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Resi can see the future, there is no longer any doubt in his heart about
that. The problem is that, no matter how hard he tries, he has been unable
to return to the vision he twice had of the eruption of Central Mountain.
Brooke has her special techy spaceship, which she used to study the volcano,
which said that nothing about it suggests it’s going to become active
anytime soon. That is more worrisome than anything, because if Brooke is
right, and Resi is also right, then something insane and unpredictable is
going to happen that changes the equation. The trick is determining what
that might be, and Resi thinks he may know why the answer isn’t coming to
him. As of now, all of his predictions are sourced from past and present
data. They’re still supernatural, for lack of a better term, but he’s not
just randomly pulling information that doesn’t exist yet. He has to anchor
it to something that is real. He doesn’t have to be physically
touching an object to know what’s going to become of it, but it sure helps.
The fact is, Resi has nothing been very close to the mountain before. It
just hasn’t been a meaningful aspect of his life. The higher you go, the
less arable the land is. He’s not one for backpacking. Some class projects
have involved hiking it, or even climbing all the way to the summit, but he
never ended up doing that. That seems to be something that has to happen
now. Brooke offered him a ride to the top, but that might not be enough.
What if the problem happens lower down, and just causes the eruption up top?
What if there are clues along the way? She pointed out that there is too
much acreage to cover, and he agreed, but he has to start somewhere, and it
can’t be at the end. That’s what’s blocking his understanding of this
terrible future. He keeps trying to skip to the end. Of course, that’s what
it sounds like fortune-telling is, but again, he doesn’t think he can just
tap a future date, and jump to it. He thinks he has to fast-forward. He
doesn’t have to sit through it all in real time, but he does have to see it
all. So he’s going on a trek. He’s finally going to see what all the fuss is
about.
Brooke is gone now. She has other things to do with her life outside of
Yana, and outside of Bungula. She charges him to keep quiet about what he
learned about her, which will not be hard, because she hardly told him
anything. He’s not going to be alone, though. Caprice and Chaya are both
coming. They don’t think they’re going to have any apocalyptic visions too,
but they want to help, and it’s safer for him to not be alone. If something
bad happens, someone may need to call for rescue. They’re only a few
kilometers into the journey. They’ve not even reached the switchbacks yet
when Chaya informs them that someone has been following them the whole time.
“Okay!” Resi says quite loudly. “Spread out! Shoot anyone but each other!”
“No! Don’t do that!” Kartica comes out with her arms up.
“I was never going to. Don’t you know me yet?” Resi questions.
“I dunno, you may have changed, man,” Kartica points out.
“Why are you here?” Resi presses. “You weren’t invited.
“I know, but you need me. You’re going the wrong way.”
Caprice looks up. “I think we can see where the mountain is.”
“Yes, you’re going towards the mountain, and you’ll even be on a trail, but
it won’t be the right trail,” Kartica insists. “The mountain...is
basically a cone. If you’re trying to see the whole thing, the switchbacks
will only keep you to one side of it.”
“What makes you think we’re trying to see the whole thing?” Resi asks her.
“Please.” Kartica is offended. “I’ve not taken my eye off of you since we
met. I can show you where to go. It will give you a clearer picture. I want
this more than anyone. I want it more than you. You were hesitant
before, when I begged you to tell me what was going to happen. Don’t leave
me out of it. Please.”
Resi stands there thinking about it. He takes a swig of his special
medicine. It still isn’t curing him, but it’s treating his symptoms. It’s
keeping him vertical. Unfortunately, he believes he may be experiencing
diminishing returns, and it will stop doing anything at all, probably sooner
than later. “Fine, you can help. But try not to commit suicide on the way,
okay?”
“I couldn’t if I wanted to,” Kartica claimed. “They locked me out of the
respawn system. If I die, that’s it for me.”
Foreshadowing.
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