Chương 6: [00:00:00]

When the system arrived, the world didn't shut down, the people did. The timer ticked ever downwards. Indifferent to the best-made plans of mice (read: Maus) and men (read: woman). Its presence was impossible to ignore. Like a loose tooth you couldn't stop poking at with your tongue. Scarlet had been periodically checking in on it as it crawled towards Monday 15: 00. Scarlet moved through the house with purpose.

She had sorted, stacked, and organized the last of the supplies where they needed to go, including the drugs of dubious legal procurement she'd acquired the night before. She didn't linger inside for long. Instead, she stepped back out into the cool air and made one final pass around the property, checking the position of each sensor and camera. Her comfortable, heeled motorcycle boots had been replaced with a classy but pragmatic black-composite work boot.

Her uneven footfalls were quiet against the grass as she traced the edge of the clearing. The trees were large and dense. Evergreens mixed with more seasonal varieties to create a natural barrier that wrapped around the yard. The only break in the treeline was the long, single lane drive that led to and from the property, creating both a natural choke point and leaving the yard in a kind of isolation that Scarlet found soothing.

The place wasn't perfect, but as a base to ride out whatever this 'Initialization' was, it was more than adequate.

"Perimeter appears adequate," she murmured to Maus. The deer mouse was scampering along in the grass, his body almost entirely invisible through the stalks that were taller than his body on all fours. Somewhere beyond the trees the sound of the creek carried. Its susurrus audible through the dense foliage. Despite being the only human in the surrounding kilometers – according to property rights and drone footage – she didn't feel alone. The forest was alive in a way the city never could be.

Humans could be volatile, but nature was wild. There was a sense of adventure and anticipation that concrete jungles couldn't mimic. Perhaps if she didn't loathe the house she'd come out and appreciate the atmosphere more often. Scarlet thrived in the city, but here she was at peace. Mostly. The descending doom timer did a lot to kill the mood. She paused briefly, her gaze drifting across the line of trees.

"Come, darling," she called.

"We've more work to do." With that, Maus scampered up her leg and made it to her knee before she scooped him up and pulled out a handkerchief from one of the pockets in her tailored black utility pants. Carefully she wiped each of his tiny paws before she placed him on her shoulder. She then wiped her own hands with the cloth before folding it away and pulling out the hand sanitizer, only to receive an indignant nose to the side of her face. She scoffed.

"I didn't say you were dirty," she placated.

"Because I didn't need to." <-… -> The garage was where she spent the rest of the evening. It smelled faintly of oil and old metal, the tools lining the walls were both practical and well-used. Her father had not been a particularly attentive to her, but he had been meticulous with the things he cared about. In the time since she inherited it, Scarlet had made many upgrades, additions, and personalization's to the the property. Scarlet moved through the space with familiarity. She set up the 3D printer first.

Her attention flicking between it and the absolute unit that could only charitably be called a 'laptop'. She'd set up an external fan and a cooling pad for the cinderblock of a portable computer. The brick was the computer equivalent of burned-off-fingerprints. It got the job done and left no traces. Her stationary setup was in the bunker. That system was a mostly closed loop.

When it did go online, she made sure there were enough layers of security to keep her untraceable to the kind of people she had spent the last few years quietly working for and collecting information on. It wasn't just about hiding, was about making sure she wasn't worth the effort to find. Maus watched her from the edge of the workbench, he had tucked himself into an adorable little ball on his fluffy round pillow. His body was all comfort, but his eyes were all judgement. Scarlet could tell.

"Yes, I know," she said without looking up.

"However, there's no such thing as too much security." When he just kept looking at her she felt compelled to continue.

"The people I deal with have more money than sense. Some of them would shoot the messenger. Occupational hazard, I know. Which is why I remain a ghost. Most people will find it very difficult to silence someone they know nothing about." The printer hummed to life. She pulled an external drive from her bag, files already loaded. Procuring them had been a necessary headache.

The dark web wasn't a place so much as a patchwork of spaces – forums, repositories, private markets and more – all layered underneath the 'internet' most people saw and used. Scarlet never lingered. In, out. She found what she needed, pulled the files, isolated them on a separate drive, scanned for anything hostile, then transferred only the clean data into the brick so that it could interface with the printer. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road.

Please report it.

"It is curious that pepper spray is classified as a 'prohibited weapon'. It's illegal to purchase it. Yet you can just take a class, pass a test, and legally buy a rifle," she muttered as she calibrated the schematics for the parts of the handgun she still needed.

"That's why I won't be purchasing my weapon." She smiled and patted the printer. It was one of her better investments. By the time she'd powered everything down, the sky had gone fully dark. Scarlet stretched once, rolling her shoulders back as she stepped away from the workbench. She had done what she could. The rest would have to wait.

"If the world isn't in ashes tomorrow it would be a good idea to establish a preliminary communications network," she mused. That morning she'd also picked up radios and a comms array that was waiting to be set up in the bunker. But those thoughts were for later, for now, she needed to rest. Scarlet made her way down into the converted bomb shelter. The bunker was cool and quiet as she stepped inside. After having it renovated, the initial harsh edges and stark design had softened into something far more inviting.

A bed sat neatly against one wall, a chaise longue against another. A small kitchenette was tucked into a corner, and behind a doorless dividing wall was the room-where-it-happened, the control center to her tiny slice of reality. Inside was a bank of monitors, two high-spec desktop computers, a yet to be set up comms array and bookshelves that lined the walls and spilled out into the living space.

The recently acquired, no-longer-library books had been sanitized, organized, and sorted into an ever-growing collection. She then did another perimeter check, this time via security cameras, fiddled with the comms array, and finally settled down. Tomorrow she planned to spend the rest of the countdown trying to piece together how the rest of the world was handling these final hours. [16: 54: 39] Sleep came easily. She awoke early the next morning, and as had become habit she checked the countdown.

[09: 15: 44] It was the first time she'd seen the 'hours' section of the timer in the single digits. She moved through her routine with the same quiet efficiency she brought to everything else. Just another day. Shower, brush teeth, organize hair, don pre-selected suit. By the time she stepped into the kitchenette, she was immaculate.

"All is as it should be," she murmured to herself. She set the kettle to boil and reached for Maus's enclosure, lifting him gently and settling him onto her shoulder.

"Good morning," she murmured, pulling a small food dish from the fridge as she waited for the hot water. He blinked at her. The tea came together quickly, poured into a proper porcelain cup. Once the teabag had adequately steeped, she pulled it out before adding a pump of caramel and a dash of milk to the fragrant brew. The scent was warm and familiar in a way that settled her.

Maus watched her, nibbling on his own assortment of vegetables and seeds and radiating longing until she rolled her eyes and rummaged through one of the cupboards. In her hand were three pieces of sweet and salty kettle corn. She had him perform three tricks before offering them to him. Once they were both satisfied, she pressed a brief kiss to the top of his head and turned toward the control room. <-… -> [07: 24: 25] She laid out all the pieces and began assembly of the handgun. The process was methodical.

Like putting a puzzle together. She ensured everything fit together the way it was supposed to, then took it for a test. A short while later, a practise shot was fired off into a creek. Scarlet nodded to herself and continued her final rounds. [03: 04: 05] The screens in the control room flickered alive one by one. News broadcasts, and government media filled one set, each with a different anchor.

Both anchors spoke with carefully sustained calm about maintaining order, about not panicking, about trusting that the situation was under control.

"Absolute lunacy," she told Maus, who had curled himself up on another fuzzy, round pillow.

"How can they reassure people that the 'situation' is under control when not only is the 'situation' yet to happen, but nobody has the slightest clue what the 'situation' will be," she said, making the air-quotes gesture every time she said situation. Scarlet's comments proved themselves when she switched to a different set of screens and began loading much more candid footage from around the world. Some people were filming themselves on deserted streets.

Other towns and cities had crowds flooding into public spaces. Some people were hosting candlelight vigils; others were donating their wealth to charities that might not exist in the next few hours. Some people were posting clips or real-time status updates of the chaos going on in their own homes or within their families. Booting up more screens, Scarlet pulled up forums. There, threads and posts were updating faster than she could read them.

Some were ecstatic, treating the entire situation like a chance for a new beginning. Others were spiraling, fear turning into speculation, speculation turning into conspiracy. No one knew what was coming. Everyone had an opinion.

"Humans," Scarlet murmured, sipping on her second cup of tea.

"When it comes to ingenuity and adaptability, it would be difficult to find better." She reached out a hand and gently stroked Maus as her eyes traced over the screens. [00: 10: 33] Scarlet shut down her computers. [00: 05: 30] Scarlet finished brewing her fifth cup of tea. This time, decaf. [00: 01: 00] The system window expanded without warning, filling her vision in a way that somehow didn't obstruct anything at all. Scarlet carried her mouse, and her half-empty cup of tea to the chaise longue.

The tea went on the small side table, Maus she settled on her chest. His small body was warm against her as she took deep meditative breaths. [00: 00: 09] [… 08] [… 07] Her fingers traced through his fur, her eyes closed.

"Stay with me," she murmured, the words quiet in the room. [00: 00: 00]'Full Integration' felt to Scarlet like a wave that crashed into her, heavy and overwhelming. It was like exhaustion and adrenaline were colliding in the worst possible ways. Her body wanted to shut down, her mind following close behind, everything in her wanted to let go, to allow the tide to sweep her away. Only, she could feel that something was wrong. Through the haze blanketing her, Scarlet resisted. Her focus snapped to Maus.

He was shaking. No, not shaking, convulsing. Panic hit her fast and sharp, cutting through some of the fog as she pushed against the anchors dragging her under.

"Maus–" Her voice was a whisper. The hand that had been stroking him was now a dead weight. It was also the only thing keeping him secured to her chest. Her vision blurred. In her mind, a single desire became a mantra. Stay with me, stay with me, stay… Something flickered in front of her. [Initialization Commencing– Error– Anomaly Detected… Error– Recalibrating… Recalibrating… Error Resolved. Initialization Commencing] Her world went dark.