Chapter Seventy-Three

The air was frigid and whirling with substantial force. Separating two men from the fury outside was the small outpost’s brick thermal wall, and even then, the wrath of the bone-chilling night was only survivable thanks to the extra heating grids and the multiple fireplaces constantly burning. A small-screen data monitor sat on a table that had seen better days. They heard the little voices of people on screen as they spoke.

“Did you see that? That lady there on the ark just sent this message. It was the girl’s doctor. She sent it to her parents!”

“Look! It can’t be. It’s her DNA! So, she’s no longer aging at all?” exclaimed a man who seemed to be a doctor from the white coat he wore and the stethoscope around his neck.

“Hey, I bet that’s gotta be worth a lot of ZENn to someone,” another with a bottle of vodka in his hand mumbled from the room’s other end.

“Again, your shortsightedness appallingly clear—how would you spend your ZENn, in say, five hundred years?” the older masked man replied again with such authority one could easily discern he was the leader.

“We should get her alive, and when I say alive, I mean we would likely ruin any chance to understand her DNA and aging synthesis with her dead, so alive is imperative,” he explained. He emphasized the word alive, so the threat behind his words could not be mistaken: if you kill her, you will be dead before you even know it. Then, when the men nodded, he spoke again, but this time to himself.

“She is much more valuable than any ZENn,” he said and caressed his fingers together, lost in a daydream of all the possibilities he would hold, should they discover the secret to her aging phenomenon.

“How do you propose we take her out?” the other man asked, dropping the emptied bottle in the bin and grabbing another from the shelf. “She’s connected to that force field thing that people say makes her something like, superhuman?” he shrugged, keeping his gaze on Azid.

“One of our members overheard a conversation yesterday stating something about Earth may move out of the path of the quantum web, where I suspect she draws her special capabilities from. Have our guys run some models to see if this is true. If so, this will be when she is at her weakest and the opportune time to capture her,” he said, not even turning to glance at the man as he waved his fingers, meaning you are dismissed. Follow orders and shut the hell up.

* * *

Viktoriya switched from her nightdress to her black sweater, then pulled on her gloves. After her parents had left the house the previous day, they returned with Choe, who now shared her room.

Choe had not known that long after she had fallen asleep, Viktoriya had lain on her bed, eyes glued to the ceiling with a thousand and one thoughts swiveling in her mind. Soon, everything would be lost.

They would be safe, but again, they would not be home. She had recalled the speech her mother always told her. Home is where you find your family and friends. It’s where you feel the most alive, and not just the structure.

What about an entire planet?

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

She thought about this for a long moment. Earth was not just their home, but the home of all humans, and they were going to lose it.

She thought about all the places that she would never see again. All the memories gradually becoming irreversibly cold, and when the lone tear rolled down her face, she did not fight it.

She looked around, admiring the familiar brick and glass of the house, savoring every touch as though saying her goodbye. She had returned to change into warmer gear for the outside, sat down, and strapped her boots on. Choe slowly shrugged awake, stretching her eyes open just in time to see her friend stand up.

“Vik, where are you going?” she called, still sleepy but now sitting up in bed.

Viktoriya slid the door open, turning back to her friend, who now had her arm wrapped around the pillow.

“I want to visit the old train station for one last time while it is still there,” she said.

“Whaatt?”

“Choe, we are never going back to school again. Not in the way we have in the past, and even though I hated school sometimes, God knows, for all the bullies and intimidating students. I know I’m still going to miss it. Just as much as I am going to miss watching the old train at the old park.”

“Why? It’s so cold. Why do you want to go there? I don’t even think it is still running.”

“I don’t care. I just need to be there for a while. I have a lot of peaceful memories of being there. I used to ride it all evening sometimes. The conductors didn’t mind me being there and just riding.”

Choe rose to her feet, instantly reaching for her clothes as her friend became lost in her own words. “They even let me come into the umm. Oh, what’s the first car called, where they drive? Oh, the engine. With the engineer! I pulled the whistle!” she said, smiling now.

All the memories she had of Earth.

Home was not just a place with family and friends, but an experience where the memories of family and friends were made. She recalled when she first walked to the passenger car with no money on her.

“I, I just wanted to see the inside. It’s so beautiful. I’m sorry, I didn’t know that it cost money to ride.”

The conductor had just taken one look at her, smiled, then gestured toward the seat, inviting her to ride. That day, she had been mad at her parents and needed to have some time away for a bit to think.

The train had always been a haven for her. The place she could go to anytime she felt lost and wanted to get out. Whenever she could not tell what lay ahead or what to do next or when her emotions got the best of her. She didn’t even need anywhere to go in particular; she just needed to be going.

Sometimes, the best destinations are actually the trip you make to get there.

Now that was going to fade away and be lost forever. Losing a part of herself that would remain here, frozen without her.

“What? There’s only one other stop, right? It only goes there and back? So, you rode back and forth all evening? What for?” Choe queried and marveled because she had not known that about her friend. She also stripped down to her undergarments and put some clothes on—black leather trousers and a thick woolen sweater that covered her gloved hand.

They both checked the charge on their HyperVolt thermal coats and wrapped them around one another.

“Hey, if it’s still running, then I’ll show you! If it’s not too cold that they have shut it down, or one of the earthquakes has damaged it, we can ride it together!”

Choe only turned and let out a low laugh.

“Bring your violin!”

Viktoriya did not know why she had asked Choe to come with her violin, but she knew the music was a way to numb all the thoughts she did not want to listen to. And since Choe was going somewhere that she felt a bit out of place, maybe she would feel a bit safer with her violin in hand. Perhaps they would both ride the train far into the evening, the sound of the engine reverberating like a chorus of music.

Sounds clashing metals against noise, and the disastrous harmony of that bliss would give a soothing and gentle touch, helping them to bid their dearest planet farewell. Maybe they could ride, taking in the splendid scenery of Earth one more time.

“CLEFF, your parents and security detail will have to come with us, Right? Oh! Can we bring Aura along, too?” Choe added as she tugged the second boot on.

“Yes, of course, if she wants to! Besides that, I don’t really care who comes and who doesn’t. I just—I want to see it once more before it is gone forever,” she said, still lost in her head.

Choe gave her an agreeing nod.

“Yes! Let’s do it!”