AGREEMENTS

Mari and Max were barely 21 when they got married. It was weird for Mari to look back at it. How innocent they both seem. How the promise in their lips took a different tune as time goes on.

            “In this day, I give you my heart. I promise to be faithful and supportive of you, to be together even when time seems hard, and to prioritise our family above all. You are my beloved— forever and always.”

Barely a year after that, she wanted to puke just at the reminder of it. The two of them didn’t think so then. They seemed more than happy to eat each other’s faces. At least, more than eating the wedding cake with too much cream that they only bought to please her mother.

They both sacrificed a lot of their own wishes for her mother, considering his mother was both unpleasant and unpleasable. Not even complete paralysation could stop old Mrs Watson from coming as a younger, android version of herself. Her bold, red dress clashed quite a bit with the dress code.

They counted their blessings and held their tongues when she sends conspiratorial whispers towards her sisters, saying things about how they didn’t take any of her input for the wedding. As if she didn’t ignore their existence when they came to her hospital room. They went into her room and she simply called out a nurse and asked them to bring her a Switcher.

Once the spectacle-like thing is on, she could remotely control an android with her mind. Even further than that, she could look through the Android’s eyes and effectively put her consciousness in it. That’s how she kept working as a government worker even at her age. And how she got away from the son who left her and the woman who stole him.

“I told Max he shouldn’t have married her yet. He should just focus on his career in the ministry. But, he didn’t listen to me. Justine, would you just speak to your nephew?” Her sigh resounded out of the robot. The newlywed gritted their teeth and ignores her the way their fathers did.

Her mother didn’t.

She curved a smile and talked to her friends with a tone of brag, making sure her voice could be heard to the end of the room, “Oh? Haven’t you heard? Mari was sent a letter from the huge corporate. They said the papers she made for her final project is very forward-thinking, and that she was invited to work with them.”

The young couple ended up having to stop their mothers from fighting most of the night.

Mari and Max thought it was a simple gathering to share their big moment, their mothers didn’t agree.

***

Almost four months later, the doctor said she was carrying their first child. Mari and Max were elated. They didn’t care much that the doctor warned them of the complications it may arise to their careers. It was their dream of metaphorical picket fences and a small, happy family that fueled their ignorance.

A month later, she went to have her surgery. They knocked her out and bring her baby out into an incubator. One that could keep her baby alive without her. She woke up with a light scar near her belly button and no memory of what had happened during the procedure. She felt bad about going to work the next day, but it was all worth it.

The moment she saw her, Mari knew she would never let her go. The moment Max saw her, a smile lights up his face like a torch.

Melissa Watson.

Their precious baby girl. The centre of their tiny world. They were both ready to give up their career to focus on their daughter. Some work requires too many hours for parenting. Max had mentioned the possibility of staying in one place to his parents. She had notified her superior a few months before Melly is allowed to be out of her incubator. It was then that they took her away.

Moments after she was allowed out, dark-suited people with stern faces came in. They took her baby. Max and Mari tried to stop them. To call the doctors, nurses, or even cops. They came in stating their rights over their child and went out with the child.

And they were powerless to protect her.

They thought they could keep their little family together, those nameless people didn’t agree.

***

Soon after the abduction, it was their anniversary. A miserable, horrible first anniversary. One where they had gone to many people, ranging from lawyers to journalists, trying to draw attention to their daughter’s kidnap. But, they were answered with radio silence. At one point, an anonymous email was sent to them containing a plea for them to shut their mouth.

Grief and anger made for a terrible mix in a relationship. They started to fight. They spat out venoms instead of exchanging spit. Blaming one another for the hurt and loss of their child. That one night, however, they felt mellow. Chanced themselves as they pick apart the nine months they had with Melly. But, even that fell apart.

            Her tone was jarring, trying to hurt him, “Oh, so, you care about her now? I wouldn’t have guessed. You seemed to have spent more time doing your work than caring about her!”

            “It was for her too. How do you think we could find as many people as we did? I find my contacts through the ministry!” He puts his hands close to his chest. It was a few moments until he backed off. Taking his jacket, he went out the door. He wasn’t back until four days later, though the security footage saw him coming inside the house the next day when she was at work.

            A month later, Max acted as if he never had a child.

            She thought his comeback was a promise to stay and work on finding their daughter, he didn’t agree.

***

            Time passed without her realising. Mari found herself crying, a day before Melissa’s first birthday. As she sat on the tear-stained sofa, Max had fallen asleep. His breaths nice and slow. She knew Max had given up, but her? Not yet.

            She would fight for her baby. A lot of preparations was spent on it. She goes into shady places and talked to countless people for this. Melissa’s not the first time. There are other kidnapped children. She found out where the data is kept. She knew how to get in and out, all the questions and answers needed to do this plan right.

            She had one job, and she’s going to do this perfectly.

***

            In the hallway of the Ministry of Defence, two men walked beside each other. Their chuckles echoed slightly as they talked. The senior started, “It’s crazy. She went in blind into the black market and found some up-starts trying to make money.”

            “The other one barely got himself inside the building,” He remembered. “She’s pretty good. What’s she going to get?”

            “A re-education before being sent back home.” The senior went inside a room to his right. “Apparently, she’s some kind of hotshot.”

            The junior hummed as he tailed him.

            Inside the door is alike to a hospital room. On the tidy, white linen bed was a sleeping Mari Watson, a doctor stood by her side. As the two men nodded, the young doctor pressed a cloth to Mari’s nose. Soon, Mari was brought into consciousness. “Doctor Allen? Where is this?” She sat up to see the two men in front of her, and her brain started working. “Who are you? Where is Melissa?!”

            “We’re a part of the Defence Ministry,” said the junior. “You almost breached a sensitive data storing room. We would have to do some rehabilitation before we could let you go.”

            Mari wasn’t satisfied she had to know what she came here for, “Where is Melissa? How could you take her away from me?! You had no rights—”

            The two men held their silence, but then she tried to move. Tried to attack the personification of her loss. The doctor pressed a button and she was held down to the bed. The senior started, “For the civilization to succeed, the people had to be productive. You and your husband are one of the brightest in your field and it would be a loss for the two of you to be gone. That’s why we had to take her from the equation.

“The government create and distribute the technologies. We made the rules. One of them was that the government is allowed to take any measure needed, should anything prove harmful to the productivity of the society.”

            “Wha- What?” She said, surprised.   

He took a step towards her. “The first question, two plus two makes what?”

She thought it had no bearings in her life, User’s Terms and Agreements didn’t agree.