| Generated by Google Flow text-to-video AI software, powered by Omni Flash |
Waldemar and Sable are back together. It has been long enough since Audrey
died that the people of Extremus accept the new relationship, so they can be
public about it. Yes, she’s young. The crew and passengers do notice that,
but they wouldn’t dare say anything to his face. He doesn’t want people to
talk about them behind their backs either, but he can’t stop that. Well, he
probably could. He could have the AI that runs the systems track everyone’s
conversations, and make sure they’re only saying nice things, but he won’t
do that. The old version of him might have, but he’s different now. He still
doesn’t have real emotions, but he knows if he takes away all of
their freedoms, then his popularity rating will drop down to zero, and he
won’t keep his job. Maybe in a few years once the second phase of the master
plan begins.
Other than his personal life, nothing noteworthy is happening, at least not
that he can be honest about. The ghost of his late wife still haunts him,
and not in a metaphorical way. She shows up when he’s alone, and talks to
him. It’s torture. He knows it could be worse. She’s not screaming in his
ears while he’s trying to sleep, or singing the same song over and over
again. What she does is basically give him advice. She acts just Audrey did
when she was physically here, except now he can’t even get on top of her
like he used to.
No, the problem with it is that he doesn’t have a choice. He can’t leave the
room unless he wants to surround himself with others. She won’t
leave. A part of him doesn’t want her to, but a part of him does. He
obviously can’t tell anyone about it, because it will make him look unfit
for the chair. He can’t trust Silveon, and his rekindling with Sable isn’t
where it should be yet. When the—
“Stop. No one cares about this.” It’s Audrey again. She just appears out of
nowhere sometimes. It can be really annoying.
“What are you goin’ on about now?” Waldemar questions.
“You’re dwelling on your situation,” Audrey explains. “Your thoughts are not
interesting, which makes sense, because the story is not interesting right
now. The beginning of this volume had a lot of action and intrigue, and the
end of it will too, but right now, The Superintendent is in the middle of
focusing on other projects, so he doesn’t have time to write this whole
thing about your fake fee-fees and hallucinations.”
Waldemar stands there midstride, holding a plate of cookies and a glass of
milk. A single drop of the milk sprang out of it when Audrey first showed
up, and is currently running down the back of his hand as another form of
irritation. He wants to stop and lick it up, but he’s worried he’ll look
stupid in front of the ghost. Can you believe it? Feeling self-conscious
before someone who you don’t even respect. If only—
“I said stop!” Audrey argues. “Stop trying to create a story where there is
none. He’s gonna cut this short, and move on. Maybe he’ll have more time
next week.”
“I’ve had enough of this.” Waldemar carelessly drops both the plate and the
glass on the floor to let the cleaning bots deal with it. He taps on his
wrist band until he finds what he’s looking for. Or rather, who he’s
looking for.
Sable appears on the floor. She’s half-naked, crouched in an awkward
position.
“What were you doing?” Waldemar asks. “Having sex?”
“Uh, no. Yoga?” Sable claims, probably lying. She stands up. “I don’t
appreciate being summoned like this. You may be the captain, and I may be
your girlfriend, but—”
“I’ve been seeing the ghost of my dead wife. For years. And I need your
help.”
She stares but he can’t say what she’s thinking. “Fascinating. Tell me
everything.”
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