Weary Loube Section 1 Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Sid’s eyes glazed over as he witnessed the killing of Natelia Ophen and his whole body and mind were filled with nausea and a dizziness as thoughts came racing to him of all the memories with Natelia.  He remembered meeting her at the first Addiction to Action event almost ten years prior when Triunfeo first was elected president of Markaedium.  He had stayed after the meeting to introduce himself and spoke to her about the fact he was dealing with addiction since his mother had passed a year prior and was fueled by anger at Triunfeo winning the election but had been coping by drinking opiumlite drinks excessively and occasionally street drugs.  He had explained that he had never really known his father and that his mother had raised him by herself and Natelia was very sympathetic to his story and shared with him that she had been adopted but she was pretty sure her parents were from the Synthetic Isle and had wanted her to have a better life.  

They mused on the whereabouts of their surviving relatives and formed a bond hoping that maybe someday Sid might meet his father or Natelia her biological parents.  The hope for her to meet her parents was robbed now, and Sid couldn’t help but feel a pang of despair as he realized this.  He remembered the time he had been courageous enough to ask her on a date but feeling embarrassed assured her that it was just as friends with a shared interest in their addiction.  She had agreed and they had gone to the eastern coast to spend the day at the beach with Sid bringing some portable speakers and DJ’ing for her and them talking further as Natelia revealed that she had a worse addiction than Sid (she had used the hardest stuff before adulthood) but she always managed to turn in her assignments and once she got into the University of Markaedium she had resolved to stay clean because she was confronting the world.  

This was different from Sid who hadn’t used until his mother had passed but she told him how she believed that challenging oppressive powers was vital for her staying clean and that she was grateful he had turned out to her first meeting.  They laughed and Sid mixed music with his speaker system adding some of his own tunes that were very melancholy, but she still appreciated.  He thought of the fact he would never get to tell her how he felt about her, something he had kept hidden because he always felt intimidated by her intelligence and had even seen other people while having her hold a special place in his heart.  The nausea and dizziness started making his whole body shake and he broke down.  

The collaborators in tears as well put their arms on Sid and Dredona holding back tears said, “I am researching more with the Binary Lucy Disk to see what else we can find, but I am worried for our safety being collaborators with Natelia.  It’s best if we all stay here and devise a plan.  I can show you guy’s some of the data that the Binary Lucy Disk gave me when I did a biometric scanner detecting Triunfeo and M but I am worried the BLD is faulty because it has their biometrics dating back since 0 A.G. with their data resonating off planet Venoo for 450 years at a time coming back to earth for fifty years and making the biometric data of Terloub erratic for fifty years.”  

Max wipes his eyes and says, “How can that be?  Terloubians haven’t accomplished interplanetary exploration other than with NanoI’s research vessels, but never a manned expedition, not even our moon.  And how can they be around since year 0?  It doesn’t make any sense.”  

Izzy responds with a pensive look on her face, “Remember when the advertisements for the nanobot infused Opiumlite drinks came out?  They were claiming to boost longevity.  It’s weird but I had heard of Partitioner M and Triunfeo my whole life.  There’s something hidden here.  Who are they actually?  Is it possible some immortality elixir is being hidden from everyone?  When I grew up, they were just powerful men, it’s been 50 years, and they are still around.  Everyone just accepts them, but maybe we should research as much as we can about them.”  

“Yes!” Dredona agrees, “We should be careful too and only use the technology I have here at this independent location.  I am going to give you each infinity Binary Lucy Disks with a stealth cloak so we can research what we are looking for in silence.  This whole place has a level 1 stealth feature, but I am going to boost it to level 12, the maximum it can go for accessing data without being detected.  If an intercept of the data occurs, we will hear an alarm.”  

She hands them each a BLD with screen projector and orders, “Collect and record as much data as you can.  Rest if needed but let’s join forces again in 36 hours and share what we learned.  There’s an indoor garden and study spaces if you guys need some natural calfin to grind and drink, just use this kitchen.  Feel free to explore the area and help yourself to the variety of fruit, vegetables and legumes in the garden.  Sorry, I don’t eat Native Terloubian meat products. But you will find the variety of food options invigorating and sufficient.”  

They all agreed to meet in 36 hours and made their way across her underground independent chamber to begin research.

Sid feels foolish being the only one who started at the calfin plant to grind himself some calfin drink, but his body was shaking and everything wanted to fall asleep and forget this nightmare.  He picked a handful of the calfin beans, took them to the kitchen and ground them in her BLD grinder and then started the tea kettle waiting for it to boil.  Tears came to his eyes again and he took a moment to cry about Natelia being gone.  His nausea was settling into a resounding anger that was washing over him.  By the time he poured the boiling water into his cup his whole body was on fire with rage.  He thought what they all thought, these people had to pay with their life for the murder they had committed.  That very thought brought him fear, he knew many people that were brainwashed by Triunfeo and M and would mimic every word they said and give no critical thought as to the amount of manipulation and lies the two would put out to the masses.  He sipped his calfin and decided to investigate people directly employed by Triunfeo and M.  

This was a divergence from the plan which was just to research the two and find out more, but he was certain that if he could infiltrate as an employee of Triunfeo and M, he might be able to slip them a poison.  After all next to the calfin plants were deadly solarluna plant’s, if he ground just a pencil tip of the flowers into a drink, they would die after undergoing a horrible paralysis that left the body stinging with a pain described as powerful as the weight of the moon supported on the body with a migraine inducing light as bright as the sun itself.  There were rumors that Giestian was tortured by the plants.  Deaths from these mostly happened to addicts who had their stash laced by an opponent or foe.   

Sid pulls out his BLD and commands, “find me employee records or services used by Triunfeo and M.”  The BLD whirs and pulls up a business card for Luxury Services while reading, “the main service for Triunfeo and M are Luxury Services that commits to top quality events and food services for the elite.”  Sid lets out a breath and copies the number for the head contact at Luxury Services, Gord Rift.  He begins formulating a plan to present Dredona and a luxury DJ experience for Luxury Services to employ them to serve Triunfeo and M at one of their banquets.  

Once there, they just need to offer their version of Dredona’s Calfin products with solarluna and they will be dead and assassinated.  He marvels at his ingenuity and does not see it as rash decision making but pinpricks of fear continue to course through his body only elevating his anger more.  Convinced he has found enough; he retires to take a nap in the sand room laying on the sand and crying himself into the abyss of sleep.