Microstory 1239: Daria Matic

< > Table of Contents

When the teleporting Savior program first began millennia ago, the powers that be didn’t know how they were going to do it. They started out with one person, and increased from there, according to need. As the world was coming up on the turn of the 21st century, they determined that only one Savior would be necessary at any one time, and maybe not even always that. Humans would soon be expected to save themselves, and even before that, there were plenty of other time travelers operating in the time period who could pick up the slack. Exactly thirteen years before the death of the second concurrent 20th century Saviors, Daria Matic was born. When she was old enough—which, by the standards of the powers that be, was thirteen—she was activated, and started teleporting all over the world. She helped an unknown number of people for over two decades, until she saved the man she thought would be her last assignment. He was a police detective, not too far from where she first grew up, and she would later come to realize that they attended the same elementary school at the same time. But she could not tell him this truth, because she had been missing since the early 1980s, and she didn’t have any reasonable explanation for that. It was always kind of dangerous for her to be anywhere near her old life, but this was the riskiest it had ever been. This jump felt completely different than all the others, and there was no sign that it was going to end anytime soon. She went to bed at night, and she woke up in the morning, just like a normal person would. It would seem the powers that be were done with her, and wanted her to have a real life.

Daria started seeing the man regularly, and after only a few months, they were set to have what they believed would be their first child. They hadn’t planned on it happening quite this early in the relationship, but it felt right, and they were happy. They remained together throughout the whole pregnancy. She was even able to reconnect with some family, and friends from her younger days, who she felt she could trust with the revelation that she was still alive. Then it all ended. She was allowed but one week with her Asier and Danica before the mysterious people in control of her called her to work again. That was the cruelest thing they did, giving her a child, and then keeping them apart. She knew Danica would be in good hands with her father, but what purpose did it serve giving her a year-long sabbatical, and then just forcing her away again? With no answers for why it had to be the way it was, Daria continued with her work. The powers rarely let her go anywhere near the Kansas City area again, but it was sometimes unavoidable, because people needed help there too. She tried to keep up with what the two of them were dealing with, but it was almost impossible. Her responsibilities afforded her very little time off, and that was mainly reserved for eating and sleeping. She eventually had to come to terms with the fact that she and Asier weren’t meant to be together, and that her daughter would never know her mother. This was her life, and that wasn’t going to change...until it did. She finally retired at age 65, not exactly to give her rest, but because she was no longer useful to the people in charge. Danica’s father had been dead for years, but Danica herself was still alive, and this was their opportunity to meet each other. They would never think they had enough time, though. Being a Savior is one of the toughest jobs out there, and those who are called to serve do not generally become the longest-living people on Earth. Daria died at a fairly young age, having made a greater mark on the world than most, but receiving very little credit. As for Danica, her story was far from over.