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Almost straight east, another kilometer and a half away, in the direction of
the planet’s night side, lay another manmade structure. Since it would have
been so far out of the group’s way, Breanna decided that a detour would
require a unanimous vote. Last time, they received one when they didn’t need
it, and this time, they needed it, but didn’t get it. Less than half were
willing to risk it, so they elected not to. Those who voted in favor of it
were not upset or argumentative. They accepted the results, and moved on.
They have continued on their way northwest, trying to head in the general
direction of the pole while also hoping to run into a dome, or one of the
tunnels used to connect the disparate domes to each other. After hours, they
finally see it, and decide to forgo their break in lieu of pushing forward
to reach their interim goal. They’ve become more accustomed to their suits,
though they still feel very confining. Even Breanna and Cash have had just
about enough. They’re designed to operate indefinitely, but changing human
psychology is a different challenge altogether.
“I think I see a person up there,” a passenger notes, looking towards the
spine. It is a massive structure, snaking through the land, made to transport
people and supplies along walking corridors, vactrain tubes, or sometimes
chairlifts for steep climbs. Breanna isn’t extremely familiar with the inner
workings of these structures, but while she can’t quite make out someone
standing on the top herself, there is surely a way up there on the exterior.
The megaengineers responsible for all this infrastructure tried to plan for
everything. Everything but a worldwide cataclysm apparently.
“I see it too,” someone else declares.
Breanna reaches up and extends the magnification on her helmet to its
extreme limit, and is able to see a silhouette, but no detail. “Whoever they
are, they’re not wearing any protective gear.” She looks over at Aeterna.
Aeterna smiles. “I told you he was alive.”
“We don’t know that that’s him,” Breanna says. “Unless you have some reason
to believe that you’re the only two insanely invincible immortals in the
universe.”
“No, of course not. They’re just probably not on Proxima Doma, or in this
time period.” That doesn’t make much sense. If they can’t die, why wouldn’t
there be just as many—this doesn’t make sense at all. She’s choosing not to
question it, however, because it’s hurting her head, and she probably
doesn’t really want to know.
They get close enough to resolve a face, and just as they suspected, it is
indeed Tertius Valerius. He’s smiling like he doesn’t have a care in the
world, waving to them gleefully, pointing towards some particular part of
the spine that he’s standing on, and beckoning them forwards. As they draw
even nearer, they discover that there’s a fully functioning escalator on the
side, which they use to reach the top and reunite with him. He and his
daughter hug, but not particularly exuberantly. Neither of them is
surprised. Why would they be? As they keep saying, they can’t die. She hands
him an extra mask so he can utilize the radio, and tell them all what
happened since they lost contact.
Everyone wants to know how Tertius survived the ordeal. He claims that
there’s not much to tell. He just did because that’s what he does. Once the
cyclone was over, he got up from the ground, and just started walking,
hoping to catch up with everyone eventually. He makes it sound so simple.
They have more questions, but Breanna understands their priorities. “Did you
check the interior? Are there working vactrains?”
He shakes his head. “Not in the one behind us, nor the one in front, but
there’s a maintenance railcar a little bit farther down. It’s not meant for
people, so there aren’t any seats, but we can make it work. It’s for
repairing the exterior, so it will go all along the perimeter of each dome,
but if you do the math, I’m guessing it adds up to being faster and easier
than walking. You’ll want to find something to hold onto as I do not believe
the floor is ferromagnetic.” He turns and starts walking away. “Come on.”
He leads them farther down, towards the other end of the spine, and then down
some steps on the side opposite of where they came from, where there are
tiny little baby train tracks, and a small railcart. “Are we...gonna fit?”
Cash questions.
“Oh, this is a maintenance drone.” Tertius waves his arms around the giant
machine occupying the majority of the railcart. “I can’t pull it off, I was
assuming you had tools to take care of it. There will be enough room once we
get rid of it.”
Brenna holds her fist in front of the drone, and taps on her wrist
interface. It suddenly springs to life, unlocking itself from the dock, and
using its six little legs to skitter off of the railcart, onto the tracks
behind them.
Cash bends over and pats the beetloid on its head. “Good girl. Good girl. Now,
stay here, and try not to get swallowed up by the infinte abyss.”
“It can’t hear you through the suit,” Breanna says.
“She knows what I’m saying,” Cash claims.
They all climb onto the railcart, and find various components to hold onto.
There actually is one ferromagnetic spot. It’s the hatch that leads to the
engine. Breanna stands there so Tertius and Aeterna can stand in front of
her, using her as a backboard. A couple of other passengers hold onto her arms
and neck. Cash is the only one sitting so she can operate the controls,
which were originally designed to be manipulated by giant beetle robot
claws. She has to ramp up the speed slowly, because even though their suits
offer them protection, they don’t exactly have inertial dampeners. A drone
will normally just punch it and go, but as humans, they need a little more
time to ease into it. She also needs to watch for the curves, and slow down
appropriately and safely. Her onboard AI is telling her when and how, but
she has to physically do it herself.
“Boss?” the guy they rescued from the other rover asks Breanna. “How do I do
that thing where I just talk to one person?”
“You’ve done it,” she replies. “We’re talking one-on-one.”
“I mean with, umm...Tertius,” he clarifies.
“Oh, he just has a regular radio transceiver, so he can talk to everyone or
no one.”
“I wanted to apologize for what happened...for...what I did. For what he had
to do for me. It’s not that I don’t want anyone to hear what I say. I guess
it just feels like I would be performing. I really just wanna have a private
conversation with my savior.”
“While Cash is keeping the railcart going, I’m linking up with the dome
systems as we run along them. I’m hoping we end up finding one with a fully
operational train station, so we can get into one of the vacuum pods, and go
a hell of a lot faster than this. You will have a chance to speak with him
quietly, even if it’s not until we reach the northern pole.”
“Okay, thanks, I appreciate it.” The guy never gets his chance.
