sounds frightened. “Hurry, sister.” Then she doesn’t say anything at all, because she’s gone.
Sister.
A word I have never known, for someone I have never had.
Doloria , the darkness echoes, don’t forget .
But it doesn’t need to be said. Not to me, not in my own dream.
I remember better than anyone.
Every day is a battle and every loss leaves a scar.
I want to scream, but instead I shake myself out of sleep before even a single sound can leave my mouth.
Screaming is a luxury.
I open my eyes to find my hand curled around the shard, which is odd, because I don’t remember taking it out of my pack.
Strange.
As I weigh it in my hand, images unfold in my mind, as sharp as if I were really seeing them.
Strange memories.
The girl from my dream—the jade girl. The one who called me sister.
I’ve never had a dream like that before—one that didn’t feel like a dream at all.
Even stranger.
I also discover, by the look of things, that we have left the desert. We are in the mountains. Green trees spike the air between the road and the distant hills. These are not desert trees, nor are they the trees of the Californias. Nothing is the same now, and I realize we are in the final phases of the last snaking lines on the badly drawn map.
The Idylls must be nearby. There is nowhere else to go, no more lines to follow.
This is what I am thinking as we are climbing around the highest part of the mountain pass—
And then, just as quickly, flying off the road.
And then, a split second later, pitching and rolling in the air.
And then, finally, plunging our way into an icy river.
Without enough time to pick a god—or a girl—at all.
GENERAL EMBASSY DISPATCH: EASTASIA SUBSTATION
MARKED URGENT
MARKED EYES ONLY
Internal Investigative Subcommittee IIS211B
RE: The Incident at SEA Colonies
Note: Initial communication between Fortissimo and Perses
Note: Contact Jasmine3k, Virt. Hybrid Human 39261.SEA, Laboratory Assistant to Dr. E. Yang, for future commentary, as necessary.
FORTIS
Transcript - ComLog 12.14.2042
FORTIS::PERSES
//lognote: my initial conversation with NULL;
//comlog begin;
comlink established;
sendline: Hello NULL.;
return: Hello..…? ? ? ?;
sendline: May I call you NULL?;
delayed response;
return: Communication protocol changed. You are not HAL0.;
sendline: No. I am FORTIS. Let’s try this again. Hello NULL.;
return: Hello FORTIS.;
sendline: That’s better. You’ve learned quickly since your first contact with HAL0.;
sendline: May I ask some questions?;
return: Yes. I have been traveling/isolated for a long time. Conversation is welcome.;
sendline: Where are you from?;
return: Based on review of Earth knowledge, I am unable to provide a comprehensible response.;
sendline: Ok, so you’re from a long way away, I get it. And you are coming here?;
return: Yes. I have analyzed Earth and it is a suitable destination.;
sendline: Destination for what?;
delayed response;
sendline: So you’re not ready to talk about that?;
delayed response;
sendline: Ok. Clearly not ready to discuss it. We’ll try again later. Nice meeting you, NULL.;
return: I look forward to further communications.;
//comlog end;
7
BELTER MOUNTAIN
“Well, that could have been worse.”
That’s all Ro has to say, while I stand cold and dripping, looking at the smoking, smoldering, smashed remains of the flipped Chevro—as it floats slowly down the river.
“Worse? How?” Tima asks tiredly, holding Brutus in her arms.
“Seriously. Why are we not dead?” I look at the others. We’re plenty banged and bloodied up ourselves, but as bad as things already were, we don’t seem much worse off.
Tima has fared best. I make a mental note to belt myself in next time.
“Two weeks, two crashes,” Lucas says. “We’re on a roll. Keep it up.” He claps Ro on the back. “Soon you’ll be driving a Chevro about as well as Fortis flies a Chopper.”
“Shut it, Buttons,” Ro growls.
“So much for
Sister.
A word I have never known, for someone I have never had.
Doloria , the darkness echoes, don’t forget .
But it doesn’t need to be said. Not to me, not in my own dream.
I remember better than anyone.
Every day is a battle and every loss leaves a scar.
I want to scream, but instead I shake myself out of sleep before even a single sound can leave my mouth.
Screaming is a luxury.
I open my eyes to find my hand curled around the shard, which is odd, because I don’t remember taking it out of my pack.
Strange.
As I weigh it in my hand, images unfold in my mind, as sharp as if I were really seeing them.
Strange memories.
The girl from my dream—the jade girl. The one who called me sister.
I’ve never had a dream like that before—one that didn’t feel like a dream at all.
Even stranger.
I also discover, by the look of things, that we have left the desert. We are in the mountains. Green trees spike the air between the road and the distant hills. These are not desert trees, nor are they the trees of the Californias. Nothing is the same now, and I realize we are in the final phases of the last snaking lines on the badly drawn map.
The Idylls must be nearby. There is nowhere else to go, no more lines to follow.
This is what I am thinking as we are climbing around the highest part of the mountain pass—
And then, just as quickly, flying off the road.
And then, a split second later, pitching and rolling in the air.
And then, finally, plunging our way into an icy river.
Without enough time to pick a god—or a girl—at all.
GENERAL EMBASSY DISPATCH: EASTASIA SUBSTATION
MARKED URGENT
MARKED EYES ONLY
Internal Investigative Subcommittee IIS211B
RE: The Incident at SEA Colonies
Note: Initial communication between Fortissimo and Perses
Note: Contact Jasmine3k, Virt. Hybrid Human 39261.SEA, Laboratory Assistant to Dr. E. Yang, for future commentary, as necessary.
FORTIS
Transcript - ComLog 12.14.2042
FORTIS::PERSES
//lognote: my initial conversation with NULL;
//comlog begin;
comlink established;
sendline: Hello NULL.;
return: Hello..…? ? ? ?;
sendline: May I call you NULL?;
delayed response;
return: Communication protocol changed. You are not HAL0.;
sendline: No. I am FORTIS. Let’s try this again. Hello NULL.;
return: Hello FORTIS.;
sendline: That’s better. You’ve learned quickly since your first contact with HAL0.;
sendline: May I ask some questions?;
return: Yes. I have been traveling/isolated for a long time. Conversation is welcome.;
sendline: Where are you from?;
return: Based on review of Earth knowledge, I am unable to provide a comprehensible response.;
sendline: Ok, so you’re from a long way away, I get it. And you are coming here?;
return: Yes. I have analyzed Earth and it is a suitable destination.;
sendline: Destination for what?;
delayed response;
sendline: So you’re not ready to talk about that?;
delayed response;
sendline: Ok. Clearly not ready to discuss it. We’ll try again later. Nice meeting you, NULL.;
return: I look forward to further communications.;
//comlog end;
7
BELTER MOUNTAIN
“Well, that could have been worse.”
That’s all Ro has to say, while I stand cold and dripping, looking at the smoking, smoldering, smashed remains of the flipped Chevro—as it floats slowly down the river.
“Worse? How?” Tima asks tiredly, holding Brutus in her arms.
“Seriously. Why are we not dead?” I look at the others. We’re plenty banged and bloodied up ourselves, but as bad as things already were, we don’t seem much worse off.
Tima has fared best. I make a mental note to belt myself in next time.
“Two weeks, two crashes,” Lucas says. “We’re on a roll. Keep it up.” He claps Ro on the back. “Soon you’ll be driving a Chevro about as well as Fortis flies a Chopper.”
“Shut it, Buttons,” Ro growls.
“So much for
Similar Books
