SWNOVELS Chapter One Step Closer
One Step Closer
Block 7,934,100
“Fenhua, Fenhua!” Jiayi is shaking Han as he sleeps in the AV.
Han opens his eyes. He’s pulled the collar up over his ears, and his lower face has slipped into Fenhua’s oversized jacket. He looks at Jiayi.
“We will stop soon for a charge and then continue.”
Han nods and then starts sitting up to assess where they are. It’s the middle of the night, and he can see the distant glow of a city. A steady wind is coming off Beibu Gulf on their left, and with it, a building fog. Han taps Jiayi on the shoulder, points at the distant glow, and shrugs his shoulder.
“Fangchenggang.” She says.
Han raises his eyebrows and nods. He’s passed through here before for his node updates.
The street lights are just beginning to appear along the route. Han has to catch himself, not to count as he does between his home and Wuhan. It’s become such an automatic thing for him to do. Han notices a high-speed train to his right off the highway. It speeds past a second set of tracks with a much slower drone train heading toward the city. Han knows of Fangchenggang as an essential city for agriculture and fishing. He glances to the left and can barely make out the lights of fishing drones in the bay.
Very few AVs are on the street at this time of night, and the charging station is also empty. The drone pulls into a slot to begin charging, and Jiayi looks at Han, “Fenhua, would you like something to eat and drink?” Han nods yes.
Jiayi exits the AV and heads to the automated vending machine. Han watches her in silence. The fog is beginning to thicken. He can barely make her out as she reaches the machines. Finally, she returns to the AV, eating rice crackers, and hands Han a pack and a water bottle. He looks at her in a disappointed fashion.
“Look, little brother, that’s all we can afford.”
Han looks at her sheepishly and mouths, “Oh, so sorry.”
She mouths back, “It’s ok,” and winks at him with a smile.
The AV alerts Jiayi that it’s completed its charge.
“Haiphong!” She commands.
“Not authorized!”
Han looks at Jiayi with large eyes.
She commands again, “Haiphong.”
“Not authorized. You may not proceed any further than Fangchenggang.”
Han had been to Haiphong several times before and understood the geography. They were on the border of what used to be China and Vietnam. So in his mind, he could know that Jiayi wouldn’t be allowed to go any further.
Han looks at Jiayi and rolls his eyes to indicate they need to get out of the AV.
“Fenhua, I need to use the restroom. Do you need to go as well?”
She opens the AV hatch, and they both get out and walk about ten meters away from it. The fog has started to build, and the air has a mild chill. Han is thankful he’s got Fenhua’s jacket on.
They stand there in a zone of dense fog. The AV is now just a glowing ball in the mist, and the lights of the charging station look like floating lights in the sky. The low rumble of the drone train approaching provides another sensory input that doesn’t seem natural.
“Jiayi, you aren’t going to be able to go any further; AI has computed that you have no reason to go there. I’m surprised that it even allowed you to plot a course there, to begin with.”
“Arghhh.” She grunts. “How are we going to get you to Haiphong.”
“My dear, it’s no longer we. It’s me.”
Han turns around and darts into the fog. He disappears in seconds.
Jiayi gasps. She knows she can’t yell out to him, and with visibility next to zero and the low rumble of the train, it would be impossible even to find Han if she wanted to.
Tears well up in her eyes, and she manages to hold her cry by biting her lips. She turns and walks toward the eerie light of the AV. The fog swallows the AV’s hum and lights as she drives away.
Han has lost all depth perception and is running blind. The only sense he can rely on is sound. He’s running in the only direction he can find safety. Suddenly he slips on a slight grade of rocks and trips on a fixed structure. He has no idea when or what he will hit on the fall down. He places his hands out and gets ready for the collision. His hands land on a loose rocky surface, and his head hits a thick piece of metal.
“Shit!.” He wants to scream but holds it in.
He feels around in the dark and fog and confirms he’s stumbled across the train tracks. With the darkness and the mist, he has no idea where the train is. He can hear a low rumble that is getting louder and louder. He scrambles to his feet, feeling a little disoriented and dizzy from the hit to the head. He quickly jumps to the other side of the track and slips again with the loose gravel but manages to stay on his feet. He has no idea how close he is to the rails but steps away for extra measure. He’s pretty sure there are two sets of tracks, one for the drone train and one for the high-speed train. He slowly feels with his legs and figures a distance of about five meters between the rails. He’s standing in the middle of the two sets in a slight depression. On the way in, he remembers the high-speed train moving on the furthest track from him, so he faces the rail he just tripped over and listened. The low rumble is getting louder, and then he starts to feel the leading edge of the compression zone of air from the mass of the train.
The lights of the train appear out of nowhere. And Han feels the rush of wind passing with the train. He begins to run alongside the train. He can’t see any gap between cars with the thick fog and darkness, so he figures he needs to use the glow of the charging station to show him the gaps. He stays in the depression between the tracks running in the darkness. He has no idea if there are any obstacles between the two. He figures this will be his only chance of cover from AI. He shifts between looking to his left and looking ahead. Neither direction orients him. He’s running blind.
He runs desperately, panting, and finally sees the glow of the charging station between the train cars. He runs next to the train between the cars, and then the glow disappears. The train is beyond the lights of the station now. He can see dark shadows to his left and right of the vertical surfaces of the rail cars. He knows they are smooth with no handles and has only one chance to get this right. He pulls the sleeves up on the jacket and jumps with both hands stretched out, hoping he has enough strength to apply pressure and suspend himself between the cars.
As he jumps, his hands land flat, but he can feel the moisture from the fog on the surface of the cars. He grunts, glances up, and notices a street light blink in view and then disappear. His hands are slipping, but he pushes with all his might and swings and feels the coupling between the cars with his left foot. Finally, he grabs enough with his foot to pull himself toward the center of the train and pumps his arms one more time to force his upper torso into the center of the train.
He is more stable with three points of contact, but his right leg hangs between the cars, and his back is still not vertical.
The sound of the train has now engulfed him like the darkness and the fog. Proprioception is the only sensation he has now to calculate his next move.
He forces the left leg down a little, uses the bulk of his calf muscle as a cushion, and pulls again towards the coupling while relaxing his arms. Finally, the right leg comes forward, and his arms drop to his side, and he finds he’s sitting astride the coupling at an angle. He can feel the stickiness of the grease against the bottom of his pants, and the uneven surface of the coupling is causing unbearable pain, but he’s upright and balanced.
In the darkness, he feels to his front and rear as far as he can without losing balance and slides back to a flatter part of the coupling and manages to put his back against the rail car, but his backpack is pushing him forward. So he gently leans forward, swings the bag along, and rests it in his lap, hugging it with both hands.
He’s safe.
The light of day and fatigue are his enemies now. He sits wrapped in damp wetness. The rush of wind and the sound of the train overloads any sensory input he’s capable of processing.