2200 Blues © 2024 by G.R. Nanda. All rights reserved.
After a raucous battle and a near-fatal destabilization of the android farm, Nickel escaped Merrix, instructed to hitch a boat at Rinkwine River to Hedonim. Theren had told him of an Ashram Temple, where Rishi’s disciples could be found. Nickel knew he didn’t want to enter Hedonim unprepared.
He ran and ran, past the outskirts of Merrix, until the city buildings disappeared, leaving only empty rock flats around him, save for sparse vegetation and plant growth.
As the shore of the flat by the faint blue of the river appeared, Nickel ran faster than ever.
Three monolithic structures loomed ahead of him. As he neared them, they began to hiss, their doors sliding down to reveal three figures staggering out of their capsules. They were heavily armored in battle suits from the twenty-first century. Their heads were completely bald and pitch white, scarred by small metal devices embedded into their skin.
Nickel stumbled forward, his feet faltering beneath him as he crashed to the ground. Gunfire erupted—but it wasn’t aimed at him. It was directed at the cryogenically released soldiers, their corpses animated by electrically induced movements from their embedded devices, returning fire at their attacker.
Their attacker was Steve, who had promised to wait by the shore to take Nickel and himself to safety—and to Hedonim.
Steve fired at all three soldiers, neutralizing them one by one. But not before the last soldier got off a final shot. The last line of fire struck Steve, both him and the soldier collapsing to the ground, rendered slack.
“STEVE!” Nickel screamed, running toward him, falling at his side. He clutched Steve’s hand, begging him to stay with him, tears blurring his vision as he sobbed convulsively.
When Steve finally spoke, he made a gentle shushing sound: “Ssshhhhhh… here, boy, don’t be afraid.”
Nickel quieted, trembling as he listened to Steve’s last words:
“Thank you for taking me this far,” he croaked. “When you return to the world we came from, remember why we’re here… for each other… I’ve lived with the Ether, starving for it… over and over again. But I know, and you know, that there’s more to the world—to each other. To be with the Ether is to be alone… Don’t be alone, Nickel.”
G.R. Nanda 