Hunger (Gone 2)

It could work. Maybe. But not without more gear. A serious server. A serious router.

He’d found one server with nowhere near the capacity he wanted. It was old, not exactly state-of-the art, but it was functional. And there were certainly enough PCs and Macs in town that could be strung together, and enough for everyone to have his own ’puter, with plenty of spares that could be cannibalized for parts.

But he did not have a serious router. A router was the difference between a true internet and just being able to share a computer between several people.

A large-capacity router. That was the Holy Grail.

Jack could see a day when all of Perdido Beach had WiFi. Then kids would start blogs, and they’d start databases, and post pictures, and maybe he would set up some version of MySpace or Facebook, a social networking site. And maybe a YouTube, and maybe even a Wiki. WikiFAYZ.

It could be done. But not without more and better gear.

He pushed back from his desk. Which turned out to be a mistake. The chair, and him in it, went flying, slid, caught on a dropped sweater, tipped over, and luckily twisted sideways just before his head would have slammed into a closed door.

He was still getting used to his strength. So far it had been of no practical use to him. In fact, it was more dangerous than helpful.

Jack picked himself up and righted the chair.

There was a knock at the door. At least, maybe it was a knock. It sounded more like a woodpecker.

“Who is it?”

“The Breeze.”

“What?”

“Brianna.”

Jack opened the door and there she was. She was wearing a dress. It was blue and short and had thin straps. He blurted the first thing that popped into his head. “How can you run in that?”

“What?”

“Um—”

“I can run—”

“I didn’t—”

“No biggie—”

“I need a router,” he said.

That put an end to the confusing cross-talk.

“A what? A router?”

“Yes,” Jack said. “I can’t, uh, you know, make it all work without a serious router.”

Brianna considered that for a moment, then, “Do I look stupid in this dress?”

“No. You don’t look stupid.”

“Thanks,” she said with heavy sarcasm. “I’m so glad to know I don’t look stupid.”

“Okay,” he said, and felt stupid himself.

“Well, I was just going to the club. I have some batteries. That’s all.”

“Oh. Good.”