House of Ill Repute
Chapter 11 - The Lonely Child

Date: August 27th, 2046

Location: Fairview Heights Middle School, California, USA

Extract from Interview with Karen Smetzer, School Teacher

Agent: Thank you for your time in this matter, Ms Smetzer. We appreciate you answering some questions for the Bureau. Can you begin by stating your initial involvement with the girl and her brother?

Smetzer: Well, as you know I am an English teacher at Fairview Heights. The girl, Emily, was in my home room class. I also took her for English lessons.

Agent: The girl being Emily Otaki, is that correct? (I show the woman a picture of Emily Otaki and her older brother Hector from our files).

Smetzer: Yes, that is definitely her. But she used the family name Otomi, same as her brother Hector.

Agent: Thank you, we are aware of that. The two of them have used a number of aliases to avoid detection before now. It was lucky for us that you reported her unusual behaviour to the school board. That gave us the initial lead on their location.

Smetzer: I was very worried for her to be honest. I had not known she and her brother were wanted fugitives by the Bureau. I guess it was lucky that Abraham was able to identify them from my report. I am grateful that he watches over us so diligently.

Agent: Yes, the Abraham Network is dedicated to keeping all American citizens safe. We thank the good lord for sending him and watching over us.

Smetzer: What? Oh yes, thank the lord for sending Abraham to watch over us!

Agent: Now Ms Smetzer, when did you first notice something was strange about Emily.

Smetzer: Oh, I think everyone noticed she was a bit strange from her first day at school. She was brought to my classroom by her brother Hector. Emily was a late transfer from another school out of state he explained.

Her records were all correct as far as we could tell, so she was accepted immediately for placement. Since the viral attack all those years ago, the population numbers have stayed quite low. It was just wonderful to have someone new move here. Most people move away these days.

Agent: Yes, I was surprised myself at how few people live in California at the moment. It is my first visit here. Were you a resident at the time of the Virus?

Smetzer: Yes, I was just a little girl then. I lived in Oakford, the next town over. We are only about fifty miles here from the detonation site. It was a very bad time for everyone. Most of us lost family and friends to the virus. And of course there were those who changed....

Agent: My apologies Ms Smetzer, I had not meant to drag up bad memories. However, do you think proximity to the V-Point was a factor in why Otaki brought his sister here?

Smetzer: I really can’t say. Emily did not talk about the virus or the V-Point at all. Her brother Hector did mention it once I think, but I only met him a few times. When he first brought Emily to my classroom, once at a local diner when I ran into them both, and the last day when he came to the school.

Agent: That would be the day he took Emily away? August 23rd?

Smetzer: Yes, that was the day. Just last week I guess. It all happened so quickly.

Agent: Yes, we try to react rapidly to these kinds of events. So how was Emily considered strange?

Smetzer: She was always happy and smiling, but she did not seem to want to interact with her classmates. In class she was brilliant, and I am not understating it to say she probably has a genius level intelligence.

Yet she never got into personal discussions about her life, what she did before she moved here, any of those normal things. I was worried about her so I started taking notice of her behaviour.

I spoke to her other teachers and they agreed – Emily was very smart, but did not seem to want to engage with anyone on a personal level. She was very pretty too, with her Japanese looks and being so unusually tall. She could have been a fashion model if she wanted. I gather at least two of the popular boys in her class tried to ask her out but she flatly refused them.

Agent: It is not unexpected for someone who is highly intelligent to have difficulty connecting with their peers, especially at such a young age.

Smetzer: I agree, and that is why I was initially concerned for her. I did not want such a lovely young girl to be lonely. There are so few people her own age here right now that I wanted to make sure she was looked after. Even after all this time, we still lose some of the young ones to depression.

Agent: So, Emily was a loner at the school. She had no friends among her classmates?

Smetzer: That is right. She would study hard in the class, but at break times she just sat by herself at the edge of the school grounds. After I realised what was happening, I started to sit with her myself at lunch.

Agent: Emily accepted that? Did she talk to you?

Smetzer: It was very awkward at first. I am a teacher and she was a student, so there are a lot of limitations on how much I could interact with her. I was reported to the Principal at one stage, but I explained what I was doing so she allowed me to continue.

Emily would just sit quietly and read while she ate her lunch. I would sit with her and eat my own lunch, chatting occasionally about things going on around the town or on the news feeds. To start with she would only respond politely to direct questions, but after a week I was getting her to offer her own comments on things.

I confess I was very surprised at how much she knew of world affairs, especially political events and the influence of the worldwide AI’s such as Abraham. It is no wonder considering how smart she is, but hearing a ten year old girl speak about such things was unexpected.

Agent: So it sounds like you established quite a bond with Emily?

Smetzer: Yes, I suppose I did. Once she opened up to me I found her to be quite an interesting person.

Agent: You do recall that she is a known associate of a wanted terrorist?

Smetzer: I’m sorry, yes I understand that now. But back then I just thought she was really sweet.

Agent: You are not married, nor have any children of your own, do you Ms Smetzer?

Smetzer: What? No, I am not married, so I certainly don’t have any children thank you! I am a teacher because I want to help children grow and develop. Emily had so much potential, I just wanted to see her unlock that!

Agent: My apologies if I have insulted you in any way, Ms Smetzer.

Smetzer: It’s fine. I just want to help, that’s all.

Agent: Thank you, I appreciate your honesty in this matter. So, you were the only contact Emily had with people at the school. What about outside of the school?

Smetzer: Emily never spoke about anyone other than Hector. They lived in a rented house on the edge of town, just them alone. She did not speak about their parents, but I assumed they lost them like so many others have. I dropped her home a couple of times when her brother was not available to pick her up from the school. It was a sign of her trust in me I suppose, and his, that she even asked me to do it.

Agent: Did you spend time at her house?

Smetzer: The second time, she invited me inside for a hot drink. It was cool day and she wanted to show me her gratitude for bringing her home. Their house was pre-furnished by the landlord, there were barely any signs of personal effects inside.

One thing that did seem very odd were some travel bags near the entry hall. I asked Emily why they had what looked like packed bags sitting there – were they going on a trip? She said no, they always had them ready in case they had to move again.

Agent: Was this close to the time of the incident?

Smetzer: I guess it was about a week before, but she seemed to think it was quite normal to have their bags ready to go like that. One of my uncles is what we used to call a Survivalist and he always had his “go bag” ready, so it was not too strange to me.

Agent: Did you see anything else of note in their house?

Smetzer: Emily did show me a picture on her phone of some friends she had overseas. She was very fond of them she said and hoped to see them again. Apparently they had helped her brother Hector and herself out of a bad situation. They were the only friends or acquaintances I ever heard her speak of.

Agent: Did she say who they were?

Smetzer: It was a short blonde headed girl next to a tall Japanese woman. I don’t remember the names she gave them, but they were odd. I think the Japanese woman had a number as her nickname. That struck me as unusual but she looked like she was in the military. Does that help at all?

Agent: Yes, I believe those two women are known hostile agents. They are part of the terrorist cell that Otaki was associated with.

Smetzer: Oh dear! Emily seemed quite fond of them. Are you sure they are terrorists?

Agent: The blonde is an Awakened. That makes her dangerous to all peace loving Americans.

Smetzer: I had not realised Emily was associated with the Awakened. What about her brother, Hector?

Agent: He is also a registered Awakened. You can see the dangerous situation Emily was in. That is why we have sought out your testimony, in order to understand what happened here.

Smetzer: Of course. So, should I tell you about what happened on the twenty-third?

Agent: Please.

Smetzer: Well, the day was otherwise normal for a Thursday. We had lessons in the morning as usual, then at the midday break I went and ate lunch with Emily. She had been a bit, ah, “off” I suppose you could say in the morning, but nothing really out of character for her.

But as we sat down, in our usual spot at the edge of the courtyard, she asked me if I believed in spirits. I told her I was a Christian so I certainly believed in holy spirits. Emily said not those, but spirits that live in the network. I asked which network – did she mean the worldwide network?

She said no, the network that connects all the spirits across the world. So I asked her if she meant the Artificial Intelligences like Abraham that watch over us.

Emily laughed at that idea, and told me that Abraham and the others like him were always trying to talk to her. She refused to speak to them she said, as they wanted to hurt her and Hector. She said she was talking about spirits that can only communicate with her through the Quantum Network. Is that the same as the Worldwide Network?

Agent: The Quantum Network is a dedicated network only accessible by the AI’s and their agents. It is not available to other users. Did Emily say who these “spirits” were?

Smetzer: She said she thought they were other people like her, able to connect via this special network. Some were good and some were bad, according to Emily. She did have a name for one of these spirits, apparently one she was talking to that morning. It called itself Avalon.

Agent: And what did Avalon talk to Emily about?

Smetzer: It wanted Emily to help it with something. She did not tell me what that was, but she said she might have to leave Fairview. Emily was upset as she did not want to leave me.

Agent: So she had formed a strong connection to you?

Smetzer: I realised she had. It made me glad actually. I had not understood how lonely I had been myself until I formed my friendship with Emily. There are not many people my own age in Fairview these days. I suppose it was a bit sad that the only friend I could find was a ten year old student.

Agent: The afternoon was the time of the incident, was it not?

Smetzer: Sorry, yes. We had returned to class and about 2 PM, Emily suddenly burst into my classroom and told me she needed my help. She seemed to be in a total panic, unlike anything I had seen from her before. So I took her outside and tried to calm her down.

She kept saying that they had found her, and that she needed to get away. I asked who had found her and she said Abraham.

Agent: Did she mean the Abraham AI? Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ FindNøvᴇl.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Smetzer: I can only assume so. She said she had called her brother and he was coming to pick her up. But he would not get there before they did. She wanted me to drive her out to their home and he would be able to meet us there. I tried to understand who was coming but she was so frightened I just agreed.

Agent: So you took her to your car and drove her from school to the house?

Smetzer: Yes. But when we were only a few blocks away I could see those flying troop carriers, what do they call them? Like helicopters but with the four big engines on the side?

Agent: VTOL Carriers I think you are referring to. The report indicated four were deployed to Fairview.

Smetzer: Yes, right, so there were four of those carriers heading towards us. I could see them about a mile off, coming in really fast. Then Emily said to me, suddenly quite calm, “Karen, we need to stop and turn off the engine”. And I said to her, “Why, aren’t we going to try and run from those planes?”

Emily said no, her friend Avalon was going to deal with them. She told me to lay down in the car with her as low as we could and close our eyes.

Agent: Did you do as she asked?

Smetzer: I was confused and the whole situation made no sense. Emily lay down with her head on my lap, so I just lay down too, covering her with my body.

Agent: So you attempted to protect her?

Smetzer: I am a teacher. I love all the kids in my classes. I just want to keep them safe and try to help them find their place in the world. So it just felt right to protect her, even though I had no idea from what.

Agent: Even if you were protecting her from your own government?

Smetzer: Yes.

Agent: Then what happened?

Smetzer: The whole sky lit up. It was blinding. I could not help but look out the car window towards those carriers. Four beams of light struck down from the sky like the swords of Angels. The carriers just disappeared.

A few seconds later the shockwave hit us and shattered the windshield and nearly flipped my car. I had dropped my head down over Emily so neither of us were hurt. It was so terrifying though. I thought the world was ending!

Agent: Our data indicates it was a strike from the Orbital Defence Platforms. They were subverted by a terrorist attack using a rogue AI. They killed sixteen men and women from the Bureau.

Smetzer: I didn’t know at the time. It all happened so quickly.

Agent: What happened after the strike?

Smetzer: Emily and I left my car behind and went to her house. It was close by and luckily it was still standing, although most of the windows were broken. It was the same for all the neighbouring houses. A lot were vacant so I don’t think many people got hurt.

We went inside and Emily just grabbed those packed bags and we waited outside for Hector. He arrived only a few minutes later.

Agent: And they left you behind?

Smetzer: Actually, Emily begged me to go with them. She said I was her best friend and she was worried what Abraham would do to me now. But I could not leave all my other students like that.

So Emily cried and I gave her a big hug. I promised her I would be alright. Hector thanked me for looking out for his little sister and shook my hand. Then they drove off. I waved until they were out of sight.

Agent: Then you contacted the emergency services?

Smetzer: Yes. I told them there had been a lightning strike and some airplanes had crashed on the outskirts of the town. And then I went around to the houses that looked occupied and tried to help anyone who needed it.

Agent: In the past four days have you had any contact from Emily or Hector?

Smetzer: No, no contact. I watched all the news feeds to see if there was anything reported about them but there was nothing. Even the fire from the sky was passed off as a lightning strike, just as I had reported it myself.

Agent: Any contact from any other people?

Smetzer: Do you mean the spirits that Emily spoke of? I am still not sure what she meant by that, but I did get a message on my phone. I assume you have already looked into my phone records.

Agent: Yes, of course. But please tell me yourself what the message was.

Smetzer: It said “Thank you Karen. Emily will be safe. She misses you. Avalon”

Agent: Thank you Ms Smetzer. The Bureau appreciates your help. I must remind you that you are required to keep all the details of this matter in confidentiality. You are free to go. Have a nice day.

Smetzer: Sorry, you are letting me go?

Agent: You acted in good faith and displayed remarkable kindness to a child in need. We are not monsters who would punish you for being caught up in events you could not understand. Please do remember to let us know if you hear anything more from the Otakis.

Smetzer: OK. Thank you so much. Goodbye then.

(Karen Smetzer leaves the interview room and is escorted from the building by a Minute Man clone soldier)

Agent: <Was there anything more you wanted from her, Abraham?>

Abraham: <She is being kept under covert surveillance for now in case the Otakis attempt to contact her. She is to be allowed to resume her duties>

Agent: <Is her information about the Avalon entity contacting Emily via the quantum network to be believed?>

Abraham: <There have been contacts detected, from this Avalon entity and others. They are not your concern for now. You are to pick up the trail of the Otakis and try to capture them, alive if possible>

Agent: <Understood, Abraham. But I have one question I am unable to resolve myself. Why would Hector Otaki have risked exposure by letting Emily attend a public school? It seems out of character with his other actions to hide themselves from us?>

Abraham: <Hector Otaki wants Emily to grow up as normal a human being as possible. Her unique creation has not allowed her many opportunities to interact with other people. It is highly probable that he thought the remote location and sparse population was a chance to introduce her to normal life>

Agent: <He didn’t want her to be lonely?>

Abraham: <Correct>

Transcript Ends

End of Part 10 of Millie the Gunsinger

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