THE FORCE

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“Aha!” Came the excited voice of Bryan amidst the pandemonium in the room.

A room filled with people clad in white, bustling up and down, what looked like a globe hung from the ceiling, Saturn rings in threes over it. The walls were light blue almost white and the tiles reflected the room. Floor to ceiling windows took up the entire wall by the left, a mahogany wall of a shelf by the right, stairs on the other side in between leading to the upper floor where Bryan stood over a desk clad in pure white linen.

“What what, what is it?” Clarice asked, her hand adjusting her glasses. She was also in white, but the coat was open to reveal the pink button down shirt she wore over a black mini skirt. Her hair in a chic bun that highlighted her strong facial features.

“It’s a force! The whole part of it is a force. It’s not fantasy.”

“You might need to explain that big guy.”

“Come with me.” Was all he said and they walked towards a double door, Bryan leading the way.

“Remember how gravity works?” He continued in a fast breath, as they walked through the doors.

“Pretty much.”

It was more quiet on the other side of it. These people were clad in navy blue and instruments laid above their table unlike the ones downstairs that had more influx of papers than anything else.

The figures were hunched over their desk inspecting one thing or the other. The walls were also light blue but unlike the floor beneath, they had no floor to ceiling windows. There were three windows aligned together and a shelf filled with awards adjacent.

Bryan continued to walk ahead, his long legs leading him away from the room and towards the turn at the end.

“Well, gravity says whatever goes up must come down. Lack of it, like space, keeps you floating in simple terms. But this…” he paused at the doorway, his tussled hair fell in strands over his face, a five o’clock shadow beginning to form, he looked tired but his eyes were alight. He turned to Clarice who took a step back, fully conscious of how this man gets when his eyes light up like that. She swallowed,

“This…?”

Bryan shook his head, “this is out of this world. It’s like it has a mind of its own. We thought it selected based on light and heavy things, metal and paper, dark and light, it proved me wrong. It has to be a Force, like magnets, but with a mind and I want to find out what it is.”

Bryan pushed through the doors into a room void of anything. It was totally empty save for a caution line drawn eight feet’s away from where Bryan stood.

“Isn’t it incredible that something not visible to the naked eye could occupy so much space?”

There were windows in this room but they were shut. Bryan walked further in and stretched his hand to the back of the line, a low thrumming sound filled the room as his hand made contact with what seemed like glass but then it dissolved, ripples forming just beneath Bryan’s palm as his hand sunk in. The low thrum stopped, but Bryan’s eyes were still on fire.

“Three months ago this thing was born right in this very place. How? We still don’t know but I am determined to find out. We’ve come from not knowing anything at all to understanding that it breathes and is living. Yet, it seems inanimate. Clarice, come closer.”

Clarice walked in confidently, her earlier frazzle no where to be found.

“Touch it.”

She obeyed but her hand remained over the surface unlike Bryan’s which had sunk and seemed to have a mind of its own.

“See? Selective. Is it based on genes or does she have social intelligence?”

“Don’t you think it’s too early to call this thing a pet? Cause that’s where you’re heading.”

“Most likely. However, I am fully vested in finding out exactly what she is. She has the attributes to a Force as taught by physics, but she seems to wield will despite being inanimate. We are one step closer to uncovering her.”

“If I didn’t know you better, I would think you were in love.”

Bryan released a deep chuckle, the sound straight from his chest, almost like a rumble.

“You do know me. If I am right, this matter right here leads to the revolution of man once more. It might hold abilities even we can’t fathom. This matter that occupies the room feels like a gate.”

Clarice turned to look at Bryan, her brows now furrowed in confusion, “Please don’t tell me you’re thinking of walking through that. This isn’t Alice in Wonderland, Bryan.”

“I’m not stupid Clarice. Of course I know that. Still. It feels like the answer lays inside it. We’ve used test subjects, rodents and the likes, it seems to reject the thought of having anything inside it.”

“Anything but you.”

Silence filled the room, it was almost eerie. Clarice’s eyes widened as Bryan stood deathly still.

“No! No! Don’t you dare Bryan.”

Bryan turned to her and she knew it was all up in flames.

“Maybe I can-“

“Hell no! We get married in three weeks. There’s no way in hell or beyond I’m letting my fiancé become a test subject. Do not even think about it!”

Clarice’s voice had risen and her face flushed. Bryan gave her a sweet smile and withdrew his hand to embrace her.

“Shhhh! It’s okay. I won’t do that to you. Not now or ever. It was only a thought.”

“And it should die. I’m not letting you do that Bryan. Never.” Her voice was muffled against his chest.

“I know. I guess we have an answer then. Why did I never think of it? For a man with an IQ almost 200, I seem to be daft.”

Clarice detached to look up at him,
“What do you mean?”

“I never thought that I was the only one who could get through that field. I only looked at the test subjects. But now, it’s not possible that I am the only one in 7 Billion that this force accepts. I’m sure we can find something. Maybe it does have to do with genes. Or maybe it needs to form a trust bond. Whatever it is, I know we’re closer than we were three months ago. Come, let’s go state our findings.”

Bryan took her hand and led her out the room all the way down to the last floor. He never let go even when talking to some of the men and women who’d gathered around him to listen to what he had to say. Multiple took down notes while others held a voice recorder.

“Now if you’ll excuse us, we have urgent business.”

He turned and walked out the glass doors, dragging Clarice with him.

“What? Where are we going?”

Bryan gave her a look that betrayed his amusement,
“Never gets old. A very smart woman yet, you asks questions you already know the answers to.”

Clarice flushed in embarrassment as he led her to the black SUV parked neatly in the spacious driveway. He held the door open for her with one hand, his other arm circled her waist and he bent closer to whisper in her ear,

“But I’ll give always give you an answer as it’s my favorite thing to do. I’m taking you home. You know what comes next…”

A shiver of pleasure ran down her spine, her neck creeped up with pink but she rolled her eyes at him when he let her go and got into the car, trying but failing to hide her smile.

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_{This is the alt account to Deraaa. I created this account for purely fiction and nothing else. Henceforth, I will use this account for my engagement in the Inkwell community. Thank You.}

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© DeraaWrites, 16th August 2024 || All Rights Reserved. Lead Image created on Meta.ai via my prompt.