Chapter twenty one: Pandoras Box
September the 14th 1987: Goiânia, Brazil:
A man was toiling in his junkyard on the evening of September 14th. Devair Alves Ferreira had purchased a capsule from two worthy colleagues and garbage collectors. Wagner Pereira and Roberto Alves said this capsule was valuable and Devair Ferreira could process it further. He sawed around the capsule with a hacksaw. His wife, Maria Gabriela Ferreira, came to him.
(Maria Ferreira)
"Devair, o que você ainda está fazendo aqui? A comida está pronta. Não quero deixar esfriar."
(Devair, what are you still doing here? The food is ready. I don't want to let it get cold.)
(Devair Ferreira)
"Sabe, Maria, se eu trabalhar até tão tarde, encontrei algo valioso. Mas você sabe como é."
(You know, Maria, if I work this late, I have found something valuable. But you know how it is.)
(Maria Ferreira)
"Tudo que é valioso é difícil de obter?"
(Everything valuable is difficult to obtain?)
(Devair Ferreira)
"Exatamente. E as merdas que Wagner e Roberto sempre trazem para mim são particularmente difíceis de abrir. Mas, acredite, definitivamente vale a pena."
(Exactly. And the shit that Wagner and Roberto always bring to me is particularly difficult to open. But, believe me, it's definitely worth it.)
(Maria Ferreira)
"Por que?"
(Why?)
Devair turned the capsule over and a small amount of white, blue shimmering powder fell out.
(Devair Ferreira)
"É por isso. A cápsula inteira está cheia disso. Nunca vi nada parecido antes. Deve ser valioso."
(That's why. The whole capsule is full of it. I've never seen anything like it before. It must be valuable.)
(Maria Ferreira)
"Eu não confio em tudo."
(I don't trust it all.)
(Devair Ferreira)
"Você não confia em muitas coisas. Volte para dentro. Entrarei direto em casa."
(You don't trust a lot of things. Go back inside. I'll come into the house soon.)
Maria left. Devair Ferreira continued do saw with the hacksaw, not knowing that this was a terrible mistake.
December 15th 2040:
Mia ran around in the house of the Louds. Or, better said, in the house of Rita, Lynn senior and Lynn jr. Sam and Luna were away again to give a concert. So Mia stayed with them for a few days. And Mia enjoyed it every time. She ran around, playing catching me if you can with Lynn Junior. Lynn got never too old for this. But Lynn got started when she heard a loud noise in the basement. She looked downstairs, and saw Lori together with Lily holding a large wooden box, which was covered in dust and labeled with, "US ARMY: CONTAINS HEAVY WEAPONS." Lynn shook her head.
"What are you doing down there?"
"We get something." Lori said.
"And what exactly?"
"Maschinengewehr Einundfünfzig." Lily said in german.
"Say it in English. Nobody except you understands this language." Lori said to Lily.
"Machine gun fifty one. And I have to say it in german because its how it is called officially."
Lynn stepped away and shook her head. Mia looked at her.
"What are they doing?" Mia asked.
"Getting some stuff."
Lori and Lily came out of the basement with the wooden box, and put it on the floor. Lori stretches herself.
"My god how heavy is this thing?"
"Around ten kilos." Lily said.
"How could you run around with that thing?"
"Not only with the MG51, also with the Karabiner 31, weight is around four kilos, and with around 400 Bullets GP11."
"Forget it. I don't ask."
"This question was legitimate."
Lynn went together with Mia to Lori and Lily. Both were curious.
"Can you open it?" Mia asked.
Lily looked at the box for a few seconds, and then opened it. It lay in the middle of straw. The MG51. With the three spare barrels and two fully loaded 250 round belts lying next to them. Lily took the machine gun by the pistol grip and the handguard of the barrel. She was silent, and Looked at it. At every detail. From the swiss Cross to the label, «Waffenfabrik Bern», and the form of the Muzzle.
"Habe ganz vergessen wie schön du eigentlich bist."
(I forgot how beatiful you actually are.)
"Lily!"
Lily looked at Lori.
"Are you getting a flashback again?"
"No."
Lily stepped towards Lori, and stretched the MG51 to her.
"You wanted to see it. Here."
Lori took it, and looked at the Bolt. Or at least, where she suspectet where the bolt had to be. Lily opened the Feeding system. No Bullet was in. Lori shouldered it, and yelled the few german words she knew.
"Schneller! Nein nein nein! Vorwärts!"
(Faster! No no no! Forward!)
Lily understood what Lori yelled, and knew it was nonsense. Lori Gave the MG51 back to Lily, wich she layed back into the box.
"I can make it ready to operate if you want." Lily said.
"We could test it in a forest." Lori answered.
Lily bent to the box and opened the belt feeding system.
"I have to clean it, but then it would be fine."
"Thats sounds like we are gonna have fun in the forest."
"Or you gonna have fun while Lily is feeling nothing again." Lynn said.
"Now don't mock on her like that." Lori said.
"It's a fact."
"Come Lily. We go."
Lori and Lily closed the Box, lifted it up and carried it outside, where the car from Lori was. They opened the lugguage compartment, and put the box in it.
Lucy walked next to the river, with learke. Snow was on the river bench, but the river itself wasnt frozen. Laerke was with her. Both of them wearing black jakets.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Lucy said.
"Is like Grønland." laerke said.
Laerke was visibly happy about goin outside in the snowy landscape. She jumped in a pile of snow, and Looked at Lucy.
"Me a snigskytte. Defend against Amerikans."
"You're a what?"
"Snigskytte. Pew pew."
Laerke probably meant sniper. She started making snowballs. And of course, threw it on Lucy. Laerke laughed and started saying nationalist slogans.
"Forbandede amerikanere! Længe leve Vestergaard! Længe leve Store Danmark!"
(Damn Americans! Long live Vestergaard! Long live Great Denmark!)
"Stop that Laerke!"
Laerke stopped, and looked mad at her.
"Hvorfor?"
"Because Rasmus Vestergaard was a worse Slobodan Milošević."
"Hvem er Slobodan Milošević?"
Lucy was surprised that she understood Laerke speaking danish. She gave her an answer.
"A bad guy."
"Vestergaard er ingen Slobodan Milošević!"
Laerke made her statement clear, and threw again a Snowball at Lucy. Lucy made a snowball, and threw it at Learke. Laerke threw three snowballs back, and buried herself in the snow pile. Only her big eyes were visible.
"Snigskytte."
Lucy walked to the pile Laerke was in.
"We could have done the same thing in the park or in the garden of my parents. We are here because of the river."
"Try det. Snebunken is good."
Laerke wanted Lucy to lie down in the snow too. Lucy lay down in the pile of snow next to Laerke.
"So, and that's all?"
"Maybe we find mus to eat."
"Whats a mus?" Lucy asked.
Laerke made the noises of a mouse.
"You eat mice?" Lucy asked shocked.
Laerke nodded proudly.
"Great Vestergaard told us to eat mice. Making big and strong. I catch three mus at day."
Lucy looked at Laerke with big eyes and looked at the river again.
"Dictatorships have no culinary culture."
"Hvad?"
"Nothing. It's not important."
Mia and lynn Jr still played hide and seek. Mia now wanted to get the best spot to hide. She entered the Garage. It was dark, and perfect. She hid behind a box, that was out of metal and had a yellow writing on it, with a black symbol on yellow background. The symbol looked like a propeller. It was, scary to look at it. Mia went back to Lynn.
"Don't wanna play hide and seek?" Lynn asked.
"What does a black propeller on a box mean?"
Lynn looked at Mia. She now knew she did something wrong.
"Were you in the garage?"
Mia nodded.
"Just, just don't go to the garage, okay?"
Mia nodded again.
"Did you close the door?"
"No."
Lynn went to the garage. Mia heard her closing the door. Lynn came back.
"Anything else you wanna play?"
Mia shook her head.
"Nevermind.. Let's prepare lunch and forget what happened."
They went in the Kitchen. Lynn didn't want to let Mia know what this box in the garage meant. And what happened years ago.
Year 2027, May the 10th:
A Radio Played in an old Mercedes W123. It wasnt the dream Car of Lana, but now, a bread costs 31 Dollars. Be Happy with what you have, was the thinking. 17 year old Lana drove the 24 year old Lynn, 15 Year old Lisa and 12 Year old Lily to the Scrapyard. Raccoon time, as Lana said, to make it sound less bad. It was simply just looking for something useful, or something that had enough worth, to repair and sell it again. Rummaging through garbage cans was simple, not the opposite of searching through a junkyard. Lana drove on the Junkyard she had permission for to get on and look for stuff. Lana parked her car, and Lily got out very fast, climbed on the Scraphills, and looked around like a meerkat. Lynn looked to her.
"Did you find something?"
Lily looked to Lynn.
"We just got out. I need to start looking."
"Just don't act too much like a meerkat." Lisa said.
"Could you please stop calling her a Meerkat?"
"Why? They're cute." Lana said.
"She's not a Meerkat."
Lily jumped from the Scraphill, and Lana, Lynn and Lisa only heard that she was basically digging around, and it made a lot of noise. The Noise stopped, and they heard lily climbing the scraphill, and when they saw her, they noticed that she was holding a microwave.
"I found a microwave."
"Well done. Bring it here." Lisa yelled.
Lily came to her, and put the microwave down. Lisa looked at the microwave, and lily was already gone again. Lynn and Lana went on the scraphills to find valuable trash. Microwaves, Washing machines, or computers were the best to get. Lynn looked around. And there was something. Another microwave. Lynn took it, and walked back to Lisa. Lisa was looking at a big grey capsule, wich was brought to her by Lily. It Looked heavy.
"What did you find Lily?" Lynn asked, and put the microwave in the car.
"I don't know. It looks like a battery." Lily said.
"It could be something important. I put it on the car and will store it safely in the garage." Lisa said.
"Why?" Lana asked, holding a big AC motor.
"I'd rather be careful."
Lisa took it, and put it in the lugguage compartment. Lily ran away, and disappeared behind the scraphills. Lana walked to the car, and put the AC motor in.
"Thanks for motivating Lily so much." Lana said to Lisa and Lynn.
"No problem. I promised her that we would go on the train again." Lynn said.
Lana looked around, making sure Lily wasn't around.
"Are you crazy? Do you know how expensive train tickets are?"
"She sold two of her locomotive models to make money for us! We could at least thank her for that. Plus, she doesn't play with the trains anymore to save electricity and therefore money." Lynn said.
"Come on Lana, we could at least give that to Lily. After all she did for us." Lisa said.
"Okay. Do it. But look that we don't lose money. Two month ago, bread costed 28 dollars. Now it is at over thirty!"
"We get it, inflation hits hard."
"That's right! I haven't filled my damn old Mercedes with diesel for a month! I put heating oil in the tank to save money!"
"Heating oil?" Lynn asked.
"Diesel engines also work with heating oil. However, this is illegal." Lisa said and looked at Lana.
"I know this is tax evasion! But what should I do? Diesel costs four fucking dollars a liter! Heating oil costs half that!"
"I get it. It's too expensive." Lynn said.
"At least, radio is free." Lisa said, and turned on the Radio in the car.
She turned the volume up. But the music ended, and the news came on.
"No music either. Great." Lana said annoyed.
«Breaking news: The Swiss military leadership had confirmed that an upgrade of nuclear weapons had been completed. The state in Central Europe had caused a stir in previous years with massive rearmament programs. The nuclear weapons doctrine is not known, but military experts suspect that the weapons will be in the form of classic weapons Stealth bombs, long-range flying-wing bombers of the Pilatus-17 type are used. Said aircraft have the ability to reach Moscow or London unnoticed. This makes Switzerland the number eleven nuclear power, alongside Serbia, which completed development last year.»
Lana, Lisa and Lynn looked at each other.
"Yeah, fuck Radio, let's just do what we have to do here." Lana said and turned the radio off.
"Bad news after bad news." Lisa said.
It rumbled. Lily found another microwave, and a blender.
"I found more."
"That's good Lily." Lynn said.
Lily ran again onto the scraphills. Lynn, Lisa and Lana looked at each other.
"At least Lily is okay." Lana said.
"Really? What Lily is doing is degrading. She's called a rat at school. She suffers more than anyone else and doesn't even notice it."
"Then let's help her!"
Lisa walked on the scraphills. She turned back to Lynn and Lana.
"Make sure you find something good."
Lisa disappeared behind the Scraphill. Lynn and Lana looked at each other, and started looking for trash again.
Lori sat in front of hartman. Both sat on wooden boxes, of unfused and non live HE-Shells, in the magazine. Hartman Looked at a pregnancy test, that showed two stripes. Both were silent, until Hartman broke the silence.
"Congrats... This is, this is wonderful."
She looked at Lori.
"That was from our visit to the NY docks. When we had some maintenance. Last April. Your husband and you were away in the city for a few days."
Lori nodded. Hartman looked at her, and then back to the pregnancy test.
"Intended or an Accident?"
"Accident. We got very drunk one night and woke up in the hotel bed without memories... and without clothes."
Hartman nodded.
"I see. A liquor bottle baby."
"You can call it that way…"
Both looked at the ground.
"I see that you can leave the ship in five months. That is a lot of paperwork that comes."
Lori nodded. Hartman stood up.
"Take the rest of the day free. Or tomorrow if you need it."
Lori nodded again.
"Hey. Don't be depressed. This seems fucked up. Trust me. My Boy was made in the break of a game from the new york Yankees. Too much beer and a lonely basement of a baseball stadium. But you know what this has no influence to?"
"What?"
"No matter if you want a child or it's an accident. A good mother loves her child."
"I guess... My little sister Lily, you remember her?"
"The little girl that drank my vodka at your wedding? Oh I can't forget her. Was she an accident?"
"Yeah… And she… My parents love her."
"See. A loving mother of an unintentional child. And I know you kitty. You will be such a mother. Now excuse me, I have to go. And please, dont go near the Uranium Projectiles. We dont want your child to get messed up."
"Aye Captain."
Hartman left. Lori remained sitting. How should she tell that to Bobby?
Lisa, Lana, Lynn and Lily drove home. The Radio played music. They were kinda happy with the things they found.
"So what did we find?" Lynn asked, sitting next to Lana who drove.
"Three microwaves, a washing machine, a fan heater with a broken rotor, and a capsule that Lily found." Lisa said.
"Is the capsule valuable?" Lily asked.
"I don't know what it is and if it's valuable. I throw it in the garage and take a look at it in a few days or weeks."
"Can you use it?"
"Probably. We will see."
They kept driving. Lana stopped in front of the house. They put the Microwaves and the washingmachine in the garage, and Lisa threw the capsule in the garage. They Closed the garage.
"So... anyone hungry?" Lana asked.
"No... I have to go." Lynn said, and ran into the House.
"Medicine, as always." Lisa said.
"They are still covered by insurance. With emphasis on still." Lana said.
Lana checked the gas of her car. She wrote it on an iPhone 16.
"Two liters of heating oil. Way too much."
"You sound like old Grouse before he bit the dust." Lisa said.
"We also have to save money sometimes. Grouse did the right thing."
"I'm upstairs." Lily said, and went in the house.
"So, when repairing trash?" Lana asked.
"It's called, when do we repair trash. And I look when we can do that."
Lola stepped out of the house.
"Where are you going?" Lana asked.
"We have a gig tonight. For money. So I make money for us!"
"At least your drumming skills are useful then."
"Oh fuck you Lana! My drum skills were always useful!"
"She's fast like a Spider, you have to admit that Lana." Lisa said.
"That's true."
"Yeah. Bye." Lola said, and left.
Lola went through the streets, and entered a few minutes later a bus. The bus took her through whole Royal Woods. Lola got out at a stop, and walked to the Railway Tavern. She entered, and showed her friends her middle finger.
"Hello dear motherfuckers!" Lola yelled.
"Fuck you Lola!" Her band member yelled.
She walked to them.
"How are the drums?"
"We put them together. It should work."
"Wonderful. Let me try it."
Lola sat at the drums, and took the drumsticks. She started banging a beat out of the drums. She felt every pound of the drum on her skin.
"Oh yeah, that's perfect." Lola said.
Tom, the band singer came to her.
"Goddamn this beat lets me cream over." Tom said.
"Don't look at my tits and focus on the beat, Tom." Lola said.
"You dream of someone who looks at that."
"And you dream of someone who blows your wiener. But that ain't gonna happen too."
"Goddam fucking shit!" the second band member, Clint, yelled.
Clint was setting up the radio based microphones. A peeping was coming from the speakers.
"Did you tune that shit into the beeper?" Lola asked.
"Well else, what does sound like a beeper?" Clint yelled angry.
"Try channel two."
Clint switched to the second channel. There, they heard nothing.
"Perfect. No interference." Tom said.
"Then nothing will stop our gick tonight." Lola said.
"Exactly. And this gick is in, oh, one hour. So, lets do our stuff and prepare ourselfes."
Lola and Clint nodded, and went to their own business. At the evening was the Tavern was full of people. Clint tom and Lola stepped on the small stage. Lola sat on the little chair at the drum, Tom took the bass, and Clint took the Electric guitar. Tom spoke into the microphone.
"Good evening. I don't know how you are feeling, but I want to play something aggressive."
Tabby, a friend of Luna, who was in the audience yelled something.
"Silent Scream!"
Tom pointed at her.
"Silent Scream! Perfect!"
Lola tipped the drumsticks together, and started with a fast beat. Tom and Clint started with the Bass and guitar. Lola started playing really hard on the drums. Tom started singing.
«Nightmare, the persecution
A child's dream of death.
Torment, ill forgotten
A soul that will never rest.»
Lola looked at the side to Tom.
«Guidance, it means nothing
In a world of brutal time.
Electric, circus, wild,
Deep in the infants mind.
Silent Scream»
She felt like there was something with this song.
«Bury the unwanted child.
Beaten and torn
Sacrifice the unborn.»
Lola remembered now.
«Shattered, another child
Bearer of no name.
Restrained, insane games
Suffer the children condemned.
Scattered, remnants of life,
Murder a time to die.»
This song made her think about Lincoln
«Pain, sufferaged toyed,
Life's little fragments destroyed.
Silent Scream
Crucify the bastard son.
Beaten and torn
Sanctify lives of scorn.»
Clint started a guitar solo, that took twenty seconds at least.
«Life preordained
Humanity maintained.
Extraction termination
Pain's agonizing stain.»
Hearing the lirics let her feel as she would glorify Lincolns death.
«Embryonic death,
Embedded in your brain.
Suffocation, strangulation,
Death is fucking you insane.»
Death fucked Lola enough insane, since Lincoln left the world.
«Nightmare, the persecution
A child's dream of death.»
Lola knew that the song was ending soon.
«Torment, ill forgotten
A soul that will never rest.
Innocence withdrawn in fear.
Fires burning can you hear
Cries in the night.»
They finished. The Audience cheered, and Lola was just happy that the song was finished.
"Could we play less satanic music now?" Lola asked Tom.
Tom nodded. He turned to the microphone.
"Hate Worldwide!" He yelled into the microphone.
Tom, Lola and Clint started with a fast beat. Tom started yelling into the Microphone.
«I stab you right between the eyes
You awaken from the lies
I said it ever since the inception
Where the masters of deception
I'm a godless heretic
Not a god-fearing lunatic
That's why it's become my obsession
To treat God like an infection»
They slowed down with the music.
«My scars insane, my life profane
I deny, defy, and spread a little hate, worldwide!»
They continiued to play really fast, and Tom made a Solo.
«Like a storm that devastates
Religious power instigate
Take religion to my confession
There is no filter on my aggression
With a blister open wide
To keep the massacre alive
I got cold devastation
With my moral imperfection»
They Slowed down again.
«My scars insane, my life profane
I deny, defy, and spread a little hate, worldwide!»
And fast again, with a solo from Tom.
«Religious death, I instigate
From what the bible demonstrates
Does it document creation
Of this hopeless infliction
Of a godless heretic
Not a god-fearing lunatic
Not a god-fearing lunatic
That's why it's become my obsession
To treat God like an infection»
They Slowed down yet again.
«My scars insane, my life profane
I deny, defy, and spread a little hate, worldwide!»
And yet again fast, and again with a solo.
«Open life scars, crushing open wounds
The walls of this scene will be crashing at you
You left senseless mentally unfit
Never fucking heard from you again
Never fucking heard from again»
They finished. The «Black Cats» played several songs more. Mostly about killers, like Ted Bundy, or the Cannibal Jefrey Dahmer. She was hay when the gick ended. She went to the bar, and go a Beer, even though she was 17, and that wasnt even near the age of 21. She started drinking it anyway. She noticed a young man coming to her. Around the age of 23. With friendly eyes, and brown hair.
"Hey. I overheard the conversation between you and the singer. Nice voice."
Lola looked at him.
"Okay. But you ain't gonna hear me singing."
"Oh. That's sad. I am sure your voice would be great."
Lola took another sip from the beer.
"Do you want to fuck me or why are you talking trash, retard?"
He looked to his left, and then to his right. Then he took out his wallet, and gave Lola a small white card. Only one phone number was printed on it. Lola looked back on the young man.
"What's that for a shit?"
"You know, there are, let's say, authorities that need a voice. Nothing but a voice. And you should show your voice."
"So I call you and then I speak to you? That's retarded."
"Not me. My Boss. And you will meet him. He, knows your parents by the way."
"What the fuck is going on here?"
"Nothing. Nothing special or new. I do what people like me always did. The Owl, by the way, is ready all day and all night. Call him when you want."
"The Owl?"
He just nodded.
"Have fun. And don't drink too much."
The young man left. Lola looked at the card with the number on it. She put it behind the case of her phone, and kept drinking.
Lisa was in the Garage. She was repairing the Microwaves. She fixed the Magnetron of the Microwav, and tested it. It worked.
"Wonderful. And now, you…"
Lisa took the capsue and looked at it. It was heavy.
"How did Lily do that thing?"
She looked at it. It had like a small aluminum plate at one end. The rest was made of Lead, that was held together by metal straps.
"So, lead. Held together by these metal straps."
She took a hacksaw and sawed through the metal strips. The lead fell down. There was only a kind of aluminum can.
"What's that supposed to be? I'd rather keep it. I don't know where I can sell aluminum."
She threw it on a pile of old scrap that was in the garage.
"I'll melt the lead down and make ingots out of it. Beautiful lead ingots. I'm so clever." Lisa said with a smile.
She took a wooden box with sand, and made ingot forms. Lisa took a Bunsen burner, ignited it, and began to melt the lead with an old pan. It melted and Lisa poured it into the molds. Four lead ingots each weighing approximately one and a half kilos. She let them cool down and went to the bathroom to wash her hands. Because lead is toxic. She went to Lily's room. Lily was looking at one of her Train modells. The red Re 4/4 II. Lisa went to Lily.
"The Red Engine?"
Lily looked at her and nodded.
"Re 4/4 II. Electric universal locomotive of the Swiss Federal Railways."
"You really wanna see such a thing, don't you?"
Lily noded again, and looked back on the modell. Lisa knew that Lily wanted to drive the Modell on her layout. But she didnt want to make the electricity bill higher.
"Lily, this locomotive hardly uses any electricity. Put it on the track and let it pull cars."
Lily gestured the known gesture for money with her fingers.
"I mold the lead you found today into bars. That has enough value for one year of the power costs of your model layout. I calculated it."
"Yes. You can calculate everything."
"Can I drive it?"
"Just do it."
Lily went very fast to her layout, put the Re 4/4 II on the track, and it went just a few seconds, and a big cargo train drove over the tracks. Lisa watched Lily for a moment, and went in her own room. There she took a shortwave rdio, and tuned in on 4800 kHz Upper Side Band. She normaly expected a two staged beeping sound. Ad that was there. But there was a slower, deeper peep. It held for two seconds, went away for four second, and came back again. Two seconds on, four seconds off.
"This is new." Lisa said.
She kept listening. In the late night, around one hour before midnight, the two staged beeping disappeared, and only the slow two second beeping remained on 4800 kHz.
"That's a new channel marker."
Lisa opened discord on her phone, and went to a group named, SWL. Short Wave Listeners. There were many new messages.
«The beeper is gone!»
«It reminds me of The Buzzer.»
«Do they copy UVB-76?»
Others already heard it. Lisa wrote a message in the chat.
«When did the new channelmarker appear?»
Someone answered her.
«18:34 UTC. The Two staged beeper disappeared at 05:01 UTC.»
Lisa wrote another message.
«Maybe we hear a voice message soon?»
The same guy answered.
«Maybe. But we can receive RTTY as well though.»
Lisa closed discord. She continiued to listen to the radio signal. The day went to an end. And after dinner, Lisa went to sleep. At the next day, she went back in the garage to work on the scrap they got. She took her tools, and continiued. Lisa took Microwaves apart, and and sorted the parts. The Transformers came in a shelf, and the High Voltage Capacitors in a drawer. The High Voltage Diodes went in a small box were other diodes were. She continiued with it. After some minutes, she heard a cheering. Lisa turned her head, and heard Rita calling her.
"Lisa! Come here!"
Lisa put her stuff back, and went to the Living room. Bobby was in the Livingroom, with Rita, Lynn senior, Lucy, Lana and Lola, and Lily. Lily was watching what happened. Everyone seemed happy. And Lana looked like she was cose to cry.
"What's going on here?" Lisa asked.
"Lisa... Our family gets bigger." Lana said.
Lisa looked at Bobby, then at Lana. Again to Bobby, then to her mother and her father. Her eyes widened, and she looked at Bobby again.
"No... Lori?"
Bobby nodded really fast.
"Yes. Yes. I got a call from her."
Lisa started smiling. She felt a big joy.
"This is wonderful. Just wonderfull."
Lisa hugged Bobby. Lily had a hard time understanding the reactions from her family. She looked at Lucy.
"Everyone is happy that Lori is having a baby?"
"Yes."
Lily looked forward, then at Lucy again.
"But it takes nine months, right?"
"Yes. Nine months."
"Then why is everyone happy now when the baby isn't here yet?"
"Were you happy when you knew that a new train model was on the way here?"
Lily thought for a moment.
"I think I understand."
Lori looked at the waves the bow of the USS Honolulu made in the ocean. Their destination: New York. The docks to maintain and ylean the Light Cruiser. But there was a problem. They were late. Two days late. Thus, Hartman gave the order to, smoke oil. Heavy Fuel Oil burned in the belly of the ship, and propelled her on her maximum speed of almost 50 knots. Lori leaned on the steel flagpole of the Bow, and stretched her arms out. Like in the movie Titanic. She just saw the water, and she felt she woul fly. She would miss this feeling when she would cross the panama canal. Everything in the Canal goes really slow. But maybe, that was not a bad thing, since the Honolulu burned HFO like there was no tomorrow. There refueling will be easy. She went back from the bow, and walked to her quarter. She layd on the bed, and looked at the ceiling.
"This is fine, right?"
Lori looked to the left. Joker sat on her bed and looked at her.
"So you know it?" Lori asked.
Joker nodded slowly.
"I know a lot, Kitty."
"You do. Tell me something I don't know."
"If you don't know it, then it's nothing you are supposed to know."
Lori looked back at the ceiling.
"I bet you know more than Hartman."
"Maybe yes, maybe no."
"I expected that answer."
"We know us for eleven years. I know you, and you know me to some extent."
Lori looked at Joker, nd then back at the ceiling.
"You get creepier the more I know you." Lori said.
"Maybe."
Lori shook her head. The USS Honolulu continiued driving towards the panama canal.
Lily woke up in the morning. It was monday, and school was soon. She went in the bathroom, went on the toilet, washed her hands, and washed her face. Lily went downstairs to the breakfast table, and started eating toast together with her sisters.
"I hate mondays." Lola said.
"You hate many things." Lucy said.
"It's a day. Why do you hate a day?" Lily asked.
"Because it's Monday."
Lily saw Lucy roll her eyes. She just saw one, but her eyes always move the same way. Lily finished eating, and prepared for leaving. She took her backback, and went to on her way to school. Like all the time, she reached the school early. A boy was waiting near the school. He had black hair. A white blue striped shirt, and blue jeans. His name was Robin. Lily and Robin had only one thing in common, and that was that they both got bullied. And this morning, he looked like he fell in water. He was dripping wet. Lily looked at him.
"You're wet."
Robin looked at Lily.
"It was Gus, and Jack. These jerks used a hose."
"They sprayed you with water?"
"What else did they? Look how I look. They know that I live on a farm, and that I can't go back to get new clothes. That takes two hours. And my spare clothes are also wet."
Lily looked at his clothes. She didn't react, but acknowledged his statement.
"These sons of bitches always have to torture us. When they wet me they shouted, Hillbilly, here's your first shower."
"But you already know showers, from home."
"That's not the point Lily! They have fun to let us suffer! But one day, I promise you, one day they regret that they tortured us!"
"Do you know where you can dry your clothes?"
"How am I supposed to dry my clothes when everyone is wet? Should I walk around naked?"
Lily took her backpack, and took a blue jeans and a black sweater in her size out of it.
"These are my spare clothes."
Robin took the clothes.
"Thank you."
"Give the clothes back washed."
Robin nodded, and went into the school. Lily looked around. The other students reached the school. Lily went in. Near the teachers, she was rarely a target of the bullies. So she sat in class, and waited until it started. With the hope, not getting harrased like Robin on this day.
Year 2040:
Lynn Junior put Mia to bed in the guest room. It was late night. After reading a bedtime story, Lynn went to her room. There she did what she always did in the evening, taking weak psychotropic medication. Lynn went into the garage and cleared away junk. She landed on a two meter high, upright concrete pipe with the inscription, "CAUTION!!! RADIOACTIVE!!!" was. Lynn took out her phone and dialed Lily's contact. Lily answered the call quickly.
"I didn't expect you to call."
"When will this thing be taken away?" Lynn asked with a tired voice.
"Specify."
"The thing that killed Lisa. We were told that when there is money again it will be taken away. It is still here."
It was silent for some seconds. Then Lily answered.
"I can arrange for it to be taken away."
"That would be good."
"Is there anything else?"
"Yes. Why does our family always have trouble with radioactivity? Lisa got poisoned, and you killed with radiation. Why?"
"I can't answer that question."
"Can't you? Don't you want to? Or aren't you allowed?"
"I don't know the answer to your question. I don't have any relevant Classified Documents or information. I can't answer the question because there is no logical answer to it."
"Just get rid of that thing."
"I'll arrange that."
"Bye."
Lynn ended the call. She looked at the concrete pipe.
"Rot in hell."
She kept staring at it.
"And you make me wonder, even after over ten years…"
She looked at the writing.
"Did Lily kill Lisa?"
Lynn looked at the ground, and sighted.
"No. I could blame Lily for so much. Everytime I think about it, I come to this conclusion. And yet... Lily…"
She heard steps behind her. Lynn turned around. It was Lana. She was looking tired.
"Apparently you're already on the topic I wanted to talk to you about." Lana said.
"Yes. What do you want to say?" Lynn asked.
"Be glad Lori and Lily dropped the bomb."
Lynn looked at Lana with a suspicious look.
"Why are you saying that?"
"Lucy and Laerke were at the river today. That was before I was supposed to repair the heating. Laerke told Lucy that she had been chasing mice. When I was repairing the heating and Laerke became inattentive for a moment, she had caught a rat, and started frying it in a pan."
"Laerke was frying a rat?"
"We noticed the terrible smell, and started looking. She was hiding under her bed and was eating it. And I quote her, «Vestergaard's order, Hunt and eat to be strong.» Just be happy that Laerke isn't living on Greenland again. "
Lana went close to Lynn with a slightly threatening appearing.
"With the medical care that Laerke gets, her life will be better than without a bomb and under that dictator."
Lynn looked to the left.
"That was a single rocket. A single rocket. The people were incapacitated and the dictatorship ended. And believe me, Lily and Lori never dropped the first military atomic bomb after World War II. Do you remember the three day war? The swiss and many governments are calling it a nuclear test in the high atmosphere. That wasn't it. It was a threatening gesture and the Americans and the Russians. We were an inch away from the big shit."
Lynn looked at Lana.
"They didn't bomb people."
"And did not end a terror regime."
Lynn looked away.
"I've had to think about so many things since Lily and Lori got back. You're not helping me."
"I know. I just gave you something new to think."
Lana turned away, and walked to the garage door. She turned back to Lynn.
"Good night."
"Good night." Lynn answered.
Lana left the garage. Lynn looked back at the concrete tube. Lana walked home. She needed one thing. A bed. A bed were she can lay down and sleep. She entered her home, took of her shoes and went in her bedroom, where she took of her jeans. He laid down in her bed, and closed her eyes. Her phone woke her up. It was seven in the morning. Lana took her phone, and pressed the green phone button.
"What... I need to... Transistor…" Lana said tired.
"What are you talking about?" A familiar voice said.
Lana tried to wake up properly.
"Im... sorry... what did we talk about?"
"My god, wake up first."
Lana looked at the phone again. Lori was the one who called her.
"Lori?"
"Yes it's me Lori! Lily cleaned her machine gun yesterday and we want to go to the forest to test it. Are you in?"
Lana processed what she heard. That took her ten seconds.
"Machine gun... yes... with toast?"
"Take a shower and wake up."
"I will mom."
"Lana! I'm Lori!"
"Yes... I know…"
"Take a shower, we'll be at your house in half an hour."
"Okay... good night…"
Lana stopped the call and crawled out of bed. She walked in the bathroom and stepped in the shower. But Lana forgot to take her underwear and her shirt. So as she turned on the water, she didn't get a thermal shock by cold water, she also noticed that her clothes were wet. She screamed, and started swearing. After her horrible shower, she put on dry clothes. Like often, a red black checked shirt and blue jeans. She humbled downstairs, and made herself a coffee. It rang at the door. Lana walked to it, and opened. Lori stood in front of her.
"That was the weirdest talk I ever had. Did you have a stroke?" Lori said.
"No. But I feel like strangling you."
"Very friendly. Come on. Drink your coffee, we'll go."
Lana finished her coffee and followed Lori. Lily sat on the passenger seat, and opened the window.
"Lana, you are aware that you are barefoot right now?" Lily asked.
Lana looked at her feet. Lily was right.
"That can't be true. Such bullshit!"
Lana went back in her house, put on shoes, went back, and sat in the back of the car. Lori started the engine and drove off.
"So what did you wake me up for?"
"Have you already forgotten? We're testing Lily's machine gun!"
Lana closed her eyes.
"Why did I know that it's because of a fucked up reason?"
"Lori said this would be interesting for you since you are interested in technology." Lily said
"Yes... But so early in the morning?"
"We just chose this time." Lori said.
"To torture me…"
"Hi aunt Lana."
Lana got a heart attack. Lorraine was sitting next to her. And Lana did not notice her.
"So Lorraine is also here?"
"Yes, she wanted to see it too." Lori said.
Lori drove into the forest. The relatively mountainous region had many valleys. Lori drove on a path into a wooded valley with a river in the middle. The riverbed was shallow and had a large, dry area. Lori stopped next to it. They all got out. Lily put on gloves and a beige coat, took the MG51 out of the trunk, and walked toward the river, and put it on the gravel. Lori got a loaded belt, and gave it Lily.
"I want you all to stand ten meters behind me." Lily said.
Lana, Lori and Lorraine walked back. Lily took her MG51, opened the feeding system, and laid the belt in. She closed it, took the lever on the right side, and pulled it back and forth. She put the part that had to be at her shoulder at her belly.
"Achtung!"
(Attention!)
Lily pulled the trigger, and a loud, deafening sound that sounded like someone ripped cloth apart sounded. Smoke came from the MG, and Tracer rounds flew over the river in a rock wall. Lorraine, Lana and Lori had to close their ears. It was just painful to hear such a loud sound. Lily let the trigger go, and pulled it again. She stopped shooting, and opened the holding of the barrel, took it out, and held it in the river.
"What are you doing?" Lorraine asked.
"That was one hundred and ninety shots. The barrel is hot." Lily said, took the barrel out of the river, and put it back in the MG51.
"That's impressive." Lana said.
"A thousand rounds per minute."
"I told you what the original variant was called."
"How?" Lori asked.
"The MG42. Hitler's Buzzsaw. Or in German, Hitlersäge."
Lily laid on the ground, and shot again, until the belt was empty. She took another, shorter belt, put it in the feeding system, and shot again. Lily fired this one empty too. She took the barrel out, and held it in the river again.
"That was four hundred rounds. It takes me a total of twenty-four seconds to fire four hundred rounds."
Lily took the barrel out again, and put it back in the MG. After that, she took the MG51 and the two belts, and put it back in the trunk of the Car. Lily took of the gloves and the coat. Lorraine had a big grin on her face.
"This was so fucking cool."
"Watch your mouth." Lori said.
"The actually interesting thing is that there are sixteen to seventeen shots per second. Only a true genius can design something like that." Lana said.
"Why is this impressive?"
"Shake your hand sixteen times a second."
Lori looked at her hand, and tried it with no success.
"Okay. I get it." Lori said.
"Then you can imagine what happened to the people. Directly cut in half." Lily said.
"Well surprise, I saw something similar with an anti-air gun defense."
"Do you really want to argue about who witnessed a more gruesome death?" Lana asked confused.
"No... I just remember all that shit too often."
"Don't talk about it. It's not worth it." Lily said.
Lily sat into the car.
"Do you want to go already?" Lori asked.
"We came here to test fire the MG. And I did that." Lily said.
"Okay. Come on, get in." Lori said annoyed.
"We already go home?" Lorraine asked disappointed.
"Say thank you to Lily." Lori said with sarcasm.
"Finally. Back to bed." Lana said.
"You sleep too much.
"You can never sleep enough."
"You're right aunt Lana." Lorraine said.
"Sleepy girl." Lori said.
Lori drove off. She drove back to Royal Woods, and and drove to Lanas house. Lana got out, and turned back.
"Well now I'm awake enough. Thanks for taking me with you."
"No problem. I mean, you obviously enjoyed it." Lori said.
"I did. And thank you Lily."
Lily looked at Lana.
"I just shot a machine gun."
Lana shook her head. It was a typical Lily response.
"Have a nice day."
Lana closed the car door, and went in her House. Lori drove off. Lily took out a pill box, and took a pill. Lily noticed that in the corner of her eye.
"Your blood must be a chemical cocktail." Lori said.
"The cocktail, as you call it, keeps me from losing my mind."
"Why lose your mind?" Lorraine asked.
"Lori, can you explain this to her without detailed descriptions?"
"Okay... Wait a minute…"
Lori drove and thought how she should explain it.
"When there's war, people kill each other. You know that, right?"
"Yes." Lorrine answered.
"So... how armies want it, doesn't happen. It never happens. Fancy drones, modern assault rifles and cruise missiles... It doesn't happen. You are in a wet, cold, muddy trench, watch everyone dies in gruesome ways... Or like me, have to get in a small boat because your ship is sinking, and you only have food for a day, an emergency blaked made from alminum... and all you feel is cold air , while you watch frozen bodies floating in the ice cold water…"
Lori swallowed.
"You can't forget that shit. It haunts you."
Nobody answered to that. Lori drove on.
Laerke was in the basement of the apartment building where Lucy lived. She was hunting again. Laerke knew from her past how rats behave. She was kneeling behind a wooden box, and waiting, because under the shelf was a rat. She waited. And waited. She was barely breathing. Just staring to the place where she expected her food. Something moved! Laerke moved her hands under the shelf with a high speed. She felt something furry. She trid to grab it. It was fast. She catched the tail, and pulled the rat to her. The rat bit in her thump.
"Dum beskidte rotte!"
(Stupid filthy rat!)
Laerke took the rat at the body, bit in the neck and heard the neck of the rat breaking. The rat stopped moving. She tasted blood. Laerke started biting parts of the rat. The flsh was tasty. Better than any other rat she had before. It was wonderfull. She heard steps. And Lucy looked disgusted at her.
"Ewww… Laerke! No!"
Lucy took Laerke ah her wrist, took the rat and threw it away.
"My god you can't just hunt rats!"
"Me was sulten."
"I know... but we have food. Food. Not rats. We need to brush your teeth again. And throw the toothbrush away."
Lucy took Laerke to her Apartment, and brushed her teeth.
"My god. This is straight up disgusting."
Laerke looked at her, while getting shaken by Lucy's toothbrushing.
"Yeah you think it's great. But really that's just disgusting."
Lucy stopped brushing, and threw the Toothbrush away.
"Rinse your mouth with water."
Laerke looked at her. She didn't understand it. Lucy took her phone, and translatet it. Google gave her an answer. Lucy tried to say it, but butchered the language.
"Skyl munden med vand."
Laerke nodded, took a sip of water and spat it out in the sink. Lucy looked at her.
"That's not enough. You still have a rat mouth. We have to disinfect your mouth. Oh yeah..."
Lucy went in the kitchen, and filled a small glass with Vodka. She went back to laerke, and gave it to her.
"Put it in your mouth and spit it out."
Laerke looked at it, drank it, but realized how terrible it was, and spat it in the sink.
"Bah! Det smager forfærdeligt!"
(Bah! That tastes terrible!)
"It's all okay. We're done Laerke."
Lucy petted her back, and comforted her. Although Laerke wasn't mad at Lucy, she did have a disdainful feeling towards this action.
Lana sat down in front of her Computer with a mug of hot tea. She turned the computer on, opened streamlabs OBS, and started talking in the webcam. A new video for her channel.
"A fairytale of Home Depot, Ikea, and Walmart, or how I almost freaked out when I ordered a kitchen plate. By now you'll notice that this is one of my many nonsense videos. So, take the warm drink of your slightest distrust and listen."
She took a sip from her tea.
"Well, that wasn't that long ago, but it wasn't in the last few weeks either, I think about two months. My sister wanted to renew a kitchen countertop. And it had to be German marble. Why German marble, I don't know, maybe that's one preference. Just as some people like stupid blondes, others like German marble. So, and I have to mention that I have fundamental problems with hardware stores. The telephone service, mostly shit, the online service, also shit. They are in the year 2040, and Internet still sucks."
Lana continiued talking in her camera. It went two hours. It was at the end just the story oh her ordering a kitchen plate made out of german marble, but she knew, her viewers would like it.
End of Chapter