Cloud to Cloud

Episode 31: Part 1 - Coding Connection to the Ethereal Cloud

Evan spent the next several days smuggling wiring and components out of the ITower offices. He and Fred opted to continue to work opposing shifts, though both manned their computers nearly around the clock. With Fred still unable to do much heavy physical labor, Evan accepted day shift at the office, physically wiring functions at Hannah's place after dark.

Once the sun was down and the offices were all but empty, Fred periodically disabled facility security monitoring systems. Though unrelated, he used the pretense that aggressive network and data testing could overload security systems with false alarms.

Evan took these windows as opportunity to smuggle as much out of the ITower building as his laptop bag and a single filing box would contain. It was all he could do without alerting the one lazy night guard at the garage entrance.

Evan transported equipment to Hannah's, taking a new route every evening, stopping sometimes for dinner, evading those who might target them again. On a few occasions he brought flowers, cakes, or small tokens of appreciation to Hannah for her inconvenience.

More importantly, anyone surveilling or tracking his movements would assume Evan was up to his old habits of wooing a new conquest.

Hannah, for her part, had begun hosting more free events, talks, and classes in store. The constant stream of new cars, patrons, and instructors, worked as cover while Evan secreted shopping bags and gift boxes, filled with electronics, in among the patrons.

While the population of Conscious Connections flowed on the mortal plane, their collected energy powered the link to the ley lines and the cloud.

Within the hallways and classrooms of the small establishment, wires ran over floors, up the stairs, and across tables.

One afternoon, the older woman who had shown such concern at Evan's presence the night of the EM attack, stopped in. She picked her way over the increasing number of cords littering the storefront as she collected her items and brought them to the counter. Hannah stepped over a tangle of cords leading from her tablet to the back side of the main counter. The woman surveyed the path of the wires.

"Hannah. My dear girl. What is going on?" The woman looked from Hannah to the wiring and up to the wall of crystals.

Hannah offered a polite smile. "Please, excuse the wires." She waved off the mess. "I have a couple of temporary house guests in the spare apartment. "They work in the tech field," she offered as explanation. "Tread carefully. Don't trip on anything."

"I wasn't talking about the wires, dear one." The woman pressed her hands to her heart. "I am certain you can sense it. The energy in your space. It's," The woman paused to find the correct wording. "The frequencies are strange. It's intense."

Hannah offered a nervous giggle. "Yes. Well. As I said, it's probably all the electronics."

"It's something else." The woman pressed. She set her fingers to her temples. "I am getting all this data? All this information."

Hannah hurried to fill the woman's bag and complete the sale on the register. "Maybe you're experiencing the planetary retrograde." She plastered a professional smile on her lips. "It can cause disturbances. Have you fully cleared your aura lately? Here, we got some sage and new crystals."

Hannah thrust a handful of small stones and a grip of sage into a small bag. She held out the bag. "Free of charge."

"I don't think it will help." The woman turned from Hannah, leaving her holding out the bag of trinkets and dried leaves.

Hannah set the bag on the counter. Once the store emptied after the typical lunch break rush Hannah slipped into the back office.

As she rounded the stairwell she came face to chest with Evan. A spark of energy transferred between the pair as they stepped apart.

"Sorry." Evan leaned against the stairwell wall. "I was popping out for something to eat. "You want anything?"

Something sent unfamiliar emotions through the pair. Evan had been with dozens of women, yet his interest in Hannah felt different. There was a calm about the young woman that surpassed her age.

"No. No, I'm fine." Hannah stuttered. Her energy settled after a moment, yet Evan seemed to have had an increasingly disrupting effect on the woman since their first meeting.

"Is Fred up there?" Hannah shifted the conversation.

"Yeah." Evan tilted his head up the stairs.

Evan released a slow sigh as he watched Hannah climb the steps.

He continued his descent and slipped out the back entrance of the store.

Evan slid into the driver's seat of the Tesla and sat in silence.