The Tomorrow Trilogy Fanfiction: Who Will Lead Us? - Chapter 10
This is Chapter 10 in a fanfic of The Tomorrow Trilogy by theun4givables.
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“What the hell? This communications panel won’t accept my password,” Nem muttered.
Alex said, “Maybe you should have picked a password that was easier to remember.”
“Are you on something? As the leader of this facility, you should know better than anyone that security is important, Alex. After all, we wouldn’t want spies to just sneak in here like it was some...sketchy bar,” he countered.
Alex smirked. “You forget we have a ‘sketchy bar’ right in the compound, Nem.”
Savin shook his head. He remembered that bar; in particular, he remembered how he almost cheated on Mari at that same bar. Maybe he should have -- maybe then they wouldn’t have gotten married. Wouldn’t have lost her and his daughter.
“That’s not the point,” Nem grumbled, snapping Savin out of his thoughts. “At least I didn’t use sticky notes to remember my passwords, unlike a certain Compound leader I happen to know.”
“I -- I don’t use sticky notes,” Alex stammered.
Nem reached behind the comm panel and pulled a small yellow square off it. He held up the incriminating item for everyone else in the room to see. “And what is this, Alex?”
“Not mine,” he said.
Nem raised an eyebrow. “Then why’s it in your handwriting? And I don’t use sticky notes, and my passwords are a hell of a lot more complicated.”
Alex grabbed the sticky note from Nem and crunched into into a little ball. He threw it in the nearby trash can before his eyes widened.
“Oh, shit, I need that!” he cried, leaning over and digging through the trash can, which was already full of papers.
Nem smirked. “You need a thing that’s not yours?”
Savin groaned to himself. Weren’t Alex and Nem going to do anything actually useful? He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose as he stood in the communications room.
He said, “Alex? Nem? Aren’t you going to try and make the comm panel work?”
“Oh right,” Nem murmured.
The man scrunched his face up in concentration as he typed rapidly, almost too quickly for Savin to see.
“Something seems to be blocking any incoming transmissions,” Nem said.
“Well, can you figure out what the hell it is?” Savin asked.
They couldn’t afford computer glitches, not now. Any mistakes on their part, and they could all too easily lose Jordine’s vital support. The Hooban Queen wasn’t exactly known for being understanding. Or patient.
Savin wished Jazz were here. He didn’t even know the younger man’s exact destination, for security reasons. Jazz had gone off to recruit other allies, but -- how trustworthy were these allies, anyway? While they needed the support, Savin didn’t like any plan that put Jazz in unnecessary danger. Didn’t like any plan that separated them -- not like this.
Nem muttered, “It’s like the computer glitch is sentient or something, dude. Like -- like it knows how I work. Weird, huh?”
“Weird” wasn’t the word Savin would use. He would say something more like “deeply unsettling” or “extremely disconcerting.” This was totally bad timing. While he hadn’t thought the glitch was due to sabotage, he was starting to get suspicious. Savin pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose again and tried to ignore how tight his chest felt as he watched Nem type.
“That is pretty freaky, Nem. But I don’t think we have sentient computer viruses yet,” Alex muttered.
Savin wasn’t worried about sentient viruses but rather about whomever would have made such things.
Nem said, “You never know. Things have been strange enough around here. what with Our Esteemed Emperor and all.”
Again, “strange” was not the word Savin would use. He continued to watch Nem work on countering the glitch.
“Eureka!” Nem shouted. “It’s fixed!”
“About time,” Alex said, rolling his eyes.
The comm panel beeped, indicating an incoming transmission.
“It’s -- it’s from Hooba,” Nem breathed.
That must be Jordine, with her answer. Savin frowned; now, he truly wished Jazz were here. Jazz would know what to say if the Queen were still undecided. Savin wasn’t sure he would have the right answers.
“Let it through,” Savin said as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and tried to ignore the knot in his stomach.
“Okay,” Nem murmured, punching a few buttons.
In a matter of moments, Jordine appeared on this screen. She brushed a strand of hair out of her face, pushing it behind her ear.
Savin tried to keep his face neutral as he looked at her. “Good afternoon, Jordine. Have you -- made a decision on our offer?” He internally berated himself for even that little pause in his speech.
Jordine smirked at him, leaning towards the screen. It made Savin uneasy; Jordine’s smiling like that didn’t necessarily indicate a positive outcome for them. She seemed to be waiting to answer them, and Savin wasn’t sure how long he could stand it.
“Perhaps I have,” Jordine murmured.
“Perhaps?” Savin asked, raising an eyebrow. That didn’t bode well for them, either.
She said, “As you might be aware, I do not like the idea of allying with Second Earth’s Empire.”
That really didn’t bode well for them.
“But you might be willing to make an exception?” Savin hoped she would.
“Possibly,” Jordine muttered. “If you make it worth my while. I like the idea of Mitchel’s staying Emperor even less.”
Savin thought that maybe the only person who truly liked the idea of Mitchel as Emperor was Mitchel himself.
He said, “So how do we make it worth your while?”
They needed Jordine’s support desperately, so Savin hoped that whatever Jordine asked for, it would actually be possible.
“Make sure the unspecified ‘support’ you promised actually materializes. If I am to ally with you, I need to know my allies actually exist,” Jordine muttered.
Savin nodded. “We can do that.” He hoped they could, anyway. Jazz was, after all, out gathering support as they spoke. Thinking about Jazz made his stomach knot unpleasantly. He didn’t want to contemplate just how much danger the younger man might be in at this very moment.
Jordine murmured, “I hope you can, otherwise the deal is off. I am not supporting Second Earth all on my own.”
“Understood,” Savin said. “So you accept the offer of an alliance?”
She sighed. “I accept.”
Before Savin could say anything else, Jordine cut off the transmission. Savin nearly sighed with relief. Jordine had accepted, provided specific conditions were met. He only hoped they could truly meet those conditions. Jordine wasn’t the type to be forgiving or understanding of any mistakes on their part. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, wishing, again, that Jazz were here.
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written for writerverse Challenge #18: Weekly Quick Fic #6
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previous chapter
---------
“What the hell? This communications panel won’t accept my password,” Nem muttered.
Alex said, “Maybe you should have picked a password that was easier to remember.”
“Are you on something? As the leader of this facility, you should know better than anyone that security is important, Alex. After all, we wouldn’t want spies to just sneak in here like it was some...sketchy bar,” he countered.
Alex smirked. “You forget we have a ‘sketchy bar’ right in the compound, Nem.”
Savin shook his head. He remembered that bar; in particular, he remembered how he almost cheated on Mari at that same bar. Maybe he should have -- maybe then they wouldn’t have gotten married. Wouldn’t have lost her and his daughter.
“That’s not the point,” Nem grumbled, snapping Savin out of his thoughts. “At least I didn’t use sticky notes to remember my passwords, unlike a certain Compound leader I happen to know.”
“I -- I don’t use sticky notes,” Alex stammered.
Nem reached behind the comm panel and pulled a small yellow square off it. He held up the incriminating item for everyone else in the room to see. “And what is this, Alex?”
“Not mine,” he said.
Nem raised an eyebrow. “Then why’s it in your handwriting? And I don’t use sticky notes, and my passwords are a hell of a lot more complicated.”
Alex grabbed the sticky note from Nem and crunched into into a little ball. He threw it in the nearby trash can before his eyes widened.
“Oh, shit, I need that!” he cried, leaning over and digging through the trash can, which was already full of papers.
Nem smirked. “You need a thing that’s not yours?”
Savin groaned to himself. Weren’t Alex and Nem going to do anything actually useful? He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose as he stood in the communications room.
He said, “Alex? Nem? Aren’t you going to try and make the comm panel work?”
“Oh right,” Nem murmured.
The man scrunched his face up in concentration as he typed rapidly, almost too quickly for Savin to see.
“Something seems to be blocking any incoming transmissions,” Nem said.
“Well, can you figure out what the hell it is?” Savin asked.
They couldn’t afford computer glitches, not now. Any mistakes on their part, and they could all too easily lose Jordine’s vital support. The Hooban Queen wasn’t exactly known for being understanding. Or patient.
Savin wished Jazz were here. He didn’t even know the younger man’s exact destination, for security reasons. Jazz had gone off to recruit other allies, but -- how trustworthy were these allies, anyway? While they needed the support, Savin didn’t like any plan that put Jazz in unnecessary danger. Didn’t like any plan that separated them -- not like this.
Nem muttered, “It’s like the computer glitch is sentient or something, dude. Like -- like it knows how I work. Weird, huh?”
“Weird” wasn’t the word Savin would use. He would say something more like “deeply unsettling” or “extremely disconcerting.” This was totally bad timing. While he hadn’t thought the glitch was due to sabotage, he was starting to get suspicious. Savin pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose again and tried to ignore how tight his chest felt as he watched Nem type.
“That is pretty freaky, Nem. But I don’t think we have sentient computer viruses yet,” Alex muttered.
Savin wasn’t worried about sentient viruses but rather about whomever would have made such things.
Nem said, “You never know. Things have been strange enough around here. what with Our Esteemed Emperor and all.”
Again, “strange” was not the word Savin would use. He continued to watch Nem work on countering the glitch.
“Eureka!” Nem shouted. “It’s fixed!”
“About time,” Alex said, rolling his eyes.
The comm panel beeped, indicating an incoming transmission.
“It’s -- it’s from Hooba,” Nem breathed.
That must be Jordine, with her answer. Savin frowned; now, he truly wished Jazz were here. Jazz would know what to say if the Queen were still undecided. Savin wasn’t sure he would have the right answers.
“Let it through,” Savin said as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and tried to ignore the knot in his stomach.
“Okay,” Nem murmured, punching a few buttons.
In a matter of moments, Jordine appeared on this screen. She brushed a strand of hair out of her face, pushing it behind her ear.
Savin tried to keep his face neutral as he looked at her. “Good afternoon, Jordine. Have you -- made a decision on our offer?” He internally berated himself for even that little pause in his speech.
Jordine smirked at him, leaning towards the screen. It made Savin uneasy; Jordine’s smiling like that didn’t necessarily indicate a positive outcome for them. She seemed to be waiting to answer them, and Savin wasn’t sure how long he could stand it.
“Perhaps I have,” Jordine murmured.
“Perhaps?” Savin asked, raising an eyebrow. That didn’t bode well for them, either.
She said, “As you might be aware, I do not like the idea of allying with Second Earth’s Empire.”
That really didn’t bode well for them.
“But you might be willing to make an exception?” Savin hoped she would.
“Possibly,” Jordine muttered. “If you make it worth my while. I like the idea of Mitchel’s staying Emperor even less.”
Savin thought that maybe the only person who truly liked the idea of Mitchel as Emperor was Mitchel himself.
He said, “So how do we make it worth your while?”
They needed Jordine’s support desperately, so Savin hoped that whatever Jordine asked for, it would actually be possible.
“Make sure the unspecified ‘support’ you promised actually materializes. If I am to ally with you, I need to know my allies actually exist,” Jordine muttered.
Savin nodded. “We can do that.” He hoped they could, anyway. Jazz was, after all, out gathering support as they spoke. Thinking about Jazz made his stomach knot unpleasantly. He didn’t want to contemplate just how much danger the younger man might be in at this very moment.
Jordine murmured, “I hope you can, otherwise the deal is off. I am not supporting Second Earth all on my own.”
“Understood,” Savin said. “So you accept the offer of an alliance?”
She sighed. “I accept.”
Before Savin could say anything else, Jordine cut off the transmission. Savin nearly sighed with relief. Jordine had accepted, provided specific conditions were met. He only hoped they could truly meet those conditions. Jordine wasn’t the type to be forgiving or understanding of any mistakes on their part. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, wishing, again, that Jazz were here.
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written for writerverse Challenge #18: Weekly Quick Fic #6
next chapter