Song of the Red-Legged Birds: Chapter 41, Part 2: Only hard feelings
A final message from the discoder
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With gratitude, Bill
Last week, in chapter 41, Part1, Holly and Takeda get ready to leave while Luke arrives
Chapter 41, Part 2: Only hard feelings
Careen and Tim were sitting side by side, talking at their desks, when Arthur came trotting down the hallway towards them.
“There he is,” Tim said. “I saw the news that Jaws is rolling, and here you are. That can’t be a coincidence.”
Arthur stopped, panting. “You got that straight, bra, comin?”
“Very funny, some of us little people have work to do,” Tim scoffed.
“Suit yourself, my man.”
Desmond popped out of his office. “Arthur, may I have a moment before you go?”
“Sure, needed to talk to you anyway.” Desmond shot Careen a look as the door shut behind them.
Tim carefully removed the tea bag from his cup with a spoon and took in the warm cardamom. “What do you think that’s all about?”
“Beats me.” Careen squeezed the pen she was holding.
“Lots of closed-door conversations around here lately, never a good sign if you ask me.” He sipped his tea while watching her over the edge of the cup.
“Yes, it’s almost as if the world’s best secret keepers like to keep secrets from each other. So, what secrets are you keeping?” She leaned forward and pushed the hair from her face.
“The only one I have is how to make the best cup of tea imaginable. And that’s not a great secret because I’ll tell you if you ask.”
“Baloney, Tim. You’re a stereotype of a guy with a HUGE secret. And that’s the perfect decoy for actually having one. So, what is it, my friend? Got something special in that thermos of yours?”
He gave a long blink. “In here?” he tapped the container, “This contains the answer to the ultimate question.”
The door to Desmond’s office opened. “Thanks, Art. Have a blast at Pe’ahi.”
“Will do, brah.” Arthur waved to Careen and Tim as he walked away.
“Careen?” Desmond said from his office door. “No need to check on Luke. Arthur’s going that way. He’ll do it.” He watched her for a reaction.
“Okay, Des,” she said a little too quickly.
Dammit, she thought.
“Please take good care of her,” Sheila said, handing over the keys.
“I will, promise.” Takeda patted the roof of the red GTO.
Holly surprised Sheila with a hug. “Thank you so much for the car, for taking care of my Mom, and for everything, Sheila. I’m really sorry about Wake. I’d like to honor him somehow when we get back.” She jumped up to kiss him on the cheek.
“You two take care of business and get back here safe. That’s all my buddy Wake would’ve wanted, ya dig?”
“We dig.” She smiled, then turned to see Bodhi standing near the garage, looking calm and happy. “Ugh, that guy. Any change in him?”
“Nope. Not yet anyway. Seems to be a normal, nice person. It’s kind of annoying; even our constant distrust doesn’t upset him. He takes it in stride and appears to understand that it’s for a reason.”
“We’ll see, I guess,” she said.
“Believe me, Holly, I’ll fuck his shit up if he gives me the smallest reason. Right, Bodhi?” He waved to Bodhi, who waved back happily as he raked leaves.
The front door opened, and Diane leaned out, “Hey there, could all of you come inside for a moment?”
They filed back into the house, Sheila bringing up the rear after Bodhi. Diane waved them over to the computer where she and Scott were sitting.
“What’s going on, Mom?”
“Scott and I have made some progress and found a message that Wake left. We wanted to play it for everyone at the same time.”
“You, go sit over there.” Sheila directed Bodhi to the dining room. “He doesn’t get to.”
Diane put an arm around Sheila and patted his back.
On the screen was an animated 8-bit gif that looked quite a bit like Wake. The blocky, mustached character wore a white suit with an open collar that exposed a gold chain. It was alternately pointing to the sky and the ground. Underneath the image, it said:
SORRY CATS, IF YOU’RE READING THIS,
THINGS DID NOT GO GROOVY.
There was a ‘Play’ button underneath the message. Scott gave Sheila a quick look, and he nodded his approval.
A video player launched, and ‘You Should Be Dancing’ by the Bee Gees began to play. A silhouetted figure was centered on the screen with twirling light illuminating him from behind. He danced and spun to the music with joy, mugging for the camera. The multi-colored dance floor tiles highlighted his footwork in platform shoes. A mirrored disco ball came into view from the top of the screen, reflecting his exuberance in its hundreds of tiny panes.
The song transitioned into ‘How Deep is Your Love,’ and the volume reduced. Wake approached the camera and reached for a chair offscreen. He was sweating, breathing hard, and took a long sip from a water bottle as he sat down.
“Hi there! I should edit that part so it looks like it didn’t take all my energy. But I don’t bullshit my friends. I am what I am, and I’m proud of it.”
“Fuckin-a, Wake,” Scott whispered.
“Okay, let’s get to the elephant in the room. You might find it weird, but I’ve kind of always wanted to say this.” He paused. “If you’re watching this, I’m already dead.” He mimed a shiver. “Creepy, right? Anyway, first, my apologies. I’m sorry that I couldn’t stick around longer. You and I know my whole enterprise was risky, and I might not survive. I hope this video never gets played, but if it does, it can only mean we were getting close to the truth, and someone didn’t like it.”
Sheila turned his head toward Bodhi and sneered. Bodhi was sitting, twirling a leaf he’d brought in from outside and looking at his feet.
“The good news now. Before kicking off this mortal coil, I must have prepared well enough that you’re about ready to install a backup of my life’s work, The Red Foot Network. Yay us!” He pointed to the sky with an index finger, and a laser effect shot from it with an audible bang.
“Okay, cool cats, let’s get to some details because although I have eternity, you may be in a rush. Right? After this message plays, the instructions for installation should be self-explanatory. Still, there are some things that you need to know. The artificial intelligence I’ve built will monitor security threats,” he paused, holding up a finger, “for a limited time.”
He stayed that way long enough that Scott checked to see if the video was still playing.
Wake pointed at the screen, “Hah! Made you look. Anyway, it’s for a limited time because those super smart algorithms will be outfoxed by someone eventually. Now dig this, if the network feels threatened, it will, for lack of a better word, delete itself. When that happens, you’ll have to start all over again. And the only way you can do that is if you have one of the cell phones I’ve given you. Those are your last tenuous connections to it all.”
Scott patted his phone on the desk.
“Here’s where it gets tricky and will require some real work. The installation you’re doing now will delete itself in two weeks; it could be earlier if it feels threatened. You need to find a person with the coding chops I have, er had? Past tense, right? Preferably someone better than me. They don’t have to be eclectic or good on the dance floor, though.”
“How we gonna do that?” Sheila mumbled.
“I bet you’re saying, ‘Wake, how’re we going to do that?’ Well, I’ll tell you. I pray that Sheila and Scott are watching this video right now, and if you are, go about our normal routine for vetting people’s desire and humility. You’ll also have to sprinkle in a background check of their basic skills. That basic skills check is on your phones. It’s a series of questions that you can ask at our safe house, in private.”
Takeda took out his phone. “Huh, this must be it.” He pointed to a W icon on the screen.
“If they pass that test, you can start running another installation. But, this time, they will have a much harder challenge to clear. It’s as complicated as I could make it. If they complete it, consider them worthy.”
“Wait, but what if they turn out to be an asshole or something?” Holly blurted out. “We handed over your life’s work to this person!”
Wake was staring again, as if he was listening. “Good point. You’re worried about turning this over to the wrong person, even after they’ve passed these tests. Once again, look at your phones. I’ve given you fail-safes to delete the network. Don’t worry about doing it by accident. There are a few steps that will ultimately bring you back to square one again. So, it should be pretty clear that protecting those phones is most important. But, my friends, and I do hope I’m talking to my friends, let me drop this knowledge on you. The Red Foot Network is important but not more important than your safety. You can see what it’s done to me–unless I died from natural causes! I tend to doubt that, though. Call it a feeling, one that I hope I’m wrong about.”
Holly reached over and paused the video. “So why don’t we hold off on installing the network until we find this magical new replacement for Wake? What’s the rush? It seems like my Mom would be safer without getting deeper into this.”
Scott rubbed his brow. “Well, I still think having it up while you two are on your mission today is important. We could get new information that could help keep you safe–keep us all safe. Might even learn more about Bodhi over there.”
“I guess that makes sense. Mom?”
Diane put her hand on her chest, “I agree, dear. I think it’s wise.”
Holly hit play.
“Lastly, you may or may not be aware that I have a benefactor of sorts. They’ve provided much of the funding to keep the network up and running over the years, paying for hardware, rent, and techy toys. When the network comes back online, they will be notified. That’s another part of my contingency plan. And, when they’re comfortable with things, they’ll reach out to whoever is running it to arrange further financial assistance.”
The disco lights behind Wake winked out one at a time. A lone spotlight snapped on, illuminating him from above. “My friends, you know I don’t believe in long goodbyes. If you’re in my life, I tell you how I feel about you all the time. Probably way too much! So, I leave you with these parting words from the group, A Taste of Honey.” The lyrics to ‘Boogie Oogie Oogie’ scrolled down the screen as the song began to play.
“Catch You on the flip-side my friends, the serious flip-side.”
Wake turned and danced from the camera as the music eventually faded, and the video went black.
It was quiet for a while; no one moved.
Finally, Diane turned to the group with tears streaming down her cheeks. “What an amazing and unique man. I feel the loss of someone I never knew.”
Scott choked back a sob, and Diane leaned over to hug him.
Next week in Chapter 42, Part 1 “The old man fell” Arthur and Careen discuss Luke’s whereabouts