Fortress

«A.B.» Chapter III

III

It was four in the morning when Harrison was awakened by a call from Yan. Sounding like a completely different person, he apologized for the previous day:

"Andrew, I... I don't know what to say... After Martha's death, I..."

Yan's ghost sat on the floor, leaning against the wall.

"I don't know what's happening to me."

"We fixed everything. We signed the contract, Yan, it's fine."

"She didn't even leave a note. She didn't say anything. No reason. Why did she kill herself? What did I do?"

His head was rhythmically hitting the wall, his nails scraping the floor.

"You're not responsible for her death," Andrew said, getting out of bed. "Martha made her choice. You couldn't have stopped it."

"But why? I don't understand!"

Yan broke into tears.

Harrison sat next to him and activated tactile mode. Yan accepted the request and felt a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm here for you, friend. And I always will be," Andrew said, hugging him tightly.

Harrison woke up for the second time at 12:59. He walked into the bathroom and stared at himself in the mirror, as if seeing himself for the first time. Dirty blond hair, swamp-green eyes, and a small scar under his left eye. Two earrings in each ear, and another scar on his neck. Scars covered his body. A long white line ran across his chest, and another scar ran from his right thigh down to his knee. These scars told a story that Andrew was trying to forget. But every time he looked in the mirror, he saw the same thing: men in holomasks⁶, fire, and a massive cargo airship crashing down over the forests of Brazil. He stood frozen, lost in memories: depressurization in the cargo bay, ropes climbing into the ship. A deep, booming voice from their leader: "You're not paid enough to die for a pile of metal! Let us leave with what we came for, and we won't hurt you." The words echoed in Andrew's mind, and he could still feel the pain in each scar on his body. He traced a finger along the white line on his shoulder, took a deep breath, and reattached his ardy to his neck.

"Caroline, order delivery from Chomp&Chill⁷."

"The usual, sir?"

"Yes, a burger with fries and a Smash⁸."

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Holomask⁶ is a headband worn around the head that projects an image in front of the wearer's face, concealing their identity. The image can be either visual noise (a constantly shifting pattern of pixels that hides the user's identity from facial recognition cameras) or any other chosen image.

Chomp&Chill⁷ is a popular fast-food restaurant chain in Europe.

Smash⁸ is a carbonated energy drink. A product of Syn Corporation.

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The apartment Andrew had moved into after "Pickles" found success felt enormous to him. The spacious living room, combined with the kitchen, featured a bar, a glass table shaped like a triangle, sofas with a coffee table, and of course, a terrace with a view of the city. His bedroom, like the living room, was bathed in the light of Fortress streaming through the large smart-glass window. Near the window stood a desk with small cabinets and a chair, while a massive king-size bed sat against the left wall. Above the bed hung three guitars-an electric, an acoustic, and a bass. The apartment felt quite empty until the ardy was activated. Then, a huge virtual screen appeared in the living room in front of the sofas, serving as a television. Animated posters and stickers adorned the bedroom, while statistics and health analyses appeared on mirrors and even in the shower. Andrew had bought a lot of NFT decorations. Handmade Chinese lanterns (as much as a virtual item could be called handmade) hung in the hallway, and on the coffee table in the living room sat a figurine of post-apocalyptic Golden Gate Bridge. With the ardy on, his apartment became full and cozy. The objects didn't exist in reality, but the ardy allowed him to use and feel them as if they were real.