“You’ve been busy.” Was all he said to me. Years, literal years since we’d seen each other and he still, somehow–someway, scared me. That voice sent a slight shiver down my spine. Maybe it was just the way he projected it. RJ reclined in his office chair, mostly obscured by the oversized desk that sat between us. I sat in the chair across from him. Stormcaller waited outside. She figured we needed the time to catch up and she probably headed downstairs to mingle about. I didn’t blame her, there was no telling how long this could take. The office itself was beautiful. A large fish tank projected from the wall on the far side. It wasn’t real, nothing here was. Most things in the undercity were projections or artificial constructs attempting to replicate some sort of normalcy that the uppercity experiences. It's weird to think about the privileges we have, but I suppose we do have them. Experiencing sunlight, real sunlight, for example, when you’re high enough up–or rain. Rain in Industry is beautiful. It's one of the few things I enjoy about the damned city.
The walls were cold concrete. There was no color to them, gray maybe, blue tinted gray? RJ hadn’t really spent much time on them, yet somehow this was still one of the most expensive looking offices I’d ever seen. The decor, the lighting fixtures, the faux tv displays and the music players, the fireplace. It was all digital enhancements of some kind but somehow it looked like it was worth more than my entire bunker set up, which somehow offended me.
“Looks like you have too.” I said quietly. I’m sure he could hear the unease in my voice. He grinned.
“I’ve been busy, yes. Took this club from almost nothing and made it into one of the largest franchises in the whole city, let alone the undercity.” His voice had a hint of aggression to it, being much older from the voice I remember him having. He gestured vaguely around at everything.
“It's quite an impressive club, I must admit.” I realized I still had the voice changer active, and the mask was still on. He shook his head.
“Thank you but my dear, you know you can drop the formalities. We go way back. I already know who you are, I know more about you than you do. You can take the mask off.” He said, almost commanding it. I shook my head.
“I’m fine, thanks. How do I know you won’t take pictures of me with your security cameras and have some kind of extra dirt on me to use some time later?” I asked. If he had honestly wanted to do anything to me, in all these years, he could have–I still would never put anything past him. I know what he’s capable of and the things he has done to people to get where he is. He truly is and always will be, a monster. Yet, for some reason, my brain considers him one of my closest friends. I sighed with that thought.
“Dear. If I was going to use any dirt on you, wouldn’t I just turn you in for that job we did all those years ago? Or how about those other things you witnessed? Hm? The many times you stood idle as I did my thing. Hm?” He started. I sighed again, lifting my mask. He was right. If he wanted to do something to me, he had plenty of opportunity and evidence to use. I’m not clean. Machines no I’m not clean by any stretch of the imagination. As I’d said before. I tried everything to escape the shadows of Harbinger. I tried everything to find somewhere that would accept me for what I was and quite frankly, RJS crew, his sister, his brother and the gang he ran with, accepted me–more or less. I felt the fresh air hit my face as I set the mask on the desk. He smiled.
“What? Oh right–You probably haven’t seen me like this, have you?” I asked, a slight blush breaking.
“I have not. It’s nice. Honestly. You look great.” He smiled, gesturing towards the vending machine. I shook my head.
“Thank you. I appreciate that, you don’t look too bad yourself honestly. I’m sorry I haven't reached out before now. Things have been crazy these last few years. The transition, the detective work. The Institution’s been hard at work and there’s been a lot going down with Fear.” I explained.
“It’s quite alright. I Understand. I keep up on the news. I listen to the channels. You know, there’s plenty of people that would like to see you sometime though. Bell, Daniel, Ya know, some of the crew misses you.” He admitted. I doubted the crew part, those bastards were the guys that set me up for my first big, botched mission.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m sure. I’m sure. I’ll get around to catching up with everyone.” I lied. Daniel would be nice to catch up with and so would Bell when she was off work, but I had no intentions of reconnecting with THAT crew ever again. I’d promised the next time they saw me would be their last and I’m pretty sure RJ remembers that.
“So–” He got comfortable, opening a can of some kind of drink and taking a sip. “What can myself or my establishment do for the infamous darkfire of the uppercity?” He asked, playfully embellishing the name as if teasing me about it. The last time I’d been with RJ, I wasn’t the vigilante I am today. I was but his henchman, more or less.
“Well- it’s a long story if I’m being honest.” I said, fidgeting.
“I have all day.”
“So. –” I explained. I explained everything I could remember. The nightmares. The park, Mask. The warehouse, I left out grabbing a bit of the serum. That would be my own little secret. I explained what Simon and I had witnessed. I told him about the graveyard getting worse like the nightmares. I told him about the name Woodpecker. I probably spent a good forty-five minutes explaining everything to him. Telling it out loud was helping though. Pieces were falling slightly into place for me as I talked. I recounted the memory loss and the issues I was having with the inner voice. He was one of the only people ever that knew about that. Him, Jess and my family.
“You’re asking me what, exactly?” He asked, obviously taking everything in. He was dodging in fact; I had a feeling he’d run into a couple of the same things as I had but wanted me to delve further into what I had. Which was fair, I came to him.
“I don’t know exactly. I guess I’m more so asking. Have I been here recently and just not realized it? I had your bar written down on a file I’d erased. Luckily, I was able to have Jefferson recover it and it led me here.” He thought for a few, a lot longer than I’d expected him to consider it.
“I don’t think so. But it is possible you slipped through security at some point. I have lots of eyes here but I’m sure you'd have figured that out, if you had actually been here. You could have meant to come here and just wrote it down, right?” He asked. It was a fair thought.
“I suppose, but if I was planning to come here why would I have deleted the file with it, why even type it in the computer and not just jot it down on a piece of paper?” I asked.
“That's true.” He admitted.
“I’m sure i could probably ask around the bar, see if anyone’s seen me recently.” I spoke.
“You could. I won’t even stop you. Is that all? I’m sure you didn’t come all this way for this.” He smugged.
“You always know me so well. I also wanted to ask you something that I didn’t want to send digitally. Ya know?” I admitted.
“Go on.” He waited.
“Is there–are there–do we have any records of blood abilities?” I whispered as low as I could.
“Blood?” He tilted his head.
“Yeah, like blood abilities. Being able to maybe use your own or even other people’s blood as an ability? Maybe even something to do with memory or the brain or bodily functions? I don’t know but I may be on to something if there is such a thing?” I started.
He thought, for a while, drinking from his drink. He mulled it over. I guessed it was to be careful of what he tells me. I may have been a student of his at one point but there was something of a competition between us. Always had been. Which one of us could know the most or do the most with a given skill or task.
“Sisters. Look into the sisters. Specifically, the Seven Sisters of Industry. They go back a ways, myth mostly old timer superstitions and old guard folklore.” He explained. The Seven Sisters of Industry? I knew a lot about our history. Why hadn’t I ever heard of this before?
“I can see the look on your face AJ. You aren’t meant to hear about these guys. It’s an undercity myth anyway, you guys up top shouldn't even have the stories.” He folded his arms.
“Fair enough. I’m just surprised I’ve never even heard the name before.”
“That's kind of the point.” He said cryptically.
“I suppose. Thank you though, I’ll dig around with that. That’s more than I came with, so I appreciate it.” I said, standing.
“Is there anything else I can help you with?” He asked.
“No thank you. I appreciate everything you’ve given me RJ. truly.”
“You could stick around and visit for a while, you know.” He said, though I could tell he was being polite.
“No thanks. I’ve got a trip to take out to an old friend of mine.” I said, sliding the mask back on. Held my hand out but he came around the desk and leaned in for a hug. I accepted and reciprocated.
“It was nice seeing you, really.” He admitted. I smiled from under the mask at him.
“Likewise.” I started towards the door.
“You know. If this whole vigilante thing doesn’t quite work out for you, you could always come get a job here working for me again. I could use some more dance girls and I must admit you’re perfect for the job.” He laughed.
“Gross.” I said as I shut the door behind me, breaking off his laughter that I could still hear from outside in the lobby. I knew there was going to be some kind of sex joke in there somewhere. I knew it. He just couldn’t let that go, could he? I mean I know he hadn’t seen me like this but come on. The first thing he suggests is me being one of his dancers. Come on. I should, if anything, be working for him–no Dammit. Dammit Dammit. NO. I broke from this past of mine. I’m my own girl now and I don’t need to even consider joining anything involving him. I appreciated the information he gave me but dammit I would not be enthralled by him again. I shook my head. He was already having an effect on me, and I needed to get out. I looked around for Stormcaller, who–hadn’t been there. Looks like I was right, and she headed back downstairs to wait.
I walked back to the elevator, waited in the elevator for Jefferson to happily chip around. Would working for RJ be that bad? I mean it would absolutely get me off the streets. The Fear Patrol heat was picking up a lot and to be entirely fair, the money some of his girls made was quite impressive. I looked at the club a while ago and yeah. He paid well and the work sounded fun. No. I shook my head again. I would not be coerced into working with that man let alone FOR that man ever again. The elevator doors hissed open as I Stepped out. I scanned the bar for Stormcaller but Bell called out to me before I could even start.
“Hey, Dark!” She yelled, beckoning me to come over. I strolled over to her.
“Yeah?” I asked, fixing the setting of the voice changer.
“If you’re looking for Storm, she left. Something came up downtown and she rushed out.” Bell spoke out. I nodded my thanks and headed towards the exit. I slipped through the shadows heading towards my bike. If she bailed without saying anything, there must be something major happening. I could have checked it out, but I should probably not involve myself. This was under her control after all. I slid into my bike, breaking from the shadowslip. I hopped on, kicked the engine on as it roared to life. The headlights kicked on; neon red illuminated the street. Several security machines looked up at me.
“Halt you, masked one. Turn off the bike and get on the round.” Oh wonderful, fans. I ducked as a shot burst out in triplets. These guys weren’t even gonna let a girl get on her knees huh, ironic, considering the club we just left. I hit the throttle, swerving the bike around as I felt a few pings against the metal. Dammit. That sounded like something I’d need to fix eventually. The bike flung itself forward as I pushed through the several metallic guards. They looked vaguely like humans, must have been older models though because I could absolutely tell the differences. The pulsing rifles continued to fire after me as the sounds drowned beneath the onslaught of the screaming and yelling from the passerby civilians. Fear Patrol may have sent them after me, but I’d doubted it. These guys were too clumsy for everything I heard about the Undercity Fear Patrol. I swirled around the streets, heading back towards the drains I used to get here. More guards stood ready, opening fire as they saw me. I grinned, skidded to a halt and flicked open my flack launcher. Several little beeping thermal charges flew out from the sides of the bike and exploded into clouds of thick fog and mist, covering the barely-lit-by-flickering-neon streets. I tucked down covering myself, threw on a gas mask I had dangling from the cockpit and throttled forward. The bike whirled and hummed through the fog with a quick blitz of stream, breaking through the thick fog. Red LEDs cut through the fog like a knife. I hit where I entered the undercity, I could see the drains again. As I approached a glint of silver caught my attention in the rearview mirror.
A drone. That was unusual. A camera drone no less. I recognized the stripe on the top. It followed behind me as I headed up through the drains. As it got closer is when I realized exactly what drone this was. At first, I figured RJ maybe sent something after me or Stormcaller. Nope. I recognized the color pallet. Purple and black–who did I know in all of Industry that is iconic with that color scheme.
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Melony.
I zipped back upwards to my part of Industry. The drains felt smaller this time. I may have used the wrong vent, or my adrenaline was kicking in and everything was rushing to my head. I could feel my muscles tensing as the bike roared again. This upwards angle was not what these bikes were designed to do. It hissed and yelled at me for attempting to drive sideways. It was something I’d done before so I knew it was possible but with the amount of damage the bike had already taken, I didn’t quite blame her complaining.
“Just, bare with me a little longer. Almost there.” I said, petting the side of her like she was some kind of big cat or something. I could finally see light breaking through from the top. I pushed up, one final pull of the throttle. She hisses another screeching clank. That's not good. We slammed upwards and crashed almost instantly into the ground. Metal scraped cement as I dove off the bike. I dove in the air and came down into a crouching roll as a bullet whizzed right by me into the cement.
“Machines Sake! Holy shit!” I yelled, ducking to the side dodging another shot. Melony had set a trap. Damn, I was more or less impressed. I dove again. Another shot. Two more shots. One almost hit my shoulder tearing through the hoody fabric. I was glad I hadn’t worn one of my favorite band ones today. I dove again, climbed the wall a bit and threw a ball of black fire her way. I couldn’t quite tell where she was in this pillar. I was a little boxed in, but the good thing was that I could just climb up.
“Or dive back down?” I had a point. There you were. I wondered when I'd wake up.
I shook my head. I wasn’t going back down there with our fanclub probably still waiting. How had they known I was even in the undercity? Only person that knew I was heading there would have been Jefferson and there was no way in shit he called the Institute on me. Why was Melony so hardcore right now too? She hadn’t even given me a chance to surrender. Usually by now she called herself out and announced my untimely surrender.
“Yo, what the fuck bro?” I called out. I figured it was a wasted attempt, but anything was better than nothing here. I was met by another shot.
“Shut up. Just, shut the fuck up. You wanna surrender, fine, but we’re done talking.” Melony’s voice called out. She seemed pissed, even more so than usual. That monotone voice of hers broke slightly into a lower octave. Lovely. I shivered.
“Done talking? All you did was shoot and yell, barely constitutes talking” I muttered but loud enough she could hear from wherever she was posted up. Another shot fired out as I sent it flying with a ball of black flames. She was getting really close to actually hitting me and I didn’t like it. I tried to find any bit of darkness I could use to slip out of here, but I was boxed. She had me cornered in a perfect trap, almost perfect. The drone flew around trying to capture what I assumed was going to be my ‘resisting arrest’ for local news stations to report–so I hopped up. These drones weren’t made for carrying weight of any kind really, especially not a full adult person. I understand this now as the machine instantly crashed into the side of the cement pillar. Though a failed attempt, I was able to hop up enough onto the wall that by shooting flames downwards, I thrusted enough momentum upwards and leapt over the top. Another hurdle with a bad landing on my side and I was up–and reminded of the previous several months' worth of wounds I’d received. No matter how powerful of an ability you had, no matter how good I was at my fire powers–being impaled still sucked.
“SONofAbitch” I heard myself yelling. I saw boots on the ground moving quickly around the entrance pillars of the walls. Everything else there was a blur really. I found the smallest bit of darkness, shrouded by a broken light fixture and took the opportunity. Before I knew I was through the walls and on the other side. I’d left my bike inside, but that was ok. There wasn’t anything on there that would really lead to anything incriminating on me. I’d need to find another bike though if I planned to do any long-distance traveling. I couldn’t exactly call for an uber cab outside the wall limits. I drug my feet a little, feeling the pain. I walked a bit. The sun shone bright as hell over the wastelands. Well, forest-wastelands? I’m not entirely sure how to describe outside of the walls. It's not barren, but it isn’t a forest or woods or anything either. The trees are deformed and decayed but yet, sprawling? It's a weird sight to see that few people ever actually get the chance to. Just as I’d gotten a little comfortable leaning against a tree trunk-
BLAM
Another shot rang out zipping through the other side of my hoody. Dammit did this chick not quit? I tucked around the tree, throwing random spurts of black balls of fire everywhere I could see. I wasn’t just shooting half-assed. The smoke provided enough cover to zip my way up the little shade and into the tree, hopefully, I could get some kind of sight advantage here. Where was she? She–was nowhere. I looked out towards the city walls to find several more purple and black drones approaching me. She must have been on the wall. The drone starts firing little burst rounds, much like the other, only these ones were more streamlined.
I couldn’t let these follow me. If the bunker ever got uncovered, I’d be fucked. I’m sure they know the bunker is out there, but if I ever gave this kind of evidence that I was using it. They’d raid it in a heartbeat. I tucked around and back down to the ground, blasting more fire their way. One of the drones spun out of control hitting a second one. Perfect. One left. The 3rd one looked different though. It had a different eye shape on the front, and it wasn’t purple and black but red and black. The eye wasn’t the usual camera lens either, it was–an actual eye. I watched it for a minute, flabbergasted at how terrifying it looked. Blood stained where the lens would be. I waited for Fear Patrol to come out guns blazing, I’d noticed the firing had stopped through the flames too. I watched this creepy little thing circle the tree like a lion hunting its prey. I figured I could outrun the drone, but I was sure that Melony wouldn’t have given much of a shit and she’d have probably taken the opportunity to clip me the minute I hit the ground. I watched this thing circle me again. I’d figured that if it were going to try something, it had already done so, so I drifted off into the nothingness of sleep.
I woke to what must have been hours later. Exhaustion had gotten the better of me as I realized it was night. I felt small little droplets of rain hitting against the eye holes of my mask. Rain always felt good to me. The sensation of those small pellets of water droplets bursting onto your skin. It was a welcome feeling when your body runs hot like mine does. The rain fell faster as the small drizzling became a storm in a matter of minutes. I didn’t mind though. Like I said, the rain feels good in Industry. The city, with all of its neon and robotics, suffocates itself in heat. The rain was cold, which felt nice. I breathed in and sighed. These last several months had been so hard and stressful that I had barely taken the time to enjoy the fact that for the most part, I do in fact live outside the city walls. I can breathe. I can slow down at times and enjoy nature. (Which is something most people, not even some of the richest folks in the upper, or lower city, can say.)
I leapt down from the tree with a thud in the ground, which had already begun soaking up the puddles of rainwater. I had almost forgotten–I was going to head out to Harmony. I didn’t want to. Everything in my brain screamed not to, but. This case. Whatever was going on with Fear Patrol-it all pointed to Harmony, and I had a deep gut wrenching feeling that I’d find my answers there. Or at least, I'd find something there. Woodpecker had mentioned Harmony several times throughout this case. Case. I keep using that word in my head, case. I didn’t even know what I was initially looking into or even if someone had hired me. Was it even a case? I was lost and taking shots in the dark every time I had a sliver of what I thought was solid information. RJ had been the most helpful, but would these Seven Sisters even be remotely beneficial to my “Case”? Through these thoughts as they flooded my head like the puddles I now splashed in, I found myself arriving at the base of the bunker. She looked terrifying in the dark like this, which helped when it came to straggling Fear Patrol and other agents of chaos like mercenaries and bandits that would find themselves braving the barrenlands outside the walls. I stepped forward, ready to go inside–when I saw the silhouette of a bike.
A hoverbike sat before me through the flames that now danced in my gloved hand. I approached with caution as with each step I took my stomach felt worse and worse. Surely this was a trap. This had to be my bike, Melony left it here somehow. She found me out or worse, Jess finally ratted on me and wanted that promotion. My heart ached with the very thought. Through the dancing illumination I realized though that this was a brand-new bike. A new model even, fresh off the lot. Harmony’s Sake, it didn’t even look like it had reached the lot. Fresh black tint to it, orange outlines around it. Damn. This was the nicest looking bike I’d ever seen. A huge upgrade to the model I’d left behind. A note was tied to the handlebar.
I’m sorry I wasn’t there to help. Something came up–I’ll explain what’s going on at some point. I wanted to yesterday. Please take this gift from me as an apology. I heard what happened and felt guilty. I know you’re capable on your own, but something is definitely going on and I can shed some further light on the subject next, we meet. I do hope you take your experience from yesterday and choose to rekindle your connections with the undercity. I have heard of your past, AJ. Know, you have friends. You’re not alone.
Stormcaller-
Jack.
Jack? Stormcaller had a name? I mean. Sure, she did but Damn. We were-wait. The undercity wants to connect with me? Even given everything in my past? I took a step back and leaned against the wall, holding the letter in the rain. The ink splotched with each drop of rain and within seconds became an unrecognizable mess, though the message I’d read was loud and clear. I had someone willing to work with me. I hopped on and kicked on the engine. It rumbled to a nice hum, no clicks and bangs just a smooth hum of the engine and thrusters. I took her for a spin around the bunker a few times, letting myself run wild a bit–it felt nice. The wind blew against the mask. The adrenaline of being on the bike always felt good. I took her around the bunker and through some of the pathways in the surrounding “forests.” Once I’d finished having my fun, I took her and parked her where the previous one had been, in the little run-down shack a mile down the road. The shack sits in its usual corrosion, filled with cobwebs and rusty nails. It had once been a food storage unit for the bunker I have now claimed as my own. I never understood why the food storage unit was so far away, during threats of nuclear exposure, but there are plenty of things from the world gone by that I can’t quite fathom.
I strolled back to the bunker, splashing in the puddles as I came across them. My boots were soaked by the time I’d gotten back. The bunker sat, as I always left it–dark and ominous. I made sure there was no one watching and knocked a pattern Jefferson and I agreed on. The knocking finished as I was met by the clicking and hissing of the door unlatching. I entered the darkness as the lights flickered and the bunker returned alive. There I saw my home. Sure, I had the Green house with my siblings. I technically lived there, but this was my home. I felt more alive here, more myself. I walked down the staircase into the main lobby, where I’d left the blankets on the couch the other day. The TV remained off and the computer monitors idled. Everything still sat on my desks as they’d been. I sat down in the spinny chair as Jefferson popped on along with all my monitors.
“Evening AJ.” He said with a thumbs up. The animation saw him dancing around in a raining street holding an umbrella in his hand which floated on non-existent arms.
“It is such a joy to be back Jefferson.” I said with a sigh as I stood, changing. I realized I’d sat in my wet clothes and instantly shot up. Luckily the leather on the chair hadn’t been too wet yet, so I managed to brush it off with a towel from the kitchen. Music started playing from my stereo system. I switched into my orange and black pajamas and sat back down, grabbing a bag of chips from one of the kitchen cabinets. The Bunker’s loft area looked more like a display room store set up than anything, with some of my own personal touches. The living room, entertainment area and kitchen are all segmented away from the bedroom and bathroom with a single hallway. Everything is built with a modern open flow kind of vibe. I didn’t mind it. It was one of those older concepts from the time before, but I digress. I grew to like it. I got into fresh socks and fixed my pajamas, sitting back down in the chair.
“How was your journey through the undercity miss. I saw it looked eventful.” Jefferson pointed to a new article video clip that appeared in the corner of one of the monitors.
“What do you mean?” I asked, looking at the monitor where he was pointing to.
“Oh, come on.” My voice cracked a little. Every now and again I was reminded of how feminine my voice actually sounded now. I shook it off by clicking open the article. It was a news clipping with video footage from the events of yesterday in the undercity. They had me barreling my way from the drone. Drones crashing. Guns blazing on the street and a close up of my mask. The headline read something to the effect of DarkFire pays visit to undercity Industry. I sighed again.
“The cat is out of the proverbial bag now isn’t it. I had thought you’d wanted to maintain a little more discretion, down there miss AJ.” Jefferson asked.
“I had and it is.” I admitted. I looked over to my stack of scanners. Police scanners, Fear Patrol, individual channels tuning into private affairs with specific city officials. There was one, however, an older model, that hadn’t been turned on for years. In fact, the last time I had used it was the night before RJ’s crew stabbed me in the back and left me for dead. I looked at it for a long time.
“You. Can’t be serious?” Jefferson asked concerned and he had every right to be concerned. He’d been around for it. He’d been around for all of it, and he knew as well as I did how bad of an idea reconnected with the past could be for me.
“Things are different now, Jeff. Things have changed. Stormcaller, for instance and there are good people I gave up because of him and those bastards.” I said through gritted teeth.
“But I don’t want to watch you walk down a similar path.”
“I won't. I don’t either. I’ve got you. I’ve got Bell and Dan; I could reconnect with him and even Stor-Jack. What kind of hero am I by shutting off an entire half of the city Jefferon?”
“That –that is a fair argument. Ok. If you can promise me and yourself for that matter, that you’re doing this for a good reason and not trying to regain any sort of favors with that man.” Jefferson said, flickering a red and gray color. I nodded.
“Believe me dude, I want nothing to do with him. I just want my old sense of life back. I want my friends back. I’ve been shut off for so long playing pretend rich girl in the uppercity and I'm sick of it. I want my old friends back. I want, no I need, to reconnect with myself Jeff. Besides, I feel like everything I’ve been trying to figure out over the last several months, hell the last few years of choppy, faulty memory, leads to the undercity.” I said, reaching my hand out towards the old scanner.
“As long as you’re sure. I’m here with you.” He gave a thumbs up.
“I’m sure. Trust me, again, I want nothing to do with specific individuals. But I think this will be good for me. For the brand, for us. For the whole superhero thing and most importantly. Myself. I think mentally I need this. I need my friends back.” I said as I flicked the switch on. The undercity hummed to life with static as voices broke through. The light warmed and I heard Fear Patrol chatter. Perfect. I looked over to the far side of the desk where another, single, scanner sat. I hadn’t touched that one ever. I had never turned that one on and I wasn’t sure I was ready to. A label, molded and scratched up now, read Harmony. It patched into what was left of the school’s PA system over in Harmony.
The school is one of a handful of structures that remains in that place. I am not ready for that yet, though–I do need to visit. That would be the next job. I needed to take a little time to myself. Those 3 months were spent in despair and pain, these next few days I would spend actually catching up on everything I missed out on. Relaxing, truly relaxing. I should probably contact the other home at some point too, I’m sure my siblings are worried to death about me, especially if they’ve seen the recent footage. My handle idled over the scanner switch before I pulled away from it.
No. In due time, maybe, but not right now. I wasn’t ready for that yet.
Tomorrow, however. Tomorrow was a different story.
One step at a time.