In Which Graham Has Had a Meeting and Wonders What To Do
One would probably have been able to tell a lot about his character and what kind of man he was on how he slunk into the nearest highrise after the meeting to collect his thoughts, instead of contacting Hannah. One could probably have been able to tell a lot of things from how he it took him a minute or so after sitting down on a bench before he could even stop smiling, and then even so his smile faded in small jerks and twitches as if his face had been smiling so long it wasn’t sure how to stop.
"End recording."
There was no sound. It would have been appropriate, he thought. There was no closing of a lens or whirring of machinery. There was no sudden explosion, although that too would have been appropriate. He took a deep breath and turned to the android beside him.
"Call Bella."
A woman’s voice came on, speaking through the android. “Hi, sweetie! What’s up?”
“Hey, I won’t be home tonight, I had a thing come up.”
“Workshop’s busy today?”
"No, just a family thing. Need to go to mom and dad."
“She’s okay?” Worry had come over her voice now.
"I hope so."
“Well, please tell her I said hi, won’t you?”
"I will. You need me to pick something up for tomorrow?"
A rollerrat honked in the background. “No, we’re set here. I take it you’ll come home after work tomorrow then? If I’m not home when you get home, I’m probably at the vet’s.”
He nodded, unseen. “Yeah, I’ll probably stay the night there and go to work from there.”
"Okay, sweetie. See you tomorrow then!"
"Love you. I miss you."
“Hey, it’s just overnight, we’ll be fine. Besides, I have company over here as well.”
"Tell them I said hi back."
A reet called out. “Hush!” Flapping of frantic wings. “I’ll do. Take care, sweetie!”
"And you."
There was silence again. He took another deep breath.
“Delete last call.”
One can tell a lot about a man by observing in what moments he hesitates. Granted, in order to do so one must be able to observe him and know one should pay attention. Graham knew, and he was observing himself. His sister was waiting for this new information, and he knew it was important to her. The Council too, probably, but he didn’t care about them. He cared about his sister, as always, and he knew she was waiting. She had asked him to let her listen in, but he had told her that was probably even riskier, so he had promised her he would record the conversation and then send it over from a safe place. She was probably pacing back and forth, back and forth, waiting.
I’ll be a traitor if I do this, he thought. I’ll be even more of a traitor, I guess. If they realise that doctor helped me, will she get in trouble too? I don’t want to get anyone in trouble. What if she figures this out before Sunday? God, what then?
Maybe he should have asked the doctor about if she had any idea about white rooms without furniture, only with an incessant light and a door and a speaker saying things he didn’t understand. Maybe he should have, maybe having an answer would have made it worse, whatever the answer would have been. Maybe that was why he had not asked.
No matter the reason, he had not. And no matter the reason, he now stood a bit to the side in ICC, hesitating to call Hannah. Hesitating to do anything at all.
What was the worst that could happen if he didn’t? What if he told her he had not been able to find the doctor, or that the doctor had said nothing? She wouldn’t have to know. And if he did not, maybe some girl with no memory would not be found, but she was a stranger, and maybe that would be a shame, but what would be worse by far would be if something was to happen to Hannah or his own family.
The android warbled insistently by his side.
“I just don’t know, okay?” He wasn’t sure why he was trying to explain himself to it. It didn’t have the AI to understand anyway, and he preferred it that way.
Hannah wouldn’t call. He knew she wouldn’t call. She would be too scared to give anything away at the wrong time. Maybe he was still in a meeting, maybe, maybe, maybe… no, she would just wait. And then eventually worry enough to try to find him somewhere.
What made him finally move again was the realisation that if he didn’t she might try to find him at home in Rome, and that would be much worse.
“I just don’t know,” he said again. “What’s a greater evil?”
The android just warbled. It meant nothing.
“Call Hannah.”
For once they weren’t sitting up in their parents’ kitchen. Hannah had already been in the backyard when he had arrived, her dark hair tangled in her antlers as always after she had been running. She had been tense enough to tremble. She had stared at him in question.
How did it go?
How did it go?
"Hey, sis."
She stalked up to hug him close, tears in her eyes. “You’re back. You’re back.”
“This time, yeah. We’ll see on Sunday, hey?”
She hit him in a massive shoulder. “Don’t you dare.” Then she took a step back. “Wait, what happens Sunday?”
One can tell a lot about a man on when he hesitates. Graham smiled again, as always when he was nervous, but there was no hesitation when he hugged her tighter. “Might have found your lost girl for you. I’ll hopefully find out where she’s at Sunday.”
Hannah let go of him, moving back a little. Watching him intently, her mouth half open. "Did the doctor suspect anything?"
"Well." He threw out his hands. "I… I kind of told her I was thinking about switching careers and repair people instead…?"
His sister covered her mouth with her hand. "What?"
"Because my niece had gone missing."
Now she just shook her head in disbelief.
"Poor girl with amnesia. That had gone missing. And now I wanted to help other people."
“That’s… ridiculous.”
“I’m not a spy, sis. I was scared out of my mind. You’ll be glad I could talk to her at all. But the doctor bought it, I think. She agreed to let me see the girl soon to see if she’s… ours, I guess? And I’ll have to figure out some way to give up a promising medical career before it even started.”
Absentmindedly she began trying to untangle her hair from an antler. “We’ll… we’ll come up with a plan.”
“I sure hope so, sis, because I’m terrified of heading into a facility like that after… what happened the last time I tried to help you out.”
“I’m sorry. I’ll… I’ll make sure you’re covered this time, okay? That there’s some way to get you out of there. Maybe when you have the girl you can run out and I’ll get you both into the grid.”
“You don’t even know if this is the right person, sis. And if she is, I’m sure it’s better if I try to… I don’t know, not make anyone even more suspicious. Can you… if you can try to come up with something less suspicious that would be great. It’s better they think she’s actually just a girl we’re bringing back to where she belongs.”
Hannah stopped pulling at her hair. “Well, I guess maybe that’s a plan, but if it doesn’t work out -”
"We need a backup plan, yes, I agree," he cut her off. "But maybe we should try to not do that to begin with."
“I’ll think of something.”
“You do that, sis.” Graham took a deep breath, sitting down on a crate. “Because whatever this is you’re up to, my life is kind of on the line here, and I can’t just get up and run away like you did. I’ve got too much to lose, okay? So you and your terrorist friends better not mess that up.”
He boxed her shoulder back, gently. It was tense and hard like metal, slender and frail as it seemed.
“We’re not terrorists. And I’m sure this is… this is bigger than sides, Graham.”
“Fine, but you’ve told me enough about some of the people at the Council that I know I’m not really welcome there, and if my employers decide I’m not welcome there either…? No, there better be some sort of plan here.”
She nodded again. “You got the recording? I’d like to listen.”
Their mother found them later, sitting side by side as the reets out on Pentor’s Peek had begun singing in the sunset, as if to fill in the silence that was now between them. Two hands held in a space where hugs would take up to much of it for it to bear. She gave each a mug of tea and left them to their thinking, knowing they’d come in when they were done.
"Always nice to see you two together again," she said and went back in to set up the spare beds.
The family was back together, like it should be.
Like it should be.