《As we fall》


 Echoes of the dead

    data had been corrupted and that extraction was advised. He felt his heart racing, feeling its every beat in his temple, he gasped for breath. He felt like he was dying, not knowing how or why. The last words he heard were


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 The hunt is on

    Ryan''s father, Marcus Helvig, was the CEO of the Celestial Shipyards, one of the major companies owned by Ryan''s family, essential for maintaining human presence in space. Ryan needed a drop-ship, and his father was the only one capable of providing him with one.


    Ryan pressed the control panel, and the screen mounted on the wall faded to black. He then leaned on the wall, scratched his beard, crossed his arms, and focused his gaze on his feet.


    Anya took a good look at him. She liked his blue eyes. His hair was dark brown and, as he never liked combing it, very messy. The time was coming for his youth, so he had a few gray hairs scattered on his temple. With his now long beard and beefy composition, he looked like a picture of old Viking warriors Anya once found in a database.


    She could feel his anxiety. He frowned and then started pacing around the lab, quietly speaking something under his breath. Anya had known him long enough to know he was annoyed at the idea of calling his father for help after all this time. And this was no small favor to ask either. One flight to the Earth''s surface and back was a costly prospect, and they had no sound reason for doing that, at least not one Ryan''s father would accept.


    Ryan stopped, smiled, raised his finger, and started talking.


    "Let''s ask him to add me to a drop-ship crew on materials retrieval duty. We need to find something the old Bat would desperately need. I''ll access a list of production materials and see if there''s a shortage," he said and typed search parameters into his computer. His company was a sister company of the Celestial Shipyards, so he had complete access to a central database, and he quickly found out what he wanted to know. As it turned out, Celestial Shipyards desperately needed high-performance epoxy resin for insulating power relays. He pulled a list of companies that once manufactured resins and found one close to the Tokyo Echo facility. He could use one of the protective suits his company was making. He also added a reminder to ask for a few spare canisters of the suit''s high-performance air filters in case he needed to change it. After all, the mutation of the Black virus currently ruling the Earth killed people hours after inhaling it. He marked a few resting spots along a planned route on his map, and then he sent it to his personal data folder so he could download it into his suit''s computer later. He then requested a suit be delivered to him from his company''s manufacturing facility on Moon. After he finished, he approached a panel on a wall and tapped on it. The dark screen came to life and displayed the interface of a video call app. He waved his hand at Anya for her to stand by him. She stood up from a couch, fixed her dress, and positioned herself by his right side. He smiled nervously at her and then said,


    "Let''s do this. Computer, call the Old Bat. "


    The computer sent a video call request, and Ryan fixed his posture and hair, waiting for a response. His father accepted the connection almost immediately, and his face replaced a picture of an angry black bat Ryan set as his father''s profile image in his contacts list. His father was wearing an intrigued look on his face decorated with a white goatee that made him look somehow villainous. His face wrinkled, and the same blue eyes as Ryan''s focused on his son.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    "Ryan, my dear son, to what do I owe this pleasure?" image suddenly spoke with a deep voice, ending his greeting with a puzzling smile that could mean anything.


    "I''ve just wanted to see how are you all doing. How''s mom, how''s Peter? " Ryan asked and faked a quite convincing smile.


    " We''re good, we''re quite busy actually...you know assembling  Redemption proved to be quite tasking for our company. It turned out to be an unexpectedly complex project. " his father said and smiled before continuing.


    " And how''s that thing of yours going on? Are you still wasting time looking into the lives of dead people? That stuff will make you go insane, I tell you. " his voice had a slightly annoyed tone.


    "No, not yet... I need to put that project on a hiatus, so I decided to help with your ship-building business. I''ve read a thing or two about a project and found out you need some materials, more precisely the epoxy resins, so I did some digging and found a company in Tokyo that made some back in the day. They may still have some of the stuff left collecting dust in their storage. " Ryan said and crossed his hands on his chest. His father slightly raised his eyebrows and lightly tilted his head before speaking.


    "Sure, send me the location, and I''ll dispatch a team to collect it. I hope there''s some left. "


    "Just one thing..." Ryan said while raising his voice a little, then continued.


    " I need to test a new model of my protective suit. I want to see how efficient my new air filters are, so I want you to add me to that retrieval team."


    Ryan''s father frowned as if he''d heard something incomprehensible and needed a moment to think about it before responding. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his fingers with his elbows resting on the chair''s armrests. His eyes quickly focused on something in his room, and then he leaned forward and put his arms on a table. Then he spoke


    "I''m not sure if I would like to allow it. The last time you visited human survivors at the North Pole, you returned with copies of a few hundred echoes from random scientists and then embarked on this nonsensical echo-diving mission. How can I be sure you won''t bring some random crap with you again," he said slowly, his voice sounding deeper and harsher than before.


    "Just testing equipment this time, don''t worry. " Ryan said and cracked a nervous smile.


    His father closed his eyes and let out a defeating sigh before speaking


    "Very well, the next team on material gathering duty is to depart in four days. I''ll add you to their ship''s crew roster," he said and then added


    "Please tell me that that girl standing by you is an actual human. AIs are good and all, but you should be around some real people for a change. "


    Anya felt offended but decided not to say anything. She composed a fake smile and moved slightly to her right like she wanted to run away.


    "Sorry to disappoint you, but she''s indeed an AI. I find them so much less annoying than real people." Ryan said, and then he looked at Anya and smiled at her. His father gave them a good look before speaking.


    "Oh well, be it as it is, it''s not like we could ever put any sense into you. You have always been a strange child. Have fun on Earth, and be careful. I don''t want to lose another child to this plague." he said and then dropped the connection.


    Ryan turned towards Anya, hugged her, kissed her on the forehead, and then said.


    "We did it! We milked the Old Bat. Come on, let''s modify the suit''s computer to store the whole human memory echo." He left the lab, and Anya stayed behind, surprised and embarrassed. She touched her forehead and smiled.


    "Yeah, let''s do that," she said to the empty lab as she left.