Mamma Mia, Chapter 5

Mamma Mia: Chapter 5

 “It starts with my father. It always does. My father -a long time ago- had a family. One wife -which is unusual for our syndicate- and a son. Me. Then something happened. He won’t tell me what, but it was important enough to get my mother -his first wife- out of the picture. And I don’t think she died. If she had died, there would be a record of it. But there is no record of her at all. My birth record shows a redacted black bar where her name should be. Then Mia -sorry, Mother Altamura- pops into the scene. Out of nowhere. Even the press says so! She first comes in as a writer and the new wife of the previous MWS Father. She marries him after publishing, then later on he dies of ‘natural causes’ and somehow she ends up being the Mother of MWS.

  “It makes me wonder if I’m a child of two syndicates, you know? So I went to go look at Mia’s records, and she has records just as convoluted as mine. She has redacted information all over the place. It makes me suspicious. What are the other syndicates hiding? They are the only ones who control information like this. Is there some connection between my mother and Mia? Am I a child of two syndicates? What would happen if my father dies? Oh, and now that I’m thinking about it... The tradition of syndicates is for syndicate leaders to only have child, no matter how many spouses they have. It’s to avoid sibling squabbles or a succession crisis or something. But if I’m the child of two syndicates, what does that mean for Arthur here? Does that make him a surrogate child to keep the symbolic custom? Or is he meant to keep me from inheriting two syndicates? I mean, sure, the kid’s profile is solid, but what if the syndicates manipulated it? Or what if all of this is just a long con for Mia to-!”

 

  Carlo catches the limp Alonzo as his head begins to swell. “You didn’t need to do that, Arthur.”

  Arthur places the metal staff back in its case on the nearby wall. “He is so lost. I just needed him to shut up. Help me get him into a deprivation station.”

  Arthur and Carlo carry the unconscious man back to The Feather and into a tank of plasma. As the machine registers its occupant’s state, Arthur commands the ship to return to the MWS. For half of the trip, Arthur stares into the darkness and Carlo plays with his communicator. The quiet is Arthur’s favorite part.

  “So, do you think he was right about anything?” Carlo asks.

  Arthur huffs. Fluffin’ ex vitros, losing their minds halfway through their life cycles. “No, I highly doubt anything he said was true. He must have forgotten to take his medications.”

  “Medications?” Carlo repeats.

  “Yeah. He has that stuff. Needs to take it every month or else his mind starts fraying.”

  “He’s ex vitro or something?”

  Arthur can sense the judgement associated with the phrase coming out of Carlo’s mouth. “No. He’s just had a rough life with no mom.”

  “Oh. Yeah.” Carlo thinks for a moment. “Do you-?”

  “No, I don’t. I don’t take any meds.” Arthur answers quickly. “I am of sound mind.”

  Carlo opens his mouth but shuts it again. There wasn’t any point in continuing the conversation. Arthur’s mind drifts toward the stars and planets beyond him. It is here that he wishes he can be. Out in the darkness where his mother could not fully see or control him. Here is where he craved to be.