Rebellion
⌛Second⌛

I woke up in the middle of the night in Sirus’ bed. It’s been two weeks since I was here, yet it didn’t feel like that. I stared up into the darkness and it was a good sign that I wasn’t getting scared. I was still breathing too.

I got out of bed and felt around for my uniform; I don’t remember where i tossed anything so now I’m aimlessly searching in the dark. Strangely enough, my body felt incredibly sore and that was no thanks to Sirus. This is all my fault anyway, I give in too easily, and I shouldn’t. The first thing I felt was my pants; I was quick to yank them on and feel around for my shirt and badge. The throbbing pain in my body just got worse, and I had to pause for second to let it settle away.

I hate when this happens.

Then again, it’s not as bad as I made it seem a while ago.

I sat down on the floor for a moment, running my hands through my hair to push my bangs back out of my face. I knew where every bruise was, where every mark was, and I didn’t have to see it directly. Years ago, I would become so self conscious but now I just let it go. My hands pressed down on the floor and I picked up my shirt that was underneath my fingers, putting it on as quietly as I could. My badge was nearby as well. Now all I needed were my shoes. I got up and left the room, replaceing my way around in the dark.

The only reason I had to get dressed to leave was because I’m supposed to be test running the bikes at one in the morning. And I know it wasn’t Hariette’s idea but whoever’s idea it was, they’re stupid. If I could, I would actually stay in bed where it’s warm and comfortable.

I couldn’t say anything at this hour. I was so tired, and sure that I would blow something up on accident.

There were ten of us that were going on with a few of these bikes. Because they are prototypes, there’s a chance some of them might blow up. I am hoping I am on one that will not blow up.

“This should be fun.” Taurus yawned beside me as she put on her leather jacket. “Who doesn’t like being awake at one in the morning?”

“If I hit a tree, put out the fire.” I told her.

“I would apologize for the inconvenience...” Hariette walked by but didn’t finish her statement, unless that actually was the end.

She’s like this so I don’t care. I will never complain just because she’s done so much for me. Taurus looked sad enough that she had to be here so early but all this shouldn’t take more than an hour.

Hopefully.

I don’t see why Hariette won’t get some of Janus’ sectors to test run the bikes. As reckless as they might be, I’m sure they aren’t going to destroy the things we put so much effort into.

“All you really have to test for is the speed and how long the machine lasts while running.” Hariette told the rest of us. “If your motorcycle malfunctions, I’ll know about it, so don’t worry.” She waved her tablet.

I got on the fourth prototype and put my helmet on. The lights on the platform dimmed and the bikes began to glow blue. The new prototype engines are practically silent. I could feel the low humming though and that just made me think this was going to be a very smooth ride.

Hariette walked off the platform to let us go.

My hands gripped tightly on the handles, my fingers being able to easily have a place to hold on. The lights on my helmet screen showed me the specific path I was taking for the test run.

Going out of the city should be fun.

I bet it would be quiet and peaceful. Plus the bike would be able to glow at full potential in complete darkness. Its the perfect time to go out.

Maybe test running the bikes at one in the morning isn’t such a bad idea.

However, with everything being so clear and empty I had more time to think. It was more like a rush of thoughts I shouldn’t have unless I’m having an existential crisis.

It happens.

I try to ignore it.

But then I think about things like what am I doing, am I okay, am I really getting better with my anxiety. And it’s okay to doubt myself, at least I’ve had to force myself to believe it’s okay because I’m not always going to be right at the time. The thoughts didn’t change my mood.

I just paid attention to everything that was in front of me.

The surroundings were quiet and peaceful. The glow lights on the road was a faded white that glowed brighter once I got closer.

I hadn’t realized how far I had gone out until I realized its been longer than forty-five minutes. I was so wrapped up in everything that I just didn’t even realize where I was. By now I should definitely be outside the city.

For a second, I thought I saw someone. In fact, I saw two people. And they were just sitting in the grass on the side of the road. I would have thought it was none of my business but people don’t just leave the city to sit in the grass. That’s not something that happens. So for a second, I was a bit confused.

Should I mind my own business or should I ask? It’s not like it really is my problem but I physically can’t just not do anything when I think someone is in trouble. Even the slightest chance could mean something.

I stopped a distance away from them and got off my bike; I took off my helmet and set it down on the seat before slowly making my way towards the person that was sitting in the grass with someone else.

As I got closer, I saw that it was a woman and she had a child with her.

There was no way she didn’t have a place to go. Everyone has a place to go.

“...Are you okay?” I asked quietly, still keeping my distance because I don’t know their situation.

She looked up slowly then back to the child.

“I...we...” She struggled but I could hear a thick accent. Maybe she wasn’t used to speaking English yet.

But we have translators for that.

Why wouldn’t she...?

She went in her jacket pocket and pulled out her phone. Usually there was a red line that would glow near the start button, that just meant it was on and fully functioning. The red light on hers was not glowing but I clearly saw the screen turn on.

I wasn’t sure what that was supposed to mean. A glitch? But this system does not glitch. And if it does, it replaces a way to fix itself.

Another thing that struck me as odd was that no one ever deactivates any tech unless a person is dead. The absence led me to believe that it was deactivated and a glitch that bad is serious.

I walked closer and she handed it to me.

This is supposed to have everything on it; identification, family information, job information, everything. Without this working, she practically can’t do anything or go anywhere. It’s like not being a real person at all. We need this for everything.

So how come hers hasn’t reset yet?

I turned the screen on, seeing her picture and name, but none of her statistics showed up. Nothing for the child either. All it said was that she doesn’t exist. Usually, things like this doesn’t glitch, there shouldn’t be any problems, mistakes like this doesn’t happen.

“Are you from here?” I asked.

“We just moved...from another country.” She said.

That’s still no excuse.

If I had the equipment to, I would reset it. Instead, I took out my tablet from inside my jacket pocket. I’m extremely lucky that I upgraded this myself weeks ago. I held my tablet up and set the phone face down on my screen. A diagnostic test could help me try to figure out what’s wrong with it and try to fix it.

But when I linked the two devices together, something else began to happen.

A blue hologram came up that said loading. Not a second later did all of her information begin to load again with the help of my device. I don’t know when and how I configured that but it ended up being a big help.

Her name is Magnolia. The child with her is her son, Tobias. Her husband is deceased. Her family still lives in her native country. She moved here a month ago. She works for the Department of Health as a nurse. The system recognizes her as a healthy contributor to society.

But why did the glitch happen?

The line near the start button began to glow red as all the information restored onto her device.

“It should work now.” I told her as the hologram closed. “If it glitches again, you can call me and I’ll fix it for you.” I made sure to leave my information just in case something else happens again.

She should be able to go to work, or go home and take care of her son. Who knows how many hours they’ve been out here without being able to call for help. At least now that her phone is working, she and her son can be identified.

“Thank you.” She got up from the grass and hugged me rather tightly.

I wanted to tell her it was no big deal but she just seemed so happy. I’m glad I could help but really, a mistake like this shouldn’t ever happen.

To be honest, I was a little worried.

After she let me go, I helped her replace her way back to the city. I called her a cab too and told her where I worked so she could come replace me if something like this happened to her again. I have a feeling it might. If the glitch wasn’t caught the first time, how is going to be caught the second time? I looked at my tablet to see if there was a diagnosis for the problem but all it said was error. I wonder if all her technology is acting up like this just because everything is synced together.

Before I could do anything else, I remembered that I actually had to be back at NASA. In fact, I was incredible late. I know I’m probably the last one Hariette is waiting on. Hariette is going to yell at me for stopping but maybe she might know what’s going on.

The first thing I did when I got back was went over to Hariette. She was waiting for me still and she didn’t seem too happy that I was there wasting her time but there’s a good reason for it.

She stared down at me when I walked up to her. And she didn’t speak either. I know she’s mad that I kept her waiting but she’s not going to believe what just happened to me.

“Hey...” I didn’t want her to yell at me. I played with my fingers as I looked around. “I had a question.” I started.

“For me? That doesn’t usually happen.” She said and got up from her seat at the front desk.

“Do tablets and phones malfunction?”

She didn’t take a step forward when she heard my question. She just turned slowly towards me and narrowed her eyes. “If that were to happen to someone, their life would be extremely fucked.” She said.

“Well, I found a woman and her phone showed that she wasn’t a real person...”

“That’s not supposed to happen.” She began walking and I followed behind her. “She has to get that fixed or she’ll be stranded.”

I can’t tell her that I was the one that fixed it. I’ve been messing with my own stuff for months now and it’s not technically legal. I’ve reset so much of the functioning settings and altered with everything that tracks what I do that I can practically do anything I want; it’s not like I will but I want to hide some of my information.

I tampered with what I’m not supposed to.

And it came in handy.

“You don’t think there’s more out there, do you?” I asked as I followed her.

That’s not a question I should be asking. This problem should not be my problem. Just asking it shows that I care and I’m not supposed to. I’m supposed to worry about myself. I’m supposed to think about myself only. I just...I physically can’t let someone suffer for reasons that aren’t their own. If someone needs help, I feel like I have to help them. I want to.

Asking that question was my mistake. But Hariette was going to answer anyway.

“There shouldn’t be. And if there is, there’s not anyone to discuss this issue with.”

No one ever assumed we would have a problem like this.

“Who knows, it might even reset on its own.” Hariette shrugged and walked on.

I stayed behind and thought to myself. I’m sure if it was going to reset, it would’ve done it the second the glitch happened.

This is weird.

This is really weird.

I left when I put all my stuff away and planned to head home where my family was. But I didn’t go that way. Instead, I found myself walking inside Sirus’ place like I truly did live here.

It was still dark and Sirus was still asleep. I only took off my shoes before getting into bed next to him. My mind was still wrapped around the issue I encountered. Maybe Sirus might know something about it. It’s easier to talk to him about all the bad things I do anyway, it’s not like I have a reason to lie to him.

I pushed on his shoulder to wake him up.

“Sirus...”

“What.” He hissed angrily and turned over.

“Remember all those years ago when we found the glitch in the Computer while on the mother ship?” I asked.

“Hm.”

“I found something that’s sort of like that.” I said.

He didn’t respond for a moment. Then he turned over again, and I felt his arm moving over my waist to bring me closer.

“What did you do?” he asked, accusing me of doing something, like it was my fault. And people ask the question like that a lot.

And it’s never my fault!

“Some woman’s phone had a glitch, it said she didn’t exist.” I told him. “So I fixed it but a glitch like that shouldn’t happen and I’m worried-”

“It’s probably not a big deal.” Sirus murmured.

“You do know a person’s identity is on that, right?”

“Its one out of millions.”

We don’t know that. We don’t know if its just one. We have no idea if there’s more out there. And honestly, I think there is.

I caught myself beginning to panic so I told myself to breathe. For me to not have an anxiety attack, I have to breathe. The one thing is that I can’t say it’s not my problem. I just have to replace a non stressful way to handle it.

Sirus already fell asleep after a minute of silence. Of course he would be no help at three in the morning, I don’t know why I tried. I should’ve brought it up later but I couldn’t help it.

This is the only thing I’ll think about for the rest of my life.

I spent the rest of the early morning looking around in the dark and proposing theories about why this woman would have something terrible done to her like that. Honestly, our devices don’t malfunction. It’s the one thing that shouldn’t. I wouldn’t be saying this if it was a drone or robot or some computerized system that’s supposed to handle something minor. But when its something that has everything about who we are, then it really shouldn’t malfunction for any reason.

Even when the sun rose, I was thinking about this. I was so tired but I couldn’t sleep.

It was the anxiety keeping me up.

I wanted to wake Sirus up again because this problem is so bad. I had to keep reminding myself to take deeper breaths because I felt the uncomfortable pain in my chest. Luckily I didn’t freak out so much that I would’ve panicked. I stared at Sirus when I could finally see him from the sunlight. He hadn’t moved all night, and honestly, it was a reasonable hour so he should be able to talk to me about this situation.

My mind stopped reeling after five minutes.

I looked at Sirus’ face, and realized how after all these years I never get tired of looking at him. Usually I say that not a lot of things changed, but that’s not true, a lot of things changed. We’ve changed. And that’s what happens as people get older. I guess I can tell that he’s older now, even after I’ve spent so much time with him.

There’s not much I can say to that.

“Hey...Sirus...” I nudged his shoulder under the blanket. “You’ll be late if you don’t get up.” I said quietly.

Nowadays, he stopped caring. He talks about how difficult things become, and usually I know he loves a good challenge, but he says this is different. He doesn’t enjoy any of it anymore.

He probably doesn’t want to go in today.

My hand moved to his neck, my fingers trailing his skin and making their way up to his face. His hair is getting bigger, curlier, and thicker, and he refuses to do anything about it. He just leaves the mane alone. My fingers pushed his hair back and my palm pressed against his cheek. I got the sudden urge to keep my fingers moving, to touch around his face, to feel his skin, as if the previous night wasn’t enough for me.

But I let my hand drop to the bed instead, and I shuffled closer to get warm.

“And you wonder why I won’t get up.” Sirus mumbled.

I mashed my lips together, and hoped on my life that my face wouldn’t turn red.

“It’s too early for you to talk.” He murmured.

“I barely said any-”

He shushed me.

I didn’t feel compelled to keep quiet but I did anyway. I had a lot to say this morning. If I wait a minute or two, maybe then I can say what I want to say.

That minute only turned out to be a few seconds.

“Sirus, you can’t just not show up.” I told him, and I’ve told him this multiple times.

He groaned and turned over to ignore me. After years of this, I’d think that he’d come up with a better mechanism for that but I can honestly just get under his skin without trying too hard.

“Life is about dealing with people you don’t like.” I said.

“Tell me about it.” he mumbled.

“I’ve done it for years-”

“I don’t count.” he said.

I remained quiet. I don’t hate Sirus. In fact, he makes everything fun now and then. Maybe more so than not. I replace it easier to talk to him but we’ve been together for years so of course I would be use to him by now. His violent mannerisms aren’t so violent anymore, he has a tendency to not care, and he lets everything go for the most part. I’m not sure if this is what it’s like for him to grow up.

“You don’t count.” I said quietly.

He sighed and got out of bed finally, moving his arms up as he stretched. It was like all he needed was to hear me say that. “I can’t wait to do something else-”

“Like what?”

“I’ll figure it out when I get there.” he walked off to the bathroom.

That’s one thing that hasn’t changed. I wonder if Sirus gets stressed like I do, or maybe he gets bothered by the things around him. It’s always hard to tell if he’s okay or not. It was even harder years ago. Usually when he’s angry, and I mean about to kill someone type angry, he just disappears and I wouldn’t get to see him for hours. I wonder what he does now.

I laid in bed and stared up at the ceiling. The only thing I wanted to do was listen to the shower water running, but my mind quickly had other things to pay attention to.

I wanted to know if Magnolia was fine, if the glitch didn’t come up again. Maybe I’m just overreacting, then again, things like this shouldn’t happen. I know I still have this unwavering trust for the system, but I know the system, and it doesn’t glitch. At least it shouldn’t. I couldn’t seem to get my mind off that exact thought. One day, the curiosity will eat me alive.

I pulled the blanket over my head and tried to focus on something else, on anything else, but I guess I still have a habit of being preoccupied with other people’s problems.

There isn’t a reason for me to worry.

I can tell myself this all I want, but it just seems like it won’t be long before I drown in anxiety.

“Hey,” I heard Sirus’ voice above me. That was the only sound that snapped me out of it. I didn’t know how long I was being paranoid for. “What were you going on about earlier?”

“Oh.” I curled up more under the blanket and thought for a second before asking, “Malfunctions don’t happen a lot, do they?”

“As far as I’ve seen, no.” he answered.

“Well I met a woman last night while testing the new bikes-”

“How’s it ride?”

“Like air-don’t interrupt me.” I moved out from under the blanket. He tossed his jacket at me, it hitting my face. I barely even moved when his jacket fell on to my lap. As long as I show he doesn’t bother me, everything will be fine. “Anyway, her phone wasn’t working, it said she didn’t exist.”

“Not dead?”

“Nope. Non-existent.”

“It probably doesn’t mean anything, and if it does, I want no part in it.” he said and pulled his shirt over his head.

“I’m sure-”

“No you’re not.” He turned around. “Don’t fuck this up, Aurora, okay. I know how you love replaceing shit out and doing shit to get yourself in trouble and I just want you to stop it.” he almost started shouting.

He makes it seem like all he wants me to do is sit down and do nothing.

“You always tag along...” my voice got quieter when he began glaring at me.

Sirus hates the test of loyalty. He will always tag along even when it makes him uncomfortable. And I have to admit that I feel a little bad that I do that to him, well now that I look back on it. I guess I can’t go looking into this situation.

In fact, I should be dealing with my stress first.

I laid back down in bed and sighed loudly, showing my irritation. But I was going to give up anyway. “Fine.” I won’t do anything.

I bet that puts Sirus at ease.

He continued to put his uniform on without saying anything else. I had more questions but he’ll hate me if I say any more. If I could get my mind off this situation, that would be great. I would love to think about something else.

Before I knew it, I felt the bed dip near my legs and no second later did I see Sirus above me. I had absolutely no expression on my face because I know what he’s thinking. I wasn’t going to give in so early in the morning, if that’s what he’s thinking.

“Don’t go trying to solve a problem that doesn’t exist.” he said.

If I tell him there is a problem that might exist, he’d get annoyed enough to yell at me. But I wasn’t going to start another massive scene just because I think there’s something going on.

“Mhm.”

So I give in, not that Sirus would believe me upon the first gesture because I tend to go out of my way to figure stuff out anyway.

“I’m not kidding.” he insisted.

“I know.” I said. I know how much he hates it, so I won’t do anything I’m not supposed to. “I’ll be good, I promise.”

He smiled. “Now that wasn’t too hard, was it?”

If I can save myself the stress then so be it. But I guess I didn’t want Sirus to stress out either. Maybe I’m making this a big deal. There’s nothing wrong with saying I won’t do anything when I really won’t.

Sirus moved closer to me but I wasn’t caught off guard when he kissed me. Knowing him, he was going to use this as a distraction so I can’t tell him that he has somewhere to be. For now I wasn’t going to tell him to stop. This is the least stressful thing that has happened to me in the past twenty-four hours.

It wasn’t till I felt his hand between my legs that I realized this was a mistake. I didn’t try hard enough to resist but Sirus will reach that point where I will have no choice. I wasn’t in the mood to give myself up today.

His hand pressed harder on me, making me move my legs up. I didn’t have the urge to say anything until he let his hand slip in my pants. Kissing me isn’t a distraction, and after so long he still doesn’t understand that.

“...no.” I said against his lips.

“Fuck.” He groaned and got off me. “I swear.” He snatched his jacket off me and got up to leave.

“Have fun.” I said and added, “Be nice today.”

He didn’t have anything else to say, at least out loud. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he was cursing me out as loud as he could because that’s what he’s good at. I had to admit that it was funny to see him irritated.

I had other things to look forward to today. There aren’t any surprises, anything out of the ordinary.

Everything just seems so perfect now.

Yet, I can look at my health and see it slowly climbing. It wasn’t alarming, at least to me, but there was something that told me I should get myself under control before it actually does become alarming.

The last thing I need is for the Department of Human Resources to get a hold of me.

Again.

I’ve been doing good for months now. I don’t need anything to happen to me. I don’t want the stress. I don’t want the anxiety. I’ve been doing fine.

I went into work quietly, reminding myself to mind my own business, only to replace someone waiting for me.

I recognized her long braid that was over her shoulder and her neatly cut bangs. Compared to last night, now I could clearly see her face.

“Magnolia.” I smiled at her.

She came by with someone else today. He was an older man, his badge saying he worked as a teacher.

“She said you helped her with her phone.” He shook my hand. “I’m having the same issue with my tablet, I couldn’t even get in to work this morning.” He said.

He gave it to me to see. When I touched the screen, I saw his name and picture but no other forms of identification.

This is the second time this has happened.

I wasn’t that secretive as I held my tablet up. Hopefully no one really says anything. It’s not like the drones would recognize if something this out of the ordinary was happening. For now, I wasn’t worried.

I placed his tablet over mine, face down, and a hologram showed up, his tablet resetting with all of his information.

“Please don’t tell anyone I’ve been doing this.” I told them as a precaution. “I’m not even supposed to know how to fix the issue.”

No one is.

This is what I get for experiments.

“That’s fine. It’s just that I know a few more people with this happening to them.” He said and looked at Magnolia.

There’s more than two.

This is the type of problem that makes me worry. I wanted to ask who else but I can’t just go and save everyone as much as I want. I can’t just stop working to go out in the streets to replace these people. I wanted to, but I have to come first. I can’t be everyone’s savior.

But this is the kind of problem awareness should be brought up for.

Maybe I could get a little bit of help. Though it took me months to modify my own tablet, it should take days to modify someone else’s to do the same thing that mine can.

“We don’t know why this is happening to us.” He said.

“I would like to help, but since I’m the only one that can do this it’s going to take a while.” I told him and handed my back his tablet after making sure it was functioning right. “If you can give me a couple days, I might be able to get someone else to help.” I said.

It shouldn’t be any of my business.

But I don’t want to leave people stranded.

“Thank you, you’ve been a big help.” He told me and Magnolia nodded, happy that I could assist.

I wonder who else is out there with this problem.