled her name, though not much else that made sense, as if her life were reflected in a shattered mirror, so she sought out clues in her surroundings. Her body barely responded other than her head bobbing and her eyes darting from one side to the other.

The brightly lit hospital ward contained a few dozen beds with workers scurrying from one patient to another. Privacy never existed there. No curtains cloaked any patient while consulting with the healthcare workers. Those workers brandished noninvasive devices of all sorts to treat patients. Different machines floated in midair beside beds while other gadgets, like jilted lovers, automatically followed the workers from bed to bed.

Welcome to the future. Iver couldn’t quite piece together why, but she knew no hospital on Earth employed such technology, and certainly not in her lifetime. So she mumbled to herself.

Iver wished her senses weren’t so acute. The stink wafting to her and mixing in a putrid concoction almost made her wretch. Mixed with the urine and feces scents, the oozing pus of infected wounds, and the stench of death, the workers themselves spread varied odors. Some reeked of ammonia, others of sulfur. For a few workers with a bluish hue, Iver feared to ask what they’d been rolling in. One of the blue hued caretakers hovered over Iver, causing her to gag. He glanced around and hurried off before anyone else noticed him loitering by her bedside.

She braved the additional pain moving an arm to employ the collar of her paper shirt as a mask to filter out some of the stench. Struggling to focus on the healthcare workers, she mumbled again. What did I get my black ass into?

The hospital workers weren’t human. Some bore rows of tiny holes where a nose should be. Others sprouted little elephant trunks on the tops of their heads, a few possessed rows of eyes all blinking independently, and while a couple sported many extra arms, a group with only nubs still managed to levitate instruments without arms or hands. Their skin or scale colors ranged from translucent to luminescent, from snow white to pitch black, and every color in-between.

In strutted a humanoid followed by an assistant and a floating cart with various apparatus on it. With only one nose on her face, not a little trunk on top of her head, only two eyes blinking in unison, two ears on the sides of her head rather than flopping like those of a bunny, and flowing black hair, anyone might mistake her for a human except her light caramel skin, black eyes, and shapely figure struck Iver as too perfect. No woman, even manipulated pictures in fashion magazines, ever looked that perfect. Even her fawning assistant, though chubby and shorter, bore many of the same traits on his body. Compared to this woman, Iver felt like a troll doll, wild hair, big belly, bulging eyes, and all.

The perfect woman halted beside Iver’s bed and spoke in a language that made no sense. She spoke several more times, presumably in different languages since each time sounded different from the other attempts.

Iver tried speaking but only coughed, so when the assistant offered a cup of water with a straw for her to drink, she gulped it down greedily. I don’t know what you’re saying. Where am I? Why am I here?

The woman positioned a bulky device in the air over Iver’s head. Once in place, it remained hovering there by itself. She pulled out a rubbery disk from the machine and attached it to her own forehead, sticking similar disks on her assistant’s and Iver’s foreheads. Calling over several of the workers on the ward, she affixed disks to what passed for foreheads on each of them as well. Pressing a button on the hovering apparatus caused it to hum a few seconds. The woman removed the disk from her forehead. You understand me now? She disconnected everyone else and motioned for her assistant to stow the machine on the floating cart.

Yeah, I understand you. Who are you? Why am I here?

All in time. I am Dr. Powiernik. You were hurt very much in a crash. You remember?

Uh… I’m not sure. Not really. Everything’s jumbled. The harder I try to recall things, the more I seem to push them from my grasp.

You expect that. Memories will come back to you in time. You hurt? The doctor lowered Iver’s paper pants slightly to press her abdomen.

You’re the doctor. You tell me.

No, your body aches?

Yes, every part of me hurts.

You expect that, too. I failed to save your legs. I had to… amputate them. I think I grew you new ones that match well. I attached them where the legs meet your hips. The legs and feet are on the right side? The doctor grinned as she yanked away the paper sheet to expose Iver’s legs and feet. She took a device from the cart that followed her and her assistant. Waving the gadget over Iver’s head then hovering it down to her toes, she cocked her head. Is the pain better?

Yes. Iver breathed deeply and relaxed. The pain is completely gone. How did you do that?

I am Dr. Powiernik. Helping patients is my job. You tell me if the pain returns. We thought maybe you would die. Now you will live, we think.

Iver glanced at her legs and feet. Are you telling me you grew new legs and feet for me? These aren’t my original ones?

Correct.

Tell me about the crash I was in. What happened?

We witnessed nothing. Others brought you to us. You came from very far away?

Why do you assume that?

Not many people like you exist. I heard of only one other traveling a long distance, and that was on a world very far from here. She checked Iver’s vital signs using a few devices from her floating cart.

Iver gazed into the doctor’s dark eyes. So you’re not from this world?

No, we came here to help, to heal those in need.

So that’s why you look different from all the others? Because of where you’re from?

That’s right. Most of those you see here aren’t native to this world.

How come you speak my language?

Dr. Powiernik smiled. We just learned it. You saw the machine with the disks? That transferred your language to us. We use it on people from different worlds. It works both ways, you now understand the languages we use, too. You rest now. Save your strength.

Chapter Three

Dovetailing-1

An attractive woman in her thirties stepped into the general store carrying her black cat. Hello. My name is Perthyn. She hugged the cat close to her cheek. This little guy is Hente. He helps me hunt. She set the cat on the table by the stove.

Hente sniffed the people then hopped down and explored the store. I’m hungry. I smell a mouse.

A skinny man with a big nose rose from his chair near the wood stove heating the store and slammed the door. He resumed his seat without saying a word.

Perthyn sidestepped to avoid the door. I would’ve closed it if you gave me a chance. Smiling at the four people in the store sitting in rickety wooden chairs around the stove, she cleared her throat and gathered her blond hair into a ponytail. It’s a chilly autumn day. The warmth of that stove sure feels good.

They say the winter ahead is going to be a cold one. The shopkeeper brushed crumbs off the card table beside them.

Every winter is cold. Every winter is miserable. The wife of the big nosed man scooched her chair closer to the stove.

Perthyn checked for anyone else in the store. The proprietors stocked it with canned goods, dry goods, plus an assortment of fresh fruits and vegetables recently harvested. Along the side a small deli section offered cheeses, smoked meats, and fresh baked goods. Farther back, hardware and home furnishings, cloth and clothing, and old fashioned mechanical appliances rounded out the store’s offerings. Wow, this is an authentic general store, just like in the olden days. Don’t you think people would prefer some electric appliances, though, instead of those mechanical ones? No one really uses anything like that anymore, do they?

The portly shopkeeper liberated two cinnamon sticks from a jar. He handed one to the big nosed fellow and sucked the end of the other one.

The big nosed man snapped his stick in half and offered a piece to his wife, sitting beside him, which she took.

The chubby shopkeeper’s wife kicked her husband’s shin. He grudgingly broke off a piece of his candy and shared it.

The shopkeeper pointed at the other man. Hey, I heard your neighbor had a really good crop this year. He did really well for himself, didn’t he?

Perthyn spoke louder. Excuse me, could you help me?

The man answered the shopkeeper. Yeah, that’s right. It was one of his best years ever, one of his best harvests.

What about you?

What about me? The man with the big nose leaned forward.

Well, your land is right next to his. Its fertility should be about the same, but your crop wasn’t that good, was it?

No, it’ll be a lean winter. We’ll have to tighten our belts.

Another lean year. His wife hung her head, hiding her pockmarked face.

Uh, do you people get many strangers in here? Perthyn leaned against the counter, her eyes darting this way and that until they landed on Hente munching on a mouse. I’ve been traveling for such a long time. I’ve wandered many years in the wilderness, following the food. I’ve lost count just how many years. I’m really worn out. If I—

Dear, why not come over this weekend. The shopkeeper’s wife placed her pudgy hand on the bony arm of the big nosed man’s wife. I’m baking some pies for our social coming up. I could use your help, and everyone loves your recipes.

We don’t have any fruits this year.

What happened?

She tossed her head toward her husband. He wanted to make wine. It soured… like everything he touches. The stuff was undrinkable. It was even disgusting as vinegar.

Oh, that’s alright, dear. We have fruits enough. We’ll bake pies together.

Perthyn cleared her throat. Excuse me.

The big nosed man growled. What’s wrong with trying new things? He rose to his feet. If that wine worked out, we could’ve sold it for far more than we’d get from the fruit by itself. Her husband with the big nose paced too close to Perthyn.

Hey, watch where you’re stepping. Perthyn twisted her feet to the side so the man wouldn’t trample them. Once he passed her, she glided away from the counter. That’s very rude, you know? I get that I’m an outsider here, but ignoring me like that is going too far.

As he paced back toward the stove where the others still sat, he bumped Perthyn out of his way, oblivious to her.

Hey, don’t push me. She yelled at him, but no one provided any indication they heard her. Sitting in the chair that he vacated while he paced away again, she glanced from one face to the next. What’s wrong with you people?

The man gave up pacing and flopped back into his chair, sitting on Perthyn’s lap. He wiggled his ass to get more comfortable.

What the hell are you doing? Get off me.

His wife gawked at her husband. What’s wrong? Why are you sitting so strangely?

I don’t know. I’m uncomfortable. The big nosed man bounced a few times on Perthyn’s lap before standing again. I guess you got me all agitated with that remark. It’s like you criticize everything I do.

Perthyn stood and slapped his face. Didn’t your mother ever teach you any manners?

He stroked his cheek absentmindedly while focusing on his wife.

Hente rubbed his cheeks against Perthyn’s shins then bounded into her arms although she still stood. I don’t think they see or hear us.

How can that be? Perthyn waved her hand in front of the big nosed man’s face. Hey, hey, what’s your name? Do you see me?

The man, along with the other three in the store, ignored her and her cat.

Chapter Four

Crux-1

Ydin hustled along the drafty corridor of the stone fortress behind Narcissa and Mimita, the black couple who arrived when she did. Her straight black hair streamed behind her in the breeze. A ceiling tile dislodged with a gust of wind. The couple split apart in the hallway to avoid it. It would have clobbered Ydin, behind them, if their host, Sepi, hadn’t yanked her slight frame out of the way. She nodded and jogged on.

Their host moaned as he followed the other three. Oh, you have to hurry. Your rooms are safe, but this hallway is too dilapidated. Your lives are in danger until you get back to your rooms. Why didn’t you listen to me? I told you to stay in your rooms until the storm passed.

A blast of wind burst open the doors to the rooms on one side of the corridor. Ydin felt an odd sensation, as if the wind were blowing her off her feet, so she latched onto the stones of the thick wall while pressing herself against it. Still she drifted upward although her body remained clutching the wall below her. A piece of roof ripped off and sailed away. The wind swept her up, through the hole, out into the night, but not her body. Below her in the flickering light of the hall, the gale blew Sepi, Narcissa, and Mimita out of their bodies, too. The four bodies slumped to the floor in the corridor. Meanwhile, the spirits or essence of the four as colored globs of energy whipped around in the night on the eddies and currents of air.

Sepi, did we just die? Ydin possessed no body to use for speech, though she still formed the thought. Without the shackles of her body, her senses expanded, building on the basic ones she knew so well to include sensitivities to electromagnetic frequencies and patterns, thermal patterns, an awareness of her surroundings down to a molecular level, and many more senses with no names.

No, Ydin. This happens around here. There’s something about the winds in this area. This happens. Sepi drifted near her. I’m sorry. I tried to prevent it.

What’s going to happen to me now? Narcissa signaled her husband to circle near her.

Sepi emanated a soothing green. Try to stay near the fortress. Don’t allow yourselves to be blown across the countryside. If we ride out the storm, we should be okay.

Hey, Sepi. Mimita left Narcissa’s side to approach the host. You said before that our lives were in danger. From this? Are we in danger now?

Mimita, get back here. Narcissa waited off by herself until her husband rejoined her.

If we stay near the fortress, we’ll be okay. When the storm subsides, we should be able to settle back into our bodies. Sepi drifted closer to Ydin to help her gain control on an updraft.

Mimita pressed Sepi. And what happens if we don’t stay near the fortress?

Well, yeah, then it’s possible you could be scattered to the four winds.

What does that mean? Narcissa held Mimita in a tight orbit around her.

If you get blown away, if you dissipate too much, you’ll be spread too thin. You’ll cease to exist. Your essence will mix with everything else in the environment. You’ll be gone. There’ll be nothing left to return to your body, so your body will die, too.

Now you’re telling us this? Mimita glowed red.

I told all of you very clearly to stay in your rooms for your own safety until the storm passed. Don’t blame me now that you decided to wander the halls and got into trouble. If anything, I risked my life trying to herd you back to your rooms. I tried my best to protect you. If any of you are going to be angry at anyone, be angry at yourself. Sepi drifted away from the others.

Has this ever happened to you? Ydin floated near Sepi. You know, this isn’t so bad. If we’re relatively safe as long as we stick near the fortress, I’m kind of enjoying this experience. I’ve never heard of anything like this. She rode a current higher then swirled around in a vortex that dropped her, spitting her out below them. Ydin navigated another eddy, rolling off it when near the others again.

Oh, yeah, this always happens around here, so I’ve had this happen to me dozens of times. Sepi circled Ydin playfully.

So then why were you so worried about us before? Ydin circled him too, like two binary stars playing off one another’s influence and glowing more intensely.

Yeah, something doesn’t add up. Mimita zipped between Ydin and Sepi, breaking them apart. Why were you so worried?

Because, floating around like this isn’t dangerous as long as you don’t let yourself be blown away. Ydin is right. It can be kind of fun… if you have others to enjoy it with. If you’re all alone up here, that can be unsettling being buffeted by the winds.

Why were you so worried? Mimita glowed a brighter red with fuchsia around his edges.

Sepi drifted above the others. Flying around isn’t the problem. The problem can be landing. You need to ride the air currents down to your body. If you try while the gusts are still too strong, you can get blown away, spread all over creation. If you wait too long, the air stagnates, so you can’t reach your body. You’ll just fade over time as you drift away. And because you can’t really control the eddies you sail on, it’s really hard to get it just right, to land in your own body. But there’s nothing we can do about any of that right now, so just enjoy yourselves on the updrafts and downdrafts. The storm won’t blow itself out for a while yet.

Ydin dove into the once in a lifetime experience of letting her essence roam free, relishing every moment of it. She rose with the updrafts far above the fortress. Riding the downdrafts, she whipped around the massive crumbling structure and its out buildings. With no body to hinder her movement or worry her about being injured, she marveled at the recent events that led her to her current situation.

Chapter Five

Facing-1

Derbyn strode into a European style café in the heart of the pedestrian zone of the old town center. The scents of fresh brewed coffee, herb teas, fruits with whipped cream, and desserts with luscious spices greeted her as she entered. At the counter, she admired the cakes and pastries. She let two older women order ahead of her while she decided what she wanted.

I’ll have a slice of black forest cake and a slice of mocha torte. And with that I’ll have one of those little pots of coffee.

Yes, miss. Are you sure that isn’t too much for you? The girl behind the counter wore a puzzled expression.

What do you mean? I’m not fat. That isn’t too much.

No, of course you’re not fat. You have a beautiful figure. I only meant… never mind.

"No. Tell me. What did you