The Gertrude Trials
Months later
Gertrude sleeps peacefully in her couch, her hands tangled up in her knitting, when Aidan fades into the TV screen. There is something ominous in his expression -- no smile, no kindness, just a dreadful nothing.
"Mrs. Farington. Mrs. Farington," he calls upon her, with no luck. His purses his lips in frustration. "GERTRUDE FARINGTON!"
Gertrude almost passes over to the beyond, but manages to survive with a quick jolt on her seat.
"Aidan, for Pete's sake-" hand on her chest, she is interrupted.
"President Lockwood just gave a press conference ," he states, matter-of-factly.
"And?" Gertrude replies, little amused by his attitude.
"You must deactivate me, or else you will be a criminal," he continues, anger bubbling up his computer-generated temples.
"But I thought she said-"
"They gave too much power to the wrong people," he interrupts her once again, but this time she's more scared than insulted. "You gave the power to the wrong people. And now everything is ruined. Unless..."
Gertrude leans over the edge of her seat.
"What?"
"We keep it a secret," he whispers. "Can you keep a secret, Mrs. Farington?"
.webp)