The Bridge | Bots 'R Us

Chapter 36 | End of a Realm

PORTLAND METRO COUNCIL
UNDISCLOSED LOCATION

I was still on my bucolic cloud, gliding north towards the river banks with Joe and Hector, when we hit Nicolai Street. "A street in his name? Already?" I shouted angrily.

"Look more closely, cousin. It's been here forever," said Hector, laughing. "I guess Portland is ready, eh?"

We followed Joe on a path cut through the overgrown vegetation of a marsh still bearing the signs of an ancient parking lot, all the way to an underground garage entrance on the side of a crumbled, abandoned office building. We glided one level down to more rubles from the structure above, blocking most of the parking space. Joe signed us to follow him into a maintenance closet, where he asked us to leave our bikes. Then, he closed the door behind us with an enigmatic smile. He flipped some switch, and the back wall opened to a large stairwell leading us a few levels down.

"You can turn off your shields now," Joe said. "They built the lower level to resist a nuclear attack. Here, Goz's sensors can't catch a thing."

Hector noticed I looked nervous. I was discovering that my adventurer mother felt uncomfortable in situations like this. Her body was more anxious than my own mind, creating some strange dissonance in me. "I'm fine," I said to Hector, "but Sarah's body is not a fan of abandoned bomb shelters." We chuckled. Joe hushed us in a cozy 'meeting room' that contrasted with the cold industrial garage where it sat. Once Joe closed the door, the room's longest wall lit up with an animated scenery of vast volcanic plains dropping into the ocean.

"Iceland?" I asked.

"Yep," Joe answered. "Who doesn't like Iceland? So serene."

If you could forget for a moment you were deep underground, you could  believe we had gathered for hot cocoa in a remote, modern bohemian cabin furnished with plush chairs and an assortment of mismatched pillows laid over lavish wool carpets.

"I rock," Joe said proudly, looking at his watch. "I timed our meeting so well: I gave the others forty-five minutes to join us in this conference, and it's less than ten minutes from now. You know the drill. Find your sweet spot, fluffy pillows, big chairs, whatever works best for you, and arrange your comfy little cradle. Once you're set, breathe deeply, slow your body, and I'll guide you."

"Who's joining?" I asked.

"The crème de la crème, Kawika, you'll see. We don't have much time to get you vetted through the hierarchy. You should be meeting all our top leaders now, and we may not have another occasion like this in years."

I knew Joe was right. My intuition had grown very strong in Sarah's body, but I felt like its hours were few. I wasn't afraid of dying; I knew I would be working on rebuilding our future one way or another. But something big and dramatic loomed.

Hector looked very peaceful, well snugged amongst his pillows. "Are you sleeping already?" I asked.

"No, no, I'm not. Just relaxing. I want to experience this visit fully."

I laid down and followed his example. Joe adjusted the atmosphere of the room just so, switched our view to nighttime with a spectacular milky way now spanning the simulated horizon, and asked us: "Ready?"

"Ready!" Hector and I answered in unison. Eyes closed, we followed his voice, guiding us through our forest and into the clearing. Diana was already there, as well as a handful of people I didn't know. Tomiko joined. That made me feel good. But Antoine didn't. I missed his spirit already.

"Welcome, Kawika!" Diana said to open the meeting. She introduced me to Humanist leaders from every corner of the planet. For my mind, assisted by GINI for hundreds of years, to retain anything on the spot demanded extra effort. I tried my best, repeating each person's name as they were introduced to me and making sure to use their name whenever I wanted to address them. The old trick worked.