Gen 8 Ch 18: Aidan

The last thing Aidan remembered was a bright flash of light.

Now Hazel stared at him with wide eyes, not pausing to take a breath as words poured out of her mouth.

“The answer was there all along—in a children’s book, can you believe it? All this equipment and all I had to do was cook for a ghost. And after I’d tried everything, EVERTHING—oh Aidan! Finally I’ve got you back!”

Aidan didn’t resist when Hazel pulled him into a kiss, but he was terribly confused. What had happened? Hazel gave him no chance to formulate any questions.

“You have to meet our baby boy,” she said and herded him upstairs and towards the house.

“Hazel—“ Aidan tried again, but Hazel threw open the front door of the house and pushed Aidan in.

“Happy birthday!”, Hazel called and all the people in the room turned to stare at them.

Their faces were largely unfamiliar to Aidan, except for one. A man, not much younger than Aidan himself, stared at him with Hazel’s eyes, set in Aidan’s face.

“How long I’ve waited for this moment. Aidan, love, meet our son!” Hazel sniffled and wiped a tear from her eye. “Happy birthday, Icarus!”

Both men continued to regard each other in confused silence.

“What the hell have you done this time,” Huxley hissed at Hazel. “And on his birthday no less. You’ve really gone off the deep end.”

Before Hazel could protest, Huxley grabbed Aidan by the arm and dragged him outside.

“So, what are you?” Huxley squinted at Aidan and poked him in the shoulder. “That does feel like flesh, at least. So you’re not a simbot this time.”

“A simbot?” There was so much Aidan didn’t understand. “Hazel and I were trying to use the portal to send me back in time. Did it not work? Did I go forward instead?”

“No.” Huxley shook her head slowly. “There was an explosion. You were dead. For a long time. We buried you.”

Aidan blinked. An explosion? Could it have been that bright flash of light? His memories after that were vague: a strange sensation of floating… and then the most wonderful food he’d ever tasted. And suddenly everything was different. Hazel looked so much older, as did everyone else. Hazel had been pregnant when Aidan stepped into the portal, now all of a sudden their child was an adult. It was easy to imagine Aidan had simply traveled through time, but if what Huxley said was true… he had been dead. Dead long enough to miss his son’s entire childhood. Oh, and what about Aidan’s own parents, were they…?

Huxley cut through his silence. “What did Hazel do to you?”

“I… I can’t really say. From what little I know, my best hypothesis is that she found a way to recreate my body from my…” Aidan cleared his throat. “…remains. I don’t know how. How did my mind stay intact? I think Hazel said something about ghosts? Metaphysics has never been my field of study.”

“Alright, yeah, that nerdy shit does sound like the Aidan I know.” Huxley sighed. “Well, whatever Hazel did, she did ruin poor Icarus’ birthday party.”

 

  *

Aidan did not follow Huxley back into the house—his appearance had made the party awkward enough already. Instead, he headed back down to the lab, where he found Hazel sobbing.

After many long talks, Aidan finally felt like he knew the whole story. Hazel had not only reached the pinnacle of the field of simbotics, but had also made groundbreaking discoveries in both botany and ichthyology. She‘d spent more than half a lifetime studying, researching ceaselessly, experimenting and perfecting her skills—and all to bring Aidan back after his tragic accident. She had grown older, and a little strange, but he loved her as much as he ever had.

„You‘ve worked so hard,“ He told her when she was done with her meandering tale. “I‘m sorry you had to do this all by yourself.“

Diplomacy had always been Aidan‘s strong suit. Without saying it, he had made Hazel realize her mistake.

Aidan was Hazel‘s silent rock during her tearful apology to Icarus the next day.

„I‘m sorry I wasn‘t there for you. All I ever wanted was for you to know your father—but in the process I forgot to be your mother.“ Then deviating from her carefully prepared speech, she wailed, „I can‘t believe I let my baby boy grow up all alone!“

„It’s fine.“ Icarus rubbed his neck, obviously uncomfortable. „I wasn‘t alone, I had aunt Hux and grandma.“

Hazel leaned in for a hug and Icarus patted her back awkwardly while she sobbed. Words and apologies were never going to build a bond that should have grown with time. Still, he couldn‘t help but feel encouraged by how much Aidan‘s presence seemed to have improved Hazel‘s mental state.

***

Hazel sighed. All her life she had tried so hard to save the world, or, lacking that, at least make things a little better. How had she made such a mess of things?

But whenever she looked at Aidan, Hazel couldn‘t help but smile. The world was a better place for having this man around, she was sure of that. She may have made a mistakes—and lots of them—but this was something Hazel could never regret.

_____________

And this concludes generation 8! After a short break of only… 4 years?! Well, I‘m back again and with the best intentions of finishing this legacy challenge up for good!