| Generated by Google Gemini Pro text-to-video AI software, powered by Veo 3.1 |
August 18, 2526. By the time the Breckenridge Folk completed their caucus,
and decided on Amos Bull as their new Merchant Prince, the Levins were ready
to go. They had no real emergency plan for a community-wide domaquake, but
they did have one for tornados. All they had to do was announce a new
congregation area near North Exit. Over the course of the last few days,
they met here, and began the trek through the long spine on foot, which led
them to Breckenridge’s South Exit. When the gates were officially opened,
all they had to do was continue walking into the refuge dome. There was no
pushing and screaming. The Levins understand what is at stake, and they want
all of their remaining population to survive. Not all of them did. The
quakes have been happening for years, and generally intensifying each time,
and a few people met their ends during that. But since the last event, no
one has succumbed. There are a few holdouts, though. Statistically speaking,
there always are. While the refugees are trying to get settled in, Tertius
and Aeterna are back in Leviss.
“I don’t think we should be doing this,” Tertius decides.
“What? Saving people?”
“Saving the stubborn ones. They made their choice, they’re scattered, and
we’re not teleporters.”
“We have to try,” she reasons.
“This isn’t our job, or our forte. One of the Levin leaders should do it, if
anyone.”
“If the next quake hits,” Aeterna begins, “we will survive, no matter how
bad it is. We can keep trying and trying until the last skyscraper falls,
and the last curmudgeon dies. We may as well.”
Tertius stops, forcing Aeterna to stop too. “We should be focusing on the
people who want to be saved. They need us.”
“They’re already saved,” she contends.
Tertius shakes his head. “You think Breckenridge is safe? Breckenridge is a
pit stop. They are marginally better off, not just because of their
limited infrastructure, but also their distance from the fault line. Make no
mistake, this is only going to get worse, and they will have to be evacuated
too. We should be coordinating those efforts instead.”
“Are you sure about that?” she questions. “The Breckenridge Folk say it’s
not bad at all. There have been zero casualties. That doesn’t sound
marginal to me.”
He shakes his head again. “I’m telling you, it’s not going to last. That’s
why I warned the other equatorial settlements. Everyone’s got to go.”
“Go where?” Aeterna asks.
“Preferably, outer space; not even in orbit, but far away. I put in a call
to the Master Megaengineer, and her assistant said that she would look into
it, but I’m not holding my breath. They don’t want to evacuate the whole
planet, but they should.”
“Why would they have to leave orbit? Can domaquakes get so bad that they’ll
spew matter into orbit, and—I don’t know what you mean by this. I’ve never
heard of such a thing, on any world.”
“I don’t think it’s the planet. I think it’s the host star.”
“You’re just making that up, you don’t know.”
He stares at his daughter, afraid of what he has to say, but he
does have to say it. “Before you were born, I spoke with a seer, who
said the son will one day flip out, and annihilate everything.” He
pauses, even more nervous, but he must go on. “I thought that she was
talking about you. I was surprised when you were born a girl, but maybe you
were transgender, and I just needed to wait. But it’s been hundreds of
years, and unless you have news for me, you still identify as a woman. I
don’t think she was talking about my son, but the sun.” He
points to the sky with his thumb. “The best seers don’t talk in riddles. She
wasn’t the best seer.”
“You’re just telling me this now?” Aeterna complains. “Who is this seer?”
“They mostly prefer Earth. I didn’t tell you because it might have led to a
self-fulfilling prophecy, and truthfully, I kind of forgot about it, because
I thought it had already come to pass. It didn’t seem relevant anymore. I’m
only now wondering whether I had misinterpreted it, and it’s all about
what’s happening now. Or maybe I was right the first time, and the
prediction was just about our falling out two hundred years ago. What does
flipping out even mean? How bad does it have to be to count?”
“What does flipping out have to do with a sun?”
“I don’t know anything.” He looks around at the destruction that the
domaquakes have already caused. “But this...isn’t gonna get better. Did you
notice, it wasn’t difficult to convince the Levins to leave? They’ve not
shared their data yet, but they must be picking up on something. I firmly
believe that we can’t let them stop moving.”
“Okay, okay. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to save the stragglers. If
anything, it makes it even more vital. They probably think there’s
hope!”
“And how are we gonna convince them that there’s not? I just tried to do it
with you, and you immediately pointed out that I don’t know what the hell I
was talking about. We can’t exactly tell them that a magical lady with
special time powers told me 300 years ago...in a riddle.”
“Maybe we can cheat,” Aeterna suggests.
“How would we do that?”
“You still have the ability to erase people’s memories?”
Tertius winches. “Yeah, of course I do. Oh, that was rhetorical.”
“If we erase their memories, we can tell them whatever they need to hear to
get them through that tunnel. Then, once they’re on the other side, we lock
the gates behind us, and restore their memories.”
“Two hundred years ago, you would have balked at that kind of subterfuge.”
“If it’s to save lives,” she reasons, “I don’t mind it.”
Tertius considered the proposition. “All right, I’m in. There’s one problem,
though. As I said, they’re scattered. They may wake up confused, but that
doesn’t mean they’ll randomly walk over to us.”
“I believe I have that covered.” Aeterna reaches into her pack pocket and
pulls out a spent match.
“The muster match? That can only summon one person. And it’s used. You used
it to bring me!” he reminds her.
“It’s not the match,” Aeterna tells him. She looks around until she finds
what she’s looking for. “It’s the flame.” She manages to restrike it against
a rock, and then set the bush on fire.
No comments :
Post a Comment