Nemecene: The Epoch of Redress (38 page)

She opened with a quip about Eli's carelessness. There was a hole in Eli's ceiling that needed fixing because it rendered the energy shield she had meticulously sealed her dorm with ineffective against intrusions through the roof. She assured me that she was no thief. She had merely sought to recover what Eli had stolen from her, but someone else had beaten her to it, and now, all of her prized effects, as well as Eli herself, are vulnerable to wanton hands.

A flash of a libidinous monster crept into my mind, with Eli struggling to break his hold, then I remembered past conversations where Nathruyu had exploited my anxiety over Eli's health to imply how critically dependent we were on her for help, and conversely how doomed we would be without her, which evidently was not entirely accurate. It seems Eli's affliction is in remission, and for the first time since your accident, she has experienced many consecutive days of dreamless sleep, while Nathruyu at the same time is diminishing, caged in a waking nightmare.

I countered with further accusations, questioning the means by which she had acquired the crystal, which, interestingly enough, is carved out of the same mineral your jewel is. I demanded its true origin. Likely aware that her seduction skills had waned and that her hopes for a spiritual coup had dimmed to a mere cinder, she voluntarily surrendered the information she had purported to safeguard until we were ready to digest it. It was not what I had expected. The brooch was not yours, it was Eli's, as was the pendant she had strung around her neck, which someone had seized from her while she slept on the evening of her capture.

Anger did not come easily for her, since the energy it requires was beyond her grasp, but it was clearly audible when I re-accused her of theft, not only of the crystal years ago, but also of your flower-shaped indigo jewel. She was incensed at my lack of foresight at ever having entrusted Eli with such a valuable object in her fragmented state, an item of such pivotal importance, far above its credit value, that were it to submit to the wrong fate, it would dangerously shift the balance of power and destabilize the entire ecosystem.

A few extra minutes with her, and I would have been able to put your story to rest, but the Pramam's speech was over, and from what I could detect coming through the GMU band, my visit with Nathruyu was almost up. She sensed it as well and left the subtle heat of the stored sunlight to settle her naked body within inches of mine, so that I could use my device to illuminate our faces. There we lingered, divided in space, yet entangled in time, for the longest second of my life.

The order had been given. They were coming for her, and her eyes fell silent. She signaled towards a controller on the outside beside the entrance and begged me to tap it, so that a small window could open in the grid. Reaching through it, she touched my cautious fingers and thawed her own with my warmth, which swiftly faded as a cool rush traveled up my arm. I could see her darkness lighten and a single tear freeze on her cheek, trying to escape, as she carefully articulated these final words: "The answers you seek are in Elize's dreams."

I wonder who will appear in her defense. I know there is no reasonable justification for her actions, but our legal system was designed to aid victims not destroy them. Centuries of detailed analysis have shown that a cycle of revenge can only feed on itself and grow. Isn't compassion for all what the Ministry has been advocating? Sothese certainly does not adhere to that philosophy. He should be the one paying for crimes against humanity. I saw the way he looked at her, the way he looked at Eli, and the way he looked at me, not a shred of compassion in his blood.

This morning, as I waited for the sun to rise on our fresh beginning, I felt compelled to snap on my runners and head for the orchard, as a means to rebalance my energies, before recounting yesterday's events. I miss the impending dawn in the highlands where I would run freely through the lavender hills, a secret haven away from Father's suppression, while he lay unconscious after disreputable outings. My cares would drift over the mountain peaks and past the neighboring valleys, dreaming that the wind was carrying me across the starry sky to hover peacefully between heaven and earth, with the world sleeping below my feet. Even though the campus greenery did not offer the same weightless experience, it did satisfy a much-needed urge to finally release a good ten weeks of tension. As much as I welcome a return to stability and routine, our harrowing adventures awoke in me a passion I suspect will not be content living vicariously through the volumes in the archives.

Then again, illusion may be coloring my perception. A lone canine mirrored my pace in the orchard today, daring me to a chase, but his stiff forked tail and squared ears betrayed his intentions. Sothese's hunters were still roaming about the city, and the mornings were not yet safe. My newfound boldness returned his menacing stare, and as the fog rolled across the grove, his haunting howl engraved this parting taunt as a chilling thought in my brain.

"Soon."

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alias
n

a nickname or user id inside the maze

assalam
v (anglicism from Arabic)

to say good-bye, to leave

auto...
n

a sensing device performing a single task (e.g. autolock)

band
n

see
secure band

bang-o
n (Stitch slang)

anglicism of Spanish word "baño", bathroom

bending
adj. (city slang)

confusing

bent
adj. (highland slang)

nuts, crazy

bioApp
n

A program running on a biochip

biochip
n

internal intelligent chip attached to a human brain

bioclothing
n

clothing that is alive and often sentient

biodome
n

a fully enclosed dome shaped
biowall

bioRhythms
n

A
bioApp
that transmits a music broadcast to the brain

bioshield
n

invisible shield surrounding a person to filter toxins

bioskin
n

membrane to grow skin on wounds

biowall
n

invisible shield surrounding a city as a unidirectional filter

blister
v (highland slang)

to get things done fast, to move fast

blow
v (city slang)

make someone very angry or pissed

board
n

futuristic version of a computer screen

bounce
v (city slang)

to feel unnaturally energetic, hyper

chip down
v (slang)

to physically recover from a change in
biochip
program

chumbud
n (Stitch slang)

a friend, chum for opposite sex, bud for same sex

circle
n

circular neighborhood of homes protected by a
biodome

clamp
v

to restrict someone to an area and track their whereabouts

cleanerbot
n

self-guided intelligent floor cleaner and garbage picker

clip
v (Stitch slang)

to hurry, to do something like yesterday

clip out
exp. (Stitch slang)

get out fast, head to the exit lightning fast

cloaked
adj. (Stitch slang)

encrypted, as it pertains to a communication device

comm
n
and
v

1
n
personal communication device

2
v
to communicate using a
comm

crabbot
n

self-guided intelligent crawling surveillance device

crabseat
n

genetic hybrid between a crab and a chair

crack
v (Stitch slang)

to panic

credit
n

the currency (there is no cash)

crazed
adj. (city slang)

nuts, crazy

crit
adj. (Stitch slang)

very important

creeps
n (highland slang)

a bummer, crap

da ya
adv. (anglicism)

a double yes; once in Russian, once in German

daze
n
and
v (city slang)

1
n
a party at an underground club

2
v
to party, to go to a
daze

del
v

to delete

dizzy
adj. (city slang)

gross, disgusting to the point of an upchuck

drop
n

a stop on a
hovertrain
route

drop detector
n

detects when something draws power from the grid

dunked
adj. (Stitch slang)

to be totally lost, to not understand what is going on

dust
n

encryption to make images look like garbage to searches

dust filter
n

special type of maze sketch that can find
dust
ed images

emitter
n

device emitting frequencies to change properties of matter

ease
v (city slang)

to chill out, to calm down, to take it easy

eh
interj. (highland slang)

adopted from Canadian "eh?" at the end of a sentence

fig
v (Stitch slang)

to figure

fence formation
n

GMU tactic for securing a perimeter

fishy
n (highland slang)

turkey, silly, dumb-dumb

flagged
adj.

marked for Ministry investigation

flash
n
and
v

1
n
holographic video, moving memories

2
v
to record a
flash
on a device

flashpack
(
flashes
)
n

a pack of multiple
flash
es that plugs into a viewer

flatface
n (highland slang)

a stone faced, unfriendly, or vacant person

flip
interj. (highland slang)

bummer, crap

flip a pass
exp. (Stitch slang)

get out of something without permission (e.g. skip class)

fly wild
exp. (Stitch slang)

to let imagination control you, to go off on a tangent

flyer mud
n (Stitch slang)

bullshit

frame
n

freeze frame from a
flash

GHU
acronym

Global Health Unit

GMU
acronym

Global Military Unit

good whip
exp. (highland slang)

good comeback to a dig at someone

hanging low
adj. (Stitch slang)

lacking energy, wiped out

hang for a sec
exp. (highland slang)

Hold on for a minute, wait a moment

hey lo
exp. (highland slang)

hi

hick
n (highland slang)

"doh!" when used alone, dumb-dumb otherwise

hide between the packets
exp.

to remove your id tag on a
packet
and thus be untraceable

holo...
n

interactive holographic objects (e.g. holopost)

hurts like a mangled scan
exp. (city slang)

hurts like hell

hush
adj. (highland slang)

to be quiet, to not make a sound, to be on
hush mode

hush mode
exp.

comm
setting to emit close-range canceling frequencies

hovertrain
n

inner city public transit hovering above walkways

imprint
v

to transfer media to/from a slip by sticking it to a device

jam
adj. (city slang)

used in expression "we're jam" to mean being in trouble

juicy
adj. (highland slang)

cool, equiv. to
trip

jump
v (slang)

to scare someone, used in expression "you jumped me"

jumper
n (city slang)

something that startles you

knockout stick
n

device that knocks people out

lie low
v (Stitch slang)