Déjà Vu by Peter Cawdron

Author:Peter Cawdron [Cawdron, Peter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: N12
Published: 2021-03-12T05:00:00+00:00

Run

“We need to get the hell out of here,” I say.

“Agreed,” Gal says.

Pretty Boy’s already packing equipment into a couple of duffle bags.

In my age, electronics were rigid. Hard drives were hard, although most people had forgotten why there was any distinction. By my time, floppy drives were relics akin to cave paintings. Laptops had glass screens that could be chipped or cracked. Apart from cables, everything was stiff and unyielding. Electronics were encased in metal to protect circuit boards. Not so here. I’m not sure what Pretty Boy’s shoving in his bag, but it probably contains exponentially more computing power than the Intrepid. The bag, though, could be from my era.

Gal grabs the picture of the coke ad and plants a kiss on it before replacing it on the shelf. Okay. Not weird at all.

“We go.”

Ah, yeah. I’m standing here with the cutting torch, ready to rock and roll. My finger itches the ignition switch, ready to fire it up if daddy comes back.

Gal sorts through the spacesuits scattered in the airlock, picking them up and shaking them. I’m not convinced that’s a viable test procedure, but he seems confident. He drapes two suits over his shoulder. Most of the helmets were crushed by the alien, but Pretty Boy finds one that’s still pristine. Gal picks up the helmet I saw when we entered. He turns it toward me, smiling. He’s proud of the spiderweb of cracks running through the back of the skull.

“Lucky.”

If you say so.

“What about me?” I ask, looking for a helmet that hasn’t been dented and doesn’t have a deformed locking ring.

“No,” Pretty Boy says, waving me away. “No life. No need.”

I point at the center of my chest, saying, “What about this?”

“No convection. No conduction. You will be fine.”

I’d like to debate that last point, but for a short hop, he’s probably right. I want to ask about some of the finer details. Spacesuits aren’t just about maintaining air and regulating temperature, they also protect against volatiles. The fine dust found on the Moon and Mars could damage machinery in my time. Given I’m a machine, that seems pertinent, but we’re already rushing down the main tunnel, heading away from the city.

Gal stops to talk to someone. They look horrified.

“Null Veritas. Null Refusal. Contagion. View imagery. Evoke and spread.”

“No?”

“One hundred percent.”

Gal rests his hand on his friend’s shoulder. A small crowd gathers. Several other people try to get Gal’s attention, but we push on down the tunnel.

“What was that about?” I ask, but Gal’s distracted. Not with the Veritas, I hope.

Given my exposure to language in this time, I’m guessing Null Veritas. Null Refusal equates to, “You can’t trust either network.” Contagion has retained at least some of its meaning. I’m hoping View imagery is a reference to video of the creature. I’ve got no idea about Evoke, but spread seems pretty clear. The guy we just spoke to is organizing the people around him. They’re going to get the word out. I suspect some will struggle with being unable to trust the bedrock of their technological society.

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