Dreams in the Tower Part 1 Read Online Free

but I—hold on a second.”
    Quickly reaching inside his pocket, he pulled his eagerly-buzzing tablet back out, swiping the screen to answer the incoming vid-call. “I’m here,” he said. He held the tablet in a pos ition that would include Jason in the conversation.
    Appearing on the screen was a real face, not another avatar—though Jason knew right away that this call was also related to the Anti-Corp movement. He recognized the face: a broad pale female’s outlined by shoulder-length blonde hair. It belonged to a woman who had been one of his closest friends since they attended San Jose State t ogether.
    “What’s up, Steph.” Seito said. There was no need for nicknames or voice filte ring with her.
    “Hey Seito, Jason.” Jason greeted her with a wave and realized immediately Steph wasn’t herself; tiredness was etched deep into her eyes, and her demeanor was dark, hopeless.
    “Stepha nie ,” Seito sang, “did you hear about Silte going into Crisis Procedure?”
    “Yeah.” Her smile was fleeting and devoid of life. She was giving Jason an uneasy feeling, though he wasn’t quite sure why. “So,” she said, “Seito, you said to call if anything came up. Word came down the pipeline that Silte is shuffling; they’re moving things around big time, asset redistribution. Heavy stuff. Actually, Jason, it’s good you’re here. I was thinking of calling you before you went to work.”
    “What’s going on?” Jason stopped to give her his full attention.
    “Crisis Procedure,” she said. “Like Seito said. Don’t you know what that means?”
    “Vaguely.”
    “I’ve heard from a few different people,” she said. “Silte is about to indefinitely shut down most of their non-vital business operations—allegedly. I don’t know, but it sounds like Sanon will be closing, at least everything below the executive level. It’s part of the protocol.”
    “Vacation time,” Seito said, nudging Jason with a bony elbow. “So we did it, huh? We really did something. Ha!”
    “I wouldn’t put such a positive spin on it,” Steph said. “We didn’t do anything. This is a calculated response. They…they’re throwing around words like ‘retaliation’ and ‘war.’ AC people are starting to panic and calling for militarization of all things. I… It’s just…” She trailed off into silence and shifted so that bedsprings creaked beneath her.
    “Hey,” she said, regaining herself, “are you two sick?”
    Jason and Seito glanced at each other in bemusement before answering, “No.”
    “Hmm.” She was no longer looking into her tablet but down and off-screen, seemingly deep in thought. “No, you guys weren’t there. A lot of us—everyone I talked to—have been sick. We thought maybe somebody had the flu or something last night. It’s not the flu. I don’t know. I couldn’t sleep all night.”
    “Are you okay?” Jason asked her.
    “Yeah,” she said unconvincingly. “Yeah.”
    Seito brought his face close to the screen and said enthusiastically, “Hey, why don’t I come over and take care of you for a while? It’ll be like that time you ate those bad shrooms sophomore year.” Jason rolled his eyes; Seito and Steph’s late night sexual encounters had always been the worst-kept secret within their circle of friends.
    “Yeah, sure,” she said. “I mean, I don’t know. Look, I’ve gotta go guys. Keep what I said in mind.”
    Before Jason and Seito could say anything else, Steph was gone, and Seito pocketed his ta blet once again. She had certainly not been herself, but what she had said about Silte’s possible movements was the more pressing concern for Jason. Things were getting heavy. Had the time finally come for him to sever ties with the movement altogether? He’d rather have a steady job and good pay than become Silte’s enemy in a war.
    When they were back to walking down the sidewalk Seito asked, “Do you think it’s true, what she said? You think Sanon’s closing for a