is a weekly serial. While it is a work of fiction, it has elements from both my own experiences and stories I’ve heard from various people. The characters, while in some cases inspired by real people, aren’t directly modeled on anyone in particular. I expect there will be inconsistencies and factual errors. I don’t know where it is going, and I’ll probably forget where it’s been. Why am I doing this? To give me an excuse and a deadline for some creative writing and because I thought people might enjoy it. Gozatu!<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n\u201cAnd what?\u201d asked Marina in a biting voice. \u201cGet caught ourselves? How would we be able to help anyone if we get caught too?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kepa pulled his arm free of Marina\u2019s grip. \u201cWhen did you get so cold? The Marina we met seemed much more\u2026 compassionate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Marina sighed, her shoulders slumping as she did. Kepa saw her face soften in the flickering light of the drone that floated above them, guiding them through the tunnels. \u201cI\u2019ve been doing this a long time. Fighting de Lancre, looking for the zatiak. Living through these\u2026 what did Maite call them? Bubbles? And when they pop, everything is undone. It\u2019s hard to see the people or the things that happen in these bubbles as real.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey are real to us,\u201d said Kepa, rubbing his chest where Donny McCowen\u2019s bullet had pierced his heart. \u201cJust look at you. You\u2019ve changed. You\u2019ve let them change you. Even if the people in the bubbles don\u2019t remember what happened, you do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEgia da. That\u2019s true. And I\u2019ve lived through so many of these. How many have you lived through?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is our third bubble.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThree?\u201d Marina laughed. \u201cI can\u2019t even remember my third. That was so long ago.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHow many have you done?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Marina\u2019s eyes wandered absently for a moment. \u201cAt least one hundred, I think.\u201d She shrugged. \u201cI\u2019ve lost count.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA hundred?\u201d exclaimed Kepa. \u201cHow many zatiak are out there?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cToo many. I feel like I\u2019ll never finish.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI can understand how you can become jaded, doing this over and over, watching friends and family die, only to do it all over again. It has to wear you down.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Marina nodded. \u201cBai. But, you are right. It is no excuse for becoming so cold. If I lose my humanity chasing these zatiak, it isn\u2019t worth it.\u201d She turned to Kepa, the weak smile on her face betrayed by the sadness in her eyes. \u201cIt\u2019s good to have your\u2026 optimistic perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou can say it. I\u2019m naive. Maite often says so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOptimistic, naive, idealistic. Whatever you call it, don\u2019t lose it. It will keep both you and Maite sane during this ordeal. Now, let\u2019s get to the safe house and figure out how we will rescue her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you get this post via email, the return-to address goes no where, so please write blas@buber.net<\/a> if you want to get in touch with me.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cWhat have we done?\u201d moaned Kepa. \u201cWe need to go back and get Maite.\u201d Marina was half pulling, half dragging him through yet another dark tunnel. Kepa didn\u2019t know where the others were, if Marina had simply abandoned them too. All he knew is that his stomach was revolting against him with the thought of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4410,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2640,864],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adventures-of-maite-and-kepa","category-bubers-basque-story"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/maite-and-kepa-v2-01.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2sYNu-1pN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5443"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5443\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5444,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5443\/revisions\/5444"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/maite-and-kepa-v3b.png\")