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Henry's Quest, Chapter 5

Once I'm a couple minutes away from the walls of Xenia, I let go and just collapse on the vehicle dashboard, resting my face on my forearm. Finally letting the stress release. I almost fall asleep here. Might've, if I weren't so thirsty.

I take off my backpack and take out the last remaining water bottle, and drink the whole thing. I'm too numb from stress and relief to eat anything, but I can drink.

Okay. Still got to get home. Then I can rest for real. I just need to stay awake for a few more hours.

After a couple hours of riding however the car starts dinging and the screen says "low battery: estimated 15 minutes left".

Shit. I didn't think about this at all.

I stop and power down the vehicle to think and do some math.

I know the angles and distances between each pair of home, Duncan, and Xenia - I worked all that out at Tina's house. Based on those and the speed I've been traveling at, I should have about an hour left until home.

I won't make it.

Duncan, however, is close. It's almost exactly inbetween home and Xenia.

It's dangerous because I'm on Roy's shit list, but since I'm not going back with Astrid and the flunky, I won't be immediately caught. They'll think I got left behind in Xenia, so they won't be looking for me, and as long as the guard who sees me roll in is a different one, they might not know I'm the same person. All I need to do is pass the day in Ginger's or Astrid's and then slip out at evening to walk home.

If I try to go straight home and walk the rest of the distance when the car runs out, I'll have several hours to go. The sun will come up and I'll die of heat stroke. Especially since I have no water left.

I'm driving to Duncan with the last of the battery. As much as I hate having to wait another day to get home and experience real, final closure, I have no choice.

I try to spend the 15 minutes to Duncan thinking of a new story to tell if the guard asks me where I'm from or why I'm here, incase they'll recognize me by story but not by face; but I'm so tired that I just spend the whole time thinking about how I'm trying to think about that.

My luck holds: I'm accosted by a night guard working for Roy, but it's one I never encountered before, and doesn't recognize me or ask many questions about my background. He takes a couple of food items out of my backpack and lets me go.

I knock on Ginger's bunker. Really loud and a bunch of times, since I probably have to wake her from a sound sleep in the middle of the night. She might be cranky, but I think she'll understand when she sees who it is.

Finally I hear Ginger get up inside. Her voice sounds angry this time. "Who?"

"Henry."

"Holy crap!" The door opens. "Henry, you're back from Xenia? And you got the... thingy?"

I nod. "I'm so tired..."

"Right, right. We've still got your makeshift bed. But tomorrow, we wanna hear all about how you did it!"

"Okay..." I fall asleep almost immediately when I hit the floor.

---

I'm woken by heavy footsteps inside the house and voices I can't understand at first.

Someone sounds upset. Someone is loud. I resolve to wake up and rub my eyes to find out what it's about.

But before I do someone grabs me. They're holding something in their hand next to my face, and then say, "It's a match. Found him."

It's Xenia police!

I look around to confirm where I am. Was my escape a dream? No, I'm in Ginger's bunker, but Xenia police are here.

"What...?!?" is all I can say.

They drag me outside the bunker. I'm too tired to resist. I hear Ginger saying, "I'm so sorry..."

The daylight and uncomfortable heat helps wake me fully. It's Duncan like I remember it, except crawling with Xenia police. Roy is standing out here too, with a Xenia cop holding him at gunpoint. His face is covered in sweat from the heat.

One of the Xenia police with a special insignia says, "Wasn't this a worthwhile errand? We got the car, the cybernetic, the thief, *and* one of our other wanted men from years ago."

"I don't understand!" I yell at them. "I thought you didn't enforce jurisdiction outside Xenia!" If my quest is somehow a failure after all that ingenious thinking and daring and luck, I just want to understand how it happened!

The police chief says, "Normally we don't, but if a rich man pays us enough..."

I realize Vincent is standing out here too. My mouth hangs open.

"You stole a hundred thousand credits worth of property from me!" he says. "Plus you insulted me personally! Did you think you could just get away with all that?"

"You've taken my father's life!" I scream at him. Stripped of any power to do anything that matters, I turn to yelling at his conscience again.

Vincent just smiles. "That's what you get for crossing me."

Ginger, Keith and Ned are out here watching. I say to them, "One of you tell Astrid I lied to them about the location of my home." At least I can correct that wrong before I die.

With nothing left to say, I look down as the police take the Cerebrolink Core A3 out of my backpack and prepare to execute me and Roy.

I'm so sorry, June and Dad.