The End of the Beginning

The next morning, William stared at himself in his tiny bathroom mirror. He laughed at his reflection. This was his second day trying Dr. Frydryck’s strange act of self-praise.

“I love my…” William chuckled at himself. “This is so embarrassing… and weird.”

William thought about just leaving for his early morning run before class, even taking a step into the doorway.

“No. No,” he stopped himself. “No, come on. Just, just get it over with.”

He grabbed both sides of his sink, took a deep breath, and stared into the mirror. He stared until he didn’t see an embarrassed reflection; he stared until he saw something of the man willing to do whatever it took to heal himself.

“Okay… Here goes nothing…” He cleared his throat. “I love… I love that…” He looked around the bathroom. “I love my sink,” he grinned. “I love my new apartment. I, I love my running shoes. I love that I have the chance to be here with UNIRO.” William lowered his head as he put his hand through his hair. “I love that it affords second chances, to even those like me. I love that I am finally among those willing to put up with me,” chuckled William. “People like Mr. Wood. Dr. Frydryck. Colonel Morris - ” “Who you talking to, Will?”

“Ahhh!” William jumped, putting his fist up. John jumped as well at William’s scream. He looked over into his bedroom and saw John standing there staring at him with a confused look. “Doc! How long have you been standing there?!” “What?! A few minutes!”

“A few minutes! How did you get in?”

“The door was ajar, I’m here for our run!”

“Never speak of what you just saw,” grunted William. “Or heard!”

“I won’t…” John started. “Well, I might,” he admitted with a mischievous smirk.

“Doc!”

“Just kidding.”

“So,” John said, running beside William, “you do that every morning?”

“What did I just say?”

“Fine. Fine. What happens in your bathroom, stays in your bathroom. Fine.”

“Just focus on your running. You need it, trust me.”

“Yes,” John panted, “yes, I do. Jeez, you’re fast Will.”

“Ha,” laughed William. “No, you’re just old, Colonel. Let’s go, keep up!”

William sprinted ahead. He ran through the streets of the BLOC section just as he used to run through his home streets of New Orleans, with childish curiosity, every corner hiding something new to discover. He saw the most modern of vehicles, smartly dressed people, and beautiful grounds. The sun was just over the eastern horizon, giving the white buildings of the section a dazzling luminous glow.

The permeable concrete sidewalk below William’s feet bordered a beautiful rain garden. The warehouses were coming up in front of him, always getting larger, growing like square mountains as he ran in their valley. The never-ending hum of the bases operations was suddenly pierced by a high pitch electronic chirp, then the long squeal of a siren. William turned around and saw a convoy of white semi-trucks and ISAF patrol cars escorting them, the source of the squealing sirens.

As the convoy approached him, William slowed his run to a light jog. His shoes stopped moving just as the first patrol car rolled by, then a second, then a third. The first truck hurried by heading towards the warehouses at the center of the base. One by one they passed, mechanically silent with their electric drives. Each white truck trailer was labeled with a blue UNIRO seal.

John caught up, out of breath. He rubbed sweat away from his glasses. “Only in Florida is it this hot even before the darn sun comes up. Cheese on bread.” He noticed William was staring at the passing convoy. “Oh yeah, that’s, that’s Project Edin,” John pointed.

“What’s that? What’s in the trucks?” William asked.

“Foo - ”

“Food,” said a construction worker behind the two men. “Specifically seeds. That’s what’s in those trailers, seeds.” “What, what he said,” gasped John, still trying to collect himself. “Edin is a collection of seed banks UNIRO is establishing all around the world, including all the bases.” “It’s ironic, isn’t it?” the construction worker asked rhetorically. “We need more food than ever but we’re hiding it in the ground.” “There must be a good reason for it,” William said. “There always seems to be a good reason for whatever UNIRO does. Right, Doc?” John was hunched over. He put a thumbs up in the air for a response to William.

“You could say that,” said the construction worker. “Edin is a failsafe in case we don’t succeed.”

“Don’t succeed at what?” William asked, looking at the disappearing trucks.

“Saving civilization. Edin ensures that, should something go wrong, whoever is left has a store to help restart. Each vault holds thousands of species. It’s a global Noah’s Ark.” “You think all this will fail?” William asked, gesturing the warehouses.

The construction worker pointed to the convoy, now almost invisible, “I think those who think they are immune to failure are arrogant to the pressures of reality. They aren’t adaptable.” “Hey,” said William, “I never said I thought UNIRO couldn’t fail. I’m just trying out this thing called optimism. I, I haven’t really practiced it in a while.” The construction worker smiled. “Yeah, I guess this place tends to do that to people. Call me a cynic, but I just think you never can let your guard down. The world is going to change quickly once we start. For better or for worse.”