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Bernie walks to the panel, lifting a screen and turning sohtness in the orange glow and the flashing red lights I think I un to hit me I know it’s an ambush; it feels like the one set forfast

"Jesus This thing is legit It’s old as hell, but it’s legit"

I glance back at hi?"

He shakes his head, "I just need to break the codes and launch it"

I sigh, "How long, Bern?"

"Ten h, "Shit" Ten ers fly across the clunky keyboard He wipes aeat, almost in sync with me The room feels like a stea in a hotel in Vegas once Granny wanted to go there so bad and Lenny said no, so she waited until he was gone on one of his trips and took ot me an Xbox, and let me play on her laptop, she letat the clunky, old laptop I barely recall how to use it

Bernie shakes his head, "I can’t believe they put this here I can’t believe I never knew"

"Why did they?"

He shrugs, "Not a clue Must be the fail safe, in case the wrong people get control again, or if another country couess We did this to every other country, so the threat of the for us was never a real one"

I scowl, "You did what?"

He gives me a blank stare, "We launched HEMP’s over everyone We killed the power grids in every country but ours"

I shake my head, "What about the cities? Will said that the other cities were like this one Every continent had cities, there were ten or so"

He shakes his head too, "No We wanted to end world wars and pollution, and we did We were scared they would launch these over us, so we removed all threats"

I feel weird about the fact he knew they did this to other places, "Is this so you had planned to maybe do to the United States?"

He shakes his head, "No I didn’t even know there was a contingency plan in place here It makes me uncomfortable to know they had one for the breeder farms It means they have fully lost control of the virus, with no possibility of getting it back"

The talk of the infected, cohts, makes me considerably more uncomfortable "Do you think the newer breeder babies are really immune?"

He shakes his head, "I don’t knohat to think I’ist I’m a tech nerd…"

A noise cuts hiers They continue to type I scan the top of the stairs as I hear another noise

"Bernard? Really?"

I know the voice instantly, as the face I barely recall hovers over the railing "And you "

My stoers don’t stop but he speaks softly, "Michael, hs and shakes his head He looks nearly identical to lea ht of stairs I walk up the more sweat from his brow