Their Last Hope by Sarah Ettritch

Author:Sarah Ettritch [Ettritch, Sarah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction, artificial intelligence, dystopian
Publisher: Norn Publishing
Published: 2018-01-24T06:00:00+00:00

*****

Nic sat on one of the plastic chairs on Tony and Cathy’s backyard patio, gazing at the shadows cast by the setting sun, but seeing nothing. She wanted to go up and see how Liz was doing, but the fido made her stomach roil. Seeker, my ass. Liz had to figure out how to neuter the masters, so they could free everyone, and hopefully never be so stupid again.

The back door creaked shut. Cyn offered her a mug of tea. “Here.”

Nic took it and murmured a thank you. Cyn plunked into the chair next to her. “I just peeked in on Liz.”

“How’s she doing?”

“I have no idea. She looks intense, though. Kind of reminds me of you when you’re focused on something. She gets the same dimple in her forehead.”

Nic sipped her tea, then wished she hadn’t. The scalding liquid burned her tongue. She set the mug down on the square table between them. “I hope this works. I don’t know if I can face another failure.”

“Failure?” Cyn frowned at her. “You’ve spent three years of your life trying to bring these fuckers down. Failure doesn’t come into it.”

“Look around you. Nothing’s changed. And now I’ve brought Liz back just to die again.”

Cyn let out a long sigh. “Most people aren’t lifting a finger to free us. They stand shaking in their shoes as granny is carted away, or they clutch their hankies and keep their mouths shut when their brother’s just been brought in after being hit with a car, and some tin idiot decides not to authorize treatment, even though he can be saved. They’re the ones who are failing. Not you. Not us.”

“Trying doesn’t count for much.”

Cyn’s eyes bulged. “It sure as hell does. What’s gotten into you? You’re not usually this pessimistic, and right now we’ve got a fido upstairs with your genius mother working on it. She just might pull it off.”

And it might cost Liz her life. Nic hated to admit it, but that was why having a fido upstairs wasn’t exciting her like it should. If Liz managed to neuter the masters, but not in time to save her life, that would be a good trade-off, right? Who wouldn’t be willing to sacrifice her life to save humanity? But Liz hadn’t been given the choice. Nic had forced her into this situation.

In the months leading up to bringing her back, Nic had been certain they were doing the right thing, that one life for many was a small price to pay. If she’d known a way to give her own life to stop the madness, she’d have done it, no hesitation. But she was just someone who thought about life a lot, not a genius. Not Liz. And Nic’s anger, her resentment toward a mother who hadn’t seemed to want to know her and had abruptly left without so much as a glance over her shoulder, had clouded her judgement. Would she have been so quick to bring Liz back and risk her

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