Page 68 of The Fall

Stepping back, Kerr stared in amazement. A large, four-sided cloth house stood in front of her. “What is this?”

“A tent.” Lusa’s forehead wrinkled. “You’ve really never seen one before?”

Kerr shook her head, mouth still open.

“Help me gather wood. There should be some driftwood near the stream over there.” Lusa pointed to a slow-moving ribbon of water to the north.

Kerr tried to hide her confusion, but it wasn’t enough. “It’s from trees,” Lusa said. “It’s where they get Hexcel from. Kind of.”

Kerr had heard of trees, but had never seen one. Lusa continued. “Trees are like big grass. You can burn it to make fires.”

“Why would we want to make fires?” Kerr was trying her best, but nothing had prepared her for this camping thing.

“Don’t you make fires? I’ve seen groups of you standing around barrels on fire,” Lusa said.

“So we can see where groups of us are from far away, yeah?” Kerr’s frown softened. “Oh, I get it. That’s how your aunt is going to find us.”

“No, she knows where we are. It’s how we’re going to stay warm.”

“Oh.” Kerr turned away and walked toward the stream feeling stupid. She returned a few moments later with an armful of what she hoped was driftwood.

Lusa’s smile erased her worries. Moments later, the driftwood was piled and a fire blazed. “Normally,” Lusa started, “I would have brought a survival suit to stay warm.” Removing her jacket, Lusa draped it across the rock. Kerr bit her lip. Her shirt still looked obscene. She hoped she’d wear it forever.

“Can I ask you something?” Kerr asked.

Lusa let the question sit for a moment before answering. “What is it?”

“Why don’t you have a Thermabulle? Or an Opti? Or any other cyberware? What’s so important about a biosig scrambler? Wouldn’t it make your life easier?” Kerr had sort of asked before, but now things between them were different.

Lusa scoffed and looked away. “You needed me because I had no cyberware, remember?”

“But doesn’t your biosig scrambler need to vent excess heat? Where does that go?”

Lusa held out her hands to the fire soaking in its warmth. “No venting needed.”

Kerr picked up on Lusa’s tone. “Sorry. I know your tech is a big secret. I was just curious.”

Firelight peeked between Lusa’s fingers. She looked like she could grab it, as if the heat could be tangible. As if she could close her hand around it and hold it for a moment if she concentrated hard enough. Sad, but precious at the same time. Like whatever this was.

“Stand up,” Lusa said out of nowhere.

Kerr arched an eyebrow.

“Just do it.” It was phrased as an order but sounded more like a request. “And come over here.”

Kerr rose to her feet and approached cautiously.

“Turn off your cyberware.”

Kerr pulled her head back. Aside from the initiation, turning off your cyberware wasn’t something you did. “Why? So, you can kill me without a tracker activating?”

“The only thing that can track you out here are the geosats and I don’t think your Opti connects to those.” Lusa held out her hand. “Do you trust me?”

The no signal flashing across her cornea confirmed it. “Not after telling me that.”

“Will you do it anyway?”

Kerr didn’t know what it was about the way the light reflected in Lusa’s eyes that made her throw common sense out the window. It’s not like she had a good track record when it came to that anyway.