The Aethernet Falls

Chapter 9 - Choices

Greco had chosen not to share the information he had received in the latest text-only communication from his department >. It scrolled on his screen for some time before he chose to make the best of a bad situation.

“I could have had you arrested, or just killed you myself and been completely in the right, legally.” Was how he had chosen to break the silence in the luxurious ground car he had taken out of his expansive, and largely empty garage. It was only true on a technicality. He didn’t own a gun of his own, hadn’t ever seen the need for one, and the police had likely already defected to form their own small militia with the limited reserve forces stationed in the area.

And even now he had a gun pointed at him.

Boros and Clarissa had emptied out as many things as they could from his store rooms. Anything with a long shelf life that didn’t have to be refrigerated, even though Greco had insisted that his ground car had a cooler unit built in. Boros had told him that he wasn’t sure how long they’d have the car for, given how everything that was even remotely connected to the Aethernet would likely crash in a horrific domino effect that would take as many people with it as it could.

Greco looked into the rear view mirror, adjusting it so that he could see the two sitting in the back seat.

“I’m talking to you.” He said, jabbing a finger accusatorily at the reflection in the mirror.

Boros let out some air as loudly as he could in response, it wasn’t quite the harumph he wanted, but it was a sufficient response. His hand was still gripping the high-density plastic pistol he hadn’t known his sister had owned. He had it jammed hard against the back of the driver’s seat and would continue to do so until he was sure he could trust the unhinged man.

-

A few hours went by and the car was engulfed in total silence outside of the gentle hum of the high power electric motors that drove them along. Greco was continuing south, as they had agreed upon, in as straight a line as the streets allowed. Boros was still sat glowering at the rear view mirror that Greco had pointed at him, the gun pressed into the same point on the seat in front of him as before. Clarissa was no longer sat beside her brother, but along the wide back seat, with her back to the door. She appeared to be sleeping.

Adjusting his grip on the pistol, Boros was the first to break the silence, “I recognize your face.” The words were no longer cold. The adrenaline rush of trying to escape was gradually being replaced by the calming sensation of getting further away from the danger.

“I bet you do.” Greco glanced into the mirror, “I’m a very important man.” He focused back on the road ahead. This particular part of the old city streets was intruded upon by many mega-buildings and walkway support struts and he had to swerve often. “Was an important man. I suppose.”

Boros lowered the gun, pointing it at the floor. It felt good, so he continued relaxing his body, leaning back into the cushioned leather seat and resting his gun arm across the top. Greco caught sight of the dark purple firearm in the mirror, then looked back and narrowly missed the corner of an askew building that had jutted out a few feet into the road.

Boros let out a loud sigh, “No, I mean I saw you on TV. Today.” He closed his eyes, “You were talking about the Streams falling as if it was your business.”

“The Sunny May interview.” Greco smiled into the mirror, “She makes me look real good. Asks only the right questions. Nice rack, too.”

Looking over to make sure his little sister was asleep, Boros smiled halfheartedly at the roof of the car, “Yea.” It was probably the last time he could make a remark like that. Even though he wasn’t normally the type, he relished in the normalcy of it. It made him feel, if only for a moment, that everything wasn’t coming crashing down.

-

Clarissa woke up when they had reached the city limits. It had taken little over an hour, but she looked refreshed. Boros thought she might still be fighting off the come-down from earlier, and knew that she would experience withdrawals shortly. Seeing her brother relaxed again seemed to lighten her mood significantly, though she had woken up with a smile plastered on her face.

“Where are we?” She asked, yawning deeply.

Greco opened his mouth, but Boros interrupted him, “South. Outside the city.” He stretched out some more. The days stress had begun to wear on him, too. “Heading to that hill over there, it’s far enough from the city not to be caught in the blast the fusion plant will make.” He pointed at the windscreen in front, “Greco was there for something.”

Greco picked up on the queue with the ease of practice, “Old observatory, back when people were wasting time looking for aliens. Did a function there before it closed down. It was abandoned last I checked.” He looked into the mirror at Boros, “Sunny May was there too.”

“Who’s that?”

Boros actually chuckled, “I saw our friend here on her show this morning. He was talking about the Streams like he was an expert.”

“So I’m your friend now?” Greco said flatly. It was more of a statement than a question.

There was no way Boros was starting to like the man. His first thought when he had seen him on the show was that he was a bobblehead in an expensive suit. He wasn’t starting to like him, but he was beginning to appreciate his ability to lighten the mood. To apply that practiced charisma that came with being a successful politician to the situation at hand. As dire as it seemed.

“We’ll see.” He said finally. “Get us to that observatory and we’ll see.”

“They found aliens at the end, didn’t they?” Clarissa asked, she smiled with her eyes. Seeing the two of them accommodating one another rather than waiving guns around, shouting, and making thinly veiled threats to one another was a welcome change of pace.

“Yea,” Boros replied, “Repeating signals from a planet in the Goldilocks zone. It was too far away for anything there to still be alive though, so they stopped looking.”

“Good thing they can’t see us now.” Greco said grimly.