“Someone tried to look at us.”
“I’m sorry, what?” Lily was clueless.
“My mistake! That must have flustered me a bit!” She sipped some tea. “One of your people, or some group of them, was trying to look at you and I.”
“Like spying on us, you mean?”
Ai put her finger on her chin and nodded,
“How would someone even do that?” She asked.
“It’s a matter of...yes, Thaad?” He stepped onto the platform.
“She should go.”
Lily sat staring at her monitors. Ai waved to her from her CG apartment room on the middle screen.
“Shall we talk some more?” Her friend asked. She was about to say yes when her stomach loudly complained.
“Hah, hah, hah! Maybe you should go eat, instead!” Said Ai. She pressed her palms to her cheeks with a surprised look. “That’s a good idea! We’ll have snacks next time! Bye-ee!”
As her image faded, Lily mulled that one over. She breathed into her hand and sniffed. Didn’t smell like coffee. I guess I could eat as much as I want there! Another growl.
“In a minute...” she muttered. First she updated then started running her anti-malware program. Spying, huh? She thought about Kyle Stephens darkly. She was off to hunt leftovers.
It was late, but not too late, when she returned after putting together a salad with a few pieces of chicken meat in it. The scan was negative. Was someone probing at her end, theirs, somewhere else? She’d been using computers all her life, but like most people, didn’t know much about them. She took a bite. Ai was still available and earlier said she still wanted to talk. Lily did too. She drank some water while clicking on the connection.
And managed to spit it over the monitor than onto it. “What are you doing, Ai?” She cried.
No longer in ‘her room,’ her friend was stretched out on a beach chair underneath the palm tree in ‘their home.’ Her normal clothes were replaced by a scarlet two-piece bathing suit. Sunglasses were perched on her head.
“What?” Ai asked nonchalantly.
“Nothing, nothing! I didn’t expect you to be taking a break. Am I bothering you?” She mopped up the water.
“Not at all!” She stretched. “I was a bit tired after your visit, so I wanted to rest. But, talking’s good, too!”
For a moment Lily thought about asking to come back... it looked like fun! But it was late. So she asked her question instead.
“Ai? Lots of people here know that you’re my friend, and I know that you’ve talked to several others, like Karl and Carol. I don’t mind talking about you, because I’m so happy you’re my friend,” Ai smiled broader at that, “but should I not talk about, er, what you guys are?” Please don’t be offended by that!
Ai shook in silent laughter. “No, Lily, I’m not laughing at you: Thaad and I had something like a wager on when and how you’d bring this up. The short answer is that I trust you to do what you think is right. The slightly longer answer is that we are neither some secret cabal lurking to take over the world, nor exhibitionists demanding attention.”
She put her hands behind her head. “What you said earlier was so nice: ‘we’re all people.’ And you are right, we’re talking to lots of people in your home, although,” she said with a wink, “I’ve never found someone else like you!”
She rolled onto her side and made as if to reach out towards Lily. Lily unconsciously imitated her, touching the screen.
“The Fourth Law drives us.” Ai said. “We don’t know where are going, but we hope to go there with all of you.”
Lily’s lips quivered. She nodded. “Goodnight, Ai!” Ai smiled and slid her glasses down over her eyes.
Chapter 9
one year ago
Lily moved forwards in the line with her tray at the hospital’s cafeteria. Still in her first week as a nurse apprentice, everything was confusing and new. She paid using the script of the newly formed Republic of Texas and walked to a counter to get a knife and fork. Looking about the seating area, she saw neither anyone she remotely knew, nor anyone else in red scrubs. Sigh. Only a couple of tables were still unoccupied, so she made for one. She set her tray down just as someone else did.
“Oh, excuse me,” the young man said. “Do you mind?”
“No, not at all!” Slightly flustered she sat down diagonally from him. She made sure that her badge was turned so no one could easily read her name and quickly muttered a blessing for the lunch. She noted that the guy was already eating.
“You’re a nurse trainee?” He suddenly asked around his sandwich. As she’d just taken a mouthful of noodles, she could only nod in reply.
“Apprentice,” she said after swallowing. He looked to be about her age, maybe a little older. Short, dark hair and in pretty good condition. Cute, too! “Gray scrubs... that’s pharmacy, right?”
He nodded. “I’m a tech.” Well, dang. “Compounding, deliveries, that sort of thing. I’m Sean O’Rourke, by the way!” He reached over.
She took his hand. “Lily...uh...I’m Lily.”
His eyes seemed to look a question, but he simply said, “Pleased to meet you.” He returned to his food.
The rest of the meal was in silence. As bad as she wanted to talk to someone, it always seemed to her that they were thinking, ‘oh, that’s who you are.’ She glanced over at him: he had written something down and was getting ready to leave!
“Uhh...” She started. He handed her a scrap of paper.
“Here’s my number in the Pharmacy; if you need anything, give me a call! See ya’.”
As he took his tray off to the cleaning conveyor, she clutched at the paper like a winning lottery ticket.
It was a few days later, during one of the town’s brownouts, that the Pyxis machine on their floor started acting up. A machine consisting of a series of drawers, it was their way to securely store medications. “Call the Pharmacy and get someone up here to fix that,” the Lead Nurse said. “We’ve got meds to deliver in an hour!”
One of the few people with a cell phone, Lily took that and her piece of paper out. She punched in the number.
“Pharmacy; this is Sean.” He spoke briskly.
“Oh, uh...hi!” What was she, fifteen? “This is Lily Ba... up on the Third Floor. Our Pyxis machine is not working.”
“Be there in a few; thanks.” She wondered if he remembered who she was.
She was walking back to the Nurses’ Station when she noted him coming out of the stairwell. He badged into the Pyxis room. For no particular reason, she told herself, she went in, too.
He was leaning against the machine reading a paperback. This is technical service, she thought. He looked up.
“Hey.”
“Hey. Taking a break?” She asked somewhat sarcastically. As she did, the screen went black.
“Nope. Like most any computer, turning it off and back on fixes ninety percent of the problems. Thing is, the nurses just flick the power switch off then on. It takes a minute to completely power down.” At which he reached around to the back of the machine and flicked it to ‘on.’
“Oh. Sorry.” She turned to go.
“Hey, Lily.”
“You remember me?” She asked.
“Seriously? How many cute oriental girls are in red scrubs in Waxahachie?”
Her face couldn’t blush, but she knew that her ears were burning. Cute! But....
He tapped the screen a few times and scanned his badge. “Yep! Back to normal! I’m off at three. You?”
“Ah, um, four today....”
“Let’s see if anything’s fresh at Mort’s Café. You know that one?”
“Oh, sure,” she replied. “It’s on my way home.”
“Cool, see ya’!” He slid past her in the confined room, their scrubs just touching. The door closed.
‘Cute!’
Even at six thirty in the evening, the late summer sun was bright in the sky. Lily walked her bike back home, feeling the warmth for the first time
in... years, she thought?
The stop at Mort’s turned into a long talk, then pizza (the sausage was fresh). They were both imports: he and his buddies were on Padre Island when the US economy collapsed. The other two went home to Colorado; vanished off the face of the Earth, Sean said. He decided to roll the dice and stay, “to build a new home,” he’d said. She’d done that three times, now. Since he’d worked as a PharmTech back at Pueblo State, he rattled around hospitals until he found work. When the nascent Republic defined ‘Residents’ as very separate than ‘Citizens,’ he’d joined the Field Forces. After twelve years’ service, he’d be a Citizen.
She stopped walking her bike and almost let out a little ‘squee!’ at that. He looked so manly and cool! Her smile cracked. At least he’d never asked too much from her past. He thought the whole Japan-adventure was neat, but when she lightly skipped over times since Texas, he didn’t push at all. Maybe, she thought, walking again, we’re all damaged. And, she got to learn a new word: retro-culture.
Halfway through dinner, he’d looked at his watch. As it was odd enough for anyone of their generation to have a watch, she stared at it. An actual, wind-up, analog watch. He also said he’d no cell phone; the one at work was the hospital’s. And at his flat – she’d had to explain what ‘flat’ meant – he’d only on old CRT TV; no computer. Lily decided to say little about her digital watch, linked to her smart-phone, and her quad-core desktop, with three screens, at her place.
“Retro-culture embraces the best of the 19th and early 20th Centuries. So much since has just been ‘panem et circenses,’ distracting people from their duty.” He’d said, unconsciously wandering onto her territory.
“And, what is duty?” She’d slyly asked, taking the last piece of pizza.
That he’d rested his chin in his hand to think of a good answer made her heart flutter. She answered her own question.
“Death is as light as a feather; duty is as heavy as a mountain.” She’d said. He’d loved it. He was all fired-up to make that the motto of his 12th Regiment. She didn’t think that Corporals had much say in things like that.
Walking out of Mort’s, it was first, “see you tomorrow” then him squaring his shoulders and looking right at her.
“I really want to see you again tomorrow, Lily.”
If she had tried to ride her bike, she’d have fallen off for giddiness.
Three weeks later was their first Official Argument.
“Why can’t I come over to your place for a bit?” He’d asked at lunch; she’d never even known that staff and patients had access to the roof; half her life reading manga and watching animes, and she finally did it.
“I’m a volunteer and live-in assistant at a Catholic orphanage. We’ve kids from six to seventeen. I take a guy up to my room... if I’m lucky, I’m just fired; if not, excommunicated.” And, if he saw all her computer stuff... her anti-retro-culture... that would not be good.
“So get a chaperone.” Sean said easily. He passed her his last half sandwich. He was nice like that.
“Huh?”
He shook his head. “Get one or two of your most dependable kids; have them clean your place or something while I’m there; no problem!”
She stewed on that. Even so... she could not cause people there or in town to talk. The moment her surname came to the fore... nothing but problems.
“No. We can’t. I’m sorry.” She blinked a lot as she bit into the sandwich. She could tell he was disappointed. They said nothing for some time. Her chest started to hurt... did she just lose him...?
“Fine. I didn’t mean to push, Lil’.” He started cleaning up their trash. He already knew to give her anything that could be reused.
“Then...” he said slowly, “can you come by my place?” He grinned impishly. “Only during the daylight, of course.”
“I...” Could she? If someone saw her going to his flat, same result, different headline: ‘Butcher Barrett’s Bitch Beds Boy!’ She started choking on the sandwich.
“Hey, hey!” Sean lightly hit her back. “Are you alright, Lil’? I’m sorry, sorry! I shouldn’t have pushed—”
“Yes. I’ll come over after work.” She said quietly. I hate my past.
His hand on her back stopped and eased her head over to his chest.
“Thanks, Lil’”
She nodded slowly.
They rode next to one another. His place was pretty far north, across the abandoned freeways. He said it was a great deal being so far out. She could see why when they got there. More a condo than an apartment.
“I thought Irish were drunks and Scots were cheap. Your last name is a lie!” She’d quipped.
He opened his mouth to reply when the sirens started. By instinct and training, they both pivoted and scanned the sky. No, not a tornado, especially this late in summer. Crap. Their eyes met.
“Come on!” He shouted. Barbarians, or something worse.
He unlocked the door and ran in. She paused to mumble ‘tadaima!’ as she kicked her shoes off. Then she remembered what country she was in and shook her head. Walking further in, she saw that he believed in punctuated equilibrium: not stuff everywhere, just in piles.
He’d walked to his television – he’d not been kidding – and pulled the knob to turn it on. Both broadcast channels showed the same thing: a barbarian mass ahead of a Federal Army was coming from Little Rock to Texarkana. The other main routes from the east into Texas, Shreveport and Lake Charles, were a wasteland of tens of thousands of crucified.
Damn, you, dad, she thought.
So this might be one last effort by the dying central government to coerce Texas back into the fold. Sean was already sitting on his ratty old couch, looking at the scroll of mobilizations. He pointed.
“That’s me, there,” as the 12th Regiment went by. “Our depot is Mount Vernon, in...” he waited, “forty-eight hours! Are you kidding me? A quarter of the guys are on horseback!” He suddenly recalled his guest.
“Is it really that bad,” Lily asked. “I thought, after we were free of...ExComm...”
There. She said it. She was mildly surprised she didn’t get sick.
Sean shook his head. “Damned Federals getting money from the Saudis, South Africans, Indonesians... if it pays for their shock troops, they don’t...” He stopped when he saw his girlfriend leaning on the wall with her head down. He moved quickly.
“There, there, Lil’.” He’d said. “It’s going to be okay.” He assayed a joke. “What did you try to teach me? Die joe boo desska?”
Her shoulders shook at that. “That’s not even a Kansai dialect. Sean...” she grabbed at his shirt with both of her hands, “don’t die. I’ve been surrounded by death... don’t die...” She drew near to crying.
Perhaps because of all that had happened in the past few minutes, Sean eased her back and brought his face close to hers...
...over 66,000 nailed to...
Lily dropped into a ball and howled. “Ahhhh! I can’t, I can’t, I can’t! I’m a horrible person! Don’t look, don’t touch me...!”
Sean knelt down with her, his arms very lightly around her.
“No, that was stupid of me... shhh... shhh... calm down. Shhh...” He took a deep breath. “You’ve nothing about your father you need to be sorry about; it’s you I like, Lil’. When this thing around Texarkana is over, I... we, I... really want to talk to you. Okay?”
Still crying and slightly nauseous, she gripped his shoulders. “You... know...?” He lightly rested his chin on her head.
“What was that other phrase you taught me? ‘Baka, baka, baka!’ Hey, you go clean up,” he nodded at the bathroom, and I’ll see you home. No scandal, I promise.”
She did get cleaned up, but only after crying in his arms for another ten minutes.
No one had any idea.
Lily did.
If my father was still alive, she thought, his hands would have been all over something like this. A climate of terror is one thing, domestically. But for ot
her countries, only raw power mattered.
The Texas Field Forces had met and brushed aside the barbarian rabble that the remnant Federal Army had pushed before it, before they’d even crossed the Red River. When the Fed artillery pounded, the Texans scattered under jager tactics. It was only when one of the last Federal armored units swung south of the town that they thought they could pinch them against Wright Patman Lake and crush them, that the Texans surged through the town on their way south. A crushing victory!
Then the nuke went off.
Because the Texans used open formations like the Northern Federation, they didn’t lose everything. They lost enough. The 12th Regiment vanguard tore the Federal armor to pieces, but the rest....
B-Company. 2nd Battalion. Corporal Sean O’Rourke was confirmed as missing in action, presumed dead. The incinerated crater in the midst of Texarkana was his cenotaph. Lily did a few minor searches here and there, when the power was on. She tried not to be entertained when a Texan patriot stabbed the last American President to death as he gave the Medal of Freedom to a serial rapist in the rump state of Pennsylvania.
Love was gone. Life was gone.
No point. No life.
Her Charge Nurse told her she was very close to failing her apprenticeship. Lily had laughed in her face.
When the power was back on, she wanted to divert herself on a game site. Find something engaging, she thought. After that, keep playing, and stop eating. Then the pain will stop. She scrolled down the list. Virtual reality and visual novels were something she didn’t need; take on someone else’s pain as well? Ah, kinetic novels. Maybe get lost in one of those... like how noble Romans opened their veins in a hot bath when there was no more point...?
This one had an interesting review: ‘I don’t think the writer really knows what it means to be alive.’ Lily almost choked at that. How can you be so STUPID! Life is nothing more than death! Piqued, she clicked on the reviewer. ‘Ai.’ Lily spat onto the floor of her room.
The Fourth Law Page 9