We spent another hour or so at the aquatic garden, following the colorful holograms around the complex. A part of me still didn’t believe that there used to be such a variety and abundance of sea life in the oceans. I was so used to the world where wildlife was the exception and not the norm. For the Antithesis to almost completely wipe out all these species while humanity was still busy trying to stave off their own extinction was a tragedy.

  When we finally left the complex, the first thing I did was pull the hood of my jacket down lower. I’d been told that the weather around Vancouver was typically overcast, and rainy, but today was an uncharacteristically clear day. The sun was beating down, warming the area, and making me sweat under my hoodie. Vancouver didn’t have the same nearly omnipresent smog layer that Calgary did, and I didn’t want to risk looking up at that vast open sky.

  So I did the most logical thing I could, pulled the hood down lower and ignored the problem.

  “So where to next?” Jennifer asked once we got back to the truck.

  “Well, we still have another hour before our lunch reservation. Does anyone have any suggestions?” Jane asked cheekily. Everyone knew where we’d be going; it was the only thing the kids had asked for since we arrived.

  Issi threw both hands high in the air and bounced from one foot to the other. “Shoreline!” she declared.

  “Really, are you sure?” I asked.

  “Yes, absolutely!” the little girl replied, nodding rapidly.

  “Well… alright,” I said, wearing a wide smile. “If you insist,”

  “Hurray!” the little girl cheered before sprinting over to the truck and jumping up to try and reach the passenger-side door handle. She was, of course, like a foot too short. Alan just sighed and reached over her head to open it for her.

  While the kids were scrambling to get inside, I looked at Bob and the guard foxes and subtly nodded back towards the nearby Kodiak before rounding the truck and climbing into the driver’s seat.

  By the time I sat down, everyone else had already taken their places and buckled their seatbelts. Since I didn’t have to perform any reminders, I simply threw the vehicle into drive. “Here we go!”

  I briefly considered heading directly towards the city wharfs, rather than the virgin coastline that sat just a few feet outside the city. It was almost certainly safer, but most of it was probably restricted property, and the kids would have some serious problems reaching the water from the top of that massive concrete construction.

  Virgin coastline it was.

  I pulled the truck into a tight turn, aimed it in the general direction of the outer wall, and accelerated. Even though I kept a fairly slow pace, it didn’t take that long to leave the city and enter the wilderness.

  It took me a minute to find a section of coastline that didn’t have that many sharp rocks and a very shallow coastline, something that would be safe for the kids, and I immediately set the truck down nearby.

  The instant I shut off the truck, the rear doors flew open, and the kids jumped out. They didn’t even bother to shut the doors behind them.

  Jane scrambled out, not wanting to let them out of her sight, while I just smirked. It had been awhile since I’d seen them that excited about something.

  I sent a quick command to the trailing Kodiak, making sure the Bears and Foxes would immediately go watch the kids before finally climbing out. As I slowly walked around the truck, shutting the doors, I pulled up my augs.

  [Nyx?]

  Yes.

  [This is safe, right? I’m not going to have to defend the kids from some antithesis lurking just offshore, am I?]

  The Cascadian government and associated samurai have covered the coastal area with so many different sensors that a model seven would have trouble getting through.

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  [If they have such an advanced sensor net, how is it they haven’t exterminated the Antithesis in the deep?]

  There’s a big difference between setting up a sensor net over a thousand square miles and covering the entire ocean. They’re building out, but the costs are prohibitive. Right now, controlling access via the Straits is giving them fits.

  [I guess that makes sense.]

  By the time I wound between the biggest rocks and made my way down to the gray gravel shoreline, the kids had already kicked off their socks and shoes and were busy playing in the surf.

  While Jennifer and Eddie seemed to be content to splash each other, Issi seemed to be hypnotized by the tiny waves. The little one would wade out into the shallow water, choose a random wave, then follow it until it broke upon the shore, then repeat. It was cute.

  “Don’t go too deep,” I shouted. “None of you can swim.”

  “It’s okay,” Eddie yelled back, “Bob’s making sure we don’t get washed away!”

  I scanned the shoreline. The foxes were on one side, with Deadbeat, Heavy, and Bandit on the other. The fox was shaking his head, but there was no Bob. I narrowed my eyes.

  [Bob…] I broadcast through the command network.

  [Yessim?] came the instant reply.

  [Where are you?] I asked.

  [I’m sitting off shore, watching for Antithesis!] He replied.

  I scanned waves; no sign of him.

  [You don’t need to do that. This area is still within range of the city’s sensor net, so get back here. I need you to make sure the kids don’t get washed away.]

  A soggy black hand shot out of the water about fifteen meters out. I could just make out the thumbs-up.

  “Moron,” I muttered before turning back towards where Jane and Alan were standing. “Not going to dip your toes?”

  “Yeah… no,” Alan huffed. “I’m more than happy to come on this trip with you all, but I prefer to experience nature through a television screen or from behind glass.”

  “What about you, Evelyn? You should try and dip your toes.” Jane glanced over at me and frowned, “Or at least take off that hoodie of yours. You must be sweating up a storm, it’s so warm out.”

  “I’m fine,” I grumbled.

  “Then at least put the hood down and let us see your face…” Jane said. I’d been so distracted watching the kid, that I didn’t see Jane’s hand until it was right next to my face. I jerked my head back, away from her hand almost reflexively, but in doing so I found myself looking almost straight up.

  A wave of dizziness and nausea hit me, and I felt a tightness in my chest. One hand on the hood, the other on my chest, I brought my head forward as quickly as I could and fell to my knees.

  “Evelyn?!?!” Jane exclaimed. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

  “I’m fine,” I managed to mumble out through my gritted teeth. At least I thought I did; it was kind of hard to tell over the sound of my pulse ringing in my ears. I slowly closed my eyes and took a couple deep breaths to try and clear the nausea and disorientation. It took a minute.

  “We both know that’s not true,” Jane whispered as she knelt down next to me and rubbed my back. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

  I glanced over at her, struggling to bring my pulse under control and breathing heavily. “It’s too big,” I finally whispered.

  “What is?” she asked quietly.

  “Holy shit,” Alan exclaimed, “do you have a problem with being outside?”

  I glanced up at him, pain and anger in my eyes, causing him to throw his hands up in front of himself. “First of all, language. Second, I don’t have a problem with the outdoors. I have a problem with the sky! It’s too… big!” I explained.

  “Is this why you never take the hoodie off? Because you have a problem with large spaces?” Jane asked quietly.

  “Are you crazy? I don’t have a problem with large spaces. I’ve taken my hoodie off plenty of times at home,” I muttered as I stared at the ground. Even though my hood was up, and I was quickly regaining full control of my senses, I had trouble forcing myself to look away from the ground. The ground was safe, there was no sky up there.

  Jane and Alan exchanged a quick glance but didn’t interrupt. “But open sky? It unsettles me unless I have something over my head to help block it out. A roof, my helmet, a hoodie, anything.”

  “She has a version of casadastraphobia,” Nyx explained, walking over in one of the foxes. “It’s a fear of the open sky.”

  “Why didn’t you say anything to us?” Jane asked quietly.

  “Because I’ve managed to avoid looking straight up until now,” I growled. “And I’ve managed to handle it by using my various head coverings.”

  “Stubborn,” Alan muttered. As he reached down and gently took my arm before helping me to my feet and guiding me over to a nearby piece of driftwood to sit down.

  “Is there anything we can do?” Jane asked.

  “Just don’t grab at my hood again,” I grumbled.

  “I wasn’t asking you,” she snapped back, turning towards Nyx.

  “Phobias aren’t exactly easy to deal with. I could get rid of it, but that would require structural changes to Evelyn’s brain. Not something I would suggest at this point. She could take therapy and see if she can find the root cause, but that could take months. Other than that… she’s actually done an admirable job of dealing with it. Living in the undercity helps, but her coping techniques do work,” Nyx explained.

  “See, I’m fine,” I said.

  “I wouldn’t say that. You were just a total wreck just a minute ago, but you’re better,” Jane replied as she bit her lip, tears in the corner of her eyes. “I’m sorry I grabbed at your hood. I won't do it again.”

  “I know you didn’t mean it,” I replied, patting her hand. “I didn’t tell you, so how could you know?”

  “I should have seen some of the signs…” she started.

  “What signs? Me wearing a hoodie? Oh yeah, very out of character,” I laughed. “Look, I’m fine now, and you won’t try and grab at my hood again, so we’re good. No more problems.”

  “You’re awfully calm for someone that just had a panic attack,” Alan observed.

  “What am I going to do? Throw a fit about it? If anything, I’d like to forget it ever happened so we can go back to having our nice, peaceful family vacation.”

  “Are you serious? How are we supposed to pretend like nothing just happened? Nothing in the world could distract me from that!” Jane growled.

  “FROGGY” Issi’s high-pitched scream of joy and subsequent giggles echoed across the little beach.

  I smiled. “Wanna bet?”

  Discord!

  Check out my Stories:

  Support me!

  Finally: Big thanks to all those people that review my draft, the chapters would be a lot rougher without your feedback!