Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil; For You are with me.
Psalm 23:4, NKJV
23-11-8 22-4-7-7-8-22-23 4-22-19-8-6-23 18-9 15-12-9-8 21-12-10-11-23 17-18-26 12-22 23-11-4-23 22-6-12-8-17-6-8 10-4-23-11-8-21-22 14-17-18-26-15-8-7-10-8 9-4-22-23-8-21 23-11-4-17 22-18-6-12-8-23-2 10-4-23-11-8-21-22 26-12-22-7-18-16.
12-22-4-4-6 4-22-12-16-18-25
Monday, 3rd March, 2104
Well, this is new: I'm home from work early by one whole hour. Ah well, tonight looks to be the end of a good one, I'm practically skipping out of the hovervan.
"Heya Emmy, I'm hooome!"
"Goodness gracious, Corrie? I thought your shift ended at seven-thirty!"
"Well, I'm not complaining."
"Neither am I, but what happened?"
I lead her to the back doors of the van, swinging them open.
"A cancelled order?" She gasps, "At the last minute?"
"Yeah. It was going to be my last one for the fortnight, it's quite a specific one."
She walks over to the crate and kneels at the InfoStamp.
"Nineteen exact quantities of Regular Nectar," she reads, "Was heading towards an anonymous person in… Oxford University? Goodness Cor, you would've clocked in overtime!"
"Yeah. Wonder if Jaxx told a buddy of his about us."
"I hope he's doing alright there. We haven't seen him since Christmas."
"Eh, I'm sure he's fine. He's got the brains to survive if he can study atoms to death." I jump into the back and grab the hand truck, while Em pulls out the ramp, "How's everyone going?"
"Ed and Ell, or…"
"All of us here." I shove the crate onto the stuck.
"Oh! Right, erm, we've just had dinner, but we saved some for you, so…"
"Aw, you shouldn't have," I shake my head before wheeling out the crate, "I've had some on the shift. We can have those leftovers for breakfast tomorrow, if you want."
"Ooh, yes, good idea."
"How are your parents?" I push the ramp away so Em can close the doors, "They doing alright?"
"Erm, yeah! They are… They're fine without me, I suppose…"
It doesn't sound right.
"You sure Emmy?"
"Yeah, yeah of course!"
"Did you text them today?"
"…Well, no. Not yet."
"Do it now," I try to play it casual, "Tell them I just came home earlier. They'll be fine with it."
"Alright, alright!" She holds her hands up as she pulls out her phone, "I'm texting them now."
Even in the low light, I can tell her shoulders are tense. Is she okay?
"Do you… Wanna talk about it?"
She glances up, splinters of worry in her eyes which I haven't seen… Since we were kids.
Okay Emmy, not now.
"Err, I have enough room for dessert."
"Ah, of course you would," she smiles fondly, shaking her head after hitting send, "It's culture night for dessert, so it's good you have space."
"Whaaaat? When was this a thing?"
The fresh smells of pastries slap my face the moment I step through the door and I'm instantly starving. It's taking a lot of willpower to not drool. Or drop the hand-truck so close to my feet.
"Cora? You're back already?"
"Oh hey Edd! Yeah, had a cancelled order. What's up?"
"Eh, nothing much. Still somehow made of holographic pixels. Tord and Tom respectively helped Laurie out with some homework and school life, and Matt's still trying and failing to become a walking encyclopaedia for all the future stuff. I guess it's the only other weird thing."
"No it isn't!"
"Well you're the one who screams every time an insect or something flies through your face!"
"I do not!"
"Sounds like life as usual." I roll my eyes and snicker. "What about Tord though?"
"He's borrowing Laurie in the kitchen."
"He's what?"
"Skole-what?"
"Skolebrød," the Norge grins, "She's been doing a great job making it so far!"
"They're Norwegian custard bread rolls," my sister leans on the kitchen bench, her goldilocks hair half-tied back and her jacket sleeves pulled up, "Tord was trying to open the cupboard and pull out the ingredients, but since he can't touch any physical thing apart from the walls… Yeah, I ended up being his hands when I finished dinner."
"Your sister's a fantastic cook, Cora!"
"Oh shut up!"
"You are!"
Ping!
"Oh where are they from this time…" Laur mumbles while pulling up a holo, "Huh! Well whaddaya know! Sidney's won his case!"
"Well good for him!"
"Hva? Sorry, what's going on? Who's Sidney?"
"Did we... Ever tell you?"
He slowly shakes his head.
"Nei, I don't think so… Wait, Laurie, is it with the Phoenix thing you've mentioned before?"
"Well, come have a look," Laurie waves him over, "It should explain everything."
THE DAILY BLARGH, 3RD MARCH, 2104
PEPPER TO ASHES
It's been almost one full year since Sidney McCoy shut down his technological enterprise Phoenix Industries and became judge, jury and executioner for the aptly named case 'Firebird vs Pepper'. Today, he walks out in victory and justice, with dangerous drug lords behind bars. Tony Rees was tasked one last time to document the courthouse events.
"Ohhhh, right, the Phoenix thing, I getcha. McCoy…" he muses, "Sound like an Irish name."
"Probably is," Laur shrugs, "Do you guys want to read on?"
"Wait, didn't you need a subscription to that newspaper to read the rest of the articles?" I recall.
"Not anymore!" She grins.
I facepalm. Of course.
"You can kind of blame me for giving her the idea."
"Tord!"
"Hva? I did stuff like this too back in the day!" he protests. "Plus, it's very easy to get past it!"
I deadpan at Laurie's cheeky grin, but her puppy eyes are asking the one question she hasn't given up on since last month.
No. Not the right time. It'll be the right time when it comes. Leave it.
She pouts.
Wait a minute, something smells like burnt bread.
"Oh, crap!"
"Psst. Ehhh, Cora?"
I glance away as Laurie tries to yank out the bread.
"What is it, Tord?"
"Can I have a word with you after dessert? It's about Laurie and this whole Phoenix thing."
"Sure."
I haven't had a homemade dessert this deliciously sweet in a long, long time. I'm guessing Emily and Laurie are on the same page as me, even though Em's trying to deny it.
"Cora, I hope you'll wash it down with water when you're done," Emmy reminds me, "We'll have to ration these over the week if you can- goodness Corrie! We know I'm full but don't steal one of mine!"
"Rations, Emmy? Come on, these are good! Laurie is a freaking genius for making these, I could seriously- hey, don't give me that face, I'm not eating the whole lot!"
Laurie's in barely suppressed giggles, hiding her pink cheeks behind her jacket collar and hands while Em shakes her head, facepalming. Looking around the temporary low-table in the living room, Edd casually smiles and shrugs in that 'eh what are ya gonna do' way, whilst Tom is trying to maintain a deadpan face, though I doubt he's succeeding internally. Matt's confused as usual.
But Tord? He's struggling to hold his own laughter.
Um…
"Tord, are you okay?"
He looks up around the seven of us before his eyes meet with Laurie's and they both burst out laughing.
"Laurie, Tord?"
As the two of them are clutching themselves, I look to everyone else for answers, but they're all just as confused as I'm feeling now.
"I wouldn't bother with it if I were you," Edd waves it off, "It'd be better to leave them at their own jokes."
"Probably a lame one anyway."
"Tom, how can it be lame if they're laughing so hard at it?"
"Don't worry about it Matt," Em sighs, "It's no big deal to us."
I casually take a bite out of my skolebrød, finding a soft smile on my face.
Just another day of the new normal, I guess.
Tap tap tap.
"Who is it?"
"Just me, not to worry Cora."
"Tord? …Right, we needed to talk. Wait, how are you knocking?"
"Well I can't walk through walls, so I guess it's my only form of physical interaction. Aside from Laurie's own hologram sheets, but that's the part which makes sense."
I quickly pull on my pyjama pants and hoodie before opening the door.
"Come in. It's not much, but it's at least a decent space."
"Jeez, it kinda reminds me of Edd's bedroom when we used to share a house.
Oh god.
"Not bad! Not bad at all! I'd say you have the best room of the house, Cora."
"Laurie has a secret expansion to her room, making it the biggest of all the house, and you say my room is the best?!"
"Did I stutter? Look," he sighs as he sits down on the floor, "About Laurie."
"What about her?" I grab a pillow off my bed and join him on the floor, back against the mattress. "Edd mentioned you and Tom were helping her out."
"Well, true, but… Ah, it's only part of the story. Look, is it weird to say I'm kinda concerned for her online life? Apparently she got her holograms from some brat cousins of hers? Because they framed her for a god-awful prank and whatever the hell it is they did?"
Man, if he only knew they were also his descendants…
"Mm-hm. Our older brother actually struck a deal with our cousins' dad over Christmas. He caught them in the act of almost blackmailing her or whatever it was."
"Oh, I hate them even more than when I looked at their search history.
Don't laugh don't laugh don't laugh…
"Oh, because I was looking into their search history, I found that, err… It's not pretty. Cora, do you know of Anonymous?"
"Well, yeah. Global shutdown and all from a few decades prior, the myths of a successor, all that sort. Is this about Legend of Legion?"
"So you know!" He nods, "Look, I don't know how else to break it to you, but Laurie's started getting into their message boards.
What?
"It's nothing awful so far - in fact, a few members are celebrating her takeover of her cousins' accounts and holograms, from what I've read in chat threads."
"Sounds like classmates."
"Well, maybe. I think I know a user with some cat in their profile isn't one of her classmates. But it's not the point. It's the fact she's looking at messages and news relating to this Firebird case."
"…Why would she look into Legion about Phoenix?"
"There's some members on the message boards who claim they're either from Phoenix before it shut down, or are close to them, stuff like that… And they all say this Sidney guy isn't what he used to be before. Especially since he got some relative involved in the case. Look, I know i-it doesn't make total sense, Cora. But this Phoenix stuff? And the links and message boards to Legion? I don't think it's safe for Laurie to dive into. At least, not alone."
I find myself shaking my head. He's right, but…
"Tord, the internet has come a long way since it started over a hundred years ago. Laurie should be safe, right? The law's gotten better over guiding and governing the internet."
"Cora, I was there for Web 1.0 and beyond. I saw a lot of garbage on those sites which I don't even want to remember. There were awful things I've seen, awful people I interacted with, awful behaviours and thinking I had to un-learn later in life. I needed to get away from those crowds. So did Edd, Tom and Matt. If we didn't, I'm sure our mental and social health would've spiraled far beyond even into screwing over our physical health.
Yikes.
"And if I know the internet, it's difficult to tell the difference between good and god-awful places and mindsets if you're online all the time. It was because I learned to tell the difference that I climbed up political ranks in Norway from just a social media manager to the deputy Prime Minister- Wait, did I ever tell you I was deputy Prime Minister of my own country?"
Believe me, our cousins are still living off the inheritance.
I shrug and shake my head again.
"Well, you've told me now. But… I don't want to be a butt over her internet life. I know it's my job to be a kind of third parent to keep her safe, and I can…"
"Good! Perfect!"
"But I don't know how. This is the first time I'm living on my own. I don't want to screw up."
"Oh don't worry. You will."
"Tord!"
"But you'll learn from those things! That's what makes it fun, Cora! You focus on what you can - friends and family, yourself, all the little things that need your attention. And in the meantime, I can look out for her when you can't. I can keep details on Legion and all this Phoenix stuff. I've already started looking into the weird coding that's… Ehhh, messing with us? Look, I don't know what this coding does, but you deserve some peace of mind time to time. E-even Tom's offered to pitch in to help."
"So that's where he comes in."
"Ugh, yes. Look, long story short, we have a bet going on, I'm hoping he loses so I can keep my money, but he's agreed to help Laurie through school life and maybe even mental health if it ever comes to it. I can help out with the math homework, but he's helping her with everything else."
So much for the both of them being mythical rivals.
"…So like, fairy-ghost parents?"
"Oh, shut up."
"I'm not wrong."
"…No, you aren't."
"…Thanks for telling me 'bout all this, Tord. Glad to hear it. I guess I needed to."
"Hey, don't worry. Laurie's going to be okay."
"Erm, just wondering, before you go."
"Yeah?"
"What were you and Laurie laughing about at dinner?"
"I… Eh, I don't even remember. Something stupid. Agh! Ugh..."
He flinches and rubs his neck.
"You alright?"
"My neck's cold for some reason. Like, a cold pinch."
"Weird…"
"Well, don't worry about it. It's my problem to deal with. Goodnight Cora."
"Night Tord."
Phew.
As he leaves my room behind and I shut the door, I don't find myself heading into bed.
Instead, I'm heading into my wardrobe.
Okay, I take it back, today isn't a 'new normal' day and I'm blaming that crate.
I haven't thrown it away as usual, but I've actually managed to sneak it into my wardrobe after dinner. Not sure why though. Come to think of it, why did dad have me and Laurie throw the cancelled orders away instead of repurposing them? Hell, what is even in those drinks anyway?
Staring at the crate with intent eyes and a low light in the wardrobe, I let my imagination wander down a peculiar path. I wonder about so many things, not stopping till I'm in bed, about to lull into sleep.
But…
What's in the box?
Author's Notes:
Me a few weeks back: ah! End of act one! Finally I have some time to work on Act Two of EGC and do uni!
Me today: Oh it's the 15th of April.
Me:
Me: OH I HAVE TO DROP THE NEW CHAPTER TOMORROW
So yeah. We're back in the bi-weekly-per-month posting hours. So far as of typing this message, I'm almost a little over halfway done with editing and partially rewriting this Act, but uni is going to be demanding a LOT more of my time as the weeks go on. Don't be surprised if I end up being late or go on a quick hiatus to catch up with myself.
But in other news, enjoy the cozy vibes while you can. :)