Day Eight Hundred Fourteen #DiaryoftheEndoftheWorld

The first part was easy. Quasimo led us out of the audience chamber the same way he had gotten in. Avoiding all surveillance.

Then came the tricky part.

He took us into the communication/security room in the basement. There he was to report the success of his mission. It also held the relay connections to initiate a final solution in the event his mission turned suicidal. He switched the controls to that connection over to a timer instead. Set it and led us away via underground passages.

We emerged in the market area. But Quasimo held us back – until the explosion.

Then he explained, “Now all surveillance is down. And all the barriers also.”

Elijah asked to go south.

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Day Eight Hundred Seven #DiaryoftheEndoftheWorld

Elijah’s prediction came to pass. By late afternoon we stood in the city gates. All by ourselves.

We had noticed immediately this morning that the air overhead was free from man-made objects. And we climbed up from the riverside to the road to investigate the sudden outbreak of silence. There were no movements in either direction. No vehicles nor even pedestrians.

So, we passed through the formidable gateway, unopposed – except for the glare of the fantastical beasts (or demons) etched into the surface of the walls.

The gateway opened onto a large market area. Its stalls or shops all shuttered and again marked by the absence of people.

A long hike followed to the gigantic skyscraper selected by Elijah.

Day One Hundred Seventy Seven #DiaryoftheEndoftheWorld

Lyle and I spent our day going from one end of the encampment to the other looking for Flowers. We did find a look-alike in our little market area, but this doppelgänger, unlike Flowers, does not bear the mark.

I wanted to take him to Moglen as proof that their drones are in error.  Lyle, however disapproved. He’d rather have Moglen come here. I can see his point and concede  Moglen more than likely will be back sooner than anyone wants.

We finished our canvass around the end of the noon hour, about the same time that the midday drone flyby was departing.

I watched its last lazy circuit before it winged its way back over the city wall.