"Who are you?" said the person behind the long gun.
The woman was about 60 years old I'd say. I never saw many old people in the city; most of the population was between 20 and 40 years old.
"I'm just recording some stuff." my voice came out in the right volume this time.
"Name?"
In her eyes, after I had moved past the secondary scare, I could see no intention to fire the gun. She was calm, probably just being cautious against a stranger wandering around alone where, I presumed, was her land.
"I'm ST, ma'am. I apologize if I stepped on your land but I have permission to record the landscape."
Looking down at me and my pathetic pale face, the woman eased her features and took pity on me after realizing I represented no thread to her or her land. Putting back the shotgun that was attached to a belt, she extended me her hand as a peace offer.
"If it is my land why is the Force who gives the permission to enter and not me?"
She pulled me up with a firm hand, much stronger than I expected from a woman her age. Standing up, I was taller than her but she had a tough body that matched her severe brown eyes and her dark gray hair.
"I'm Louise. Sorry if I scared you."
"Not at all. I was too distracted with the recorder."
We both chuckled at the situation before falling into an awkward silence typical of first meetings.
"What's so interesting for you to come all the way over here?" Louise took the first step to break the awkwardness.
"Have you seen the city?"
Further inside the corn field a few black birds flew away randomly and I felt an impulse to chase after them through the high stalks.
"But you younglings have your technology, I know you can visit places way nicer than this with your gadgets."
In opposition to her eyes, her smile was tender. She seemed used to dealing with awkward situations.
"Nothing online compares to actually feeling all of this." I glanced at the blue sky above us and the sun hurt my eyes.
When I finished contemplating the world, the woman was staring intensely as if seeking unspoken answers in my eyes. I had no idea what to do so I just stood there looking at her until she made up her mind.
"Come. I'll show you something."
Walking behind Louise, I wondered why she carried—besides her shotgun, which was already scary enough—a small pistol and a long knife in her waist belt, just to walk around her property. It seemed a little too much for an old lady to be out and about armed like a soldier. Things in the country might not be as calm as people claim they were.
Leaving the conspiracies a side for a while I noticed we were going around the field that was on my left side.
Closer the stalks were about 10 centimeters taller than me with long green leaves thick as paper, all lined up perfectly for I don't know how far but enough to not let me see where it ended. All there was beyond it were reservoirs a few miles away followed by power towers as big as the city buildings, all lined up for miles into the country.
I kept recording everything around me. The goggles were linked to a chip on my brain that would record neurological reactions and would pass it to anyone who watched it.
The field was long and Louise wasn't in a hurry to contour it, which was making me impatient.
"So… ma'am, where are we going?"
"Just call me Louise," she said, without turning her head.
"Ok... I'm curious, Louise."
"You should be." she replied, now looking at me with a teasing grin.
"Oh, ok, so lemme ask you…" I paused to check if she would reprimand me. As she didn't, I kept going. "Do you own this land?"
"Yes. If not, do you think I would be allowed to walk around armed?"
"Fair enough. How long have you lived here?"
My eyes were glued to her neck, ready to catch any reactions. I even sped up my pace to get closer so I could hear better and watch her body language.
"For as long as I remember." she said, her tone sounding hella melancholic.
"Were you born here? I mean, in the country?"
"Yes, in this very farm you're stepping on."
"Wow, I had never heard about someone who wasn't born in the city..."
To live in the countryside, you had to be either the owner of the land or appointed by the city leadership. Nobody moved from the city to the country freely since farming properties are controlled by the authorities.
The more I talked to that woman, the more curious I got. Without calling her attention, I snapped a print of her profile to save for my personal collection. As I analyzed it on the corner of my field of vision, Louise turned left.
We had finally contoured the field. With the new view, I laid my eyes on a humble spacious wooden house, with a cozy porch and a swing.
"This place is…" I left my mouth open as I scanned the construction.
"Old, I know." she said.
"Historical! Is that a chimney?!" I corrected her as I freaked out like a little kid. "Do you live here?"
"Yup. Let's go, this is not what I want to show you." said Louise with a chuckle, never stopping for a moment.
Dragging behind her, there I was, running around recording the house from all angles, lifting red dirt wherever I went. I wished she would invite me inside, that would be such a hyped throwback trip - that's how we called the type of content I was recording, a Neuraltrip.
Before Louise could leave my sight, I took off after her. She walked with steady steps up front while I glanced back at the house. It looked like it had come straight out of a history book.
That would be a very good week; I was already celebrating internally and calculating the trip prices as we headed to the back of the house, revealing what I supposed was a barn.
Using my peripheral vision, I noticed Louise had stopped randomly. Leaving the house behind, I turned to look at her.
We were standing close to the barn door; the place was bigger than the house, so it must have good storage space, maybe for corn or something big like the harvester machines.
"Look over there, kid." she said casually, pointing somewhere to our right.