Page 105 of Tyton: The Spider and the Dragonfly
“Sesi plans,” Callie cut her off.“For the rest of us, there’s blind luck and panic.”
“I love you,” Talia whispered.It was real this time, not an accidental revelation.Intentional.
“I love you too.”Callie kissed her under the midnight sun.
Queen of Pentacles
May 102270
W
hat the fuck is that!”Callie pointed at a pair of eyes watching from high in the black spruce trees.
“That’s a mountain lion.”Sesi kept walking, she didn’t bother to look up.
“We’re not in the mountains, are we?”Talia asked.
Sesi shook her head.“It’s just a name.”
“Why am I the only one concerned about this?”Callie hissed as if the mountain lion might hear.
“Because I saw it.”Sesi’s footsteps crunched against the dry branches.“If you can see it, it’s not hunting you.”
“What if there’s more!More we can’t see!”Callie started to panic.
“They’re solo and territorial.They’re not like wolves.”
“So, like Talia.”Callie grinned.
Talia threw a pinecone at her.“I thought I was a dragonfly.”
“You can be two things,” Callie insisted.
Sesi threaded her fingers through Talia’s “She’s a very complex person.”She kissed her shoulder.
“What about the kids?We can’t live here if there are mountain lions around.”
“They only try to go after people when there isn’t enough other prey.Deer, rabbits and foxes have overrun everything since wolves and bears went extinct.”
Callie looked at Sesi sceptically.
“Obviously, we’ll have to be careful,” she added.“But life will still be easier below the tree line.Once we find the right spot.”
Callie exchanged glances with Talia.She knew Talia was nervous about leaving the city after their fishing adventure.
“It’s okay,” she said, taking Talia’s other hand.“Sesi will be with us.My mom said she would come.We’ll be within reach of the geostationary sats all year and Sparx is archiving the net in case we can’t.We’ll still have AI learning pods for the stuff we don’t know.”
“We’ll also have a lab and a DocPod.It’ll be useless in a generation, but it should keep you alive long enough to stab any mountain lions that threaten Pinga and Lusa.”
Talia grunted.
“Jenni said she’d stay in the lab.She got really excited about the idea,” Sesi said.
“Doesn’t Siku need to stay to make sure no-one finds out about NovAITech.Did they break up?”
Sesi shook her head.“They’re just independent.The spot I told you about is up ahead.”
They emerged into a clearing near a lake.Several deer in the distance glanced up at them, decided they were no threat, and returned to grazing.Sesi pointed out the locations of future wind power stations, the MobilePods for housing, the lab, water purification, Hexaline printing station and solar arrays.
