A moment later Bardain’s hologram appeared before her. She shared the feed with Will and Horatio so that they could participate.
Bardain was dressed in his usual gray cloak, and the big AR goggles he wore on his face made him seem as bug-eyed as ever.
“Well if it isn’t my favorite student,” Bardain commented.
“Master Bardain, you have to get out of the city,” Rhea told him. “Bioweapons are coming to destroy it.”
“Bioweapons?” Bardain said. “Aradne will take care of that.”
“Not this time,” Rhea said. “Trust me, they’re not going to do a thing. You have to leave. Now.”
Bardain studied her a moment. “You’re not joking, are you?”
“No,” Rhea said.
He nodded. “At the very least, you believe your own words. But if it’s true, of course I can’t leave. This is my home. I have to stay and protect it.”
“I could have told you he’d say that,” Will interjected.
“Ah, there you are, old friend,” Bardain said, glancing at Will. “And you’ve got the robot with you, too.”
Horatio bowed his head in greeting.
“Come with us,” Will said. “There’s nothing for you here.”
“I appreciate the offer,” Bardain replied. “But I can’t. I’m sorry. Thanks for the warning. I’ll do what I can to alert the neighbors. Maybe we can muster some sort of defense.”
“You can’t defend against this…” Rhea said.
“You’re not going to make us come there and forcibly carry you out, are you?” Will threatened.
Bardain gave him an incredulous look, then chuckled. “You can certainly try…”
“I believe he will resist us,” Horatio said.
Will glanced at the robot. “No, really?” He sighed, then returned his attention to the hologram. “All right Master Bardain, good luck to you.”
“And you as well, my students,” Bardain said.
“Warn as many as you can,” Rhea said. “No one will believe me.”
“Sadly, there are few who will believe me as well.” With that, Bardain disconnected.
Will glanced at Rhea. “Let’s go, then. No point in lingering. Our work here is done.”
He turned to go, as did Horatio, but Rhea didn’t follow their lead. Instead, she gazed at a lone passerby making his way down the street, dressed in gray clothing, and a hooded cloak. He was joined by two robots, perhaps bodyguards. She ignored the robots, concentrating on the man. He walked through the city like a zombie, his eyes glazed over, focusing on the real world only when alerted to do so by his HUD. He passed a woman walking in the opposite direction, who was also accompanied by a robot. Her gaze was just as faraway.
“They’re all going to die,” Rhea said. “Look at them, living blissfully inside their augmented reality HUDs, or sheltering in their homes, oblivious to what’s going on in the real world, and what’s to come. I wonder if they’ll even realize what hit them, when the time comes.”
“We can’t save them,” Will said. “Come on, let’s go. We don’t know how much time we have.”
But still she lingered. Another group came into view. Two parents, seemingly out for a stroll with their child. No robots were with them. Her eyes alighted upon the child, who walked with a skip. Among everyone Rhea had seen thus far, this child seemed the most fully rooted in the world; a little girl who gazed in wonder at every little thing around her, even catching Rhea’s eyes for a moment before moving on. Perhaps she hadn’t been introduced to augmented reality yet by her parents, or perhaps she simply preferred the real world. Either way, seeing that child made up Rhea’s mind.
“You go, Will,” she said. “You and Horatio.”
Will frowned. “What about you?”
“Me?” She looked at him. “I’m staying, of course. It’s my duty.”
“This isn’t your duty,” Will said, gesturing at the street and its building. “Dying here in this place, for people you don’t know. For strangers who don’t even realize you exist. Who won’t appreciate your sacrifice. Bardain notwithstanding.”
She nodded slowly. “You’re right, and yet you’re also wrong. It is my duty. My moral obligation. The decision is very clear to me. I must stay. I’m sorry.”
Will smiled patiently. “Rhea. You’re one person against an army of bioweapons. Two if you count Bardain. What difference can either of you make?”
“I certainly won’t be able to save them all,” she agreed. “But if there’s a chance I can rescue even one resident in the coming calamity, I have to try. Join me. Who knows, maybe we can even rally the people to fight, if the security forces won’t.”
Around them, foot traffic was ticking up slightly. The sheriff’s office was close to a major square, so that wasn’t surprising.
Will nodded at these passersby. “Look at them. They’re not fighters. Most of them are barely aware the real world exists, locked away as they are in their augmented reality environments. They’re even worse at home, where they spend most of the day completely immersed in virtual reality, reliving humankind’s glory days. Pretending they live in a world that has no Outlands, where the countryside is green and full of life.
“Sure, many of them are gang members, but nearly none of them have lifted a hand against another human being in all their lives, let alone against a bioweapon. They don’t even know how to fight. They leave that to specialists in their gangs. The rest belong to useless cliques. We have Scenters—” He pointed out a man and woman who had long, horizontal sticks protruding from either side of their nostrils for enhanced scent. “Orbers—” He indicated a quartet of male twenty-somethings who carried orb cameras attached to the top of their heads, which endowed them with three-hundred-and-sixty-degree vision. “Robos—” This in reference to two young women who had robotic forearms attached to their existing elbows, effectively giving them four arms each. “None of their enhancements will help them. Not against what they face. Plus, they don’t even know how to fight.”
“Fighting is instinctual to all humans,” Rhea
