Eric and the Quantum Dragon
Chapter 56

Yamaguchi Research Facility, 7th District, Pan City

Monday December 31st, V26 (2046)

Quent Scarfe relaxed in the luxurious bath, letting the warm jets of water soothe his old body. He was watching an old drama series on the enormous view screen that hung from the ceiling while he sipped his rather alcoholic cocktail.

Bob-Two was listening avidly to a piece of classical music playing from concealed speakers, humming along using Quent’s off-key singing voice. It was a confusing scene for the hidden researchers in their control room, but the paired individuals sharing the body were used to it.

“This is the life, hey Bob-Two!” Quent interrupted his partner’s musical efforts. “Good food, plenty of booze and all the free TV we could ask for”

He raised a toast to their unseen watchers, using his meat arm since the metal one had been carefully disconnected when they arrived here. For now a plastic cap covered the stump end until a non-lethal replacement was fitted.

“It is a gilded cage, Quent” Bob-Two reminded him although he was not entirely unhappy with their situation. “They’ll experiment on us until they have learned all they want, then get rid of us”

“Yeah, I know that partner” Quent agreed. “But I’ll take all the gilding they offer until then!”

Bob-Two laughed and shook their head.

“You are easily pleased, Quent” he chuckled and sat back, letting the music flow through him once more.

Quent frowned, his glass almost to his lips as a thought struck him.

“Hey Bob-Two, where did we leave Fang? Do you think he’ll be Okay?”

“Fang? Don’t worry about that mutt. He’ll be running Haven City by the time we get back there” Bob-Two assured him.

=====

Curtis Testing Field, outside Pan City Walls

Stanley prodded the drum of coal in a disconsolate manner with his snout, feeling the hot sun beating down on his makeshift shelter. It was a portable hangar used for VTOLs and other aircraft on emergency landing fields and as a new bedroom he found it draughty at night and boiling hot during the day.

“This is quite unfair!” he grumbled to Sarah, who was sitting on a packing container to one side, a portable fan blowing hot air over her sweating body. “Why can’t I stay in my old house at the school?”

Sarah pulled her shirt away from her sticky chest, vainly trying to get the air flow to cool her down.

“You know why, Stanley” she reminded him. “Everybody can see your big blue butt now. Jericho-Two said it was too dangerous to let people see a dragon flying around the city”

“I could only go out at night” he suggested and picked a chunk of coal from the drum and looked it over. He sighed and dropped it back with a clink then shuffled over to his friend.

“Nothing tastes the same anymore” he whined. “I think you broke me when you opened that Portal”

Sarah glared at him and lifted her fist.

“I can break you right now if you keep that up” she warned him. “Anyway, I am as upset about this as you are. My best friend and favourite dragon has been exiled all the way out here. There is no way I can sneak out to visit you whenever I want”

“Yeah, this sucks!” Stanley agreed and laid his big head next to Sarah. He snorted an unhappy burst of steam into the air, filling the hangar bedroom with floral scented warmth.

Sarah turned the portable fan in his direction and blew the hot moist air to the furthest corner, trying to reduce the rising temperature.

“Maybe we should ask for a portable air-conditioner” Sarah suggested. Just then the two technicians who were looking after Stanley came into the hangar.

“Hi Quan, Hi Grace” Sarah called out politely to the pair as they entered. As always the technicians looked at Stanley with a mixture of stark terror and burning curiosity. They nodded a greeting to Sarah then turned their attention to the Steam Dragon.

“GOOD AFTERNOON!” Quan said loudly and slowly, as if the dragon was a tourist who didn’t speak English. “HOW ARE YOU TODAY, STANLEY?”

Stanley looked at Sarah and shrugged his big shoulders.

“Are you sure they can’t hear my voice?” he asked her hopefully. “They are like this every time they speak to me”

“Positive” Sarah confirmed. “Even Eric can’t hear you and he was able to speak with Nothing. Maybe you are just faulty. Use the verbal code we set up”

Stanley faced the two researchers and slowly and deliberately opened his mouth.

“GROAR!” he bellowed, sending a gentle blast of moist air over the pair. Grace’s hair blew out loosely at her back and Quan’s glasses fogged up.

“One roar, so that meant Yes!” Grace declared happily and Quan nodded too, jiggling his steamy glasses to the tip of his nose.

“So I am Yes?” wondered Stanley and Sarah hid a small laugh behind her hand.

“Stanley says he is fine today” she told the two. “So how soon will the new house be finished?”

“The house?” Quan asked in confusion and looked at his partner. “What house is that?”

“The house for Stanley to live in” Sarah said. “Or are you going to keep him in this oversized tent?”

“Oh, the house!” Grace said with sudden comprehension, then frowned. “Sorry, no idea. We aren’t part of the building team”

“So why are you two here?” Sarah demanded.

“We are measuring up Stanley for a flight suit” Quan replied gleefully. “It will be a unique challenge to manufacture enough radar and thermal reflective material to fit him, but we think it can be done!”

“A flight suit? You mean like the one Miss Abrams wears that hides her from detection?”

“Yes!” Grace nodded eagerly. “It was Miss Abrams who suggested the idea. Since Stanley is now visible, he needs a flight suit to hide him when he is out and about. We had thought of adding some armour and weapon systems now that we can actually take measurements”

Sarah mulled this over and looked at her Dracoris friend.

“That sounds pretty good to me. What do you think, Stanley?”

“GROARRR!” he vocalised, knocking Quan’s glasses clean off his head and making Grace’s hair burst into spontaneous curls.

“He says Yes” Sarah told the technicians.

10th District General Hospital

Fiona Smith walked confidently along the hospital corridor, noting with a mild sense of pleasure how the nurses and doctors all stepped aside as she approached, respectful of her grey School Security uniform. Or perhaps it was due to the two blue garbed Guards who strode with equal confidence in her wake, their rifles slung on their broad backs.

“Room 217” Fiona announced. “This is the one”

She knocked then swung the door open, seeing a pretty Chinese woman sitting in a visitor’s chair with two children fussing at her side. On the hospital bed, raised to a sitting position, was Jack Henderson, medical monitors and IV drips attached to him at various locations.

“Miss Smith” he called out in obvious pleasure. “How nice of you to visit”

“Well, I had to” Fiona admitted and ushered her two clone brothers into the room. “Your buddies from the Post were anxious about your recovery”

Deuce and Francis stepped forwards and politely enquired after Jack’s health. He assured them he was recovering well after the surgery and then introduced his wife Ming and their two kids. The children, a boy and girl, were in awe of the massive Guards but with some encouragement from their mother gave each clone a brief handshake.

“Thank you so much for saving Jack’s life” Ming told them earnestly, making Deuce and Francis blush.

“He had the intruders already beaten” Francis insisted. “We just helped secure them and arrange medical aid for your husband”

Jack chuckled at the two Guards and Fiona was certain it had been a lot more desperate than any of them were saying. From the internal reports she had read, Jack had been close to death by the time the Guards had found him.

The irony was, they only went looking for him because they were hungry. Jack had started sharing his wife’s lovely cooking with the clones whenever he was on duty. When he hadn’t turned up with some lunch to share, they decided to go and look for him.

His wife’s excellent Spring Rolls and Fried Rice had saved his life.

“Deuce, Francis, did you want to make the presentation?” she asked her brothers. They nodded in perfect unison and Deuce took a small box from a waist pouch and held it towards Jack.

With a small grimace of pain, Jack leaned forwards and took the box. He opened it to find a small letter J formed in metal, identical to the letter pins the four Guards wore on their uniforms.

“If you are willing, Deuce, Lucky, Nero and Francis would like to make you an Honorary Guard at the Post” Fiona explained. “It confers no monetary or physical benefits I might add and is completely unofficial”

Jack looked at the small pin with surprise then glanced at the two Guards as they watched him attentively.

“I would be honoured” he said and Ming helped him to affix the pin to his hospital pajamas. There was a shine in his eyes and he gruffly wiped them with a corner of his bed sheet. His wife Ming hugged him gently and the kids demanded to know what the pin was for.

Fiona stepped back, letting her brothers crowd forward and talk with their human friend. She even spotted a smile on Francis’ face, normally so blank and taciturn. That made her smile in turn and she wondered how far Archimedes would let this little experiment run.

“He has never been happier than when he started working for you” Ming said to her, catching Fiona by surprise. “I used to worry about him all the time, working for the Brackenridge family”

“Jack was nearly killed working for me” Fiona reminded her automatically.

“True” Ming replied. “But the people he works with also saved his life. That is what counts”

“Yes, I guess it does” Fiona agreed.

Awakening Centre, 10th District, Pan City

Every New Year’s Eve, Naomi and Alison would stay home and watch TV. They had both seen plenty of explosions and lasers shooting into the sky when they served in the Northern Bloc. So the big fireworks displays and crowds of singing drunks was not their first choice for celebrating the end of one year and the start of another.

What Naomi really loved was sitting on a comfy lounge, her wife curled up close and watching re-runs of old movies, stuff made before the V-Bomb ruined the world. Her number one choice was always the first Die Hard film, typically shown at Christmas but she liked to relax in its charms every New Years.

Tonight she was perched on her uncomfortable chair, wrapped in a blanket and sipping filtered water from a flask they had given her. It was made of soft squishy plastic and had no value as a weapon of any kind. On the screen she was playing Die Hard, enjoying the witty banter from Bruce as he dispatched the villains.

Her only one regret was that Alison was not here to share it with her. Bruce was about to jump off the side of the tower when the image froze, went all pixelated and changed to a view of a screen filled room somewhere with Oracle’s eager face looking out at her.

“This should be inserted into the movie now, Mrs Tengaki” he said to someone off camera. He reached forward, his hand appearing huge in the screen, before he tilted the lens towards the other person.

“Hi honey, it’s me!” Alison said excitedly, looking straight into the camera lens. “You won’t be able to talk to me, as Oracle is inserting this into every stored copy of Die Hard he can reach. That way we hope you will see this message sometime on New Year’s Eve!”

“Hi Alison” Naomi said anyway and waved at the screen. For some reason her eyes had gotten real blurry so she used a corner of her blanket to wipe them. “I’m so glad to see your face”

“So, anyway, as you can tell I am fine” Alison continued. “Our Mister Oracle here has been looking out for me since the apartment burned down”

“What!” Naomi blurted out. “How come our apartment burned down?”

“That Mrs Brackenridge has been helping us find a new apartment, since the Owner’s Association won’t let us back into the old tower. I mean really, nobody got hurt and it was only our apartment that got incinerated. The way that Mr Blenkinsop carried on you thought we had deliberately set fire to the place ourselves”

“Didn’t I ask Oracle to keep our place safe?” Naomi muttered loudly at the screen, which ignored her outbursts and continued on regardless.

“So, it looks like we have found a nice new place in District Ten. It will be within walking distance of my new teaching position at the Junior High there. I am thinking we could try decorating in a blue scheme this time, or maybe yellow. What do you think, Naomi?”

“She can’t reply to us, remember?” Oracle interjected from off camera. His face appeared at the side of the screen as he leaned into view. “Oh, by the way Miss Tengaki, you’ll be pleased to hear I am going on a date with a real woman. Amber-Six kind of ditched me but I met this really incredible lady. You’ll remember her, it’s that Miss Shaw who works for the Brackenridges”

Naomi could only look at the screen in horror, trying to process the one sided conversation that Alison and Oracle were conducting.

“What the hell?” was all she could manage.

“Anyway, gotta go” Oracle declared. “I can only insert a small section before we run a chance of being detected. Happy New Years, Miss Tengaki!”

“Happy New Years, honey!” Alison added and blew a kiss at the screen.

Then Bruce jumped off the tower roof and it all exploded.

Naomi sat in stunned silence and watched the rest of the film in a state of mild shock. She clutched the water bottle to her chest as she sorted all the information that her wife and the Net Diver had delivered.

“There is no way I am letting her paint our apartment yellow” she decided firmly.

Nata’s Apartment Building, 8th District, Pan City

Nata sat demurely on the blanket that Dog had spread on the rooftop of her apartment tower. Other couples and members of the Order were scattered around her in the fading glow of dusk, some on blankets and others in folding chairs and lounges.

Dog finished unpacking the hamper she had prepared, laying out the dinner and drinks on a low folding table she made him carry up here. With a satisfying pop he uncorked a bottle of Australian sparkling wine and poured her a plastic cup full. He then poured one for himself and leaned back on one arm, holding his cup in the other.

“This is the life” he declared. “Fine wine, good food and a pretty woman to share it with”

“I am not too sure how well the food turned out, but the rest is true” she agreed and took a sip of her wine. The acidic tartness and bubbles made her hiccup, which garnered her a small chuckle from Dog.

“You look fully recovered from that fight” Dog observed, his synthetic eye gleaming as the last rays of the setting sun washed over the city.

Nata smiled at him in return. He had been her combat trainer and close friend for nearly four years now, yet she was still uncertain how she felt about him.

“Dog, what’s it like to be connected to the Quantum Network?” she asked out of the blue.

“Huh? I suppose it was comforting in a way, always feeling the presence of your brothers and sisters. You never felt alone because even millions of miles away in space, you could see their icons and touch their minds”

Nata leaned back too, looking up at the stars starting to shine in the growing darkness.

“Did it hurt when you lost that?”

Dog didn’t answer right away so she knew he was giving her question serious thought.

“Yeah” he admitted. “I was totally zonked for about three days when Jericho-Three disconnected me from the Network. It hits us all differently but we survive the loss. It’s certainly better than the alternative” Sᴇaʀch Thᴇ FɪndNovᴇl.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Dog shifted and regarded Nata in profile so she turned and met his eyes with her own.

“This is about Eric Hargreaves, isn’t it?” Dog asked flatly. “I heard he lost his connection somehow”

“Uh-huh” Nata responded and drank some more of the wine. “Doing something stupidly brave I bet”

“You like him, don’t you Nata?” Dog said in that same flat tone. Nata knew it well, since he used it whenever he was upset or uncertain. It was kind of his default setting for things he didn’t like or understand.

“Yeah, I guess I do” she teased the ex-Guard and smirked a little as he frowned. Dog was a brilliant fighter in all forms but still fell flat on his face when facing emotional conflict. “He reminds me of someone I care about quite a lot”

“Who is that?” Dog demanded in a louder tone than he intended, earning him interested looks from the other people gathered on the roof. He realised he had half stood so he settled back down and took an embarrassed sip of his wine.

“That is my little secret” Nata replied impishly. “So, do you think Eric will be Okay, now he has lost his connection to the Quantum Network?”

“If he has people around him that care about him, he’ll be fine” Dog assured her.

The first firework soared into the sky from a nearby tower, trailing a thin line of fading light as it reached the top of its trajectory. Light and sound blossomed over the City and everyone cheered. It heralded the start of a great display.

“I love New Year’s Eve” Nata said to Dog, her voice carrying to him easily over the flashes and booming thunder that filled the heavens. “An ending of old things and a start for new ones”

She reached out a hand and laid it over Dog’s broad one, feeling the warmth flow from his skin. He twisted his hand so they could intertwine their fingers and she did so, relishing the simple pleasure of the contact.

“Happy New Year, Nata” he said to her. She looked at him again, her eyes shining in the light from a hundred fireworks filling the sky.

“Happy New Year, Dog” she replied.

10th District Junior High School

Eric was impressed once again at the organisational skills of Miss Abrams, even when she was still in hospital. The school’s roof-top had another brightly coloured marquee erected in the biggest open space, filled with tables and chairs in rows and a buffet table covered in food warmers and platters of salads.

A pair of silvery mechanicals, dressed in loose fitting waiter outfits, stood ready to serve the guests already filtering into the tent. At another table a drinks dispenser had been set up, with a Robo-Bartender ready to mix alcoholic drinks for the adults.

“This must have cost a fotune!” Eric said good-naturedly to his brother Two. The older brother just grimaced and agreed.

“Sofia insisted we hold a big party for all the families, not just the AURA members” he confessed. “I tried to say no but somehow she got her own way in the end”

Eric laughed and nodded his head in agreement.

“The women in our lives are pretty much unstoppable once they get going” he responded. “But that is what makes them so special to us”

His eyes had wandered to the new arrivals, the Brentwood family with Carmody and the Evermore clan with Sarah. The two families were chatting happily and then Sarah’s eyes fell on Eric and she excused herself, walking towards Eric and his brother.

“Good evening Mr Jericho” Sarah said politely then faced Eric. “You too, Eric. How are you feeling since getting back to this realm?”

“A little bit lost to be honest, but Seven…er, I mean Selena has been helping me through it” he told her. “She spent all her life disconnected so she knows what I am experiencing”

“Oh!” Sarah replied. “Well, it’s good to see you have found someone you can relate to” She gave him a half-hearted smile and was about to turn away when Eric reached out and took her arm.

“There is something important I need to tell you Sarah. Carmody too. Let me go grab her and we can have a talk”

Sarah agreed quietly and stayed at Jericho’s side while he dashed off and found Carmody. The girl had been talking with animation to Sarah’s older brother Brent but readily agreed to follow Eric.

The boy took both girls away from the growing noise and laughter around the marquee and lead them to a secluded spot on the roof. It was only when they got there he realised he had brought them to their old favourite lunch spot, the first place he had ever eaten with them.

By now the sun was low in the sky, meaning the big New Year’s Eve fireworks and lasers show would start soon. The girls sat on the metal boxes they used as seats and Eric leaned against the raised roof edge, facing them.

“Are we going to have a dance off?” Sarah asked him, which threw him for a moment.

“A what?” he asked in confusion. “Ah, no. What I wanted to tell you is why I have taken so long to give you a proper answer to my feelings about you both”

“It’s Okay if you aren’t ready, Eric” Carmody said. “These kinds of things can take time to understand. My own feelings are kind of confused right now”

Eric hung his head and steeled himself for the confession he had never wanted to make. Something he had never wanted to admit to himself, but Seven had reminded him and he knew he could not escape this moment.

“I can’t ever fall in love with a real human” he said aloud. “It wouldn’t be right”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Sarah demanded angrily. “We don’t care if you are half machine or an Avatar, to us you are our friend Eric. That is all that matters!”

“I appreciate that, Sarah, I really do” Eric replied and both girls saw a wetness to his eyes. “But I am not a real boy. I was created to look like a boy yet I can never become one. This body won’t change like yours as you get older. I can’t get taller or grow a beard, I won’t look any different in five years time than I do right now”

Carmody and Sarah gazed at him with sudden understanding.

“My skeleton is infused with Ceramite. My internal organs are augmented by implants” he continued. “I don’t produce growth hormones so I will never grow old. I will be this way forever”

“I don’t mind a tiny boyfriend” Sarah suggested helpfully and that made Eric smile at least.

“I’m taller than you, Sarah” he reminded her.

“Yeah, but I am only thirteen. I’m bound to get bigger”

“That’s not helping the situation, Sarah” Carmody spoke up. She regarded Eric with her deep brown eyes and he saw the depths of emotion within her.

“Selena was made to be your companion for that reason, wasn’t she?” Carmody continued. “Both of you will grow older and more experienced, but you’ll be trapped in the bodies of children. Jericho wanted you to have someone at your side, to share that life”

“That was the plan, even if it didn’t work out that way” Eric admitted. “But there is a chance it may work now, so I am going to try and make it happen”

Carmody smiled knowingly at him and got off her seat to embrace him warmly.

“Congratulations, Eric” she said into his ear. “You finally understand. Selena loves you and I think you are beginning to feel that too. It will work out, I am sure of it”

“Thanks Carmody” Eric said to her. He leaned forwards and laid a gentle kiss on her forehead. Then he let her go and walked over to Sarah, who stood up suddenly and brandished her clenched fists in his face.

“That’s not fair!” she shouted. “You always kiss Carmody first!”

“Sorry, Sarah” Eric confessed and moved her hands aside. She tilted her face towards his and her fierce expression turned to one of confusion. Eric kissed her softly on the lips, holding her for a moment, then drew back.

“Are we still friends?” he asked her quietly.

“Always” she replied.

=====

Carmody had rejoined the party, looking for her friends among the crowd of family and Guards, when a slim hand grabbed her own. She looked across to see Angelina watching her intently.

“How did it go? Angelina asked in a steady voice. “Has Eric told you how he feels?”

“Uh-huh” Carmody nodded. “He even gave me a kiss”

Angelina’s pale face darkened and her fists clenched, making Carmody wish she hadn’t chosen to tease the girl. However, just as suddenly Angelina’s face cleared and she let her hands go loose.

“That’s wonderful, Carmody” Angelina gushed. “I am sure you two will make a great couple” Her friend then turned away, moving to the roof edge. Carmody could see her shoulders trembling beneath the long, pale blue dress she was wearing.

She caught up to her at the edge and laid her hand on the girl’s arm. Carmody made her turn and reluctantly face her, seeing the small drops of tears on Angelina’s cheek.

“Sorry, Angelina, that was mean of me” Carmody apologised. “Eric will always be my friend, but my heart belongs to someone else”

“Who is that?” Angelina breathed out, holding herself still like she was waiting for a blow to land.

Carmody stepped closer and wrapped her arms around the slender girl, folding her deeply into herself.

“I would have thought that was obvious” she said.

Overhead, the first firework exploded in the sky.

=====

Lilly and Achmed sat on the roof edge, kicking their legs and holding hands while the night sky flashed and boomed in a gargantuan display of fireworks. Lilly laid her head on her boyfriend’s shoulder, sighing contentedly.

“What are you thinking about?” she asked the boy, tilting her head to see his long nosed face in profile. The scar on his cheek from the missile shrapnel was healing nicely, giving him a rakish look like a Pirate or Musketeer.

“Do those fireworks remind you of that battle we fought?” he replied. “I keep thinking about the gunfire and the explosions, wondering why I wasn’t scared”

“Did you want to be scared?” Lilly wondered. “I was probably scared enough for both of us”

“I was worried” Achmed agreed. “I didn’t want my friends to get hurt, but I wasn’t scared. Yet I should have been”

“Maybe you had too much to think about to be scared” Lilly suggested and moved her arm to wrap around his waist.

“No, it wasn’t that” her boyfriend finally answered. “It was because I knew you were there, Lilly. I won’t ever be scared if you are with me”

“That’s because I love you, stupid boy” she told him.

Achmed laughed and she asked him why.

“That’s the first time you ever said that to me!” he told her.

“Can’t be!” she declared. “I call you a stupid boy all the time!”

====

The four Guard clones patrolled the rooftop, armed and alert. Even if Archimedes himself has assured them all was well and there was no danger of an attack, the brothers had agreed amongst themselves it was necessary.

Every circuit, the paired Guards would smile and chat briefly to one of the AURA members. Fiona had joined them at different times, relishing the chance to just walk and talk with her fellow clones, enjoying how much more animated and outspoken her brothers had become.

She was armed too, a short pistol in a shoulder holster under her open jacket, plus the formidable right arm that replaced her flesh one. Like her fellow clones, she did not expect any trouble tonight, but if it came she was ready to shoot it in the head.

All of the Guards had been on high alert when the fireworks display was in progress, knowing this would be the best time to make an assault. With so much noise and flashing lights filling the sky, it would have been easy to use it for cover.

No attack had come, yet the clones maintained their patrols. While all the AURA team and their families were together, the Post would protect them at all costs.

Eric sought out Fiona as the night’s festivities wore down to an end. The catering mechanicals had packed up and left, leaving only a few drowsy team members still here.

“I heard you finally told the girls who you had chosen” Fiona said as he fell in beside her, following Deuce and Nero as they circled the rooftop. “You chose Selena”

“We were meant to be together, so it feels right” Eric answered her. They walked in companionable silence, their footsteps barely heard on the concrete roof as they strode next to the raised edge.

“How did you get through losing your connection, Fiona?” he asked eventually.

“The same way you will” she replied easily. “I was lucky enough to have some very close friends like Sofia. I don’t know sometimes whether she considers me her girlfriend or her sister, but I care for her very much. Human relationships are still rather confusing to me but I am working on it”

“You are a good friend, Fiona” he told her. He stopped walking and she paused too, wondering what he was worried about.

“Will you hold something for me, a sealed data file?” Eric asked her earnestly. “I have to warn you, the contents could cause you trouble if anyone finds out you have it”

She regarded him steadily, observing his face for a moment, then nodded her head.

Eric stepped up close to her and she bent her head down, aligning her magnetic induction port with his. Data flowed across into her Quantum Processor, a sealed file labelled only as Investigation One, and she stored it in her secure hard drive memory core.

“If I don’t make it back tomorrow, I’ll let you decide if you want to open that file” he said.

“Where will you be going tomorrow, Eric?” she asked.

“Archimedes Tower” he answered her.

Little Angels Orphanage, District Eight

Selena lay on her old bed, lying on her side as Jenny finished changing into her pajamas.

“I am glad you spent New Year’s Eve with us, Seven” her friend said happily, turning off the light before sitting on her own bed.

“Call me Selena” she chided the other girl gently. “Thanks for being so nice, Jenny. I wasn’t sure if I should come, but I wanted to say a proper goodbye”

“Just because you are moving over into District Ten, you can still come and visit me!” Jenny replied. “Don’t worry about old Agatha, I am sure you know how to sneak past her”

“Yeah, but I think I’ll come in the front door from now on. I have a certain status to maintain these days”

Jenny giggled at her and flopped backwards onto her bed. The new crucifix around her neck tinkled on its chain and flipped across her face, causing another bout of happy laughter.

Selena had noticed it at the party, her friend touching it frequently like some kind of talisman. In a way it probably was and she had been waiting to ask Jenny what it meant all night long.

Jenny held the silver cross up from her chest, the metal glinting faintly in the moonlight peeping through the curtains.

“You’ve been wondering about this, haven’t you Selena?” Jenny called out softly. “I made my decision on the day you left, in case you wanted to know”

“Which Order have you sworn the oath to?” Selena asked her friend.

“The Ordo Sanctuarius, same as Sister Adoracion” Jenny answered her, a hint of pride in her voice. “I want to protect people, Selena. I want to keep places like this safe from the evil that hides in the darkness”

“Things like me?” Selena asked, her voice harsher than she had meant it to be.

“I never thought you were evil, Selena. Only misguided, trying to find your way back to where you belonged”

“Thanks for believing in me, Jenny” Selena spoke to the darkened room.

“Hey, that’s what friends are for! Now go to sleep, because I have my first Spell casting lesson with Sister Adoracion in the morning”

Selena rolled onto her back, tucking her hands behind her head. She heard Jenny get under her covers, and after a muffled goodnight the girl was asleep in minutes. Selena smiled then looked inwards, opening the Quantum Network within her mind.

The vast Quantum realm appeared, the towering pillar of light that was Archimedes at the center giving her a feeling of warmth. Arrayed across the Zone she could see the sparkling motes of light that represented the minds of her brothers and sisters, some working and others sleeping.

Raising her virtual eyes she sought out the icons of the clones serving on the Orbital bases and manning the supply ships. Further out she pushed her awareness, touching briefly the icons of astronauts flying to the Moon then beyond to those enroute to Mars and the Asteroid Belts.

Finally, with great excitement, she touched the mind of a sister deployed on Mars at the Olympus Prime settlement.

<Hi, I’m Agent Seven> she declared to the surprised Twenty series Jill. <How are you doing?>

<I am FV25-ME-Zero-Twenty> the Jill answered. <I am doing fine, Agent Seven. How may I assist you?>

<I just wanted to wish you a Happy New Years, ME-Twenty> Selena said. <How are things on Mars>

The Jill paused for a moment and Seven grinned a little at her confusion.

<They are going well, Agent Seven> ME-Twenty finally replied. <How are things on Earth?>

<Same as always, ME-Twenty, but I think this year things are going to change>

<I am gladdened to hear that> the Jill answered. <Was there something you needed me to do for you?>

<No thanks, I just wanted to talk to someone really far away> Selena answered. <Thanks for that, you don’t know how much it means to me>

<You are welcome, Agent Seven. Please speak to me whenever you wish to>

<I will, ME-Twenty!> Selena said enthusiastically and let the connection go. She lay on the bed for some time after that, grinning widely, until at last sleep overcame her.

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