A cold encounter
It was an eerie sound. Snow hitting metal, a whooshing, haunting sound. Occasionally broken by heavy thuds. Objects hitting the sides of the metal hover bike. Ana was on a single person transport which streaked across the cold, bleak land. From a distance, it was the only visible movement across the otherwise empty valley. It was dusk but there was no sun to reflect its dying light on the transport. It was pitch black out here. Even the transports occasional blinking navigation LEDs could reflect little light off the snow. This was a grey, cold place and Ana didn't like it. She would prefer not to be outside Lumin walls had she any choice. Both the transport and rider would go unnoticed if not for the trail of displaced snow, thrown off by the weight of her speedy progress. She was restless, her mind was racing, and she could have easily lost her way. But she had taken this route several times in the last few weeks. 5trode made sure she memorized it in her fieldmap. It had taken a while for the Intents to be completely at ease with her. She had 5tr0de and l1van to thank for that. The secrecy, the days purge and Ricard's state afterwards, it confounded her. She needed to get to the station and speak to them. Whatever they had they found at the mountain station... it had to do with her. She was sure of it.
She leaned forward, squeezed the throttle and closed her eyes for a brief moment. Going through everything which happened that morning once more.
/
She found Ricard already on the training deck. He wasn't alone. Right after the deciphers had finished their briefing they wanted to come here to observe Ana train. It was just standard procedure since they would have to update the other stations. She could see that this made Ricard nervous and this annoyed her. Ricard wasn't used to them.
Deciphers were part of the system created by the Eminents who rebuilt patron stations. After the Reckoning, cities around the world went through alarming changes. At first no one knew what to do. Those who survived salvaged what they could to rebuild functioning civilisations. Almost all failed until the Eminent council was established. They first built underground stations. And after a few hundred years they built more on the surface. These stations were once research facilities. Some were small, only enough to hold a few hundred people. Others spanned miles and held populations close to several hundred thousands. The deciphers were tasked to survive these, and bring important resources and information from one to the next. They were the only safe guarantee between these stations, the only safe places left. Lumin, was seen as the safest. And this was mostly because of Ana, Ricard and the Eminent council.
/
Their dark heavy coats stood out against the white of the training room. There was little she could do other than acknowledge their presence. DVN805 stepped forward and extended his hand to her.
'We are here to help in any way we can Ana. Please carry on.'
She looked at him puzzled. Deciphers weren't usually so amicable . Years of being outside, traveling and between their stations, the years hardened them. They weren't big on conversation and usually only communicated with a businesslike intent. To them emotion was unnecessary, and they saw the effort to rehabilitate humans as a pointless exercise. She pretended not to see the hand.
' It's necessary,' she said. 'But training requires that we have the room alone to ourselves.'
'In this case we will merely observe and report.'
Ana knew that this meant she had no choice in the matter. It didn't make a difference to her. She needed Ricard to be at ease and so she let it go and instead turned her attention to him.
She leaned forward, squeezed the throttle and closed her eyes for a brief moment. Going through everything which happened that morning once more.
/
She found Ricard already on the training deck. He wasn't alone. Right after the deciphers had finished their briefing they wanted to come here to observe Ana train. It was just standard procedure since they would have to update the other stations. She could see that this made Ricard nervous and this annoyed her. Ricard wasn't used to them.
Deciphers were part of the system created by the Eminents who rebuilt patron stations. After the Reckoning, cities around the world went through alarming changes. At first no one knew what to do. Those who survived salvaged what they could to rebuild functioning civilisations. Almost all failed until the Eminent council was established. They first built underground stations. And after a few hundred years they built more on the surface. These stations were once research facilities. Some were small, only enough to hold a few hundred people. Others spanned miles and held populations close to several hundred thousands. The deciphers were tasked to survive these, and bring important resources and information from one to the next. They were the only safe guarantee between these stations, the only safe places left. Lumin, was seen as the safest. And this was mostly because of Ana, Ricard and the Eminent council.
/
Their dark heavy coats stood out against the white of the training room. There was little she could do other than acknowledge their presence. DVN805 stepped forward and extended his hand to her.
'We are here to help in any way we can Ana. Please carry on.'
She looked at him puzzled. Deciphers weren't usually so amicable . Years of being outside, traveling and between their stations, the years hardened them. They weren't big on conversation and usually only communicated with a businesslike intent. To them emotion was unnecessary, and they saw the effort to rehabilitate humans as a pointless exercise. She pretended not to see the hand.
' It's necessary,' she said. 'But training requires that we have the room alone to ourselves.'
'In this case we will merely observe and report.'
Ana knew that this meant she had no choice in the matter. It didn't make a difference to her. She needed Ricard to be at ease and so she let it go and instead turned her attention to him.
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