Redeployment
For as long as my memory holds, I remember having a twin. Throughout our short time on earth, we have had moments of being side by side, literally lying together and times of being further apart. We have always been together, though.
There is something very comforting in this world when looking across the room and seeing someone who looks exactly like you. Sure, there are times when bumps and scrapes make you look slightly different, but we are the same.
The closest I can imagine others would understand this is looking in the mirror. With us, it was no different. When I looked at them, it was like looking at myself.
It made me feel secure to know there was always someone nearby who looked just like me. That was why the event was such a shock to both of us. I could tell they were as shaken up as me when we approached the portal together.
Initially, it didn't seem much of a deal as we clung to each other and were jostled and pushed into the redeployment machine. Others were there with us, but I knew we would be okay if we clung together. The fear of the unknown is only bad when you have no one with you. I had my twin, and we would always be safe if we were together.
So we climbed into the machine together, crushed against the others selected for the task. Once settled in, we moved around, holding on to each other for the best possible space.
We all heard the door close behind us and the click as the locks engaged. This started a different, cleaner life but a new adventure. There came a slight noise like a trickling, and water started to rain down on us from above. I looked at the others who had been here before, and they seemed pretty calm.
So we both sat there listening to the water and feeling it flow onto us. It was almost refreshing; that is what I thought then. I would never have guessed that this was the end of life as I knew it.
The vessel then started to spin very slowly. At first, it was a nice, relaxing ride. We stayed together and enjoyed the slow turn. Then the machine got faster and faster.
That was when it happened: my twin was there one minute and gone the next. I couldn't hold on, and they fell away from me. I tried to find them all the time. I caught glimpses, but then I lost sight again. I can only hope that one of us has not become the chosen one and we will see each other again.
We had been told in the holding bin that not all of us would make the promised land. Only a few of us on each journey went to a higher place. The rest of us would have to carry on our daily jobs, ready for another later attempt.
The whooshing grew louder. The combination of losing my partner, water and the constant turning made me start to feel sick. This can't be happening to us; we couldn't be this unlucky on our first ride.
When I thought I could not hold on anymore, there was a bright flash of light, and I was flying. I don't remember much until I woke up, wet, lying in a higher place. It was me. I had been selected. I had gone to a higher place even though I was so young.
Well, if I had been selected, indeed, my twin would also have been. I looked around, and although I saw creatures I recognised, I didn't see anyone who looked like me. Some were the same shape, but none had the same colour or pattern. My twin was nowhere to be seen; they hadn't been selected.
Maybe they will join me later and get a chance on the next rotation. We were told it was unlikely. If one twin left, the higher being would often discard the other, not wanting those who did not match to be together. Some beings split twins but were considered much lower on the scale of things.
It took me a couple of hours to get over my missing half; it seemed strange at first not seeing someone who looked like me standing there a short distance away. But as the sun shone, I started to forget my twin; they had always been right.
I was free to live in a higher place. The redeployment machine had selected me. It was my turn to live free without anyone getting into me. No higher being would ever know what had happened; it was said to be one of the world's mysteries. Only the Great God Hotpoint knew all the answers.