Personal note: I am getting fed up with my ISP.
Still some religious and political stuff. I found my notes for the church going underground. I really should get more organized.
The credits rolled to a finish, and I waved my hand, bringing up the menu.
"Don't. Wait."Sonj swigged the last of her Dr. Pepper, as she motioned me to turn back to the movie. As I turn a young, not quite redeemed actor walks down the stairs into his living room. As the scene plays out between Downy Jr. and Jackson, I think about the turning point this movie represents for Downy. No matter how far you fall, you can still turn around and get back up.
"I can't believe you've never seen the Avenger series. That's like not knowing about comics, or manga." Sonja turns around on the couch to look at the wall behind us. "I mean you build robots! How can you not be a sci-fi geek?"
"I built robots as a child."The pictures arrayed above my head were taken during the stages of the last build I made. "In Russia, it was incredibly difficult to get movies in the original English. Redubbing sounds horrible, and you know it." I shake my empty can, then toss it into my trash can across the room. It marred the holographic face of 'Nick Fury' for a brief moment before continuing its trajectory through the air.
"By the way, why don't you have a Russian accent?"
"Cause I have a Texan accent. I'm from Fort Worth; was even born in Harris Hospital."
"But you just moved from overseas. I don't get it."
"There's something I need to tell you, Sonj." How will she take this? "My names not really Harrison, it's Harris. I went to Russia with the Gulfs after my parents died. That was in '34." I paused, wondering if she'd be able to put together the pieces.
"2034? That's the year the Dome designer and his wife died. How eerie is that! Wait..." As she looked at me I could see the wheels of her mind turning. "They had a kid, a girl. But..." Sonj jumped up from the sofa. "Are you telling me that your parents were The Harris'?" I nodded, "So the woman who improved energy conversion ,and the man who designed the multi-dome structures were your parents? Child," the consternation was clear in her voice. "why have you been keeping this from me?"
"I hadn't even turned twelve yet." I inhaled a huge breath of air. I can feel the tears building up full force. Why does it still hurt so much? "Since my parents were older when they had me, my grandparents were far too old to care for me. My dad's only sister suffered from Muscular Dystrophy and lived in an assisted living facility. My mother was an only child. When I was very young, my parents had asked the Gulfs if they would take care of me. Aunt Helena worried so much about me; I was depressed. Uncle Cecil thought maybe taking me away from so many harsh memories would help."
"Did it help?
"Will you hand me a tissue? They're on the end table beside you." Sonj turned to the small wooden table alongside the couch. She picked up the whole box and held it out to me. "Thanks." I said before blowing my nose.
"Moving to Russia did help. I was so busy getting adjusted to everything that I didn't have time to think about how alone I was. Did you know, when I left Fort Worth, the domes had just been started? It looked like walls all through the city."
"And now the domes are finished." Sonj shook her head. "Tara, why did you change your name when you came back to the US?"
"I didn't. I changed it when I went to live with the Gulf's. Right after my parents died, the media was in a frenzy. They hovered over me like vultures. When I was young one of my robot designs was accepted by NASA. They had a competition open to the public, to drum up interest, and the winner would have his or her robot go into space. So there I was, The Brilliant Daughter of Slain Scientists. I guess the move to Russia, also helped with that. Over there I was a different person; just a niece of Cecil and Helena Gulf.
"So why didn't you stay? Wasn't life going good for you?"
"For a long time I thought things were ok. But, I was still a stranger in a strange land. The Gulf's home was my haven, but it was not my home. I felt isolated and alone. I thought, maybe if I moved back here, the familiar sights would help. I hadn't realized now much society had changed here. Fourteen years, and people have their own portable walls."
"So what if rush hour is full of occupied people. You gotta think about dinner, chores, credits, and sometimes you think about who you're going home to. Tara, I do think you should socialize more, let me take you with me to a club I know."
"And meet another one night stand? Let's not open that can of worms now. Sides, there's more that I haven't told you." This time I was the one to stand up. I began to pace back and forth in front of the black holoscreen. "I was living here for about a month before I started work."
"I remember that," Sonj interrupted, "You had an interview with Mr. Freidman while overseas. Then you were given a month for relocation purposes; that's the kind of thing reserved for military."
"It's also used for people who have favors to call in. Dr. Cecil arranged for the time buffer, and was able to have my identity kept hidden. In that month, I got this deck, opened bank accounts, and created another alias for myself. I introduced myself as Tara Henderson whenever I met new people. I met a lot of people."
"So?"
" I met some Christians, specifically independent ones. And with the new regulations, lots of churches can't be independent now. Some people who don't agree with the Government have been arrested, others have just plain moved."
"What was the whole point of those regulations?"
"I don't know all the details. I heard there were some attacks, and some churches asked for protection. I've done a little research in the past three weeks. At one point the plan was to register church members, so that every incident could be tracked and a pattern could appear. I've no idea how that morphed into regulations for religion."
"And what about you? Are you planning to leave too? I mean wasn't the whole point of me coming today was for you to help me out?"
" You're right, I was supposed to help you out." I sat back down besides Sonj. "You asked me why I was keeping things from you. I made some friends who made me rethink about how I see the world. I want to stop lying, to be honest with you."
"Is there anything else you haven't told me?" I shook my head no. "So, let me double check this, You know that I created an semi-sentient AI, and I know that you have a false identity connected to people on the run." Sonj chuckled. "We better not get mad at each other."
"At least Tara Henderson doesn't exist."
"Like that keeps you safe, I know all your dirty little secrets now!" After a short burst of giggles, Sonj grew solemn. "But it's not like you let loose a thing that thinks it can do no wrong with the ability to turn nannites to its own will."
"Hey, we'll find it and bring it back before anyone gets hurt. Do you have a copy of the AI's program. I'll poke around it and see what we can do."
She unhooked a data sapphire from her bracelet and handed it to me. I detached the diamond used for movie media from my old netlink and attached the sapphire to it. A twitch of my pinky opened the file in a text editor.
"I wrote it in Fortran, so you may have a hard time with it."
"Talk about a dinosaur. We may have our work cut out for us."
No comments:
Post a Comment