19:30
Ashely sat cross legged on an old, plastic chair. Its surface still slightly wet from the mornings heavy rainfall. Opposite to her barely dressed was Rachel taking several puffs of her dying cigarette, leaning heavily over the balcony. They both sat silently, the hums and pulses of society cascading below them reminded Ash of a broken radio. They could stand in silence for hours and the noise would never stop. The Super Dams towered above them, even at a distance it never once appeared small, from any angle it was always a suffocating image. The metal congregation overwhelming the city no matter where one stood. Slight sparks of blowtorches and construction equipment blinked across its surface. The constant upkeep done to keep them operating was never-ending for the workers. A job only the desperate committed to.
“How long do you think they’ve been at it?”
Rachel turned herself to face Ashely, her elbows now resting on the balcony as her back leaned against it. Her messy red hair covering one eye, Ashely couldn’t help but smile at her loves beauty, anytime she naturally looked this good, Ashely fell in love with her all over again. Snapping out of Rachels Hypnotic radiance, Ashely sat up and clasped her legs.
“I heard they work 15 hour shifts. Live in the walls and get 8 hours of sleep and 1 hour of leisure before having to go back out to work. Its why you barely see any dam workers in the Sectors.”
She turns her attention back over to the dam, the ants scaling the wall move in a robotic like similarity, seeming more like a hive mind rather than a fully thinking work force.
“So, what 10, maybe 12 hours for them, I feel like I’ve seen the same shadow since we moved here.”
She takes one last drag of the now dead cigarette before tossing it away. The ashes tumble down into the urban abyss and disappear amongst the many buildings below. She lets out a large breath filled with smoke, the smell of strong tobacco lingers in the air, It tickles away at the couples nostrils.
“When are you going to be quitting that place?”
Rachels eyes lock symmetrically with her partners. Piercing through her like a dagger into flesh.
“I told you love, its contracted work, the company finishes the fire wall and then we move on to whoever else hires us.”
Ashley plays with her hair, awkwardly looking down to avoid the incoming scowl. Rachel was passionate about rebellion; she gave her the straight answer, but she knew it wouldn’t satisfy her fiery red head.
“Then quit the company, digital construction workers are still new. I’m sure some other company would happily pick you up.”
Rachel made it sound so simple, her face a stone visage of seriousness that partially scared the young hacker.
“Love its not that simple. You know how hard it was for me to get this job. This is our best chance of requiring a passable living wage and getting out of this crusty apartment. We can have that comfortable middle class lifestyle you always wanted. We can be comfortable.”
Ashley’s voice is pleading, there many reasons why she refuses to leave her job, all requiring effort and confidence. Confidence she didn’t have, this excuse seemed to be the most reasonable for her at the time.
“I can’t live comfortably knowing my safety was paid for by fucking corporations. Especially those who fund snuff films fetishising the murder of women.”
Rachel wasn’t relaxing now, she was tense, her body ready for an argument.
“Lovely, you promised your feelings wouldn’t get in the way of my work. That you’d make do as long as we acquire a decent amount of cash.”
Ashely doesn’t stand, she wants no argument. Her voice weak and deflated. Wishing for no fight to escalate.
“Things have changed Ashely, this isn’t something I can look, past. You think I can happily sit by while you’re helping secure companies that are grossly misusing and abusing the public’s trust and safety…”
Rachel has begun her rant, her voice loud and commanding. Echoing around her ears, the language used is hateful and venomous. The hate for Leviathan is adamant. Ashely couldn’t take the echo anymore, her paranoia now clashing with the overstimulating noise.
“I was the hacker that leaked the movie.”
Ashely covers her mouth, and the balcony goes silent. All that was left was white noise. The redhead stared in shock at her partner. Confused on the words that just left her lips.
“What?”
Rachel lightly whispered into the void. Her outlandish anger washed away in only a second. Dumbfounded by the bombshell dropped.
“I am the hacker. My job lets me traverse private Cybernets without much resistance. There I can easily acquire personal and private data and files that, if necessary, I can sell to the media. Then when the fire wall is eventually built, and the server is “secure” I can leave without anyone knowing a thing. As all outside influences are ostracised from the server along with any possible digital fingerprints. Leaving me safe from any investigation.”
With a cringe in her smile Ashely tries to briefly explain herself in the quickest way possible in the hopes that Rachel understands her obscene techno rambling.
Rachel sat down opposite the hacker. The chair equally poorly made and similarly wet. Awestruck by her girlfriends words, all she could do was push her back and lean over her legs mumbling to herself. Quiet confusion could be heard as she asked herself questions and gave them solutions. All seemed similar to a madman’s monologues. After a few minutes of quiet hysteria Rachel composed herself and lifted her head.
“And you were going to tell me this when?”
The question was probably the best she could’ve asked. Ashely had a concrete answer to it and didn’t hesitate to respond.
“Once the firewall was complete. I thought it would be safer if you knew about it after the contract was up. Just in case something slipped up. I’ll admit the snuff film really threw a wrench into that plan.”
20:30
Inside the apartment, a quiet sizzle came from the frying pan. The reveal of Ashley’s secret hobby had silenced the couple for quite some time. Ashely sat comfortably on the couch. Silently staring at the wall, the digital TV gently gleaming in the dimly lit living room. Her comfortable sitting clashed with the uncomfortable feeling building up inside of her chest, like a pimple about to burst. Hands clasped together, she sat patently waiting for Rachel for say something, anything to her. Shouting was a much preferred reaction than this silence. It itched away at her skin and pricked at her hairs. The feeling of an overwhelming force in her head, forcing her mouth shut. She grabbed the sleeve of her sickly green cardigan and bit hard into the woollen fabric, looking for any form of satisfying stimulation. Rachel appeared in the doorway holding two plates of freshly made French toast. The aroma of cinnamon and sugar calmed Ashely enough to retract her teeth but the embarrassment of what she thought to be an overdramatic action left the hacker feeling foolish in her panic. Lightly placing the plates on the glass coffee table, Rachel sits to the far left of Ashely on there beaten leather couch. For some seconds the silence only continues.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Thanks for the food love, it looks great.”
The silence continues as Ashely attempts to break the tension, her voice weakly shaking in fear of saying something wrong.
“Are you mad at me for not saying anything at first? If so I’m sorry, like really, really sorry, I just was worried the information might put you in some danger or make you worry about me.”
Scootching a little closer Ashley tries to console the red head who just places her head in her hands and chuckles.
“It’s funny, I thought we were silent because you were mad at me.”
She gently smiles at the hacker, her teeth perfectly white and imperfectly positioned around the middle. Ashely can’t help but weakly smile, confused but relieved.
“You thought I was mad at you?”
Ashely feeling confident moves in a little closer.
“Yeah. I let my anger get the better of me again. I shouted, I screamed at you. When you decided to be truthful, I was ready to bite your head off. But I waited and thought about why you would not tell me, and I realised how dangerous it would be for you to just spread this info around. Then I just started worrying that you felt I had overreacted and treated you like shit.”
Rachel leans back in her seat; red hair being scrunched up by the pillows behind her. One vest strap slightly falling to the side of her shoulder. She smiled sweetly at Ashely as they both breathed a sigh of relief.
“You’re silly you know that?”
Ashely gently rubs her nose against her girlfriends.
“I could never be mad at you. Never someone who looks at me so perfectly.”
A blush overcomes the hackers cheeks as she says this. She can’t help but smile at what she believed to be the most beautiful woman around.
“I’m glad you aren’t mad at me; I do this to often to you though and… I don’t know I just wished I could be a lot calmer with you. You make me so happy and you’re so wonderful, I feel like I treat you so unfairly sometimes.”
Rachel takes her girlfriends hands in hers; they look at each other lovingly, the tension of an argument has faded away and all that could be felt in the air was love. Ashely places her head on Rachels shoulder, red hair gently falls onto her face and tickles her eyes, the smell of coconut shampoo is pleasant to the young adults nose.
“You forget that I’m never mad at you. When have you ever heard me shout? Anytime I see those freckles frown I forget what ever argument I had. All I wanna do at that point is kiss you, make you smile. Yeah, you can say some hurtful stuff, but I know you never mean it. It’s just that Wetlander in you coming out.”
A feeling of lips meeting forehead reaches Ashely, as Rachel seems somewhat moved by her words.
“Isn’t really the best excuse though, is it?”
Rachel frowns a little, upset at her impulsive anger.
“Do you love me?”
Ashely leaves Rachels shoulder and looks into her eyes.
“Yeah, I love you so much.”
“Then you could never hurt me. You could just kiss me, and I’d forget about everything.”
They lightly press their lips together. Lovingly embracing each other with a kiss.
“See I already forgot what we were talking about.”
Ashley smiles as they both giggle.
“We should probably eat our toast. All this love is probably making them cold.”
Rachel turns her head to the food left on the table.
“Well, I’ll make sure to hate you a little bit to heat them back up.”
The joke has Rachel briefly laughing as she pushes away Ashely’s face playfully into the couch.
“Be quiet silly and eat your food.”
Rachel sits cross-legged with her plate in-between her legs. Ashely awkwardly leans over the table. Occasionally looking over her shoulder to look at her partners smiling face. In truth Ashely feels nothing but love for Rachel, but the feeling of worry constantly haunts her. Ashely barely knows many household workings. She just managed to work the dishwasher without any supervision and her driving skills are less than desirable. However, everything Rachel did seemed to be perfect. The fact that Rachel chose her still baffles her. Images of the ramen bar flood her mind as she sits back, plate on lap, mesmerised by her partners eyes.
The smell of seaweed and spicy broths fill her nose as she transcends into the memory. Another lonely night studying at Mr Kurosawa’s noodle joint. And then she walks in. Alone and seemingly confused, she sits by herself looking for Kurosawa’s attention. The old man never enjoyed meeting someone he didn’t know so seemingly tried to ignore her originally. Ashely felt a strong pull towards this woman immediately. It was like they were supposed to meet here. Out of character she sat next to her, raised her hand and in Japanese called for the chefs attention. They hit it off right away after that moment. Rachel was a Wetlander, born outside the dam. Lived in stilted houses trying to avoid the ever rising water. She had recently ran away from home and was looking to make a life for herself beyond the ever present flood. Somewhere she can make a difference. Her ambition was inspiring and after dating for only a couple months they moved in together, living in Ashely’s crummy student accommodations. Now Rachel was an aspiring journalist and protester. They lived together in a co rented flat overlooking the North Sector. Life was just perfect.
“You going to that Leviathan protest tomorrow morning?”
Mouth full of toast Ashely engages in another conversation.
“Hope it won’t disturb your workday. Doubt you’d really care but I don’t know you might be doing something important.” Rachel wipes crumbs into her plate.
“Nah it’ll just be some regular brick laying, code making. You know the usual.”
They continue to eat. Rachel finishing first and laying the plate on to the table.
“Awesome, You better thank me if your work gets called off for it though. I’m working hard here to make this company miserable.”
A chuckle leaves the red heads mouth.
“I’ll be inside rooting for you. Maybe if you look at the 30th floor you might see me. Headset on, brain progressively getting fucked.”
“You take your meds this morning?”
Rachel looks at Ashely concerned.
“Yeah, I remembered. I’m not allowing another episode.”
Ashely finishes her toast and roughly places the plate onto the table with a horrible clang.
A moment Ashely would never forget. Clutching her throat as she spasmed. The world around her losing texture, becoming Smoove. Rachel turning into nothing more than polygons on top of polygons. Any time she thought back to that episode she felt the same headache it gave her. A pounding, sickening pain. As if someone was scrambling her head with a power drill from the inside. Every torn away meat, every skull fracture the power drill caused. It all could be felt. Digital Psychosis was no joke for Ashely anymore. Her job has consequences but being able to use it to hack powerful and corrupt corporations, that makes the pain a little more bearable.
“Good, I’m glad. Id rather not have to watch you go through that again. I never expected digital space to be so mentally tiring.”
Rachel falls back into Ashely’s lap and looks up at her partners eyes. The digital yellow of cyberspace faintly glowing in her eyes. The effect of being connected for several hours a day.
“Well, being in a digital world more than the real one can really do something to the mind. Don’t worry, the exercises and meds are helping. Everything should be fine.”
Ashely begins stroking Rachels hair, running strands of amber hair through her fingers. The glossy smoothness is a comfort for her slightly dried hands. Rachel gently grabs the hackers hand and presses it against her smooth check. They lean into each other. Expressing their love through the passion in their lips. Ashely felt her heart pound in enjoyment of this moment. Every worry faded as her love stole that kind of fear. That was what Ashely found so important. Rachel’s ability to remove all her fears. She felt like she could function in her arms. Make sentences matter and solve every problem. That was love in her eyes. And it was a powerful kind of love. For the moment they were happy. Unknown to the couple, the laptop left opened on the kitchen table was flashing. The lights illuminating the wall behind it. Notification, after notification present themselves in the corner of the screen. The worry of users presented heavily in the use of all caps. All with the same warning.
“Leviathan know it was a construction worker. Be careful Honeybee!!!”