Tied by a Promise

The memory came back as it always did when I had a job interview. Little Nicola and me at eight years old sitting on her back porch talking about what we hoped we'd be doing in twenty or so years time. I was going to be a universal teacher, I'd already discovered I had a knack for it, and she was going to be a great scientist, something we both knew she could become quite easily.

"One day Dave, you'll work for me!" She had declared.

"Why would you need to employ a teacher?" I'd asked.

"I don't know. But I do know that one day we'll work together." She seemed most emphatic.

I shook myself. That had been thirty years ago, before we went to begin our separate careers, and although I believed Nicky was capable of many things, surely it was too late now. I was sat outside another office door waiting for yet another interview. I had become a teacher, but not the sort I had envisioned. Roles had changed and more and more teaching was being done by computer teachers. Just plug into the program and learn. There were still teaching posts available, but usually only until a local cyber-school was set up. I could have retrained, but I enjoyed the classroom, meeting the children face to face, watching them learn. So I went from post to post, never really settling, never getting to see the fruits of my teaching maturing. Every time I moved I recalled Nicky and her words and wondered how she was doing. There were other times too, like when I saw someone or something that reminded me of her. I had only seen her rarely since we had started our career paths, and not at all for the past fifteen or more years.

So now I was sat outside another office, waiting to see what I was being offered this time. Something new, they said, never been tried before, a new teaching program that needed some professional input. Not what I liked doing, putting myself out of a job, but the pay was good and it was the only post open for a teacher at the moment, so here I was, waiting once more.

Eventually the door to the office opened and I was ushered in.

"Hello, my name is Miss Palmer. I work for Professor MacMillan, and I'll be doing the interview." I was a bit surprised, she seemed so young, and familiar too, and to be entrusted with interviewing people for a major project; she must be good at her job.

She told me about the position. I would be the teacher for an experimental sort of cyber-lesson. Eventually all the children in the space stations around the earth, about sixty or seventy, would join together in a virtual classroom for two hours a day, but to start with there would only be twenty or so. I would be attempting to teach them about twentieth century trivia. It sounded a bit odd to me, until I realised it was more about teaching them life skills, how to get on with one another, something normal cyber-lessons could not do.

"Will I get to see the Professor?" I asked.

"Not today, but maybe in the future. I rarely see her myself."

"Her?"

"The Professor is a woman yes. Will that be a problem for you?"

"No. No, not at all. The job summary seemed to indicate otherwise I thought."

"Did it? I wrote that, perhaps I should check." She slipped on a pair of spectacles and made a note before slipping them off again. She must have seen the surprise on my face. "Yes, I know its old fashioned, but I like them."

"It's not that Miss Palmer. When you wear them you remind me of someone that's all."

"May I ask who?"

"A childhood friend." I shrugged. "She looked a bit like you back then. I haven't seen her for fifteen years though, so I don't know about now."

"Sounds like you still think of her though."

"Well, yes. We grew up together. Nicky made me teach her everything I learnt because we took different lessons. She made me realise I had a knack for imparting knowledge."

"Sounds a bit one-sided?"

"Not really. She led me into all sorts of adventures, and got me out of all the trouble she got us into." I shrugged. "For twenty or so years we were friends, we still would be if we met again." Miss Palmer smiled. "The last time we met fifteen years ago she gave me a gift, this ring shaped like a knotted string." I pulled out the battered old ring on the chain around my neck. "I wore it until it broke a few years ago, for luck. After it snapped my luck seemed to change and I lost touch with Nicky. It was like breaking it had broken our connection." I sighed. "A few weeks ago I had it made into this necklace and things began to change for the better."

Miss Palmer slipped on her spectacles again and looked long at the ring.

"You really believe it's lucky?"

"Maybe not as such, But it gives me more confidence." I shrugged. "I had nothing I could give her, so I took the ribbon from the box she'd given it to me in, split it, and tied the two halves around Nicky's wrist." I smiled at the memory, Miss Palmer smiled too. "I told her it was the best I could do, but that it showed we were tied together in some way." I tucked the ring away. "I hope she still remembers." I sighed.

"I'm sure she does." She sat back, unconsciously holding her wrist. "Now, is there anything you wish to ask about the post?" She asked with a grin.

"When can I start?" I returned her grin. A thought stuck me. "There is one thing. Could I see the classroom? Or the room that I'll be teaching in."

"Wait a moment, and I'll see." She pressed a com button on the desk and had a murmured conversation with someone, presumably the professor. She smiled again as she looked up at me. "Go out through the door, turn left down the corridor and go into the second door on the left. That is where the equipment has been set up."

"Is it running?"

"Professor MacMillan has it running a test."

"So I will get to meet her?"

"No. She is running it from the control room. You will not see her. She doesn't wish to meet anyone at the moment."

I shrugged and went to find the room. The professor seemed to be very secretive and her assistant slightly odd too.

The room had been empty except for a desk until I heard what I assumed was the professor say 'This will be your classroom' over the speaker system and suddenly it was full of desks and twice as big. All I could say was 'Wow!' As I wandered around looking at the holographic projection she told me a little more about how she saw the classes running. I was to start in a couple of weeks with a contract for the duration of the experiment, about three years. If the system proved to be successful this would be extended. I was happy about this, for once I would see how the pupils developed. I was also told I would have a small apartment in the complex the classroom was located in, and the project would be paying for it.

****

Now it was two days before the lessons were to start. For two weeks I had worked hard preparing the classes, using the research computers in the complex's library. I had looked so tired when I went into the office that Miss Palmer had suggested I go to the weekly party held in the leisure suite open to all residents. I had seen the sense in her idea at the time, but now I was unsure. I had never been a party person, that had been Nicky's domain. The time I had spent watching her dance, even giving in sometimes and attempting to dance with her! Now I was sitting watching others dancing and talking, and was feeling like an outsider, a familiar feeling I always got. I took out the ring and looked at it, wondering where Nicky was now. I had been using the computer to try and find her, but had run up against a dead end. About a week after our last contact she had just disappeared and I could find no further trace of her, not even a notice of her death. That had been around the time the ring broke too. I sighed, putting the ring back, and looked up. My eye was caught by one of the women dancing. As she danced it was like watching something else; sinewy, sensuous, sexy beyond belief. She was like a wild thing, but beautifully co-ordinated. Her movements were so like Nicky it was untrue. I couldn't stop looking at her for the next half an hour, even when some of the other residents came over and introduced themselves. The dancer eventually stopped and came over to me, sitting down at my side.

"Have you enjoyed watching my butt?" She asked, mopping her brow and grinning.

"What? No! Well, yes. But I wasn't staring at your bottom, it was more.... All of you actually."

She laughed.

"Honesty, I like that." She held her hand out. "I'm Chloe."

I took her hand and shook it.

"Dave." I said. "You live here too?"

"For a while now." She nodded. "Enjoying yourself?"

"I wasn't, I am now." She raised an eyebrow. "Well, I'm talking to a pretty girl, who wouldn't enjoy that?"

She laughed again.

"Charming as well, but I'm hardly a girl now."

"You aren't?"

Chloe leant forward and pecked me on the cheek.

"You are cute. I think I like you."

"Only think?"

"Get me a drink and I'll know for certain."

I stood up.

"What would you like?"

"A fruit juice please."

It wasn't until I reached the bar that I realised I hadn't asked which fruit juice. Shrugging to myself, I got two peach and orange drinks with a touch of apple; it had been Nicky's favourite.

Chloe sipped at the juice. A smile spread over her face.

"That's an unusual combination, where did you come by it?"

"An old friend." I said simply.

"A girlfriend?"

"Well she was a girl and we were friends, so, sort of."

"You sound defensive."

"I'm sorry. It's just that I've been thinking of Nicky a lot lately and I realise that I miss her more than I thought. And...." I tailed off.

"And what?"

"And maybe she knew that and I didn't. Maybe that's why she gave me the ring."

"The ring?" Chloe looked interested, so I told her the story of the ring and the ribbon. As I finished a thought struck me.

"You know, you're the second person I've told that story to in two weeks, and I've never told anyone before."

Chloe looked at me, smiling in a similar way to Miss Palmer and holding her wrist in the same way too.

"Perhaps you just need to get it off your chest." She stood up and took my arm. "Now I think you should dance with me."

I let her pull me to my feet.

"But.... But I can't dance."

"Then come and stand on the floor and I'll dance around you." She dragged me onto the floor and true to her word danced around me. It was so familiar. Nicky had done it so often, just to try and get me involved. I knew it was hopeless; I just hadn't got the right co-ordination. I found myself reverting to what I had done with Nicky, let her dance and watch her enjoy herself. After all, it wasn't as if it was an unpleasant view.

I sat down again after a couple of songs but continued to watch Chloe. Every so often she would stop and sit next to me for a while, sipping on a fruit juice, talking a little, but mostly getting her breath back. As the party began to break up I asked if she'd be coming again.

"I don't know." She said. "I might, if I feel the need to dance."

"Good." I replied. "I'll keep an eye open for you."

"What you should be doing is trying to find your friend."

"I'll always be doing that."

"And you could learn to loosen up a little, dance a bit better."

"Now you're asking a lot. If Nicky couldn't get me dancing, no-one can."

"We'll see then, won't we? I'll be seeing you Dave."

"I'll be watching Chloe." We shook hands and went our separate ways.

****

That had been over a year ago. The project was going well, as nearly every eligible child on the space stations had joined. This had meant expanding to three classes of two hours each a day, not leaving me a huge amount of time once I had prepared the lessons. I tried to vary each class's actual lesson even if they were about the same thing, just to keep things fresh. I was enjoying the whole thing immensely from preparing the lesson and then teaching the lesson and getting feedback from the class to help with the next lesson. I was also enjoying flirting with Miss Palmer in between the classes, mostly to tease her rather than in the hope of getting anywhere with her. In any case she seemed to relish the verbal sparring, often getting in the last word as I left for the classroom. It reminded me of Nicky; she always had to have the last word too, quite often 'run for it!'

Every couple of weeks I had been going to the complex party with the aim of meeting Chloe or at least watching her dance. I'd never needed to flirt with Chloe, she was just happy to have someone watch her, something that was no great difficulty for me. If she'd kept insisting I dance it might have been difficult, but she'd soon realised a bit of shuffling was as much as she was going to get out of me and left it at that. During one of the summer parties I had caught sight of a silver bracelet in the form of a knotted ribbon on her wrist. The fact that she had tried to keep it hidden up her sleeve made me think she was embarrassed that the story I had told her had inspired her into getting the wristlet. I gave it no more thought than that.

****

We were having a down period now. The Professor was going to run a full diagnostic on the system to make sure everything was working properly, that there were no hidden problems. I certainly hadn't noticed anything. This had left me at a bit of a loose end as I was ahead in my lesson plans. I decided to go back to my research on Nicky. I could find nothing new about her but I did find reference to her parents dying in an accident. I tracked down the death notices and was intrigued to discover that they were dated around the same time as when Nicky had disappeared. That was all I could find about the incident though. In a spirit of devilment I thought I'd try and find out something about Chloe. I had a shock when I couldn't even find a 'Chloe' on the residents list. There wasn't a 'Miss Palmer' either. I was confused now. I knew these people! Miss Palmer ought to be on the list of employees for the project at least, but when I checked there were only two names; mine and the Professor's. I was beyond confused and intrigued by now, I was genuinely concerned. Professor MacMillan seemed to be only person I knew here so I looked into her background. It seemed that the project stemmed from a hologrammatical theory she had patented some years previously. As I delved deeper into the Professors past I could discover no records of her youth, nothing before the granting of the patent. The patent and the professor both appeared the day after Nicky vanished. The co-incidences were getting ridiculous now, but there must be some connection. Was this why I'd never met Professor MacMillan? Had she something to do my childhood friend's disappearance? I decided that I'd better find her and ask a few questions. She should still be working back at the project.

****

Miss Palmer was in the office when I went in looking for the Professor. She seemed a bit surprised, but was pleased to see me.

"Hello Dave, I wasn't expecting to see you for a few days. No-one to flirt with?" She asked as she sat down and crossed her arms. As she did I couldn't help but stare; Miss Palmer had an identical bracelet to Chloe, like a knotted silver ribbon. She saw the look on my face and asked concernedly. "Are you all right?"

I nodded slowly. Suddenly everything clicked into place, the appearance and disappearance date co-incidence, never seeing the Professor, the patent, Nicky's long ago promise and now Chloe and Miss Palmer having the same piece of jewellery. They seemed to add up to something incredible. I hoped I was right.

"I think so Nicky."

"Good." Then she looked at me in shock. "What did you call me?"

"Nicky. I just worked it all out."

"Worked what out?"

"Chloe, Miss Palmer, and Professor MacMillan are all in fact one person, you, Nicola Henson."

"I....I don't know what you're talking about." She stammered.

"Well, if I'm wrong, I've just tossed away the best job I've ever had, and insulted people who were my friends. Do you know what finally tipped me off?" She shook her head dumbly, her mouth open in shock. I reached across and tapped the bracelet. "I might believe one of the two people I told about the knotted ribbon thought that it would make a nice bangle, but not both of them. How does the hologram disguise work exactly?" Miss Palmer sagged in defeat, and then reached up to a button pin in her lapel and pressed it. There was a shimmer and then Nicky was sat in front of me, a very sad looking Nicky. I leant across the desk and kissed her gently on the forehead. "I've missed you Nicola Henson, more than I thought possible."

She looked up at me tearfully.

"I've missed you too. The hardest part of disappearing was losing contact with you, but no-one was supposed to be able to find me."

"I doubt anyone else would recognise the last few clues, but maybe you should have made sure a death notice was issued, it might have stopped me looking." I smiled. "But probably not."

"Why not?" She asked, her eyes reddening.

Sighing I said.

"To be honest, stubbornness. At first I thought maybe I'd done something to offend or upset you somehow so I didn't look for you. But after a while and some sensible thinking I remembered you weren't like that, you'd tell me what I'd done to my face and then tell me not to get in touch anymore."

"Thank you for that."

"So whenever I got the chance, I'd do a little bit of research, pick up a few clues where I could. Obviously none of the computers were as powerful or extensive as these you have here. I never gave up hope though, I kept looking."

"I'm glad." She gave me a hug. "I did miss having you to bounce ideas off and just have someone to talk too."

"Me too. Can I ask two things though?" She nodded. "The first is about the bracelet."

"It's actually the original ribbon you gave me coated in silver. I can't take it off even if I wanted to now, but no-one else knew about it, so I only had to try and hide it from you."

I smiled; glad I had been right about that. It seemed the luck of the ring was still holding.

"The second question is, why?"

"Why did I have to disappear?"

"Yes. Was it something to do with your parent's accident?"

"They never had an accident." She saw the puzzled look on my face. "They saw some horrible crime and had to go into protective custody, get new names, all that stuff."

"That serious?"

"Apparently, I never learnt the details."

"But why didn't you go with them?"

"It was very complicated. I was on the verge of perfecting the hologram disguise and the authorities were interested in using it to help hide people in the short term. They agreed to fund this second project if I'd stay and finish it."

"And you said yes?"

"I thought the greater good this schooling hologram could provide was worth all the heartache. I haven't seen my parents for so long, or any of my friends, but I think it was the right thing to do."

"It still seems that you had to give up a lot." I was worried for my old friend; it seemed she had spent the last few years on her own. "Can't you get in touch with your parents by now?"

She shrugged.

"When we went our separate ways they insisted I shouldn't try to find them. Maybe it's for the best." Nicky looked so forlorn I decided that I had to do something, several somethings. The first one was to go around and cuddle her, comfort her, let her know she wasn't alone anymore. She buried her head into my chest.

"Why create Miss Palmer and Chloe? Surely you could have employed a receptionist?"

Nicky looked up at me.

"I could have, but being my own secretary meant I could still meet people, but she wasn't the right character to go dancing, and I wanted to dance again, so I invented Chloe too."

"A sort of constant field test?"