Chapter 58: UnderCurrent Arc 4-5 Interlude

"Yo."
 Said the young man with the tanned skin and the short hair that had once been long enough for dreadlocks.

"Ya, been a while." The woman answers back with a weak echo of her old smile.

They've met at an old and very worn park bench - There was once a second just across but it's long gone, the old chip-van still stands but no longer does it open for business - Its window boarded up, its tires slashed deeply.
 Thrash covers much of the unkempt grass - Old bottles and discarded syringes.

A trundling sound catches the man, Dave's attention - He tenses a little as he subtly looks over the back of the bench.
 "What's wrong?" Kris asks turning to look but Dave indicates not to make eye contact.
What passes out of one alleyway, progressing along the park's dilapidated pathway - Is what looks suspiciously like a Dalek from the old British Tv show.
 Kris raises an eyebrow, visible confusion on her face before suddenly clasping a hand over her mouth - The thing isn't quite a fan replica, the metal on its salt-shaker silhouette looks discerningly akin to actually metal rather then just painted wood or plastic - And perhaps more alarmingly, where an enthusiast's model might have a pretend laser to mimic that of its inspiration - This particular version appears to have a very real-looking sub-machine gun protruding from it;
 "Th-that's not the guy from the news? The one who shot a load of police?!"

Dave nodded solemnly, his shoulders untensing as the strange rumbling grew more distant and the corrupted replica turned down another alley, away from the park;
 "I actually pass by him fairly often, he's kind of a vigilante around these parts, patrols the city daily."

"But the news?! They said he shot like 4 police men!"

"No one's perfect."

"Dave!"

"Alright, alright, I'm just messing - But honestly he does keep the peace round her better than anyone else now, the local police all stay cooped up in their station, place is like a fortress - I mean can you imagine 10 years ago a single police getting shot? The whole department would be searching day and night for the culprit."

Kris frowned, "Well, they just don't have those sorts of resources anymore..."

Dave shrugged;
 "Ya, who does."

A silence fell between them for a few moments, a discarded soda-can rattling near by, a stray dog howling meekly.
 "You're going for your 5th year I hear. Will the scholarship cover that?"

"Ah no, actually they pulled my scholarship a few years back, last figures I saw say there's only about 20% of the funds allocated to further education now compared to 2022."

"Oh..." Dave said a little put out, "Your parents helping?"

Kris visibly flinched at this, "No, they tried to at first but it just got too tough ya know? I work a couple side jobs - And in the summer I help with a local harvest, since they closed all the borders getting that sort of work is atleast easy, I guess...  What about you though? You must be done the apprenticeship now right?"

Dave did his best to look proud - "Yup, looking at a fully qualified electrician. Though actually getting works been hard."

"What? No way, people always need electricians!"

Dave shuffled, clearly uncomfortable about a comment he received often; "You would be surprised. Like ya there's plenty of work, some of it good paying but... I don't know, I just don't want to work for one of these mega-companies that are, well, dodgy I guess?
 And as for building works, so much funding has been pulled - Then you got smaller companies and local people, but everything's so tight that they can barely afford to turn on the electric - And well..."

Kris nodded, understanding in her gaze, "Ya..."
----

"Did you hear Musk bought Twitter back again?" Dave added trying to break the silence.

"You're kidding, how much this time?"

"65 billion is what I heard. How long you wann'a bet before Bezos buys it back again?" Dave laughed with a crooked, tired grin.

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Kris did her best to smile, glancing off in the direction they had spotted the Dalek replica moving;
 "I'd say about as long as it takes for your friend to come back around again."
They laughed a little.

"Hey Dave, do you remember the time we sat here and talked about that book?"

Dave thought for a moment, "Oh ya the UnderCurrent thing - That's gotta' be going on five years ago right?"

Kris smiled softly, "Ya about that - You called it a Netflix stunt, remember?"

"Heh, guess I did. To think it was all true - And that they'd actually find a way to copy the book's tech, make spaceships - Get to mars in just a couple years. Doesn't seem real."

"It would be cool if they could of done it without giving up on this planet though." Kris half-mumbled sadly.

Dave shrugged, "What can ya do? Once Brittan started studying it, it was only a matter of time before other countries got wind - China, India, Russia and old Uncle Sam, not to mention every billionaire with an ego - A modern space race they said. Didn't Miss.Lawson and you used to chat about that old book?"
 Dave said, trying to lift the mood back up - It had become so difficult not to sound like a news-caster when speaking on just about anything as of late.

Kris flinched again - "She's d--. Miss.Lawson, she ah, she passed away recently."

"Oh. I see." Dave responded - There wasn't much else to say on the matter, so he didn't;
  "So umm, you wanna' go to the cinema or something after this? I heard phase 8 ain't completely terrible."

"Oh, sorry Dave, I know we haven't talked in ages but I've got a night shift later, then lectures in the morning."

"Ah, right 'course, no worries."

"Dave?"

"Ya?"

"She died too. Um, ah." Kris paused, her throat catching, her words feeling dry, "My Mam, she passed away."

Dave's eyes shot open - "Kris I'm so sorry, I should of known or heard or--"

"It's alright Dave, its alright." She said back, eyes bulging but no tears falling - "She'd only been able to afford to turn the heating on every second, or third day, and the food she was eating kept getting cheaper, and,-- . The Flu got her in the end, that's all - I thought you should know properly, not in a text, she pretty much raised you as much as she did me back in the day."

"Ya of course. Look Kris I'm really, really sorry."

Kris nodded.

 

They both stared out at the sky, or rather the heavy rolling smog covering it - To Dave's surprise, Kris slid across and leaned her head atop his shoulder - Rather then pull away he offered her his hand to hold.
 It wasn't out of romance but more a sibling comradery they had lost touch with over the years.
Suddenly the fog began to swirl violently, gusts of heavy winds filled the barren park - Overhead, high up in the sky a gigantic rectangular shape, clad in metal, miles in length, with a glowing blue afterburn - Passed by above.

The young man and woman stared up - Watching in amazement and perhaps terror - As humanities first vessel capable of leaving the solar system, with people aboard - Took flight.

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