Whoop whoop, glad to hear those cogs are turning. Will those next few chapters include any Jarryl? 
Not with each other - there’s a literal ocean between them!
Someone might have a bit of romance though…
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Hi folks,
Quick update. I’m still writing away. I’m so slow, lol. I reckon I’m about halfway through and am hoping to have something for you by June. In the meantime I’ve done a trawl of the interwebs and found some reference photos for some of the new characters.
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I knew Arto was a hottie. I love those eyes.
Roll on June!!!
Already planned his return! Not sure which chapter yet though.
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So last week I missed out a photo of a VERY IMPORTANT CHARACTER!
How could I forget?!
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New chapter coming on Friday!
Click below for an emoji preview:
–> 
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Oh my days!!! Those emoji’s have got me pumped. 
Now I’m hoping I haven’t massively overhyped it! 
Do you have a time it will be going up? 
I will try to post it before work, otherwise it’ll be around this sort of time.
Here it is folks. Still a bit of work to do on improving my writing speed but eight months is at least better than eight years, right?!
Chapter 37: Memories
Ruby tried to focus, tried to concentrate on the twittering song of the birds in the trees around her. If she looked hard she could see them, little flashes of movement amidst the leaves that drew her eye and made them stand out on the branches. Occasionally they would flit from one tree to another and she would catch a proper glimpse of them against the pale blue of the early morning sky; little dark shapes, sometimes with a flash of colour, quite fragile things really. Most living things were, she supposed sadly.
A breeze ruffled the leaves in the trees and the movement hid the birds from her sight again. The leaves fluttering in unison made it seem like entire trees were shrugging their nonexistent shoulders, or tossing their heads in vexation, irritated by the disturbance of the humans and impatient for them to leave them to their peace and quiet.
Because birdsong wasn’t the only sound vying for Ruby’s attention in this place. She had been trying to ignore it, trying to focus on the birds, but there was no drowning out the rhythmic scrape of the shovel.
Reluctantly, she lowered her eyes from the trees to her companions, or more specifically to Tag, standing waist deep in the grave he was digging. His eyes held an intense focus, as if his whole being was occupied with the task he was carrying out and nothing else existed. He had silently but firmly refused the help of Creg and Darryl, who now stood awkwardly at the graveside, clutching their own shovels uselessly. In a way she understood Tag’s need to perform this last duty for Link but she worried for him nonetheless. It was like he had retreated into himself. He was always quiet, of course, and she knew from Link that he had never been one to share much of what he was thinking or feeling, but she was afraid of what might be building up under the surface, bubbling away unseen. She knew some of what he was feeling; he had shown it yesterday…
‘Ruby!’
She knew something was wrong immediately. Apart from the night they had met, at the party to celebrate the return of the city folk, Tag had never come to the mall. And the anguish that was plain in his voice, usually so deadpan – it chilled her.
‘Ruby! Ellie!’
She ran out to the balcony and leaned over. The railings – lacking proper maintenance since the Virus - squeaked rustily under the pressure of her weight. Down below, Tag was coming through the main grille into the courtyard. He walked determinedly but with difficulty, struggling with the burden of carrying Link in his arms. Ruby’s breath caught. ‘No,’ she murmured, stepping away from the railing and racing the rest of the way across the gallery and down the stairs to the fountain. By the time she reached Tag, Ellie had joined her from her own room.
‘Link’ Ruby cried, just as Tag stumbled to his knees. One of Link’s arms fell loose and brushed the floor limply. Ruby gasped.
‘I’ll get the medical kit,’ Ellie stammered, running off back into the mall.
‘It’s too late,’ Tag said wearily after she’d left, and Ruby let her last shred of hope slip away. ‘She’s gone.’ Slowly he lowered Link – Link’s body – the rest of the way to the floor. He ran a hand through her hair, rearranging the messy blonde spikes almost reverently, before looking up at Ruby. He must have registered the shock and grief on her own face because something seemed to trigger him and his expression changed at once, his face loosening and his eyes shining with something that seemed almost like panic.
‘I’m sorry!’ he cried. ‘I didn’t know what else to do, where to go. I…’
She extended a hand towards him and he shuffled backwards away from her, leaning back against a pillar and raising an arm to his mouth to stifle a sob. Tears streamed down his face and his shoulders shook as he wailed incoherent words into his sleeve.
Wiping away her own tears, Ruby settled onto the floor beside him, her legs tucked to one side. Slowly she put an arm around him, applying a little pressure to coax him into resting his head on her shoulder. She sat there stroking his long black hair soothingly, all the while feeling like she needed comforting herself. She tried to process what was going on but she was in shock still. Nothing made sense. How could this be happening?
By the time Ellie returned with the redundant medical supplies, they had attracted an audience. Other Mallrats stood around in stunned silence. She was dimly aware of Trudy asking her something, several times, but she was unable to reply. Eventually most of the onlookers were ushered away, and she heard Ellie saying something to Trudy in a reassuring tone before she, too, left them.
‘How did it happen?’ Ruby asked softly as Ellie sat herself down on the other side of Tag.
Tag shook his head. He stared out across the courtyard but his eyes didn’t seem to focus on anything in particular. ‘I don’t know,’ he said helplessly. ‘I was out inspecting the grid. She was supposed to be back at the power station, but suddenly she was just there, and sick…If anyone should have been in danger it was me, with the Skinks out rioting like they were…It should have been me…’
‘This wasn’t your fault,’ Ellie told him firmly and Ruby voiced her own agreement. Inside, her stomach churned. Sick, he had said. That could only mean one thing.
‘It’s the same person, isn’t it?’ Tag asked, echoing where her own thoughts were leading her. ‘Whoever killed that guy that turned up here with your note, he killed her too, didn’t he? She wanted to warn you about something. That was the last thing she said. “Met”. I don’t know who she met. She couldn’t finish, but she tried! She really tried!’
‘We know she did,’ Ellie said soothingly. ‘It’s ok.’
Ruby couldn’t speak. All she felt was guilt. Link could have used her last moments with Tag to say goodbye, to tell him how much he meant to her, but instead she chose to try and pass on a message to the Mallrats. She couldn’t help but feel at least partly responsible for Tag’s pain.
‘Tag,’ she managed to get out eventually. ‘I don’t know how much Link told you…’ She looked at Ellie, who nodded encouragingly.
Tag closed his eyes and sighed, realising where this was going. ‘She was helping you, wasn’t she?’
‘Only with files,’ Ellie pointed out, a little defensively. ‘There was a Techno connection. We would never have asked her to put herself into danger.’
Tag shook his head again. ‘I knew she was up to something,’ he said sadly before looking down at Link, lying on the floor in front of them. ‘Why?’ he asked her lifeless form. ‘Why didn’t you just tell me?’ He buried his head in his hands and wept again.
‘Why don’t we go to the café?’ Ruby suggested. ‘Get something warm inside you?’ It seemed a silly thing to offer, given what had happened, but she didn’t know what else to do. Besides, the rest of the Mallrats wouldn’t stay away forever, and she didn’t want Tag to be a spectacle.
Tag shook his head emphatically. ‘I can’t leave her,’ he said, tensing a little as if preparing to physically resist being moved.
‘I know,’ she said quickly in an attempt to placate him. ‘It’s ok, you don’t have to. I’ll…I’ll bring something out for us, shall I?’ Tag relaxed again but didn’t offer a reply. She looked to Ellie, who nodded.
‘I’ll stay with him,’ the other girl said softly.
Ruby smiled in thanks and got up, giving Tag’s shoulder a squeeze as she did so. Once she’d made it to the café, away from anyone else, she let out a deep breath that became shaky for an instant before she pulled herself together again.
‘No,’ she told herself. ‘You can’t fall apart yet.’
‘You can, you know,’ a voice said. ‘If you need to.’ Ruby jumped what felt like a foot in the air before noticing Trudy’s presence.
‘Trudy!’ she gasped. ‘I didn’t realise you were here.’
‘I’m sorry,’ Trudy replied. ‘I know Ellie said the two of you would handle everything but I had to do something.’
Ruby noticed then that Trudy was carrying a tray with three mugs of hot tea. ‘Trudy…’ she began, but that was as much as she could get out before the tears came. She heard the clatter of the tray being put down before feeling herself being pulled into an embrace. ‘She was my friend, Trudy!’ she sniffed. ‘She was my friend and I got her killed!’
She wiped away a tear as she came out of the memory. Part of her wished Trudy was still there with her, but she was back at the mall. She and May had opted to remain behind to look after the younger Mallrats, and to keep an eye on the place, but the rest of the tribe were all here at Hope Park for the funeral. Ellie and Jack – in his wheelchair – were a comforting presence beside her. Even Amber was here. Perhaps she felt the same guilt that she herself did. If it wasn’t for her involvement with the Mallrats, Link would still be alive today.
Gel was here too. Ruby remembered returning from the café yesterday to find a roll of fabric on the floor next to Link. Ellie explained that Gel had offered it. It was an expensive looking cream silk and must have been hard for her to part with. They had used it as a sort of shroud, winding it around Link’s body before placing her on a bed in one of the empty rooms. The whole process had felt like a ceremony of sorts, and more dignified than if they had just covered her with an old blanket or bedsheet or whatever else had been available. At any rate, it had made Tag comfortable enough to go and eat something, so she was grateful to Gel for that alone, and not too proud to admit that she had perhaps misjudged the younger Mallrat in the past.
She realised that Tag had finished digging the grave and watched in silence as he tossed the shovel out onto the grass and allowed Darryl and Creg to help him out. Dirt streaked his white Technician uniform and he had an uncertain look in his eyes, as if the action of digging had given him a temporary purpose and now he was lost again.
The Mallrats – at least those who had been to Hope Park before – had been surprised to find two new graves when they had arrived earlier that morning. Evidently some other city kids had discovered this place and realised it was a good spot to use as a cemetery. Rather than start their own plot they had buried their dead alongside the existing graves, as if even in death there was comfort in being among others. Ruby was grateful that Slade and the others had had the foresight to mark Ram and Mega’s graves under different names. Before the Virus, the grass in the park would have been regularly mown. Now it was a meadow, with clumps of wildflowers poking through the tufts of long grass. Whoever had buried their friends here had picked some of these flowers and left them on top of the graves – on all of the graves – as if the dead had all been adopted into the same tribe. Ruby thought she should have found it comforting but instead it made her angry. Mallrat or Loco, Demon Dog or Techno, none of it mattered in the end; everyone was the same when they were dead. So why did the human race still spend so much time and effort concentrating on the differences? Fighting over them? Using them to belittle or exploit people? How did a single act of kindness – placing flowers on a stranger’s grave – manage to represent both the very best and the very worst of humanity?
She was saved from getting lost down her rabbit hole of thought by the squeaking of the park gate. Next to her, Ellie reached out to clutch her hand and let out a deep sigh. ‘They’re here,’ she said in relief.
Ruby turned her head towards the entrance and watched as a dozen Technicians filed towards them in two columns. The military-style training of the Technos they had previously been was obvious, despite their now white uniforms. The group was led by a subdued-looking Spinner and a tall boy with short blond hair who she assumed must be Cable. Ellie had gone to the power station last night to break the news, and to let them know that Tag would be staying at the mall for the night with Link. It was good to see a strong turnout from Link’s own tribe for the funeral.
As the group reached the Mallrats and Tag, Spinner broke off and approached the graveside. ‘Tag,’ she said, extending her arms, pity in her voice.
‘No!’ he said firmly but quietly, raising a hand to block her. She stopped mid-stride with a stumble and Tag paused to make sure she wasn’t going to continue before using the same hand to irritably direct her back to the rest of the Technicians. Tag’s calmness made Ruby shiver. It didn’t match the fury in his eyes or the way he clenched his fists, fingernails digging into his palms. She had expected anger last night, directed at her and Ellie for getting Link mixed up in all of this, but it never came. Not even after he had demanded to know everything that was going on. They had told him what little they could about Plague and about Unit 12, although evidently he already knew more about what had happened back then than they did. That was when he had asked how much Spinner knew. Ruby and Ellie could only guess at that. She had seen Relay so she must have made the Unit 12 connection, but as far as they knew she hadn’t been involved in any of Link’s investigations. Tag had gone quiet then. She had assumed he was just too exhausted to take in any more information but the way he was looking at Spinner now, she wasn’t so sure. All the blame she had expected to receive last night now seemed to be directed at Spinner. She wished she knew what was going through his head. Was he wishing the other Technician had told him what was going on? Did he think she should have helped Link instead of leaving her to face danger alone? Or did he perhaps suspect her of having a more direct role in Link’s death? Ruby and Ellie had certainly wondered if Spinner was somehow involved with Plague, especially after finding out from Link that she had been one of the Technos working on Mega’s secret lab. Looking at her now though, it was hard for Ruby to feel the same way. She seemed genuinely affected by Link’s death, and looked more vulnerable than Ruby had ever seen her, more like the teenager she was.
Tag turned his head away from Spinner and allowed himself to relax before hopping down into the grave. Creg and Darryl moved towards Link’s silk-wrapped form ready to carry her to him but he waved them away from her and motioned for Cable and Spinner to do it instead. Cable approached immediately but Spinner drew back, looking at Link in alarm and shaking her head.
‘Tag,’ she said hoarsely. ‘I…I can’t. Please…’
Tag leaned out over the edge of the grave, his fingers wrapping around clumps of grass as if to stop himself from climbing out. ‘You come over here right now and give my Lian the respect she deserves!’ he said in a voice shaky with the effort of not shouting. When Spinner still hesitated he pointed a finger at her aggressively. ‘You owe this to her!’ he growled.
Cable shot a disapproving glance at Tag but held out a hand to Spinner to persuade her more gently. ‘We should do this,’ he said softly. ‘I know it’s hard but it’s our duty. We need to be better leaders than we had in the Technos.’
Tag looked at Cable as if he wanted to argue but Spinner steeled herself with a breath and quickly walked over to join Cable so he let whatever it was he might have been about to say go. The pair lifted Link and carried her slowly to the grave. Cable took Link’s head and shoulders, handling them surprisingly gently. At the other end, Spinner moved stiffly, shakily, blinking back tears. They passed her to Tag, who cradled her in his arms as he had when he carried her into the mall. Turning slowly, he lowered her carefully to the ground as if he were trying to lay her on a bed without waking her. Then he knelt over her, placing a hand on top of the shroud. He stayed there for a while, saying a few private words, before bending to kiss Link’s head through the silk. Standing, he climbed out of the grave and started to lightly shovel earth back into the grave, his mouth tight and eyes full of pain. Only when Link was completely covered by a layer of soil did he nod to Darryl and Creg, who helped him to fill the rest of the grave.
When all the earth had been replaced, Ellie walked up to Tag and handed him the wooden grave marker carved with Link’s name. Her true name – Lian. He planted it securely at the head of the grave and got back to his feet with a sigh. He raised his head then, seeming to notice the rest of the mourners properly for the first time since the burial had begun. As his eyes passed across the assembled Mallrats and Technicians, Spinner – who had returned to the crowd and now stood to Ruby’s left – looked as if she might say something. ‘We’re done here,’ he said, cutting her off before she could begin.
‘She was the best of us,’ Spinner murmured to herself instead, barely audible even to Ruby. ‘She cared.’ Ruby found herself reaching out to touch the other girl’s arm sympathetically. Spinner flinched and brushed her off angrily. ‘And look where it got her!’ she finished, turning to Ruby. The hardness had returned to her face. Before Ruby could say anything she had stormed off back to the rest of the Technicians. ‘Five minutes!’ she snapped. ‘Then we need to get back. The team back at the power station can’t maintain the grid all morning on their own.’
Ruby sighed and rolled her eyes. Some people were their own worst enemy.
Leaving Spinner to take charge of the Technicians, Cable broke away from the assembled mourners to find a quiet spot in which to clear his head. It ached again. One of the Mallrats passed him in the other direction, a kid with reddish hair in a wheelchair, and he felt a wave of hatred rising up inside him so strong that his fists clenched and he had to concentrate on holding his arms steady by his sides until the Mallrat had gone by in order to avoid lashing out at him.
When he was a safe distance away he allowed his hands to relax and unclench, then shook his head. The kid wasn’t Ram, despite the image that had appeared in his mind when he saw the wheelchair. Anyway, Ram was dead and gone, probably buried somewhere in this park, so feeling angry at him wasn’t going to serve any purpose. He couldn’t help it though; even now, just thinking about the former Techno leader was starting to make his blood boil again. But why? Ram was certainly worthy of hatred for what he had done and how he had treated people, but he was surprised at the intensity of his own feelings. It was the same with Link. He was filled with sadness at the death of his friend, but their friendship didn’t really account for how deeply the grief seemed to run, no matter how much of a shock it had been. It was almost like he had been ready for it, like these feelings were already waiting to be let out and Link’s death was just the catalyst that released them. He had been a wreck last night, though at least he had managed to hide it from the rest of his tribe, squirreled away in his office. With the Technicians still getting used to their new role, their new identity, he couldn’t afford to let them think he was losing it. But maybe he was. Maybe his workload was getting to him, making him hyper-sensitive and emotional. He had never been able to delegate very well. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been out of the power station. Truth be told, he struggled to remember what it was he was supposed to be working on anyway. That was something else that bothered him; he had noticed that his memory was sometimes unreliable. Not just short term stuff either. Sometimes it felt like there were whole chunks of his life that were hazy blurs. He could feel his head throbbing again just thinking about how tangled and messed up it all was. He hoped he really did just need a break. He hoped there wasn’t something medically wrong with him. He wondered…could he ever be desperate enough to try and make his way back to Techno HQ? Their medical facilities were probably the best left in the world, but it would mean submitting to the regime again. Ram seemed tame in comparison.
With the thought of Ram he felt his anger rising again and he pressed his fingers to his forehead in a vain attempt to allay the steady thud of his headache. His walk had brought him back to the cluster of graves but he could see that Spinner was now occupied talking to the guy in the wheelchair; she looked to have calmed down a bit and the Mallrat was shaking her hand. As long as he continued to keep her busy there was still time to make the most of the fresh air and to try and settle his own emotions. Not wanting to wander too far away, he started pacing slowly between the graves, studying them to try and focus his mind away from his thoughts and the headache. One in particular seemed to draw his attention and he kept pausing to look at it every time he walked past until finally he realised he had stopped completely and was just staring at it. He didn’t know why. It was the same as all the other graves, right down to the identical bunch of wildflowers resting on top of it. Only the name on the cross was different. Elsa, it read. The sadness crept up on him again and he thought of Link, only the face of a different blonde-haired young woman flashed in front of his mind’s eye, only for an instant, then it was Link again.
Something about that face tugged at his memory. He was sure it was a real person he had seen before, sure that if he concentrated he would be able to recall that face. The memory of it was so tantalisingly close and yet completely out of reach, like he was trying to remember a dream that had been so vivid just a moment before but had now slipped into oblivion. No! he thought stubbornly. He would remember. He didn’t know why it was so vital but he would do it. His head pounded and he clutched it with both hands as if to stop it from bursting open. The world around him seemed to retreat from existence, colours fading, sounds muffling. All that was clear and sharp was himself, the pain, and the grave in front of him, the name on the cross burning across his vision, even when he closed his eyes, branding itself onto his mind, his soul.
‘I love you, you big lump!’
The voice was so clear in his head that he turned with a start to see where it had come from, but there was nobody there. It had been a memory, something bubbling up to the surface, piercing a hole through the fog that seemed to cloud his mind. If he could only find that opening again. If he could only…
The whirring of the plane’s engines filled his ears and vibrated through his whole body. Currents of air swirled around him, tugging at him, from the opening at the tail end of the aircraft. One by one his fellow Technos threw themselves through that opening, into that ocean of blue sky, but he only had eyes for the one in front of him. Back towards him, facing the open hatch, in that bulky flight suit it could have been any Techno at all, but he knew it was her. He would recognise her form no matter what she was wearing, could trace her shape even with his eyes closed. She was impressed so strongly on his mind that he could never forget her.
She began moving towards the opening and his breath and heart stopped. Catching up to her, he caught her hand and she stopped, turning towards him, her mouth forming a frown that expressed her puzzlement below the metal mask that covered the top half of her face. Seeing the worry in his eyes, she smiled fondly, lifting her mask.
The part of his mind that was in the present was rocked. It was her. The face he couldn’t forget. The face he had forgotten.
‘I love you, you big lump!’ she shouted over the noise of the plane, kissing him lightly on the lips. ‘See you on the other side,’ she grinned as she stepped back and replaced her mask before turning and running towards the hatch. At the edge she leapt gracefully into the air like a bird. For an instant she appeared to be flying for real, then she was lost to view.
‘Elsa…’ he whispered.
He was in the park, and he was on the plane. Reality and memory collided like a car crash. Fragments of his life tumbled around in his mind, out of order.
In the plane, he ran after Elsa, towards the opening. The light from outside filled his vision as he got closer until it was all he could see. He threw himself into that light. He fell through the air, feeling it whipping around him, his clothes and skin rippling like a flag with the force of it as he tumbled. In his mind, time seemed to lose all meaning as those floating pieces of everything he had lived were tossed around, just like he was being tossed around, all trying to occupy the same moment. He tried to grab at them, to catch them, force them back into order. The plane flew on, dwindling out of sight. He fell through the air. He fell through his memories.
Elsa…kissing him, and more…passion he hadn’t realised he could feel, making his cheeks burn…
Beside him, another freefalling Techno raised his hand to his radio and spoke into it, his words mostly obscured by static.
‘Unit 12…missing…vanished…deleted…’
The Techno pulled his parachute cord and disappeared from sight as Cable continued to plummet. That was when he realised he wasn’t wearing a parachute himself. Panic washed over him as he thrashed about in the air. He could see the ground now, getting ever closer.
Memories assailed him from all sides. He jerked as they slammed into place. Ram…betrayal…anger…hatred…revenge…
The ground was closer still. It almost seemed to be rising to meet him rather than the other way around. Somehow he knew that there was still something he had to remember. If he could only do that, perhaps he would be saved. It made no sense, but he held on to that hope and desperately tried to remember.
Suddenly the ground was right below him. One minute there was distance between him and it, the next it was just there. He had no time to brace himself before the impact came, winding him. In the park, he felt himself sink to his knees. In his mind he picked himself up from where he lay face down in the dirt, wondering how he had survived. He raised his head, though now he knew exactly what he would see. His mind was clearer than it had been for a long time.
Above him, Spinner stood in her Techno uniform, pointing her zapper at him. Without warning, she fired. Light filled his vision and pain, worse than anything he’d ever felt, stabbed his mind.
He fell onto the grave, his body convulsing.
Ellie folded her arms and frowned as she watched Jack talking to Spinner. She had had some choice words to say when he told her that he wanted to introduce himself to her properly, and to thank her for what she had done for him. Despite what had happened, he believed that it had been Spinner’s intervention that had set him on the road to recovery. If she was being honest with herself, Ellie supposed he was probably right, not that she would ever admit it out loud. She still couldn’t forgive Spinner for her attitude, or for losing her concentration during the procedure, and she didn’t trust herself not to make that known if she went over now. That wouldn’t be fair on anyone, not today. It had been hard enough last night when she had gone to tell the Technicians about Link, but the two of them had at least managed a civil, if awkward, conversation.
Of course, breaking the news wasn’t the only reason she had gone to the power station. On the pretext of collecting some things for Tag, she had been able to make a quick search of Link’s workplace in the hope of finding clues to why she had gone off alone. It had been difficult going through her friend’s things, and ultimately fruitless. There were no obvious papers or computer files to point to what she had last been looking at, and the only thing she had found of relevance was a hastily scribbled note stating her intention to go and find Tag. Could the answer be that simple? She must have been worried about him during the Skinks’ riot, but that still didn’t explain how she had fallen foul of Plague, or where. There was something she was missing. If Link had discovered something, then she and Ruby could do the same. She would get justice for Link if it was the last thing she did.
Still talking to Jack, Spinner glanced over at Ellie and the pair made eye contact. Ellie turned her back stubbornly and found herself facing Tag. He had his own back to her, still standing over the grave. He was alone, and the slump of his shoulders made him look so lost that Ellie immediately felt ashamed over her preoccupation with Spinner and the irrelevance of it all. Today was about Link, and about Tag.
She walked over to him. Sensing her approach, he turned. His eyes regarded her blankly.
‘Oh Tag,’ she commiserated, enveloping him in a hug. He just stood there stiffly, not responding.
Feeling her eyes welling up, she broke away from the awkward embrace and scrubbed at them with the backs of her hands.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘This must be hard enough without me blubbing on you.’
Tag mumbled something noncommittal but she hardly registered it. Over his shoulder she had noticed Cable falling to the ground. Before she’d had much time to wonder if he was ok, he had started having some kind of seizure. Her gasp alerted Tag to what was going on, but already several of the Technicians, as well as Creg and Darryl, had rushed to the scene.
Suddenly she realised exactly where Cable had been standing. Unless she was mistaken that was Elsa’s grave, the first of the Unit 12 victims. Her breath caught as she remembered what Link had told her. Elsa and Cable were in love, she had explained. When she vanished, it nearly killed him. If he knew that members of Unit 12 were turning up dead in the City after so long…it would destroy him, and he’d pull the rest of us down with him. Ellie had been worrying so much about Tag and Spinner that she’d barely given Cable a thought. She’d never even considered what might happen if he saw Elsa’s grave and started making connections. Even so, this reaction defied explanation. Had the shock of seeing her name triggered some sort of underlying medical condition? She shared a look with Ruby, who seemed just as surprised as she was. Meanwhile, Spinner had taken a few tentative steps towards Cable before pausing, unable to continue. She looked terrified.
It was an agonising wait but, apart from making sure he didn’t hurt himself, there was nothing else they could do. Eventually Cable’s body relaxed and he lay still.
The silence was broken by Darryl, still kneeling on the ground where he had been supporting Cable. ‘Is he dead?’ he asked, sounding alarmed.
‘He’s still breathing,’ one of the Technicians on the other side of Cable replied. Sure enough, after a little while Cable’s eyes fluttered open, wincing at the light, and he rolled himself onto all fours with a low groan. He planted one foot on the ground, ready to lever himself to a standing position, but before he did so he raised his head and stared at Spinner with a look of pure hatred in his eyes.
‘What did you do to me?’ he asked in a low voice. Spinner flinched as if he had shouted and took a step back, her shoulders hunched as if she wanted to withdraw into herself.
Cable put his weight onto his foot and pushed himself up with a yell, Darryl and the other Technician supporting him on either side. ‘What did you do to me?!’ he repeated. This time he did shout.
With a growl, Cable’s whole body seemed to tense and then everything seemed to happen at once. He advanced towards Spinner, managing a few steps before Darryl and the Technician began trying to restrain him. He struggled against them, managing to shake off Darryl, who stumbled backwards and tripped over the mound of earth that covered Link’s grave, landing on top of it and dislodging the wooden cross. Tag dragged him off angrily before marching towards Cable. By this time more of the Technicians were trying to keep him away from Spinner. Although they outnumbered him, he fought against them like a man possessed, driven by his need to confront Spinner, slowly but surely inching nearer to his goal. Spinner herself stood rooted to the spot, looking half frightened, half resigned to whatever was coming.
‘No!’ Tag yelled, wading into the fray. He reached Cable and, without hesitation, punched him in the face. Cable staggered back, shaking his head groggily, blood trickling from his lip and onto his white uniform. It was enough for the rest of the Technicians to overpower their leader, holding him securely. Tag still held his fist up as if he wanted to hit him again but with an effort he lowered it to his side. He didn’t unclench it though.
‘Not here!’ he said instead in a strained voice. ‘Show some respect!’
Spinner approached Tag and gently laid a hand on his arm. ‘Thank you,’ she said.
‘I didn’t do it for you,’ he told her brusquely, brushing her hand away before walking off to kneel by Link’s grave, righting the disturbed cross with a gentle touch.
Left on her own, Spinner let out a sigh. ‘I know,’ she said sadly. Quickly regaining her composure, she joined the rest of the Technicians with Cable. ‘Is he ok?’ she asked, barely waiting for their answer. ‘Let’s get him back to the power station.’
The Technicians began making their way out of the park. Cable stubbornly dragged his feet, forcing them to take his legs and physically carry him. Spinner let them go on ahead before turning uncertainly to Tag.
‘Are you coming, Tag?’ she asked. He looked at her and grimaced before turning to Ellie and Ruby with a pleading look in his eyes. Ellie was glad that Ruby glanced towards Amber for confirmation before replying.
‘You’re more than welcome to come back to the mall with us,’ Ruby told him. Tag nodded gratefully.
‘Ok then,’ Spinner said, sounding disappointed. ‘Well, I guess I’d better…’ She trailed off, gesturing to the departing group of Technicians. ‘See you around?’
Tag shrugged and Spinner stood for a moment before wordlessly turning and walking away to join the rest of her tribe. Ellie found herself breathing a sigh of relief when she finally disappeared out of sight beyond the gate.
Amber cleared her throat and then flushed when everybody turned to look at her. She looked rattled by what had happened but Ellie could tell that she was trying to act normal. ‘We should probably start making our own way back,’ she said eventually. ‘Trudy and May will be tearing their hair out by now looking after the little ones. Unless…’ She fixed Tag with a questioning look and he gazed longingly at Link’s grave before closing his eyes and nodding.
‘Let’s go,’ he agreed.
The Mallrats gathered themselves and made their way out of the park. Darryl pulled the gates closed as they left before jogging up to Tag.
‘Hey man,’ he said. ‘I’m sorry about before, you know, with the…’
‘Forget it,’ Tag interrupted, waving him away. ‘It wasn’t your fault.’
‘I know, but…’
‘Just forget it, ok?’ Tag snapped. ‘Look, I don’t want to talk about it.’ He increased his pace and moved to the front of the party. Ellie and Ruby shared a look before Ruby moved up to join him. She said nothing, just walked beside him, providing company.
Creg clapped Darryl - who now looked like a guilty puppy - on the back before joining Gel, slipping his fingers between hers. ‘I’m sorry too,’ Ellie heard him say softly to her. ‘For being a jerk yesterday.’ Gel smiled and rested her head on his shoulder as they walked. He noticed Ellie looking at him and he looked back with an unreadable expression before turning to laugh at something Gel had said. Ellie frowned.
‘Are you mad at me?’ Jack said as he caught up to her, wheeling himself along in his chair.
‘Mad at you?’ she asked in surprise. ‘What for?’
‘For talking to Spinner,’ he replied.
She smiled fondly at him and put a hand on his shoulder. ‘Of course not,’ she told him. ‘You did the right thing. Maybe she did help you. MAYBE. It’s just…well, she’s not the easiest person to like.’
‘Hmm,’ Jack mumbled noncommittally. ‘She certainly has a way about her. I think that’s deliberate though.’ He paused between sentences, the effort of speaking plain on his face. Despite his continued struggles, her heart swelled with pride at how well he was recovering.
‘What do you mean?’ she asked when he had finished.
‘Didn’t you see her before, with Cable? She looked scared.’
‘I would too,’ she argued. ‘He’s a pretty intimidating guy.’
Jack pursed his lips thoughtfully. ‘I don’t think it was him she was scared of,’ he mused. ‘At least not directly.’
Ellie thought again about what Link had said about Cable and Elsa. ‘You might be right,’ she said. ‘I think this Unit 12 stuff goes deeper than we know. Something tells me Spinner’s right in the middle of it, and her web’s starting to unravel.’ She studied Tag, walking in front with Ruby. She wondered if he knew what was going on between Spinner and Cable. Now wasn’t the time to ask though.
Jack nodded sadly and she frowned at him. ‘Don’t tell me you’re feeling sorry for her?’ she said drily.
‘Look,’ he said. ‘Maybe she’s done some terrible things. And maybe she deserves Cable’s anger. I don’t know. All I know is, she helped me. So she can’t be all bad.’
Ellie sniffed disparagingly and they carried on in silence for a while.
‘Hey?’ Jack said eventually. ‘You know it wasn’t all down to Spinner, right?’
‘What wasn’t?’
‘Me. Getting better, that is. If it hadn’t been for you…everything you did for me…’ His mouth worked, unable to get out everything he wanted to say. She touched his arm and brought them both to a stop, the others carrying on without them.
‘It’s ok,’ she told him. ‘You don’t have to say anything. And besides, Ruby helped too. You know, with all your exercises and everything.’
‘No, I do have to say it,’ he said firmly, the statement feeling more significant with his speech issues. ‘And it wasn’t the exercises. I mean, they helped. But it was you. You believed in me Ellie. If you hadn’t…I don’t think I could have kept fighting to come back. Maybe even Spinner’s kick-start wouldn’t have worked then.’
It was an effort for him to get his words out but she waited patiently while he finished, blinking back the tears that were threatening to build up behind her eyes, before squeezing his arm, suddenly unable to speak herself.
Jack blushed self-consciously at his own words before pointing up the road to where the others were getting further away. ‘We’d, um, we’d better…Yeah.’
They started up again, but the mental and physical exertion of the morning had taken its toll on Jack and he was tired. They found it difficult to catch up with the rest of the Mallrats and eventually he asked her if she would push his wheelchair. She took over wordlessly and he reached behind his shoulder to hold one of her hands where it rested on the handle of the chair.
‘Thank you,’ he said softly, and she knew it wasn’t just for pushing him.
They remained that way, walking in comfortable silence, Jack’s hand resting on hers, all the way back to the mall.
1 Like
Amber breathed a sigh of relief as she stepped into the mall. Making her excuses to the rest of the group, she left them and carried on further into the building. She wasn’t hurrying exactly but she walked purposefully, wanting to separate herself from the atmosphere of the funeral. It had been the right thing to do, going. Not just out of duty, or to pay her respects to someone who had been close to some of the Mallrats - an involvement that might have got her killed, she thought to herself - but also because she needed to get used to being out in the city again, interacting with other tribes. She was City Leader after all, but she needed it for herself too. She’d spent too long cooped up in the mall since the Technos were defeated; she couldn’t stay like that forever. Even so, she was glad that the funeral was over and she was safely back home again. She hadn’t expected things to get quite so out of hand. She didn’t understand what had happened to get Cable so worked up but it had scared her. She’d felt the panic rising again, just like in the hotel, but she had managed to keep a lid on it. Just. But it was over now; she’d got through it.
The area by the fountain was strewn with toys and pieces of paper with children’s drawings on them, but there was nobody in sight. Figuring out where they would probably be, she continued on. Sure enough, when she reached the café there they all were. Bonnie and Lottie were chasing each other around the room, giggling. Trudy was trying to get Brady to eat something but she kept twisting around to see what the older girls were doing, eager to join in. Next to them, May was feeding Bray some puréed vegetables. Somehow he’d managed to get a blob of it in his tiny quiff. He turned and saw her mid-spoonful, smearing more of it over his cheek, but she hardly noticed it for the smile that lit up his face on her arrival.
‘Mama!’ he said delightedly, waving his arms in the air. Trudy and May looked up.
‘You’re back!’ Trudy smiled. Lottie and Bonnie briefly stopped their running around to say hello - copied by Brady - before starting up again. May ignored her.
‘We’re back,’ Amber sighed, walking over to them and taking Bray in her arms. ‘There’s the face I’ve been wanting to see!’ she said to her son, changing her voice to speak to him. He laughed and clapped his hands. She couldn’t help but smile.
‘How was it?’ Trudy asked sympathetically.
Her smile slipped. ‘It wasn’t great,’ she replied, starting to bounce Bray on her arm. ‘There was a bit of a drama with the Technicians. It’s fine now, nothing to worry about.’
‘What kind of drama?’ May asked, suddenly interested. ‘If there’s going to be more trouble…’
Amber started bouncing Bray a little faster, causing him to chuckle. ‘I said it’s fine!’ she said irritably. ‘Look, whatever it was, they’re dealing with it. It’s not our problem.’
May’s lips tightened and she began violently clearing away Bray’s bowl and spoon. Lottie and Bonnie shared a look and dashed out of the café. Trudy looked like she regretted having asked about the funeral and wanted to be elsewhere too. Oblivious to the mood of the room, Bray carried on laughing to himself as he bounced up and down.
Amber sighed. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap. It’s not you May, it’s just that it’s over now and I don’t really want to talk about it.’
May didn’t look particularly appeased but, before either of them could say anything else, Bray - who had become a little giddy from all the bouncing - suddenly let out a hiccup and brought up some of his dinner. He grinned as it dribbled down his chin, and Amber could feel it soaking in to her top too. May brought a hand up to her face in an attempt to hide her smile. At least she wasn’t angry anymore.
‘Oh, here,’ Trudy said, holding her arms out. ‘Let me take him while you clean yourself up.’
‘No, it’s ok,’ she replied. ‘Thanks Trudy but I’ll take him to our room, clean both of us up there.’
She made her goodbyes, relieved at the excuse to leave, and made her way to the room she shared with her son. Once there, she cleaned up Bray - including the little blob of purée in his hair - and changed him, before lifting him into his playpen with his toys while she sorted herself out.
Opening the wardrobe, she rummaged around and eventually settled on a top she remembered picking up from somewhere because she had liked the colours but had never worn. She’d fashioned it into a halter neck with the addition of a silver choker, with one strap remaining over the left shoulder. At first glance it was orange, but it had other colours running through it too, flecks of red, yellow, blue and green. It reminded her of a sunset over the sea. It gave her an idea.
‘You know what?’ she told Bray as she changed. ‘Why don’t you and I go for a nice walk in the sunshine?’ Her earlier taste of freedom had made the mall seem even more stuffy than usual, and she wanted to be able to spend some time with her son and take her mind off what had happened at the funeral. The more she thought about it, the more she realised she had to get out. Soon she was packing a bag with things for Bray and putting on his little coat.
‘Hello?’ a tentative voice at the door called.
‘Come in,’ she replied with an exasperated sigh. ‘Oh, hi Darryl.’
‘Hi!’ he said brightly as he entered the room. ‘Oh…were you going out?’
‘We are,’ she said emphatically, not liking the past tense in Darryl’s phrasing. ‘Did you want something?’ After what had happened with May earlier, she made sure to soften her tone.
‘Um…’ Darryl began hesitantly. ‘I thought we could prepare for the Tribal Council meeting together. That’s this afternoon, right?’
Amber’s heart sank. She’d forgotten all about the Tribal Council. No doubt they’d all have their own ideas about what were the priorities for the city and she’d end up with even more work to do as a result. She’d never have any time to herself then, or to spend with Bray.
No, she thought to herself stubbornly. The Council can wait.
‘Oh, that’s tomorrow,’ she said innocently, not meeting Darryl’s eyes as she tossed more things into the bag.
‘Really?’ he asked, the confusion apparent in his voice. ‘I was sure…’
‘Tomorrow,’ she lied. ‘Today’s schedule is a big fat nothing, which I think is exactly what we both need after this morning.’
‘Well, that’s true enough,’ he said.
‘In fact, there’s an idea,’ she continued. ‘Why don’t you come with us? You’ve worked so hard on all that paperwork, you deserve a break too!’
‘Really?!’ he beamed, puffing his chest out with pride.
‘I insist!’ she said authoritatively. She knew it wouldn’t be fair to leave him alone to face the wrath of the City Council when they showed up expecting to see her. And besides, it really would be nice to spend more time with him without work getting in the way. He was one of the few people who could really make her smile these days.
‘Yes boss!’ he agreed with a salute. ‘But, where will we go?’
She gave a conspiratorial smile. ‘I know just the place,’ she answered. She shivered at the sudden feeling of déjà vu before joining the dots and giving a soft laugh at the memory. Of course. Sasha. Maybe this was fate after all?
Spinner hurriedly pulled open the doors to the power station and stood back as the Technicians with her filed in, Cable held aloft in their arms. He looked almost comical, riding a wave of white-uniformed figures into the building. That was until he passed where she was standing and their eyes met. She quickly looked away, unable to take the anger and hatred that seemed to bore into her from the very core of his being. He snarled around the gag they had had to put on him during the journey. She had never felt so completely and utterly loathed.
As the last of the Technicians entered the building she followed silently, closing the doors behind her but not letting go of the handles. She stood there, knowing that as soon as she stepped out into the main hall everyone’s eyes would be on her. She would be expected to lead, to fix everything. But how? Taking a deep breath she mentally hardened herself before letting out a sigh and removing her hands from the door handles.
She made her way through the entry corridors and out into the main hall. The hum of the generators assaulted her from all sides. Usually she could block it out but today it wouldn’t be silenced. It seemed to press on her, feeding her anxiety.
‘Ma’am!’
Almost immediately a clipboard-wielding Technician hurried towards her, pushing through the group that stood milling around holding Cable, her dark hair still in Techno-style buns on either side of her head. ‘Ma’am,’ she repeated. ‘Thank goodness you’re back! The grid…’
‘Not now,’ Spinner interrupted her, her attention all on the Technicians who had returned with her. She pointed in turn at about half of the group, rattling off their names. ‘Take Cable to his office,’ she told them. ‘Secure him. I’ll deal with him as soon as I can. The rest of you back to work, we need to get back to full capacity as soon as possible.’
‘That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you,’ the Technician with the clipboard chimed in, thrusting it in front of Spinner’s face. ‘Ma’am, the situation…’
Spinner grabbed the clipboard and scanned it, clicking her tongue in exasperation. This was bad. Some sectors were already experiencing intermittent outages and they were close to a city-wide shutdown. She pushed the clipboard back at the Technician.
‘Wait!’ she called to the group of Technicians making their way back to the generators. She pointed at one of them. ‘You, with me.’ She didn’t stop to see if he was following her before making her way down the stairs to the storerooms, the stressed-out Technician with the clipboard on her heels. She reached the medical supplies area and unlocked one of the cabinets, removing a sealed vial and a syringe. Tearing into the syringe packet, she removed it and pierced the vial with the needle, drawing up a clear liquid into the syringe.
‘Here,’ she said, handing the filled syringe to the Technician she had called down. At the same time she discarded the empty vial and syringe wrapper and started heading back upstairs. ‘That’ll put Cable to sleep for an hour or two and then everyone can get back to work,’ she said without looking back to see if her instructions were being followed.
At the top of the stairs she carried on walking, crossing the hall to the stairs leading up to her own office. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the guy rushing off to Cable’s office with the syringe. Behind her, the other Technician caught up with her at the foot of the stairs.
‘Ma’am, we need all hands on deck!’ she pleaded. ‘Is…is Tag with you?’
‘Does it look like Tag’s here?’ she snapped. ‘Look, I’ll be with you shortly. The others will be joining you once Cable is settled. In the meantime, go and help.’ The Technician looked conflicted for a moment before nodding and running off. Spinner carried on up the stairs, feeling a little guilty. She knew she should be with the rest of her team. Without Cable, Tag or Link - oh, Link! - there was nobody else senior enough to oversee the work to stabilise the grid, but the Technicians were all capable. They knew what they were doing. And besides, she couldn’t stop thinking about Cable.
She reached her office, stepping inside and immediately heading to her desk. Removing a key from around her neck, she unlocked the desk drawer and took out a computer disc. The disc. While the Technicians were fixing the grid, maybe she could fix Cable. But things were different now. He knew. This wasn’t just a case of keeping him in the dark, keeping him safe. He remembered everything - the way he looked at her told her that - but Ram was gone now, the Technos were finished in this city. Whatever happened this time, he wasn’t in danger of getting himself deleted. If she used the disc again, suppressed his memories, would it really be for his benefit? But the way he was now, he was no use to the tribe. He was no use to her. When they had started this journey, started the Technicians, there had been the four of them. She couldn’t do this on her own.
Slowly she closed the drawer, but the disc was still in her hand. It would be for the good of the tribe, she told herself, the good of the city even. She couldn’t deny, though, that it would make things easier for herself too.
Suddenly there was a whirring noise, a droning that became lower and slower until it stopped with a loud click and all the lights went out.
‘No, no, no!’ she said aloud, dropping the disc and all thoughts of Cable and making her way quickly but carefully out of the office, feeling her way down the stairs. The grid was the priority now. It should have been all along. If they couldn’t restore the power then Cable would be the least of her worries. She would have the whole city on her case.
Jack hobbled around the upper gallery of the mall on crutches, doing laps to try and get used to walking again. Below him, he could hear the sounds of Brady, Lottie and Bonnie playing some sort of game, watched over by Trudy and Ruby. He was glad that the two older Mallrats were getting on a little better, although he paid little attention to what the group downstairs were doing, concentrating as he was on making his way around the gallery.
He thought that walking was getting easier. A little, maybe. It was hard to tell. Certainly he could make it around the gallery, albeit slowly, without falling over. Most of the time at least. It would have been too much to walk to the funeral and back this morning, hence the wheelchair, but he was hopeful that it was only a matter of time before he would be able to do a journey like that again. That he would be fully in control of his body once more. Even being able to do what he was doing now was a relief after spending so many days trapped inside his own mind.
That didn’t stop him from wanting to push himself further, though. As he completed another circuit of the gallery he reached the stairs and decided to try and make his way down, to switch up the scenery a bit by doing some laps of the ground floor instead. Checking to make sure that nobody was watching, he slowly hopped down the first couple of steps. He wouldn’t have tried this if Ellie had been around - she would have been too worried - but soon he had built up a rhythm and was making his way down steadily, hop by hop. As he reached the bottom he gave a satisfied chuckle, feeling pleased with himself. Then Brady burst out from behind the fountain and ran past him, giggling, pursued by an equally giddy Bonnie. He wobbled on his crutches but managed to stay on his feet. Just.
‘Careful, honey!’ Trudy called out to her daughter before noticing him. ‘Jack! Are you ok? You should have told us you were coming down!’
‘I’m ok!’ he said cheerfully, trying to give a reassuring smile. ‘See? Nothing to worry about!’
Seemingly placated, Trudy returned to what she was doing and Jack started making his way around the lower level, glad that nobody was going to report to Ellie that he was pushing himself too far.
He carried on slowly, trying to use the crutches more for support than for actual movement. As he approached the grille area he realised he could hear voices in the entrance. Feeling suddenly vulnerable he nevertheless went to investigate further.
‘Hello?’ he called, rounding the corner. Two figures jumped half out of their skins, and their startlement startled him so that it was only his firm grip on his crutches that stopped him from falling over. A third figure smirked in amusement at the other two. He thought she might have been a Demon Dog but he didn’t recognise the tribal markings of the others.
‘Can I help you?’ he continued.
‘We’re here to see Amber?’ the Demon Dog answered for the three of them. ‘For the Tribal Council meeting?’ Although more confident than the other two, the way she made everything into a question suggested she wasn’t quite as sure of herself as she was trying to project. It made sense, he supposed. If they were here for the meeting of the tribes - he vaguely remembered Amber saying that the first one was happening soon - then this was all new. Nobody really knew what would happen once representatives from all the tribes got together in the same room.
‘Ok, well follow me,’ he told them in a welcoming tone, trying to put them at their ease. ‘Welcome to the mall!’
He led them into the mall, the three becoming four by the time they reached the fountain area with the addition of another representative from one of the smaller tribes he didn’t recognise.
‘Wait here,’ he said. ‘I’ll find Amber.’
He walked over to where Trudy and Ruby were standing, looking curiously at the newcomers. The children had stopped playing at the strangers’ arrival and were now huddled around the older Mallrats. He didn’t really blame them after what had happened with the Skinks. He grimaced, wondering if they were going to show up to the meeting too.
‘City Council members for Amber,’ he told them, gesturing at the group with his thumb. ‘Somebody should let her know.’
Ruby frowned. ‘She’s not here,’ she said. ‘I saw her leaving the mall earlier with Darryl and Bray.’
‘Well, I’m sure she’ll be back soon,’ Trudy said confidently. ‘She wouldn’t have forgotten this. What time is the meeting anyway? Maybe this lot are early.’
Jack looked around to see that the group of council members was growing as more trickled in from outside. He recognised bigger tribes being represented now, including the leaders of the Mutants and the Jackals.
‘Um…I’d guess around now,’ he said worriedly.
‘What’s going on?’ May asked as she joined them. ‘Have we got trouble? Who are these people?’
‘Amber’s Council meeting,’ he told her. ‘But she’s not here.’
May rolled her eyes. ‘Great,’ she said sarcastically. ‘Well, Darryl’s her assistant, can’t he do something? Surely even he can occupy them with something until she gets back without causing a diplomatic crisis?’
Ruby cleared her throat. ‘He’s not here either,’ she said quietly. ‘They left together.’
‘Did they now…’ May replied tightly. It wasn’t a question.
‘Hey!’ the Demon Dog shouted over at them. ‘What’s going on over there? Some of us have things to do, you know. We can’t hang around here all day. Just go get Amber already!’ There were a few murmurs of agreement.
‘What are we going to do?’ Trudy asked. She kept looking towards the entrance, practically willing Amber to walk back in.
‘Ruby!’ Lottie complained, tugging at the older girl’s sleeve. ‘I don’t like this!’ Bonnie nodded in agreement, while Trudy held Brady close.
‘I know sweetie,’ Ruby replied. ‘It’ll be ok.’ She looked at the others. ‘Can we reschedule?’ she asked. ‘Tell them Amber’s not well or something?’
‘They won’t like it,’ May answered, sounding as if she agreed with the crowd. ‘But I can’t see that we have any other option.’
‘Who’s going to be the one to tell them?’ Jack voiced, then immediately regretted it as all eyes turned to him.
‘We’ve got your back,’ May said unhelpfully. ‘But you’ll be fine. They’ll probably go easy on you on those crutches.’
Probably? he thought to himself. With a sigh he turned and hobbled over to the steadily growing crowd - now over a dozen - before addressing them. ‘Um, hi folks,’ he said tentatively. He raised a crutch with the intention of giving them a friendly wave but felt unsteady and immediately put it down again. He gave a nervous chuckle. ‘Well, um, thanks for coming today,’ he continued, speaking slowly and carefully. ‘Um, unfortunately Amber’s…not actually available…at the moment…’ He trailed off as the tribal reps started grumbling.
‘What do you mean she’s not available?’
‘…supposed to be having a meeting…’
‘…some kind of joke…’
‘…doesn’t she care?’
‘Hey, hey,’ he called, trying to get their attention and regretting it when he succeeded. All eyes were on him, and their expressions ranged from confused to mildly irritated and even dangerously angry.
‘If Amber’s not fit to be City Leader,’ one of the crowd said into the silence - he thought it was Slime, of the Orphans - ‘Then maybe we need a new one.’ Some of the others mumbled approvingly but most stayed quiet. He was glad that the Skinks hadn’t shown up, or at least not yet.
‘It’s not that,’ Jack tried to argue. ‘Look, the truth is…’ He stopped, not knowing where he was going with this. The crowd looked at him expectantly. ‘The truth is…’
There was a sudden noise and then the lights went out. A power cut. It was still far from dark in the mall but it whipped up the already agitated crowd further.
‘It’s a trap!’ a timid looking member of one of the smaller tribes cried out.
‘Are we being attacked?’ he heard Trudy call from behind him.
‘What kind of trick is this?’ another of the council members demanded. ‘Where’s Amber?’
‘She’s at the power station!’ Lottie shouted, breaking free of Ruby’s hold and running to Jack’s side.
‘She is?’ he asked, turning to her in confusion. She stared at him intently as if trying to tell him something, then he realised what she was doing. ‘I mean, she is!’ he said more confidently, addressing the crowd once more. ‘Emergency meeting. Problems with the power, as you can see. No time to get a message out to you all. But Amber’s sorting it.’
‘Makes sense,’ the Demon Dog said loudly for the rest of the crowd to hear. ‘See, I told you Amber would be on top of things.’ Jack didn’t recall her saying anything of the sort.
‘I guess it couldn’t be helped,’ Slime muttered a little sceptically. ‘Those Technicians aren’t as clever as they like to make out, clearly. We’ll let her off this time.’ A few of the council members looked annoyed at the implication that he was speaking for the group, but they let it slide. ‘We’ll reschedule then, same time tomorrow work for everyone?’ Once more, some of the crowd bristled at Slime taking charge but ultimately nobody had a problem with the new time. ‘That’s settled then,’ he said with an air of finality. ‘Oh, and make sure she’s well prepared.’ He shoved a stack of papers at Jack’s chest.
‘Perfect!’ Jack wheezed, trying to grab hold of the paperwork while remaining standing. In the end he had to hook one crutch around the stack while leaning into the other to keep his balance. ‘See you tomorrow!’ he called weakly, but Slime was already marching out of the building. The rest of the council members lingered a little longer in the courtyard - some out of confusion, others because they didn’t want to look like they were following Slime - before slipping away themselves.
Jack sighed in relief when the last person had left the mall. ‘Lottie, you are a genius!’ he gushed.
‘Yeah, quick thinking kiddo!’ Ruby agreed, coming over to pat Lottie on the shoulder before taking the papers from Jack so that he could right himself. He smiled at her gratefully.
‘How could you just lie like that?’ Bonnie asked her friend disapprovingly, her arms folded.
Lottie shrugged uncaringly. ‘It’s easy,’ she said. ‘I just make stuff up.’ The answer didn’t seem to impress the other girl, who continued to frown.
‘Which is all well and good,’ May interrupted. ‘But let’s not forget that Amber isn’t at the power station. She’s not fixing the power situation and she’s not here reading whatever’s in those papers. What’s going to happen when they all come back tomorrow?’
‘It’ll be fine,’ Trudy said, sounding like she was trying to convince herself. ‘Amber will be back soon and everything will be cleared up.’
Jack shared a look with Ruby that took in the stack of papers. It seemed like a lot of city business to deal with. Ruby nodded, sharing his thought. ‘Even so,’ he said to Trudy. ‘Maybe we should take a look at what’s in these, just in case.’
It was always good to be prepared.
Spinner hesitated in front of the door to Cable’s office. She was tired. It had taken two hours to get the grid completely under control again. Did she really want to do this right now? Well, ‘want’ didn’t really come into it, she realised. He was in there, restrained and sedated, no matter what she wanted. She couldn’t just leave him like that. For one thing, it was cruel. For another, and probably more importantly, much as she hated herself to admit it, he would only become more difficult to deal with the longer she waited. Once the sedative wore off, there was every chance he would be as angry as he had been at the funeral. There was no choice. She would have to act now.
Composing herself, she opened the door and walked in. Cable was sitting in the middle of the room, his arms and legs taped to his chair, head lolling about under the effects of the sedative. She walked up to him. He started mumbling incoherently and tried to lift his head. She took his chin in her hand and lifted it herself, tilting it up towards her.
‘Hello,’ she said.
His eyes moved in and out of focus and his mouth worked uselessly before he finally managed to force out a word.
‘You.’
‘It’s me,’ she confirmed. ‘How are you?’
Cable’s mouth opened again. ‘Why?’ he asked. A look of hurt flashed across his face and he repeated the question. ‘Why?’
‘I’m not proud of what I did,’ she admitted, though in a way she was. Proud of the ingenuity at least, if not the act itself. Not many could have pulled off what she’d done. ‘But I was desperate. You were desperate, you were going to kill Ram.’
‘Deserved. It,’ he said through gritted teeth.
‘Probably,’ she agreed. ‘But you would have only gotten yourself killed. You know that, don’t you? I saved your life! Nothing about that situation was ideal but I did the only thing I could!’
‘No,’ he said. ‘Didn’t. Save it…Took it away.’
He tried to twist his head from her grasp but she held it firm. ‘Don’t you see?’ she demanded. ‘The Technos needed you. I needed you. Without you, we couldn’t have fought back against Ram or Mega. All this, what we’ve created from the ruins of the Technos, what we’ve become, it wouldn’t have been possible. Think of it as her legacy.’
His eyes took on a sudden focus and seemed to burn her with the accusation they harboured.
‘How…dare you?!’ he slurred. ‘You…have…no right!’
His head drooped as she let go of it and walked away. ‘You don’t understand,’ she said sadly. ‘Ever since the Virus, this world has been Hell. A daily struggle just to survive. I thought the Technos would change that, make things better again. I was wrong; we all were. You thought the same, remember? But now…Now we can make a real difference Cable, I know it! I know it won’t be like it was before but we can still build something better. You and me.’ And Tag, she hoped. If he came back to them.
She approached Cable’s desk on the other side of the room and booted up his laptop before inserting the disc she had brought with her. She’d made her decision about it while she was trying to restore the power with the rest of the Technicians. Seeing how the team worked together to accomplish their task, she knew this was the only way.
‘That’s why I have to do this,’ she said, picking up a headset and turning it in her hands sadly. Knowing it was right and liking it were two different things. ‘I need you at your best. It’ll only be temporary, I promise.’ She hoped she was telling the truth, but she feared that once she’d done this it would be too easy to continue, knowing how he would react when he remembered again.
Cable groaned as he strained to lift his head, his eyes widening when he saw the headset.
‘No!’ he spluttered. ‘Spinner…please…don’t…don’t take her away from me again!’ His arms strained as he channelled all his energy into trying to break free.
‘Please! I’ll…I’ll do anything…you want!’ he begged between attempts to free himself. His head bobbed from side to side as she approached with the headset, trying to avoid it, but she easily slipped it on.
‘I won’t forget!’ he wailed as she returned to the laptop, tears streaming down her face. ‘I won’t forget! Elsaaaaaaaaaa!’
‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered, pushing the button to start the programme. Cable’s thrashing stopped as the interface connected with his brain.
Then the power went out again.
She gave a wordless cry of frustration. She had known this was a possibility. With the city starting to use electricity again after the initial outage, there was always the risk of a surge destabilising the grid again in its current tenuous state. The rest of the Technicians were doing their best of course, but there was only so much they could do. Her own power usage here with Cable probably hadn’t helped matters either.
She didn’t have much time to think about all that though. With the connection severed, Cable sat panting for only a few moments before resuming his attempts to escape with renewed vigour. In the dark, she heard him thrashing in desperation, groaning with the effort.
‘Cable, no!’ she cried. ‘You’ll hurt yourself!’
She felt her way around the desk, just in time to hear the ripping of the tape around his arms and the crash of the headset as it was flung to the floor. They approached each other in the dark and collided, Cable’s still-sedated body feeling like a dead weight as they both lost their footing and fell. Her head hit the floor and she saw stars. The chair that Cable was still partly attached to split with a crunch on impact and dug into her arm as he rolled over on top of it – and her – and pushed himself awkwardly to his feet. She fluttered in and out of consciousness, dimly aware of the shuffling noises of Cable groggily trying to flee the office, bumping into things on his way and sending items crashing to the floor. Lying helpless, she listened as the noises subsided and he escaped into the darkness.
As the power failed again, the steady beeping of the monitoring equipment in the lab fell silent and the liquid in the flasks stopped bubbling, falling flat just like Proxy’s own hopes of salvation. One of those flasks had been preparing a batch of the antidote to the virus Meta had infected her with. She supposed she should be pleased that the other flasks - creating the viruses that would target the Mallrats - had also failed, but all she could think about was the antidote. It was the only thing keeping her alive, after all.
Next to her, Meta cried out in frustration, sweeping the flasks off the workbench in a fit of rage. The glass smashed and their contents spilled onto the floor.
‘Your former colleagues are getting on my nerves,’ Meta snapped. ‘This failure to maintain the power is nothing short of incompetence! Now, clear that up!’
Proxy had already gone to the cupboard in anticipation of this order. ‘Yes sir,’ she replied meekly as she put on a pair of thick protective gloves - she didn’t want to risk cutting herself on the glass and becoming infected with another virus, even if it wasn’t specifically attuned to her DNA - and started sweeping up the broken glass.
There had been no chance to get an update from Creg yet but the trouble at the power station confirmed to her that Link must be dead. What else could have sent the Technos - no, they were called Technicians now - into such chaos? Not that there was any other possible outcome really, not after what Data had told her she had done, but she had hoped. Oh, how she had hoped! Link had been their best chance to stop Meta and save both their lives. After that initial burst of hope, their situation now seemed bleaker than ever.
For now, then, it seemed there was no choice but to play along. Be the obedient slave. For now.
‘About the power situation,’ she said hesitantly. ‘There may be a solution.’
Meta looked at her coldly, a sly grin appearing on his face.
‘I’m listening,’ he said.
Amber lay contentedly on her blanket, the soft sand beneath moulding to the shape of her back. It wasn’t a blazing hot day but the sun was out and she could feel its warmth on her skin like a caress, helping her body to relax. On their arrival at the beach, Darryl had been excited to discover a battered old bucket and insisted on showing Bray how to make sandcastles - no, sandmalls he had called them - although secretly she thought he would have been eager to do the same even if Bray hadn’t been here. As a result she found herself enjoying a rare moment of solitude. It was an odd feeling; she didn’t quite know what to do with herself. Perhaps she should have brought a book. When was the last time she had read for pleasure? For that matter, when was the last time she had done anything for pleasure? Maybe not since the last time she had visited this very beach.
Not liking where her thoughts were going, she closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind. She made herself concentrate on the sounds of the beach - the gulls gliding overhead and the soft lapping of the waves on the shore. The occasional crash of surf as a larger wave hit the beach.
She opened one eye, her thoughts not allowing her to relax. Why couldn’t she hear Bray and Darryl? Opening the other eye she propped herself up a little and looked around. She lay in the shelter of a rock outcrop so didn’t have a view of the full beach, and the two boys were nowhere to be seen. Where were they?
She started to worry. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Darryl with her son - he’d looked after him before with no trouble, after all - but he did have a tendency towards being accident prone. What if he was lying injured somewhere and Bray was all alone? What if…
‘NYEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWW!’ Darryl suddenly burst out from behind the rocky wall, running across her field of vision making aeroplane noises, Bray sitting on his shoulders with his arms out to the sides. Her son was screaming with laughter but it sounded distant to her ears. Her skin felt clammy and panic tickled the back of her mind. The beach seemed to retreat from her awareness like the tide and for a long, drawn-out moment she was no longer laying on sand but on the scratchy hay on the floor of a barn as aeroplanes flew overhead, the sound of their engines mixing with the first cries of her newborn son as he arrived into the world. Then just as quickly the beach returned. The aeroplanes were just Darryl, and her son was laughing, not crying. But the memory remained and she breathed in deep gulps of air as her eyes darted around frantically to remind herself where she was.
Darryl had circled around and was running back towards her. She tried to settle herself but his steps slowed as he approached and he began to frown.
‘Amber? Are you ok?’ he asked. ‘You look…’ He trailed off, clearly not really knowing how she looked. She understood his confusion; she didn’t really know how she felt either.
She stood up shakily, brushing sand from her clothes to give herself time to regain a little of her composure.
‘I’m fine,’ she said curtly, holding out her arms for Bray. ‘You startled me, that’s all.’ Darryl lifted Bray down from his shoulders and handed him to her, looking abashed. She ignored him and walked further down the beach towards the shore. She carried on walking until she felt the water washing against her ankles and then she stopped. Bray seemed to sense that something was wrong and snuggled into her quietly. She stroked his head, drawing comfort from him as she looked out to sea, not really focussing on the horizon but allowing the water flowing around her to anchor her in the here and now instead of slipping back into her past traumas.
‘Amber?’
She wasn’t sure how long she’d been standing there before Darryl approached. As she turned to face him she realised she’d been crying, but there was no way to hide it while she was holding Bray. Darryl paused in the act of rolling up his trouser legs, noticing, before joining her in the water.
‘Sorry,’ he said guiltily. ‘I’ve made you think about Jay, haven’t I?’
She frowned in confusion. ‘Jay?’
Darryl nodded, gesturing out to sea where she’d been looking. ‘He’s out there somewhere, isn’t he?’ he explained. When she continued to look at him blankly he held his arms out, imitating an aeroplane again. ‘Technos. Jay. I should have thought. Sorry.’
‘Oh!’ she exclaimed in realisation at his thought process.
‘You…weren’t thinking about Jay?’ he asked tentatively.
‘I try not to think about Jay,’ she said automatically before she could stop herself. There was an awkward silence then, and the only thing she could think of to break it was to tell the truth.
‘It did make me think of the Technos,’ she admitted. ‘More specifically, the day this one was born.’ She kissed the top of Bray’s head and he cooed happily. ‘His father and I had been banished from the city when he decided he was ready to come into the world. It was too soon, and the birth was…difficult. I don’t remember much of it. But it was the day the Technos invaded. I remember the planes flying overhead. Bray went out to see what was happening. I never saw him again. If Trudy hadn’t found me when she did I don’t think either of us would have made it.’
Darryl was quiet for a while. ‘I’d heard it was tough,’ he said eventually. ‘But I didn’t realise…I’m sorry, if I’d known I’d never have done that back there.’
She shrugged. ‘Life seems to have been a constant fight since then,’ she said. ‘I guess I didn’t realise how much I’d kept inside, waiting for a time when I could properly deal with it. Now it all seems to be fighting to be dealt with at once.’
‘Is that what happened after we beat the Technos?’ Darryl asked. He sounded uncertain, as if he didn’t know if he should be bringing up these things. ‘When we all got back to the mall?’ he continued. ‘Is that…is that why you and Jay started fighting?’
Amber wrinkled her mouth at the mention of Jay but found herself answering the question anyway. ‘Partly,’ she admitted. ‘At first, maybe. But he abandoned me! He pushed me into dealing with city business again and then ran off! And I know he had to go, I know that. But I still can’t think of him without getting angry about it!’ She also knew that the image she had in her head of Jay when she thought of him wasn’t the real Jay but the smirking, mean-eyed Jay that the Zoot computer programme had tricked her with back at the hotel.
She sighed. ‘Darryl, can I tell you something?’ she asked.
Darryl looked unsure but nodded.
‘Something happened to me,’ she said. ‘At the hotel, when we were trying to stop the Virus.’
‘Amber, you don’t have to…’
‘I do!’ she said firmly, causing Bray to stir, then more gently. ‘I do.’
Darryl nodded and she continued.
‘I didn’t think we were going to make it,’ she explained. ‘Ram had tried and failed, and we’d lost Mega. Jack had hooked himself up to the machine but it was doing things to him. He was in pain. I was all alone with him and I didn’t know what to do. I thought we were going to lose him too!’ She forced herself to remember, knowing that they had succeeded. The Virus had been destroyed. Jack was going to be ok. She was safe.
‘The computer tricked me,’ she continued. ‘It used images of Jay from Reality Space and broadcast them on the monitors in the room, making me think that help was coming. I…I left the room, and it locked the door. All I had to do was stay with Jack, keep him safe, and I left him!’
‘It wasn’t your fault,’ Darryl said. ‘You couldn’t have known.’
‘Couldn’t I?’ she argued. ‘I should have guessed that it was possible, should have questioned it. I just wanted to get out of there. You didn’t see Jack’s face, what it was doing to him. And it knew, it knew I could see from outside the room. It was taunting me!’
‘It still wasn’t your fault,’ Darryl repeated.
‘But there’s nobody else to blame,’ she explained. ‘Nobody to bring to justice. Ram made the programme but he died trying to stop it. Mega made the Virus but he’s gone too. Zoot’s long dead, not that it was really him anyway. There’s only me. And…’
‘And Jay,’ Darryl finished.
‘And I know it’s not fair,’ she admitted. ‘But every time I see him I see how he looked on those screens. I see Zoot. And I see myself betraying Jack. And whenever we argue over something or I’m reminded of any of his faults that’s all I see too. It’s like he’s become this monster version of himself in my head and I don’t know which parts I’m genuinely angry at and which parts are Reality Space!’
Darryl stood silent, not quite knowing what to say. She diverted her attention to Bray, who was picking up on her mood and beginning to get upset. Soothing him helped to soothe herself too.
‘I haven’t told anyone else what happened back there,’ she said finally. It felt good to put some of what she was feeling into words.
‘Maybe it would help?’ Darryl suggested. ‘If you talked to a friend, like Trudy, or…’
Amber felt suddenly hurt. ‘Aren’t you my friend?’ she asked.
‘Um…yes? I mean, sure!’ Darryl smiled. ‘I mean…if you want to.’
She smiled sadly. ‘Darryl, I hope you don’t think I only invited you today because you’re my assistant, or because you’re good with Bray. I’ve really enjoyed the time we’ve spent together recently.’ She rested a hand on Darryl’s arm and Bray mirrored the gesture in his own way, smacking Darryl’s other arm and chuckling. ‘See?’ she laughed. ‘I’ll have you know he’s an excellent judge of character.’
Darryl beamed. ‘I like spending time with you too,’ he agreed. ‘Both of you.’ He intercepted Bray’s latest attempt to smack him, taking his little hand in his thumb and forefinger and shaking it playfully. Bray laughed in delight.
‘You are good with him though,’ she repeated with a fond smile for the pair of them.
Darryl grinned. ‘Kinda had to be,’ he replied. ‘We had a big extended family, before the Virus. Family nights were always a bit wild when everyone came over to the farm. Aunts, uncles, cousins…I’d always have to be the one entertaining the kids. I used to hate it at first, but seeing all their little faces, having fun…well, it was nice to be appreciated I guess. There wasn’t always a lot of that, once everyone had gone back home.’ He gave an embarrassed chuckle. ‘That’s how I knew I wanted to be a star!’
Amber laughed fondly. ‘Even after the Virus?’
Darryl’s expression became serious. ‘Especially after the Virus,’ he said. ‘My nieces and nephews…they were all younger than me.’ He looked at her to make sure she understood what he was saying.
‘They would have survived the Virus,’ she realised. ‘What happened to them?’
Darryl shrugged and shook his head. ‘I went round to their houses after my parents had died but there was nobody there. I asked some of the kids that had stayed in the neighbourhood but they didn’t know anything. I figured maybe if I made a name for myself they’d hear about me and come and find me. Failing that, if I just carried on doing my thing, entertaining, then maybe there was a chance that someone, somewhere, might be doing the same for them.’
He gave a rueful grin. ‘And that’s something that I’ve never told anyone,’ he said.
She took his hand. ‘Well I’m glad you felt able to share it with me,’ she told him earnestly.
He looked at her hand grasping his for a moment before giving it a squeeze in return. ‘I’m glad that you could share too,’ he said.
She smiled and tilted her head. ‘It’s like you said when we started working together,’ she told him. ‘We make a great team.’
‘I said that?’ he replied, rubbing the back of his head and giving a self-conscious, lopsided grin.
‘You did!’ she laughed. ‘See? You’re not just a pretty face.’
She bit her tongue as soon as the words had come out. She hadn’t meant to say that. Darryl gave a startled jerk and blushed. She was aware of their hands still clasping each other. Neither of them wanted to make things more awkward by letting go.
Oblivious, Bray started singing to himself. She exhaled with a laugh. Darryl did the same, the awkwardness immediately dissipating. Their eyes locked. Amber didn’t know if it was relief at the avoidance of a sour moment, the catharsis of having finally shared her experience at the hotel, or even the sea air but, suddenly emboldened, she leant forward and pressed her lips to Darryl’s.
He was surprised at first, almost losing his balance before righting himself with a splash. Then he was kissing her back, as Bray continued to sing and the waves danced around their legs.
2 Likes
How time flies… maybe the next chapter will come in 8 weeks? Whenever it will come I will be here sat glued to the edge of my seat, eyes bulging and enjoying your talent… Anyway…
Review of Chapter 37; Memories: As I began to read I went up a few posts to see the emoji story and there was the tree. I have never enjoyed reading about a tree so much before. I especially liked the shrugging their non-existent shoulders bit. Wasn’t what I was expecting mind because of the parachuter being the next emoji but thoroughly enjoyed the detail and then switching back to the previous day of Tag bringing Link’s body to the mall. The emotion you showed was powerful. I particularly liked good old caring Trudy at the end there comforting Ruby, love that plum head. And another favourite of mine, Gel offering the cream silk. 
Ruby’s small visit down the rabbit hole of thoughts that was just wow and got me rattling down there too.
Cable’s collision of reality and memory, is that where the parachute emoji comes into play in your emoji sneak peek? LOL. I am intrigued to hear the tale of your emoji’s in a few sentences. I really do not like Spinner, right piece of work she is! It all kicked off a bit eh in Hope Park, love a bit of drama but it was a shame it had to happen when it did. I am happy Tag chose the Mall though. And am loving that Jack now plays a part and is talking instead of just laying there. He was doing that for a long 8 years… HAHAHAHA. Big Jellie fan so I extremely enjoyed the closing part to the first section of this chapter. 
Amber, Trudy and May in the cafe I could see that scene and I love how you manage to captivate that in your writing, I know I have said that before but at the end of the day that is part of what you are trying to achieve so yes, you rock!!! 
Grrr, May makes me so mad and want to . You also achieved this in the next scene with Amber and Darryl and I liked the nod back to Sasha.
That clipboard would have got mentioned in the credits, 
. It even ended up in the emoji plot.
I am going to repeat myself but the Mall Rat scenes are so visual, you capture each character perfectly and the relationships between each other. I did giggle at the bit with Jack attempting to wave with his crutch too. Wow, another moment where you make me like Lottie. And Ruby is just the perfect Mall Rat. Not a knob like that god forsaken May, lol sorry.
Cable and Spinner in the darkness, oh my. I was hanging off the edge of my chair, hahaha.
@MallRatMatt my mind is a bit foggy, do we know who Meta is? Or is it still a mystery to whom they are. It’s been 8 months. 
That bloody emoji story really did get me excited, I thought we were going to get another plane, but it was just another memory. Don’t get me wrong I am still highly excited as you are amazing!!! But what the hell that ending! My mouth is stuck open wedged in the sand. I will only agree to this if it is leading to a love triangle involving Jay. 
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Wohoooo…now I reread the whole story over night (I am saving it on a stick… So you know if ever something happens… I have it saved 
)
I had to reread because it was long ago now and I read and write so much that it is hard to keep track
I do love your Ruby… She’s keeping it there and carries the spirit of not giving in. I really liked how a part if them works together, investigating… It feels so tribal! Like in the good old days when the Mall Rats risked everything to find a solution to the second wave of the virus… And yay… Jack or how we can call him too… THE BRAIN… is back! Yay!
Spinner and Cable… God I was hoping he would behead the… Grrr… Those people are the worst. Who think they do right and work for the ‘greater good’ but hurt and kill and destroy for it (Spinner 
)
A aaaand the end… Really? Did that have to be? I was sensing you might do some Amber/Darryl thing anytime… But… Just… Ewwwwwwwwwwww
Though the feelings were captured brilliantly… That’s just a couple that makes my stomach turn. Lol. (Whisper :So Darryl is supposed to be ‘bi’? Fancying May… Tension with Jay kind of… Now Amber?)
I enjoyed reading, thank you for the hard work
(hope I manage to update one of my two stories this weekend too)
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@Jack - Thanks so much, as always!
8 weeks… 
Hmm, I thought I’d try something different with the emojis but I think the experiment failed, lol.
I went off on a whole tangent with Ruby’s rabbit hole of thoughts. When I wrote that there were so many stories of hate and division in the news… I guess part of it was my own thoughts in trying to process it all. I wasn’t sure if I should keep it in but it seemed to fit.
Yes, the parachute represented Cable. It was one emoji per scene.
We found out a little about Meta’s past in the last chapter when Link was being held in the Pandorax facility:
‘Who is he?’ she asked as Proxy worked. ‘Plague. This…Meta?’ She didn’t recognise the name, but that wasn’t unusual in the Technos.
‘A Repro,’ Proxy replied dismissively. ‘Working in Mega’s labs.’ Ellie was right! she thought excitedly. ‘I don’t know what his baseline order was, but he went rogue early. Ram should never have started mixing computer programming with neurology.’ Proxy sounded angry now, moving to untie Link’s wrists with more force than was strictly necessary. ‘He should never have started playing God.’ Link had to agree. Reprogramming had been a failed experiment. Sometimes, in the early days, Techno prisoners would be converted into new recruits. Only those who had offered no resistance on being captured, who had been seen as particularly pliable. Suggestions were artificially planted in their brains, orders that would be carried out subconsciously – the simpler the orders, the more effective they were – ensuring loyalty. Or at least that was the plan. The human brain, it turned out, was remarkably adept at trying to get around these orders, fighting against them like mental antibodies. They couldn’t be displaced completely, not until the order was completed, but sometimes the brain would find its own interpretation of the orders, causing chaos. She’d known of one Repro charged with protecting a Techno general. After a few months everyone close to the general started having ‘accidents’ until the Repro was the only one left to ‘protect’ her. The project was canned soon after. Nobody felt safe around Repros. You just never knew how they would turn out.
@Zwenja - Oh wow, you read the whole thing?! I am amazed! It took me about an hour just to reread the new chapter before posting. Feeling humbled by your commitment. 
I definitely wanted to recapture some of that original Tribal feeling of them all working together and interacting as a unit. I think the show missed a bit of that later on. That’s why I really latched on to characters like Darryl and Lottie in S5 because they seemed to bring some of that back, and the whole Liberty location forced different characters to interact with each other.
Haha, I love Spinner. She’s so fun to write. And now we have a rogue Cable on the loose, lol. Oh, the possibilities!
Ooh, I look forward to your new chapter!
@ both - Ah, the ending. Yes, I knew that would be divisive. Along with Jay and Salene, lol. What can I say, I told you romance wasn’t my strong suit, lol! Though I do think Amber and Darryl are good for each other at this particular moment in time. She needs a life outside her various responsibilities and he needs someone to take him seriously.
I’m not sure I completely got Darryl right in this chapter. It’s always tricky when you try and make a comedic character a bit more serious, especially when writing from a different character’s point of view. He didn’t feel quite as ‘off’ when I did the reread but I do plan on switching to his PoV at the beginning of the next chapter so hopefully I can get him back on track.
As for Darryl’s sexuality, I could totally see him as bi/pan/fluid. Even though the Jarryl chapter was written more as a self-contained standalone bonus chapter I did try and end it in a way that you could view it as canon in the context of the existing story if you wanted to. I will say that when I was writing Darryl in that chapter I did borrow elements of a different character who has been planned for a long time but hasn’t quite made it to the page yet, so these are definitely themes that will be explored in the main story in the future.
Finally, just to add that I forgot to post an image of Amber’s new outfit. It’s one that Beth wore for one of the Tribe Tours and, again, is something that has been written in my notes for so long and I can’t quite believe it’s actually on the page now. There are so many things coming up that I’m so excited to finally be writing - some very soon, others still far away. I hope you like what is planned! Thanks for your comments and for sticking with me.
3 Likes
Gone for too long and a beautiful chapter to this wonderful story appears…d’oh!
I’m very intrigued by the dynamic of Amber and Darryl and hope to see more of where this leads. I can’t lie, I actually have considered this pairing back in the heyday before, but only with Darryl being more developed as a character, like he is in your story here.
Thank you for keeping this story going!
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Thanks @Timberwolf! That’s really kind.
I’m really enjoying exploring different aspects of Amber and Darryl’s characters through their interactions, and I’m glad to hear that you have considered the same!
I need to rein myself in and start concentrating on the next chapter, as my mind keeps racing ahead to future plots!
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Thanks for the bump! Sadly I haven’t managed to fit in any time for writing since I came off furlough. Hopefully I can be better organised this year.
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