Foundation of All

Emily opened her eyes and took a deep breath as the alarm went off at her side. She smacked the alarm hard to show it who was boss, and it shut off. Today was the big day. She sat up from bed in her cute pink pajamas and stepped out onto the cold floor with her bare feet.

She went downstairs and ate a quick bowl of cereal before putting her dishes away with a loud clang. Mom didn’t seem to be downstairs yet, but Emily could hear her rustling around her room as Emily walked past it. Emily went to the bathroom upstairs to start brushing her teeth, the bright cartoon character face on the handle of her toothbrush smiling at her.

I barely remember it all, so much is coming back now…

Emily whirled around, toothbrush still in her mouth as there was faint noise, almost like a soft wind. Or someone whispering? The door was closed, there shouldn’t be any wind in here.

“Hello?” She said softly, “What… Huh. Weird.”

She felt ridiculous and turned back to spit the toothpaste into the sink. She had to focus, her big test was today and she would ruin her big chance if she messed it up.

She got dressed into her school uniform and dress and picked up her backpack covered in all sorts of cool stickers Emily had bought with her allowance. Mom had been mad with her when she put a big sticker of Zeena on it. Emily didn’t really understand why she was so upset.

She let Emily play the game itself, why was having a picture of such a badass warrior woman like Zeena on her backpack so bad anyway? It wasn’t like the sticker wasn’t even that bad compared to how little armor Zeena ended up wearing in certain parts of the game… Replaying those parts had started making Emily feel funny recently. Maybe that’s what Mom didn’t like? Did she know something about it because she was older?

But Emily was thirteen now, she should be able to decide what stickers went on her bag at least! And to not have Mom randomly take her games just because of something she couldn’t even properly explain to Emily.

Maybe Emily shouldn’t have told Mom about how Zeena wore less in the game during their argument. That probably hadn’t helped her case…

Emily pouted as she stared at the empty spot near the zipper of her backpack. She would convince Mom eventually, she was sure of it. And getting the game back too after Emily had let that detail slip too… Maybe she could ask for the game as a reward if she did well on the test?

What’s happening? Who’s that little girl with the bag?

Shhh. I think I scared her earlier.

Something strange is happening,

I think it’s… Me, when I was a kid.

I remember little pieces,

I think this used to be my old bedroom.

Emily glanced around the room. There it was again, the strange wind. A soft whisper that she couldn’t understand. Was she really this nervous? Was it a ghost or something?

It wasn’t like she would be hurt if she didn’t do well on the test. It’s just she wouldn’t have the chance to take the advanced CODA sponsored classes when she went to high school. Not a big deal at all. Except everyone expected her to pass it easily without even trying. She was already far beyond her grade level by this point.

Why’s she just standing there staring at the bag?

Why can't I feel my body?

Why did things just skip forward

all of a sudden after she brushed her teeth?

Quiet, Sean! I don’t know, just keep watching.

I don’t even remember any of this really.

I’m sure if we just wait we’ll figure out what the Shadow wanted us to see.

It said something to me at the end there… I can’t remember what.

But it’s doing this for a reason, I’m sure of it.

Emily grabbed the bag and ran out of the room and slammed the door behind her. It was definitely real, she was sure of it. It must be a ghost, just her luck that she was getting haunted today of all days…

Emily shook her head. She had to get to school, she could deal with the ghost later. Or maybe find whatever window was open somewhere and freaking her out over nothing…

Emily went downstairs and her mom was already packing her lunch in her bright lunchbox, getting everything ready as she had been staring into space and hearing ghosts.

“You ready for the big day, Emily? Brushed your teeth, washed your hair, breakfast, everything? Even if it’s just a test today, you still want to look your best for the corporate representatives.”

“Yeeees, Mom. I’m all ready,” Emily said, annoyed that her mom was even asking. Of course she did all of that, today was just the most important day ever! How could she forget?

“Well, let me get a good look at you…”

Mom finished packing the lunch and zipped it closed. She stepped forward and looked at Emily closely for a few seconds before nodding.

“Looks good. You have no idea how much I had to bother your brother before he made himself presentable when he went.”

“Mom, I know how important today is!” Emily protested, “Imagine what will happen if I get into the CODA classes! I’ll be able to learn so much there.”

Mom smiled slightly, “If? Emily, you’re learning calculus right now. I think you’ll be fine.”

“You think?” Emily asked nervously, “But it’s so important. What if I forget something and I don’t get in?”

Mom raised an eyebrow. “Emily, if your brother can get in, then you can. He’s smart too, but he’s very much on his grade level. Just you see, you’ll wonder why you’re even worrying so much. Now, here’s your lunchbox.”

Emily accepted the lunchbox and let it fall to her side, cute backpack on her back.

“Alright, go on now,” Mom said with a shooing motion, “Off to the bus stop with you. Don’t make this the one day you miss it.”

“Okay. Bye, Mom.”

“Bye.”

— — —

Emily was standing alone at the bus stop, lunch box in hand. She was nearly twenty minutes early and no one else would probably show up for ten minutes or so. There were only about five or so of them that all gathered at this stop, and some took their parents self driving cars to school instead. Her mom didn’t like doing that since some crazy human driver could crash into them in the worst case. Mom was always reading the terrible news articles about the accidents, so she didn’t let Emily ever go in the car alone unless there was an adult at the wheel to take control for an emergency.

But some parents didn’t care about that, so their kids could sleep late and just have the car take them to school and return home without their parents even having to take their own time to take them there.

What are CODA classes? What’s the test for?

CODA… CODA is…

“Excuse me?” Emily said nervously while feeling ridiculous as she talked to herself, “Ms. Ghost? Mr. Ghost? Can you not bother me for now? I’ve got a really big test today, and it’s really important that it goes well. Please?”

Is this real?

Do you remember any of this, Emily?

How much of this is she understanding?

I… I do remember a ghost. Vaguely.

How did I forget? Wait, is this real?

Can we change things?

Wait, we have to change things!

Little Emily, I have to tell you…

Emily stood at the bus stop shifting from foot to foot as the wind grew louder and louder around her. Evidence of ghost mounting… Was the ghost upset about what she had said? Now that she thought about it it was rather mean…

“Um, Ghost? Sorry if I upset you. Your whispering is too quiet, I can’t really hear what you’re saying… I’m fine with you doing ghosty things tomorrow. It’s just, today in particular is really important, so…”

It’s not working… I’ll have to think of something.

We’ll have to try tomorrow.

Maybe when she’s listening to us ‘Ghosts’,

we can manage to really tell her something important.

Was all of that that you said really true?

Unfortunately. I have to find a way to tell her.

She can stop the end of the world.

If I can just talk to her, explain, then she can stop it…

The wind and faint whispering around her suddenly died down and Emily let out a relieved sigh. Wow, it really was a ghost. She wondered what the whispers were trying to say. At least it wasn’t the Shadow or something, she had heard that that one was really spooky. She could deal with some sudden gusts of wind.

“Who you talking to, Em?”

Emily jumped as she saw Luke standing there staring at her.

“Nothing!” She squeaked, “I mean, just going over my history facts. Helps me to say them out loud, you know…”

“Huh…” Luke said after a moment, not appearing suspicious, “Well if the genius is doing it, then maybe I should try that too. I’m not four grades ahead in math like you.”

“I… I’m sure you’ll get in, Luke,” Emily said, “You’re pretty smart. You’re still top of the class.”

“Not the very top. Thanks, though.”

So they stood there muttering their history to themselves softly until the other kids and the bus arrived. The others thought it was weird, but it really did help Emily calm down and reassure herself that she remembered everything. Luckily she didn’t hear the ghost again the whole time.

— — —

Emily stared down at the question and answered after a few seconds, writing on the screen with her special pen. She tapped and moved on. The whole thing was timed tightly enough that she couldn’t waste time rechecking the answer to her questions over and over like she usually did.

What are…

Shush! She’s taking the test!

Emily shook her head. It probably was actually from the nearby open window this time. Would a ghost follow her here to school? Hopefully not.

Emily was near the end when suddenly one of the boys behind her let out a sudden scream and fell from his desk with a loud clatter. The test monitor immediately ran up and everyone turned to watch.

“Back to your tests everyone,” The monitor called out loudly and about half of them complied. Emily hesitated, but she only had a few questions left. She strained to hear what the boy was saying as the monitor spoke to the boy in low tones.

“I saw it, I did! I saw the Shadow!” The boy said, “It was standing at the front of the room and just stared at me with its orange eyes. It got really close until it was on top of me, and then… then it went away and everything unfroze again.”

The test monitor’s reply was thoroughly unimpressed, “Really? The Shadow? That’s your excuse? Everyone knows that it's an urban legend. Get back to your test. I swear someone goes for it every time… Not like anyone can prove if you really saw something or not even if you did see it.”

“But, but… I really did see it,” The boy said in a small voice. The monitor glared at him. He went back to his desk and tried and mostly failed to refocus on his test. There was some whispering and people glanced at the boy, but the monitor raised his voice as he noticed the sound.

“Quiet! Drama’s over. Focus on the tests please.”

Emily stared at the boy for a second longer as he looked down at the device and screen propped up on his desk, fiddling with his pen nervously. Emily shivered. What if the Shadow had really visited him and done all that? It sounded so scary. Emily turned back to her test and kept working. With how smart people thought she was, it would be humiliating if she didn’t manage to pass.

She finished up the test and everyone gathered their things and went out to recess. The first half of the day was the big CODA test and then the rest of the day they all got to relax and play games under the supervision of the strict gym teacher and her assistants.

“So, how’d you end up doing, Em?” Luke asked as they left.

“Good. Feeling good, besides getting distracted for a bit. How about you?”

“Yep. Me too,” He said, “You think he really saw it? They say it can appear to anyone anytime. Why not during a test?”

“I hope not…” Emily said, “Whole thing seems sort of creepy.”

Luke shrugged, “It’s only been a hundred years since it first showed up. Maybe it’ll get bored soon and go away.”

“Maybe. What do you think it wants?”

“Why does it have to want anything?” Luke said, “Maybe it really is just bored and is seeing what we’ll do. Like us watching TV.”

“Well, I don’t want it watching me,” Emily said, “It can watch someone else if that’s all its after.”

“Are you kidding?” Luke said, “That guy in the test will make so much money if he plays it right and isn’t faking. Or is good enough at faking to pull it off. ‘Shadow shows up at my test, student says’. People will pay you thousands of dollars just to tell your story if they think you really have seen the Shadow!”

“Thinking about faking one?” Emily asked curiously.

“Nah,” Luke said, suddenly deflating a little, “I’m a terrible actor. But if it did happen, I’d make so much money off of it. I’d be able to buy so much candy that I could swim in the pile! I’d get a tub and fill it up to the brim.”

Emily thought about it and licked her lips as she imagined it. “Swimming in candy, yummy.”

“Hey, Luke. Want to play some basketball?” One of the boys in the distance called.

“Sure!” Luke said and jogged forward and caught the basketball that the other boy threw to him.

Luke turned back, “Anyway, see you later Em,” He said before running off.

“Bye,” Emily said with a small wave that was unseen as Luke ran off. Emily looked around to the other cliques of girls gathered over by the walls, too cool to want to play any games anymore. Emily drifted over to the more intellectual types, and they quickly descended on her to ask her opinion on the answers to some of the questions they hadn’t known.

Emily felt awkward and strangely hot in the face as all the girls pressed in close around her to ask questions about the test. She was surrounded on all sides by them, thoroughly trapped as they asked question after question.

She was friendly with all of them even though none of them were really her friend. None would ever talk with her one on one or ask about things not related to classes. Things had been okay earlier in middle school, but now that she was in eighth grade it felt like she couldn’t talk to any of her old friends anymore for some reason. The ones she had that were real friends that didn’t just want the answers to the homework. Everything felt so awkward and weird whenever she tried to talk to any of them except for Luke these days…

— — —

“Hey, Sis. How was school? You ace the test?”

“I think I did pretty well, Sean,” Emily replied. Sean stood there in his classic hoodie and jeans, playing on his phone idly before she walked in the door. Emily had her own phone too, but Mom still had it restricted so it hardly did anything useful except calling and texting. Lame. Mom should let her have a few games on it like Sean did.

“Huh. Sis, you help me with my pre-calc homework sometimes. I think you’ll be fine.”

“Everyone keeps saying that…”

“Hey, no need to worry,” Sean said, “You’re just overthinking it. They’d have to be crazy to not let you of all people in. You know how the classes work, right?”

“Yeah,” Emily said, “They have the corporate monitor from CODA industries, and for the rest you get taught by one of those newish AI learning programs at your own pace. If you do well enough they offer you a job right out of school! If I do well enough I might even end up meeting Peter Rose himself!”

Sean chuckled, “See? With your brain I’m sure you’ll get the spot. You’ll get to shake the hand of the big man himself. With us growing up in CODA City, we both would get priority to work at the international headquarters because we’re locals. We might see him in the hallways if we manage to work there somehow.”

Is that why you were surprised when you met me?

My name reminded you of your brother?

She’s in the middle of a conversation, Sean!

I’m millions of years old, I don’t remember almost any of this anymore.

Even now that I’m seeing it play out again in real time.

I’d forgotten most of this about CODA actually.

But we promised her a day, didn’t we?

We should keep quiet.

Isn’t it you?

Why are you talking like she’s a different person?

She will be a different person.

When we change things, I’ll make sure of it.

She won’t have to go through what I did.

She’s not me, she won’t ever be me.

…

…

…

Okay, I understand. I’ll try.

I just have so many questions.

But is it true?

That’s why you were surprised when I told you my name?

Yes. Now quiet. You’re scaring her, me.

Gah, just shush for now.

“Earth to Emily? Sis, you okay there?” Sean said, “You kinda zoned out there for a second.”

“Yeah!” Emily said, shaking her head, “Just thought I heard something strange. Must have been nothing. Do you know if this place is haunted? I’ve been getting spooked by some weird sounds all day.”

“Haunted?” Sean asked thoughtfully, “Why, yes it is. Didn’t you know the last owners disappeared mysteriously? That’s why Mom and Dad got it for so cheap. The police never found any bodies, just a single spot of blood on the floor days later… right there.”

Emily stared at the spot on the floor that Sean pointed at with wide eyes. So was it really…

“BOOO!”

Emily screamed and jumped slightly and Sean started laughing loudly,

“Ah man. You’re so gullible, Emily. I made that up on the spot. Your face… hahahaha.”

“Sean!” Emily protested while her cheeks flushed deep red, “You jerk! What was that for?”

“Hahaha ha ha… ha. Ah, Sis. It was just too tempting. You looked like you really believed it too. Jumped up like a scared cat.”

“No…” Emily said, adjusting the strap on her backpack slightly in embarrassment, “No.”

“Ghosts aren’t real, Sis. Everyone knows that,” Sean said.

“What about the Shadow? It seems pretty real. There was a kid that saw it during the test today.”

Sean perked up, “Huh? Really? There was one in your class? Interesting. Look, you’re smart. You know that all the scientists have shown that it's a reaction to the stresses of modern life. People just hallucinate the Shadow because that’s what everyone is supposed to see when they’re stressed.”

“I know, but the guy looked really scared,” Emily said, “He didn’t seem any more stressed than everyone else taking the test before it happened.”

Sean shrugged, “I don’t know, Sis. That’s what the science says. It’s spooky, but still not real. Maybe one day you can go out there and prove if the Shadow’s real or not once you’re some big shot in CODA.”

“I don’t think I can do what everyone has been trying and failing to do for over a hundred years now. How would you even prove that the Shadow exists? It freezes time whenever it shows up.”

“And you think that it's more reasonable that the Shadow’s out there freezing time and staring at random people for a few minutes and not doing anything else for over a hundred years, than it's some sort of mass hallucination? C’mon, Sis. Tell me which one makes more sense.”

“I guess… The hallucinations make more sense,” Emily grudgingly admitted. But what about the other ghost that had suddenly showed up today?

Was that just a hallucination too? She was probably just being paranoid. It wasn’t a ghost, just some really strange wind gusts that she noticed because she was so nervous.

Yeah, that was it. Ghosts weren’t real. Everyone knew that.