Echoes

Girl Talk

    Hope watched with delight and pleasure as her wobbly entertainment center and Goodwill furniture floated past. The living room spun around her and she giggled.
    "Going down," Derrick said, and knelt on the floor, lowering her onto her couch. Her swollen foot, loosely wrapped, came to rest on a pair of pillows. His arm lingered around her back and his free hand brushed her hair aside. "There you go, Goddess."
    Her cheeks flushed and she laughed. "All hail the Queen of Injuries."
    Derrick checked his watch. "Five AM on the bench with Matt comes early. I better go."
    Hope clutched his sleeve for a moment, hesitant yet eager.
    Leaning against the wall by the apartment door, Claudia cleared her throat.
    Hope rolled her eyes. "She could go instead."
    Derrick smiled and kissed Hope on the cheek. "Not like this," he whispered. "She's a good friend, Hope. And you're not thinking straght. We'll hang out again sometime, 'kay?"
    He rose and quietly slipped out under Claudia's watchful eye.
    The door clicked shut, and Hope groaned. "Geez, Mom, I'm so glad you were here to protect my imperiled virtue. Am I grounded? Or just being sent to my room?"
    Claudia brought a folding chair over and sat on it backwards, arms crossed over the curved back. "Maybe I'll wash your mouth out with soap."
    Hope glared at the ceiling. "It's just--"
    She sighed and looked at Claudia. "I don't get the good ones. It's always skanks like Jenna, or pretty girls like you."
    Claudia chuckled and dismissed the compliment with a wave.
    But Hope continued. "I get what's left, whatever's available. Like my furniture. Broken man-children and hand-me-down boys no one else wants. So for someone like Derrick to show interest in me is... like..."
    "I get it," Claudia said. "Believe me, I do. Believe it or not, very few guys seem interested in a girl who can beat them up. Except for the sketchy ones that are specifically interested in that. But I don't do what I do for them. I do it for me."
    Hope scoffed. "Maybe I'll get there some day," she said. "But for now I'm interested in keeping Derrick's interest."
    An idea sparked in Hope's mind. "And maybe you can help me. You've been trying to get me to the gym with you for months."
    "I stopped trying months ago," Claudia corrected with a laugh.
    "Well I accept the offer if it's still on the table. Derrick goes to the gym with Matt and works out around a bunch of half-naked, sexy women. I want to keep his interest on me and not the next Jenna that comes along."
    Claudia frowned. "Hope, I'm happy to help you out. But I don't think that's the right reason to do it. And Derrick seemed really nice tonight, but..."
    She looked away and Hope sat upright. "What? Tell me."
    "I've heard some things in the past," Claudia said. "All second- or third-hand, maybe just rumors spread by jilted ex-girlfriends. I just want to say be careful. Take it slow with him, just like how we'll start out at the gym."
    Hope nodded, but brushed aside all sense of caution in her mind.

----

    "Echo Six-Two-Five now occupies an Alpha seat," Wunforoh declared to the crowd in the Hub.
    The grinning Sicstuphyve pumped a fist and shouted, "Yeah!" Then she ascended the platform, took the robe from the Alpha she ousted, and tossed it over the back of her chair. She looked around the room with delight and took her seat with her radiant, toned arms resting on her muscular legs.
    Seated on the low wall at the base of the assembly chamber, Forsephore smiled at her ally's display of Inspiration. Then she resumed her search. Normally the Chief Alpha announced such changes, but today her lackey Wunforoh stood in the center of the platform. So where is Sevnynate?
    A voice spoke into her left ear, smooth but cold. "How long can you expect this to last?"
    Forsephore gasped and turned to find Sevnynate behind her standing in the first row of seats. The Chief Alpha watched Forsephore's reaction with arms crossed, a smug combination of disdain and satisfaction curling her lips into a smirk. She stared down her nose at Forsephore, her one raised eyebrow indicating she already knew the answer to her question.
    "I-- I'm not sure what--" Forsephore stammered.
    "Maybe you've forgotten this about Primes," Sevnynate said, "but barring some drastic circumstances, Alphas don't experience a lot of transition after adulthood. Humans settle. They give up childhood fantasies and find a place of equilibrium. Stability. Acceptance."
    She leaned close. "A lesson from which some Echoes could benefit."
    Forsephore shrank back, but found no words to say.
    "I knew I saw your face the other day," Sevnynate said, advancing. "When all this started, when useless, long-forgotten Withers and Fades suddenly got up the nerve and the Inspiration to make petitions."
    She stretched a brilliant hand toward Forsephore and brushed a fingertip across Forsephore's shoulder. "How is it out there in the Plaza, desperate and alone, clinging to the dwindling remnants of your identity? Grasping at what you once represented while it slips away like water through your fingers..."
    Sevnynate hopped over the wall and drew Forsephore close in a mock embrace. "It's been so long since we chatted, and now you have nothing to say?"
    She stared into Forsephore's wide eyes and a smile spread across her face. "Do you even remember what you represent? Or has that faded away too?"
    Forsephore found herself trembling and fought for control. She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. "I will not cower before you like the rest of them do."
    Sevnynate released her and laughed. "No," she said, her voice a deep growl. "You'll kneel."
    A gradual light bloomed on the floor and the wall, and Forsephore noticed the Alphas approaching. Tuwonyne, Sicsayto and Sicstuphyve lined up with Forsephore. But the others stood behind Sevnynate.
    All Echoes in the chamber fixed their attention on the confrontation. An anxious hush swept through the assembly.
    The Chief eyed each of Forsephore's allies then sniffed as if amused. "Keep playing your petty game, Fade. See how long these stay in power. And when all your allies lie broken by your failure, when your hubris and hopes are shattered, it will please me to kick you out of the Hub once again."
    Sevnynate stalked off toward the platform, and Forsephore slumped against the wall, shaken.