Previously on PHOENIX… Myra’s first day at Phoenix has been full of surprises. She has seen the rocket that will save humanity, and she has also run into (literally) the infamous Regina Richards.
Myra sat on a high stool in the laboratory, kicking her feet back and forth. The face of the girl from earlier kept flashing in her face, and she couldn’t blink it away. Regina Richards. She supposed it made sense that she was so intimidating, after all, her aunt was indeed Rosalind Richards. The feeling of intimidation itself is what got to her. She couldn’t let some spoiled rich girl get to her. Myra tried to remind herself what her mom had always told her: everyone was a person, and you shouldn’t let someone’s status influence your perception of them. This advice did not permeate into her mind as much as it should’ve. Instead, she just repeated Regina’s snide behavior again and again.
She turned to Lainey, who was sitting next to her. She was also fidgeting—the meeting they were in was conducted by a rather monotonously spoken doctor who had a tendency to get sidetracked, her leg rocking so fast that the table was vibrating slightly.
“Since when has Regina Richards worked at Phoenix?” Myra asked, almost in spite of herself.
Lainey rolled her eyes, now playing with the ends of her bright red hair.
“Since yesterday. No one knew she was interested in science, but when you are a Richards, it doesn’t even matter.”
“What does she even do?”
“No one knows. I heard she was in the weather lab, but apparently she left early today.”
Myra tried to roll her eyes surreptitiously. She prayed once again that she would get to stick with Lainey and not be assigned the worst lab of all—the weather room.
“It’s not fair, but you’ll get used to it,” said a third voice.
Myra and Lainey spun around to see a man approach their perch, placing his arms on the high-top table.
“I’m Connor,” he said, “and you’re the new girl, or so I’ve heard.” He extended his hand for a handshake, which Myra reluctantly accepted. He didn’t let go of her hand for an extended moment, the firmest handshake she had received possibly in her whole life.
Lainey gave Connor a sidelong look. “Why are you here to get her in trouble already?
Connor’s eyes grew comically wide.
“What are you talking about? I was just introducing myself. I would never do such a thing!”
He turned to Myra, aghast. “Do you hear these accusations?”
“Connor just wants to steal you because I’m your new friend,” Lainey said.
Myra laughed. Connor and Lainey fought just like Zahir and his sisters. She wondered what he was doing, with a pang of sadness. She was so used to spending each and every day with him, trading glances at school, as he struggled to pay attention, and Myra struggled to break herself away from her studies.
“Well, she can decide who she wants to be friends with while we show you around the lab,” Connor said.
Lainey rolled her eyes. “Since when do you sound so official?”
She turned to Myra. “He likes to work twice as hard half the day so he can slack off the rest of the time.”
“And how do you structure your day?” Myra asked.
Connor laughed, “She slacks off all the time!”
Lainey punched him in the arm, playfully, Myra hoped.
They started over at the same screen where the lab director had been standing earlier. She’d stopped talking, and everyone in the lab had dispersed to their own stations, immediately immersed in their work but talking animatedly among themselves.
The atmosphere was so unlike anything in the Banks, where everyone kept their heads down and there was no need to finish anything faster than it had to go, because they would be back in the same place the next day. At sunrise, they would put on the same blue tracksuit and wearily trail home in a dwindling line at the end of the night.
All her life, she had imagined the Settlement to be full of the likes of Jude and the horrible officers that ruled their lives, but her expectations had been nothing like the reality. She didn’t know if everyone knew where she was from and was just being nice, but she wasn’t going to be the one to break the news. It was nice to pretend for now that she was just one of them.
Lainey and Connor introduced her to the various people in the wing lab, pointing out the important equipment that Myra wasn’t allowed to operate yet but would be able to if she received her permanent assignment.
In the middle of the tour, a woman Myra had seen before, Rosalind’s assistant, she guessed, peeked her head into the lab.
“Myra?” She called, “Mrs. Richards wants to see you.”
Myra turned to Lainey and Connor, who both seemed stunned.
“Wow,” Connor said, “what did you do already?”
“Shut up,” Lainey said, “She’s probably just checking in on you, although she never met with me on my first day.”
Myra chose to ignore their ominous comments. “Thank you for showing me around,” she said. “I’ll be right back.”
They nodded, somewhat hesitantly, as though they disagreed, but did not want to show it.
As Myra followed the woman, she saw Connor waving his hand in a mournful farewell before Lainey swatted it down. She knew why Rosalind singled her out. It wasn’t due to her successes or failures—though she was pretty sure she hadn’t been around so long to have enough of either—it was about her background. The fact that everyone in the building would return to their sparkling, perfect homes, and she would have to cross the checkpoint again into the Banks.
Myra wondered if there was another person in the building like her, someone who shared the same secret. Her mom hadn’t heard of any, but she couldn’t have been the first and only one.
Did Rosalind’s assistant know who she was? She was silent as they walked, keeping her eyes averted to the other side of the hallway, periodically greeting people she knew. Myra hoped she would be the same in a couple of months, like a real employee and not just a tourist.
It hadn’t really bothered her before, but as she walked down the hallway, she felt like everyone’s eyes were on her. On her clothes. She was wearing her nicest outfit, but the faded white seemed dirtier than it had ever looked at home. It was like the lighting here was harsher, exposing all the things that Myra never noticed back at home.
Her shoes. Her hair. All of it felt faded. Boring. Myra was never one to focus on her appearance. These thoughts never crept into her mind the way they were now, but she couldn’t shake the feeling of inadequacy.
Immediately, she recalled Regina Richards, and she still didn’t know why the girl came to mind so quickly. Her hair was voluminous and followed her like a cloud. And her clothes—Myra was sure that she had a personal stylist, because there was no way that she was so well dressed on her own.
She and the assistant passed by the same place where Myra had first seen Regina, where the girl had barely given her a second look before shoving past as if Myra were just part of the wall decor.
There was no way that Regina Richards knew anything about building a spacecraft. Had she even passed her exams? Myra couldn’t say for sure. What she could say was that Regina surely hadn’t worked as hard as she had to get to the place they were both now at.
The assistant stopped in front of Rosalind’s door. “You can head right in,” she said, “Ms. Richards is waiting for you.”
Rosalind sat behind her desk, looking way less terrifying than Myra had imagined. She had pictured an angry Rosalind who realized her mistake and was prepared to send Myra home at once. Instead, she looked positively cheery.
“Hello, Myra, thank you for joining me today. I’ve had lunch brought up.” Myra didn’t want to bring up the fact that it was almost mid-afternoon. She’d eaten her lunch hours ago.
She didn’t know what to say, stumbling out a “Thank you” a little later than she should’ve.
“How have you found your time at Phoenix? Has everyone treated you well?” Rosalind opened her salad, stabbing a leaf with her fork.
“Yes, everyone has been so lovely. I’m so grateful.” Lainey and Connor had been so welcoming, and although Myra had tried to play it cool, she was endlessly thankful inside that they hadn’t just shunned her.
“Have you seen your lab assignment?”
“No. I was told I would receive it in the afternoon.”
“Ah, yes. I think we’ve decided to place you in the weather room.” Myra’s stomach sank, but she kept her smile plastered on.
“Wonderful,” she said, hoping it sounded like she meant it.
“Did they show you the launch site?” Rosalind asked.
“Yes, it was so inspiring.” She did not need to fake her enthusiasm here. Myra hadn’t felt the scale of her human size until then. And it truly was a feat of engineering, built entirely by robots, since it required extensive protection for any human to remain outside the Dome for an extended period.
“I’m glad you enjoyed it, Myra. I think you’re going to fit in very well here.”
Myra breathed a sigh of relief, certain her impending firing was merely a figment of her imagination.
“Thank you,” she said.
Rosalind set her salad aside, glancing at a paper on her desk. “There is something I want to ask you about, and I think you will find it quite fascinating. I am part of an organization that I think will benefit greatly from your skills,” she said.
“My skills?”
“You have fit into Phoenix quite well, so I’ve heard, and that is not an easy task. Some are unable to acclimate even after years. I can tell that you are a talented communicator, much like myself.”
Myra laughed. She had been called talkative before, but she had never had the comment turned into such a compliment. “Well, I don’t know about communicator. I mostly just talk and see where it leads me.”
Rosalind smiled, her lips parted just slightly. “You can accept the compliment, Myra. Don’t be shy to acknowledge your accomplishments. Men do it all the time.”
This was true. Most men Myra had encountered were far too quick to accept praise and far too slow to accept critique. Even Zahir, although mostly tolerable, had his moments. “Then, thank you.”
“You are very welcome. As a fellow woman, I want to make sure you have the opportunities that you need to grow. I can see you becoming very successful, Myra.”
“I appreciate your help. This opportunity means everything to me.”
“I know. From your application, it was clear how hard you have worked. I admire your drive.”
Rosalind turned again to the paper. “Back to the organization, Myra, it is composed of advocates of space exploration, basically the donors of this entire program. Each year, I must give a speech to the attendees to thank them for their contributions and update them on the state of progress. There will be other speakers encouraging participation in Phoenix, as well. I want you to attend.”
Myra’s interest was piqued. From what Rosalind had said, it sounded like it could just be a meeting of donors, but her carefully vague phrasing had Myra’s imagination running.
“Not only listen, but I also want you to watch the crowd carefully, and I want you to make as many connections as you can. If you want to succeed here at Phoenix, it is essential to have allies—as many as you can, wherever you can.”
“Okay. I can do that.”
“I want you to especially pay attention to the mood. How do people receive my speech? What are their reactions? All of that.”
“Which other employees will be attending?” Myra asked. Was this a regular kind of assignment? It felt more like a test of some kind.
“That is to be determined. Don’t worry about that. I will send someone to collect you when the time comes, but be ready tomorrow.”
“I will.”
Rosalind turned her computer back on, closing the lid on her salad. “Wonderful. That is all I needed from you today, Myra. I hope you’ve enjoyed your salad.”
“Very much. I always like kale.” Myra was glad she remembered the name of the green, one which she had only seen in a textbook.
Rosalind smiled. “It is my favorite. You have good taste.” She turned to her work, and Myra stood up to leave.
“Good work so far, Myra,” Rosalind said, “I will see you tomorrow.”
Thank you for reading!! I hope you enjoyed this latest installment. If you did, leave a like or a comment! If you want more from Writing by Raya, check out my page for short fiction, book reviews, and more. New chapters of PHOENIX drop every Wednesday!