Regretting Insubordination

Hugo tries to yank his wrists apart, but it’s impossible; they’re bound behind his back with tight but painless handcuffs. He’s marched by several military officers from the loading dock to Simon’s office in the tech corporation skyscraper.

He’s not frightened to be restricted like this. After all, New Kansai has strict laws regarding the treatment of criminals. As he’s let into the office, Hugo’s curious to hear what kind of charges they’ll press on him.

It turns out he’s right to not be frightened; only Casey’s waiting in the room. He’s sprawled out on Simon’s chair, legs up on the desk in front of him. The officers are dismissed, and Hugo’s left standing before Casey, arms still bound behind his back.

“What do you think of the place?” Casey gestures to the plants along the wall. “Isn’t it much nicer like this?”

Hugo doesn’t reply.

“Unfortunately, working outside doesn’t offer the same confidentiality as a building with insulated walls. And it seems like this place was built with confidentiality in mind.”

Growing up with Emily in their ecovillage, Casey’s also aware of the qualities that nature offers. Whatever they are, however, Hugo isn’t exactly aware. He only sighs.

“Hey!” Casey snaps at him, perhaps half-jokingly. “The least you can do is be civil. I’m not asking you to grovel, even though I really should.”

“Why am I here again?” Hugo asks, straight to the point.

“You acted out of orders, stole military equipment, and interfered with military activities,” Casey replies. “The other commanders also want you punished for the stunt you pulled in training.”

“How can I act out of orders if I’m not even in the military?”

A sly smile creeps onto Casey’s face. “That’s a way I can get you out of trouble.”

Hugo tilts his head slightly, feigning amusement.

“And there’s only one way I can get your punishment lightened for the other things,” Casey says, smirk pulling at the corners of his mouth.

Hugo sighs again. “You’re gonna force me to join, aren’t you?”

“You’re bright for a delinquent.”

“And how are you gonna do that?”

With a head movement, Casey gestures for Hugo to come forward. He spins around a tablet, the projection lining up with Hugo’s vision. It’s a spreadsheet of the tests from the training program.

“You’re lucky the military’s structured the way it is,” Casey says, and Hugo instantly knows what he means.

Hierarchy is archaic in New Kansai. Only the structure of the military openly relies on it. Even Simon’s role – as director of an important tech corporation – doesn’t provide him with as much power in his organization as that of commanders in the military.

“If you disobey orders again, you’ll get me in trouble,” Casey continues. “You know that, right?”

Hugo nods, not saying anything so as to avoid losing this opportunity. He’s not so keen to get into the military, but keen to escape the inevitable punishment if he doesn’t.

“Okay, so beg me.” Casey kicks his feet up on the desk again, stretching his arms behind his head. That asshole.

“Please let me join,” Hugo mutters, gritting his teeth.

“Hm? What was that? I didn’t hear you.”

Hugo knows that, if he doesn’t go overboard, he’ll have to do it again. He bows deeply, his head almost touching the desk. “Please let me join.”

He holds this position for a few seconds, but there’s no response. He then feels Casey pat him on the head, as if patting a dog for a job-well-done.

Hugo raises his head, his irritation flaring. But, out of the corner of his eye, something on the spreadsheet changes – the red cross next to his name turns into a green circle. The power of a military commander in action.

“Welcome, new recruit Hugo. As punishment for your insubordination, you’re sentenced to three months community service in an ecovillage.”

Hugo’s jaw drops open.

Casey simply shrugs. “Would’ve been much worse if you didn’t accept my offer.”

“Your bribe,” Hugo accuses. “I take it back – I don’t want to be in the military anymore.”

“Oops. Too late.” Casey has the spunk of his younger sister.

How is Hugo meant to search for Noah if he’s stuck in an ecovillage for three whole months? Doing simple agricultural work, maintenance work, and who knows what else?

It seems like Casey catches on. “Hugo, it’s for the best now if you let it all go.”

Hugo doesn’t reply.

“I went through the footage from the exoskeleton suit you stole.”

Casey says the word ‘stole’ without any change in tone. As if Hugo’s actions were the most natural thing to have done. “You should distract yourself with other things while we track them down again.”

So he’s seen everything – the hug, the conversation, and the way Noah turned his back on Hugo.

The thought makes a feeling well up in Hugo’s chest. A mixed emotion – perhaps of anger, frustration, or embarrassment. He isn’t sure. But wait.

“They’re still in New Kansai?” Hugo tries his best not to act too eager to hear the answer.

“Yes, but you won’t have a role in dealing with them.”

“I want to bring him back,” Hugo says with a clenched jaw.

Casey gives him a look of pity. “For what?”

The question throws Hugo off. “Huh–?”

“Do you still want to save him? He didn’t exactly seem like he wanted to be saved.” Casey stands and walks around the desk to Hugo. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t get killed. Trust me.” He grabs both of Hugo’s shoulders firmly. “But for now, let it all go.”

Hugo nods ever-so-slightly, not daring to look Casey in the eyes.

“Pack your things,” Casey says. “You’ll meet an officer at the train station in an hour.”

“Why are you doing this for me?”

Casey turns around and takes a few steps forward. “I think the military needs someone like you.” He turns to face Hugo. “Oh. And I made a promise to your brother that I intend to keep.”

Casey doesn’t expand on the promise. He simply boots Hugo out into the hallway, without even removing him from his handcuffs, and leaving him to wonder what in the world he meant.

* * *

As Hugo walks into his apartment, he almost forgets how much of a mess it is inside. With no one to clean up, it looks the exact same as it was right after the drone attack months ago.

Despite this, the abundance of houseplants – hooked up to an automatic watering system – have grown like crazy, turning the place into a bit more of a jungle. If they grow any more, mold might become a problem. But it’s a problem for Hugo and his mother, when they actually live here again.

In his room, Hugo packs his bag, throwing in clothes he hasn’t worn in months. Out of the corner of his eye, he catches the pile of dirt and pot fragments in his trash can. Without water, the plant he broke wouldn’t have survived on his desk anyway.

Hugo takes a few steps backwards to sit on his bed. His encounter with Casey confuses him. What’s he missing? What does he feel about Noah’s betrayal?

And – for that matter – what would spur Noah to refuse his help like that? Noah’s loyalty clearly lies elsewhere. Maybe it always did.

Hugo leaves the apartment, struggling to answer these questions. He catches a skybus to the train station, thankful for not having packed a large bag. He can always buy more clothes in the ecovillage if needed.

He nestles up against the wall inside the train station. The sweet scent of flowers behind him tickles his nose, almost overpowering. He checks his watch – five minutes early.

What would happen if he left now? Hugo plays with the thought. He wouldn’t be able to escape the military – or the government, for that matter – should he stay in the Capital or go to the ecovillage.

If he goes to the old world, however, it’d be difficult for them to find him. After all, they couldn’t track down Noah for almost two months amidst all that concrete.

Hugo glances up at a holographic projection of the train schedule above him. Connecting with the phone in his pocket, text reads: ‘Welcome, Hugo.’ He’ll have to get rid of his phone somewhere before he enters the train.

On the schedule projection, he finds the train line ending at the old world. The train’s scheduled to depart in 2 minutes. It should be enough time for Hugo to get there.

He begins walking briskly in its direction. He doesn’t dare run, in case the cameras alert station authorities for some safety reason. He pushes past people, saying “excuse me” as he cuts people off. He passes train line after train line, until his comes into view. He pulls his phone out of his pocket, looking from side to side as he wonders what to do with it.

Above him, another projection reads that the train departs in 1 minute. There’s no time to hide his phone here, or give it to someone to look after. He’ll have to get rid of it somewhere down the line.

Hugo makes a beeline for the train doors, when a hand clamps down firmly on his shoulder. He spins around – Emily.

She gives him a judgemental look. “Gee, one might think you’re trying to escape. Do I need to get out some handcuffs?”

Hugo hears the train doors close behind him and sighs. “Looks like I got lost.”

“We’ll go with that, shall we?”

The train departs behind him, taking with it his hope of escaping this next three months of community service. But, maybe this length of time will be enough to come to terms with his unanswered questions about Noah.

* * *

Emily sits opposite Hugo on the curved seats of the train. She’s much cuter in her everyday civilian clothes than in the military uniform Hugo saw her wear every day of training.

Hugo can’t help but notice her treating him differently than before the ornithopter crash, if even a little bit. She seems more apprehensive of him.

He doesn’t care, though; the fact that she failed him from the training program makes him angry. It’s illogical, and Hugo knows it. Anyone in her position would have no choice but to expel him. But her part in it makes it hard for him not to blame her anyway.

Looking at her reflection in the train window, Emily adjusts the large black bow on the back of her head. “I heard you pulled another stunt.”

Hugo doesn’t know what to say to this, so he doesn’t respond.

“Why my brother constantly interferes to get you involved in the military, I’ll have no idea…”

It seems she knows even less than Hugo does.

She continues, as an afterthought: “It’s like you’re more his younger brother than I’m his older sister.”

“I doubt that,” Hugo mutters under his breath.

But Emily hears him. “Nope. Sometimes I think I’m just a tool for him to get what he wants.”

Then, she snaps back into her usual, energetic self. “So are you excited to be stuck with me for three whole months? I’d much rather be doing anything else, but when my brother commands something, he gets it!”

“Your happiness kills me.”

“Oops.” Emily kicks him lightly in the shin, clearly on purpose. “Don’t forget that I’m still in charge of you.”

Hugo groans dramatically, edging her on. His negative feelings towards her wane as their conversation continues.

“If you pull any nonsense, I’ll be the one in the line of fire.” Emily leans in, lowering her voice. “And you better know – if that happens, I’ll set you on fire too.”

* * *

Hugo and Emily get off the train near its last stop. They walk along a paved path, Emily’s suitcase clacking on the thin gaps of gravel. In front of them, the area’s filled with farmland, the occasional farmhouse giving away that people actually do live this far from the Capital.

“This isn’t an ecovillage,” Hugo says, an observation to himself more than to Emily.

“Change of plans,” Emily replies. “No ecovillage wanted to take in such a scoundrel.”

Hugo scoffs lightheartedly.

“Actually, the ecovillage is somewhere in the forest behind us.” She gestures in that direction.

A dense forest begins just past the train tracks, running up the side of the mountains. The Japanese Alps – one of the borders of New Kansai.

“We had someone personally request your help on their farm,” she continues. “Not sure why…”

The path leads to a rustic wooden cottage, fitted with clear glass windows and solar panels. Hugo follows Emily onto the porch, the old wooden planks creaking underneath them. She waves her hand by the door and Hugo hears the doorbell chime inside.

Where Emily waves her hand, a glass screen – similar to that of a phone or laptop – comes to life. Maria’s face appears on it.

Hugo tenses up. The last time he saw her, he crashed into a mountain. Both of them were almost inside the aircraft at the time of impact.

“Emily! Hugo! I didn’t expect to see you both so soon!” she says in her wiry voice.

“Did you think we were coming next year?” Emily asks. A horrible joke, but she somehow makes it work.

Maria roars with laughter. “Lost track of time, as always!” she says. “I’m just working on something. Come meet me in the greenhouse.”

“Okay!” Emily replies cheerfully.

“Great! Leave your bags on the porch,” Maria instructs. “We’ll come back to the house when it starts getting dark.”

With that, the doorbell monitor turns off. Hugo and Emily head back down the path, taking the route diverging off to the greenhouse.

As they approach the sustainable glass structure, the sound of mechanical tools gets louder. Maria must be working on the greenhouse’s lighting or temperature functions.

Emily halts at the door, motioning for Hugo to stop as well. She calls through all the overgrown plants towards the source of the noise: “Hello?”

They wait for a few seconds, but the noise doesn’t cease.

Rolling his eyes, Hugo strides forward, into the jungle of the greenhouse. Emily grabs his arm, following him in, but he casts it aside.

The hotter temperature hits Hugo as he walks through the maze of tropical plants. He rounds a corner to find Maria, drilling at a workbench, but immediately stops in his tracks.

Scattered on the workbench are parts of the black metal robots, identical to those that took Noah. Or that Noah chose to go with – Hugo isn’t sure.

Somehow sensing their presence, Maria stops drilling. She lifts up the mask of her lightweight welding helmet, small braids of hair falling around her face.

“Oh! Sorry about the noise,” she says. “This is the most exciting thing I’ve gotten to dissect in years!”

How did she even get her hands on it? The question swims in Hugo’s head, but he’s too apprehensive to ask.

“Oh, ho!” Emily remarks. “Are you making any promising findings with our gift?”

“Of course!” Maria beams at Emily.

This explains Maria’s involvement with the military.

“Well, here’s your next gift to dissect!” Emily gestures at Hugo with both hands.

Hugo curls his nose up at her joke, but Maria bursts out laughing. “No need! I’ve already done enough of that. After our peaceful mountainside landing, of course.”

Hugo shifts uncomfortably.

“I’m quite surprised you contacted us asking for him,” Emily says, crossing her arms. “I assume it’s to force him to work for you out of spite?”

Maria chuckles. “I wish. But I’ve already gotten over that whole thing.” With one hand, she mimics an ornithopter crashing into a mountain with her other.

She’s really forgiven Hugo that easily? If Hugo were her, he’d be holding a grudge until he was dead.

“Anyway, I’ve got some work for you to do before sundown,” Maria says. “The silicon semiconductors on some of my solar panels are acting up, and I thought I’d give the microbots from the crash a chance to see Hugo again.” She winks at him. “Seeing as they love him so much.”

* * *

After changing into farming gear provided by Maria, Hugo’s given a tablet and instructed how to use it. On it, he can see the map of the farm, as well as detailed visuals of the solar panels.

He leaves Emily and Maria in the greenhouse, walking across the fields towards the closest solar panel with an orange caution sign on it. He takes a deep breath. The air in the Capital is clean enough, but out here, the light breeze is even more refreshing.

Hugo’s very used to the silkiness of the Capital’s everyday clothes, so the cargo jacket and pants feel strange against his skin. He understands why this kind of clothing is suitable, though – modern farming requires the repairing of robots, solar panels, and other high-tech machinery that keep the farms going.

He walks on a path over a rocky stream. A wooden water wheel propels the flow of water down the stream. As he passes by, a holographic gauge appears on a little solar-powered engine to the side, displaying all sorts of power and water levels.

Soon enough, he reaches the solar panel. Up close, it stands taller than him, proudly stretching towards the sun on an automatic rotating base. To him, it doesn’t look like anything’s wrong with it. But the microbots will be able to tell the difference.

Hugo crouches down by the base, shielded from the sun by the panel above. He opens a toolbox, and microbots of white metal emerge. They crawl up his arm, tickling him. He reaches with his other arm to the base of the solar panel, and the microbots crawl across his torso and onto it like little bugs.

But, unsure if the microbots are on the right setting, Hugo panics. He flicks through his tablet, finding the application to put them on pause. The microbots stop immediately.

He opens an app of troubleshooting instructions Maria told him about, reading the first few steps multiple times. Then, he follows the instructions, pulling out tools from the toolbox and tweaking parts of the solar panel. After he’s finished with each step, he unpauses the microbots and lets them scan the panel for performance improvements.

Twenty minutes into the process, Emily approaches him. “Still on the first panel?”

“What of it?” Hugo retorts.

Emily notices the inactive microbots. “You know, if you let the microbots do their thing, you’ll get it done in half the time.”

“I didn’t know you had a background in farming.”

“I don’t.” Emily shrugs. “But you pick things up when you grow up vin an ecovillage.”

“You’re right,” Hugo replies. But he’s not going to let her convince him he’s in the wrong. “I’m sure I missed out on so much by moving to a place where I don’t have to rely on the weather to live my life.”

Emily shrugs, ignoring this comment. “Up to you. Maybe I’ll see you for dinner, maybe for breakfast.”

Hugo lets her leave without saying a word. But, as soon as she’s gone, he unpauses the microbots. They begin crawling to other areas of the panel, assessing places he hasn’t yet adjusted.

And so he works without controlling them, allowing them to sense and fix miniscule errors in the conductors. Every so often, they crawl over and assess the parts he’s tweaked himself, transmitting performance updates to his tablet. He eventually stops monitoring them altogether, absorbed in and focusing on his own tasks.

But this is a mistake – after finishing a step, Hugo looks at his tablet for a performance update. Instead, a red warning sign flashes on the screen. For a moment, the scent of burning plastic lingers in his nostril.

Confused, he presses the button for the microbots to stop working, then walks out from under the shade to look at the top of the panel. In the middle, a swarm of microbots surround a thin trail of smoke. They’ve burnt right through a semiconductor they were trying to fix.

Damn Emily for giving him shoddy advice – Hugo holds his head and groans. He should never have trusted the microbots to do their job without screwing it up.