Somnolent Days

C3: Muddle Puddle

"Are we there? Are we there yet?"

Thiri raised her head and bounced in her seat atop Nic's back. Round dark eyes for any indication that they might have arrived at their destination. All that lay before them was even more wreckage - the desolate remains of apartment tops and penthouses, coated in moss and mold. A single cylindrical structure with a smooth slanted top, only a mere centimeters taller than Thiri, jutted out from the muck and debri.

Nic stopped in their tracks and crouched to the ground, allowing the girl to slide off their back. Her limbs were cramped and tired from clinging onto Nic for so long. She stumbled a little ways before crouching on the ground, and clutching her woozy little head. She felt like throwing up.

But she couldn't. She was still wearing an airtight suit and try as she might, she did not know how to get out of it by herself. And she couldn't just puke into the suit, that would be gross. The suit was stuffy as it was.

She looked up again to find Nic making their way towards the cylindrical structure. Wires wrapped in waterproof insulation jutted out from the side of the cylinder, running into a larger tube that lead downwards into the murky water and out of view. Along the edge of the slanted top, were buttons and sliding switches.

At the click of a button, a tray slid out - it was a keyboard. Thiri watched Nic booting up the cylindrical machine. The surface of the slanted top lit up, revealing itself to be a monitor. Nimble fingers ran across the keyboard, switching through text faster than Thiri could read.

She found herself a nice solid ridge to sit on. Staring into the horizon, she noticed the odd lack of Drifters in the area. The warm shades of sunset were tainted with haze, but she did not care. It had felt like an eternity since she last saw the sunset. So she sat there, idly bouncing a leg, as she strained to make out the angular silhouettes in the distance.

What could they be? They were too narrow to be buildings, too straight to be trees. Electrical poles, perhaps? Maybe even a tree, but of a type she had never seen before? She wondered if Nic would take her there some time later.

Moments later, Nic tapped the girl on the shoulder and gestured her to take a look at the monitor. She stood on tiptoe only to be greeted with text wall of messages between Nic (labelled "you" on the screen) and some other person with the handle "021". Greetings, orders , and technobabble she did not understand- she skimmed through them all.

No way was she going to read all of that. She scoped in on the last few messages, much shorter than the rest :

You : But in the end, it was a success, correct ?

021: Yes. Barely.

You: :-)

021 : Anyways. The girl, does she have any questions ?

You : I don't know :-\

021: Then ask her, you idiot.

021: No, wait. Actually, just let her type. I would like to talk with her.

-
Thiri tiptoed to get a proper view of the screen. All she knew about the world now was just from whatever the administrator back at B.I.S.F had told her. But there was peace now. Things were better now, she had convinced herself.

She would be brought to this base or, as the Administrator had called it, her "new home". Her parents would be there, she had been told. They were probably worried sick about her. Too bad she was never allowed a call. They could not call her either. It just was not possible with whatever communication devices they had then. But the Administrator had told her if she behaved, maybe they could get in contact with them from her room. That never happened.