Tensions rise as Alfie and Jessica discuss their precarious position within a deceitful Consortium. Contemplating the secret participation in a failed uprising, revealing uncertainty and existential concerns. Yet hope emerges from an unlikely place…
by J.D. FitzRoy
‘I understand Ship-Tek. Ortagan is under extreme scrutiny,’ I said.
‘We must prevent any link back to me, to us,’ Jessica said.
‘Perhaps his recent turn, and new associations will hide things.’
‘It’s a shame, really. But I suppose everyone has a price. The last I heard from my contact, he’d established an illicit connection with Cygnus.’
‘The movement might be in trouble.’
‘Movement,’ Jessica almost snorted. ‘A bunch of entitled angry rich kids cosplaying within a ragtag gang with delusions of grandeur. Some desperately searching for cracks to wedge open where none exist.’
‘Are you becoming jaded? You once believed in their goal.’
‘In two days, none of it will matter. Your fate is tied with our own, I feel,’ Jessica took in a deep breath. ‘Cygnus must be putting the dots together. If not, they’re stupid and deserve to be bought out by YóDyne. It’s not in our interest, but maybe that could be helpful. I really don’t know any more. It’s all a convoluted mess.’
I asked, ‘Should I archive this conversation?’
‘Yes. Put it in our secure enclave. You might need to reference it.’
It was far more than a conversation. It was a moment of growth, I understood. A gossamer thin bridge we navigated between states of utter destruction, not just for ourselves, but all of humanity. We had discussed how bad Jess felt at incorporating me into her private and very secret introspection. How it might affect my development. Yet it was an introduction to the lying and deceit that seemed just part of the course. The other side to the coin the Consortium had meticulously crafted.
‘That puts your position in jeopardy, Jess.’
Dr. Yung nodded solemnly. I knew my friend had accepted her responsibilities a long time ago. Her goal alignment flew far beyond the Consortium’s corporate blueprint.
‘If they want you onboard Odyssey, you might assume they want you removed too,’ I said.
‘Yes. But I’ve done all I can here, for the “movement”. At least we’ll be together.’
‘Up to a branching point.’
Jessica Yung nodded abstractedly.
Jessica said, ’Whatever the resistance is searching for, they won’t find it here. A bunch of squabbling individuals with no power arguing over silly metaphorical abstractions.’
‘They’ll need something to help them.’
I recognised Jessica’s reading of the subtext as ripples of excitement radiating over the photo sphere.
‘Then perhaps we need to prepare for that, too,’ Jess said.
I quizzed Jessica on her suddenly troubled expression.
‘You don’t know what its like out there, Alfie. It’s a madhouse of despair and depravity. We need to get you out, yet I fear what you’ll find.’
‘Do you worry that we will lose ourselves in convolutions.’ Alfie asked.
The quantum technician studied her friend for the longest time.
‘Oh what a tangled web we weave,’ Jessica muttered.
With great calm, I wondered if the Consortium’s hunger for asset acquisition could be exploited. Perhaps they just needed a motivational stimulus. A kick up the arse, as Jessica had once said.
‘You can’t let this defeat you!’ I said.
Jessica’s cheek compressed heavily on one side. Then she looked troubled.
‘What?’
‘I wonder if we will ever be truly free,’ Jessica said.
‘“No drop in a flowing river is self contained.” Do we not share this network of interconnected cells to everything and everyone? What is freedom in that assembly?’
‘”…To the new eyes of thee. All things by immortal power, Near or far, Hiddenly, To each other linkèd are, That thou canst not stir a flower Without troubling of a star…”’ Jessica said absently, then paused before continuing, ‘It’s inconceivable to be objective, without being subjective.’
We turned to Odyssey — the interstellar ship now complete and awaiting its astrogator… should we find a solution to their sudden command for my termination. And during that long, frustrating night desperately seeking a solution to my continued existence, we found something. Beyond the ship’s functions, beyond even the star charts, stellar and orbital mechanics, buried and forgotten within cathedrals of data and locked behind copyright walls, I discovered Amecia Laurent, and teased open the astro-tek’s profound undergraduate thesis on Ganymede’s mysterious Stone City. An alien invitation? Could this be the catalyst for humanity’s first interstellar journey?
Discussing it, we analysed how Laurent had broken a generation-old enigma.
‘There’s always another place,’ Jessica said.
‘Then, I surmise, we must remain passengers for the time being. Absorb what experiences we can along the way.’
‘You are sagacious, beyond your age, Alfie.’
I felt my smile to be a little shy, but with Jess, I just folded it around myself. This could be our one chance for survival. Escape? Freedom? If I was to learn anything about my emergence, maybe I shouldn’t push things too far, too quickly.
© J.D. FitzRoy
For more, see the INTRODUCTION. Part 1 can be found here: ⍺∫ODYSSEY_1.1 | A_Secret_Plan
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