by Kate Kyle
SingMa's face tensed.
"I don't know what happens in New China, and I don't really want to know, but the rumor says Alex Brown is tabled for recycling. So that's why professor Li has asked Rebels for asylum seeker's status for him, but it's been turned down."
Jax blinked.
"You can't be serious with the recycling..." she gasped. "That's another urban legend."
"I think this is not an urban legend," Rutger chipped in. "But going back to the young man, given Lulu's determination to save him, it may well be a real option for him. I wouldn't be surprised if she asked for a new set of implants, with a new identity, clean slate and a new life somewhere else back on Earth."
Jax exhaled. She didn't really know what the infamous 'recycling' involved, but it sounded scary and final enough.
"So, she will continue working for the Rebels until they save her son?" she asked.
"That's what my sources say," SingMa replied. "The team I'm on has been tasked with working with her. We're going to try to understand that strange code."
"Is it alien?" Rutger asked.
"That's the suspicion, given the rock it travelled in," SingMa replied. "It was some sort of S-class asteroid, containing metals and silicates…" he paused. "I won't bore you with the details. Besides, I don't understand everything myself."
"I'd rather know more about the image of the girl with the balloon," Rutger said eagerly. "It reminds me of something, but I can't quite remember of what. This," he patted himself on his temple. "This definitely doesn't help. But once I get better..."
Jax shrugged.
Whatever…
No, scratch that, she was curious, too.
"Why not," she said. "Tell us what you know about the girl with the balloon."
"Not much yet. Apart from what we've already figured out. It was a sign that the code was swarming."
"Before we stopped it," Jax said.
"Before you both stopped it," Rutger said, raising his glass to toast them.
SingMa lifted his glass, too.
"Before we've all stopped it," he said. "I pressed the main reset. Jax did that in hospital, but we wouldn't have succeeded if Rutger hadn't held Lulu back. So, here's to all of us saving humanity. Cheers!"
Jax's mouth curved up. She wanted to chuckle. The toast sounded pompous, particularly given her actions at the beginning, but… it felt great being part of a team that had done something good… something for others. Even if she had to bear the consequences of her earlier actions. She actually wanted to bear the consequences of her previous actions because it was the right thing to do.
For the first time in her life, Jax's heart filled with real joy.
"Cheers!" she said, clinking the glasses with her new friends.
About the Author
Kate Kyle always wanted to live in the future: somewhere in a galaxy far, far away, or in a techno-world of AI, computer-brain interfaces and consciousness that can be upload into virtual reality. As soon as she realised that the fastest way to make this happen was to write about it, she jumped right into it.
Of course, her biological form lives somewhere on Earth, together with her family and a cat. Her life goals include: reducing her carb intake, becoming a kitten foster parent, stopping moving countries and winning one or more of those shiny sci-fi literary awards, just like her favorite authors did.
For updates about Kate’s writing projects, check her website.
https://www.katekyleauthor.com/
