Page 55 of Coldwire
“Now we’re good to go,” I decide.
14LIA
The cat must know immediately that I’m giving chase, because it darts up the stairs in a flash. I don’t even consider slowing. No way.
I let go of Kieren to take the stairs three at a time, and then I’m zipping through the ground floor and slamming back out onto the street. I catch the barest glimpse of the cat scampering along the crosswalk.
“Hey!” I scream. The other pedestrians on the street turn to look at me. Shit. I switch to Medan. “Hey! Cat! Stop!”
Good one, Lia. Really advanced vocabulary they taught you in class.
I dart onto the road, catching the last few seconds of the green light. It’s unlikely a car would hit me even if I crossed against the red, given how quickly automation responds to environmental roadblocks. Still, I hurry back onto the pedestrian path, my eyes pinned on the cat. I keep it in sight for the length of one long commercial street. I’ve practically come within three feet of it when the cat turns the corner, and suddenly I have to halt at the intersection because I don’t see it anymore.
I drag in a deep breath, making a frenetic search and spinning in two full circles. The storefronts have started to play their holographic advertising for the morning commuters. The drones overhead increase in frequency, zipping by in twos and threes every minute to make deliveries.Their buzzing is low, easy to tune out. Just when I think I’ve caught sight of the cat again whipping around people’s feet, it’s only someone walking their virtual dog.
“Ugh.”
I slump down, bracing my hands on my knees. A few seconds later, Kieren approaches holding a bottle of water, offering it out to me like I’m the stray cat collapsed on the street.
“Ran out of stamina?” he asks.
“I didn’t seeyoutrying to catch up with it,” I hiss, snatching the plastic water bottle. On occasion, our avatars can push beyond our usual capacity downcountry, but that takes a shot of emergency adrenaline spiking past our mental barriers and a certain sprinkle of delusion. I’m annoyed at this cat, but we clearly haven’t reached the level where I can keep running after it without remembering to be tired. “It bolted as soon as it saw me coming. I’m telling you, we’re being spied on.”
Kieren frowns while I chug my water. My tongue is parched.
“Upsie definitely incorporates stray cats as a part of the environment,” Kieren says. “Most catswouldbe encoded to run from you if you give chase.”
“I made eye contact with it. It followed you down and…”
I stop, mid-motion, while putting the cap back on the bottle of water. Kieren raises an eyebrow.
“What?”
“You,” I say slowly, securing the cap. We’ve been standing on a street corner to debate, and it’s starting to annoy the passersby. I nudge Kieren to stand a little closer to the nearest building—FOUNDSYS, the sign reads over the door. A game development company, gauging by the bell chime of coins ringing from the foyer. “It wasn’t following me. It was following you.”
“Why would—” He cuts himself off. I wait, seeing if he’ll put voice to what has just occurred to him, if he’s only taking a moment to gather his thoughts.
Kieren stays quiet.
“What is it?” I prompt.
Kieren inspects the new pop-up on the wall, a trailer for the latest franchise tie-in movie popular in Medaluo. I’ve seen the ads on the feed, but Atahua won’t play it in cinemas.
“Let’s start making our way to the data center,” he suggests. His gaze turns to me meaningfully. “We can go somewhere with fewer people.”
We cross the bridge into the east side of the city, up the hills onto the highest point above the rippling valleys.
The self-driving taxi was blowing startlingly cold air that we couldn’t figure out how to switch off, and Kieren and I are both shivering when we arrive. I set the drop-off point at a five-minute walk away from our actual destination. I didn’t want to run into any employees, nor have the taxi’s surveillance capabilities grow curious about why tourists were going to the city’s national data center.
“You want my jacket?” Kieren offers.
I clamp down my chattering teeth. “Keep your jacket.”
Here, the sea is within view, starting where the sand bleeds out into foam. Medaluo’s eastern edge is a muddled grayscale, pulled as blue as StrangeLoom will let it go before the satellites scanning the grunge downcountry grow confused in complaint.
The taxi drives off, and I don’t make any move to start walking. Kieren comes up to my side, brushing right against my arm to offer cover from his jacket without admitting that’s what he’s doing. We stare forward, out into the waters, both pretending to be less interested in the sight.
I have spent most of my formative years inside the academy’s gates. I know those grounds like the back of my hand. The Pod could let me go anywhere within the bounds of Atahua while classes aren’t in session, but I don’t.
