Heartbreak

By: Jason Cline

14:47 August 4, 2066 – Wagon Gap and Yucca Drive, Austin CAS

Kaitlyn Henricht knocked patiently on the door of the recently repainted ranch style house in the suburban neighborhood of Round Rock. It wasn't the first time she had knocked, or even the second but she knew that Tousi was home and she had no intention of leaving without speaking to her. It appeared that, at least in this case, third time was indeed a charm because the door opened. Kate hadn't been certain what to expect but when she saw the teenage dwarf standing at the door she lowered those expectations by a factor of four.

The girl was a mess.

Amanda Velez, the Hacker known as 2C, was something of an oddity in hacker circles in that she actually cared about how she looked. Well, to be more accurate, she cared about her physical appearance in a more 'mainstream' way instead of choosing to look like a Neo-Punk enthusiast or a cartoon character. She actually made an effort to dress well, even using makeup in a way that was considered normal in polite society.

And truth be told she was actually a very attractive young dwarf, with caramel colored skin and deep brown eyes accented by naturally thick lashes that Kaitlyn spent at least a half an hour any time she went dancing with her friends to achieve for herself. Her hair was always professionally dyed and currently was close to her natural shade of black with red layered underneath in a way that only shows up when she tosses her hair around.

At the moment however the teen was dressed in baggy sweat pants and a short sleeved tee shirt that was obviously meant for a man emblazoned with some logo that had faded so much it was barely perceptible anymore. Her hair was unkempt and it was obvious to anyone that she had been crying. But far worse than any of that was the melancholy aura that surrounded her. The sense of sorrow was so strong Kate hardly needed to open up her senses to the Astral to feel it radiating off of the young girl.

"Hey Kaitlyn." Tousi said in a slightly husky voice.

Kate put on a big smile and said, "I'm here to take you for ice cream."

Tousi smiled sadly, "Ice cream Kate? What am I five? I appreciate the concern but I'm fine…really."

"You're not fine. And you need to talk about it." Kate pushed past Tousi and made her way into the kitchen. She had only been to the Velez home twice before but years of living behind the Wall in Bug City had taught Kate to quickly memorize floorplans. Especially potential escape routes.

"Oh great, Psychology 101 rears its ugly head." Tousi muttered as she shut the door and followed Kaitlyn into the kitchen.

"C'mon Tousi talk to me. It's been days and no one has heard from you." Kate did a quick sweep of the room with her Astral Senses, not really expecting to find anything more out of habit then returned her focus to the physical world and gave Tousi a kind smile.

"Whadda you want me to say? We were dating…now we're not. I guess he wants to finish our senior year with his options open or something…" Her tone was casual but Kate could see the hurt in the young girl's eyes as she spoke.

"What an ass!" Kate said, "I never liked him anyway…I mean have you ever met a Chad that wasn't a total dickhead?"

15:10 August 4, 2066 – The Orchard Apartment Homes Unit 2136, Austin CAS

"Evenin' Chad." A voice called out of the darkness.

The teenaged dwarf stiffened and reached for the baseball bat he kept in the corner by the door but his hand came back empty.

"Yeah it's not there. And don't bother hitting the button…I'll be long gone before the Star could get here."

Chadwick's hand stopped a few centimeters from the PanicButton near the door. The intruder was right, even in this middle class neighborhood Lonestar response time was ten minutes at best. His mother would be home in an hour and a half after picking up his little sister at daycare and his father not long after that, but for the time being he was on his own.

Chadwick Martin weighed his options. His thermographic vision could pick out the outline of a human sized figure sitting in a chair in his living room. Without the lights he couldn't make out any fine details but he was pretty sure the guy wasn't armed, whereas Chad was a black belt and could bench one hundred kilograms.

Casually flipping on the lights Chad addressed his intruder, "So who da frag are you?"

Even with the lights on the human's face, for now Chad was certain the intruder was human, was still in shadow.

"The new girl seems nice. A bit older than you I think but honestly all you kids look the same to me these days."

New girl? Did he mean Lori that college chick he was hooking up with? Was this fragger following him?!

Chad took a threatening step towards the living room, "I said who the frag are you?"

The intruder leaned forward to reveal a black haired man with an eyepatch and three red scars passing from his eyebrow under the patch to his nose and cheek.

"I'm a friend of Amanda's"

15:11 August 4, 2066 – The Velez Residence, Austin CAS

"I mean I don't even date guys usually. I'm much more attracted to girls really, but there was just something about him" Tousi said miserably.

Kate sat opposite the young girl at the breakfast bar in the kitchen nursing a glass of water and listening intently.

"I mean he wasn't perfect but I've never loved anyone the way I loved him you know." Tousi wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "How could he do this to me Kate? We were supposed to be together forever."

Kate moved around the bar and took wrapped her arms around the sobbing dwarf. She held her for a moment, shushing her and rocking.

"Is it me?" a muffled voice asked. "Was I not good enough?"

"No sweetie…it wasn't you. It just wasn't your time." Pulling away to look at her Kate smiled sadly. "Look…my childhood was *not* normal. I really only had one serious boyfriend before Chicago so I don't know what teenage love is all about. But I do know one thing. This hurt you feel will go away eventually. Not soon…but it will. Heartbreak is part of life. The only way to avoid it is to never feel anything for anybody and that's no way to live. Trust me I've seen people try it."

Tousi stepped out of the embrace and took a sip of her water in awkward silence.

"You want me to fuck him up for ya?" Kate asked with a smile.

Tousi snorted.

"I mean I won't kill him or anything, just break something. Nothing important just a toe or something. He doesn't need all ten toes right?"

"He's a football player at school so yeah he actually might need all his toes." Tousi replied.

"Wait…you were dating a football player?" Kate asked incredulously.

Tousi grinned sheepishly, "Yeah?"

Kate just shook her head but something in the young girl had changed and she could sense it. "Look things are crap now but just hold on it will get better. One day you will meet someone who…" Kate began to pace gesturing airily with her hands, "Who drives you crazy! And makes you laugh. And can be so…clueless! But who knows the totality of you better than anyone else…and loves you so much it takes your breath away! Someone who believes in you and supports you even when you doubt yourself. Someone who helps you be the best version of you that you can be. And makes you feel…" Kate shrugged her shoulders, "worth it."

Kate stopped pacing and turned back to find Tousi staring at her with glistening red eyes, "Promise…" the young dwarf whispered.

Kaitlyn wrapped her arms around Tousi once again her own eyes glistening with tears, "I promise."

The two hugged each other for a time before Tousi asked in a quiet voice asked, "Can we still get ice cream?"

15:12 August 4, 2066 – The Orchard Apartment Homes Unit 2136, Austin CAS

Chad eyed the intruder for what seemed like eternity but he didn't budge. Nor did he seem like he was going to say anything so eventually Chad broke the silence.

"You a friend of Amanda's huh? What that slitch sent you to scare me?" Chad took a step towards the living room rolling his neck to get the kinks out. If this asshole wanted a fight he'd be happy to oblige.

"Don't call her that."

There was no anger in the intruder's voice. Not even any undertone of threat. Just a simple request. Somehow that made it worse. Chad had made it into the living room at this point and was standing right in front of the intruder glowering at him. He just continued to sit there, perfecting still. Too still a part of Chad's brain told him. It wasn't normal to sit that still.

"Yeah and what if I do?" Chad replied, but some of the bravado was slipping away.

"I don't think you understand what I'm doing here kid." The intruder leaned back in his chair to shade his face again. "I'm not here to hurt you, I'm here to give you some advice."

"Oh yeah" Chad said crossing his arms over his chest. "What's the advice?"

"Take down those photos of Amanda you posted."

Chad bowed up again and grunted, "Why would I do that? She was eighteen when we took them so they ain't illegal."

The intruder shrugged slightly, "Well that's debatable because you posted them without her consent but that's not the issue. You see right now Amanda is hurting. The love of her life broke up with her and soon she will discover is hooking up with a new girl less than two weeks later. He even posted the photos she took only for him on some skeezy Node for anyone to drool over. Or worse"

Chad shrugged his shoulders dismissively, "Whatever. She shouldn't have sent the pictures if she didn't want them to end up online."

The intruder leaned forward and stared hard at Chad, "I'm not here to argue with you Chad, and once again you are missing the point. Right now Amanda is hurting. But soon she's gonna get mad. And when she does she is going to rain digital fire down upon you the likes of which you have only ever read about in religious texts. You'll be lucky if you only get arrested for posting those pictures without her consent. You think she sent *me* here to scare you? Kid I'm not half as dangerous as she is, trust me on that."

The man suddenly stood up and Chad took an involuntary step backwards. The intruder looked down at Chad and said, "She will *un-make* you kid. So I'm telling you, take the pictures down while you still can."

Without another word the intruder stepped past Chad and headed for the door. As he stepped out the door he turned back and said, "Oh and you probably should get better locks. I understand some real assholes live in this building." Then he closed the door and left Chadwick Martin alone in his apartment to consider his future.

18:11 August 4, 2066 – Amy's Ice Cream, Austin CAS

Nick spotted the two ladies immediately after entering. They were seated and what had become Kate's 'regular spot' after numerous trips to the ice cream parlor over the last year. Apparently college is stressful and ice cream alleviates that stress. Nick wasn't about to argue the point.

Leaning down to give Kate a kiss he said, "Sorry I'm late babe had something to take care of." Then sat down in front of the now lukewarm coffee that Kate must have ordered for him when she arrived.

Looking across the table to Tousi he asked, "How you holdin up?"

"I'm better." The girl replied, "Not great but I'm getting there."

Nick nodded, "Glad to hear it." Then he added, "Yeah I heard about that Node your pictures got leaked too. Pretty shitty thing to happen. It would sure be a shame if some vigilante Hacker were to bust in and get a list of everyone who posted on the site then give it to Lonestar. I hear they might be offering a reward for that information."

Tousi smiled and it actually reached her eyes this time, "Yes…that would be a shame wouldn't it. But first I think I want more ice cream." The young dwarf shimmed out of the booth and headed towards the main counter.

Kate smiled after Tousi and once she was out of earshot said, "I didn't know Lonestar was offering a reward for that kind of information. When did that start?"

"About 37 minutes ago when they became aware of the problem. They aren't offering a big reward but I suspect anyone who did the job wouldn't be doing it for the money anyway."

Kate smiled warmly at Nick and said, "You know she looks up to you right?"

Nick snorted, "Who Tousi? God I hope not! I ain't exactly a great role model."

A complicated look crossed her face and Kate leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, "Yeah you're right. Nothing to love here…" then got up and joined the dwarf at the counter leaving Nick to wonder if he had missed something.