RoboNomics

Chapter 42 - 2016

"Wait a second. You were there after the riot?"

"Yeah. Elizabeth and I went. When we didn't hear from you, we thought we'd try and figure out what happened to everyone."

"And?"

"It was the weirdest thing. The building was locked. I mean, it was like they had changed the lock or something. We couldn't get in."

"What do you mean you couldn't get in?"

"I don't know why. But there were definitely people inside there, Andrea." 

He tells me what they saw. There were shaggy men and women coming and going. They all wore the same emblem on their black armbands: The letters AR in a circle, embroidered in red.

"That's weird," I muse. "If it weren't for the R, that symbol would stand for anarchist."

Henri tells me that eventually, he and Elizabeth stopped one of the guys heading into the building and asked him what was going on.

"He tried to just get rid of us. He told us it wasn't safe for us to be there. But I figured if I asked for Chris, he might pay attention."

"So, what? The guy let you in?"

"Not exactly. Chris came to the door to see us but he wouldn't let us in the building."

"What did he say to you?" I can't disguise the anxiety in my voice.

"He said the Group was disbanded. He told us it would be safer if we just got lost."

As I recall the conversation with Henri, I put the plate back lovingly on top of its mates. The doorbell rings, startling me out of my reverie. 

"I'll get it," I call up the stairs to Austin. 

He's in the bedroom, trying to figure out how many of our clothing we can do without if we have to leave our home.

"Elizabeth," I exclaim when I open the front door. 

I'm not sure who I was expecting to find there. Maybe I thought it would be Chris. Or the bank to tell us that it's time to leave.

"Hey, Andrea." 

She stands on the front step under our wooden porch. She pulls at a thread on her shorts and frowns at me.

"What's wrong?" I ask. "I've been meaning to talk to you about what happened after the protest," I add quickly.

"I bet you have." She levels me with a sharp look. "Look, I came here because I need to talk to you. Can we?" 

She gestures towards the street.

"Sure." I step out of the door and close it behind me. "You want to go to the patio?"

"Yeah, okay." 

We round the side of the house and I sit in one of the dark wicker chairs.

Elizabeth paces across the patio stones. 

"Is it Miriam?" I ask as my stomach drops. "Did something happen to Henri?"

"No, it's not them, Andrea." She stops in front of me. "It's you."

"Me?"

"Yeah, you. Haven't you ever heard that expression, 'chicks before dicks?'"

"Elizabeth, what are you talking about?"

"We're your friends, Andrea. We're the ones who were always there for you. And at the first sign of trouble, what did you do? You took off. Oh, I'm sure you were off somewhere having a great old time with Chris while the rest of us –"