It actually was helpful when Erlendr told Alyssa that she would be forty-two
kilometers from the center of the island. Relatively speaking, that’s not
too far from where the Capitol is, and if she has to walk the entire way,
it’s going to take her a long time. That’s what she did all day yesterday.
She snacked on the rations on the way, and only stopped to pee. She kept in
contact with Leona and Mateo through her earpiece, which is working
flawlessly. Everything is reportedly going fine on their end. They didn’t
stay where they were, instead deciding to walk along the barrier, all the
way up to a campground around where Smithville Lake should be. Part of it
made it within the radius of the bubble, but most of it was not duplicated,
and is just ocean. They walked through plenty of grass to get there, but
that wasn’t the point. There is a non-zero chance that bodies of water serve
as loopholes to the barrier, so they’re going to try today when the sun gets
higher.
Alyssa found an abandoned house to stay in for the night. It wasn’t a
difficult task as they are all over the place. These buildings are ancient
by today’s standards. Most people live near the center now, in
superstructures that are far more efficient, and environmentally friendly.
This is a closed ecosystem with no resources available for import, so
protecting what little they have is important. They have let the wild
reclaim these areas for the most part. She hasn’t even seen a single soul
since she crossed the threshold. Until now. She’s passing through an empty
parking lot, distracted by the eerie sight of the towering rides at the
amusement park that the residents don’t waste their energy on anymore. The
bridge is only five kilometers away. She hears a noise, but doesn’t realize
what it might be until it comes into a view. It’s a horse-drawn wagon. It
looks new, not like it was found and recycled, but built for use in the
modern day. The back is filled with some kind of grain, and only one man is
on it.
She’s sick of walking, and if all he’s doing is going across the river then
that will at least give her a break. Now, she could probably sneak onto the
wagon, and hitch a ride without him noticing, but what happens the next time
she has to sneeze, or accidentally bumps against the walls? He looks like a
nice enough person, perhaps he can be trusted. She runs over to some trees
before dropping her invisibility illusion, and then comes out, trying to
appear as nonthreatening as possible. Let’s see, how might a farmer in
another reality talk? Anything like her people would? “Morning, friend! I
was hopin’ to trouble you for a ride into town!”
“What are ya doin’ all the way out here, Miss?” he asks, stopping his horse.
“I was on an urban hike,” she says, turning her shoulders a little to show
her daypack. “I went a little farther than I was originally plannin’. Now
I’m straight tired.”
“Where exactly you headed?”
Leona comes in through the earpiece, “don’t tell him you’re going to the
Capitol. There’s a residence near it called the Parkview Megablock. Say you
live there.”
“I live in the Parkview Megablock,” she goes on.
“I’m not goin’ that far West. “I’m distributing wheat at the Blue Valley
Market.”
“That’s a big area. No way to know exactly where the market is. Tell him
that’s fine, and to just drop you off at twelfth.”
“If you could just drop me off at twelfth street, I would much appreciate
it.”
He waits to respond, hopefully weighing his options, and not picturing her
with her clothes off. “Hop on in.” He scoots over on the bench to give her
room. “Name’s Buck on account of the fact that I’m the last resident of
Buckner, Missouri.”
“Umm...Jessie. Jessie James.”
He nods, but might still realize she’s lying. If he does, he’s not saying
anything. They make the occasional remark to each other on the way, but
mostly sit in silence. She enjoys watching the horse’s head go up and down
as it trudges along the road. It reminds her of home. It seems to take them
longer than she would have thought, but she’s not all that familiar with
Kansas City, especially not in this reality. Now she sees that there’s a
reason Leona called it a megablock. She finds them surrounded by tall
structures, much wider than a skyscraper. Each one looks like it covers the
distance of several blocks. Through the earpiece, she explains that they’re
self-sustainable and carfree, and can accommodate tens of thousands of
people. Some of them have storefronts on the ground floor on the outside,
but others are gated up. That’s all just a generalization of what a
megablock is; the Fourth Quadrant version of Kansas City has their own
socio-political framework that she doesn’t know too well.
“Here we go.” Buck stops the wagon.
Here she sees some real skyscrapers. “Thanks, I’ll walk home from here.”
“If you really wanna go to Parkview, it’s about a mile that way. He points
back the way they came.”
“We passed it?” she questions as she’s getting out of the wagon.
“If you lived there, you’d a’ noticed. You’re trying to go to the Capitol,
though.”
“I’m sorry?”
Buck taps at his ear. “Superhearing implant. I can hear your associate on
your comms. It’s okay, I know you were trying to be safe. I am too. You’re
obviously on some kind of operation, which is why I lied about who I am, and
where I’m from. I suspect you’re from pretty far away, or else you’d know
that Buckner is on this side of the river.”
“I just don’t know who to trust.”
He nods, and engages his horse, who starts to walk away slowly. “Like I
said, I understand. You don’t gotta worry about me. I don’t know nothin’.”
He rolls away.
She watches him go for a minute. “Which building is it?”
“Tallest one that isn’t incredibly tall. It’s a normal skyscraper, like what
you’re used to,” Leona explains.
Alyssa steps into an alleyway for cover, then reëmerges invisible. She walks
right into the building, slipping through unnoticed as someone else is
coming out. She walks over to the elevators, and tries to go to the top
floor, but the button won’t light up, presumably because it requires an
access card. It just defaults to the thirty-ninth floor. She tries to press
the other buttons, but the thirty-ninth button blinks every time, and then
stays on. It’s the only one she’s allowed to go to. At least it’s relatively
close. “What’s on this floor?” she whispers as she waits for the ride to
end.
“I don’t know,” Leona replies. “I didn’t know anyone would have superhearing
implants either, so we better go radio silent. You’re gonna have to
improvise, okay? That might mean revealing yourself. Can you handle this?”
She’s determined to get her sister back. “Yes.”
“Click your tongue five times to signal you need help.”
The doors open, letting Alyssa out to a hallway. There is a door to her
left, and one to her right. Then all the way down at the end is another
door. The first two don’t open, so she keeps going. Nervous, she turns the
knob, and enters the room. An old woman is lying in a hospital bed, and a
man in a lab coat is nearby, monitoring the medical equipment.
“Hello?” the old woman asks, staring at the ceiling, and not moving. “Is
somebody there?”
The doctor looks over. “The door opened on its own, Señora Rendón. I don’t
see anyone, it must have been a draft.”
Alyssa quietly steps over to the bed, and takes a look at the patient’s
chart. Trina Rendón. “Trina?”
“Hello?” the woman asks again.
“Who’s there?” The doctor gets in a defensive position.
Alyssa drops the illusion, and comes into view. “Alyssa McIver. My sister’s
name is Trina.”
“Aly,” the patient says with joy in her voice. “You’ve come to see me off.”
“What is the meaning of this?”
The doctor sighs. “Miss McIver, this is your sister. She’s older now, but
it’s her.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Let’s talk in the hallway.” The doctor leads her back out. “I don’t have
the whole story, I’m just here to treat her pain. From what I’ve heard, your
sister, Trina came to the main world sharing a body with someone else. They
used technology to separate them, and give her a new body. It was, I think,
modeled on what Trina looked like before. Umm...I don’t know what she did
with her life, but she lived it. She came to us two years ago—somehow found
a way into the bubble—and I’ve been in charge of her medical needs ever
since.”
Alyssa looks at the door. “Is this hospice?”
“I’m a hospice doctor, yes.”
“So she’s dying.”
“Yes.”
“But you can fix her.”
He hesitates a moment. “Señora Rendón has refused life extension treatment
beyond Level II.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“On a scale between zero and five, the second level allows for generalized
scientific medication, but not targeted medication, death-inhibiting
therapies, or indefinite life extension technologies. She has let us keep
her alive, but only to a point.”
That can’t be the end of the story. There has to be a way to undo this. “You
can reverse aging, right? Or someone can. Your world has all sorts of
technology.”
“Technically, yes, but I wouldn’t recommend it. She has experienced all
those years. She’s not a child anymore,” he explains. “I’m sure it’s hard
for you to wrap your head around this, but she has been able to tell us
stories. She grew up, and she met someone, and they had children. They’re
here, if you’d like to meet them, but you should speak with Trina first. She
can explain it better, and she doesn’t have much time. I think she knew you
were coming, and she was waiting.”
“You’ll regret it if you don’t go,” Leona warns.
Alyssa wants to, but she can’t convince her legs to move. Sensing this, the
doctor physically helps her through, so the two McIver sisters can have one
last conversation.
