Malik jumped awake to find himself sitting on the love seat on the lower level of Callie’s house. His movement woke Magaly, who had been resting her head on Malik’s shoulder. She wiped the drool from her mouth, and Malik pretended like he didn’t see.
Malik heard footsteps on the stairs and turned to find Aunt Lily quickly coming down. “The coast is clear. The Biotech tracers left. Your dad, Callie’s dad, and a couple of neighbors are walking around the neighborhood. They’ll send out a signal if the contact tracers return.”
Malik’s eyes were burning. He looked out the basement door window. It was still dark outside. He checked his watch. It was just before four in the morning. He rubbed his face, trying to collect his thoughts.
“I just had the wildest dream,” Magaly said. “We were driving and wrecked in some woods nearby.”
“Did we go to a garage with a giant man with tattoos?” Malik asked, not expecting her reply.
“Vau?”
Both of their jaws dropped.
“You gonna try to get to your house while you can?” Aunt Lily asked.
Malik and Magaly both looked down at the satchel. Malik frantically opened it but couldn’t find what he was looking for. “Was that real?” he whispered as he looked up toward the stairwell.
It was like Magaly was reading his mind. “The pen in Callie’s room?”
Malik darted up the two flights of stairs to Callie’s room. The laptop was on the desk, unplugged, and the desk drawer was slightly ajar. He waited, half expecting Callie to appear again. Nothing. He ran toward the desk drawer, pulled it fully open, and stuck his hand inside. Malik felt around until his fingertips touched something with the grooved sides he knew so well. He slowly pulled his hand out to see the all-white mycelium pen. “How is this possible?” he whispered to himself.
“Find what you needed?” a voice came from behind him. He turned, expecting to see Callie standing in the doorway, but instead, it was Aunt Lily. “You should go.”
Malik grabbed Magaly and his things, and they ran out of Callie’s basement and up the street to Malik’s home. They burst into the door to find Malik’s mom waiting, strain and fatigue on her face. She squeezed her son tight. “I was worried sick about you. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, we are,” Malik said. “Mom, this is Magaly.” He turned to his date. “Magaly, this is my mom, Nia.”
“Hi, dear,” said his mom, pulling her in for a hug too.
Malik snapped back into the urgency of the moment. “I need my laptop.”
“Why?” Nia asked.
He held up the white pen. “I think we found the missing link to the Global Breadth system. I think this could help find a cure for the virus.” Malik started toward his room; Magaly and Nia followed. In his bedroom, he powered up his laptop and inserted the USB drive. As they waited for the USB files to open, Malik looked to his mom and said, “Did you know that grandma knew Zach Carver from the Singularity Group?”
“Your grandma knew all sorts of people, Malik. She was a famous journalist,” Nia said, “and more.”
The system popped up just like it did in his dream. Run the Global Breadth Program? Confirm or Cancel.
The heart thumped in his chest. He raised his finger and gently pressed the Confirm button on the screen.
Running System Diagnostics… Installing Program… Installation in Progress… Installation Complete.
Initiating Two-Factor Authentication.
The five small ovals appeared on the screen, just like in his dream.
“This is the best date I’ve ever been on,” Magaly whispered over his shoulder. Malik looked up to see her face brimming with excitement.
Malik turned back and placed his fingertips on the screen.
Scanning in Progress…
Scanning Complete… Approved. The rectangular window popped up. Enter Password.
“We never got the password,” Magaly said.
“Grandma has it,” Malik said with confidence. He grabbed the laptop, and they ran downstairs to her bedroom. Her wheelchair was there, facing the window, but it was empty.
“Where is she?” Nia asked. “Mom!” she shouted while darting out of the room, Magaly in tow. Malik was right behind them but stopped as he got to the bedroom door. He hadn’t spent that much time in his grandma’s room, not lately anyway. Her room had a beautiful view of the old white oak tree in the backyard. Malik could see its entire canopy. He walked to the window and saw a small, frail figure with silver hair standing in front of the tree. She seemed to be talking to someone, but Malik couldn’t see who.
He walked downstairs through the basement and outside to the tree. Although Malik couldn’t make out what she was saying yet, his grandma was still having a full-on conversation.
Hoot! Hoot! The loud hoots of the owl startled his grandma, and she slowly turned around. She smiled at Malik with a look of recognition. She turned back and continued talking to a figure up in the tree’s branches.
“I’m very proud of this boy,” Malik heard his grandma say as he got closer. “I’m proud of you too. You had a tough part to play, and I know your father is going to be proud.” Malik saw a little movement but could only clearly see the night sky through the branches.
“Come here,” his grandma said, motioning him closer. “It’s a rare opportunity that you have.”
“Well done, Malik.” The voice was familiar to him. It was one that he’d known since he was a little kid.
“Callie?” Malik said.
“Yep, it’s me.” From the starry sky, he saw an outline emerge. It was her. “We don’t usually show ourselves like this. And I can’t stay, but I wanted to say thank you for going after this and goodbye.”
“But wait,” Malik said, “you can’t leave this fast.” He noticed fog drifting over from the neighboring trees.
“It’s my time,” Callie said. She tilted her chin to indicate the space behind him. “You’ve got everything you need back there,” Malik turned around to see Magaly holding his mom’s shoulders as she cried, “and in there.” Malik saw the dark finger point at his heart, then at his forehead. “I’ll always be around. We always are.” As the fog moved past the tree, he could no longer see her.
Malik stepped forward when he felt his grandma’s hand on his forearm.
“It’s time. You’ll see your friend again. Don’t worry.” His grandma looked down, and Malik followed her eyes to the laptop he held in his hands.
Malik held it up on his forearm. “I need your help. Zach Carver put a password on it, and we think that only you know what it is.”
Jessica turned to see Nia, who was slowly approaching them. She cupped her mouth with both her hands and cried. “Try ‘Nia Carver.’”
Malik’s mind reeled, realizing that perhaps it was odd that he never knew who his grandad was. His mom never talked about it, and so he never pressed the issue. Malik looked back at the screen. Enter Password. He typed N-i-a-C-a-r-v-e-r.
Initiating System Scan… The screen went black, and there was only a network of trees on the screen. There was a pulse of light, almost like sonar radar. As it pulsed, some new trees showed up on the screen, and others were no longer visible.
Hub Trees Identified….
Detecting Virus Strains….
Magaly was now next to Malik. “What’s happening?”
“It showed hub trees. Now I don’t know.”
Malik felt his grandma’s gentle tug on his arm again. He looked over at her, and she was inhaling deeply. “Do you smell that? It smells like mint or…”
Malik followed suit, lifting his head higher and inhaling.
“I smell honey,” Magaly said.
“It smells like lemon to me,” Nia said.
Malik saw that the screen was now being populated with an array of numbers.
Virus Detection Complete.
Negative.
Initiate Global Network Scan? Confirm or Cancel.
Malik tried to confirm.
Scan Incomplete…
“It’s not working,” Malik said, racking his brain for what the issue could be. “Maybe the network or satellite connection is no longer in place?”
What now? This was supposed to be the solution. Malik thought back to his dream, sifting through the conversations. Then he saw Coach O walking toward them from the mist around the cluster of trees in the back of the yard.
“Glad to see you guys made it,” Ori said, looking from Magaly to Malik.
“Ori?” Malik’s mom said, sounding surprised and happy.
“Are you still chasing flowers in the field?” Ori asked her.
“Not nearly as often as I used to,” she admitted.
“Having some trouble?” Ori addressed Malik again.
“It seems to be getting tripped up at the global scan,” Malik explained.
“Confidence Biotech hasn’t been properly maintaining the network. The Singularity Group will be able to help.” Ori took the laptop and handed it to Magaly. “In the meantime, you’re part of Aja’s accelerated solution as well.”
“I am?” Malik asked.
“You and your mother. We need to get the antidote that you carry in your DNA to as many people as possible.”
Malik then heard a sound growing louder, breaking the quiet of the dawn. It was a buzzing, like insects’ wings. He watched as a thick cloud moved toward them.
“Female mosquitos,” Ori explained. “They will take your blood back to their eggs, and billions of mosquitos will then carry a form of the antidote.”
Ori walked closer to the trees. Jessica grabbed Malik’s and Nia’s hands and led them the same way.
They stood under the tree as the sound grew even louder. The cloud of mosquitos surrounded them and lightly landed on his exposed skin. He glanced over at his mom to see the same thing happening to her.
“Don’t worry, just take deep breaths,” Ori said. “What does that smell like?”
Malik inhaled through his nose. “Lemons.”
“Keep breathing that in. It’s an aerosol that will protect your bodies from any damage.”
It ended quickly, and Malik saw the insects disperse into the darkness like smoke dissipating in the air. He stared at his hands and forearms, then at his mother’s face. There wasn’t a single telltale sign of a mosquito bite.
“What happens now?” Malik asked. “Will this cure the virus?”
“No,” Ori said. “The virus has a right to survive, just like you. But what you’ve just done has given a lot of people more time.”
Malik and his mom made their way back over to Magaly. Ori and Jessica were still in earshot, and Malik heard Ori say, “He did well.”
“Yes, he did,” his grandma said, looking at Malik and smiling.
“He came through, and without you in play, so you get your time back,” Ori said.
Malik’s grandma looked happy and weepy simultaneously. Malik watched as she made her way to Nia and hugged her. “I love you more than you can ever know, and I’ll see you soon.” She then put her hand on Malik’s shoulder and gently pulled him down so she could kiss his forehead. “I can’t wait to meet you again, and this time, I’ll be present for every single second of it.”
Malik searched her eyes. “Wait… What—”
Ding… Ding… Ding…
Jessica opened her eyes. The plane’s overhead lights illuminated the dark cavern as Jessica heard the flight attendant’s announcement.
We are now beginning our descent into Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Please ensure your tray tables are stowed and your seats are in the upright position. We want to apologize again for the delay, and we hope you enjoy your time here in Atlanta, Georgia.
Jessica looked down at her watch. It was just after 3 AM. She gently rubbed her finger across the face of the watch. The minute, second, and hour hands vanished, and she saw all the gears clicking together in sync.