Sparks

Chapter Eight - The Actions

"Eat it."

Jaina slides a bowl of steaming soup in front of me, and slides into the chair next to me with her bowl.

It smells so good that I don't have it in me to argue. I use the spoon in the bowl to scoop of chunks of meat, veggies and broth into my mouth. It burns at first, but it's worth it because it's delicious. Her mother is an amazing cook.

We eat in silence, enjoying the food. Jaina's kitchen is big, with a stove, sinks, cabinets, counters, made of metal and wood. The table we're sitting at is also made of wood. Her house, like all around here, is not old. When the Empire first came, Raydonia had a smaller population. There were just small towns that the Empire turned into cities. I was four when they came. 

Carefree. Happy. Life was great.

I wish I savored the freedom when I had it.

I finish off my soup, and my stomach is satisfied. Jaina is also finished, and she takes our bowls to the sink.

"Thank you." I tell her.

"You're always welcome. You ready?"

I pull out my datapad and a drive. "I just need to load some code on this to get through the backdoor on that terminal."

My datapad is a small model, about the size of my hand. I plug the silver drive in the port and type in code that will bypass the firewall and get me into a Imperial server. From there, I can make my way into a secure server and find files about my parents.

"What's a back door again? I forgot." Jaina's fingernails tap the table rhythmically.

I start writing code in the official Imperial programming language, called Holoscript. It's the same one that the Republic used. There's other languages that I know, but I don't use them often.

"A backdoor is used to bypass regular security, while a computer system is in still in development. When the system is finished, sometimes they aren't taken down or at least not properly. It's the easiest way to get in, since there's a good chance that no one's watching. And sometimes you have to make your own. This time we got lucky."

"Cool. Which network are you hacking into?"

"Just the Capital City one for Raydonia. I'll have easier access to citizen records, and the security probably isn't as high."

Jaina stops tapping and rests her head on her arm. "Seems complicated."

"It is. Maybe I should teach you since you seem so interested."

"Sure. I'm super into technology."

Yeah right. I tried teaching Jaina how to hack one day, and she got bored the minute I started talking about variables. Smiling, I finish the lines of code and take the drive out.

"Ready."

She sits up, pushing back her chair. "Let's go."

~<-*->~

"Actions have consequences."

I stare at Jaina in confusion.

"Where did that come from?" I ask, putting the drive in the ancient terminal after getting here a few minutes ago. Jaina found the machine in the older part of the city two years ago.

She's leaning against the red bricked wall, keeping watch for officials. Her arms are crossed and one of her gray shoes are planted on the wall.b"My mother says it a lot. It just came to mind, considering what we're doing." She keeps her eyes on the exit as she answers me.

"As long as we're careful, we'll be okay. I think."

The display is now filled with my code, breaking me into the server. It's still cold outside, and I can feel it now. The alley that we're in helps with the wind, which is blowing pretty strongly today. The sun still shines, lighting up the alley with reflective pieces of trash. Ivy snakes up towards the sunlight on the three walls that surround us.

A sound from the terminal takes me back to my task. The code disappears and I'm left with a black directory of files. Different tabs of topics line the sides. I need citizen files and I need to be fast. Getting through a backdoor doesn't mean I'm totally safe. With the tech that they have, they could have seen me hack in and are watching my movements. If they are tracking me, then a search bot would be a dead giveaway to what I wanted. Better to avoid that, even though it would be faster. I tap the "Citizens" tab and the screen changes.

All the citizen names are in alphabetical order. I start to scroll down, skimming names. Jaina's cheeks are pink from the cold, and mine probably are too.

Eatan, Edgar, Ezar. Too far. I scroll back up and right under Katina Ekan, is John Elrad. Lelila Elrad follows.

My parents. Finally.

I select both files and export them to the drive. A loading window appears. After two agonizing minutes, the files have finished exporting. I whip the drive out immediately and relief floods my system. Jaina relaxes her stance on the wall next to me. Thank goodness.

BEEP!

It comes from the machine. Jaina and I stare at each other. When I look back at the display it's black.

"Did they catch us?" Jaina's hands are clenched, and so are her teeth.

"I don't know. It could have run out of power or...I don't know. The files are on here so I guess that's a good thing."

"Yeah, I think you're right. And you have the files. That's the most important thing. Do you want to open them?"

I stick the drive in my pocket. "Not here. Let's go to the woods. I feel safer there."

"No kidding. Let's go, master hacker."

~<-*->~

"I love it here." I sigh, feeling the cool air in my lungs.

We're in a weeping willow tree. It's a few yards south of the river, and it's one of the taller trees around here, around 15 meters. I'm leaning against the trunk of the tree, and Jaina is perched on the branch across from me.

"Me too. And I love these trees, especially the flowers that grow on them."

At the bottom of willow trees on Raydonia, are small purple flowers. They grow in green vines, and at night, they glow. They're probably the last kind of plant that glows, that was left untouched by the Empire.

"Yeah, they're my favorite." I start picking at a small hole on my black pants.

"Your favorite because you were named after it."

"That does help."

She smiles at me and says, "I'm glad we're best friends. I don't know what'd happen without you."

"You'd have no one who is as witty as I am and I'd have no one. I mean that."

She turns to face me, her gray shoes out in the air above the grassy ground. Her eyes are filled with usual concern for me. "It won't just be me forever. You'll find people other than me that are family. I don't know how soon it will be, but you'll find them."

"You really believe that?"

"I do. And you will too."

That was sweet of her. I want to believe Jaina, that I won't be alone for the rest of my life. And that one day, I'll have a family.

I don't know what I would do if I lost someone else close to me. I would be all alone.