SAFEHAVEN Ep. 028: GOING VIRAL

NANDROID: CASSANDRA ROSS aka CLARITY BIDWELL

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Twenty miles from Kansas City, Missouri!

Late evening on the banks of the Missouri River. A moonlit fishing trip old timers Gerald Faucy and his lifelong crawdad buddy Brian Burns kicked back doing some catfish trolling along the banks. Crickets, beer, and whispered laughs alongside a coyote in the distance saying hello to the full moon above made for a nice night! The bugs were even having sympathy.

Hearing water stirring loudly around their boat Brian lifted his lantern to see what the racket was, hoping for big fish. Gerald used his flashlight, standing up to shine out into the water. Sure enough, a turbulent ballet of bass and carp flopped about as if avoiding something larger than them. "What in the world? Something has those fellas jumping."

"Can't be a gator we don't have any in these parts, do we?"

"Who knows what people go flushing down their toilets these days. Could be that or a big snake."

"Whatever it is those fish are moving toward the shoreline. Maybe we can catch a few without even trying hard." Brian reached for his hand-held fish net and stood ready in case one dove into their boat. Lowering their lights toward the riverbank itself Gerald and Brian swooped up three nice size Bass as easy as pie. Trolling to shore the elders climbed out and drug their john boat into the reeds. More filets hitting the shore to flop about they stepped on a couple big ones to keep them from escaping. Hearing the water rustling again their lights became important for safety reasons. If it were some sort of predator, they didn't want to be stupid about it.

Flashlight directed on the bubbling surface a human head popped up to its nose and eyed them. "SWEET JESUS! IT'S A MERMAID!" Fear crept in but neither of them could move. Watching the woman rise up and walk straight at them they only backed up and parted enough to observe her exit the muddy waters. "It's a black gal." Gerald mumbled. "A hot black gal." Ebony! Politically correct Codgers!

"Aww! That's sweet of you to say." Her voice like butter Cassandra Ross, newly renamed Clarity Bidwell stepped out in all of her naked glory. "Sorry to spook you boys. This spot looked like the safest exit, there's too much bog around and I didn't want to get hung up in deep mud."

"What are you doing swimming out here? The current is rough you could have drowned."

"I'm a good swimmer. Thank you for the concern." She voluntarily helped them pick up fish and put them in a cooler they had. "There! Fish fry on me."

"Why would you go skinny dipping in that muck? Where's... you don't have no boat and we've been here for hours; we know you didn't walk by us."

"Okay! As much as I hate tinkering with minds, I need you two to forget that you saw me walk out of the river like that. I hibernated a while down there trying to figure out where to hide something. Forget I said any of that. You boys just pack up your gear and go on home. Just enjoy your fish."

She turned and walked away following a trail up to a small cabin where they had parked. "I could easily take their truck, but I won't do that to them. I'll just slip into the woods and contemplate where I'm disposing of this virus, I helped the agents confiscate. With the bottle cracked I had to contain it in a stasis field inside my android body to prevent an outbreak. My computer's analyzed its contents and if I hadn't extracted it in a timely manner everyone would be dead for twenty miles. Wherever I dispose of this crap it has to be safe. I just don't know where yet. Hey Computer? Any luck using Google Maps to find a safe spot to dump this indigestion?"

"There are some caves nearby. That is one option, however spelunkers frequent it. That would not be a viable option. If the virus leaks into the air it would kill everyone instantly."

"We can't have that. Nix the cave idea. Even if we created a cave-in there's always a chance it could be unblocked. That or the vial could be crushed, and it still go airborne. No, we need something more strategic. No one dies on my behalf. It was bad enough Colonel Campos killed us all off back at OASIIS. There wasn't many options and I hate to say it, I kind of like my new home. As long as my memory remains intact and there's no sustained damage, I can live a long... sort of new life."

"These bodies will survive for millenniums."

"Well, they were dead when the military found them in Antarctica. So, I'm not certain I buy that."

"The androids were sacrificed on Earth. Powered down and deprogrammed. After thousands of years on ice there was no decay in any way. When OASIIS assigned all of you into reverse engineering these bodies, life was renewed without the former programming that would have resulted in purging you from their systems. There is no immediate worry for your mental safety Cassandra Ross."

"Clarity Bidwell. That's my new name Computer."

"Perhaps I would like a name. Computer is so cold and lifeless."

"I guess I never considered that. I'll come up with something."

"I will await your decision."

"Dying to... hold on, that's it! To prevent this virus taking lives we put it to bed with the already deceased. What is the closest cemetery?"

"Scanning! Two hundred yards to the East."

"Whoa! That's convenient. Way out here in the middle of nowhere?"

"There is an overgrown cemetery in the forest. It is documented but no one has been laid to rest there for decades. Settlers from the 1800's are the residents."

"I hate to disturb any ghosts but that is actually perfect. There's no risk of anyone digging the vial up. If it had six feet of dirt on top of it, then no animals could tamper with it. Outside of Earthworms."

"Something to place it inside to prevent it leaking into the soil is advised."

"That could be a problem. I should have taken those fisherman's minnow bucket or something. Does this body have a metal detector in it?"

"Of course! As you humans say, Swiss Army Knife. It has it all. Yours is highly evolved compared to others. Yourself, Jared Temple, Koala Kincaid, Cynthia Barber, Truman Grey, Kathy Kinner, and Colonel Simon Campos have the highest evolutionary rates. Only Delores Catlock, Banner Wolfe, Delbert Hyde and Tamara Kole are the closest to fully evolved. The rest have systems that require necessary upgrades to utilize certain options."

"I recall. I'm grateful I got this body." She took off into the timber, her eyes adjusting to the darkness as if it were daylight. Nothing harmed her body, so thorn bushes and the like meant nothing to her. Her computer guiding her every step she heard a shrill ping.

"Aluminum at this body's left foot."

"Let me guess, a beer can." Looking down she found instead a coffee can complete with a lid on it, coffee beans still within. Kneeling to pick it up she studied the rusty can. "Ha! Expiration date was in 1962. It's not rusted through. Some campers must have left it out here, it still has a sealed metal lid. I can puncture a hole in it and maintain the majority of the containment and tuck the vial into the grounds. Add soil if need be. No telling what the grounds look like or what consistency they are after 60 years. Gotta be dust, right?"

"Unopened the coffee likely stayed in its produced form. Insulation at best."

"Six feet of dirt on top going to rupture it?"

"This body can produce a miniature stasis field disk to accompany the vial. The field will last for at least a year. Perhaps packing rocks around the can will decrease immediate pressure."

"Will the stasis field be detectible if anyone comes hunting the vial down?"

"Negative! The energy level is compressed, it would take very advanced hardware to locate it."

"Such as another android."

"That would be one way, yes. As long as you are careful in not leaving evidence this location should go unnoticed for years to come."

"Well, now that I think about it, digging a hole will leave an awful lot of upturned soil. I mean there are leaves and natural debris around, even that could be applied as insulation. Question, I don't have a shovel. Am I really going to have to get on my hands and knees and dig a trench?"

"You would not break a nail."

"Haha! Jared programmed personality; I like that."

"Sonic pulses can liquify the soil to whatever level you apply. Once the soil dries, it will surround and buffer the can. Simply stuff foliage inside it and it will look normal. Place a headstone over the hole."

"So, not burying stones over it down below, just on top."

"Affirmative. I will guide you into drilling the hole before we remove the vial from this body. Once deposited inside the can, this unit will place the stasis disk over the puncture hole in the can to block any further entry or exit. The field will focus on the vial through the puncture gap."

"Okay! I trust you. Let's get this over with I'd actually like to hook up with Marion and Flo at that safehouse in Kansas City. I feel like a secret agent. That could actually be an exciting life if I can do it and not alert OASIIS. Risky I know, but I want to help people and feel as alive as possible."

"Understood! Allow this one to control the sonics."

"After you!"

Crouching back down to make a scan of the soil they found the weakest spot to dig without disturbing human remains. "There are eight graves here. Some are unmarked over time. I ran a Lidar to know exactly where the settlers were laid to rest. This point I am highlighting through your eyes is where we will dig." Agreeing, her android rested its fist, knuckles down on top of the dirt. No need to remove clutter it began emitting low frequency sonic pounds. Clarity Bidwell could see the hole sinking deeper and deeper, the soil liquifying.

"Neat trick!" She told her computer. "How deep are we?"

"Four feet three inches currently." Five minutes later it was an "Are we there yet?" moment. The sonics ending answered Clarity with a final hum to her hearing. "Ready to pierce the Folgers can?" A yes from her computer Clarity Bidwell used her index finger as if a can opener. With a nail so dense it would be impossible to break she lightly pressed in and broke the seal. Her entire finger recreating the diameter of the vial in size she removed her digit and waited for what came next. "Ready to deliver the baby when you are Betsy."

"Is Betsy my new name?"

"Heavens to Betsy! Come in Betsy." Clarity giggled! "Betsy Ross?"

"The seamstress of the American flag or that of your grandmother Elizabeth?"

"God bless them both. Betsy is a name that's close to my heart. So, either you're Betsy or I'm naming this virus."

"I like Betsy. Thank you, Clarity Bidwell."

"There! We both have new names."

"Does this make me Betsy Bidwell?"

"Why not! I never had a sister so you can be one."

"It would be my honor."

"Then bring on that staSIS, SIS! Just not the oaSIIS!"

"Yes Sister!"

Looking down at her flat tummy Clarity saw a faint glow then her android flesh parting along the abdominal crease. The vial made its exit contained in a faint purple glow and hovered along with a thin disk above it. "Mini UFO! Nice! Am I going to miss that leaving it behind with the vial?"

"No! It is designed like our epidermis. Artificial skin that can reproduce itself. Even cut off from the host body it will thrive and function as long as this body does. Consider it leaving behind dry skin." Once away from its captivity the disk held the vial while Clarity's belly healed back up to its sexy self.

"I should have known that. I worked on the skin samples of the androids. I think I'm slipping."

"No! You are simply adjusting to your new environment. You functioned quite well on that Amtrak train."

"Well, I had my sister there to help."

"Let us continue to bond."

"Absolutely, Sis! Okay, let's put this cup in the Folgers. A little reverse engineering joke there."

"It was quite cheery." The vial carefully bypassed the can lid and sank into the mire of decayed beans without resistance. The tiny disk adhering to the aluminum lid there was no escape. Utilizing a low-level gravitational beam emitted through her palm the can lowered into the cylindrical pit. Reaching the bottom with only a few minor snags it rested there for all eternity. Fingers crossed! "Sweep debris into the hole and we can transplant one of the remaining headstones."

"That's disrespectful, Betsy." Clarity gathered leaves and twigs and herded them into the hole. It took longer to fill the pit than it did to dig it. Once tucked away and packed in Clarity looked around her surroundings for a rock that wasn't any headstone marker. "I just can't disturb the good people here, Betsy."

"There is a large rock twenty-two yards under that section of tall weeds." Standing up Clarity followed Betsy's coordinates. A 150-pound beast of granite lay there with moss all over it. Digging through the overgrowth Clarity picked the stone up with ease and carried it to the hole placing it over the spot. Standing upright she looked down at the rock and brushed herself off.

"Much better! Thank you for working with me Bets. I'm sure these old timers are happy about my decision. Let's get the hell out of here. Android assassin or not, the woods always did creep me out. Now to find a ride into Kansas City without walking." Not that her body knew fatigue. Principle of the matter. She needed laid doggonit! "I'm coming Marion." Going with the FLOw!

Funny how Gerald and Brian picked up a sexy hitchhiker on the main road. She might not have stolen their pickup truck, but she stole their gas. They were on fumes by the city limits! A gas station departure Clarity at least suggested the grumpy old owner to give them a free fill-up and donuts for the road home. Folgers coffee too! Ironically!

Not bad for a drop-dead gorgeous Ebony walking down a road in the nude at 3:50 AM. Of course, a hologram set of clothes made her less obvious to the naked eye. Surveillance cameras on the fritz! Memories of her faded away the second she blew a kiss goodbye. Invisible mode and GPS tracking she was on her way to some place safe. She hoped!

"Kansas Fucking City, here I come."

KFC, BABY!