Manifest Destiny

She was falling through the air, tumbling and untethered, the ground rushing up to meet her. She braced herself for impact but there was none. Dolly fell through the ground as easily as she’d toppled from the sky, darkness again enveloping her. Odd snatches of scenes flashed by as she fell—Tanja, Keisha, and her getting tracking chips inserted while Ramirez laughed at their grimaces; Willow and Dolly swimming in a river, trailing glittering dust behind them in the water; Atefeh and her eating figs from a desert tree sparkling as if covered in golden frost; the doctor from her dream holding the tiny newborn up triumphantly, shouting, “My friends! The future!”

Dolly fell endlessly through the darkness, short flashes of scenes all around her. People of every culture and continent were woven throughout, and she understood each language as easily as if she’d always spoken them. She recognized Egypt and all the countries of Africa, India, Taiwan, Russia, China, all of Europe, the Americas, Canada, islands in the Pacific and Mediterranean Sea, outposts in the Atlantic, ships and submarines, planes and bullet trains, automobile factories, and dozens of automated assembly lines.

She began to relax as she fell, fascination winning over fear as she tried to understand what the hell she was looking at. Then she jerked to a stop, her body yanked to an upright position, and she felt a floor grow solid beneath her feet.