Brita jolted upright to the sound of ceramics smashing. She swung her legs around and jumped from her bed. A sharp pain shot from her left foot up her leg causing her to crumple to the floor. She landed on her hands, a rounded piece of ceramic bowl dug into the palm of her right hand. She got back on the edge of the bed and examined her palm. The warm flow of blood pooled in her palm as she gingerly tried to pull the shard from the heel of her palm.
Sucking her breath through her teeth, she pinched the edge of the shard between her fingernails and began to pull it out when the bed shook with Bobbi's hacking cough behind her.
The piece slipped from her grip. She spun around, saw her sister, then looked around, realizing the room wasn't hers. But Bobbi's.
Brita frowned. Did I fall asleep watching Bobbi? Her brows furrowed deeper, her head cocking to the side struggling to remember the events of the previous night. She wasn't even sure if she remembered her mother coming home from the memorial service.
"What are you doing in here?" Bobbi asked, wiping sleep from her eyes.
Brita shrugged. "I guess I fell asleep." She turned back trying again to dig the piece of bowl from her palm.
"What happened?" Bobbi started another round of coughs, jarring the bed some more.
Brita held up a hand, causing Bobbi to suck through her teeth. Brita limped out of the room to the bathroom next door, and rinsed her hand in the sink. The blood-tinged water swirled down the drain. She pulled the chip and pressed a wad of tissue into her palm with her two smaller fingers.
Bobbi continued coughing from the bedroom.
Where is mom?
Brita sat on the edge of the bathtub, and let the water clean the blood from her injured foot. Clutching the tissue in her damaged hand, she removed a fragment from her foot, the sharp edge tickling the muscle of her arch. She washed the cut, grabbed a pad from under the sink, and pressed it to the cut.
She hobbled back to her room down the hall, and carefully pulled a sock on to hold the pad in place. She sighed, shaking her head. Well, that's what they're made for. She grinned at her little joke. She finished changing and went looking for her mother.
#
"Have you seen mom?" Brita asked, limping back into Bobbi's room.
She shook her head, staring at Brita's limp. "Are you OK?"
"I can't find her anywhere," she said, ignoring the question. "She should have come home last night."
"Have you tried your Halo?"
Brita stopped, amazed she could have forgotten. She dug in her pocket for the device, turning them out unable to find it. She looked back towards her room.
"Try yours," she said sighing. She checked her palm. The cut oozed blood when she pressed it.
Bobbi started to reach for her Halo when another set of coughs doubled her over.
"Make them stop," she cried between gasping breaths.
Brita gave her some cough syrup, then clipped Bobbi's Halo to her own ear.
"Mom?" she called. Nothing. "Call mom."
Bobbi slid down in her bed, stifling further coughs. "Try 'Call Mommy.'" She coughed into the comforter that wasn't very comforting at the moment.
Brita tried the command. "Nothing." She handed the Halo back to Bobbi and retrieved her own from the clothes hamper in her room.
"Locate Mom."
A map glowed in the air in front of her centered on Abundance-by-the-sea. Brita recognized Table Rock out in the waters of the Pacific Ocean. A violet dot pulsed at the edge of the beach near Coquille Point. A violet dot.
Bobbi gasped as a shudder cascaded down Brita's spine.
"Call 911," Brita said, jumping to her feet. A sharp pain flashed in her foot, she grabbed it falling back on the bed. The map vanished, replaced by a bust image of the 911 counselor.
"911 Services, My name is Charmaine. How..."
"Forgive me, Charmaine," Brita snapped. "My mother is near Coquille Point. She's showing violet."
Charmaine gasped as Brita fed her the coordinates. "Not another one," she said covering her mouth with the back of her hand.
"Another one?" Brita asked.
Charmaine nodded curtly. "We've been getting Haloed all morning." She looked upward shaking her head. "Exigency Services are at capacity." She stopped, realizing what she said. Who she was talking to.
She sat upright, cleared her throat. "I'm sure everything will be fine." She keyed the information into her system. "Someone will be with her soon," she said looking back up. "How are you feeling? Do you want to talk about this?"
Brita yanked the Halo from her ear, disconnecting the call, and shoved it into her pocket.
"What now?" Bobbi asked, sitting up in bed again.
Brita waved her quiet and began pacing the room. I can't leave Bobbi here by herself. All the XS parishes are busy with similar calls. I can't just sit here not knowing.
She looked at Bobbi. Bobbi gave her a questioning look.
I can't take Bobbi when she's sick. It'll make her worse. And possibly, get others sick too. Bad enough that she would have to go to the hospital.
"The Hospital," Brita exclaimed. "Of course."
"No, Brita. Mom's on the beach," Bobbi said, confused.
"Not mom, Bobbi. You."
YOU ARE READING
Hard Reboot Episode 01
FantascienzaA strange illness is running through Brita Holt's home town. Her sister is sick; and her mother is missing. She needs to pull herself together to find her mother and keep her family together. When a strange young man is brutalized by local law enfor...
