“This one’s the last build,” Evan reminds us. “So make sure anything you don’t want slagged is in your backpack on the deck.”
Andrea nods and heads into the bedroom to pack. My bag is already good to go, so I walk over to the back end of the deck and get started. I pull up the last of the spare catamarans and break it down for the materials I need for the start of the platform. Once I have it big enough to stand on, I grab my pack and Evan’s and take a bot-assisted leap over to the growing station. Evan brings the box with the last of the food and follows me over. He sets it down and gets to work on the platform’s control unit.
The sun is shining down and the tropical heat starts picking up. As I start to sweat, I strip my shirt off and toss it over by the food box. I’d rather not have a stinky shirt stuck in the flight suit with me when we head back to Hawaii later. Evan seems to have the same idea, because he strips his off too.
“Love the tan lines, brother,” he says with a laugh.
I take a look at myself with my many eyes. He’s not wrong. The color difference between my pale chest and my bronzed arms and face is pretty stark.
“Yeah, maybe I should even that out today,” I say. A couple of hours of sun while we do the build ought to get things looking more normal.
“You’re looking good, though,” he says. “I think Andrea’s exercise plan is just what you’ve been needing. Look, I even see a muscle or two growing on you.”
Andrea laughs from over on the cat’s deck, but I ignore her and give my arms a little flex. I really am looking better than I did a couple of weeks ago. I guess lots of fresh air, sunshine, and exercise are better for you than long days stuck at a desk. Who knew?
Once she gets done laughing at me, Andrea hops over with her pack and starts ripping apart the cat we’ve been living on. I see her bots chew through most of the hull and cabin, but carefully avoid destroying the walls, ceilings, and floors where she had inscribed artwork. Those parts float over whole and get fused onto the surface of the platform we’re building. I realize after the second panel connects the first one that she’s been planning this all along. The sections from various parts of the boat merge together into a seamless single work on the surface of the platform depicting an old sailing ship on a stormy sea.
The rest of the build goes smoothly, as we coordinate our efforts with practiced ease. I must have followed these build instructions enough that it’s getting to be part of my muscle memory. The last bits of the two catamarans float over and get incorporated into the solar panels on the platform, and Evan kicks on the control unit to let the station start to grow on its own. We sit down on the edge of the platform and munch on the last of the food.
Evan pulls the satellite phone from his backpack and fiddles with some buttons to get the heading back to the nearest land.
“All right. Looks like if we fly at top speed, we’ll run into Kauai in about ten hours,” he says. “Noah, you’ve got the maintainers on this one?”
I nod and take one more granola bar. I tear off the wrapper and let it drop down into the water. I watch with satisfaction as the collector sucks it in and starts processing it. I eat most of it and the rest becomes fish food. Evan drops the last trash and the box into the ocean and the platform sucks that all in too. My bots note the almost imperceptible change in the platform’s mass as it incorporates the materials. I do some quick calculations for how many bots I can spare.
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MAINTAIN(214,000,000,000,000)
The cascade of pinpricks sweeps over me, but I still have plenty of cloud left. “Done. We all set?” I ask.
Andrea nods and Evan grunts affirmatively. He looks at me as he shoulders his pack. I know what he’s thinking, even if he won’t say it. I promised him I wouldn’t try to kill myself again. He wants to trust me not to plunge back down into the water, but he’s still scared that I might. On the flight over the open ocean, I could pull it off so that he couldn’t stop me and he knows it.
I suit up and the other two do too. Andrea’s flight suit is even more elaborately detailed than last time. Up, up, and away we go. The wind rushes by. I put in the heading that Evan gave me and let the cloud handle the navigation. After the first few minutes, it’s just a relaxing float, cradled in the second skin of bots.
The kilometers race by and the platform disappears behind us. If I took a dive now and got myself deep enough, there’s nothing either of them could do to save me. It could still all be over.
No.
I promised I wouldn’t.
Mom wouldn’t want me to.
The temptation to plunge into the rippled surface below fades. We catch another updraft and settle into a smooth, easy flight pattern. Watching the water is nice for a while, but eventually boredom sets in.
To Evan: So, what’s next with you and Valerie?
From Evan: I’m going to meet her in Disneyland on the way back.
To Evan: Nice.
From Evan: You want to come along?
To Evan: I wouldn’t want to be a third wheel on your date.
From Evan: You wouldn’t be. Andrea’s coming anyway. We’ve been planning it for a while. We were going to surprise you with it, but that was before the whole thing. I wasn’t sure if you would be up for it anymore.
To Evan: Right. The best way to help someone suicidal is to keep them far away from fun things.
He looks over at me. I can’t see his face with his helmet on, but I can imagine the look he’s probably giving me.
To Evan: Sorry. You don’t deserve that.
From Evan: No. I don’t. Give me some credit, man. I was trying to be sensitive.
To Evan: I know. I know. I would like to go to Disneyland with you if the option is still on the table.
From Evan: You’re in luck. I didn’t scalp your ticket in the last few minutes.
To Evan: Thanks.
Another hundred kilometers go by before either of us says anything. Then Evan tells me about the perks of the special VIP Disney package we’re getting, which ends up triggering some memories of when Mom and I went and mostly stood in lines on a scorching July day. I revel in them as I index them. Any time I can reclaim anything about Mom, it’s worth it.
The flight feels like forever. After a few hours, Andrea skews off to the side, getting out of sight. Must be time for a drink and a bathroom break. Evan and I take the opportunity and lower ourselves down near the water. I form a small desalinator, scoop up some water, and take advantage of the minute or so it takes to remove the salt to face away from Evan and evacuate my bladder. On the first sip, the water is warmer than I’d like, so I have the bots that make up the bottle pull ambient heat for power. The second sip is better. I hand it off to Evan and he drinks his fill. I take it back, drink all I can, then dissolve the whole rig, letting the remaining water spill back down into the ocean.
I give it a few more minutes, then head in the same direction Andrea went with Evan close behind me. She’s heading back our way by the time we get to her. Exchanging nods, we head back on the course to the Hawaiian islands.