Infinity Curve - Lamentations to Unseen Friends Across the Vastness of Space

EP. 69 - ON VIRULENT CREATIONS

MORNING ARRIVED AND SO did a message from a friend. Sofia walked into Rick's bunker, appearing flustered.

"What's up?" he inquired. "Bad news?"

"It's building. Yaz dropped by today on his horse. He was carrying no devices to avoid direct tracking, as usual. Said he was in town yesterday and a guy stopped him in the store. Dude started asking questions about where he lived and who else resided in the area. Yaz picked up on the fact that he was interested in us. It wasn't clear to him if the interest was because he mentioned our gardens business, or for other reasons of the autocratic governmental kind. Not somebody truthful and apparently hiding something."

"Did he mention what this person looked like?"

"Anglo. Mid-thirties. Not a hybrid or mech by the looks of it, although looks don't matter much on that account."

Rick's brow furrowed. "Any discussion whether this person would come visit us unprompted and uninvited?"

"Apparently not, but you know these types. Slick as a whistle, as deceptive and underhanded as their AI gods enable them to be while the algos whisper sweet nothings in their ears. You can't tell who's genuine and who isn't, or what 'genuine' means these days."

She noticed his perplexed look. "You're pressing your lips together again."

"Uh huh. These events are too coincidental. It's possible they are genuinely concerned you're bartering too much stuff. But hey, when is the last time you did that in a big way except for that nice blanket or occasionally trading food for wood? Not enough to justify flagging or reprogramming, much less a visit. Damn it, I hate this constant post-Debacle surveillance cloud we live under and wish we had the ability to go back forty years for a do-over."

Sofia walked to Rick's chair, placing her hand on his. "I fear it would have evolved to this even without that event, dear. Regardless, I don't see how this changes the plan. You need to stay on top of it. Whip through these last few as fast as you can, assuming you don't go hoarse from blabbing. How many did you say remain?'

"Ten or fewer," he snickered, "and I'm truncating my other concepts given the rush. I'll get started this morning and bang out as many as possible."

"Agreed. Let me know if I can assist in any way."

"Sweetheart, you assist in every way," he confided, patting her hand.

* * *

"I danced around this topic, the one that is so hard for me to regurgitate, on the state of the world and humanity nearly four decades after the Great Debacle. I avoided the topic because I had to work myself up to it. The various stories you'll find in the other material I'm sending will provide different perspectives on what happened and what has transpired since that week in October 2037, that terrible week. I'll give you a sense of it given my intention to inform you as per my purpose of this transmission."

"As I may have stated previously, Sofia and I were in the mountains. We were camping and had ample provisions. Our first indication of the cataclysm was from another camper a distance away from us. He saw our smoke and yelled to douse our fire else we'd be accosted by people fleeing the cities for the mountains."

"It's too painful for me to describe my personal experience or Sofia's during the following years of anarchy. If I can share anything, it's that we got separated on two different occasions. The only reason we eventually found each other was that we had agreed to meet on particular times in that same camping location. It was no identifiable location, save for a few geologic idiosyncrasies in the mountainsides."

"If I get the chance, I'll cover our experiences of torment and despair at a future date. Suffice it to say that we saw the best and the worst humanity has to offer, with an extreme emphasis on the latter."