“That’s it.” Fultz smiled widely. “You have the right to choose whether to attend online lessons in real time or watch the recordings, but regardless, you’re going to have to pass the intermediate tests along with everyone else. And now, if you don’t mind, a souvenir holograph…”
The drone normally responsible for yearbook photos flew into the office and took a few shots; Fultz standing with us, the principal with his arm over my shoulder, me shaking his hand, and then just us four famous schoolkids with the school crest behind us.
The same loud crowd as before followed us to the roof. The police droids’ cordon allowed us to reach the flyers unimpeded.
As we were sitting down, Mr. Kovac shouted to me. Our supervising teacher stood behind the police cordon and waved at us. I walked over to him.
“How are you doing, Alex?” he asked.
“Really tired, Mr. Kovac.”
“I can see that. What’s happening to you is certainly important. But as your teacher, I want to remind you of the citizenship tests. You’ve missed a lot and you’re behind on the program. The commission may take into account the reason for your absences, but all the same… Nobody will even look at your attendance if you successfully complete the final test. Please prepare well. There’s almost no time left, just over a month, but with your abilities… I believe you can do it. And… Good luck, Alex!”
Journalists tried to follow behind the school flyer, but police droids ascended and warned them off. With the flyer on autopilot, I called Karina and calmly explained the gravity of the situation to her, at the same time dispelling any illusion that she would soon be famous.
“You have to understand, babes, all this could end badly. Don’t draw attention to yourself. And please, don’t advertise our relationship. We’ll meet again, but only when everything quietens down. The fame won’t go anywhere if we stay together…”
She seemed to understand. At least, when the girl got it, her eyes widened in fear. After listening to me, she agreed and promised to stay silent.
Our meeting place was a huge landing pad for a shopping mall where we could easily get lost. I landed the flyer expertly next to Willy’s hauler, and while the journalists tried to land nearby, we quickly changed over and took off. Violating all rules of air traffic, Willy took the flyer up to the maximum altitude and rewed the engine, firing off like a shot northwards.
* * *
An hour later, we landed again to change flyers. A quick black Toyota Swift awaited us on a landing pad.
A dark-blue flyer of the same brand was parked next to it. Four people climbed out.
Hairo introduced them all in turn:
“Sergei.” A tall and muscular bearded man nodded and gave me a firm handshake.
“Maria.” A svelte and long-legged blonde with her hair tied back in a ponytail raised a hand in greeting.
“Yoshi.” A thin Asian of indeterminate age waved to us.
“Roj.” A brown-haired man with a piercing cold gaze and razor-thin lips shook Hairo’s hand and looked us over.
“And this is the terror of the preventers and his friends,” the security officer nodded toward us. “I won’t name names, you know them already…”
After the exchange of greetings and handshakes, Hairo suggested something that put my back up. The boys didn’t like the sound of it either.
“Yoshi can remove your child protection chips. He can also block geolocation streaming from your citizenship chips.”
“Why?”
“Because otherwise our escape means nothing!” Hairo raised his voice. “The stakes are high and people are weak. Someone with access is sure to give you up.”
His words were reasonable, but what could stop Hairo and his ‘reliable friends’ from just carrying us off to the preventer base? Or to the Triad? I read the same in the eyes of my friends and was erring on the side of refusing, but then the short and lean Japanese man called Yoshi spoke: “We don’t have to remove the chips. You can put on shielding bracelets, that’ll do it.” He showed us some broad steel bracelets. “They’re easy to take off and you’ll always have the chance to play again.”
“Let’s try.” Malik stretched out a hand and put on a bracelet. He turned his wrist, then pressed the button and it opened. Then he handed it to me. “Try it.”
Once we’d all put on the ‘shackles,’ Yoshi analyzed the signal from our chips:
“The shielding isn’t absolute. The bracelet filters the source and transforms the coordinates, changing them to the ones we want. I’ll imitate a flight to somewhere else. Alright… Where should we ‘send’ you?”
“Into the Mariana Trench,” Hung asked, smiling. “The Triad will have plenty on their plate then.”
“Yeah, let ’em go diving!” Malik laughed…
The booster effect ended during the flight and the comedown hit me. I slept the whole way to Alaska. Through a haze of sleep, I heard the security team talking quietly and discussing the contracts with Ed. Once we arrived, they d all signed agreements just like Hairo and Willy. The clan now had more employees than founders, and counting the miners and builders… We were growing!
The two flyers landed on the shore of a big lake. The water reflected the sky like an azure mirror frozen with scenes of ancient fir trees and hills wreathed in wispy smoke.
We’d changed timezones; it was midday here. The sun was high in the sky, but I still felt the cold, though it wasn’t as bad as I feared—plus forty-three, with no wind. More than bearable.
It didn’t take long to find out where we were going. Hairo and Willy led us into the forest, to an old two-story log cabin hidden in the debris. A satellite antenna was cloaked in the branches of a tall fir that was as if embracing the structure.
Willy placed his palm on
