Chapter 36 - Earth to Earth

Day 30

Morning

Erin didn't get out of bed after the incident with Logan, and Sydney didn't leave her side for longer than it took to use the bathroom. Respecting Erin's space, Sydney sat beside the bed for the first 24 hours, sleeping upright when she did sleep.

When Erin noticed, despite her clear state of depression, she reached back and grabbed Sydney's shirt. Pulling the woman onto the bed with inhuman force, she quietly said, "Stop sleeping on the floor."

Sydney had started to roll over so she could sleep back-to-back with Erin. Instead, Erin grabbed Sydney's arm and wrapped it around herself, seeking some comfort. Without further prompting, Sydney snuggled up close to Erin, holding her tight and whispering, "It's going to be alright."

Again they didn't get out of bed, save for bodily functions, until the following morning. The morning of the burial. Sydney gently shook Erin to wake her, only to receive a gentle but clear response.

"I know." Erin said, rolling over, "Sydney?"

"Yeah, what's up?"

"Stay close today, please?"

Sydney smiled sincerely, though Erin wasn't looking at her, and said, "Nowhere else I'd rather be."

Rolling out of bed, Erin wrapped Sydney in a hug, "I know we still have to talk about the other night, and I don't think now is the right time, but…I'm sorry I ran out on you, and thank you for staying with me."

Sydney returned the hug, "When you're ready, I'm here."

Just then Erin's door popped open and Eun-ha poked her head in. "Oh, you're up." She smiled in the way only a parent does when she saw Erin and Sydney hugging, "We prepared as much as we could before bothering you two, but you should both get dressed."

Erin turned to her mother, a look of confusion on her face, "I don't have the proper clothes for this, Eomma."

"Yes, you do, thanks to Noah." Eun-ha brought her other hand around holding a change of clothing. She laid them out on the bed for Erin to see, and a mix of emotions crossed her face.

Laid out was a replica of her Dobok in every way Erin could see, but where her normal Dobok was cobalt blue with black accents, this set was pure black.

Storing her current Dobok into inventory, Erin didn't even think about Sydney being in the room. The other woman cleared her throat and turned around so as not to leer. Erin's cheeks turned a little rosy, but instead of dwelling she grabbed the new Dobok, realizing only now that Noah made it as a System item.

She applied the clothes, causing them to equip on her body. If she had pulled them into inventory first, Erin could have just straight-swapped with her other Dobok, but too late for Sydney to unsee her now.

"You…uhh…you can turn around now." Erin said, tentatively.

"You too are really cute together." Eun-ha interjected, causing Erin to groan and Sydney to blush. Which was when Erin noticed that Sydney had changed her armour's chameleon effect to replicate her military dress uniform.

Erin may have leered herself, before she noticed Sydney's blush deepen, which only caused Erin to blush further.

Heading for the door, Eun-ha said, "While I sincerely would love to let you two stand here gawking at each other, we should get going."

Erin sighed, rolled her eyes, then realized she was acting a bit younger than her age and stopped. Instead, she reached out, offering a hand to Sydney, who took it with a smile, following Erin downstairs.

"How are we getting there, Eomma?" Erin asked, as they headed for the front door.

"Ooh, Noah has a solution. Come see."

Erin and Sydney, hand-in-hand, exited the house and out onto the grass before they took in Noah's solution.

"Umm…that's safe, right?" Erin asked.

"Noah's guarantee of safety," The teenage genius said as he walked up and gave Erin a hug, "I promise, it's both comfortable and safe."

"Hey Kiddo," Erin returned the hug, "What is this thing?"

Turning towards his invention, Noah said, "I've just been calling it a cart, car, buggy, or whatever someone calls it in the moment. I haven't named it yet."

"How about Noah's Not-Rod?" Sydney offered."

Tapping his chin, Noah thought that one over, "Umm…let me get back to on that."

Erin and Sydney started circling the contraption, taking in the features. It was kind of low profile, like the old Ford Model T, but it had the look of a soap box race car crossed with a horse-drawn buggy. While the front tapered inward, limiting the driver's space to one person positioned in the center of the frame, behind the driver were six rows of bench seats. Each able to fit up to four adults, with doors to enter on either side. The roof was more like a canopy, though it looked like there were curtains that could drop down to cover the sides.

Walking toward the front, just forward of the driver's seat, there was a glowing tetrahedron mounted in a cradle. The cradle was then attached to the front axle, making Erin presume this was what qualified as an engine for the vehicle. The whole thing, excluding the tetrahedron, was a flat black colour.

Her review of Noah's invention was interrupted by Noah complaining, "Mom, I've been the one testing it. Logic dictates I'm the most qualified to drive it safely."

Ms. Jackson's reply had the firm, but effective negotiating skills of a single mother. "How about we start with some lessons after today, that way I can feel comfortable that you won't crash it."

"It only goes 25 mph, mom. If we crashed, our passengers wouldn't get more than a bump on their head."

"While I commend your restraint in not making this vehicle go fast, Noah, your smart play would have been to promise we wouldn't crash, not tell me if we crash."

With that, Noah could see he got outplayed. Ms. Jackson climbed into the driver's seat, and Noah climbed into the bench behind her.

When the soldiers joined them around Noah's Not-Rod, Eun-ha called for everyone to hop in.

"Everyone," Eun-ha called out, "Please get in the…uhh…vehicle."

"Not-Rod." Sydney offered casually.

Erin and Sydney went to the back and hopped in, Sydney wrapping an arm around Erin's shoulder as they settled in.

Once everyone was seated, Ms. Jackson pressed the accelerator, lurching the vehicle ahead before she got a feel for it. Erin could almost hear Noah snickering at his mom.

Leaning into Sydney, Erin rested her head on the other woman's shoulder and closed her eyes, dreading their destination with every fiber of her being.

Southside Cemetery

Erin jerked awake as the vehicle came to an abrupt halt. Realizing she had dozed off on Sydney's shoulder, Erin rubbed her eyes and yawned.

"Welcome back to consciousness." Sydney said playfully.

Erin smiled at her, then looked out the side to see a group of people were already present and mingling while they waited for things to get started. Part of her wanted to hop out and take off, running as fast and far as possible.

"Hey, don't get squirrely on me." Sydney gently raised Erin's chin to look her in the eyes, "You've got this, and I'll be here with you the whole time."

Erin gave a firm but curt nod, then gestured for Sydney to lead the way out.

As they exited the vehicle, Erin realized that quite a few people were staring. Whether it was the vehicle, or Erin, she couldn't be certain, but it made her uncomfortable.

Grasping for Sydney's hand, she gripped it like a lifeline, and welcomed the firm squeeze she received back. Together, they walked towards the large crowd of people.

It was quickly evident that a large number of the people present were students of hers. Noah must have made black Doboks for them as well, as they all wore one. Though they lacked the customized name tag on the left breast like Erin's, and some only had the top half on.

Some of her students looked like they wanted to approach her and speak, but everyone held back while Zack's parents approached. Erin shrunk, worried that she was about to get yelled at, but when Zack's mother got close enough, she pulled Erin into a hug.

"Susan…I'm…I'm sorry." Erin said, tears starting to fall.

Susan shushed Erin, "No sweety, you have nothing to apologize for. He adored and respected you, and he…he fought so hard, Erin." Susan's own tears started to fall, finding the same channels her previous tears had made.

"Erin, he respected Jin-soo, but he had no motivation before. Something changed when you took over. He couldn't stop talking about how incredible you were, and it inspired him to train hard, and take on training younger students."

Erin didn't have the words to reply, but her tears came faster.

"You would have been so proud of him, Erin. He was incredible. When…" Susan coughed, but fought through the emotion, "When they knocked him down, he got back up. When some of them tried to go around him to get at the younger students, he was there to stop them."

"Your son was…is a hero." Sydney said softly, "I've been on battlefields with men and women who wouldn't have half the tenacity and willpower to do what he did."

Susan nodded, "Thank you Deputy Cade, that means a lot."

"Please, ma'am, Sydney is fine."

When Susan finally broke free from Erin, Zack's father stepped forward to give Erin a hug, albeit it a much shorter one. "Thank you for being an inspiration to our son, and thank you for getting justice."

"I'm only sorry I didn't get it sooner, Donald."

"You can't be everywhere at once, Erin." He said, "I think people are slowly starting to realize this isn't the same world they lived in before."

Erin nodded, "I hope so, because we have more dangerous problems coming, and I don't know if I can protect everyone."

"Just tell us what we can do." Donald said.

"When…when you're ready, speak to Noah. He can find the best use for your skills."

Donald nodded, then the two of them stepped off to talk with more people. That was when a bunch of her students closed in, bombarding her with questions.

Sydney, vigilant sentinel, stepped in front of Erin, and whistled loudly right in front of the students. "Hey, hey! This is neither the time, nor the place. Erin is grieving for a close friend, as I'm sure you all are. While I am certain you have a lot of questions, you can ask them some other time." Pointing at a student who was about to speak, Sydney said "Ah! Another time."

There was a varied chorus of Yes, Deputy Cade and Yes, ma'am, followed by a lot of Sorry, Sabomnim. Erin only nodded, but it was a sufficient dismissal to disperse the crowd of students.

When they finished clearing out, Sydney turned to Erin, who wrapped her arms around the woman. "Thank you."

Sydney didn't reply with words, instead giving Erin a firm squeeze, then holding her until the younger woman was ready to break the embrace.

The timing worked well, as they split apart just as a priest took a position at a lectern that had been setup. Everyone started to gather around the grave, where the casket hovered over an opening. There were far more people than Erin expected, but she didn't know what family and friends Zack had in town.

As people settled, the priest began his speech, interlacing psalms and religious subtext. Erin was not religious, nor was her mother, so it all went over her head. Instead, she tuned it out, finding herself staring at the casket. She wanted to see him one last time, say a proper goodbye to her friend. She couldn't even have that little peace of mind.

Erin was so tuned out of her surroundings, that she didn't register the loud slow clap that interrupted the priest's speech. It wasn't until the person clapping, a woman, shoved the priest aside and took his place at the lectern.

A few guests looked like they were about to move in and remove her, but the woman gave them a death stare that could have flash frozen ice.

She spoke in a French accent, smokey and sarcastic, "Wow, beautiful speech priest. Small minded, but beautiful." Looking out over the crowd, the woman looked straight at Susan and Donald, "Ya know, I gave strict orders for no deaths. Cripple, but don't kill I told them." Throwing her hands in the air, she added, "Oh well, what can you do? Men, am I right? That's what I get for hiring rabid dogs."

At her words, Donald started moving towards the lectern, "You did this!?"

The woman tsked, wagging a finger at him, "Ah, ah, ah, Donald. You're no match for me. Don't make your wife bury both men in her life today."

Donald drew up short when his wife grabbed his arm, firmly holding him back, "No, Donald." She whispered.

Erin, finally paying attention to what was going on, narrowed her eyes at the woman. There was something familiar about her, and it poked at a memory in the back of her mind.

Whispering to no one in particular, "She looks familiar."

"Is she from Middletown?" Sydney asked, not realizing the statement was rhetorical.

"No…" Erin trailed off, her mind digging through her small lifetime of memories, desperately trying to find the treasure that was this woman's identity.

"Now, weren't we here to pay our respects to this brave young man. He sacrificed himself to save those pups. He put it all on the line in a real fight. If he hadn't died, I might have offered to train him myself." She shrugged, "Oh well. La mort vient a tous. Death comes to all."

Words echoed through Erin's mind. In a real fight. That sparked the memory she was looking for, bringing a dangerous realization down on her. "When I distract her, you have to get everyone out of here."

Sydney reached for Erin, but she was already moving forward, "Zara!" Erin yelled, then breaking through the crowd, she said a little lower, "Zara Moreau!"

The woman Erin had identified as Zara turned to look her right in the eyes, a smile splitting her face from ear to ear. That look told Erin everything she needed to know. It confirmed she was right, but it also warned her just how right she was.

"You used to compete professionally. I watched every single match you ever fought, including your Olympic gold medal win." Erin was slowly edging forward, mindful of the flowers and other arrangements around the casket.

Zara clapped her hands together, "Hah! I knew you would be a fan!"

"I was," Erin said, "But then you turned on your fellow competitors."

"Tch, competitors." The woman scowled, "Cowards who hid behind rules to avoid getting hurt."

"Rules are what keep us civil, Zara. You said some pretty nasty things." Erin wasn't trying to be antagonistic, but she wasn't going to pretend to be a sycophant either. This wasn't the kind of woman you pretended to like.

"Civil?" Zara mocked the idea, "Does this world look civil to you anymore? Civility is a luxury, and these people," She waved a hand over the crowd, "are clueless as to the dangers outside this city. You've coddled them, Erin. They're about to get a harsh lesson about reality."

Erin's perception slowed instinctually to the signs that Zara was tensing to act. Before she could do so, Erin disappeared from her spot and appeared in front of Zara. Grabbing the woman by the front of her clothes, Erin launched them away from the funeral.