Estradas first, sowhat unhelpful recomndation, was to quietly assassinate either Rousseau or Voltaire. After so back and forth, she conceded it was probably safer to kill both. When we moved on from the idea of murdering philosophers, the conversation beca much more useful.
But it had the overall effect of highlighting to exactly how difficult my position was. Other than Daphne andI assudher father, I didnt know any of the major players or factions. They would be forming soon, if they hadnt already. And to pull this off, I would need to know all of them, better than I knew myself.
And that ant I needed all the help I could get.
I stepped inside the apartnt. Ellison was quietly snoring, sprawled out on the couch. Iris sat at the edge of the couch next to his feet, quietly doodling in her notebook.
I thumped twice on the wall. They both stirred and looked over.
Iris looked up and gave a little wave.
Youre just going to walk in all casual-like, as if the worlds not falling apart again? Ellison asked.
Its the second ti in a week, figured youd be used to it. Anything in the dumpsters?
No. All the bottles were bone dry.
Okay, dont worry about it. Family eting in fifteen minutes. I signed the words Family eting in case Iris had missed the lipread.
She signed back in excitent, Are we working on sothing together again? Is it sothing to do with the screens?
Ellison rubbed the last of the sleep out of his eye. Dont get too excited. It always gets complicated if Matts calling the shots.
Everyones a critic, I said. I rifled my inventory until I found a gallon jug of water and pulled it out.
Were not gonna talk about how you literally just pulled drinking water out of your ass? Ellison said.
Later.
Hes being all cagey again, I heard Ellison convey to Iris. Then, Wait, where are you even going?
Dealing with mom, I said.
/////
Mom wasnt doing great. The shaking was mainly in her arms and shoulders, though it seed difficult for her to sit still. It was possible the level of enthusiasm she was displaying was disguising how bad it really was.
As you know, Mom continued, the internets been unreliable.
Putting it mildly, I said.
And we need it for almost everything. So, I was searching for alternatives. Anything that the local governnt might have thrown up to keep vital services online. Anything that we might be able to piggyback off of.
And?
I found sothing thoroughly different. Its local, but stupidly advanced. She pointed to the screen with a single, trembling finger. I bent down, trying to get a look at the multi-colored text. It was almost entirely greek to . Except for one, single word embedded deep in the code.
Flauros
I think youre on the right track. I said.
Mom stilled, then typed sothing incomprehensible into the boxes. Its too fast to be anything normal. As far as I can tell, its designed as a replacent for the internet. And it looks as if its still updating. There are several features that havent been implented yet. So I cant parse at all. But others are fairly obvious, so sort of overall ranking. sothing for text and voice communication
The communication alternative stuck out to . I rembered what the Allfather of Chaos had said about the transposition. Whatever it was, whoever was driving this, the goal wasnt total destruction. It was a change of so kind.
How do we use it? I asked.
I dont know, Mom admitted, then picked up speed again. I couldnt force implent any of it. Theres a whole layer of this thats completely untouchable, but another section that looks like its designed for hosting. So I started working. The coding language is again, she ascended into the higher level of IT that I could only blankly nod at.
I waited until after an overly obtuse description to chi back in. So what exactly does that an for us?
She balled her shaking hands into fists, and held them up to her face. It ans I got it running!
Holy shit. I couldnt believe the level of progress shed made. Id expected her to take a look, poke around at the very most, then talk about how it was too difficult.
Only one problem.
Ah. There it is.
She pulled up a string of numbers that looked suspiciously like an IP. This is the address. But I cant access it.
Hold on. I pulled up my system screen and sorted through the tabs. There were several that were non-functional, but only one that was non-functional and opened a blank window. There was no way to input text, but maybe
The numbers appeared as I thought of them into the screen itself.
Do you have a little, circular ouroboros on your system screen? I asked.
Mom looked at the computer, then stared back at in confusion.
The one in your head. I prompted.
Oh! Let look. To be honest, Ive kinda been ignoring it. Thought I was hallucinating until Ellison asked about it.
I waited for her to catch up, then, one ntal command later, and the mock-up site appeared directly in front of my face. Mom stood up in shock, likely seeing the sa thing. I high-fived her.
Youre an actual genius, I smiled. She grinned back. Then her smile ebbed.
Matthias, I
I sighed, coming back to the reality of it. Yeah, I know, you dumped everything.
How
Ellison told .
I just think it's the best way
Its not. I grabbed both the gallon of water and the small glass cup and placed them on the table in front of her. Then I pulled one of the bottles of gin from my inventory. Her eyes went to it imdiately, though she wrinkled her nose.
I rolled my eyes, and poured half a glass. Yes, I know how you feel about gin. No, I dont care. This isnt for your personal enjoynt. If you want to change, it starts here. A queer feeling settled in my stomach as I handed it to her. It felt wrong. The dark part of wondered if maybe, if she went through withdrawal the way she wanted and survived, the mory of the discomfort would be enough to drive her from it.
But Id never liked that part of , much.
Mom sipped, then gulped. Her eyes grew glassy, more relaxed, and the shaking in her arms slowed. Taperings never worked before.
It was a subtle request for encouragent. She knew better than to ask for it. I knew how this would end. Yet, I found myself speaking anyway.
Well, maybe youve never been properly motivated. It was hard to keep the words from sounding bitter. I looked down. The light around her ankle monitor had turned red, indicating a lost connection. I fished around in a nearby drawer, drawing out a pair of scissors. Our world is about to change in a big way. Everythings getting reset. You can be whoever the hell you want to be. Youre always talking about how youve never had a chance, since the hearing. Since Dad. And that, if you were given that opportunity, you would change. Well, this is it. I have a line on sothing, andno way around itIt would be easier with your help. I leaned against her desk, folding my arms. So, you have two options. Either I give you the rest of the bottles now, and you go on a return bender for the rest of the apocalypse
Mom was already shaking her head.
Or we do this right. Tapering. Then ds to deal with the cravings. And you help , Iris, and Ellison make sure that however this thing shakes out, we all land sowhere better than here. I hesitated, then held the scissors out to her, keeping my face neutral.
This is the last ti.
Mom reached out with a shaky hand. She took the scissors from and snipped through the elastic strap of the ankle monitor. It clattered to the floor.
/////
Alright kids, planning ti. I maneuvered the rolling base slowly, careful not to scrape against the wall. The nearby community center where we held family etings was decrepit enough as it was. It was usually closed this late at night, but Ellison had picked the lock, letting us in.
Id barely gotten into the room before I heard Ellison groan. Oh god, hes got the whiteboard. Iris punched him, and he grumbled at her incessantly. Then I saw them both fall silent as Mom entered behind , carrying the laptop under her arm.
Is she uh helping? Ellison asked.
Be nice, Iris signed.
Were going to need so extra hands on this one, yes. I drew the words OPEN FORUM, at the top of the board.
Then everyone but jumped as a blue door appeared in the wall.
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