with only the memories of when you were mine

Tucker tried to bring out her more cheerful laughter—and he succeeded. Genevieve grinned. “Sweet indeed,” she said. Sweeter now than ever before, despite the weird life-hangover from the VR. She was finally free, and that was enough to make this life sweet.

“It’s hard to think there are people in the world who don’t know about magic,” she said. Tucker had had to omit it from his lessons, and Genevieve—well, she had to omit it from stories she told about her life. Even on the island, she tried not to make it obvious that magic had brought her to life and kept her alive. It was a source of shame.

He thanked her as she brought his tea, something that both surprised her and relaxed her. She was still getting used to being thanked for such things—for the first two years of her life, these chores had been expected, and now they were favors. Kindnesses. She smiled softly; he was as polite in the real world as he had been in the VR.

“I just started this year,” she said. “I don’t teach full time. Two classes, two days a week. But I’ve lived on the island since last year—I moved here and opened the store almost immediately. I’m ambitious. I’ve been thinking about trying to start a reality show for my store, too.”

But that was still in the idea stages, and not something she was certain about yet.

He asked if she had ever heard of something called the Titanic. Genevieve stared at him with a blank, but curious expression, and that was enough of an answer. She hadn’t—and she hoped that it wasn’t something, or someone, so well known that she ought to have.

“I haven’t,” she said. “I’d love to learn about it. What was it? Or—who?” Her eyebrows came together. She couldn’t figure out if it was supposed to be a person’s epithet or not.

“Do they really?” asked Genevieve. “I’ve never been in a position where someone might react negatively.”

Yet, as soon as she said this, she understood what Tucker meant. She realized, quite suddenly, why it was that the man who brought her to life hadn’t wanted her to speak of magic.

“Sorry,” she said, “never mind—I do understand what you mean.” But it was a cold, quiet understanding, one that she was still processing and would need to process for a long time later.

She saw the shadow cross his face, but did not mention it. She was sure a shadow had passed over her face as well. There were questions better left unasked.

“I haven’t had much time to explore either,” she said, “though I do love to explore. Maybe we could do that together some time?” She smiled. Work kept her so busy that she didn’t get to do much else, but she wanted that to change. She loved to work, and loved to make things perfect, but she recognized the importance of having other experiences.

“I haven’t heard of any films with that title,” she said. “I—admittedly, I haven’t seen many movies.” Titanic. She searched her memory, but she had never encountered anything with that name. She felt a grain of shame when Tucker said it was well-known.

“I would love to hear the story,” she said. “Please, go ahead. I won’t interrupt with any questions.”