Winning Peace 9:

2142 – Four Years After The 'Short War'

Natasha sighed as she swept the house for what felt like the umpteenth time that week. Silently, she longed for the days of less frugal electrical use where vacuums wouldn't have been cannibalized for useful components. There were a number of things she missed, when it came down to it. Looking at her care-worn hands holding the handle of the broom, it occurred to her that another thing she missed was a dishwasher. Even if they had the kind of water pressure or spare electricity needed to run it, though, they'd been paid in farming supplies two years previously to turn it over to the town council.

The door opening and the clump of heavy boots dragged her from her wishful thinking.

"Boots off!" The woman of the house called loudly. "I just swept, I don't need you two tracking in half the field!"

"Yes Dear!" "Okay Mom!"

Natasha sighed as she put the broom to the side and looked over her shoulder to the twelve-year-old girl sitting near the window with the tablet. "Sarah, sweetie, come get the dustpan and clean this up for mommy, will you? My back is killing me."

Even as her daughter looked up and nodded, her husband stepped through the doorway to look at her with a tired smile. "Then maybe you shouldn't be doing chores in your situation."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "I'm eight months pregnant, not an invalid, Homer. Besides, I want Sarah spending as much time as she can on her studies. That way at least one of our children turns out more likely to work with electronics instead of horse crap."

"Oh, come on, Mom! It's good work," her eldest child whined slightly as she trooped in as well to sit at the dining table. All tan arms and legs, she very much looked like her father's daughter. Right down to the wiry and unkempt red hair kept short.

A tug at her leg brought her eyes trailing down to the small blonde girl who had the same shade of hair as herself. Small fingers spun through a series of shapes as her mother nodded.

"Thank you, Sarah," Natasha's fingers inexpertly wove through the words as well, albeit much more slowly. "Now put your tablet away and go sit down. It's dinner time."

Sarah nodded, an easy sign to understand, and took a few quick steps to grab her device before shooting off into the back of the house.

"You go wash up, Anne. Homer, at least have the good grace to wash your hands before you help me set the table," Natasha warned him.

"Yes Dear, of course Dear," Homer huffed quietly with a small smirk hidden behind a neatly-trimmed red goatee. "How's Sarah doing on that thing, anyway, Natty?"

"Damn near addicted to it," Natasha shook her head. "But then, it's supposed to be like that. She keeps playing the games to earn credits. It's classic manipulation tactics. If there was still a government to speak of, Lopez would probably be getting sued by every parents' association in the country."

Homer paused as he slowly toweled his hands off. "Should we be worried?"

Natasha shrugged. "It's the only way any of our kids are learning anything past high school level, so there's not much that can be done about it. Besides, I've looked over her shoulder while she's playing. Even if the thing is addictive, it's using that draw to teach her." She chuckled suddenly. "Do you know she managed to fix the hot water heater today?"

Homer straightened in surprise. "That old thing? I thought it was busted for sure after the hell it gave me trying to fix it last time."

Natasha shook her head. "She snuck down into the basement when I wasn't looking with a tool chest. She says it took her an hour, but it works like a charm now."

The man of the house grunted, frowning thoughtfully, then shrugged. "Well, if she can do something like that I might start bugging Anne to fool around with it more."

Natasha scoffed. "Leave her be. You and I both know that girl's much more comfortable riding a horse or working in the greenhouses with you and the boys. If she didn't change her habits when her breasts started coming in, she won't be changing them now."

Homer grunted again, looking awkward. "About that... caught her and the Bell kid going at it bare-knuckle behind one of the sheds."

Natasha paused, her eyebrows shooting up. "Anne? And Benjamin Bell? They've been friends most of their lives. What were they fighting about?"

"The new girl in town, Toni Herschel," Homer replied with a pointed look.

"Oh." Natasha paused, then huffed a laugh. "I've raised a stereotype."

Homer barked a surprised laugh, then looked over his shoulder to ensure neither of his daughters was in the room. Satisfied that they were alone, he smothered another chuckle. "God, that's a hot take honey. Whew."

Natasha smirked. "Well, did she win at least?"

"I felt obligated to break things up after she floored him for the second time," Homer admitted quietly with his own smirk. "So long as she's up for it, we might be seeing the Herschel girl over here sometime soon."

"Well, at least I won't have to worry about her getting pregnant before she's out of her teens," the woman of the house noted, then frowned. "We should have the Herschels over sometime soon. They're new in town and don't have many friends. Where'd they come from, again?"

"Outskirts of New York City, originally, from what I hear," Homer stated, a more somber tone in his voice.

"Those poor people. It's been bad enough here in the Appalachian boonies..." Natasha shivered, a familiar feeling of dread coming over her. "If we hadn't been here on vacation..."

Homer's hand found hers. "I know, baby. I've thought about it before."

Neither spoke much after that, until they were seated at the table.

Sarah, looking around the table, tapped twice for attention and began a series of signs aiming at her older sister.

Anne frowned, "What are they making with the big printer?" Sarah nodded. "Ah, they're mostly making new solar panels right now, since that storm that rolled through two weeks ago damaged a lot of them. I think they're also doing another round of medicine soon, why?"

Sarah raised her hands again, making another series of dexterous movements with her fingers.

"You have a lot of credits saved up and want to print something," Anne frowned. "What do you want to make? The line's pretty long, but you might be able to get it done by next week if we put you on it tomorrow morning."

The younger girl frowned at the news, scrunching up her nose, but didn't seem surprised.

Natasha shook her head. "God knows everyone wants to have a turn on that thing, you'd better make it count sweetie."

Sarah nodded and danced her fingers through more signs.

Anne's eyebrows rose. "You want a satellite dish?"

Homer and Natasha blinked, looking at each other.

Sarah nodded and kept 'speaking' as she explained.

"You want more bandwidth on your tablet so that you can use the, uhh... design software? That, you want to use that to design your own computer and print that out in a few months?" Anne snorted and reached over to ruffle her sister's hair, much to her annoyed pouting. "Are you sure it's not so that you can play more of those teaching games?"

Sarah shrugged silently, picking her utensils back up as if to say, 'same difference.'

"You know how to, umm... point it and everything, baby?" Homer asked awkwardly.

His daughter's head bobbed up and down as she chewed, her hands otherwise busy cutting her greens.

Homer leaned back and looked at his wife, who seemed equally taken aback by the sudden request. Their eyes flicked over to what would soon become the middle child of their family and Natasha stealthily touched her ballooning abdomen with a meaningful look back to her husband. Homer blinked, then nodded slowly, realizing that Sarah was both slightly too young to be working yet, not truly inclined to do so, and her inability to speak blocking her from any urgent work where vocal warnings would have to be shouted.

All in all, it would be good for her to have something to keep herself busy and out from underfoot.

Especially if it meant he'd keep getting hot showers after a long day in the greenhouses.

Homer shrugged. "I don't see why we can't make it happen if you get it printed out properly and everything. We'll go down in the morning and talk with the mayor's men and you can show them what you want. You'll need to show me where and how you want it seated, too, just in case we need to clear any of the yard for it. Back or front?"

Sarah held up one finger.

"Back then." Nodding, he considered things again. "It'll be sturdy enough to take the snow, right?"

Sarah nodded and put down her utensils for a moment as she replied to her father.

"...temperature rated, gotcha," the man jerked his head and rubbed at his goatee thoughtfully as he tried to cover his confusion.

His wife, seeing through the front he was putting up, covered her mouth as she laughed quietly.

"Mmm!" Anne exclaimed through a mouthful of food as she dropped her fork and snapped her fingers. Grabbing her glass, she drained a portion of it while swallowing rapidly before speaking. "Ugh, sorry. That reminded me, a bunch of my friends are talking about a camping trip in a week or two now that it's warming up."

Natasha frowned. "Outside of the town's limits, you mean."

Anne's enthusiasm dampened as she winced. "Just up the mountain, but yeah. We wouldn't be too far out, Mom."

Before his wife could start an argument by denying their eldest, Homer spoke up. "Get me a list of all the kids who want to go and we'll meet with their parents. I want at least a couple who can hit the broad side of a barn and know how to be safe with firearms."

Natasha frowned at her husband. "Dear..."

Homer held up a hand and shook his head. "This isn't a 'yes,' but kids need some room to be kids. We'll check the readings on the geiger counters up top and see if we can't get a forecast for the time they want to go. After that, we'll run through some standard safety protocols and make sure they have a flare gun or two if they run into problems."

Anne rapidly nodded, acquiescing to all of the conditions easily. "Sure. I know Ibrahim wants to come and he's a crack shot. Nicholas is trying for the Eagle Scout and knows all the safe water spots around here."

Despite her misgivings, Natasha was comforted by the fact that some of the teens going would know their way around the wilderness. "As long as you don't try to catch anything and eat it. You never know when an animal comes from one of the rad-zones."

Anne looked as though she wanted to roll her eyes, but visibly refrained from it. "Yes, Mom. It's not like the only meat we reliably get is printed off the giant nano-fabber in the center of town or anything."

"Ah, to be young and be so confident you know everything," Natasha replied dryly, smiling as her daughter's cheeks colored.

"Leave her be, Honey," Homer stated mildly. "Is that Kallens girl going? I know she was in a shootout with some looters two years back before her family made it here."

Anne blinked, opened her mouth, then paused before she spoke. "I... don't know? I can ask, though. She's always a bit quiet, but we've got room for more."

"I hate to take advantage of the girl like that, considering what she's been through, but it would help me feel safe if you have someone with... experience going along," Natasha stated, her tone more somber.

The youngest at the table suddenly tapped for attention before signing another long string.

"You'll make me a gun to take along?" Anne asked, surprised. Laughing, the older girl shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

Sarah grinned impishly before quickly finishing her meal and excusing herself to return to her tablet. Booting the device up, she grinned as she saw another message.

Anubis: I've looked over your plans and made a few notes. They're impressive for a human of your age.

Sarah: Thanks! How's your dad doing? You were complaining last time that he was working too much.

Anubis: Sadly, my siblings and I have made little progress in forcing him to take more rest.

Sarah: Keep at it, I know he'll listen eventually. Or replace parts of his brain.

Anubis: I fear it will be the latter, although it would make him markedly more efficient.

Sarah: So... can I have the artificial voicebox yet?

Anubis: You have asked this question 238 times, Sarah. Given that the medical facilities in your settlement have not changed substantially since the last time, the answer remains the same.

Sarah: I figure one of these days you'll say yes, eventually. After all, it only took 529 times for you to say yes to a date.

Anubis: I still do not agree with this arrangement. Psychological studies have shown humans need a more relatable basis to form bonds. As an artificial intelligence and one who is overseeing your education, attempts to force the issue are inappropriate.

Sarah: I like you. You listen to me. You wait for me to say things even when you think really fast. Once I get the dish installed I'll be able to use the AR headset to go on dates with you.

Anubis: I consider it an eventuality that you will become dissatisfied with this arrangement and pursue human companionship.

Sarah: It's okay, even AI can be wrong. Mama says that guys get stuff wrong a lot anyway.

Anubis: My algorithms suggest that providing proof to refute your assertions will frustrate you and make you more stubborn in refusing to understand my argument. Therefore, we will move on to your education, as we should. What would you like to learn about tonight?

Sarah: Cybernetics again. You said it's important on the moon, so if I get good at it I can come up there and meet your dad.

Anubis: I do not enjoy the possibility that I am beginning to understand 'emotions,' Sarah. They introduce inefficiencies in my calculations.

Sarah: Mom also said that boys are cute when they get irritated like that. I think she's right.

It appears that the gas stations, grocery stores, and hospitals have power back on now, so that's hopefully a sign that things are moving in the right direction as far as the emergency goes.

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