Boots on the ground, that’s what Leona called them. Ramses installed a new
global brain scanner on the AOC in orbit, and since they own it themselves,
they don’t have to worry about losing control over it. While they’re up
there, Mateo and Alyssa are down below. It will be their job to approach the
so-called errors, and ask them if they would like to be brought into the
fold. The scanner doesn’t operate in real time, since it’s not joined by a
constellation of satellites, but their information is never more than ninety
minutes out of date.
Ramses didn’t equip their ship with a particularly powerful camera, so they
don’t have eyes on the surface. There is nothing particularly distinctive
about one error versus another. They’ve decided to go to Venice, Italy
first, mostly because both of them want to go there. Mateo was there once,
very briefly. This was at the beginning of The Rogue’s Tribulations, which
would turn out to be commissioned by The Cleanser. Mateo and Leona still
didn’t know what was going on yet, they were just trying to survive. In that
timeline in the main sequence, Venice was mostly underwater due to climate
breakdown. That hasn’t happened here. The land is perfectly dry, and a great
place for a vacation. Of course, that’s not what they’re doing here, but
that doesn’t mean they can’t enjoy themselves while they wait for updated
intel.
The last ping came from one of the bridges over the Grand Canal, but their
target could be anywhere by now. In the meantime, they rest their elbows on
the stone railing, and watch the gondolas go by. It’s quite romantic here,
he wishes Leona could join. Maybe she can. No one’s going to be looking for
her face here, right? They expect her to be somewhere in North America. Eh,
she’s smart enough to come up with that option herself, and for all he
knows, she’s the only thing keeping the other residents from going crazy up
there. Alyssa is pretty good company too. Besides, this isn’t really for
fun. It could be dangerous in its own right.
After a few minutes, Mateo looks into the distance, and sees a gondola
passenger standing up in the boat as its moving towards them. He’s waving to
someone on the bridge. There are other people here, but none of them is
waving back, or paying him any mind. As the gondola gets closer, the man
points excitedly, then goes back to waving. He starts calling up to them
once he’s within earshot. “Hey, Mateo! You’re here!”
“I am!” Mateo replies. “And you are...here too!”
“You don’t recognize me!” He seems pretty offended.
“Of course I do, you’re, uh...why am I lying? Sorry, I don’t!”
“Everest! Everest Conway! I delivered your eulogy!”
Of course! he repeats in his own head, but this time he means it. He died on
the planet of Thālith al Naʽāmāt Bida a long time ago, and it’s largely
considered his true death, even though it’s not the one that landed him in
the afterlife simulation. Thousands of people attended his funeral,
including himself, and millions—if not billions—watched on TV. It was a
surreal experience, he kind of tries not to think about it anymore. “Sorry,
it’s just that I meet so many people! What are you doing here?”
“Why don’t you come down and take a ride?” Everest offers. “People are
staring!”
“Okay.” Mateo starts to lift his leg over the railing. A few people gasp and
freak out, making him feel like he’s Eric Andre. He pulls their hearts back
up into their respective chests when he gets back on two feet, and assures
them with hand gestures that it was just a joke. He and Alyssa cross the
bridge all the way, and meet the gondola on the dock. He pays the fare in
Usonian money, and they get on board. The gondolier adjusts their seating to
account for weight, and then they head off.
“Don’t worry, he doesn’t speak English,” Everest explains. “Hey, Alyssa.”
She presents her hand. “Alyssa McIver of the Lebanon McIvers.”
“Everest Conway of Fistula Crisium-Tranquillitatis Conways.”
“Pipe of the Tranquil Crisis?” she questions.
“You speak Latin?” Mateo asks her.
“A little.”
Everest laughs. “It’s a lava tube on the moon, located between the Sea of
Crises and the Sea of Tranquility. I lived my childhood underground.”
“I see.”
“If I remember correctly,” Mateo begins, “you were on a tour of my personal
history. Have you been here the whole time, watching us, not helping?”
“I’ve not been able to watch via observation dimension,” Everest explains.
“They don’t exist here. I had to keep my distance, but this is a loophole.”
“Why?”
“I’ll explain what I can in a few minutes. Go as fast as possible, Italo.”
“Are you being racist, or is that his real name?”
“Real name. An Italian named Italo. It’s very common.”
“I thought you said he didn’t speak English,” Alyssa reminds him when she
realizes that they are indeed moving faster.
“He knows that one phrase.” Minutes later, they’ve passed under the highway,
out of the canal, and into the open water. They go under the highway again at
a different point, and now they’re really in the open. There aren’t any other
gondolas around now, just other, larger boats. “It’s the water,” Everest goes
on. “It dampens the signal. They can see that we’re together, but they don’t
know what we’re talking about.”
“Who are we talking about?” Mateo asks.
“It will put you more at risk if I give you that information, but this is my
first and only opportunity to drop a little bit of truth on you. I was
dishonest in your eulogy. We’re not friends. We’re not enemies either. It’s
hard to explain, because I want to tell you that I don’t know you well, but
the truth is that I know everything there is to know about you. The real
problem is that you don’t know me. I never joined your group. I was sent to
observe you by a third party, and while I’m not cognizant of their endgame,
I can’t imagine it’s good. I came up with this lie about us being future
friends in case we ever ran into each other during my mission.”
Mateo nods. “Were you hired to do this, or...?”
“Coerced. They have my family. Or rather, they strongly suggested that they
do. That’s another reason I don’t think their intentions with you are
honorable. But to my knowledge, they haven’t actually ever hurt anyone.
That’s why I couldn’t go to the authorities, or anything. My only choice was
to do what they asked, I’m sorry.”
“How can I get this information to my team? Do we need open water?”
“If you absolutely had to, yes, but you have to be there for a good reason,
or they’ll get suspicious. I was hoping at least Leona and Ramses would be
here with you, but that’s not what happened. Sorry, I can’t answer any more
questions. This is all I can say. Now go back,” he orders the gondolier. “I
taught him that phrase too.”
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