The events surrounding the past week, coupled with the shift in worktimes to the overnight hours, brought a dark, somber cloak over the mood of the workers at Meridian. While it wasn't a case of raised tempers, little was said between coworkers other than work-related matters. The administrative staff tried to apply what measures they could to stabilize the atmosphere of the Processing floor, hiring grief counselors who, over the remainder of the week, had one-to-one meetings with every member of the workforce, offering condolences and words of encouragement in the face of the upheaval of life now being endured with the raging of temperatures, and the blow of losing one of their most valued co-workers and closest friends to those same torturous conditions.
Even though under increased stress from the trauma of this week, production seemed to be holding up, even getting a slight boost, as those contracted to telecommute retained their normal hours, working from home during daylight. This tragedy had actually split the workforce into unintentional double shifts, with processing continuing nearly around the clock between those working at the facility on the overnight, and others working electronically from home through the day.
Kim had remained away from work on this week, having relayed instructions to Marcy to pass on to the zone supervisors of Processing for the continuation of daily work flow. Her main focus this week was to assist Mary in any way she could with the processes of closure of her late sister's affairs, such as contacting credit card companies and other debtors Tina had had contracts with, and going through the belongings in her house, situated on the edge of Mason Park opposite that of Kim and William's house, even helping to pack a few of the more immediate items.
Kim also gave the solid promise to Mary that her assistance would extend beyond just this week, knowing that the task of collecting a lifetime of memories and other things that remained behind after the death of a relative was not something that Kim could stand allowing Mary to go through alone.
Kim was also not going through this alone. During the week, mail chips containing sympathy cards continued to pour into the mail slot at the Hodge home, including one from the Celler environment, filled with messages of sympathy and thoughts of comfort from nearly the entire cast of Kim's show, and other Cellers close to her.
Kim and Mary actually made an appearance at Meridian late in the week, arriving on Friday shortly before Midnight. They were both showing the wear of the week's tasks, with signs of weariness peeking through their otherwise strong façade. Kim had entered the Processing floor wearing a pair of dark glasses, wanting to hide her large, now-bloodshot Celler eyes from both the caring and the inquisitive.
The two walked directly from the entrance to the floor to the door of Tina's office, now having been closed for the better part of two weeks. Kim produced a key from her purse and they entered the office, closing the door behind them and setting about the task of collecting and packing Tina's personal effects, including a series of artwork from the walls, and even a small framed autographed picture of Professor Dementor, Tina's favorite from Kim's Disney series of so many years ago, which Kim had requested be sent by Wade. Several times during the process, Mary or Kim would happen across an item or knick-knack, instantly recalling a humorous or memorable anecdote connected to the item – and the recounting of the small tale nearly always produced the same result: tears in memory of a departed sister and friend.
Toward the end of the now-shifted work day, Kim emerged from the office to engage in a short conversation with some of the supervisors and workers, trying her best to graciously accept compliments of support, coupled with hugs and other words of condolence. During the last part of the shift, envelopes had been passed among the floor, collecting further donations, and were given to Mary, also tearfully grateful for the support of the Meridian staff.
//xx//xx//xx//xx//
The funeral for Tina Drexel was held early on the following morning, Saturday the 14th, scheduled to begin at 6 AM, in light of the continual ferocious temperatures. Announcements of the service's time and date previously spread throughout Meridian resulted in an attendance of over 400 people, come to pay their respects. Lights were erected near the site to provide added light to the barely post-dawn ceremony, which was marked with a moving eulogy delivered by Kim, faltered several times as she fought back her emotions to finish the verbal tribute to her dear friend.
Tina's casket was constructed of a darkened maple, polished to a rich finish and fitted with simple bronze corners and handles. As the ceremony progressed, various of Tina's closest friends passed near the casket, stopping for a moment to reflect and deliver a few quiet words of love and support to Mary and her mother seated nearby, or just to offer a final good-bye to the coffin containing their loved one.
The closing of the ceremony, after a service delivered by a priest, was accentuated with parting tears from many as Mary and her mother rose from their chairs to each place a single white lilly upon the top of the casket, their stems crossing over one another. Their mother also bent to lightly kiss the top of the casket, offering a final farewell in a note of silent bereavement.
Tina was laid to rest that morning in a plot next to that of her father, who had passed about ten years previous from complications of diabetes.
//xx//xx//xx//xx//
The balance of the weekend was quiet; little work was accomplished in the cleaning out of Tina's house, as Mary and her mother chose instead to take this time to spend more privately. Kim chose to be rather isolated as well; after some conversation and tearful remembrances with Marcy and other people from Meridian who worked and spent time with Tina, she came home and asked for some time largely alone, which William readily understood. Kim spent the better part of this Saturday in her darkened office in the basement, lit only by her computer monitor while she purged her email program of Tina's address and messages and saved them to a mini-disk.
The shock of Tina's sudden death momentarily pulled peoples' attention away from the searing temperatures. At the same time it brought a sharper awareness of the dangers that could come with such extreme conditions and focused people more to ways to escape the ravages of the horrendous heat wave they were under.
While the heat thankfully did not increase from its current level, neither did it abate; high temperatures in the area of eastern Pennsylvania continued to reach into the mid-to upper one-hundred-teens, with lows only dipping to the mid-90's – what would usually be considered normal summer highs for the area. Another effect of adaptation to the worsened climate was that many businesses had done as Meridian, switching their hours of operation to a more nocturnal timeframe.
//xx//xx//xx//xx//
3. Vitae Nocturne
Tuesday, June 17th, 2025
6:42 PM.
Kim entered the kitchen in a light short-sleeve button-down shirt over a dark blue mid-length skirt, her mid-heeled shoes clicking lightly over the tiled floor. She set a small purse onto the kitchen table and continued to the stove, where William was coaxing a pat of butter across a skillet. She leaned to offer a light kiss upon his lips. "Hi there," she offered in a soft voice.
"Hi, Hon," William replied. "Did you get some more sleep?"
"Not all that much," said Kim, turning to peek around the rattan shades over the sliding glass doors to the back porch, "but…enough to function." She turned back in the direction of the stove, looking as if she had taken the moment to try putting a lighter expression on her face. "What's on the menu?" she asked, nodding her head in the direction of the warming skillet.
William picked up the skillet, using gravity to guide the butter across the pan in lazy circles. "Nothing fancy," he said. "Just eggs and toast."
"I could do one of each," Kim said, looking again to the glass doors. "I'm not that hungry this morn—err, evening…umm…today."
William nodded, responding by plucking an egg from the carton on the butcher block next to the stove and tapping it against the rim of the skillet, moving to let the shell's contents settle into the pan. "Same here," he said, reaching for another egg and breaking it against the skillet, "but two eggs." He then reached for a third egg, tapping and pouring that into the skillet, and setting the skillet onto the burner. He moved near Kim, who was still looking past the edge of the shades into the back yard. He settled a hand on her shoulder. "How are you doing…?" he said softly.
Kim took in a slow breath, as if trying to be cautious about her answer. "A…little better than yesterday," she started. "I think going back to work might be helping a little…I know that—" she paused for a few seconds, feeling her eyes begin to warm over "—I know Tina would want things to…pick up, just as before…the different hours are still a little hard to adjust to, though."
She then turned to face her husband. "I'm still a bit worried about Mary," she said. "She might be trying to go through things a little too quickly. She's taken a short leave from work. She said that she wants to get Tina's house cleared out this week, and maybe have some sort of garage sale next weekend or the one after that. Her brother Dan is taking most of the heavy furniture…Mary just doesn't have any place to put it."
Kim moved close to William, slowly smoothing her arms around him and settling the side of her head against his chest. William responded in kind, slipping his hands over Kim's shoulders and folding his arms around her back. Kim took in a short breath that might have been interpreted as a masked sob. Her voice in William's embrace seemed small and a bit weak. "The only other time I can ever remember…feeling like this…was when…when Angelica…" William adjusted to hold a bit tighter, feeling the tiny shakes as Kim began to weep softly, trying to control herself.
William lightly stroked Kim's hair with his fingertips. "…I know…I know, Hon," he said softly. "It's hard for anyone to deal with…but it's got to be even harder for Cellers…"
Kim pulled away a bit, looking up to William, nodding slightly. "We…we just had never had to deal with it before," she said as William brushed the trail of a tear from her cheek. "Not until Crosses started lasting longer." She then took in a long sigh, attempting to stabilize her mood. "The longer Cellers were staying…the more we saw the differences between the Celler and Flesher environments. I mean, Cellers do…pass away...in the Celler environment…it's just very, very rare, since we don't age at the same rate there." Kim then returned to William's arms. "Just…just promise me you won't…go anywhere anytime soon."
William drifted his hands slowly along Kim's back. "It's fully my intention to do everything within my power to stay here with you," he said, bringing a warmer embrace in response from Kim. "To live with you," he continued, "to love with you—" he glanced over his shoulder, then brought her to arms' length "—to burn your eggs for you," he finished with a slight smirk, turning quickly to the stove, grabbing the spatula and shaking the skillet a bit with his other hand.
Kim's expression moved to form a smile, thankful for the Flesher closest in her life. She wiped at her cheek and uttered a sniffle and a quick giggle as she watched William's rescue efforts. "Are they?" she mused.
William moved the skillet to a cold burner and edged the spatula under one of the eggs, being careful not to break the yolk. "They're not burned," he said, lifting another of the eggs. "Let's just say they have…attitude."
Kim moved to the cupboard for a couple of small plates as William turned off the stove. They met at the butcher block next to the stove, where Kim set down the plates and slid her arms around William's waist. "Just remember," she grinned, "I like my attitude sunny-side up…like my husband is."
William responded to this by looking again into the skillet. "I'm going to have to check in the mirror after breakfast," he said, turning a finger in the direction of the eggs. "I hope I'm not brown and rubbery on the bottom, like your attitude." Kim now also turned to glance at the skillet, and gave over into a helpless giggle, hugging her husband all the tighter.
//xx//xx//xx//xx//
As time progressed further into the first full week of the changes made with the "High Heat Protocol", people continued to make the adjustment to working overnight hours so as not to be as exposed to the increased temperatures. The administrative staff at Meridan made efforts to soothe the transition, keeping a wide selection of teas on hand, and coffee both hot and iced. Supervisors added floor walks to their duties, watching for those having more difficulty with working through the wee hours of the morning, either shifting their tasks so as not to be as repetitive, or inviting some to take a short half-hour "power nap" in the break room.
//xx//xx//xx//xx//
Meridian Insurance
Thursday, June 19th
12:38 AM.
Kim waved to a couple of people a few rows away as she walked along an open corridor between arrays of cubicles and continued into the break room, toward one of the sinks. She took a plastic cup from a dispenser on the counter to the right of the sink and then moved a bit more to her right, placing the cup under an ice dispenser, pressing a button to set the machine in motion, chunks and shards of ice beginning to fall into the cup.
Kim's expression became a bit pensive as she watched the ice continue to fill the cup. Ice, she thought. Who would have thought that something as simple as ice could be a life-saver. She took the now-filled cup from the dispenser, setting it on the counter, and reached for the faucet to run the water. She slid her hands over the sink and brought her wrists together, moving in small slow circles under the flow. Cool is good, she thought, savoring the sensation of the liquid on her skin. And now, cool is important. I think Tina taught everyone that…if only it wasn't such a price to pay to teach that lesson. If only we had thought to put the alternate hours in place before—
Kim mentally shook herself by her collar, stopping her train of thought —Enough, Kim, she thought. Nobody could have seen something like that coming. I'm glad I was able to talk Mary and her mother out of whether to sue the hospital until the cause of death report came back. That might have just added more grief. It was nothing the hospital did to cause her death. It was an aneurysm deep in her brain. Her blood pressure falling from the sunstroke must have actually lessened it…and when they got her blood pressure to come up, the aneurysm burst. Maybe lowering the blood pressure was her body's way of defense…she couldn't have even known that she had it. No, it would have been in her records if she had seen someone about it.
Kim shut off the water and shook her hands over the sink. She took a couple of paper towels from the dispenser near the sink, drying her hands and tossing the towels into a wastebasket. She then reached for the cup, bringing it to her mouth and passing a cube of ice between her lips, concentrating on playing it around with her tongue to break her mood. She turned to one of the televisions in each of the top corners of the break room, now continually tuned to a 24-hour news station, which was currently showing what one might first consider a Christmas scene as part of a somewhat cruel prank:
:::This is South America::: the announcer started :::but it is not the Andes Mountains. This is a scene from just outside the city of Rio de Janiero, in southeastern Brazil. It is now currently the middle of winter there, and temperatures usually range in the mid-to upper 70s Fahrenheit. This is that same region, but the temperature is now nearing the single digits...and they are currently digging out from under six inches of fresh snow:::
Kim became mesmerized to the screen as the announcer continued :::As regions in the Northern Hemisphere are baking under horrendous heat, cities south of the Equator are also suffering, but under the opposite extreme; brutal cold::: The scenes now switched in quick succession to the announcer's words :::Parts of the Amazon are beginning to clog and back up from ice floes coming from tributaries…portions of the nation of Paraguay are being buried in a blizzard raging down from mountains in Brazil…ships are trapped within the Strait of Magellan as the passage is now experiencing temperatures below zero, and large bodies of ice are beginning to form between the land masses of this shipping lane connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans:::
Kim let out an internal sigh. If only Meridian had been located in Buenos Aires, she thought. I don't think there's such a thing as 'cold stroke'…you just put on another layer of—
"There are quite a few of us who have the audio feed from that station playing on our computers."
The soft voice broke Kim's thoughts and drew her eyes from the television to a refrigerator some ten feet to the right. Kim tried to put on a slight expression of greeting and disguise. "Oh…hi Rita," she said. "Didn't hear you come in…"
"Hi Miss Kim," the slender brunette returned as she tugged slightly on the refrigerator door to open it. "I wasn't trying to interrupt you…you were watching the TV…"
"Just for a few seconds," Kim said, bringing up her cup and grinning slightly. "I came in here to get some ice…they don't put near enough in the water from the carts…it's almost like they're rationing it." She then nodded at the open refrigerator. "Lunchtime…?"
"Yeah…" replied Rita, reaching into a shelf on the door and pulling out a couple of small tubes, "…just a little yogurt…"
Kim nodded slightly, smiling a bit more. "Me too…just waiting for William to call from upstairs." She then glanced at the tubes in her coworker's hand. "Listen…you're more than welcome to come to the cafeteria with us, if you'd like something…"
Rita returned the grin, her brow raising slightly. "Thanks but…this is about all I want to eat, as long as it's this hot out," she said, letting the door close softly. "I don't dare eat anything too heavy for lunch, or I'll never stay awake until it's time to go home."
Kim nodded again in response. "I know what you mean. I usually just have a salad from the machines, or sometimes I'll make some at home and bring it."
Rita smiled again and turned to leave the break room, but stopped, turning back to Kim. "I…wanted to say," she started, "…this is the first chance I've had to talk with you since you came back…I wanted to tell you how much we appreciate everything you're doing for us…with the different hours, and all the water and fruit and other things…"
Kim's expression lightened a bit at this. "It's not a problem," she smiled. "It's the least we could do for everyone…to keep others from getting sick from this heat."
Rita now took a step back toward Kim, her eyes dropping for a second, her hands meeting in front of her waist. "I also wanted to say…how sorry we all are about…about what happened to Miss Tina." Her voice softened a bit as she continued. "She was such a close friend of yours…and a good friend to all of us here." Rita's mouth now soured a bit into a frown. "We all miss her…we really do…"
Kim felt her heart strings begin to tug at her as the slender girl spoke, noticing her face begin to fall. "Me too, Rita," she said just above a whisper as Rita sniffled to try to regain her composure, "me too." She then pulled back a step, applying reins to her own emotion. She patted her hand lightly on her chest, over her heart. "As long as Tina stays here—" she then slowly swept her hand toward the Processing floor "—she'll always…be here."
Rita nodded slowly, tracing a finger along one cheek. "Yeah," she affirmed softly.
Kim's attention was now drawn to the cell phone pinging on the clip at her waist. "There's Himself," she grinned.
Rita began to walk slowly backward toward the doorway to the Floor. "I'm going back to my desk," she said, raising a hand. "Thanks for the lunch offer." She then stopped at the doorway as she reached it. "And…thanks," she added with an attempted warm smile – then disappeared through the doorway.
That's good people, thought Kim as she reached for her cell. I wonder if Accounting would want a look at her transcripts. She's all done with college…it's just a matter of time before the right package snatches her out of here. She opened her phone, smiling at the number shown on the screen – then brought it close, noticing a buzzing coming from the earpiece. "Hello?"
:::…Hivv thhrrf…Rvvdzz fvv szzmm lzzchff?:::
Kim slowly brought the phone from her face, closing one eye and raising her eyebrow at the device. She brought it back to her ear. "…William?" she asked cautiously.
:::Hvvlov?::: the phone buzzed again. :::Knndzz ffzzff:::
"Waaay bad connection, Hon," said Kim. "I can't make out a word."
:::vvIvv czzntf unvf-trzztnnd yvv::: the phone continued.
Kim started in the direction of the doorway, thinking that the many machines in the break room might be causing the interference. "Let me get out here a bit," she said as she walked a few feet out onto the floor. "Okay…better?"
:::Novvvvtff cmmffvng tffhroozzz::: The static through the line was heavier now, fuzzier.
A woman seated a few feet to the left of where Kim was standing turned to her, catching her attention and motioning to her monitor. "Server's down," she said.
This sentiment began to echo across the floor with people reacting in different ways to the loss of connections, some bringing a hand down on their desk, others with groans of "Oh, no" "Aww, man" and other expressions of frustration.
Kim looked over the floor for a moment as peoples' annoyance spread. She turned back to the phone. "Too much static," she said. "Meet me in the caf in 15…we have a little bit of a problem down here." She closed her phone, looking down to the clip at her waist, sliding the phone into it.
As she raised her head to turn toward her office, the room suddenly became an eerie scene of soft greyish-blue light as the fluorescent lighting over the entire floor went out, leaving only the glow of the hundreds of computer screens at the cubicle desks. The sudden loss of light was quickly accompanied by a stoppage of the normal office background symphony – hundreds of mouse buttons and thousands of key clicks reaching a halt as abrupt as that of the lighting. This was joined by another, louder series of groans from the floor, coupled with a few short shrieks.
Kim brought a hand to her forehead. "Ahh, not againnn," she moaned. She stood in the darkened glow for a moment until a series of twin-head emergency lights bathed the floor in a harsher, but only slightly brighter glow.
Kim stepped into the series of cubicles nearest her. Zone supervisors across the floor were taking the same action, moving through their respective assigned areas. "Alright, people," Kim said, walking among the cubicles, "we're set up to handle this. It's just another power outage. If it was something else, the system would have sounded specific alarms."
She glanced at a couple of screens as she continued along a row of cubicles. "The emergency generators will run for about another 15 minutes. Please write down the number of the claim you're working on and the policy number, and save the claim to your local drive. Then proceed to close your software properly and shut down your terminal. When you're done, leave your desk and go out into the hallway. There are people all through the building with flashlights who will guide you down the stairs and then outside. Once you're out there, don't leave, but wait there for more instructions. Try to stay near other people in your zone, so your supervisor can address everyone at once."
The symphony began to spring back to life as people went to work saving their current tasks and shutting down their systems. Kim watched several people recording their current work item information on notepads, leaning forward a bit to see by the relatively weak light from their monitors.
Kim then raised her head to look over the floor as a few of the supervisors had turned on flashlights, shining them to light the floor for workers as they left their desks, assembling near the edges of the expansive room. A low buzz of conversation began to flow over the floor as people congregated away from their desks, the tone a mix of slight relief and an underlying apprehension over this latest interruption to the work flow.
Kim reached to her waist next to the phone clip for a small flashlight, twisting the head to turn it on. She shone the beam between the cubicles of the row she was standing in as people began to rise from their desks and cautiously started through the maze of cubicles to the edge of the floor. As the section she was in began to empty out, Kim started behind them, pointing the flashlight to the floor ahead, near their feet.
As she neared the front of the room, Kim stopped at a cubicle, placing her hand on the shoulder of a familiar face. "Coming?" she grinned down.
Rita turned to Kim, pulling her phone away from her ear. "Yeah," she sighed. "I was just trying to call my boyfriend at work to see if his power is out too…but all I'm getting is static on my cell phone. I can't even get a signal to dial." She brought up the handset to her desk phone in an offering motion. "This isn't getting through, either. It just rings a couple of times, then goes back to a dial tone."
"I was having some trouble, too," Kim said. She then gave Rita's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "C'mon," she smiled, "let's get outside with everyone else. You can try on my cell once we're out there." Rita smiled at this and reached for her purse.
So it's not just cell reception, Kim thought as the two started for the hall with the others. No matter which phone William would have used, it would have been just as staticy.
They continued to make their way along the edge of the room, with Kim making a small side trip to her office to collect her purse and lock the door. As they moved toward the glass doors leading to the wide hallway, Kim looked out over the movement of the workers from Processing, now being joined by some of the people from other floors, looking for a friend or colleague. She noticed the still strange glow of the mass as they moved under the emergency lights, such a contrast from the normal illumination of the large overhead fluorescent lighting, made even more so by the incident taking place in the middle of the night.
Every now and then, the beam of one of the flashlights would stray from lighting the way of the crowd, lifting to a directory on a wall or to the glass-enclosed bulletin board near the array of elevators. There was also the seldom occasional flash of a cell phone camera as people took pictures to record the event for posterity and future conversation. The entire scene was soundtracked by a low hum of conversation ranging from talk about how this outage would set production back, to more casual anecdotes of family and things recently heard or read.
As the crowd neared the end of the wide hallway and began to funnel into the doorway leading to the stairwell, Kim brought her resolve to file this experience as another surreal element to be recorded and stored with other occurrences in the last month of her life. This isn't getting any better, she thought as she stopped to let a couple of people ahead of her into the stairwell, staying more to the rear to light the way of those near the back of the crowd. Sure, there have been power outages before, no big…but not this many, all at the same time…and so widespread. And it doesn't help that Mother Nature has her tweak on with all this heat everywhere…while the other half of the world is going Ice Age. None of it makes any sense. Maybe…maybe some of this might be a little easier to deal with if…if there was just some point to it…something it was all going toward or leading up to. That way we might prepare for that and just…deal with what's going on now, and—
"Miss Kim?"
"Hm?"
Kim's train of thought was once again stuttered by Rita's voice. The lithe young brunette was standing about four steps down from the top of the landing, her hand extended slightly. "Are you okay?" she asked.
Kim shook herself out of her moment of inner observation, trying to sneak a smile of slight sheepishness onto her expression. "Sorry," she said, starting to descend the stairs. "Just…thinking for a minute and…got sidetracked, I guess."
As Kim met her on the step, Rita nodded and reached to take her hand as they began to walk down. "I understand, Miss Kim," she said. "With all the horrible and crazy things going on all over the world lately, it's hard to keep a straight head sometimes." Her head dropped a bit as they rounded the mezzanine and continued toward the landing on the next floor. "It…it almost feels as if it's…building up to something…like some movie plot—"
Rita's words stopped as Kim did, halting on the third step down, turning slightly and raising her head as her arm took up slack.
"—but we're…not in a movie," Rita finished slowly, catching Kim's expression of surprise and slight shock at her words.
"Okay…" Kim said through an exhale, "scaring me…you're in my head. I was thinking almost that exact thing up there at the top of the stairs—" she stopped for a beat "—I, mean, the building up part…not the movie part." She took a step down to meet Rita, closing the gap. "I mean, look all over the world," she continued. "There wouldn't be this many people dying in a movie, unless it was some kind of…slasher flick." Kim's face then slid into a slight smile, a mix of sheepishness and embarrassment. "…and the look on my face when you said that would probably make it some sort of comedy," she finished with a slight smirk. The two women broke into a quick chuckle at the lighthearted ending comment, then turned to continue down the stairs to catch up with the people moving through the doorway at the landing to the main floor.
As they made their way through the stairwell doorway leading into the Main Lobby, they joined with the rest of the 1,100-member Meridian workforce that had congregated there, a large portion of the people already moving through the large pairs of double doors in the glass-enclosed atrium of the North entrance. Even though the height of the emergency lighting only cast the lobby in a soft, weak light, it still provided a rather stark contrast to the darkness outside.
All of the double doors of the Atrium had been blocked open for easier and quicker egress of the crowd, now spilling out across the large expanse of concrete steps and ramp making up the entrance to the building, expanding across the curb and out into the parking lot and the night's swelter. Flashlights were now whipping onto people's faces as each of the supervisors moved to congregate the people from their zone into loose but localized groups. People from other departments and floors also filtered to their designated groupings so the heads of their departments could get a cursory head count. Lighters and matches also came into play as well as small flashlights some had with them, used to identify a nearby face or to ascertain immediate location.
The concept of surreal revisited Kim's thoughts as she and Rita stepped out onto the ramped walkway, also moving down toward the curb, Kim leading the way, Rita once again finding Kim's hand as she kept close. As Rita cherished the contact in the dark, Kim also welcomed the sensation of friendly touch in the face of this sudden plunge into darkness.
Kim looked up to her left, to the east, toward downtown. The scene was unfamiliar without the landmarks of Eastgate's skyline casting their incandescent and neon signatures against the night sky. Other than the artificial flit or flicker of flashlights and the beams of headlights from the occasional vehicle passing on the street, a slightly less than quarter moon hanging midway in its ascension cast the only light onto the assemblage. The almost oppressive closeness of the evening's heat lent yet another less-than welcome element to the sudden incident.
Kim was pulled away from her observations, turning back to her right at some short conversation some 20 feet away: "Yes, she and Rita were going over that way." This was followed by a "Thank you" from a familiar and welcome voice.
Kim raised her flashlight in that direction almost out of instinct to catch the face of her husband, now making his way in their direction, with Marcy close behind. "There you are," said William, squinting a bit from the sudden light.
"Right out here with the rest," Kim grinned, lowering the flashlight beam. "Seems to be the place to be tonight."
Kim felt Rita's hand slip from hers as William and Marcy approached, the movement seeming to be a bit quick, yet tinged with a slight hesitance. "H-hi, Mr. William," said Rita, a barely-noticeable waver to her voice. "Hi Miss Marcy. I was—keeping Miss Kim company…safe in the dark…"
Kim turned back to Rita with a smile, then back to receive a kiss from William as he moved next to her. "If you watch over her the same way you do with other things at work," Marcy said, joining the group, "I can't think of her being in better hands on the Processing floor."
This was met with a rather obligatory grin from Rita, coupled with a low titter. She then began to turn toward a group in the crowd. "I'm…I'm going to go look for Mike and Alysyn," she said, tipping a finger toward the crowd. "My supervisor is probably wondering where I am by now…"
Kim reached to take the hand of the slender brunette. "Hang on," she smiled, turning Rita's hand palm-up. "Take my flashlight, so you won't get lost."
"…But…"
"You can give it back to me next time I see you. No worries," said Kim, widening her grin and placing the light into Rita's hand, giving it a pat.
"Thanks, Miss Kim," nodded Rita, who then turned to move into the crowd, raising a hand in a wave. "Bye, Miss Marcy, Mr. William." She then started to make her way along the edge of a group, the flashlight's beam flitting occasionally onto the heads of people near her as she went.
Kim watched for a few seconds, then turned back to Marcy. "I've been meaning to talk with you about her," she said. "I'd like someone in Accounting to take a look at her resume. She's got to be passing them out like playing cards, now that she has her Associates…and I'd like to see her stay with Meridian."
"I can do that," replied Marcy. "I'll put on the list to give Anna a call—" she then took a glance around at the darkened scene "—once things get back to semi-normal."
Kim joined Marcy's look over the mass of people, a slight raising of her brow conveying her thoughts before she spoke them. "Well…does this leave us where I think it does tonight?" she asked.
Marcy paused for a few seconds – then let out a long, slow sigh. "It probably does," she said resignedly. "It wouldn't be fair to have everyone out here sweating for half a shift waiting for the power to come back on—" she then pressed a button on her watch to read the lighted face "—it's already after 1…and everyone will have issues to deal with at their homes, without power."
With this, she turned more toward the crowd, cupping her hands to her mouth. "Can I get everyone's attention?" she shouted. "This is Marcy Delgado. We can't have you out waiting in this heat for the lights to come back on…we're going to pack it up for tonight." As the buzz of conversation rose among the people at this news, Marcy again raised her voice. "We need everyone to calmly go to their vehicles…and go home for tonight. If there is anyone with things left inside they need to take with them, go back to the entrance and go to the Information Desk. We'll have people who can lead you back to your departments to get what you need." She then brought down her hands for a second – then resumed the pose. "Either call sometime tomorrow to find out if we have power, or listen to the radio for announcements. Thanks, everyone…and hopefully, we'll see you all tomorrow night."
The crowd began to disperse in different directions, most moving toward the parking lot; some turning back toward the building to retrieve items from inside. While there were expressions of pleasure and relief of being released from the short suffrage in the evening heat, these were also mixed with short conversations of concern over how this most recent interruption of power would mean increased workload and stress once people returned to work.
As the assemblage further dissipated, William turned to Kim. "Anything you need to get from inside?"
Kim held up her purse, William barely making its shape out among the darkness. "I'm good to go," she said.
"Me too," added Marcy. "the security staff should have everything else handled. I'm ready to call it a night—err, day…" She finished with an exhale. "Oh well," she said, trying to adopt a more optimistic tone, "one day it will be winter, and the temperature will actually drop to a humane level."
Kim had to giggle at this. "There's the spirit," she piped. "I'm not the biggest fan of snow, but I'd gladly walk to work through six inches of new-fallen instead of dripping out here in this."
Now Marcy joined in the chuckle. "There's a wish I never thought I'd have," she said. "Hoping that it actually gets cold enough to snow this year."
William brought a handkerchief from his pocket and patted over his brow. "C'mon, Hon," he said. "Let's go drip at home in front of the fan and listen to the radio. The generator will keep us going until the power comes back, if we're stingy with it."
Kim adopted a wide smile. "Air and radio…that's all I need." The two turned to begin across the parking lot to their car, Marcy walking in much the same direction. "I'll get in touch with you tomorrow," said Kim, "one way or another. If the phones are still acting up, I'll drop by."
"Sounds like a plan," Marcy replied with a wave. "Talk to you then."
Kim and William continued to their car, climbing in, with Kim flittering eight fingers at the vents on the dash in a come-hither motion, uttering "Gimmiegimmiegimmiegimmie" as William turned the key. The sudden onrush of air, cooler as it went, caused Kim's eyes to close slowly, a dreamy smile crossing her face as the air conditioning began to cool the interior of the car.
As they arrived at home, William took the opportunity to register a small complaint, having to enter the house and go into the garage through the door to override the opener. While he did so, Kim set about making a small lunch for them – a light salad and some diced chunks of melon, with lemonade to drink. She kept the low hum of the generator in the basement as an ever-present background thought, using only the lights she needed to prepare the meal and keeping the refrigerator open no longer than it took to retrieve or replace containers or ingredients.
If the slew of power outages in recent months had taught one thing, it was the conservation of reserve resources in order to ride out the interruptions in this summer of oven-like temperatures.
//xx//xx//xx//xx//
1:59 AM.
With their meals ready, the two moved into the living room, where William turned on a small lamp to light the room and a small desktop radio while Kim brought the food and drinks on a tray and set it onto the coffee table in front of the couch. As they started in on the salad, they listened to the national 24-hour news station – something they and others had become accustomed to in recent times.
:::Good morning, this is GNN Nation's News Insight. I'm Mike Soto, reporting from Los Angeles, as our New York offices are closed…which brings us to our top story this hour. New York and the surrounding area are part of what is being called the largest contiguous power outage in the nation's history. Nearly the entire eastern third of the country has suffered a sudden, massive blackout, affecting more than 140 million people from the tip of Florida, north along the Atlantic Coast, through Maine and even parts of Canada. The blackout also reaches inland over parts of Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee. Other areas around the country are reporting small localized areas of power disruption:::
Kim interrupted her open-mouthed stare at the radio, turning toward her husband. "…140 million…" she whispered slowly.
"That's nearly the entire Eastern district coverage area," said William. "At least we won't be alone in being behind."
:::Around the country, governments at the local, state and federal level, in addition to scrambling to restore power, are also moving to help those left vulnerable in the face of the unprecedented heat and previous power outages. The larger buildings in cities are being converted to huge multi-story cooling centers, their air conditioning units kept running by massive generators during periods of no electricity. Even now, reports are flooding our studios of large numbers of people already beginning to amass at these centers. Local police are being stationed near the centers to control any outbreaks that might occur, and larger cities such as New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta and others have put in calls for the National Guard to back up law enforcement and crowd control efforts:::
Kim and William now both looked at one another, both of their mouths slightly agape at the tone of the news continuing to pour from the radio.
Kim rose quickly from the couch and into the kitchen, reaching into her purse on the dining room table. "I don't care how late it is," she said, shards of concern tainting the tone of her voice, "I need to see if I can get hold of Ki. They're supposed to be getting out of school in the next week or so, and if it's bearable on campus at all, I'm going to tell her to stay put and we'll come and get her."
She had returned to the couch by this time, already having opened her phone. She brought it to her ear as she settled on the cushion, listening for a second – then pulling it away, closing it and quickly reopening it, repeating the motion. Her brow furrowed as she pulled it away again, closing it more slowly. "…Nothing but static," she said quietly as she brought the phone down to her lap, her other hand moving to clasp the phone between her hands. "I can't even get a dial tone."
William moved to slide his hand over those of his wife, coupling a soft touch with a slight reassuring squeeze. "Let's look at the positives," he said. "Ki is on a campus with several thousand other people. If they're having the same problems there that we are here, I'm sure the Powers That Be on campus will be doing things to keep the kids safe during this." William then let out a small exhale of a chuckle. "And it's not as if our cute little daughter can't take care of herself—" he moved to count points against his fingers with his thumb "—a full Black Belt in Karate…college courses in law enforcement, including firearms…not to mention having another Black Belt there as a boyfriend…"
As she heard this, Kim began to tilt to her left, into William's arms, snuggling further into his embrace as his other hand moved to slowly stroke her hair, "You know…sometimes…you take all the fun out of parental worrying," she said, giving a slight smirk. She then settled a bit more against him, her expression shifting to a warm grin. "But tonight…you've taken the worrying out of worrying." They sat for a few seconds – then Kim began to chuckle softly. "Ki has another weapon at her side, too—" This brought a slightly quizzical expression from William until Kim finished "—an angered Monique." This brought them both to laughter.
//xx//xx//xx//xx//
University of California at San Diego
La Jolla, CA
Geosciences Research Division
Lab 2-A
Friday, June 20th
3:18 AM.
Jennifer looked up from her monitor as Nathan came slowly sideways through the now-propped open door, moving carefully so as not to jostle a large box in his arms. Once he had passed through the doorway, he slowly turned straight, his face showing his relief that he hadn't jarred the box, then continued his change of direction to the back of the room where a metal table had been brought in, sitting against the wall.
Jennifer tipped her head in the direction of the box. "They're all in there?" she asked.
Nathan managed a small smile, looking down into the box for a second to an array of water-filled plastic bags, then back to his colleague "This is all of 'em," he replied. "…All but one of the neon Tetras…those things are expert net dodgers. One of them hid in a shell while I was getting the rest…I didn't find him until after I had emptied the tank and was cleaning the other stuff. He just fell out of the shell. By that time, it was too late to save him."
"Neon Tetra," mused Jennifer. "That's the ones with the little stripe down their sides?"
"That's them," nodded Nathan as he continued toward the back of the room.
Jennifer grinned. "Those are the ones that Janey calls 'the racing fish, 'cause they have racing stripes'."
"Yeah," Nathan said as he carefully set the box onto the table next to a rather large aquarium tank. "I wouldn't tell Janey about the one that…left the race, though…she'd be heartbroken, and I don't think I could live that down."
"Funny how the fragility of a seven-year old heart can impart such guilt. I don't know that she'd miss one, though. Don't you have quite a few of those kind of fish?"
"Well, twelve," said Nathan, coming back toward Jennifer's desk, "but she counts them every time she's at the tank. She might notice. I'll see if I can pick up a couple more before she sees them again." He then turned for the doorway again, reaching into a pocket for his keys.
"Do you have much more to bring in?"
"Just some clothes and a few toiletries."
Jennifer's face now slid to a warmer expression. "You know…my offer is still standing. You're more than welcome to stay with me and Bobby. The kids would love to have another science person around the house, and—" she turned to glance behind her desk to the black vinyl couch against that wall "—you'd definitely have a more comfortable place to sleep."
Nathan responded to this with a bit of a smile. "Your offer is really generous," he started, "…but I think this would be better." He brought his arm in an arc across the room. "I'm close to the work…if something hits me in the middle of the night, I don't have to worry about writing it down until I get here…and you just can't beat the commute." His smile then twisted to a bit of a smirk. "And us spending that much time in close proximity might affect work—" his smirk grew a bit more "—not to mention what effect prolonged exposure to a bachelor lifestyle might have on your kids."
Nathan held the smirk for a few more seconds – until Jennifer broke the emotional standoff, letting a "Pffsss" of a snicker escape from her lips, her head shaking slowly as she lowered it. Nathan's face broke into an open-mouthed grin, and he clutched his keys, turning to walk through the doorway and down the hall.
Jennifer raised her head to watch her colleague continue along the glass-lined hallway to the door at the end of it, then turned her attention back to her monitor. "Bobby was a bachelor when I met him," she said to herself in a low voice, a bit of mock smugness to her tone. "It's not that hard to take out of a man…it's like weeding a garden…just take out the weeds, and they're fine."
She turned back to the task she had been working on, entering figures into a database, when the unexpected ringing of the phone on the left of her desk caused her to jump a bit. She turned and reached for the handset. "Geosciences…" her expression flipped to a second of mild surprise, then lightened. "Well, hi there," she smiled. "No…some, but not too much. They must be having some success realigning the satellites to compensate for the static. Doing alright, I guess…things are still operational here, anyway. This is a bit of a pleasant surprise…never talked with you on the phone before." She then listened for a few seconds. "He's here, but he's outside, bringing some things in…he's actually staying here at the lab for a bit…there's no power at his apartment, and no way to beat the heat." Jennifer then glanced to the tank and box at the table near Nathan's desk. "Yep, he just brought them in a little bit ago," she chuckled. "He's just waiting for the tank to cycle before he puts them in."
Jennifer spotted Nathan approaching down the hallway, carrying a suitcase with a smaller case under his arm, his other hand holding the hooks of a group of hangers full of clothes slung over his shoulder. "Hang on just a few secs," Jennifer said into the phone. "He's just coming back in with a load of stuff now." She pressed the "hold" button and turned to the young dark-haired man as he came through the doorway. "Hey, Bachelor," she smirked, tipping a finger at the phone, "you have a call…and interestingly enough, it's not a woman."
Nathan moved into the room, placing his clothes and cases onto the couch. "You'll have to just imagine my chagrin," he grinned as Jennifer breathed out a snicker. He walked back to his desk, sitting at his chair and reaching for his phone, bringing it to his ear. "Spencer," he said into the mouthpiece – then listened for a second, his brow lifting with a bit of the same surprise Jennifer had. "…Ted?" he said with a shard of disbelief. "—y-yes. You'll…have to excuse my surprise, I wasn't expecting a call. No, the static is mostly background." Nathan then tried to shift back into a more professional nature. "I take this to mean that you've heard something from the NASA people."
Nathan went silent, listening. As the seconds continued, Jennifer first shifted her eyes, then brought her head in the direction of her colleague as he was still quiet. After about 20 seconds, Nathan also lifted his head, a look of disbelief returning to his expression. "That's…" he started, "…say that again…?" The pace of his voice now quickened a bit. "Hang on, Ted. I want to put you on speaker, I want Jennifer to hear this." He moved to press a button on the desk receiver, his other hand pulling the phone from his ear, the last three fingers motioning Jennifer over. She rose from her desk and moved to stand in front of Nathan's as he set the handset onto the desk, in front of the phone. "Go ahead, Ted," Nathan said.
A low hiss served as a constant backdrop from the phone speaker :::Hi again, Jen:::
"Hi," returned Jennifer. "Nathan said you had something…?"
:::I do,::: replied Ted. :::I was just telling Nathan, I had just finished a teleconference call with Maryn and some other people in Houston. I wanted to talk with him right away, if the phone lines were up to it. They've…found something in the last 12 hours or so…something that might partly explain what's going on with the climate and sat communications.:::
Jennifer moved to retrieve a small stool from near the wall, pulling it to sit next to the desk. "Okay."
:::They said that they put together some information they've gotten from satellites in geosynchronous orbit…once they regained their signals, that is. They're saying that they're…not as geosynchronous anymore.::: Ted paused for a moment to let his statement take root. :::All their satellites are…misaligned. They thought that it had to do with the fluctuations in the magnetic fields, going by the data I had sent them from Nathan." He paused again. "But it's not just that. They found that the positions and orbits of every satellite around the planet have…shifted…at least, that's what they first thought. But the info from the geosynch sats told them the real story.::: Another short pause, with a few clicks of a keyboard being heard. :::It's the earth itself,::: he said. :::Over the last couple of weeks, the magnetic fields, the poles…even the tilt of the planet…have all been changing…:::
Jennifer and Nathan looked at each other without a word for a few seconds as this news began to sink in. Jennifer was the first to break the silence. "H—how…much of a change," she asked cautiously.
:::They told me that the overall strength of the fields is now roughly about half of what it usually is, factoring in normal fluctuations,::: Ted continued. :::They got most of the core data from Nathan's findings. They also said that within these last couple of weeks, the poles have been on the move. The North Pole is currently just north of Federova, in Central Siberia…at about 77 degrees latitude…:::
Jennifer interrupted him. "Ss-seventy-seven?" she stuttered. "That's…that's a shift of—"
:::About 13 degrees,::: Ted finished. :::And they're showing almost the same change in the tilt of the earth, in the opposite direction.:::
"That would explain the broiler conditions in the Northern Hemisphere," said Jennifer, "and the deep freeze in the Southern…but…why??"
Now Nathan spoke up, leaning toward the phone. "This…this doesn't make any sense," he said. "Where are the signs and effects? The earthquakes? The tsunamis? Never mind the timeframe…a shift even half that size would be a cataclysmic event! The tectonic plates should be doing the Watusi all over the place! This planet should be shaking itself apart right about now."
"That's the unknown factor," Ted said. "They're not exactly panicking…but they're sure scratching their heads over it. They're working day and night to try to find something. But you have the same clues on that that they do…no increase in seismic activity."
Jennifer nodded in agreement with this. "Nothing out of the ordinary."
:::I don't mean to break this news and run,::: said Ted, :::but I'm due at a conference with some people here in Seattle about this. Nathan, I've forwarded you an email from Maryn with some of their data. Let me know if you see anything they don't.:::
"I'll dig into it," Nathan said. "There has to be a missing piece to this, somewhere."
:::Have at it,::: Ted said. :::Good to finally talk with you, Jennifer. Take care, both of you. I'll keep in touch with anything else they give me.::: With this, the line clicked and went to silence.
There was a short moment where Nathan and Jennifer's gaze rose from the phone to meet each other; Jennifer showed a bit of disbelief striped with a tendril of worry pulling one brow upward. She was frozen to the stool, continuing to watch Nathan as he reached for his briefcase, feeling as if she were suddenly lost for thought at the revelations Ted had given them, and at the same time wondering if the motion of her dark-haired colleague was the beginning of the spark of a discovery that had hit him.
Nathan opened his briefcase, bringing out a small brown address book. He opened it on the desk, leafing through a couple of pages – then placed his index finger on the book, pinning down an entry. His other hand extended to the phone, picking up the handset; he glanced back and forth between the book and the phone keypad as he punched out a number, then brought the handset to his ear. "Hello? Hi. Do you have power? Backup generators…wonderful. I was wondering how late you're going to be open today, with the shifted hours and all. 8 AM? Fantastic."
Jennifer's brow raised a bit further as Nathan continued. "I'd like to arrange a withdrawal from my account…both…I'd like to arrange to withdraw the entirety of both checking and savings, less any fees and the minimum to keep both accounts active. Spencer… Nathan…last four of my social is 6621. Yes…yes, one moment." His hand left the address book, moving again into the briefcase to bring out a dark blue checkbook, which he opened on top of the address book. "Okay," he said into the phone, "the checking account ends in 48516…and the savings account ends in…51782. Yes, I'll hold."
Jennifer leaned a little to the desk. "What are you doing…?" she asked in a low voice.
Nathan cupped the mouthpiece, swiveled it down under his chin and leaned forward a bit. "I'm cleaning out my accounts," he said in a hushed tone. "If I were you, I'd be calling Bobby to go do the same."
"But I thought…NASA isn't— Ted said they're not—"
"I don't care what they are or aren't," Ted shot back, still in a low voice, pulling the phone a bit further from his mouth. "They have the facts…but it sounds like that's all they're looking at. They're space people, Jen. Their focus is on what's up there, spinning around us. We're geoscientists. Our focus is down here…and that's where the changes are taking place. You heard what they found…now look at the facts. Look at what you know about sudden changes in magnetic field strength. These things shouldn't be going on without consequences." Nathan's face now showed a more serious expression. "You mentioned my obsessive nature the other night, and 'bleeding the truth'…well, this can't go too much farther without the 'truth' breaking out and hemorrhaging all over us. Something should be coming from of all these changes. Something big. Whatever it is—" Nathan suddenly broke the conversation, pulling the mouthpiece back up. "Yes…okay…no, no, I don't want a cashier's check. I'd like the entire amount in cash. Right, then put your supervisor on, I'll speak with him."
Nathan's words and the growing desperate tone creeping into his voice slowly pulled Jennifer from the chair and back toward her desk. She kept glancing back at her colleague as she sat into her chair, reaching for the phone and dialing, attempting to smooth her concern while listening to the rings. "Hi," she said in a somewhat cheery façade. "Are the kids home? Okay. Listen…I want you to pile them into the car and head over to the bank. I need you to empty out the accounts, but leave just what's necessary to keep the accounts open…yes, all of that, too. I'll explain when I get home. No, no, nothing serious…it's just that—please, Honey, I'll explain everything when I get home. Okay. Thank you…love you. Bye."
As she placed the handset back onto the receiver, Jennifer looked back to Nathan, who had risen from his desk and moved to the aquarium, dipping a plastic strip into the water and holding it there for a moment. He then pulled the strip out, studying the color for a few seconds. "This is just about ready," he said. "Time to start moving the kids in."
Jennifer stood and started toward the back of the room as Nathan brought one of the plastic bags from the box, four small fish inside. He didn't open the bag, but placed it into the aquarium, releasing it slowly to let it float. "Got to get them used to the temperature of the tank," he said, reaching for another of the bags. "Just about a minute. Then I can open the bag. This is actually water from when the tank was set up at home, so I can add it right in."
Jennifer now joined Nathan at the box, peering in to see the arrangement of the bags. "You're…awfully calm, for someone who just a minute ago was talking about 'something big' coming."
Nathan brought out a third bag, cradling it in his hand, looking down at it. "I think that's one of the few curses about this work," he said, now raising his hands to look at Jennifer through the bag, two goldfish milling about in the water between them. "We can study facts, we can report trends and indicators, we can observe cause and effect…but we can't really have much effect on what we observe." He turned to the tank, slowly lowering the third bag into the water, careful not to cause much disruption in the surface as the bag settled into a float. "Knowing what I know, and knowing what I've been told…I can have some idea about what to expect…but I can't do anything to change it. All I can do is to get as ready for it as I can…and after I come back here from the bank, I will have done everything I can do to get ready."
Nathan now turned from the tank to his colleague. "I hope I'm wrong, Jen…I hope that I'm flat wrong, and would even take being called 'Chicken Little' by you, and Ted, and others for a while." He then looked into the box to pick out one of the less-populated bags. "But what I hope is being eclipsed by what I know…and my Masters in this field right now…is going against everything I'm hoping."
Jennifer had little more response than to nod slowly as the weight of Nathan's shadowy premonition began to sift into her thoughts. "…Yeah," she said through a breath.
to be continued…
