Chapter 12: Chapter 12 – Haven (1)

She reached Ember’s apartment in a mood she couldn’t quite explain. The circumstances that had brought her here today had been unsettling. and the song, which she still couldn’t get out of her head, especially since Aki hadn’t stopped humming it, put her in a state of melancholic happiness.

Ember jumped towards her even before Wave reached the door, wrapped her in her arms, and hugged her tightly. Surprised at first by the fierceness, she eventually wrapped her arms around Ember as well. Burying her face in her friend’s purple curls, she took a breath.

Out in the wilderness, Wave had always been on guard, always had to expect anything. She always radiated a sense of tranquility, even in dangerous situations. Well, if they weren’t dealing with technology, at least. That was part of her job. That was what she wanted the world to see. That was her mask, even if it wasn’t made of artificial images, as it was in this city.

Those who weren’t close to her could have believed that she didn’t mind the danger, like the situation she had just escaped. That she shrugged off the fact that someone broke into her apartment or attacked her high above the city with a drone. But she, too, was only human and longed for safety, a place of refuge where she didn’t have to sleep with one eye open since something could always happen.

In her friend’s arms, she dropped the mask, let her guard down. She sighed, hugged Ember tighter, and buried her face deeper. Then she noticed the subtle smell of strawberry clinging to her.

"You’re mean, Ember," she breathed into her ear, and Ember giggled.

"Does that make you want more?" her friend replied seductively.

"Yeah, now I’m hungry."

"Strawberry ice cream?" Ember broke away from the embrace and scurried inside.

Wave didn’t have to answer anything and just followed her.

"So that’s Ember," Aki mumbled in her ear. "Cute girl. I didn’t realize she was so young. Seeing her up close, I almost can’t believe that even strong men tremble before her."

"Cute, yeah. If you were standing in front of her in person, you’d probably have to be careful she didn’t turn into a beast and come at you."

"Hmm ... Do you think so? No. No, I don’t think I’d be her type. I’m too unassuming, too quiet and ..." He left that statement unfinished, but Wave could guess what he was going to say. He was too dead for that. "I’ve seen how wild she can be." He laughed, and Wave felt like her whole body was vibrating. Secretly, she was glad she didn’t have to be jealous of Ember. Crazy, right? After all, she only knew Aki from afar, and now he was dead. But it was no crazier than anything else that day.

Wave pulled at the shoes of her suit and they disappeared. Barefoot, she tapped her way toward the kitchen, from which Ember met her, grinning broadly. Few people could grin that broadly and still look good doing it. But what looked even better was the huge sundae she held in her hands. On top of the ice cream scoops was an artfully twisted cream topping. She hadn’t made it herself, but the food synth had, which didn’t diminish her joy in the least.

"Off to the couch with you. My pops isn’t here, so we don’t have to follow the dinner rules."

"Eating is only in the dining room!", Wave imitated him in a low voice and Ember giggled. That’s exactly what he would say when he caught her on the couch, and like little girls, he would shoo them away. It had been like this since Ember had still been the naughty thirteen-year-old girl, and it would never change. Her body thanked her, though, for obeying Ember this time and sinking onto the soft couch.

"This is my first meal today," Wave explained with her mouth full.

"Now that's a life when you can start the day with strawberry ice cream, huh?" Ember laughed, and Wave just grinned. Would have been quite a stupid idea to laugh with her mouth full of ice cream. "So, are we bringing Hammer in on this?"

"Is he off the clock?" Wave checked the time display on her lens. "Ah, no, he should be on lunch break. At least we’ll all be at lunch."

Ember adjusted her lens' speaker and called Hammer.

"You guys know I’m at lunch right now, don’t you?"

"That’s exactly why we’re calling you," Ember squeaked melodically, friendly and saccharine.

"Before you ask, no I didn’t read all five thousand messages you sent me."

"You’re doing me wrong. That was four thousand, tops. Are you up to date?"

"Yes. Aki is dead, somehow trapped in Wave’s hearing aid, and now there are two killers after her."

Wave slid the image of the two men onto the common display visible on all her lenses. The image she had already sent Hammer in the subway. "Hammer, I know you don’t see it that way, but these two are clearly wearing Akimoto uniforms."

"They’re wearing a logo of our company, so what’s the point? We have principles here, you know. I’ve already written that to you, too, Wave. Ai wouldn’t tolerate any of our employees breaking into someone’s home just to steal a competitor’s hearing aid."

"Akimoto?" grumbled Aki in her ear. "Almost sounds like my name ... something rings a bell, but it’s not because of my name. Robots, something about robots. Are they to blame for my death? Hmm ..." Then he fell silent again.

"What do you mean, Aki?"

But he didn’t answer, just hummed that one song again, over and over.

"What did Aki say?" Hammer wanted to know.

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"His death has something to do with robots," Wave explained. "Let’s say, hypothetically of course, that the men were really from Akimoto. What could they want with a radio host trapped in a hearing aid?"

"Would be pretty rad if you could transfer your mind to a machine, wouldn’t it?" Ember frowned and her nose wrinkled. Cute, as always. "I just wouldn’t necessarily pick a hearing aid for it."

"To prolong your life, maybe?" speculated Wave, taking her gaze off Ember’s face and letting it wander around the living room instead. "You know, I’ve heard different stories. About adventurers who went into the jungle and dug in the ruins of the Old World. Because people supposedly lived forever before the ice came and nearly killed humanity. Of course, all those adventurers died."

Ember flung herself onto the other end of the couch, facing Wave. "Honestly, that would drive me crazy," she admitted. "To have to live in a machine forever, I mean." She stroked her lips with her index finger and hummed. There was a crazy idea forming in her head right now, Wave realized. "Could something like this perhaps be a substitute for artificial intelligence? I mean, if the mind of an intelligent human is combined with the capabilities of a high-performance computer?"

"Wow," Hammer muttered. "That’s an exciting idea." He wiped a few crumbs from his face and cleared his throat. "But Ai opposed the development of a real AI years ago. Showed the board a documentary about a case in the ancient age where an AI like that took over almost the whole world and tried to enslave all the humans." He flipped his snack box shut, on which a funny children’s picture hologram danced back and forth, and with a high-pitched whirring sound, it locked itself. "Have you considered, that he maybe is not dead at all and that there’s an entirely different explanation?"

Ember’s eyes lit up. She was probably already pursuing the next thought, ignoring Hammer’s argument, and Wave certainly didn’t want to interrupt her in the process. "Transferring your mind to a machine could fail pretty hard. I remember an ancient story about someone trying to do that and shutting down the Citadel’s entire data network."

Wave raised her eyebrows. "Story, is it? Or more like a conspiracy theory?" she quipped, having to dodge a couch cushion that narrowly missed her and instead punched through the virtual wall decorations. Good thing you couldn’t destroy them.

"I’d put that story with the urban legends, too," Hammer said, running a hand through his beard. "Right next to tentacle monsters and planet-eating aliens. Unfortunately, I know that at least the network failure is true. That’s the old Alpha Network, abandoned by the city and now only used by the Underground."

"What kind of contacts?" Ember asked sternly. Her ears perked up. Probably when the word Underground was mentioned. As a budding Sec, that was understandable.

"Contacts from my student days. And I can’t rule out the possibility that some of those contacts are related to the Underground these days. I know you may not like it, Ember, but if anyone can tell us if there’s anything to your story, it’s someone who also uses the Alpha Net. I could certainly set up a meeting."

"You’re not serious, are you?" Ember’s voice sounded serious, though. Now they had reached a subject where, for once, she couldn’t take a joke. Bewilderment was written all over her face. "Wave, I’m sorry, but I wouldn’t advise it. I really wouldn’t. You’re already on the hit list. If you meet with blatantly criminal people, then even I can’t get you out of jail anymore. I may be complicit just by listening to this nonsense."

"If anyone finds out," Hammer said conspiratorially. "They have their ways, you know."

"Hammer ...", Wave tried to interject.

It was rare for someone to drive Ember up the wall, but Hammer had done it today. Had he not recognized the situation? "You can’t do that, Hammer!" she shouted. "If you set up a meeting with them, I’m out!" She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "As much as it breaks my heart if I can’t help Wave anymore."

"What does Aki say about this?", Hammer now addressed Wave. "I mean, this is about him, after all."

"Aki says," Aki said, "that anything is fine with him if it helps to solve his death."

Wave almost choked on a spoonful of strawberry ice cream and had to snort, and she was instantly sorry when she saw her friend’s face.

"What’s so funny about hanging out with criminals?", Ember snapped at her. That had been unexpectedly harsh.

Wave put the spoon aside. "Now, calm down. I know Hammer is usually our voice of reason, and he screwed up his job big time today. But this isn’t just about us. It’s about Aki. And he wants to take this chance. I know it’s risky, but we shouldn’t exclude this possibility. I’m the one you took in back then, right? I was regarded a Criminal, too." Wave saw the defiance in Ember’s gaze. Her wrinkled nose wasn’t cute at all now. Would she go on the attack at one wrong word? No, probably not. But Wave didn’t want to upset her friend too much. That’s why she added softly, "You appealed to my sense of Good earlier. Without you, my little champion of justice, I wouldn’t have turned on the hearing aid, and we wouldn’t be sitting here. You made the right decision. Thank you, Ember."

Ember’s expression brightened a bit. But Wave wasn’t done yet, and what she said next could easily turn that step she took in the right direction into a stumble.

"That woke me up, too. I don’t want to live idly by. I want to help Aki. Maybe to solve the disappearance of the other moderators, but mostly for Aki himself. I escaped from two thugs and fled across the rooftops. I will also survive a meeting with some people who are not in the city’s favor." She left unsaid that she also needed to learn more about her parents' past. That she wasn’t as selfless as she claimed.

"But then without me, Wave. You understand that I can’t do that." Ember had quieted down again and looked at Wave with sad eyes that now almost tore her heart apart. But this wasn’t the first time they’d fought. When it was over, they would get along again. Wave was convinced of that. Well, she hoped they would.

"That’s okay, Ember. I know a meeting like this isn’t okay with you entering the Security Corps. You don’t have to come with us, and we’ll keep you out of it. If something happens to me, I’m not calling for you to get me out."

A tear rolled down Ember’s cheek, she pursed her lips, then stormed out of the room.

There were a few moments of silence, then Wave broke the silence. "I’m so sorry about that."

"Do we have to leave now?" Aki asked.

"No, otherwise Ember would have kicked us out. She’s normally pretty clear about that."

"Whew. I guess we won’t be meeting Ember at the Arena tonight," Hammer commented dryly. "Well, we'll probably all skip this time. So, I’ll check with my contact then?"

"Yes, please." Wave glanced at the empty doorway through which Ember had just disappeared, hoping that it was actually worth it if she had to fight with Ember for it.

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