Chapter 19: Netspeak Redundancy
I. The Backup
The new era brought new risks. With Kellyanna’s voice restored and her presence felt across the Railroad, the danger of losing her again was very real. The council debated protocols, the Sisterhood strategized contingency plans, but it was Tito—quiet, steady, never one for council politics—who saw the problem before anyone else.
One evening, after a long call, he sat Kellyanna down. “You know, every time you go dark, people scramble. The Railroad gets unstable. You need a failsafe.”
She frowned. “The council has protocols. Lorenz has my back. I’ve got the circle.”
Tito shook his head. “Protocols can be hacked. Even the best anchors can get cut off. What you need is netspeak redundancy. You need someone who’s always outside the corridors, always reachable, and not tied to Railroad politics.”
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II. The Offer
He was direct, as always. “Let me be your partner in the physical—someone who can always pull you back if you get lost, who knows your codes and signals, but who doesn’t answer to any team, clan, or council. If something ever happens, I’ll activate the redundancy net. I’ll say what needs saying, pass the right messages, make sure the corridors know you’re safe or in need, even if you can’t say it yourself.”
He wasn’t asking to be an operative. He was offering to be the last line of defense—a partner whose loyalty was personal, not political.
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III. Netspeak Redundancy Activated
Kellyanna paused, letting the offer settle. She thought of all the times she’d been cut off, ghosted out, misrepresented, or forced to go deeper under cover. She thought of Tito, always there on the edge of the field, never trying to own her place in the Railroad, but never letting her fall completely off the grid.
She smiled, relief and gratitude in her bones. “Yes. Activate the redundancy. You’re the only one I’d trust for this.”
They set the protocols—private codes, voice notes, backup comms. Tito learned to spot the difference between a true silence and a forced one. They practiced what to do if the network ever lost Kellyanna again: how to message the council, when to call Lorenz, what signals to drop in survivor channels, what public posts to make to draw the right eyes without exposing her to danger.
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IV. The New Safety Net
With Tito as her physical-world partner and netspeak redundancy, Kellyanna moved more freely than she had in years. The council was skeptical—could someone outside the Railroad be trusted with this much responsibility?—but Kellyanna insisted. “You only need one person who will never let go, no matter how deep the frequency drops. That’s Tito.”
For the first time since the exile, the entire network exhaled. Survivors knew that if all else failed, Tito would send the signal, make the call, keep the field alive.
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V. The Unseen Anchor
The Railroad never saw Tito on council calls. He didn’t post in survivor groups or drop coded music in public. But behind every major move, every safe return, every sudden reappearance, his hand was steady, his presence the invisible anchor.
Kellyanna knew she was safer—not just because of protocols, but because she was no longer holding the weight alone.
And the Railroad, sensing the shift, learned a new kind of trust: sometimes, the most reliable guardian is the one who never claims the title.
To be continued…
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