Nathalia tried one more time to jog. Her body didn’t seem capable of moving faster than a walk. But exercise didn’t include walking at a leisurely pace. Or even walking at any rate. Despite perhaps more people using walking as their preferred form of exercise before the pandemic moved everyone indoors, it was no longer considered exercise by the State.
If you were outside to exercise then you had to be moving at a speed that was fast enough for the droids to detect you were there. The minute you stopped moving fast enough, they started looking for you. And if they found you walking they would set of their alarm overhead and shower you in a red light. It didn’t go away until you were back inside your house either. The only thing that would save you for a walk was having a dog.
If you were walking then the droids couldn’t really find you or see you. And if you were caught out on a street where the droids didn’t have a record of seeing you in their database, you are usually hauled in and questioned. At your own risk. Because you aren’t let out of jail until your fine is paid, because you are considered negligent. Those caught stealing for food though are usually released beforehand in order to not spread the virus. That’s what they say, anyway.
Natalia pushed her thoughts away. She didn’t want to rage about the State right now. She just wanted a break. That’s why she came out here int he first place.
A buzzing sound caught her attention and she picked up her pace. She heard that the droids made a buzzing sound.
It came faster and seemed to be getting louder. Natalia ducked slightly to miss a low hanging branch, then saw the droid to her left. She couldn’t believed it. Rage builds up inside of her. She wasn’t running fast, though that wasn’t allowed either since it made the droids think you were running away from stealing something, but she wasn’t walking. There was no reason for the droid to be coming after her.
“Don’t stop,” a voice called out. Natalia did as they said, her legs moving slightly faster now, but still feeling sluggish and not really up to the task. But then she realized the absurdity of obeying a strange voice and turned around. jogging backwards she saw just in time as the doors hovered close to a thicket of bushes and overgrowth, then slammed to the ground by a rock the size of small dog.
That’s when she stopped altogether, her jaw so close the ground that she had to adjust her ligaments to get it back closed again. A loud whoop came out of the trees above her as a young man left the thicket, doubled over in laughter.
“How can you laugh about this? Won’t you get in trouble? Won’t we both get in trouble? What did you do?”
The young man gave her a hard look, then once again burst into laughter just as another young man jumped out of the trees, startling her backwards. Natalia backed up, tripped on a rock and went sprawling backwards. Her bum hit the pavement hard, sending shockwaves up her spine. Small pebbles now seemed wedged into her skin through the thin jogging clothes.
“The droid hadn’t registered your face yet. We wouldn’t have done it if it had,” the man who jumped from the tree said, holding his hand out to her as a peace offering. “They are quite particular. I know the news tells you they can see everything from far away, but they can’t. And in this neighborhood they use the crabby versions since most people are so compliant they stay inside and eat the food the State sends and never asks questions as long as their internet works. It’s in the lower income area that they have to use the better ones. And even those are pretty crap technology. Which tells me the States doesn’t want to spend the money or they’re being hoodwinked by the developer.”
Again the other man burst out laughing. His teeth were strong and white, flashing in the sunlight. Natalia wondered when it was the last time she genuinely laughed out of glee or joy. And this man had done so three times in less than five minutes.
“Wanna see it?” the laughing man asked, holding the droid out to her.
Natalia shook her head. “Can it still see me and send pictures? I have a daughter to take care of.”
“It can’t see anything anymore. It couldn’t even really see Truin here, it’s just that Truin flashed his light a few times to attract the droid. But we’ve been waiting for it, not the other way around. We’ve been int hose positions for about twenty hours.”
“That’s dedication,” Natalia said, glad to be stopped from running but nervous another droid would be there soon.
“Don’t worry. You won’t have another droid come by this area for a good hour.”
“When will they figure out that one’s broken?”
Truin shrugged with a smile. The other man joined him. Natalia watched as the nameless one looked up, scrutinized a tree she couldn’t see, then tugged at the branch. He held it out to her with a shy smile as a peace offering.
“You won’t say you saw us here, will you,” he asked, his question floating int he air around the peace offering. Natalia took a closer look and saw it was a pear. A real pear. Fresh off the tree. Before her mind could think, her stomach did. Grabbing the pear gently from his hands she nodded her agreement. The two young men nodded back, the crouched down and entered the thicket again. Natalia moved slowly. She would have to now only move slowly until she got home in order to not be seen by a neighborhood droid. Moving at the pace they didn’t see would take her two hours to get home.
Stepping around the place where the young men used to stand Natalia looked up ad saw when the nameless one had seen: a tree full of ripe pears. right there for the picking. She had nothing to carry them in, but she wasn’t about to let that stop her. After moving slowly around, trying to find something, a door closing in the neighborhood just ahead made her think faster. Quickly she peeled off her sweatshirt, dropped several pears into the middle of it, then tied it up as she had seen done in cartoons when she was a child. If anyone stopped her….well, if anyone stopped they would probably call the droids. So she would have to just make sure no one stopped her. She would have to inch along the road and hide from any peering eyes. But it would all be worth it when she handed Lailane a fresh pear full of vitamins. It would all be worth it then.