Sublimation(87)

“Why would you ask someone that?”

“It made sense in context,” Soyoung says.

“I don’t think it’s like dying,” YJ says.

“It’s not like dying, for the record. Yujin never really gave me an answer on what he thought,” she says. “Okay, I’m putting you on speaker and I’m going to go talk to her. We’re in the room with the big whale. Come find us there.”

Soyoung takes out her earbud as she approaches the sweeping staircase down to the first floor. She wonders how best to intersect Megan, unobtrusively. It’s not like intercepting YJ—that was a planned meeting, and he was a stranger with the face and temperament of a friend. Megan is a true stranger, and all she knows about her is that YJ had been friends with her, as much as you could be friends with your boss.





YJ


You walk into the natural history museum after paying the entrance fee for the after-dark event. They ask if you want to check a coat. You’re still in your gym clothes; you check your gym bag. You go through the entrance into the main hall with the huge dinosaur skeletons, currently lit with neon spotlights for the night event.

You’re only half paying attention. You’ve been listening to Soyoung and Megan talk. You think they’re probably still in the whale room. Soyoung had introduced herself and had told Megan that YJ received the USB drive. Megan had sounded—not suspicious, but a little guarded. You think that the only reason she hasn’t walked off yet is that Soyoung told her that you were coming soon. You’re positive that Soyoung’s original suggestion—to pretend to be Petra in order to get the information from Megan, wouldn’t have worked. But now they’ve steered the conversation back to calmer waters, talking about the museum.

“Have you guys ever been to the instancing section?” Megan says.

“There’s an instancing section?”

“Next to the planetarium,” Megan says. “Mergebreak contributed some of the funds, if I’m remembering correctly.”

You remember that. You had gone, when it had opened a few years ago.

“Cool.”

“We can go check it out, after YJ gets here.”

You walk through halls that have half a forest lovingly recreated behind plexiglass, little dioramas of the savannah, tropical rainforests, the tundra. And then you’re in the whale hall, looking for Megan, for Soyoung. You spot them near the center of the room.



* * *



There is a school of thought, that God must have placed the forbidden fruit in the middle of Eden for a reason. What use is it, to place something easily accessible and forbid it? It must have been a test. Humanity’s actions were in line with God’s plans.



* * *



They turn to you as you approach.

“Hey,” you say. “Thanks for waiting.”

You don’t know that anyone was in a hurry but it just seemed like the thing to say. Soyoung smiles at you. You smile back at her, pull her in for a kiss like you would have done for Petra and hope that Soyoung goes along with it. She does. Soyoung kisses you back, a soft brief brush of her lips against yours before you break away and turn to your former boss.

“Hi,” you say. “Fun seeing you here.”

“Hey, so good to see you,” Megan says. “Was this on purpose?”

“This was mostly date night,” YJ says. “But I wanted to catch you outside of the office. You should make your likes private.”

“If it wasn’t you, this would be creepy,” Megan says.

“But it is me,” YJ says. “The only me possible. You know, since my instance is in Korea.”

Megan cracks a smile.

“It’s a bit—YJ, how much have you told—”

“I’ll go check out that exhibit,” Soyoung says brightly. “And you can talk. I’ll meet you later?”

“Sure,” you say, and she punctuates her leave-taking with a second kiss. For a moment, you wish it meant something real.

You and Megan walk away from the center of the hall and the looming bulk of the whale over to a corner, where there’s a coral reef exhibit with tiny little clownfish and other tropical fish whose names you don’t know, pinned into place as they would have swum in life against a backdrop of preserved coral.

“I got your message,” you say. “The one you sent to Yujin. I guess you were obliquely asking if I had gotten it, the last time we talked. Why did you give this to me? I appreciate the heads-up, but it seems…”

You watch Megan, who is watching the fish, who aren’t moving.

“I am going to tell you something too sensitive for the USB drive,” Megan says. “I can provide proof once your clearance goes through, if you agree with me on how to handle the situation.”



* * *



To deliberately set a trap with the forbidden fruit would be a cruel trick for God to play. To know your creation would act in a certain way and still set them up to fail, that could only be the action of a cruel and unjust god.



* * *



“Okay,” you say.



* * *



Or maybe it had all been a test. Maybe if Adam had responded to God without a lie, had he boldly claimed what he had known, then there would have been no punishment.