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The smell from the factories was starting to weigh on the air. The filtration system always worked overtime in the industrial districts, however, it was never enough to clear the smell from sinking over New Letum. With most of the staff off duty, the fine particles that came from the chimneys were allowed to fall to the streets, coating Baz in a fine layer of dust. He pulled his shirt up over his nose as he wandered further in.
Baz remembered what it was like going through the abandoned stations and industrial zones that were left at home. It was empty, but the towering silhouettes of the factories stood like domineering figures judging them for being there. Back home, wildlife had started its takeover only a few years after everyone had left. These streets were completely abandoned. There were no weeds breaking the grey, no animals watching from the dark corners. And still Baz couldn't shake the feeling that something knew he was there. He had to have been picked up by the cameras by now, it was their steely eyes watching him as he passed from corner to corner. He found no comfort in knowing there weren't enough resources to monitor or maintain the surveillance.
The weather barely changed under the domes, the couple of degrees difference once night had fallen was a side effect of losing the warmth of the lights, but Baz's clothes clung to his body. He could feel a drop of sweat curling down his back, never building enough momentum to make its slow descent predictable. He needed to break into a run again, deserve the sweat, but he couldn't. He couldn't take the risk. There was no telling what would be around the next corner.
"Where are you going?"
Baz stumbled. The scrape of metal on concrete jolted the night out of silence as he tried to find a grip on the wall. He was falling. Something yanked the back of his jumper. They'd caught him. He couldn't give up. He pushed back, using her momentum against her, pulling the shiv from his pocket. His eyes locked onto her before the shiv did. The cut barely caused more than a flesh wound.
"I thought you were a ********' Valkyrie."
"Don't give me any ideas." Baz didn't give an apology and Fahima didn't want one. It was her own fault for using her powers to sneak around after him. It wasn't the first time Fahima had been on the receiving end of Baz's attacks, intended or not, and he hadn't apologised for most of those either.
Baz pocketed the knife and fiddled with his prosthetic, checking for damage that he knew didn't exist. They had opened the floor to each other, neither wanting to explain to the other why they were there. Fahima didn't have the same distraction.
It was Fahima who broke the silence first. "You're too old for this stuff. Come home, Barry."
He snorted. "Home."
"Oh. We're feeling sorry for ourselves today. Right. There's nothing out there that is going to help you. Do you want to be one of those faggots who believes in miracles?"
"I don't need your advice."
"Yeah, you do." She took a step closer, forcing him to look at her. She was waiting for the chance to make eye contact and strike. It would come, Baz never liked being in a corner. "Look at yourself. You're out after curfew in an exclusion zone. The only people who do that are idealists and dreamers."
"You're here."
Fahima laughed, the sudden burst like a slap in the face. Her hand shot to her mouth, trying to conceal the smile, but more in fake modesty to hide her surprise. "Don't use that kindergarten logic on me. I'm here to take you back home so you don't lose any more of your hands than you already have. We –"
Baz grabbed her arm – her thin, fragile bone feeling almost exposed beneath her skin. Fahima's smile turned to a thin line, the mocking laughter no longer written all over her face, however, she never pulled away from him. "It didn't ********'–!"
"Make you any smarter? Any more likeable?" She scoffed. "They were probably hoping that they could keep the only part of you that anyone needs and throw out the rest."
"That's as big a let down for you as it was for them."
"Of course. I'm only normal. It's the only normal thing to think."
Baz waited for her to take it back. She always said these things, she'd always apologise. That was the way Fahima was. She was the only person in the city who got away with saying those things without a scar to show for her ill-placed bravery, that was why she always took it back.
They just stood there in silence.
"c**t." Baz let her go and walked away. Fahima refused to let him go. "******** off!" He winced at the sound of the echo. His voice was back to a whisper when he continued, "If I'm not back in time to see Trish, give her her money back, and all the other wankers you have waiting."
He wanted her to let him go. Instead Fahima put up a wall. Before he could complain she had robbed him of the sound of his voice. "Barry. Barry. Listen to me. Stop fidgeting. Stop it. In all these years, when have I told you to do the wrong thing? Well? Kurri Allawah isn't real. Not even Camilo is going to be put on the train to the next city. Who would let you on a ship to the other end of the world? You have a lot of rubbish in your apartment. Sell it, move to a nice place – a bigger place. We can be comfortable. It'll be like living before getting processed."
He waited until Fahima dropped her powers. There was no 'before getting processed' in SU. SU was nothing, a smudge on the map compared to home. Maybe thousands of kilometres away the cloud had cleared out. Then he could be back in his world, his country, with the sun overhead during the day and the Southern Cross at night. Fahima would never understand that. But she was right: it was a dream, and it always would be if he didn't go. "This is more important than Kurri Allawah."
For once, Fahima's face became completely unreadable. She said nothing, searched his face for something that he couldn't even start to understand, and turned back for home. There was still time for her to change her mind. Baz didn't let her. Once her back was turned on him, he slipt into the next street. Fahima had wasted too much of his time, he didn't want her to cost him his only chance.
Matthew Cable · Sun Jul 27, 2014 @ 09:28am · 0 Comments |
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