this is a very long chapter.
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BRUNSWICK
I pulled a soda from the pack and pulled the tab open. Geneva pulled out some spices and I stopped, recognizing the smell. I turned and walked over to her.
"Are you making what I think you're making?"
She winced and turned to me with an almost apologetic look.
"I know it's a bit of a sore spot but... after all the activity that happened and seeing him, I just... Comfort?"
I watched the pot as it bubbled and sighed.
"What kind of beer are you putting in?"
"The one I always put in... the one that... that makes it special."
I nodded and kissed her cheek. "Don't do anything different. Keep it the same."
"I've never changed it and I never will... especially after the incident."
I nodded again and went to sit down when I heard a knock at the door. I made a face and looked at the time. It was practically going into the middle of the night. Geneva looked at me in confusion.
"You expecting someone?"
"No, you?" She shook her head. "I'll go see who it is then..."
I walked to the door and looked through the peephole. I made a face... he looked familiar... I opened the door and he turned to me. I blinked at him as he stared at me in what looked like awe. He looked really familiar...
"Can I help you?" I asked.
"Um... Hi..." he said with an awkward wave.
"Hi... You have some business here?"
"Um... well... I'm..." He breathed in deeply and straightened up. "I'm Kasai."
I stared at this young man and just sighed. This was becoming a thorn in my side.
"I'm so tired of this bullshit." I growled, shutting the door.
"Wait!" He yelled, but I shut the door on him.
I stood behind the door, wanting to just grab something and kill all these horrible people. We have suffered enough!
"I think seeing me like this might help your case." I heard someone else say on the other side of the door.
"See? You *are nice."
"Shut up; stand behind me."
There was another knock on the door and Geneva came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on the towel.
"Bruns?"
"Hold on a minute. I going to nip this in the bud, *now."
I opened the door again but this time there was another kid there with red hair staring up at me. I made a face.
"What the hell is wrong with you people? They're sending kids now?"
"Hey, Mr. Taylor, I'm Dawaen Cyrio... Tyler Cyrio's son?"
Tyler Cyrio... where did I know that name? Oh yeah, the weather guy.
"Oh." Wait, wasn't he one of the ones who was missing along with Mars? I looked down and saw his massive stomach and it actually took me by surprise. "Oh! Wow..."
"Yeah... um..." He seemed embarrassed and looked away. It looked like the other kid nudged him from behind. "Oh, right. I know this is odd and confusing but I need you to hear this kid out. I'm... the one who beat up Max."
I closed my eyes for a moment. "I see."
"And..."
This was getting out of hand now. I may as well just let them have their fun and then ream the hell out of them afterward.
"Come in. You got time?"
"We have other people in the car..."
"May as well all come in. After this, don't come here anymore. I will entertain you once, do you understand? Once."
"Yes, I understand perfectly. I'll go get everyone else. Kasai, go ahead and go in."
He left the doorstep to get back to the car and I looked at this boy claiming to be Kasai. He looked uncomfortable and I opened the door wider.
"Come on, then."
********************
"Uh... what's happening?" Geneva asked as everyone started piling in.
I pointed at the red head. "This is Dawaen Cyrio. I do believe he's the one who beat up Max so badly that he died." I pointed to Kole. "This is Kole, as we know him." Then I pointed at the other kid. "This is "supposedly" our grandson who was born only two years ago, abducted from us right after our son was killed as a baby, but looks like he's the same age as our son." Then I waved at the pink haired woman. "This is Britain Armadillo and she's some sort
of psychiatrist who works with Dr. Bluewater and Dr. Market. I'm Brunswick Taylor and you're Geneva Taylor."
Geneva gave me a look as the pink haired woman gave me a look.
"My last name is Armiallo, no D."
"Who cares? Ya'll hungry? Cuz this looks like a doozy of a story and I'm pretty starved. Genny? Do we have enough?"
"Uh... yeah... I mean, good thing it's chili..." she mumbled as she went to the cupboard.
"Chili?" fake-grandchild said with a happy look.
"Yeah..."
"Sounds good." Dawaen nudged him. "What? They asked..."
"We're not here to eat chili at Gamby's house like this is a sudden drop by, we're here for a reason."
"Well they're my grandparents, so if they offer me some friggin chili then I damn well want some!"
"They. Don't. Know. You!" he hissed.
"HEY!" I yelled. "Shut up. While we wait to eat, we talk. Everyone to the table. Now."
We all got to the table and Geneva started grabbing extra utensils and such. She put the stack of bowls in the middle of the table.
"Oh, I guess I should have asked if everyone was actually okay with chili. I make mine spicy; is everyone okay with that?"
"I love spicy food." Dr. Armadillo said with a grin.
"I think I'm okay? I feel like I've eaten your chili before." Kole said.
"What's wrong with him? He acts like he doesn't know us." I asked.
"He doesn't. He has amnesia." The doctor said.
"I see..."
"I think I should be fine as long as I have a steady supply of something to drink. I just hope I don't get acid reflux or something..." Dawaen mumbled.
"Great, everyone's all about the chili, now everyone can tell me what the fuck is going on."
**********************
Once the chili was done, Geneva started serving the food to us. It was still awkward and no one had been talking since we all sat down. Finally, Dr. Armadillo leaned onto the table.
"This is annoying, so let's start this out, shall we? This all has to be very confusing for you." She said, turning to me.
"I'm not confused, I'm pissed off. Do you understand how annoying and heartbreaking it is to have everyone tell me my son is alive when I know for a fact I buried him six feet in the ground? Do you know how painful it is to have something that looks just like him come to my home and be just like him when I know that I felt him die in my arms!!!?"
"Max isn't dead." Dawaen said.
"What the fuck do you know, kid?" I snarled, pointing at him. "From what I've heard, it's because of you that I lost my son in the first place!"
"It wasn't just me! Kole was part of it!"
"Kole and Max were friends."
"Yeah, well, Kole was a little douche-monger and helped me locate Max! Who the hell do you think lured him to me? You think I just met him out somewhere with a simple phone call?!"
I turned to Kole. "Is that true, Kole?"
"My memory is foggy but all the flashbacks I have tell me that it's true."
"But Max isn't dead. I saw him with my own eyes."
"Whatever that is is not my son!"
"BOYS!" Geneva screamed. "The chili is ready and I will not have this screaming match between a grown man and a teenage boy at the table. We have had enough of all this nonsense and we are so tired of the false claims and seesawing emotions. We are willing to talk to you all civilly and get to the bottom of this. I think there are enough people who aren't related to the incident that can give us a more accurate story. Let's just... hear what they have to say."
Geneva served everyone their chili and sat down at the table.
"Who wants to start first?"
***********************
Dawaen's account was disturbingly detailed and mentioned a lot of things that we knew of as well as some things I wish we hadn't. He went through what he was going through at home and into how it boiled down to hurting Max and then into how he was punished for what he had done. He stood up and showed us his stomach, pulling his shirt up over his outrageously large torso to improve on his proof. He was even nice enough to invite us to touch it, but we kindly refused. Max was always so uncomfortable and sensitive about his stomach and this kid didn't really seem too keen on the thought either; more like he was doing it to reassure us of the proof. Poor kid on his own was enough... Apparently Kole lost his memory when they crashed back to Earth and Dawaen described the odd obsession that Kole had claimed to have about Mars. It was so elaborate that it seemed true. There wasn't much help from him though... Dr. Armiallo was given permission by Dawaen and Kole to speak with us about her sessions with them both and what she had assessed and in her professional opinion, she had no reason to doubt the validity of their story. The hard one was going to be the kid that was claiming to be my grandson...
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"So far, everything sounds plausible except for you." I said, pointing at fake-grandson. "What's your story?"
The young man looked upset but looked at his hands on the table.
"My name is Kasai Taylor, I'm Max Taylor's son, whether you believe me or not."
"How?" Geneva asked. "Kasai was born only two years ago but you look like you're the same age as Max."
"Elbaskins grow differently. Our original forms are gelatinous, like Dawaen had said, but because I'm half human and half Elbaskin, my growth rate was the same as an Elbaskin would be but I am kind of stuck in this body. I didn't want to be like this... I tried to stay close to the age I should be by human standards, but I don't have enough control of my Elbaskin side to do it... I'm... I'm sorry..."
"Why are you apologizing?" Geneva asked.
"I've caused all of this... If I hadn't been born or even created in the first place then you wouldn't be so broken hearted and angry. Max would be safe and here with you guys... Uncle Mars wouldn't be dying and gotten hurt so much. Nothing would have ever happened if it hadn't been for me."
"What's wrong with Mars?"
"That's the reason we came here tonight." Dr. Armiallo said. "Mars and Max are at a government facility about two towns over being held there for some reason."
"Government facility?"
"Yes." Dr. Armiallo pulled out her phone. "David says that apparently, Mr. Holt was actually a government agent looking into the supernatural. Max's case came about and then the boys got taken and came back with some unexpected parties, which piqued the government's interest even more."
"Then why are you wasting time here?" I asked, crossing my arms. "What point was it to stop in and tell us all of this nonsense when kids are dying?"
"Don't you want to get your son back?" Kole asked, looking at me calmly. "I mean... he's coughing up blood and bleeding out of all of his orifices and stuff. Didn't that even bother you? Seeing him like that?"
"Of course it did."
"May I ask you both a question?" Dr. Armiallo asked. We nodded and she folded her hands in front of her. "Why do you keep denying Max's existence?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
"No, it isn't. Although I've never had a case like this, I'm sure you've seen plenty of movies and TV shows about things like this happening. Someone dies and people wish for them to come back alive and sometimes it works out smooth and other times it's bumpy. They don't care about how the person came back, they just accept what's happened and deal with it later if there is a twist. There are plenty of real life cases of children getting kidnapped and being held captive for years before they are returned to their parents-"
"We already did that part." I said.
Dr. Armiallo leaned onto the table. "With what little I could get from Max, he mentioned that when he came back before, one of the promises you had made to him was that no matter how he returned, you would always love him. He even mentioned that you, Mr. Taylor, went so far as to say that if he came back spliced or even a different gender that you would always love him. What's the difference now? What is the difference in him disappearing and reappearing differently versus him being supposedly dead but now he's suddenly alive? Clone or not, he has Max's personality, memory, and emotions. Why won't you let yourself accept the unexplainable and be joyful your son has returned?"
Geneva and I looked at each other across the table. Why was it so hard?
"I don't know if you've ever had children, Dr. Armiallo, but it's so different from any hurt you could ever experience. A mother carries their baby inside of her body, gives birth to it, watches it grow... It's a bond that will always be there no matter how old they get. Having it ripped away from me not once, but twice was enough... I don't want to love this one and have him ripped away from me again."
"The thought of pouring our love into him and then he's gone is unbearable." I said, my eyes stinging from holding back tears. "I wished this upon him... I told him that if he was taken away that I wouldn't care and when he was taken, I regretted ever saying those horrible words. Then he came back to us and we finally resolved an issue hiding in the shadows... but then just when we thought we were happy, Dawaen happened. Kole happened. The Elbaskins happened. He was ripped away from me as he lay in my arms, his body going cold on my arms and his last breath leaving his body. Wishing death, getting abducted and then returning just to die? How cruel is that?"
"And then we finally were okay with him being gone..."
Dr. Armiallo held her hands out and we each gave her a hand.
"I understand your hesitation and confusion. Grief should only be temporary and death should only be once, but you need to think about it from the other perspective. Whether this Max is your real son or not, he still has all the attributes of your real son. You have been on the other end of this ordeal, where he couldn't tell you apart from the fake parents the Elbaskins turned into, unsure if you were real... but he got over it and he came to trust you. Should you not do the same thing?"
I pulled away from her, pulling off my glasses to wipe the tears from my eyes.
"If you look at this, it will tell you all you need to know." Kasai said, scooting something across the table. "A friend was able to procure evidence of Max being real and what was sent here the first time was only a clone. May I use your bathroom?"
I nodded and Dr. Armiallo stood up.
"If it wouldn't be too much trouble, could we stay here for the night? We didn't really plan this trip out too swimmingly with it all being close to midnight and all. You can view the content on that thumb drive and in the morning, we can see what the decision has come to, alright?"
I nodded as Geneva got up to do the dishes and tell everyone where they were going to stay.
********************
As we got ready for bed, Geneva leaned out of the bathroom while she brushed her teeth.
"Do you believe their stories?"
"They all seem to coincide pretty well with each other, but I mean, it's been months since the crash. They could have corroborated their stories to match since then."
"You can't deny Kole and Dawaen's pregnancies though."
"True..." I played with the thumb drive in my hand. "I'm going to watch it."
"Right now?"
"Better now than later."
"The content will be the same either way."
"Exactly. So let's just get this done and over with. I'm tired of the uncertainty..."
"Brunswick... why can't we try to accept what's been given to us? Everyone we've spoken to has told us the same thing that even the doctor told us: what we're doing is not right."
"Dr. Armiallo didn't say what we were wasn't right, she just said that it was odd. But I mean, we've gone through things no one else has gone through. From the looks of things, Tyler Cyrio is a piece of shit and Penelope Sprint isn't far behind from him. Are we the only parents who care about our kid?"
"Adah does."
"Adah didn't even know her husband was a military agent."
"Doesn't mean she doesn't love Mars. We've seen what she's done because of him..."
I sighed and moved my glasses as I walked over to the laptop and stuck the thumb drive in. There were a lot of documents when I came across pictures. I started clicking on them and saw Max laying in a weird looking bed with tubes and wires hooked to him. There were pictures of his stomach cut open, parts displayed... his chest filleted open, his rib cage, lungs, and heart bare for all to see. It was sickening...
Geneva sat beside me and gasped, putting her face in my shoulder.
"Oh my god..."
"Here's a video..."
"Don't."
"We have to."
I clicked the video as the camera shakily recorded.
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"Subject 1 from Planet Earth, Experiment 124: We have tried to find a place to insert the embryo but it seems like it might be impossible to do so. It has come to our knowledge that messing with the physical construct of these creatures causes... quite a lot of damage. I was informed to create a clone in order to further focus on how we can improve our breeding ability and use this creature as our official surrogate."
****************
"Subject 1 of Planet Earth, Experiment 185: After many successful trials, I believe I have finally constructed an almost identical clone of Subject 1. My... assistant believes that using the Dream Room to keep the patient in a spirit of tranquility is not working and that I should simply, let it go. It's a preposterous idea. Although, the subject is getting harder and harder to fool... My assistant might have a point."
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"Subject 1 of Planet Earth, Clone 7: This one is the Holy Grail of clones. There is almost no traces of flaws in this one. The body composition is 98% human, 2% Elbaskin, just enough to allow the embryo to attach and grow properly. My assistant says that I should choose this one as the one to go forth and try the biggest experiment yet: Operation Familiarity. We will allow the subject to escape from the ship and go back to Earth. With the original subject's mind attached to the consciousness of the clone, no one will know the difference. Then, with less stressors, we can watch the development of the child."
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I was livid.
I was outraged.
I was... helpless.
My son... They did so many horrible things to him...
"My baby..." Geneva said softly.
I put my arm around her and tried to move through the other files until I got to a few very last pictures and videos. There were pictures of this crazy doctor standing in front of a cylinder that held Max inside, unconscious. I clicked on the next video.
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"If you are watching this, then this got to where it needed to be."
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A girl's face appeared and I made a face.
"That's that girl..."
"What girl?"
"The one Max had a crush on. Zelena? Zelan? Zebra?"
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"My name given by the great goddess Knuknashka is Captain Shil, but Earth calls me Zylith Amone. This should be in the hands of Max Taylor's parents. I am kind of an alien, but the details are too much to handle right now, so I won't get into them. I'm the one who convinced the doctor to let Max come back home. I was his assistant and it pained me to watch him do what he did to your son every day. I didn't know Max was a clone going down to Earth, I was not given that information back then. I was a peon, no one special... until Max came along. I fell in love with him immediately and the fact that he was going to help our species... it was wonderful... until it wasn't. The things they did to him, the way they used him... You won't see a lot of that on this flash drive, it would be too heartbreaking. All I knew was that it was obvious he loved his parents very much, so much so, that it was getting hard for my people to fool him long anymore. That's when I came up with the brilliant idea: let him go home.
"And they did. They let him go home. I could have never expected the roller coaster that happened from that one simple decision. I ended up stuck in the body of this girl and Max... Max ended up getting hurt. Once the clone was done with its purpose (carrying Kasai) they didn't need it anymore. They were happy to let you throw your son in a box and bury him like an old dog does a bone. They are sick individuals. They don't care about your species, just that it helps replenish ours.
"Then there is Kasai."
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She held up a picture of a baby and pointed at it.
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"This was Kasai when he was brought to us. This was a few months afterward, about year, and now."
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They were sequential pictures of the same kid, it was easy enough that an eight year old could see it.
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"This is your grandson. This is the boy your son helped bring into the world. He has never met Max, but he loves him with all his heart. He has wished for nothing than to meet him and to hug him and tell him how thankful he was to be made... but Max's love proved troublesome. Our people are gelatinous, but due to odd circumstances, Kasai ended up a solid, more human. He's rejected by our King as worthy and hurt by him more often than not. His growth spurts are not in his control and he is ashamed to be the way he is... He has wanted to meet you as well. All he's wanted was a family...
"I know it's hard to take in and comprehend, but just know that Max is and has always been alive. He never died... and right now he needs you more than ever. I hope this convinced you."
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The video turned off and I looked at Geneva. We were both crying and she wiped her eyes.
"My baby..."
"Are you sure we should believe this?"
"Why should we doubt it? Brunswick, I'm tired... I'm so tired of going back and forth with all of these emotions. Dr. Armiallo is right: we should have grieved a while back and left it there. Why do we still hold on to it?"
I didn't answer her and she pulled my glasses off, moving my face to hers.
"Baby... This is pretty damning evidence. None of this looked fake. Why would she be so elaborate about it all if that were the case? We need to stop."
I looked up at my wife as she rubbed my face softly. I touched her arms to pull them down from me.
"I don't want to lose him."
"If we don't try to love him, we will. He came back to us, begged us, found us... We were so cruel to him... we owe him, Brunswick."
I sighed and leaned into her. "We owe him..." She ran her fingers through my hair and I smiled. "Will he accept us? I hope we're not too late."
"I don't think we are... but even if that's true, we will just do it again. We'll do whatever it takes to bring him home. Kasai too. Agreed?"
"Agreed."
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and now we know that secret ingredient that max just couldn't quite get: it's beer! and yes, beer goes in chili and depending on if you do a light or a dark beer can alter the taste just enough to have a differentiation.
anyway, finally looks like the parentals are on board! now we can move on!
ps: sorry about the length.