Page 79 of Coldwire
TheWELCOME TO LAND OF THREE TOWNSsign is missing its top corner. I lean forward to get a better look, rolling down the window. We’ve been on the road for long enough that I’m itching to move. Different parts of my body keep going numb, asking for a change in my posture or some opportunity to stretch my limbs.
The dashboard beeps. Miz lurches upright.
“What is that?” Nik demands from the back. He’s been at work on the floor of the vehicle, two laptops open with one on each thigh to decrypt the server.
“Vehicle wants to be taken off self-driving and switched to manual,” Miz reports. “I don’t know why—oh. Never mind. I see why.”
We turn off the sharp exit from the expressway and immediately join a queue of cars. If the welcome sign was any indication, we’ve just crossed the boundary line into Threto. It must be the toll booths causing this traffic jam. The lights have gone out up ahead, so there’s only the impression of the entry barriers, the one lane into Threto and the machines that process a fee for each entry and exit.
I get out of my seat, creeping forward for a better look. Blare, with a yawn, stands too, trying to join me by leaning between the front seats.
“Why are we stopped?” they ask. “Toll booths are automatic.”
“Maybe the bot is having a bad day,” I suggest.
The queue moves slowly. The booth becomes slightly more visible after another car is let through the barrier, shifting the line forward. Now I’ve spotted the traffic control workers in their orange vests and clipboards. One of them gestures for the next car to roll down its window. The worker says something, then points overhead at a bulky camera.
“They’re doing thermal checks,” I say suddenly. “Making sure no one has a fever before entering.”
“Oh, shit.” A subtle glow grows brighter from Miz’s glasses. She’s pulled open a video. “I don’t know if we’re going to make it through.”
“What?” Nik and Blare demand together, their voices bouncing from different points of the van.
Miz taps the side of her glasses. With a click, it projects the video as a hologram hovering before her, letting the sound play on speaker.
“… announcing a two-week closure in Threto’s urban limits starting at ten p.m. tonight. This latest variant of avian influenza is moving fast, and we want to prevent the spread as well as we can. A reminder that the safest place to remain is upcountry, and if you haven’t yet subscribed, this segment is sponsored by the Ministry of—”
The video blinks off when Miz pushes her glasses up, onto the top of her head. The queue has moved again, and she eases off the brake, driving forward.
Avian influenza is highly contagious. The Button City base gave us our vaccines last month, but that doesn’t mean I can’t catch it still.
“This is ridiculous.” Nik pushes aside his two laptops, marching to the front of the van too. It’s crowded as soon as he joins, and Blare pulls a face, ducking so that they’re not squished.
“It’s nine fifty-four p.m.,” Nik says, reading the time on the dashboard. “Legally, we should be permitted.”
“Legally, they don’t have to allow anything, especially if we can’t providea reason for entering the city,” I say, pulling my arm free from his invasion of my personal space. “Where’s the van registered to?”
“I’m changing it right now.” Miz drops her glasses back down over her eyes. Her hands stay on the steering wheel. “We’re coming from a warehouse in Upsie. It needs to be an emergency shipment. Any ideas?”
Five cars ahead of us now. The vehicles in the queue are being allowed through so far, but their license plates all indicate their origin place to be Threto. They live in this city, so they need to be let in.
“Give me a handheld,” I demand.
Blare looks at Nik, thinking he’ll respond. Nik doesn’t offer his. Blare frowns, reaching for their own.
“Here,” they say. “Nik is practically married to his handheld.”
“I am not,” Nik counters. “I’m protective of it.”
It can’t be the footage of me that he’s wielding so preciously on the device. Something of that nature would live securely in the cloud.
“What’s the issue?” I ask Nik, accepting Blare’s handheld and opening the map. “Do you have one of those dating bots installed?”
I wouldn’t have thought it physiologically possible, but Nik’s face flames red.
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“That really got a rise out of you.” I zoom in on Threto, searching for major landmarks. “I didn’t think you had the emotional capacity for an AI girlfriend.”
