2149- Emergence by Anthony Nanfito

Author:Anthony Nanfito [Nanfito, Anthony]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Independent
Published: 2020-04-03T04:00:00+00:00

10

The Decision

Laura returned to her quarters after meeting with the council. She lay in her bunk with the curtain closed, trying to get some rest, but her mind raced with the information she had learned. She wished she had access to the VR so she could discuss this with her friends, but she guessed that probably wasn’t an option when she was deep underwater in a Resistance-controlled submarine, while contemplating taking control of the VR. Her parents had helped create the VR and wanted to take it down. The VR Corporation, her employer, had been responsible for her parents’ deaths. She shook her head at the irony of the situation. She rolled over and faced the wall and closed her eyes. Without meaning to, she drifted off to sleep.

She dreamt she was back in the VR. Back in her hideaway on Mount Vixis. She stood at the edge of the landing platform. A soft breeze brushing her cheek. She breathed in and embraced the cool air like an old friend.

A voice from behind her spoke, “Laura.”

She turned to see her father on the opposite side of the platform. Her body stiffened. “Daddy?”

He smiled at her.

Laura’s sleep was interrupted by the hatch to her quarters opening. She jolted upright and nearly hit the top of her bunk. She glanced through the crack in her curtains and saw it was Veronica who had entered the room. She was rummaging through her assigned locker. Laura pulled back the curtain to reveal herself. Veronica turned and gave a soft smile.

“I thought you’d be asleep by now.”

“No,” Laura lied, “too many things on my mind.” Okay, that part is true, she thought.

“Naturally. Anything I can help with?”

“Not sure.”

There was silence as Veronica pulled out a change of clothes. She changed into a set of sleepwear as Laura rolled back and stared at the top of her bunk. Russian graffiti was scrawled on it, but not knowing Russian, she couldn’t read what it said.

“Why did you join the Resistance?” Laura asked Veronica as she climbed into her bunk and got situated.

“Funny enough, it was your parents.”

“What did they do?”

“At the time, I was a young and fairly low-level employee for the VR Corporation and had fooled myself into believing I would work for them long enough to be able to enter the VR myself. But they showed me another path. One I didn’t think was possible. They opened my eyes to the injustices of the VR Corp. How the indentured servitude the VR Corp praises so highly is simply the latest form of slavery. How they forced families who violated the one-child policy to have abortions and the sterilization of women against their will. How they would ruthlessly eradicate anyone who openly opposed them. You saw what they did to Riley and the other workers who spoke out against them. That’s a small fraction of what they’re truly capable of.”

Laura turned her head away from Veronica. Emotions boiled inside her.

“But how could they be so careless with their lives when they had a child?” she asked, her voice quivering.

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