●　● Bogota, Colombia

Cars were once again driving down the busy downtown streets as life was slowly returning to normal. A garbage collection truck by the curb picked up the last pile of concrete rubble before hauling it off, showing Sam walking alone down the sidewalk, face buried in her mobile. Something was different about her compared to a week prior. She carried herself as if she was one of the locals; the busy sidewalks, the constantly changing smells of various foods and sounds of various songs playing that changed as the passing building changed, all of it seemed to be nothing more than naturally occurring background noise to her. Her hair was still in a ponytail as always, but her arctic white bleached accents were completely gone as all her hair was now a uniform jet black. She spoke through her opened voice chat as she made her way towards a hotel building with a sign put up, marked with temporary labeling “SAU – Infinity Staff and Crew Members Only” in English.

“I know, Mom, Dad already told me yesterday. Don’t worry about that part… right,” she said as she paused in her tracks to focus on the conversation. “…yes… but that’s what I was trying to say,” she continued impatiently. “We are still surrounded by SAU troops left and right, so it’s not like I had anything to risk. I saw something through to the end for once, and… it feels right… of course… yes… tomorrow. They already have my shuttle seat ready for me in Sao Paolo. All I have to do is get on the plane tomorrow morning…. Yes, they cleared it. The SAU has troops stationed there, too, mom.” She then took a seat on an empty bench that happened to be right beside her on the sidewalk.

[Hey look, it’s that robot pilot from space!] a young boy walking by with his mother shouted as he pointed to Sam in excitement.

[Don’t point at people!] the mother scolded as she then looked at Sam with a smile. [Good day to you! Excuse my son!]

Sam smiled back and waved back. “You know,” she said back to her mother, “I learned something, too. I don’t like how so much violence happened as a result, but I see why people were upset. I got to see a lot of bad parts of town with so many seemingly good people just trying to happily live their lives. I went on a walk several times by myself earlier this week, just trying to accustom myself and all… yeah… I was accompanied all the other times. But I knew where I was going and what I had to do. Like for one instance, that’s why my hair is all black again. I can’t maintain it properly like this, so I went out to buy the restoration dye. Managed to buy it myself with no help, and everyone I have come across so far have been so accommodating!”

A truck loaded with displaced families just happened to barrel by, catching Sam’s attention briefly. The warm feelings Sam had during her conversation chilled. She then stood back up as she started back for the hotel building.

“But there is so much work to be done here. So many things I just can’t help but feel so useless when seeing. I really do need to rethink a lot of things once I get home… Right… yeah that’s the time. I’ll be seeing you a few hours after departure. 6PM local time here. Right… OK, go ahead I will catch you again my morning time… No problem, go ahead. OK mom, bye,” she said as she hung up the call, looking ahead to see Sebastian in front of her. Almost dropping her mobile from surprise, she gathered herself before speaking up. “Hey, when did you get here?”

“I just walked here. I saw you were talking so I waited for you to finish,” he nonchalantly replied. “Look, I got sent on break, so…”

“You? Took a break?” she added with a laugh, putting her mobile away in her pocket. “I don’t think I’ve seen you rest in days.”

He rolled his eyes before starting to walk past her. “Come with me if you are still on break.”

“And now you are inviting me somewhere?” she continued with the same taunting approach, following next to him the opposite direction from which she came. “I knew you and your brother had an important meeting and all with the Vera’s, but what the hell could’ve happened that would make you all sociable all of the sudden?”

Sebastian returned the joke with a tired sigh. “We didn’t agree with the after-cleanup plans. We got in a… an argument, and Mr. Vera told me to take a break.”

Sam pulled her wit aside, hoping she hadn’t made things worse on accident. “Well, sure, um… why don’t we go get coffee and maybe you can tell me what happened? I didn’t expect you to be upset.”

“I’m hungry,” he responded flatly. “And because I have to take a break now, I will make this my first time in months to eat something that is not late at night.” He turned to check if Sam was tagging along, which she was. “I don’t know most of downtown really, except maybe one place. It’s a little long walk from here. Is that OK?”

“Sure, I wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon, anyway. I thought your meeting would have gone longer. Said I wasn’t needed back until tomorrow morning for checkout.”

The two arrived at an intersection where they waited for the crosswalk signal. “Is this your first time downtown?” he continued. “I don’t think anyone has shown you this Barrio before.”

“Other than what I saw on my way in and around this hotel, no. I’m just letting you lead the way.”

He then once again changed the topic with a frank tone. “I realize… I like talking with you. Most people get bored of my talking and say I am boring.”

Sam hid her surprise by the unexpected compliment. “Yeah, I am a good listener… sometimes…” The light then turned green as they began to cross the street. As Sebastian ended up a step ahead of her, her eyes subconsciously checked him, looking away the moment he turned to her to continue.

“Well, I can explain why I was angry earlier.”

“Couldn’t tell…” Sam as she caught back up in step. “You hide your anger very well.”

▽　▽　▽

The two walked into a smaller restaurant as a waiter avatar pointed them to a lit table where they were to be seated. Sam walked up to the smaller booth where they were brought to and took her seat across from Sebastian, noting the music softly playing in the background while the few TVs around showed either world soccer game coverage or the local news. She hadn’t been in a restaurant on her own accord like this since before coming to Colombia, and it showed through her aura.

“Did you like the food Boss gave you last week?”

“Oh, that time? Yes!” she replied with widened eyes, appetite on the rise just by the recollection. “He ordered me some kind of shrimp dish and it was so good. I don’t even know how to describe it- and it’s the kind of fresh food we don’t really get anywhere in Eden.” She then held up her mobile to translate the menu for her, noting that the menu matched the décor of the restaurant, giving off a traditional, pre-22nd century vibe.

“You know, speaking about Eden,” Sebastian continued as he looked over to the half-empty seating areas. “You have never once speak of your friends, your family, or your home.”

Sam paused upon hearing the last few words. “Um… well, what is there to say?”

“You see the world I live in. You see it every day. You see my family. I don’t have to explain much, but I don’t get to see yours.”

“But that’d be boring. What would I say?” she said with a light chuckle.

“You speak of boring topics better than me,” he said with a weak smile in return. “You go home tomorrow morning. I will help you get to the spaceport. I took the day off.”

“Oh, wait, you did? But what about your job?”

“I took the day off,” he repeated in a way that reminded Sam of his being upset earlier. “I have to clear my head.” He then pressed a button at the table. “Dos camarones a la criolla.”

“Wait, what-hold on! What do you mean? And what did you just order me?”

“You like shrimp. I do, too. So, I ordered two.”

Laughing in disbelief, she responded: “But I didn’t even get to think about what I wanted!”

“You aren’t fast to make decisions,” he said as he started trying to hold back a laugh, “but you are very fast to argue when somebody different makes decisions.”

“Whatever,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “Thanks, guess I could expand my experiences regardless.” She then settled back in to her previous thoughts. “So, what did you mean by ‘clear your head’?”

He sat back, looking up at the ceiling for a moment, letting out a tired sigh. “Renzo knows more than me, and is good at making strong and quick decisions, but I don’t always like them. Kind of like you in that way.” He then leaned forward, looking at the table as he took in another uncomfortable breath. “The Galeano property is now the Vera’s. He signed all the papers with the other boss’s assistants. He also signed contract with Hexa to continue work as security but in Medellin. They move tomorrow, saying the next work would be to find the source of the trouble-causing.”

“But you said you would be going with me to Sao Paolo tomorrow, which means…” she said as she looked back at him with concern. “Why are you leaving them?”

“I…” he said as he tried to look back at her but couldn’t. “I don’t even know what I want to do anymore. But I don’t want to just… leave. It’s too much. So much is broken here. So much bad has happened. But I don’t want to simply… leave everything… our… life here… for I don’t know what. Boss promised better days, but I don’t see them, Samantha.”

Sam thought of how it somewhat resembles what she had felt much before. “I know how you feel about going along as told and how it just feels… wrong,” she said as her voice tapered, thinking back to how she got there in the first place. “I came here because I got tired of my parent’s expectations to finish law school. Me running away to a full-time job with Infinity is how I got here. I ran away because I was sure of what I wanted to do, yet, I really wasn’t in reality.” She then let out a weak laugh. “I know that sounds stupid.”

“But I understand,” he said with a smile in return. “When Renzo said we need to take our job up there in Medellin, I got angry. I want to fix everything here, first… but even I don’t know what can be fixed, and I really don’t know what anyone could find in Medellin that would fix what we are missing, even if we find someone from the attack.”

“Makes sense that that’s what he’s out for; to find the ones who murdered your people.” Sam then let her eyes wander to the TV screen showing what looked to be SAU military officers speaking on the recent events. While she didn’t understand the language, she could sense the calm in the air regardless. “You know, this might be what Mr. Galeano was talking about.”

“How could you know?”

“I wanted to tell you at some point in time,” she started with some hesitation, “but I think Mr. Galeano saw his end coming. He also talked about the Vera’s and at some point in time, yeah, he mentioned the coming of better days.”

“Impossible. He didn’t see that coming. He wouldn’t kill himself.”

“No no, Sebastian, not that. He deals with those who deal the dangerous. I think he had inside info. He kept hinting about a huge strike on the Vera’s that night that he was killed. I think he knew it was coming for him, but couldn’t ask out of… I don’t know…” She knew she just dropped an accidental bomb on Sebastian, feeling her own heart sink as a result. Shit, why didn’t I keep my mouth shut? In fact, why the hell didn’t I think of this sooner?! Mr. Galeano willingly led his boys away from certain demise but didn’t even give them a chance to make a difference!

Sebastian shook his head in disappointment, already catching on to what Sam was giving off in her aura. “He was so stubborn. He maybe knew all the communications were listened to by the foreigners we kept searching for. Maybe at some point in time he even tried to get us to save him and everyone else, but we were just too late.” He then straightened up with a fierce expression returning. “But that’s why I don’t want to leave! Renzo said we move on. I don’t…” he said as he started to show hints of breaking down. “I don’t want to just move on. This is everything I know. I lost a father-like person, and now my brother and sister want us all to leave. I… I can’t just leave. I have to finish what I started years ago.”

Sam found herself once again putting a hand on his shoulder. “I think you just need to take a day off. Think about what you want to do and also how you plan on doing it. And trust me, don’t start drinking over it. Drinking doesn’t solve shit, I would know,” she finished with an attempt to lighten the mood.

Sebastian took a few breaths in thought before responding. “I don’t like being rushed into deciding something like this. That’s my problem. I understand that. Leaving Bogota, for some reason, has me scared. I don’t even know why.”

“You know, you should do like I didn’t do. You need to properly talk to your siblings. Make things right before you part ways… it’ll make you all feel better about it.” She then tried the smile once more “Also, if it helps, I could try and talk to him, too,” she offered.

Sebastian noticed her hand was still on his shoulder. “You do this a lot. Do all girls from the NAU do this?”

“I swear to-” she shouted in surprised, offended anger, giving him a subtle shove as she took her hand away. She then saw the joking smirk on his face as she responded to it with a roll of her eyes.

“I know. Akkadian girl.” He then leaned back as he heard the kitchen door open. “Our food is here. I am so hungry.”

“Wow,” she said with a raised brow. “You can eat after such a heavy topic? Damn.”

“If I am hungry, I stay hungry.” The two plates of coconut stewed Creole shrimp were placed in front of them, and as Sebastian grabbed his fork, Sam remained staring at the plate. “You look like someone who doesn’t like shrimp, after all that talking.”

“Oh, no, I do…” she said with her nose inching closer. “But… this smell… it’s good and all but what is it cooked in?”

“Akkadians don’t have manners?” he flatly responded as he dug in. “You don’t do nothing and complain. You try, first, then complain.”

(Camarrones a la criolla con coco)

▽　▽　▽

Sam forgot how much she had gotten adjusted to the heat and how much she would sweat on a regular basis, but having a hard time getting her cover-all uniform off at her hotel room reminded her vividly on a nightly basis. Last night, finally, she thought to herself, reaching for a brush. She straightened her hair as her eyes wandered around the cramped quarters and minimal amenities and continued in thought: Yeah. Overall, this city isn’t a bad place. Not exactly a lot I won’t miss, but still… She then stepped away from the bathroom door where she stood, placed her brush down, and reached for her mobile. She brought up her contacts and clicked on a picture of a girl her age labeled “Daja C.”

“Sam, where the hell have you been?!” the higher pitched voice answered. She was answering in what seemed to be a department store setting.

“Hey, you don’t even want to know,” Sam replied with a laugh, sitting on the bed.

“And why are you half dressed?! Is that just a uniform undershirt or something? I thought you said you’d be scoping out the local styles or something before you left!”

Sam rolled her eyes, thinking how far from a priority that had been once she arrived. “Look, I will be catching up with you regardless since I will be back home tomorrow, but real quick. I need to ask you for some advice. Something that I think is going to keep me up all night.”

“Oo, boy advice?! Lemme find a seat, hold on!”

Sam took a seat herself at the foot of her bed and let out a sigh, reluctant to start. “You know my luck with boys has been a wreck since high school, right?”

“I had to find a bench, sorry! So, wait, did you find someone?!”

“Daja, when do you know when it’s time to change your… what’s the best way to put it… goals?” she said with the final word drawing out a feeling of awkward embarrassment, a feeling she had completely forgotten over the many years.

“Girl, what?” she said in a put-off sense. “You of all people know you don’t change you. Is someone saying you got something wrong with you or…?”

“Oh, please, you think I’d listen to that- no, it’s different. No one has told me anything like that.” She was then cut off by an incoming call alert that showed her father in a split screen to the bottom corner. “Damn it!” she blurted out in frustration. “Sorry, Daja, that’s my dad. If he’s calling at this time it’s really important and might have to do with my shuttle home.”

“Ah you go ahead! Spill the bag when you get here!”

“Right. Be waiting for me!” With a wave, she ended the call and switched to the other line as she wiped away the thoughts of Sebastian and took in a breath, hoping to not hear more bad news. “Dad, something happened I assume?” she asked in full anticipation.

“Hey, Sam, that grenade round you picked up. Guess what,” he curtly asked without paying attention to her tone.

“Wait, huh? Oh, that thing!” she said as she sat upright. “What, did someone have a breakthrough with it?”

“Bingo,” he said as he changed his screen to the grenade round analytics page he was sent. “Sam, you found a unique production line that only comes out of Northeastern China. Best thing? It’s not even on the legal market. You got us something huge to work with. All we are missing now are links to that plasma arc weaponry you encountered back on day one.”

“But… Dad…” her voice trailed as her mood went sour. “That’s got nothing to do with me or anything I am capable of doing, right?”

“Oh, no, it does- let me explain. You are still coming home as planned, but everything up to this point including this allowed me to get you cleared for a huge stipend for your high-risk efforts that potentially saved serious lives for us over in Southeast Asia. Wouldn’t you want to know all about that as soon as possible?”

“You mean, like, how much of a stipend?!”

“About the same as a whole year’s full time pay.”

“Shit!” she exclaimed, quickly standing straight up. “So, I can use that to get myself back into doing school or anything else as soon as next week!”

“Bingo, again,” Al this time said with a rare, warm smile. “We don’t have any recoverable data besides what you got us, but damn it you did some real good work out there. And was also very commendable of you to stick the whole operation out until the end. But hey, I got a lot of work to continue doing-”

“-Yeah I know how much you have been restructuring since day one! Don’t overwork yourself!” she spoke as her voice still contained excitement from the news.

“Right, right, but I have to go. Just had to let you know that. Call when you are home, tomorrow.”

“I will! ‘Night!” she said as the call ended. She laid back over her bed, letting out what she thought would be a huge breath of relief, but suddenly found herself feeling empty inside. She couldn’t put a finger on it, turning over a moment later as she rubbed a hand over her face. She then stood back up, slumping towards the bathroom. “Whatever. I need a shower.” She passed the only window in the room on her way there, pausing to look outside to see the partially lit up view of the city from her twelfth-floor room. Taking a pause in her trip she opened the window and propped her folded arms against the windowsill, taking in the breeze blowing by. It was quiet every night for the past week and seeing it this way every night reminded her how crazy the other days had been prior. I am starting to miss all that constant music left and right, to be honest. At least things are getting back to normal for real. Before more memories came back, good and bad, she heard a familiar tune being whistled. She leaned further out to see Sebastian’s window next door was open as well but he wasn’t to be seen. She took her mobile back out, loading a song analysis app to search the tune. Once a result popped up, she tossed it on the bed and headed for the bathroom.

Sebastian sat at his hotel bed, whistling habitually, flipping through news cards via holographic display beaming from his mobile on the table in front of him. Most were about the technology outages, the estimated return to normalcy, or how much of a political shift would occur with the passing of the Galeano family’s core members. As many were flicked by without ‘tapping’ any of them, he began to grow agitated, allowing the strobe of cards to slow to a halt as he sat back against the wall. [What am I doing,] he said to himself. His focus shifted over to the window. As he looked out, he had flashbacks of the morning he saved Sam from her wrecked LTAC. Hard to believe more than a week has passed, yet feels like forever since then. He leaned forward again to flip back to a message he had received earlier that was labeled “Invitation to Upgrade Your Position to Full Time” from Hexa:Infinity.

The screen quickly changed to a green glow as a call from Dani was incoming. Without thought he quickly opened the call. [You decided, yet? We are still getting ready but have room for one more. We aren’t the Big Dozen without you, bro!]

Sebastian still felt as upset as he did earlier, but realized most of his frustration was aimed at his brother. [I got a lot I am still trying to decide between, so go ahead on. Not like Renzo wants to see me, I’m sure.]

[Forget his words earlier. He will regret them or forget them by tomorrow.] She then let out a sigh as she read her brother’s expression. [I know he said a lot of hurtful things earlier, but we are all still very hurt. You of all people would know. That’s why I think you would have most to benefit from leaving this town for a while, you know? We all could.]

Sebastian thought once more of the offer from her perspective, but his eyes once again wandered out the window. [Some people are just built to see things out ‘til the end. Some promise to see something wrapped up before moving on, even when offered chances to turn the other way beforehand. I think I will do the same. Thanks, but go ahead.]

[Well, you can always join us later. Hexa has us as temps but they are treating us like full timers and let us flex our schedules to keep us there for a whole three months before contract ends with renewal options after. So, there, it gives you time as well to rethink.]

He shook his head with a sigh, looking back to her. [It’s not like you will find anything. Those reports Renzo recovered don’t tell us or give us anything. I don’t blame you all for going to dig around and chase whoever it is down that ran from the city, but what does it fix when you don’t even know what to chase?] He stood up as he picked up his mobile. [I know what I can fix here. If you find anything there that amounts to something real, maybe I will rethink things.]

[You defended him the other day, but you can’t this time? It’s the same thing every time. When has he let us down when following his hunches?- You know, neve rmind. I won’t harass you anymore about it. Think about it, alright? ‘night, brother.]

He tossed his mobile on the bed, walking back over to the window as he peered outward, looking down at the street still fairly empty compared to the usual.