Page 99 of Colossal

CHAPTER56

KAIA

It had been a week since Orion planted the idea in her head, and it was all she could think about. She’d barely slept thinking about the prospect of fulfilling Ahton’s childhood dream, trying not to toss and turn too much in bed so as not to wake Orion and raise his suspicions.

Kaia’s memory of her brother’s preoccupation with New Earth was one of playtime and pipe dreams. Not something she, or anyone else on Artega Seven, took seriously. Of course not. Why would they? Not only was New Earth unlikely to exist, but who’d come pick up the refuse of the universe and take them to this pristine dream of a planet even if they’d found it?

In her preoccupation to atone for what she’d done and get to Ahton, Kaia had ignored the new doors that opened with her position onColossal. Not just doors to manipulate Orion and get to Heaven, but ones that might make Ahton’s dream come true while she was still alive. What would Ahton think of her once he learned that she could’ve helped find a better world for everyone, and passed up on it for the sake of being rid of this guilt she’d lived with her whole life?

“Stop fidgeting,” the hairdresser chastised, shooting her a look in the mirror.

Kaia had been swinging back and forth in the swivel chair, the ball of her foot twitching on the metal footrest. The wedding planner had arranged a cut and “hair test” before the wedding. Kaia looked forward to finally chopping some of it off.

“When will you start cutting?” she asked, watching the hairdresser fuss over her curls in the mirror before her.

“Cutting?” The man’s reflection looked confused, the tip of a curl pinched between thumb and forefinger over her head.

“Yeah. To the chin will be fine.”

The man looked like she just asked him to launch himself out of an airlock.

“Oh no… no, no, no, we arenotcutting anything. A trim at most, for the split ends. Any more would be acrime.”

“Then why the fuck am I here?” Kaia sighed.

“Have you never had a blowout before?”

“A what?”

The hairdresser had enough. He gave her an exasperated sigh and a pat on the shoulder. “Relax. You’ll understand.”

An hour later, she did understand. She had no idea what weird nice-smelling crap the man worked through her hair. When he came at it with hot air, she got a little worried, but the results spoke for themselves. Her curls were still wild and voluminous, but the way the strands framed her face now looked like it was onpurpose,and the majority of the mass was held in an elegant bun atop her head with golden pins.

“Art.” The hairdresser complimented his own handiwork.

But though he really did do something magical to what had previously been an unruly mop, Kaia could bring herself to appreciate none of it.

She’d been telling herself that it was all a fantasy, repeating it like a mantra. This whole dream rescue plan was contingent on them even finding New Earth. Kaia could spend decades looking in vain while Ahton languished on his own out there. Maybe it was all just a tempting seduction rooted in her own selfishness, the same selfishness that got Ahton killed in the first place. Was this last-minute desire to stay rooted in some fear of dying, or out of the feelings she’d developed for Orion?

Kaia walked back to the cabin in a turbulent haze, looking forward to downing a shot of caffeine and ditching her next lecture to distract herself in the sim rig. She and Orion had been meant to spar that day, but he’d cancelled. He’d been cancelling a lot, getting increasingly preoccupied with solving the puzzle of X1s. Kaia didn’t mind. She didn’t like what that kind of proximity did to her. Or rather, she didn't like how much she liked it. He barely looked up at her when she entered their cabins, poring as usual over papers strewn across the floor.

He’d been looking tired. Two-day-old stubble peppered his jaw, making him look even rougher than usual. Eyes encircled by sleepless shadows scanned up and down the same page, rereading over the same words, over and over.

“Orion…” Kaia filled a shot of water from the dispenser. She pressed the glass into his hand, and for a second he looked like he wasn’t going to take it. But then he registered her for the first time and his expression softened.

“Did you do something to your hair?”

“Yeah,” Kaia sighed, putting a carton of charred flesh she’d brought for him in the coolbox for later, then kneeled on the floor beside him. She couldn’t help it—she still felt that flash of annoyance when she saw him down water in a single careless gulp.

It wasn’t just about that though. As he succumbed to the stresses of his research obsession, Kaia had found herself being the one to bring boxes of fries and charred flesh to him in the evenings, or reminding him to come to bed for sleep. The urge to make sure he was okay wasn’t one she’d felt with anyone, not even her brother, whose care had fallen on the shoulders of her parents while Kaia wallowed in debilitating guilt.

“How’s it look?” She scooted closer to him, gauging his reaction. She relaxed a little when he placed a warm hand on her head, stroking absently. That was a good sign. Kaia relaxed into the casual caress and rested her chin on his knee, trying to steal surreptitious glances at whatever piece of text he was reading.

After a few quiet minutes, Orion unfurled his hunched spine and threw himself against the back of the couch, raking a hand through his hair. He tilted his head up against the backrest.

“Paul Creaton had it all along. The place,” he said.

“The place?”

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