This is my first time in Canada, all I know of it is what I’ve heard from Ann. All that matters now is we might find Nina. I have a strong feeling we will, and if we don’t, I don’t think we ever will. I’m trying to measure my expectations, if we do find her, I don’t want to be too overbearing, especially since I don’t want to intrude on her reuniting with Nat. No matter what happens after, I hope we find her first.
The ride to Ottawa was mostly quiet, Mia appreciated Ann’s lighthearted attitude so far, it kept her mood from falling to somber and kept her thoughts at the very least neutral. Soon the city of Ottawa came into view. The capital city featured the strange clash of new and old that most cities expressed. On a hill across the river was the capital building, it stuck out looking like something brought from England and dropped there, it had been decades since Canada left the commonwealth, but it still acted in imitation in some ways.
Ann took them into a rundown part of the city outside the capital, most of the building were built of the same brick facade, fading into disrepair.
“This may appear to be the worst part of the city, but actually, it’s probably the safest for us,” Ann told them, “We’ll be there soon.”
They zig-zagged through the city streets before Ann finally stopped in front of a building that looked like all the rest, it had a garage which opened upon their arrival. The space inside was bigger than it appeared from the outside, the garage housed many other vehicles, from tiny cars to large trucks. Upon closer examination, it appeared to be a mechanic shop.
Ann cut the engine and they got out of the van. Mia stretched, her body felt stiff after the long ride.
“C’mon, let’s see whose here,” Ann said to them.
They followed Ann out of the garage through a door into an adjacent room, laughter could be heard from the large couch that sat around a television.
“Ann! How are you doing?” exclaimed a girl coming from around the couch.
She had curly brown hair that framed her freckled face.
“I’m okay Olivia, how’s it here?” Ann asked.
“Alright, you know just waiting for you.”
“Who else is here?”
“Everyone except that Amanda you keep saying were waiting on… anyway, are you gonna introduce me to everyone standing awkwardly behind you?”
“Well, you know Paul.”
“Yes, hi Paul.”
“Hi,” Paul said.
“And this is Mia, Saoirse, and Nat,” Ann gestured to each in turn.
They all did a combination of smile and wave to Olivia.
“Well, hello all, I’m Olivia! I’ll be coming back with you all and then we can really get to know each other. For now, I know Ann is strictly business up front.”
“So did you get together what I need?” Ann asked.
“Yep, it’s all set, Sparrow got you clearance, two sets of ID, one for customs,” Olivia handed her the first card, “you’re a student at UB, decided you wanted to sponsor a citizen from the SSNY seeking asylum, why they’re seeking asylum, up to you,” she handed Ann the next card, “this one’s for once you get in, you’re an agent, undercover in the anti-war movement, should give you access to the record room and onto the computers, there you can comb through whatever. Sparrow wanted me to ask you to copy the drive onto this one,” she handed her a little stick.
“Won’t that take like, hours?” Ann questioned.
“I don’t know, they told me it’d take like, ten minutes, figured you’d spend that time looking through the docs anyway, besides, you know customs takes forever.”
“I guess, whatever, where are they anyway, and where’s Declan?”
Olivia let out a dismissive noise, “C’mon, don’t you know them well enough by now? Declan’s out running, you know he can’t take a day off.”
“So, Sparrow’s upstairs then?” Ann assumed.
“No… I guess I forgot, you wouldn’t expect this, it’s kind of a new thing for Sparrow.”
“What?”
“Well, since around the time you and Paul left, they’ve been out looking for this old piece of tech. Apparently, some hacker lived in this area in the twenties, lot of good stuff on their drives for whoever finds it. You know it’s like Sparrow’s dream to take down SV Tech, decentralize the internet again, you know all that stuff.”
“Hm, I guess, well if you see them before I do tell them were leaving whether they find it or not.”
“Speaking of leaving, how long before we do?”
“Not too long, I just want to hang out here for a few days, scout the capital, see what happens, I’m not sure if we beat the mafia up here, I’m still waiting to hear from Amanda.”
“I hate to say it Ann, but that girl’s probably dead, nobody gets out of Buffalo without the mafia’s say so, if your girl got caught, she’s probably floating in Lake Erie.”
“I can’t give up on her that easy, plus she’s the only way we find her sister,” Ann pointed to Nat.
“Are you the one that survived the massacre in the SSNY?” Olivia said to Nat.
“Yeah,” Nat said, she looked uncomfortable.
“Oh, damn, sorry, shouldn’t have brought it up… if anyone can find your sister though, its Ann.”
“I believe in her too,” Nat said.
Suddenly, the door from behind them opened and a sweaty man with large arms and short cut blonde hair walked in, “Hey Ann,” he said with a bit of breathlessness.
“Hey Declan, how was your run?” Ann inquired.
“Short and simple five today, it’s getting hot though. So, who are all your friends, I know Paul,” he said nodding up to Paul who did the same.
“This is Mia, Nat, and Saoirse,” Ann said introducing them again.
“Hello all,” Declan greeted with a wave, “I’m Declan, Canadian track star turned wanted by the state, in case you’re wondering, arson, my attorney says not to say more than that, then again, he doesn’t even know I’m here.”
They all laughed politely before he continued.
“So, what can I do to help Ann? Until we finally leave this place.”
“Stay put for one, you can’t just go out for a run, you get caught, I can’t break you out again, you have like one of the most recognizable faces in the city, maybe don’t risk it,” Ann said firmly.
“Okay, okay, I’ll stay put,” Declan said with his hands up walking away into what looked like the kitchen.
“Okay, Ann, I know you just told Declan not to leave, but… there’s a show tonight, I just wanna see one more before we leave, it’s at The Underground, there’s like four different artists performing, I can’t leave without seeing one more show, you can bring your friends…” Olivia pleaded.
“Fine, Declan’s not into that anyway, so he’ll stay, I’m sure we’ll be fine there,” Ann conceded.
“Alright, I gotta get ready, Nat,” Olivia pointed to Nat, “I just feel like I can make you look great, c’mon.”
Nat blushed and followed Olivia up the steel stairs that came out of the center of the large room.
“Well, I guess Nat’s going, are you two,” Ann asked turning to Saoirse and Mia.
“Of course,” Saoirse replied, “I gotta see how a Canadian show compares to one in the PAC, I’m gonna see what I can do to get ready with Nat.” Saoirse also ascended the steel stairs.
Ann looked at Mia.
“Sure, why not,” Mia said, she had no idea what getting ready entailed, what she should look like but had a feeling it wouldn’t be a big deal, “I’m all set to go when everyone else is.”
“Right,” Ann said, “I’m just gonna do a couple things before we head out.”
Paul followed silently behind her.
Mia collapsed on one of the couches, waiting until they were ready to head out, it was strange to go to a show, in the midst of everything, but she felt like they all probably needed it. One night of fun before they had to get to work, before they would have to face some harsh reality. Mia didn’t know what it’d be, but she sensed one coming.
* * *
Mia suddenly felt underdressed when she saw how everyone else had prepared. They all seemed to dress in a way that made them feel confident. Clearly what Olivia had done to Nat had done that, she looked so much happier than Mia had ever seen her.
The Underground stuck to its name quite well, it was indeed, underground. The music pulsed in the large dimly lit room filled with the haze of smoke. People moved to the music in their own ways while some stuck to the sides and watched. The room was frenzy of people in different states of sobriety each smelling of what they consumed the most of.
Every so often the music would change, from jubilant to angry, from electronic to punk, but a through line of loud defiance seemed to make every act a cohesive unit despite the different genres they performed.
Mia had brief interactions with people and then would never see them again, and some people she would just keep seeing continuously. The longer they were there the faster the time went, in the haze of everything she momentarily forgot her worries, her anxieties. The environment itself was intoxicating and addicting and Mia understood why Olivia would miss it, especially if she came often. The night blurred as it went longer until it came to a close and Mia awoke on the couch back in the large room staring at the idle ceiling fans on the steel ceiling. In that moment much of her anxieties rushed back, she turned over and went back to sleep.
* * *
Mia woke to the sound of rustling in the kitchen on the other side of the large room, a person wearing all black with tousled black hair was cooking what appeared to be breakfast. She sat up and saw that Olivia had also crashed on the other couch in the room, the rest of her companions must’ve been upstairs. The person in all black noticed she was awake and gestured for her to come over.
Mia got up feeling stiff but walked into the kitchen that matched the very industrial appearance of the rest of the building. The person cooking turned to her, their eyes a piercing shade of green all more prominent by all the black.
“Olivia likes her rest, try your best not to wake her,” they whispered, “I’m Sparrow, I’m guessing your Mia?”
“Yeah, how’d you know?” Mia responded, matching their low tone.
“Ann, she’s talked about you before, she’s very jealous of your eyes, it’s not really something you see around here a lot.”
“Yeah…” Mia trailed off.
Sparrow seemed to notice her discomfort, “It is pretty neat. I know it’s a whole big thing to oppose gene-mods, you know being able to literally create superior beings, but if it wasn’t invented by capitalists maybe it wouldn’t be representative of a class issue taken to its most extreme… Sorry, I know that’s a lot, and we just met its just… people have always judged me based on how I look and… I just don’t want you to think, to think I see you as different.”
“Thanks, I don’t know, I guess your response is better than the strange looks I get.”
Sparrow let out a suppressed laugh, “Yeah I figured… anyway, you wanna help me?”
“Sure, what should I do?”
* * *
Before long the pair had cooked a massive breakfast, and everyone had slowly trickled out from where they were sleeping to the smell of food. They all sat in the collection of couches and chairs that surrounded the TV, eating breakfast and watching the news.
To Mia it was quite interesting, network television in this sense didn’t exist in the AAC, or really anywhere in the AAA. Individuals and groups would put out pieces, written or recorded, on many topics both inside and outside the AAA, all available to everyone at their leisure usually with indications on where to learn more.
In Canada a few corporations dominated the airwaves and interpreted their version of the news largely based upon their political standing. It seemed to be the best they had though, independent groups routinely got crushed or absorbed by the conglomerates and at least the station they had picked was vaguely socialist, though it seemed unable, or unwilling to critique the many deplorable actions taken around the country for the sake of success under capitalism.
Mia hadn’t really been paying attention to it until she heard Nat gasp, she focused on the screen listening to the man reading the story, underneath him were the words “MASSACRE IN SSNY: NEW VIDEO EMERGES,” the man spoke in a matter-of-a-fact tone despite the story he was covering, “…the video comes from an escaped camera man from the state media, he crossed into the Canada with this video as his only possession, requesting the world see it, please be aware, viewer discretion is advised.”
The screen cut to a video she’d seen before, it was what had played on the news after the massacre in the SSNY, conveniently edited to only show the shot at the representative, not the execution of a protester, not the indiscriminate fire into the crowd, but this time, it did. Mia watched as the events she had heard about now occurred before her, as she watched she now wondered even more how Nat had survived. Mia glanced at Nat, she knew she was reliving the moment in her head, she could see the emotion on her face. Saoirse had pulled her close and held her hand.
The video ended and the man returned, “After seeing that, all I can do is condemn this senseless act of violence and ask, what will we do about it.” In that moment, Mia knew, almost certainty that a Canadian invasion of the SSNY was inevitable, the only question left was: what it would mean for the AAC?