The Dam

On The Run

Tsanzo was jolted awake from the sound of a branch breaking. Her heart rate shot high enough to reach the stars... or atleast the multitudes of satellites circling the cities. She looked around her in a panic. No one around and no one above her. Probably just some rabbits or mice. She looked back up to the stars. A momentary distraction to calm her down. With all the sky scrapers and towers that littered the cities, one could have been born and have died without ever actually seeing any. Zomba was one of the last remaining places you could see any looking up. A sharp pain in her rib snapped her right back to reality. She was weak and hungry from the long hike up but determined to make it even if it killed her and death seemed imminent. But regardless she had to muster up the strength to get up from the ground and cover her tracks. If she stayed there, they would surely be on her scent by dawn. With no food or drink for days, giving in to the urge to let go would mean a sleep with no return. The water down by the dam had been contaminated and too risky to even consider. She tried to make sense of her surroundings but she had never come to this side of the mountain before. That's good then, she thought, harder to be found. Sensing her distress, her personal A.I-Assist unit suddenly buzzed to life. I am sensing an alarmingly high heart rate and body temperature. Should I contact emergency services?. "No! No, 'nansi! Disconnect from the Hive", she shouted in a panic. How could she have not disconnected from the network this whole time? Disconnected. Should I also recall the aerial mapper? "Return mapper to home-point". Returning to home. She couldn't be safe on her own servers. Nothing is safe. Nowhere is safe. She had to get to the river.