THE MOMENT
"At least I'll outlast most of them...," Brahm smiled to himself. He wore a mask that kept his grin hidden as he walked along the downtown street. The mask wasn't needed at the moment, there was no one else around. But, he wore it to keep up appearances. He didn't want anyone to realize he was immune. It was a bright, sunny day, but almost everything was closed or empty. He didn't have any business being there other than it was a nice day, and he felt like it. It seemed like the outbreak brought out the worst in people and it was nice to be able to wander the streets without seeing another soul.
Deep down, he knew it was fear driving people to hate each other. But, he decided that was reason enough to let humanity die out. As a species, we were too insecure. Humans were going to kill each other eventually, so why not let them all die out now? He certainly didn't have a problem with it.
"Oh, there you are," Brahm froze in his tracks as soon as he turned a corner. A teen girl with curly brunette hair down to her shoulders and golden highlights stood in front of him with her eyes on him. She had one green eye and one brown eye and she didn't wear a mask. Bram recovered from the surprise and made a show of looking left and right behind him. "Yeah, you," she said. "I need your help with something. Follow me, please." She turned and crossed the street from where she was. He followed her even as he wondered why.
"Where are we going?" he asked once he caught up to her on the other side of the street. She started walking before she answered.
"Hospital," she nodded at the large white building four blocks away. "They need a sample of your blood," she added.
"What?" Brahm found the strength to stop walking, despite wanting to continue after her. She took several more steps before she noticed he wasn't with her anymore. She turned and looked at him. Maybe it was a stray sunbeam, maybe it was his imagination. For a brief moment, while she turned, Brahm was sure that both her eyes were glowing with golden light. But, it was over quickly and soon she had one green and one brown one again. She sighed heavily and slumped her shoulders while he tried to decide what he saw.
"It's not over yet...," she mumbled to herself, then smiled at him. It was the first time she'd made an effort to appear friendly. "You know you're immune to the virus, right?" she asked. But, she had no proof. Denying it would be the easiest thing in the world and she wouldn't be able to do anything about it.
"Yeah, how'd you know?" he asked. Brahm's plans to walk away just never seemed important enough to act on. And, he was mildly curious how she knew.
"Uhh, it's kind of hard to explain...," she said. "Haven't you wondered how you know you're immune, and why you haven't done anything to help with a cure?"
"No," Brahm shook his head. "I know why I won't help, I hate humanity, we all deserve to die out."
"Oh?" she giggled and her mismatched eyes sparkled. "That's an interesting take," she said. "It's flat-out wrong, but it's an interesting way to look at things."
"It's not wrong," Brahm shook his head. "You've seen what happens when we get scared. We get selfish and turn on each other. We believe our feelings over facts. Humanity has failed."
"Says the person that won't help," the teen smirked.
"No," Brahm shook his head. "Says the person that can make that decision. In a couple of years, there won't be a single human left."
"Oh this Earth," she shrugged at him.
"What?" Brahm tilted his head at her.
"My name's Aurora, by the way," she extended her hand to greet him.
"Brahm...," he gave his own name as he shook her hand. "What about 'this Earth'?" he asked.
"There are an infinite number of alternate Earths out there in the multiverse," she said. "Most of them have humans. Even if everyone on this Earth died, it's not the end of humanity. Not only that, a lot of those Earths are what you could call 'enlightened'. You're judging all of humanity based on one moment on one single Earth," she shook her head. "Just because that's been your experience here doesn't mean all humans are the same everywhere."
"You're serious..?" Brahm asked. Her voice carried complete confidence. She nodded and he was struck with a new thought. That kind of confidence only came from experience. Which meant that maybe she was from a different universe herself. "How did you get here? Can I see other universes?" he asked.
"Sure, it's not hard," she nodded. "But, you've gotta do a favor for me first."
"What? What's that?" the question surprised him. He'd been so distracted by her revelations that he forgot she approached him on the street. She already knew who he was and he realized what her favor was as soon as the question left his lips.
"Can we drop off a blood sample before I show you the multiverse?" Brahm didn't have the same conviction he had ten minutes ago. He was initially determined to let humanity die out; but, now he knew that wasn't going to happen. But, at the same time, if she was from another Earth....
"Why do you care about this Earth?" he asked. Aurora giggled and started walking toward the hospital. Brahm was willing to go along with it to see other realities.
"I have an idea why things are so messed up on this Earth," she said.
"What do you mean?" Brahm asked.
"It's just funny," she answered. "You guys are still stuck thinking you need to care about something to help," she looked at him with a sideways smirk. "Like, you haven't figured out it's the right thing to do yet."