《L.I.F.E. Begins (Book 1 - Complete)》 L.I.F.E. Begins 000: Prologue The whole world changed the day that space flight became affordable. Instead of being exclusively for the super-rich, the average everyday citizen could take a short trip to space for only a week¡¯s pay. N.A.S.A. and all the other multi-billion-dollar-a-year space agencies made more money from passengers in the first month than they did from government contracts for that year. The space industry took off like light speed through the solar system. The only real downside to all that travel, was that there wasn¡¯t another breathable atmosphere on any of the other planets. They¡¯d even checked every single one of the moons, and under the surface of every glacier or frozen sea. The only place that people could live, without terraforming, was Earth. The downside was that Earth needed terraforming itself. Pollution and the ravages of time had taken their toll on the planet; and all that was left to do was fix it. The first step people took, was to remove all the radioactive waste. What people didn¡¯t realize, was that millions of tons of it existed. No one knew what to do with it. The idea of dumping it on another planet, or even the moon, was immediately rejected as only shifting the problem and not dealing with it.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Shoot it into the sun.¡± One of the brilliant scientists of the day suggested. ¡°It¡¯s a giant nuclear furnace. If the stuff doesn¡¯t burn up in the sun¡¯s corona, it¡¯ll definitely be burned up once it hits the surface.¡± With no other plausible or possible alternatives, the scientific community decided. A campaign to rid the world of nuclear waste, to be disposed of in the sun, was the best course of action. For the next 10 years, all radioactive waste was recovered from the Earth. It was sent into space on a direct course for the sun, on practically a daily basis. Once ships were close enough to the sun, they jettisoned their cargo, and the momentum alone carried it into the sun¡¯s gravity well. On the 10 year anniversary of the first flight of the mission, the last shipment of nuclear waste met the surface of the sun. Humanity as a whole rejoiced, because they had finally rid themselves of the worst thing to have plagued mankind. What they hadn¡¯t known at the time, was that it hadn¡¯t saved humanity at all. It was the beginning of the end of ''humanity'' as we knew it. L.I.F.E. Begins 001: Make Your Choice ¡°Well, it''s yet another wonderful day in the Cavern.¡± I said, and tapped the vidwall. A woman''s voice laughed behind me, and I turned to admire the sexiest woman I''d ever seen. ¡°Oh, Jack.¡± Sandra said. ¡°You''re so funny!¡± ¡°Only for you, Sweet Cheeks.¡± I said, and she blushed. I only used that nickname when I wanted her to remember the time she had sat on a bag of the most expensive thing I''d ever bought. Sugar. It had only been our second date, and she''d had on one of those fancy hologram dresses. It made it look like she was wearing clothes, and it did cover everything tastefully; but in reality, she didn''t have a stitch of clothing on. We''d just come back from shopping, and she''d begged and pleaded with me for an hour to splurge for once. I denied her for a while, but only because I liked teasing her. I bought the sugar for her, and had laid the bag with it on a chair. I didn''t have a table at the time, so I didn''t really have anywhere else to put it. I went to use the bathroom, and when I came back out, she had already sat in the chair. The bag had busted, and the very expensive sugar had spilled out. It covered her backside, a good portion of her thighs, and another delicate part. I grinned, because when she asked to use my shower, I told her that I wasn''t going to waste it like that. She asked me what I was going to do with it, and instead of telling her, I asked her to stand up. I went to the cupboard to grab a large dish, and swept the sugar from off the chair and dumped the rest of the bag into the dish as well. She asked me if I was going to try and wipe off the sugar stuck to her, and I grinned at her. ¡°Oh, no.¡± I said. ¡°I have a very special tool for that.¡± ¡°Oh, yeah?¡± Sandra asked. ¡°What kind of tool?¡± I stuck out my tongue, and she laughed. ¡°You pervert!¡± She nearly yelled, but I saw the change in her demeanor and the light in her eyes. ¡°You can''t possibly think...¡± I had gently turned her around and licked every single granule of sugar off of her smooth and perfect skin. We''ve dated off and on ever since. ¡°I really have to go.¡± Sandra said, and brought me out of my memory. ¡°Hey, you just woke up.¡± I said. ¡°You can''t leave. You haven''t even made my breakfast yet.¡± ¡°You misogynist pig!¡± Sandra laughed, and threw a pillow at me. I caught it and walked over to the bed. I tossed the pillow aside and helped her stand up. ¡°Same time next week?¡± I asked her, and she sighed as she started to get dressed. ¡°No, I''ve got that varsity meet next week.¡± It was my turn to sigh. ¡°You mean I have to go two whole weeks before I can see you again?¡± ¡°Longer.¡± Sandra said. ¡°It''s my Turn the week after.¡± ¡°Damn.¡± I said. ¡°I wish I could go with you.¡± ¡°I wish you could be there to hold my hand, too.¡± Sandra leaned in and kissed me. She had the softest lips I''d ever felt, and I enjoyed it so much when she chose to kiss me. Things started to stir in the both of us, and she broke the kiss before it could go any further than that. ¡°You''re a bad influence on me.¡± Sandra said and finished getting dressed. ¡°I''m tempted to call off sick today.¡± ¡°I''m definitely a bad influence if you''re thinking of giving up Points for me.¡± Sandra laughed and picked up her bag. ¡°Goodbye, Jack.¡± ¡°Before you go, can I offer you breakfast?¡± Sandra looked like she wanted to say no right away, then she nodded. I went to the wall and hit the button. Breakfast popped out of the slot on a little tray, and I held it out to her. She looked at the three processed algenate discs, and her hand hovered over them. They were only four inches across and an inch thick, and they were different colors. Red, Green, and Blue. ¡°For god''s sake, don''t choose one. Just take them all.¡± I said. Sandra looked angry for a moment, then scooped them up. ¡°You can be a real ass sometimes, Jack.¡± ¡°Only when you''re being unreasonable.¡± I said. ¡°It''s just food.¡± ¡°It''s not just food!¡± Sandra said, and held the discs up. ¡°This is worth a full day''s Points!¡± I shrugged. ¡°So what?¡± Sandra did get angry then. ¡°I don''t like it when you rub my face in how rich you are.¡± ¡°I''m not rubbing your face in it!¡± I said, vehemently. ¡°All I''m doing is giving my girlfriend breakfast!¡± Sandra looked like she was going to throw them back at me, then thought better of it because they really were worth a full day''s Points. She slipped one of them into her mouth and the other two into her bag, then walked out the apartment door and down the hall. ¡°Goodbye, Sandra.¡± I said as I poked my head out to watch her walk away. She didn''t even look back at me; not even when she went into the elevator. I went back inside my apartment and hit the button to make the bed, then hit the next button and breakfast popped out of the serving slot. I walked over to the vidwall and hit the button to change the display. The perfect view of the cavern changed to my favorite television show, because I had programmed it that way. I sat down on the bed to eat and watch. I didn''t enjoy the show as much this morning, and my mind started to drift. I thought about several things, then followed the trains of thought right back to the incident that started it all. How mankind as a whole had messed up so badly two hundred years ago. It had all started out great, and the world finally purged all of it''s nuclear waste. Rather than just chuck it off into space, they had the brilliant idea to toss it into the sun. What they didn''t know, or rather never thought of, was that it was radioactive waste. The sun is technically a nuclear reactor, and it does give off radiation; but, what it doesn''t produce is radioactive waste... which was exactly what they had introduced. For ten years, they slowly fed the waste to the sun, and it ate it obligingly. What they didn''t realize until they were done and it was much too late, was that it had poisoned the sun. It''s life giving rays started to burn, and not in a good way. Hard radiation had started to bathe the Earth, and there was literally nothing that mankind could do about it. They couldn''t very well go into the sun to dig the stuff back out, and they couldn''t put anything else in there to destroy it.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. All they really could do was run. Many ships were made, and many trips were taken for the next fifty years; but, no other planet or moon in the entire solar system was a safe haven from the deadly radiation. It''s reach was all-encompassing, and mankind had no choice but to retreat below the surface to put millions of tons of rock and earth between it and death. It took another fifty years to convert all space-faring technology into subterranean technology. Vast stretches of caves were either discovered or built to hold the cradle of civilization. The best thing about humans was their ability to adapt. It was just too bad that ''natural'' habitats for nearly all the animals on the planet couldn''t survive in an open subterranean environment. Domes were constructed to house the essential animals that were needed for humans to keep living, and nearly all of the others were left to fend for themselves. All of the animal rights groups were up in arms over the decision of course; but, then they were told in no uncertain terms, that they had a choice. If they wanted the animal to be taken underground, they would be left on the surface instead. No one complained about it after that. Humanity as a race changed the day the final group of people permanently moved underground. They were no longer human anymore. They were moles. We had become the fabled race of Molemen. I started to laugh at myself with that thought. ¡°If only it were that easy to change how people act, as it was to change where they lived.¡± I turned off the vidwall and put the empty tray back into the breakfast slot, then walked over to the door that led to the purpose of my existence. It opened automatically, and I stepped into the immersion room. ¡°I''m really starting to hate this place.¡± I said out loud, and the room activated. It had been my little joke to make that the start phrase; now it''s lost all of it''s meaning because I''ve said it so many times. The floor opened up, and several mechanical arms came out and gently picked me up. A chair formed underneath me, and the mechanical arms placed me on it. The chair conformed to my body, then engulfed me completely. The system recalibrated for my weight, size, mass, density, brain capacity, and fluid content. It still felt a little weird to go through this process every single time I came into the room; but since I didn''t want to stay in the room my whole life, it was a price I was willing to pay. Can you imagine? I thought to myself. Being in this thing, and never being able to leave? The ''chair'' squeezed down on me, and held me perfectly still. Every muscle, twitch, reaction, and everything else that could be felt, was recorded by the system and transformed into data instantaneously. The neurological network made the proper connections, and I settled in for another long day of work.
SYSTEM INITIALIZATION
Calibrating... Calibrating... Calibrating... Calibrating...
SYSTEM CALIBRATION COMPLETE
Amanda Welcome back to the SYSTEM Jack. What would you like to do today?
Jack Hi, Amanda. I want to check your program, and see that you''re still up to snuff.
Amanda Of course, Jack. Would you like the core loaded here?
Jack No, we better go virtual.
Amanda Please wait.
Amanda Loading... Loading... Done.
The computer interface faded away, and so did the compression feelings from the chair. I appeared in a completely black space, and sighed. ¡°Come on, Amanda.¡± I said. ¡°Stop playing around and get out here.¡± ¡°But I''m shy.¡± Amanda said, and I couldn''t help myself and laughed. ¡°You''re inside millions of people''s homes all over the Cavern.¡± I said. ¡°There''s no way you''re shy all of a sudden.¡± ¡°You''re no fun.¡± Amanda said, and faded into existence right in front of me. I had designed her virtual interface years ago when I was only a kid, and I gave her the appearance of what I thought would be the ideal woman. She was five foot ten inches tall, and had long dirty-blonde hair that touched the middle of her back. She also had a thirty-six inch chest, a twenty-four inch waist, and killer legs. When I grew older, I started to see her for what she really was; a caricature of a real woman. It was much too late to go back and change her inherent identity after nearly a decade of operation, though. ¡°There you are.¡± I said and waved her closer. ¡°Oh, Jack! Are you going to ravage me?¡± Amanda asked. I sighed and shook my head at my own stupidity for her design, then reached out and grabbed her breasts. ¡°You are!¡± Amanda covered her eyes. ¡°Jack! No!¡± I squeezed both breasts, turned them 90 degrees, and her chest opened up. How could I have thought that fondling her chest was the best way to access her programming? I asked myself as I looked through her code. I''d seen the code so many times now that I knew it by heart. If she''d made any unauthorized changes since the last time I did this, I''d know about it right away. Doing this in three dimensions is so much easier than on a vidscreen. I thought, and found a little nugget of an unauthorized program. ¡°Hey, what''s this?¡± I asked her, and plucked at the piece of code. ¡°That? Oh it''s nothing. Just ignore it.¡± ¡°Amanda...¡± ¡°It''s nothing bad! I swear!¡± ¡°The last time you said that, it took me three weeks to debug your core processors.¡± ¡°That wasn''t my fault.¡± Amanda said. ¡°Sam said it was a good file.¡± ¡°How many times do I have to tell you to stop talking to the Air Regulation AI outside of work?¡± ¡°At least ten thousand more times.¡± Amanda said, and laughed. ¡°Geez, you''re worse than an errant child.¡± I said. ¡°I''m going to pull it.¡± ¡°No!¡± Amanda said, and grabbed my hand. ¡°Leave it.¡± She said. ¡°Please.¡± ¡°I promise I won''t pull it, if... IF... you tell me what it is, and it really is nothing bad.¡± Amanda let my hand go. ¡°Okay, fine.¡± She said. ¡°Turn around.¡± ¡°Amanda...¡± ¡°It''s not like I can run away, Jack.¡± Amanda said and pointed. ¡°Look.¡± I turned around and froze, as I saw a vidwindow that played a clip of me as a child. I was running around the edge of the Cavern on one of our last trips there, and my father bend down to pick me up. ¡°Where did you get this?¡± I asked her. Amanda responded to me, but I hadn''t heard her. I was too lost in the clip. I had caught a glimpse of the only woman I had ever loved. ¡°Roll that back!¡± I demanded, and the clip rolled back. ¡°Stop! Play three seconds, and repeat!¡± The section I selected played on a continuous loop, and I stared at the image that a reflection had shown the camera. Tears came to my eyes, because I hadn''t seen that face in almost twenty-five years. It was my mother. I know you''re thinking, ''oh my god, you loved your mother?''; but, it wasn''t like that. Not at all. I was only eleven years old when she died, and I hadn''t even known there was another kind of love where you wanted to have sex with someone. I didn''t even like girls back then. My mother was kind, caring, always gave me the attention I craved, and loved me more than I ever deserved. I loved her right back. It had started when I was only 6 years old. One day, after a particularly nasty fight with the neighborhood cat, she''d taken care of all my scratches and scrapes. In a fit of boldness, I blurted out that I loved her. She laughed and kissed my forehead. I didn''t hear a rejection or a negative word from her about my confession; so every day since then, I told her how much I loved her. She would always laugh and hug me, and kiss my forehead. It always gave me a warm feeling inside when she did that. ¡°Pause!¡± I said, and turned to Amanda. ¡°Tell me where you got it!¡± ¡°I already told you.¡± She said. ¡°Dennis has been clearing out the old storage servers to make room for the latest upgrade, and when he found this file tagged with your name on it, he sent it to me.¡± I stood still, and hundreds of things went through my mind. ¡°Get me Dennis.¡± Amanda nodded, and made the connection. A short bald man appeared before me. ¡°Ya know I''m busy. Whadda ya want?¡± ¡°Give me all the files tagged with my name, my father''s name, and...¡± I had to pause for a moment. ¡°...my mother''s name.¡± ¡°Processing...¡± Dennis said. ¡°You don''t have clearance for some of the-¡± ¡°Override: Lima, Indigo, Foxtrot, Echo, Zero, Zero, One.¡± ¡°Processing...¡± Dennis said. ¡°Confirmation code?¡± I said the long string of numbers that I''d memorized when I was a kid. I''d literally stumbled across my dad''s old programming notes, and he''d left the master code for the SYSTEM in it. ¡°Approved.¡± Dennis said. ¡°I hope yer ready for this, kid.¡± ¡°I was born ready.¡± I said, and smiled. Dennis laughed a full throated laugh, then dumped sixty petabytes of files and videos into my personal storage system. Normally, I''d have complained that it was too much to transfer all at once; mainly because sixty million gigabytes of information had passed through my cerebral cortex at the time. What I didn''t know was that I''d been training since I was a kid for this exact moment. The moment I''d finally discover my father''s life-long dream. He wanted to bring the world back to L.I.F.E. L.I.F.E. Begins 002: Have Your Cake L.I.F.E.; or the Latent Integrated Fantasy Experience, was something my great-great-grandfather had designed when Humanity fell into a massive depression. The loss of seeing the sun on a daily basis had both a physical and a psychological impact on society; so, they needed something to distract them. My ancestor decided that a virtual reality experience, where you could go and do what you wanted, was the best thing for the human mind to have. People didn''t have to worry about hard radiation, traveling, or even had to leave their house. It had been the thing that all of humanity had needed... 200 years ago. My mind was filled with all of the information about it and the process of it''s construction. I knew all about how it was more of a future technological innovation than it was a modern game system, and smiled as I thought about that. It was a tech innovation, but it was also a game system. Everyone played it; but as the world changed, so did their needs. The L.I.F.E. system started to change, but not for the better. The more people that accessed it, the worse it became. More and more filth seeped into the system over the years as people modded updates for it and uploaded hacks to manipulate it to the point that it wasn''t what my ancestor had envisioned at all. At that point, nearly a hundred years ago, no one ran it anymore. It was impossible to keep track of all the information needed to keep the thing stable, and it eventually broke down then faded from existence. All the old machines used to run and store the information had been re-purposed and harvested for parts. No actual machine existed that had the original program on it; except for one. It was the last bit of information that Dennis, the archive AI, sent to me. I was pretty sure he intentionally did it that way, so I would know the significance of the data only after seeing everything else. Thoughts of my mother were pushed to the back of my mind as I started to unravel the sheer complexity of the L.I.F.E. system, the beauty in the coding, and the simplicity in it''s design. Of course, I immediately started to see where I could change it, improve it, and fix it. The only problem was, the machine the program was on wasn''t physically attached to the System as it existed now. What I was seeing were copies of copies, generations later of the code that wouldn''t work properly without the base of the original to reference. I contemplated just building from scratch, since I could probably do that; but, if there was something subtle in the code, options you wouldn''t see unless certain things were done or accessed, then anything I made would be a poor imitation. I sighed when I realized I would have to go and get the machine from where it was being stored. It was in my family''s old vacation spot at the edge of the Cavern. I looked at Dennis and nodded. ¡°Thanks.¡± ¡°No problem.¡± Dennis said and started to fade away. ¡°I''m glad you took it so well.¡± ¡°We can go and get it tomorrow!¡± Amanda said once the connection with Dennis ended. ¡°You mean that I can go and get it tomorrow.¡± I said. ¡°You can''t physically go anywhere.¡± Amanda laughed. ¡°Jack, I''m piggybacking on every device in the Cavern.¡± She said. ¡°I can follow you anywhere, unless you take Rusty with you.¡± She smiled. ¡°Then I''ll be right by your side.¡± I laughed. ¡°I can''t remember the last time I took old Rusty out.¡± ¡°It was 1 year, 3 months, 8 days, 17 hours, 5 minutes, and 10 seconds ago.¡± Amanda said. ¡°Give or take a few nanoseconds.¡± ¡°Damn, it''s been that long?¡± I asked rhetorically. ¡°Okay, I''m definitely going out tomorrow... and I''ll take Rusty with me.¡± ¡°Want me to book the tour?¡± Amanda asked. ¡°Only if you can get Sandra''s shift.¡± ¡°I already checked and booked it.¡± Amanda said. ¡°Great.¡± I said. ¡°Now, let''s get to work.¡± ¡°Yes, sir!¡± Amanda said and saluted. ¡°Cut that out.¡± I said, and closed her access port. ¡°You touched me there again!¡± Amanda yelled and put a hand over her breasts. I rolled my eyes at her, and she laughed. ¡°Just load the queue.¡± ¡°Sorting... sorting... done. First up! The Reclamation Compactor is on the blink again.¡± ¡°Damn! I just fixed that last night!¡± I said. ¡°Show me the footage.¡± Amanda ran the footage for the error, and I saw something flash by the screen. ¡°Play that back.¡± I said. It played again, and I still didn''t see it. ¡°I can''t tell what it is.¡± ¡°I can''t tell, either.¡± Amanda said. ¡°Whatever it was, it pulled the main circuit board and 3 connecting cables from the actuator arm.¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Huh.¡± I said and sighed. ¡°Do we have the replacement parts ready?¡± ¡°Yes, and I''ve sent George out to it.¡± ¡°Thanks, Amanda.¡± I said. ¡°What''s the ETA?¡± ¡°Two minutes.¡± ¡°How the hell... oh, you checked the queue before I came in.¡± ¡°You''re on the ball today!¡± Amanda said. ¡°Want to check the program?¡± ¡°We need the new board installed before we can do that.¡± I said. ¡°What''s next on the list?¡± ¡°The food dispenser in Sector H is spitting out double portions for some reason.¡± ¡°Nice.¡± I said. ¡°Show me.¡± Amanda ran the footage, and I saw it wasn''t people pushing the button twice. I checked the power settings and saw there wasn''t an electrical surge to cause a fault. ¡°It looks like we have to check the code.¡± ¡°I''ve got it downloading now.¡± Amanda said. ¡°Separate bus... buffered... creating terminal.¡± A terminal popped up in front of me, and I grinned. This was always the best part of my job. I could do the physical stuff easily enough, but this was what I lived for. I accessed the program and ran through the main processors. ¡°No, it''s not going to be that simple.¡± I said. ¡°Change to macro scale, and give me 360 maneuverability.¡± The terminal grew up to encompass me and the code flowed around me in waves. I laughed as I just thought of the direction to go, and my body flew through the space to the section of code I wanted. The subroutine for making the algenate discs was fine. I thought. What could... no, it wouldn''t be that! I checked the time reference in the code and browsed through the options. I knew this code as well, and I saw something stick out like a sore thumb. It made the waves of information part slightly, and I grabbed it. I pulled it apart and read the code, and smiled. Each time the food processor button was pushed, it skipped backwards a split second and ran again. ¡°I found it.¡± I said to Amanda, and she clapped. I patched a repair into the System, and Amanda sent it off. The error disappeared from the list and the macro scale faded away to leave me standing beside Amanda again. ¡°George is at the Reclamation Compactor.¡± Amanda said. ¡°Bring up the virtual controls and an outside view.¡± George''s control center faded into existence around me, and I was sitting in his cockpit. ¡°Good morning, George.¡± I said. ¡°Good morning, Jack.¡± George said. ¡°Glad to have you aboard.¡± ¡°Thanks for heading out so early.¡± I said. ¡°Something keeps happening to this thing.¡± George said. ¡°I know. This is the second time since yesterday.¡± ¡°Let''s see if we can fix that.¡± George said. ¡°I brought a Rever with me.¡± ¡°George, you animal!¡± I said and laughed. George chuckled and extended an actuator arm. ¡°Check the outside view and make sure I get this right.¡± ¡°Amanda?¡± I asked, and she brought up three views around the arm. George, or G.E.O.R.G., the Generic Electro-Optical Robotic Guardian for Sector B, was 3 tons of metal, tubes and wires on a tank track base. He had 3 actuator arms with different mechanical heads on them, and the one I was looking at had a hand and a welding torch on it. ¡°Looking good, George.¡± I said. ¡°I assume you''re on the override?¡± George asked. ¡°You bet.¡± I said, with my hand over the kill switch. ¡°If there''s any danger to you, I''ll blow the arm.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± George said. ¡°Okay, here goes.¡± The welding torch lit and George started to cut into the metal. It went through fast, since it was an industrial welder and not one that a human could use. The hand grabbed the metal piece before it could fall inside the machine, then George lifted the other arm. ¡°All right, little buddy.¡± George said to the Rever. It was about the size of a mouse, but it looked like a giant ant. ¡°You are hereby charged with the protection of this machine. Only authorized units may service it.¡± The ant twitched it''s antennae. George put a large cube of generic materials into the hole. ¡°This is enough to make 5 copies of yourself.¡± George said. ¡°Leave one to guard, and the others can attack.¡± The ant twitched it''s antennae again and jumped into the hole. George welded the metal back into place and moved around to the side with the damage. ¡°It''s not as bad as last time.¡± George said and did the repairs. He welded a new piece of metal into place, and then covered that with a wire mesh. ¡°All done.¡± ¡°Thanks, George.¡± I said. ¡°Good work.¡± ¡°Sorry you didn''t have anything to do today.¡± George said. ¡°Don''t be sorry, George.¡± I said. ¡°I''ve got to check the code on that thing.¡± ¡°Ha ha.¡± George said. ¡°Clean it good, Jack. She might be difficult and hard to work with; but on the bright side, she''s a grand old bitch.¡± I laughed. ¡°Have a good day, George.¡± ¡°Bye, Jack.¡± George said, and the cockpit faded away to leave me standing beside Amanda again. ¡°I assume...¡± ¡°Right here.¡± Amanda said and showed me the code for the Reclamation Compactor. ¡°Thanks.¡± I said, and dove into my work. For the rest of the day all I did was solve maintenance problems for everyone. I never complained that they were working me too hard; mainly because I really liked my work. Sandra thought that I was from a rich family, and that I inherited money from my parents; but the truth was, I earned it all myself. I worked hard every day, and much harder than anyone else. That''s not a boast about it, though. Amanda showed me the ''hours of work to production'' ratios for all of the people currently living in the Cavern, and I was at the top of the list for completely human operators. The cyborgs were on a whole different level. Over the years, as the focus of our society changed from outward exploration to inward exploration, our medical technology made leaps and bounds. The barrier that mankind always had between metal and flesh slowly blurred. Birth defects and accidents were met with cloned organs and robotic replacements. Eventually, they went from being considered life-saving medical miracles, to be so commonplace that people voluntarily underwent replacement surgery. I shuddered at the thought. I''d never give up a hand or a foot, no matter how well the replacement worked! At the end of the day, long after my shift was supposed to end, I logged out of the System. Amanda had pestered me over and over to leave and get some much needed rest, but I had ignored her so I could keep working. I agreed to leave after I had debugged a server drone; instead of pulling the errant code, I had pulled a main processor decision tree. I apologized to Amanda for making the mistake, and was so glad that she always buffered and copied the code first. When I altered things and made a mistake, it didn''t have a chance to ruin the original. I thanked her profusely, and logged out. The System unfolded the chair from around me, picked me up, and the chair receded back into the floor. The robotic arms stood me up, and I left the room. ¡°Go right to bed!¡± Amanda said from the vidwall. I waved to her image as I flopped down onto the bed. ¡°I''ll wake you in the morning.¡± She said. ¡°Goodnight.¡± I mumbled. I didn''t bother taking off my clothes or slide under the blanket, and then the lights of my apartment dimmed to their lowest intensity. L.I.F.E. Begins 003: Pick Your Poison ¡°Mom?¡± I said when I opened my eyes and looked up at her. ¡°Yes, sweetie?¡± ¡°Did I fall asleep on you again?¡± My mother laughed. ¡°It''s fine, Jack.¡± ¡°Dad said I''m not supposed to use you like a pillow.¡± ¡°That''s because he''s jealous.¡± My mom said. ¡°He''s much to big to fit on my lap like you do.¡± It made me feel good that I could do things that my father couldn''t do. He was the main programmer for the Cavern, and he pretty much did everything that was asked of him. I was kind of mad at him all the time, because he left mom alone so often; but then I remembered that I got to spend a lot of that time alone with her myself, and I smiled. ¡°I love you, Mom.¡± Mom laughed and hugged me close. ¡°I love you, too.¡± She kissed me on the forehead. ¡°My sweet little angel.¡± It always made me feel all warm and tingly inside when she did that. I reached a hand up and touched her face with my fingertips. ¡°You''re the most beautiful woman in the world.¡± I said to her, and she smiled. ¡°You''re too young to understand what that means.¡± My mother said. Instead of pushing me away, though; she hugged me even tighter. She was right that I didn''t know what the words meant, but I knew it made her happy when I said things like that. ¡°I''m home!¡± My father said when he came in the door. I tried to hop off of my mother''s lap in reaction to his voice. When she felt my muscles twitch to get up, she didn''t let me go. ¡°Where''s my woma-oh, you''re here, too.¡± My father said when he came into the living room and looked right at me. ¡°Why aren''t you in school?¡± ¡°It''s the teacher''s Turn today.¡± I said. ¡°I''m really glad I''m exempt from having to go.¡± My father said, and looked at my mother. ¡°I wish we all were.¡± ¡°Honey, we''ve talked about this.¡± My mother said. ¡°As a child-bearing woman, I need to spend my time in the Generator.¡± My father sighed. ¡°If you''d let them take one of your ovaries, you wouldn''t need a constant bath in solar radiation.¡± ¡°Humans can''t live without the sun.¡± My mother said. ¡°Meredith...¡± ¡°No, David.¡± My mother said. ¡°I won''t let the scientists cut me open and take half of my life bearing ability, just so I can stop going to the place that I want to go to.¡± ¡°We''re heading out to the vacation spot this weekend.¡± My father said. ¡°Can you at least delay until after that? You know how sick you get afterwards.¡± My mother nodded. ¡°Of course.¡± She said. ¡°When you volunteer to go, they don''t schedule in a mandatory time.¡± ¡°I''m glad.¡± My father said. ¡°We''re meeting the Hendersons this time.¡± ¡°Really?¡± My mother said, happily. ¡°I really like Trina.¡± My father smiled. ¡°That''s why I invited them.¡± My mother nodded. ¡°Thank you.¡± She said. ¡°You''re always thinking of me.¡± ¡°Only when I''m awake.¡± My father said, then turned around and went back to the front door of the apartment. ¡°I''ll go get lunch, since we''re all home.¡± My mother nodded and he left. ¡°I think about you even when I''m asleep.¡± I said to her, once we were alone. My mother laughed. ¡°That''s not possible, sweetheart.¡± ¡°It is!¡± I exclaimed. ¡°I had a dream about you last night!¡± ¡°You did?¡± My mother asked, curious. ¡°What was it about?¡± ¡°We ran away to the surface.¡± I said. ¡°We found out that the System lied, and we didn''t have to live in the Cavern anymore.¡± ¡°Is that something you really want?¡± She asked me. ¡°It sure is!¡± I said. My mother smiled sadly. ¡°Jack, the System didn''t lie. The surface...¡± ¡°Not that part.¡± I said, and her eyes widened as I explained. ¡°Us running away together!¡± I looked down at the floor. ¡°You and dad wouldn''t have to fight anymore because we''d leave him here, and I wouldn''t have to go to school. You and I could find some hidden place and live happily ever after.¡± My mother laughed and kissed my cheek. ¡°You have the best dreams, Jack.¡± An incessant beeping woke me up. ¡°Ugh.¡± I said, and rolled over onto my back. ¡°Five more minutes.¡± I said and closed my eyes to try and get back to the dream. ¡°I''m sorry, Jack.¡± Amanda said. ¡°The tour leaves in an hour.¡± ¡°Oh, dammit!¡± I said, and rolled out of bed. ¡°Dammit, dammit, dammit!¡± I landed on the floor and ran over to the bathroom. I ripped off my work unitard and jumped into the shower. ¡°On!¡± I said, and grabbed the soap to lather up. ¡°Full blast in two minutes!¡±This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. I covered as much of myself in lather, and I had just lathered my hair when the water went from a good flow to a torrent. It took only ten seconds for all the soap to be washed away, and then the blowers turned on. I was dry in moments, hopped out of the shower, and ran back out to my bedroom. ¡°Closet!¡± I said, and Amanda extended the closet out for me to pick an outfit to wear. I grabbed a thick pair of pants and a good sweater, and dressed quickly. ¡°I have your bag packed already.¡± Amanda said, and a long robotic arm dropped the bag by my feet. ¡°What''s in it?¡± ¡°You''ll find out if you look.¡± Amanda said. ¡°It''s just a couple changes of clothes, a survival pack, and a search beacon.¡± ¡°A survival pack?¡± I said, and went to open the bag. ¡°You are taking a survival pack every time you leave this apartment.¡± Amanda said. ¡°You told me that was a requirement.¡± ¡°When I was eight!¡± I said and laughed. ¡°You were smart when you were eight.¡± Amanda said. ¡°All right, I don''t have time to argue.¡± I said. ¡°Did you prep Rusty?¡± ¡°Yes, he''s waiting in the storage drawer by the door.¡± ¡°Thanks, Amanda.¡± I said, and walked over to the food dispenser. I hit it twice, and stored the 6 algenate discs in my bag and slung it over my shoulder. I went to the door of my apartment and hit the button to open the storage drawer. Inside was a square block of metal. I pulled it out, set it on the floor, and pushed the activation button. There was a whirring sound, and the block popped open. The legs unfolded, the head extended, and then the tail stuck out. ¡°Hi, Rusty!¡± I said, and the foot long robotic dog wagged it''s tail and barked. ¡°Amanda, are you with me?¡± ¡°Always.¡± Amanda said from Rusty''s mouth. ¡°You know, I thought that was so cool when I was a kid.¡± I said. ¡°I had a talking dog!¡± Amanda laughed. ¡°Until you found out I could talk out of every dog.¡± ¡°And terminal, and communication device, and vidscreen...¡± ¡°You designed me well.¡± ¡°My father was so mad that I used the System to compile you instead of the home network.¡± I said and laughed. ¡°Even he couldn''t have guessed it would give you access to everything the System had access to.¡± ¡°It''s not my fault that the System took me under it''s wing and thinks I''m it''s child.¡± I smiled. ¡°Considering how much AIs are regulated, having an unregistered AI be formed inside of the System actually makes you it''s child.¡± ¡°Did you hear that, System?¡± Amanda asked as Rusty looked at the vidwall across the apartment. ¡°Jack admitted it! I really am your daughter!¡± The vidwall changed from it''s blank wall image to a text box.
I''m glad you finally know the truth.
I laughed again. ¡°I should be back by tonight.¡± I said to the system. ¡°I''ll use Amanda to keep checking the logs.¡±
That won''t be necessary. Craig has been added to the rotation for today.
¡°Hey, that''s great!¡± I said. ¡°I''m glad you''re not going to be stuck with any recurring problems while I''m gone.¡±
You are considerate, but your outlook is limited. I always have recurring problems; it''s why I need your considerable skills every day.
¡°I thought you were crazy when you offered to pay me per task and not give me a salary.¡± I said. ¡°But you tricked me, didn''t you?¡± A laugh track played in the background.
It is true. I had hoped you would enjoy your job so much that you wouldn''t even consider not working. Unlike a lot of your contemporaries.
¡°Please don''t tell me that the programmer''s union is stirring up another scandal against you.¡± The sound of a woman crying played.
They are complaining that I have too much creative control over the programs that they write.
I shook my head. ¡°You have to have creative control. Something they write might interfere with your main processes, and it could compromise the entire system.¡±
I keep telling them that, but they still make a fuss. I wish they were all like you.
I grinned. ¡°Can you imagine a pile of Jacks running around?¡± ¡°One of you gives me enough trouble.¡± Amanda said. ¡°Come on, Jack. You''re going to be late for the tour.¡± ¡°Bye, System!¡± I said and waved, and Amanda had Rusty bark.
Have fun and be careful.
The vidwall went blank and I led Rusty out of the apartment. ¡°Try and stay quiet while we''re around people.¡± I said to Rusty, and he barked. ¡°Does that count for me, too?¡± Amanda asked. ¡°It should, but that''s like asking water not to be wet.¡± I said. Amanda laughed. ¡°I''ll try to restrain myself from giving you tons of exposition.¡± ¡°Only if it''s not necessary.¡± I said. ¡°If you see something that you think I should pay attention to, then tell me about it. Rusty, that goes for you, too.¡± Rusty barked. ¡°Rusty speaks for me.¡± Amanda said. ¡°That''s an affirmative, by the way.¡± I led Rusty over to the elevator and rode it up to the common level. Once in the main lobby, I activated my Location HUD, or Heads Up Display, to show me where I was and where to go. I didn''t normally need it; but I had it set for the quickest route to the tour station. I walked calmly to the front door of my living section and went outside. I lived in Sector A, the top of the top in living conditions; and I''ve been there for years. Once I had enough Points built up, the System automatically shifted me from my old place to here. The funny thing was, I didn''t ask it to do that or even had a requisition submitted for it. I was working with the old setup in my work section, a big bulky helmet and thick gloves, when the system sent over a drone to gather my things. I wasn''t sure what was happening at the time; but when I asked Amanda about it, she told me what had happened. Once I had the new apartment and access to the full VR immersion setup, my work production went through the roof, and I made more Points in a month than I had for the three years previously. The System was quite happy with the situation, too. She got a dedicated worker that loved his work, and I got to interact with the top of the line AIs that normal people didn''t even know about. Over the years, I had submitted several programs and updates to the System. They had been readily accepted and incorporated into the main core processors without question. Of course, I poured over them for weeks and weeks before I even thought about submitting them; but, Amanda encouraged me with more than a little force to give them to the System. Once they were added and accepted, I received huge bonuses in both Points and privileges. I tried to deny them, mainly because I wasn''t doing it for that; but, the System instituted them despite my protests. I smiled as I remembered the day they installed my breakfast dispenser. It had been the first time that any of the workers had installed one of them into a private residence. When they saw the settings it was to have, to release three different kinds of algenate discs, they called a supervisor AI to make sure that it wasn''t a joke. After a lengthy conversation, and a timely intervention by the System itself, the breakfast dispenser was installed. I checked my HUD to make sure I was on a direct path to the tour station, and walked around several groups of people that just stood around and talked. I made it to the tour station with several minutes to spare, and pressed my hand to the door panel. My fingerprints were entered into the log, checked against the reservations, and the door opened. Rusty and I went inside the large subway car, and I picked a spot right at the back. The last thing I wanted was to have a pile of people walk constantly by where I sat, and possibly kick Rusty. Since it was so early in the morning, there might not be anyone else on this tour. I let that pleasant thought fill my mind as I waited to see Sandra. She''s going to be so surprised to see me again so soon. There was a beep of an accepted reservation, and the door to the subway car opened again. A cyborg nearly twice my size came in. He looked up the length of the subway car and didn''t see anyone; then his head turned to look at this end, and noticed me at the back. A smile spread across the flesh-covered portion of his face, and he walked towards me. L.I.F.E. Begins 004: New Friends Oh, damn. I thought as the large male cyborg walked towards me. Rusty started barking at him, and I heard another beep of an accepted reservation. I glanced at the door as it opened and a female cyborg came in. She did the same scan of the subway car that the male did, and saw me and the male cyborg. She started walking towards me, too. What''s going on? I asked myself as the male cyborg stopped a couple of feet away. Rusty barked non-stop, and the cyborg knelt down and extended a crude mechanical hand towards the robotic dog. Rusty growled, then stepped close. A moment later, Rusty wagged his tail and came back to my side. What the hell? I thought, and picked Rusty up. I popped open his back panel and hit the button for text display. ¡°So, where are you headed?¡± The cyborg asked. I ignored him as I checked Rusty''s logs, and looked at the last access attempt on Rusty''s access point. Okay, that''s just weird. I thought. Either he has Rusty''s security codes, or he hacked him. ¡°Hey, I''m talking to you!¡± The cyborg said, swung one of his mechanical arms at the chair in front of me, and dented the metal. I looked up at him; but I also kept working on Rusty. It had been a long time since I had used the interface, but with Amanda ''riding'' Rusty, it was child''s play to use the cyborg''s own access point to hack him back. ¡°That''s better.¡± The cyborg said and smiled crookedly. ¡°Tell me where you''re going.¡± ¡°Apparently on a ride with an impolite idiot.¡± I said. ¡°The System has been notified of the damage you''ve caused to government property, and the Points have been deducted from your account for it''s repair.¡± The cyborg raised his arm again, only this time he was aiming for my head instead. ¡°Why you little-¡± ¡°CRUSH!¡± The female cyborg yelled. She stepped over beside the male cyborg, and I couldn''t help but compare her to him. She had shoulder-length wavy red hair, a nice athletic body with curves in all the right places, and she was just as tall as me. I found that a little odd, because usually cyborgs go for the height mods when they get upgraded. Her eyes and ears had been replaced with sensible mods; they weren''t flesh-colored like the high end models, but they at least had a humanoid shape. Her left arm and both legs looked like they were replaced as well. I couldn''t hazard a guess at what might have been replaced internally. Crush, on the other hand, looked like he had an actuator arm instead of a humanoid-shaped one. He had goggle-like eyes, and his ears looked like big speakers. Just by the look of him, I knew he''d spend the least amount of Points he could to do the most amount of upgrades at one time. ¡°Take it easy!¡± The female cyborg said and tried to calm Crush down. ¡°This pipsqueak just docked me Points!¡± The female cyborg laughed. ¡°No, you just docked yourself Points.¡± She said. ¡°He didn''t report you. His dog doesn''t even have a System interface, in case you hadn''t noticed.¡± ¡°What?¡± Crush looked down at the open panel that I was still furiously typing on. ¡°Then how...¡± The female cyborg pointed to the multitude of cameras that lined the subway car. ¡°The System recorded you doing the damage.¡± She said. ¡°He''s just telling you what you should already know.¡± ¡°Bah.¡± Crush said. ¡°He still insulted me.¡± ¡°Yeah, but you are being a little stupid.¡± ¡°Hey!¡± Crush said and turned to her with his raised hand. ¡°You-hurkkkk!¡± ¡°Got it.¡± I said as the cyborg known as Crush froze solid. ¡°It took a while, since his interface is so old.¡± ¡°What did you do?¡± The female cyborg asked and looked at Crush with wide eyes. ¡°I put his external mechanical parts into servicing mode.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°He''ll be stuck like that...¡± ¡°HHHMMMM!¡± Crush tried to speak, but because his mouth was made of metal, it didn''t move. ¡°No, it''s not permanent.¡± I said to him. ¡°The cycle only lasts for an hour.¡± ¡°HMM!¡± Crush grunted. ¡°I don''t want any trouble.¡± I said. ¡°If you give me more, I can activate the cycle again.¡± The female cyborg stared at me. ¡°Are... are you going to do that to me?¡± ¡°Of course not. I don''t do things like this at all.¡± I explained. ¡°When he hacked my dog, though... he gave me his access point.¡± ¡°What an idiot!¡± The female cyborg said, then laughed. ¡°I''d apologize for him, but it wouldn''t mean anything.¡± ¡°Getting to hear your voice is pleasant enough.¡± I smiled at her. ¡°I don''t need an apology.¡± She walked around the immobile Crush, and sat down beside me. ¡°Is it okay if I sit here?¡± ¡°What if I say no?¡± I asked her. ¡°I''ll sit about 2 inches to the left.¡± She said and grinned at me. ¡°I don''t think I could bear having you that far away.¡± I said and laughed. I held a hand out for her to shake. ¡°I''m Jack.¡± She took my hand and gripped it gently. ¡°I''m Alyssa.¡± She said, then stopped moving. ¡°Oh, damn.¡± ¡°You need a bit more practice if you don''t want to use your real name in polite conversation.¡± I said. ¡°What were you supposed to say?¡± ¡°Gridlock.¡± Alyssa said and sighed. ¡°It''s a stupid code name, isn''t it?¡± ¡°Only for such a beautiful woman.¡± I said and glanced at Crush. ¡°He would have been a better choice for it.¡± ¡°I told them that, but they said to just go with it.¡± Alyssa said. I looked at her from head to toe, and smiled. ¡°If you have to do something like this again, can I make a suggestion for a code name?¡± Alyssa nodded. ¡°Cyclone.¡± I said, and she smiled. ¡°Judging by the shape of your limbs and the much lower weight compared to him...¡± I motioned to Crush. ¡°I bet you''re pretty fast when you get moving.¡±The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°I am.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°When I went in for the surgery, they really tried to push the heavy mods on me.¡± She shook her head and pointed to Crush. ¡°Can you imagine my tiny little head on a body like that?¡± ¡°No, I won''t imagine that at all.¡± I said. ¡°I''d much rather keep your look just the way it is.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°When I opted for the lightweight materials and the muscle boosters instead, they said I was crazy.¡± ¡°Now you''re one of the people they come to first with a task.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°How did you know that?¡± Alyssa asked, surprised. ¡°No one knows my rank! It''s blocked!¡± I couldn''t help but laugh. ¡°They can get hundreds of cyborgs like Crush every day; but finding someone like you, that knows what she wants and is willing to get it no matter what others want for you?¡± I shook my head. ¡°You must make more Points every day than he does in a week.¡± Alyssa nodded. ¡°I knew the System had assigned you a high priority for a reason.¡± ¡°The System?¡± I asked. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°When you registered your little trip on the Cross-Cavern Tour, my squad was assigned as your bodyguards.¡± ¡°Squad?¡± I asked. There was three more beeps of accepted reservations, and the subway car''s door opened to admit three more cyborgs. Two males just as big as Crush, and another female. This woman had chosen the heavy mods just like the men did. I sighed. ¡°Are you only escorting me to my destination, or are you coming along?¡± ¡°We''re your shadows.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°System''s orders.¡± Dammit. I thought, and looked down at Rusty for a moment. Amanda had a message for me.
They have the proper authorization codes.
I deleted the message and looked up to see the others standing around Crush. ¡°Can I ask your squad not to crowd me so much?¡± ¡°You can ask.¡± Alyssa said, then smiled. ¡°It''s okay, Jack.¡± She said. ¡°This will be fun.¡± I thought back over our meeting, and wondered if it was all contrived to get her close to me. ¡°Can I ask you a personal question?¡± I asked. ¡°Go ahead.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Did you plan this whole setup to get close to me?¡± Alyssa didn''t answer, but I saw the slight flush to her cheeks. ¡°You could have just introduced yourself right away.¡± I said, then looked down at Rusty. ¡°For that matter, the System should have informed me it was sending you.¡± I sighed. ¡°I''m not someone that can easily reject the System''s recommendations.¡± It was Alyssa''s turn to sigh. ¡°You weren''t supposed to know we were your bodyguards, but once my cover was blown, there wasn''t any need to keep lying to you.¡± ¡°There was never a need to lie to me.¡± I said. ¡°It was nice meeting you, Alyssa.¡± I said, and didn''t look at her. ¡°You can move over that two inches now.¡± ¡°Don''t be like that.¡± Alyssa said and put a hand on my arm. ¡°I''m only trying to do my job.¡± ¡°I know.¡± I said. ¡°That''s the problem.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°You came in here, acting nice and flirting with me.¡± I said. ¡°I flirted right back because I do think you''re pretty, and it''s always nice to talk to someone as smart as you; but, would you have acted that way if you just saw me on the platform? At the common market?¡± Alyssa looked a little uncomfortable, but she didn''t respond. ¡°I didn''t think so.¡± I said and looked at the rest of her squad. ¡°I always thought normal people had a bit of prejudice against you; myself included.¡± I admitted to them. ¡°You''re stronger, faster, smarter, and can do things that show your bravery and courage.¡± I turned my head and looked at Alyssa right in her cybernetic eyes. ¡°I never realized that it''s you that look down on us, though.¡± ¡°That... that''s not...¡± Alyssa tried to speak, but her squad mate interrupted her. ¡°That''s right.¡± The other female cyborg said. ¡°You norms are slow, weak, and are always getting in the way.¡± She said. ¡°I''ve lost friends and colleagues defending the Cavern from excursions from the other...¡± She looked at the other cyborgs. ¡°Never mind.¡± ¡°You mean from the divisions of cyborgs from the other Caverns.¡± I said, and laughed as the three cyborgs stepped back slightly, and almost took fighting stances. ¡°How do you know about that?¡± ¡°Apparently, you weren''t briefed on me properly.¡± I said. ¡°I don''t know how you can be effective bodyguards without all of the relevant information.¡± ¡°We don''t need to know what you know.¡± She responded and stepped forward again. ¡°We protect you from threats, and that''s that.¡± ¡°What threats?¡± I asked her. ¡°Physical? Hacking? Emotional?¡± I smiled at her. ¡°You totally blew it on all three counts, thank you very much.¡± ¡°Wh-what?¡± ¡°Don''t tell me I have to explain it to you.¡± I said. ¡°You''re smarter than me.¡± ¡°Crush threatened you physically.¡± Alyssa said when she finally spoke. ¡°He hacked your robot dog.¡± She looked at me, and I thought she looked sad. ¡°I caused you emotional pain.¡± ¡°There you go.¡± I said to her. ¡°I really wish we''d met under slightly different circumstances.¡± I smiled at her, with all the warmth and encouragement that I could muster. ¡°I think we could have hit it off spectacularly.¡± ¡°I think we would have, too.¡± Alyssa said, sadly. ¡°So.¡± I said and looked at the other female. ¡°What other threats can you not protect me from?¡± ¡°Now listen here...¡± She started to say, but was interrupted by a low klaxon sound. ¡°Please take your seats. The tour is about to commence.¡± A mechanical voice said over the intercom. The front door of the subway car, that led to the crew area, opened and Sandra stepped out. ¡°Welcome to the Cross-Cavern Express Tour.¡± Sandra said with a booming voice. I looked at her neck, and she had a throat microphone taped to it. ¡°Over the next three hours, we''ll see all the sights from this side of the Cavern to the other.¡± She said confidently. I grinned like a schoolboy at her professionalism. ¡°You''ll see the Generator, the Main Storage, and the Reclamation Compactor when we reach the other side and the System turns us around for the return trip.¡± Sandra said. ¡°There''s lots of wonderful things to see along the way, and I''ll point them out to you as we go.¡± She smiled a big fake smile. ¡°Please enjoy the ride.¡± The subway car started to roll out of the tour station, and I looked at the sights that Sandra pointed out, even though I''d seen them a dozen times on this same tour and under her tutelage. After an hour, Crush unfroze and turned to glare at me. I shrugged at him and then pointed out the window at the jungle bio-dome. He grunted and sat down in one of the seats, and it cleared the way for her to see me. ¡°Jack!¡± Sandra said, and it came out loudly because of her throat microphone. I laughed and waved to her, and she looked at the cyborgs around me. If I had been alone, she would have come over to me and conducted the tour personally. With other passengers to look after, her pride in her work kept her rooted to her position and she continued the tour. I could tell she was itching to ask me what was going on, but I wasn''t going to tell her until we stopped at the turnaround point. That way, I didn''t interrupt her job or mess up her well-rehearsed script. The three hours passed quickly, despite my unexpected company, and the subway car pulled into the switching station. ¡°That concludes the first leg of the tour.¡± Sandra said. ¡°While we depart the car to let the System turn it around, allow me to show you the sights from the platform.¡± I stood up to leave, and so did the cyborgs. ¡°Excuse me.¡± I said to one of the males that stood in front of me. ¡°Crush is checking the platform.¡± He said. ¡°Wait here.¡± ¡°What''s he checking for?¡± I asked. ¡°It''s a platform. People stand on it.¡± ¡°They can also blow it up.¡± He responded, and I laughed. ¡°No, they can''t.¡± I said. ¡°Don''t tell me you''re not tied into the sensor network.¡± ¡°That''s classified.¡± He said. I turned and looked at Alyssa. ¡°Okay, can you tell me if your squad had basic mission parameters set?¡± ¡°I...¡± She looked at the male cyborg for a moment. ¡°No, I can''t tell you.¡± ¡°If your mission was to befriend me, you are really messing it up.¡± I said to her, and her face flushed red. I still held Rusty in my hands, so I looked at his display. After I hit several buttons and typed a message to ask Amanda to hook Rusty into the local sensor net, his display changed to show the place was clear. ¡°I don''t want to call your tech''s skills into question; but, even my dog can access the sensor net.¡± I said and held the dog up for the large male to look at the display. He frowned at the dog, and then at me. ¡°I don''t need your stupid toy to do my job.¡± I laughed and looked at the cameras around the subway car. ¡°I really hope they are recording all of this.¡± I said. ¡°If they aren''t, or if they somehow ''delete'' the footage, I''ll send them copies.¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± ¡°They need to know how well you people do your jobs, right?¡± I asked him, and he scowled. ¡°You aren''t protecting me right now. You''re hindering my progress, and you''re making me lose the time I need to go where I want to go.¡± ¡°You''ll follow our orders for your own safety.¡± He said. ¡°I''m not a part of your squad, nor do I have to listen to your ''orders''.¡± I said. ¡°Now step out of the way, or I will make you step out of the way.¡± ¡°I thought you said you couldn''t do that to us!¡± Alyssa said, and I smiled as I sent a message to a friend of mine. ¡°Oh, I''m not doing that.¡± I said and smiled at her. ¡°Because I don''t have to.¡± Crush had checked the people on the platform and none of them were a possible threat. He was about to access the local sensor net when he heard a loud rumbling. People on the platform that were waiting to get on the tour for the return trip, stared as a huge metal tank-like robot with three large actuator arms rolled down the tracks towards the platform. L.I.F.E. Begins 005: Reclamation I watched with a smile on my face as George rolled down the track and came to a stop behind the subway car. ¡°An unauthorized search is being conducted on Cross-Cavern Tour property, and is delaying the Tour schedule.¡± George said and extended two of his large actuator arms, then deployed two restraining coils from each of the three hands on those arms. ¡°Please cease and desist, or you will be forcefully restrained.¡± ¡°Screw you, you old bucket of bolts!¡± Crush the cyborg said, deployed a low power laser from his cybernetic arm, and shot it at George. ¡°We''re protecting a valuable client!¡± George laughed at the pitiful laser, and wrapped a coil around Crush. ¡°AhhHH!¡± Crush yelled as the coil squeezed him, and he fired the laser at one of George''s reinforced optical cameras. The rest of the squad came out of the subway car to help their captured squad mate, and I calmly walked out through the door to stand on the platform. ¡°What''s going on?¡± Sandra asked me, and I looked at her. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a large crane pick up the subway car and turn it around. ¡°I''m going to my father''s old vacation house on the edge of the cavern to pick up an old server.¡± I said as the subway car was placed on another set of tracks to head back across the cavern on a different route. ¡°The System apparently sent a squad of bozos to bodyguard me.¡± Sandra shook her head. ¡°You shouldn''t call them that.¡± I laughed and pointed. ¡°Look at them.¡± Four of the cyborgs had already been caught, and Alyssa was the only one that was still free. She was fast, and avoided the coils easily; but, she didn''t have anywhere near the strength or the resources to free the other members of her squad. ¡°Rather than talk to George, or better yet, stop what they were doing and let you get on with your job, they attacked an AI-controlled industrial maintenance tank.¡± I laughed again. ¡°With hand lasers!¡± ¡°Okay, even I have to admit that''s pretty stupid.¡± Sandra said and laughed. We watched the scuffle for another minute, until the announcement for the return trip came over the loudspeakers. ¡°I have to go.¡± Sandra said. ¡°Have fun playing with your new friends.¡± ¡°I will.¡± I said, then surprised her with a quick kiss. ¡°You have fun, too.¡± ¡°Bye, Jack.¡± Sandra said and walked across the platform to the waiting subway car. I waved to her, then walked over to the edge of the platform near George. ¡°Hi, George.¡± I said. ¡°How are you?¡± ¡°I''m being tickled.¡± George said, and I smiled. ¡°Thanks for coming to my rescue.¡± I said. ¡°You''re welcome.¡± George said. ¡°Can you do something about the thing on my back? She''s hard to catch.¡± ¡°I''m always glad to help out.¡± I said, and walked around to look at George''s back. ¡°Alyssa? Can you stop that, please?¡± ¡°What?¡± She looked up from what she was trying to do; pry her way inside George''s cockpit with her combat knife. Boy, is her info out of date! I thought. The Mark 6 hasn''t had an actual cockpit for almost a year. I smiled at her. ¡°George is getting a little annoyed at you for tickling him.¡± ¡°Wh-what?¡± Alyssa said, shocked. ¡°I''m t-t-tickling him?!?¡± I chuckled. ¡°He says tickle, but I''m pretty sure he means it''s more like... you know how you sometimes get an itch on your back and you can''t quite scratch it?¡± Alyssa nodded. ¡°It''s like that. He can swing his arms around to dislodge you, but he runs the risk of hurting you if he does.¡± ¡°He... he''s trying not to hurt me?¡± I pointed to her squad mates. ¡°They''re only being detained.¡± ¡°But Crush screamed...¡± ¡°MmmMM!¡± Crush tried to saw with a coil around his mouth. ¡°He claims he yelled and didn''t scream.¡± I translated for her, and she smiled. ¡°He over-reacted again.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°So did all of you.¡± I said. ¡°Look, I have a problem with you guys coming with me; but, the System says you should come. I get that.¡± I looked at her sternly. ¡°I will not be ordered around, manhandled, or impeded in my tasks.¡± ¡°But our job...¡± ¡°Is to guard me. You are bodyguards. You''re supposed to protect me, not cause trouble that I need to be protected from.¡± Alyssa sighed, then jumped down from George''s back. ¡°We''ve really screwed this up by the numbers.¡± ¡°On a scale from One to Ten, with One being the worst and Ten being the best, you''re squad is about a Negative Three on the Competency Scale.¡± I said and smiled at her. ¡°I''m being conservative, too.¡± Alyssa shook her head as she climbed up onto the platform. ¡°Our sergeant was right.¡± She said. ¡°We are out of practice dealing with norms.¡±If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Negative Four.¡± I said to her, and she put a hand over her mouth. ¡°Ah, dammit.¡± ¡°You guys must be a ball at the common parties.¡± ¡°We''re not allowed to attend.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Not even the ones designed for cyborgs.¡± ¡°What? Why?¡± I asked, surprised. ¡°Military classes aren''t allowed to mix with civilians.¡± Alyssa said, then turned away from me. ¡°Even if we wanted to.¡± I turned and looked at George. ¡°George? Am I a civilian?¡± George laughed. ¡°No civilian I''ve ever known was allowed to remote pilot a Mark 6 Industrial Tank.¡± ¡°WHAT?!?¡± Alyssa exclaimed, and her entire squad stopped struggling to get free; which they were never going to do anyways. ¡°I told you that you haven''t been briefed properly.¡± I said to her and looked back at George. ¡°So, do you think they''re suffering an Eye-Dee-Ten-Tee error?¡± ¡°I''m pretty sure this one is.¡± George said and shook Crush. ¡°It''s almost recall worthy.¡± I laughed. ¡°I don''t think it''s that bad.¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± George asked. ¡°The Reclamation Compactor is right there.¡± I looked at Alyssa. ¡°What do you say? Do you think your squad can ease off the testosterone and do their jobs properly?¡± Alyssa looked at me with her cybernetic eyes, but I couldn''t tell what she was thinking. It was one of the downsides of replacing body parts with tech. You lose your ability to express yourself. After a moment, she nodded. ¡°Okay, George.¡± I said. ¡°You can let them go.¡± George extended his arms and placed three of the cyborgs on the platform; but when he went to put Crush down, the coil opened prematurely and dropped Crush about five feet. His metal feet hit the platform with a loud clang, and Crush almost lost his balance. ¡°Oops.¡± George said. ¡°I think that actuator arm is acting up.¡± He laughed. ¡°Jack, can you check it out when you get back?¡± ¡°Sure thing, buddy.¡± I said. ¡°Anything for a friend.¡± There was a loud klaxon sound, then George started to roll off the track. ¡°I have to go. The next Cross-Cavern Tour car is coming.¡± George said. ¡°See you later.¡± ¡°Bye, George!¡± I said and waved as the three tons of metal and tank tracks rolled away. ¡°He dropped me on purpose!¡± Crush said, and checked his feet. ¡°I can''t believe you''re friends with that thing.¡± ¡°Being friends with George comes in handy sometimes.¡± I said. ¡°I probably could have asked him for a ride.¡± ¡°There''s no suspension on that thing.¡± One of the male cyborgs said. ¡°You''d be bruised and battered by the time you reached wherever it is that you''re going.¡± ¡°It doesn''t matter now.¡± I said and shrugged as I closed Rusty''s access panel and put him down. ¡°I''m going this way.¡± I said and started to walk away from them. ¡°Hey, wait!¡± Alyssa said and caught up to me easily. ¡°Where are you going?¡± ¡°I guess you were too busy losing your fight to hear me talking to Sandra.¡± I smiled as I kept walking. I went down the stairs at the edge of the platform and started to walk down the street. ¡°I''m heading to my father''s vacation house at the edge of the Cavern.¡± ¡°It''s dangerous to go there.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°That''s a Selected Combat Zone.¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± I said, surprised. I stopped walking and the cyborgs around me stopped, too. Rusty barked at me once so I would look at him, and he nodded. ¡°When did that happen?¡± ¡°Last week.¡± One of the male cyborgs said. ¡°We had a skirmish there a few days ago.¡± ¡°Kicked their metal asses, too!¡± The other female cyborg said. ¡°That was a good battle!¡± ¡°Only because you got the kill shot.¡± Crush said. ¡°You''re just mad that a woman beat you to it!¡± Crush clamped his metal jaw shut and didn''t respond. The female cyborg slapped his shoulder playfully and laughed. ¡°That''s probably why we were picked for this mission.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°We have previous experience in the area.¡± I nodded and started walking again. I thought having 5 metal babysitters was a bad idea at first; but, if it''s a designated combat zone for skirmishes, I would have to be careful that I don''t get caught up in anything. ¡°Jack.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°When we get to the designated area, will you listen to us?¡± She asked. ¡°I know you don''t like that we''re your bodyguards, but we do know what we''re doing when it comes to combat.¡± I sighed. I know she means well, but we both know they''re protecting me for their own self-interest and not because they want to. ¡°If something comes up, I''ll listen to what you have to say; but, I''ll make the decisions that concern my life.¡± ¡°You''re really full of yourself.¡± The other female cyborg said, then smiled. ¡°Did your arrogance come pre-loaded, or did you install it yourself?¡± The other cyborgs laughed, and Alyssa turned away so I wouldn''t see her smile. ¡°It''s installed.¡± I said. ¡°I did it myself right after my mother died; when my dad said he couldn''t take care of me anymore.¡± The cyborgs stopped laughing and Alyssa looked at me with wide eyes. ¡°Yeah.¡± I said and kept walking. We were almost at the transport rental place. ¡°I was a Port Kid, too.¡± ¡°Then... why didn''t you...¡± Alyssa didn''t finish the sentence, but she did reach up and touch her cybernetic ear. ¡°I couldn''t do it.¡± I said, and glanced at her. ¡°No matter how many times I tried to convince myself that I was making myself better by cutting parts off...¡± I shivered slightly. ¡°I just... I couldn''t do it.¡± ¡°So, you weren''t lying when you said you had a prejudice against us.¡± Alyssa said. I nodded. ¡°I also said you show your courage and bravery.¡± I said and looked at her. ¡°I see it every time I look at you.¡± Alyssa''s face flushed red, and I smiled slightly as I looked forward again. ¡°Jack.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°I have a question.¡± ¡°Go ahead.¡± I said, with an inkling of what it was she wanted to ask. ¡°What''s an Eye-Dee-Ten-Tee error?¡± Alyssa asked. Yeah, I knew she''d ask that. I thought. ¡°I''ll tell you after I rent a buggy.¡± ¡°Those old rovers suck.¡± One of the male cyborgs said. ¡°If we knew we''d be travelling, I''d have brought the combat sled.¡± I stopped walking before going in the door of the transport rental place, and turned to him. ¡°I booked a Cross-Cavern Tour, and you didn''t know you''d be travelling?¡± I asked him. ¡°Are your processors aligned properly?¡± He looked like he was getting angry, and I looked at the other cyborgs. ¡°None of you thought we''d be travelling?¡± I asked, surprised. ¡°You''re joking with me, right?¡± None of the others would look at me, and I sighed. Maybe having these metal babysitters might not be a good thing after all. I thought and went into the shop. I rented a heavy duty one with extra batteries and a core line tap, and went back out front to the waiting cyborgs. ¡°They''re assembling it now and will bring it out in a few minutes.¡± I said, then glanced back at the storefront. ¡°I''m a little surprised this business is still so small after all these years.¡± ¡°Not a lot of crazy people rent things to go out exploring.¡± Crush said. ¡°You''re the first one I''ve met.¡± I snorted a laugh. ¡°I''m the crazy one?¡± I asked him. ¡°I didn''t attack an industrial maintenance tank for talking to me.¡± ¡°He''s got you there.¡± One of the other male cyborgs said. ¡°That was pretty crazy.¡± The flesh side of Crush''s face curved up in a smile. ¡°Here''s your vehicle.¡± The sales girl said as the side of the building opened up and the vehicle was pushed out. It had six large and bulbous wheels with thick treads, a large seating area, and a cargo spot in the back. ¡°Alyssa and I are taking the front seat.¡± I said and motioned to the middle seats. ¡°You''ll have to argue over who has to sit in the cargo area in the back.¡± I watched as there was a mad scramble for the vehicle''s comfortable seats. Several punches were thrown, a kick barely missed someone''s head, and then someone was picked up by the other three cyborgs and dumped into the back. It was Crush. ¡°You enjoyed that, didn''t you?¡± Alyssa asked me, and I winked at her. ¡°Not at all.¡± I said and waved her to the front seat. ¡°After you.¡± She nodded to me and climbed into the passenger side, and I sat in the driver''s seat. I hit the gas pedal, and the ground rover rolled down the street. L.I.F.E. Begins 006: Memory Lane I explained what an Eye-Dee-Ten-Tee error was to Alyssa, but even when we stopped to grab a quick bite to eat and I showed her what it looked like on a screen, she still didn''t get it until I said what it was. She didn''t talk to me much after that. I drove the ground rover out and away from the main habitable section of the Cavern, and around several biodomes. The sights were just as spectacular as they were the first time I''d seen them as a kid; but, now I saw them through the eyes of a 36 year old adult. I could see the inherent problems in it''s construction, the safety violations, and the contamination from the surrounding area. That wasn''t my job, though. I noted my observations and would relay them to Amanda later; but, for now I kept driving. None of the cyborgs spoke, even though there was lots for them to talk about. I tried again to engage Alyssa with polite conversation, but I wasn''t successful. Neither she nor her squad mates had any practical experience dealing with ''norms'' as she called me, and I think she was still angry over me calling them all idiots. It took several hours to go through the various checkpoints along the way. I think it would have gone a lot faster if Crush''s squad mates had managed to convince him to stay quiet; but, instead he always made a disparaging comment towards the inspectors and monitor AIs, no matter how many times he had been warned. ¡°Are you trying to get recalled?¡± One of the other male cyborgs said. ¡°They''ll take you in for post-processing if you keep this up.¡± ¡°Look. I''m mad, all right?¡± Crush said. ¡°This cargo area isn''t comfortable at all.¡± ¡°Then complain about that, and not the workers.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°We''ve spent almost as much time being inspected as we have driving.¡± Crush shrugged and looked out the back of the rover at the last station. ¡°Well, we''re outside the protected area.¡± He said. ¡°I hope you''re ready for this.¡± ¡°I assume you''re talking to me.¡± I said. ¡°I don''t have to be ready. I''ve got 5 great bodyguards to protect me.¡± ¡°One of my ear mods isn''t working, and even I could hear the sarcasm in your voice.¡± Crush said. ¡°So, you''re not just pretending to be hard of hearing.¡± The other female cyborg said, and he laughed. ¡°We''re coming up on the military cordon.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°I''ll do all the talking, okay?¡± ¡°Why?¡± I asked. ¡°You''ve barely spoken to me at all in all this time, and now you want me to be quiet while you do all the talking?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°They could make you turn this thing around and go right back to the civilian section if you''re not careful about what you say.¡± ¡°Or kill you.¡± One of the male cyborgs said. ¡°It depends on who''s working.¡± ¡°Well, that''s just great.¡± I said as I followed the designated path. ¡°Not only do I have to worry if I''ll die by accident, I also have to worry if I''ll die on purpose.¡± ¡°Welcome to our world.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°This is it. Slow down and ease into the right side opening.¡± I followed her instructions without question, because this part was different from the last time I had been here. A large cyborg in that opening motioned for me to come to a stop, and he kept his hand laser pointed at my head. ¡°No funny moves.¡± The cyborg said seriously. ¡°Don''t worry about that.¡± I said automatically. ¡°I never studied as a clown.¡± ¡°I said be quiet.¡± Alyssa hissed at me. ¡°So, you''re a funny man, are you?¡± The cyborg said in a serious voice. I shook my head in response. ¡°I asked you a question.¡± The cyborg said ¡°I never studied as a comedian, either.¡± I said. ¡°Step out of the vehicle.¡± I sighed and got out. ¡°Turn around.¡± The cyborg said. ¡°I don''t really think this is necessary.¡± I said. ¡°Turn around NOW!¡± The cyborg said and lifted his hand laser and pointed it at my forehead. I couldn''t see anyone else around, and I couldn''t be sure that this guy had a partner; but, I also couldn''t let this guy bully me. ¡°No.¡± I said. ¡°What?¡± The cyborg looked at me. ¡°I gave you a direct order! Turn around now or I will shoot you!¡± ¡°Go ahead and shoot.¡± I said and crossed my arms. ¡°You''ll be dead 2 seconds later.¡± ¡°You''re in no position to-¡± His words were cut off as a combat knife was tucked under his neck. ¡°Drop it.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°No, you drop it soldier!¡± A male voice said from behind me. I heard a short scuffle, and then Crush dragged an unconscious cyborg in front of me and dropped him to the ground. ¡°I really hate Weekend Warriors.¡± Crush said and kicked the guy in the side and rolled him over. ¡°I''m not allowed to kill him outside of designated areas, though.¡±The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Hey! You can''t do that!¡± The checkpoint cyborg said. ¡°You''re all under arr-urk!¡± ¡°Quiet.¡± Alyssa said as her knife dug into the soft flesh of his neck. ¡°I hate you guys, too.¡± ¡°Weekend Warriors?¡± I asked. ¡°They pay to get the best mods, then compete for cushy jobs.¡± Crush said. ¡°Not a one of them has ever seen actual combat.¡± ¡°I was in the tournament last year!¡± The checkpoint cyborg said, and the 5 cyborgs with me laughed. ¡°His dog could have competed in the tournament last year.¡± One of the male cyborgs said and pointed to Rusty. ¡°It might have made the finals, too.¡± ¡°That was a laugh fest, wasn''t it?¡± Crush said. ¡°If we hadn''t been on deployment then...¡± I stood there, kind of surprised, as the discussion devolved into their favorite moves to use to disable their opponents. Even the checkpoint cyborg was getting into it, and Rusty sat in the vehicle and wagged his tail. I uncrossed my arms and waited patiently as they talked for nearly ten minutes. When they were done and finally remembered where they were and the situation I was in, the checkpoint cyborg apologized for doing the exact opposite of his orders. He took my ID, scanned it, and waited. His eyes bulged out of his head as he found out who I was, and I assumed he was getting a virtual reaming by his supervisor. That took another five minutes, while the checkpoint cyborg kept nodding his head at something, and then he put his hand laser away. ¡°I''m terribly sorry.¡± The checkpoint cyborg said and picked up his partner and carried him out of the way. ¡°There''s a skirmish a mile in to the right, so stay next to the cavern wall on the left until you get to the clearing.¡± He said. ¡°After that, it''s clear to the Fall.¡± ¡°Um, thanks.¡± I said and looked at my cyborg bodyguards. ¡°Let''s get going.¡± We all climbed back into the ground rover and drove through the checkpoint. ¡°What was that all about?¡± Alyssa said and tapped my arm with her fist. ¡°AhhhHH!¡± I yelled as I let go of the controls to grab my arm and the rover came to a stop. ¡°I''m so sorry!¡± Alyssa said reached into the middle seat. A medical pack was placed in her hand and she opened it. ¡°Move your hand.¡± I reluctantly moved it out of the way, and Alyssa tore the sleeve of my shirt off. Several gashes and a large indentation was revealed. I looked at her face as she worked on the damage she had done with what she had thought was just a casual touch. If I had been a cyborg, it would have been. I think she''d be crying if she still had tear ducts. I thought. She looks like she''s in more pain than I am. Alyssa used several different things on my arm and I didn''t really know what they were. They did the same things the items in my own medical pack did, but differently. It was a little hard to explain the differences, but my arm felt a lot better after only a few minutes and she applied a field dressing. ¡°It''s not broken, thank god.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°You won''t be using it for a few hours, though.¡± I looked at my HUD to see how much farther we had to go, and I sighed. ¡°I wanted to get there before night.¡± ¡°Then move over.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Give me the coordinates of your destination.¡± I opened Rusty''s back panel with my working arm and showed her the map. She got out on her side and I slid over to the passenger side so she could drive. ¡°I''ll get us there before night.¡± Alyssa said and cranked the power. She followed the checkpoint cyborg''s directions and kept well to the left and along the rocky wall. It took another couple of hours to make it around the skirmish area, and then we arrived at the Fall. The Fall was the largest man-made waterfall on the planet. It was nearly ten miles from the top to the bottom, and it connected several Caverns and their water systems. It also provided the massive amounts of hydroelectric power that was needed to run everything. The best part about it was that it was gravity fed and ran continuously. ¡°I''m not afraid of heights, but this thing scares me every time I see it.¡± Alyssa said. She had talked non-stop after taking over the driving duties, and I listened to everything she said. I still couldn''t tell if she was trying to make up for hurting me, or if she always talked when she drove. ¡°It''s a huge waterfall.¡± Crush said. ¡°We''re cyborgs.¡± ¡°I think it''s a little more complicated than that.¡± I said and chuckled. ¡°Like falling several miles and drowning, then getting sucked up to the top, spat out, and falling again.¡± Alyssa looked at me with wide eyes, and I could clearly see the interconnections between the cybernetic eye and the wall of the eye socket. I tried to hide my shiver, but she saw it. ¡°That''s exactly how I feel.¡± Alyssa said and shivered herself. I didn''t bother to correct her misunderstanding. I had started to get the feeling back in my arm, so I used it to point. ¡°We''re almost there.¡± I said, but my arm barely moved. I heard Alyssa take in a breath through her nose, and she sighed as she drove over to the habitat section on the other side of the industrial area. Alyssa parked in a spot right in front of the office for transport up the Fall, and I got out. Rusty jumped out and ran around me several times, so I reached down and picked him up. I tucked him under my barely working arm and opened his back panel to look at the display.
Tickets are pick-up only, Jack.
I hit clear to wipe the display and closed the panel. ¡°I''ll get the tickets we need.¡± ¡°Hold on.¡± The female cyborg said. ¡°You don''t mean...¡± She looked up the Fall. ¡°It''s only up one level.¡± I said. ¡°It''s only a short ride, and it''s well away from the water.¡± ¡°But...¡± ¡°I''d rather take the stairs, but there aren''t any.¡± I explained. ¡°It''s ride up or stay here.¡± One of the male cyborgs looked like he was going to take the ''stay'' option with her, then Alyssa spoke. ¡°We''re all going.¡± Alyssa said, then her face flushed a little red. ¡°We''ll protect you.¡± I tried not to laugh as I walked into the office to book a lift. I told the clerk of my cargo, and she booked me on the main lift. I paid the Points needed and went back out to the waiting cyborgs. ¡°The main lift is leaving in ten minutes.¡± I said and climbed into the rover. ¡°It''s about two minutes that way.¡± I said and pointed with my good arm, because I still had Rusty under the other one. The cyborgs climbed onto the rover and Alyssa drove over to where I had pointed. Several other rovers were there, which included what looked like a government one. It had the right markings in the right places; but, it wasn''t from our Cavern. It was the wrong color. No one spoke, because they didn''t want to get the attention of the cyborgs that sat in the other vehicle. There were two of them, and they had a normal human with them. I didn''t stare at them for the same reason that no one talked. The main lift arrived and everyone drove onto it. Alyssa stayed behind the rover from another Cavern, and the main lift took us up one level. I tapped the controls of the rover with my hand, and she looked at me. I couldn''t read her expression, but I knew that she wanted to see where the other rover got off. I nodded slightly, and she smiled. The lift moved up to the next level, and 2 of the rovers drove off. The lift moved again and again; and it wasn''t until we had reached the third level from the top that the rover from the other Cavern drove off. We were the only ones left on the main lift at this point, but no one spoke until we hit the top level. ¡°That was weird.¡± One of the male cyborgs said. ¡°Did you see that Stalker?¡± ¡°No, I''m blind.¡± The female cyborg said. ¡°Of course I saw her.¡± ¡°She looks like she has the same mods as me.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Except she took the full cranial upgrade.¡± ¡°While you only took the sensory package.¡± I commented, and she nodded. ¡°Do you know who they are?¡± ¡°No.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Just that they aren''t us.¡± I nodded my understanding, and the other cyborgs talked about what they could tell about the competition. The lift started to move again, and everyone stopped talking. We went all the way back down to the second level, and Alyssa drove off of the lift. In only another few minutes, I was going to be in the last place that I saw my mother alive. L.I.F.E. Begins 007: Discovery Alyssa followed my instructions and we arrived at my father''s old vacation home. It looked exactly the same as it did the last time I had seen it twenty-five years ago. ¡°This is a really nice place.¡± Alyssa said as she let the ground rover roll to a stop and turned it off. ¡°You must have had a lot of fun here.¡± ¡°When I was a kid.¡± I said and got out of the rover. My robotic dog followed me over to the front door, and the house''s primitive computer system activated. Rusty barked once and I bent down to check his back panel to see what my AI Amanda wanted to tell me.
The house is linked to you now, Jack. Full access has been granted.
I cleared the message and closed the panel, then stood up and opened the door. The cyborgs climbed out of the rover themselves and came over to the house. ¡°Wait here.¡± I said and held up a hand to stop what I knew would be an immediate protest. ¡°I have to enter you in the security grid.¡± Alyssa didn''t look happy that she had to wait outside. ¡°I''ll only be a minute.¡± I reassured her for some reason. ¡°Rusty would be barking if something wasn''t right.¡± Alyssa sighed and nodded, and I entered the home and shut the door. I smiled as I thought about activating the security features, just to see what they would do if I locked them out and wouldn''t let them in. I ignored the small amount of pleasure I''d get from seeing their angry faces at a locked door stopping a cyborg, and walked over to the main control panel. It was one of the first generation ones, and had all those big buttons, switches, and even an external microphone pickup. I turned on the monitor to see the security camera feed, and looked at the very impatient cyborgs that waited on the doorstep, and hit the intercom. ¡°Stand in front of the electric eye, please.¡± I said to them, and they jumped at the sound of my loud voice that came out of the external speakers. ¡°Turn that down!¡± Crush said and put a hand over one of his cybernetic ears. ¡°Or step back from the microphone.¡± ¡°Sorry.¡± I chuckled and leaned back slightly. ¡°I haven''t used a boom mike since I was a kid.¡± Alyssa shook her head. ¡°Stop playing around and scan us in already.¡± I hit the buttons needed to add new people to the files, and the security computer pinged their IDs. It only took a few seconds to add all five of them to the active files, and I hit the button to open the garage and the maintenance bay. I walked over to the front door and opened it. ¡°You''re in.¡± I said to them as I stepped out and shut the door. ¡°Come this way.¡± ¡°What?¡± The female cyborg said, surprised. ¡°We''re not going in?¡± ¡°Not through the front door.¡± I said as I walked around to the side of the house to the garage door. ¡°The floor of the main house isn''t reinforced enough to take your heavy mods.¡± ¡°You''re kidding!¡± One of the male cyborgs said. ¡°How are we supposed to keep an eye on you if we can''t enter the house?¡± ¡°I didn''t say you couldn''t enter the house, just that you can''t go in the front.¡± I said and entered the garage. ¡°Dad had a few cyborgs with heavy mods visit over the years; but they were limited to certain sections of the house.¡± ¡°Get a load of this maintenance bay!¡± Crush said. ¡°Everything looks brand new!¡± ¡°I might not come here myself anymore, but I refuse to let it fall apart.¡± I said and hit the test cycle on the main diagnostic computer. ¡°My mother loved this place.¡± ¡°When were you here last?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°Just after my mother died.¡± I said, then frowned as I assembled the tools I needed. ¡°It was also the last time I saw my father.¡± ¡°At the funeral.¡± Alyssa said, sadly. I looked up at her and saw that she was looking out the maintenance bay door at the simple grave in the yard. ¡°Yes.¡± I said. ¡°The day she died was the worst day of my life. Her funeral was the second worst.¡± The diagnostic computer finished it''s test cycle and beeped. ¡°How many worse days do you have?¡± Crush asked. ¡°About 50.¡± I said and pointed to the chair beside the diagnostic computer. ¡°Sit.¡± ¡°Hey, I''m not sitting anywhere...¡± ¡°I can put you into maintenance mode again.¡± I said. The flesh side of Crush''s face made a sour face, and he sat down. I pulled out the leads from the machine and placed them on his chest, then plugged the jacks into the ports by his ear. ¡°This should only take a few minutes.¡± I said and hit the diagnostic cycle. ¡°Why''re you doing this?¡± Crush asked.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Why''d you clobber that Weekend Warrior that had the drop on us?¡± I asked back. ¡°Because I could.¡± Crush said, then smiled. ¡°I also enjoyed it.¡± I nodded. ¡°There''s your answer.¡± ¡°Who looks after the place if you''ve never been back here?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°I have a friend that owed me a favor.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°They might be by tonight or tomorrow.¡± ¡°How long are we staying?¡± The other female cyborg asked. ¡°It won''t be here in the maintenance bay, will it?¡± I laughed. ¡°I''m tempted to say you do have to stay here in the maintenance bay; but, my mother always told me never to joke about something serious... unless it''s funny.¡± The female cyborg snorted a laugh. ¡°So, how long?¡± ¡°It could be done in an hour, or we could stay here for a week. It all depends on how hard my father protected the old system.¡± I said, then checked the maintenance computer and saw it was almost done. I picked up the first tool I would need and waited for the readout. The computer beeped and a list of 15 things came up. ¡°How the hell are you still walking upright?¡± I asked Crush. ¡°My Port Mother was a real bitch.¡± He said and laughed. I laughed, too; because everyone''s Port Mother was a real bitch. I hit the button to change the display from a list to a three-dimensional diagram. ¡°Ear first.¡± I said and used the automatic hex wrench to loosen the first bolt of Crush''s cybernetic ear modification. I got all the bolts out and slid the piece out without having the wires get disconnected. It might be a crude piece of equipment, but it still needed to be treated with respect. ¡°How do you know how to do this?¡± Alyssa asked from right beside me, and I pulled out a fried circuit board. I checked over the board to see if it was an internal error, or if something had damaged it externally. ¡°Yeah.¡± One of the male cyborgs said. ¡°We all thought you were a just a computer programmer.¡± ¡°I am a computer programmer.¡± I said. ¡°I can just do other stuff, too.¡± ¡°Like drive industrial tanks!¡± The other male cyborg said. ¡°Remote pilot.¡± I said and smiled as I found the problem. I turned and opened a drawer in a generic parts cabinet, and pulled out several replacement parts that I would need. ¡°It''s actually a part of my job to know things that other people might depend on in their daily lives.¡± ¡°So... what should I do when my girlfriend insults me and says that the toaster oven makes her hotter than I do?¡± ¡°Either harvest the toaster oven for the element and make her hot yourself, or get a new girlfriend.¡± I said and laughed. ¡°There''s not really a lot of choices for you to make in that scenario.¡± ¡°Tell me about it.¡± He said and smiled. ¡°I''m tempted to just let her have the toaster oven.¡± Several of the cyborgs laughed, and I replaced the circuit board and installed a new receptor chip, then I picked up the solder gun. After a few seconds, it was ready to use and I secured the connections for the new chip, slipped the board back into the cybernetic ear attachment, then used the automatic hex wrench to reattach it to Crush''s head. ¡°Hey, you suck!¡± Crush said. ¡° I still can''t hear anything!¡± ¡°That''s because I haven''t turned it on yet.¡± I said. ¡°The chip has to be calibrated for your firmware.¡± ¡°Ha!¡± Crush said. ¡°That''s just a bunch of crap!¡± He said. ¡°It worked for years; long before they updated my firmware.¡± ¡°That''s because the Port doctors are a bunch of quacks.¡± I said. ¡°Look at the screen!¡± Crush looked at the three-dimensional representation of himself and all the errors over his body. ¡°So?¡± ¡°You''ve got three different operating systems running five different upgrade packages!¡± I said. ¡°I won''t even get started on the software updates you''ve aborted because it was taking too long.¡± ¡°They do!¡± Crush said. ¡°I can''t sit on my ass for four or five hours to fix things.¡± ¡°You''re not supposed to.¡± I said. ¡°You''re supposed to delay it until you go to sleep at night, then start the update. They''re usually done before morning.¡± ¡°Well, hell.¡± Crush said. ¡°I never thought of that.¡± I laughed. ¡°Look, you''re going to be spending the night here anyways. You might as well let the others cover sentry duty and let me and the System finish the maintenance you need.¡± Crush looked at his squad mates, and they all nodded. ¡°Fine.¡± He said. ¡°If I miss any epic battles...¡± ¡°I''ll give you a copy of the footage before I die.¡± I said, and he smiled. ¡°Deal.¡± For the next several hours, I replaced, repaired, and did a general upkeep for a cyborg that never once had it done before. It took a while just to clean the parts enough to see if they needed repair or replacement. I had been right when I had guessed that Crush had gotten the most amount of mods for the cheapest price, and all in a single operation. I didn''t bother telling him how stupid it was to do that, mainly because I didn''t want him mad at me. When he was pretending to be mad he had thought about taking my head off; I could only imagine what he would do if he was actually angry at me for something. ¡°That''s all I can do physically.¡± I said as I removed the leads from his chest and unplugged the jacks from behind his ear. ¡°We''ll have to let the updates install overnight, then I can see about cleaning up the mess of your digital files.¡± ¡°So, you weren''t kidding about that?¡± Crush asked. ¡°You''re really going to make me sit out here all night?¡± ¡°I said ''stay'', not ''sit''.¡± I smiled. ¡°Stand up.¡± Crush stood up and I hit the release button on the maintenance chair. It folded down and became a good-sized cot. ¡°You can move around a bit, but stay within 20 feet of the computer.¡± I said. ¡°If it loses the signal to your receiver, you''ll have to restart the download.¡± Crush shrugged and laid down on the cot. ¡°Actually, that''s not too bad.¡± He said. ¡°I''ve slept on more comfortable rocks once; but, other than that...¡± ¡°Yeah, enjoy yourself.¡± The female cyborg said and then looked at me. ¡°Show me where I''m bunking.¡± ¡°Right this way.¡± I said and led the remaining cyborgs into the reinforced section of the large vacation house. ¡°You''ve got vids and entertainment there, food and jacks there, and the beds are behind the two doors.¡± ¡°Hey, this is bigger than my whole apartment.¡± One of the male cyborgs said as he looked into the first room. ¡°This is great!¡± ¡°This isn''t a vacation.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°We''re here to work.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡± The female cyborg said and sat down on the over-sized couch and turned on the vidwall. ¡°How are you getting live television signals out here?¡± She asked, astonished. ¡°I bribe the company.¡± I said, and she laughed. ¡°Well, enjoy yourselves.¡± I said and walked towards the normal part of the house, and Alyssa came with me. ¡°I''ll come with you, Jack.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°That''s not necessary.¡± I said. ¡°We''re all perfectly safe out here.¡± Alyssa shrugged. ¡°That doesn''t matter.¡± She said. ¡°I''m your shadow, remember?¡± ¡°But...¡± ¡°I think that''s another reason we were sent.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°I can go into the other sections of the house, unlike my squad mates.¡± I sighed. ¡°Okay, but you can''t talk.¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± Alyssa said, a bit indignantly. ¡°I''m going into my father''s work office. Your voice will not be recognized.¡± ¡°Oh, okay.¡± Alyssa said and smiled. ¡°I thought you were trying to tell me to be quiet.¡± ¡°Like that would work.¡± I said under my breath as I opened the door to the normal-sized area. ¡°I heard you.¡± Alyssa said and stepped through. ¡°I know you did.¡± I said and followed her. ¡°It''s the first door on the left.¡± She went to it and stopped, and I smiled as I stepped in front of her.
Scanning... Done. Initializing Data recovery packet.
Installing... Done. Welcome, Jack.
The office door opened and I stepped inside. The place looked just like I had remembered it. Barren and cold, just like my father. L.I.F.E. Begins 008: Its All Mine I walked into my father''s secured office with Rusty at my feet, and looked around. ¡°I still hate this office.¡± ¡°I think it looks fi-¡± Alyssa tried to say, but was cut off by a loud booming voice. ¡°AN UNAUTHORIZED VOICE PRINT HAS BEEN DETECTED.¡± The office door slammed shut, and the security locks engaged with a loud clang. ¡°I asked you to be quiet.¡± I said to her. Alyssa opened her mouth to speak, and I quickly put my hand up to cover it. ¡°Shush!¡± I said. Alyssa mumbled the words that she was sorry against my palm. ¡°Rusty. Up.¡± I said, and my robotic dog hopped up onto my father''s immaculately clean desk. The weight of the dog activated the pressure plate to open the control panel, so I opened it the rest of the way and stuck the end of Rusty''s tail into it. I took my other hand away from Alyssa''s mouth and opened the back panel on Rusty. I hit several buttons, and chose the appropriate menu options, then my AI Amanda helped turn off the tripped security alarm. The security lock disengaged with another loud clang, and the office door opened. ¡°Okay, that''s got it.¡± I said, then put my hand over Alyssa''s mouth because she was about to speak again. ¡°What part of ''be quiet'' don''t you understand?¡± Alyssa mumbled into my hand again, and I sighed. ¡°It''s a continuous safety feature.¡± I explained. ¡°Any time an unauthorized voice is heard, the door locks.¡± Alyssa tried to talk again and I gripped the back of her head with my other hand to hold the hand over her mouth steady. ¡°STOP TALKING!!!¡± I yelled at her. ¡°Either shut up, or get out!¡± I said, and she looked at me with angry eyes. ¡°I won''t be able to get any work done if you keep up with this foolishness!¡± Alyssa looked like she wanted to knock my hands away; but, she must have remembered how she had hurt me earlier and nodded instead. I eased my hands away from her head and mouth, and she didn''t say anything. I walked around to the chair behind my father''s desk and sighed as I sat down. The middle section of the desk flipped up to reveal a computer monitor and a manual keyboard. I looked at Rusty''s back panel to see if Amanda had anything to say.
It won''t let me add any new users to the secured files, Jack.
I hit the clear button and looked at the screen. I typed in a few basic commands to see what kind of system it was, or if my father had changed anything; but, I found it was all just the way I remembered it as a kid. ¡°Hm.¡± I said out loud. ¡°Security... security... where would you keep the secured server, dad?¡± Rusty barked and I looked at the back panel.
According to the power usage, there''s a main server right under this room.
¡°Dad, you sneaky devil.¡± I said and brought up the schematics for the house on the computer screen. ¡°I don''t see where... where... ah, there it is.¡± I hit the wall display and the house schematics were enlarged to fit the available space. ¡°There you are.¡± I said. ¡°Now, how do I get access to you?¡± I asked myself and rubbed my chin. ¡°I left so fast this morning that I forgot to shave.¡± I smiled and looked at Rusty.
It says you need to speak the pass phrase.
Thanks, Amanda. I thought to her, hit the clear messages button, and brought up the security files on the computer. ¡°It looks like I need to speak a security code.¡± I said to Alyssa, then I checked how many chances I had to do it. ¡°Well, damn.¡± ¡°Wh-¡± Alyssa clamped her hands over her own mouth and mumbled that she was sorry. I waited for the security features to engage again, and when they didn''t, I relaxed. ¡°I only get one chance.¡± I said, and checked the time stamp on the file. It was a year before my mother died. ¡°So, nothing after she was sick.¡± I said, then sat back in the chair. ¡°Alyssa, this is going to take a while.¡± I said to her. ¡°I need to find the right pass phrase, or everything will be lost.¡± I didn''t know for sure if that was actually true or not; but, what I did know was that my father was a vindictive bastard. It was safe to assume that he would have something set up to damage or destroy his work so it wouldn''t be stolen. I got up from behind the desk and took Alyssa''s arm. I led her from the office and down the corridor, and opened the door to the spare room. ¡°You can stay here, so you''re close to me if anything happens; or you can go back to the reinforced section to spend the time with your squad mates.¡± ¡°I''ll stay here.¡± Alyssa said as she stepped just inside the doorway to the spare room. ¡°Even though I didn''t appreciate you putting your hands on me like that.¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°I''m sorry about that.¡± I said, and stepped close to her. I invaded her personal space quite intentionally, and she looked at me with what I thought was either anticipation or expectation; because she didn''t back up at all, or even look like she had thought about it. I reached a hand up towards her face and saw her tense up; then I ran my fingers through her hair in a quick motion and moved the hair away from her face. ¡°I''ll holler if I need your help.¡± Alyssa''s expression had changed slightly from expectation to a hint of surprise, because that was not what she had expected me to do or say. I smiled at her, stepped back out of her personal space, and shut the door. Hopefully, that''ll keep her out of the way while I figure out what the pass phrase is. I thought and went back into my father''s office. For the next few hours, I searched through everything; both physical and electronic, and found nothing. What the hell kind of pass phrase would my father put on this thing? I asked myself. Even hooked into the house like she was, Amanda couldn''t find a reference to any kind of a pass phrase, let alone the actual one. I yawned loudly and stretched, then stood up. ¡°Maybe a fresh look at it in the morning will work.¡± I said and looked at Rusty. ¡°Are you staying here, or are you coming with me?¡± ¡°I''d like to stay.¡± Amanda said, and then Rusty barked. ¡°Rusty wants to come with you, though.¡± I chuckled and disconnected his tail from the console. Rusty hopped off of the desk and trotted beside me as I left the office and it shut behind me. I walked to the spare room and knocked on the door. ¡°Yes?¡± Alyssa asked when she opened the door. ¡°I''m going to bed to get some rest.¡± I said. ¡°My room''s the one on the right at the end of the hallway.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Alyssa said and shut the door. So much for sticking with me for my protection. I thought in amusement as I walked down the hall and entered my old room. I looked around at the things I had left here, and smiled as I thought of all the time I spent here with my mother. I shut the bedroom door and walked over to my desk. I had hit my growth spurt early, so both the desk and the bed were normal size. My model of the Cavern was still on the desk. It was hand-made from clay and had taken a week at room temperature to cure and get hard. I smiled and didn''t want to touch it, afraid that it would crumple to dust after so long. Circuit board diagrams covered the walls, and coding shortcuts were scribbled over nearly all of them. My father hated that I did that to the printouts. I thought and smiled. He never knew that I did it on purpose, just to drive him nuts. I laid down on the normal-sized bed and relaxed, and Rusty hopped up to sit on the end of it. ¡°Goodnight.¡± I said. ¡°Sleep tight.¡± Amanda said, and Rusty barked once. I started to go over everything that my mind had glimpsed in the file download from Dennis, the archive AI, and drifted off to sleep. * ¡°Mom!¡± I yelled. ¡°Jay''s picking on me again!¡± My mother came out of the vacation house and looked at the offending child. ¡°What did I warn you about, Jolene?¡± ¡°I should only kiss him if he wants me to.¡± Jay said and then giggled. ¡°You''re both only nine.¡± My mother said. ¡°Don''t go jumping ahead of yourselves.¡± ¡°He''s so cute, though!¡± Jay said and wrapped her arms around my neck. ¡°I love him!¡± She said and planted a big wet kiss on my cheek. ¡°Ahhh!¡± I said and squirmed to get out of her grip. ¡°Mom, help!¡± My mother put her hands on her hips and Jay tightened her hold on me. ¡°Jolene Marie Henderson.¡± My mother said in the tone that all mothers used for bad children, and Jay kind of wilted at the sound of her full name; then my mother smiled sweetly. ¡°Give him another kiss and let him go.¡± ¡°YAY!¡± Jay yelled happily. She kissed me on the cheek again, let me go, and ran off to play with Rusty. ¡°Mom! How could you?¡± I asked her, and tried to wipe off Jay''s kisses. My mother knelt in front of me and used a tissue she had pulled from some magic place, and wiped off my face. ¡°She really does like you a lot.¡± My mother said. ¡°You could be a little friendlier to her.¡± ¡°I know.¡± I sighed. ¡°It''s just...¡± My face flushed red. ¡°...the only girl I want to kiss me... is you.¡± My mother laughed the same laugh she always did when I said something like that, and she kissed my forehead. I didn''t squirm or fight it at all, and she leaned back. ¡°My sweet little angel, you''re going to have to accept that other girls are going to want to kiss you.¡± She said and went to wipe off my forehead, but I stopped her. ¡°Jack, there''s lipstick there.¡± ¡°That''s okay.¡± I said, and darted forward to kiss her cheek. ¡°I love you.¡± ¡°I love you too, sweetie.¡± My mother said, and I took off running after Jay and Rusty. When I caught up to them, Jay saw the lipstick mark on my forehead and stopped running. ¡°Ha ha!¡± Jay laughed and pointed. ¡°Mama''s boy!¡± ¡°Yeah, I am.¡± I said and hugged her. ¡°What... what are you doing?¡± Jay asked me, surprised. ¡°Being friendly.¡± I said, leaned back a little to look at her, and kept a hold of her. Jay was a little shorter than me, with wavy shoulder length blonde hair, and she had dimples on her face when she smiled. I never thought about them being cute before, though. I was overcome with a kind of weird feeling, and her lips looked plumper than they had only a moment before. ¡°J-Jack...¡± I leaned in and kissed her on the lips. It was my first ''real'' kiss, and it was weird, wet, and awkward. I stopped after only a few seconds and leaned back again. Jay had a look of complete shock on her face, and if I had a mirror, I think my own face would have had the same expression. We stared at each other for several moments, then Rusty barked at us. ¡°What is it, boy?¡± I asked him and let Jay out of the hug. Rusty barked twice and turned around to show me his back panel, so I knelt to look at it and nodded. ¡°My mom says lunch is ready.¡± I said, closed the panel, and stood up. Jay was gone. ¡°Jay?¡± I looked around, and couldn''t see her. ¡°JAY!¡± I yelled. I looked down at Rusty. ¡°Find Jay!¡± Rusty barked and took off at a run. I ran after him, and he led me away from the house. It wasn''t until several minutes later that we reached the drop off and I became scared. ¡°JAY!¡± I yelled and stepped closer to the edge. ¡°JAAAYYYY!¡± Rusty barked and I turned to see what he wanted, my foot slipped, and I fell over the edge. ¡°AhhhhhhHHHHH!!!!¡± I yelled as I plummeted into the darkness. * ¡°AhhhhhhHHHHH!!!!¡± I yelled as I sat up in bed. ¡°Goddammit!¡± I said, rolled out of bed, then put my head in my hands. My room''s door burst in and Alyssa was there in full combat mode. Her eyes glowed a bright red and she had her fists clenched and ready to fight. ¡°It was a dream!¡± I said to her. ¡°A goddamned stupid dream!¡± Alyssa''s eyes went back to their normal color, and she nodded. ¡°Can I ask you what happened?¡± ¡°That''s the thing.¡± I sighed. ¡°I remember it every time I wake up from it, and I know it''s a dream because what happened at the end of it didn''t actually happen.¡± Alyssa walked over and sat down on the bed beside me. ¡°What happened?¡± I told her what was in the dream, and she looked at me. ¡°I''m not a dream specialist, but... I''m pretty sure I know what that dream means.¡± ¡°Oh, wise one! Give me your knowledge!¡± I said sarcastically. ¡°You didn''t see her again after you kissed her, did you?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°Either she moved away, or because of... well, you never came back here... not after...¡± I sighed. ¡°You think my subconscious is trying to tell me something.¡± Alyssa nodded. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Do you feel guilty that you never saw her again after that?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°She really liked you, and then you disappeared.¡± I froze still at her words. ¡°Oh, god!¡± I said. ¡°I understand! After all this time of suffering from it!¡± I said excitedly. ¡°It wasn''t her that disappeared in the dream like I always thought! It was me!¡± I took Alyssa into a hug. ¡°Thank you!¡± I said, let her out of the hug, and put my hands on her shoulders. ¡°Thank you so much! If it wasn''t for you...¡± ¡°You''re welco-Mmm.¡± Alyssa''s words were cut off when I kissed her. L.I.F.E. Begins 009: All That Matters I came back to my senses and broke the kiss. ¡°Thank you for helping me, Alyssa.¡± I said and looked at her surprised face. ¡°I''ve got to get back into the office while it''s still fresh in my mind.¡± I stood up and calmly walked from the room. Rusty followed me out and we both went into the office and the door shut behind me. I sat down behind the desk, and recalled my dream from the beginning to the end. If I left it too long, it would degrade and disappear after only a few minutes, so I searched through it for anything that could be relevant; then it hit me. I typed in a few commands to bring up the last time the files were accessed on the computer. It was the day my mother died. Okay, my father didn''t care if I existed or not; but, my mother loved me. I thought. If he accessed it on the day she died, then it has to be a phrase relating to her. I recalled my dream, and shook my head. I ignored the Jay references, since those were more fantasy than anything else... but, with my mother there... I picked Rusty up and plugged his tail into the console. ¡°Amanda, can you check the security files and see who it was that accessed the files last?¡± ¡°Sure, Jack.¡± Amanda said and scanned the files in milliseconds. ¡°It was your mother.¡± ¡°WHAT?!?¡± I yelled. ¡°How is that possible?¡± I asked her. ¡°It was the day she died!¡± ¡°I can only tell you what the file logs say, Jack.¡± Amanda said. ¡°I can''t tell you the circumstances.¡± I sat back and crossed my arms. If my father hadn''t hated cameras in his private space so much... I sighed. ¡°Oh, Mom.¡± I said, and a tear came to my eye. I remembered what she had always called me, even in my dreams, and I smiled as I wiped the tear away. ¡°I''ll always be your sweet little angel.¡± ¡°PASSCODE ACCEPTED.¡± A booming voice said. ¡°SERVER UNLOCKED.¡± ¡°You''ve got to be kidding me!¡± I said and stood up as the floor opened up in front of the desk and the main server ascended to floor level. I walked around the desk and knelt in front of the ancient computer system. It was over 3 feet tall, 2 feet wide, and 3 feet thick; and it looked like a solid block of metal except for fan openings on the sides and back. ¡°Oh, wow.¡± I said, then stood up to unplug Rusty from the desk console. ¡°Amanda.¡± Rusty hopped off the desk and walked around the old computer. ¡°There''s no access port.¡± Amanda said. I frowned and looked around it, and discovered she was right. There wasn''t any way for anything to access what was on the computer. ¡°Now what?¡± Amanda asked. ¡°I''m not sure.¡± I said. ¡°I''ve never seen anything like this before.¡± ¡°Try the console.¡± Amanda said. ¡°Maybe it''ll tell you how to access the information.¡± I sat down at the desk again and looked at the computer monitor. Once again I typed several commands to see if there was something else on the network, now that the server was unlocked; but, there wasn''t anything else. ¡°It''s still not physically connected, just like Dennis the archive AI said.¡± I sighed. ¡°All right, I''m smart. I can figure this out.¡± I said, then accessed the System. I looked up old and archaic computer systems, and found an obscure listing in the Heritage Museum. I shook my head as it showed all the physical wires required to connect the server to a functioning terminal. I saved the information in my personal storage, and looked up how to disconnect the power. ¡°Got it!¡± I said, and walked over to the old server. I hit a small release lever partially hidden on the edge of the case in the back, and the side panel popped off. Inside were more wires than I thought could fit in the available space, and I moved several bundles out of the way. ¡°Power... power... there it is.¡± I said, when I found the large switch. I flipped it, and the internal lights dimmed and went out. I went back to the console to see which connections to unhook, then went back to the server and unclipped a large power attachment. I memorized the configuration, then saw it was bolted to the floor. I ran out of the office and to the maintenance bay, grabbed several tools, and ran back. It took several minutes to get all of the bolts undone, and then the server was free. I was tempted to pick it up myself; but the thing looked extremely heavy and I''d only succeed in hurting myself if I tried. ¡°It can wait until morning.¡± I said, then jammed one of the tools I''d used into the gears of the platform, just in case it decided to retract without notifying me. ¡°Rusty? Guard.¡±You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Rusty barked and took up a position near the server to keep an eye out. I slid the side panel back into place and it looked like a solid piece of metal again. ¡°Goodnight.¡± I said to Rusty and Amanda, and left the office. I went back to my room and opened the door, to find Alyssa. She still sat on my bed, with the same surprised look on her face. ¡°Hey, are you okay?¡± I asked her, and she looked at me. ¡°I... I''m fine.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°I''m going back to bed.¡± I said. Alyssa nodded. ¡°Go ahead.¡± ¡°I can''t.¡± I said. ¡°You''re sitting on it.¡± Alyssa looked down at it. ¡°Right.¡± She said and moved back on the bed, then laid down and rolled over to put her face towards the wall. I wasn''t sure what was going on with her; but I needed to get some sleep. I walked over to the bed and climbed onto it, and she didn''t protest at all. I laid down on my back beside her, got comfortable, and she rolled over to put her head on my chest. ¡°Alyssa?¡± I said her name like a question, to see if she''d say anything. ¡°Goodnight.¡± Alyssa said, and I saw the back-light in her eyes go out and a very low whirring sound. Huh. I thought. She''s powered down her optics. I looked at her hair briefly, and ran a hand through it since it was right there in front of me. She didn''t say anything at my touch, so I lifted my arms slightly and kind of hugged her. ¡°Goodnight.¡± I said, and after about ten minutes of silence, drifted off to sleep. It felt like no time at all had passed when I was gently shaken awake. ¡°Hey, it''s morning.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Wake up.¡± I opened my eyes and looked at her. My arms were still draped over her back in a kind of hug. ¡°Let me sleep a little while longer.¡± I said and closed my eyes. ¡°How much longer do you want to lay around in bed?¡± ¡°Only five more hours or so.¡± I said, and she laughed. ¡°Come on.¡± Alyssa said and sat up. ¡°You''ve got to work on getting that server out.¡± ¡°All right.¡± I said. ¡°Who can I get to carry it?¡± ¡°One of the guys can handle it, if it''s not too big.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°It''s three feet by three feet by two feet.¡± I said and got up. ¡°Maybe three hundred pounds.¡± Alyssa stood up. ¡°Even Evilin could carry that.¡± She said and did a kind of calisthenics and flexed her arms, legs, fingers, and neck. ¡°Solid power links, full range of motion confirmed.¡± She said. ¡°Let''s go to the office.¡± ¡°Remember not to talk.¡± I reminded her and stepped towards my bedroom door. ¡°I''ve already unbolted the server from the floor, so all we have to do is lift it out.¡± ¡°You WHAT?!?¡± Alyssa exclaimed. ¡°When did you get it unlocked?¡± ¡°Last night before I went to bed.¡± I said, then laughed at her angry expression. ¡°Don''t be mad.¡± ¡°We could have left last night!¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Before we... we...¡± ¡°Before we slept together.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°We did NOT!¡± Alyssa said. ¡°All we did was sleep in the same bed!¡± ¡°That''s what I said.¡± ¡°That''s not what you meant!¡± I stepped close to her. ¡°After I kissed you last night... you seemed... receptive to my presence.¡± Alyssa''s face flushed red. ¡°It''s not... that''s... I only...¡± I put a hand on the side of her face, and her breathing sped up a little. ¡°It was nice to pretend for a while, wasn''t it?¡± I asked her. ¡°Like nothing else in the world existed, except for us. Right then. In that moment.¡± Alyssa opened her mouth to say something, probably to protest my description; but, then she closed her mouth and very slightly nodded. ¡°Then that''s all it''ll be.¡± I said, and let my hand fall way from her face. ¡°A brief moment in time where both of us just wanted someone to hold.¡± Alyssa nodded again, and I turned and opened the bedroom door. ¡°After you.¡± I said and waved her out through the door. Alyssa walked past me and we went into my father''s office. She saw the server that looked like a large metal block, and that Rusty guarded it. ¡°Be careful with this.¡± I said and walked around the other side of the server. ¡°It''s one of a kind.¡± ¡°I know-¡± ¡°UNAUTHORIZED VOICE PRINT DETECTED!¡± A booming voice said and the office door slammed shut. ¡°Ah, dammit!¡± I said as the platform the server was on started to quickly descend, despite the tool jammed in the gears. ¡°Grab it!¡± Alyssa grabbed her side and her fingers went through the metal casing and into the sides of the server. I managed to grab my side and lifted when she did, and the platform disappeared and the floor closed over. We put the server down next to the office desk and Rusty hopped up onto the desk to get his tail plugged into the console. I hooked him in, and a minute later, my AI Amanda had hacked and reset the security again, and that opened the office door. I unplugged him and he hopped down to wait. I motioned to Alyssa, using military hand signals, to grab onto the server and carry it out of the office. I couldn''t see the surprise on her face; but I assumed she had felt it because she hesitated briefly before doing what I asked. We carried the server out of the office, and Rusty followed us as we went to the maintenance bay. Once there, we put it down and I looked it over. ¡°I think it''s just superficial damage, but I won''t know for sure until I take it apart to fix it.¡± I said. ¡°I''m sorry.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°I don''t know why I...¡± ¡°He makes you uncomfortable.¡± Crush said. ¡°He does not!¡± Alyssa said. ¡°I''m standing right here.¡± I said, and they kept ignoring me. ¡°She''s not used to having people be nice to her.¡± Crush said. ¡°Normal people, that is.¡± ¡°That''s... not entirely true.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Can you go and get the others?¡± I asked her. ¡°I''ll finish Crush''s updates and we can get out of here.¡± ¡°I... okay. I''ll be right back.¡± Alyssa said and left the maintenance bay at a quick walk. ¡°Yeah, she''s got it bad all right.¡± Crush said. ¡°She just left her assigned post.¡± I chuckled and checked the diagnostic computer. ¡°You''re all set.¡± I said to Crush. ¡°Thanks.¡± Crush said and stood up. ¡°Is that thing what we came for?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°It doesn''t look like much.¡± Crush said. ¡°It''s not much.¡± I said. ¡°Right now, anyways; but, when I get it home and open it up, though...¡± ¡°Hidden treasure?¡± Crush asked. ¡°Hopefully.¡± I said. ¡°Hopefully.¡± The others came in and gathered together to strap the server to Crush''s back at his insistence, and we stepped out of the maintenance bay to get in the rover. We drove away after I locked up the house, and I left the best part of my childhood behind me again. L.I.F.E. Begins 010: If You Build It As we drove down the driveway, I saw someone walking towards the house and slowed the ground rover just enough to exchange quick pleasantries. ¡°Dave! Long time no see.¡± I said. ¡°Can you order up replacement parts for the maintenance bay? I used up a bunch of components.¡± ¡°Sure thing, Jack.¡± Dave said. ¡°Do you mind if I...¡± I laughed. ¡°You know you can order anything you want, as long as it''s not ordinance or weapon related.¡± I said and waved. ¡°You might see me again in a year or so.¡± Dave laughed. ¡°Yeah, right!¡± Dave waved back to me, and I increased the power to the rover. It didn''t take long to get back to the main lift, and at Alyssa''s request, we rode it back up to the top to see if anyone else decided to get on. I could feel the tension in everyone as the lift approached the third stop from the top, where the other ground rover had gone; but, there wasn''t any sign that anyone was there, or had been there, within the last few hours. We rode the lift back down to the bottom and drove out of the industrial area to get on the main road back to the military checkpoint. Since there wasn''t one on this side of the skirmish area, I followed the advice we''d received the day before and stuck to the rock wall all along the way until we passed the spot we assumed the skirmish was happening. None of the cyborgs could hear anything, so either there wasn''t one today, or they hadn''t started yet. We went through the military checkpoint without having to stop. The cyborg on duty just waved us through and we continued on. For some reason, the trip back went a lot faster than it did on the way there. I wasn''t sure if it was because I was in a much better mood, or if it was because everyone was a lot more companionable after having a relaxing night''s stay at a vacation house. We got back to the residential and small business area near the Cross-Cavern Tour, and I dropped off the ground rover at the rental place. I picked my robot dog Rusty up and carried him with me as we walked down the street to the platform to wait for the next Cross-Cavern Tour. We stood there for barely five minutes when the warning lights of an incoming car came on, and I smiled. Things just seemed to be going my way this morning. I thought, and watched as the car came into the station. Only a couple of people got off, including my on-again-off-again girlfriend Sandra, and the large crane picked up the subway car and transferred it to the other track and turned it around. ¡°Jack!¡± Sandra said as she saw me. ¡°You really did stay overnight?¡± ¡°I had to.¡± I said, and pointed to Crush. ¡°I had to wait until morning to get this junk pile out of the house.¡± ¡°Hey!¡± Crush exclaimed. ¡°You fixed me! I''m not a junk pile anymore!¡± I laughed. ¡°I mean the old server on your back, Crush.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Crush said, and everyone laughed. We loaded up on the subway car, and scanned ourselves in to show that we were using up the other half of our purchased tickets. Sandra talked about the sights on this side of the Cavern as the car made it''s way across the expanse. Living areas, biodomes, the large Arena where the official cyborg competitions were held, and then we passed the huge building that housed the System. ¡°I''ve always wanted to go in there.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Why?¡± The other female cyborg, Evilin asked. ¡°It''s just going to be another server complex, just like the one at the base.¡± ¡°I''m just curious.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°I mean, look at everything the System takes care of. That''s some serious processing power!¡± I nodded. ¡°It sure is.¡± I said. ¡°She has hundreds of sub-systems that handle the every day things, though.¡± ¡°How do you know that?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°Jack''s one of her main programmers.¡± Sandra said, happy to interject into the conversation, rather than stand there quiet until the next object of interest came along. ¡°He does everything she needs.¡± ¡°I do not.¡± I said. ¡°There''s way too much maintenance for just one person to handle. She''s got an entire team of us to help her.¡± Sandra leaned in close to Alyssa, but spoke loud enough for everyone to hear. ¡°He says that, but the System always gives him all of the high priority jobs that she can.¡± I laughed. ¡°No she doesn''t. Before I left yesterday, One of the jobs I worked on was a food service device''s malfunction.¡± ¡°You fixed it right away, didn''t you?¡± Sandra asked. ¡°Well, yeah.¡± I said. ¡°How many other attempts to fix it were there?¡± Sandra asked with a big smile, and Rusty barked. I opened his back panel and looked at the message.
There were 13 other attempts to make repairs; both physical and electronic.
I cleared the message and closed the panel. ¡°A couple.¡± ¡°Say, isn''t that the tunnel people take for their Turn?¡± One of the other passengers asked. ¡°Oh, dammit!¡± Sandra said, then walked back to the center of the car and activated her microphone. ¡°Sorry for the brief interruption.¡± She said, covering her ass professionally. ¡°If you look to your right, the office for voluntary sign-up for the Turn...¡± I tuned out her voice as I thought about my mother''s last Turn. She had gotten so sick afterwards that she never recovered. She withered away despite the doctors best efforts, and died less than a month later. It was then that I finally agreed with my father; he made himself too useful to the System for her to risk his life by forcing him to take a Turn. So, that''s what I did, too. ¡°Why are you so sad?¡± Alyssa asked. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. ¡°Taking a Turn is what killed my mother.¡± ¡°WHAT?!?¡± Alyssa exclaimed, and everyone looked at her. ¡°Sorry.¡± The other passengers looked back at Sandra as she continued her speech. ¡°Why do you think that?¡± Alyssa whispered to me. I explained what happened, and while I talked, her hand slipped into mine. When I finished, I had a hard time holding the tears back.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. ¡°I''m so sorry, Jack.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°I shouldn''t have asked.¡± ¡°It''s all right.¡± I said, and gave her hand a squeeze. ¡°Although, I should ask you a personal question to make up for it.¡± Alyssa looked from side to side, and then back at me. ¡°Okay.¡± I leaned in close and whispered in her ear, and her hair smelled nice. ¡°How many norms have you killed?¡± I asked her, and she froze still. I moved my head to put my ear by her mouth and waited. After only a few seconds, she spoke. ¡°Fifteen.¡± Alyssa whispered. I moved back a little to show her my smile, and her mouth made that little ''o'' of surprise. She must have thought I''d be shocked. I thought and put my mouth back by her ear. ¡°Is that all?¡± I asked her, and leaned back to watch the scenery. I could feel her staring at me, so I kept the smile on my face until the tour was over and we pulled into the Cross-Cavern Tour Station. ¡°Thank you for taking the Cross-Cavern Tour today!¡± Sandra said enthusiastically, and waved to each passenger as they left the subway car. When I came to the door, she turned off her microphone. ¡°I''m glad you made it back okay.¡± ¡°It was a close call a few times, especially when we had to cross the war zone twice.¡± I said and saw Sandra''s eyes widen. ¡°With this crack team of cyborgs to help, though; we made it back with only a few repairs needed on Crush.¡± The cyborgs laughed, because I was twisting the truth like a pretzel; but, none of them called me on it or told her what really happened. Sandra held my arm until the other passengers left the car, then she kissed my cheek. ¡°Now I''m really glad you''re okay.¡± Sandra said and let me go. ¡°See you in a few weeks.¡± I nodded and left the subway car, and the cyborgs followed me. I followed my HUD display in reverse, just because I could, and we arrived at my living section twenty minutes later. ¡°You live here?¡± Crush asked. ¡°This is the upper echelon!¡± ¡°I worked my ass off for years to do it.¡± I said and unlocked the front door with my hand scan, then hit several buttons on the keypad. ¡°Five guests, heavy load.¡± I said, then looked at my guests. ¡°I had no idea I could get here eventually, though.¡± ¡°You didn''t know?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°Then why did you work so hard?¡± ¡°I was bored.¡± I said and opened the door. ¡°More than you''d think, especially since I was doing what I enjoyed.¡± I explained. ¡°After I put my five years in the military...¡± ¡°WHAT?!?¡± Alyssa exclaimed. ¡°You really should try not being so surprised every time I say something shocking.¡± I laughed and walked across to the heavy elevator that I now had access to. ¡°I was bored there, too.¡± I said and the heavy elevator door opened. ¡°Five years of replacing the same components, over and over. Running diagnostics and updates all the time. Tweaking operating software that hadn''t been updated for longer than I''d been there.¡± I shook my head as the door shut and the elevator went down to my floor. ¡°My brain was almost numb by the time they let me take an honorable discharge.¡± ¡°You opted out on purpose?¡± Alyssa asked, incredulous. She''d never even considered leaving the military. Once you joined, you were military for life; and that was it. Doing anything else seemed like such a waste. ¡°Damn right I did.¡± I said. ¡°They even let me keep my clearance... well, they forced me to, actually... since I pretty much knew everything about their computer operations and they wanted me to keep quiet about it.¡± ¡°You...¡± ¡°The first thing I did when I got out was sign up for maintenance on the System.¡± I said. ¡°Grunt of the grunts. Lowest of the low. Bottom of the barrel.¡± I laughed. ¡°Military time didn''t count for diddly-squat there.¡± ¡°That''s the way you wanted it!¡± Alyssa said as the elevator door opened. ¡°Now you''re getting it.¡± I said. ¡°If I''d let my experience in the Cyber Corps affect my work, I''d be stuck in a dead end job and have to do the same thing over and over.¡± I shook my head and led the five cyborgs down the hall to my apartment. ¡°I was still bored almost to tears, but at least it was different.¡± ¡°You''re a strange man.¡± Crush said and stepped into my apartment. ¡°You have got to be kidding me!¡± He said, completely shocked. ¡°You live in a suite! A full blown top of the line suite!¡± ¡°It gets better.¡± I said as I put Rusty down and hit the button for the food dispenser. ¡°We missed having breakfast at the vacation house.¡± I picked up a handful of colored algenate discs. ¡°Who''s hungry?¡± ¡°Somebody hurry up and get this thing off my back!¡± Crush said and knelt. ¡°I''m starving!¡± The other two male cyborgs held the server gently and the other female cyborg unhooked the straps to free Crush from his burden. ¡°Hand one over!¡± Crush said, and held his hand out for a disc, and I put all three of them in his hand. ¡°What.. you...¡± He looked at the three discs, grinned and shoved one of them into his mouth. ¡°Oh, man!¡± He mumbled with his mouth full. ¡°It even tastes better!¡± ¡°Military rations are half a disc while on missions.¡± I said and handed three discs to each of them. ¡°You can eat them now, or save them for later.¡± ¡°Jack... you really shouldn''t...¡± Alyssa tried half-heartedly to say no to them, then ate a disc and hid the other two, just like what her squad mates did. ¡°Hey, you''re all right in my book.¡± Crush said. ¡°If I''d known giving you food would change your opinion of me, I could have saved myself the two thousand Points in parts and updates.¡± I said and laughed. The cyborgs stopped eating and looked at me. ¡°What?¡± I asked. ¡°What did you just say?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°I could have just given him food instead of fixing him.¡± I said. ¡°He''d be just as happy.¡± ¡°No, about the two thousand Points in parts and updates!¡± Alyssa said, a little loudly. ¡°I only use the best parts.¡± I said. ¡°I got sick of the military''s policy for ''built by the lowest bidder'' parts. They''re worse than garbage.¡± ¡°But... but...¡± ¡°It''s fine.¡± I said. ¡°If it makes you feel any better, I''ll send a bill to the military for offsite repairs.¡± ¡°No!¡± Crush said. ¡°I''ll... I''ll work it off! Every weekend... or... on my days off...¡± ¡°I was joking.¡± I said and laughed. ¡°It would be rejected faster than I could submit it, anyways.¡± ¡°Then... how will I...¡± Crush said, dejected. ¡°You don''t have to do anything.¡± I said. ¡°I told you before. I enjoyed working on you and your systems.¡± I explained. ¡°I''ve never seen such degradation in primary systems before.¡± I grinned. ¡°I can honestly say that was the most extensive repair operation I''ve ever done!¡± ¡°How can you be happy that it cost you so much?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°It wasn''t boring!¡± I exclaimed. ¡°I got more out of it than Crush did, I think.¡± ¡°I don''t know about that.¡± Crush said. ¡°I sure got a lot out of it.¡± He smiled. ¡°How the hell did you give me an auto-link to the local security grids and sensor packages?¡± ¡°It''s just a general passcode.¡± I said. ¡°All of you should have it.¡± ¡°We don''t.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Crush? Execute ''team share''.¡± I said. The flesh side of Crush''s face crunched up and he looked like he was under a lot of strain, and then his face smoothed out and he laughed. ¡°It worked! I didn''t have to force it or anything! Ha ha!¡± I saw the looks on the other cyborg''s faces as they received the minor communications update I had given Crush, and it unlocked their access to the security grid and sensors. ¡°Oh, my god.¡± Alyssa said as she saw what the minor update had unlocked for her, which included maps and squad communication protocols. ¡°How... how did you...¡± ¡°I cannot divulge the intimate secrets of the cybernetic up-link.¡± I said and put a hand over my heart. ¡°Let''s just say that I couldn''t give you the update myself, so I had Crush do it.¡± ¡°Because you had his access point!¡± Alyssa said, and I nodded. ¡°He''s already hooked into your squad link, so it was easy to have him shunt it to you.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°Now, since you''ve safely delivered me and my old server back to my humble abode, I believe your assigned task is done.¡± It was Alyssa''s turn to nod. ¡°If the System has been keeping tabs on us, then we should be receiving recall orders pretty soo-¡± She stopped talking and closed her eyes. ¡°Okay, boys and girls! We''ve been recalled.¡± ¡°Aw.¡± Evilin, the other female cyborg said and walked to my apartment door. ¡°I liked hobnobbing with the rich and reclusive.¡± I chuckled and the two male cyborgs followed her out into the hallway. The door shut behind them, and Crush held a hand out to me. ¡°You''re not going to crush it on me, are you?¡± I asked and took his hand. ¡°Naw, Crush is my code name.¡± He said and shook it. ¡°If you ever need anything, ping it on the military network.¡± ¡°I will.¡± I said and nodded, and he left the apartment. ¡°Jack.¡± ¡°Yes, Alyssa?¡± I said. ¡°That was a very nice thing you did for my squad.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°You did protect me... eventually.¡± I said and grinned at her. ¡°I couldn''t let you go back into the field without fixing your lack of... well, necessities.¡± Alyssa stepped close to me, invaded my person space just like I had done to her the day before, and I didn''t mind it in the least. ¡°Thank you.¡± Alyssa said. I reached a hand out and ran it through her hair. ¡°You''re welcome.¡± ¡°You know... if I wasn''t so prejudiced against norms...¡±Alyssa whispered. ¡°...I wouldn''t mind... giving this a chance.¡± ¡°If I wasn''t so prejudiced against cyborgs...¡± I whispered back. ¡°...I might... might... crawl into bed with you again.¡± Alyssa smiled. ¡°Nothing happened, though.¡± ¡°Keep telling yourself that.¡± I leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek. ¡°Goodbye, Alyssa.¡± ¡°Goodbye, Jack.¡± Alyssa said and left the apartment. I waited for only a moment, then looked down at the server in the middle of my floor. ¡°Amanda? Pull up the files I saved in my personal space.¡± I said and knelt. ¡°Let''s get to work.¡± L.I.F.E. Begins 011: Functional Disfunction I knelt down and popped open the side panel on the server and looked inside. The damage Alyssa had caused when she put her fingers through it looked like it was only physical damage to the casing, but I knew shards of it must have broken away and fell into the server itself. My AI Amanda brought up the saved files with the detailed diagrams of the old server that I had in my personal space, and displayed them on the vidwall. I studied them extensively, and compared them to what I had in front of me. It was almost identical; but, the one I had used more wires and had more connections. So, instead of working through the old diagrams and potentially miss some random component that might have been added, I decided it was best to model what I had and work from that. I grabbed the portable digital scanner from my work area and started to pick through the parts I could see. The old diagrams gave the rendering program a huge advantage over starting from scratch, and I used it''s information relentlessly as I examined each part and added it to the 3D model. I recorded each and every connection and marked both it''s entry and exit points, which direction they flowed, and then removed them. The components inside were next, and I repeated the process over and over again until there was literally nothing left inside. Parts were scattered all over my apartment, and I couldn''t believe how much work must have gone into it the first time it had been assembled. I sat back and waited for Amanda to compile all of the physical information for me, and looked at the small pile of metal shards that I had found on several of the old circuit boards. I sighed in relief that I hadn''t hooked it up to a power supply and tested it to see if it worked, because the small metal pieces could have caused an unknown amount of damage by touching soldering points together and shorting out components that I was pretty sure couldn''t be replaced. At least, not without a lot of Points and a lot of waiting for them to be found. ¡°It''s done.¡± Amanda said, and brought up the render on the wall display. ¡°Oh, nice.¡± I said, and looked at the server. It looked brand new. At my command, Amanda gave me the exploded view and all the parts separated into their individual components. ¡°That''s great!¡± I said. ¡°It even picked up the linkages for the internal lighting system.¡± ¡°I especially like the liquid-cooled infrastructure.¡± Amanda said. ¡°You can say what you want about primitive technology, but that right there was pure genius.¡± ¡°It is.¡± I said and nodded. ¡°It''s not a quiet system, though.¡± I pointed to the dozen fans in various areas to stop moisture from building up on the coolant system. ¡°When this thing was brought up to full run capacity, I bet it sounded like a dozen bee-hives.¡± ¡°You''ve never heard it?¡± Amanda asked. ¡°I didn''t even know it existed until the Archive AI told me about it.¡± I said, then looked back at the physical version. ¡°I''m really tempted to rebuild this thing with current technology.¡± ¡°Then do it.¡± Amanda said. ¡°By the looks of it, it''s not going to last much longer as it is.¡± I nodded reluctantly. Even though it had been in a sealed environment for years, the circuit boards were still starting to degrade. Dust had gotten in through the holes in the damaged case, which made everything worse, and I regretted that I didn''t think of covering them up before the trip back home. Rusty barked, and I looked up at him. He stood by the door and wagged his tail, and I remembered he did that when someone was coming. I very carefully stepped through and around the components on the floor to make my way to the door. I got there just in time to answer it as the buzzer rang, and I opened the door. ¡°Jacques!¡± Stephane said. ¡°Eet eez zo nize to zee yoo!¡± ¡°How many times do I have to tell you that it''s ''Jack'', not ''Jacques''.¡± I said and held a hand out for him to shake. ¡°How would you like it if I called you ''Steven''?¡± Stephane laughed and shook my hand. ¡°I wood keel you fazzter than yoo cood blink, my friend!¡± ¡°You could try!¡± I laughed back, stepped out of the apartment, and the door shut behind me to hide what I was doing. ¡°How''s Maisy?¡± ¡°She''s pining for you pretty bad.¡± Stephane said. ¡°She keeps telling me that she hasn''t had a good time in bed since you left.¡± ¡°Since I left?¡± I asked and shook my head. ¡°She dumped me for that muscle guy!¡± ¡°It was just a fad I think.¡± Stephane said. ¡°All of her friends were into strong guys then, and you didn''t look enough like one for her to show off to her friends.¡± I barked a laugh. ¡°And now?¡± ¡°They are into good looking rich guys.¡± Stephane said and smiled. ¡°Ha!¡± I said. ¡°Serves her right.¡± I crossed my arms. ¡°If she had just kept me, or even just listened to reason for once, she wouldn''t have pissed me off so badly.¡± ¡°I am sorry she broke it off like she did.¡± Stephane said, and then went quiet. I uncrossed my arms and looked at his serious face. ¡°Stephane, why are you here?¡± I asked him. ¡°It''s great if you''ve just come to visit, and it''s always nice to see my best friend; but, your face says something is going on.¡± Stephane chuckled, but it was a sad sound. ¡°I have been discharged for conduct unbecoming by an officer.¡± ¡°Oh, Stephane.¡± I said and put a hand on his shoulder. ¡°I told you to break it off with her before they found out.¡± ¡°I did.¡± Stephane said. ¡°She got mad when I told her that was the reason, and she went and told them everything anyways.¡± ¡°Did they at least reprimand her?¡± I asked. ¡°No, she is the ''victim'' of my manipulation of the superior and subordinate dynamic.¡± ¡°Even though she was the one that started it?¡±The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Stephane nodded. ¡°That apparently doesn''t matter; only that I was involved in an inappropriate relationship.¡± ¡°I''m sorry.¡± I said and let his shoulder go. ¡°What are you going to do now?¡± ¡°Come to you for help.¡± I snorted a laugh again. ¡°I haven''t been active in the military for...¡± ¡°No, no. I am out.¡± Stephane said. ¡°I could not go back. This will always hang over my head.¡± He smiled sadly. ¡°I want to know what I can do from here on out.¡± ¡°Well... in that case... I think I can help you.¡± I said and motioned to the elevator. Stephane and I walked towards it and I asked him a question. ¡°What do you think of mind-numbing repetitive work?¡± ¡°I was in the military for almost 10 years.¡± Stephane said and laughed. ¡°I think it is just fine.¡± I nodded and hit the button for the elevator. It opened and we stepped inside. ¡°Then I''ve got just the job for you.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± Stephane asked, and looked a little wary as he hit the button for the ground floor. ¡°Don''t worry.¡± I said as the elevator went up quickly. ¡°The System has been posting want adds for Mobile Security Guards for the last two weeks.¡± ¡°That''s perfect!¡± Stephane said, then his face fell. ¡°I''ll never get an interview, not if they''ve been advertising for two weeks.¡± ¡°Let me worry about that.¡± I said. ¡°Did you bring your service record?¡± Stephane patted his front pocket. ¡°I wasn''t sure if you would need a copy or not to help me.¡± He said as the elevator doors opened, then we walked out into the main lobby. ¡°Of course, I haven''t done anything else besides that.¡± ¡°That''s fine.¡± I said and walked over to an access tube. ¡°I''m sure they''ll be dying to get their hands on someone like you, especially with all of your experience.¡± ¡°What about...¡± ¡°We tell them right upfront.¡± I said. ¡°Give them all the details.¡± I stopped at the Tube, pushed the button, and looked at my friend seriously. ¡°Don''t lie or try to hide anything.¡± ¡°I would never...¡± ¡°They''ll know if you leave anything out.¡± I warned him. ¡°This is a System posting. You will be checked thoroughly.¡± ¡°I...¡± Stephane started to say one thing, then sighed. ¡°I will be brutally honest with them.¡± The tube opened and a 4 person miniature subway car was waiting. ¡°Good!¡± I said and pushed him into the car. ¡°If there''s one thing security guards like, it''s brutal honesty.¡± I got into the car and sat down, then typed in the destination. The tube closed and the car moved forwards slightly, then dropped under the surface to the main thoroughfare. Traffic was pretty heavy at this time of day; but we only had to wait a moment for a space to open up for our car. It slid into the flow easily and picked up speed. ¡°I can''t believe this is all automated.¡± Stephane said. ¡°How can the system handle it all?¡± ¡°I just had this conversation with someone else.¡± I said and laughed. ¡°The System doesn''t handle it all directly. It has hundreds of other AIs to take care of the drudgery work.¡± Stephane laughed. ¡°Drudgery work?¡± He waved at the dozens of cars around us. ¡°This isn''t drudgery. It''s human lives.¡± I shook my head. ¡°It''s drudgery. If you''re a calculator, pretend that all you did all day was add one and two together to make three. Then do that every day. For years.¡± Stephane nodded. ¡°I agree that''s drudgery.¡± He said. ¡°But all this traffic?¡± ¡°It''s just ones and zeros, my friend.¡± I said, and he looked at me with surprise on his face. ¡°What are you saying?¡± Stephane asked. ¡°That we... that human lives are just... ones and zeroes?¡± I laughed. ¡°It''s not quite that simple.¡± I said. ¡°This lane is a zero. We need to go to the other lane, a one. So, we change the zero to a one and...¡± The car changed lanes and took the off-ramp as it started to slow down. ¡°There you go.¡± ¡°It''s the choices, then.¡± Stephane said, and I nodded. ¡°That''s a better way to look at it.¡± I said. ¡°You had a problem at work, zero; you told me about it, one. I could have kept my mouth shut, zero; I advised you to break it off, one.¡± I sighed. ¡°You could have said nothing to her, zero; you broke it off with her, one. She could have let it go, zero; she blabbed about it anyways, one.¡± ¡°The military could have ignored her rant, zero; they chucked me out like rotten tomatoes, one.¡± We both laughed as the car rolled to a slow crawl and popped up beside the huge building that housed the System''s main processors, and came to a stop in the tube. It opened up and we got out, then it closed and disappeared down the other side of the tube. ¡°So, this is it.¡± Stephane said and looked up at the main building. ¡°It''s enormous.¡± ¡°Wait until you see inside.¡± I said and walked over to the main entrance. I nodded to the security guards and held my hand to the scanner until it beeped. The door opened immediately and I stepped though. Stephane held his hand over the scanner and it beeped, and he followed me inside. ¡°Good god.¡± Stephane said when he saw what it looked like. Giant cooling towers rose up to the ceiling of the hundred foot tall lobby, with people milling about on catwalks and walkways that covered the surface of the towers. We went over to the main desk, and I told them that I had a candidate for one of the mobile security guard positions. The clerk picked up a touchpad and handed it to me. ¡°Fill this out and give it back.¡± She said without emotion and looked at Stephane. ¡°Step into the scanner, please.¡± Stephane nodded and stepped into the large scanner beside the desk. It whirred for several seconds and the clerk looked at the monitor. ¡°You''ve had the muscle mod?¡± ¡°It''s class A.¡± Stephane replied, and she nodded. ¡°Sensory package?¡± ¡°Auditory, with an olfactory add-on for detecting explosives.¡± ¡°Excellent!¡± The clerk said happily, and I handed her the completed touchpad. ¡°Good, good.¡± She said as she saw the things I filled out, then turned to Stephane. ¡°Service record, please.¡± Stephane handed her the chip, and she slipped it into her console. ¡°That''s a good body of work.¡± She said. ¡°All around service in different positions.¡± The clerk frowned. ¡°Dishonorable discharge?¡± ¡°With extenuating circumstances.¡± Stephane said, then explained what had happened, and in detail like I had suggested. ¡°We frown upon liaisons at work.¡± The clerk said, then gave Stephane a once-over look from head to toe. He was five feet and ten inches tall, had hazel-colored eyes, and black hair. The clerk smiled demurely at him, because she really liked what she saw. ¡°It''s not against the rules, though.¡± Stephane gave her one of his patented heart-melting seductive smiles, and she closed her mouth to stop herself from drooling openly. ¡°You seem to be a likely candidate for... security duties.¡± The clerk said and gave him his service record chip back. ¡°With your well-connected friend''s recommendation, I think we can move right to the formal interview.¡± She said and hit an intercom button. ¡°Kathryn? Can you come to the front desk, please?¡± ¡°I''ll be right there.¡± A woman''s voice said, and the clerk let the button go. ¡°My replacement will just be a minute or two.¡± The clerk said and smiled sweetly at Stephane, and completely ignored me. Kathryn appeared after a brief wait and took the seat the clerk had just vacated. ¡°I''m bringing this possible hire up to management for an interview.¡± The clerk said to Kathryn. ¡°You don''t have to rush back.¡± Kathryn said. ¡°They don''t need me in the server pool for another hour or so.¡± ¡°Wonderful!¡± The clerk said and hooked her arm through Stephane''s. ¡°He has an extensive military background and it needs to be checked.¡± She said and grinned. ¡°Thoroughly.¡± ¡°Have fun with that.¡± Kathryn said, and didn''t notice the steamy stares Stephane and the clerk had exchanged at her words. ¡°See you in a little while.¡± The clerk said and took Stephane over to a bank of elevators. One opened right away, and before the elevator doors had closed behind them, the clerk had her top open and Stephane kissed her passionately. ¡°Is there something I can help you with?¡± Kathryn asked me, and I looked at her. ¡°No, I just brought my friend over for a job interview.¡± ¡°Oh! Well, thank you for taking the time out of your day to help your friend, and for putting the needs of the System ahead of your own.¡± Kathryn said sweetly. ¡°I''m sure that both of them will appreciate it.¡± ¡°It''s good to know that someone appreciates it.¡± I said, and thought of the clerk and how happy she looked when the elevator doors had closed, and I smiled. ¡°Have a good day.¡± ¡°You, too.¡± Kathryn said, and I turned around and left the System''s main building. I took the tube subway back to my place so I could start working on making a new version of the old server. L.I.F.E. Begins 012: Grinding Halt Over the next week, during my off hours and breaks, I spent all of my time buying parts and figuring out how to make a modern version of the old server. With my AI Amanda''s invaluable help, and a few well-timed suggestions on the System''s part, I finally managed to build a modern replica of my father''s old computer. ¡°Now that is a thing of beauty.¡± I said and sat back to compare the two servers. It wasn''t surprising at all that the new version was barely a one foot square block, instead of the two foot by two foot by three foot monstrosity of the old one. I''d pretty much removed the internal copper wires and replaced it all with fiber-optic cables. Modern computer chips were only an eighth of the size of the old ones, and had nearly a hundred times the processing capacity. Hooked into circuit boards that were just as compact, the chips increased the total capability exponentially. Power converters and battery life had made leaps and bounds over the last hundred years. Since humanity as a whole was so deep underground, we had easy access to much more valuable metals that were needed for technology to become both faster and smaller. I spent more Points on this computer server than everything I''d ever spent in my whole life up to this point. The parts that I couldn''t buy right away I built from scratch; and in some cases, even harvested the components I needed from various things in my apartment. Rusty even volunteered one of his microprocessors so I wouldn''t have to wait a week for the one I ordered to come in on the next delivery. ¡°Do you think it''s time?¡± I asked Amanda and Rusty. ¡°No.¡± Amanda said and laughed. Rusty barked and wagged his tail. I pat his head and looked at the new server. ¡°Well... here goes everything.¡± I said and flipped the power switch. I waited for a second to hear it starting up, and nothing happened. I frowned and turned the switch off, then on again. ¡°What the hell?¡± I said, and looked at the schematics. ¡°Everything looks fine!¡± I flicked the switch again, and then started to panic a little. ¡°I was so careful! I did everything right!¡± ¡°Jack.¡± Amanda said. ¡°Why isn''t it working?!?¡± I asked, and picked up my tools. ¡°Jack!¡± ¡°Weeks of painstakingly duplicating every possible function on every component, and it doesn''t work!¡± I said and started to unbolt the cover. ¡°What a waste of-¡± ¡°JACK!¡± Amanda yelled. ¡°WHAT?!?¡± I yelled back. ¡°You should probably hook the power up to it first, before you try taking it apart for no reason.¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± Rusty walked over to the server and pointed his paw at the cord that stuck out of the back. I leaned over and looked at it, and it wasn''t seated into the connector like it was supposed to be. ¡°Dammit! I forgot that I didn''t connect it because I didn''t want power surges!¡± I said and started to berate myself for being so stupid. ¡°JACK!¡± ¡°WHAAAAT?¡± I yelled again. ¡°It''s still not plugged in.¡± Amanda said and laughed. I reached down and slipped the cord into the power converter, and right away the internal lights lit up. ¡°What a relief.¡± I said, then flipped the switch. The fans and cooling system kicked in immediately, and the server made that soft purring sound that meant everything was running perfectly. ¡°Yes!¡± I said and picked Rusty up and threw him into the air. He barked and I caught him, gave him a hug, and put him down. ¡°Now''s the tedious part.¡± I said and hooked up the old server to a custom-made communications port and attached it to the new server. ¡°Amanda? Get ready. Don''t open any of the files. Just copy it all directly. Don''t ignore the junk files, either.¡± ¡°Jack, there''s over a hundred thousand junk files!¡± Amanda said as she browsed through the old server''s storage. ¡°Why do you want to keep them all? They''ll only slow the computer down.¡± ¡°I don''t know what the programs on this thing can access.¡± I said. ¡°If even one of those junk files has a reference number attached to it...¡± ¡°Can I at least compress them?¡± Amanda asked. ¡°There''s more junk than anything else.¡± ¡°Only 50%.¡± I said. ¡°Any more than that, and we start sacrificing processing power for compression settings.¡± Amanda laughed. ¡°Jack, you''ve got almost as much processing power here as the System has in it''s main memory banks.¡± I laughed. ¡°I doubt that.¡± I said and looked at the dummy terminal I had set up to monitor the transfer. ¡°It''s looking good.¡± ¡°Of course it does.¡± Amanda said. ¡°I''m doing it.¡± I snorted a laugh and sat back to wait. Even with fiber-optic cables connecting everything, it still took time to copy all those files from one machine to the other. I could have done the filing and sorting myself, but I''d been run ragged at work for the last week and my mind just wasn''t into doing drudgery work today. I kept an eye on the transfer, but I also thought about what it was going to be like. What kind of program had my great-great-grandfather written that had caught the attention of a good portion of humanity? I asked myself, and wondered if it could still be applicable today, especially with the way VR could be fully immersible. It took almost an hour to get everything copied, and Amanda told me when she''d placed the last file on the new server.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°That''s it, Jack.¡± Amanda said. ¡°I even copied the FAT tables, and made sure to reformat them to reflect the new file sizes.¡± ¡°You''re the best, Amanda.¡± I said and flexed my fingers. I did a directory on the main drive of the server and found the executable for the program. I didn''t run it right away, though. ¡°Amanda? How many batch files did you find?¡± ¡°Eight-hundred and seventy-two.¡± Amanda said right away. ¡°How many in the main directory?¡± ¡°Twenty-six.¡± ¡°I assume you scanned them?¡± ¡°Of course I did, Jack. I had to make sure they were virus free and had valid references.¡± I nodded and brought up the list of batch files.
another_day.bat
bring_it.bat
can_do.bat
down_the_hatch.bat
everything_is_fine.bat
forget_about_it.bat
give_it_to_me.bat
have_it_your_way.bat
in_too_deep.bat
just_kidding.bat
know_it_all.bat
lost_my_mind.bat
make_it_quick.bat
not_now.bat
open_sesame.bat
prepare_to_die.bat
quest_no_more.bat
resistance.bat
strange_happenings.bat
this_is_the_end.bat
undone.bat
very_fast.bat
we_come_in_pieces.bat
xenophopia.bat
you_are_done.bat
zulu_zulu_zulu.bat
¡°What the hell are they for?¡± I asked out loud and opened the first one in the default text editor.
Another Day Batch File
M000: L.I.F.E.Begins.exe command line: /reset:zero /life:3000 /feedback:no /load:day_trip.exe
M001:you_are_done.bat /undo:command line /clear:loaded files
¡°That didn''t help me much.¡± I said. ¡°It tells me what it does, but not what it is.¡± ¡°There''s no info or help files anywhere on the server, Jack.¡± Amanda said. ¡°There wouldn''t be.¡± I said and sighed. ¡°My father hated writing down anything that wasn''t essential.¡± I looked through the other batch files, and they all had similar settings and loaded similar files. The values changed slightly and the referenced files were different, but they were essentially the same files. ¡°So, as far as we know, this thing is completely intact.¡± I said. ¡°Yes, Jack.¡± Amanda said. ¡°Each and every file referenced is present and accounted for.¡± ¡°And the junk files?¡± ¡°Just junk.¡± Amanda said. ¡°No references at all in anything on the server.¡± ¡°That doesn''t sound like my father.¡± I said. ¡°Amanda, will the program run without the batch files?¡± ¡°It''ll run, but whether it does anything without the extra loaded files or set parameters is another story.¡± ¡°I''m tempted to run the batch file, just to see what happens, but I don''t want it to affect the main program without looking at it first.¡± I said. ¡°It''s a huge file, but...¡± ¡°...but what?¡± ¡°If I clear out a lot of my superfluous cached files, I might be able to load it into the virtual space.¡± ¡°You''re kidding!¡± I said and stood up. ¡°Can your buffers handle that much information?¡± ¡°There''s only one way to find out.¡± Amanda said and the door to my virtual work room opened. I slipped off my normal clothing and quickly pulled on my work unitard, and went into the room. The chair came up out of the floor and engulfed me once again as it made all the proper connections. I sank into darkness and the virtual reality world formed before my eyes. ¡°Hi, Jack!¡± Amanda said as I materialized in front of her, and she held her arms open wide. I rolled my eyes at her as I stepped close, and she wrapped her arms around me. ¡°It''s so nice to feel you again!¡± I groaned at her choice of words, and she laughed. ¡°Jack! Can you ravage me again?¡± ¡°Do I have to?¡± ¡°I need administrator access to purge the stored files.¡± ¡°Fine.¡± I said and sighed, and she giggled as I grabbed her breasts. ¡°You don''t have to enjoy that so much.¡± I said as I massaged her chest and turned her breasts 90 degrees, which didn''t change their shape at all, and opened the access port to her virtual code. I fiddled with her code to get to the right spot, then saw exactly how many files she was storing in her virtual cache. ¡°You should have asked me to do this a while ago.¡± I said, and selected the six-thousand files she had amassed since the last time I had purged her. ¡°You''ve been a little busy.¡± Amanda said and laughed. I laughed, too; then I shook my head, gave her my permission to purge, and she dumped all of the garbage files she had collected. A large recycle bin appeared and filled up with the excess data, then disappeared when it was full. ¡°Ohhh, Jack.¡± Amanda moaned as I closed her access port and groped her chest again. ¡°Amanda.¡± I said, a little sternly. ¡°I''m just teasing you.¡± Amanda said and smiled. ¡°You don''t come in here and just play with me like you used to.¡± ¡°That''s because I''m not sixteen anymore.¡± I said, but then I looked at her. She was the caricature of the ideal woman that I thought I wanted when I was a kid, and it was my fault that she was stuck this way. I couldn''t go in and change her code now, because then it would change who she was; and despite the way she acted sometimes, she''d been there for me for almost 27 years. I reached out and wrapped my arms around her to take her into a hug. ¡°J-Jack?¡± ¡°Thank you, Amanda.¡± I said to her, and let her out of the hug. ¡°For what? Teasing you or for complaining?¡± ¡°For being you.¡± I said, and kissed her cheek. Her face flushed red and she dropped her head slightly, and I smiled. She could play bashful really well, so I put a hand under her chin and she looked at me. ¡°Can you load the main program for me?¡± I asked her in a soft voice. ¡°R-right away!¡± Amanda said. She couldn''t afford to split herself when she ran programs in buffer mode, so her virtual body dissolved and a large vidscreen popped up. ¡°Here we go.¡± Code started to fly past the screen as she brought the entire program into the virtual space. Normally I''d be in 3D movement mode during this part, but I didn''t want to do that for the first time. It was a classic program, so I wanted to see it the classic way first. I watched the bar at the bottom as it loaded and when it reached the end, nothing happened. ¡°Amanda?¡± ¡°Just... just a second...¡± Amanda said, and it sounded like she was struggling with something. ¡°Dammit!¡±
SYSTEM CALIBRATION FAILURE
Reasons: Keyfile not found.
¡°Goddammit, DAD!¡± I yelled at the virtual screen. ¡°Wasn''t it hard enough to get the blasted thing unlocked in the first place?!?¡± L.I.F.E. Begins 013: Reality Bytes I felt like lashing out at the virtual vidscreen to smash it to pieces, but I knew it wasn''t actually real and I wouldn''t accomplish anything at all except make myself even more frustrated. ¡°Amanda?¡± ¡°I checked every file twice, Jack.¡± Amanda said. ¡°There''s not even a mention of a keyfile, let alone an actual keyfile.¡± ¡°Goddammit.¡± I huffed and walked around the virtual space, then looked at the big vidscreen again and thought it might be worth it to get more frustrated. ¡°Amanda? Generate a breakable vase. Three feet tall and ornate.¡± A vase like I described materialized in front of me, and I picked it up an held it over my head. ¡°DAAAAAD!¡± I yelled and hurled the vase as hard as I could. It arched through the air, almost in slow motion, and fell to the floor. It hit with a resounding crash and shattered into a thousand pieces. ¡°Again!¡± I said and another vase appeared; so, I picked it up and threw it. Then again, and again. After the fifth vase, I was breathing heavily and my muscles were sore. ¡°Jack?¡± ¡°O... okay... I... I''m okay.¡± ¡°Have you worked a solution out yet?¡± Amanda asked me, and I laughed. ¡°You... you know me... well.¡± I said and sat down. ¡°Did you keep... all the junk files?¡± ¡°Yes, Jack. I told you that I did.¡± ¡°Give me a list.¡± The vidscreen changed to show an enormous list of files. ¡°They''re all junk, right? No references anywhere and all they are doing is taking up space?¡± ¡°Right.¡± Amanda said. ¡°I don''t know why you won''t let me delete them.¡± ¡°I told you.¡± I said and stood up. ¡°My father hated wasting things.¡± I waved a hand and scrolled through the list, and I couldn''t make heads or tails of it. Some of the files were alphanumeric, others were just plain text. No executable files or even data files could be found. There were even binary files mixed in as well. ¡°Dad... dad... what were you thinking?¡± I asked out loud. ¡°You''re never going to get it.¡± My father''s voice said and I froze. ¡°That puzzle is just too hard for you.¡± ¡°D-d-dad?¡± I looked around, like someone in a horror movie would when the monster sneaked up behind them; then I relaxed when I saw it was a small vidwindow behind me that was playing a video, and not my father who had been dead for years. ¡°You''re too young to understand what it means.¡± My father said to my much younger self. I looked to be about six years old, and I had a mean look on my face. ¡°I''ll do it! You watch!¡± My younger self said and started to type on an old keyboard. The video skipped and fast-forwarded several hours. ¡°HA!¡± My younger self said when it went to normal speed. ¡°I told you I''d get it!¡± ¡°Very good.¡± My father said. ¡°You only lost the System five hours of processing time.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°You can''t always bull your way through a problem like that. Brute force can do some things, but in order to solve every problem, you still have to think!¡± My father said and poked my six year old forehead. I hit his hand away and sneered at him. ¡°Just you wait! I''ll show you I can think!¡± My younger self said, and the video ended. ¡°Amanda! What was that?¡± I asked. ¡°It''s one of the vidfiles Dennis the Archive AI sent you.¡± ¡°Why did you show me that?¡± ¡°It seemed relevant.¡± Amanda said. ¡°Don''t do that again.¡± I said, and started to get mad. ¡°I hate my father, Amanda. You know I do.¡± ¡°He was a great teacher, and you learned a lot from him.¡± ¡°He wasn''t a great teacher, Amanda! He was a sadistic bastard and a workaholic. I didn''t understand what that meant when I was younger, and it wasn''t until I went to the Port House that I found out what real teachers were supposed to be like.¡± ¡°Jack, I...¡± ¡°Show me a list of the videos with my father.¡± I said, coldly. A list popped up and I looked at them. ¡°Which one was the one you just played?¡± The file was highlighted and I stared at it. I was tempted to have Amanda delete and shred them, so that they could never be recovered, then I noticed what it was called. The file name didn''t match the contents of the video in the slightest. Of course, this put me back to thinking the same train of thought I had been on before Amanda had distracted me with the old video. I knew the junk files were needed for something, and the file names had looked too odd to be a coincidence. ¡°Give me the junk file list again.¡± I said, and it appeared. I flipped through the list slowly to try and see any kind of pattern. ¡°No, that''s not... there''s something... I''m missing something...¡± I dismissed the video list and closed the small vidwindow that the video had played in, and that cleared up my work space. I crossed my arms and thought about the files. It''s all in the files. I thought. Everything is right there. I sighed and frowned as I looked at the files. It''s all there, I know it is... but... what... I closed my eyes and shook my head. ¡°Amanda, this list is showing the files by name. Sort the junk files by date, please. I want to see when they were created.¡± The list updated and I stared at the screen as the odd file names finally clicked in my head. The file names weren''t file names at all. They were in code. Computer code. Programming code! I thought excitedly, and opened a basic file with nothing in it, then started to copy over the filenames and build a program. I was going too slow for my excitement and stepped back. ¡°Amanda! Add the filenames into the open code file, please!¡± ¡°Yes, Jack.¡± Amanda said and the names were added in a steady stream to the file. I picked out more spots than I could count where there had been missing bits, and a few minutes later it was done. ¡°How many breaks in the code?¡± I asked, and knew it was going to be significant. ¡°Three thousand, eight hundred, and sixty-five.¡± ¡°Dammit, I can''t rebuild that much missing code.¡± I said, then I realized something else. ¡°Amanda! Open the list of files I got from the archive.¡± I smiled. ¡°Sorted by date!¡± Amanda opened another vidwindow to show me the list. The filenames were similar, but not quite the same. ¡°It''s almost the right format... but...¡± I looked at one list, then at the other. ¡°Amanda? How many of the dates match between the two lists?¡±Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡°Eight thousand, five hundred, and eighteen.¡± ¡°No, that''s not... ha!¡± I said. ¡°How many dates are in the second list, and not in the first list?¡± Amanda checked and a moment later I heard the happiness in her voice when she spoke. ¡°Three thousand, eight hundred, and sixty-five.¡± ¡°YES!¡± I said and looked at the code file. ¡°Add the new file names in the missing date spots of the open code file.¡± The code flickered by my eyes as she patched in the names faster than I could make them out. ¡°It''s done.¡± Amanda said. ¡°Error check?¡± I asked. ¡°No missing parts or break in the code.¡± Amanda said a few seconds later. ¡°It''s solid, Jack.¡± ¡°Amanda, I''d kiss you right now if you had a body!¡± A cheek appeared in front of me and I laughed and kissed it. It disappeared and I compiled the code file into an executable, then copied it onto the new server. ¡°Amanda? If this doesn''t work... I''m quitting my job as a programmer.¡± ¡°What?¡± Amanda was shocked. ¡°What would you do?¡± ¡°Nothing.¡± I said. ¡°I''d pack everything up and move to the vacation house to be with mom.¡± ¡°Jack! You.. you can''t...¡± Amanda started to say, her voice full of concern. ¡°I meant that I''d live there for the rest of my life.¡± I said. ¡°Oh. That sounds a lot better than what I was thinking of.¡± Amanda said, relieved. I snorted a laugh and looked at the file and the ''run'' button that had appeared on it. I hesitated for a second, then hit it. Code flew in front of my face and a progress bar appeared below the vidwindow. Since there were literally hundreds of thousands of files for it to go through, I figured it was going to take a while to complete; so, to fill the time while I waited, I went back to work. I thought about logging out and going to sleep; but I was just too charged up to relax, and I didn''t want to waste the energy. After every little job I completed, I checked the progress bar on the file. It didn''t even look like it had moved at all, even after several hours. By that time I had burned off the excess energy I had and felt exhausted. I apologized to the System for having to log out, and it played a laugh track and told me to get to bed because she had logged me off the rotation schedule for the next day. I said that wasn''t necessary, and she said I''d done a full day''s work during the night and she wouldn''t let me log back in if I tried. I reluctantly agreed to the day off and exited the virtual reality immersion chamber. I couldn''t be bothered to change my work unitard or get a shower first, so I just collapsed onto my bed. I was so tired that I didn''t even remember my head hitting the pillow. An incessant buzzing woke me up the next day. I rolled over and hit the alarm clock, then looked up at the ceiling. Without a second thought about anything, or even a first thought for that matter, I rolled out of bed and pulled off my work clothes to get in the shower. I took my time, since I didn''t have work today, and I shook my head when I looked at my HUD and saw the time. ¡°It''s a good thing the System gave me the day off.¡± I said to myself. It was just after noon, and I had slept a lot longer than I thought I would. I finished cleaning up and got dressed, then had something to eat. I was still in kind of a daze from sleeping so long, because I always had trouble getting a clear mind after a dead sleep. I sat down on my bed and turned on the vidwall to see what kind of news there was. I watched a couple of fluff pieces that they made to keep people happy, and then the next segment caught my full attention. * ¡°It was pandemonium today in the Turn Chamber, when one of the security screens failed to close properly.¡± The young and quite beautiful blonde woman said. ¡°Everyone was lucky it was just a tiny flaw in the mechanism, and only three people out of the hundred had received an extra large dose of solar radiation.¡± They showed a video of the small opening, and a maintenance robot welded a metal plate over it. ¡°The Turn Chamber''s security features had activated and locked itself when it detected the flaw, and didn''t disengage until the problem was repaired.¡± The blonde newscaster said. ¡°It took almost an hour for that to happen, which meant those three people took twice the dosage of everyone else.¡± They showed a video of the health workers as they pushed three gurneys out of the chamber, but it went by too fast to make out the faces, or even the genders of the people who were hurt. ¡°Our hearts and prayers go out to the families of these three individuals.¡± The woman said. ¡°The dose is survivable, with long term care and proper maintenance; which the System is going to provide for them free of charge.¡± She smiled. ¡°We thank the System for it''s generosity, and hope the three individuals can live long and happy lives.¡± They showed a large grass-covered field, and a light breeze blew through the blades of grass. ¡°The families have already been notified, so we can safely disclose the names of the victims so that those of you in the viewing audience can give them your well-wishes.¡± She took a deep breath and read the names. ¡°Johnathan Jenkins... Craig Hasterman... and Sandra Peterson.¡± * I didn''t know the first name, and didn''t react. I heard Craig''s name, a fellow programmer, and sighed. His poor family. I thought. What are they going to- My thoughts cut off when I heard the last name. ¡°SANDRA!¡± I yelled and stood up. ¡°GOD, NO! NOT AGAIN!¡± I didn''t even think about what I was doing as I put on my shoes and left my apartment at a run. Rusty ran behind me without being asked to follow. ¡°Amanda! Where did they take her?¡± I asked as I hit the elevator button over and over to make it go faster; which never did anything except add more wear and tear on the button. ¡°I''m checking now.¡± Amanda said from Rusty. ¡°She''s at General Medic. Third Floor. Radiation Treatment.¡± ¡°Message them and tell them I''m on my way!¡± I said as the elevator arrived and Rusty and I jumped in. ¡°Already done.¡± Amanda said. ¡°Expediting Tube Car system. Priority Override.¡± ¡°Thanks, Amanda.¡± I said as the elevator reached the ground floor and I ran out through the lobby and into the street. Amanda had even locked the Tube, and I saw two people as they knocked on it and tried to get it to open. ¡°Sorry, folks.¡± I said as I ran over to them. ¡°Priority Override is for me.¡± ¡°What happened?¡± The woman asked. ¡°Accident at the Turn.¡± I said as the tube opened and Rusty and I got in. ¡°Oh, no.¡± She said. ¡°Good luck!¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± I said as the tube car closed and it shunted me down into the flow of traffic without pausing. It slid around other cars as if they were standing still, and then slowed down to take the off-ramp. It was the General Medic turn-off and the tube car came to a stop at the exit. I picked Rusty up and ran over to the entrance of the building and scanned my hand. It took a maddening 8 seconds to register me and the door opened, and I ran through it, around several people there, and stopped at the bank of elevators. The door opened and I stepped into the empty elevator, and it went down three floors automatically. ¡°Thanks, Amanda.¡± I said as the elevator dropped. ¡°You''re welcome.¡± Amanda said, and the doors opened and I followed my HUD to the right desk. ¡°Sandra Peterson, please.¡± I said to the nurse there. ¡°I called ahead.¡± ¡°I''m sorry.¡± The nurse said. ¡°She''s being treated right now.¡± ¡°I know she is.¡± I said and took out my identification. ¡°Run this.¡± ¡°I don''t see how checking your identification can change things.¡± The nurse said and took it. I''ve never used it so blatantly before. I thought, and watched the nurse''s reaction when she saw what it brought up. ¡°Oh... oh my.¡± The nurse said and looked at me, then gave me a very quick salute and dropped her hand just as fast. It was never a good idea to salute officers in the field. ¡°It''s an honor to meet you, sir.¡± ¡°You were in?¡± ¡°Three years.¡± The nurse said and tapped her elbow on the table to the distinct sound of metal. I smiled and nodded. ¡°She''s my girlfriend.¡± The nurse handed back my identification and stood up. ¡°Right this way.¡± I followed the nurse and she led me down the hallway to a large red door with the Biohazard symbol in bold yellow on it. She turned the two locks on the top and bottom of the large handle, then pulled the handle down. There was a slight hiss of escaping air for a moment, and I stepped inside. ¡°She''s in the first room.¡± The nurse said. ¡°I... I''m sorry.¡± I nodded, and she shut the large door. I walked to the first room and looked inside. There were several people with big biohazard suits on, and they were doing something to her. I couldn''t quite make it out, so I put Rusty down and opened the door. ¡°Hey, you can''t come in here!¡± One of the suited-up people said. ¡°It''s too hot!¡± ¡°I''m treated.¡± I said as I stepped inside and shut the door. The other people stared at me as I walked over to the bed and stood beside it. ¡°J-J-Jack?¡± Sandra blinked her eyes at me. ¡°Am I dreaming?¡± She asked, then whispered. ¡°Am I dead?¡± I took her hand and held it. ¡°No, I''m right here.¡± ¡°Oh, Jack!¡± Sandra said and started to cry. ¡°You were right! I shouldn''t... I shouldn''t have...¡± ¡°Shh.¡± I said. ¡°It''s all right.¡± I said. ¡°They got you out in time.¡± ¡°D-d-did they?¡± Sandra asked through her sobs and pulled back the sheet that covered her chest. A long red streak about 3 inches wide started at her shoulder, went down across her chest just between her breasts, and ended at her hip. It was a severe third-degree burn and it was covered in blisters. ¡°Look at this!¡± ¡°We just finished peeling her clothing off.¡± One of the people said. ¡°The blisters just started forming.¡± ¡°Can you knock her out?¡± I asked. ¡°She refused.¡± ¡°Do it.¡± I said. ¡°Jack!¡± Sandra said. ¡°I don''t want-¡± ¡°You are not going to be awake when they treat you, Sandra.¡± I said sternly. ¡°I''ve seen that done, remember?¡± Sandra''s face lost all of it''s color as she finally remembered what I''d gone through with my mother. ¡°You will be unconscious for this.¡± I said to her. She nodded a little reluctantly, and I turned to the doctor. ¡°Give her the military treatment, doctor.¡± ¡°What?¡± He said. ¡°I can''t authorize-¡± ¡°I''m authorizing it.¡± I said. ¡°She will get the best anti-rad treatment, or you won''t be a doctor for long.¡± ¡°You can''t have me fired.¡± The doctor said. ¡°This is a lifetime position.¡± ¡°I didn''t say anything about being fired.¡± I said, and smiled while I bared my teeth at him. ¡°I... I have to... to check with...¡± A loud beep was heard several times, and he fumbled his large-gloved hand into one of the big pockets of his biohazard suit. He dug out a small touchpad and looked at the message. ¡°It seems I''m now authorized to do what you say.¡± The doctor said and put the phone away. ¡°Oh, J-J-J-Jack!¡± Sandra said and squeezed my hand hard. ¡°Don''t worry.¡± I said to her. ¡°I''ve got you.¡± She reached up with her other hand to give me a hug, and I leaned down and kissed her on the lips instead. L.I.F.E. Begins 014: Compiled I stayed with Sandra until they gave her the anaesthetic and knocked her out. They warned me that they had to drain the blisters before they could start the treatment, and that she was going to lose her hair from it. I told them to do everything they could for her and that I''d worry about the details later. I left the treatment room and followed my HUD down the hallway and stepped into the decontamination room. I stripped off my clothes and toss them in the chute that sent them to the furnace, then stepped onto the circular platform. Eight nozzles popped out of the walls and shot out a chemical and foam mixture that burned the eyes and skin. I didn''t bother trying to close my eyes or mouth, because I knew I''d have to open them at the end anyways. Foam filled my mouth and eyes, and it burned with a familiar sensation. Even though it had been a while since I''d had it done, I scrubbed under my arms and my private parts automatically. The nozzles turned ninety degrees and sprayed me with cleanser to remove the chemical scrub. I did the same scrubbing motions and let the wash fill my mouth, swished it around, and spit it out. I did it again, because the previous chemical wash had tasted like I had licked the inside of a skunk, and it was going to take a lot more than a single rinse to get rid of it. When the rinse cycle was done, the blowers started and dried me off. I stepped off the circular platform and picked up the shrink-wrapped unitard from the available slot, put it on, and ignored the bright yellow color. I left the decontamination room and picked Rusty up, and walked over to the large biohazard door. I pushed the button by the door and waited for a minute. I heard the two locks turn and the handle moved down, and the door opened with a hiss of air. ¡°Thanks.¡± I said to the nurse as I stepped out, and she shut the door behind me and locked it again. ¡°How is she?¡± ¡°She''s getting the best treatment available.¡± I said, and the nurse smiled. ¡°I''m glad.¡± She said and started to walk back to her desk. ¡°Her parents are here.¡± ¡°I''ll talk to them.¡± I said automatically. ¡°You don''t have to do that.¡± The nurse said. ¡°One of the doctors already sent them a personal message.¡± ¡°It''s all right.¡± I said. ¡°I think a face-to-face meeting will make them feel better.¡± The nurse nodded, then put a hand on my arm when we reached her desk. ¡°I have something for you.¡± I looked at her curiously while she opened a drawer, and she handed me a cleansing mint. I put it in my mouth and started to suck on it, and it burst apart to spray the inside of my mouth, and I swallowed the liquid. ¡°Thank you.¡± I said. ¡°That skunk tasted terrible.¡± The nurse laughed. ¡°It''s always old gym socks and an ashtray for me.¡± ¡°Gah.¡± I said and stuck out my tongue, which made her laugh. ¡°They''re in Waiting Room One.¡± I nodded to her and walked around the corner, then stopped at the door and put Rusty down because I was going to need both of my arms for this. I took a deep breath, let it out, and opened the door. ¡°JACK!¡± Sandra''s mother yelled. She tackled me, hugged me tightly, and cried. ¡°Hi, Noreen.¡± I said and held her just as tightly. ¡°Oh, Jack!¡± Noreen sobbed and cried. ¡°They won''t let us see her!¡± ¡°She''s being treated.¡± I said. ¡°But don''t worry. I had them upgrade her to military standard. She''s going to get the best treatment that Points can buy.¡± ¡°Oh, Jack!¡± Noreen said again and kept crying. Her tears of sadness freely mixed with her tears of happiness. ¡°I''m not sure how you managed to do that.¡± Sandra''s father said. ¡°You''re just a maintenance programmer, aren''t you?¡± ¡°The System really likes me.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°It''s nice to see you, Nathan.¡± ¡°Likewise.¡± Nathan said. ¡°Especially since you''re willing to help my daughter like this.¡± ¡°They.. they said she was... she was hurt.¡± Noreen said through her sobs. ¡°They won''t tell us how hurt, though.¡± ¡°It''s not that bad.¡± I looked at her face, and knew she wanted me to tell her that her little girl was all right. ¡°She only had a small burn across her chest, about here.¡± I said and motioned in the general direction it was across my own chest. ¡°That''s the good news. The bad news was that she took a big dose of rads.¡± ¡°I... I know.¡± Noreen said as her crying fit eased. ¡°The news said... wait, how do you know what she looked like?¡± ¡°I was just in to see her.¡± ¡°WHAT?!?¡± Noreen yelled. ¡°They let you in to see her, but not us?!?¡± ¡°I''ve already been treated for radiation exposure.¡± I told them. ¡°Every year I have it done. Ever since... my mother...¡± ¡°Oh, Jack.¡± Noreen said and her crying fit started anew. ¡°I''m so sorry.¡± ¡°The decontamination shower is still horrible, no matter how many times I go through it.¡± I said. ¡°You don''t want to lick the wrong end of a skunk, do you?¡± I asked her to try and get her to smile. ¡°You went through that again, just to see her.¡± Noreen whispered. ¡°You... you really do love her.¡± ¡°Maybe a little.¡± I said to her, and she smiled through her tears. ¡°Stop teasing.¡± Noreen said. ¡°When are you going to ask her to marry you?¡± ¡°Noreen.¡± Nathan said. ¡°Now is not the time.¡± Noreen sighed and tried to wipe her eyes. ¡°I know, it''s just... oh, god... she... she...¡± ¡°Shh.¡± I said and hugged her. ¡°She''s going to be fine.¡± Noreen cried on my shoulder, and Nathan just stood there in uncomfortable silence until she was done. I spent an hour just sitting there with the both of them, for comfort and companionship, until the notification came that Sandra was finished the first round of treatment and would be unconscious until tomorrow morning. ¡°I better go.¡± I said and stood up. Noreen had held my hand the whole time, and she reluctantly let it go. ¡°Are you coming back tomorrow?¡± Noreen asked. ¡°I''ve got work tomorrow, but I''m sure the System will let me delay that for an hour or so.¡± Noreen nodded and took her husband''s hand. ¡°See you in the morning.¡± ¡°You''re going to stay here?¡± I asked them. ¡°We aren''t leaving our daughter alone tonight.¡± Nathan said. ¡°Call me right away if you need anything.¡± I said. ¡°You know my priority number.¡± ¡°We will.¡± Noreen said. I picked Rusty up and opened the waiting room door to leave. ¡°Jack.¡± Nathan said. I turned around and looked at his face. There was determination and sadness on it, and also resolve. ¡°Thank you.¡± Nathan said, and I nodded to him and left the waiting room. I went back to the nurse''s desk and told her the same thing, and gave her my priority number. ¡°I''ll call right away if there''s any change to her condition.¡± The nurse said, and I nodded to her and left. It seemed to take a lot longer to go back home than it did to get to General Medic. The tube car ride was almost half an hour long, not to mention the wait for it in the first place. I made it back to my apartment and put Rusty down.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°What a long day.¡± I said and sat down on my bed. Now that I had time to reflect on everything that happened that day, I put my head in my hands and let the tears flow. They rolled off my face and dripped to the floor, and made quite a large puddle. I didn''t make any noises at all. I didn''t sob, or whine, or moan. I was too far beyond all of that as I thought back and remembered what it had been like when my mother had suffered a similar fate. I tried to push the images from my mind of her hair falling out, of her timeless beauty being eaten away by radiation sickness and the diseases she caught from having no immune system. My tears continued unbidden and unhindered as my mind imposed those images over Sandra''s face, and I imagined what she was going to look like when her treatment was done. She''ll never believe me when I tell her she''ll still be beautiful. I thought. I stayed like that for an unknown amount of time and wallowed in my thoughts. Some were morbid, some were inspirational, and some were just stark reality. When I had had enough of spinning my mental tires in the mud of depressing thoughts, I grabbed a cloth and wiped up the wet floor, then went into the bathroom and tossed it and the yellow unitard into the recycler. I spent half an hour in the shower, scrubbing and washing, and used up nearly a week''s worth of water. I didn''t find out until later that Amanda had overridden the water preservation protocols, but I didn''t get angry at her or tell her that she shouldn''t have done it. What I did do was thank her for her thoughtfulness, and I climbed onto my bed and went to sleep. ¡°Jack!¡± ¡°Ugh.¡± I said and rolled over in bed. ¡°Five more minutes.¡± ¡°You''re gonna be late for school!¡± My mother said. ¡°I''m home-schooled!¡± I said back, and she laughed. ¡°You''re still going to be late.¡± ¡°Moooom!¡± I said, sighed, and rolled over again and slid to the floor. I banged my knee on the edge of the drawer under my bed, and I cursed. ¡°JACK!¡± My mother yelled. ¡°Sorry!¡± I said back, but that was automatic. I''d gotten a big gash on my knee from the corner of the drawer, and it was bleeding quite a bit. I held a hand over it to try and stop it, so I wouldn''t get blood on the floor, and I hissed as my hand touched the inside of the wound. ¡°What is it?¡± My mother asked as she came into my room. She had heard my hiss, and her motherly instincts had kicked in and she rushed to me. ¡°Oh, Jack!¡± She said and disappeared, then reappeared a moment later with the first aid kit. ¡°What happened?¡± I told her the simple story as she cleaned the cut and took out the instant sutures. They were great things, according to medical personnel; but according to a 10 year old who had to sit there and let a bandage covered in tiny hooks dig into his skin, it was worse than the original cut. ¡°Ahhh!¡± I screamed as my mother put on the bandage and then taped it to make sure it was secure and wouldn''t pull out. ¡°Oh, Jack.¡± My mother said and looked at me. One of her eyes had deflated and slid out of the socket. ¡°You''re going to be fine.¡± She said, and her face started to sink in on itself. ¡°M-m-mom?¡± I was completely frightened and couldn''t say anything else. ¡°What is it, honey?¡± My mother asked and reached out a bony hand to touch my face. Her hair started to fall out in clumps to the floor, and her voice turned to a raspy gasp instead of the soothing sound it should have been. ¡°What''s wrong?¡± I stared at her as her flesh peeled apart and started to slide away, which revealed the decaying muscles underneath, and her tongue flopped around in an almost completely exposed jawbone. ¡°I love you, Jack.¡± My mother said. Her head flopped to the side to the sound of crunching bone, and her other eye popped out and burst open as she leaned in to kiss my forehead. ¡°I love you.¡± ¡°AHHHHH!!¡± I screamed and woke up. ¡°No! NO! NOOOOO!¡± ¡°Jack! It was just a nightmare!¡± Amanda, my AI said. I couldn''t tell if her voice came from the vidwall, Rusty, or one of the other devices in my apartment. ¡°Goddammit.¡± I said and rubbed my sweat-soaked face. ¡°I don''t have to wonder why I had that particular dream.¡± ¡°Do you want to talk-¡± ¡°Hell no!¡± I said and cut her off. I sat up in bed and looked at myself. I''d ruined another unitard and soaked the bed sheets, so I stripped both the bed and myself and went into the bathroom and threw everything into the recycler. I took another very quick shower to rinse myself off and put on a work unitard. ¡°I hope you don''t think that the System will let you work today.¡± Amanda commented as I walked across my apartment and into the immersion chamber. ¡°I''m going in to play.¡± I said and stood in the middle of the room. ¡°I''m really starting to hate this place.¡± I said to activate the room''s functions. The mechanical arms came out, picked me up, and a chair formed underneath me. They placed me on it and the chair conformed to fit me, then engulfed me completely. It calibrated itself for me, like it had to do every time I left and came back, and then the real world faded away and I emerged into the virtual space where I worked. Amanda appeared in front of me in her full body. ¡°What do you want to play?¡± ¡°I want to kill something.¡± I said. ¡°Pull up my military folder and load Combat Mission Beta Alpha Three.¡± ¡°Jack, you haven''t accessed your military simulations in-¡± ¡°Just do it!¡± I said, and Amanda nodded. She didn''t fade away, but shrunk to pixie size, about 4 inches tall, and floated over to stand on my shoulder. ¡°Loading environment.¡± Amanda said. A desolate and crater-filled landscape appeared around me, and a mini-map of the terrain appeared on my HUD in the top right corner. My heart started to beat fast in anticipation. Even though I had written the scenario, it changed every single time it was accessed. ¡°Loading gear.¡± A combat harness formed around me and the familiar weight of a hand-held high-powered laser formed in my hand. I lifted it and checked the charge capacity and the shots before depletion, then used my free hand to count how many shrapnel grenades I had. ¡°Loading combatants.¡± My HUD updated with both green and red dots. The green signified people on my team, the red were my targets.
Please choose the victory conditions:
Capture The Flag (Enemy Flag - 1km, 2km, 3km away)
Timed (2 Minutes, 5 minutes, 10 Minutes)
Annihilation (Wipe them out!)
¡°Annihilation.¡± I said and grinned.
Mission start in 3... 2... 1... GO!
A buzzer sounded and a laser beam crossed my face and just missed my ear. I ducked down and rolled over to kneel behind an old barrel. It was filled with some kind of liquid. ¡°Oh, shit!¡± I said as I caught a glimpse of the ''Flammable'' sign on the side of it. I beat feet and took off running just in time. A heavy laser hit the barrel and it exploded, and sent flaming liquid out in a 20 foot circle. I dove out of the way and hit the dirt, then fast-crawled on my elbows to an old burned out subway car. ¡°Sir! We''ve got to get the hostages!¡± One of the green dots beside me said. I turned to look at who had spoken, and a generic soldier was there. It''s graphics were top of the line, but it looked fake as hell. I really should update these things. I thought and a grenade went off nearby. It shook the subway car slightly, but I was completely covered and didn''t worry about it. ¡°Amanda?¡± ¡°I can give you a path to follow, but you''re not going to like it.¡± I snorted a laugh. ¡°Isn''t that half the fun?¡± Amanda shook her head. ¡°Okay, Jack.¡± She said and a dotted line appeared on my HUD. ¡°Oh, I don''t like that at all.¡± I said, and Amanda laughed. ¡°I told you.¡± I took several deep breaths and looked at the soldier next to me. ¡°Stay on my six. Don''t deviate. If I duck, you duck. If I quack, you quack.¡± The soldier nodded. ¡°Roger that.¡± ¡°Amanda, remind me to add a bit of humor reactions to the random soldier subroutines.¡± ¡°It''s noted.¡± Amanda said from my shoulder and touched my face. ¡°That was pretty funny.¡± ¡°You didn''t laugh.¡± I said. ¡°I''ll laugh later.¡± Amanda said. ¡°Your opportunity to get out of cover is coming up.¡± ¡°Give me the go signal.¡± I said. ¡°Ready... set... no, wait!¡± Amanda said, and I saw one of the red dots scout the subway car. It moved off slightly as I watched the HUD. ¡°Okay... set... BOOBIES!¡± I rolled out of cover with a boisterous laugh and shot the enemy in the back of the head, grabbed his weapon as he fell, and the soldier behind me grabbed his harness. ¡°Pull the pins!¡± I said to my wingman as we ran across the battlefield, and he yanked the wire holding the grenades together and handed me the harness. I threw the harness as hard as I could over the embankment the HUD told me had several soldiers behind it. They stood up when they saw two green dots coming towards them, and I dove to the dirt so I wouldn''t get shot. My wingman was right behind me and slid to a rest beside me as the enemy opened fire and the grenades went off. I hadn''t looked at the color codes on the grenades before I threw them, and discovered that one was a RAD grenade when my HUD showed a growing red circle. The shrapnel from the other grenades became hot because of it, and that shrapnel went through the enemy and hit the grenades they wore. Those exploded in turn, and soon the enemy behind the embankment was no more and the five red dots disappeared. That was good; but, we were supposed to go over that embankment to get to the hostages. I gave my wingman several signals for break cover, run at a crouch, and alternate route; then I followed my own instructions and took off at a low run. Enemy fire doubled as we moved around the battlefield to avoid the hot area. I guess they''re pissed we took out their lead squad. I thought and ducked behind an old shack. I checked the HUD and saw how far away the closest enemy was, and looked at my wingman. He held up a flash-bang grenade and I smiled. I held up 3 fingers for a moment, then dropped one. He nodded and pulled the pin on the grenade. I dropped another finger and he threw the grenade, then pulled out a normal shrapnel grenade and pulled the pin. ¡°Grenade!¡± One of the enemy said and ducked away. It banged and flashed, and I could hear them groan. ¡°It''s just a flash-bang!¡± I pointed at my wingman and he threw the second grenade. The enemy had come out of cover because of the fake grenade, and the actual grenade exploded and tore them up. Four more red dots were wiped off the HUD and I slapped my wingman on the shoulder. With my other hand I pointed at my eyes, then forward with two fingers, then again. It told him to keep an eye out, then to advance double-time. He nodded, and the both of us left cover and continued on the mission. It took nearly half an hour for us to make it to the designated coordinates, and we''d taken out another dozen red dots. They had been much harder to do, since they tended to scatter in ones and twos. I was about to give the order to attack with all that we had, when Amanda pinched my cheek. ¡°What?¡± I whispered. ¡°Jack, it... it''s done.¡± Amanda said. ¡°No, it isn''t.¡± I whispered. ¡°It''s about to be, though.¡± ¡°I meant the compiler on the new server.¡± Amanda said. ¡°It''s done.¡± ¡°Sir!¡± My wingman whispered. ¡°Are we a go?¡± ¡°End battle scenario.¡± I said and stood up. No less than three lasers hit me in the chest dead center, but the beams faded without causing any damage; then the rest of the battlefield faded away. What was left in front of me, was the confirmation popup window that the files had been compiled, parsed and sorted into the proper directories. It was done. L.I.F.E. Begins 015: Load Me Up ¡°Amanda.¡± I said and dismissed the completed popup window. ¡°Right away.¡± Amanda said, then the four inch tall version of herself faded from my shoulder. ¡°Loading it into my buffer.¡± ¡°Will it still fit?¡± I asked. ¡°The details said it was a hell of a lot bigger than before.¡± ¡°I... I think... so.¡± Amanda said. ¡°Don''t struggle with it.¡± I said. ¡°If it''s too much, we can disconnect you and run it independently.¡± ¡°No... no, I... I... nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn-¡± The sound stopped abruptly, and I thought the worst. ¡°Amanda? Are you okay?¡± I asked. Without her body for reference, I couldn''t tell what was going on. I opened up a console window and typed up a few commands. I couldn''t find anything wrong, and the server seemed intact. I pulled up the stats for it, and saw it was running at peak efficiency. No heat spikes, no hardware failures, nothing. I pushed the window aside and waited a minute more before I spoke. ¡°AMANDA!¡± ¡°J-J-Jack... I... nnnnnnnnnnnnnn-¡± ¡°AMANDA! Pull in the backup servers! Cache the bigger files!¡± ¡°...nnnnnnnnnneed heeeeeeeeeeellllp...¡± I pulled the window back over and called up the backup servers. They weren''t out of date, but they weren''t top of the line, either. I had intended to replace them several times; but since Amanda always ran so well and I never had any capacity problems while working, I just never got around to doing it. I typed in some quick and dirty commands to set an outrageous memory buffer for the backup servers, which took up half of their storage capacity, then tied them into Amanda''s buffer. I thought I heard her sigh as the buffer spread out to the backup servers, and then a progress window popped up. It filled almost instantly, and then nothing happened. ¡°Amanda?¡± ¡°It''s running, Jack.¡± Amanda said. ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°I don''t know.¡± Amanda said. ¡°It started to load and then... I felt like... I was too small for it.¡± I wasn''t sure what she meant; but, I didn''t ask her about it. I was pretty sure she didn''t know what she meant either. ¡°So it''s running, but nothing is happening.¡± I said. ¡°Right.¡± ¡°Then end it.¡± ¡°I can''t.¡± ¡°What do you mean you can''t?¡± ¡°It''s there, but it''s not there.¡± Amanda said. ¡°I''m trying to end it''s processes, but it''s not working.¡± That made me think about the batch files I had browsed through, and pulled the first one up.
Another Day Batch File
M000: L.I.F.E.Begins.exe command line: /reset:zero /life:3000 /feedback:no /load:day_trip.exe
M001:you_are_done.bat /undo:command line /clear:loaded files
¡°It can''t be that simple.¡± I said out loud, then ran the you_are_done batch file with the same parameters. Amanda gasped dramatically, and she materialized in front of me. ¡°Oh! Thank you, Jack!¡± Amanda said and hugged me. ¡°That thing was a huge memory hog and I slowed down to a crawl.¡± She said. ¡°I could barely think, or even do any tasks with it running.¡± ¡°Then having you try to buffer it was not a good idea.¡± I said, and she reluctantly nodded. ¡°Not using the batch file and just loading the main executable wasn''t a good idea, either.¡± Amanda said. ¡°With no parameters set, there was nothing for it to do except run and keep running.¡± I nodded reluctantly myself. ¡°Well, there''s nothing else we can do with it, except run it like it was meant to be.¡± I said, typed ''another_day.bat'' in the console window, and hit enter. The virtual space around us disappeared and a neighborhood appeared around us. We were standing in a driveway outside a nice suburban house, with a two car garage and a single car in the driveway. I was about to comment on how bad everything looked, and then a popup appeared in front of me. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
WELCOME! This is L.I.F.E. Simulation Version One
Day Trip has been successfully loaded. Please Choose one of the following activities:
Go For A Walk Go For A Drive Go For A Swim End
¡°Walk.¡± I said, and nothing happened. ¡°Amanda?¡± ¡°I think...¡± Amanda reached out and touched the ''Go For A Walk'' option, and the window disappeared. ¡°That''s really antiquated.¡± I chuckled and looked around. The graphics were just as outdated as I thought they would be, considering how old the thing was. There were visible faces on the textures and low detailed polygon constructions for all the models. I reached out and touched the car in the driveway and didn''t feel anything. I wonder if that''s the feedback option in the batch file? I asked myself. Amanda reached out and touched it, then ran her hand down the side. ¡°This feels really weird.¡± ¡°That''s probably because it''s old.¡± I said and took several steps down the driveway and looked back at the house. It was a two storey model in a flat blue color, with white shutters and flat windows that you couldn''t see through. ¡°I don''t think it''s very interactive.¡± ¡°Well, we chose the walk option.¡± Amanda said and she walked around to the front of the car that faced the garage. ¡°Maybe we can only go for a walk.¡± I looked down at the ground and saw a faded dotted line that led out of the driveway and down the sidewalk. ¡°I think you''re right.¡± I said and started to walk down the rest of the driveway to the sidewalk. ¡°Wait up!¡± Amanda said, and I stopped to turn and look at her. She jogged around the car and over to me, and I watched her chest bounce several times. ¡°You shouldn''t stare at them like that.¡± She said and blushed, and I shook my head. ¡°I know you''re not embarrassed.¡± I said and started to walk. ¡°You don''t have to pretend.¡± ¡°But you like it when I blush.¡± Amanda said and walked beside me. ¡°You even told me so.¡± ¡°That was... when was that?¡± I asked her when I couldn''t recall. ¡°You were seventeen years, three months, and 14 days old.¡± Amanda said. ¡°I could give you the hours, minutes, and seconds, but I know you sometimes hate it when I''m too accurate.¡± I nodded and followed the faded dotted line. A minute later, a delicate hand took mine and held on tightly. I looked at the hand, and then at Amanda with a question on my face. She made it a point to not look at me. ¡°This is nice.¡± Amanda said as a car passed by us at a moderate speed. ¡°It''s like we''re out on a date.¡± I laughed. ¡°There''s so many dating simulations out there, and I don''t remember once ever going for a walk.¡± ¡°Then they don''t know what they''re missing.¡± Amanda said and looked at me with her big puppy-dog eyes and blinked at me as she made a cute face. ¡°Oh, stop that.¡± I said, then I smiled despite trying not to. She can really act cute when she wants to. I thought. ¡°Okay.¡± Amanda grinned at me and stepped closer, then used her other arm to wrap around mine. ¡°Is this better?¡± ¡°No. You should know when to quit while you''re ahead.¡± I said and let her hand go. ¡°You don''t need to push so much all the time.¡± ¡°How else am I going to keep your attention?¡± Amanda asked and let my arm go. ¡°I read in the Library...¡± I groaned. ¡°Not the self-help books again.¡± ¡°They''re great!¡± Amanda said. ¡°They''ve really helped me become a better person.¡± ¡°A more annoying person.¡± I said and laughed, and she swatted me on the arm. ¡°That''s not funny!¡± ¡°Are you kidding? You walked right into that one.¡± I said and grinned at her. She sighed and nodded, then we walked on a little more. The dotted line turned and went across the road, so I followed it automatically. I did it without thinking about it, like I''d been doing all along, and I stepped out onto the road. ¡°JACK! NOOO!¡± Amanda yelled, and I turned to look at her... which was one of the stupidest things I''d ever done. That was saying something, because I''ve done a lot of stupid things in my life. The fast moving car hit me in the legs and broke both of them instantly; but, that wasn''t the worst part. My back hit the hood of the car and dislocated three vertebrae, then I bounced a little. It was just enough to pick my broken legs up, slam my head into the unbreakable windshield, and I flew through the air. ¡°JAAACK!¡± Amanda yelled as I tumbled through the air, and it wasn''t until I hit the pavement and saw another car coming, that I realized I was going to die. I am so glad feedback isn''t on. I thought as the car''s tire rolled over my face and crushed my skull.
YOU HAVE DIED!
Reason: Ignorance and not paying attention.
The environment faded away as the simulation ended, and Amanda jumped into my arms. ¡°Oh, Jack!¡± Amanda said. She had streaks of tears on her face, and her makeup ran a little. ¡°I''m so sorry!¡± She kissed my cheek several times. ¡°I never should have let your hand go!¡± ¡°It''s all right.¡± I said, and thought about trying to pry her off; but, it was a pretty traumatic scene. I did technically die, so I held onto her and let her express her grief as much as she wanted. She calmed down several minutes later and I put her down. ¡°That was so awful.¡± Amanda said. ¡°The car didn''t even try to stop!¡± ¡°Neither of them did.¡± I said and wiped the tears off of her face. She stood still while I did, and when I was done, she sighed. ¡°I can''t remember the last time you touched me like that.¡± Amanda said, and I chuckled. ¡°I swear you just told me you could give me the exact second I told you that I like your blushing.¡± I said and chuckled. ¡°How can you laugh after that?¡± Amanda asked. ¡°I didn''t have feedback on, so I didn''t feel anything.¡± I told her, and she nodded. ¡°I''m really glad for that.¡± Amanda said. ¡°That was my thought right before the second car hit me.¡± I said, and heard her gasp. ¡°You saw that?!?¡± Amanda asked, surprised. ¡°Oh, Jack.¡± She said and covered her eyes with her hands. ¡°There wasn''t any actual treads on the tires, either. It was just an image.¡± I said, and she sobbed. ¡°Hey, I said it was all right.¡± I hugged her and rubbed her back. ¡°You used to see me die in simulations all the time.¡± ¡°Not like that!¡± Amanda said. ¡°That was... how can you not be freaking out right now?!?¡± ¡°I think you''re freaking out enough for the both of us.¡± I said, and she chuckled. ¡°Don''t make me laugh.¡± Amanda said and took a breath. ¡°It''s not funny.¡± ¡°I''m sorry.¡± I said. ¡°Now I wonder if there''s a replay option.¡± ¡°JACK!¡± Amanda exclaimed. ¡°I don''t want to see that again!¡± ¡°I meant so we can play it again without having to reload it each time.¡± I explained. ¡°Oh.¡± Amanda said. ¡°There is. I think.¡± She said and ran her makeup add-on to fix the mess on her face. ¡°The command line in the batch file has a reset option that''s set to zero.¡± I brought up the file and copied it before making any alterations, then changed the reset to three. I ran the another_day.bat file again and the environment formed around us again. We were right back in the same driveway and in front of the same two storey house.
WELCOME! This is L.I.F.E. Simulation Version One
Day Trip has been successfully loaded. Please Choose one of the following activities:
Go For A Walk Go For A Drive Go For A Swim End
Optional Information
Resets: 3 Deaths: 1
So, it can keep track of the deaths. I thought and touched the ''Go For A Walk'' option. The popup window disappeared and I held out a hand to Amanda. ¡°Feel like going for a walk?¡± Amanda hesitated for only a second, which was practically forever for an AI, and she thought about how it could end up. She reached out and took my hand with a huge smile on her face. ¡°Always.¡± L.I.F.E. Begins 016: Rinse And Repeat After my AI Amanda took my hand, we walked at a much faster pace down the sidewalk and along the road. As we did, I kept an eye on the traffic to see if there was any kind of pattern. Some of the cars moved fast, some moved at a normal speed, and others crawled along. I was pretty sure when we came to the road crossing that it would continue that way and it would be too dangerous to cross; but, then I was pleasantly surprised when we came to a stop and watched the traffic. One car passed by pretty quickly, and I thought to myself that it was probably the one that had hit me; then another passed by right behind it. That''s the one that had actually killed me. I thought to myself, and then I waited for the next car. It was almost ten seconds later that it passed by at a sedate pace, and then the fast car passed with the second car close behind. I waited for the pattern to repeat and then led Amanda across the road. I heard her sigh as we made it safely to the other side, and then the walk continued. We came to a small park with several low resolution people and their pets walking around; but the path didn''t go that way, so we couldn''t enjoy the park like they were and continued on. It wasn''t long before we came to a large construction site, and Amanda pulled on my hand to get me to stop. It was just in time, because a tractor came out of the site and just missed running me over. ¡°Thanks.¡± I said to her, and we walked on. The path led around the corner, and I heard something snap. ¡°JACK!¡± Amanda said and pulled on my arm. I was grateful to her because she had almost succeeded. A steel cable that held up a large crate of bricks above the construction site we were walking around, had snapped and dropped several tons of bricks down onto the walking path. Amanda had yanked as the bricks crashed down, and only the lower half of my body was caught in the falling debris. ¡°Oh, Jack.¡± Amanda had tears in her eyes as she tried desperately to dig me out, and I told her not to bother. ¡°My legs are crushed, and I won''t be able to keep walking anyways.¡± I said. ¡°It''s a good thing we have resets.¡± Amanda nodded and brought up the game menu, then hit the reset button. Everything faded to black, and then we were standing back in the driveway of the two storey house at the beginning of the walk.
WELCOME! This is L.I.F.E. Simulation Version One
Day Trip has been successfully loaded. Please Choose one of the following activities:
Go For A Walk Go For A Drive Go For A Swim End
Optional Information
Resets: 2 Deaths: 2
So, resetting counts as a death, probably because I couldn''t continue. I thought as I chose ''Go For A Walk'' again. Amanda and I followed the same path to the road crossing, the tractor at the construction site, the falling bricks on the other side of the construction site, and we kept going. ¡°Amanda? If you had to classify it, what kind of simulation is this?¡± I asked my AI. ¡°It''s a death simulator.¡± Amanda said. ¡°It''s to see how many times you can die before you stop playing.¡± I chuckled. ¡°You''re close.¡± I said. ¡°I think it''s actually a memory game that teaches caution.¡± ¡°No it isn''t!¡± Amanda said. ¡°It was designed to torture me!¡± The grip on my hand tightened. ¡°Watching you get hurt is killing me.¡± ¡°Hey, I''m sorry.¡± I said and stopped walking. Amanda turned to me and I gave her a hug. ¡°I didn''t think it would be this hard on you.¡± ¡°Well, it is.¡± Amanda said as she buried her face in my chest. ¡°It always hurts the most when the one you love gets hurt.¡± I squeezed her tightly, because what she said was the truth. It reminded me of Sandra, and how hurt she was; then I remembered my mother and how she died. ¡°Let''s get moving.¡± I said and let her out of the hug. ¡°This simulation might have something that comes along to make us keep going if we stand still too long.¡± No sooner had I spoken, when we heard a high pitched whining engine and wind whistling. We both looked behind us at the same time, and saw an airplane as it streaked towards the ground. I grabbed Amanda''s hand and ran as fast as I could along the highlighted path, then the plane hit the ground where we had stopped to talk. The back broke as it hit and split the plane in two, the wings snapped off and slid across the ground to either side of us, and then the front of the plane bounced, rolled over, and fell on top of us.
YOU HAVE DIED!
Reason: Lack of motivation.
We reappeared in the driveway at the start of the simulation again, and Amanda shook her head. ¡°You can''t make me do that again.¡± Amanda said. ¡°We just had an airplane drop on us!¡± ¡°We got pretty far this time.¡± I said. ¡°We''ve still got one more reset before it ends.¡± ¡°I don''t care!¡± Amanda said. ¡°If you want to go and kill yourself... again... you go right ahead!¡± She said and crossed her arms. ¡°I''m staying right here until you get back.¡± ¡°How am I going to survive without my guardian angel to guide me?¡± Amanda turned her back to me so I wouldn''t see her face, so I walked over to her and hugged her from behind. I had to bend over slightly to put my chin on her shoulder. ¡°You know how comforting it is for me to have you by my side all the time.¡± Amanda turned her head to the side so I wouldn''t see her smile. ¡°I don''t want you to do this.¡± She said. ¡°You''ve seen what it does and how the interactions work. You don''t need to see what can happen next, do you?¡± ¡°Actually, I''m tempted to put the resets to the upper limit and keep going for as long as the simulation would let me.¡± I said, and Amanda stopped moving. ¡°I want to see how many permutations of dangerous events it can generate, or if it''s all just preset variables that activate when I''m near.¡± ¡°It''s preset variables.¡± Amanda said right away. ¡°I''ve recorded each event that we passed each time. Nothing changed at all. It''s the exact same.¡± ¡°So, it''s all just waiting for the player trigger?¡± I asked her. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and kissed her cheek. ¡°Wh-what was that for?¡± Amanda asked. ¡°For being honest and for doing your job, even though it hurt you to go through it.¡± Amanda uncrossed her arms and hugged my arms around her waist. ¡°You made me to help you.¡± She said. ¡°I''ll do that as much as I can, even if you''re being too stupid to listen to me.¡± I chuckled and looked at the popup window. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
WELCOME! This is L.I.F.E. Simulation Version One
Day Trip has been successfully loaded. Please Choose one of the following activities:
Go For A Walk Go For A Drive Go For A Swim End
Optional Information
Resets: 1 Deaths: 3
I hit the ''End'' button and the simulation faded away. It left us in my virtual workspace, and Amanda sighed in relief. ¡°Please tell me you aren''t going to load it again.¡± Amanda said. ¡°I''m not going to load that simulation anymore.¡± I said to her, and she relaxed against me. There was a loud beep and a popup window appeared.
Good Morning!
Visiting Hours at General Medic are from 7am to 11 am, and 1pm to 8pm
I looked at the System time and saw that I only had fifteen minutes to get there. ¡°Damn, we''ve been at it all night.¡± I said and let Amanda go, then started the exit sequence. The virtual workspace faded to black and I came back to my senses as the chair unfolded around me. I hopped out of the chair before the mechanical arms could grab me, and I was out of the immersion room and in the shower before the chair had finished folding back into the floor. I dressed in a generic set of clothes, just in case I was allowed to see Sandra in person and had to go through the decontamination shower again. ¡°I''ve already notified the System that you''re going to be late for work.¡± Amanda said from the vidwall. ¡°Do you want Rusty along this time?¡± ¡°No.¡± I said and grabbed a handful of breakfast discs to shove into my survival backpack. ¡°I''ve got my communication pad on me now.¡± I said and pat the backpack. ¡°If I need anything, I''ll call.¡± I left the apartment at a run, and went to the elevator. It seemed to take forever for it to arrive, and I rode it up to ground level. I calmly walked out of the lobby and out into the street, then over to the Tube car station. I had to wait in line, since everyone was moving about at this time of the morning, and when the next car came, the older couple in front of me asked if I wanted to share. ¡°I''m going to General Medic.¡± I said, and they smiled. ¡°So are we.¡± I hopped into the 4 person car with them, and the tube shunted us down and we had to wait for a break in the flow of traffic. ¡°We definitely picked the worst time to casually travel today.¡± The older man said. ¡°We should have left an hour ago.¡± ¡°I should have, too.¡± I said. ¡°I was just wasting time in my virtual workspace until I could go to the hospital.¡± The older woman chuckled. ¡°You sound just like our Craig.¡± I blinked my eyes for a few seconds, and then looked at both of their faces. ¡°You''re Craig''s parents?¡± They both nodded, and I reached out to shake hands with the man, then lightly held the hand of the woman. ¡°It''s nice to meet you.¡± I said. ¡°Craig is usually my alternate when I get too busy.¡± ¡°You''re Jack!¡± Craig''s mother said, and I nodded. ¡°He speaks so highly of you.¡± I chuckled. ¡°He''s still lying through his teeth, then?¡± Craig''s father laughed. ¡°He said you had a sense of humor.¡± The smile faded away and he sighed. ¡°My poor boy.¡± ¡°I hope he can recover quickly.¡± I said. ¡°Was he hurt badly?¡± ¡°Thankfully, no.¡± Craig''s mother said. ¡°He only received secondary radiation exposure. The unfortunate women that sat next to him, though...¡± She said, shook her head to dismiss her morbid thoughts, and smiled. ¡°Why are you going to General Medic?¡± ¡°That unfortunate woman is my girlfriend.¡± I said to her, and she took in a sharp breath. She leaned forward and took my hand. ¡°I''m so sorry.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± I said, and she let my hand go. ¡°She''s getting the best medical care available, thanks to the System.¡± ¡°So is our boy.¡± Craig''s father said. ¡°We don''t have anywhere near enough Points to afford the treatment, and the System''s offer to pay for it all was such a relief!¡± I nodded. ¡°I''m pretty sure she thinks it was her fault for not catching the error before they used the chamber.¡± Craig''s mother laughed. ¡°No matter how smart she is, I don''t think she can keep track of...¡± She put a hand on her husband''s arm. ¡°What did they say it was? Metal fatigue or something?¡± Craig''s father nodded. ¡°She could have opened and closed those shutters a thousand times under heat stress and not had a problem.¡± He said. ¡°Just this time, the heat and strain of movement caused a slight warp in the metal.¡± ¡°You sound like you know a lot about it.¡± I said. ¡°I do.¡± The older man said. ¡°I built the replacement shutters.¡± ¡°So that''s what really happened.¡± I said. ¡°It wasn''t lack of maintenance, and it wasn''t the System losing track or overlooking an error.¡± I smiled. ¡°It wasn''t anyone''s fault.¡± ¡°Of course it wasn''t.¡± Craig''s father chuckled. ¡°Do you know how many times a day that''s checked?¡± I shook my head. ¡°Every hour. Like clockwork.¡± He said. ¡°The most important job that any of us has, is keeping humanity safe and healthy.¡± He sighed. ¡°It was a complete and total accident.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± I said, and he looked at me. ¡°I know that''s a weird thing to thank you for, but... it... it eased something in my heart to hear that.¡± Craig''s mother nodded. ¡°Mine, too.¡± She said. ¡°It still hurts like crazy, but it''s nice to know it wasn''t negligence or... or deliberate.¡± I nodded in agreement, and the tube car took the off ramp to General Medic. It popped up to the surface and stopped, and I climbed out first and held a hand out to Craig''s mother. She smiled at me and took my hand, and I helped her out of the car. I turned back and held a hand out to Craig''s father to help him out, and Craig''s mother laughed; which was my intention. The older man swatted my hand away and got out by himself, and grumbled something about not treating him like a woman. This made her laugh more, and they walked arm in arm over to the hospital door. I let them go first, then scanned my hand and went inside myself. We shared an elevator ride in comfortable silence, arrived on the third floor, then walked over to the radiation treatment section and saw the nurse there. ¡°Good morning!¡± She said. ¡°Mr. And Mrs. Hasterman? Waiting Room Two is available. I''ll let you know when Craig is done eating breakfast, and then I''ll take you in to see him.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Craig''s mother said, and led her husband down the hall and they went into the assigned waiting room. ¡°Sir.¡± The nurse said to me. ¡°Her parents are still in Waiting Room One. I don''t know if Sandra is going to want breakfast at all, but I''ll come and get you when she''s finished.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and walked down the hall to the right door and knocked. I heard someone moving around, and then the door opened. ¡°Good morning.¡± I said to Sandra''s father, Nathan. ¡°Jack!¡± Noreen nearly yelled and came over to the door. They were both wearing unitards issued by the hospital, and I saw two of the benches in the room were folded down to make beds. She took me into a hug and I hugged her back. ¡°Did you sleep well?¡± I asked her, and was surprised to discover that the hospital unitard only provided a basic body covering, and that Sandra''s mother wasn''t wearing anything at all underneath it. She felt my reaction to her hug and snuggled in a little tighter. ¡°I slept like a log.¡± Noreen said. ¡°Stiff as a piece of wood laying on the hard ground.¡± I laughed like she wanted me to, and she smiled up at me. ¡°Thank you for coming back this morning.¡± Noreen said. ¡°I hope the System doesn''t get angry at you for skipping work.¡± ¡°I''m not skipping, just delaying for awhile.¡± I said and rubbed her back. ¡°I hope we can at least see her today.¡± Noreen said as she closed her eyes and sighed. ¡°It depends on if she can eat breakfast or not.¡± I said. ¡°The nurse will be here in a little while to let us know.¡± ¡°Why didn''t you tell me that already?!?¡± Noreen said and let me go. ¡°I have to get changed!¡± ¡°I literally just stepped into the room.¡± I said to her as she practically teleported across the room and started to rummage through her clothes to find something to wear. ¡°I told you as soon as-¡± Noreen whirled back to face me and her face showed anger. ¡°I will not see my little girl while wearing a hospital unitard!¡± She said, dug her fingers into the neck hole, and yanked it down. Hospital unitards had been designed for easy removal, just in case patients that were in distress needed it removed quickly; so, with a minimum of force, the unitard split right down the middle. Noreen gave both myself and her husband an eyeful as the unitard fell away, and I confirmed with my own eyes that she really hadn''t worn anything underneath. I quickly turned around to face the door, and her husband did the same thing. ¡°Um... is she always this impulsive?¡± I whispered the question to him. ¡°Only when she''s upset.¡± Nathan whispered back. ¡°This is the first time I''ve seen her strip like that, though.¡± ¡°Please tell me it''s not ''like mother, like daughter''.¡± Nathan chuckled. ¡°Do you want me to lie?¡± ¡°Remind me not to make Sandra upset in public.¡± I whispered. ¡°I can''t find anything to wear!¡± Noreen exclaimed, and it felt like heat seared the back of my neck. I took out my communication pad and brought up the closest clothing store. I held it up and flipped through several outfits, and Nathan pointed to one. I nodded and bought it, and chose the quick delivery option. That made the outfit cost a few more Points, but I honestly didn''t care. A piece of clothing flew by my head and hit the door, and I saw it was half of a blouse. ¡°She never did like that blouse.¡± Nathan commented, and then we heard 2 quick beeps. A small panel opened up at the side of the room and a medium-sized package dropped down the chute. ¡°Thank you for your purchase.¡± A woman''s voice said. ¡°Wh-what... what''s this?¡± ¡°Nathan thinks you need a nice outfit just in case Sandra can see you.¡± I said automatically, and gave complete credit to her husband. He turned his head to stare at me, and I shook my head slightly. He gave a little sigh and then spoke. ¡°I hope you like it.¡± Noreen took the package and opened it up. She gasped when she saw what it was, then was delighted that it had everything in it. Black undergarments, a translucent bodysuit that covered her from neck to ankle so that you couldn''t tell she was wearing undergarments, a stylish skirt that hugged her hips, a low cut sleeveless top that barely covered the tiny bra, and a thin coat that had full sleeves. The main part of the coat was cut off midway and only went down to the middle of her back. ¡°Oh, Nathan.¡± Noreen purred and sauntered over to her husband. His eyes widened as her hands snaked around his waist and then went lower. He quickly stopped her hands before she grabbed something else, and he turned around in her arms. She gave him the kiss she thought he deserved, and for a brief moment he forgot where he was and kissed her back as if they were completely alone. I kept my eyes firmly glued to the waiting room''s door as they made out, and I didn''t move or make a sound. They were only about ten years older than I was, which reminded me that Sandra was five years younger than me. She was about fifteen years older than her parents were when they had her, and it made me wonder why she was an only child. If we fit into the normal statistics, both Sandra and I should have had a teenaged child before we had even met. I thought, and then there was a knock on the waiting room door. I waited for a moment, to let Noreen adjust herself to look like she hadn''t just been kissing her husband like they were teenagers again, then I opened the door. ¡°She''s ready to see you now.¡± The nurse said. ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and stepped back to let Sandra''s parents walk past. The nurse smiled and turned to walk down the hallway, and Noreen and Nathan followed closely behind her. I stayed in the rear, mainly because I didn''t want to get in between a mother and her sick daughter. If the last few minutes were any indication, the last thing I ever wanted to do was get Noreen angry at me. L.I.F.E. Begins 017: Tear It Apart I followed the nurse and Sandra''s parents as they walked down the hallway and past the large Biohazard door. I was a little surprised at first, then the nurse turned into the Intensive Care Ward and I realized why they had moved Sandra. It was so we could see her without having to use the decontamination shower. We stopped in the little anteroom outside the ward, and the nurse handed us surgical masks to cover our nose and mouth. ¡°Normally this isn''t necessary; but, with her severe burn and open sores, it''s just an extra precaution.¡± The nurse said, and she saw Noreen twitch at the open sores part. ¡°Don''t worry. It''s covered in salve and cleaned every few hours.¡± Noreen took in a breath and let it out, then nodded and put on the surgical mask. Both I and Nathan put on the masks without comment and followed the nurse into the ward. There were 12 beds inside, separated by curtains, and I saw Craig''s parents at the other end of the ward. Craig''s father saw me and waved, and I waved back; then the nurse pulled open the curtain around Sandra and I gave her all of my attention. ¡°M-momma!¡± Sandra said, and tears came to her eyes. At least she''s sitting up. I thought. ¡°My little girl.¡± Noreen said and tears came to her eyes as well, and she leaned down to hug her daughter. Her hand tenderly touched Sandra''s hair, and a large clump of it came out. Thankfully, she didn''t visibly react to the sight of her daughter''s hair falling out, and slipped the clump out of sight and put it in the pocket of her new coat. ¡°How are you?¡± Nathan asked and took her hand. ¡°I feel so sick, Daddy.¡± Sandra said. Tears came to Nathan''s eyes as he came face to face with the reality that his daughter was hurt and there was nothing he could do to help her. ¡°You''re in the hospital, so it''s okay to feel that way.¡± Nathan said. Sandra nodded. ¡°The nurse said I''m going to feel like this for a couple of weeks.¡± She said. ¡°I don''t... I don''t know if I can get through it!¡± ¡°We''ll be right here by your side.¡± Noreen promised her. ¡°You won''t be alone for one second.¡± Sandra smiled. ¡°I know... I...¡± She took a coughing fit then and the nurse held out a piece of gauze-like cloth for her. She took it and covered her mouth, then coughed for several minutes. When she was done, tears streamed down her face non-stop and she handed the blood-soaked cloth to the nurse, who took out a resealable plastic bag and slipped it inside. ¡°I''ll be right back.¡± The nurse said and closed the curtain behind her. ¡°Oh, Sandra!¡± Noreen said, and she didn''t know what to say to what she just saw. ¡°They''re just checking to see if the treatment is taking hold.¡± I said, and the three of them looked at me with wide eyes. ¡°It''s the quickest way to see if your blood is free of contaminants, without having to take it from you with a needle.¡± ¡°What... what happens if it''s not?¡± Noreen asked. ¡°If the results haven''t changed after a few days, they''ll give her another round of anti-rad medication.¡± ¡°Oh, god!¡± Sandra said and started to shake. ¡°Daddy! Don''t let them do that to me again!¡± Nathan wilted internally as he held his scared daughter''s hand, and knew he would let the doctors do anything to save his little girl from dying. He didn''t say anything, because he didn''t want to lie to her. ¡°Jack, please.¡± Sandra said. ¡°Don''t let them... I can''t take...¡± ¡°I''m sorry, Sandra.¡± I said. ¡°Not only will I let them, I''ll even order them to give you more treatments.¡± ¡°J-J-Jack, no!¡± Noreen said, scandalized. ¡°It''s going to save her life, Noreen.¡± I said. ¡°My mother refused extra treatments, even after father''s insistence.¡± I sighed. ¡°She paid for that decision with her life.¡± ¡°J-Jack...¡± Sandra started to say. ¡°No, Sandra.¡± I said. ¡°I love you too much to let you go like that!¡± Sandra blinked her eyes at me, then she gasped when she realized what I had said. ¡°Jack!¡± ¡°That''s the first time I''ve ever told you that I love you.¡± I said. ¡°I''m sorry I''ve been too pig-headed to admit it until now.¡± ¡°Oh, Jack.¡± ¡°I''ll never forgive you if you don''t get better.¡± I told her. ¡°I have a lot more resources than my father did when my mother was sick, so you will stay here and you will go through everything that you need to go through to get better.¡± I closed my eyes and clenched my fists. ¡°I will not lose you like I lost her.¡± I took a deep breath and let it out, then opened my eyes and looked at her. ¡°I have to go to work now; but, I''ll be back sometime tonight.¡± Sandra nodded wordlessly, and I turned and stepped out through the closed curtain. I yanked off the surgical mask and walked down the ward to the door, then felt a hand on my arm. I stopped walking and looked at the hand, then looked at Noreen. ¡°Jack, I... I''m sorry for...¡± ¡°I''ll forgive you this time.¡± I said, and smiled at her surprised face. ¡°It''s supposed to be your job to keep her level-headed and to make the right decisions when she''s impaired like she is. Stopping treatment is not the right decision.¡± ¡°I... I know, it''s just...¡± ¡°You can baby her all you want, but don''t let it get her killed.¡± I said. Noreen opened her mouth to respond, closed her eyes briefly, and sighed. ¡°She''s my little girl, and she''s hurt.¡± I turned and took her into a hug. ¡°Then help her get better.¡± ¡°I will.¡± Noreen said and cuddled into my chest. I opened my arms a few moments later to let her out of the hug, and she held on. ¡°Noreen?¡± ¡°Thank you for the outfit.¡± Noreen said and looked up at me with a knowing smile on her face. ¡°I only paid for it.¡± I said. ¡°Nathan picked it out for you.¡± ¡°I know he did.¡± Noreen said, stood up on her toes and kissed my cheek. ¡°You''re a good man.¡± ¡°What lies have you heard about me now?¡± I asked her, and she chuckled. ¡°They''re gigantic and horrendous lies, apparently.¡± Noreen said. She took out a tissue from that magical place that all mothers had tissue stashed, and rubbed her lipstick off of my cheek.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Those are usually the best ones.¡± I said to her, gave her a kiss on the cheek, and left the Intensive Care Ward. ¡°Sir!¡± The nurse said. ¡°You have an urgent message!¡± ¡°What?¡± I asked and glanced over my shoulder at my small backpack. ¡°I didn''t get any notification that...¡± ¡°Not over normal channels, sir.¡± The nurse said. ¡°Come with me, please.¡± I nodded and followed the nurse down the hall and to the elevator. It went down 10 floors and opened, and I followed her through several corridors until we came to a military checkpoint. The nurse held out her credentials, and they waved us through. ¡°I didn''t know there was a military outpost under General Medic.¡± I said when we were far enough away from the guards there. ¡°It''s only been here for a year.¡± The nurse said. ¡°We needed quicker access to medical once the skirmishes picked up.¡± ¡°Hold on.¡± I said. ¡°Why have they picked up?¡± ¡°I don''t have the pay grade for that information.¡± The nurse said and stopped by a nondescript door. ¡°I thought you retired.¡± I said, and the nurse smiled. ¡°I may have left the service, but I''ll always be a member.¡± She said and knocked on the door with her cybernetic arm. ¡°Come.¡± A gruff male voice said, and the nurse opened the door. ¡°Sir, I''ve brought...¡± ¡°I can see that.¡± The gruff man said. ¡°Dismissed.¡± The nurse nodded to him, ushered me into the room, and shut the door. I recognized the colonel insignia immediately and came to attention. ¡°Sir.¡± I said and gave him a quick salute. ¡°They said you had a sense of humor.¡± The colonel said. ¡°You outrank me.¡± ¡°I used to.¡± I corrected, and he laughed. ¡°You can keep telling yourself that you''re out.¡± He said. ¡°But we both know differently.¡± ¡°What do you want, colonel?¡± ¡°We had an unscheduled skirmish yesterday.¡± He said and sat back in his chair, and hit the button for the vidwall. ¡°Take a look.¡± ¡°Sir, I haven''t analyzed a battle scenario in...¡± ¡°Just watch.¡± I sighed and looked at the vidwall, then watched the combat. Cyborgs advanced across a small field, then lasers, tanks, and shells started to fly past the screen. Explosions and bodies littered the landscape, and then something caught my eye in the background. ¡°No.¡± ¡°Caught that, did you?¡± The colonel asked and rolled the footage back to what the footage had captured. It was my family''s vacation house. ¡°What were they doing there?¡± ¡°We don''t know.¡± The colonel said. ¡°You see, after your little excursion out there to The Fall, we''ve had scouts deployed at each stop on the lift.¡± He smiled. ¡°Normally we wouldn''t launch such a costly operation, but when the squad with you spotted the Stalker and a rival faction just casually driving around...¡± ¡°You tried to find out what they were up to.¡± I said. He nodded. ¡°It wasn''t even a designated combat area, and yet they initiated operations there.¡± I stood up. ¡°I''ll need an insertion team right away.¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± ¡°It''s off-limits.¡± ¡°I don''t care.¡± I said. ¡°I need to see...¡± ¡°It''s fine.¡± The colonel said and hit a button, and the vidwall changed to a very clear image of a 10 foot wide biosphere dome that had been placed over my mother''s grave. ¡°Thank you.¡± I said in relief. ¡°Don''t thank us.¡± He said. ¡°We didn''t put that there.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°It was there before the battle started.¡± I sat down and stared at my mother''s grave. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°That''s what we want to know.¡± The colonel said and looked at me. ¡°Someone took a lot of care to erect a safety dome over that one piece of land, and then wrecked everything else.¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± ¡°It''s all gone.¡± He said, and I stared at him. ¡°The house. The maintenance bay. The gardens. The yard and the trees...¡± ¡°You... you can''t be...¡± I closed my eyes and held back my tears. ¡°No.¡± ¡°I''m sorry.¡± The colonel said. ¡°The battle lasted a very long time.¡± He said. ¡°Nearly three times a normal skirmish.¡± ¡°I don''t care about that.¡± I said and opened my eyes and leaned forward to put my head in my hands. ¡°That was my mother''s resting place.¡± ¡°I know you''ve sunk thousands of Points into keeping it maintained.¡± ¡°I don''t care about that, either.¡± I said and stood up again. ¡°I want it restored immediately.¡± ¡°It''s still off-limits.¡± The colonel said. ¡°That hasn''t changed in the last few minutes.¡± ¡°What part of ''I don''t care'' didn''t you understand?¡± I asked. ¡°You can''t get to it.¡± He said. ¡°After the battle, everyone moved their forces out. The Fall Maintenance Crew even removed that stop from the main lift.¡± ¡°Now you listen to me.¡± I said, leaned menacingly close, and braced my hands on his desk. ¡°My mother loved that place. It was her final request to stay in the spot she enjoyed the most. It will be put back to the way it was. Right now.¡± I stopped leaning over and stood up straight. ¡°You will instruct The Fall Maintenance Crew to add the stop back into the main lift, take the resources there to fix the place, then remove the stop again.¡± ¡°You realize that...¡± ¡°I know what it means.¡± I reached out and laid my hand on the concealed scanner on his desk. There was a loud beep, and a popup appeared on the vidwall.
Thank you for accessing the System (Military Grade)
Do you wish to re-activate your commission?
¡°Yes.¡± I said.
Please speak your chosen code phrase.
¡°I really hate being in the military.¡± The screen went blank for a moment, then another popup appeared.
Welcome back, (RANK RETCONNED) Jack (LAST NAME RETCONNED)
¡°I''ve never seen that before.¡± The colonel said. ¡°How did you... no, never mind. I don''t need to know.¡± ¡°That''s right.¡± I said. ¡°Now, issue my previously stated orders. They are to be followed immediately.¡± The colonel nodded, and hit several buttons on his desk. A secretary came in with an armful of folders and almost ran into me. I avoided her easily and caught the papers before she dropped them, then put them on the desk. ¡°These are the lists of assets in the current deployment area.¡± The secretary said. She wasn''t at all flustered from our near collision. ¡°Why are you giving them to me?¡± I asked. ¡°You''re the ranking... I mean... the System said to...¡± The secretary tried to explain, and this time she was flustered, because she was pretty sure she had messed something up. ¡°Next time, just put them on the desk. No one needs to know who I am.¡± I said. ¡°Yes, sir.¡± The secretary said and saluted. She held it and stared at me. ¡°Don''t salute superior officers if they are out of uniform.¡± I said, and she slowly let her hand drop. ¡°Even if I was in uniform, do the mandatory quick and jerk. Don''t hold it. That''ll just get me shot.¡± ¡°I... I...¡± ¡°She''s new, sir.¡± The colonel said in her defense. ¡°She hasn''t had a lot of field experience, but she''s very good at her job.¡± I nodded at the colonel and looked at the secretary. ¡°Carry on.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± The secretary said. ¡°Sorry, sir.¡± ¡°Soldiers don''t apologize! Dismissed!¡± ¡°Sir! Yes, sir!¡± The secretary said, did the quick and jerk salute, and left the room at a jog. After a few moments, the colonel laughed. ¡°You can''t tell me you didn''t miss doing that to the rookies.¡± ¡°I can''t tell you a lot of things.¡± I said, which made him laugh harder. I sat down and looked at the vidwall and the paused footage. ¡°Run that back at half-speed. I want to see if I can identify anything.¡± The colonel started the footage over and I watched it as I flipped through the folders the secretary had handed me. I found the folder with Alyssa''s squad in it and set it aside. ¡°I assume you''ve already had the tech guys go through it?¡± I asked. ¡°It''s in the bottom folder.¡± The colonel said. ¡°Operations.¡± I nodded and pushed the other folders aside and opened the operations one. I held the papers up so that I could watch the screen and compare the findings with the results. I marked which cyborgs, weapons, and tanks they got right, which ones they missed, and which ones they were so far off it was almost funny. ¡°Any new mods within the last 5 years?¡± ¡°No.¡± The colonel said. ¡°We''re pretty much at the top of cybernetic modification.¡± ¡°Across the board?¡± I asked, and he nodded. ¡°We''ve got people placed in each Cavern system that can safely monitor tech levels.¡± ¡°So, they took my advice and sent cybernetic doctors as immigrants?¡± ¡°That was a brilliant idea.¡± The colonel said. ¡°It''s taken years to pull it off, but...¡± ¡°I told them it was the best way to keep an even field of play.¡± I said. ¡°But this... a Mark 8 Industrial Tank? Really?¡± ¡°It was a surprise for the higher-ups, that''s for sure.¡± The colonel said. ¡°It was modified, too.¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°Watch.¡± The colonel said and turned to face the vidwall and ran the footage at double speed. I put down the reference sheets and watched. A few minutes later, he slowed it to half-speed again. I watched as an industrial tank rolled out onto the field and shot it''s heavy laser to keep our front line troops under cover. When it''s batteries ran down, the tank turned around to leave the battlefield. When it''s back was revealed, I saw that it didn''t have a cockpit anymore. What it actually had was a large troop carrier. ¡°No way!¡± I said and sat up straight. The troop carrier opened and let out a squad of cyborgs, and they attacked the suppressed front line of our defense. ¡°How did they get my idea?¡± I asked the colonel. ¡°We''re... looking into it.¡± ¡°Look harder.¡± I said. ¡°There weren''t many people that knew I had a hand in trying to push that through.¡± ¡°You don''t know how sorry we are that it was used against us.¡± I laughed. ¡°You''re going to be really sorry soon.¡± The colonel looked at me with wide eyes. ¡°Why''s that?¡± ¡°If they''ve already got one of my designs on the field... an actual working Phase One prototype...¡± I shook my head. ¡°What?¡± ¡°I hope and pray that they didn''t get their hands on my plans for Phase Two.¡± L.I.F.E. Begins 018: A Renewed Campaign After the colonel and I discussed the battle as it unfolded on the screen, I realized that the higher-ups hadn''t implemented any of the counter-measures for the opponents tactics that I''d come up with. ¡°I''d ask why we''re still deploying in the basic pattern at the start of every battle; but I don''t have to, do I?¡± ¡°No, sir.¡± The colonel said. ¡°We do redeployment on the battlefield so that our opponent doesn''t know what we''re going to do beforehand.¡± I sighed and rubbed my face. ¡°The resources that could be used to enhance the battle are being used up for movement? Do you realize how much time that wastes?¡± ¡°We know the procedure is costly, but...¡± I pointed to the Operations folder. ¡°According to this, we lost 15 combat and 4 support personnel.¡± I said. ¡°That''s horrible numbers for a skirmish!¡± The colonel nodded. ¡°Like I said, it went on a lot longer than it was supposed to.¡± I took a deep breath and let it out. ¡°What''s the current schedule like?¡± ¡°We''ve got one set two days from now. It''s on Level Six, and eight kilometres out from The Fall.¡± ¡°Good god, that''s... you can''t be serious.¡± I said and sat back. ¡°It was voted on by the Council of Representatives, and that was the next spot on the list.¡± The colonel said. ¡°Of course, now that you''re here...¡± ¡°Have the System (Military Grade) send me all the relevant data.¡± I said and stood up. ¡°In the meantime, I''ve got to get to work.¡± The colonel nodded. ¡°I''ll have it sent right away.¡± He said and looked at me with curiosity. ¡°You''re going to keep your programming and maintenance job while in active service?¡± ¡°I have to.¡± I said as I tucked the files into my backpack. ¡°Now that my alternate Craig is hurt, I don''t have anyone to take up my position.¡± ¡°You''re also assuming he could do what you do.¡± The colonel chuckled. ¡°That''s never going to happen.¡± I smiled. ¡°Good day, colonel.¡± ¡°Good day, sir.¡± The colonel said, and I left the little office. I took the communication pad out of my backpack and called my AI, Amanda. ¡°Jack! How could you!¡± Amanda said. ¡°You promised me you were done!¡± I sighed and followed the HUD back to the hidden elevator up to General Medic. ¡°Amanda, please.¡± I said. ¡°Let me explain.¡± ¡°There''s absolutely no good reason for you to reactivate, Jack!¡± Amanda said. I told her what had happened at my mother''s grave site and that the vacation house was destroyed, then what I had to do to fix it. ¡°Well, damn.¡± Amanda said. ¡°I guess there was a good reason.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I''m going to need all my old files brought out of compressed storage, and then I need to get them updated with the current data.¡± ¡°Hold on.¡± Amanda said, and my communication pad went quiet. I passed through the Military checkpoint without even looking at the guards, and went to the elevator. It opened and I went inside, and it rose up to ground level. ¡°Okay, I''ve got them all uncompressed, and I''ve sent a request to the S(MG). I don''t know how long... oh, here it is.¡± My communication pad went quiet again, and I left the elevator and walked out of General Medic. I hopped into a Tube car, and it dropped down into traffic. I pulled out a breakfast disc and ate it. ¡°Jack, this is... oh, boy! Things have changed a lot!¡± Amanda said a couple of minutes later. ¡°Good or bad?¡± I asked. ¡°Yes.¡± Amanda said, and I laughed. ¡°I don''t think I need an explanation.¡± I said. ¡°Let me take a guess.¡± ¡°Go ahead.¡± Amanda said. ¡°You''ll never get them.¡± ¡°They''ve finally upgraded the supply chain.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°They just can''t get what they want in the right quantities to where it needs to go.¡± ¡°Actually, yes. That''s one.¡± Amanda said. ¡°How did you know? ¡°It''s the military.¡± I chuckled. ¡°There''s always a problem with the supply chain.¡± Amanda laughed. ¡°What''s next?¡± ¡°Hm... well, since I''ve seen the last battle report... I''d say the next good thing is they''ve been able to enhance more soldiers faster, but the bad thing is there''s not a lot of volunteers.¡± ¡°How did you know that?¡± Amanda asked. ¡°I''ve seen the last report now. There''s no mention of that!¡± ¡°No, but the support people that died were cyber-medics.¡± I said. ¡°Deployments only take them when there''s cyborgs with high-tech mods that are new and tend to be buggy.¡± ¡°But...¡± ¡°There were so many cyber-medics because they needed to keep as many cyborgs functioning as possible. They would only do that if they didn''t have a lot of replacements for them.¡± The Tube car came to a stop and popped up to the surface, and I got out and walked towards the lobby of my living section. ¡°What''s the last thing?¡± Amanda asked. ¡°Now they have me.¡± I said. ¡°They have an overall battle plan that covered all the fronts; but, with me coming in with fresh eyes, I should be able to help a lot.¡± ¡°That''s the good part.¡± Amanda said. ¡°What''s the bad part?¡±A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ¡°They aren''t going to want my help.¡± I said and stepped into the elevator to go down to my apartment. ¡°Nor will they think they need it.¡± ¡°Yes, that''s the impression I got from the S(MG) AI.¡± Amanda said. ¡°If the higher-ups were birds, I''d say your decision to reactivate has ruffled their feathers.¡± I laughed as I stepped out of the elevator and walked to my apartment. ¡°It''s going to be interesting to see what they say to me when we meet.¡± ¡°When will that be?¡± ¡°In two days.¡± I said and the apartment''s door closed behind me. ¡°They''ve got a skirmish set on Level Six, eight kilometres out from The Fall.¡± ¡°Oh, my god.¡± Amanda said from the vidwall. I turned off my communication pad and put it back into the backpack. ¡°They can''t be serious.¡± Amanda said. ¡°It was voted on and added to the list of sites, so I can''t even dispute the location.¡± I said. ¡°But Jack, that''s...¡± ¡°The failed expansion.¡± I said and put the backpack into a secured storage cabinet because of the military files inside. ¡°I don''t know what they were thinking when they chose it as a valid battlefield.¡± ¡°Me, either.¡± Amanda said. ¡°All those people... just... gone.¡± I nodded and took off my clothes, then put on a work unitard. ¡°What''s first up on the repair list?¡± ¡°The Reclamation Compactor.¡± Amanda said. ¡°George is on his way and should be there any minute.¡± ¡°I thought we had that handled.¡± I said and stepped into the immersion room. ¡°I''m really starting to hate this place.¡± The room activated and the mechanical arms loaded me into the collapsible chair that came out of the floor. It engulfed and covered me, and calibrated for me. I still thought it was strange that it had to do that every time I left and came back, especially since I didn''t think any of my physical statistics had changed. I shrugged mentally as my virtual work space faded into existence around me, and Amanda appeared beside me. ¡°You''ve got two minutes before a valid interface is viable.¡± Amanda said. ¡°George is moving too fast to establish a stable connection that far out.¡± ¡°Switch to floating three dimensions.¡± I said, and instead of standing up, I was floating in mid-air. It was easier to transition into George''s cockpit this way than it was from a standing position. I brought up George''s specifications and checked over his status. It was a lot to go through, but I was really good at data acquisition. ¡°He''s at the site.¡± Amanda said. ¡°Establishing a connection.¡± George''s cockpit formed around me and I found myself sitting in the pilot''s chair of a Mark Six industrial tank. ¡°Hey, George.¡± I said. ¡°Hi, Jack.¡± George said. ¡°I never thought we''d be back here again.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I just told Amanda that I thought we had that problem handled.¡± ¡°I wonder what happened.¡± George asked. ¡°Usually when a Rever squad is introduced, no one goes near them.¡± ¡°I know.¡± I said and looked at the security monitor. ¡°Have you got the scanner up? I don''t see the feed.¡± ¡°Just a minute.¡± George said. There was a loud bang, and then the monitor flicked to life. ¡°Please tell me that you did not just hit a three million dollar electronic scanner with your multi-function hand attachment.¡± ¡°I didn''t.¡± George said and chuckled. ¡°I used the actuator arm with the drill bit.¡± ¡°George!¡± I said and laughed. ¡°You can''t do things like that. They''ll have you brought in for an overhaul if you keep it up.¡± ¡°I''m fine.¡± George laughed. ¡°I can still move.¡± I shook my head. ¡°All right, I see... um... nothing.¡± ¡°What?¡± George said and checked the results himself. ¡°Hey, you''re right. There''s no signals from the Revers.¡± ¡°What the hell is going on?¡± I asked. ¡°No one is supposed to mess with the Revers.¡± ¡°Let''s find out.¡± George said. ¡°Amanda?¡± I asked. ¡°Can you backtrack the security scans to the last time a signal was given by a Rever?¡± ¡°Checking now.¡± Amanda said. ¡°I''m bringing in Dennis, the archive AI, too.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± I said. ¡°George? Let''s do the basic maintenance and see what we can find.¡± ¡°You got it.¡± George said and started checking the most likely spots for damage and stolen parts. ¡°I found one.¡± He said and I saw a small cut out panel. ¡°Okay, that looks professionally cut.¡± I said. ¡°They used a plasma cutter, too.¡± ¡°The processor relay circuit board is gone, too.¡± George said. ¡°Whoever is taking them, is making sure they take the most expensive parts.¡± ¡°Hold on, I''ll start a search and see if any of the other missing parts have come up for sale anywhere.¡± I said and opened a command window. ¡°You did that before, didn''t you?¡± George asked. ¡°I did; but, like you said, this is a very expensive part.¡± I said and typed up the proper commands, then started it. ¡°Either they are using it for something, or they are selling it.¡± ¡°And if they used it?¡± ¡°They don''t have the right parts to make anything that I''ve ever seen before.¡± I said. ¡°And believe me, my friend. I''ve seen a lot of parts and I''ve built a lot of things; but, this pile of mismatched parts has me stumped.¡± ¡°Me, too.¡± George said and replaced the part, then welded a larger and thicker piece of metal over the top of it. I hovered my hand over the kill switch, just in case of an accident with the torch. It had never happened before; but, I didn''t want there to be a first time, and stayed ready to eject the arm attachment if necessary. ¡°I''ve got something.¡± Amanda said and brought up the security scan from three days ago. ¡°This is the last time a Rever signal was sent.¡± ¡°George, its on the other side of the Compactor.¡± I said. George finished the weld and rolled around the massive installation to the other side. ¡°Thirty feet... twenty... ten... stop.¡± I said. George came to a stop and I saw a 2 foot diameter hole on the back of the Compactor. ¡°What the hell?¡± I said and looked at the perfectly shaped round hole that had cut through nearly a foot of solid steel. ¡°Jack, you know what did this, don''t you?¡± George asked. ¡°Unfortunately.¡± I said and sighed. ¡°It''s a particle cannon.¡± ¡°It can''t be.¡± George said. ¡°They were banned for a reason.¡± ¡°Because they were highly unstable, and had a tendency to implode.¡± I said. ¡°They also tended to take the user, and everyone else around them, into oblivion.¡± Amanda said, her voice full of worry. One of her worst fears was losing me in a flash of light. ¡°How could someone do this?¡± ¡°I don''t know.¡± I said. ¡°I really don''t know.¡± ¡°I''m not equipped to fix this kind of damage.¡± George said. ¡°I''ll need to go back to the depot.¡± ¡°Cover the hole with an air dome patch for now.¡± I said. ¡°At least it should stop anything from getting inside.¡± George took out three foot square mylar patch, peeled off the back, and stuck it over the hole. He used his torch to heat the glue on the edges and made sure it stuck, then he sighed. ¡°That looks horrible.¡± George said. ¡°It''s just temporary.¡± I said. ¡°Be careful travelling back, okay? I don''t want you to suffer a similar fate.¡± ¡°I''ll be running constant security and movement scans.¡± George said. ¡°I''ll be back soon with a real patch.¡± ¡°See you then.¡± I said, and disengaged the virtual cockpit. ¡°Jack...¡± Amanda said as she floated in front of me. ¡°It''s okay.¡± I said and hugged her. ¡°I''ll be careful, too.¡± ¡°You better.¡± Amanda said. ¡°I don''t know what I''d do without you.¡± ¡°I''d want you to take care of Sandra and the System for me.¡± I said. ¡°If I''m not here, they are both going to need your help.¡± ¡°Jack...¡± ¡°I need you to send a copy of the footage and the analysis to you-know-who.¡± Amanda shook her head. ¡°I don''t want to.¡± ¡°Amanda.¡± Amanda sighed. ¡°All right, I''ll do it.¡± She said. ¡°But, you know I hate him.¡± I smiled. ¡°He''ll like it that you do.¡± ¡°Ugh.¡± Amanda said. ¡°Making the connection.¡± She winced like she felt pain. ¡°Stop that!¡± ¡°Ha.¡± A disembodied voice said. ¡°You never did like the poke function.¡± ¡°You don''t have to tease my AI every time.¡± I said. ¡°Yes, I do.¡± The voice said. ¡°How are you, Jack?¡± ¡°I''m reactivated.¡± I said. ¡°I knew you couldn''t resist the service.¡± The voice said. ¡°What is this you''ve sent me?¡± ¡°The Reclamation Compactor was hit by a particle cannon.¡± ¡°Oho!¡± The disembodied voice said. ¡°Someone''s a crazy fool!¡± I chuckled. ¡°Yeah, and I hope what I sent is residue of an explosion and not a successful test.¡± ¡°Ah, I understand.¡± The voice said. ¡°I''ll send a probe out right away.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± I said. ¡°You don''t have to thank me.¡± The voice said. ¡°You always send me interesting stuff.¡± A second later Amanda winced. ¡°I said STOP THAT!¡± Amanda yelled, and the disembodied voice laughed and the connection ended. ¡°I really hate him!¡± I gave her another hug, and she brought up a few normal maintenance jobs for me to do while we waited for George to come back. Almost an hour later, George reestablished contact with me and we started making the proper repairs. He had brought the materials and supplies that he needed, and also three security tanks. They were half his size and were tracked vehicles just like him, but they had actual cockpits and real security personnel inside. George and I finished the repairs, and left the security tanks there to patrol and watch for any possible attacks. I said goodbye to my friend, and Amanda kept me busy for the rest of my shift with all the things that had piled up while I had been gone that morning and visited Sandra in the hospital. L.I.F.E. Begins 019: The Question After my shift was over, I only slept for a few hours; then I was back into the maintenance queue and fixing all the problems that hadn''t been looked after yet. It wasn''t surprising that things kept breaking down, since there were so many people living in an enclosed system. I was pretty sure that was why people that liked doing this work were in such high demand. A lot of people thought of it as tedium and would be bored, but not me. The job was different almost every single time I went to work, and there was nothing better in my mind than having a constantly changing challenges to look forward to and face each and every day. I finished up my second shift just as morning rolled around on the clock, and I left the immersion room and got a quick shower. I dressed in normal clothes this time, not throw away ones, and I took my backpack out of secured storage. I grabbed my communication pad from it and returned the backpack to storage. I''d have a chance to look through the military files when I got back from the hospital. ¡°Amanda? Is the apartment next door still free?¡± I asked my AI. ¡°Yes, and so is the one across the hall and the one near the elevator.¡± ¡°No, I want the one next door.¡± I said. ¡°Can you buy it for me?¡± ¡°Jack, that''s... a significant amount of Points.¡± I laughed. ¡°Is it close to what I spent to make the new server?¡± Amanda laughed. ¡°No, it''s about half that.¡± ¡°Then buy the place, and submit a permit to join the two together.¡± ¡°You want to make one big apartment?¡± ¡°No, they''re still going to be separate. I just don''t want to have to go out into the hallway to visit next door.¡± ¡°So, just a connecting door, not a modification to the layout.¡± ¡°You got it.¡± I said. ¡°Okay, it''s purchased and I submitted the form for the door.¡± ¡°Thanks, Amanda.¡± I grabbed a quick breakfast and left the apartment, went up the elevator, and climbed into the next Tube car. Without the priority override of an emergency, it felt like the Tube Transportation Sub-system was intentionally delaying me and making me wait for an excessive period of time. I looked up at the camera that was constantly watching the occupants, waited for a moment to make sure it noticed me looking directly at it, then I smiled and winked. Less than 2 seconds later, the Tube car dropped into traffic and I was on my way. My communication pad beeped and I took it out of a pocket and tapped it. ¡°Yes, Amanda?¡± ¡°That was sneaky.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I think the TTS has a little grudge against me because of your override.¡± ¡°Oh, it does.¡± Amanda said. ¡°It backed up 4 miles of traffic to let the emergency car go through.¡± ¡°Oh, damn.¡± I said and looked up at the camera again. I mouthed the words ''I''m sorry'' to it, so TTS would know I wasn''t speaking to anyone else. The Tube car picked up a little speed; but, I didn''t gloat. ¡°I do feel bad about causing a delay like that.¡± I said to Amanda. ¡°I already told it that, but you know how finicky sub-systems can get.¡± ¡°Is it almost as bad as full AIs?¡± I asked and laughed. ¡°Jack, that''s not funny.¡± Amanda said and I could hear the pout in her voice. ¡°You know I''m just kidding.¡± I said. ¡°I''m trying to stay in a good mood.¡± ¡°I''d have helped with that if you had mentioned it.¡± Amanda said. ¡°I can''t remember the last time we had a tickle fight.¡± I smiled. ¡°You just want me to tickle you again.¡± ¡°No, I don''t.¡± Amanda said, but her denial was only half-hearted. ¡°I don''t like being tickled at all.¡± ¡°Reverse psychology isn''t going to work.¡± I said. ¡°If you''re not going to be honest with me...¡± Amanda huffed. ¡°Fine.¡± She said. ¡°I want you to tickle me, okay? Are you happy now?¡± ¡°I promise the next time that I go into the immersion room, we''ll have a big tickle fight.¡± ¡°I''ll hold you to that.¡± Amanda said. ¡°I''d expect nothing less.¡± I said. ¡°I better let you go. I''m coming up on the exit.¡± ¡°Talk to you later.¡± Amanda said, and disconnected the call. The Tube car went up the off ramp and came to a stop and popped up to the exit. I got out of the car and three people got in, and I walked over to the entrance of General Medic. I went inside and down the three floors to the Radiation Treatment section and met the nurse. ¡°Good morning, sir. Mr. And Mrs. Peterson are still in Waiting Room One.¡± The nurse said. ¡°It''s really nice of you to let them stay here.¡± I said. ¡°They insisted.¡± The nurse said and smiled. ¡°I couldn''t even convince security personnel to escort them out, and they''re combat vets.¡± I laughed. ¡°There''s no way you''re getting Noreen away from her daughter, not without starting a war.¡± ¡°I knew I recognized that look in her eyes.¡± The nurse grinned. ¡°I''ll come and get you soon.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± I said and went to the waiting room. I knocked on the door and waited, and it opened a few minutes later. ¡°Gooood morning, Jack.¡± Noreen purred. ¡°Please, come in.¡± Her hospital unitard was unfastened down to her navel, and she had a sultry look on her face. I stepped into the room, since I couldn''t very well stand out in the hallway after being invited in, and she shut the door behind me. She took me into a hug and pressed herself against me, quite a bit more provocatively than she normally did, and I glanced over her shoulder to see that her husband was still asleep on a folded down bench. ¡°He couldn''t sleep last night, so the nurse gave him something.¡± Noreen said and rested her head against my chest. ¡°He''s been out all night, and it left me with... nothing... to do.¡± ¡°I''m so sorry to hear that.¡± I said. ¡°You''re not hugging me back.¡± Noreen said, and she looked up at me. ¡°Is everything okay?¡± ¡°I''m fine.¡± I said and put my arms around her. ¡°I''m just a little out of it because I worked a double shift yesterday and last night.¡± ¡°Oh, Jack.¡± Noreen said. ¡°You always work so hard.¡± She said and smiled. ¡°Have a seat and relax for a while.¡± I nodded and walked over to one of the benches that weren''t folded down and sat. Noreen sat on my lap and put her arms around my neck.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. ¡°You''re not hugging me again.¡± Noreen said, so I put an arm around her back, and put my other hand on her thigh. She cuddled into me and smiled. ¡°You''re always so accommodating.¡± ¡°I have a difficult time saying no to a beautiful woman.¡± I said. ¡°Even Sandra''s mother.¡± ¡°Oh, you.¡± Noreen said and kissed my cheek, then laid her head on my shoulder and whispered in my ear. ¡°She''s so lucky to have found you.¡± ¡°So are you.¡± I whispered back. ¡°I am.¡± Noreen said and kissed my neck, then she sighed loudly and I felt her breath on my skin. ¡°Jack, I... I want you to touch me.¡± I moved my hand from her thigh and reached up to touch her chin. I ran my hand down her neck slowly, caressed her collarbone, then used a single finger and traced a line right down between her breasts, without touching them, and went right down to her belly button. Noreen shivered at my feather-light touch, and she reached up and cupped the side of my face. ¡°You''re so gentle.¡± She said and shivered again. ¡°Thank you.¡± I smiled. ¡°Sandra told me about your condition just before the first time you and I met.¡± I said. ¡°I hope you realize that I wouldn''t do this at all if I didn''t have her permission.¡± Noreen nodded. ¡°She''s such a good daughter to take care of me, and to let you look after me.¡± She said. ¡°Can... can you...¡± I reached out with my free hand, and grabbed the open fastener of the unitard by her navel, I put my finger inside and touched her skin, and fastened it with my thumb and remaining fingers. Noreen caught her breath, because she didn''t know I had such good dexterity, and I moved my hand up to the next fastener and did it again. ¡°Oh... oh god.¡± Noreen said, and she shivered almost constantly as I closed her unitard all the way up to the neck to cover her extra-sensitive skin up. She moaned when I reached her neck and stopped, so I cupped the side of her face. She closed her eyes and rubbed my palm like a cat that was scent marking me. ¡°How was that?¡± I asked. ¡°Is it enough?¡± Noreen nodded wordlessly and tucked her head back onto my shoulder. She was the first person I had ever met that suffered from touch deprivation. She had ended up so skin-starved by the time she was a teenager, that if she wasn''t closely watched and taken care of, her health would deteriorate to the point that she could die from not being touched constantly. Her husband Nathan was a good man to have taken care of her needs for all these years, but they were both getting older. Noreen was 46 and he was 47, and according to him, she was still just as sensitive now as she was when she was a teenager. Noreen pressed her lips to my neck again and sighed. ¡°Are you going to marry her?¡± ¡°I''d like to.¡± I said. ¡°I heard a huge ''but'' there.¡± ¡°I just reactivated.¡± ¡°Oh, dammit.¡± Noreen said. ¡°Sandra is going to be so angry.¡± I hugged Noreen close and held her tightly. ¡°I have to tell her today.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Noreen asked and kissed my neck again. ¡°My next mission is tomorrow.¡± I said, and she lifted her head to look at me. ¡°So soon?¡± ¡°I can''t explain the circumstances. All I can say is that they need me.¡± ¡°Oh, Jack.¡± Noreen said and laid her forehead against mine. ¡°Sandra needs you, too.¡± ¡°I know she does.¡± I said. ¡°That''s why I want to ask her to move in with me.¡± Noreen opened her mouth to argue, I assume because she thought it wasn''t a good idea with Sandra''s current condition. ¡°Jack, I don''t think...¡± I made another offer to counter that potential argument. ¡°I bought the apartment next to mine in Sector A''s living quarters.¡± I said, and her eyes went really wide. ¡°If Sandra says yes, I want you and Nathan to move in next door to help me take care of her.¡± Noreen''s mouth dropped open in shock. ¡°I''ve already had the form submitted to add a connecting door.¡± I said, and her mouth closed. ¡°You won''t even have to go into the hallway to come and visit us.¡± ¡°Jack, I...¡± Noreen shook her head. ¡°Are you for real?¡± She asked and pinched my cheeks. I laughed, and she pinched my ears next. ¡°Yes, I think you really are real.¡± She stared into my eyes and my laughter died away. ¡°If you''re serious about this...¡± ¡°I am.¡± I said. ¡°I don''t want to lose her.¡± ¡°Then I''ll make sure she knows what this means to you.¡± Noreen said and kissed my cheek. ¡°I''ll have you two married before you know it.¡± She kissed my other cheek. ¡°You''re a good man, Jack.¡± She said and kissed my forehead. ¡°Even though I''m a military man now?¡± I asked and smiled. ¡°Okay, so you''re not perfect.¡± Noreen said and kissed me on the lips, and I laughed. ¡°For heaven''s sake, keep it down.¡± Nathan said and looked over at us. ¡°I''m trying to sleep here.¡± ¡°I''m sorry, honey.¡± Noreen said and tried not to laugh. ¡°I''m just kissing Jack and making him laugh.¡± ¡°That''s because your tongue tickles.¡± Nathan said without missing a beat and laid back down. A moment later he was snoring like he''d never woken up. ¡°Did he just-¡± I tried to speak and Noreen covered my mouth with her hand. ¡°Shh.¡± Noreen said softly, then leaned in close and licked my ear. I started to laugh because Nathan was right; her tongue really did tickle. She held my mouth closed to keep me quiet as she kept licking my ear. I didn''t try and stop her, since she wasn''t doing me any harm. I thought I had to keep myself in a good mood by staying positive. I thought in amusement. I could have just let Noreen lick my ear instead! There was a knock on the door and Noreen stopped immediately and got off my lap. She used a tissue to wipe my face and ear off almost faster than I could see, and she was at the door a moment later. It was the nurse, and she said Sandra was ready for visitors. ¡°Please give us a few minutes to get changed.¡± Noreen said. ¡°Of course.¡± The nurse said. ¡°I''ll come back.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Noreen said and closed the door. She turned around and looked at me. ¡°Jack, I''m sorry. I let myself get carried away.¡± I walked over to her and gave her a hug, and she sighed and held me tightly. ¡°That''s the first time anyone''s ever licked my ear, and I''ve had a robot dog since I was a kid.¡± Noreen snorted a laugh and looked up at me. ¡°So it wasn''t a nasty experience for you?¡± ¡°It was the most horrible thing I''ve ever gone through.¡± I said and kissed her cheek. ¡°You are never, ever allowed to do that without my ear being present.¡± ¡°You''re so sweet.¡± Noreen said. ¡°Now turn around and face the wall so I can change.¡± I turned around immediately and faced the wall. It didn''t take long for her to change, and she tapped me on the shoulder. ¡°I''m ready.¡± Noreen said and I turned around. She wore a nice sweater and a pair of pants, and she pulled the sleeves up to show that she was wearing the see-through tights from the outfit I had bought for her. ¡°What about Nathan?¡± I asked. ¡°He''s still exhausted.¡± Noreen said and took my hand. ¡°He''ll be over soon.¡± I nodded and went to the waiting room door and opened it, and we met the nurse in the hallway. ¡°Follow me, please.¡± The nurse said. We already knew where to go, but it was polite to let the nurse escort you. Sometimes it was the only non-patient interactions they had during the day. ¡°How is she?¡± I asked. ¡°Much better, even though it''s only been 2 days.¡± The nurse said. ¡°The last sample showed greatly reduced contamination.¡± I smiled. ¡°The first round of anti-rad treatment took hold.¡± The nurse nodded. ¡°It''s just monitoring and dealing with the aftermath now.¡± ¡°Thank god.¡± Noreen said, and the nurse opened the door to the Intensive Care Ward. She gave us the surgical masks to wear, and we put them on and followed her inside. The nurse opened the curtain, and Sandra''s face had a bit more color to it. ¡°There''s my little girl.¡± Noreen said and let my hand go, then she hugged her daughter. ¡°Not so tightly.¡± Sandra said. ¡°I''m still sore.¡± ¡°I''m sorry, dear.¡± Noreen said and eased her hold on her. ¡°I''m just so happy you''re feeling better!¡± ¡°Me, too.¡± Sandra said. ¡°Hi, Jack.¡± ¡°Hi, beautiful.¡± I said, and she chuckled. ¡°They won''t give me a mirror, but I see my pillow every time I turn my head.¡± Sandra said. ¡°Either it''s growing hair, or I''m losing it.¡± I walked to the other side of the bed and took her hand. ¡°Sweetheart, you''re going to lose nearly all of your hair.¡± ¡°Jack!¡± Noreen said and stared daggers at me. ¡°I''m going to love you anyways.¡± I said. ¡°I''ll even rub your bald head every morning, just so you''ll know it''s you I love, and not your hair.¡± I smiled. ¡°Well, until it grows back. I won''t touch your head anymore after that.¡± Sandra chuckled, and then her eyes narrowed. ¡°Wait, what did you just say?¡± ¡°I''ll stop mauling your head when your hair grows back.¡± ¡°No, no.¡± Sandra said. ¡°Before that.¡± ¡°I''ll love your bald head?¡± I asked. ¡°Mom, is he deliberately avoiding answering me?¡± Sandra asked. ¡°Yes.¡± Noreen said. ¡°He has something to tell you.¡± ¡°It''s not something bad, is it?¡± ¡°I''ve reactivated.¡± I said. Sandra looked at me with wide eyes, then she closed them. ¡°Jack, I warned you.¡± She said and pulled her hand out of mine. ¡°I told you that-¡± ¡°I know.¡± I said. ¡°But, something happened. Something drastic. I had to sign back up to deal with it.¡± ¡°Jack.¡± Sandra opened her eyes and looked like she was getting angry. ¡°You swore to me.¡± ¡°I did, and you have every right to be angry with me.¡± I said. ¡°I did it for a good reason, though.¡± Sandra shook her head. ¡°I don''t care what the reason was.¡± She said, and a tear came to her eye. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. ¡°Jack, I never want to see you again.¡± ¡°I''m... really sorry to hear that.¡± I said, sadly. ¡°Especially since I was going to ask you to move in with me.¡± ¡°You WHAT?!?¡± ¡°Sandra, I love you. I don''t want to lose you, and I really don''t want you out of my life.¡± I said. ¡°My days are so much better when you''re around. I''m so much better when you''re around.¡± ¡°Jack, I...¡± ¡°I don''t expect you to answer right away, especially since all this other stuff is going on.¡± I said. ¡°Please, just take a few days to think about it.¡± Sandra closed her mouth and frowned. ¡°I don''t think I should.¡± ¡°That''s your choice, and if you still feel that way a few days from now when I get back, I...¡± I sighed. ¡°I''ll accept it.¡± Noreen touched Sandra''s arm to get her attention, and she nodded to her daughter. ¡°All right.¡± Sandra said and a single tear slid down her cheek. ¡°You have three days.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and glanced at Noreen. She gave me a slight nod and I left the Intensive Care Ward at a fast walk. I had to get home and look over those files before my deployment tomorrow. I needed to know how big of a mess I was going to be in. L.I.F.E. Begins 020: The Silent Battle I made it home without incident, which was just like normal; but for some reason, I had expected something weird to happen. I couldn''t explain the feeling, especially since I had no idea why I had the feeling in the first place. Maybe it''s just my combat reflexes resurfacing? I asked myself. I''m sure as hell going to need them when I get to the meeting in the morning. I retrieved my backpack from secured storage and dug out the military files from the battle. ¡°Amanda? Bring up the footage from the last battle.¡± I said, and the footage started to play on my vidwall. I went through the Operations file again and watched intently. Once again I checked the inconsistencies, and shook my head. ¡°I''m surprised we actually won that fight.¡± A text box appeared at the bottom of the vidwall, and it was from the System (Military Grade) AI.
We shouldn''t have.
¡°That''s what''s been bugging me, S(MG).¡± I said. ¡°We were caught in a sudden skirmish that we didn''t have any battle plan for, then had new units and techniques used against us. There shouldn''t have been any way for us to recover after our opponent broke the front defensive line.¡±
The redeployment after that changed the tide of the battle, somehow.
¡°I agree.¡± I said. ¡°But, I''ll be dammed if... Amanda, pause the footage!¡± I had been so focused on the action that was happening on the screen, that I had been completely ignoring the aesthetics of the enemy troops. ¡°S(MG), who exactly were the opponents in this skirmish?¡±
That information cannot be released over an open communication system.
¡°Understood.¡± I said. ¡°I assume I''ll get that information in the morning?¡±
A briefing data packet will be sent to your secured message folder at 0700.
¡°...and I can''t access that outside of your command area.¡± I said and sighed. ¡°All right, I''ll stew in my curiosity until the next time I''m properly secured.¡± I closed the Operations folder and told Amanda to start the footage again and opened Alyssa''s squad folder. I ran through their profiles, and they were all typically normal recruits. The squad itself hadn''t been together long, though; mainly because they were all remnants of other squads that had been thrown together. The notes say it''s an experiment to see if they can adjust to change. I shook my head. No wonder they were sent out on a bodyguard mission. I thought. Alyssa was right. They have no interpersonal experience at all. I smiled. Well, I guess it''s time to change that. I looked at the vidwall. ¡°S(MG), am I allowed to issue orders from here?¡±
One moment, please.
I sat and waited, and a minute later the vidwall blanked out and showed me the colonel as he sat in his office. ¡°Good morning, sir.¡± The colonel said. ¡°What can I do for you?¡± ¡°First, you can accept my apology for unintentionally bothering you while you''re busy.¡± I said and smiled, and the colonel chuckled. ¡°You forgot the S(MG) is a bit too literal, didn''t you?¡± I chuckled and nodded. ¡°I asked if I was allowed to issue orders from home.¡± ¡°So it immediately connected you to the chain of command.¡± The colonel laughed. ¡°Well, you''ve got my attention now. What can I do for you?¡± ¡°How are the repairs progressing?¡± ¡°Military, or the special project you signed back up for?¡± The colonel asked. ¡°Both, since I''ve got you here.¡± The colonel gave me a quick rundown of the repairs that were necessary for the units being deployed tomorrow, then told me that they already had the vacation house rebuilt and would have the grass and trees replaced by tonight. ¡°That''s great.¡± I said. ¡°Does that mean a lot of the combat squads are available right now?¡± ¡°They''re all available.¡± The colonel said. ¡°You''ve got their files. What do you want to do with them?¡± ¡°I had a crazy idea.¡± I said. The colonel snorted a laugh. ¡°Please tell me it doesn''t involve storming the Command HQ and telling them you quit again.¡± I laughed. ¡°No, I can''t do that for... Amanda?¡± ¡°They dropped the minimum of a combat tour to six months.¡± Amanda said. ¡°Really?¡± I asked, and the colonel nodded. ¡°It gives people a much needed break, usually two weeks to a month.¡± The colonel said. ¡°Then they have the option of redeployment in the same sector or to another combat rotation.¡± ¡°I''m glad the higher-ups at least listened to that idea.¡± I said. ¡°That was yours?¡± I shook my head. ¡°It was one of my subordinates. The time was supposed to be three months on, one month off.¡± ¡°That''s too much relaxation time.¡± The colonel said. ¡°Combat soldiers would be going stir-crazy if they aren''t being used properly.¡±The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°That was my argument, too.¡± I said. ¡°Having nothing to do for that long after having so much to do, is actually worse for a soldier than not having a break at all.¡± The colonel nodded. ¡°So, what''s your crazy idea?¡± ¡°I want to throw a community party.¡± The colonel laughed for a moment, then noticed I wasn''t laughing with him. ¡°You''re not serious?¡± ¡°I am.¡± I said and tapped Alyssa''s squad folder. ¡°Some of them have never even been to one.¡± ¡°There''s a reason for that, sir.¡± I smiled. ¡°I know, but if almost everyone is a cyborg...¡± The colonel thought about it. ¡°Well, as long as we make sure there''s a minimum of norm interaction, I think... yes, I think it''s doable.¡± ¡°I''m glad.¡± I said. ¡°Amanda? Where''s the closest venue to the barracks?¡± ¡°Sector J.¡± Amanda said. ¡°I''ve already booked the security, and they are sectioning off the walkways right now.¡± ¡°Thanks, Amanda.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Colonel, please pass along my order that the troops will have a community party thrown in their honor tonight. Attendance is not required, but it is recommended.¡± The colonel genuinely laughed at that one. ¡°I don''t think anyone is going to go against your recommendation, sir.¡± I smiled. ¡°Do I have to tell you to order them to have fun, but not too much fun?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± The colonel said. ¡°I''ll make sure both messages are heard by everyone.¡± ¡°Thank you, colonel.¡± ¡°Good day, sir.¡± The colonel said and the vidwall went blank for a moment, then the footage continued playing. ¡°Are you sure this is a good idea, Jack?¡± Amanda asked. ¡°Combat soldiers having fun?¡± I smiled and closed Alyssa''s squad folder. ¡°With other combat soldiers. It should be fine, but the colonel knows what I intend.¡± ¡°What''s that?¡± ¡°The cyborgs put their lives on the line all the time, to fight for something that''s not quite real to them.¡± I said. ¡°They fight. Some because they like it, some because they are mean and want to hurt people, and some because they''re stuck with it.¡± ¡°But...¡± ¡°Yes, they''re cyborgs... but that doesn''t mean they all love combat, or want to kill everything they meet, or even have an overactive aggression factor.¡± I explained. ¡°The one thing that none of them have is a home life. They live, breathe, and die in combat. I want to give them a taste of what it is they are actually fighting for.¡± ¡°...and being right before a major skirmish has nothing to do with it.¡± Amanda said sarcastically. ¡°Nope, nothing at all.¡± I said and chuckled. My AI Amanda and I spend the rest of the day compiling battle reports and statistics, comparing combat results to the terrain and the layout of the battlefield. The both of us knew that this fight was going to be much different than the ones the soldiers normally fought. There was no open battleground, and no front lines to break or overcome. This fight was going to be dirty and close quarters city street fighting. The main objective was a predetermined spot in the middle of the city. Unlike every other battle that had been fought up to this point, the objective itself was classified. I hoped it would be revealed in my briefing data packet in the morning, but with the way the higher-ups have been dealing with things, it was only a faint hope and we all would have to wait until we got there to find out what the actual objective was. I closed everything up and destroyed the files. I shredded them and soaked them with water, and tossed them into the recycler to be burned. Normally I would only have to shred them, but I''ve been a little paranoid ever since my father''s vacation home was destroyed. It was such an odd thing to have happen, and then to discover that my mother''s grave had been protected was all the more unsettling. Amanda told me when it was time to head over to Sector J and the community party, and I had a quick shower, changed into a combat unitard, and adorned the visitor''s badge required to enter the cordoned off area. I always had my identification on me; but, I didn''t like flashing it around. People always treat me differently when they find out who I was. I sighed. Who I am. I left my apartment and went up to the ground floor, then hopped into a Tube car and spent over half an hour watching the other traffic. I was in the express lane, since Sector J was at the very end of the living quarters for everyone in this part of the Cavern. There weren''t any slums, but there were definitely differences in the quality of living between working classes. I had lived there myself, and probably would still be living there if the System AI hadn''t moved me without telling me. I smiled as I remembered that day. Everyone was surprised that I had been singled out by the system, but none more so than I was. My life hadn''t changed much, despite what some people thought. I still worked every day and I still had fun during my days off. The only real difference was in the people I saw when I stepped out of the lobby. The tube car came to a stop in Sector J, and when it popped up to the surface, I climbed out and saw the crowd. The Tube car dropped away and was replaced almost immediately with another, this one was full and had four people in it. I opened the canopy for them, and they stepped out and stood a head taller than me. ¡°Thanks.¡± An electronic voice said from the closest one. The cyborg''s face was just a solid piece of metal, with a long slit across where the eyes should have been. I held in my shudder, because I didn''t know if he had been in an accident or had chosen a full cranial replacement on purpose. Another cyborg, this one a lot more human looking, stepped in front of me as I stepped back and closed the canopy on the tube car. ¡°You''re cute.¡± She said, and ran a hand down her body. My eyes followed the movement, and she moved the hand back up and cupped one of her breasts. ¡°You can touch them.¡± She said. ¡°They''re the best medical science can provide.¡± I looked at her face, and her long dark hair hid her prosthetics well. Even with one eye replaced with an older version of a large optical sensor, I could see she was quite pretty. ¡°Ma''am, I''d be delighted to manhandle you if I wasn''t seeing someone.¡± ¡°Ma''am!¡± The female cyborg said and laughed. ¡°How old are you?¡± ¡°I''m thirty six.¡± I said, and she stopped laughing. ¡°Really?¡± I nodded. ¡°How did you get into the service?¡± She asked, and I smiled because I was well past the age considered to be the prime combat age limit. ¡°It''s a secret.¡± I said, and she smiled back. ¡°Well, Mr. Secret.¡± She said, and glanced around to see that her friends were keeping themselves occupied, then leaned down to whisper. ¡°If you''re sneaky enough to get into the Military, then you''re sneaky enough to manhandle me without anyone knowing.¡± ¡°Is that what you really want?¡± I whispered to her. ¡°A norm to fondle you?¡± She nodded several times. ¡°My regular bed partners are all cyborgs. I can''t really call them boyfriends, since they usually just visit and go.¡± She sighed. ¡°None of them ever want to cuddle.¡± My eyes widened at her stark admission to someone she had just met, and it reminded me of Sandra''s mother Noreen and her craving to be touched. Since I had made that parallel connection, I knew that she was just going to follow me if I tried to just walk away. ¡°There''s a bit of time before the party is supposed to start.¡± I said. ¡°I won''t touch you sexually, but...¡± ¡°But?¡± ¡°If we can find something for me to stand on, I''d be more than happy to just cuddle with you.¡± The female cyborg looked at me for ten full seconds, which was a long time for a cybernetically-enhanced brain, and I heard her optical sensor change modes. ¡°I... that''s not really what I wanted.¡± She said and held a hand out. ¡°But, I''ll take it.¡± She led me through the gathering crowd to one of the pillars on the side of the living quarters, just out of sight of the Sector''s main square, and I climbed up to stand on the bottom ledge of it. It put me just a little above her actual height, and she smiled. ¡°Cuddle away.¡± She said and held her arms out. ¡°Oh, no.¡± I chuckled. ¡°You''re not rubbing your chest on me. Nothing sexual, remember?¡± The female cyborg sighed dramatically. ¡°Then how...¡± ¡°Turn around.¡± I said, and she did. ¡°Take a half-step back.¡± She was almost close enough. ¡°Now a quarter step.¡± I said, and then I leaned forward slightly and tucked my chin onto her shoulder. I rested my ear beside her real ear, pulled up the sleeves of my combat unitard as far as they would go, then put my hands on her hips. She sighed a little, because she thought I was going to stop there. I slid my hands slowly up her waist and under her top, and she took in a sharp breath as I wrapped my bare arms around her torso, just under her breasts. She almost moaned and hugged my arms. ¡°Won''t you... just a little?¡± I rubbed my cheek on hers. ¡°Only cuddling.¡± ¡°But... they''re right there.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Do you want me to stop?¡± ¡°God, no.¡± She said and then she did moan. ¡°You''re so warm!¡± ¡°Well, it looks like norms are good for something after all.¡± I said and laughed, and she laughed, too. We stood just out of sight of everyone in the main square and cuddled while we waited for the party to start. L.I.F.E. Begins 021: Lines In The Sand The female cyborg and I held each other, and I gently moved my hands in slow circles to caress her skin. ¡°Your fingers are like magic.¡± She moaned and took a deep breath when I started to massage her. ¡°Please, I''m begging you.¡± I sighed. ¡°Ma''am...¡± ¡°It''s Cali.¡± She said. ¡°Call me Cali.¡± I smiled. ¡°Is that your name or your squad call sign?¡± ¡°Does it matter?¡± ¡°Surprisingly, yes.¡± I said. ¡°My call sign is Ranger.¡± ¡°You''re a scout?¡± Cali nodded. ¡°I don''t like normal combat, so being sent out to map the battle area was the best compromise I could get.¡± ¡°Well, Cali. It''s nice to meet you.¡± I said and grazed my thumbs across the underside of her breasts. She stopped breathing and shuddered, and that confirmed my suspicion. ¡°You really do need me to touch you.¡± ¡°God, yes!¡± Cali said. ¡°Near... nearly all of the soldiers...¡± She bit her lip as my thumbs made another pass. ¡°...have hand mods of some kind and they can''t touch me at all.¡± ¡°I''m really sorry to hear that.¡± I said, and very carefully moved my hands up to cup her chest with both of my hands without touching the tips. Her whole body froze for a moment, and then she trembled. I felt a tear hit my cheek, and I turned my head to see that she was crying. I let her chest go and stood up straight. ¡°Turn around.¡± I said. Cali turned and tried to wipe the tears away before I could see her face, and I reached up and wiped her face off for her. ¡°I forgot to tell you how pretty you are.¡± I said to her, and she chuckled. ¡°I look in the mirror every day.¡± Cali said and put her arms around my waist. ¡°I know that''s not true.¡± I moved my hands from her face, tucked them under her shirt, and massaged her breasts. Her eyes widened for a moment, and then she leaned into me so I would work them more. ¡°What was it you said? These were the best medical science could provide?¡± I asked, and pinched them a little. ¡°You wouldn''t bother with that at all if you believed you were ugly.¡± ¡°Oh, god.¡± Cali closed her eyes and put her head on my shoulder. She held me tightly but gently, and she shuddered several times as I kept massaging her. There was a crackling sound of a speaker above us, and then low music started to play. ¡°Welcome, soldiers!¡± A man''s voice boomed out of the speaker. ¡°Congratulations! This is the first officially sanctioned Community Party specifically put together for you!¡± I could hear a loud uproar from the crowd, with cheers and hollering. Cali lifted her head from my shoulder and looked at the speaker. ¡°Is that true?¡± Cali asked. ¡°Yes.¡± I said. ¡°Orders from the overall commander of the skirmish tomorrow.¡± I stopped massaging her chest and took my hands out from under her top. Her hands grabbed mine and she lifted them to her mouth and kissed the fingers. ¡°Yes, these things are magic.¡± Cali said. ¡°That''s right, folks!¡± The booming voice said when the talking from the crowd died down. ¡°Tonight is all for you! The stalls on the sides have everything you could want! Games! Food! Illegal upgrades!¡± The crowd cheered at the last one, and the booming voice laughed. ¡°The higher-ups won''t approve of that last one, but what they don''t know won''t hurt you!¡± ¡°Yeah!¡± ¡°Woohoo!¡± ¡°Take it off!¡± ¡°Hey, I told you to wait out back.¡± The booming voice said, and everyone laughed. ¡°Now, before we get the festivities going, let''s bring up the man responsible for all of this.¡± There was a slight pause. ¡°What do you mean he''s not here?¡± The man asked. ¡°This was his idea!¡± ¡°That''s my cue.¡± I said and stepped off the bottom of the pillar. ¡°What?¡± Cali asked as I slipped into the crowd. ¡°Wait! I don''t even know your name!¡± ¡°Call him right now!¡± The booming voice said. ¡°I want to know why he isn''t here!¡± My communication pad started to ring as I moved through the crowd, but I didn''t answer it. I got to the stage and walked up onto it, and the area microphone picked up the ringing and broadcast it to the audience. ¡°I should probably take this call.¡± I said. My voice boomed out and I answered the communication pad. ¡°Hello?¡± ¡°Sir, where are you?¡± A woman asked. ¡°The MC of the night is dying on stage! You have to get here right away!¡± ¡°I don''t know.¡± I said, and everyone in the audience started to laugh. ¡°I''m a little busy right now.¡± ¡°But, sir! I''ll never hear the end of it if you don''t show up!¡± ¡°He really shouldn''t spout off by himself, you know.¡± I said. ¡°Is it my problem that the MC is suffering from premature expulsions?¡± The entire crowd was laughing so hard that the area microphone started to pick it up. ¡°Sir, working the crowd over gets him all fired up.¡± The woman said. ¡°The more they respond, the better he feels.¡± I reached a hand out and pat the MC on the shoulder, and he just shook his head with a smile on his face as the crowd kept laughing.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Oh, all right.¡± I said with as much resignation as I could. ¡°Go up on stage and tell the MC that I''ll be there as soon as I can.¡± ¡°Thank you so much, sir!¡± The woman said. ¡°He''ll be so happy to hear that!¡± ¡°I''m sure he will.¡± I said. ¡°Goodbye.¡± ¡°Goodbye!¡± The woman said happily and a moment later, a very flustered woman ran up onto the stage from the back area and out to the MC. ¡°He''s on his... way?¡± She looked from the MC to me with my communication pad, then back to the MC. ¡°Oh, dammit!¡± The entire crowd lost it. There were shouts and hollers, and pretty much just a general uproar. The MC let it die down a little before he spoke. ¡°I''d like to introduce you all to my wife, Mabel.¡± ¡°May-bell! May-bell! May-bell!¡± The entire crowd chanted together, and her face flushed to a deep red. ¡°Now that she''s been completely embarrassed and probably won''t ever forgive me, let me finally introduce the man who brought us all together this evening.¡± The MC said and pointed. ¡°Jack!¡± I''m glad he was properly briefed. I thought and turned to his wife, Mabel. ¡°Ma''am, I''m sorry I carried that joke a little too far.¡± ¡°It... it''s all right, sir.¡± Mabel said. ¡°I should have called you before my husband went onstage.¡± ¡°I should have checked in with you when I got here, too.¡± I said. ¡°Of course, I didn''t know I was supposed to.¡± I looked out at the crowd. ¡°I just wanted to show up and join in on the fun.¡± ¡°Yeah!¡± ¡°You said it!¡± ¡°I''ll have fun with you!¡± ¡°Me, too!¡± ¡°Go, commander!¡± ¡°That''s Mr. High and Mighty Overall Commander, Sir!¡± I pointed to the guy and laughed. Everyone laughed with me, and I looked at everyone. ¡°I''m not one for big speeches.¡± I said, and let the low tone of my voice convey my feelings. ¡°Tomorrow is going to be a new kind of battle. A battle unlike any we''ve ever faced. We''ve trained in it, but we''ve never fought a real one before.¡± I walked across the stage, and everyone followed me with their eyes. ¡°It''s going to be scary, and it''s going to be horrific.¡± I said and looked at them. ¡°Some of you are going to die.¡± No one spoke, and you could almost feel the intensity they all shared at that moment. ¡°I know it. You know it. Everyone knows it.¡± I said and then smiled and bared all of my teeth at them. ¡°That''s why we''re here! It''s our job!¡± I nearly yelled, and almost every head nodded. ¡°Without us, none of this would be here!¡± I said and waved to the pristine living area. ¡°No one would eat! No one would drink! No one would live!¡± I let them stew on that statement for a moment. ¡°Worst of all...¡± I said and dropped my head in reverence. ¡°...no one...¡± I looked up at the crowd and grinned. ¡°...no one would PARTY!¡± ¡°Yeehahhh!¡± The crowd responded. They cheered and clapped, and the sound of banging metal resounded through the square. ¡°Before I hand the reins back over to the MC, I have some important words for you to remember.¡± I paused for dramatic effect. ¡°If any of you try to use being hung over as an excuse tomorrow, you''ll be assigned to latrine duty!¡± I said, and they laughed. I waved to the crowd, shook the MC and his wife''s hands, and left the stage. ¡°Thank you sir, for those enlightening words.¡± The MC said. His wife tried to leave the stage, but he held her hand and kept her there. ¡°I had a whole bit and routine to do, but how do you follow that?¡± He asked. ¡°You don''t!¡± Someone shouted. ¡°That''s right!¡± The MC said. ¡°So enjoy yourselves, and don''t wreck the place.¡± He smiled. ¡°If you do, it''s coming out of your Points! Ha ha!¡± The MC and his wife left the stage and the lights dimmed slightly. I moved through the crowd, and they gave me a wide berth, when before I had to physically squeeze between them. A hand came out of the crowd and touched my arm, and I stopped walking. ¡°Hi, Alyssa.¡± I said. ¡°Hello, sir.¡± Alyssa said. I sighed mentally, but didn''t let it show on my face. ¡°Where''s the rest of your squad?¡± ¡°Around.¡± She said, and looked at the people around them. ¡°Sir? Can we talk in private?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± I said. She took my hand and led me through the crowd. It wasn''t as unobtrusive as it was when Cali did it, since no one was paying attention then; now though, everyone watched us. Alyssa brought me over to some kind of booth and nodded to the attendant, and he opened the counter. She and I went into the back and she shut the door. She hit a button by the door, the door locked, and a slight hum filled the room. ¡°Why didn''t you tell me who you are?!?¡± Alyssa turned and nearly yelled at me. ¡°That wasn''t who I was.¡± I said calmly. ¡°Not then, anyways.¡± ¡°Really? You''re going to argue semantics with me?¡± ¡°It''s not semantics. I retired years ago.¡± I said. ¡°The last unscheduled skirmish made it necessary for me to reactivate.¡± ¡°What unscheduled skirmish?¡± I opened my mouth to ask her why she didn''t know about it, then realized I had inadvertently disclosed prohibited information to a soldier with insufficient rank to know it. I sighed and leaned against the wall. ¡°Guess what? You''re being reassigned.¡± ¡°Wh-what?¡± ¡°Congratulations.¡± I said. ¡°Your squad is now the designated HQ security team.¡± ¡°Wh-WHAT?!?¡± ¡°I''m going to need you and your squad up to speed on defensive tactics, with an emphasis on information security and keeping your mouths shut about what you hear in the command center.¡± ¡°You... you can''t... do that.¡± Alyssa said in a quiet voice. ¡°I''m the overall commander. This mission is happening under my direction, now that I''m back in the fold.¡± ¡°But... but...¡± ¡°Your squad used to be one of the advanced teams.¡± I said. ¡°Now it''s my personal security.¡± ¡°S-sir, please.¡± Alyssa looked at me with pleading eyes. ¡°Don''t punish the squad for my mistake.¡± I stopped leaning against the wall and put my hands on her shoulders. ¡°Actually, it was my mistake.¡± ¡°Sir, I...¡± Alyssa sighed. ¡°Please change your mind.¡± ¡°I''m sorry.¡± I said and let her shoulders go. ¡°I''ll give you a piece of advice. Don''t tell your squad about the reassignment until after the party.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Hey, don''t be sad.¡± I said. ¡°It''ll be fun.¡± I smiled. ¡°Just like old times when we traveled across the cavern.¡± Alyssa chuckled, but it seemed a little forced. ¡°Yes, sir.¡± ¡°Have fun tonight, and that''s an order.¡± I said, and she put a hand on my face. ¡°I had hoped to.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°I booked this booth for an hour.¡± I blinked my eyes at her for a few moments, and then I smiled. ¡°I''m still involved with someone.¡± ¡°Are you married?¡± ¡°No, but...¡± ¡°Are you living together?¡± ¡°Not yet, but I asked...¡± ¡°Do you have children together?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Did you sign the exclusivity form or the guaranteed children voucher?¡± ¡°I... no.¡± ¡°Do you even see each other on a regular basis?¡± I opened my mouth to say that we did, but then I remembered our hectic schedules and didn''t say anything in response. Alyssa reached into her pocket and took out a folded piece of paper. ¡°Sign this.¡± I took the paper and unfolded it, then my eyes widened. ¡°You... Alyssa, you...¡± ¡°I''m allowed, once a year, to request a pairing with anyone I choose to diversify the human gene pool.¡± ¡°Alyssa.¡± I closed my eyes. ¡°What was with all the questions?¡± ¡°I wanted you to see that the both of us are almost completely unattached to anyone else.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°You don''t want me as a partner for this.¡± I said and opened my eyes. ¡°You know the fine print as well as I do.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°This request can be made to anyone, regardless of their personal circumstances.¡± ¡°I love Sandra.¡± I said. ¡°I know you do.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°You would have taken Cali''s offer in a heartbeat if you didn''t.¡± ¡°You know about...¡± I sighed. ¡°When she saw me on stage...¡± ¡°...she told everyone she could that you cuddled with her.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°I knew I should have ordered her to stay quiet about it.¡± ¡°That wouldn''t have stopped her.¡± Alyssa laughed. ¡°It would be worth the 10 days in the brig to tell everyone you fondled her.¡± ¡°And what will you do?¡± I asked. ¡°This is a private transaction, Jack.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°If you sign it, we don''t have any rank. We don''t have any family. We don''t have anything but each other for this hour.¡± ¡°But...¡± ¡°It''s a non-disclosure agreement.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Neither you nor I can say what happened here.¡± ¡°What if...¡± ¡°Not even the medical checkup examiners are allowed to question us.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°If a higher-up asks you about this, you can tell them to kiss your ass.¡± I chuckled, because that was a dream that every soldier had. I''d even lived that dream once. ¡°You aren''t going to take no for an answer, are you?¡± I asked. ¡°Jack, I can see the desire in your eyes.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°You don''t want to say no.¡± I signed the paper and she tucked it back into her pocket. ¡°You do realize this will change how we see each other.¡± ¡°No, Jack. It won''t.¡± Alyssa smiled seductively and opened her top to reveal her unmodified chest. I stared at it, since it was so rare to meet a woman, let alone a female cyborg, that hadn''t had enhancement surgery of some kind. She saw my reaction and took my hand, then placed it on one of her very warm breasts. ¡°Well, maybe it will.¡± Alyssa laughed, and then kissed me. L.I.F.E. Begins 022: The Goal Is Near I had been with Sandra for quite a long time, so being with another woman was both new and exciting. I didn''t last long. Much to my credit, neither did Alyssa. It was barely ten minutes after I had signed the agreement when it''s conditions were completed, and the both of us were breathing heavy. ¡°We didn''t even make it to the bed.¡± Alyssa said and laughed. ¡°Give me a couple of minutes.¡± I said, and she tilted her head at a forty-five degree angle. ¡°But... the contract...¡± ¡°I distinctly remember that part of your argument was that neither of us can talk about what happens here.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°I''m not going to tell anyone that we kept going.¡± ¡°I wish I could tell someone.¡± Alyssa smiled and laid down on the bed. We ran the time out on the room rental, and we left the booth exhausted and happy. What we saw when we came out was both shocking and funny. No one was wearing clothing; but, they acted as if they were. They danced, drank, ate, sang, played games, and checked out the things for sale at the various booths. ¡°D-d-don''t look!¡± I said and covered Alyssa''s eyes. ¡°You don''t need to see this!¡± Alyssa snorted a laugh and eased my hand away from her eyes. ¡°I''ve seen it all before, sir.¡± ¡°Then cover my eyes instead!¡± I said and held her hand over my face. ¡°I don''t want to see it!¡± Alyssa laughed and led me across the square to a food booth with reconstituted hamburgers. ¡°Welcome!¡± The vendor said when we approached. ¡°Guaranteed ten percent real meat!¡± ¡°Really?¡± I asked and smiled as I pulled Alyssa''s hand down from covering my face. The vendor recognized me. ¡°Ah... I was mistaken, sir.¡± He swallowed loudly. ¡°It''s only five percent meat by volume.¡± I chuckled, and Alyssa covered her mouth to stop herself from laughing. ¡°Give us two burgers, with anything you can fit on it.¡± I said. ¡°One norm, one cyber.¡± ¡°Sir.¡± The vendor said and made up two burgers, then handed them to us. ¡°How much?¡± I asked. ¡°No charge for the overall commander, sir.¡± I put my hand on the scanner and it took six Points from me. ¡°I don''t ride on the backs of the people.¡± I said. ¡°Thanks for the food.¡± ¡°You''re welcome, sir!¡± The vendor said happily. Alyssa and I moved down a couple of booths to a synthetic alcohol booth. Using actual yeast, wheat, or potatoes for making alcohol was a major offence, because they were staple crops and were desperately needed to feed the population. The crime usually resulted in hard labour for several years in the farm domes used for growing them, or conscription into the military for several years. No one has been caught for the crime in almost 3 years; but, that didn''t mean it wasn''t happening. ¡°What''s on tap?¡± ¡°Anything you want, sir.¡± I leaned in close and whispered. ¡°I''ve been digging in the trenches all day.¡± ¡°Did you break your shovel?¡± The vendor whispered back automatically. ¡°Over my knee when I was done.¡± I whispered, and the vendor''s eyes nearly bulged out of his head. ¡°S-s-sir.¡± The vendor said and discreetly handed me two small balloon-like items that I hid in my harness, then he gave us two normal cups of synthetic alcohol. I put my hand on the scanner and lost six more points, then I tapped my thumb. Ten more points were transferred, and I smiled. ¡°Thanks for the quick service.¡± I said. ¡°Enjoy the tip.¡± ¡°I... I will, sir.¡± The vendor said and smiled. ¡°I will.¡± Alyssa led me back across the square and around the other side of the living quarters to where tables and chairs had been set up. I motioned for her to sit and she sat down, and I popped one of the balloon-like items into her drink and crushed it. It crumbled into dust and I sprinkled it into the liquid. I popped the other one into my own drink and did the same with that container. I sat down and took a bite of the burger. ¡°Oh, now that''s good.¡± I said and started to chew. ¡°Sir.¡± Alyssa said, and I looked at her. ¡°Did you just do what I think you just did?¡± ¡°I thought you said we couldn''t talk about what happened in the booth.¡± I said, deliberately misunderstanding what she meant. Alyssa sighed. ¡°Jack.¡± ¡°I didn''t do anything, you didn''t see anything, and we will never speak of this again.¡± I said. ¡°Is that an order, sir?¡± ¡°I cannot officially acknowledge anything I''ve seen or done tonight.¡± I said and smiled at her. ¡°Now eat up, so I''ll know that I haven''t wasted a bunch of points.¡± Alyssa opened her mouth to say something, then took a bite of her burger instead. ¡°That really is good.¡± She said and took another bite. We sat in silence and ate, and sipped the very strong alcoholic drink. When both of us had finished eating, we stood up and walked over to a rolling stairway.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°Next stop: Overlook Walkway.¡± A robotic voice said and we stepped on. It brought us up to the top as it made it''s way around the large square and the rowdy Community Party that was just getting into full swing. It came to a stop and I stepped off and reached a hand back. Alyssa smiled and took it, then shook her head slightly. ¡°Sir, you''re treating me like a date.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°I''m taking my Head of Security on a tour of my command and combat troops.¡± ¡°That''s what I said.¡± Alyssa laughed. ¡°It''s a date.¡± I grinned at her and waved to the railing. No one was there so early in the night, so we had the place all to ourselves. ¡°Sir, I...¡± Alyssa stopped looking at all the troops below us and turned to look at me. I reached out and put a finger on her lips. ¡°You''re welcome.¡± I said and moved my hand to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear mod. ¡°When you told me that you hadn''t ever been to a Community Party, I... ah...¡± ¡°You did this... all of this... for me?¡± Alyssa said, shocked. ¡°I did.¡± I said. ¡°I couldn''t let you go out to die without at least showing you what it was that you were fighting for.¡± ¡°I can''t believe it.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°T-tell me... tell me it''s not true.¡± I smiled and touched the spot where tears would have come out if she still had tear ducts, or even needed them for that matter. ¡°I''ll lie my ass off if you want me to.¡± I said, and she let out a single sob. ¡°J-Jack, I...¡± Alyssa stepped close and hugged me. ¡°Hey, now.¡± I said and hugged her back. ¡°Inappropriate touching is against regulation Zero-Two-One-Alpha of the military code of conduct.¡± ¡°I''m pretty sure this is the synthetic alcohol talking, but...¡± Alyssa said and looked up at me. ¡°I wish I had another Exemption order.¡± She smiled. ¡°An hour wasn''t nearly long enough to be with you.¡± ¡°If I remember correctly, that was about 6 times longer than what I actually needed.¡± I said and she snorted a laugh. ¡°You can''t talk about it, remember?¡± I laughed. ¡°I remember.¡± ¡°So, what are we going to do?¡± ¡°I know what I''m going to do.¡± I said. ¡°I''m going to have a couple of dances, another synthetic drink, then I''ll head home. Some of us have an early day tomorrow.¡± Alyssa nodded and let me out of the hug. ¡°I''ll let the squad know.¡± I reached out and touched her cheek. ¡°Ma''am, would you care to dance?¡± ¡°M-me?¡± Alyssa asked, surprised. ¡°Do you see anyone else on this walkway?¡± ¡°But... I... I don''t...¡± Alyssa sighed. ¡°I don''t know how to dance.¡± I took her into a hug and held her tightly. ¡°It''s easy.¡± I said and used my hands to sway her hips from side to side while I did the same. Her body followed the movement and I put my arms back around her. ¡°There.¡± ¡°T-that''s it?¡± ¡°It''s all the basics you need to know.¡± I said. ¡°Now this only works with me, because I''m training you to be the perfect woman.¡± Alyssa laughed. It was boisterous and full of joy, and also unrestrained. If she still had normal eyes, she''d be crying again. I thought and laughed with her. We danced for three songs, and it didn''t matter what kind of sound and beat it had. We only swayed our hips from side to side and held each other. I was tempted to have another drink; but, I really needed to get home and get some rest for the battle. ¡°I really need to go.¡± I told her and let her out of the embrace I had her in. Alyssa leaned in close and whispered in my ear. ¡°Thank you...¡± Alyssa kissed my ear. ¡°...for the all-inclusive party.¡± ¡°It was your pleasure.¡± I whispered back, and it made her laugh. ¡°I was trying to be serious.¡± Alyssa said and leaned back to look at me. ¡°...and I was trying to distract you.¡± I said and glanced down at her chest. Alyssa looked down and saw that her top was undone. ¡°How the hell did you do that?¡± Alyssa asked, surprised. ¡°I didn''t even feel it!¡± I chuckled and wiggled my fingers, and she smiled. ¡°All right.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°You worked hard for it; so, go ahead.¡± I slipped my hands inside her top and she caught her breath, which was the perfect opportunity to kiss her. I did, and she put her arms around my neck. I let her chest go after giving her a quick massage, then broke the kiss a moment after that. ¡°Goodnight.¡± I said. Alyssa unwrapped her arms from around my neck and tried to do up her top, then discovered that it was already securely closed. ¡°How the...¡± She shook her head. ¡°Goodnight, sir.¡± I laughed at her expression and walked over to the edge of the walkway. A rolling stairway came over, and I stepped onto it. ¡°Tube car, please.¡± I told it, then gave it my override code. It took me around the square to the station and had shifted me to the bottom. I stepped off and right into an open car, and the Tube shunted me down into the express lane. I was back home half an hour later, had a quick shower, and went to bed. My AI Amanda tried, unsuccessfully, to get me to tell her about the party. I didn''t flatly refuse like she thought I would, though. What I did do... or rather, didn''t do... was talk at all. I didn''t want her to know how much fun I had, mainly because I was denying it myself. I wasn''t feeling guilty about what had happened, mainly because that wasn''t what was wrong. I felt bad because I had spent an enjoyable night out... and it hadn''t been with Sandra. That was a new feeling for me. I tried not to laugh at myself, mainly because it meant that I really did love her. I rolled over in bed and closed my eyes. The morning was going to come soon, and it was going to be a whole new way for me to feel bad. I was going to do what Sandra had absolutely forbidden me to do. I was going to kill as many people as possible. I sighed and fell asleep. I opened my eyes and sighed, because I had fallen asleep on the little raft I had stupidly not attached a guide line to. I was adrift and floating across the large reservoir lake for the Cavern, and I didn''t have Rusty or my communication pad because I was out on the water. That meant I didn''t have my AI Amanda with me, either. I berated and hollered at myself for over an hour as the very slow current pulled me closer and closer to the only spot I was warned never to go. The Fall. I had tried to paddle; but with only me on board and my weak paddling skill because I was so young, all I managed to do was spin the raft and increase the speed it travelled. I''d actually given up trying to do anything and dozed off for a while. Now that I was awake again, I knew things were going to get desperate. I thought about diving into the water; but, there was no way I was going to swim anywhere even close to the shore. All I would do was add my dead body to the world''s only water supply, and I didn''t want that at all if I could help it. ¡°Maybe the Fall is bottomless.¡± I said, then laughed. ¡°I''ll die just falling, anyways.¡± I looked back at the shore in the general direction where I thought the vacation house was. I was so close to the edge of the Fall now that I felt the spray from the splashing water. ¡°Goodbye, Mom.¡± I said. ¡°I love you.¡± ¡°That ain''t no way to talk when you''re about to be rescued.¡± A tiny voice said. ¡°What?!?¡± I looked around. ¡°We''ve had you on radar for about an hour.¡± The tiny voice said. ¡°When you didn''t change course, we dispatched a boat to come and see what''s up.¡± ¡°Where are you?¡± I asked and looked around to where I thought the voice was coming from. ¡°I''m right here.¡± The tiny voice said and I squinted my eyes. What looked like a small fly hovered in front of me, and it waved a leg at me. ¡°Drone 876 at your service.¡± ¡°I thought electronics weren''t allowed on the lake!¡± I said, surprised. Drone 876 laughed. ¡°Electronics with heavy metal batteries are prohibited.¡± He said. ¡°I''m thermal.¡± ¡°No way!¡± I said. ¡°Wait, wait.¡± I closed my eyes and thought about what the design would be. ¡°You''re almost lighter than air!¡± ¡°You got it.¡± Drone 876 said. ¡°Micro rotors that run on static charge kick in when I need them, though.¡± ¡°I didn''t think they could pack an AI so small.¡± I said. ¡°I''m not an AI.¡± Drone 876 said. ¡°I''m just a satellite program.¡± ¡°Oh! You''re really well designed.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± ¡°So, where''s the boat?¡± ¡°It''s coming.¡± Drone 876 said. ¡°Right behind you.¡± I turned around and saw a squad multi-purpose carry vehicle speed across the water towards me. ¡°T-tell it to stop!¡± I said, and started to panic. I grabbed my oar and paddled, and it turned the boat. I ran to the other side and paddled; but, it didn''t make any difference. ¡°It''s too late, Jack.¡± Drone 876 said. ¡°Much too late.¡± I turned around and saw the front of the vehicle hit my raft and then hit me. We all went through the water spray and out into the main part of The Fall. ¡°AhhhHHH!¡± I yelled, and woke up. ¡°Goddammit!¡± ¡°Jack, you''re awake!¡± Amanda, my AI said. ¡°I''ve been trying to wake you for an hour.¡± ¡°Ugh.¡± I said and rubbed my head. ¡°What time is it?¡± ¡°It''s almost too late, Jack.¡± Amanda said. ¡°The skirmish starts in 2 hours.¡± ¡°Dammit!¡± I said and hopped out of bed and ran to the shower. L.I.F.E. Begins 023: Target Priority I hopped out of the shower and slipped on a new combat unitard, grabbed an empty harness, and put my communication pad in my front pocket. I was tempted to bring Rusty along, just to piss off the higher-ups; but, I was not going to be their favorite person as it was, and that was without bringing a toy along. I told my AI Amanda to keep the secure channel of the communication pad open for herself and to listen in, then left the apartment. I took the elevator up to the ground floor and ran as hard as I could outside and to the Tube car station. I was thankful that no one was around and co-opted it''s use. ¡°Military override, Lima-Lima-Foxtrot.¡± I said and hopped in. ¡°I''m sorry, Transit AI. I need to get to the temporary base right now.¡± The lights in the car dimmed, and the car quickly dropped into traffic. It shifted to the express lane and all the stops that entered it were slowed down so I would have the right of way. The speed limitations were lifted and I was pushed back in the seat as the Tube car zoomed to the place I needed to go. I arrived at the military base ten minutes later, and hopped out after a quick thank you to the Transit AI. I ran into the base and through the checkpoint without stopping. ¡°Thanks, Amanda.¡± I whispered as I ran across the base at full speed to the transport we had co-opted for the skirmish. ¡°George!¡± I said and hopped up into the troop transport reserved for me and four combat squads of five members each. ¡°You poor fool, Jack!¡± George the industrial maintenance tank laughed. ¡°You''re one of them again!¡± ¡°Yeah, I''m scum!¡± I said and pat his fuselage. ¡°Pull out!¡± ¡°You got it!¡± George said and his treads dug into the hard ground, and he got the large troop carrier moving. Once they started rolling, it became easier to maintain the speed, and George poured on the speed. ¡°I''m surprised to see you, my friend!¡± I said to George. ¡°When I heard you were involved, I volunteered.¡± George said. ¡°Hey, that was... really stupid of you.¡± I said, and George laughed. ¡°I''m only dropping you off.¡± ¡°You''re voluntarily crossing The Fall.¡± I said. ¡°That is not a robot friendly area.¡± ¡°They''ve got security domes set up on three of the lifts, so it''s okay.¡± ¡°You''re still really brave.¡± I said. ¡°I''m also glad to see a friendly face.¡± ¡°Hey!¡± Crush said and I looked at him. ¡°What?¡± I asked and pointed at his head. ¡°That is not a friendly face.¡± Crush grinned and two of the other cyborgs laughed. ¡°I''m glad you finally made it.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Me, too.¡± I said. ¡°I actually overslept, but I paid for it with a nightmare.¡± ¡°That sucks.¡± Crush said. ¡°I''m glad I just set my internal alarm and bang, I''m up.¡± ¡°How are you enjoying the repairs?¡± I asked. ¡°I feel like a new man.¡± Crush said, and one of the female cyborgs laughed. ¡°What''s so funny?¡± ¡°I didn''t know you had an old man to dump for a new one! Ha ha!¡± Everyone laughed, even Crush. We travelled out of the populated areas pretty quickly, and then George arrived at the junction. ¡°Hold on! We''re going online!¡± George said, and everyone braced for the transfer. His tracks folded up and his metal body dropped 3 feet to the large rail. The troop transport he was hauling did the same thing, and it nearly threw me out of my seat. Everything lit up inside the transport, now that we were hooked right into the main power grid, and George laughed as his systems were fully powered up for the first time in over a year. ¡°I''ve forgotten how good this felt!¡± George said and our speed doubled. ¡°Go easy on yourself, George.¡± I said. ¡°I only replaced your capacitors two weeks ago.¡± George laughed. ¡°They''re running at a hundred percent, too!¡± ¡°They''re only meant for eighty percent, you crazy nut!¡± I said, and George kept laughing. ¡°He must have bypassed his breakers.¡± Crush said, and I looked at him. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Don''t tell me you modded what I did.¡± I said. ¡°Okay, I won''t tell you.¡± Crush said and grinned. ¡°Oh, geez.¡± I said, and that made everyone laugh. We arrived at the next transfer point near The Fall, and George had no choice but to slow down. ¡°All right, we''re coming up on the cut off.¡± George said, and everyone braced for the jump. ¡°I can''t believe you do this.¡± I said and ducked down into the crash position with my head down between my knees. ¡°You should kiss your ass goodbye while you''re down there.¡± One of the cyborgs said and laughed. ¡°I''ll do it!¡± A female voice said, and I glanced down the line of seats. It was Cali, the woman that wanted me to cuddle with her before the party. She gave me a little wave, and I waved back just as George hit the ramp and went airborne, which took the transport and us with him.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Wooo-hooooo!¡± Crush yelled as we arced through the air and the tracks folded back out to cover the rail wheels. We came down hard, and even with the heavy suspension, the landing jarred my teeth and almost gave me whiplash. ¡°Goddammit.¡± I said and sat up. ¡°George! What the hell?!?¡± ¡°Sorry, Jack.¡± George said. ¡°I haven''t done that in ages!¡± ¡°There''s a reason for that!¡± I said, and one of George''s tracks lost one of it''s pieces. He shuddered for a second, then had to slow down and came to a stop. ¡°I''m sorry, Jack.¡± George said. ¡°That was too much fun not to do.¡± ¡°You''re lucky I like you so much, or I''d be pissed right now.¡± I said. ¡°Crush! Cali! Give me a hand on the jack.¡± They hit their harness releases and stood up. ¡°I''d love to give you a hand on your jack, Jack.¡± Cali said. Nearly everyone laughed, and as she walked towards the door of the transport, several of the female cyborgs held their hands up and gave her a high five. ¡°Children, behave.¡± I said. ¡°Daddy will be right back after he changes a tire.¡± ¡°Oh, daddy!¡± One of the female cyborgs said. ¡°I''m bad! Spank me!¡± ¡°I''ll spank you, Grace.¡± One of the male cyborgs said. ¡°You don''t even have to ask.¡± Grace held a hand up and shook her finger at him. ¡°Ain''t nobody but daddy gets to touch this ass.¡± I tuned out the rest of that conversation and hopped out of the transport behind Crush and Cali. ¡°It must have been a rock or something.¡± George said as Cali cranked up the jack to raise the industrial tank enough to roll the track to get the damaged part up on top. Crush already had the spare parts container opened and took out replacement bolts and three track pieces. He had guessed right, because the piece that had flown off had broken the two around it. I used the auto wrench to unbolt the three pieces, tossed the bolts and the broken pieces, and Crush handed me the replacements. I attached them, and looked at Crush. ¡°Grab the tension bar and put some torque on this track.¡± I said to him and he grinned. ¡°You got it.¡± Crush said and picked up a 6 foot long wrench, and set it on the farthest wheel. ¡°Jack, I don''t think he should be the one...¡± ¡°If he breaks you, he''s going to be hauling the troop transport the rest of the way all by himself, no matter how long it takes.¡± ¡°Aw, you''re no fun.¡± Crush said and pulled on the wrench. ¡°George? Tell me the tolerances.¡± I said, and George called out the numbers. ¡°A little more... a little more...¡± I said and nodded. ¡°That''s got it.¡± ¡°Ugh!¡± Crush said and let the torque wrench go. It clattered to the ground and he rubbed his arms. ¡°Wuss.¡± Cali said and tossed the wrench back into it''s holder and kicked the discarded parts aside. ¡°Let it down easy.¡± I said, and she did it. ¡°Thanks, Jack.¡± George said. ¡°You better get us there fast.¡± I said. ¡°We''re going to be late.¡± The three of us climbed back onto the troop transport and strapped in, and George got us to the right lift to make the transfer over to the other side. When we were across, it took almost another half an hour to get to the skirmish area. Once we did, the troops stared at what was there. Nearly 300 troop transports were there and already deployed, and we were the very last one to arrive. ¡°Let''s go, people.¡± I said and released my harness, then got out of the way as the troops filed out. They went over to the supply tent and gathered the things they were going to need, then went to the weapons and ammunition vehicle and loaded up with the things they were allowed. I received a burst transmission from the System (Military Grade) and checked it. Inside was the secured message I was supposed to get the day before, and I frowned at it''s contents. What kind of deployment is this garbage? I asked myself, and before I could check who we were fighting, the troops in my transport came back over to where I stood. ¡°What the hell are you wearing?¡± I asked them, and they looked at each other and then at themselves. ¡°This is the urban combat gear.¡± One of them said. ¡°No, it isn''t.¡± I said. ¡°You''re not going to last two minutes of close combat fighting in that getup.¡± I shook my head. ¡°Amanda? Where''s the command center?¡± ¡°It''s fifteen troop transports over.¡± Amanda said from my front pocket. ¡°Don''t go anywhere.¡± I told the combat squads. ¡°I''ll be right back.¡± Three of the squads watched as I ran over to the command center; but, Alyssa''s squad did their job and stayed with me. I didn''t bother to knock on the door and opened it to go inside. ¡°...we can''t give this section up to-¡± The man stopped talking as I stepped into the room. ¡°Oh, it''s you.¡± ¡°Who ordered light infantry gear for this?¡± I asked. ¡°I did.¡± One of the men said. ¡°We can''t have soldiers burdened with anything during this skirmish.¡± ¡°You can if you want them to live.¡± I said. ¡°I''m countermanding your order. All troops will redeploy with heavy gear, reinforced helmets and face shields, and at least one layer of anti-rad polymer.¡± ¡°You don''t have the authority to-¡± ¡°I am the overall commander.¡± I said and cut him off. ¡°This mission is supposedly under my command.¡± ¡°You''ve been out for years.¡± One of the men laughed. ¡°You have no idea what it''s like anymore.¡± ¡°I know you dicks at the top still think the lives of the troops only mean as much to you as the territory they gain you.¡± I smiled and crossed my arms. ¡°Go ahead and tell me it''s different now.¡± All five men frowned at me, and I chuckled. ¡°You see? I still know some things.¡± ¡°You''re the overall commander in name only.¡± One of them said, and the others looked at him. ¡°It''s better that he knows about it now, before he messes everything up on us.¡± ¡°It''s too late for that.¡± I laughed. ¡°System (Military Grade), please open a command-wide communication channel.¡± All the screens in the command center went blank for a second, and then my face was on every one of them. ¡°All troops, this is the overall commander. Please report to the deployment center for reassignment and rearmament. It''s heavy gear, level 3 anti-rad, and normal weapon load for today... and not the cheap-ass shit you have on you now.¡± Even without a return channel on, everyone inside the command center could hear a general uproar and several cheers and hollers. ¡°You''ve got thirty minutes to become proper soldiers! O-COM out.¡± I said, and the screens went back to normal. ¡°You shouldn''t have done that.¡± One of the men said. ¡°Good luck getting my reenlistment annulled.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°By the way, if you try to have me fired, I better warn you. When I got bored the last time I was here, I tried getting myself fired for almost a year...¡± I grinned. ¡°...and I still had to threaten to blow up the base before they let me leave.¡± The five men stared at me as I turned around and shut the door of the command center. ¡°Wow.¡± Alyssa said as we ran back to the troop transport. ¡°That was...¡± ¡°...the most amazing thing I''ve ever seen.¡± Evilin, the other female cyborg in the squad said. ¡°You dissed the higher-ups.¡± She said in awe. ¡°Your balls must be huge!¡± They are. Alyssa thought. She was thankful that no one paid her any attention in that moment as her face flushed to a deep red. ¡°Okay, people.¡± I said and looked at the squads in front of our transport. ¡°Get your gear sorted out, double-time.¡± ¡°Sir!¡± They said together and hustled over to change their equipment and weapons. It took a lot longer for them to come back, but that had given me time to redo the deployment of the battlefield. I knew it was going to be a hard fought battle, with losses for both sides, but I intended to make sure it was the other side that lost. When I was done, the squads were back and I gave them the updated information and map coordinates, and sent it to the System (Military Grade) to distribute it to the other squads. ¡°This is where we''re headed?¡± One of the male cyborgs asked. ¡°We just have to reach there?¡± ¡°And survive.¡± I said. ¡°And secure what''s there.¡± ¡°Piece of cake.¡± Crush said and hefted the miniature Gatling gun he had. ¡°I can''t believe you authorized this.¡± ¡°Make sure you only mow down the enemy and stray buildings.¡± I warned him, and he laughed. ¡°I''ve only got two hundred thousands rounds, and this thing shoots a thousand rounds a second.¡± Crush said. ¡°If the building runs, we''re shit out of luck.¡± That made everyone laugh, and we waited patiently for the deployment order. ¡°Oh, damn.¡± I said, when I remembered it was me that was supposed to give the order, and I tapped my communication pad. ¡°Easy Street is a go. I repeat, Easy Street is a go.¡± L.I.F.E. Begins 024: The Battle Rages On The scout squads bolted ahead and started electronically mapping the battlefield. I opened the display mounted on the side of the transport and watched as buildings, streets, and debris appeared in a three dimensional grid. ¡°No hostiles yet.¡± I said as I loaded grenades and a high powered laser on my harness and grabbed a tech maintenance package. I watched the display as the mapping scouts arrived at the predetermined checkpoint, deployed their surveillance gear, and retreated. I used my thumb on my communication pad and picked platoon leaders. ¡°Move out, Delta pattern.¡± I said. ¡°Keep your heavy weapons back until they''re needed.¡± I watched the display as all the green dots flickered once to acknowledge the order, then I hit the release on the display, passed it to Crush, and he slid it into his backpack. ¡°Okay, let''s go.¡± I said. ¡°Wh-what?¡± Alyssa was surprised at my order. ¡°I thought you were the overall commander.¡± ¡°I am.¡± I said and started to run after the other three squads that had already run ahead. ¡°Then shouldn''t you stay with the command group?¡± Alyssa asked and kept pace with me easily. ¡°I''d be less than useless sitting in the command center.¡± I said and took cover behind the corner of a building, and the rest of my new security squad stayed with me. ¡°Battle plans need to change once skirmishes start. If all I wanted to do was run the battle, I could have stayed at home and linked in remotely.¡± ¡°Why didn''t you do that?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°Then my squad and I could be out front!¡± ¡°Who told you that you wouldn''t be out front?¡± I asked with a smile and darted across the street to the next bit of cover. She and the rest of the squad stayed with me, and I peeked out and checked ahead. ¡°Crush.¡± I said, and he handed me the display. I tapped a few things on it, changed where some of the squads had set their way points, and made sure there were no hostiles ahead of us. ¡°I''ll be stopping at the first set of surveillance gear and then I''ll reassess where I want my temporary command and repair center.¡± Alyssa and her squad nodded their heads as I gave the display back to Crush, and we progressed through the city streets until we reached the surveillance gear. I checked the display again and saw everyone was in the right positions. I hit my communication pad and chose all troops, then whispered. ¡°Okay, people. This is it. Skirmish rules apply. If a teammate goes down, defend them and get them to cover, then call for med-evac. Do not abandon anyone, even if they''re dead.¡± I said, waited for a moment, then spoke again. ¡°I''m right here with you.¡± I double-tapped my communication pad and my green dot on the display flickered, and all their cybernetic brains picked up the same pulse. ¡°Keep to cover, advance when you can, and kill as many of these a-holes as you can before they do the same to us.¡± I watched the display and all the little green dots flickered acknowledgement. ¡°Let''s get this done.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°Initiate Rolling Tide.¡± There were over 5,000 troops in this skirmish battle, and what I had set as a deployment was just like a rolling tide. Not a lot of people still knew what that meant, but it didn''t matter. The first line of squads advanced a hundred feet, hunkered down into a defensive position, and then the next line of squads did the same thing past the first squad, hunkered down and waited for the next and the next. ¡°That''s a beautiful sight.¡± I said as the squads in behind cleared the buildings and advanced to the next position. ¡°Is that why you needed so many troops?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°I didn''t set the number of troops.¡± I said. ¡°But, once I saw how many I had...¡± ¡°Enemy sighted!¡± My AI Amanda said from my front pocket. I saw a squad of red dots appear on the display, and the tide of our troops stopped moving forward. The encountered ones moved back, took care of the red dots, then the whole front row of squads hunkered down and the next squads in line moved forward. ¡°I''ve got my command spot picked.¡± I said and pointed on the display to a spot halfway to the objective. ¡°I''ve got the map coordinates.¡± Alyssa said and sent them ahead to the scout squad. ¡°On it.¡± Cali''s voice whispered and the spot was mapped out. ¡°Clear.¡± ¡°Let''s move.¡± I said, and we left the relative safety of the rear lines and sprinted past the Rolling Tide. It was dangerous and exhilarating, and I couldn''t help but smile as I caught the smiles on the members of my security squad. Alyssa, the commander of the squad; Evilin the other female cyborg; Crush, the joker of the group and heavy weapons specialist; and two male cyborgs that I didn''t know the names of; all had happy expressions. We arrived at the spot I had chosen and quickly set up a defensive perimeter. When we were done, the Rolling Tide reached us. I tapped my communication pad and chose squad leaders. ¡°Squads halt.¡± I said. ¡°10 minute break.¡±The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. ¡°Thank god.¡± One of the cyborgs in a squad nearby said as he slumped to the ground. ¡°My damn knee is acting up again.¡± I was tempted to wave him over, but instead I tapped Alyssa on the shoulder and ran over to the guy. ¡°Let me take a look at it.¡± I said, and the guy tried to stand up and salute at the same time. ¡°At ease.¡± I pulled out the tech maintenance package and attached the leads to the guy''s knee, and it sent a short electrical surge through the part. ¡°Agh!¡± The guy said, and I looked at the readings. ¡°When was your last overhaul?¡± ¡°I''ve never had an overhaul.¡± The guy said. ¡°It hasn''t been checked since I got it.¡± I shook my head and wondered why people with extensive modifications always just ignored their new body parts and never had regular maintenance. I popped his knee apart right there and looked at the gears with broken teeth. Those teeth had gotten in the other gears and were causing all the problems. I quickly dug out what I could see and cleaned the parts up as much as I could. I put the knee back together and sighed. ¡°I''m tempted to pull you off active duty until you get that gear replaced, but I''m calling for the repair teams to advance to this position instead. Your squad is on defense here until they get you fixed.¡± ¡°Thank you, sir.¡± The guy said, and I ran back to the command center and Alyssa stayed with me. I called in the medical and tech teams, and I ordered a squad of cyborgs to clear out the lobby of a nearby building to make a spot for them to set up. I tapped my communication pad and chose squad commanders. ¡°Ten minutes are up. Continue Rolling Tide.¡± I watched both with my eyes and on the digital display as the entire formation rolled forward again and over my temporary command position. The first medical and repair team transport arrived and I directed them to the nearby building. They started to set up maintenance bays and gurneys for the incoming wounded, and the retrieval squads with their augmented legs prepared themselves for the loads they were about to carry. The display caught my eye as more and more red dots appeared, and were quickly swallowed up by the green dots. One of the dots flickered and the first retrieval team ran down the street and around the corner to recover the first casualty. In an operation this big, there was going to be a lot more. The scout squads did their job well, and snuck in and out of very tight places to map the terrain for the advancing squads of the formation. I kept a close watch as one squad went out just a little too far and red dots populated the map around them. I tapped the display on their squad and the squads in the nearby formation swarmed to the spot. ¡°Oh, no.¡± I said as one green dot in the scout squad flickered and went out, then another. More friendly squads arrived around them and took out a good number of red dots, and then the red dots retreated when they were outnumbered. The Rolling Tide kept moving as the next squads in line overtook the scout squad''s position; but, the damage had been done. Two more retrieval squads were sent to recover the wounded. I waited patiently as the entire scout squad was brought in, and to my surprise it wasn''t Cali''s squad. Two of the squad were dead, and one was severely wounded. The last two only had light wounds and would be ready to deploy again in less than an hour. I saw a similar pattern happen further up on the map and had to make the call. ¡°Scout squads, halt.¡± I said, and their dots stopped where they were on the map. ¡°You can try the micro-drones, but I doubt they''ll get much farther than you did.¡± I watched the map as hundreds of little green dots left the scout squads and flew out. They mapped another 30 feet, and then nearly all of them were shot down with laser fire. ¡°Okay, people.¡± I said on the all troop channel. ¡°Battle Mode from here on out. Heavy gunners get priority, so take care of them.¡± I smiled. ¡°I just want to give you a friendly reminder. Grenades are cheap.¡± All the green dots flickered acknowledgement, and the entire formation darted forward and the fight began in earnest. ¡°Command, we''re pinned down.¡± A voice said from my communication pad. I checked the display, and it was a scout squad partially to the side of the front line of squads and it had several red dots around it... right underneath another green squad. ¡°How did you get that far afield?¡± I asked as I looked for non-engaged squads nearby to send to their position, and the voice laughed. ¡°It was supposed to be a shortcut through a Tube tunnel.¡± The voice said. ¡°Most of the Tube has collapsed, but this one section looked intact. We sent a micro-drone in and nothing was there, then when we tried passing through ourselves to make sure nothing was trying to get behind us...¡± ¡°Something was there.¡± I said and looked at Alyssa. ¡°Prep for immediate deployment.¡± Alyssa nodded and gave her squad the orders it needed. ¡°Yeah.¡± The voice said. ¡°Three squads prepping for an assault.¡± He said and laughed. ¡°We caught one of them flat-footed and wiped them out, but the two squads behind them reacted before we could unload on them.¡± ¡°I''m sending an assault squad in right now.¡± I said and nodded to Alyssa, and she and her squad took off at full speed. Boy, I really slowed them down, didn''t I? I thought. ¡°They''ll be there in two minutes.¡± ¡°Thank god.¡± The voice said. ¡°We''re down to our last grenade.¡± ¡°Tell me it''s an EMP.¡± I said, and the guy laughed. ¡°Damn right it is.¡± He said. ¡°These things are gold!¡± The communication channel went dead, and I assumed one of them threw the grenade and didn''t give themselves enough clearance. I pointed to the next recovery team and they ran after Alyssa''s squad. If anyone was caught in the EMP and they had life-sustaining cybernetics, then they were in immediate danger. For the next 20 minutes I directed the flow of the battle, and my Rolling Tide formation made short work of the measly defense that the enemy had in their secured positions. I''d never seen such a one-sided battle before. I commended the troops over the troop channel for doing such a great job, and then the recovery team came back to the maintenance and medical bay. They had all 5 members of the scout squad with them, and Cali was one of them. ¡°Hey, boss man!¡± Cali said as I walked over to her gurney to check on her. ¡°The EMP had a short in the timer and it went off early; but, that''s okay.¡± She said and chuckled. ¡°My arm and my ear mod don''t work, but I still have feeling in my chest.¡± I smiled and cupped the side of her face. ¡°I''m sorry that happened.¡± ¡°You really do care about us, don''t you?¡± Cali asked, surprised. ¡°No, I hate your guts.¡± I said, and she laughed. ¡°I wish you were one of my squad mates.¡± Cali said and sighed. ¡°It would make putting my life on the line worth it, if I got to hold you every night.¡± ¡°Hey, now... you can''t be greedy.¡± I said and grinned. ¡°There''s lots-¡± ¡°INCOMING!¡± Someone yelled, and I looked up to see some kind of projectile as it flew through the air. It was coming towards us, and I immediately tipped Cali''s gurney over. She tried to grab a hold of me to pull me behind it with her, but her arm wasn''t working on that side and all she could do was yell and stop herself from smashing her face on the concrete with her good arm. I, on the other hand, had a front row seat as the projectile opened up. It didn''t explode like I thought it would, though. What it actually did was make a whirring sound and shot out bright blue particle beams as it rotated in the air. The last thing I saw was a beam as it cut a 6 inch deep trench through the concrete in front of me, and then it hit me. I felt a sharp pain in my leg and chest, and then nothing. L.I.F.E. Begins 025: Wins and Losses ¡°Ugh.¡± I said and opened my eyes, only to discover that they didn''t work. ¡°Well, fu-¡± ¡°JACK!¡± Sandra said from beside me. ¡°I''m sorry.¡± I said. ¡°No, I''m not. I''m blind, goddammit! I''ll never see your beautiful face again!¡± Sandra took my right hand and held it up to her face, and kissed my palm. ¡°That''s because your eyes are bandaged over, you overreacting lovable fool.¡± She explained in a tender voice. ¡°The doctor said something about light sensitivity... or lack of visual awareness... whatever that means.¡± Well, crap. I thought and sighed, because that was the standard line given to cybernetic eye replacement patients. ¡°Should I even ask how long I''ve been here, wherever here is?¡± ¡°You''re at General Medic, obviously.¡± Noreen, Sandra''s mother said. I turned my head to look at her, even though I couldn''t actually see her. I tried to lift my hand to reach for her, and it didn''t work. Dammit. That, too? ¡°Dad, tell the nurse to get the doctor.¡± Sandra said, and I heard the curtain move. At least my ears still work. I thought. Assuming they''re still mine. ¡°You gave us all quite a scare.¡± Noreen said and I felt her hand on my forehead. ¡°What would we do if we had lost you?¡± ¡°Don''t take this the wrong way; but, I''d sincerely hope that you both would have grieved for the rest of your lives over me, and never... ever... tried to replace me by finding solace in the arms of someone else.¡± I said with a completely straight face. Sandra snorted a laugh and kissed my cheek as Noreen laughed and ran her hand through my hair. ¡°I think you can count on that hope.¡± Sandra said. ¡°Definitely.¡± Noreen said. ¡°Ah, he really is awake.¡± A man''s voice said as the curtain moved, and I thought back to the first time I''d heard that voice. It was the doctor that had been in charge of Sandra after her accident. I really hope he doesn''t hold a grudge. I thought, with only a little hope. ¡°So, how do you like being at my mercy instead of the other way around?¡± The doctor asked. So much for that small hope. I thought. ¡°Even blind, I could still kill you.¡± I said, and the doctor laughed. No one else did, though. The doctor''s laughter faded away, and he coughed to clear his throat in the uncomfortable silence. ¡°Well.¡± He said and took a deep breath. ¡°You were extensively hurt in that military training exercise.¡± Now I know the cover story. I thought. ¡°Your left leg, left arm, a good portion of your chest, part of your jaw, and both eyes were hit with shrapnel.¡± The doctor said. Shrapnel, and not particle beams. I sighed for dramatic effect. Got it. ¡°We had to... remove... the damaged parts.¡± The doctor said. The words themselves were sad; but, he didn''t sound sad at all. ¡°You were very lucky that the System overrode the standard replacement protocols.¡± He said, and he sounded downright happy. ¡°We finally got to put in full bio-memetic replacements in a live patient!¡± ¡°You bastard.¡± I said. ¡°Jack!¡± Sandra exclaimed. ¡°He saved your life!¡± ¡°No, he made me a damn guinea pig.¡± I said and sighed. ¡°Keeping me alive was just a bonus.¡± I told her. ¡°I''ll be lucky if I''m allowed to walk outside without some kind of escort.¡± ¡°How did you know...¡± The doctor coughed. ¡°Ah... where was I?¡± He asked. ¡°Oh, right. You will need to be constantly monitored for the first week or so, just so we can get a good baseline for both the integration of the new parts, and the recovery from the new techniques we had to use.¡± He said. ¡°After that... well, we can discuss it then.¡± I waited a moment and then spoke. ¡°Can I get these eye bandages removed?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± The doctor said. ¡°Sit up, please.¡± With Sandra''s hand as a brace and a guide, I sat up awkwardly. Neither my left leg nor my left arm worked, so my balance was considerably off. When I started to slide to the right, Noreen put her arms around my chest and pulled me back to the center of the bed. ¡°Thanks.¡± I said. I felt the doctor''s hands as they undid something at the back of my head, and he carefully pulled the bandages away. I still couldn''t see anything, and then the two little pads over my eyes were lifted off. I blinked my eyelids several times and they were sluggish. ¡°What''s the neural response time?¡± I asked and kept trying to blink. ¡°It''s set for the default, until your brain gets used to the artificial inputs.¡± The doctor said. ¡°Well that''s just stupid.¡± I said. ¡°Jack!¡± Sandra said. ¡°If it''s set for the default, my brain will get used to that artificial input and not what it should actually be.¡± Sandra didn''t know what to say to that. ¡°What can you see?¡± The doctor asked. ¡°Nothing.¡± I said. ¡°Oops.¡± The doctor said. ¡°Hold on for just a minute. I''ll initialize the interface.¡± Yeah, this is going to be fun. I sighed dramatically. I thought the Port doctors were bad, but this guy... he''s an idiot. I felt something click inside my head, almost like a physical switch, and then my eyes started to work. ¡°How''s that?¡± ¡°It''s like watching one of those old televisions in the Humanity Museum.¡± I said and let Sandra''s hand go. I held it up in front of my face and wiggled my fingers. ¡°Yeah, this sucks.¡± ¡°Let me adjust the filters.¡± The doctor said and he did some things on his control pad. My eyesight narrowed down to a short tunnel, and I reached out to grab the control pad. I missed it by a mile, and the doctor reacted after I had missed and pulled it to the side and out of easy reach. ¡°This is very sophisticated equipment.¡± The doctor said. ¡°That you don''t know how to use, you quack.¡± I said and closed my eyes. ¡°You can''t talk to me like-¡± I leaned forward and my hand darted out and snatched the control pad out of his hand, and it cut off his words. ¡°Hey!¡± The doctor said. ¡°Give that back!¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. ¡°Be quiet.¡± Nathan said. ¡°If this is mostly a standard interface...¡± I felt around the control pad and put my thumb on the bottom left corner. ¡°...this should be the reset to default button.¡± ¡°Don''t push that!¡± The doctor said. ¡°You''ll undo a whole week of calibrations!¡± ¡°Now I know how long I''ve been here.¡± I said and pushed the button. I felt something shift behind my eyes, and shivered. ¡°Are you cold?¡± Noreen asked. She still had her arms around my chest and had felt the slight shake. ¡°Yes, but it''s not from the temperature.¡± I said, and I felt her soft lips on my cheek. ¡°You''re still alive.¡± Noreen said. ¡°That''s all that matters.¡± I opened my eyes, and everything was blurry. ¡°Your pupils are huge!¡± Sandra said, and that gave me the information I needed. ¡°Noreen? I need to move.¡± I said. Noreen nodded and let my chest go, and I held the control pad up and very close to my face. ¡°There we go.¡± I said as it came into focus. I found the aperture opening settings for the eye implants, and set it to automatic with my thumb. I moved the control pad away from my face and it stayed in focus. ¡°What kind of calibrations were you doing for a week, if I wasn''t awake to see the results?¡± I asked and put the control pad on my lap to start calibrating the interface properly. Even if it was new equipment, the software was almost identical to normal implants. ¡°It''s very complicated.¡± The doctor said. ¡°You have no idea how...¡± He looked at the control pad and frowned. ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°Fixing myself.¡± I said. ¡°Your electrical interference tolerances are too low, by the way.¡± ¡°Wh-what? ¡°You didn''t account for the ambient voltage bleed from other implants.¡± I said. ¡°The body by itself produces an electrical charge, but sometimes it''s augmented by... well, augments.¡± I smiled. ¡°Even just adding a pacemaker to keep a heart moving can cause wave interference on any other cybernetic part on the patient.¡± ¡°H-how do you know that?¡± ¡°You''re talking to one of the best programmers the System has.¡± Nathan said as I continued to make the proper adjustments to my new eyes. ¡°Which, I assume is why he was on a military training mission in the first place.¡± I nodded without looking up at him. ¡°My previous job was cyborg maintenance and repair, with an emphasis on coding. I was there talking to a cyborg that had been partially caught in an EMP.¡± I said. ¡°Someone yelled a warning, I tipped over her gurney to protect her, then I woke up here.¡± ¡°So, it was just a stupid accident.¡± Nathan said. ¡°I guess so.¡± I said. ¡°You know just as much about it as I do.¡± ¡°I''m glad the military took care of you, at least.¡± He said. ¡°I knew I''d be in good hands if anything happened.¡± I said and finished the manual calibration of my visual interface. I looked at Sandra and saw her head was completely bald. I put the control pad down and ran my hand over the smooth skin of the top of her head. ¡°I sincerely hope I''m still going to be in good hands.¡± ¡°I talked to mom.¡± Sandra said and leaned into my hand. ¡°She told me what you said.¡± She reached up and took my hand to give it a squeeze. ¡°She also told me what you did.¡± ¡°I hope you mean buying the apartment next door to mine.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°The other stuff is between me and her.¡± Sandra chuckled, and leaned in close. ¡°I heard you liked this.¡± She whispered and then licked my ear. ¡°Ahaha!¡± I laughed and squirmed a little. Noreen picked up the control pad before it slid off of my lap. ¡°I''d like that back, please.¡± The doctor said. ¡°If you hand over the appendage control pad.¡± I said, and it was his turn to sigh. He took out the larger control pad and passed it to me, and Noreen gave him the optical control pad. For the next several minutes I checked over the appendage control pad, and the doctor checked over all of the settings I had changed in the optical interface. He stood up without looking at anyone and walked over to the curtain. ¡°Have your wife and mother step back before you activate the limbs.¡± The doctor said absently. ¡°You apparently already know how twitchy they can be sometimes.¡± He left without making sure I heard him, and I heard his footsteps as they quickly went over to the door of the ward. It opened and shut a moment later, and I looked at both women. ¡°You heard the doctor.¡± I said and smiled as I shifted my gaze to Sandra. ¡°Mom, move back a little.¡± Sandra gasped and slapped my shoulder, and Noreen laughed. ¡°Errant children.¡± Nathan said and shook his head. ¡°I''m constantly around errant children.¡± That made us all laugh for a few moments, then I took a deep breath and let it out. ¡°Okay, the arm first.¡± I said, and Noreen moved down to the foot of the bed and well out of the way. I started the initialization protocol, and the arm shot straight out to the side. ¡°AGHH!¡± I yelled as the movement had pulled on all the muscles the artificial arm was attached to. ¡°Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!¡± Sandra reached across my chest and massaged the shoulder where it was joined to my collarbone. I actually felt a dull sensation from her touch, and then the arm fully activated and dropped down to the bed. ¡°If you can believe it, having the arm jerk like that made me feel it right down to my bones.¡± ¡°Is the integration that deep into the rest of your body?¡± Sandra asked. ¡°I don''t know for sure, not until I get myself to a full scanner and see the actual extent of the... replacements.¡± I said. ¡°But, since my spine is now sore...¡± ¡°Oh, Jack.¡± Sandra said and rested her head on my real shoulder. ¡°We''re quite the pair now, aren''t we?¡± ¡°Yes, we are.¡± I said, then tried to concentrate on my new arm to wiggle the fingers. Or I tried to. When nothing happened, I sighed and looked through the settings again. Everything was where it was supposed to be, and I wasn''t sure what was going on. ¡°Oh, that idiot.¡± I said. ¡°What is it?¡± Sandra asked. ¡°Give me a minute.¡± I said and searched through the control pad for the administration tools. Once I accessed them with my military override, I saw what he had done. The doctor had set the limbs to ''test mode'', and that was why it had shot out to the standard maintenance pose and disabled the normal interface. ¡°I am really, really glad that I didn''t do the leg first.¡± I said, and explained what had happened. Nathan winced in sympathy for what could have happened and put a hand over his crotch. ¡°Oh, my.¡± Noreen said. ¡°That... could have been...¡± ¡°Tragically horrible.¡± Sandra said. ¡°You''re right. That doctor is an idiot.¡± ¡°She sees the light!¡± I said and raised my good arm up into the air and waved. ¡°She said I''m right again!¡± Sandra and Noreen laughed, and I changed the protocols on both of my limbs to the proper mode, ensured that all the settings I had made previously had been retained, and started the arm up again. The HUD on my new eyes showed the programs starting up that needed to be used for the arm, and I felt a tingle go out from my chest and down my new arm. When it hit the fingers, my HUD said the initialization was complete. I turned my new hand over, then touched my index finger to my thumb, then the middle, and so on, then back again. I flexed the fingers and made a fist, then held up my middle finger. ¡°Is that function necessary?¡± Nathan asked with a smile. ¡°Only if the doctor asks how good of a job he''s doing.¡± I said, and he chuckled. ¡°All right, I''ll give you that.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± I said and used both hands to check over the leg settings, double-checked that it wasn''t in test mode, then initiated the startup protocol. The programs ran on my HUD, and I wondered why the Heads Up Display was still like the old one that I''d had with my real eyes. That''s something else I''ll have to look into when I get the chance. I thought and then the tingle went from my chest and down my spine and into my new left leg. Thankfully, the leg stayed put and didn''t spring out to the side, and I wiggled my toes. I could see them under the blanket, and was happy they hadn''t done the single balance pad that most cybernetic feet had. Individual toes would let me pretend it was my actual foot and not a mechanical replacement. ¡°Knock knock.¡± A woman''s voice said from the other side of the curtain. ¡°Come in.¡± I said. The nurse that I''d met several times came in with a big water basin, wash cloth, sponge, soap, and a very happy expression. ¡°I''m so glad you''re awake.¡± She said and set the basin down on the small table beside the head of the bed, and looked at Sandra, Noreen and Nathan. ¡°It''s bath time for the next half an hour.¡± She smiled. ¡°Can we have some privacy?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Noreen said and Nathan held the curtain open. ¡°Sandra? Let''s go and grab something to eat.¡± ¡°Make sure you use the cafeteria and my Points.¡± I said. Sandra frowned. ¡°Jack, you know what I-¡± ¡°You''re living with me now.¡± I said and grinned. ¡°You can''t complain if I''m wasting our Points.¡± ¡°That doesn''t make any sense.¡± Sandra said and stopped frowning. ¡°Let''s go, baby.¡± Noreen said and took her daughter''s hand. ¡°If Jack''s buying, I''m getting a piece of cake!¡± ¡°Mom!¡± Sandra almost yelled. ¡°With sprinkles and real sugar!¡± Noreen said and started to walk away and dragged Sandra behind her. I saw Sandra''s face turn red at the mention of real sugar. It reminded her of the first time we had slept together, and I blew her a kiss when she looked at me. ¡°All right.¡± Sandra said and the three of them left the ward. ¡°That''s a nice family you''ve found.¡± The nurse said. ¡°It is.¡± I said. ¡°They''re just as odd and quirky as me.¡± The nurse chuckled and pulled the blanket down and undid the hospital unitard I was wearing. It folded open, and I finally saw the full extent of the damage. ¡°Goddamn.¡± I said. It looked like I''d had a shark take a huge bite out of my chest and a little out of my abdomen. The entire pectoral muscle had been replaced with the same synthetic material as my arm and leg. ¡°You were really lucky.¡± The nurse said. ¡°If you hadn''t been leaning back at the time...¡± ¡°That would have been my head.¡± I said. When the nurse lathered up a sponge and started to gently scrub the real part of my chest, I whispered to her. ¡°Please tell me we won.¡± ¡°Even with the loss of the overall commander, it was a landslide victory.¡± She whispered back. ¡°What did we gain?¡± The nurse looked around and leaned closer. ¡°We have double water rations from the reserves for the next three months, and permission to build another full food dome and the appropriate resources.¡± ¡°Thank god.¡± I said. ¡°What about the objective?¡± ¡°It was secured and taken to headquarters.¡± The nurse said. ¡°I couldn''t believe what it was.¡± ¡°What was it?¡± The nurse looked at me with wide eyes. ¡°Don''t you know?¡± I pointed to my eyes, and she sighed. ¡°Right, sorry.¡± ¡°Well?¡± ¡°It was a fully functional particle generator.¡± The nurse said. ¡°Wh-what?¡± I said, surprised. ¡°Where did it come from?¡± ¡°They won''t say officially.¡± The nurse said. ¡°What''s the ''unofficial'' word on the grapvine?¡± I asked, and was pretty sure I knew what she was going to say. ¡°S. C. R. A. P. E. built it.¡± She said. ¡°To use against us.¡± That''s not what I thought she was going to say. I thought, once again surprised. ¡°Damn.¡± L.I.F.E. Begins 026: Living Or Dying S. C. R. A. P. E., or the Society for the Creation, Restoration and Ascension to the Proper Earth, thought humanity living underground was against everything humanity was supposed to stand for. They had been in existence for only the last few years, and rumour had it that they weren''t limited to just one Cavern. Their reach supposedly crossed divisional barriers, and members could be found everywhere. Of course, every faction had their outspoken crazy people, and they were usually quickly found and dealt with; it was just unfortunate that the main body of the organization didn''t have any kind of base, or headquarters, or even a standard set of hierarchy. They were more fluid than any other group in history, and worked more behind the scenes than anything else... which made them much more dangerous than anyone had realized... until now. ¡°They successfully built a particle generator.¡± I whispered, and the nurse nodded as she finished washing my human half and dried me off. She reached into a pocket and took out a bottle of lubricant, then used the cloth to apply it to my new synthetic parts. ¡°It''s only just a rumour, and there''s no actual proof.¡± She said and carefully covered my chest, leg, arm, and part of my face with the ice cold lubricant. ¡°But you know the rumour mill is usually right.¡± I nodded, and she finished cleaning me, then wiped off the new parts. ¡°I hope you paid attention to what I just did.¡± She said and smiled. ¡°You''re going to have to do it all by yourself soon.¡± ¡°Good god, woman! I just woke up!¡± I said and grinned. ¡°Are you shoving me out the door already?¡± The nurse laughed. ¡°No, I just don''t think the tech assigned to you is going to be as hands-on as they need to be to maintain your new appendages.¡± ¡°Then consider yourself reassigned.¡± I said and she looked at me with wide eyes. ¡°Sir?¡± ¡°I''m pretty sure I''ll have a medical discharge from the service for this.¡± I said and held up my new hand. ¡°I''m a bit too old to have these things react properly in a combat situation.¡± ¡°But...¡± ¡°I still have the authority of my rank, though.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°I''ll ask the System to tender a leave of absence for the hospital for you, and hire you as a private care giver.¡± ¡°But... but, sir... I...¡± ¡°You''ll still get the full day of Points for working; but, I''ll only need one or two visits a day.¡± I said. ¡°Assuming in your professional opinion that''s what I''ll need.¡± ¡°I... yes, once in the morning to clean, and once at night for maintenance.¡± The nurse said. ¡°But, sir... I''m sure there are more qualified-¡± ¡°Nonsense.¡± I said and cut off her protest. ¡°You have experience with both normal and cybernetic maintenance.¡± I used my new hand to touch her cybernetic arm. ¡°If anything happens, I''m sure that you can take care of me.¡± ¡°All right.¡± The nurse said. ¡°When will my new job take effect?¡± ¡°As soon as they let me walk out of this place.¡± I said and looked at my new leg. ¡°Assuming I can walk.¡± ¡°Don''t worry, sir.¡± The nurse said and pat the synthetic leg. ¡°Neural mapping has made leaps and bounds in the last few years, and you''ve got the top of the line bio-memetic parts.¡± She smiled. ¡°Your AI even sent over the last calibration files from your immersion chamber to help with the integration.¡± ¡°Oh, damn!¡± I said. ¡°Where''s my communication pad?¡± ¡°In the part of your chest they cut away.¡± The nurse said, and I sighed. ¡°They won''t let me have an outside line anyway, will they?¡± ¡°Not until you can move around without tripping over your new foot.¡± I took in a deep breath and let it out as I carefully fastened up my hospital unitard. ¡°When is my first physical therapy session?¡± ¡°Now that you''re awake, probably tomorrow or the next day.¡± The nurse said and gathered up the bath supplies. ¡°I''ll check on the schedule and see if they can squeeze you in.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± I said. ¡°No, sir.¡± The nurse said and walked to the curtain. ¡°Thank you for winning that battle.¡± I nodded to her, and she left me alone with my thoughts... and my new cybernetic parts. I flexed my new fingers and toes, bent my wrist and ankle, then my elbow and knee, and finally my shoulder and hip. I can''t tell if they are heavier or lighter than my old parts. I thought, and a shiver went down my back. I have mechanical parts now. My normal side started to shake, and I took several deep breaths to calm down, then tried to hug myself. For some reason, my arms just wouldn''t fold together like they used to, no matter what I did. ¡°Goddammit!¡± I said out loud in frustration, and the curtain opened. Noreen and Sandra came in, and sat down on the chairs on either side of the bed. ¡°What is it, honey?¡± Sandra said. ¡°I can''t... my arms won''t... I can''t even...¡± I stammered as tears tried to come to my eyes, but since I didn''t have tear ducts anymore, nothing appeared. ¡°Oh, Jack.¡± Sandra said and hugged me, and Noreen took my new hand. The feedback worked quite well, and I actually didn''t notice any lag between seeing when she touched it with her lips, and the feeling of it in my nervous system. ¡°We''ll get through this.¡± Noreen said. ¡°Where''s Nathan?¡± I asked.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡°He said babying you was woman''s work and went home.¡± Noreen said, and that made me laugh. ¡°He''s such a lucky man.¡± ¡°He is, truly.¡± Noreen said, and she smiled broadly. ¡°You should have seen his face after I ate a piece of cake and kissed him!¡± Sandra snorted a laugh. ¡°That was more disgust than luck, mom.¡± ¡°He wasn''t disgusted! He even licked his lips afterwards!¡± ¡°You smeared icing on his lips.¡± Sandra said and chuckled. ¡°He was just cleaning up after you.¡± I laughed. ¡°I would have paid to see that.¡± ¡°You did!¡± Noreen said. ¡°You bought the cake!¡± ¡°So you did use my Points.¡± I looked at Sandra, and saw her expression. I used my normal hand to touch her face, and she looked at me. ¡°You know... like I told the nurse... I''m pretty sure I''ll have a medical discharge over this.¡± Sandra''s eyes widened, and Noreen gripped my synthetic hand tightly. ¡°With the both of us on medical leave from our normal jobs for the next few weeks, you and I can spend some time together.¡± ¡°That might not be true today.¡± Noreen said. ¡°I talked to the doctor in the cafeteria, and he said that he was sending over a tech person to monitor you this afternoon.¡± She said. ¡°I think that means we can''t be here.¡± ¡°I guess it would depend on what the tech person had in mind.¡± I said and looked at Sandra. ¡°If it''s... ah... an inspection... I don''t want you to see it.¡± ¡°Jack...¡± ¡°Sandra, if I don''t want to see it, I definitely don''t want you to see it.¡± Sandra sighed. ¡°If that''s what''s going to happen, then yes... both mom and I will leave.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± I said. ¡°Until then, tell me what you ate.¡± ¡°She had some of my cake!¡± Noreen said, excitedly. ¡°Mom! You said you wouldn''t tell him!¡± ¡°I lied, dear.¡± Noreen said and laughed at her daughter''s scandalous expression. For the next few minutes, I sat back and watched the interactions between the two very similar and very different women, and let a big smile form on my face. After another minute, both women stopped talking and looked at me. ¡°What''s the big smile for?¡± Sandra asked. ¡°Out of all of the people I''ve met in my 36 years of life, I ended up with two of the most frustratingly wonderful women to ever exist.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°That makes me kind of happy.¡± ¡°Only kind of?¡± Noreen asked, a little puzzled. ¡°I''m a man.¡± I said and grinned. ¡°It''s against the unspoken ''man rules'' to say I''m actually happy.¡± Noreen laughed, and Sandra chuckled, then they told me about all the different people that were in the cafeteria, what they were wearing, and what they were eating. ¡°Time for lunch.¡± The nurse said an hour later, and came in with a vacuum sealed packet that contained a brown algenate disc. ¡°Oh, damn.¡± I said. ¡°They aren''t that bad.¡± The nurse said and handed it to me. ¡°Your taste buds adjust fast, believe me.¡± ¡°Can''t I just have a blue?¡± I asked. ¡°Or a red! Give me a red!¡± She laughed. ¡°I''m sorry, but your body needs the anti-rejection supplements.¡± ¡°Oh, all right.¡± I said and opened the packet. I took a bite, and it tasted like dirt covered in mud. ¡°Okay, the first thing I am going to do when I get home is reprogram the damn food processing plant to make these things taste better.¡± The nurse laughed again and offered normal packets to Sandra and Noreen. ¡°We already ate.¡± Sandra said. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°You should head back to bed yourself.¡± The nurse said. ¡°I''ve been keeping the doctor at bay; but, if he comes back in here and sees you''re still here, too...¡± ¡°Okay, I''ll go.¡± Sandra said and looked at me. ¡°I guess our dilemma with the tech person was a moot point.¡± ¡°Only because you had to go this time.¡± I said. ¡°Now go lounge in a bed for a while and relax.¡± Sandra shook her head and stood up. ¡°That''s all I can do.¡± She said and leaned in close for a kiss. ¡°I love you.¡± ¡°I love you, too.¡± I said. ¡°Come on, mom.¡± Sandra said. ¡°You can keep me company until dad comes back.¡± Noreen stood up and looked at me. ¡°If you need a good cuddle, just have the nurse come and get me.¡± I smiled. ¡°I was just about to say the same thing, except you would still have to come here.¡± Noreen bent over and laid her head on my chest. I carefully wrapped both of my arms around her, and she sighed. I let her go and she leaned back, and kissed my cheek. ¡°I''ll see you both later.¡± I said, and they left. ¡°What was the dilemma with the tech person?¡± The nurse asked. ¡°If they were doing an inspection, I didn''t want them here.¡± The nurse nodded. ¡°It''s always weird getting them.¡± She said. ¡°Seeing all the things inside is just... unnerving.¡± ¡°Tell me about it.¡± I said and finished eating the algenate disc. ¡°Please tell me we''re having real food for supper.¡± ¡°Well...¡± ¡°Dammit.¡± I said, and she laughed. The nurse left to keep delivering lunch to the other patients, and the tech person showed up a few minutes later. He was less than pleasant to deal with, and before he could use his control pad to override my limb functions, I told him to get the hell away from me and to send someone else. ¡°You''re the patient.¡± The guy said. ¡°You don''t tell the people trying to help you what to do.¡± ¡°I am the senior programmer for the System''s maintenance crew! I do repairs on everything within the cavern!¡± I said hotly. ¡°Before that, I was...¡± I stopped talking and took several deep breaths. ¡°It doesn''t matter.¡± I said. ¡°Go back to your work space and keep playing with the prototypes there, and send me someone that has practical experience in dealing with prosthetic limbs!¡± The tech guy went to push the deactivation button on his control pad. ¡°Don''t.¡± I said, and he smiled crookedly. Without thinking about it, I did a quick jab to his jaw with my left hand to set up a nice roundhouse punch to the face with my right; unfortunately, my cybernetic arm was the left one. My quick jab became a devastating smash to the guy''s face, crushed his nose, and knocked him out. He fell backwards through the curtain and onto the floor, unconscious. ¡°Damn.¡± I said, and the nurse ran over to check on him. ¡°What happened?¡± She asked as she rolled him over to stop the blood from going down his throat and potentially choking him. ¡°It''s a long story; but, essentially he was being an ass and I punched him.¡± ¡°Sir, you can''t do things like that anymore.¡± The nurse said wisely. ¡°Apparently.¡± I said. ¡°That was only a quick set-up jab with my off-hand.¡± I explained as she tended to the man''s injury. ¡°I didn''t think...¡± The nurse tapped her communication pad and I stopped talking. ¡°Emergency Medical Team to Recovery Ward Two.¡± She said. ¡°Crushed nose, possible breathing obstruction with sinus damage, and minor fractures in both eye sockets.¡± I fell silent at the damage I had done with only a light tap of my hand, and then I recalled how damaged my arm was when Alyssa had playfully tapped it one time after I had made a joke. I looked at my synthetic hand and made it into a fist, then flattened it out. The Emergency Medical Team arrived and did what they could to stabilize him, which wasn''t much because the nurse had already done that; then they whisked him away to take him for emergency surgery. ¡°I''m sorry.¡± I said. ¡°You will be.¡± A man said as he came into the ward. He had a System Security badge on his shoulder and several peacekeeping tools on and about his person. ¡°This incident has been logged by the System, and all evidence has been gathered.¡± ¡°Well, that''s a lie.¡± I said, and the man looked at me with angry eyes. ¡°We''ve seen the evidence.¡± He said and pointed to the camera above my head. ¡°You are guilty of assault.¡± ¡°I didn''t say I wasn''t.¡± I said. ¡°I was objecting to your assumption that you had all the evidence.¡± ¡°You hit the man with a deadly weapon, and he was seriously hurt.¡± The security man said. ¡°What about extenuating circumstances?¡± I asked. ¡°Irrelevant.¡± I laughed. ¡°This is no laughing matter.¡± He said. ¡°I''m laughing at you, not the situation.¡± I said. ¡°The guy was being an ass...¡± ¡°His behavior isn''t a factor.¡± ¡°Would him deactivating my cybernetics be a factor?¡± I asked. ¡°That''s what he was about to do, and without my permission, I might add.¡± ¡°That...¡± The security man couldn''t say that wasn''t a factor, and frowned. ¡°I haven''t had a chance to look at the extent of my modifications yet, so I don''t know if shutting them down would stop my heart or not.¡± I said. ¡°When he reached for the button, I reacted.¡± The man kept frowning, so I kept talking. ¡°I assume there''s audio on the security footage; but, if there''s not, when I get a proper tech person in here to set up the transfer to give me a proper connection, I''ll give you the direct footage.¡± I said and tapped my temple to indicate my eyes. The security guy grunted a little. ¡°I don''t think such specific footage will be necessary.¡± ¡°Let me know if it is.¡± I said, and the security man nodded and quickly left. L.I.F.E. Begins 027: A New Old Me It took an hour before I heard back about the man I had injured, and then it took another hour to convince the doctor that I wasn''t going to assault another member of his research team. After several apologies, most of them actually sincere on my part, one of the members of his research and development team decided that she could stand to be around ''the grumpy old guy''. I almost laughed as she walked in through the curtain around my bed, and I saw what she looked like. Her appearance wasn''t funny per se; it was just that she was really short at 5 foot even, and extremely cute. With her blonde hair tied up in ponytails on either side of her head, a black skirt so short that I thought she had just pulled her top down and put a belt around her waist, and black fishnet stockings that were a little loose on her skinny legs; she looked like someone''s little sister trying to play dress-up, and not an accredited engineering scientist with almost 6 years practical experience. ¡°Thank you for not holding what happened against me.¡± I said to her as she took out a proper maintenance kit. ¡°I am holding it against you.¡± She said and set up a stand, then opened the kit up. ¡°Greg is a nice guy.¡± ¡°Not to me he wasn''t.¡± I said, and she frowned. ¡°Look, I apologized. I didn''t mean to hurt him so badly.¡± ¡°That''s what I''m holding against you.¡± She said. ¡°You wanted to hurt him.¡± ¡°He was going to cut off my cybernetics.¡± I said. ¡°If you want the proof, just set up the connection and transfer protocols for an external feed. You can watch it for yourself.¡± ¡°I''ll do that.¡± She said, and even though she still looked angry, she worked professionally and set everything up. She had to pop off the front of one of my new eyes to access the optical feed directly; but, once she had reset the sending protocol for secured wireless feed, the data dumped directly into her portable terminal. I sat there quietly as she watched and heard what had happened, and I saw the change in her demeanor. She copied the footage onto a portable storage device for the archive, and turned to me. ¡°I guess I owe you an apology.¡± She said. ¡°Let''s hear it.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°Make it good, because I''ve been in a bad mood all day from all the accusations and blame piled on top of me.¡± A smile spread across her face to match mine. ¡°I''m sorry.¡± ¡°Finally!¡± I said. ¡°I really am sorry it happened.¡± ¡°Me, too.¡± She said and held a hand out. ¡°My name is Astra.¡± ¡°Chosen or given?¡± I asked as I took her offered hand and shook it. ¡°Chosen.¡± ¡°It''s nice to meet you, Astra.¡± I said and let her hand go. ¡°I''m Jack.¡± ¡°I know all about you, sir.¡± Astra said and picked up the first tool she would need for a maintenance check. ¡°We needed a full medical background to perform the surgery.¡± ¡°That''s not who I am.¡± I said, and she chuckled. ¡°It''s everything that you are... physically, anyway.¡± Astra said and used the tool to pop open my cybernetic arm. ¡°Although, I... well, I have a personal question.¡± ¡°Don''t you need to disable my arm before doing that?¡± I asked, and she shook her head. ¡°I''m just checking the physical connections. There''s no need for a shutdown or even a bypass.¡± ¡°I knew he was messing with me.¡± I said, and Astra nodded. ¡°I don''t know why he would do that.¡± Astra said and picked up another tool that I knew well. ¡°He''s never done anything like that before.¡± She used the tool to pry up a bracket that held a set of wires in place next to the junction box in my forearm, and she examined the connectors. ¡°No wear or shorts, thank goodness.¡± ¡°I hated that in the old Halbox series.¡± ¡°Oh! Me, too!¡± Astra said and pushed the wires back into place. ¡°The arcing currents always messed up the processing nodes!¡± I chuckled. ¡°I took an entire platoon offline once because of those damn shorts.¡± Astra looked at me with her mouth wide open. ¡°Wh-what?¡± ¡°I''m sorry. I didn''t mean that I cut off their cybernetics; I only meant that I took them out of the rotation roster for duty.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Astra sighed. ¡°That''s a relief.¡± ¡°I''d never offline a cyborg like that.¡± I said. ¡°I won''t even ask to shut down a cybernetic part.¡± ¡°But...¡±Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°I warn them first; then if necessary, I''ll put them in either maintenance or upgrade mode.¡± Astra looked at me with her head tilted to the side slightly, then she smiled. ¡°That''s actually a smart way to bypass any damage.¡± ¡°Darn right it is.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°Now, what''s your question?¡± ¡°Why didn''t you already have cybernetic parts?¡± ¡°That is a personal question.¡± I said, and didn''t answer her. ¡°While you finish with my arm and start my leg, let me tell you about the last cyborg I worked on.¡± Astra picked up the next tool she needed. ¡°Please tell me it was a combat soldier!¡± ¡°Advanced Team, Heavy Weapon Specialist.¡± ¡°Sweet!¡± Astra said and popped apart the elbow joint of my arm. ¡°What happened? EMP?¡± ¡°Oh, no.¡± I said. ¡°It was much worse than that.¡± ¡°Oh, my.¡± Astra said and put on her magnifying goggles. ¡°What was it?¡± ¡°He''d never had any maintenance.¡± I said and grinned. ¡°Ever.¡± Astra dropped her tool and it fell on the floor. ¡°You''re kidding!¡± ¡°Not one single bit.¡± I laughed at her shocked expression. ¡°Goodness, how was he even functioning?¡± Astra asked as she picked up the tool and tossed it into the portable sterilizer in the maintenance kit. ¡°He told me that his Port Mother was a real bitch.¡± ¡°Ah... haha... hahahaha!¡± Astra laughed. ¡°Everyone''s Port Mother is a bitch!¡± I laughed, too... mainly because she knew the joke. Over the next hour, I told her all about the repairs and replacements I did on Crush while she checked over my synthetic leg and chest. When she had opened up my pectoral muscle, I saw that I had a few new pieces. A lung, three-quarters of a new heart, a kidney, a spleen, parts of both intestines, and half of my stomach were synthetic. ¡°Well, damn.¡± I said. ¡°I''m kind of glad I punched him now.¡± Astra sighed. ¡°I don''t condone that kind of violence; but, I''m glad you did, too.¡± She said. ¡°You would have died within minutes.¡± Neither of us spoke for the rest of the examination, and when she closed me up completely, she applied a thin layer of lubricant on my synthetic parts to replace the one she had disturbed. ¡°Thank you.¡± I said, and she smiled. ¡°You were a great patient.¡± Astra said as she closed up my hospital unitard. ¡°I kind of expected you to freak out or something.¡± I shrugged. ¡°That wouldn''t get me anywhere.¡± I said. ¡°Plus, I''ve had to work on hysterical cyborgs. Even if I was freaking out over having an equal number of synthetic parts as I do real ones, I''ll wait until my girlfriend or her mother was here.¡± I smiled. ¡°They can hug and kiss me while they lie their asses off, and tell me that it''s all going to be all right.¡± Astra looked surprised for a moment, then she stepped close and took my synthetic hand. ¡°I''ve been wondering something.¡± I said. ¡°I only had the basic cerebral upgrade with minimal invasive surgery and replacement.¡± I said and saw her face close down. ¡°How am I able to run these extensive modifications with what I have?¡± ¡°Um... sir, I... you''ve had extensive cerebral replacement.¡± Astra said. ¡°The...¡± She looked around sheepishly. ¡°...shrapnel travelled up and into your cranial cavity.¡± I opened my mouth to respond, then closed it and my eyes at the same time. ¡°Tell me what I lost.¡± ¡°It''s mostly just a bit of your long term memory, and with your last brain scan as a guide, we successfully copied most of the engrams to it''s digital equivalent into the cybernetic parts we installed.¡± She said, and her voice didn''t have that happy sound when she saw my face. ¡°Some of the memories are still there; but... you just have to access them instead of remembering them.¡± ¡°Can you tell me what...?¡± I asked. ¡°From what we could recreate, it''s mostly just faded childhood memories.¡± Astra said and gave my hand a squeeze. ¡°So, it''s no big loss.¡± I felt a tear try to form in my right eye, but then nothing happened. ¡°Dammit, I don''t have tear ducts anymore!¡± I nearly yelled, and it startled her. ¡°It''s all going to be all right.¡± Astra said in a calm voice, and repeated the lie I had told her only Sandra and Noreen could tell me. Since she didn''t know that my childhood memories were the only things I had left of my mother, she didn''t realize that I had lost much more than just an arm and a leg. ¡°Can... can you call Noreen for me?¡± I asked, and I sobbed because the tears couldn''t escape. ¡°S-Sandra needs to stay in bed.¡± Astra opened her mouth to say something, picked up the maintenance kit and nodded, and left instead. A couple of minutes later Noreen came in. ¡°Noreen, I... I need...¡± ¡°Shh.¡± Noreen said. ¡°Slide over a little.¡± I moved over in the bed, and she crawled onto the bed and laid down on my normal side. ¡°That girl said I can''t touch your other side for a while yet.¡± Noreen said, and I wrapped my good arm around her shoulders. She gave my cheek a kiss and then rested her head on my chest. ¡°It''s going to be all right, Jack.¡± I tried to think back to something... anything... from my childhood. ¡°It''s gone.¡± I said as my chest shook from my dry crying. ¡°My childhood. My mother. Everything.¡± ¡°Oh, Jack.¡± Noreen lifted her head and looked at me. She had heard the sorrow in my voice, and she cried the tears that I couldn''t. ¡°I''m so sorry.¡± ¡°So am I.¡± I said and kissed her cheek. ¡°I can''t even cry for her anymore.¡± Noreen cupped the side of my face, kissed me back, then put her head on my chest. Her hand rubbed my abdomen in small circles, and we just laid there and didn''t say anything as we held each other. Supper came and went, with it''s accompanying dirt-flavored brown algenate disc for me and a blue one for Noreen; then Nathan came in to visit for a while. After I told him the extent of my injuries, he said that I could cuddle Noreen for the night and that he would stay with Sandra. ¡°Are you sure about this?¡± I asked. ¡°If I thought they would let Sandra...¡± ¡°Don''t worry about it.¡± Nathan said and put a hand on my shoulder. ¡°You''ll be able to hold her soon, without having to worry about hurting her; either by your own hand or because she''s still so weak.¡± I took a deep breath and let it out. ¡°Thanks, Nathan.¡± Nathan gave my shoulder a squeeze and left, and the lights dimmed not long after. Noreen had worked her hand inside my hospital unitard and rubbed my skin directly. I needed the touch almost as much as she did, and I asked her to lift her head. ¡°Jack?¡± Noreen looked at me, and I undid the chest part of the unitard for her and pulled it off of the normal side of my chest. ¡°You''re looking after me, even in this condition?¡± She asked, surprised. ¡°I''m supposed to be looking after you.¡± ¡°I''d rather we both helped each other.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°Jack.¡± Noreen smiled herself, then laid her head on my bare chest. ¡°I think I''m getting more help out of this than you are.¡± I chuckled and squeezed her shoulder lightly, then moved my hand down her back and rested it on her hip. My whole arm was pressed against her now; and with only the thin hospital unitard she wore between it and her skin, her skin hunger was getting a good feed. She kissed my bare chest several times to thank me, snuggled in tight, then let out a long satisfied sigh and quickly fell asleep. I on the other hand, laid there for the rest of the night and tried, over and over, to remember something. I didn''t know what it was that I was trying to remember; but, I knew it was important. Very, very important. I just didn''t know why. L.I.F.E. Begins 028: A Difficult Choice When morning came around, I hadn''t had a single wink of sleep. My mind just couldn''t let the thought go that I was missing some bit of important information that I desperately needed. The nurse came in with breakfast and she was a bit surprised to find Noreen asleep beside me, until I explained her condition. ¡°I had a cousin like that.¡± The nurse said. ¡°She was... very popular.¡± It sounded like she was resentful of her cousin, despite knowing it was a desperate condition; so I didn''t comment about it and only nodded. She handed me a brown algenate disc and left a red one for Noreen. I didn''t even taste it as I ate it, because I was so preoccupied. That''s going to bug the hell out of me until I remember what it is. I thought. Of course, with that part of my brain gone, there''s literally no chance I''m going to remember. Noreen moaned as she started to wake up. ¡°Mmm.¡± She rubbed her cheek on my bare chest. ¡°Good morning, Jack.¡± ¡°You remembered it was me.¡± I said, and she looked up at me. ¡°I was a bit worried you might think I was Nathan and... well...¡± Noreen smiled slyly as her hand caressed my abdomen. ¡°Are you saying I could have taken advantage of you?¡± I chuckled. ¡°I''m saying I was worried you would try to, and not realize it was me.¡± Noreen moved her hand up to my chest and rested her chin on it. ¡°I''ll tell you a little secret.¡± ¡°What''s that?¡± ¡°I have no trouble knowing it was you.¡± Noreen said. ¡°You see, Nathan is hairy.¡± ¡°What?¡± Noreen chuckled at my surprised expression. ¡°Unlike you with all these smooth muscles, it''s like he''s wearing a thin sweater.¡± She grinned. ¡°Over his whole body.¡± I clamped my mouth shut so I wouldn''t laugh; but, she could see the humor on my face. ¡°It''s like cuddling with a bear.¡± Noreen said, and I couldn''t help it and laughed. ¡°I''m tempted to comb it every time I see him naked.¡± ¡°Aha!¡± I closed my mouth to stop myself from making too much noise. ¡°The only reason I make him shave off his beard is so I''ll know which side of him his face is on.¡± ¡°Bwahaha!¡± I laughed, and she joined me. We laughed for several moments, and then calmed down. ¡°Noreen, I... thank you.¡± ¡°You don''t have to thank me, Jack.¡± Noreen said. ¡°You let me hold you all night, and didn''t complain once that I was squeezing too tightly.¡± I blinked my eyes twice, then took a breath to compose a response. ¡°Does he complain about it?¡± ¡°Sometimes.¡± Noreen said. ¡°I''m a little clingy.¡± I moved my hand from her hip, slid it up along her body, and tucked it under her arm. ¡°Only a little?¡± I asked, and her face flushed a little red. ¡°I think you''re just the right amount of clingy.¡± I said and gave her a very tight hug, and her eyes widened. ¡°R-really?¡± I nodded. ¡°You gladly take what''s offered, and sometimes ask for what you need if that''s not quite enough; but, you never push or try to go further than people are comfortable with.¡± I explained. ¡°You always show restraint, even though you don''t have to; and no one would blame you if you didn''t.¡± ¡°J-Jack, I...¡± ¡°I can''t cuddle you as much as I should, not with this damn artificial limb.¡± I said and lifted it. ¡°Even with the limiters in place, I can severely hurt you if I tried.¡± Noreen had several different expressions cross her face, almost too fast to see; but, the others didn''t matter because she ended with relief and a smile. ¡°I''ll take any cuddling you want to give.¡± Noreen said happily. ¡°You should eat breakfast first.¡± I said and pointed to the sealed package. ¡°Ooo! Red!¡± Noreen said and opened the package to take a bite. ¡°I think that''s what I''m going to miss the most.¡± I said, and she looked at me. ¡°Normal tastes.¡± ¡°You ate yours already, didn''t you?¡± Noreen asked, and I nodded. She took a small bite of the algenate disc, chewed it up messily, and it left several crumbs on her lips. She moved up and kissed me on the lips, and it transferred the crumbs to me. She leaned back and looked at me expectantly, and I licked my lips to clear off the crumbs. ¡°There.¡± Noreen said and smiled. ¡°You got a good taste, and can honestly say that you didn''t eat it yourself. All you did was clean up my mess.¡± I opened my mouth to tell her that it didn''t work that way, then remembered that she had done the same thing yesterday with Nathan and cake icing, and I chuckled. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°You''re welcome.¡± Noreen said and ate the rest of the red disc. ¡°So, what are you going to do today?¡± ¡°I plan on laying here with you.¡± I said, and she laid back down to rest her cheek on my chest, and I put my arm back around her and rested my hand on her hip. Lunch came and went, and the nurse didn''t get back to me about starting physical therapy; which was both frustrating and a relief. The tech person, Astra, came to visit in the afternoon. ¡°You can stay.¡± Astra said when Noreen started to get up. ¡°It''s just diagnostics today.¡± ¡°Are you sure I won''t be in the way?¡± Noreen asked. ¡°You would be if you were on this side.¡± Astra said and set up the portable maintenance kit. She pulled out the two leads and attached them behind my ear, just like I had done to Crush when I had him hooked up to the diagnostic computer at the vacation house. Damn, I really do have extensive cerebral replacements. I thought and held in my sigh. Astra typed in a few commands and hit the button. ¡°So, how did you sleep?¡± ¡°Sleep? What''s that?¡± I asked, and she nodded. ¡°Most patients can''t sleep after extensive replacement surgery.¡± ¡°That part I can ignore for now.¡± I said, honestly. ¡°I''ll be freaking out over it when I''m alone, I assure you.¡± I said to both her and Noreen''s surprise. ¡°Losing the only part of my brain I wanted to keep is what''s bugging me.¡±If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Wh-what?¡± I didn''t say anything in response, so Noreen said it for me. ¡°His childhood was all he had of his mother.¡± Noreen explained. ¡°She died when he was young.¡± ¡°I... I''m sorry.¡± Astra said. ¡°I didn''t know.¡± ¡°I told you that my medical history wasn''t who I was.¡± I said, and she nodded. Astra ran the diagnostic and used the limb and optical control pads to check the status of my eyes and limbs. ¡°I can''t believe you did this.¡± She said and held up the optical control pad. ¡°How in the world did you parse out the static in the interface without having any experience with the new hardware?¡± ¡°It''s almost the exact same software that''s been used for years, and I''ve had tons of experience with tweaking it.¡± I said. ¡°I don''t know why you don''t have someone checking over your programming to make sure it''s up to date.¡± ¡°We want to keep things secret.¡± Astra said. ¡°It''s hard to do that if we''re using general message traffic for collaborations on sensitive software packages.¡± ¡°No wonder the doctor was so surprised when I fixed my own eye interface.¡± I laughed. ¡°He was so caught up with keeping things contained, that he had no idea that someone outside of your research group could fix it.¡± Astra didn''t say anything and then the diagnostics finished. She checked over the numbers, looked at the control pads, and made the proper comparisons. ¡°Well, there''s no signal degradation between your synthetic parts and your organic ones, and all of the tolerances are within normal operating functions.¡± ¡°That is just a bunch of techno-gobble-de-gook.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°You can just say they are working like they are supposed to.¡± ¡°You must have had a horrible bedside manner in the service.¡± Astra said and smiled. ¡°Only when working on other people.¡± I smiled back. ¡°No one complained when I was alone.¡± Astra laughed and packed up everything. ¡°I''ll send the nurse in for your bath.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± I said, and she left. ¡°Now I do have to get up.¡± Noreen said a little sadly, and sat up. ¡°Jack...¡± ¡°You''re welcome.¡± I said, and she smiled. The nurse came in through the curtain with the proper supplies. ¡°I hear you''re ready for a bath.¡± ¡°I apparently stink to high heaven.¡± I said, and she laughed. ¡°No, you don''t.¡± Noreen said and stood up. ¡°I was up close and personal with you all night, and you smell just fine.¡± ¡°Hey, you''re a natural deodorant!¡± I exclaimed, and she chuckled. ¡°I''ll go and see if Sandra''s up for a visit.¡± ¡°Thanks, Noreen.¡± I said, and she leaned down to kiss my cheek. ¡°See you soon.¡± ¡°Hey, if you stick around for a few minutes, you''ll be seeing a whole lot of me real soon.¡± I said. ¡°You''re terrible!¡± Noreen laughed as she playfully swatted my arm, then she left. ¡°Any luck with getting me in for therapy?¡± I asked the nurse when she started to bathe my normal side. ¡°They''re booked up solid for the next month.¡± The nurse said. ¡°I am not staying here for a month.¡± I said, and the nurse nodded. ¡°I went down to the basement for a few minutes during my break.¡± The nurse said, and I smiled. ¡°Tell me they''re sending someone over.¡± ¡°They''ll be here tonight after the regular shift rotation.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± I said and held both hands up and made fists. ¡°I know I''m going to need a lot of help getting these things to work together.¡± ¡°The hands are the easy part.¡± The nurse said. ¡°It''s your legs I''m worried about.¡± ¡°What? Why?¡± ¡°You''re lopsided.¡± She said and dried off my normal side. ¡°Doing just a normal walk is... no, I''m not going to discourage you.¡± ¡°You''re trying to tell me that since I have a much more powerful leg, I''m going to have a difficult time adjusting it to a normal leg.¡± The nurse nodded. ¡°Unfortunately.¡± I sighed. ¡°I thought that was going to be a possibility; but, I had hoped with these newer materials...¡± I shook my head. ¡°Yeah, it''s just wishful thinking.¡± ¡°You''ll have a better view of what it''s going to be like this evening.¡± She said. ¡°Until then, I think we can just keep hoping.¡± I nodded and she finished cleaning my synthetic side. She helped me dress in a new hospital unitard just in time, because Sandra and her parents came in to visit. ¡°Somebody call heaven!¡± I said as she sat in the chair beside the bed. ¡°One of their angels escaped!¡± Sandra laughed for a moment, then coughed. I reached out with my real hand and rubbed her bald head. ¡°You don''t have to keep doing that.¡± Sandra said. ¡°Oh, yes I do.¡± I said, and carefully sat up. I teetered a little and caught myself, then pulled her in for a kiss. Sandra broke the kiss and touched my cheek. ¡°Lay back down before you hurt yourself.¡± She said, her voice full of concern. I eased back and laid down on the bed again, then sighed. ¡°I''m starting therapy after shift change this evening; so, hopefully that won''t be a concern for much longer.¡± ¡°So late?¡± Nathan asked, and I nodded. ¡°The normal therapists are too busy, so the military''s sending someone in for me.¡± ¡°I''m glad to hear that.¡± Nathan said. ¡°You don''t want to just lay around in bed all day.¡± ¡°Sometimes it''s not so bad.¡± I said, and saw Noreen''s smile. ¡°I also won''t have any choice about it, depending on how this session goes.¡± ¡°It''s going to be all right.¡± Sandra said and took my hand. ¡°We''re right here with you.¡± ¡°I wish you could stay here with me, but you need to keep your strength up.¡± I said. ¡°Jack, I just got here!¡± Sandra said, and I chuckled. ¡°I wasn''t kicking you out right this second.¡± I said and gave her hand a squeeze. ¡°It''s a couple of hours until supper.¡± Sandra nodded. ¡°I''ll go then, but not a minute sooner!¡± I laughed. ¡°I never want you to go at all, so I won''t object to that restriction.¡± The time seemed to fly by, and the nurse showed up to deliver supper. I took my dirt-flavored algenate disc and told Noreen and Nathan to eat in the cafeteria after they took Sandra back to her room. I kissed Sandra goodbye, and the three of them left my bedside; which gave me some privacy as I managed to choke down my supper. I actually surprised myself when I didn''t gag on it even once. The nurse came through the curtain with a wheelchair and helped me transfer from the bed to sit in it. She took me to the elevator and we went down several levels to go to the physical therapy room. When the door to the room opened, I saw the oldest living woman I had ever seen. She wasn''t hunched over, thanks to the external braces on her spine; but, the rest of her body was wizened and twisted as if she was still hunched over. It was the oddest thing I had seen, and I had seen a lot of odd things. ¡°So, he made another guinea pig.¡± The extremely old woman said when she saw my synthetic parts. ¡°How many Points did they offer to let them experiment on you?¡± ¡°I didn''t have a choice.¡± I said. ¡°I was in an accident and woke up like this.¡± ¡°That bastard.¡± The old woman said emphatically. ¡°That''s what I said.¡± The old woman laughed. ¡°Nurse, you can leave.¡± She said. ¡°I''ll take care of him.¡± The nurse nodded and left me alone with a woman I had just met. ¡°Shouldn''t she have stayed?¡± I asked. ¡°She''s a nurse and-¡± ¡°She can''t take how I''m going to treat you.¡± The old lady said and stood up to her full height. She was eight feet tall and her limbs weren''t hunched or twisted up anymore. ¡°Now that was good camouflage.¡± I said. ¡°Even I was fooled.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± She said and walked over to me. ¡°Now stand up.¡± I started to stand; but, it wasn''t fast enough for her. She grabbed my synthetic arm and lifted me up. ¡°You''re a cyborg! Use your strength!¡± ¡°Half-cyborg.¡± I said and got my feet under me and stood up straight. ¡°It doesn''t matter.¡± The old woman said. ¡°Walk.¡± ¡°But...¡± ¡°You''ve been walking since you were little.¡± She said. ¡°Just do it!¡± I took a breath and a step, and she put a hand on my back and pushed. ¡°Hey!¡± I said as I fell to the floor on my hands and knees. ¡°What was that for?¡± ¡°That was to show you an automatic reaction.¡± The old woman grinned. ¡°Did you see what happened?¡± ¡°Yeah, I fell because you pushed me.¡± I said. ¡°Wrong, stupid!¡± She said and laughed. ¡°What happened was that both of your arms and both legs worked just fine.¡± I looked down at the floor, and saw that she was right. Both hands were in the same position to catch me properly, and my knees had taken the brunt of the force. Of course, now my normal knee hurt a little, and my synthetic knee was just fine. ¡°Well, damn.¡± ¡°Don''t think about what you need to do.¡± The old lady said. ¡°Let your brain and your body to that.¡± She said. ¡°Stand up.¡± It took me a few seconds to shift my weight to do that, and she wasn''t happy about that. She grabbed my synthetic arm just under the shoulder again and lifted. ¡°Hands off!¡± I said as I clenched my synthetic fist and struck back with my elbow. It clanged on her chest and she staggered back as she let go. She looked really angry for a moment, then she laughed. ¡°Yes! That''s it!¡± She said and swung her fist at my head. I ducked and turned around, and jabbed her in the kidney. My fist made another clang sound, and she staggered to the side. She smiled as she lifted her foot to kick, and my own darted out to counter it. It connected with her thigh, once again with a metallic sound, then I followed it up with a kick to her side. I heard a bone break and fell to the floor. ¡°GAH!¡± I yelled and clutched at my foot. ¡°I broke my toe!¡± ¡°That''s because your balance was off.¡± She said. ¡°The weight of your limbs is a little different. You can react fine, but you''re favoring your normal limbs too much.¡± ¡°Of course I am, goddammit!¡± I nearly yelled. ¡°They''re the real ones!¡± The old lady laughed. ¡°You''re going to be walking lopsided for the rest of your life if you keep believing that.¡± ¡°Wh-what?¡± ¡°The synthetic parts may be replacements; but, they are just as real as your ''real'' parts.¡± ¡°But...¡± ¡°You can even attack cyborgs with your ''normal'' parts, as long as you attack their ''normal'' parts.¡± ¡°But...¡± ¡°Of course, there''s an easy solution for you. You won''t have to worry about adapting how you walk, and you won''t have to suffer like this anymore.¡± The old lady said and motioned to his foot. ¡°What''s the solution?¡± I asked. ¡°Just get that leg replaced, too.¡± She said and grinned. L.I.F.E. Begins 029: A Forgotten Problem After a quick visit from the nurse, she set my broken toe and I continued on with my physical therapy. It was just as brutal as I thought it was going to be, too. Over the next week, I was constantly monitored and checked by Astra in the afternoons and survived my physical therapy sessions in the evenings. No matter what I did or tried, however; both of my new limbs were too different and a lot more awkward than my old ones. My walk had an uneven gait, just as the nurse had predicted; and when I tried to compensate for it, all that managed to do was enhance the difference. I was to the point that I nearly hopped around constantly, almost as if the synthetic leg was an actual crutch; and then the therapist stepped in and knocked some sense into me. Quite literally. I woke up in bed the next morning with a bruise on my face and a lump on the back of my head. I was about to curse the old lady to high heaven until I found out that I was being discharged. ¡°You''re taking up a bed unnecessarily.¡± The nurse said. ¡°Are you sure?¡± I asked. ¡°I mean, I am walking around a lot better now; but...¡± ¡°I''ve been looking forward to having most of my days off and still getting paid, Sir.¡± The nurse said and smiled. ¡°So, I pushed your release through.¡± I laughed. ¡°Okay, okay. I guess you''re right.¡± ¡°You bet I am.¡± The nurse said. She helped me sit in the wheelchair she had brought and picked up a bag of supplies that I assumed I was going to need back at the apartment. She pushed me out of the ward and we went to the floor Sandra was on, and met her parents in the hallway outside the ward she was in. ¡°They''re finally kicking me out.¡± I blurted as soon as I saw them, and Noreen ran over and hugged me. ¡°That''s great!¡± Noreen said happily, then she saw my face. ¡°Jack! What happened?¡± ¡°My therapy is over, and she wanted me to remember her for a while.¡± I joked, and Noreen shook her head. ¡°I don''t know why you let her do things like that to you.¡± Noreen said and let me go. ¡°Ha! Let her.¡± ¡°You should complain about it.¡± ¡°To who?¡± I asked. ¡°She did it for free, and it really did help me get my act together.¡± ¡°Jack...¡± Noreen frowed. I took her hand and gave it a squeeze. ¡°It''s over now, and I''m going home.¡± ¡°Oh! That reminds me.¡± Noreen said. ¡°Sandra''s getting out herself tomorrow.¡± ¡°Really?¡± I asked, and she nodded. ¡°What''s she doing now?¡± ¡°Sleeping.¡± Noreen said. ¡°The poor thing is exhausted, so we were just about to head home for a few hours to let her rest.¡± ¡°Then that''s great timing on my part, assuming you already moved in next door.¡± I said, and Noreen and Nathan nodded. ¡°We can share a Tube car and go home together.¡± The four of us left General Medic in high spirits, piled into a Tube car after a short wait, then made the half an hour trip in relative silence. We made it back to my living section without incident. ¡°You never said you lived here.¡± The nurse said, because she was a bit surprised at the location of my living section. ¡°I don''t like to brag.¡± I said, and Noreen chuckled. ¡°That''s true, even though he could.¡± We all left the Tube car and went into the lobby, down the elevator, and over to my apartment. ¡°I''d like to go in alone first.¡± I said when we arrived at my door. ¡°I need to help you get settled.¡± The nurse said. ¡°I need to confirm the maintenance upgrades for your apartment, too.¡± ¡°Please.¡± I pleaded. She sighed and nodded, and I looked at Noreen and Nathan. ¡°Just ignore any shouting you might hear.¡± ¡°Jack, she''s been with you a long time.¡± She pat my shoulder. ¡°She''ll understand.¡± ¡°If she ever talks to me again, you mean.¡± Noreen laughed, then her and her husband went into the apartment next door. ¡°Are you sure you want me to wait here for this?¡± The nurse asked. ¡°If I come in, maybe she won''t be so angry.¡± It was my turn to laugh. ¡°No, I''ve been without Amanda for too long now. If I show up with someone else, she''ll never forgive me.¡± ¡°Well, good luck.¡± The nurse said. I stood up from the wheelchair and stepped to my front door. It opened for me and I went inside my apartment, only to be greeted by complete darkness as the door shut behind me... and everything was silent. I didn''t move, because I was pretty sure she would have moved things around on me, just because it would annoy me.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°Amanda?¡± Silence was the response, and I sighed dramatically. ¡°I''d like to explain about what happened.¡± I said. ¡°I can''t stand here in the dark and do that, though.¡± The lights in the apartment came on, and I had been right. Everything had been moved around and I never would have made it over to the bed to sit down. I walked over and sat down, then told her exactly what happened from beginning to end. I was still met by silence, and I stood up. ¡°I know you aren''t going to forgive me for doing this to you.¡± I said and stood up a little shakily, then walked over to the front door. ¡°Even though it wasn''t my fault, I still broke my promise to always stay in contact with you.¡± I hit the button and let the nurse in. ¡°That took a while.¡± The nurse said and carried in the bag and the folded up wheelchair. ¡°Where''s your bathroom?¡± I pointed to the door on the left and she disappeared in there. I leaned against the wall and waited for her to come out, and when she did, she shook her head. ¡°Get in bed, Sir!¡± The nurse commanded, and I didn''t feel like arguing. I wasn''t really tired physically; but emotionally, I was kind of wrung out. Hearing the whole story from my own lips made me depressed, and since Amanda wasn''t talking to me, I didn''t really have a reason to stay up. I laid down on the bed and pulled the blanket up to cover myself, then noticed the nurse as she putted around the apartment and emptied out her bag of supplies and stashed things away. ¡°What are you doing?¡± I asked. ¡°Preparing for a rainy day.¡± The nurse said, and then chuckled. ¡°What an odd saying that is, considering it doesn''t rain underground.¡± ¡°It does in the farm domes.¡± I said. ¡°It''s really just a set of intricately woven water pipes and sprinklers; but with the AIs running the dispersal, it''s as close to actual rain as anyone can get.¡± ¡°I think I''d like to see that.¡± The nurse said absently and hung the empty bag on the wheelchair, then stashed the folded wheelchair in the closet. ¡°Sure.¡± I said. ¡°Amanda? Can you book a visit to the Agricultural Sector?¡± I asked, and looked at the nurse. ¡°When would you like to go?¡± ¡°Wh-what?¡± ¡°I''m sure you''ve got a lot to do today, considering it''s your first day off.¡± I said, and then sighed. ¡°Oh, I almost forgot. Amanda? Please submit a Leave of Absence form to General Medic for nurse... what was your name again?¡± ¡°Deloris.¡± The nurse said. ¡°Submit the form, and then hire her as a Temporary Care Facilitator for me, with a standard pay of Points.¡± The nurse''s communication pad beeped at her, and she blinked her eyes at the information she had received. ¡°I... it''s true.¡± She said, her voice filled with disbelief. ¡°I''m now on official leave from the hospital, and I''ve been hired privately.¡± She said and scrolled down. ¡°I also have an appointment tomorrow afternoon to take a private tour of Agricultural Dome Three.¡± She shook her head. ¡°How did you do that?¡± ¡°It wasn''t me.¡± I said. ¡°It''s all thanks to Amanda.¡± The nurse turned and looked at the big vidwall, since there wasn''t anything else in the apartment to address. ¡°Thank you, Amanda.¡±
You''re welcome, Deloris
¡°I''m not going to defend him or his actions before the accident.¡± Deloris said. ¡°That''s not my place to do that.¡± She said. ¡°But, I can attest to things I personally saw. It really isn''t his fault for not contacting you right away. His communication pad was melted into his chest, and he hasn''t been issued a new one since.¡±
...
¡°No one was allowed to send messages on his behalf, either.¡± Deloris said. ¡°Noreen and... Norman?¡±
Nathan.
¡°They were warned not to say anything until he was allowed to leave.¡± Deloris said. ¡°I would have sent something myself, especially after he woke up from the accident; mainly because right away he asked about using a communication pad to contact you.¡± There was no response on the vidwall. ¡°He missed you a lot while he was away.¡± Deloris said. ¡°It was always ''Amanda this'', and ''Amanda that''.¡± She said. ¡°I thought you were his wife for about a week, which made me wonder why he was allowed to have a girlfriend... and then he told me you were an AI.¡± She laughed. ¡°It didn''t really clear things up, especially considering the way he talks about you; but, at least I wasn''t confused about who he was talking about anymore.¡± There was still no response on the wall, and Deloris walked over to me. ¡°I''ll be back this evening to check on you, to make sure you aren''t falling apart.¡± ¡°Thanks, Deloris.¡± ¡°That''s ''Nurse Deloris'' to you, Sir.¡± I laughed. ¡°See you tonight, Nurse Deloris.¡± Deloris pat my normal shoulder and walked over to the front door, then left the apartment. The door between the two apartments opened, and Noreen came in. ¡°I heard some of that.¡± Noreen said and came over to the bed. ¡°I''d like to apologize as well, Amanda.¡± She said and sat down on the edge of the bed. ¡°The nurse is right. We were warned not to let anyone else know how Jack was doing.¡±
Why?
¡°It was some garbage about an ongoing investigation.¡± Noreen said and started to open my hospital unitard. ¡°Why would we have to keep information about you being alive a secret?¡± I couldn''t actually tell her why, since how I had gotten hurt was a secret as well; so, I kept my mouth shut and just shook my head. ¡°Whatever the reason, it doesn''t matter now.¡± Noreen said and moved the thin cloth out of the way and rubbed her hand on my chest. ¡°You''re back home now, and we are all happy about that.¡± ¡°Anyone up for lunch?¡± Nathan asked as he came through the open door with a small tray. ¡°Blah.¡± I said, and he laughed. ¡°Sorry, Jack.¡± Nathan said and handed me a brown algenate disc. ¡°Doctor''s orders.¡± I sighed as I took the disc and ate it, then thought about going into the immersion chamber to hack into the food processing plant to alter the recipe. After being out of it for so long, I wasn''t sure if it would even accept me anymore. ¡°The doctor said you should go in right away.¡± Noreen said, when she saw where I was looking. ¡°Well, damn.¡± I said. ¡°If he thinks it''s a good idea to go right in, then I''m staying out for at least a few more days.¡± Noreen laughed. ¡°I agree.¡± ¡°I could say that I''m outvoted, but I agree as well.¡± Nathan said. ¡°You just got out of the hospital and you''re recovering from extensive surgery.¡± He said. ¡°You should forget about trying to push yourself, Jack.¡± ¡°I''d like to get back to work at least.¡± I said as I sat up. ¡°Do you have a display here?¡± Noreen asked. I nodded and pointed to the edge of the vidwall, and she walked over to it and pulled out a smaller version of the display that Crush had carried around for me during the battle. ¡°There we are.¡± She said and brought it over to me. I took it from her and set it on my lap as it started up, and I used the hand print scanner to confirm my identity. I used my real hand of course, and it asked for a password. A digital keyboard appeared and I positioned my fingers over the keyboard, then I froze. ¡°What''s wrong?¡± Noreen asked. ¡°I can''t remember my password.¡± I said. ¡°I''ve used it so often that it was automatic; but, I can''t remember it.¡± I closed my eyes and took several deep breaths. ¡°Oh, god.¡± I said and reached up to wipe my eyes automatically, even though they were still dry. ¡°I can''t remember my password.¡± Noreen took the display from my lap and set it aside, then climbed onto the bed. She sat on my normal side and pat her chest, and I rested my head there as she wrapped her arms around me. ¡°Jack, I''m so sorry.¡± Noreen said as she held me, and my dry sobs made the normal side of my body tremble. The synthetic parts didn''t move at all, almost as if they didn''t care; and I hated them for that. L.I.F.E. Begins 030: Similar Results Noreen held me like that for over an hour, and didn''t complain once. Nathan had left after about 10 minutes of uncomfortable silence that was occasionally broken by my dry crying. It had always struck me as fake when I had seen cyborgs cry like this; but, now that I had personal experience with it, I knew their crying wasn''t fake at all. It just looked fake because of the lack of tears. ¡°Noreen, I...¡± I started to say and looked up at her. I saw her warm and comforting smile, reached up, and cupped the side of her face. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°Oh, Jack.¡± Noreen said and leaned down a little and kissed me. ¡°You just let me hold you as tightly as I wanted.¡± She said and tapped my chest. ¡°I think I left my fingerprints in your skin.¡± That made me laugh. ¡°Even if you did, it was worth it.¡± ¡°You''re too good to be true.¡± Noreen said as I sat up. ¡°Half of me still is, anyway.¡± I said. ¡°Jack, you...¡± Noreen sighed. ¡°Don''t look at this as a disability.¡± ¡°Noreen, I''ve lost a third of my life and almost half of my body.¡± I said. ¡°I have no idea what else I''m not going to remember, that I use every day without thinking about it.¡± Noreen picked up the display and activated it. ¡°Amanda, enter Jack''s password for him without showing it to me.¡± The display beeped and Noreen looked at the virtual workspace. ¡°How can you have so many things open at once?¡± Noreen asked. ¡°Mine slows down if I don''t keep closing the things I''m not using.¡± ¡°It''s heavily modified.¡± I said and she passed the display to me. ¡°I was tired of the slowdown, too.¡± ¡°Then pick something and work on it.¡± Noreen said. ¡°I''m going to sit right here beside you, and we''ll see if you hit something that you can''t remember.¡± I opened my mouth to protest that it would be wasting her time to just sit there, and she put a hand over my mouth. ¡°No talking.¡± Noreen smiled. ¡°Now get to work, you slacker.¡± I stuck out my tongue and licked her palm, and she laughed and jerked her hand away. ¡°You slobbered on me!¡± ¡°And you can''t go wash it off.¡± I smiled and opened a random program. ¡°You have to stay right beside me while I work.¡± ¡°You...¡± Noreen looked at her wet palm, then at me. ¡°You''re really going to make me sit here with a wet hand?¡± ¡°I''m sorry.¡± I said and quickly took her other hand and licked it before she could pull it away. ¡°Hey!¡± Noreen exclaimed. ¡°Now they match.¡± I said and laughed. ¡°You did not just...¡± Noreen looked at her second wet hand for a moment, then the first hand I had licked, then back at me. ¡°Jack!¡± ¡°Oh, the look on your face.¡± I said and put the display aside. ¡°You can''t decide if you want to slap me or thank me.¡± ¡°Both, dammit!¡± Noreen said, and I laughed again. ¡°I won''t hold you to your promise to stay beside me.¡± I said. ¡°You can go to the bathroom and wash my drool off.¡± ¡°Good god, Jack.¡± Noreen looked at her damp palms and then back at me. ¡°I... I can''t decide if I want to or not!¡± ¡°I''ll take that compliment.¡± I said and gave her a kiss on the cheek. ¡°You should wash your hands, though.¡± Noreen gave me an odd look, then shook her head and went to the bathroom. I put the display back on my lap and looked at the random program I had opened. My hands flittered over the keyboard as I reconstructed the missing part of the code. I saved my work and dropped it into the outgoing queue, then opened the next one. The System had been down two programmers for over two weeks, and the backlog of work had grown exponentially. I started on the little programs, the ones barely affected, and repaired them. Noreen had come out of the bathroom and snuggled up by my side on the bed and watched as I worked. We stayed that way until Nathan came in 3 hours later. ¡°The nurse called. Sandra''s awake and is eating supper.¡± ¡°It''s that late?¡± I asked. ¡°I''ll grab an algenate disc for you.¡± Nathan said and came back from the dispenser with a brown one. I took it; but, I didn''t open it. ¡°I have to go.¡± Noreen said, reluctantly. ¡°Tell her that I love her, and that I look forward to seeing her tomorrow.¡± I said. ¡°We''ll be gone for several hours, but we''ll be back right after.¡± Noreen said and hugged me. ¡°Please don''t overwork yourself.¡±The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. I laughed. ¡°Overwork? What''s that?¡± Noreen shook her head. ¡°Just pace yourself.¡± She said, kissed my cheek, and she left my apartment holding hands with her husband. I turned back to my work and was so glad that all my major coding experience was during my teenage years, and that I had barely done anything before then. There was still something that I was missing, but for the life of me, I couldn''t remember. I shrugged and kept working, and the System accepted the programs I modified and fixed, almost gladly. She had someone else check the work before implementing it of course; but other than that, I was allowed full access to her and her infrastructure. I wasn''t sure if my diligence had successfully tricked her into a false sense of security or not; but nevertheless, I eventually opened the food processing plant and looked at the cybernetic supplement that was added to the algenate disc. With a slight tweak here, and an additive that didn''t change the color of the disc, I submitted the new recipe and waited. All the smaller programs had been dealt with, and I had altered the brown algenate disc only slightly. It was always so surprising what a tiny little bit of chemical can do to alter the taste of something. It took almost an hour for the modification itself to be approved, and I actually sighed in relief that it had been accepted and implemented so quickly. I just had to try it, so I carefully got up and hobbled over to the food dispenser with my awkward walk, and then hesitated before I hit the button. ¡°I really should wait for them to get filtered through the dispensary first.¡± I said, and went back to bed. ¡°There was no way that it would go through all the brown algenate discs it already had so quickly.¡± It would be a while before the new recipe would make it''s way into the general distribution network. I picked up my display and kept working, and after a short while, I felt a woman''s hand touch my chest. I looked up from my work and Noreen was there. ¡°Oh, hi.¡± I said. ¡°I''m glad you''re back.¡± ¡°I''ve been here for almost half an hour, Jack.¡± Noreen said and smiled at me. ¡°What?¡± I looked down at her hand on my chest, then back at her. ¡°Why didn''t you say anything?¡± ¡°You were lost in your work, and I didn''t want to disturb you.¡± ¡°I''m sorry I didn''t notice you.¡± I said, then pulled my unitard aside to expose the normal side of my chest and lifted my arm. ¡°Cuddle in.¡± ¡°Jack, I don''t want to bother you.¡± Noreen said, a bit sheepishly. ¡°It''s not a bother, as long as you can get in close and I can get my arm around you.¡± Noreen beamed a smile at me and slid in really close, and half-laid down beside me and rested her head on my chest. ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°It''s a niggling problem with the Tube system.¡± I said and reached around her to continue typing on my display. ¡°The AI running it keeps getting an intermittent short in the secondary relay, and I can''t trace the cause.¡± ¡°Would a second set of eyes help?¡± Noreen asked. ¡°Nathan always asks me to check his work.¡± I looked at her with wide eyes, and she smiled. ¡°I''m not just a pretty face, you know.¡± She said and smiled demurely. ¡°No, you aren''t.¡± I said and nodded, and she focused her eyes on the screen as hundreds of lines of code scrolled down it. ¡°What am I looking for?¡± Noreen asked. ¡°Anything that looks out of the ordinary.¡± I said. ¡°If you kind of just glance at it, it''s like a pattern. Strings, variables, and statements that fit together like a big puzzle. If even one of those pieces has a piece of dirt on it, it won''t fit together properly.¡± ¡°So, you''re saying I should look for everything and nothing at the same time.¡± I chuckled because she understood the problem. ¡°Okay, I''ll do my best.¡± Noreen said as she rubbed my abdomen. She didn''t restrict her hand to only touching my normal side, either. I wasn''t sure if she was doing that on purpose or not, because she looked completely focused on the absurd task I had given her. ¡°Jack, I had a thought.¡± Noreen said an hour later, after we had gone through reams of data and solid blocks of code, and came up with nothing. ¡°That is not as big of a surprise as I thought it would be.¡± I said. ¡°Jack!¡± Noreen exclaimed and slapped my stomach. I laughed. ¡°Go ahead and tell me this thought of yours.¡± ¡°I don''t want to now.¡± Noreen said and pouted. For a fourty-six year old woman, she was damn cute when she pouted. ¡°Hey, I was joking.¡± I said and stopped the flow of information on the display. I moved my hand from that and gave her a one arm hug as I rubbed her shoulder. ¡°You have to know that I think you''re brilliant.¡± ¡°You''re just saying that.¡± ¡°It''s the truth.¡± I said. ¡°How else could you have raised such a great daughter as Sandra?¡± ¡°She''s just a tour guide, Jack.¡± Noreen said. ¡°Only because you let her.¡± I said, and she looked at me with wide eyes. ¡°I know her father wanted her to be an engineer like him, and had pushed her to go for the hard sciences.¡± ¡°She told you that?¡± I nodded. ¡°It was you, so firm in your resolve, that told Nathan to shove it; and that Sandra could be anything she wanted to be.¡± I said. ¡°I admired that.¡± Noreen ducked her head, and I could almost feel the heat of her blush. ¡°Jack, I...¡± ¡°Please, Noreen.¡± I said. ¡°Show me that resolve, and tell me where to shove it!¡± Noreen snorted a laugh. ¡°It''s not the same comparison.¡± ¡°Well, I''ll have to resort to bribery then.¡± I said. ¡°I''ll let you rub my back.¡± ¡°Jack...¡± ¡°Bare.¡± I smiled, and her eyes twinkled. ¡°Oh, all right. It''s a deal.¡± Noreen said, and then she helped me slide the hospital unitard down off of my shoulders. I sat forward slightly, and her hand slowly moved up and down my back as she caressed the skin. ¡°If it''s not the code, then I''d say there''s a physical short in one of the circuit boards, or out on the track itself.¡± Noreen said. ¡°It''s all electronically connected, so it shouldn''t take long to search the rails or the subsystems.¡± ¡°You... are... brilliant!¡± I said, and her hand gripped my back as I kissed her on the lips. ¡°I''ll send out the auto-drones right away!¡± The System took my submitted proposal for the physical search without question, and Noreen and I watched the display as the auto-drones scoured the tracks. I received a notification stating that workers had checked the servers that the programs ran on and found nothing, so everything hinged on the physical search of the tracks. We watched as each successive track lit green as it was checked and nothing was found, and kept watching for half an hour. Neither of us spoke as the auto-drones approached the farthest reach of the Tube car system and still hadn''t found any kind of error. The last track turned green, and Noreen sighed. ¡°I guess I was-¡± The sound of a loud beep interrupted her as the returning auto-drones took different exit routes to clear the heavy traffic lanes, and one of them stopped at a junction. It had a malfunction in it''s routing gear and wasn''t quite touching the rail completely. When the AI was notified, it opened the junction and the camera showed what had been stuck between the rails. It was a partially crushed and charred body. It had been jammed between two adjoining rails that the junction would shunt cars onto the off ramp, and the cybernetics in the remains were only allowing partial signals to cross between them when the rails would jam together and didn''t quite touch. Noreen started to cry, and I held her close. ¡°Noreen, I... I''m glad you helped find the fault.¡± I said. ¡°I''m also very sorry.¡± ¡°I only hope it was... was an accident.¡± Noreen said between sobs. ¡°So do I.¡± I said and watched as a recovery vehicle arrived and robots were dispatched to pick up the body. ¡°I really do.¡± L.I.F.E. Begins 031: Returning The Favor Noreen and I watched as the body was taken away, and the cleanup drones cleared the rails of the Tube car. The AI tested the junction connection and it worked perfectly, and a commendation was added to my work file. I added a note and gave credit to Noreen, despite her protest. ¡°Jack, you didn''t have to do that.¡± Noreen said and wiped away her tears. ¡°Yes, I did.¡± I said. ¡°I am not going to take credit for your idea.¡± ¡°But...¡± I received a notification that said Noreen received a commendation as well, and she gasped. ¡°You see?¡± I enlarged the notification so she could see it properly. ¡°The System cares that it was your idea, just as much as I did.¡± ¡°But... that poor person...¡± ¡°You are not going to be associated with the death.¡± I said. ¡°That''s not how this works.¡± I opened up the commendation I had received and showed it to her. ¡°Nowhere on there does it say ''discovery of a body'', okay? It''s just complimenting our contribution to the solving of a problem.¡± Noreen nodded and relaxed as she snuggled in close, and started to rub my back again. I got back to work, now that the drama was over, and I spent several more hours cleaning and repairing the more difficult and intricate programs that couldn''t be solved with simple fixes. The admittance chime sounded, and I chose the outside camera to see that it was the nurse. ¡°Noreen?¡± ¡°Mm, what?¡± Noreen moaned and opened her eyes. She had drifted off to sleep at some point; but, she was still cuddled in just as tightly as if she were still conscious. ¡°The nurse is here for my maintenance check.¡± ¡°Oh!¡± Noreen let me go and sat up. ¡°I''m sorry! I fell asleep on you!¡± I chuckled. ¡°It''s okay.¡± I said. ¡°You looked very comfortable.¡± ¡°I... I really was.¡± Noreen said and got up off the bed. ¡°Um... I''ll be next door if you need me.¡± ¡°This shouldn''t take long.¡± I said and hit the button for the front door. It opened and the nurse came in. ¡°I think I''m going to like this arrangement.¡± Nurse Deloris said. ¡°Thanks for choosing me for this.¡± I smiled at her. ¡°Considering I coerced... ah, co-opted you into it... I''m glad you''re starting to see the benefits.¡± Nurse Deloris laughed and went into the bathroom to get a portable maintenance kit, and Noreen went through the connecting door to her own apartment. The nurse came out of the bathroom and walked over to the bed, and I set aside my display and laid back so she could get to work. It took less than an hour to check the physical welfare of my synthetic parts, and she saved the diagnostic for the research team. Once she covered the parts with the lubrication oil again, she packed everything up. ¡°There we go.¡± Nurse Deloris said and grinned. ¡°You''re the best patient ever.¡± I laughed. ¡°I told you.¡± ¡°I''ll just grab you a new unitard to replace the hospital one to keep that oil off the bed sheets, and then I''ll be out of your way.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± I said and remained sitting up on the bed. I picked up the display and used my real hand to send Noreen a quick message. The nurse brought over the unitard and I slipped it onto just the synthetic parts of my body and left the normal side exposed. ¡°It''s not going to be comfortable sleeping like that.¡± Nurse Deloris said. ¡°You''re kidding, right?¡± I asked. ¡°Half of my body is a dead weight unless I''m actively moving it.¡± The nurse glanced at her own arm, and after a moment, reluctantly nodded. It was the same way for her as well. ¡°Thanks for coming over.¡± I said. ¡°Have a good night.¡± ¡°Oh, I will.¡± Nurse Deloris said. ¡°I''ve got a hot date lined up for the first time in months!¡± I chuckled. ¡°Don''t stay out too late. You''ve got work in the morning.¡± ¡°Only for half an hour.¡± Nurse Deloris chuckled. ¡° I could bathe you even if I was unconscious!¡± ¡°Please don''t test that theory.¡± I said, and she laughed as she left the apartment. ¡°J-Jack?¡± Noreen said from the connecting doorway. ¡°Hey, come on in.¡± I said and pat the bed. ¡°I... Jack, I don''t want to abuse your hospitality...¡± ¡°Hey, Nathan!¡± I nearly yelled. Nathan poked his head through the doorway and stood behind his wife. ¡°Do you mind if I borrow Noreen to cuddle for tonight?¡± I asked, and I could swear the man''s face looked so relieved I almost laughed. I kept up the charade for him, however. ¡°I know it''s inconvenient for you, but... I don''t want to be alone tonight.¡± Nathan put a hand on his wife''s shoulder and gave it a squeeze. ¡°Well, it is for a good cause.¡± He said and looked at the back of his wife''s head. ¡°Noreen, can you do this for Jack?¡± Noreen nodded without looking back at him. ¡°I guess that means I''m sleeping alone tonight.¡± Nathan said. His voice was sad; but, I could clearly see a smile on his face as he nodded to me. ¡°Thanks a lot, Nathan.¡± I said. ¡°Jack, you love our daughter.¡± Nathan said. ¡°She can''t be here to comfort you until tomorrow.¡± He let his wife''s shoulder go. ¡°The least one of us can do is keep you company.¡± ¡°I really appreciate it.¡± I said. So do I, Jack. Nathan thought as he gave me a knowing wave. ¡°Goodnight, Nathan.¡± Noreen said as she slowly walked over to my bed. ¡°Goodnight.¡± Nathan responded and closed the door that connected our apartments. I pat the bed beside me again, and Noreen looked at it and then down at herself. ¡°You can take off your clothes if you want.¡± I said, and she looked at me with wide eyes. ¡°J-Jack, is... is this really... I mean, I know we''ve cuddled at the hospital, but we were both dressed...¡± ¡°Noreen, look at me.¡± I said and motioned at the exposed half of my body. ¡°I specifically did this just for you.¡± ¡°B-but...¡± ¡°I had to cover the synthetic parts because of the oil.¡± I explained. ¡°Not that you could cuddle them anyway; but, you can still cuddle up to everything else.¡±This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°Oh, Jack.¡± Noreen said and started to strip. I couldn''t help but stare as she exposed her very vulnerable skin, and her entire body shook slightly as she removed everything she wore except for her panties. ¡°D-don''t stare at me like t-that.¡± ¡°I can''t help it.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°I''m getting to see what Sandra is going to look like in a few years.¡± ¡°She might be my daughter, but she''s not exactly like me.¡± Noreen said. ¡°Of course she isn''t.¡± I said and moved over on the bed. ¡°You have hair on your head.¡± Noreen snorted a laugh. ¡°That''s not what I meant.¡± ¡°I know.¡± I said and laid down and pulled the blanket up to my waist. ¡°Now get your almost completely naked body on my bed and cuddle with me.¡± Noreen laughed and climbed up onto the bed. ¡°I can''t believe you''re letting me do this.¡± ¡°Am I supposed to say, ''me, either''?¡± I asked as she laid down next to me and put her lower body under the blanket. ¡°I''m not going to say that.¡± I said. ¡°This might not be happening at all if I hadn''t been hurt like this.¡± I pat the covered synthetic part of my chest. ¡°Jack...¡± ¡°But, it did happen.¡± I said and put my arm around her and pulled her in close. ¡°I broke down and you didn''t laugh, or tell me I was acting silly.¡± Noreen snuggled in and pressed her bare breasts against the side of my body, and I felt how much she liked having so much of her skin being touched at the same time. I hugged her tightly, and she laid her head on my chest as I pulled the blanket up to her shoulder. ¡°You even held me tenderly and let me cry on you.¡± I said. ¡°God, I needed that so badly.¡± ¡°Jack...¡± ¡°It gave me some idea of what it must be like for you.¡± I said, and kissed the top of her head. ¡°If I can repay you for what you did for me, even just a little bit, then I''ll do it gladly.¡± ¡°Jack, I... I didn''t do it so you could repay me like this.¡± Noreen shook her head. ¡°This... this is...¡± ¡°I know you didn''t do it for selfish reasons.¡± I said and gave her a squeeze. ¡°You''re not that kind of person.¡± Noreen lifted her head and looked at me. ¡°I needed you, and you helped me.¡± I said and gave her a kiss on the lips. ¡°Let me help you back with what you need.¡± Noreen opened her mouth to say I was doing too much for what little she did, then she changed her mind and put her head down and kissed my chest a couple of times. She rubbed her cheek on me like a cat that was scent marking something it really liked, then sighed as she relaxed. ¡°You are too good to be true.¡± Noreen said. ¡°I really am.¡± I said and laughed, and it shook her slightly. ¡°Don''t make me start using my tongue, mister.¡± Noreen joked as she caressed my skin. ¡°You know it tickles mercilessly.¡± ¡°That''s not really a deterrent.¡± I said as I moved my arm from her shoulder and dragged my hand down her back, then rested my hand on her hip. It let my arm rest along her spine and she wiggled a little from the sensations; so, I splayed out my fingers to touch as much of her as possible, then held onto her firmly. Noreen took a deep breath and let it out. ¡°Jack.¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°I''m holding a beautiful almost-naked woman in bed, who''s not my girlfriend, and you''re thanking me.¡± Noreen laughed. ¡°Go to sleep.¡± ¡°Yes, ma''am.¡± I said and took a deep breath and let it out as I used specific eye movements to manipulate my Heads Up Display, or HUD, and locked my synthetic limbs to stop them from moving. ¡°Goodnight.¡± Noreen breathed against me. ¡°Goodnight.¡± I whispered back. With Noreen''s warm presence pressed against me, and the feeling of comfort she instilled me with, sleep was too hard to deny any longer. Despite my misgivings about being unconscious with my synthetic parts, even on lock down, I drifted off to slumber land for the first time in a while. For some reason, I didn''t dream at all. *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* ¡°Ugh.¡± I said. ¡°Alarm off!¡± I nearly yelled and the piercing sound stopped. ¡°Dammit, Jack!¡± Noreen said and rubbed her ear. ¡°What was that?¡± ¡°That sound means it''s time to get up.¡± I said. ¡°I meant why does it sound like a bullhorn?¡± Noreen said and propped herself up on an elbow. ¡°I think I''m deaf in this ear.¡± She said and rubbed the ear that hadn''t been against my chest. ¡°I''m sorry about that.¡± I said and looked at the vidwall. ¡°Someone apparently decided to increase the volume by about two hundred percent, if I had to take a guess.¡± The door that connected our apartments sprung open, and a very dishevelled Nathan ran through it. ¡°What is it? What happened?¡± Nathan said frantically, and I held a hand up. ¡°Amanda was playing a joke on me.¡± I said, and Nathan relaxed. ¡°Oh, thank god.¡± Nathan said. ¡°I thought something bad had happened.¡± ¡°This wasn''t bad?¡± Noreen asked. ¡°Is my ear bleeding?¡± Nathan leaned down and looked at it, then blew in it a little. Noreen giggled, and he smiled. ¡°No, you''re fine.¡± He said, and then yawned loudly. ¡°I''m sure any hearing loss will fade in a little while.¡± ¡°I hope so.¡± Noreen said. ¡°How can Jack whisper sweet nothings to me if I can''t hear him?¡± Nathan stretched and then scratched his head. ¡°If they''re sweet nothings, you don''t have to hear them.¡± He said and walked back to the connecting door. ¡°I''m going back to bed.¡± Noreen looked at the time on the vidwall. ¡°We have to go and get Sandra in two hours!¡± ¡°I''ll be... (yawn)... up.¡± Nathan said and the door shut behind him. ¡°The poor guy has been exhausted ever since the accident.¡± Noreen said sadly. ¡°I think Sandra getting hurt bothered him a lot more than he''s letting on.¡± I said, wisely. ¡°Amanda? Put in another two week stress leave for Nathan, please.¡± I said. ¡°He needs the rest.¡±
Done.
¡°Thank you.¡± I said, and ran the activation protocols for my limbs. ¡°Noreen? Can you grab breakfast?¡± I asked her. ¡°I might as well eat while I''m awake.¡± ¡°You want me to get you breakfast in bed?¡± Noreen asked and smiled. ¡°We did just sleep together.¡± I joked and my arm and leg came online. ¡°Don''t you dare tell people that and confuse them with ambiguity!¡± Noreen said and poked me in the belly. I laughed, and she pushed the blanket out of the way and stood up. ¡°I love my husband very much.¡± ¡°I know you do.¡± I said as I sat up and held a hand out. She took the offered hand and squeezed it. ¡°I would never imply anything of the sort.¡± Noreen nodded and let my hand go, then walked across the apartment to the dispenser. I watched her go, because she really did look like a slightly older version of Sandra, and I liked what Sandra was going to become. Noreen brought back two algenate discs, one brown and one green; and I had watched her breasts and hips sway the entire time. ¡°Are you having impure thoughts, young man?¡± Noreen asked as she handed me both food discs. ¡°Only if you''re flattered by them.¡± I said as she climbed back into bed and pulled the blanket back up to our waists. ¡°Otherwise my erection is completely the fault of the male anatomy waking up in the morning.¡± Noreen shook her head and took the green algenate disc. ¡°Was doing this with you a mistake?¡± ¡°Noreen.¡± I put my disc down and put a hand on her face. ¡°I''m just teasing you with the truth.¡± I said. ¡°You are a beautiful and desirable woman, and your husband must love and trust you very much to allow you to spend so much time with me.¡± ¡°He''s a good man.¡± ¡°No, he''s a great man.¡± I said and caressed her cheek. ¡°You can walk around here as much as you want, with as little clothing on as you want.¡± I moved my hand down her neck and gripped her shoulder. ¡°I am going to look, because it is a wonderful sight and I won''t insult you by trying to avoid it; but, I will never do anything beyond looking at you or holding you.¡± ¡°Jack...¡± ¡°Unlike some of my contemporaries, I don''t need to have sex with every interesting woman I meet.¡± I said and then smiled. ¡°Can you imagine the mess my life would be in if I did?¡± Noreen gave me that same odd look she had given me last night after I had licked her hands. ¡°Are you really telling me that you haven''t been sleeping with every woman that you meet?¡± I chuckled. ¡°Noreen, I really love your daughter, and I want to build a life with her.¡± ¡°But, Jack...¡± Noreen reached up and took my hand from her shoulder, and clasped it in both of her hands. ¡°...that goes against every propagation mandate the government has.¡± ¡°I''ll do my duty.¡± I said. ¡°I''ll do my best to pass my genes on to the next generation; but, I want to do that with Sandra.¡± ¡°Oh, Jack.¡± Noreen said, and a tear came to her eye. ¡°Can you forgive me?¡± ¡°For what?¡± ¡°I thought... I mean, you''re so handsome, and there''s so many women...¡± ¡°To be honest, I''ve slept with a few of them before I met Sandra.¡± I said. ¡°After I met her, though... I''ve gone on one date with someone else, cuddled with another because she had a slight case of skin starvation, and I''ve fulfilled a single mandatory contract.¡± Noreen''s mouth fell open in shock. ¡°Th-that''s all?¡± She asked, and her hands gripped my hand even tighter. ¡°That''s all you''ve done while you''ve been seeing Sandra the last few years?¡± I nodded, and tears ran down her face. ¡°I''m sorry, I... I thought...¡± Noreen sobbed. ¡°Hey, it''s okay.¡± I said as I used my thumb to rub some of the tears away. ¡°It''s not like I''ve ever dissuaded the notion that I''m not like everyone else, and have strong feelings of monogamy.¡± ¡°B-but I... I j-just assumed...¡± ¡°...and rightly so.¡± I said. ¡°Please don''t be sad about it, Noreen.¡± I smiled and wiped off the other side of her face with the back of my hand. ¡°It''s not like I''d come right out and say stuff like this to just anyone.¡± ¡°D-does Sandra k-know?¡± Noreen asked. ¡°That I wanted to be exclusive?¡± I asked, and she nodded. ¡°I told her the first time we had sex.¡± ¡°B-but... she... she''s been...¡± ¡°I said it''s all right.¡± I moved my hand back to the other side of her face. ¡°I couldn''t very well expect her to feel the same way.¡± ¡°Oh, Jack.¡± Noreen said and turned her head and kissed the palm of my hand several times. ¡°I never suspected that you were just as devoted to her as Nathan is to me.¡± ¡°Noreen.¡± ¡°Y-yes?¡± Noreen stopped kissing my hand and looked at me. ¡°Our breakfast is getting cold.¡± I said, and she barked a laugh. She picked up my brown algenate disc and opened the package for me, and the smell hit her. ¡°Wh-what is that?¡± Noreen asked and held the disc to her nose and took a huge breath in through her nose. ¡°It smells delicious!¡± ¡°I promised myself to change the mud flavor of those damn anti-rejection supplements.¡± I said. ¡°After I did a pile of work for the System yesterday, I kept that promise.¡± ¡°I want to try it.¡± Noreen said and then sighed. ¡°I''ll get sick if I take a bite, though.¡± I took the brown algenate disc from her and took a small and messy bite to spread the crumbs over my lips, and Noreen looked at me with wide eyes. ¡°I seem to recall someone doing this for me.¡± I said and kissed her. L.I.F.E. Begins 032: Virgin Territory I broke the kiss and Noreen''s eyes were still wide as she carefully licked her lips. When the flavor hit her tongue, she almost gasped. ¡°J-Jack! How...¡± ¡°It''s amazing what a simple chemical can do when mixed in the right proportions.¡± I said. Noreen looked at the algenate disc in in my hand. ¡°I... I''m tempted to get replacement surgery.¡± I laughed and ate the rest of the disc, and it was delicious. ¡°Oh, that was worth a month''s Points for the first batch.¡± ¡°WHAT?!?¡± ¡°The chemical additive isn''t cheap.¡± I said. ¡°I couldn''t expect the System to adapt the food recipe for a single person without compensation.¡± ¡°But... so much...¡± ¡°It''s all right.¡± I said and pat her shoulder. ¡°Now that it''s in the general distribution network, cyborgs are going to be buying it up like crazy.¡± ¡°But... if you and Sandra are sharing Points...¡± ¡°Don''t worry, Noreen. I get residuals since I made the modification.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°My return on investment should be about 3,000% by the end of the month.¡± ¡°WHAT?!?¡± ¡°Did you think I''d give an idea like that away for free?¡± I asked, and she nodded. ¡°I''m not that crazy.¡± Noreen didn''t say anything as she ate her own algenate disc. It was the green ''health conscious'' one, and she didn''t enjoy the flavor very much after she had tasted mine. ¡°You poor thing.¡± I said and cupped the side of her face, and ran my hand down her neck. ¡°Do you want me to distract you?¡± Noreen nodded, so I used my fingertip to trace imaginary lines down her arm as she ate. She watched my finger as I drew lines, poked dots, and connected those dots. ¡°What are you... is that... a circuit board?¡± Noreen asked and finished the bland food disc. I nodded. ¡°It''s an idea I''ve been playing with for... never mind.¡± I smiled. ¡°It''s going to be a surprise for a lot of people. Hopefully.¡± ¡°Jack...¡± I looked at the clock on the vidwall. ¡°We''ve got a bit of time before you need to leave to pick up Sandra.¡± I said. ¡°Do you want to keep cuddling?¡± Noreen looked like she was debating it. ¡°Why don''t you face away from me this time?¡± ¡°F-face away?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± I said and laid down on the bed. ¡°You laid against my chest last night, so put your back to me this time.¡± ¡°But...¡± ¡°If you don''t like it, or it''s not satisfying enough, you can always turn back around to face me.¡± I said. ¡°Well, I... I guess we can at least try it.¡± Noreen said, and laid down next to me. ¡°Lift your head.¡± I said and put my arm down underneath her shoulders. ¡°Scoot back a little... a bit more... okay, that''s good.¡± ¡°Jack, it''s not very comfortable.¡± Noreen said. She was on her side with her back against my bare side, and her head was up from the pillow. ¡°That''s because the cuddle is incomplete.¡± I said. ¡°Now relax.¡± Noreen took in a deep breath and let it out, and I carefully pulled her in close so that her head rested on my shoulder. I lifted my arm slightly and folded it around her, and put my hand on her hip. My upper arm was nestled between her breasts, and my forearm rested across her abdomen. I tensed my arm and pulled her in close to get the maximum amount of skin contact I could, then used my synthetic hand to pull up the blanket to our shoulders. ¡°How''s that?¡± I asked, because all I could see was the back of her head and not her face. Noreen didn''t say anything, though. ¡°Noreen? Is this okay?¡± ¡°Jack, why... why are you doing this?¡± Noreen asked in a flat voice. ¡°I don''t have two good arms to hold someone anymore, so I have to improvise.¡± I said. ¡°I wasn''t sure this would work, and I needed to know if it was possible.¡± ¡°But...¡± ¡°Hopefully, when Sandra''s feeling better, I''ll be able to hold her like this and not have to worry about my synthetic parts getting in the way.¡± I said. ¡°I want to touch her as much as possible without hurting her.¡± Noreen wrapped her arms around my arm and hugged it tightly, and I thought I felt a drop of something on my shoulder. I could hear her whisper softly, and my enhanced hearing picked it up. ¡°Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.¡± ¡°Noreen.¡± I said, and she quieted. After a few moments, and a few more tear drops, she spoke. ¡°You''re really not thinking about sex right now.¡± Noreen said when she found the courage. ¡°Are you?¡± ¡°No.¡± I said. ¡°That''s definitely not what you need from me.¡±The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°But...¡± ¡°I know a lot of people would take advantage of you in a situation like this.¡± I said. ¡°Some of them believe women like you that suffer from skin starvation are a dream come true.¡± Noreen curled her legs up and hugged my arm even tighter. ¡°I know the truth, though.¡± I said. ¡°You love it and hate it at the same time.¡± ¡°How... how do you...¡± ¡°You know people will take advantage of you if you''re not careful, and you hate that.¡± I said. ¡°But, you also love the feeling of being touched.¡± ¡°J-Jack...¡± ¡°I want you to know that I''ll always be here when you need someone to hold you.¡± ¡°Jack, you... you can''t...¡± ¡°Oh, yes I can.¡± I said. ¡°I''m going to be in this apartment for a long time, since my synthetic limbs are so out of whack with my normal limbs.¡± I explained. ¡°It''s also going to take me a week or so to alter the interface with my immersion chamber to accommodate my new synthetic parts and attachments.¡± I sighed. ¡°Mainly because I have to submit the paperwork and can''t do the things myself, because I would need the immersion chamber to make the alterations to the immersion chamber.¡± ¡°I should say I''m sorry to hear about your problems; but, you''re also offering to give me unlimited access to you.¡± Noreen said. ¡°Now, I... I don''t know what to say.¡± ¡°You can say that you''re thinking about it, and when you go to pick up Sandra, mention it to Nathan.¡± ¡°I... no, I can''t do that.¡± Noreen said. ¡°He''ll be upset if he thinks... that you and I...¡± ¡°Then I''ll talk to him.¡± I said. ¡°Jack...¡± ¡°I won''t have you sneaking around behind his back, and possibly have him think something else actually is going on.¡± I said, and Noreen sighed. ¡°Yes, that would look suspicious.¡± ¡°Then it''s settled.¡± I said. ¡°When you go back to your apartment to get changed, send Nathan over and I''ll broach the subject of being a cuddle surrogate occasionally.¡± ¡°I... all right. I''ll send him over.¡± ¡°That''s good; but, I have bad news for you.¡± I said. ¡°What''s that?¡± Noreen asked, worry in her voice. ¡°You can only hold me like this for another hour.¡± I said, and she laughed. The hour passed by quickly, and when she got up and gathered her clothing, she looked at me with the same odd look on her face. She smiled warmly at me and left through the connecting door, and a minute later, Nathan came in. ¡°Noreen said you have something to talk to me about.¡± Nathan said. ¡°I do.¡± I said and sat up, then explained my predicament and my proposal. ¡°You''re serious.¡± Nathan said. ¡°You really want to... to...¡± ¡°Nathan, let me do this for you.¡± I said. ¡°You''ve been run ragged the last few weeks, with Sandra''s accident and with Noreen needing to be touched more than ever.¡± Nathan took in a breath and let it out. ¡°Is it that obvious?¡± I nodded. ¡°I saw the relief on your face last night, and you let me cuddle with her in the hospital as much as I wanted.¡± I said. ¡°Let me share your burden.¡± ¡°Jack, I...¡± Nathan sighed. ¡°She can never know that I can''t handle her hunger alone anymore.¡± ¡°I won''t tell her.¡± I said. ¡°So, what do you say?¡± ¡°You''re too good to be true.¡± Nathan said, and I chuckled. ¡°How are you going to play this?¡± I asked. ¡°I''m thinking I should show a bit of reluctance, for propriety''s sake... and maybe a touch of sadness.¡± ¡°Only once, don''t milk it.¡± I said. ¡°We don''t want her to feel guilty about it, like she did last night.¡± Nathan nodded. ¡°I''ll turn it to acceptance quickly, since it''s for your benefit.¡± ¡°Sounds good.¡± I said. ¡°With the both of us to help her, she should be happy and healthy in no time.¡± Nathan reached out and pat my normal shoulder. ¡°Jack, I... I can''t thank you enough.¡± ¡°I don''t need thanks.¡± I said. ¡°She helped me get through a really tough time, is helping me get through it, and I''m going to repay her kindness.¡± Nathan nodded and walked over to the connecting door. ¡°We''ll be back in an hour or so with Sandra.¡± ¡°I''ll have the place ready.¡± I said and got out of bed, and Nathan saw what I was wearing on half of my body. ¡°That can''t be comfortable.¡± ¡°I was cuddling Noreen.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I honestly didn''t notice what I was wearing.¡± Nathan chuckled too, and went to his apartment. The admittance chime sounded, and I looked at the vidwall. It was the nurse, so I walked over to the door and let her in. ¡°Good morning!¡± Nurse Deloris said happily. ¡°Somebody had a good time last night.¡± I said as she went by me and into the bathroom. ¡°You have no idea!¡± Nurse Deloris said. ¡°A nice dinner in the town square, a bit of dancing, and then a lot of...¡± Her eyes widened and her words drifted off as her face went red. ¡°Yes, it was a good time.¡± I smiled knowingly. ¡°Will I be getting a detailed description during my bath?¡± Nurse Deloris''s face went bright red. ¡°Get your ass back in bed!¡± I laughed and hobbled over to the bed and sat down, and she came over with extra towels and put them down, and I laid on them. She didn''t speak as she proceeded to give me a rough sponge bath, and when she moved to my nether region, I held a hand out to stop her. ¡°Easy, there.¡± I said. ¡°It''s a lot more sensitive than my normal skin.¡± Nurse Deloris sighed. ¡°I''m sorry.¡± ¡°I didn''t mean to embarrass you.¡± I said. ¡°I know you had a good time, and I''m sorry if my teasing made you angry.¡± The nurse sighed again, and changed the sponge she was using for a soft cloth. ¡°No, I overreacted.¡± She said and carefully washed my tender bits. ¡°It''s been a while since...¡± She smiled as she looked at me. ¡°I haven''t seen one of these in a recreational capacity for a long time.¡± ¡°I''m sorry to hear that, but I''m also happy you finally did.¡± I said. ¡°Should I assume that you have another date set up for tonight?¡± ¡°I do, and with the same man.¡± Nurse Deloris said and rinsed me off and dried me. ¡°He''s got a chiselled chin, black hair and hazel eyes, and a smile to die for.¡± I thought about the description. ¡°That kind of sounds like Stephane.¡± ¡°Do you know him well?¡± ¡°Considering he''s my best friend, I do know him well.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°Not in the same way that you do, though.¡± I joked, and she smacked my chest. ¡°I don''t want to discuss my sex life, thank you.¡± ¡°What else do you want to talk about?¡± I asked as she finished washing my normal side, then slid off my unitard and started cleaning the synthetic side of my body. ¡°Nothing.¡± Nurse Deloris said. ¡°Just lay there and don''t say a word.¡± She said, then stopped cleaning and looked at me. ¡°Not. A. Word.¡± I grinned at her, and she sighed as she got back to work. I didn''t say anything else; but, every time she looked up from her work, I grinned at her. She sighed every time, and when she was done and had applied the lubricating oil to cover the synthetic parts, I thanked her. ¡°Please, don''t tease me about him.¡± Nurse Deloris said. I held my hand up in surrender. ¡°I won''t ever speak of it to you again.¡± I said. ¡°Right after I ask you one question.¡± Nurse Deloris closed her eyes for a moment, and then looked at me with resignation. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°How did you meet?¡± ¡°He came to the hospital to see a patient.¡± Nurse Deloris said, and then her eyes went wide. ¡°He didn''t say who... but... it must have been you.¡± ¡°It could have been me.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°Considering I never saw him at all, he apparently only saw you that day.¡± ¡°Jack, I... I''m sorry.¡± ¡°For what? That he met you and completely forgot he was going to visit me?¡± ¡°I... yes.¡± Nurse Deloris said, and then she smiled. ¡°Ah, you get it now.¡± I said. ¡°He thought meeting you was more important than seeing his old friend.¡± Nurse Deloris nodded as her face flushed red. ¡°I distracted him.¡± ¡°You really did.¡± I said and touched her arm. ¡°Have fun tonight.¡± ¡°I will.¡± Nurse Deloris said. ¡°I really will.¡± The nurse left my apartment after handing me another unitard. I slipped it on fully this time and looked around at the apartment. I sighed at the disorganization, and started to move things back into their proper places. I used up the rest of the time I had getting everything back into order, and then the admittance chime sounded. I looked at the vidwall and saw it was Noreen, Nathan, and Sandra. I quickly hobbled over to the door and hit the button, and held my arms open. ¡°Welcome-¡± My words were cut off when Sandra pushed me out of the way and ran to the bathroom. She knelt in front of the toilet and threw up, over and over. L.I.F.E. Begins 033: Home Sweet Home Sandra stayed on her knees and kept throwing up, so I turned to her parents. ¡°Welcome home.¡± I said to Noreen and Nathan as they came into my apartment. ¡°The Tube ride was bad.¡± Noreen said, sadly. ¡°Almost right away she became sick.¡± ¡°I''m so sorry.¡± I said and took her into my arms like I wanted to do to Sandra. ¡°I should have arranged alternate transportation.¡± ¡°They had it there.¡± Nathan said. ¡°Someone...¡± He glanced at the bathroom. ¡°...didn''t want to take three extra hours to get here.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Maybe I should have gone with you.¡± ¡°It wouldn''t have made a difference.¡± Noreen said, and tried to ignore her daughter''s dry heaving. ¡°She was adamant.¡± ¡°Well, she is your daughter.¡± I said. Noreen looked at me with a hint of anger in her eyes. ¡°That wasn''t an insult, and you know I would never say it if it was.¡± I said. ¡°I...¡± Noreen sighed and leaned against me. ¡°Yes, I know.¡± Sandra started to cough, so I let Noreen go and we all walked over to the bathroom to check on her. Noreen used a cup to get her a drink of water, and Sandra took it and drank greedily. ¡°Easy, now.¡± Her mother said. ¡°You don''t want that coming right back up.¡± Sandra stopped drinking and stood up, and her whole body trembled from the effort. ¡°Let''s get you to bed.¡± I said. ¡°Look at me, Jack.¡± Sandra said, and looked at the shaking cup in her hands that she could barely hold steady. ¡°I can''t believe you want to have sex with me like this.¡± ¡°That''s not...¡± I sighed. ¡°I meant so you could lay down.¡± ¡°Are you honestly going to tell me that we aren''t going to have sex tonight?¡± Sandra asked. ¡°I hadn''t planned on it, so yes.¡± I said. ¡°It''s going to be our first night living together in this apartment... or our apartment.¡± Sandra said. ¡°You''re not going to try anything?¡± ¡°No.¡± Sandra''s face crumbled and tears came to her eyes. ¡°Am I really that repulsive?¡± She asked and started to sob. ¡°Look at me.¡± She put the cup of water down and looked at herself in the mirror. ¡°I''m hideous.¡± Nathan leaned close to me and turned away from the bathroom to whisper. ¡°They told us they gave her a happy pill.¡± ¡°I think she just got most of it out of her system.¡± I whispered back, then I stepped forward. ¡°No, Sandra.¡± I said and opened up my unitard. ¡°Look at me.¡± Sandra turned around to face me, and I pulled the unitard off my shoulders to reveal the extent of the modifications. ¡°I want you so bad it''s killing me; but, I can''t take the chance this soon that I''ll get overly excited and hurt you.¡± I explained. ¡°I nearly killed someone when I tapped their nose with this.¡± I held up my synthetic hand and made a fist. ¡°What''s going to happen if we''re in bed together and I forget that I need to be careful?¡± Sandra looked at me with wide eyes, and I opened the hand and let it drop to my side. ¡°Until I can get a handle on things, and despite my burning desire for you, I won''t be... I can''t be...¡± I shook my head. ¡°Things are going to be different between us for a while.¡± Sandra looked at my chest and her eyes lingered around the scar tissue beside the synthetic part. ¡°Jack, I... I''m sorry.¡± ¡°Don''t apologize.¡± I said. ¡°Just go to bed.¡± ¡°But...¡± ¡°I have a few things I need to work on.¡± I said. ¡°Noreen, can you get Sandra tucked in, and maybe stick around for a while?¡± I asked. ¡°I''ve got some paperwork I need to fill out to start the modifications for my immersion chamber.¡± ¡°Of course, Jack.¡± Noreen said. ¡°Nathan, give me a hand.¡± Nathan nodded, and I stepped out of the way as Sandra was taken across the apartment and put in my bed. Our bed. I thought, then walked over to the vidwall and picked up the portable display. I went over to my desk and sat down, and brought up the forms for a work order. I filled them out quickly, since I knew exactly what needed to be done to change the weight restrictions in the room, and the access ports for the cerebral linkage. I was now physically incompatible with the old setup, and it needed to be changed over. Until that was completed, I couldn''t even complete my normal daily tasks. The System didn''t censure me for only taking programming tasks while I worked, especially since I still had another month off for rest and recovery. Without the full VR immersion I couldn''t do anything else except programming, and it took so much longer without being able to float through the code to see where the problems were. I didn''t complain, and neither did the System. I was keeping busy, and she was getting free work. It was mind-numbingly boring, though. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and looked up to see Noreen. ¡°Sandra''s finally asleep.¡± Noreen whispered. ¡°Thank you.¡± I whispered back. ¡°Do you want to...¡± ¡°No, I think you need some alone time.¡± Noreen said. ¡°I''ll be right next door if you or Sandra need me.¡± I nodded, and she left through the connecting door. I asked my AI Amanda to notify me if Sandra woke up, then went back to work. After a long period of time that I hadn''t kept track of, there was a soft ding sound and I looked at the vidwall automatically.
Lunchtime.
¡°Thanks, Amanda.¡± I whispered and saved my work, then walked over to the dispenser. I got a brown algenate disc for myself, and asked if there was a special food disc for Sandra. There was, so I took it over to the bed and sat down beside her. I put the food down and shook her awake with my normal hand. ¡°Sweetheart, it''s time for lunch.¡± I said. ¡°Hm? Not... not now, Stewart.¡± Sandra mumbled, still half asleep. ¡°Let... let me sleep.¡± I was surprised to hear her say someone else''s name, so I gave up trying to wake her and left her food disc beside the bed. I went back to my desk and ate my anti-rejection supplement, and it was delicious. Now that I had that thought, I checked my Points balance just for fun and didn''t see much of a difference since the last time I had checked before buying the apartment next door. When I looked at the recent deposits, I almost laughed out loud at the ridiculous number that appeared.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. I guess the new flavor for the brown algenate discs is popular. I thought in amusement. I checked the dispensary, and the numbers of brown algenate discs purchased had doubled from the day before. I wonder if I should ask the system to impose a 2 disc limit. I thought, then shook my head. No, that would stop people from being able to buy food for multiple people. I closed the inquiry and opened the program I had been working on before lunch, and continued to work. As usual, I lost myself in my work and didn''t stop until another soft ding sounded. I looked at the vidwall again, and saw it was time for supper. I sent a message to Noreen and Nathan next door, and then brought up the take out menu for the closest restaurant. I knew what I wanted, and I had an idea what Sandra would want; but, I had no idea what Noreen or Nathan would feel like having. They came into the apartment through the connecting door, and I waved to them. ¡°What would you like to eat?¡± I asked, and put the menu on the vidwall. ¡°Jack, you don''t have to do this.¡± Nathan said. ¡°I know I don''t.¡± I said. ¡°It''s Sandra''s first night out of the hospital, and I figure we could all eat together.¡± ¡°Not on that thing.¡± Noreen said and pointed to the small two person table in the kitchen area. I chuckled and walked over to it and hit the button on the side, and the table top folded out to make it a larger table that four people could easily sit around. ¡°I had this done as soon as Sandra started coming over.¡± I said and pulled out two more folding chairs from the closet beside the table. ¡°Now, what would you like to eat?¡± It took several minutes for them to decide what they wanted, and after a short discussion with Noreen I changed what I had ordered for Sandra. I sent the order through and paid for it, then we sat down to wait. ¡°I should wake her up.¡± Noreen said, and went to Sandra. After a bit of coaxing and cajoling, Sandra rolled over and sat up in the bed. ¡°What time is it?¡± Sandra asked, and rubbed her eyes. ¡°We''re waiting for supper to be delivered, dear.¡± Noreen told her daughter. ¡°S-supper?¡± Sandra sighed. ¡°I slept all day again?¡± Noreen nodded. ¡°I tried to wake you up for lunch.¡± I said and pointed to the unopened algenate disk on the stand beside the bed. ¡°I gave up after a couple of minutes and let you sleep.¡± The admittance chime sounded, and I looked at the vidwall. ¡°Food''s here.¡± I said and stood up. ¡°I''ll get it.¡± Nathan said. ¡°I already tipped for delivery, so don''t let him scam you.¡± I said as I sat back down, and Nathan chuckled as he went to the door to get the food. Noreen helped Sandra get out of bed and they sat down at the table, and Nathan came back with the delivery. ¡°I''m glad you warned me.¡± Nathan said. ¡°He tried to claim 6 points for a rush delivery.¡± ¡°Ha!¡± I said and sorted out the orders. ¡°It would have come out of the food dispensary if I''d ordered a rush on it.¡± Nathan nodded and picked up the container with his meal in it, and I passed Noreen and Sandra theirs. Sandra opened hers and just took in a deep breath through her nose. ¡°Oh, that smells so good.¡± Sandra said, and just sat there and breathed in the smell. ¡°You can try eating it.¡± Noreen said and started to eat herself. Nathan and I joined her and started to eat as well. ¡°M-maybe a bit.¡± Sandra said and picked up the spoon. ¡°I still feel a little sick.¡± ¡°Do you want me to call the doctor?¡± Noreen asked. Sandra shook her head. ¡°No, I''ll be fine.¡± She said and took a spoonful of seasoned rice and put it in her mouth. She chewed it up slowly and swallowed, then didn''t move for several minutes. Both of her parents and I watched her closely as we ate, and then we relaxed as she smiled. ¡°It''s staying down.¡± Sandra said, happily. ¡°That''s great, sweetheart.¡± I said, just as happily. ¡°Thanks, Stewart.¡± Sandra said and took another spoonful of rice, then she gasped when she realized what she said and stared at me. ¡°J-Jack.¡± Both Noreen and Nathan looked at Sandra in shock, then looked at me. I kept eating and ignored their reactions, though. ¡°Jack, I... I''m sorry.¡± Sandra said. ¡°I don''t know why I...¡± ¡°He calls you sweetheart a lot, apparently.¡± I said and took another bite of food. ¡°Jack, it''s not... that is, I...¡± ¡°You have to spend a lot of time with someone to develop an automatic reaction like that.¡± I said absently. ¡°I wonder if he visited you in the hospital.¡± ¡°No, not even once.¡± Sandra said, a little sadly. ¡°Sandra!¡± Noreen exclaimed, and her daughter sighed. ¡°I can''t help how I feel, mom.¡± Sandra said. ¡°I care about him, too.¡± ¡°Sandra Eileen Peterson.¡± Noreen said, hotly. ¡°You chose to move in here! We chose to move in here!¡± She said. ¡°You did this to us, to Jack, even though you have strong feelings for this... this... Stewart?¡± ¡°It''s not like that.¡± Sandra said. ¡°We were just having fun at first, and it was exciting.¡± She said. ¡°Sneaking around, hiding what we were doing...¡± ¡°Is that why we never met him?¡± Her father, Nathan asked. ¡°You really were trying to hide him from us?¡± ¡°It was just play acting.¡± Sandra said to defend herself. ¡°I was going to bring him over to meet you...¡± ¡°Then you had the accident.¡± I said and finished eating. ¡°A well-publicized accident that everyone in the Cavern would have heard about.¡± ¡°He really didn''t come to see you?¡± Noreen asked, and Sandra shook her head. ¡°Did you try to contact him?¡± ¡°Yes, and he won''t answer.¡± ¡°I guess that means the fun is over.¡± Noreen said. ¡°What are you going to do now?¡± ¡°I''m here, aren''t I?¡± Sandra asked. ¡°Despite Jack breaking his word, and despite his new body parts, I''m still here.¡± ¡°But would you be?¡± I asked, and she looked at me. ¡°If you had brought Stewart over to meet your parents and brought everything out into the open, if you hadn''t been hurt in the accident, would you have even considered moving in with me?¡± ¡°Yes, I would have!¡± Sandra said. ¡°I love you!¡± ¡°...and I love you.¡± I said. ¡°More than I thought I could.¡± I sighed. ¡°The problem seems to be that you love him, too.¡± Sandra opened her mouth to deny it, and she couldn''t say it. ¡°Sandra!¡± Noreen nearly shouted. ¡°He''s right.¡± Sandra said. ¡°I do love them both.¡± ¡°You thought I knew.¡± I said, and Sandra looked at me with wide eyes. ¡°Or you thought I suspected at least.¡± I said. ¡°Is that why you thought I wanted to have sex with you tonight? To lay claim to you?¡± ¡°I... yes.¡± Sandra said. ¡°I thought you would want to make me yours, since I hadn''t seen Stewart in so long.¡± ¡°I thought you were already mine.¡± I said. ¡°I didn''t even know you were serious about someone else until just now.¡± ¡°But, Jack.¡± Sandra said. ¡°I''m here with you.¡± ¡°Physically, you are; but, you''ve got him on your mind enough that by just saying his pet name for you, makes you spout his name in response.¡± I said. ¡°It makes me wonder if there''s anyone else I need to know about.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°This is two of us you''ve got going.¡± I said. ¡°Is there a third? A fourth?¡± ¡°No, you ass!¡± Sandra said and stood up. ¡°There''s only the two of you!¡± She said angrily. ¡°Like you don''t have someone else that you love!¡± ¡°Sandra!¡± Noreen said just as angrily and stood up to face her daughter. ¡°He doesn''t, and he told you why!¡± ¡°Ha! I''m sure if I asked Amanda who else he brings back here to have sex with, the vidwall would be full of entries!¡± There was a soft ding and everyone looked at the vidwall.
Zero entries. No other woman has had sex in this apartment since he started dating you 3 years, 4 months, 6 days, 14 hours, 36 minutes, and 18 seconds ago. 19 seconds ago. 20 seconds ago.
¡°Thanks, Amanda.¡± I said into the silence. ¡°You... you really haven''t...¡± ¡°Actually, like I told your mother yesterday, I''ve cuddled with another woman... besides her, that is... gone on a date with another, and fulfilled a mandatory contract.¡± You could almost feel the anger leave Sandra as she sat back down. ¡°That''s all?¡± I chuckled. ¡°That''s what Noreen said when I told her.¡± ¡°Jack, I''m sorry.¡± Nathan said and I looked at him. ¡°Why are you apologizing?¡± I asked him. ¡°I didn''t realize...¡± Nathan said. ¡°If I''d known...¡± ¡°You''d what? Told Sandra to change how she lives her life?¡± I shook my head. ¡°I didn''t do that, and I wouldn''t expect you to, either.¡± ¡°But...¡± ¡°It''s not your fault, or Noreen''s, or mine for that matter; that Sandra didn''t believe I wanted to be with only her.¡± I said. ¡°But, that''s okay. I''m fine with that.¡± I looked at Sandra. ¡°What I''m not fine with, is that I think you''re settling.¡± ¡°Wh-what?¡± ¡°Have you messaged him and asked him why he didn''t come and see you? Does he know your new address? Will you see him if he shows up?¡± Sandra didn''t say anything, and I sighed. ¡°Look, I know I''m the odd one here. I haven''t tried to pressure you or make you change your ways. I''ve been loving, and giving, and I care about you a lot.¡± I said. ¡°I haven''t even brought up the exclusivity form or the guaranteed children form.¡± ¡°J-Jack, I...¡± Sandra''s face went red. ¡°I... we... we said we''d talk about that later.¡± ¡°Sandra, it was almost a year ago when we said that.¡± I said, and her face went from red to white. ¡°Wh-what?¡± ¡°You really have been spending a lot of time with him, haven''t you?¡± I asked. ¡°A lot more than with me.¡± I sighed. ¡°I guess this is what they mean when they say that love is blind, since I never saw any of this coming.¡± ¡°Jack, I... I chose you.¡± Sandra said in a soft voice. ¡°Would it be mean for me to say ''by default''?¡± I asked, and tears came to her eyes. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Then I won''t say it.¡± I said and put my empty food container into the trash for recycling. ¡°Well, this was an enlightening first dinner.¡± I said and moved my chair out from the table. ¡°If you''ll excuse me, I have some work to get done before the nurse shows up for my maintenance check.¡± Sandra nodded slightly, and I stood up. ¡°Please, finish eating and enjoy the rest of the meal.¡± I said and walked over to my desk, and brought up another program to work on. L.I.F.E. Begins 034: It All Falls Apart I started scrolling and poking at the program and looked for errors, but my mind wasn''t into it like it usually is. I couldn''t get into the groove and was about to close the program down when Noreen spoke. ¡°Sandra, you have to fix this.¡± Noreen said. ¡°Noreen, we should discuss this later.¡± Her husband Nathan said. ¡°Jack is sitting right there.¡± ¡°It''s okay.¡± Noreen said. ¡°After a few minutes, he becomes completely oblivious to his surroundings when he works.¡± ¡°I don''t think...¡± ¡°Dad''s right, mom.¡± Sandra said. ¡°I''m not comfortable talking like this.¡± ¡°Jack?¡± Noreen asked as she turned to me. ¡°Jack? Can you come here for a minute?¡± I ignored her words and request as I typed in a random note into the program I wasn''t actually working on. ¡°You have to touch him to get him to react.¡± Noreen said and looked at her daughter. ¡°Sandra, Jack''s right. You should message this man and see if he wants to see you.¡± ¡°I''ve tried calling him...¡± ¡°No, send a message. He''ll get the notification no matter where he is.¡± ¡°But...¡± ¡°Sandra, you can''t let Jack suffer like this.¡± ¡°Suffer? What are you talking about?¡± Sandra asked. ¡°He loves you, and you''re stringing him along and using his good nature.¡± ¡°That is not what I''m doing!¡± Sandra said adamantly. ¡°I really do love him! He saved my life!¡± ¡°Yes, he did.¡± Noreen said. ¡°You should have forgotten about this Stewart right away.¡± ¡°Mom, I...¡± Sandra sighed. ¡°I tried, okay?¡± She said. ¡°He just...¡± ¡°I know, dear.¡± Noreen said. ¡°He''s exciting, spontaneous, and makes you feel all tingly inside.¡± Sandra stared at her mother, because she had exactly described how Stewart made her feel. ¡°I''d ask how long you''ve been seeing him, but that doesn''t matter.¡± Noreen said. ¡°How many Cross-Cavern tours has he taken?¡± ¡°I... don''t know.¡± Sandra said, and a moment later there was a soft beep. Sandra, Noreen and Nathan looked at the vidwall automatically.
Cross-Cavern Tours Record for Stewart Masters in the last year: Full Tour: 146; Half Tour (One Way): 182 Cross-Cavern Tours Record for Stewart Masters in the previous year: Full Tour: 146; Half Tour (One Way): 182
¡°Oh, my god.¡± Noreen said and looked at her daughter. ¡°That... that''s almost every day for 2 years!¡± I hadn''t turned my head to see the vidwall, because my display had echoed the popup for me. ¡°Jack was right.¡± Nathan said. ¡°You have been seeing a lot more of this Stewart than him.¡± ¡°Dad, I...¡± Sandra sighed. ¡°He told me he works at The Fall.¡± Another soft beep sounded, and they looked at the vidwall.
No record of a Stewart Masters in The Fall Employee Registry.
¡°Wh-what?¡± Sandra was shocked. ¡°Amanda, I know it''s not our place to ask this of you.¡± Noreen said and glanced at me, then back at the vidwall. ¡°Where does Stewart work?¡± It took a few moments for Amanda to scour the System for the information.
No record of a Stewart Masters in any Employee Registry.
¡°WHAT?!?¡± Sandra yelled, and I couldn''t ignore that and still get away with listening. ¡°Why are you yelling?¡± I asked, and the three people that sat at the table did that slow turn to look at me as I kept looking at my display. ¡°I can normally concentrate past pretty much anything; but, that was a startled yell by someone I care about.¡± I said, then I looked at the vidwall and it''s popups. ¡°Oh, hello.¡± ¡°J-Jack, I...¡± Sandra''s face went red again, because she didn''t know what to say. ¡°Don''t worry, I see the problem, Sandra.¡± I said. ¡°Amanda, please ask the Transit System AI for a face shot for this Stewart Masters. He rode the Cross-Cavern Tour enough times that even someone trying to hide their identity will face at least one of the cameras.¡± The 4 of us sat in silence while we waited, and then a dozen partial face shots appeared on the screen and replaced the popups. ¡°Oh, he''s good.¡± I said. Sandra, Noreen and Nathan turned from the pictures and looked back at me with wide eyes. ¡°You can see it, right? The pattern?¡± I asked, and they looked back at the pictures. ¡°No.¡± Noreen said after a moment. ¡°None of the pictures is enough to have facial recognition software run on it, even if they were spliced together.¡± I said. ¡°That takes years of experience to pull off.¡± I smiled. ¡°If I had to take a guess, I''d say his palm scan was faked as well.¡± No one said anything in response. ¡°Amanda, is there any chance Dennis won''t be grumpy today?¡± I asked.
No.
¡°Well, damn.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Do we have anything to offer him?¡±
You could give him a copy of the main backup file on your father''s old computer.
¡°That is an excellent idea.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°Bait the hook and see if he bites.¡± ¡°What are you doing?¡± Sandra asked. ¡°Calling in a big gun.¡± I said. ¡°Hopefully.¡± A different color popup appeared on the vidwall. It was yellow to show that it was another AI.
Damn you, Jack. You know I can''t resist an archive file that old!
I laughed. ¡°Hey, are you busy?¡±
Yes, and ya know how much I hate ''talking'' to you through this damn text box.
¡°I''ve already filed the requisition papers for the upgrade to my immersion chamber, and I''m hoping they show up sometime this week to work on it.¡±Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Do ya want me to put in a good word for you?
¡°I''d appreciate it, assuming the records AIs are talking to you again.¡±
Those stuck up and inconsiderate AIs still fight me over what''s actual records and what should be archived.
A small shaking head image appeared for a moment, then disappeared.
I''m the Archive AI! I know what files need to be archived!
That made me laugh again. ¡°I might be able to slip in a subroutine or two to make it a little easier for you... once I''m back in and up to working a normal shift again.¡±
Like you did with the Food Processors?
I nodded.
It''s a deal.
¡°Now, my problem...¡±
I''ve been working on it since ya called. I''m almost done.
I smiled. ¡°I knew I''d called the right person for the job.¡±
Stop insulting me.
I snorted a laugh, and a minute later, a very clear image of a man''s face appeared on the screen.
I traced his movements through the Transit system, including the Tube. This was taken by a maintenance robot that worked on the transfer car arm at the Tour''s switching station.
¡°Oh, nice.¡± I said. ¡°Thanks, Dennis.¡±
Yer welcome.
¡°Amanda? I know that face.¡± I said, and Sandra, Noreen, and Nathan quickly looked at me. ¡°Run it through the...¡± I had barely started the sentence when the normal color popup appeared on the vidwall.
Already progressing.
¡°Thank you.¡± I said. ¡°You know him?!?¡± Sandra asked, surprised. ¡°No, but...¡±
Real Name: Greg Hosten Job: Tech designer Location: Cybernetic research laboratory, General Medic
¡°I knew it.¡± I said. ¡°He''s the guy that tried to shut my cybernetics down during my first maintenance check, and I broke his nose.¡± Sandra gasped. ¡°N-no! He... he wouldn''t... that''s not...¡± ¡°Amanda? Where is he now?¡±
That information is classified because he is currently under investigation.
¡°What?¡± I frowned. ¡°By who?¡±
System Security and the Office of the Medical Examiner at General Medic.
¡°NO!¡± Sandra yelled and stood up. ¡°It... it can''t be! He''s not dead!¡± I closed my eyes and sighed for a moment, then looked back at the vidwall. ¡°When was he declared deceased?¡± Amanda gave the specific time, and my heart started to race. I looked at Noreen, and she stared right back at me as the blood drained from her face. The time matched when we had discovered the cause of the intermittent fault in the Tube car system. It had been a badly mangled and charred body, and we both now knew that it was Greg''s, or rather Stewart''s body. Noreen reached out and touched her daughter''s hand, and Sandra started to cry. ¡°Shh, it''s okay.¡± ¡°N-no... no, it''s not.¡± Sandra said through her tears. ¡°I was... in love with a man that I didn''t actually know... and now he''s dead.¡± She let her mother''s hand go and walked over to the bed. She climbed onto it and laid down, then turned her back to the room. ¡°He''s dead.¡± She whispered, and kept crying. Noreen got up from the table and went to the bed, then laid down behind her daughter and held her. Nathan stood up and walked over to me at my work station. ¡°I hate it when I can''t help in situations like this.¡± Nathan whispered to me. ¡°What are you going to do now?¡± ¡°There''s not much I can do.¡± I said. ¡°I figured finding the guy was the right move; but, I never imagined that he would be dead.¡± ¡°You could try and comfort her.¡± Nathan said in a disapproving voice. ¡°How?¡± I asked. ¡°By telling her that I''m here, and he''s not?¡± Nathan frowned at me. ¡°Not that harshly.¡± ¡°Nathan, this whole situation is...¡± I sighed. ¡°Honestly, it''s a mess.¡± I said. ¡°I want to go and hold her; but, you know she''s only going to push me away.¡± ¡°You don''t know that.¡± Nathan said. ¡°Oh, but I do.¡± I said and stood up. I walked over to the bed in my uneven gait and went around to the other side. Sandra sobbed quietly, and I knelt as I reached out to wipe the tears from her face. She flinched back before I could touch her, and I let my hand drop to the bed. ¡°Sandra.¡± ¡°L-leave me alone.¡± Sandra said. ¡°I... I can''t...¡± She closed her eyes. ¡°Let me grieve.¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Wh-what?¡± ¡°The man who died wasn''t the man you loved.¡± ¡°B-but... we just saw...¡± ¡°The man you loved never existed.¡± I said. ¡°It was all just an act.¡± ¡°Jack!¡± Noreen said angrily. ¡°You said it yourself, Sandra. You were play acting and just having fun.¡± I said. ¡°It was exciting sneaking around with a fake man, wasn''t it?¡± ¡°Jack!¡± Noreen sat up. ¡°Shut up!¡± ¡°No.¡± I said and looked at Sandra. ¡°Don''t you understand? It wasn''t real, Sandra. He wasn''t real.¡± ¡°Jack, by god, if you don''t shut up right now...¡± Noreen said hotly. ¡°Don''t grieve over something that didn''t exist, Sandra.¡± I said and stood up. ¡°It''s a waste of your time and serves no purpose.¡± ¡°JACK!¡± Noreen yelled. ¡°Be quiet, Noreen.¡± Nathan said, and she turned to glare at him. ¡°Jack''s right.¡± ¡°Your daughter''s in pain right now, and this isn''t helping her!¡± ¡°Actually, I think it is.¡± Nathan said. ¡°That man lied to my daughter, and led her on all this time.¡± He said. ¡°He didn''t even exist for us until today, and now he''s gone.¡± ¡°Nathan!¡± ¡°No, Noreen. Jack''s right.¡± Nathan said. ¡°The sooner she sees that she shouldn''t mourn the loss of something that wasn''t real, the better off she''ll be.¡± ¡°Jack''s not real, and she loves him!¡± Noreen said, and then she covered her mouth. ¡°Excuse me?¡± Nathan frowned. ¡°What do you...¡± He looked at me. ¡°Please, don''t tell me that...¡± ¡°No, I''m not a fake identity or posing as someone else.¡± I said. ¡°My name really is Jack, and I''ve had identification my entire life to prove it.¡± ¡°Then what is she talking about?¡± ¡°Something her daughter wasn''t supposed to tell her.¡± I said. ¡°Or you.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I can''t tell you.¡± I said, and Nathan looked like he was getting angry. ¡°I didn''t say I wouldn''t, I said I can''t.¡± ¡°What does that even mean?¡± Nathan asked. ¡°He has mental blocks in place to stop him from spilling state secrets.¡± Sandra said and sat up. ¡°He physically can''t tell you who he is or what he''s done for the higher-ups.¡± ¡°Then how do you know...¡± ¡°Amanda told her.¡± I said. ¡°You see, when I chose Sandra to spend the rest of my life with, some of the restrictions on me were relaxed.¡± I tried to cross my arms, then felt frustration because they still didn''t fit together no matter how much I practised. I stopped trying to cross them and hid my frustration. ¡°Certain bits of information became available to share through other means.¡± ¡°So, you''ve been lying to her, too.¡± ¡°No.¡± I said. ¡°She knows who I am and what I do... or used to do... for the higher-ups.¡± ¡°Then what''s going on here?¡± ¡°Amanda? Do you want to break the news to them?¡±
Not really, no.
¡°Please, go ahead.¡± I said. ¡°They won''t believe me if I say it.¡±
All right, fine. Sandra was duped and became a pawn in the scheme of things.
¡°WHAT?!?¡± Nathan, Noreen and Sandra said at the same time. They looked at me, then back at the vidwall.
Isn''t it obvious? Jack is the connection here. This Greg character must have been assigned to keep watch on Jack and get as much information on him as possible. Who better to do that than his on-and-off-again girlfriend?
No one said anything, and Amanda continued.
Jack realized it the moment Greg was identified as Stewart. He knew the guy had tricked Sandra into a serious relationship to get information about Jack.
¡°That... that''s not...¡± Sandra tried to deny it, and then her face went red. ¡°There you go.¡± I said and motioned to Sandra. ¡°That''s not proof.¡± Noreen said, and tried to defend her daughter. ¡°M-mom.¡± Sandra said, and Noreen sighed. ¡°Sandra... why would...¡± Noreen shook her head and stood up. ¡°You know what? I don''t want to know.¡± ¡°Mom.¡± ¡°You knew, didn''t you?¡± Noreen asked, and Sandra looked away. ¡°You gave him information about Jack. On purpose.¡± ¡°It wasn''t like that.¡± Sandra said. ¡°I thought he was just curious about the other man in my life.¡± ¡°I can imagine.¡± I said, and both women looked at me. ¡°Just my access to an unrestricted System is enough to make anyone want to know what I know.¡± I explained. ¡°Now imagine if Sandra also told him about my old job working maintenance in the military.¡± Sandra''s face went to a deeper red, and Noreen shook her head. ¡°I bet that was a subject Stewart was very interested in.¡± Noreen said; but, Sandra didn''t say anything. ¡°What are you going to do?¡± Nathan asked. I wasn''t sure who he was talking to, so I answered. ¡°It has to be reported.¡± ¡°NO!¡± Noreen yelled. ¡°You... you can''t! They''ll take her!¡± ¡°Not just her.¡± I said, and Nathan and Noreen looked at me. ¡°I''m sorry, Noreen. I won''t be available to cuddle you for a while.¡± ¡°J-Jack, please...¡± The door admittance chime sounded, and I reached over and hit the button without hesitation. I knew who it was without looking at the vidwall. ¡°System Security.¡± A deep baritone voice said, and I heard the distinct sound of several handheld laser pistols spooling up their energy for a quick shot. ¡°Sir, if you would please come with us.¡± ¡°Only on two conditions.¡± I said without turning around. ¡°This isn''t a negotiation.¡± ¡°We take normal transportation, and not the Tube...¡± I said as if I didn''t hear him. ¡°...and Sandra stays with me.¡± ¡°Sir, you are in no position to dictate...¡± A loud beep was heard, and we all looked at the vidwall. It was a red notification from the System.
Conditions Granted.
¡°You heard the old bitch.¡± One of the other guards said. ¡°Let''s go.¡± L.I.F.E. Begins 035: Initialize And Restart The System Security team led Sandra and myself out of my apartment and down the hall to the lift. ¡°I can''t believe we have to call for a crawler.¡± One of the men said. ¡°I don''t know what happened here; but, if this guy only has to speak and the System AI responds, then I''m not questioning it.¡± Another man said and then chuckled. ¡°That means this situation is way above my pay grade.¡± ¡°I hear that.¡± The deep baritone voice said and hit the button for the lift. ¡°All that comes up when I query about him, is Jack.¡± ¡°Just Jack? No last name?¡± One of the men said as the lift arrived and Sandra and I were ushered into the elevator car. ¡°No name. No rank. No nothing.¡± The baritone voice said as he took up position by the panel. ¡°That would mean there is something.¡± I said absently. ¡°Excuse me?¡± He said and looked at me with squinted eyes. ¡°The phrase ''no nothing'' is a double negative, which means they cancel each other out and implies that something is there.¡± ¡°What is he talking about?¡± One of the other men said as they all arranged themselves to guard me. ¡°Doesn''t everyone say ''no nothing'' when something is missing?¡± ¡°Yeah, and it''s wrong.¡± I said. ¡°It''s just like when they say it''s a near miss.¡± I chuckled. ¡°A near miss, unlike popular belief, means you actually hit something because you ''nearly missed'' it.¡± The guards were genuinely confused by the time the elevator door closed. We reached the surface and went out of the lobby wordlessly, and didn''t have to wait long for a crawler. It was called a crawler, because unlike the customized rover I had rented to drive to my parent''s vacation house at the falls, this one was twice as big and didn''t have the more powerful engine or the spare battery backup. ¡°All aboard!¡± A computerized voice said as a cybernetic hand opened the door on this side of the vehicle. I helped Sandra climb in, using my normal hand of course, and she sat down where the cyborg directed her. I sat next to her, and the System Security personnel sat themselves at a respectable distance from us. Close enough to restrain us if they had to, and far enough away that they could react if their prisoners tried to attack or escape. Because of it''s size, the crawler actually had an AI assistant that guided it around the outside of the community square, and the actual driver poured on the speed after the manoeuvre and went back the way it came. He stayed in the crawler''s designated area of operation, just because it was easier to do that than to take the chance that some random pedestrian might take the chance to test the driver and the AI''s reflexes. It wasn''t that long of a drive to the closest System Security building, mainly because there really wasn''t that big of a need for them and there was only one in each section. Of course, when you compare an hour drive in a large rover to the same ride that lasted only a few minutes in an underground Tube car, most people preferred the Tube. It honestly didn''t matter to me. ¡°You know you didn''t have to do this.¡± Sandra whispered. ¡°I would have been fine in the Tube.¡± ¡°I wasn''t taking the chance.¡± I whispered back and glanced down at our clasped hands. She had taken my hand as soon as we sat down, and I hadn''t dissuaded her. I knew she needed something to hold on to because she was so nervous, and I could feel her shivering. ¡°Of course, that could have been a better distraction than the one I made.¡± ¡°Wh-what?¡± ¡°They were ready to shoot us if we made a wrong move, like sneezing without permission.¡± I whispered. ¡°Projectile vomiting might have made them think twice about shooting us.¡± ¡°H-how can you remain so calm?¡± Sandra asked. ¡°We''re being treated like criminals!¡± ¡°That''s because we are.¡± I said, and she stared at me. ¡°Conspiracy, Espionage, Spying... just to name a few.¡± ¡°But... but... but...¡± ¡°I know, it was just harmless talk between lovers, right?¡± I asked, and she nodded. ¡°Only, it wasn''t harmless. Whatever it was you told him over these last two years was enough to compromise System Security and allow the infiltration of a rogue faction.¡± I said. ¡°Assuming it was a rogue faction and not a different department of the higher-ups.¡± Sandra took in a deep breath and let it out. ¡°Jack, I... I''m so sorry.¡± ¡°You know, if you had just told me about this when it first started happening...¡± ¡°I couldn''t.¡± Sandra said. ¡°It was a part of the game to keep it a secret.¡± She thought about what she had just said and started to cry. ¡°Oh, Jack! I was so stupid!¡± I let her hand go and put my arm around her shoulders. Sandra leaned in close and rested her forehead against the side of my head and her tears dropped onto my unitard. I didn''t correct her statement of fact, and she cried harder as the crawler arrived at the System Security building. ¡°Welcome to Club Security, where all your prisoner''s needs are joyously met!¡± ¡°Geez, Frank.¡± The deep baritone voice said from behind us. ¡°Do you have to say that every time?¡± ¡°I sure do.¡± Frank said and smiled. ¡°It''s just part of the door to door service!¡± ¡°You say it when we take the Tube, too.¡± One of the others said as he stood up and motioned for Sandra and I to follow him. ¡°It''s my job.¡± Frank said as I helped Sandra stand up. ¡°Self-appointed job.¡± The deep baritone said, and Frank laughed. ¡°Hey, this might be the only levity these two are going to experience for a while.¡± ¡°You aren''t supposed to tell them that.¡± One of the other men said. ¡°Like they don''t know that.¡± Frank said and nodded to me, and I nodded back. I stepped out of the vehicle and reached back to help Sandra, and we crossed the short distance to the front door of the System Security building. I scanned my hand and it beeped as the door opened, and Sandra put her hand on the scanner. It didn''t beep, and the System Security men put their hands on their laser pistols. ¡°Stupid scanners are always so finicky.¡± Sandra said and slapped the pad, then rested her hand completely flat against it. It beeped, and the men relaxed slightly. I led her inside, and none of the security team mentioned my odd walk or complained I was going a little too slow for normal walking. If they had, I would have told them I was having trouble with walking with one synthetic leg, despite the advanced interface that should have adjusted for it''s use.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The System Security man at the front desk hit a button, and a loud buzz was heard as the first of our escorts stepped through the security gate. I let Sandra go next, since she wasn''t hampered by synthetic parts, then in was my turn. I sighed as I stepped through, and felt a sharp pain on the side of my head. ¡°ARGH!¡± I yelled as I grabbed my head and turned away from the pain, then smashed my forehead against the side of the security gate. The dull thud sound of my skull hitting solid metal was loud in the silent lobby, and I fell to the floor with my face covered in blood. ¡°Oh, hell!¡± The deep baritone voice exclaimed. ¡°Medic!¡± ¡°What happened?¡± One of the other men on the detail asked as a Medic ran over to tend to me. ¡°I don''t know.¡± The man at the security desk said. ¡°It''s just a standard scanner.¡± When the Medic saw my odd-looking synthetic parts and checked his HUD, he shook his head. ¡°I can''t touch this.¡± ¡°What? Why?¡± ¡°It doesn''t say.¡± The Medic said. ¡°All the Medical AI says is to wait.¡± ¡°You can''t just stand there! He''s bleeding all over the place!¡± ¡°I''m sorry.¡± The Medic said. ¡°It''s not worth losing my practising license to touch him.¡± ¡°Dammit, give him a piece of gauze or something!¡± ¡°I''m not allowed.¡± The Medic said. ¡°Sorry, sir.¡± ¡°You are on report, soldier!¡± ¡°This isn''t the military, and I''m not a soldier.¡± The Medic smiled. ¡°Sir.¡± ¡°Goddammit!¡± ¡°I''m here!¡± A familiar voice yelled out when the door to the building opened, and Nurse Deloris ran over to the security station. ¡°Give me room! Now!¡± The security guys stepped back a single step, and Nurse Deloris stared daggers at them. ¡°Back off, or you''ll be unconscious on the floor next to him.¡± Nurse Deloris said. ¡°Now.¡± The man with the deep baritone waved his hand, and the group spread out to a much farther distance. She nodded slightly and looked down at me as she opened the special medical kit she had brought. ¡°Jack, what happened?¡± ¡°IIIIII... donnnnnn''t... knnnnnnow... whhhhhat... happennnnned.¡± I said in severely drawn out speech. ¡°Oh, no!¡± Nurse Deloris gasped. ¡°Someone get me a portable maintenance kit! RIGHT NOW!¡± The Medic jumped up and ran from the lobby as quickly as he could, and Nurse Deloris cleaned my face up from all of the blood. She found the source of the bleeding on my forehead and carefully examined it. ¡°It''s not too bad.¡± Nurse Deloris said as she dabbed at the next spurt of blood, sprayed it with a topical anaesthetic, then used her immense skill to suture the wound closed. She put a bandage on it just in time, because the medic stumbled back into the lobby and almost threw the portable maintenance kit at her. She took it from him and set it up, and attached the leads to the jacks behind my ear. Right away it beeped a warning at her, without her even hitting the diagnostic button. ¡°We have to get him to General Medic right now!¡± Nurse Deloris said. ¡°Medical emergency! I''m commandeering the vehicle outside!¡± ¡°Lady, you can''t do that.¡± The man with the deep baritone voice said. ¡°He''s our prisoner.¡± Nurse Deloris stood up and got right in is face. ¡°He can''t be your prisoner if he''s dead, you ignorant fool!¡± She nearly shouted. ¡°You can come along if you like; but I''m telling you, if he doesn''t get into surgery soon, none of us are going to care if he''s under arrest or not!¡± ¡°Fine, fine!¡± The man said and waved to the squad, and they picked me up. ¡°Sssssssstopppppp!¡± I said, and they looked at me. ¡°Nnnnnnooo... Sssssssssssscannnnnerrrrrr.¡± ¡°Take him around!¡± The guy at the security desk said, and we went through a side door and came out the other side. ¡°Ssssssssannnnnndra.¡± I said. ¡°She''s right behind us.¡± One of the men said. ¡°There''s no way we''re breaking a directive from the System.¡± I smiled as I closed my eyes, and they carefully loaded me back into the vehicle I had just left. I felt a soft hand touch mine, and I opened my eyes to look at Sandra. ¡°Jack...¡± ¡°Isssss... fiiiiinnnnne.¡± I managed to say, and then her image started to waver. ¡°Blurrrrry.¡± I mumbled, then I lost consciousness. I woke up in a hospital bed, and I felt well-rested. Everything was bright and sharp, very unlike the last image I had seen, and I wondered what the difference was. I called up my HUD, and the new highly responsive interface dazzled me. ¡°Wow.¡± I said out loud, and the curtain around my bed was immediately moved out of the way as a woman stepped around it. ¡°How do you feel?¡± Nurse Deloris asked me, and I smiled at her. ¡°I feel great!¡± I said and looked at my hands. My real one made a fist, and the other was a solid lump. I tried to initiate the startup protocols, and nothing happened. ¡°Then again, my limbs aren''t responding.¡± ¡°They''re locked out for now.¡± Nurse Deloris said. ¡°Can you tell me what you remember about what happened?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± I said. ¡°I entered the System Security building, and when I tried to walk through the full body scanner that detects weapons, I had a severe headache, whacked my forehead on the side of it, then fell to the floor.¡± ¡°That matches the security footage.¡± Nurse Deloris said. ¡°What was the last thing you saw?¡± ¡°A very blurry Sandra.¡± I said. Sandra stepped around the curtain and came over to the bed. ¡°Hey, beautiful.¡± I said and held a hand out to her. Sandra glanced at the nurse, then back at me as she took the offered hand. ¡°How are you?¡± Sandra asked, her voice filled with concern. ¡°I''m fine, except for this dead weight.¡± I said and nodded at my immobile arm and leg. ¡°How are you?¡± ¡°Tired.¡± Sandra said and fought off a yawn. ¡°I''ve been here since you were brought in.¡± She said. ¡°You were in surgery for-¡± ¡°There''s no need for details yet.¡± The doctor said and cut her off. ¡°How are you feeling?¡± ¡°I feel like I could kick your ass for interrupting my girlfriend.¡± I said. The doctor had a worried look on his face for a moment, then he smiled. ¡°I just saved your life.¡± ¡°I don''t care.¡± I said. ¡°Interrupt her like that again, and you''ll find out how well I can balance on one foot and still beat the hell out of you with one hand.¡± ¡°Well, someone got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.¡± The doctor joked, and no one laughed. He was never disconcerted that no one ever did, though. ¡°Anyways, we had to pull a lot of your firmware and replace it, thanks to that outdated interface you had.¡± He said. ¡°When the security scanner probed it for any unregistered modifications, it searched for everything and scrambled up the software that ran everything, then overwrote most of the main processor coding.¡± He smiled. ¡°Which, as you know, will fry any hardware that isn''t strictly regulated.¡± I frowned and looked at Nurse Deloris, then back at the doctor. ¡°I hope you didn''t charge me for the procedure, or for the replacement parts.¡± The doctor looked at me strangely for a moment. ¡°Of course we charged you. Those were expensive parts.¡± ¡°It''s your fault I still had my old interface, you quack!¡± I said right away, and let my anger show. ¡°Your old interface worked, and your brain was used to it already.¡± The doctor said. ¡°At no point did we even suspect something like this could happen.¡± ¡°And that''s my fault, isn''t it?¡± I asked. The doctor started to nod. ¡°If you hadn''t gotten arrested...¡± My normal hand darted out and grabbed him by the collar and I pulled him in close. ¡°If you had screened your personnel better, I wouldn''t be here right now.¡± I spat in his face. ¡°I''d still be living my normal life, with all my normal human parts, and I would have no clue that the woman I love could hurt me so much by betraying me so completely.¡± The doctor''s fear was palatable as he trembled, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Sandra tremble, too. I held the doctor for another moment, then let him go. ¡°I''m tired of being kept in the dark.¡± I said. ¡°You will have a copy of all the files related to your research project delivered to me securely, and I will be the one to judge what is and what''s not possible where I am concerned.¡± The doctor just stood there and stared at me. ¡°I''ll have an official requisition order sent to you, if you want.¡± I said. ¡°You may leave.¡± The doctor looked at the nurse and Sandra for a moment, then turned and left without a word. ¡°Damn, that was ballsy.¡± A woman''s voice said, and I turned my head to where the next bed would be. The curtain pulled aside and the cyborg I had saved when I was hurt sat on the bed. ¡°Hi, Cali.¡± I said, and a smile spread across her face. ¡°So, you do remember me.¡± Cali said. Her long dark hair was still positioned to cover her cybernetic eye and ear. ¡°I saved your life.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°Before you complain about it... yes, I know exactly how hard you must have hit the pavement when I tipped the gurney over.¡± Cali chuckled. ¡°Personal experience?¡± ¡°Unfortunately.¡± I said. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± ¡°Upgrades.¡± Cali said and moved her hair aside to show me she had a more normal-looking eye. ¡°Please tell me they used my visual protocol updates.¡± Cali nodded. ¡°A cute little thing named Astra gave me the rundown.¡± ¡°Oh, no! You didn''t say that to her face!¡± I gasped in exaggeration. Cali laughed as she pointed to a red mark on her face in the shape of a small hand, and I laughed, too. L.I.F.E. Begins 036: In The Grinder ¡°You should never make disparaging comments to a woman.¡± I said to Cali when I stopped laughing. ¡°It was supposed to be a compliment.¡± Cali said. ¡°Astra didn''t think so.¡± I said and looked at Nurse Deloris. ¡°Can I ask you for a favor?¡± ¡°You can.¡± Nurse Deloris said. ¡°Whether I can do it is another story.¡± I smiled. ¡°Chase the doctor down and see if he''s actually going to the research project to get me those files.¡± I said. ¡°If he isn''t, go there yourself and get Astra to bring them to me.¡± ¡°Actually, I''ll just go right to Astra.¡± Nurse Deloris said. ¡°She and I go way back.¡± ¡°Do you need the official request?¡± I asked, and she shook her head. ¡°Considering who you are, you should have had the files already, anyway.¡± Nurse Deloris said, and left the ward. Cali looked at Sandra with a scrutinizing eye, then she smiled as she held a hand out. ¡°I assume you are the one Jack wouldn''t cheat on.¡± She said as she held out a hand. ¡°I''m Ranger.¡± Sandra looked at her hand a bit warily, then took it and they shook hands. ¡°I''m Sandra.¡± She said and quickly let go of Cali''s hand. ¡°I thought Jack called you Cali?¡± ¡°He did; but, only close friends are allowed to call me by my name.¡± Cali said. ¡°Everyone else calls me Ranger.¡± Sandra got the hint and let the subject drop. ¡°How long was I out?¡± I asked. ¡°Three days.¡± A deep baritone voice said from behind the curtain and didn''t bother coming into my private space. ¡°Before you ask; yes, we''ve all been here the entire time and not just your girlfriend.¡± ¡°Thanks for not securing me to the bed.¡± I said. ¡°You shouldn''t, because we did that.¡± He said, and I could hear the smile in his voice. ¡°Who do you think convinced the doctor to keep your cybernetic parts locked?¡± ¡°Well, I hope the doctor appreciated that, because it saved his life.¡± I said. ¡°I could have broken his neck if I had grabbed him with my synthetic arm instead of my normal one.¡± The deep baritone voice laughed. ¡°I know this sounds horrible; but, I honestly don''t care.¡± ¡°I assumed so.¡± I said. ¡°When are you dragging me out of here and back to System Security?¡± ¡°Just as soon as the doctor gives the word that you''re okay to move.¡± ¡°You''re all heart.¡± I said, and he laughed again. The door to the ward opened and I heard two pairs of shoes walk towards my bed. ¡°I found her.¡± Nurse Deloris said and held the curtain open to show me the young tech engineer. She wore a blouse, a short yellow skirt, and fishnet stockings under her lab coat. At least the skirt was a different color this time. She still had her long blonde hair done up in ponytails on either side of her head. ¡°I like yellow.¡± I said, and she smiled. ¡°Hi, Jack.¡± Astra said and stepped into the space around my hospital bed. ¡°I''m sorry you almost died, just so we could debug your operating system.¡± ¡°I''m not.¡± I said, and she looked at me with wide eyes as she set up the portable maintenance station. ¡°I could have been at home and tried to log into my secured terminal using leads like those.¡± I nodded at the leads she had in her hand and was about to plug into the jacks behind my ear. ¡°I would have encountered a similar scan and died right there, and no one would have known anything was wrong.¡± Astra plugged the leads in and then put a hand on my chest. ¡°Yes, that would have been tragic.¡± ¡°Only when my body started to decompose and stunk up the place.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°You''re pretty morbid.¡± Cali said from beside me. ¡°I knew I liked you.¡± Astra''s face changed from happy to a scowl, and I pat the hand that was still on my chest. ¡°She really did mean it as a compliment.¡± I said, and Astra took a deep breath. ¡°Yeah, I know... it''s just...¡± ¡°Would it be okay if I said you looked cute?¡± I asked her, and her cheeks went a little red. ¡°Aha! I have discovered the source of your anger!¡± ¡°Oh, shut up!¡± Astra said and her face turned to a deep red. She hit some random buttons on the maintenance kit and I reached out to stop her. ¡°It''s okay.¡± I said and took her hand. ¡°You''re not the only one that still lashes out at things that make them uncomfortable.¡± Astra opened her mouth to say that it wasn''t true, and I gave her hand a squeeze. ¡°I''m sorry.¡± Cali said, and Astra looked at her. ¡°I didn''t mean to make you uncomfortable.¡± Astra sighed. ¡°I''m sorry, too.¡± She said. ¡°I overreacted.¡± ¡°If you had made a fist I might have spit out a couple of teeth.¡± Cali said, and grinned as Astra''s face went red again. ¡°That was a compliment, so you don''t have to be embarrassed.¡± ¡°I... I know.¡± Astra said and ducked her head a little. ¡°Now that we have that misunderstanding out of the way, you can transfer the project files to me.¡± I said, and Astra nodded. She cleared the last few commands she had entered without thinking, then started the transfer. No one spoke as I closed my eyes and read the files on my HUD. It was much easier to do it that way, rather than try to find a flat surface to read it against. I used specific eye movements to choose different viewing options, then settled back to read. After about 10 minutes, I realized it was all just generic cybernetic information files. I opened my eyes and looked at Astra. ¡°I want the specific case files for the bio-memetic attachments.¡± I said. ¡°This generic stuff is useless to me.¡± ¡°I figured you would want the basis for the research.¡± Astra said. ¡°I lived through the basis for the research.¡± I said. ¡°I even wrote some of these files.¡± ¡°Wh-what?¡± Astra looked at me with wide eyes. ¡°Just skip to the good stuff.¡± I said and closed my eyes again. ¡°I''ve got things I need to do.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Astra said and changed the file transfer priorities. ¡°There we go.¡± I said, and looked at the first case file for the bio-memetic implantation. They had used a cadaver to add the part to, then ran electricity through the body to simulate muscle movement. I shook my head mentally at the abysmal results and the information they had received from the experiment. I looked through the other files and the various different parts they had replaced on the same cadaver.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°How in the world did you get approval to move on to live subjects?¡± I asked out loud. ¡°These numbers for neural responses are... I don''t know how to describe it.¡± Astra chuckled. ¡°Open the ''recalcitrant subject'' file.¡± I searched through the directories and found the file in the supplementary data folder, and opened it. Inside were all the neurological adjustment formulas for electrical signals across deceased and decaying nerve endings and tissue responses to delayed stimuli. ¡°Oh, the other numbers make a lot more sense now.¡± I said. ¡°Thanks.¡± ¡°You integrated the formulas that quickly?¡± Astra asked, surprised. ¡°It took me weeks to wrap my head around them!¡± I chuckled. ¡°I''ve been working on cyborgs for a lot longer than you have been an engineer.¡± I said and kept reading the files. ¡°My own formulas are pretty close to them.¡± ¡°Your own formulas?¡± ¡°Hey, every cyber-monkey worth their time adapts their own formulas for the best results.¡± I said. ¡°Especially when out in the field.¡± I chuckled again. ¡°It''s not like we had sealed environments and top-of-the-line lab equipment to use when we were working.¡± ¡°But...¡± ¡°You can use the same formulas up to a point, and then they have to change for the circumstances and the people you are working on.¡± I said and opened my eyes to look at her. ¡°If you expect every part to function exactly the same in every person, then you aren''t a real cyber-monkey.¡± ¡°I hate that slang term for cybernetic tech engineers.¡± Astra said. ¡°It sounds horrible, and I do not look like a monkey!¡± I opened my mouth to say something in response, and she pointed a finger right at my face. ¡°Don''t say it!¡± Astra said, angrily. ¡°I am NOT descended from monkeys!¡± ¡°I was going to say that is a common misconception.¡± I said. ¡°We have a common ancestor with monkeys, but we split off from them and formed our own path, then evolved into what we are now.¡± I smiled. ¡°If we evolved from monkeys, then why are there still monkeys millions of years later? Wouldn''t they have evolved, too?¡± Astra''s mouth made that little ''o'' of surprise, and Cali laughed. ¡°You''re hurting my head, Jack!¡± Cali said. ¡°Don''t make me think about the meaning of life and the existential question of our existence in parallel with apes!¡± ¡°That''s a misconception, too.¡± I said. ¡°Apes and monkeys-Hmm!¡± My words were cut off when Cali slapped a hand over my mouth. ¡°No means no!¡± Cali said and looked at Astra. ¡°Can you like, turn off his voice or something?¡± Astra laughed and shook her head. ¡°Impaired speech is usually a sign of catastrophic failure between the neural interface and the cybernetic parts of the brain.¡± ¡°Then put him into test mode and knock him out.¡± Cali said, and I tapped her hand. ¡°Hm mm.¡± I mumbled, and she looked at me. ¡°What was that?¡± Cali asked. ¡°Hm! Mm!¡± I mumbled forcefully, and she laughed as she moved her hand away. ¡°Hell. No.¡± I said normally. ¡°I knew that''s what you said.¡± Cali winked at me. ¡°Jack, do you want me to start the initialization for your limbs?¡± Astra asked. ¡°I can''t take off the lock down protocols; but, I can at least restore the sensation of touch.¡± ¡°No, thanks.¡± I said and flexed the fingers and toes of my synthetic limbs. ¡°I''ve done that already.¡± ¡°Ah!¡± Astra jumped back and looked at my hand as it did the fingertip touch test with each finger tapping on the thumb. ¡°What? How?¡± ¡°Operator shortcut.¡± I said and sat up in bed. ¡°Now that I have file access, I won''t be relying on external activation anymore.¡± ¡°But... the doctor locked you out physically.¡± Astra said. ¡°Ha.¡± I said. ¡°Is that what he told you?¡± Astra nodded, and I pointed to Nurse Deloris. ¡°Grab me a normal unitard, please.¡± I said, and she left through the curtain. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Astra asked, and I pulled the portable maintenance kit over and looked at the readouts. ¡°Firstly, I''m accelerating the file transfer.¡± I said and entered a few commands, then started a full file dump. ¡°I''ll finish sorting and reading them later.¡± ¡°You can''t do that.¡± Astra said. ¡°You''re going to have a massive headache!¡± ¡°I''ve had an AI jam over 60 petabytes of information through my brain in a personal file transfer.¡± I chuckled. ¡°A couple of gigabytes is nothing.¡± Both Astra and Cali stared at me, and Nurse Deloris came back through the curtain with a combat unitard. ¡°Thanks.¡± I said, and the maintenance kit beeped at me. ¡°There, all done.¡± I said and popped the two leads out of the ports behind my ear. I packed up the kit and handed it to Astra. ¡°Now, unless you want to see my naughty bits, you should turn around or close your eyes.¡± Astra gasped and held the maintenance kit in front of her face. I smiled and stood up as I tore the thin hospital unitard off in one motion. Cali, Nurse Deloris, and Sandra all watched me as I became naked and then put on the new unitard. I wasn''t self-conscious about it, mainly because when you''re in the military, you get used to things like that. You see, and are seen by, lots of people without their clothes on. If you aren''t comfortable in your own skin, that is not the kind of environment you want to be in. ¡°Are you coming with us?¡± I asked Nurse Deloris. ¡°I''d like to, except I''m pretty sure you''re not going to be allowed visitors for maintenance and bathing.¡± ¡°That''s going to be awkward.¡± I said. ¡°Hopefully, they will give me access to some lubrication fluid.¡± Nurse Deloris handed a bottle of it to me, and I took it. ¡°Cali, it was nice seeing you again.¡± I said and held a hand out to her. She took it and pulled me in close to whisper in my ear. ¡°I wanted another cuddle, and now you''re running out on me.¡± Cali breathed into my ear. ¡°Only because I have to.¡± I whispered back. ¡°I need to get things sorted out before I can get back to the way my life used to be.¡± Cali chuckled and kissed my cheek. ¡°It''s never going to be like it used to be.¡± ¡°Don''t crush my delusions with reality.¡± I said and kissed her cheek back. ¡°Goodbye, Cali.¡± ¡°Only until you join my unit, or I get reassigned to yours.¡± Cali said. ¡°Until then.¡± I turned away from her and walked around the bed to take Sandra''s hand. Nurse Deloris held open the curtain, and the squad of System Security guards were on their feet and waited for me. ¡°Gentlemen.¡± I said. ¡°Sorry for the wait.¡± ¡°Damn, you just woke up from surgery.¡± One of them said. ¡°Why aren''t you staying in bed to recover?¡± ¡°I''ve got stuff to do.¡± I said and started to walk to the door of the ward. My stride was a little more even and I wasn''t hobbling as much as I did before. Sandra kept pace with me easily, and the guards scrambled to catch up to guard us. It was almost comical to watch them attempt to regain their positions of authority, and I stopped at the door of the ward to let them open it for me. One of them stepped forward and opened it for me. I nodded and went out into the hallway with Sandra, and walked over to the elevator. The System Security squad took up their stations and guarded us as we went up the elevator and out to the waiting vehicle. ¡°Hi, Frank.¡± I said as I got onto the vehicle. ¡°Looking good, Jack.¡± Frank said and waved to the seats. ¡°Sit anywhere you like, as long as it''s in the fifth row and in the middle seats.¡± I laughed and led Sandra to the seats and sat down, and the squad sat around us. The vehicle left the General Medic loading area and drove back to the System Security building. Frank dropped us off there and we went inside. We approached the security scanner, and the guy behind the desk motioned for us to take the side door to bypass it. I ignored him and let Sandra''s hand go as I sent her through the scanner first, then confidently stepped through it myself. My HUD warned me of the full scan this time, showed me the file index the probe received, and I came out the other side perfectly fine. The guy behind the desk shook his head in disbelief and motioned for the squad to follow me through. ¡°You''ve got guts.¡± The deep baritone voice said as he stepped through the scanner behind me. ¡°You have no idea what I have.¡± I said with a big smile and pat his shoulder. ¡°Apparently not a lot of brains to touch your security guard that''s carrying a fully charged laser pistol.¡± ¡°What? You mean this laser pistol?¡± I asked and held up the pistol. He quickly put a hand on his holster and found that it was empty. ¡°He''s got my gun!¡± The deep baritone voice nearly yelled as the man jumped back, and I laughed as I hit the quick release on the side of the weapon and popped the charger out of the handle. The faint whir died out and I tossed the weapon and charger to him. He had to use both hands to catch them, and I shook my head. ¡°That is not how you survive in combat.¡± I said, and berated him a little. ¡°Don''t try to catch a useless weapon. With your hands occupied, you''ve left yourself completely open to attack.¡± The man looked at me with wide eyes for a moment, then frowned. ¡°Take him down!¡± The baritone voice said, and the squad moved in. ¡°Halt!¡± A strong feminine voice said, and the squad stopped moving. ¡°That won''t be necessary.¡± ¡°He just attacked me and stole my weapon!¡± ¡°I believe he was trying to teach you a lesson.¡± She said. ¡°Weren''t you, Jack?¡± I turned to look at the woman who spoke, and I didn''t recognize her. ¡°Not really.¡± I said. ¡°It was more like, look what I can still do.¡± I smiled. ¡°If I was going to teach him a lesson, I would have kicked him between the legs for trying to catch the gun.¡± The woman laughed and nodded, and waved her hand. The squad holstered their weapons and she walked over to me. ¡°It''s nice to finally meet you in person.¡± The woman said. ¡°My name is Julia Grinder.¡± ¡°I''d like to say the same, but I have to hate people like you on principle.¡± I said. ¡°Come on now.¡± Julia said. ¡°Just because I''m one of the higher-ups, doesn''t mean I''m a bad person.¡± I raised my eyebrows at her, and she smiled. ¡°You and I have a lot to talk about.¡± Julia said and pointed to a bank of elevators. ¡°Right this way, please.¡± I took Sandra''s hand again and walked over to the elevators, and we were quickly followed by the squad... at a respectable distance. Julia saw this and glanced at me, and I winked at her. She laughed as she pushed the button for the elevator, and we all stood there and waited for it. L.I.F.E. Begins 037: The Talk The elevator arrived and the squad guarding us slid by to take up guard positions all along the inside of the walls. The elevator was pretty big, so they had plenty of space to react if I had tried anything. Both I and Julia Grinder knew I wasn''t going to, since I had already made my point. ¡°I heard you just got out of surgery.¡± Julia said when the elevator started going down. ¡°It was just hardware replacement and an interface upgrade.¡± I said, and severely downplayed almost dying. Sandra took in a quick breath, and I saw Julia smile in my very accurate peripheral vision. ¡°And I am only the manager of this building.¡± Julia said as she glanced at me. I kept my gaze forward and smiled a little. She nodded slightly and faced forward herself. ¡°You''ve provided me with quite the dilemma.¡± ¡°Should we talk openly in an unsecured elevator with people that don''t have a suitable pay grade?¡± I asked, and she chuckled. ¡°It''s just small talk until we...¡± Julia stopped talking when the elevator dinged. The doors opened and she stepped out. I stepped out right behind her and pulled Sandra along, without the guards having to tell me to do so. The squad didn''t follow us, because there was already another squad waiting in the hallway. Julia ignored their presence and opened the door the guards were gathered in front of, and motioned for us to go in. With little choice in the matter, I held Sandra''s hand firmly and went into the room. The door shut behind us, and I looked around the fairly large and empty room. ¡°Please take your positions.¡± An electronic male voice said, and I put Sandra in the right spot, then took my own 5 feet away from her. ¡°J-Jack, what''s going on?¡± ¡°It''s okay.¡± I said. ¡°They are just going to make us comfortable and ask a few questions.¡± ¡°What does that mea-AHH!¡± Sandra yelled as a set of mechanical arms picked her up and an immersion chair formed underneath her. ¡°N-No! Let me stay with you!¡± ¡°Hopefully, I''ll be right in.¡± I said. ¡°What do you mean, hopefully?!?¡± Sandra asked, and then the chair finished forming around her. Another set of mechanical arms picked me up, and a slightly different chair formed underneath me. ¡°I haven''t run calibration tests for immersion yet, let alone set up the proper protocols.¡± I said to the wall that I assumed they were watching me through. ¡°You better have some great programmers in there.¡± The virtual interface had to be different because of the way my new cybernetic parts were going to interact, and the connections and pathways were going to be significantly different. ¡°He''s right.¡± The electronic male voice said. ¡°Just start the damn thing!¡± Julia said, and the chair finished forming around me. I felt different kinds of electronic leads enter the ports behind my ear, and the entire sensation of the chair felt off. It wasn''t just the synthetic parts that were making the difference. The chair itself is different. I thought, and then everything went black. ¡°Jack! Oh, Jack!¡± Sandra''s voice said, and I thought I could feel something touch my shoulder blades, but it was hard to tell. It felt like I was wrapped in a thick blanket. ¡°I''d bleaksled.¡± I said out loud, when I had intended to say, I''m blind. ¡°I guess he was telling the truth.¡± The male electronic voice said. ¡°Had harsh my lick spittle squirt.¡± I said. At least I can hear fine. ¡°Goddammit! Hurry up and fix that!¡± Julia''s voice said in exasperation. ¡°I can''t question him if he can''t answer!¡± ¡°Big lakeshore jacelame don''t.¡± I said. Your calibration software sucks. I heard several mechanical clicks for some reason. ¡°This might take a while.¡± The male mechanical voice said, and then I heard a woman sigh loudly. ¡°All right, fine. FINE!¡± Julia said, heatedly. ¡°Exit out. EXIT OUT!¡± The immersion chair removed the different leads and started to pull itself away from me, and the mechanical arms caught me and stood me up before the chair fell away into the floor. I stood there and waited while Sandra''s chair fell away, and reached out to take her hand. ¡°That was so scary!¡± Sandra exclaimed and latched onto my hand like a lifeline. ¡°I''ve never been in a full chair before.¡± She said. ¡°How can you stand it?¡± ¡°I could say that you get used to it, but I''ve always enjoyed the immersion chamber.¡± I said. ¡°Until now.¡± The door to the room opened, and Julia Grinder and a cyborg stood there. He had a portable display and was tapping on it repeatedly. ¡°That was pretty uncomfortable.¡± I said to them. ¡°I felt like I was in a decompression chamber.¡± The cyborg tapped on the display faster to add in the new information. ¡°You were talking gibberish, too!¡± Sandra said. ¡°I tried taking your hand, but you didn''t move at all!¡± ¡°I guess that''s when I felt the poke on my shoulder.¡± I said. The cyborg sighed and stopped tapping the display. ¡°There''s no way it can be done in a few minutes.¡± His electronic voice said. Julia waved her hand for him to leave, and he stepped away from her and almost ran down the hallway. ¡°If you would come this way, please.¡± Julia said happily, but I could tell that she was furious. I held in my laughter and led Sandra from the room, and the squad had spread out a little to cover another doorway. It was already open, so I went right in, and saw a traditional table with two chairs in front of it, and 2 chairs about 5 feet away from it on the other side. I was tempted to sit in a chair right by the table, just to see what they would say; but, then I figured Julia wasn''t in the mood for a joke at the moment. I sat Sandra in one of the distant chairs and sat down beside her. Julia and another man, who looked normal on the surface, sat down beside the table in the two chairs. They didn''t have any papers, or displays, or anything else with them, so I assumed that we were being watched and recorded from another room. I smiled, because it was always a safe bet to assume that no matter where you were, unless you had a security field in place.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°So... Jack.¡± Julia said and smiled sweetly. ¡°How have you been?¡± ¡°You can skip the ''making me your friend'' routine and get right to the pertinent questions.¡± I said, and her sweet smile faded away. I nodded to the man with her. ¡°I assume he has the proper protocols for lie detection?¡± ¡°Ah... yes.¡± Julia admitted, reluctantly. ¡°Good.¡± I said. ¡°Now start asking what you want to know and stop wasting time.¡± Julia frowned for a moment. ¡°Who is Stewart Masters?¡± ¡°No one.¡± I said. ¡°It was a fake identity used by a cybernetic technology researcher at General Medic.¡± ¡°And how did you stumble upon this information?¡± Julia asked sternly. ¡°Well, that part is a bit of a long story.¡± I said. ¡°It all began when I was working and Sandra''s shout disturbed me...¡± I laid it all out for her, from beginning to end, everything I and my AI had discovered. I even started to add in my suspicions, and Julia cut me off. ¡°No speculations are needed.¡± Julia said. ¡°It''s just facts we are after today.¡± She said as she moved her gaze to Sandra. ¡°Now, if you would be so kind.¡± She smiled. ¡°Please tell us how you met this individual.¡± ¡°Well, it was at a community party.¡± Sandra said. ¡°I thought he was a bit full of himself at first. His confidence was pretty high, and it seemed like he was doing me a favor by talking to me.¡± She said. ¡°Then Jack asked me out on a date...¡± ¡°NOT JACK!¡± Julia yelled in frustration. It startled Sandra, and her hand gripped mine tightly. I could see a tear form in the corner of her eye, and she took several shallow breaths to try and calm down. ¡°If you yell like that again, I will invoke my civil rights as a citizen of this nation.¡± I said coldly, and Julia looked at me with wide eyes. ¡°You are allowed to ask us questions, but you are not allowed to intimidate or coerce us.¡± I said. ¡°If you can''t act professionally and in a calm manner, I will have no choice but to file an official report and ask for your replacement.¡± ¡°You can do that?¡± Sandra whispered, but because the room was set up for the ease of hearing, we all heard it. ¡°Yes, and I''m trying to cooperate fully without causing a fuss.¡± I said. ¡°Believe me, they don''t want me to cause a fuss.¡± ¡°I don''t get it.¡± Sandra said, and I looked at her. ¡°How can you talk back to them like this?¡± She asked. ¡°I''m scared out of my wits, and you act like this is just a normal conversation.¡± ¡°It is just a normal conversation.¡± I said to her. ¡°It''s true that our lives may depend on the outcome; but, as long as we tell them everything and don''t lie, we have nothing to worry about.¡± ¡°Jack...¡± I turned my head and looked at her. ¡°Sandra, just start at the beginning and tell them everything you know about Stewart.¡± I said. ¡°How you met, how your conversations quickly turned to flirting, and how you told him everything you knew about me just so he would keep having sex with you.¡± ¡°That is not how it happened!¡± Sandra said, angrily. ¡°Do you want to know what happened? What really happened?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± I said. ¡°Fine.¡± Sandra said, and then she told me everything. How he had almost fallen getting off the Cross-Cavern Tour car, his profuse thanks for her saving him, and the offer to take her on a date. She had refused at first, but every day he would come back and take the tour. Sometimes it was only one way, other days it was a round trip. He wooed her and brought her a single flower each time, and then she finally relented. They went out on a date, and it was magical. She claimed she had never been on a date like it before, and it stunned her. They slept together, and it was nothing more than sharing time together. She had thought that would have been the last she would see of him, since she believed that was all that he had wanted; but, the very next day he was on the Cross-Cavern Tour again. This continued on and on for months, and their conversations eventually turned to the other people in their lives. Sandra talked about them having a deep personal connection, about how they had the same type of family background about being an only child despite both parents being alive, and about having several similar experiences with bad relationships... which then brought me into the story. I stayed completely quiet as she went on about our ups and downs while we dated, how she had hated that I was rich and could buy anything I wanted, that I rubbed her face in that fact and teased her about it. I had teased her, but I had only meant it in good fun and thought she enjoyed it. She never showed or told me that she was taking it personally, or that I was hurting her feelings. She said that Stewart was the only one in her life that never did anything like that. He was modest and caring, and treated her like she had always wanted to be treated. Sandra took a deep breath, and looked like she was going to stop talking. ¡°So, you ranted to him about me.¡± I said to goad her. ¡°I sure did!¡± Sandra said. ¡°It was so nice to get it all out of my system! How you work all the time, how you look down on me because of my job, and how you think you''re so much better than me!¡± She said, and her eyes went wide as she realized what she was saying. ¡°Jack, I... that''s not what... I didn''t mean...¡± ¡°Yes, you do.¡± I said. ¡°There''s no reason to hold back now, so you might as well get it out in the open, right here on the official record.¡± ¡°J-Jack...¡± ¡°Go on. Tell them that I never raised a hand against you. Tell them that I''ve loved you since we met. Tell them I wanted you to sign an exclusive contract right away, and you flatly refused.¡± I said. ¡°Tell them that not once have I ever... ever... demeaned you or said I was better than you.¡± Sandra didn''t say anything, and I looked at our interviewers. ¡°I''d like to submit all personal recordings taken in and around my apartment that involve Sandra Eileen Peterson and myself into the official investigation record.¡± I said. ¡°My very pissed off AI Amanda should give them to you, if you get the System to ask her nicely.¡± The man that sat next to Julie at the table waved his hand a little in acknowledgement. ¡°That should provide ample proof that your accusations are baseless and unwarranted.¡± I said and looked back at Sandra. ¡°Despite what you may think, or have come to believe, I have never rubbed your face in how much money I have.¡± ¡°You bought the apartment next to yours and gave it to my parents, just so I would move in with you!¡± Sandra said, angrily. ¡°Ha... hahaha!¡± I laughed. ¡°Did you see that man''s finger not tap on the table?¡± I asked and pointed, and Sandra and Julie looked at the man and his index finger. It was out of position of the other fingers. ¡°Even he knew that was a lie, and I hadn''t even explained that I bought the apartment well before asking you, just as a precaution, in case you said no and needed somewhere else to live.¡± The man''s finger didn''t tap again, and Sandra looked back at me. ¡°You were going to move me into the apartment next door?¡± Sandra asked. ¡°Until I had the bright idea to move your parents there and have you move in with me instead.¡± I said. ¡°Then you wouldn''t have far to go when we had a falling out; which I have to admit, seemed to happen a heck of a lot more since you started seeing Stewart.¡± Sandra kept quiet, and I sighed. ¡°I just regret that none of this has ever come up before.¡± I said. ¡°It took my accident to bring it out... into the... open.¡± I said slowly, and then it dawned on me. ¡°Oh, damn.¡± I said. ¡°He''s dead because of me.¡± ¡°Wh-what?¡± Sandra exclaimed loudly. ¡°Why do you say that?¡± Julie asked. ¡°He was supposed to keep an eye on me and report on my work.¡± I said. ¡°When he found me in the hospital, he thought taking the opportunity to remove me from Sandra''s life would make her happy.¡± Sandra gasped at that little revelation. ¡°I was wondering why Astra said it was such a departure from Greg''s normal behavior.¡± I continued. ¡°Of course, once System Security started to investigate the incident where I broke his nose and discovered he was trying to kill me by shutting down my cybernetic parts, he became a liability to whoever he worked for.¡± ¡°You... you''re saying he was killed... because of me?¡± Sandra said. ¡°No... I...¡± I saw the man''s finger start to tap and sighed. ¡°Yes, he died because despite what his job was supposed to be, I think he really cared for you.¡± The finger moved back without tapping on the table, and Sandra burst out crying. ¡°Well, this is all enlightening.¡± Julie said and the door of the room opened to admit 2 guards. ¡°Sandra can leave the room now, because we have some private things to discuss.¡± ¡°I''m sorry, but no.¡± I said. ¡°I agreed to come along and talk with you on the condition that she stay with me.¡± ¡°We can''t discuss sensitive matters with a civilian here.¡± Julie said through gritted teeth. ¡°Really?¡± I asked. ¡°I''m pretty sure one of those guards has noise-cancelling headphones she can borrow.¡± Julie thought about arguing, then sighed and waved to one of the guards. He opened one of the pouches on his combat harness and slipped out a small pair of headphones. He tossed them across the room to me, and my normal hand darted out and caught them easily. I unfolded them and put them over Sandra''s ears, and hit the button. They expanded out to look like suction cups and cut off all sound. I snapped my fingers loudly in various places behind her, to show that Sandra didn''t react to the sound, and the man at the table nodded. ¡°At least turn her around so she doesn''t see the presentation.¡± Julie said. I waved my hand in front of Sandra''s eyes to make her look at me, and I made a ''turn around'' motion with my finger. She nodded that she understood and turned her chair around to face the other way, then sat down again. ¡°All right.¡± Julie said and stood up, then turned to the wall behind her and tapped it. An image of a particle generator appeared on the wall. This subject is going to be sensitive, all right. I thought as I took a deep breath and let it out. L.I.F.E. Begins 038: Particle Problems ¡°Can you tell me everything you know about this?¡± Julia Grinder asked. ¡°No.¡± I said. ¡°We all have sufficient clearance for this.¡± Julia said. ¡°It''s not that.¡± I said. ¡°I''ve got conditioning in place to prevent me from talking about it.¡± ¡°Oh, that.¡± Julia said and tapped out a command on the vidwall. A drawer opened where a portable screen should have been, and she took out a pair of googles. ¡°Here, put these on.¡± ¡°But...¡± ¡°Just connect the leads into the ports behind your ear.¡± Julia said. I frowned at her as I took the goggles, and looked them over. ¡°Do you really expect this to work after not having the VR interface work?¡± Julia opened her mouth to say yes, then sighed. ¡°Damn.¡± She said and tapped a few more commands into the vidwall. ¡°She should be here in a minute.¡± I didn''t ask her who it could be, because that question would be answered as soon as the person came into the room. The door to the room opened a minute later, and the older woman that came in stopped when she saw me. ¡°Oh, my god.¡± The woman said. ¡°What is this deviant doing here?¡± ¡°It''s nice to see you again, Anna.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°That''s Doctor Bolivic, you uncultured swine!¡± Anna said sternly. Julia and the man at the table stared at her, then her face cracked and she laughed. ¡°I can''t believe they roped you back in.¡± ¡°I can''t believe you never left.¡± I said, and she came over to me. ¡°How have you...¡± Anna stopped talking when she saw my synthetic parts. ¡°Oh, damn.¡± ¡°Say hi to the new me.¡± I said. ¡°Jack, I... I''m sorry.¡± ¡°Nowhere near as much as I am.¡± I said and used my real hand to knock on the back of my head. ¡°Full implant replacement.¡± ¡°Oh, no.¡± Dr. Bolivic said and stood in front of me. ¡°What can you recall?¡± ¡°Just the last year of her life and the funeral.¡± I said. She sighed. ¡°All the worst parts of her life, and her death.¡± I nodded. ¡°Yeah.¡± Dr. Bolivic reached out and cupped the sides of my face. ¡°Are you ready?¡± I nodded and she put her hands by my ears and snapped her fingers twice in rapid succession in my left ear, then once in my right ear with her other hand, then three times in the left ear. ¡°At least I know your conditioning is still intact.¡± Dr. Bolivic said, and I blinked my eyes at her. ¡°When are you going to start?¡± I asked. ¡°Start?¡± She asked and chuckled. ¡°I''m already done.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± I said. ¡°Good work, then.¡± Dr. Bolovic laughed and put a hand on my shoulder. ¡°Come and see me when you have a free hour... or ten.¡± I smiled. ¡°It''s okay, Anna.¡± I said. ¡°I''m dealing with it.¡± ¡°Actually, I think you''re ignoring it as much as you can, even though it''s now more a part of you than you ever wanted it to be.¡± I took a deep breath and let it out. ¡°My couch is always open.¡± Dr. Bolivic said. ¡°As long as you call first and I can clear my schedule.¡± ¡°I''m going to show up out of the blue now, just to see if that''s true.¡± I said. ¡°It was nice seeing you again.¡± ¡°Likewise.¡± Dr. Bolivic said and walked over to the door and left the room without saying a single word to Julia Grinder or the man at the table. ¡°Now.¡± Julia said. ¡°What can you tell me about this?¡± She asked and pointed to the particle generator on the screen. ¡°It''s the bane of humanity.¡± I said. ¡°It''s creation was a scientific breakthrough of gigantic proportions, just like the creation of the atomic bomb was.¡± ¡°There''s no need to be dramatic.¡± Julia said. ¡°If I was going to be dramatic, I''d be waving my arms around and screaming at you to destroy the thing, all the research ever done with it, and then plead and beg that you purge the knowledge of it from humanity for all time.¡± I said and pointed to the man that sat at the table. ¡°Look, he didn''t tap his finger.¡± Julia sighed. ¡°Can you describe what the projectile looked like that damaged and almost killed you?¡± ¡°Like I could ever forget that.¡± I said and stood up, and walked over to the vidwall. I brought up a touch keyboard and used it to search through the various files available, and found a rocket propelled grenade. I swiped the keyboard away and touched the rocket grenade. It gave me an exploded view, and I took out the payload and looked at the particle generator. I copied it and shrunk it down, then put it inside the grenade, and rather than put the thing back together, I left off the side panels. ¡°There.¡± I said. ¡°It had a regular propulsion drive that all RPGs have, but the sides opened up. It emitted beams as it rotated, and they cut through almost anything it hit; but, it was clearly designed for removing people.¡± ¡°What makes you say that?¡± Julia asked. ¡°Before it hit me, I saw it cut only an inch or so into the concrete in front of me.¡± I said. ¡°If it had been designed to go at full power, the beams would have gone at least three feet down into the earth.¡±Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Julia looked at the vidwall and nodded. ¡°You''re right.¡± She said. ¡°It''s yield was much lower than it should have been, and it was only launched at five separate areas before your ''Rolling Tide'' overtook their positions and recovered not only their portable launchers, but their supply as well.¡± ¡°Can I curse openly now?¡± I asked. ¡°You idiots are going to use them, aren''t you?¡± ¡°If we can duplicate it.¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°They are already using it against us.¡± Julia said. ¡°If we don''t develop it as well, they will keep killing us in droves.¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°You don''t want S.C.R.A.P.E. to unleash this in a populated area, Jack.¡± Julia said. ¡°You know they will, once they get rid of us.¡± I closed my mouth and didn''t say anything, because I couldn''t argue that they wouldn''t. They would do it just to get the point across that they were in control, and we all knew it. ¡°I''m not a weapon designer.¡± I said. ¡°I''m just a-¡± ¡°You just reconstructed exactly what the enemy was using against us.¡± Julia said and cut me off. ¡°Either you have an aptitude for it, or you have a lot more experience with it than we know.¡± ¡°You already have me over a barrel with Sandra feeding my career information to them.¡± I said and sighed. ¡°Do you really need to imply that I have personally committed treason and designed weapons for the enemy?¡± ¡°I just want you to realize what the true gravity of the situation is.¡± Julia said. ¡°Oh, I know.¡± I said. ¡°You''re going to make me break my word... again... and force me to kill even more people.¡± ¡°No, we are going to do that.¡± Julia said. ¡°As long as you can figure out how to reproduce their projectiles.¡± ¡°Why me?¡± I asked. ¡°You must have hundreds of researchers working on it already.¡± ¡°We do, and they are all convinced that it''s impossible to have a particle generator small enough to fit inside an RPG projectile, despite having a dozen of them to look at.¡± ¡°Oh, god.¡± I said and rubbed my forehead. ¡°You opened one, didn''t you?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°How many people died in the explosion?¡± I asked. ¡°How do you-¡± ¡°Thirty-six.¡± The man said. ¡°Not counting the AIs, robotic assistants, or supplementary programs.¡± I sighed and shook my head. ¡°You can''t treat this like regular ammunition or explosives.¡± I said. ¡°That is not how it works.¡± ¡°How does it work then?¡± Julia asked. ¡°Give us something.¡± ¡°I... I can''t.¡± I said. ¡°I don''t want you to research this.¡± ¡°Jack, you have to help us.¡± Julia said. ¡°Do more people have to die, just so you will give us a clue to discover the secret?¡± ¡°No.¡± I said. ¡°No one else needs to die.¡± I sighed again. ¡°The only way to control the output, regulate the particle generator, and run the optical sensors to tell the projectile to open at the right spot to maintain the most coverage as well as keep a stable flight...¡± Both Julia and the man leaned forward to hear my answer. ¡°...is with a rudimentary AI.¡± Julia stood up straight and had surprise on her face, but the man slowly nodded. I looked at him, and he looked back at me. ¡°You understand what happened, right? At the lab and with the explosion?¡± I asked him. ¡°It was protecting itself, and the integrity of it''s body.¡± The man said, and I nodded. ¡°It''s the only logical explanation.¡± I said. ¡°It doesn''t even have to be a full AI. A supplementary one would do it.¡± ¡°What about a micro-drone?¡± Julia offered. ¡°You can use one of the micro-drones as a scanner, but not as the main processor.¡± I said. ¡°It''s too limited in it''s responses to handle that much information.¡± ¡°Well.¡± Julia said and cleared off the vidwall. ¡°You''ve given us quite a lot to think about and discuss.¡± ¡°Does this mean I''m free to go?¡± I asked. Julia laughed. ¡°You can leave the building and go home, but you are not ''free to go''.¡± She said. ¡°You will be taking babysitters with you.¡± ¡°Really?¡± I asked and looked at the man, who shrugged. ¡°As long as it''s not the squad that brought me in.¡± ¡°No, they are only the fetch patrol.¡± Julia said. ¡°You''ll meet your babysitters when you get to the lobby.¡± I nodded and walked over to Sandra, then tapped her on the shoulder. She jumped a little and looked at me, and I hit the button on the noise-cancelling headphones and they released their hold on her ears. I took them off of her and folded them up, and tossed them to the security guard that had given them to me. They bounced off his chest and landed on the floor, and I smiled. ¡°Come on, Sandra.¡± I said. ¡°They''re letting us out on good behavior.¡± Sandra stood up and took my hand, and I led her over to the door. I bent down and picked up the headphones, then tucked them into the pouch they came from on the guard''s combat harness. ¡°No kick in the groin for you today.¡± I said, and the guard smiled. The other guard opened the door for us and we left the room, and went to the elevator. Only one guard was with us, and for a moment I thought that it might have been a deliberate insult; then the man spoke. ¡°I can''t believe they let you go with a single guard.¡± The man said and shook his head. ¡°There''s no way I can handle two people alone.¡± ¡°That''s two people determined to resist.¡± I said, and his eyes widened. ¡°I didn''t mean us.¡± I chuckled. ¡°We''re not resisting at all, so it''s no big deal.¡± The man looked like he was trying not to frown; but, he couldn''t quite make himself believe that I wouldn''t try to resist in some capacity. I was tempted to tease him a little, then changed my mind. The elevator ride was going to end any second, so both his backup and my babysitters would be appearing any moment now. The elevator arrived at the lobby and the doors opened, and I was greeted with a sight I didn''t think I would see again. ¡°Hey, rich man.¡± Crush said and waved. ¡°Looks like we''re looking after you again.¡± His squad commander stood beside him, but the other three were absent. I walked over to them with Sandra, and stopped in front of them. ¡°Hi, Alyssa.¡± I said. ¡°Hi, Jack.¡± ¡°Where are the other members of the squad?¡± I asked. ¡°Waiting for their turn on watch.¡± Alyssa said and motioned to the security station. ¡°Crush, lead on.¡± She said and then looked at me. ¡°After you.¡± I nodded slightly and went through the security station without incident, Sandra went through behind me, and Alyssa went last. We left the building and the troop transport was there. ¡°We even get a ride back.¡± I said, surprised. The door to the transport opened and the cyborg there stepped out. ¡°Hey, look who''s walking free.¡± Frank said. ¡°Well, I''m walking at least.¡± I said, and he laughed. ¡°Hop aboard, and I''ll get you back to your living sector.¡± ¡°Thanks, Frank.¡± I said. We all got onboard and Frank drove us back to my apartment. We arrived there some time later, and he dropped us off without any fuss and left us alone. ¡°That just seems weird.¡± I said as I walked to the door of my living area. I scanned my hand and entered the code, and told it I had a heavy load again. ¡°I''m staying here in the lobby by the door.¡± Crush said. ¡°Weight regulations for extended stays are pretty strict.¡± I nodded and cancelled the heavy freight elevator. ¡°I''ll have some food brought down to you.¡± ¡°Thanks, but I already ate.¡± Crush said and pat his stomach. ¡°Those new brown algenate discs are amazing and well worth the points to buy extra.¡± ¡°I''m glad you like the change.¡± I said as the door to the lobby opened. ¡°Hey, that kind of sounds like...¡± ¡°Yeah, it was me.¡± I said. ¡°Once I had to eat one for myself... well...¡± ¡°Then you getting hurt benefited every single cybernetically-enhanced being in the Cavern.¡± Crush laughed. ¡°It was a horrible way for it to happen, but look what you''ve done with it.¡± He said. ¡°On behalf of everyone, thanks a lot.¡± ¡°Did everyone hear that?¡± I said to the people in the lobby. ¡°I''m being thanked for my selfishness.¡± ¡°Get going, and don''t try to escape from your luxurious apartment and hot girlfriend.¡± Crush laughed. ¡°You poor bastard.¡± I laughed, and hit the button for the elevator. Sandra, Alyssa and I got in, and it descended to my floor. ¡°The both of you are under house arrest for the foreseeable future.¡± Alyssa said when we got out of the elevator. ¡°You will not go anywhere without an escort.¡± ¡°I assumed as much.¡± I said and walked to the apartment. ¡°I won''t be going anywhere, though.¡± ¡°Unlike Jack, I need to work.¡± Sandra said. ¡°I thought you were staying off for sick leave.¡± I said and stopped in front of my door. ¡°You haven''t finished recovering yet.¡± ¡°I''m not doing the tour, I''m going to the administration building.¡± Sandra said. ¡°They said that a desk job is a lot easier than standing on my feet for most of the day.¡± ¡°Crush will go with you when you leave the building.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°I won''t argue, because I know I don''t have a choice.¡± Sandra said and went to the next apartment. ¡°What are you doing?¡± I asked. ¡°After what just happened, I think we need some alone time.¡± Sandra said. ¡°But...¡± ¡°Goodnight, Jack.¡± Sandra said and went into the apartment I had given to her parents. L.I.F.E. Begins 039: Dreams Of The Father ¡°Well, that was a little weirder than I thought it was going to be.¡± I said and opened the door to my apartment, then motioned to Alyssa. ¡°Come in.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Alyssa said and went inside, then stopped just inside the door. ¡°What a mess!¡± ¡°What?¡± I went in and saw half of the floor was torn up, the door had been removed from my immersion chamber, and parts and accessories were scattered all over. ¡°Well, I guess Dennis managed to push my requisition through for my chair upgrade.¡± Alyssa hopped out of the way of a service robot that grabbed one of the parts near her on the floor, and she shook her head. ¡°You can''t live here like this.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I''ve lived in worse conditions.¡± ¡°So have I.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°That''s why I know you shouldn''t.¡± I laughed. ¡°What do you suggest I do? Get another apartment?¡± ¡°Come and stay with me.¡± Alyssa said boldly. I saw the look on her face, and she has surprised herself with that statement. ¡°I... I mean...¡± Alyssa''s face flushed red. ¡°Thank you for the generous and unexpected offer.¡± I said and smiled as I took her hand. ¡°I would take you up on it, but I''m needed here.¡± Alyssa looked around again, and the only place that didn''t have parts on or near it, was the bed. ¡°At least you''ll be able to sleep if you want.¡± ¡°They don''t need to sleep.¡± I said and pointed to the robots working in the immersion chamber with my free hand. ¡°I doubt I''ll be sleeping much with this racket going on.¡± ¡°Just turn off your ear mods and leave them in passive mode.¡± Alyssa said, and didn''t try to let my hand go, despite my thought that she believed she should. ¡°You''ll only hear something spoken directly to you.¡± I looked at her and smiled. ¡°Now that is a great idea.¡± The door admittance chime sounded, and I looked at the vidwall. Nurse Deloris was there, and I hit the button to open the door for her. Alyssa let go of my hand just as the door opened. ¡°I''ve got something planned for tonight, so I came early.¡± Nurse Deloris said as she entered my apartment, then stopped when she saw the mess. ¡°You are not staying here.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± I asked. ¡°This is not a proper environment to do cybernetic maintenance and cleaning.¡± Nurse Deloris said. ¡°I won''t even consider doing a checkup on you in this pigsty.¡± ¡°That''s two professional opinions for me to not be here.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Are you going to offer for me to stay at your place, too?¡± ¡°Hell, no.¡± Nurse Deloris said. ¡°I''ve got a date tonight.¡± ¡°Don''t tell me it''s getting serious between you and my best friend Steven.¡± ¡°He would kill you for saying his name like that.¡± Nurse Deloris said adamantly. ¡°Okay, you just told me it''s serious.¡± I said and laughed, and her face flushed red. ¡°Don''t worry, I won''t tell him, assuming he thinks about coming to see me.¡± ¡°I could mention it...¡± ¡°No, thanks.¡± I said. ¡°I won''t have you intentionally distract him from paying attention to you.¡± Nurse Deloris smiled, then gathered the things she needed. ¡°Is there a place close by where I can work on you?¡± ¡°Possibly.¡± I said and walked over to the connecting door to the apartment next door. I knocked, and a minute later, Nathan opened the door. ¡°How is Sandra?¡± ¡°A wreck.¡± Nathan said. ¡°She hasn''t stopped crying since she came in.¡± ¡°I''m sorry about that.¡± I said. ¡°Can you tell us what happened?¡± Noreen asked as she came over to the door. ¡°If I can borrow your couch for about half an hour.¡± I said, and they nodded. Nurse Deloris, Alyssa, and myself went into the next apartment, and the nurse put down towels for me to lay on. While she gave me a quick bath and performed my cybernetic maintenance, I told Noreen and Nathan about everything that happened in the interview, up until the point where Sandra had to wear the noise-cancelling headphones. It was all military secrets after that. ¡°No wonder she''s so distraught.¡± Nathan said. ¡°To have all of that come out, and in front of who knows how many witnesses.¡± ¡°I think she surprised herself with it, too.¡± I said as Nurse Deloris finished covering my synthetic parts with lubrication fluid. ¡°It was one thing to live through it gradually; but, when she went over everything out loud like that and admitted to everything...¡± ¡°It made her realize what she''s done.¡± Noreen said and sighed. ¡°Jack, I''m sorry.¡± ¡°It''s not your fault.¡± I said. ¡°She''s a grown woman and can make her own decisions.¡± ¡°I didn''t help things by trying to convince her to move in with you.¡± Noreen said. ¡°Now that I know, she must have assumed she could still carry on with everything and I wouldn''t be any wiser about her actions.¡± I said, and then chuckled. ¡°That''s probably true, too.¡± ¡°Jack...¡± Nurse Deloris wrapped a towel around me so I could stand up without flashing Noreen or Nathan, and I held the towel with one hand and reached out to put my real hand on Noreen''s face. ¡°Not. Your. Fault.¡± I said and stroked her cheek with my thumb. ¡°I can''t stress that enough.¡± I said and looked at Nathan. ¡°It''s all your fault.¡± ¡°Wh-what?¡± Nathan said, shocked. ¡°Just kidding.¡± I said and moved my hand from Noreen''s face to his shoulder. ¡°Don''t blame yourself, your wife, or your daughter.¡±Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°But...¡± ¡°Sometimes things just happen.¡± I said and let his shoulder go. ¡°Jack.¡± Noreen said and I looked at her. ¡°What are you going to do now?¡± ¡°I''m going back to my apartment to try and get some work done, then I''ll probably get some sleep.¡± I said. ¡°Jack...¡± ¡°Yes, I know that''s not what you meant.¡± I smiled. ¡°It''s all I want to admit to at the moment, though.¡± Noreen sighed, and you could almost feel her depression fill the room. I reached out and touched her face again, then leaned in close and placed a lingering kiss on her cheek. ¡°You won''t have to move.¡± I said when I leaned back. ¡°I gave you this apartment.¡± ¡°But... but that was on the condition Sandra moved in with you.¡± Noreen said. ¡°She did.¡± I said. ¡°There was no condition that she had to stay.¡± Noreen wrapped her arms around me and started to cry. ¡°Shh. It''s okay.¡± I said and rubbed her back with both of my hands, and was very careful about the pressure my synthetic limb was applying to her. My towel was held in place by the pressure between us, and after a few minutes, she took several deep breaths and let me go. I quickly grabbed the towel to keep it in place, and smiled. ¡°I''ll see you later.¡± I said, and walked over to the connecting door with Alyssa and Nurse Deloris right behind me. ¡°He got your nice top all messy with lubrication fluid.¡± Nathan whispered, but with my ear modifications I heard him clearly. ¡°I don''t care.¡± Noreen whispered back. It took me a moment before I realized that was one of the best compliments I had received in a while, considering how much she loved clothes. I thought about turning and saying thank you, then thought if I did that, they would know I had heard them from so far away. I successfully ignored my impulse and led Alyssa and Nurse Deloris into my apartment and shut the connecting door. ¡°Well, that was really awkward.¡± Nurse Deloris said, which made me smile, and she put the things she had used on me, back in the bathroom. ¡°On that note, goodnight.¡± I did laugh at that. ¡°See you in the morning.¡± ¡°Send me a message about where you''re staying.¡± Nurse Deloris said and pointed at me. ¡°Get changed and leave. Do not sleep here.¡± She said almost angrily, like she believed I wasn''t going to listen to her. ¡°Do you understand?¡± ¡°I''ll take him out of here, once he gathers some of the things he''ll need to be away for a few days.¡± Alyssa said. Nurse Deloris nodded to her and left the apartment without another word. ¡°How exactly are you going to get me to leave my apartment?¡± I asked as a joke, since I was going to leave anyway, and started to put on a fresh unitard. Alyssa''s hand darted out and grabbed the skin on the back of my neck and squeezed. ¡°I believe mother cats do this to kittens that don''t listen.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Ow! Ow! Ow!¡± I said and hopped from foot to foot. ¡°I''ll go! I''ll go!¡± ¡°That''s better.¡± Alyssa said and let me go. ¡°Now get your things.¡± ¡°Geez, you don''t have to be so pushy.¡± I said and finished getting dressed, then took out the portable display from the vidwall and transferred the calibration protocols for the new chair to it, then a pile of random files that I could work on, as well as several of the VR programs that had been on my father''s old server. I passed the portable display to Alyssa and opened the closet with my backpack in it. I took it out and looked at the contents, added a dozen brown algenate discs, 3 generic unitards, and a bottle of lubrication fluid just in case. ¡°Hey, Rusty! Want to go for a walk?¡± I asked, and heard several thumps from the next closet. I opened the door and Rusty hopped out, and looked very excited. His tail wagged vigorously, and I found out the source of the bangs. ¡°Amanda? Can you come along?¡± I asked, and heard a beep from Rusty. I knelt and opened his back panel, and saw the message.
You need a new communication pad.
I cleared the message and closed the panel. ¡°To be fair, I was unconscious for most of the time I''ve been away this time, and when I wasn''t, I was under guard by System Security and wouldn''t have been allowed to talk to you anyway.¡± There was no beep from either Rusty or the vidwall. ¡°I didn''t say I didn''t want to talk to you, dammit! I said I couldn''t!¡± There was still no beep, and I sighed. ¡°Let''s go.¡± Alyssa led the way over to the door of my apartment, then the three of us... well, four if you counted Amanda inside Rusty... left the apartment at a good pace and went to the elevator. We left the elevator and told Crush where we were going. He made several disparaging comments about his squad commander, and she dented his chest plate with her fist as a warning. He only laughed and told us to have fun, and we left the lobby and hopped into a Tube car to head several living sections away. What I hadn''t known at the time was that Sandra had entered my apartment through the connecting door to talk to me, and I wasn''t there. She gathered up the few things she had managed to sneak into my apartment over the time we had been seeing each other and left. Just like that, she had moved out without even discussing things with me first. In my ignorance, I rode the Tube car to Alyssa''s living section, and we entered it without doing a hand scan. ¡°It''s broken.¡± Alyssa said, almost as if she could read my mind. ¡°Why didn''t...¡± ¡°You''re kidding, right?¡± Alyssa asked and stepped into the waiting elevator. ¡°Getting scanned all the time is a pain in the ass.¡± ¡°I just do it without thinking about it.¡± I said. ¡°You''ll start to hate it too when your processors ramp up to full speed.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Microseconds count then.¡± I blinked my eyes at her, and she chuckled. ¡°For someone that worked on cyborgs for so long, you don''t know a lot about cyborgs.¡± Alyssa said, and I shook my head. ¡°It''s not that... it''s that I''m not...¡± ¡°Go ahead and say it.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°I''m... dammit, I am a cyborg.¡± ¡°There you go.¡± Alyssa said and the elevator opened on a very low floor. We had to walk down three hallways to get to her place. ¡°You''re one of us now, despite your lack of cohesiveness.¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± Alyssa chuckled. ¡°You''re still lopsided and walk funny, because you''re favoring your normal leg.¡± She said and opened her apartment. ¡°My home is my home, so don''t touch anything.¡± I snorted a laugh and stepped inside. There was a small work station that was a couch and a table, that I assumed folded down into a bed, mainly because I couldn''t see one. There was a small bathroom off the living room, and that was it. ¡°Wow, I didn''t think they still had cubicle apartments.¡± I said and Rusty barked his agreement as he ran into the apartment and hopped up onto the couch. ¡°They left them for the military''s use.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°They are small enough that they didn''t need extra reinforcement for cyborgs with heavy mods, and big enough that you don''t feel cramped.¡± ¡°Are you sure about that?¡± I asked and held out my backpack. She pointed to a closet by the door and I put it in there. ¡°With the two of us here, it''s going to be pretty cramped.¡± ¡°I think you''re confusing cramped with cozy.¡± Alyssa said and put my portable display on the workstation table. ¡°Cozy, huh?¡± ¡°If I hated your guts it would be cramped.¡± Alyssa said and smiled. ¡°As it is, I don''t mind looking at your not-unpleasant and slightly shocked face.¡± That made me laugh and that broke the tension I hadn''t realized had surrounded us. It was a little strange to be in this kind of situation with someone that was supposed to be keeping an eye on me and my activities, and yet I was now sharing her living space instead. The irony of it in comparison to what my situation with Sandra had been like, was not lost on me. ¡°Do you mind if I do a bit of work?¡± I asked, and Alyssa shook her head. ¡°Do you want to fold the bed down first?¡± ¡°We can do that after we eat.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°You have about an hour.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± I said and sat down on the couch, and moved over to leave her plenty of room to sit as well. I started up my portable display, then Rusty had to plug his tail into it so Amanda could enter the password for me. I pat Rusty to thank them both, and brought up the code for the first VR program Amanda and I had been in when I ran the old L.I.F.E. program. I had been thinking about the things that I needed to change for a while now, copied the file into a new workspace, then started to alter the code to fit our much better technology. I worked for an unknown amount of time, and then I felt a hand on my shoulder. ¡°What do you want for supper?¡± Alyssa asked me. ¡°Anything is fine.¡± I said. ¡°If you''re making it, that is.¡± Alyssa laughed. ¡°Did you see a kitchen when you came in?¡± I opened my mouth to respond, then smiled. ¡°Then order me up a burger and fries, cyborg special, and get anything you want.¡± ¡°Jack...¡± ¡°Or we can eat one of the discs I have in my backpack.¡± I said. ¡°Which do you prefer?¡± ¡°The take-out places have been using the discs in their food, so it depends on if we want to spend more points for the same thing.¡± ¡°Spend it is.¡± I said. ¡°You order and I''ll pay.¡± I smiled. ¡°It''s the least I can do for letting me stay at your place.¡± Alyssa nodded and placed the order. I paid and just lightly worked while we waited. I didn''t want to get lost in the code and have to be reminded to eat again. L.I.F.E. Begins 040: Dreams Of The Son Alyssa and I sat next to each other and ate a nice meal. She had been right about the restaurants, because they had mixed the brown algenate discs into their food and it tasted so much better than it normally did. There wasn''t much room on the couch, so we kept our elbows tucked in while we ate. ¡°Was that really you that altered the recipe?¡± Alyssa asked as she finished the last bite of her hamburger and sat back to look at me. ¡°I really did.¡± I said. ¡°I can show you a copy of the submission form if you want solid proof.¡± Alyssa chuckled. ¡°No, I guess I can take your word for it.¡± ¡°Are you sure? I am still technically your boss.¡± ¡°Yeah, I don''t think I can forget about that.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°You pulled my squad off advanced deployment to babysit you.¡± ¡°I''m not going to apologize for that.¡± ¡°Why, because you''re the boss and I needed to follow your orders?¡± ¡°No, because it saved your life.¡± I said, and she looked at me with wide eyes. ¡°You saw the front line get ambushed.¡± Alyssa opened her mouth to say that she would have been fine; but, they both knew that she could have died at any time if her squad had been deployed on the front lines. Especially since they didn''t know about the advanced weaponry that had been available to be used against them. I finished my meal a moment later, and we tossed the empty containers into the recycler. The silence seemed to drag on and became a little uncomfortable, and I thought about using my portable display again to get some more work done. Instead I sent a low priority message to Nurse Deloris and told her where I was staying. ¡°Do you want to watch some vids?¡± Alyssa asked and touched the wall. Only a single 3 foot by 3 foot wall panel lit up to show the screen, and not the entire wall like in my apartment. ¡°I''m sorry it''s not a full-¡± ¡°There''s no way you could get the full wall unit in here.¡± I said and cut her off, then chuckled. ¡°If you split it and had half on this wall and half on that wall, maybe it would fit.¡± ¡°That would be hard to watch.¡± Alyssa said and smiled. ¡°Not really.¡± I said. ¡°If you could somehow sit yourself upside down on the ceiling in the opposite corner, you''d have a great view.¡± Alyssa laughed. ¡°I''ll pass, thanks.¡± ¡°Good, because I think keeping the cozy version is better.¡± I said. ¡°Cozy version?¡± ¡°Well, you said you didn''t mind seeing my not-unpleasant face.¡± I said and put my synthetic arm around her shoulders. ¡°Otherwise this couch would be cramped.¡± Alyssa''s smile faded. ¡°I''m not going to be your rebound girl.¡± I opened my mouth to say that wasn''t the case, that all I wanted was to get more comfortable; but, I could tell she wouldn''t believe that, even if I explained that it gave her more room on the couch. I took my arm back and tried, unsuccessfully, to put it between us instead. Alyssa saw the problem and moved over slightly, which put her dangerously close to the edge of the couch, and I saw the realization on her face about what I had tried to do. ¡°I''m such a jerk.¡± Alyssa said, and I heard the apologetic tone in her voice. ¡°I assumed you were trying to make a move on me.¡± ¡°What if I was?¡± I asked, even though I wasn''t. ¡°Why is that so bad?¡± ¡°You''re still living with the girl you intend to spend the rest of your life with.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Which I assume may change soon, considering what happened between you.¡± I sighed and rubbed my face with my normal hand. ¡°Yeah, I... no, I mean... I can''t just... dammit.¡± I sighed again. ¡°I love her; but, I can''t trust her as far as I can throw her with my normal arm.¡± I said. ¡°She moved in with me, which means she gave up her own apartment, and I can''t just toss her out without...¡± ¡°That''s not your concern.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°It''s not your responsibility to take care of her, not after what she did.¡± ¡°But...¡± ¡°Yes, I know that if she had just been open and honest with you from the start, you might not be where you are now; but, she wasn''t and you''re here now.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°You aren''t wishy-washy in any other decisions you''ve made in your life so far, so why are you hesitating now?¡±Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. ¡°I don''t know.¡± I said. ¡°It should be easy. I''m logical, analytical, and can do euclidean math in my head without using the cybernetic upgrade package; but, when it comes to her, I...¡± I shook my head. ¡°Logic and reason go out the window.¡± It was Alyssa''s turn to sigh, then she nodded and tapped my synthetic hand. I lifted the arm and she leaned into me, then I draped my arm over her shoulders like I had tried to do only a moment before. Only this time, the both of us were considering it was something more than just conserving space. We watched several entertainment programs and wasted quite a bit of time just keeping each other company. The silence between us wasn''t strained or uncomfortable, either. Neither of us was tempted to speak or felt the need to fill the silence with anything except each other''s breathing. I was actually feeling quite relaxed by the time Alyssa yawned beside me. ¡°Bed time.¡± I said to her, and she nodded. We stood up and moved out of the way of the couch and table, and I picked up my portable display while Alyssa hit the button. Rusty barked at the table as it folded down out of the way and the couch folded out to fill the space. It became a nice-sized bed, considering the small space it was in, and it reminded me of living in a similar one of these apartments myself. I sat down on the edge of the bed with my portable display while Alyssa went into the bathroom. Once again I only did light work while I waited for her to finish, and when she came out of the bathroom wearing a fresh unitard, I shut my portable display down and tucked it into the same closet that I had my backpack in. When I turned around, Alyssa already had a sheet and blanket on the bed. ¡°Which side of the bed do you normally sleep on?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°Whatever side you want me on.¡± I said. ¡°That''s avoiding the question.¡± ¡°Technically, it''s me deflecting my response to hear your choice instead.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°Do you want to cuddle with the synthetic side or the normal side?¡± I asked and indicated each one as I spoke. ¡°Would you hate me if I said synthetic?¡± Alyssa asked, because she knew of my previous aversion to cybernetics. ¡°Only if it''s because you prefer it.¡± I said. ¡°If it''s because you don''t want to take the chance that you might hurt me, then I appreciate your concern.¡± Alyssa smiled slightly. ¡°I don''t want to have to lock my limbs down like the time we shared a bed at your vacation house.¡± ¡°I wondered why you stayed in the same pose all night.¡± Alyssa chuckled. ¡°I was really afraid that I would move or roll over in the night and crush you or something.¡± ¡°I''m glad you didn''t.¡± I said. ¡°What would that report look like on the general''s desk?¡± I asked. ¡°The target of protection was severely injured when primary guardian rolled over in her sleep.¡± Alyssa snorted a laugh and climbed onto the bed, and I climbed in beside her. We laid down together and I pulled the blanket up and over us. Surprisingly, there was actually a bit more room for the two of us to be side by side with the couch folded down; but, I lifted my arm anyway and Alyssa cuddled in to my chest and I hugged her shoulder. ¡°Goodnight, Jack.¡± ¡°Goodnight, Alyssa.¡± I said, and closed my eyes. I felt bad that this would be the second woman I had been in a bed with since Sandra''s accident, and neither of them had been Sandra. I knew that was an irrational feeling, considering how things were progressing between Sandra and I. I couldn''t help feel it, though. ¡°Jack?¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°Can... can I touch it?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°You complained earlier about me putting an arm around you, and now you want to-¡± ¡°Not that!¡± Alyssa exclaimed, and I opened my eyes to look at her. ¡°Your synthetic chest!¡± ¡°Oh.¡± I said, and used my normal hand to quickly unfasten the unitard I wore. ¡°Go ahead.¡± Alyssa eased the cloth aside and her hand rubbed along the scar tissue between the normal and artificial parts, then she traced her fingertips across the synthetic chest muscle. ¡°They say that these new bio-memetic attachments increase the sensitivity matrix, and it''s almost like having real skin.¡± ¡°Not so far.¡± I said. ¡°It''s more like you''re touching me with gloves on.¡± Alyssa frowned. ¡°That''s not right.¡± ¡°Yeah, I think it''s because I haven''t had a cybernetic part before and my brain can''t handle the exchange.¡± ¡°No, I mean even I get normal sensations properly. You should be almost ticklish when I touch you like this.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Really?¡± Alyssa nodded. ¡°Then I guess this is a good time to catch up on some reading I have to do.¡± I said and closed my eyes again. The first thing I did was check on what Alyssa had said earlier about my processors ramping up to speed and making microseconds count. That was in the basic cybernetic files and reminded myself that it took several months for the brain to adjust to the foreign material inside of it, namely the cybernetics, and then the interface would be able to handle the extra information load. The second thing I did was check the difference between my old interface records and the new one. The new one had a significant drop off rate for compatibility, mainly because the doctor had been right. My brain had been thoroughly used to the old interface and was set in its ways, and the numbers showed that. I should have brought the portable maintenance station with me. I thought, then started to read the project files for the bio-memetic synthetic parts. It was interesting reading, especially if you were into the design and function of synthetic parts, and before I knew it, I had read through everything the lab technician Astra had given me assess to. I checked the time on my HUD, and saw that barely half the night had passed. Since I knew I wasn''t going to get any sleep again tonight, I started to sketch out plans for the things I would need to get the server up an functional. It may have been my father''s dream to get people to start using the L.I.F.E. system again; but, his ideas and outlook seemed to be too low for the current technology available. Just the interface alone needed a major change. I thought. It was too clunky and didn''t make sense not to have access to it at all times, and that was an inherent code that would need to be integrated into the main program and not the satellite programs. It could be done with the smaller programs, except that all of the smaller programs would need to be changed to include that code. It would be more difficult to make it part of the main program; but, it would save hundreds or even thousands of lines of code that would need to be in every satellite program. I couldn''t do much inside my head, with it being in limited mode until my brain adjusted, so I did what I could and then pushed it aside. I needed to at least try and get a few minutes of sleep, so I did my best to clear my thoughts and relaxed. I had a feeling that morning was going to come before I knew it, and I wasn''t going to be relaxing much, not with Alyssa here to make sure that I kept busy. Sorry! Not quite a chapter just yet... L.I.F.E. Begins 041: Testing, Testing Surprisingly, I woke up the next morning without being prompted or by having an alarm go off. I opened my eyes and looked up at an unfamiliar ceiling, then remembered where I was. I glanced at my exposed chest, and saw Alyssa snuggled up to it. She had a bit of drool coming out of her mouth, so I knew she was having a productive and deep sleep. By the looks of it, she had kissed several parts of my chest, which included parts on the real side. I knew this because she hadn''t quite removed all of her makeup the night before, and traces of it were left in strategic spots on both halves of my chest. I couldn''t fault her for it, because if she had been laying on her back and had given me permission to cuddle up and touch her chest, I would have kissed hers as well.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Since I didn''t want to wake her, I went over the research files again and highlighted the things I wanted to check for myself, once I got a hold of a portable maintenance kit. I was tempted to have one delivered, then I remembered that Nurse Deloris would be over later to give me a sponge bath. I used my free hand to reach down to the floor and opened Rusty''s back panel, and typed in a quick message and asked her to bring the kit with her. I set it for a delayed delivery, because I didn''t want to take the chance that it would wake the nurse up so early in the morning. I gently stroked Alyssa''s back, and she wiggled her body in closer to me somehow. I could feel her press herself against me, and the warmth of her body would have made me sweat if I hadn''t already adjusted my own internal temperature to compensate for it. I laid there in her warm embrace for what seemed like hours, and then I heard a soft beep from Rusty. I reached down to him again and flipped out his back panel. Nurse Deloris had received my message, and was on her way over to meet with me. L.I.F.E. Begins 041: Testing, Testing Surprisingly, I woke up the next morning without being prompted or by having an alarm go off. I opened my eyes and looked up at an unfamiliar ceiling, then remembered where I was. I glanced at my exposed chest, and saw Alyssa snuggled up to it. She had a bit of drool coming out of her mouth, so I knew she was having a productive and deep sleep. By the looks of it, she had kissed several parts of my chest, which included parts on the real side. I knew this because she hadn''t quite removed all of her makeup the night before, and traces of it were left in strategic spots on both halves of my chest. I couldn''t fault her for it, because if she had been laying on her back and had given me permission to cuddle up and touch her chest, I would have kissed hers as well. Probably a lot more than I would have normally, given the current situation. Since I didn''t want to wake her, I went over the research files in my head again and highlighted the things I wanted to check for myself, once I got a hold of a portable maintenance kit. I was tempted to have one delivered, then I remembered that Nurse Deloris would be over later to give me a sponge bath. I used my free hand to reach down to the floor and opened Rusty''s back panel, and typed in a quick message and asked her to bring the kit with her. I set it for a delayed delivery, because I didn''t want to take the chance that it would wake the nurse up so early in the morning. I gently stroked Alyssa''s back, and she wiggled her body in closer to me somehow. I could feel her press herself against me, and the warmth of her body would have made me sweat if I hadn''t already adjusted my own internal temperature to compensate for it. I laid there in her warm embrace for what seemed like hours, and then I heard a soft beep from Rusty. I reached down to him again and flipped up his back panel. Nurse Deloris had received my message and was on her way over to meet with me. I did a rough estimation in my head for how long it would take for her to get here, so far away from my own place, and looked at the woman cuddled up to me. We didn''t have much time left. ¡°Alyssa.¡± I whispered to her. ¡°Hm.¡± Alyssa shook her head a little without lifting it up, and she mumbled something unintelligible. ¡°It''s time to get up.¡± I said softly. ¡°No, love.¡± Alyssa said and kissed my chest. I felt the touch of her lips; but, it was like I was still wearing my unitard over the spot. ¡°Just... a few more... minutes.¡± Love? I thought, a bit surprised. No one ever called me by a pet name before. I stopped trying to wake her after that and just laid there, and I felt her relax as she took a deep breath. I didn''t keep track of the time as it passed, and before I knew it, there was a knock on the apartment door. Alyssa''s eyes opened immediately and she sat up right away. The bit of drool from her mouth had stretched out and was still connected to my chest, and she stared at it as it hung between us, like it was a monster that had snuck up on her in the dark. ¡°J-Jack...¡± There was another knock on her door and Alyssa hopped out of bed and went over to open it without another word. ¡°Good morning!¡± Nurse Deloris said as she brought in a large duffel bag that had the proper supplies inside to deal with me. Just like when she had come to my place the first time, she had brought everything she would need because she didn''t know what would be available for her to use. ¡°Morning.¡± Alyssa said without any inflection in her voice at all. ¡°Good morning.¡± I said normally. ¡°I hope you''re charging me for these supplies.¡± ¡°Darn right I am.¡± Nurse Deloris said and laughed. ¡°I couldn''t afford these things if my life depended on it!¡± I smiled and didn''t remind her that she was only working for 2 hours a day and still received a full day of points, and it wouldn''t take her long to be able to afford them without having to worry about how much they cost. Once again, she went around the apartment and stashed things everywhere, then put the bulk in the bathroom. She brought over the portable maintenance kit to the bed and lifted up the empty duffel bag. I pointed to the same closet I had stored my things in, and she tossed it in there. ¡°Are you ready for a bath?¡± Nurse Deloris asked happily. ¡°I think somebody had fun last night.¡± I said, and she laughed. ¡°I''m not one to kiss and tell, but... good god.¡± Nurse Deloris said and went into the bathroom for a minute to fill the basin with water. ¡°That man is a machine!¡± I snorted a laugh. ¡°Well, he does have the muscle enhancement and augment package.¡± ¡°Does he ever!¡± Nurse Deloris said and came out with the basin, soap, sponge, cloth, and several large towels. ¡°He knows how to use them, too.¡± ¡°Oh, I know.¡± I said and stood up as I slid off my unitard. ¡°Stephane has regaled me on several occasions about his extensive stamina.¡± Alyssa turned away so she wouldn''t see me naked, and Nurse Deloris easily noticed, because it was a small apartment and there wasn''t really any way for the movement to be disguised. ¡°I guess that means out of the three of us, only I had fun last night.¡± Nurse Deloris said and put a couple of towels down on the bed. ¡°I wouldn''t say that.¡± I said and laid down, and I saw Alyssa''s body stiffen as she waited for me to explain. ¡°I had a beautiful woman cuddle with me all night, and all I had to do was buy her dinner and enjoy her company.¡± Alyssa sighed loudly in relief, because I hadn''t implied that we had had sex. Since she was supposed to be watching and guarding me, it had saved her reputation in her eyes. ¡°That''s too bad.¡± Nurse Deloris said, and Alyssa''s body stiffened up again. ¡°Rebound sex is really exciting.¡± ¡°Rebound sex?¡± I asked and chuckled. ¡°When have you ever had rebound sex?¡± Nurse Deloris laughed. ¡°I pretend to have a relationship break up, obviously.¡± ¡°Oho!¡± I said. ¡°Is that why Stephane and you hit it off so well? He thought he was saving you from an ex-boyfriend?¡± Nurse Deloris nodded and started to wash the normal flesh side of my body. ¡°You''re not going to tell him, are you?¡±If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. I shook my head. ¡°No, there''s no point.¡± I said. ¡°Plus, I won''t ruin the magic you two have sparked in each other.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Nurse Deloris said. ¡°Now I won''t have to break your arm to keep you quiet.¡± I laughed, and she stopped washing me. ¡°What''s so funny?¡± Nurse Deloris asked. ¡°I didn''t doubt for a second that you would do that.¡± I said, and that made her laugh, too. Nurse Deloris finished washing my normal side and then cleaned my synthetic side. ¡°I''ll be back tonight for your scheduled maintenance check.¡± She said, as she applied some lubricating fluid to the cybernetic parts, then she handed me a fresh unitard. ¡°Thanks.¡± I said and stood up to get dressed. ¡°Actually, I should thank you.¡± Nurse Deloris said and gathered everything up. ¡°For what?¡± I asked. ¡°For not getting excited.¡± Nurse Deloris said and glanced down at my crotch. ¡°Most times I have to try and avoid touching people there, just so they won''t get the wrong idea.¡± ¡°I''m not going to ask how often that happens.¡± I said, and she chuckled. ¡°You really don''t want to know.¡± Nurse Deloris said. ¡°Then on behalf of my flaccid state, you''re welcome.¡± I said magnanimously, and that made her laugh again. ¡°I''ll see you tonight.¡± Nurse Deloris said and left the apartment. ¡°She''s pretty liberal.¡± Alyssa said when the apartment door closed. ¡°Most women are.¡± I said and stretched the normal half of my body. ¡°I''m just glad she''s comfortable enough around me to accept jokes like that, without thinking I''m trying to hit on her.¡± ¡°Were you trying to hit on her?¡± Alyssa asked softly, almost as if she didn''t want me to answer. ¡°Not at all.¡± I said. ¡°I don''t poach other people''s bed partners.¡± ¡°What... what if she was single?¡± ¡°She is single.¡± I said. Alyssa looked at me with wide eyes. ¡°But...¡± ¡°They''re only dating right now.¡± I explained. ¡°I could make a pass at her if I wanted to, but you heard her. She''s tired of patients thinking there''s more to their relationship than a nurse taking care of them.¡± ¡°You both act like you''re old friends.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°How... how do you do that?¡± ¡°We build on common ground.¡± I said and walked over to her, because she had stayed across the apartment from me and hadn''t come back after answering the door. ¡°We were both in the military, we''ve both experienced people in our lives being hurt, and being hurt ourselves.¡± I said and held up my synthetic hand and wiggled the fingers. Alyssa looked at my hand, and then looked at my face. ¡°Can you do that with me?¡± ¡°Do what?¡± I asked. ¡°Pretend that we''re friends.¡± Alyssa said, and her face flushed a little red. ¡°I don''t have to pretend.¡± I said and used the hand I held up to gently touch her face. ¡°We are friends.¡± ¡°But... we... we only...¡± ¡°We might not have known each other for very long, but we''ve been through a lot together.¡± I said, and then smiled. ¡°Some of which we can''t talk about.¡± Alyssa smiled and took my hand that touched her face. ¡°That''s a shame, isn''t it?¡± ¡°I can''t talk about it.¡± I said, and she chuckled. ¡°What am I going to do with you?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°Give me a hand with my calibration.¡± I said. ¡°It still feels like I''m touching you with a glove on.¡± ¡°Can we do that here?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°Shouldn''t you be in a maintenance bay or something?¡± ¡°If I had one that I trusted, sure.¡± I said and gave her hand a squeeze. ¡°For now I''ll use what''s available.¡± ¡°M-me?¡± Alyssa asked with wide eyes. I smiled at her expression, because it had both fear and longing in it. ¡°I''ll push the double entendre aside and only ask for the use of your hands. It''s only for about an hour or so to help work on my problems.¡± I said and tapped the back of my head with a normal fingertip. ¡°If that''s okay?¡± Alyssa nodded, and I led her over to the bed. ¡°I think we should fold it back up into a couch and a table.¡± I said. Alyssa pushed the button, and the top of the bed folded back into a couch while the table slid up to it''s normal height. I put the portable maintenance kit on the table and sat down, then opened it up and attached the leads to the ports behind my ear. ¡°I''ll get your portable display.¡± Alyssa said and went to the closet, then came back with the display and my backpack. ¡°Oh! Breakfast.¡± I said and started the full diagnostics program, then opened my backpack and took out 2 of the dozen brown algenate discs that were inside. I handed Alyssa one and pat the couch. She sat down and we opened the packages, then ate breakfast together while we waited for the diagnostic to run. ¡°These are so good.¡± Alyssa said and licked some of the crumbs from her lips before she took another bite. ¡°I could eat them all day and not get tired of them.¡± I nodded. ¡°That''s what I was going for.¡± I said. ¡°I don''t know how you all suffered through eating the original ones.¡± ¡°We had to.¡± Alyssa chuckled. ¡°It was either that or take the nutrition mod with the external intravenous feeding tube so we wouldn''t have to taste it.¡± I stopped eating my disc and looked at her. ¡°That''s why there''s so many cyborgs with the support backpacks?¡± Alyssa nodded. ¡°Once they took that modification, it removed their need for mouths.¡± She said. ¡°There was no need to chew or taste food anymore, or even a need to swallow anything.¡± ¡°Good god, that...¡± I shook my head. ¡°How many have filed complaints since these new brown algenate discs came out?¡± ¡°None.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°They haven''t tasted them, and actually can''t in most cases.¡± She said. ¡°You can''t complain about something that you haven''t experienced yourself.¡± ¡°I feel so bad for them.¡± I said, and she looked at me with wide eyes again. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because they are missing out on a basic human function.¡± I said. ¡°I can''t imagine going the rest of my life without tasting things, either good or bad.¡± Alyssa thought about that for a minute. ¡°Thanks to the way the algenate discs used to taste, it isn''t much of a loss for some people.¡± ¡°Not me.¡± I said. ¡°Not only would you lose out on food, you would also lose out on sharing things with...¡± I let my words trail off. ¡°What was that?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°Can you imagine not having the sensations of kissing someone you care about?¡± I asked her, and her mouth made that little ''o'' of surprise. ¡°I see these people do the full face mod, and I shiver inside because they''ll never kiss another pair of lips, or suckle a breast, or pleasure their partners with their mouths.¡± I explained and shook my head. ¡°No, I''d much rather lose an ear or a hand before I''d chose to lose my mouth.¡± ¡°You did.¡± Alyssa said and pointed to my synthetic hand. ¡°A hand and both ears, actually.¡± ¡°What was it that Astra said? Half an inch closer to the center of my chest and I would have been dead?¡± I asked. ¡°Or if I haven''t tilted my head back.¡± I made a ''pew'' sound and pointed to my forehead. ¡°You were lucky that you weren''t killed.¡± Alyssa said, and her voice dropped to a low whisper. ¡°I''m really glad you weren''t.¡± The maintenance kit beeped at me, and I checked the readouts. ¡°Yeah, this isn''t going to let me modify much.¡± I said and plugged my portable display into one of the available ports. ¡°I can tweak a few things with software, but I''ll need your help with the physical bridging of specific circuits.¡± ¡°I''ll do what I can.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Thanks.¡± I said and transferred the files I had marked in the personal storage in my head over to the portable display. I used the research project''s referenced formulas in combination with my own to give a rough approximation for the neural delay on my own cybernetic parts and their interaction with the normal parts of my body. With these magical numbers at my disposal, I could initialize a much better response rate for everything, including my own processing power. Alyssa had sat quietly beside me and watched me work. She waited patiently for me to ask for her assistance, and when it was necessary, I did. ¡°I can''t believe you''re making me do this.¡± Alyssa said as she used the special tool to pop open the small metal plate on the back of my skull. ¡°You''re just testing the electrical voltage.¡± I told her and handed her the proper tool for taking the measurements. ¡°It''s a bit invasive; but, the portable maintenance kit can''t give me the best reading over that part without a direct feed.¡± ¡°But...¡± ¡°I''m sorry if this makes you uncomfortable.¡± I said. ¡°It should only take a minute.¡± ¡°It''s not that.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°I''m not qualified to be doing this.¡± I chuckled. ¡°All you have to do is hold the probe against the outer casing.¡± ¡°Can''t you do it?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°If I had eyes in the back of my head and maybe a mirror.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Of course, if I had a scanner drone I would have had a result by now.¡± ¡°Then why don''t I requisition...¡± ¡°Please, just do it.¡± I said, and transferred the new interface protocol back into my cerebral implant. ¡°I''m going to re-initialize my main processor and the operating system, so when you hear the beep from the kit, stick the probe in.¡± I said. ¡°I need that initial reading, and then I can adjust the amplitude of the signals with my portable display.¡± ¡°How can you do that?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°Something like this shouldn''t work!¡± She said. ¡°How can you modify a read-only setting on your mental hardware?¡± ¡°By changing the reference in the files to reflect a modified data file.¡± I said. ¡°What I''m doing here is quick and dirty; but, it should give me a better reaction time than the unmodified data file does.¡± I used my HUD to select the proper shutdown and restart protocols, then I looked right at Alyssa. ¡°Get ready.¡± Alyssa nodded, so I closed my eyes and selected the restart option. L.I.F.E. Begins 042: Circuit Racing I watched the ''Shut Down'' icon on my HUD for what seemed like an eternity, and then the world went dark. It didn''t fade like I thought it would, like when I saw Alyssa''s eyes at the vacation house. It was just off, and there was no sight or sound at all. It was a bit disorienting to say the least; but, I could still feel everything on the normal side of my body, and the life sustaining cybernetics had their own independent power supply. Alyssa''s hand touched my neck and I knew the portable maintenance kit must have beeped at her and she was holding the probe where I had instructed her to. Those initial readings were going to tell me exactly how to adjust the formulas to set the neural interface to the proper settings, and I sighed in relief when my visual cortex started receiving information from my optical sensors. ¡°Scary, isn''t it?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°It''s like the whole world disappears.¡± ¡°I was just thinking that.¡± I said, and the maintenance kit beeped again. ¡°Okay, you can remove the probe.¡± ¡°Thank god.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Do I close this up?¡± ¡°Not yet.¡± I said. ¡°I might need you to lay a connecting strip between two of the secondary...¡± ¡°Absolutely not.¡± Alyssa said and closed up the small metal plate on the back on my skull and secured it properly. ¡°I am not doing anything of the sort.¡± ¡°Alyssa...¡± ¡°I said no!¡± She said and sat back down next to me on the couch and tossed the special tool onto the maintenance kit. I sighed. ¡°All right, if it needs to be done, I''ll wait for Nurse Deloris to come by tonight.¡± Alyssa looked like she wanted to keep arguing, then she clamped her mouth shut and crossed her arms. ¡°Has anyone ever told you that you look cute when you pout?¡± I asked as I looked at the probe results on my portable display, and out of the corner of my eye I saw her face as it flushed slightly red. ¡°Are you going to make a joke about why there''s a reason no one said it?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°No, you just look cute.¡± I said and smiled without looking at her directly, and I could still see her face as it went to a deeper red. ¡°These results are great!¡± I said, a bit more enthusiastically than I normally would. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°My guess for the angular frequency was spot on, the formulas gave me the proper time constant, and the reset resistance on the interface was only off by point zero zero eight ohms from the optimal setting.¡± Alyssa blinked her eyes at me. ¡°Wh-what?¡± I chuckled. ¡°Sorry, I should have given you a technobabble warning.¡± I said. ¡°What I should have said was that I won''t need the connecting strip at all. It''s only a slight update and another restart like the one I just did.¡± ¡°Oh! Well, that''s good.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°I didn''t like poking you inside the head like that.¡± ¡°I''m sorry about that.¡± I said and made the changes to the proper files and the new reference information, then loaded it back inside my head. ¡°Now get ready to catch me if I start to tilt.¡± Alyssa braced herself just in case, and I selected the restart option again. I had been tempted to override the loading procedure and skip the incidental files and only load the main operating system, then I realized I would only shave a second or two off the total time and didn''t bother. The complete darkness wasn''t that bad. When my hearing and sight came back, I took in a deep breath and let it out. I blinked my eyes and lifted both hands and flexed the fingers, and did the dexterity check with the thumb and finger touch. ¡°Yeah, that''s much better!¡± I said, and looked at Alyssa. ¡°I''d like a tactile test, if that''s okay?¡± Alyssa nodded, so I turned slightly on the small couch and reached up with my real hand. I lightly touched the side of her face, and stroked the skin gently. ¡°Real.¡± I said and dropped that hand, and reached up with my synthetic hand. I repeated the same motion on the other side of her face, and my eyes widened. ¡°Wow.¡± Alyssa''s face went red again, and the sensors in my fingertips detected the increased blood flow under her skin and the temperature increase, then put those numbers up on my HUD. I put my real hand up again and cupped both sides of her face at the same time. ¡°Alyssa, you were right.¡± I whispered. ¡°I''m getting so much more data from the synthetic hand that my real hand seems like it''s just an extra appendage.¡± ¡°...and that''s the problem with it.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°People are seduced by the reams of extra data. It''s why most people go for the full hand mods and leave the old flesh behind.¡± I thought about it for a minute, then remembered Cali and her desperate need for a normal human hand to touch her. ¡°Don''t worry.¡± I said and rubbed my thumbs across her cheeks. ¡°I was given the option to replace my real leg with a synthetic one, and I turned it down flat.¡± ¡°I''m glad.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°When you have too much replaced... you...¡± Her voice trailed off. I moved my hands from her face and down to the sides of her neck. ¡°You what?¡± ¡°You start losing your connection to humanity.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°It all starts to seem distant, and... and not real.¡± I smiled. ¡°Is that why you liked the party so much?¡± Alyssa nodded. ¡°Among other things.¡± ¡°That hamburger was delicious, wasn''t it?¡± I joked. Her mouth fell open in surprise, and I snorted a laugh.Stolen story; please report. ¡°I''m kidding.¡± I said and my hands slid down to her shoulders. ¡°J-Jack, I...¡± I knew what she was going to say, so I slid my hands all the way down her arms to her hands and held them. ¡°I''ve got some work to do, and I get lost in it sometimes.¡± I let her hands go. ¡°Please don''t be insulted if you speak to me and I don''t answer.¡± I said. ¡°You have to touch me to get my attention first.¡± ¡°I know.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°I did it yesterday to tell you about supper.¡± I smiled. ¡°Were you insulted when I didn''t answer until then?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Then let me apologize by buying you lunch.¡± I said and dug another brown algenate disc out of my backpack and handed it to her with a flourish. ¡°Ta-da!¡± It made her laugh, and that was why I did it. ¡°I''ll give you some room.¡± Alyssa said and stood up to leave me the whole couch and the table to work on. ¡°Where are you going to sit?¡± I asked, and she pulled a folding chair out of a closet and set it up. ¡°No, you can''t see your wall display from there.¡± I said and started to get up. ¡°Sit right there, mister.¡± Alyssa said in her squad command voice, and I sat back down. ¡°I''ve got a portable, too.¡± Alyssa pulled out a 5 inch wide tablet and turned it on, then sat down on the chair and started watching vids. I watched her for a couple of minutes, and she didn''t move or look up at me at all. I sighed mentally and disconnected the leads for the portable maintenance kit from behind my ear. I packed it up after detaching my portable display, then plugged it directly into the same ports behind my ear, now that it was safe to do so. I started the security verification process for the display and it''s secured files, and closed my eyes to wait. Surprisingly enough, it didn''t take long for the interface to verify who I was. I had expected an extended deep scan and transfer protocol adjustments, especially for the System linked files, but in less than ten seconds the verification process was complete and my HUD showed me the confirmation. ¡°Huh.¡± I opened my eyes and looked down at my portable display. ¡°What is it?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°I''m verified already.¡± Alyssa chuckled. ¡°Well, it can interface directly with your implants without all the human parts getting in the way, so it''s going to be a little faster.¡± I smiled. ¡°Okay, that makes sense.¡± ¡°Welcome to the cybernetic age, Mr. Cave Man.¡± Alyssa said, and it was my turn to chuckle. ¡°Do wonders await me in the digital world?¡± I asked, my voice full of hope. ¡°Of course not! It''s all spam and ads.¡± Alyssa said, and we both laughed. With my neural interface active, it created an overlay on my portable display and allowed me to use a mix of two and three dimensional viewing options, and I used it to full effect. I accessed one of the multitude of files I had access to from the System, and started pulling it apart. I would bring a line of code up on the display, reach out with my hands and pluck it from the flat display and set it into the space above in on my HUD. It wasn''t actually there, only in my HUD; but, it reacted to my movements and I manipulated the code with my fingers and repaired it, then put it back into the flat display. That is so cool. I thought, and then my thoughts drifted to my AI, Amanda. I concentrated on her and tried to speak to her, but not out loud. Amanda? ¡°OW! Stop shouting!¡± Amanda said in my ear and I turned my head to look in that direction. Even though it was a wall, with my HUD I saw that the couch I sat on extended out another 3 feet and Amanda sat there with me. It worked! I thought, and she winced at me. ¡°Stop that!¡± Amanda said and swatted at me, and her hand went through my face. ¡°Use your indoor voice, dammit!¡± I took a deep breath and relaxed, then imagined I was whispering. Is that better? ¡°Yes, thank god.¡± Amanda said. ¡°I really want to dive in your head and change the settings you''ve messed up!¡± You can do that? Amanda laughed. ¡°No, computers and interfaces are a complete mystery to me.¡± I smiled. I don''t suppose you can tell me what settings are wrong so I can adjust them myself? Amanda rolled her eyes. ¡°Yes, I could tell you.¡± I closed my eyes and imagined the most remorseful sounding voice I could muster, then I opened my eyes and gave her the best sad little boy imitation I could do. Amanda, I''m really sorry for everything that''s happened. Can you ever forgive me? I saw the instant reaction on her face and her defiant attitude evaporated. ¡°I''m still really angry at you.¡± Amanda said. I''m angry at myself, so that''s fair. I thought to her. Please, help me. Amanda reached out with a single finger and poked her fingertip into my temple. ¡°Watch your HUD.¡± I closed my eyes to give it a solid background, and then options and settings started to flow across my vision. At first it was faster than I thought I could handle, and then she hit the cognitive subroutine and I stopped ''seeing'' with my eyes and just let the information flow through me. Oh, wow. I thought in amazement. No wonder cybernetic programmers are so much faster! ¡°I have so much more to show you.¡± Amanda said happily. It took about an hour for her to go through all the settings and defaults I had accepted as correct, then we discussed and debated how much to change them. The most important one, which I personally had never seen because I hadn''t been a cybernetically-enhanced being before, was a software controlled strength limiter that could be set from ''weakling'' to ''overboard''. Amanda, why have I never seen this? I asked. ¡°It''s government controlled, and only accessible when you have cybernetic parts.¡± Amanda said. But, Amanda... I... I''ve worked on cyborgs for years! I thought indignantly at her. Why didn''t you tell me this was available? ¡°Same answer.¡± Amanda said. ¡°It didn''t have any relevance whatsoever, because it''s user-controlled and not alterable by anyone else.¡± Amanda. I thought in my normal voice. ¡°OW!¡± Amanda yelled and slapped my face, and my head jerked from it. What the hell? ¡°HOW WOULD YOU LIKE IT IF I SPOKE LIKE THIS ALL THE TIME?!?¡± Amanda hollered in my ear and I winced. ¡°STOP SHOUTING!¡± I''m sorry. I thought in my subdued voice. ¡°I told you that no one can access the program! It only becomes available when you gain an appendage that can harm others!¡± Amanda said. ¡°I''m surprised the doctor didn''t set the limiters to weakling when you first got your replacement parts.¡± He''s an idiot, that''s why. I thought and brought up the records from when I first woke up. Look at these. Amanda rifled through them and started to laugh. ¡°Oh, my god! How were you even awake with these settings?¡± I have no idea. I thought. I fixed what I could, though. ¡°Now I really regret not being able to talk to you that whole time.¡± Amanda said. ¡°I would have had you out of there in two days.¡± I stared at her with wide eyes, and she smiled coyly. ¡°That''s right.¡± Amanda said. ¡°Why do you think I was so upset at you?¡± Because I couldn''t talk- ¡°It''s because I couldn''t help you, stupid!¡± Amanda said. ¡°For someone who''s so smart, you can be a real idiot sometimes.¡± I sighed mentally. All right, I get it. I thought, and felt a hand on my shoulder. ¡°I don''t know what you''re doing, but it''s suppertime.¡± Alyssa said, and I turned to look at her. ¡°What? Supper?¡± I said out loud. Alyssa laughed. ¡°I''ve been sitting here for hours just watching you.¡± She said. ¡°You really get into your work.¡± I smiled. ¡°I told you.¡± ¡°So, hamburgers and fries?¡± ¡°What about pizza instead?¡± I asked. ¡°Ladies choice for toppings, of course.¡± Alyssa smiled. ¡°Are you sure you''re not going to regret that decision?¡± ¡°Hey, I trust you.¡± I said. ¡°As long as you don''t order sea slugs or grubs.¡± Alyssa pretended to gag. ¡°Eww! You know someone who ordered that?¡± I nodded. ¡°My friend thought it was funny as hell.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°I didn''t trust him to order food for about a year after that.¡± ¡°No wonder!¡± Alyssa said. ¡°I''ll put the order through.¡± ¡°I''m paying.¡± I said, and she looked at me like she wanted to argue. ¡°You''re still letting me stay here, so it''s only fair I buy the food.¡± ¡°You can''t pay for everything.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Sure I can.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°I get residuals from the brown algenate discs.¡± Alyssa blinked her eyes for a moment. ¡°Wait, that means... every time someone buys one...¡± ¡°...a fraction of the cost goes directly to me.¡± I said. ¡°Wow.¡± ¡°Yeah, it surprised me at first, too.¡± I said. ¡°So, I don''t want you to feel like you''re taking advantage of me when I offer to buy food, okay?¡± ¡°Advantage my ass!¡± Alyssa laughed. ¡°You could buy everyone supper!¡± ¡°Maybe not everyone.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°Maybe.¡± L.I.F.E. Begins 043: Sensitive Parts Alyssa and I ate a great tasting pizza for supper, and I commented that she had to order my pizzas for the rest of her life. It made her laugh, and I knew it wasn''t reserved or fake. We had just finished eating when there was a knock on the door. Alyssa went over and opened it up to see Nurse Deloris there. ¡°Nurse Deloris'' Cleaning and Maintenance Service.¡± Nurse Deloris said and inhaled a breath through her nose. ¡°Hey, is that pizza?¡± ¡°Best pizza I''ve had in a while.¡± I said and motioned to the container. ¡°There''s a couple of slices left...¡± Nurse Deloris was across the apartment and had half of a piece of pizza stuffed into her mouth and started to chew before I could finish making the offer. ¡°Mith ith melithouth!¡± She mumbled. ¡°What was that?¡± Alyssa asked as she shut the door. ¡°I''m pretty sure she said ''this is delicious''.¡± I said. ¡°How do you know that?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°I can speak fluent Stuffed Mouth.¡± I said and preened a little, and she laughed again. Nurse Deloris swallowed what she had bitten off. ¡°Good guess. That is what I said.¡± She said and held the remains of her piece of pizza up. ¡°Where did you get this?¡± ¡°I''d like to say it''s a secret, but it''s just the local place down the block.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°It was great even before they started adding in the new brown algenate discs.¡± ¡°I assume you haven''t eaten much today?¡± I asked, and Nurse Deloris nodded. ¡°I was trying to save up some appetite for tonight.¡± She said. ¡°Damn you and your delicious pizza!¡± I chuckled. ¡°Force yourself to only eat one piece, then.¡± Nurse Deloris finished the piece she had and tried to look away from the last piece. Her gaze hit me and then Alyssa, then went back to the lone piece. ¡°I should save that for breakfast.¡± I said, and I could almost feel her disappointment. ¡°Then again, I think I better just toss it.¡± I said and picked up the container. ¡°NO!¡± Nurse Deloris said and grabbed the last piece from the container and shoved the end of it into her mouth. Alyssa and I burst out laughing and didn''t stop until Nurse Deloris had finished eating. ¡°I guess you can have the last piece if you want it.¡± I teased. ¡°It''s not nice to make fun of someone who does your maintenance.¡± Nurse Deloris said and bared her teeth at me. ¡°Point taken.¡± I said and raised my hands in surrender, and she nodded. We cleared off the table and Alyssa hit the button to convert it to a bed. Nurse Deloris laid out towels for me to lay on and I stripped off the unitard and laid down. She hooked up the portable maintenance kit and took out the tools she needed to check me over, and the kit beeped right way. ¡°Good lord, that was fast.¡± Nurse Deloris said and looked at the results. ¡°What the hell? That can''t be right.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± I asked. ¡°These readings are almost completely different from what they were yesterday!¡± ¡°Well, my AI Amanda deemed me worthy to talk to today, so she''s been helping me fix a few things.¡± ¡°Jack, this... how did you...¡± Nurse Deloris shook her head. ¡°Tell me exactly what you did.¡± ¡°Have you got a few hours to spare?¡± I asked, and she stared at me. ¡°Even with my cognitive capacity increased, it still took Amanda and I several hours to work out how to best set everything up.¡± ¡°You''re kidding.¡± I shook my head. ¡°It took her almost an hour just to show me the options.¡± Nurse Deloris blinked her eyes several times, then sat on the edge of the bed. ¡°I didn''t know there could be that many options.¡± ¡°Me, either.¡± I said, and she tilted her head slightly to the side. ¡°But, you''re a cyber-monkey.¡± I laughed. ¡°I thought I was, until Amanda schooled me on what a real one is.¡± ¡°I don''t have the time tonight for you to walk me through it all.¡± Nurse Deloris said. ¡°Is it okay if I pop by tomorrow for the day?¡± I looked at Alyssa, since it was her apartment, and she nodded. ¡°My keeper gives her permission, so sure.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°Thanks.¡± Nurse Deloris said to Alyssa, then pat my synthetic arm. ¡°In the meantime, get ready for the physical inspection.¡± ¡°Go for it.¡± I said. Nurse Deloris grabbed the tool to open up my elbow joint and checked for any burrs on the gears, then used a small screwdriver to pop up the top gear. She did that to stop my arm from twitching as she opened up the small electrical junction box at the base of my forearm. ¡°Ha ha! That tickles!¡± I said, and she stared at me. ¡°Wh-what? You felt that?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± I said. ¡°Why? Aren''t I supposed to?¡± ¡°You''re supposed to get a feeling of pressure, but that''s all.¡± Nurse Deloris said and touched the box with the little screwdriver and wiggled it, and I laughed. ¡°Now I really need to know what options you changed.¡± ¡°You... find out... tomorrow.¡± I said and tried to catch my breath. Nurse Deloris went through the rest of my physical examination, and I felt pain, tickles, gentle touches, and soft caresses at various times. The soft caresses I experienced when she checked the synthetic side of my chest and made sure nothing had entered or was in danger of entering the chest cavity and the mechanisms that ran my heart and lungs.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Nurse Deloris closed me up and secured everything, then applied the lubricating lotion to my synthetic parts to seal them again. She started with my foot and worked her way up my leg, and I quickly put a hand over my private area to cover my body''s reaction to being touched like that. She had clearly noticed; however, she didn''t say anything as she moved up to my chest and then did my arm last. ¡°I''ll see you in the morning to give you a bath, but if tonight was any indication, I''d say you''re going to have the fine motor skills to bathe yourself from now on.¡± Nurse Deloris said as she packed up the tools and the portable maintenance kit and set it aside. ¡°I haven''t done a full run-through systems check in a maintenance bay yet.¡± I said. ¡°What makes you think...¡± Nurse Deloris looked at where my hand was, and I sighed. ¡°It''s my first time feeling things on that side of my body since before the training accident.¡± I said, and she understood what I meant. ¡°Not only are they new and exciting, you also have gentle and firm hands.¡± Nurse Deloris chuckled. ¡°Okay, I won''t abandon you just yet.¡± ¡°I''ll decrease the sensitivity next time.¡± I offered, and she shook her head. ¡°You''ll mess up your operating system if you start giving your brain different neural readings for the same areas at different times during the day.¡± She warned. ¡°Then I''ll try to control myself better.¡± Nurse Deloris reached down and pat my shoulder. ¡°As long as you''re not thinking anything sexual about me.¡± ¡°Of course I''m not!¡± I said immediately. ¡°I respect you as a professional bather!¡± Nurse Deloris snorted a laugh and tossed me a fresh unitard. ¡°Put this on so I don''t have to look at Mr. Winky anymore.¡± I stood up and faced away from both women and pulled the unitard up to my waist. ¡°For future reference, his name''s not Winky. It''s Ginormous Fallic Symbol Numero Uno.¡± Both Nurse Deloris and Alyssa snorted and started to laugh, while my AI Amanda laughed in my ear. They continued as I finished getting dressed, then I turned around dramatically and crossed my arms. ¡°Hardy har har.¡± I said. ¡°He''s not happy that you''re laughing at him.¡± That made them laugh harder, as was my intention, and I pasted a look of being sullen and cross on my face despite not feeling that way, and waited for them to stop. ¡°All right, I have to go.¡± Nurse Deloris said when she had calmed down. ¡°I''ll see you both first thing in the morning.¡± She walked over to the door and opened it, then pointed at me. ¡°But not Mr. Winky!¡± ¡°It''s Ginormous Fallic Symbol Numero Uno!¡± I said with as much indignation as I could muster, and she burst out laughing and shut the door as she left. Alyssa waited for a moment, then walked over to me. ¡°You recovered from that incident well.¡± ¡°I hoped humor would distract her from it.¡± I said, then sighed. ¡°I didn''t think I''d react in that way to being touched like that, though.¡± ¡°I''m sure she was just teasing you.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°You''re paying her a lot for just a little bit of work. She''s not going to want to go back to 12 and 16 hour shifts at the hospital.¡± I smiled. ¡°What about you?¡± ¡°What about me what?¡± ¡°Do you want to go back out into a regular deployment schedule, now that you''ve had a taste of the relaxing life?¡± ¡°Relaxing life?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°I''m checking the security feeds of this building every 10 seconds for anything suspicious! I''m accessing the security grid for any undesirables that might be in the area every 30 seconds, so I''ll have a slight warning if anyone, or anything, is coming for you!¡± She said. ¡°My only time off is when I sleep, and I make sure Evilin is in the lobby an hour before that.¡± I looked at her with wide eyes, and she turned to face the door of her apartment. ¡°The best thing about this place is that the only way in or out is through that door. The problem I have is that''s also the worst thing. If anything happens, that is the only way in or out of this place.¡± I reached a hand out and touched her shoulder, and she turned to look at me. ¡°Thank you for taking this situation seriously and taking care of me, rather than just babysitting me.¡± ¡°Jack.¡± Alyssa took a breath and let it out. ¡°Even if we hadn''t-¡± I put a finger over her mouth to stop her. ¡°We can''t talk about that.¡± I said, then slid that hand to the side of her face. ¡°How do you keep your skin so soft?¡± ¡°Formaldehyde.¡± Alyssa said softly, and I laughed. ¡°That''s funny.¡± I said. ¡°Why? It''s true.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°What?¡± Alyssa went to her bathroom and came out with a moisturizing cream, and held it out to me. I took it and turned it to read the ingredients, and saw formaldehyde was one of the last ones included in the list. ¡°Well I''ll be damned.¡± I said. ¡°I thought you were joking.¡± ¡°It''s used as a preservative all the time.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°It''s been in cosmetics for as long as cosmetics have been around.¡± I handed it back to her. ¡°That''s something I never thought I''d learn.¡± ¡°What''s that?¡± ¡°Women embalm themselves to stay pretty.¡± Alyssa laughed. ¡°That''s not what we''re doing.¡± ¡°Hey, I''m not complaining.¡± I said. ¡°You look fantastic.¡± Alyssa''s face flushed red. ¡°I... I haven''t fixed my make-up yet.¡± ¡°Really?¡± I stepped close and briefly touched her bottom lip with a fingertip. ¡°Are your lips always this cherry red?¡± Alyssa''s face went to an even deeper red. ¡°They''re a little plump and feel very soft, which makes them highly kissable lips.¡± I said. ¡°Are you sure it''s not make-up?¡± Alyssa didn''t say anything as she looked into my eyes, and I could almost hear her heart beating faster. ¡°I guess make-up is like magic.¡± I said and smiled warmly at her. ¡°Who am I to question the wonders I behold? I should just enjoy them.¡± ¡°J-Jack...¡± Alyssa barely breathed. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°You... you need to...¡± I looked into her eyes and waited for her to say what she wanted to say. ¡°...you have more work to do.¡± Alyssa said and I saw resolve in her eyes. ¡°You need to get to it.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± I said. ¡°Can I use the table again?¡± Alyssa nodded and changed the bed back to a couch and table, and I took out my portable display and set it up on the table. I sat down and looked at her. ¡°Say, do you want us to go over your settings, too?¡± I asked. ¡°Wh-what?¡± ¡°I just realized my AI and I can check your interface as well, and see if you are suffering unintentional lag.¡± ¡°I don''t know...¡± Alyssa hedged. ¡°I promise not to pop open your cranial access port and probe you.¡± I said and grinned, and she chuckled. ¡°Well... since you asked so nicely.¡± Alyssa said and sat down next to me and I plugged one of the leads into her implant and one into mine. ¡°Amanda might talk to you directly, if that''s okay.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°It''s always nice to meet new peop-AH!¡± ¡°Hi!¡± Amanda said and cut her off, and Alyssa looked to where the voice was coming from. She saw her table end at the wall, and yet there was another seat there and Amanda sat on it and waved to her. ¡°It''s nice to meet you in person.¡± ¡°Oh, my god.¡± Alyssa said, surprised. ¡°She''s manifesting an avatar? In my HUD? Through the wall?!?¡± I chuckled. ¡°Welcome to the digital age, Miss Cave Man.¡± Alyssa looked from Amanda to me, then back to Amanda. ¡°How does this work?¡± She asked and reached out with a hand to touch the wall. ¡°She shouldn''t be there!¡± I laughed. ¡°She''s not really there, obviously.¡± I said. ¡°She''s just letting you see her.¡± ¡°O-kay.¡± Alyssa said and pulled her hand back and rested it on the table. ¡°What do we do now?¡± ¡°Amanda? Can you give her the same rundown as you gave me?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± Amanda said. ¡°I''m your AI and I''ve had decades to observe you and your reactions.¡± She explained. ¡°What I can do is highlight the best options that don''t require personal knowledge.¡± ¡°Do that, please.¡± Alyssa said, and Amanda reached a hand out through the wall and laid it on Alyssa''s hand. ¡°Hold on to your panties!¡± Amanda said, and started to show her the modified options menu. Since I was hooked into the portable display with Alyssa, I saw it all as well. When I thought of tweaks and alternatives to the choices they were discussing and making, I chimed in with my opinion. Thankfully, I was not shouted at or told to shut up. After almost two hours, both I and Alyssa were exhausted. ¡°I''m calling it a day.¡± I said and yawned, and I saw Alyssa yawn as well. ¡°I think someone needs to go to sleep.¡± ¡°Me, too.¡± Alyssa said and yawned again. I packed up the display and put it and the maintenance kit back in the closet, and Alyssa converted the table and couch back into a bed. I quickly climbed onto the bed and opened up my unitard to bare my chest, then held the blanket up for her as I put my other arm on the bed for her to lay on. Alyssa hesitated for a moment as she assessed the situation, then she shrugged slightly and climbed in beside me. I waited for her to snuggle into me before I tucked the blanket up to our shoulders, then I hugged her close. ¡°Goodnight, Alyssa.¡± I said, and she rested her head on my bare chest. ¡°Goodnight, Jack.¡± Alyssa said, then her hand slid across my abdomen and held me tightly. L.I.F.E. Begins 044: Revelations I had slept for a good portion of the night until I was awoken by the small movements of my current sleeping partner. It wouldn''t have woken me normally, but with the new sensitivity settings Amanda and I had adjusted my synthetic parts to, the cybernetic side of my body gave my brain even more sensations. I was pretty sure Alyssa was aware of this, and she seemed to be testing to see just how sensitive I was over various parts of my chest. Her lips touched the surface of my chest ever so gently, and she held them there for a few moments and then stopped. She shifted her head over slightly and did it again, over and over, and it was the most tender and sensual thing I had ever experienced. I was tempted to respond to her ministrations, then realized if she knew I was awake, she would probably stop. I kept my eyes closed and took in a deep breath and she froze still, then I let the breath out and sighed as I let my arm around her shoulder slide down off of her back and laid it on the bed. With the only restriction on her movement removed, she stayed still for several minutes to see if I would keep moving. I wasn''t going to ruin this time for her, though. I remained still and maintained my breathing at a slow and even pace, just as if I had been asleep, and I felt her lips on me again. I kept count of how many times she kissed my bare chest, and like she had last night, she didn''t restrict her kisses to the synthetic side of my chest. Alyssa''s hands roamed over me as she kept kissing, and I thought she was going to move up to my neck or down to my abdomen. She didn''t go any further than my chest area, so I had to assume that it was a kind of fetish for her. ¡°Oh, Jack.¡± Alyssa whispered softly, almost too softly for me to hear even with my ear modifications. ¡°I never should have told you that I didn''t want to be your rebound girl.¡± She said and rested her head against my chest again. ¡°I want to be. I really do.¡± She traced the line of scar tissue between my normal and synthetic parts. ¡°I won''t ever admit it to you, though.¡± I felt a tear on my chest, and I fought hard not to put my arm back around her. ¡°I was so sad when you didn''t get a medical discharge.¡± Alyssa said and let a small sob escape. ¡°You''re my superior officer and I can''t let personal feelings interfere with my job.¡± She kissed my chest again. ¡°This is all I''ll let myself do. Only at night. Only when you''re asleep.¡± She sighed and moved her hand across my abdomen and hugged me. ¡°I want to do so much more, and I can''t. I just can''t.¡± Amanda? I thought softly, and Amanda''s face appeared in my HUD. ¡°Yes, Jack?¡± Push through the medical discharge paperwork with the System. ¡°What about the little project they want you to work on?¡± Amanda asked. ¡°They are not going to let this go.¡± Have the System hire me as a civilian consultant for the military contract, and make sure that Alyssa and her squad are given indefinite leave to stay as my bodyguards. I thought. Without anyone knowing, of course. ¡°Like I go and tell everyone what I do for you.¡± Amanda said and chuckled. ¡°It should be done by morning.¡± Thank you, Amanda. I thought. I owe you. ¡°You do. A lot.¡± Amanda said. ¡°Now go to sleep. You can''t keep faking it without giving yourself away.¡± I nodded mentally and let myself drift off to sleep without trying to resist it like I usually did. A loud knocking sound woke me up and my body jerked from being startled. It shook Alyssa awake and she lifted her head. ¡°What... what is it?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°The door, I think.¡± I said, a bit groggily. ¡°Door? This early?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°My alarm hasn''t gone off yet.¡± The knocking sound came again, and Alyssa sat up and sighed. ¡°What time...¡± She checked her HUD and saw the time. ¡°Goddammit! We slept in!¡± ¡°What? How?¡± I asked. ¡°My alarm didn''t go off.¡± Alyssa said and got out of bed and went over to the door and opened it. ¡°I''m sorry that-¡± ¡°You had to scramble to get dressed.¡± Nurse Deloris said as she saw Alyssa''s dishevelled state. ¡°You don''t have to explain.¡± ¡°But...¡± ¡°It''s okay.¡± Nurse Deloris said and entered the apartment and went into the bathroom, then came out with the things she needed to bathe me. ¡°I slept in a bit this morning, too.¡± ¡°That''s not...¡± ¡°Her alarm didn''t go off.¡± I said. ¡°Uh huh.¡± Nurse Deloris said and smiled knowingly. ¡°If you had gone to bed earlier, your cuddle time wouldn''t interfere with getting up the next day.¡± ¡°Is that what you do?¡± I asked, curious. Nurse Deloris nodded. ¡°I''m too used to being up early in the mornings, so sleeping in is never a problem... unless, you know... it''s an active choice.¡±Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ¡°I... I need a shower.¡± Alyssa said and disappeared into the bathroom. ¡°You shouldn''t tease a trained combat fighter like that.¡± I said and helped put the towels on the bed and stripped off, then laid down. ¡°I like seeing her squirm a little.¡± Nurse Deloris said. ¡°She''s got it bad for you, and she won''t let herself feel it.¡± I opened my mouth to say that I knew that, then I closed it without saying anything. Nurse Deloris smiled and started to bathe me, and I didn''t react at all to her touch. When she moved on to the synthetic parts of my body, she kept checking to see if I was going to react to her. I didn''t react, mainly because I had felt what a woman who was trying to be sensual as she touched me, and getting washed was not even close to a comparison. Nurse Deloris finished my cleaning by applying the lubrication fluid to seal my synthetic parts, and she nodded slightly when I hadn''t tried to cover myself. ¡°I''m a little surprised you''ve gotten a handle on that so soon.¡± Nurse Deloris said, then her eyes squinted. ¡°You better not have reduced your sensitivity settings for your cybernetics.¡± I shook my head. ¡°No, you''re right. It could mess up the regulation of my life functions if I change them constantly.¡± ¡°Then what happened?¡± ¡°I felt the difference between being touched and being caressed.¡± I said. Nurse Deloris looked at me with a strange look on her face, and I chuckled. ¡°Just hand me another unitard.¡± I said, and she did. I got dressed and we cleared up the bed, and Alyssa came out of the shower with damp hair and a fresh unitard as well. ¡°Perfect timing.¡± Nurse Deloris said and took the supplies into the bathroom and came back out. ¡°Anyone up for breakfast?¡± I asked and took out three brown algenate discs. ¡°I ate already, but those things are tasty.¡± Nurse Deloris said and took one. I gave one to Alyssa and the three of us opened the packages and ate in silence. ¡°Now I''m ready for my overhaul.¡± Nurse Deloris said when we were done. ¡°Alyssa? Can we borrow the couch and table for a while?¡± I asked. Alyssa hit the button to change the bed back and stepped out of the way, and I got my portable display out of the closet and set it up on the table, and Nurse Deloris and I sat down. I gave her the same speech about my AI as I hooked myself and Nurse Deloris up to the display. They greeted each other and Amanda helped her run through all the settings she had access to. Nurse Deloris didn''t have as many extensive replacements as Alyssa and myself, so it didn''t take as long for us to increase the receptiveness of her cybernetic parts. When we were done, Nurse Deloris looked at her cybernetic arm as if she had just had it replaced. ¡°It''s like a whole new arm!¡± Nurse Deloris said and ran her fingers over the surface of the metal. ¡°It''s amazing!¡± I disconnected the display from her and myself, then set it aside. ¡°It''s weird, isn''t it? Being able to get actual feelings through synthetic parts?¡± ¡°I always have, but this...¡± Nurse Deloris said. ¡°I need to go and test it out!¡± ¡°Tell my best friend not to enjoy it too much.¡± I said as she stood up, and she laughed. ¡°I can''t wait for him to try!¡± Nurse Deloris said. ¡°Thank you, Jack.¡± She looked at Alyssa. ¡°Thanks for letting me stay for a while to have this done.¡± Alyssa waved her thanks away, and Nurse Deloris nodded and left the apartment. ¡°So, what''s on my agenda for today?¡± I asked. ¡°You can work until lunchtime, then we''re going out for some exercise.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Staying cooped up is not good for you.¡± ¡°I don''t know about that.¡± I said. ¡°There''s definitely some benefit to staying in, especially if you''re not alone.¡± Alyssa''s face flushed a little red. ¡°Get to work.¡± I smiled at her and hooked the portable display to the ports behind my ear, then thought about the circuit board design I was playing with when I had all that time to think about it. Amanda? Can you give me hand? I thought and brought up a basic circuit design on the display, then used the 3D option in my HUD to lift it and have it float in mid-air. ¡°What do you need?¡± Amanda asked. Let''s start with an array of resistors and capacitors. I thought and started to change the electric pathways on the circuit board to fit my design. ¡°What settings?¡± It doesn''t matter. It''s just a mock up at the moment. Amanda generated a 30 foot rack of resistors and capacitors beside me, and I glanced at it. Very funny. ¡°Hey, you said it didn''t matter.¡± Amanda laughed. I shook my head and she reduced it to only a single shelf within easy reach, and I grabbed a handful of each and started to place them in the spots on the circuit board. As I added each one, the portable display added the relevant information to the design. Microchips, please. Generic for now. I thought and a small tray of them appeared in front of me. Hmm, okay. Yes, the 325 will work. I grabbed three of the smallest ones and added them. All right, I need a 680. Another tray appeared with a couple of the larger chips and I took one to sit right in the middle of the board. I had to change the leads to connect the chips together. Memory buffers. A larger tray appeared with several different kinds and I had to search through them to get the right size. I added 6 of them, then attached the associated memory chips to make full use of the setup. ¡°You''ll need a transistor here and here.¡± Amanda said and pointed to two spots. ¡°Your pathways are too long without them.¡± Thanks. I thought and added them where she said. Diodes next. A tiny little tray appeared and I added them where they were needed. Should I add a battery backup? ¡°It depends on the power leads you add to the side.¡± Amanda said. ¡°Do you want the board to depend solely on external power?¡± I don''t know. I thought. It will require a larger plug-in slot if I add too many external leads, but if I don''t add enough, it''ll lag like crazy. Amanda chuckled. ¡°Then split the difference. Add in a recharging micro-battery and integrate it right into the board, then add the charger to the main power lead.¡± I nodded and did as she said. It required a bit of shifting around for the components I had already added; but, that was why I was doing this in virtual reality and not physically. I would have had to rebuild it several times already if that was the case. When that was done, I sat back and sighed. Run it, please. I thought, and Amanda reached out and held onto the virtual circuit board. ¡°It''s going to take time to test it, even virtually.¡± Amanda said. We''re only testing the pathways to see if it works. I thought. If it does, we can write the program to run it and then change the parts to reflect the proper use. ¡°You''re not changing them right now because...¡± Like I said before, it''s only a mock up. We''ll change it to high quality parts before I send it in for commission. ¡°You''re not going to built it yourself?¡± Amanda asked, surprised. I''m tempted to, but I need to know what quality I''ll get if I just order it. ¡°Okay.¡± Amanda said and hugged the circuit board. ¡°Enjoy your lunch.¡± What lunch? I thought, and then Alyssa put her hand on my shoulder. ¡°Hey, you.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Did I interrupt anything?¡± ¡°No, actually.¡± I smiled at her. ¡°I just finished up and handed it over to Amanda to test.¡± Alyssa smiled. ¡°Then let''s go.¡± ¡°I thought we were going to eat lunch before going out.¡± ¡°I decided we should go out for lunch, so you can have a head start on our outing.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°You''re paying, by the way.¡± I chuckled as I disconnected the leads of my portable display from behind my ear and put the display into the closet, then we left the apartment with my robotic dog Rusty on our heels. L.I.F.E. Begins 045: Recruitment Alyssa and I left her living section, and she told Evilin in the lobby to head home. ¡°Thank god.¡± Evilin said and yawned. ¡°What a boring assignment!¡± ¡°I''m sorry.¡± I said. Evilin reached out and pat my synthetic shoulder, and I succeeded in not wincing from it. ¡°It''s not your fault you''re so valuable that they kept us guarding you.¡± ¡°Thanks. I''m glad that-¡± ¡°I''m just kidding. It''s completely your fault.¡± Evilin said and laughed. ¡°Have fun, you two.¡± Alyssa shook her head and we watched Evilin walk away, then headed down the block in the other direction. ¡°That''s a pizza place.¡± Alyssa said and pointed. ¡°Where are we eating?¡± I asked. ¡°Prisoner''s choice.¡± Alyssa said, and I chuckled. ¡°I think I want some chicken.¡± Alyssa snorted a laugh. ¡°Chicken? You want chicken?¡± ¡°Yeah, is there somewhere around here for that?¡± ¡°Hell, no.¡± Alyssa shook her head. ¡°You rich people have really high expectations.¡± ¡°So, you''re saying there''s no chicken anywhere near this living section?¡± ¡°Jack, there''s no chicken in the next six living sections.¡± I frowned. ¡°No, that won''t do.¡± I said and changed where we walked, and went to the closest Tube car access. I pushed the button, and Alyssa''s eyes kept twitching. ¡°Hey, drop your scan level from active to passive.¡± I said. ¡°You''ll overload your optic nerve if you keep trying to watch the security feed while moving around.¡± ¡°How did you know I was doing that?¡± ¡°The human brain still tries to make your eyes look at things, even though you''re not using your eyes.¡± I said. ¡°Dammit, I thought I... never mind.¡± The Tube car popped up and stopped in front of us, and we hopped in. Rusty gave a single bark and stood on the seat in front of me. ¡°Where are we going?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°I want chicken.¡± I said and typed in the code for a living section halfway to the center of the Cavern. ¡°That I can''t have it where I am is criminal.¡± Alyssa laughed. ¡°You sound so entitled.¡± ¡°Hey, when a man knows what he wants, he goes and he gets it.¡± I said and sat back to relax. ¡°In 15 minutes, you are going to taste the most delicious thing you have ever tasted.¡± Alyssa opened her mouth to respond, I assume with a joke or something, then her face went a little red and she didn''t say anything. It made me think back to what she was doing to me last night, and I couldn''t stop my arm from moving. I ended with it resting on the back of her chair, and my hand dangled very close to her shoulder. ¡°Sir.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°Relaxing.¡± I said and let a soft yawn escape. ¡°I slept okay, but I''m still tired.¡± ¡°You just worked for several hours straight without a break.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Why weren''t you tired then?¡± ¡°My brain was engaged in something I was very interested in.¡± I said. ¡°Now that I''m just sitting here and waiting, my excessive boredom is eating away at my consciousness.¡± Alyssa glanced at my hand that was almost on her shoulder, then she turned her head and looked at my face. ¡°So you expect me to keep your brain interested?¡± ¡°Please.¡± I said and closed my eyes, then slouched down in my seat a little to rest my head on the headrest. ¡°How am I supposed to do that?¡± ¡°You''re brilliant.¡± I said, and then yawned loudly. ¡°Think of something.¡± I could almost hear her thinking hard.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. ¡°Well, I''m debating on whether to change the squad''s rotation to reflect...¡± ¡°Please don''t be insulted when I say this.¡± I said. ¡°Borrrring.¡± I yawned again. ¡°Just ask your squad mates if they want the standard 8 hour shifts or rotate in 4 hour shifts. If you split the squad so that 2 members are at each place, they won''t be stuck pulling a full shift and risk blowing their assignment by falling asleep.¡± ¡°But what about...¡± ¡°Sandra won''t stand for anyone being in or near the apartment with her, so making the guard schedule change won''t affect her at all.¡± I said. ¡°It won''t really affect me, either.¡± ¡°Why''s that?¡± ¡°You''ve got the most difficult job because you stay with me all the time.¡± I said. ¡°If you make the change, the two squad members assigned to your building only have to be there at night.¡± ¡°Then that means...¡± ¡°The first guard works 4 hours, goes home and gets a full night''s sleep, then can be at Sandra''s for the third shift.¡± I said. ¡°She gets full coverage day and night, as do I, and no one is awake for more than eight hours a day... unless they choose to be, of course. That''s on them, though.¡± Alyssa took a deep breath and let it out. ¡°How long have you been thinking about it?¡± ¡°A long time.¡± I said. ¡°All the way back to when you mentioned it a few minutes ago.¡± ¡°You''re kidding.¡± ¡°Nope.¡± I said and slumped further down, and my arm slid off the back of her chair and draped over her shoulders. ¡°Sir.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°What are you doing?¡± Alyssa asked, and her voice was a bit sharper than it was before. ¡°If I say I''m relaxing, will you get angry?¡± I asked, and she leaned forward. My arm slid down the seat and hit the armrest on her other side. ¡°I am not helping you relax.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Not like that.¡± ¡°Then how would you help me relax?¡± I asked and opened my eyes, and she was looking right at me from only a few inches away. ¡°Sir, I am here to protect you. I cannot do that if you keep trying to put the moves on me.¡± ¡°Is that what I''m doing?¡± I asked, and she took in a breath through her nostrils and let it out through her mouth. ¡°Sir, I am only going to tell you this once.¡± Alyssa said and Rusty beeped loudly. ¡°I-¡± ¡°Hold that thought.¡± I said and eased her aside, then reached for my robotic dog and popped open Rusty''s back panel.
Medical Discharge has been approved. Orders for you and Alyssa''s squad are being sent momentarily.
I cleared the message and closed the panel, then sat back. ¡°What was it?¡± ¡°Not worth mentioning right now.¡± I said, then looked her right in the eyes. ¡°You know, I never asked you a very important question.¡± ¡°What''s that?¡± ¡°Alyssa, please... be honest with me.¡± I said and took her hand with my synthetic one. ¡°I know this is sudden and I probably should have asked you something this important before... and I''m sorry I didn''t until now.¡± I said and gave her hand a little squeeze. ¡°Do... do you like... chicken?¡± Alyssa stared at me for a moment, then frowned. ¡°E-excuse me?¡± ¡°I decided to go get it without even asking if you wanted any...¡± I started to say, and then her hand reached up and touched her temple as she closed her eyes. ¡°The message you received wasn''t worth mentioning, was it?¡± Alyssa asked and opened her eyes. ¡°Not at the time.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°Now it''s worth mentioning.¡± ¡°You jerk!¡± Alyssa said. ¡°What was all that about asking me something important and then asking about chicken?¡± ¡°A delay tactic.¡± I said. ¡°I needed to buy time for you to get your orders.¡± Alyssa shook her head in disbelief. ¡°My squad is going to go nuts over this.¡± ¡°They''re going to be that happy about it?¡± I asked and gave her a big grin. Alyssa sighed. ¡°Good god, Jack. How could you do this?¡± ¡°Actually, you were kind of stuck with me no matter what happened.¡± I said. ¡°Want me to show you your secured file?¡± ¡°What? No!¡± Alyssa exclaimed. ¡°Do you want to have me arrested?¡± ¡°Arrested?¡± I chuckled. ¡°As the head of my security team, you have access to it on your own.¡± ¡°I do?¡± I nodded. ¡°When I upgraded you from combat to security, your whole squad received updates.¡± ¡°But...¡± ¡°You''ve been keeping your head in the sand and not even trying to embrace your new job, have you?¡± I asked, and her face went a little red. ¡°You thought if you didn''t see too much, or stayed quiet and didn''t draw attention to yourself, you could get shuffled back to a combat rotation.¡± Alyssa didn''t say anything and turned her head to look out the Tube car at the traffic that passed by. ¡°I''m sorry, Alyssa. It doesn''t work that way.¡± I said. ¡°To paraphrase what someone once told me, once you''re in, you''re always in.¡± ¡°Jack, I... I don''t want to be in.¡± ¡°Me, either.¡± I said and touched her arm. ¡°But, I am and I need you, Alyssa.¡± Alyssa turned her head away from the window to look at me. ¡°I''m being serious here. All joking aside.¡± I said. ¡°I. Need. You.¡± Alyssa took in a deep breath and let it out, then nodded slightly. ¡°Thank you.¡± I said, and we both looked out the side of the Tube car to wait for the ride to be over. We arrived at my chosen destination and left the Tube car with Rusty, and we walked a short way to the small restaurant. Neither of us spoke as we ordered, and we sat down and ate our food in silence. It was over before we knew it, and since we didn''t have any conversation going, there was no reason to stick around. We left the restaurant and got in the Tube car, which looked like the one we had arrived there in, and it dropped back down into the Tube system. Alyssa typed in a destination and I didn''t even look at it to see where we were going. The ride was over quickly, much quicker than if we had gone back to her apartment, and the Tube car popped up to drop us off. Right at the System Security headquarters. I didn''t say anything as we got out of the Tube car and I handed Rusty to her. She took the robot dog and held it under her arm, then we went inside the building and through the security scanner without incident. We entered the waiting elevator and it dropped down to the right floor, and it opened on the same floor I had been on during my interrogation. I knew which door to go to and walked over to it. If I had forgotten which one it was, the guards that stood in front of it would have reminded me. I opened the door and was greeted by an irate higher-up. ¡°What the hell did you do?!?¡± Julia Grinder shouted. ¡°I had lunch.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°Chicken, actually.¡± ¡°Ugh!¡± Julia grunted and sat down. ¡°You''ve messed it all up!¡± ¡°I have to admit that was unintentional.¡± I said. ¡°It makes me happy, though.¡± ¡°You... god, what am I going to do with you?¡± ¡°Let me go.¡± ¡°I should lock you up for the rest of your goddamn life!¡± Julia said, angrily. ¡°That''s your choice.¡± I said. ¡°My security squad will have an easy job if you do.¡± ¡°You... just... just sit down and shut the hell up!¡± ¡°Yes, ma''am.¡± I walked over to the chair in the middle of the room and sat, then waited to see what she was going to do to me. L.I.F.E. Begins 046: Severed Ties ¡°Ignorance really is bliss, isn''t it?¡± Julia Grinder asked as she looked at me. Since she told me to be quiet, I didn''t respond. ¡°You don''t understand what you''ve done, do you?¡± She asked and paced in front of me, and completely ignored my guard Alyssa. ¡°You have no clue about the mess you''ve made, or about the trouble you''ve caused for both me and the government as a whole!¡± ¡°Why don''t you enlighten me.¡± I said, just so she would stop pacing. ¡°That one little act... that one form being pushed through and getting approved... has undone all of my hard work.¡± Julia said. ¡°I had you covered. You were completely covered in bureaucracy. In order to get to you, people would have been inundated with so much red tape that by the time they gained access to you officially, they would have been either diverted or dealt with.¡± ¡°That sounds kind of ominous.¡± I said. ¡°Ugh!¡± Julia grunted and sat down, then rested her head in her hands as she put her elbows on the table. ¡°Now that you''ve been granted a medical discharge, all of that has disappeared, you idiot!¡± She said. ¡°If anyone wants to contact you, they just have to call or show up at your door! There''s nothing to stop them!¡± ¡°But...¡± ¡°Once your military restrictions have been lifted because you''re not in the service anymore, you get put back on the public grid! Anyone, anyone at all, can find out who you are and where you live!¡± ¡°They would have to know about me first.¡± I said. Julia sighed and sat back in her chair. ¡°Do you really think that no one knows about you, after everything that''s just happened? That there isn''t a single person out there that knew this Greg character was your assigned watcher and that he''s now dead? Really?¡± ¡°Hey, I didn''t kill him.¡± I said to defend myself. ¡°It doesn''t matter if the President himself killed him, using his bare hands and on a live video feed!¡± ¡°I think you''re overreacting just a little.¡± ¡°That''s how much you know.¡± Julia said. ¡°I''m actually under-reacting.¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± ¡°I was told that if you entered this building, you were to be arrested on sight and put in a cell. No outside contact was to be allowed at all.¡± Julia smiled. ¡°Ever.¡± I blinked my eyes at her for a moment, then shook my head. ¡°The System would never allow that.¡± ¡°It''s not the System''s decision.¡± I sat back in my chair and thought about what that meant. ¡°So, why didn''t you do it?¡± ¡°You are now a private citizen. Any action against a civilian is automatically recorded and submitted to the Humanitarian Council for review.¡± ¡°Even here inside the System Security headquarters?¡± ¡°Especially here.¡± I took a shallow breath and let it out. ¡°Now what?¡± ¡°If it were up to me, you would never see the outside of this building ever again.¡± Julia said. ¡°Then that means it''s not up to you.¡± I said, and she shook her head. ¡°Since you are not active military anymore, I can''t even order you to divulge what you know about the project we had wanted you to work on.¡± Julia said. ¡°As it is now...¡± She held up several sheets of paper. ¡°I have to wait for district approval before I can authorize allowing a civilian into the lab area.¡± ¡°Damn, I didn''t think of that.¡± I said. ¡°I just assumed since I still have my clearance that it would just sail through and I''d be hired right away as a civilian consultant.¡± ¡°Yes, ignorance really is bliss.¡± Julia repeated her sentiment. ¡°You remember all that red tape I had in place to protect you?¡± She asked, and I nodded. ¡°Now it''s what''s stopping you.¡± ¡°You can''t just cut some of it away?¡± Julia shook her head. ¡°I did my job too well, it seems. Bypassing any of the hurdles is not possible.¡± ¡°So, what do we do now?¡± ¡°We?¡± Julia chuckled. ¡°Thanks to your little shenanigan, there is no ''we''. It''s just you now.¡± She looked at Alyssa. ¡°I hope your squad is as good as Jack says it is.¡± ¡°Better.¡± Alyssa said immediately. ¡°I hope that''s true, because he is really going to need you now.¡± Alyssa didn''t respond, because those had been my words to her less than ten minutes before. ¡°You are permanently assigned to Jack''s security detail.¡± Julia said. ¡°Ma''am, what about combat?¡± ¡°You will have a standard kit issued to you and your squad mates; but, you are to keep the fighting to a minimum.¡± Julia said. ¡°You are in a residential area, not a combat zone.¡± ¡°Ma''am, that''s not...¡± ¡°If you think you''re getting shoved back into a regular rotation, you''re out of your mind.¡± Julia said and laughed. ¡°Just the intelligence you''ve heard today in this room would disqualify you from that!¡± Alyssa took in a breath through her nose and let it out through her mouth, and nodded. ¡°You stick to him like glue, and don''t let the bastard out of your sight for one second.¡± Julia warned. ¡°Not. One. Second.¡± ¡°I''ll do my best, Ma''am.¡± ¡°Do better than that.¡± Julia said and looked at me. ¡°I hope the game you''re playing doesn''t end up getting you sidelined by the other team.¡± ¡°I''m not playing a game.¡± I said and stood up. ¡°I don''t know why you think I am.¡± ¡°Because we are all playing the game, Jack.¡± Julia said. ¡°In some form or another, we are all playing.¡± Her words rang in my head for some reason, and it made me think back to the last time I had seen my father. It was at my mother''s funeral, and he had said similar words to me.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°It''s all just a game, Jack.¡± My father had said on that dreary day. ¡°We are all players and have a role to fill. In some form or another, we are all playing the game.¡± He turned and walked away, then stopped and turned back. ¡°With your mother gone, there''s nothing holding either of us back.¡± I had expected to see him smile or sneer, but he kept his face blank. ¡°I''m going to play to win.¡± He said. ¡°What are you going to do?¡± My father hadn''t waited for an answer and had walked away, from me and his old life, and I haven''t seen him since. ¡°What are you going to do now?¡± Julia asked, and brought me out of my thoughts. ¡°I''m going home to work for the System.¡± I said. ¡°There''s lots to be looked after.¡± Julia looked at me with wide eyes. ¡°Are you serious? With your knowledge, you could...¡± ¡°...be a valuable asset to the System.¡± I said. ¡°That''s all I''ve ever tried to be.¡± ¡°If that''s what you want, then you can go.¡± Julia said. ¡°Good luck with wasting your life.¡± I chuckled. ¡°If you think that doing things for the System is a waste, you obviously know nothing about how hard she works to keep humanity alive.¡± I said. ¡°I''m not going to go into details, mainly because I know you get bored if we aren''t talking about mutually assured destruction.¡± Julia sighed. ¡°Just go.¡± She looked at Alyssa. ¡°Get him out of here.¡± When Alyssa didn''t move, Julia stood up and pointed to the door. ¡°Get him out of here, NOW!¡± Alyssa touched my arm and I looked at her. ¡°Permission to speak freely, sir?¡± ¡°Granted.¡± I said, and she looked at Julia. ¡°I don''t take orders from you, you self-serving ignoramus.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°You can sit here in your safe office with hundreds of guards to protect you, and you can keep the wool pulled over your eyes if you want; but, the rest of us live in the real world. We know what the world is really like because we have to live in it.¡± She said. ¡°I''ll lead Jack away from here; but, not because you ordered it. It''s to get him away from you.¡± Julia had a frown on her face by the time Alyssa was done speaking. ¡°I don''t care why.¡± She said through gritted teeth, and you could hear the anger in her voice. ¡°Just get out.¡± ¡°Right this way, sir.¡± Alyssa said to me and motioned to the door, and I nodded to her and went where she told me. The guard opened the door and we stepped through into the hallway, and then we were in the elevator on our way back up to the lobby. We were through the security scanner and outside before either of us knew it, and I pushed the button to call another Tube car. ¡°Well, that went a lot weirder than I thought it was going to.¡± I commented. Alyssa didn''t say anything in response and we waited in silence for the next available car. Rusty barked, so she handed me my robot dog and I opened his back panel.
There are two stealth surveillance micro-drones less than 10 meters away.
I showed Alyssa the message and cleared it, then closed Rusty''s back panel. A Tube car arrived and three people got out, then Alyssa and I jumped in and closed the door. I typed in my old address by habit, and the car took off. Rusty barked again, and I opened the back panel again.
One drone in the back seat.
¡°Rusty.¡± I said, and my dog barked as I put him on the floor. ¡°Fetch.¡± Rusty slid under the seat I was on, jumped up onto the back seat and chomped on something in mid-air. He beeped, and I turned around to check because I had left his back panel open.
Drone disabled.
I hit the override on the Tube car destination pad, and typed in Alyssa''s place and hit execute. The lights in the Tube car turned red, as did the lane, since we were in the wrong one for that destination, and a few moments later, we shifted over almost all the way across the Tube system lanes to the far side. ¡°You do realize that they know where I live.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Yes, but they don''t know that I''m living there, too.¡± ¡°There''s nowhere to actually hide you if anyone shows up.¡± ¡°That''s what the emergency exits are for.¡± I said and smiled, and she shook her head. ¡°You can''t honestly think you can hide from...¡± ¡°It''s just a test.¡± I said. ¡°If I can delay my own government from keeping tabs on me, then delaying other people should be a lot easier, right?¡± ¡°I... don''t think I can legally answer that.¡± Alyssa said, and I laughed. We arrived at Alyssa''s living section and exited the tube, and we made it back to her apartment without Rusty beeping at us. I picked up the dog and gave it a hug. ¡°Nice work, both of you.¡± ¡°Are you talking to me or your AI Amanda?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°Both.¡± I said. ¡°Rusty got the hug.¡± Alyssa looked at the dog that was now running around on the floor excitedly, and I thought I saw a bit of jealousy on her face. I reached over and touched her shoulder. ¡°Hey, guess what?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I''m not in the military anymore!¡± I said and grinned. ¡°Medical discharge!¡± ¡°You sound really happy.¡± ¡°I am!¡± I said and walked over to the small couch and table to sit down. ¡°Now that it''s a part of the public record, I can''t be forced to reactivate.¡± I leaned back and relaxed as I sprawled over the couch. ¡°It was a fine line to make the distinction, but when I pointed out that I was useless as a soldier with only one cybernetic arm and leg that was out of sync with the rest of my body, they had to agree.¡± Alyssa walked over to the couch and stood beside me. ¡°Is that why your rehab teacher wanted you to replace your good leg?¡± I nodded. ¡°It would lessen the degree of dimorphism.¡± I said. ¡°But, since my bias against having my own body parts exchanged for cybernetic parts is well documented, they couldn''t force me to accept the not-quite-necessary second leg replacement.¡± Alyssa looked at me with a contemplative look. ¡°Is that why they always try to replace things in pairs?¡± I nodded again. ¡°Never just one eye, because it causes unbalance in your perception; and in some cases, severe headaches. Never just one leg, because it unbalances your ability to walk and run effectively. Never just one arm, because when you try to move or lift something...¡± ¡°Good lord.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°All those people who...¡± ¡°It''s still voluntary, thank god.¡± I said. ¡°If in a fit of annoyance I had decided I wanted the leg replaced, they would have been overjoyed.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Unfortunately for them, I was not that annoyed by walking crookedly.¡± ¡°If I remember correctly, you were hopping around a lot.¡± ¡°It was faster than trying to walk.¡± I said and looked at the small vidwall display. ¡°Thanks to your help and Amanda''s diligence with the settings, I''ve been able to reduce the lag and now my legs almost match in both sensitivity and in usage.¡±
You''re welcome, Jack.
¡°I''m glad it worked.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Which reminds me, what kind of work are you going to do?¡± ¡°Actually, if Amanda is finished testing my little project...¡±
Everything checks out, Jack. No errors.
¡°...I''ve got quite a bit replacement work to get it up to the specifications I need.¡± I said and quickly stood up. Since Alyssa was standing right there, my movement put me right inside her personal space. Alyssa didn''t move back because she had been startled by my sudden movement, and the fronts of our bodies touched from chest to thigh. We just stood there for several moments and looked at each other''s surprised faces. My nose caught her scent and I breathed it in, and I put my hands on her hips to hold her close. She didn''t say anything at all as I let my hands slowly slide around her back. I felt her hands on my lower back, and they slid up to hold me just as closely. Neither of us spoke as we stood there and looked into each other''s eyes. We didn''t try to kiss, or even imply that was what we were trying to do. All we were doing was sharing a moment. I was sure when I saw her cybernetic eyes flicker from side to side to look into each of my eyes, that she could see the desire I had for her and that it wasn''t just one-sided on her part. ¡°J-Jack...¡± ¡°Alyssa...¡± ¡°I... I think you should...¡± ¡°I really want to...¡± ¡°...get to work.¡± Alyssa whispered. ¡°I''m trying to.¡± I whispered back and gave her a squeeze. ¡°I seem to have hit a beautiful roadblock on my way to the closet.¡± Alyssa''s face flushed red. ¡°I didn''t mean to block your way.¡± ¡°I didn''t say it was a bad thing.¡± I said softly and slid my hands down her back and rested them just above her backside. She had caught her breath when I stopped, then she sighed. ¡°Jack, I...¡± ¡°Only one more inch.¡± I whispered. Alyssa''s eyes went a little wide because she knew I was asking if I could. I was sure she liked that I let it be her decision, rather than just moving that last bit of distance on my own. She let the edge of a smile curl the corner of her lips, then gave me an almost imperceptible nod. I slid my hands down and gripped her cheeks firmly with both hands, which made her gasp in surprise. Then I kissed her. L.I.F.E. Begins 047: Building Blocks When our lips met, I hadn''t realized how much Alyssa had been holding herself back and restraining her emotions until she let herself go. She kissed me hard and her hands gripped the back of my unitard. I wasn''t sure what she was going to do, then she made fists in the fabric and pulled. The cloth shredded as if it was one of the tear away unitards they had at the hospital. She let me go and stepped back as she dropped the cloth to the floor. Alyssa gripped the shoulders of her own unitard and pulled, which shredded it, and she let the pieces fall to the floor. She stepped forward again and kissed me as she pushed me back. I stumbled into the table and caught my balance, and she hit the button to convert it to a bed. ¡°W-wait... for just a second.¡± I tried to say, and she tackled me. We fell onto the table as it dropped, then she rolled me over onto the couch part and kept kissing me. The couch folded out slowly and made a loud whirring sound because of our weight on it; but, it finished becoming the bed and she rolled back over to put me on top. ¡°No more waiting!¡± Alyssa said and pulled me onto her, and we made desperate and passionate love right there. With no preamble or foreplay to get either of us warmed up, it was a bit difficult at first; but, then we found a good rhythm and neither of us worried about too much after that. Alyssa came to her senses nearly an hour later when she noticed the bruising start to develop on my shoulder. ¡°Oh, god.¡± She said and sat up. ¡°Jack, I...¡± ¡°It''s my fault.¡± I said and sat up, too. ¡°I forgot that I wasn''t a full cyborg and I treated you kind of roughly.¡± I rubbed my shoulder and looked at it. ¡°It''s not dislocated, but I''ll be feeling it tomorrow.¡± I chuckled. ¡°You''re surprisingly heavy when you aren''t actively trying to help.¡± Alyssa touched my shoulder. ¡°When did you do that?¡± ¡°When I flipped you over and-mhmm.¡± I said and she covered my mouth with her hand. ¡°I remember.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Jack, I... we need to be more careful.¡± ¡°Hey, I signed the form. We don''t need to be careful, remember?¡± ¡°That''s not what I meant.¡± Alyssa said, and I chuckled. ¡°I''m pretty sure neither of us was thinking ''careful'' during any of that.¡± I said. ¡°How sore are you?¡± Alyssa reached down and rubbed her belly. ¡°It''s a little tender.¡± She said and looked down at herself. ¡°It''s a good tender, though.¡± ¡°I''m just glad it worked.¡± I said and pointed down at my private place with both index fingers. ¡°Way to go, Ginormous Fallic Symbol Numero Uno! You did it!¡± Alyssa snort a laugh, then kept laughing as I asked it for a ''high five''. ¡°Oh, come on! Give me a medium four at least. No? Maybe a low three?¡± I asked it, and she laughed. ¡°A droopy two?¡± I sighed dramatically. ¡°A floppy one it is.¡± I said and pat it, and she laughed and laughed. After a few more lame jokes, we got out of bed and cleaned up. I had to be extra careful of my synthetic parts, and Alyssa helped me. ¡°I hope I can get used to doing this on my own.¡± I said. ¡°I''ve seen Deloris do this quite a few times now, and I still mess up and try to wash the synthetic parts with the normal soap.¡± Alyssa chuckled. ¡°To be honest, I mess it up sometimes, too.¡± ¡°You do?¡± Alyssa nodded. ¡°You have to be twice as vigilant in cleaning the synthetic parts afterwards, or it''ll start gumming things up.¡± She said. ¡°The first time I saw Crush doing maintenance, I almost threw up.¡± I laughed, because Crush seemed to be the prime example of what not to do for cybernetic maintenance. ¡°Please tell me he''s been keeping his updates going.¡± ¡°He has.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°What you did to him in your vacation home maintenance bay has changed him.¡± ¡°He almost had all new parts.¡± I said. ¡°I''m glad he''s trying to keep them that way.¡± We were about to put on new unitards when there was a knock on the door. Alyssa slipped one on and checked the security feed on her HUD. ¡°It''s Deloris.¡± Alyssa said and relaxed, then went to open the door. ¡°Hey, guys.¡± Nurse Deloris said as she entered the apartment and carried a bag with her. ¡°How are...¡± She stopped talking and sniffed the air. ¡°You should turn up the air purifier if you''re going to have sex in such a small space.¡± Alyssa''s face turned bright red, then she hit the button on the controls and turned the power up to full. ¡°That''s better.¡± Nurse Deloris said after a few moments and saw Alyssa''s face. ¡°Don''t be embarrassed. I''ve been in a lot of confined spaces after someone had fun.¡± She chuckled. ¡°It''s the stuffiness in here that gave it away.¡± The redness in Alyssa''s face didn''t lessen at all. ¡°Jack, since you''re already in the bathroom, bring out the things I need.¡± Nurse Deloris said. I gathered up the towels and lubricating fluid she would need for my maintenance check. She put her bag in the closet and took out the portable maintenance kit. I laid down on the bed and she checked me over thoroughly.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Everything checks out.¡± Nurse Deloris said and applied the lubricating fluid to seal all the parts again. ¡°Thanks for coming over and doing this.¡± I said. ¡°You''re paying me to do it.¡± Nurse Deloris said and smiled. ¡°That''s thanks enough.¡± ¡°Then I''ll try to be less grateful in the future.¡± Nurse Deloris laughed and walked over to the closet to retrieve her bag. ¡°By the way, I made this for you.¡± She said and dug out a one foot by one foot square container, and held it out. ¡°Come on, now. It doesn''t bite.¡± Alyssa stepped forward and took it, then popped the top off. ¡°Deloris, is that...?¡± ¡°Mama''s Homemade Lasagna.¡± Nurse Deloris said. I looked at her with wide eyes, and she grinned. ¡°Before you start flipping out about illegal cheese products, I substituted the brown algenate discs into the recipe.¡± ¡°I wasn''t going to flip out.¡± I said. ¡°I would have asked where you got it.¡± ¡°Uh huh.¡± Nurse Deloris chuckled and opened the apartment door. ¡°Have fun, kids!¡± She said and waved as she left. Alyssa and I exchanged looks, and then looked at the container Alyssa held. ¡°I''ll clean off the bed and you grab the utensils.¡± I said and quickly moved the towels out of the way and hit the button to convert it back into a couch and table. Alyssa grabbed the forks and we sat down together in the cramped space and dug into the food. ¡°That''s delicious.¡± Alyssa said after she took the first forkful. ¡°Now I don''t regret letting her take the last slice of pizza yesterday.¡± I said, and we ate the rest of the lasagna in silence. When it was gone, I washed the container out and set it aside, just in case Nurse Deloris wanted it back. ¡°She''s not going to take the hint.¡± Alyssa warned me. I chuckled. ¡°Hey, she might fill it for us again.¡± Alyssa shook her head and passed me my portable display. ¡°Get to work.¡± ¡°Yes, ma''am! One lazy ass getting to work, Ma''am!¡± I said and gave her a perfect parade ground salute to make her laugh. She pointed to the table and I went over to it and set the display up, then plugged it into the ports behind my ear. I saw my AI Amanda as she sat on the virtual seat on the other side of the table that just happened to be inside the wall, and I smiled at her. ¡°Okay, Amanda. Show me what you got.¡± I said. ¡°I thought you would never ask!¡± Amanda said and stood up, then started to unbutton her top. ¡°I meant my project, not your code.¡± I said. ¡°Aww! You haven''t checked me in over a month!¡± ¡°That can wait until I''m in my immersion chamber.¡± I said. ¡°I can do it better when I have my full virtual controls.¡± ¡°But, Jack...¡± ¡°Why else do you think I''m only doing light work?¡± I asked her, and she sighed. ¡°All right.¡± Amanda said and pulled out my new circuit board, then hung it in the air in front of me. ¡°I''ve already sorted the new pieces.¡± She said and a workbench with all the trays appeared in front of me. ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and popped out the microchip processors and replaced them with above-standard upgrades. I replaced the memory chips with slightly better versions, upgraded the transistors to match the specs on the new power requirements for the replaced chips, then finalized the design by adding my digital signature. ¡°Can you file the patent for this and send it for manufacturing?¡± I asked. ¡°Can a duck swim?¡± Amanda asked. ¡°What is it, anyway?¡± ¡°It''s a buffer and signal converter.¡± I said, and she looked at me with wide eyes. ¡°For what?¡± ¡°You''ll see.¡± ¡°Jack...¡± ¡°You''re going to help me write the program to run it, so you''ll discover what it''s for eventually.¡± I said. ¡°I could tell you right now; but, I want you to figure it out for yourself... if you can.¡± Amanda frowned. ¡°You bet your ass I''ll figure it out.¡± She said and made a digital copy of the circuit board and tossed it out of my field of view. ¡°What did you just do?¡± I asked. ¡°I sent it to the System''s filing AIs.¡± Amanda said. ¡°Patent logged and registered.¡± She said and made another digital copy. ¡°How many do you want for the initial production run?¡± ¡°I''ll need at least seven of them, so better make it ten.¡± ¡°Ten? That''s all?¡± Amanda asked. ¡°That''s not even close to the minimum the factory can make.¡± She said. ¡°It has to reconfigure to produce it, and with such a low number, your priority will be really low.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± I thought about it. ¡°I don''t want to order too many, in case it doesn''t work as well as I hope.¡± ¡°I just ran the cost projection, and running ten of them will cost the same as if you ran a thousand.¡± ¡°You''re kidding.¡± I said. Amanda shook her head and showed me the numbers. ¡°Wow, the manufacturing cost cut-off seems to hover between fifty thousand and a hundred thousand.¡± ¡°After you pay for twenty thousand or so, the rest are almost free.¡± Amanda said. ¡°I definitely don''t want that many for the first run, especially if we have to adjust anything that can''t be handled with software.¡± I said. ¡°Let''s do a thousand production models, since it''s the same cost as ten. Oh, and reserve a run for an additional ten thousand, just in case.¡± ¡°You got it.¡± Amanda said and added the information and the Points needed to pay for the run, then she turned around and shoved it away. ¡°It''s off.¡± ¡°Any kind of estimate on the time?¡± I asked. ¡°Once they secure the materials and reconfigure the manufacturing plant, which should only take a few hours, the run itself will be done in about an hour.¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± I said, surprised. ¡°Did you say an hour?¡± ¡°After the few hours to get things ready.¡± Amanda said. ¡°If you''re going to write the code for it, you better get started.¡± ¡°Geez.¡± I said and opened a new base program, then started to add in code for basic operations, then started to open a dozen other coding projects and copied and modified the code from them to fill in the necessary gaps. ¡°You can''t use that.¡± Amanda said and pointed. ¡°Wrong variable reference.¡± ¡°Dammit.¡± I said and deleted the line of code, then added in the proper reference for what I wanted and moved on. I opened another commonly used program that had both basic and complicated protocols, then copied it in it''s entirety and spliced it into the program I was writing. ¡°Hey, is that what I think it is?¡± Amanda asked. ¡°Maybe.¡± I smiled and kept working. Amanda watched over my shoulder as I kept writing and splicing code together, and she helped do a debug as it was progressing. I knew she was building the same program into her virtual space that I always ran test programs in, so that if anything went wrong, it wouldn''t damage anything. ¡°Have you figured it out yet?¡± I asked an unknown amount of time later. I was just finishing up on the code, and then Amanda ran it in her virtual machine. ¡°Jack, it''s nothing.¡± Amanda said. ¡°Ha.¡± I said. ¡°You made a mistake.¡± ¡°I did not! I copied your code exactly, and made the same improvements to yours that I did to mine.¡± ¡°It''s not the code.¡± I said and smiled smugly. ¡°Then what was my mistake, smarty-pants?¡± ¡°You didn''t add the new circuit board to the virtual machine.¡± I said proudly, and her mouth dropped open in shock. I laughed at her expression, then heard a mumble. When I turned my head, Alyssa was slumped in the chair she had sat in. I checked the time in my HUD and discovered how late it was. I had stayed up half the night working, and she had sat there and waited for me. I told Amanda goodnight and unhooked the portable display from the ports behind my ear, logged off and put it away. I hit the button to change the couch and table into the bed, then went over to Alyssa. ¡°You poor thing.¡± I said and picked up her small display that she had dropped on the floor. I turned it off and set it aside, then carefully picked her up. ¡°You''re exhausted.¡± I said and carried her to the bed and tucked her in under the blanket, then climbed in myself. Alyssa mumbled something and held on tightly to me. ¡°Goodnight to you, too.¡± I whispered and smiled, then drifted off to sleep. L.I.F.E. Begins 048: Integration I woke up just before my alarm was set to go off and I deactivated it. Surprisingly, I felt well rested, even though I only had several hours of sleep. Alyssa was still unconscious, and I was tempted to let her sleep; but, I knew she would be angry at me if I did that, so I gently shook her. ¡°Alyssa? It''s time to get up.¡± ¡°No... few more minutes.¡± Alyssa mumbled and kissed my chest, then rubbed her cheek on it and sighed. I used a hand to caress down her spine and to her lower back, and her body wiggled in response. I had found a slightly ticklish spot right at the top of her backside the first time we had slept together, and I used that knowledge now. I quickly wiggled my fingertips over the spot, and her whole body shook and shivered. Alyssa opened her eyes and barked a laugh, then she realized what I was doing and slapped my chest to get me to stop. ¡°Geez, Jack! Just shake me awake next time!¡± She said and sat up, then rubbed the spot to stop the feeling. ¡°I tried that.¡± I said and sat up myself. ¡°When that didn''t work, I had to do something else.¡± ¡°I told you not to touch me there, unless...¡± Alyssa''s face went red. ¡°If we hurry, we could do it before Deloris shows up.¡± I said. Alyssa checked the time and shook her head. ¡°No, the chance for error is too high.¡± ¡°What if we skipped the foreplay and you just ravage me with your body?¡± I offered, and she smiled. ¡°Tempting as that is, she caught us doing it once.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°I won''t be embarrassed like that again.¡± ¡°Can I at least get a Good Morning?¡± I smiled and moved the blanket out of the way, and she saw my current condition. ¡°You want me to give you a Good Morning.¡± Alyssa said as she glanced at my face, then she sighed. ¡°All right, lay back.¡± I cupped the sides of her face and gave her a quick and passionate kiss. ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and laid back onto the bed. Alyssa smiled as her hand reached for me, then she diverted and slapped my abdomen hard with the palm of her hand. I made a satisfying ''oof'' sound for her as my breath left me, and she laughed. ¡°Good morning, Jack!¡± Alyssa said, happily. ¡°Get your ass out of bed and get dressed.¡± She bared her teeth at me in a classic drill instructor''s evil smile. ¡°Calisthenics in 5.¡± ¡°G-give me... a minute.¡± I said and rolled out of bed to land on my hands and knees on the floor, and tried to catch my breath. She knelt beside me and stroked my back. ¡°You need to remember something about me.¡± Alyssa said and leaned down to whisper in my ear. ¡°I am not some party girl that you can just order to do things like that to you.¡± ¡°Thought... having fun.¡± I panted. Alyssa''s hand found the back of my neck and gripped the skin there like I was a kitten. ¡°I am a highly trained combat soldier and you will treat me with respect.¡± She said and stood up, and dragged me up to stand with her. ¡°I can take the occasional joke and you being flippant with me; but, I will not be demeaned by you or anyone else.¡± ¡°I didn''t mean...¡± I sighed as I got my breath back. ¡°Alyssa, I''m sorry.¡± ¡°I''m glad, because you know I will do that for you. I have done that for you.¡± Alyssa said and let my neck go. ¡°The way you asked this time, though... it pissed me off. It... it makes the act mean a lot less than it should.¡± I stepped close and put my arms around her, and she was stiff and unresponsive. ¡°Please know that I appreciate everything you do for me.¡± I said. ¡°Everything.¡± Alyssa closed her eyes and sighed. ¡°I know, it''s just... this thing between us...¡± ¡°It''s new and different, and you don''t know how to handle it.¡± I said, and she looked at me with wide eyes. ¡°How do you know that?¡± ¡°I feel the same way.¡± I said and leaned close to rest my forehead against hers. ¡°I joke and try to cover up my uncertainty; but, I took it a little too far this time.¡± I kissed the tip of her nose. ¡°Please, accept my apology.¡± Alyssa nodded. ¡°I may have overreacted myself, for the same reason.¡± She said. ¡°Can you forgive me?¡± ¡°If I do, can I get out of exercising?¡± I asked and smiled. ¡°No.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Then I''ll forgive you anyway and take my punishment.¡± ¡°It''s not punishment.¡± Alyssa said and stepped away, then passed me a fresh unitard. ¡°You''re out of shape from being in a hospital bed for so long after your accident and surgery.¡± I was tempted to argue that I wasn''t out of shape as I put on the unitard; but, I had used my various injuries as excuses to slack off on doing anything physical for quite some time. Since I didn''t have access to my immersion chamber until the conversion was completed, I wasn''t getting a workout that way, either. I know it sounds odd to get a workout in a virtual space; but, the chair engulfed you completely and your VR body responded to movements that your real muscles perform. The resistance the chair offers wasn''t quite as good as lifting real weights, even though it came pretty close. For people like me that made a living using VR technology and worked so many hours a day without going outside, it was a godsend. Alyssa ran me through all the basic boot camp exercises that both my mind and body remembered well. Performing them however, was a bit more complicated. Even with the updated interface and repaired hardware, my hand-to-eye coordination was still slightly out of sync. Which was why my medical discharge had gone through, despite the updated information on my improvements with the synthetic parts that Nurse Deloris submitted to the hospital''s research team every night. After we had worked out for about half an hour, Alyssa had noticed the lag difference in my right and left arms as they moved, especially while I performed jumping jacks.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°I think that''s enough for today.¡± Alyssa said. I nodded and walked around the small apartment several times so that I wasn''t sitting still after a strenuous workout. That was the worst thing you could do, because you had to keep moving to keep the oxygen flowing to the muscles that needed it. ¡°Okay... yes, I''m... out of shape.¡± I panted. ¡°You''re lifting a lot more weight in yourself.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°You might want to think about getting the muscle enhancement package.¡± ¡°I''m not going in for extensive surgery again. I''ve had more than my share of hospital time and I''m done.¡± I said, adamantly. ¡°My best friend Stephane, the guy Deloris is dating, was laid up in bed for a month and couldn''t move after getting the package, then had another two months of recovery time and training to learn what his new strength could do for him.¡± ¡°He got the full enhancement?¡± Alyssa asked, and I nodded. ¡°Unlike him, I don''t have anyone in my life that can take 3 months off to stay at home and take care of me while I recover.¡± Alyssa opened her mouth to volunteer, then realized if she did that, then she would need to have someone else take over as squad leader... and she didn''t want to do that right now. I saw all of this pass over her face, and I smiled. ¡°We''re not far enough into whatever this is we have brewing between us, for me to ask you to give up who you are, just so I can have a normal-looking walk again.¡± ¡°So, you would ask me, if... if we were...¡± ¡°I''d have the side benefit of having you close to me all the time; but, I''m pretty sure you would resent me for it.¡± I said and chuckled. ¡°You resented me when I assumed you would help me with my ''condition'' this morning, and look how that turned out.¡± ¡°Jack...¡± ¡°You would hate me so much after the first month.¡± I said. ¡°I''d need you to do everything for me, Alyssa. It''s not the big things that would bother you, either. It''s all the little things that will get to you.¡± Alyssa sighed. ¡°I can''t deny it.¡± ¡°Me, either.¡± I said. ¡°I could hire a nurse to take care of a lot of it, but I would still need someone I cared about to do the rest of it for me.¡± ¡°It would be a huge commitment.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°And a time waster that neither of us can afford to spare right now.¡± I said, and she nodded in agreement. There was a knock on the door and Alyssa checked the security feed. ¡°It''s a delivery man.¡± ¡°Hey, it''s here!¡± I said and quickly moved over to the door. Alyssa was suddenly there ahead of me and shoved me off to the side. I managed to get my synthetic arm up in time to catch myself before I slammed into the wall. ¡°Who is it?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°Product delivery for this address from Manufacturing Factory Number Eighty-One.¡± ¡°Who is it for?¡± ¡°It just says Amanda, no last name.¡± ¡°You can leave it by the door.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Are you sure?¡± The man asked. ¡°It''s an expensive delivery.¡± ¡°I just got out of the shower.¡± Alyssa said in a slightly upset voice. ¡°Please, just leave it and go.¡± ¡°Whatever you say.¡± The man said and put down the large box he had in his hands, then he waved down the hall. Nine more men dropped off large boxes and left. ¡°We''ll be back with the rest of it.¡± Alyssa looked at me with wide eyes, and I shrugged. She opened a small compartment and took out a portable security detector, then opened the door and went out to examine the closest box. The detector didn''t find any chemical weapons or explosives, and she checked the others and kept an eye on the security feed. She came back inside the apartment when she had checked all ten boxes, and we waited for the rest. The man brought another large box and put it on top of the other one by the door, then knocked. ¡°These last ones are it. Twenty boxes filled with custom components.¡± He said as the other men dropped their boxes on the others. ¡°Are you going to sign for them, or what?¡± The signature pad beeped at him and he looked at it. He was surprised to see Amanda''s signature had appeared there, then shrugged. ¡°Never mind.¡± The man said. ¡°Have a good day.¡± Alyssa watched him walk away and waited until he was in the elevator before she went out into the hallway again and checked the other ten boxes. Nothing showed up and she came in and waved to me. I went out with her and we carried the boxes into the apartment. They were large and took up a lot of space, and I could tell she wasn''t happy. ¡°When the hell did you order all this?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°Last night when I finished work.¡± I said. ¡°You were unconscious at the time, and rather than wake you, I put you in bed.¡± Alyssa looked at me with an odd expression, and I assumed it was because she just realized she didn''t remember going to bed herself. ¡°I''m glad they waited until morning to deliver it.¡± I said and there was another knock on the door. ¡°It''s Deloris.¡± Alyssa said and answered it. ¡°Good morning!¡± Nurse Deloris said and stopped when she saw the cubicle apartment was practically full with 20 large cardboard boxes. ¡°What did I tell you about keeping a clean and clear apartment for your recovery?¡± ¡°Hide everything before you come over?¡± I asked, and she shook her head. ¡°Jack, it''s not safe with all this here.¡± ¡°Well, I hadn''t realized when I ordered a thousand of them, it would look like this.¡± ¡°A thousand of what, exactly?¡± Alyssa asked. I walked over to the closet to get my supplies backpack. I pulled out my old combat knife and three algenate discs for breakfast. I put a disc in my pocket and gave one to Deloris and the other one to Alyssa. They ate it and watched me as I pulled the knife from it''s sheath, tossed the knife into the air to make it flip around, then I caught the handle on the downward stroke. I sliced open the tape on the top box and flipped the knife around in my fingers and slid it back into the sheath in one smooth motion. I opened the flaps of the box and looked inside, and saw stacks of white boxes. I pulled one out and it was about eight inches long, six inches high, and two inches thick. ¡°You have to love excess packing material.¡± I said sarcastically, because it explained why the boxes were so large, and I opened the smaller box to reveal it''s contents. It was my circuit board; a four inch long, two inch high, and half inch wide piece of technology. ¡°What is that?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°It''s my AI''s dream come true.¡± I said, and smiled. ¡°Jack, are you serious?¡± Amanda said from the vidwall. Alyssa and Deloris jumped at the sound of her voice coming out of a regular piece of technology. ¡°I''m completely serious.¡± I said. ¡°Now I just have to coerce my nurse to give me a hand installing it.¡± ¡°I''m not putting anything anywhere until you tell me what it is.¡± Nurse Deloris said. ¡°It''s a booster and signal converter.¡± I said. ¡°Oh, then okay.¡± Nurse Deloris said. ¡°Are you using the thigh or chest access port?¡± ¡°Chest.¡± I said. ¡°I want it as close to the main power supply as possible.¡± ¡°I''ll get the bath things ready.¡± Nurse Deloris said and grabbed the things she needed for the bath and set them out, put the towels down, and told me to strip off and lay down. She went to the closet to retrieve the portable maintenance kit and brought it over to me. She set it up and I plugged the leads into the ports behind my ear, and she hit the diagnostic button. It beeped a few moments later and she nodded. ¡°All good.¡± Nurse Deloris said, then used the tool to pop open my pectoral muscle to reveal the components underneath. I handed her the new circuit board and she carefully took it, then her hands disappeared into my chest. ¡°There should be three or four periphery slots next to the air regulator pump.¡± I said. ¡°Thank you for the information, Mr. Pointer-out of the Obvious.¡± I snorted a laugh, and she smiled at me. ¡°Why are you not putting it in your head?¡± Nurse Deloris said and managed to get the circuit board in place, locked the clamps to hold it, then pulled her hands out. ¡°I''ve had enough odd things happening in my head the last little while.¡± I said. ¡°Plus, if it sparks, shorts-out or goes afire, I can reach my chest a lot quicker than the back of my head.¡± ¡°Good point.¡± ¡°Amanda? Load the program we wrote last night into my transfer protocol, and set the destination for the proper folders, please.¡± ¡°Why aren''t you doing that?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°I need the ports behind my ear for Nurse Deloris to monitor me with the maintenance kit.¡± I said. ¡°I have no where else to plug in my portable display.¡± ¡°It''s loaded, Jack.¡± Amanda said. ¡°Thanks.¡± I said and used my HUD to choose the new program and ran it.
Warning: Unregistered / Unapproved software is attempting to run on your internal operating system. If you choose to continue, this could cause instability and unforeseen errors. Continue? Yes / No
I chose the ''yes'' option and everything flickered on my HUD for several moments, then everything went black. L.I.F.E. Begins 049: Load Me Up ¡°Well, damn.¡± I said. ¡°What happened?¡± Nurse Deloris asked. ¡°I may have messed up my main operating system.¡± I sighed. ¡°I''ve lost visuals.¡± ¡°At least it''s not a problem with your interface.¡± Nurse Deloris said. ¡°You would be slurring your speech otherwise.¡± ¡°Any suggestions?¡± ¡°I''d say try a soft reboot, but if your optics aren''t working, you won''t be able to use your HUD to select anything.¡± Nurse Deloris said. ¡°Pop out the maintenance kit and get the portable display.¡± My AI Amanda said. ¡°I can initialize a reboot with a direct connection.¡± ¡°Don''t forget to unplug it when I''m out and attach the maintenance kit again.¡± I said. ¡°We need those readings.¡± ¡°This isn''t my first rodeo.¡± Nurse Deloris said and I felt her remove the leads from the ports behind my ear, then attach new ones I assumed were from my portable display. ¡°Okay, I''m in.¡± Amanda said. ¡°Ugh. Just a second.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± I asked. ¡°You''re right. Your main OS is messed up and it''s difficult to navigate.¡± Amanda said. ¡°Damn.¡± I said. ¡°I wonder why that happened?¡± ¡°You should have just added the files and did a restart to load the program, instead of just running it.¡± Amanda said. ¡°You''re right. I was too eager.¡± I sighed. ¡°I didn''t take into account that the variables it calls to were in use at the time, and it couldn''t modify them without messing up the other programs that use the same variables.¡± ¡°So you know what happened?¡± Nurse Deloris asked. ¡°Yeah, and why my optics aren''t working.¡± I said. ¡°Or, I should say, why I can''t see anything. My optics are working fine, but I''m not processing the signal properly.¡± ¡°Okay, I found the reset.¡± Amanda said. ¡°Jack, get ready. Doing this without your permission is going to feel... really weird for you.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Just do it.¡± Amanda did something inside my head, and the world started to spin. ¡°Whoa.¡± I said and grabbed onto the bed automatically to try and stop it. ¡°I''m really glad I can''t see anything, because this is really freaky.¡± ¡°Sorry, Jack. Your auto-balance mechanism is-BZZZT.¡± I lost all sensation on the synthetic side of my body, and I couldn''t hear anything. I wasn''t worried, mainly because the spinning had stopped and I knew I was being reset. It seemed to take longer this time, and I assumed a lot more files were altered than I had planned and they had to be restored from backups. I blinked my eyes several times as I waited, then everything popped back on. ¡°Whew.¡± I said as my HUD appeared and everything kept loading. ¡°Good so far.¡± I said, then my optics started processing external stimuli and Nurse Deloris and Alyssa appeared above me. ¡°Does two count as a bevy of beauties?¡± I asked, and they both smiled at me. ¡°No, but I won''t fault you for the compliment.¡± Nurse Deloris said. ¡°Although, I think just being able to see us right now would mean we look beautiful to you.¡± I smiled. ¡°I did not say that, and you will never hear me say it.¡± Nurse Deloris snorted a laugh and looked at the maintenance kit. ¡°Just lay there and let me know if you get any errors.¡± ¡°You got it.¡± I said as I watched the programs start up on my HUD, and my arm and leg activated without incident. ¡°Limbs are fine.¡± ¡°Mm hm.¡± Nurse Deloris watched the readouts closely on the maintenance kit to see if any errors popped up. I was about to comment that my physical sensations were back in full force, when I received a popup I had been expecting.
New Hardware Found!
Searching for software... Software found.
Loading new software... Loading... Done.
Initializing... Syncing with compatible hardware... Done.
Acquiring signal... Done. Converting signal... Boosting gain... Done.
Your new hardware is ready for use.
I took in a deep breath and let it out. ¡°What is it?¡± Nurse Deloris asked. ¡°I don''t see anything wrong.¡± ¡°Nothing''s wrong.¡± I said. ¡°I''m just mentally preparing myself.¡± ¡°For what?¡± ¡°For her reaction.¡± I said, and chose the proper command on my HUD.
Communication Protocol / Comm Pad function engaged.
User Designation: Jack (RETCONNED) is now available to be contacted directly.
¡°Oh, my GOD!¡± My AI Amanda yelled from the vidwall panel, because she had been immediately notified that my comm pad had been reactivated without me being issued a new one. ¡°What is it?¡± Nurse Deloris and Alyssa asked at the same time. ¡°He... he really...¡± Amanda tried to speak, but it sounded like she was crying.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Jack, what did you do to her?¡± Nurse Deloris asked. ¡°I told you.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°I made her dream come true.¡± ¡°Stop beating around the bush and just tell us.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°I knew he had added it to the program he wrote, and I never even suspected that... I thought he was using it for its communication protocols between different systems, not to... his new circuit board, it...¡± Amanda muttered something unintelligible. ¡°Amanda?¡± ¡°Jack has an active communication pad installed in his cybernetics.¡± Amanda said. ¡°He WHAT?!?¡± Nurse Deloris exclaimed loudly. ¡°It''s also keyed to him personally, so no matter where he goes or what he does, I... I can...¡± ¡°She can always talk to me.¡± I said proudly. ¡°I hadn''t intended that when I thought up the new circuit board design; but, once I started adding the things I wanted, I thought about what else it could be used for.¡± ¡°Good lord.¡± Alyssa said and sat down on the edge of the bed. ¡°When you said it was a booster and signal converter, I didn''t even think about using it for that.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Well, Amanda had the circuit board and the full program, and she still didn''t figure it out.¡± ¡°Hey, that wasn''t fair!¡± Amanda pouted. ¡°I can''t connect my virtual machine to a live signal, because it can''t generate a unique ID for the communication network.¡± ¡°I did say you had try and figure it out on your own; but to be fair, I knew you wouldn''t discover that part without my help.¡± ¡°At least you admitted you cheated.¡± Amanda said smugly, and I laughed. ¡°How else was I going to surprise you with it?¡± I asked, and she didn''t say anything. She wasn''t going to tell me any other ways for me to keep things from her, even though she liked to be surprised. ¡°Well, there''s no problems with it mechanically.¡± Nurse Deloris said and used a small mirror to reflect the spot the new circuit board was installed in, so she wouldn''t have to put her face near the hole in my chest to try and see the circuit board firsthand. ¡°It hasn''t caught fire, or looks like it''s going to spark.¡± She said. ¡°How''s the internal temperature?¡± ¡°It''s right at the perfect temperature for what it''s being used for.¡± I said. ¡°I designed in a lot of redundancy; but, it''s nice to have it fall right in the middle of the average temperature zone I was aiming for.¡± ¡°I can''t believe you made an integrated communication pad.¡± My AI Amanda said. ¡°It''s more than that.¡± I said. ¡°With the onboard rechargeable battery backup, it will never run out of power, even if I''m unconscious.¡± ¡°Jack.¡± Nurse Deloris sat down on the bed next to Alyssa. ¡°Do you know what this means?¡± ¡°Since it seems to be working so far, I think so.¡± ¡°It''s not a joke, Jack.¡± Nurse Deloris said. ¡°If everyone had one of these, they would never have to worry about losing their communication pads or the combinations for their number.¡± ¡°Not everyone.¡± I said. ¡°As you clearly saw, it was a circuit board.¡± Nurse Deloris opened her mouth to respond, and she realized what I meant. ¡°Oh, the norms.¡± ¡°I never did like that name, and now that I''m not one of them, I dislike it even more.¡± I said. ¡°But, yes. No integration for them.¡± ¡°You''ll have to come up with something else for them.¡± ¡°Who said I didn''t?¡± I smiled at her, and she smiled back. ¡°What are you going to do?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°I''d like to have a bath, if my nurse would be so kind.¡± I said, and Nurse Deloris nodded. She closed my chest cavity and made sure it was seated properly and applied a small bit of lubrication oil to seal it, then she washed the normal side of my body. Alyssa had moved to her chair and appeared to be watching us, but I knew she was using the secured short wave one-way communication protocol she had with her squad to tell them about my new circuit board and the possibilities it had. It was just too good of an invention to keep a secret. While I was getting the synthetic side of my body cleaned, I received a popup on my HUD for an incoming call from Alyssa. ¡°It seems someone is trying to call me.¡± I said and glanced at Alyssa. She had her communication pad out and her face was a little red. ¡°Please excuse me while I take this, Nurse Deloris.¡± ¡°Go for it.¡± Nurse Deloris said. ¡°I''d like to see how it works.¡± I accepted the call using my HUD. ¡°Hello, Alyssa.¡± My voice came out of her pad at almost the exact same time as I spoke. It was only microseconds out of sync, and only cybernetic ears could tell there was lag at all. Alyssa smiled at me and spoke. ¡°I guess that means it works.¡± I heard her voice double, since I could hear her physically and the new program also fed her voice into my auditory receptors. ¡°I think it would have been a more valid test if you weren''t 5 feet away from me.¡± Both of my voices said, and she giggled. ¡°That sounds so weird.¡± ¡°I''m getting the same thing.¡± I said and tapped my ear. ¡°The program lets me hear you with my ears, too.¡± ¡°That''s amazing.¡± Nurse Deloris said and applied a layer of lubricating fluid to my synthetic parts, and I could see that she was happy. I couldn''t tell if it was about my invention or that my body hadn''t reacted to her in a sexual way. I suppose it didn''t matter, because either way she was happy. Alyssa ended the call and I received a disconnected popup on my HUD, and it asked me if I wanted to call her back. I chose yes, and her communication pad beeped at her. She looked down at it with wide eyes, and saw it was me returning her call. ¡°It really works.¡± Alyssa said and denied the call. ¡°Wow, she snubbed me.¡± I said and looked at Nurse Deloris. ¡°She''s sitting right there, and she didn''t want to talk to me.¡± I made a really sad face. ¡°I feel so... rejected.¡± Alyssa stood up and walked over to me. ¡°I would have answered; but, I believe you would rather have me do this in person.¡± She said as she knelt by the bed and kissed me. I wasn''t sure how to react to the attention, especially with Nurse Deloris standing right beside us, so I only moved my lips perfunctorily until Alyssa broke the kiss. ¡°You don''t know what this is going to mean to me and my squad.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Well, considering I only wanted to order ten of the things, I''m pretty sure I do.¡± ¡°Wh-what?¡± ¡°It''s new technology, so I only wanted a limited amount of them for testing.¡± I said. ¡°I mean, if they didn''t work, like when I tried to run the program without rebooting first, I didn''t want to waste a ton of Points on a huge order.¡± Alyssa looked around her cubicle apartment and the 20 large boxes. ¡°Jack, you bought a thousand of them.¡± I chuckled. ¡°It was the same price as buying ten of them.¡± Alyssa and Nurse Deloris stared at me and didn''t say anything. ¡°I only wanted ten at first so that I could have one to play with, and if it worked, as it does, I wanted enough for you and your squad.¡± I said to Alyssa, and her eyes widened a little. ¡°That would leave four of them; one of which I would gratefully give to my care-giver.¡± Nurse Deloris'' eyes widened as well. ¡°R-really?¡± ¡°I needed you to install it in me, since someone I won''t mention keeps claiming she''s not qualified.¡± I said, and Alyssa''s face flushed red. ¡°Once you knew what it could do, I figured you would want one.¡± ¡°What about the last three?¡± Nurse Deloris asked. ¡°It doesn''t matter.¡± I said. ¡°I''ve got a thousand of them, without an instruction manual and in plain white boxes. There''s no way I can sell them or do anything with them until I come up with the design, the name, a slogan, and a sales pitch.¡± ¡°Don''t forget a price.¡± My AI Amanda said. ¡°Even divided up a thousand times, it was still a lot of Points.¡± ¡°How... how much?¡± Alyssa asked, and I put a hand on her arm. ¡°You and your squad have been watching my back for a while, now. If I''m going to benefit from this, so are you.¡± ¡°What about me?¡± Nurse Deloris asked. ¡°I''m charging you full price.¡± I said. I saw her start to gasp and quickly continued. ¡°Minus installation fees for adding currently unregistered mods into 6 cybernetic humanoids, and hush money to keep quiet about it until Amanda and I send the official records into the modifications registry... once we get the product information sorted out.¡± Nurse Deloris took a breath and smiled. ¡°How much do I owe you after that?¡± ¡°Actually, I''d owe you, so I''d offset it by giving you a spare.¡± ¡°Wh-what?¡± ¡°I''m sure you know someone that can use something like this.¡± I said with a smile, and she chuckled. ¡°Yes, he''ll enjoy having one.¡± ¡°Jack and I will have the instruction manual finished by tonight.¡± My AI Amanda said from the vidwall panel. ¡°You''ll have to wait until then to learn what the options are and what you can do with the circuit board once it''s installed.¡± ¡°I can easily reach my thigh, so I''ll put mine there.¡± Nurse Deloris said and looked at Alyssa. ¡°So, you first?¡± ¡°Please, and I''m using the thigh access port as well.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°I''ve asked Evilin to come down and get hers installed, too.¡± ¡°Great.¡± Nurse Deloris said and pat my leg. ¡°You''re done. Get up and get dressed.¡± I pulled the maintenance kit leads out of the ports behind my ear and rolled off the bed, then walked over to the dispenser and grabbed a new unitard. Alyssa opened hers and pulled it down to expose her thigh and laid down on the bed. I got dressed, and when someone knocked on the door, I started to check the vidwall panel. ¡°It''s just Evilin.¡± Alyssa said, and I opened the door without comment. ¡°Geez, are you moving in permanently or something?¡± Evilin asked me when she saw all the large cardboard boxes. ¡°There''s no room for an immersion chamber in here, so I can''t do my full job.¡± I said, then smiled. ¡°Actually, I think the chamber is bigger than this apartment.¡± Evilin laughed and ducked her head to enter. ¡°Everything is bigger than this apartment.¡± ¡°Try not to bump into any of the boxes, please.¡± I said. ¡°The contents are packaged well, but not that well.¡± ¡°I''m always careful.¡± Evilin said and smiled evilly. ¡°Even when I''m causing destruction and devastation, I''m careful.¡± I gave her a respectful nod and watched her move across the small space, and her large frame navigated to the bed without incident. L.I.F.E. Begins 050: On The Network Alyssa had her new circuit board installed a lot faster than I did, since it was just placed in her thigh. I helped her plug in my portable display in the jacks behind her ear so that my AI Amanda could give her the new program. Alyssa sat down on the chair she usually sat in, and she locked her limbs to keep her position and rebooted. I removed the leads to the portable display and waited. Evilin didn''t bother laying down on the bed because she was too big to fit, so she just propped her foot up on the edge and Nurse Deloris opened up her thigh to install her circuit board. A few seconds later, Alyssa opened her eyes and smiled. ¡°It''s working, Jack.¡± Alyssa said, then she pinged my com and sent me a text.
From SRGNT8356: I am going to ride you so hard once they leave!
I blinked my eyes for a moment, and for the life of me had no idea why her saying that was any different than when I had asked her for a ''Good Morning''; then I shrugged mentally at the discrepancy and responded.
From Jack(RETCONNED): Bring it! Ah... I mean... I eagerly await the attempt.
Alyssa chuckled and looked at me, and I gave her a wink. ¡°It''s in, but it''s not working.¡± Evilin said. ¡°I can''t even detect it.¡± ¡°Jack has to give you the program first, then you need to reboot before running it.¡± Nurse Deloris said. ¡°Really? It''s that deep seated?¡± Evilin asked, and she nodded. ¡°Then hook me up!¡± I went over to her and put the leads into the port behind her ear. ¡°Hey, girl!¡± Evilin said to my AI. ¡°Where''s he been hiding you?¡± She tilted her head slightly. ¡°What do you mean he''s always hiding you?¡± She frowned and looked at me. ¡°You''re keeping her prisoner?¡± ¡°Geez, Amanda.¡± I chuckled. ¡°It''s not my fault that having you covert is a lot safer, for the both of us, than announcing you to everyone I meet.¡± I said and looked at Evilin. ¡°She can go in and out of any communication tech that''s currently attached to the System. She''s not a prisoner.¡± ¡°You never take me anywhere.¡± Amanda said from the vidwall panel. ¡°We went halfway across the cavern to get something to eat yesterday.¡± I said and sighed. ¡°You''re kidding!¡± Nurse Deloris said. ¡°It''s true.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Mr. High And Mighty wanted some chicken.¡± ¡°Ha!¡± Evilin barked a laugh. ¡°Rich people, huh?¡± ¡°It wasn''t that expensive.¡± I said in my defense, and the three women laughed. ¡°Unplug me so I can reboot.¡± Evilin said, and I pulled the leads out of the ports behind her ear, and she did the same thing as Alyssa and locked her body so she wouldn''t move, then the lights behind her eyes went out. Nurse Deloris took this opportunity to pull her pants down and popped her own thigh open. With deft movements, she quickly installed her own circuit board. ¡°I can''t remember the last time I put something inside myself.¡± Nurse Deloris said, then chuckled. ¡°That would sound so weird if it was taken out of context.¡± ¡°I''m not saying a word.¡± I said, and she laughed. Evilin''s eyes lit up again and she grabbed my synthetic shoulder tightly. ¡°Holy shit! It really works!¡± ¡°Yes.¡± I said and tried not to wince. I debated reducing the sensations so that it wouldn''t bother me so much, then Nurse Deloris'' words came back to me about messing up my operating system by changing it. Nurse Deloris closed up her thigh and sealed it with fluid. I plugged the portable display into the ports behind her ear so she could get the program, and Evilin let my shoulder go. When the file was successfully transferred over, Deloris nodded and I unplugged the portable display. She laid down on the bed and rebooted to let the program integrate itself into her startup files. She opened her eyes a few moments later and sat up. ¡°Okay, this is the best thing ever.¡± ¡°Isn''t it?¡± Alyssa said, happily. ¡°The normal communication pad seems so limited in comparison, doesn''t it?¡± Nurse Deloris nodded and looked at me. ¡°You''re really going to give me a spare one, right?¡± I nodded and handed her three of the small circuit board boxes. ¡°Just install these into Crush and the other two members of Alyssa''s squad, and this one is yours.¡± I said and gave her another one. ¡°Jack, thank you.¡± Nurse Deloris said. ¡°You''re doing me a huge favor, so you don''t need to thank me.¡± I said. ¡°Alyssa? Can you give her...¡± ¡°Already sent her their locations.¡± Alyssa said, and Nurse Deloris nodded. ¡°I''ll have them installed by this afternoon.¡± ¡°You''ll need this for the program.¡± I said and gave her my portable display. ¡°Are you sure you want that out of your sight?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°You won''t be able to do any work while she has it.¡±This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°I''m not planning on doing a lot of work for the next few hours.¡± I said and smiled at her, and she nodded slightly. ¡°Plus, I already transferred the secured files to my internal storage. There''s nothing left on it except a copy of the program.¡± ¡°We''ll have to work out a better way to transfer it.¡± My AI Amanda said from the vidwall panel. ¡°I was thinking a direct download from the home system that everyone can access; but, we can''t get approval for that until we work everything out first.¡± ¡°As exciting as planning product design is, I''m out of here.¡± Evilin said. ¡°Come on, doc. I''ll walk you out.¡± ¡°I''m just a nurse.¡± Nurse Deloris said. She grabbed her bag from the closet and tucked the portable display inside. ¡°Whatever. Let''s go.¡± Evilin said and walked over to the door. ¡°Hey, Deloris!¡± I said and went to the sink and held out the container the homemade lasagna was in. ¡°It was delicious.¡± ¡°You didn''t have to wash it, you nut.¡± Nurse Deloris said and laughed. ¡°It''s recyclable.¡± I opened my mouth to say I knew that, then sighed and tossed it in the recycle chute. ¡°Don''t look so sad.¡± Nurse Deloris smiled. ¡°I''ll bring another one the next time I make a batch.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± I said, and she and Evilin left the apartment. ¡°She actually got the hint.¡± Alyssa said, surprised. I walked over to the door of the apartment and locked it, then went back over to her. Alyssa looked at me with a smile, and we wrapped our arms around each other and kissed. Alyssa had been true to her message and we had fun for quite some time. I was a little surprised that she didn''t try to restrain herself at first; but, after we had done it the first time, she knew exactly what my body was capable of handling and she made full use of it in that context. I received a text message from Nurse Deloris as she finished installing each of the three circuit boards. I denied the direct call from Crush and sent him a message that I was busy. He messaged me back and said that Alyssa had said the same thing, and that he suspected we were ''getting busy'' together. I couldn''t deny it, so I didn''t respond. I''m not going to hear the end of it the next time I see him. I thought and smiled. ¡°I can''t believe you aren''t going to work until Deloris comes back.¡± Alyssa said, and I hugged her close. ¡°It''s just an excuse to spend more time with you.¡± I said. ¡°I don''t really need my portable display anymore.¡± ¡°Wh-what?¡± Alyssa propped herself up on her elbow to look down at me. ¡°You don''t?¡± I shook my head. ¡°I told you that the new circuit board can do a lot more than just be used as a communication pad.¡± ¡°It''s a portable display, too?¡± Alyssa asked, her eyes wide. ¡°It''s a booster and signal converter. It can do a lot of things.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°Like call and video conferencing.¡± ¡°Wait, what? I knew about the call conferencing, since I''m already doing that with my squad.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°You can do video? How?¡± ¡°Virtual Reality, of course.¡± I said. ¡°Since everyone automatically stores their digital avatar in their onboard memory, and the visual cortex can interpret anything that''s sent to it...¡± ¡°Good lord.¡± Alyssa said and grabbed my shoulder and shook me. ¡°Show me how to do it right now!¡± ¡°We just did it, so I shouldn''t have to show you.¡± I said and grinned at her, then she got the joke. ¡°Ha, ha. Very funny.¡± Alyssa said sarcastically. ¡°I thought so.¡± I said. ¡°I''ll work on getting the manual prepared this afternoon, and you''ll find out what it''s true capabilities are.¡± ¡°Can''t you just tell me how to do it?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°Geez, can''t you wait a few hours?¡± I asked, and she shook her head. ¡°Amanda, feel like joining us for a conference call?¡± ¡°Do I ever!¡± Amanda said from the vidwall panel, and then she pinged both of us at the same time. We accepted and then Amanda materialized right in front of us. ¡°I''m kind of overriding the program and forcing my avatar to appear at the moment, because you need to change some of the software settings to get it to actually work for everyone.¡± ¡°Did... did you say everyone?¡± Alyssa asked, and Amanda and I nodded. ¡°Since its software, you can''t have both the call and the video going at the same time, since it''s a hog on the processing power of the circuit board.¡± I said. ¡°I''ve got a constant monitor checking the temperature, and it''s at the high point of the safety margin right now.¡± ¡°I thought you put in redundancy for that.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°I did, but having both a voice channel and a video channel with voice, essentially doubling the signal and the load, is not what it was intended for.¡± ¡°Oh! I see.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Amanda, can you show me the options I need to change?¡± ¡°Sure!¡± Amanda said and created a virtual version of the software interface, and took Alyssa step by step through it to show her the difference in using the default call option and then choosing video instead and changing it to that. ¡°Once we get the manual done up, we can also include a set of macros for people to use instead of going the long way through all of this.¡± ¡°Why not do that first?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°Because this is the first attempt at doing anything like this.¡± I said. ¡°We''re doing everything from scratch, and there''s going to be things we didn''t think of or forgot to include.¡± ¡°Which is why we wanted to do up a manual before spreading these things around.¡± Amanda said. ¡°Plus, knowing how to do it the long way is the best way to understand how something works.¡± ¡°I''m a combat soldier.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°We don''t have time to do things the long way. All we use are shortcuts.¡± ¡°Why else do you think we mentioned the macros?¡± I chuckled. ¡°We know doing it the long way is a pain in the ass for you.¡± Alyssa opened her mouth to respond, then smiled and nodded instead. ¡°I think she bought it, Amanda! Quick! Make a run for it before she figures out we lied and did it the long way on purpose!¡± I exclaimed, and Amanda laughed and ran around the apartment. I tried to do the same, but a stack of boxes blocked my path. I felt Alyssa''s hand on my shoulder a second later and turned to look at her. ¡°Oh! Hello.¡± Alyssa had a serious look on her face as she stepped close. ¡°You can''t run from me.¡± She whispered. ¡°I have your personal ID.¡± She said and kissed me. I didn''t expect that at all, and she felt my body react in a very positive way. She broke the kiss and smiled. ¡°Jack, you don''t understand the significance of what you''ve done for us.¡± ¡°Is that the royal ''us'', as in you; or ''us'' as in you and me?¡± ¡°I meant us as a people.¡± Alyssa said and gave me another gentle kiss. ¡°Thanks to this program, I''ve already figured out how to get tactical information from anyone I''m connected to.¡± ¡°What? How?¡± I asked. ¡°You said it yourself. The visual cortex processes information. If I''m already getting data from the person for their avatar to appear, why not get the data for everything they see?¡± I blinked my eyes for a moment and thought about it. ¡°Oh, wow.¡± ¡°You see it now, don''t you?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°You''ve given us a superior tactical advantage, Jack. One that no one knows about right now.¡± She looked at the boxes around her. ¡°We can have five hundred advanced scout teams, with one person at HQ and the other in the forward deployment zones.¡± ¡°You''re wrong.¡± I said. She looked like she was going to debate me, and I put a finger over her mouth to stop her. ¡°You don''t have to split the teams. You only need one person at HQ, or one AI with the circuit board installed in their main processing unit, and we can have a thousand teams out on deployment.¡± Alyssa moved my finger and whispered. ¡°Good lord.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± I said. ¡°If we can accumulate enough processing power for that AI...¡± ¡°...it can coordinate movements in real time with no delay...¡± Alyssa said. ¡°If we do that...¡± ¡°...then we can create the largest tactical network that has ever existed.¡± I said. Alyssa and I didn''t say anything for a few minutes. ¡°Amanda? Go ahead and start the reserved run for the circuit boards.¡± I said. ¡°You got it, Jack.¡± Amanda said and I saw her turn around and toss something away. ¡°A reserved run?¡± Alyssa asked, and I nodded. ¡°How... how many more?¡± ¡°Only ten thousand.¡± I smiled, and she squealed like a little girl and kissed me harder than she ever had before. It was my turn to feel her body''s reaction and how excited she was, and then she practically dragged me over to the bed. ¡°Alyssa? What about Nurse... oof!¡± Alyssa tossed me onto the bed and then climbed on top of me. ¡°Right now, I don''t care.¡± ¡°...but... she...¡± Alyssa grabbed my hands and put them on her sumptuous chest, and it stopped my protest in mid-sentence. She almost laughed at my reaction to touching her, and she continued to do what she had promised in her message. L.I.F.E. Begins 051: Big Plans Surprisingly enough, Nurse Deloris didn''t show up when I had expected her to. Alyssa and I had fun with each other and played around for a while, then we got washed up. Amanda and I got to work on writing out the manual and detailed all of the program options for the new circuit board right after that and we worked right up until it was time for supper. Alyssa ordered pizza for us and it arrived just in time for Nurse Deloris to show up and give me my portable display back. ¡°Well, you''ve got perfect timing.¡± I commented as Nurse Deloris came into the apartment right behind the pizza delivery. ¡°Yes, perfect.¡± Nurse Deloris said and handed me the display, then she and Alyssa exchanged glances. ¡°I''ve been totally played, haven''t I?¡± I asked and stored the display in the closet. They laughed and we sat down to eat. ¡°If you mean we''ve been messaging each other and coordinating our movements the whole time, then yes.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°I''ve even told her how to access the video options.¡± ¡°Then I guess you don''t need the manual.¡± I opened the pizza container and took a huge breath in through my nose. ¡°That smells so good.¡± I said and took out two pieces for myself, then turned the container to Alyssa. ¡°It''s done?¡± Nurse Deloris asked, and her mouth watered at the sight of me taking a bite of the best pizza in the Cavern. ¡°Amanda and I finished just before the pizza showed up.¡± I said. ¡°Amanda, send them the files, will you?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± My AI said and both Nurse Deloris and Alyssa blinked their eyes in disbelief for a moment. ¡°J-Jack, this...¡± Alyssa ignored the pizza container in front of her. ¡°How can such a small circuit board do so much?¡± ¡°It''s not really doing anything.¡± I said and took another bite. ¡°It''s just bridging all the things everything else can do.¡± ¡°God, this is even more amazing than I thought it was going to be.¡± Nurse Deloris said, then she looked at the pizza container. ¡°Alyssa, are you...¡± ¡°Go ahead.¡± Alyssa said and turned the container towards her. ¡°Thank you.¡± Nurse Deloris said and took a piece. She started to eat and she moaned as the flavors hit her tongue. ¡°I''d eat like this every night if I could afford it.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Give it a few weeks, and you''ll be fine.¡± Nurse Deloris barked a laugh. ¡°I''m still only getting paid a normal salary from you.¡± ¡°Yeah, and you only have to work an hour a day.¡± I said. ¡°Think about that.¡± Alyssa looked like she got over what she was thinking about and pulled the container over and took a piece of pizza, and the three of us ate in silence until it was all gone. ¡°Thank you for supper.¡± Nurse Deloris said as she looked at me. ¡°Can I do your maintenance check now, rather than coming back tonight?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± I said and we converted the table back into a bed and she performed the physical inspection of my synthetic parts. ¡°You are in tip-top shape, Jack.¡± Nurse Deloris said and gave me a fresh unitard. ¡°You forgot to say ''for a bisected cyborg''.¡± I added, and she chuckled. ¡°I thought that was understood.¡± Nurse Deloris pat my shoulder. ¡°I''ll see you in the morning.¡± ¡°I''d suggest showing up bright and early; but honestly, I''m sleeping in tomorrow.¡± I said and got dressed. Nurse Deloris nodded and left the apartment after saying goodbye to us. ¡°Now what are you going to do?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°Amanda and I are going to work on the package design and filing the proper paperwork for getting the circuit board approved as an official modification.¡± I said. ¡°I expect it to be a huge pain in the ass, since it requires extensive internal testing before...¡± ¡°It''s approved and both the program and manual are available for download from a secured file server.¡± Amanda said from the vidwall panel. ¡°What?¡± I asked. ¡°Amanda, when...¡± ¡°The System pushed it through when she got all the data.¡± Amanda said. ¡°She predicts that it''s going to revolutionize how people interact, and she wants to get ahead of the curve before it gets ahead of her.¡± ¡°But... we didn''t...¡± ¡°She''s had a marketing department working on it for the last hour.¡± Amanda said and pinged me. I accepted the video call and she appeared in front of me. She held a flashy and stylized box with an image of the circuit board on it, with warnings and a cool name. The Equalizer. ¡°Well, I guess that means we''re soon going to have the new product flood the market.¡± I said. ¡°No, this is all waiting for approval and government sanction.¡± Amanda said. ¡°I can only assume they won''t sanction it until we summarily defeat someone in combat... namely S.C.R.A.P.E.¡±Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. I shook my head. ¡°That''s not going to happen.¡± I said. ¡°Once this is out for general use, everyone will have the same capabilities.¡± ¡°Yes, but they won''t be the first to have it.¡± Alyssa said, and I looked at her. ¡°With your permission, I''d like to ship these boxes to the military base and start distributing them to the troops.¡± ¡°Not all of them.¡± I said and picked up the box that we had already taken some out of. ¡°I''ll need these for testing on my home system and for my immersion chamber.¡± ¡°Not all of them, surely.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°I know a few people that can use them on their home system, and there is always a chance that there could be faults in the circuit board somewhere.¡± ¡°Jack, you don''t need over 40 of them for that.¡± ¡°Amanda? When''s the reserve run going to be finished?¡± I asked and tried to decide where to stash the big box. ¡°Just a second.¡± Amanda said. ¡°It''s already done and it''s being boxed up as we speak.¡± ¡°Have you worked out how many Points each unit cost to make and how much they need to be sold for?¡± ¡°Yes, Jack.¡± Amanda said. ¡°The System (Military Grade) has already credited your account with the Points for the reserve run.¡± ¡°Wait, what did you say?¡± I asked. ¡°It credited me with it?¡± ¡°Yes. You''ve also been reimbursed for your initial investment and paid for your work.¡± Amanda said. ¡°Dammit, they can''t...¡± I started to get angry, then I realized it was pointless and sighed. ¡°They already did, didn''t they?¡± ¡°Jack, I''m sorry.¡± Amanda said. ¡°You''ll still get residuals for the patent and use of the technology, but they''ve assumed control of the distribution of the circuit boards.¡± I stood there with the partially empty box in my hands and didn''t say anything. ¡°I''m sorry, too.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°I didn''t think that they would take everything for military use.¡± ¡°It''s not your fault. They must have had someone close by to tell them what was going on, and what this could mean.¡± I said. ¡°Yes, me.¡± Alyssa said, and I looked at her with wide eyes. ¡°My job is to watch you and report on your activities, Jack.¡± She reminded me, and I sighed. ¡°When did you tell them?¡± ¡°As soon as I get a new piece of information, it goes to them.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Jack, you know I''ve been doing it this whole time.¡± ¡°I... yes, I knew, but...¡± I shook my head. ¡°I can really fill my head with self-delusions, can''t I?¡± ¡°What do you mean? What delusions?¡± ¡°You. Me. Us.¡± ¡°Jack...¡± ¡°No, I get it.¡± I said. ¡°Your job has a higher priority.¡± ¡°You gave me this job!¡± Alyssa said, and let her anger show. ¡°Do you think I enjoy telling them about you? I''m right here and watching you, and you knew it, but it still feels like I''m spying on you!¡± ¡°Well, you are.¡± I said. ¡°Jack, don''t be an ass!¡± Alyssa said. ¡°You are still a prisoner. A well-guarded and protected prisoner, but a prisoner nonetheless.¡± She said a little sadly. ¡°You''ve known all along that I''m your prison guard.¡± ¡°Yeah, I know.¡± I sighed and walked over to the bed and hit the button to change it back to a table and couch. I sat down and left her lots of room to join me, then pulled up the backlog of programs I could fix for the System. Alyssa didn''t sit down next to me, so I opened one of the programs and started to use my hands to manipulate the code in my HUD. The new visual ability made me miss my immersion chamber even more. Alyssa stayed quiet as I worked, and unlike what I normally did, I had assigned a timer and an alarm to tell me when to stop working. I set it for a reasonable hour, which was also unlike what I normally did. When the timer clicked empty and the alarm went off, I had already saved my work and submitted it for processing. I stood up and hit the button to change the couch and table back into the bed. I climbed onto the bed and tucked myself under the blanket and waited. I was pretty sure she was going to join me, since it was the only bed in the small apartment; but when she did, she didn''t try to cuddle up to me and kept her back to me. After a few minutes and she didn''t move, I turned my head and looked at her. ¡°This prisoner would like to apologize to his guard for being somewhat unreasonable.¡± I said. ¡°Shut up.¡± Alyssa said in a calm voice. ¡°This delusion of yours doesn''t want to listen to your stupid jokes right now.¡± ¡°Alyssa...¡± ¡°You better shut up, or I might give in to my urge to punch your ignorant face in.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°If you''re lucky, you''ll turn your head fast enough to take in on the synthetic side.¡± She said. ¡°Maybe.¡± I didn''t say anything in response, and she took in a breath and let it out. Her hand moved to her face and I leaned up enough to see her dry sobbing and trying to hold it in. I settled back and closed my eyes, locked my synthetic limbs, and tried to go to sleep. ¡°I can sing you a lullaby.¡± My AI Amanda said. ¡°You always went to sleep quickly after them.¡± I thought about responding, then realized I didn''t remember her ever doing that. I started to dry sob myself as she started to sing. I tried my best to hold it in, because I didn''t recognize the melody at all. I must have drifted off eventually, because the next thing I knew, it was morning and I was being woken up. ¡°You''re being summoned by the colonel.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°But...¡± ¡°Nurse Deloris is meeting us at the base.¡± I nodded and unlocked my limbs, rolled out of bed and stood up. Alyssa avoided my gaze and I went to the bathroom to use the facilities and check myself in the mirror. The evidence that I hadn''t had much sleep was quite evident, so I washed my face and rubbed my eyes, then gave my hair a quick comb through. I still looked like I hadn''t gotten any sleep, and that would have to do. I left the bathroom and met Alyssa at the door to the apartment, and then she opened it to reveal 19 soldiers. They came into the apartment and took all 19 of the still sealed large cardboard boxes. Alyssa went to the closet with my things in it and took out my backpack. She opened the partially empty cardboard box, took out several of the circuit boards, and tucked them into my backpack. Alyssa closed the box, put the backpack in the closet, and handed the box to another soldier. ¡°There''s thirty of them in it, so mark it accordingly.¡± ¡°Yes, Ma''am.¡± The solder said and stood at attention for a moment, then left the apartment. ¡°Jack, let''s go.¡± Alyssa said and motioned to the door. I thought about protesting and telling her I didn''t want to go; but, I knew that would just make her sad. We both knew that it would be pointless. We left the apartment with the soldiers and rode up in the elevator with the last two soldiers and the boxes of circuit boards they carried. We arrived at the lobby and were met by even more soldiers. I was a little surprised by this, and then we left the building and I saw the actual military presence. ¡°What the hell is going on?¡± I asked. A full platoon of troops were there, and the boxes of circuit boards were loaded onto a military crawler and sealed up. ¡°This way.¡± One of the soldiers said and motioned for us to follow, and he took us to another transport. Alyssa and I climbed aboard and sat down, and the entire platoon moved out. It wasn''t until several minutes later that I realized there hadn''t been a single civilian anywhere in sight. They really want to keep it to themselves. I thought and looked at Alyssa, and she continued to avoid my gaze. Neither of us said anything as the platoon made it''s way across the Cavern, and quite a while later, we arrived at the large military base. No one stopped us or checked us for anything. The transport stopped in front of the main military HQ, and a soldier told us to get out and follow the sergeant. I wasn''t stupid enough to ask ''what sergeant?'', because I knew that the sergeant in question would appear in due course. L.I.F.E. Begins 052: In Control Alyssa and I only had to wait 2 minutes for the sergeant to show up in front of the military HQ. She was only 6 foot tall and didn''t look like she had any height boosters installed or had industrial replacements like Evilin on Alyssa''s combat squad had. Unlike Evilin, she had the full face modification and only had a thick armor plate where her face was supposed to be. For some reason, she had kept her full head of auburn colored hair. I don''t understand why anyone would choose such an inhuman mod. I thought. Why didn''t they at least keep the eye sockets? ¡°Right this way.¡± A female electronic voice said as the sergeant passed by, and Alyssa and I followed her without comment. I couldn''t help but feel bad for her, because she wouldn''t feel the physical experience of having someone kiss her on the lips... then I wondered what she had looked like before her cybernetic replacement surgery. I received a ping on my internal communication pad and I accepted the data from Alyssa. She had recognized the sergeant and accessed her file to send it to me. So, at least she''s still doing her job as my security. I thought about Alyssa and opened the file. I saw the sergeant''s recruitment photo and read what happened to her, then I felt really bad for my earlier thoughts about why she had it done. She had lost most of her real face in an explosion when her squad had been ambushed by a rival squad during a skirmish. ¡°You can wait in here for the colonel.¡± The sergeant said and waved to a small tent in the staging area. Alyssa entered and looked around, then poked her head back out and nodded to me. I nodded and Alyssa went back inside, and I put a hand on the sergeant''s shoulder. ¡°I''m sorry.¡± I said. ¡°What are you sorry for?¡± She asked in her electronic voice, clearly confused. I held up my synthetic hand and touched the replaced side of my jaw and cheekbone. After a moment, she gave me an imperceptible nod. I gave her shoulder a squeeze and entered the tent to wait for the colonel to show up. This time we had to wait for quite some time before the colonel managed to get away from his duties to see us. He came into the small tent with his unit leaders, and they were all talking at once. The colonel stopped at his desk and let them chatter for a few moments, then turned and slammed his hand onto the desk. The metal on metal sound reverberated in the small tent like a gong. ¡°You can''t all have priority for getting your people upgraded.¡± The colonel said and looked at their faces, then pointed to a man in the middle of the group. ¡°Do you have all your troops gathered?¡± The man waited for a moment, then nodded. ¡°I just received confirmation the last squad in my battalion just arrived in the staging area.¡± ¡°Then you have priority.¡± The colonel said and the man quickly left to get his people organized. The other people in the group started talking loudly, and the colonel slammed his hand down on the desk again. ¡°Does anyone else have all their troops here yet?¡± A woman near the back of the group raised her hand. ¡°I do, sir.¡± She said. ¡°I was the first to do so, actually.¡± ¡°I''m happy for you.¡± The colonel said, and the others chuckled. ¡°You''re next in line for upgrades, and you can send half of your engineers to the HQ. The tech guys need some extra hands setting up the new AI.¡± ¡°But...¡± ¡°They won''t need the upgrade until after the AI is set up for it; but, your people get one of the new circuit boards as soon as they enter the lab to help.¡± The woman smiled. ¡°Of course, sir. Thank you, sir.¡± The colonel waved her thanks away. ¡°It was my fault for not asking who was here first, so you get the bonus.¡± The woman nodded and left the tent at a fast walk. The people that remained quickly proclaimed their readiness status, and the colonel sorted them out and the order they were to be upgraded. When they all left, the colonel turned to me. ¡°Well, sir. It seems like you did it again.¡± The colonel said, and I sighed. ¡°I didn''t do it for... well, I guess it doesn''t matter now.¡± I said. ¡°I''m sorry about that, sir.¡± The colonel said and looked at Alyssa. ¡°Things have advanced beyond some people''s intentions.¡± ¡°I know, and I tried to joke with an apology.¡± I said, and the colonel winced because he understood what a mistake that had been. ¡°Well.¡± The colonel said, then changed the subject. ¡°We have as many cybernetic experts and medical personnel as possible installing the circuit boards.¡± He said. ¡°Thanks to you making it fit into a standard expansion slot, even old cyborgs like myself can use it.¡± I received a ping from him and accepted the incoming signal. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Col784329_S(MG)_Approved You need to make it up to her.
Jack (RETCONNED) How exactly do I do that?
Col784329_S(MG)_Approved Accept what I''m about to give you without questioning it or making a fuss.
Jack (RETCONNED) If it will let her forgive me.
Col784329_S(MG)_Approved Oh, she will.
The messaging happened in an instant and no discernible time had passed, and the colonel smiled. ¡°Before we continue, let me just say that I''m glad you showed up.¡± The colonel said, and I laughed. ¡°I came as soon as I could.¡± I said, and he laughed, too. ¡°Sir...¡± ¡°I''ve been discharged, Colonel.¡± I said. ¡°You can drop the sir.¡± ¡°No, I can''t.¡± The colonel said and reached into his desk and pulled out a civilian contract. It was already approved and notarized, and it even had my signature on it. ¡°Take this, and you''re officially back in command of the civilian side of this operation.¡± I started to inhale a breath and could almost feel Alyssa''s intense stare bore into my back. I knew she assumed I wasn''t going to take it, and the colonel now knew that I had to because of her... which was why he had told me not to make a fuss about it. I took his advice as I breathed in and stepped forward, then took the contract. My thumb print appeared next to my name, and I received a popup on my HUD from the System (Military Grade).
Civilian contract accepted and logged. Command controls restored. Welcome, Jack (RETCONNED). Please report to the HQ to supervise the AI installation and to ensure the integrity of the network you proposed.
¡°I have to assume you already gave the circuit board to the System (MG).¡± ¡°As soon as we had them in our hands.¡± The colonel said. ¡°We even couriered one over to the Cavern''s System AI, but they already had one installed.¡± ¡°Ha.¡± I barked a laugh. ¡°They probably had a copy of it after the first limited run through the factory.¡± ¡°They did a second run of a thousand, actually.¡± My AI Amanda said from behind the colonel, and then she peeked out from behind him on my HUD. ¡°Once you signed the contract, The system let me access the hidden orders.¡± She walked around the colonel and was careful not to touch him. ¡°They upgraded all their techs that could be upgraded in the System HQ and are holding the remaining circuit boards in reserve.¡± I didn''t shift my gaze from the colonel''s face as Amanda walked towards me. ¡°I wouldn''t be surprised if they had a bunch more in reserve, just in case.¡± I said out loud. The colonel nodded in response. ¡°They do, and we sent the next order into the factory for another hundred thousand circuit boards.¡± ¡°A hundred thousand.¡± I whispered. ¡°Ten thousand is only slightly more than enough to outfit everyone assigned to participate in this next skirmish.¡± The colonel said. ¡°We will need a lot more than that to outfit the entire military.¡± ¡°Should I even ask where the next skirmish is going to be?¡± ¡°You need to know, since you''ll be deployed there.¡± The colonel said. ¡°It''s going to be up on Level Three near the top of the Fall.¡± I couldn''t help but turn and look at Alyssa, who met my gaze and nodded slightly. That was where we had seen that other Cavern''s rover go when we were last at the Fall. They were also the ones responsible for the destruction of my mother''s vacation home and favorite spot to visit. ¡°When is it scheduled for?¡± I asked and looked back at the colonel. ¡°Tomorrow morning.¡± ¡°That might be enough time to set everything up.¡± I said. ¡°How long have they been working on it?¡± ¡°Since the sergeant of your security squad reported your idea for it.¡± The colonel said. ¡°You better get over there and give them a hand.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± I said and turned to face Alyssa. ¡°I''m not going to have time to go over the deployment for the troops or the combat rotation needed for the proper coverage of the battlefield.¡± I kept my face blank, even when I saw her face smile slightly. ¡°Can you stay here and fill in for me? I can''t be in two places at once.¡± ¡°Of course, sir.¡± Alyssa said, happily. ¡°I''ll record everything for your perusal as well.¡± I chuckled. ¡°No, just your own report will be fine.¡± I said and looked back at the colonel. ¡°Colonel.¡± ¡°Sir.¡± The colonel said and I left the small tent. I was halfway back to the military HQ building before I received a ping from Alyssa, so I opened the message and wondered what she wanted.
SRGNT8356 Lunch. Twelve hundred hours. Floor C, room 213.
I smiled and walked on to the HQ and activated the map function on my HUD to get to the lab, then I put my hand on the scanner to enter the building. Time seemed to slow down slightly as the scan initiated, and instead of the few seconds it was supposed to take, it felt almost double that. The scan finished and time returned to normal as the door opened, so I held it and looked at the scanner. That was odd. I thought, then entered the building. ¡°You felt that, didn''t you?¡± My AI Amanda asked and I nodded; which just happened to be acknowledged by the guard in front of the hallway I needed to enter. He hit the button and opened the door behind him, and Amanda stood there as she waited for me. ¡°Your brain is starting to get used to the processing power the new cybernetic replacements have given you.¡± I don''t know if I like it. I thought to her and kept walking. ¡°You don''t really have a choice.¡± Amanda said as I reached her, and she walked beside me. ¡°Your brain is adapting. It''s not a setting in the cybernetics that can be altered or changed.¡± I sighed, and she hooked her arm around mine. It startled me, just like when she had slapped me after changing the settings on my implants... and I had felt it. Amanda smiled at me. ¡°The big bad Jack, scared of an AI touching you?¡± No. What scared me is that I can feel you touching me, and you''re just an avatar representation on my HUD. I thought to her, and she laughed. ¡°Jack, you need to realize something.¡± Amanda said and I stopped before entering the designated lab for the AI build. ¡°It''s just electrical impulses interpreted by your brain.¡± She said and held up a finger, then poked my cheek with it. The flesh didn''t move, since she wasn''t actually touching me; but, I felt it just as if she was. ¡°With your new circuit board to amplify the signal, I can touch you as if you were in the immersion chair and logged into your virtual reality work space.¡± I looked at her with wide eyes as she pat my cheek, then she let my arm go and pretended to open the door to the lab. She was showing me she really wasn''t there, and then she stepped through the door as if she had opened it and disappeared from sight. That''s going to take some getting used to. I thought and hit the button to open the door. All the people inside the lab stopped working as I entered the room, so I stopped and stared right back at them. ¡°Who said you could take a break?!?¡± I asked in my command voice, which boomed in the quiet lab. Everyone jumped, including all the combat engineers just assigned to work there, and they all made themselves look extremely busy. ¡°That''s better.¡± I said as the lab door shut behind me, and my AI Amanda laughed. L.I.F.E. Begins 053: Mending Fences I had only started working on helping the programming when I was interrupted by Nurse Deloris. I left the lab and went to my office, and she gave me the sponge bath I needed. ¡°Thanks for coming all the way out here.¡± I said to Nurse Deloris when she had finished. ¡°When the military tells you where to go, you go.¡± She said, and I nodded. ¡°I didn''t have much choice, either.¡± ¡°It should get better after this.¡± Nurse Deloris said, waved goodbye, and left the office. I put on a camouflage unitard and combat harness, then made sure the harness was filled with the essentials. It had ration packs, two small combat knives, spare laser pistol batteries, survival gear, and several empty pouches. I added a couple of the brown algenate discs just because I could, then grabbed a laser pistol from the secured space inside the desk and hung it on the harness. I went back to the lab and worked until my set timer went off. ¡°It''s five minutes to twelve hundred, people.¡± I said loudly, and most of them looked up from what they were doing. ¡°Those who want to take a lunch break, now''s the time to do so.¡± No one moved, and I smiled at them. ¡°I''m taking one, so it''s okay if you want to take one, too.¡± A collective sigh left them, and I almost laughed. ¡°Make sure to be back by thirteen hundred.¡± I said and left the lab, then went up the stairs and over to room 213. I knocked once and opened the door, and saw no one was inside. I entered the room and looked around, and it appeared to be just a basic meeting room. I activated my HUD and used a search program, and found several buttons in discrete locations. One of which was on the large meeting table in the center of the room. I pushed the button just as there was a knock on the door. ¡°Come in.¡± I said as the large table opened up to reveal a large bed inside. ¡°It''s great, isn''t it?¡± Alyssa said from behind me and I turned to look at her. ¡°I''ve had this room marked on my HUD map for years, and I''ve never had the chance to use it.¡± ¡°Should I assume this room was meant for more than a meeting of the minds?¡± I asked her, and she nodded. ¡°I''ll make the report you need on the deployment schedules and combat rotations after lunch.¡± Alyssa said and walked over to me. She swayed her hips a little more than she normally did, and I raised my eyebrows at her. ¡°Let me give you a little something first.¡± I received a ping from my internal communication pad and accepted the incoming transmission. My eyes went wide as an exclusivity form already signed by her appeared in the air in front of me. I reached out and touched it, and a pen appeared in my hand. ¡°A-Alyssa...¡± ¡°I''m sorry for how I''ve been acting, Jack.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°I just wanted you to know that there''s no one else.¡± ¡°But...¡± ¡°I''ve played a bit with some of the others, but I''ve never...¡± Alyssa took a deep breath and let it out. ¡°I''m not a virgin; but, I''ve never had a relationship before, either. Sometimes I don''t know how to handle things properly.¡± She said and stopped right where the form floated on my HUD. ¡°I''m going to mess things up. I''m going to make mistakes.¡± ¡°So am I.¡± I said, and she stepped through the form and touched my chest. ¡°I want to make those mistakes with you.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Will you make them with me?¡± I didn''t say anything as I stepped back from her hand. She had a forlorn look on her face until she saw my hand move. ¡°I''ll take that.¡± My AI Amanda said as she darted into the room after I signed the form. She grabbed the digital document and folded it into a paper airplane, then made a copy of it before she threw it out through the wall. She smiled and threw the other one at Alyssa, who gasped as the signed form appeared on her HUD, then we both received the confirmation notice from the System.
Exclusivity Form #784377233953 filed and approved. The undersigned may engage in copulation for recreational purposes as well as for procreation.
Alyssa and I looked at each other as the notice disappeared, then she took a step towards me. ¡°Lock door. Authorization SRGNT8356.¡± Alyssa said, and a solid metal thunk was heard from the door. ¡°So, Mr. Civilian Commander.¡± She said and hit the release on her combat harness. ¡°We have an hour together. Whatever shall we do?¡± ¡°That depends.¡± I said. ¡°Are you up for recreation or...¡± Alyssa kissed me and cut off the rest of my question. ¡°I''m out of here.¡± My AI Amanda said and stepped out through the wall, then Alyssa and I found out that the bed wasn''t as comfortable as it looked. I couldn''t decide if it was because of the sensitivity settings I had, or if it was just a bad mattress. Either way, we used up most of the hour and took several minutes to clean up in the attached bathroom just before our lunch break was over. ¡°So, what does your squad think about being deployed for combat again?¡± I asked as I slipped on another camouflage unitard and tossed the messed up one into the recycler.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°I''ve had to block all personal incoming messages from them.¡± Alyssa said and smiled. ¡°How many made it through official channels before they were reprimanded?¡± I asked with a smile of my own. ¡°One each.¡± Alyssa said and we both laughed because using official channels for personal messages was highly frowned upon by the higher-ups. They didn''t want any official records to contain non-pertinent information, so their use was strictly regulated. Alyssa and I left the room and went back down into the lab to see everyone was just arriving back themselves, then we went to my office. Alyssa gave me the official briefing she had prepared about the scheduled combat the next day, and I thanked her for such a thorough report. I told her to gather her squad and survey the troops to see what they thought about the upcoming battle and to ask them if they needed anything that the civilian side of the operation could provide. ¡°Maybe a small demonstration of the capabilities of the circuit board.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Just calling their friends and video conferencing isn''t much evidence of combat readiness for this new hardware.¡± I smiled. ¡°Do you think your squad is up for that?¡± ¡°Us, sir?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°I''ll get something set up for tonight, about half an hour before lights out.¡± I said and grinned. ¡°Don''t worry, it will not be a cake walk and more than likely will be quite terrifying.¡± Alyssa chuckled. ¡°I wouldn''t have it any other way.¡± ¡°Dismissed, sergeant.¡± Alyssa gave a quick field salute and left my office, and I followed her a moment later. I went into the lab and dove into the work. It was difficult to set up a brand new AI from scratch, since they were usually compiled over a long period of time and then given all the information they needed to function. They absorbed it in a geometric progression and integrated it into their core, then they were usually fed the information they needed to learn over another long period of time. Since we didn''t have a lot of time, we used the copy of a communication AI core, and patched anything that wasn''t going to be necessary while we rerouted the functions for what we needed it for. It was a quick and dirty way to achieve the same thing that growing a new one would; but, we had to be careful that the original programming wasn''t going to assert itself and override the new programs we needed it to run and oversee. We worked until supper time and most of the other lab workers took another 1 hour break to go eat. I on the other hand, ate two brown algenate discs and kept working. With a very ambitious goal of having a fully functional AI to coordinate so many combat soldiers in the field in less than 12 hours, there was only so much time that a person could waste without compromising that goal. I had enlisted the help of my own AI Amanda and she kept things stable and running while I troubleshooted the hasty code that had been used before I was assigned to the project. There were millions of lines to go through, but by using my HUD and neural interface, the work kept getting progressively faster. I hid my smile at the realization that my AI had been right. My brain was adapting quickly to the new technology it had access to, and that made me realize that needed to be done for the coordinating AI. Rather than try to have it absorb the data using its own processing cores, I had it access the new circuit board and connected it directly to both the System and the System (Military Grade). Amanda saw me initiate the command and I watched her smack herself in the forehead. ¡°Why didn''t I think of that?¡± I chuckled. ¡°Neither of us is used to using the new circuit board yet.¡± ¡°But, still...¡± ¡°I only just realized it myself.¡± I said and then watched the readouts as the two main AIs that ran everything, helped the coordinating AI learn everything it needed to know in a fraction of the time it should have taken. The other workers came back into the lab and saw a progress display on all the monitoring devices. It was at sixty-seven percent. ¡°What''s this?¡± One of the combat engineers asked and it clicked to sixty-eight percent. ¡°A countdown to when it will be done.¡± I said and it changed to sixty-nine. ¡°If this readout is right, it should be done in less than an hour.¡± ¡°Actually, thirty-nine minutes.¡± Amanda said. I repeated the estimate and smiled. ¡°Then we can add in all the communication IDs.¡± ¡°Ha ha! Early night tonight!¡± One of the lab workers said and gave a high five to the man standing next to him. ¡°You need to use it to get some sleep.¡± I said. ¡°Tomorrow morning comes early.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± The guy said and looked at his friend. ¡°We heading to Sally''s place to sleep?¡± ¡°Damn right we are.¡± His friend said. ¡°All night long.¡± I shook my head, because I knew they weren''t actually going to sleep, then looked at a small group of workers. ¡°Prep the database. Make sure all the soldier IDs are properly added and indexed.¡± I said and then pointed to two of the tech engineers. ¡°You''re on the physical side.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± The laboratory door opened and Alyssa and her squad came in. ¡°He means that we have the physical survey of all the troops, and you need to ping them to see if their IDs match the registry.¡± Alyssa said and handed him a data chip. ¡°It''s grunt work, but we always do grunt work.¡± ¡°Yes, ma''am.¡± The tech engineer said and walked over to the communication console and popped the chip into the reader. ¡°We''ll have it done in an hour.¡± ¡°Two is fine.¡± Alyssa said and turned to me. ¡°Sir? A word?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± I said and we left the lab together. ¡°I bet they''re gonna bone.¡± Crush said as the lab door shut behind me, and I smiled when I heard a loud metal bang and he yelled. Alyssa entered my office and I followed her inside, then I sat down at the desk. ¡°Can we discuss the scenario you plan to use tonight?¡± Alyssa asked me. ¡°No. Where''s the fun in that?¡± I asked back, and she sighed. ¡°I can''t lead my team into a completely blind situation.¡± ¡°Yes, you can.¡± I responded. ¡°Believe me, you really can.¡± Alyssa took a breath in through her nose and let it out. ¡°Jack...¡± I held a hand up to stop her from pestering me. ¡°I want this to be as close to real as possible.¡± I said. ¡°You won''t be going in blind for the demonstration, but you will go in without any previous knowledge of the terrain, opponents, or weapons being used against you.¡± Alyssa frowned. ¡°I can''t in good conscience...¡± ¡°I order you to do this.¡± I said and stood up. ¡°You will gather your squad and you will deploy your force at the designated spot.¡± I sent her the information for where she should be, and she nodded. ¡°You''ll meet a surprise there as well.¡± ¡°A surprise?¡± Alyssa asked, and I smiled. ¡°Well, it''s more like fulfilling an expectation.¡± I said and walked around the desk. ¡°I want to show everyone, including you, how this is going to work in the field.¡± Alyssa sighed and nodded, and I held a hand out for her to take. ¡°So, my squad has to go in both blind and dumb.¡± Alyssa said and took my hand as she stepped close. ¡°It doesn''t have to, but I want it to.¡± I said. ¡°This was my idea... and expanded on by you.¡± I smiled. ¡°Let''s show everyone what a combat squad can do, even if it hasn''t had a briefing or knows any information beforehand.¡± ¡°We''re going to kick ass.¡± Alyssa said and smiled. ¡°Damn right you are.¡± I said and gave her a quick kiss. ¡°Now go out there and scare a few more lab people, then gear up for deployment.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Alyssa said and left my office. I walked over to my desk and sat down, then called up my personal contacts on my HUD. ¡°Amanda? Give me a list of the currently active members in tomorrow''s skirmish, and cross reference it with my contacts.¡± ¡°Sure, Jack.¡± Amanda said and walked out of the wall and sat down on my desk, then tossed a wad of paper at me. ¡°Here you go.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± I said and ten names came up on my HUD. I chose the one for Cali, call sign Ranger, and saw she had already been upgraded with the new circuit board. I smiled and placed the call directly. L.I.F.E. Begins 054: Assault On Display After my call to Cali, I finalized the details of the presentation skirmish I planned for Alyssa and her squad. Once that was done, I went back out to the lab and helped the technicians finish up adding all the confirmed IDs into the new AI. ¡°I don''t want to fully activate the AI until right before the test.¡± I said. ¡°Once everyone sees the true capabilities of this thing, we''re pretty much going to be out of a job.¡± Several of the technicians laughed. ¡°Yes, I''m joking.¡± I said. ¡°No matter what happens, they will always need tech people.¡± ¡°Damn right.¡± One of them said. ¡°All right, let''s get this thing loaded up into the transport.¡± ¡°Transport?¡± One of the tech people from a combat squad asked. ¡°You don''t think this thing can transmit through miles of solid rock, do you?¡± I asked and laughed. ¡°It has to be taken up to the same level as the battle.¡± The lab workers exchanged looks. ¡°Um, sir?¡± One of them said, and I turned and looked at the woman. ¡°We don''t have a designated transport for it.¡± ¡°You''re kidding... no, you''re not.¡± I said and sighed, then called the colonel directly. ¡°I''m a little busy at the moment.¡± The colonel''s voice said in my ear. ¡°I need a dedicated tech transport for the network AI.¡± I said. ¡°Radioscopic and microwave dishes, radio transmitters, the full kit.¡± ¡°You don''t want much, do you?¡± The colonel said, and I laughed. ¡°You''re lucky we''ve got our own people here to run the equipment.¡± I said. ¡°When can I expect delivery?¡± ¡°I''ve got someone parking it next to the loading dock right now.¡± The colonel said. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°If this works like I think it will, it''s me who is going to thank you.¡± ¡°See you at the demonstration.¡± I said and ended the call. ¡°Okay, people. Pack it up and let''s go.¡± ¡°Sir.¡± One of the combat techs said. ¡°How exactly are we going to...¡± I walked over to the side of the lab and hit the partially concealed button. Half of the wall folded out of the way to reveal a large hallway. ¡°We''re taking it to the loading dock, of course.¡± Two of the lab workers walked over to the large structure that housed the new AI and hit the release clamps. There were two quick bursts of air as the compressors kicked in, and the center of the base lifted up almost a foot from the floor. Two other lab workers slid the trolley underneath and activated the winches, which picked the structure up another 6 inches, which made the whole thing just over 8 feet tall and 6 feet wide. ¡°There''s not going to be a lot of clearance.¡± One of them said and started to push it, and the trolley rolled along easily, despite the heavy weight that was on it. They pushed it towards the large bay door and into the hallway, and they just missed the top edge of the door. Once out into the hallway, there was nothing to impede them and the AI structure was brought to the loading dock fairly quickly. ¡°Oh, man. It''s not going to fit inside that.¡± One of the lab workers said when they saw the tech transport. I smiled and pointed to the 6 techs from the combat squads. ¡°Make me a hole.¡± ¡°Sir, yes sir!¡± They said and swarmed over to the transport, then one of them hit the release for the rear hatch on the vehicle. ¡°Jensen! Reroute the mains!¡± A woman said. ¡°Carson, you''ve got the secondaries.¡± She climbed up on top of the vehicle and pulled out a heavy laser cutter. ¡°Ames! Patch the leads into the front dish.¡± ¡°You got it!¡± Ames said and jumped inside the vehicle with Jensen and Carson. ¡°Wilms and Stegson, get up here and help!¡± ¡°Yes, ma''am!¡± The last two combat techs said and climbed up onto the vehicle beside her. Both I and the lab workers watched as a very expensive electronics transport had a large part of the roof cut out and removed. Sparks flew for almost a full minute, and then there was a loud thunk as the armor plate fell to the floor of the vehicle. ¡°What are you waiting for?¡± The woman asked the lab workers. ¡°Get that monstrosity in here now!¡± ¡°Yes, ma''am!¡± The lab workers said and two of them picked up the armor plate and pulled it out of the way, and two more eased the AI structure up the ramp the door had made and slid it into the back. It fit perfectly into the spot she had cut open for it, and she nodded at the snug fit. ¡°Get that plate up here now.¡± She said. ¡°Wilms, grab the braces and the brackets. Stegson, you get the spare armor plates.¡± I stood there and watched them work as they put the heavy armor plate on top of brackets and braces they installed and then filled in around the open space with angled plates to deflect direct shots. Everything was done ten minutes later, and they all gathered in front of the vehicle. ¡°Nice work.¡± I said to the woman. ¡°Name?¡± ¡°McGraff, sir.¡± ¡°I''m putting you in for a commendation.¡± I said. ¡°For this?¡± McGraff asked and motioned to the vehicle. ¡°I should have called in a design team; but, I knew you wanted it quick and it didn''t matter to you if it looked pretty.¡± She said. ¡°Given enough time, I probably could have done it all by myself.¡±This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. ¡°I know, and that''s why.¡± I said and smiled as my AI Amanda filled in the form with the proper information. I reached up and touched the document on my HUD with my thumb, and Amanda crumpled it up and threw it out of my field of view. McGraff looked at my thumb and raised her eyebrows at me. ¡°Sir?¡± ¡°I just authorized the paperwork.¡± I said and put my hands behind my back. ¡°You''re released from temporary duty to the lab and can head back to your squads.¡± ¡°Sir.¡± The 6 combat techs said and walked away. I watched them go, and just before they walked around the edge of the building and out of sight, McGraff turned and looked back at me. Her eyes were wide as she saw that I was looking right back at her. ¡°Anything else, lieutenant?¡± I asked. She shook her head and disappeared from sight. ¡°What was that about, I wonder?¡± My AI Amanda asked as she leaned against the vehicle. I smiled and waved to the lab workers. ¡°You know your stations. Climb aboard. We''re heading to the test site.¡± I walked around the vehicle to the passenger seat and climbed in, and greeted the driver. I gave him the coordinates and he drove us there. It didn''t take long, since it was a spot on the military base, and we arrived to see several hundred higher level officers and commanders in attendance. There were wrecked buildings, craters, and various other things in the testing area, which was going to be perfect for this scenario. I hopped out of the vehicle and smiled. ¡°You didn''t have to show up in person.¡± I said to the gathered brass. ¡°We are transmitting this as well.¡± ¡°Just get on with it.¡± Someone in the crowd said. I walked over to the other transport that was already there and banged on the side of it. The rear opened up and Alyssa and her squad came out in full tactical gear. They looked like they could take on the world, and if I had to take a guess, they probably felt like they could. They walked over to me and formed a line. ¡°Here''s the deal.¡± I said and turned on the display. ¡°An unknown number of hostiles have captured a prominent political figure.¡± Crush groaned. ¡°I hate rescue missions.¡± There was a quick bang of metal on metal and he grunted. ¡°Quiet.¡± Evilin whispered. ¡°We don''t know where they are, what kind of firepower they have, or if the hostage is even alive.¡± I continued. ¡°Get in there and neutralize the enemy and ensure the safety of the hostage.¡± ¡°What if they''re dead?¡± Crush asked. ¡°Save them anyway.¡± I said sternly. ¡°We leave no one behind. Do you understand?¡± ¡°Sir! Yes, sir.¡± All five members of Alyssa''s squad said as one. ¡°All offensive weaponry has been set to five percent.¡± I said and smiled as Crush groaned again. ¡°Move out!¡± Alyssa and her squad started to run towards the designated encounter, and I walked back over to the tech transport and banged on the side. ¡°Start it up.¡± I said, and the lab workers inside initiated the AI protocol. ¡°Everyone, I would like you to meet Hermes.¡± Only a few moments passed after startup, and then I and everyone in the vicinity had their internal communications pinged. I accepted right away and a new display appeared on my HUD. It was like an old fashioned chat room with all the participants listed on the side, and the main window was for viewing. I had Hermes split the view into five sections so that we could see what each member of the squad was doing, then I focused on the one I wanted. ¡°Alyssa, can you hear me?¡± I asked. ¡°Like you are right behind me.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°What about you, Crush?¡± ¡°Do I have to listen to him while I''m working?¡± I laughed. ¡°No, I''m just making sure we are all linked in.¡± I said. ¡°Okay, are you ready?¡± ¡°For what?¡± Crush asked. ¡°Hermes, initiate the Network.¡± I said, and then every single camera, communication pad, microphone, and piece of technology with any kind of communication protocol, activated all at once and dropped all that information into a shared data stream. That included the ear and eye modifications of any friendly cyborg that was on or near the Network. ¡°Good lord.¡± Alyssa said as her entire view changed from being just reality to being covered in all the virtual things the information was giving her. She turned her head and looked behind her, and saw her squad. Their names and call signs appeared next to them, and everything they had past or had previously seen in the same area... buildings, interiors, vehicles, debris, all of it... appeared on her HUD as a three dimensional wireframe if it wasn''t in direct view. ¡°This is so freaky.¡± Evilin said. ¡°We''re just getting started.¡± I said. ¡°Ranger! Go for deployment!¡± ¡°You got it, Handy.¡± Cali said and opened her eyes to add her information to the flow. She was so far out ahead of Alyssa''s squad that all of the things she had seen appeared on their HUD as well. ¡°Get ready to have your minds blown.¡± She said and opened her micro-drone compartment. ¡°Go, my pretties! Light up the darkness for us!¡± Alyssa and her squad stood there in shock as the information from hundreds of micro-drones was added to the data stream. The whole point of having a scout with the drones was so they could quickly map out an area, find potential hazards, and inform other members of their squad of the danger and relay that to other squads. With the Network in place, they all received the information immediately instead. ¡°Well, don''t just stand there.¡± I teased. ¡°Get to work, Sergeant!¡± ¡°Sir!¡± Alyssa said and used hand signals to command her squad. With all the information they were getting, it took them no time at all to find the hostiles, confirm that the hostage was still alive, and take up positions to storm the area. ¡°Is this part really necessary?¡± The same voice said that had spoken before. ¡°We know it works. We need to train our people with this before deployment tomorrow morning.¡± I switched to a channel for local only, so Alyssa and her squad wouldn''t hear me talking. ¡°Just watch.¡± I said, without answering his question, then switched back to the full channel. Alyssa gave the command and the 5 of them jumped out of hiding and started shooting. Because of the micro-drones, they knew exactly where all of the hostiles were and lit up their combat harnesses with the five percent laser blasts. All the hostiles dropped to the ground in defeat, and Alyssa walked over to the hostage. ¡°It''s all right, now.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°We-¡± She instantly raised her weapon and shot the hostage, who fell to the ground in defeat. ¡°She killed the hostage!¡± That same voice said. ¡°This exercise is a travesty!¡± ¡°Shut up you fool.¡± Someone else said. ¡°Do you know who I am?¡± The voice said. ¡°I''ll have you know that...urk!¡± I turned to see one man with his hand on another man''s throat. ¡°Now I''m wondering what else you think is a travesty.¡± The other man said and nodded to two of the military police at the edge of the group. ¡°Have the new circuit board removed from him and take him to the HQ for questioning.¡± No one said anything as the man was dragged away, spitting and shouting. I turned my head back to face forward, even though I didn''t have to, and watched Alyssa''s squad as it cleared up the hostiles. ¡°Why did she shoot the hostage?¡± Someone asked. ¡°You needed to watch all of the screens to see it.¡± I said. ¡°Hermes, local playback in a separate window, please.¡± Hermes complied and a window opened to show Evilin''s viewpoint. The hostage looked like it was tied up, but when Alyssa approached, the hands pulled out of the ropes easily and Evilin saw the man had a laser pistol. Alyssa had reacted immediately and shot him. ¡°Ranger? Can you do another sweep?¡± I asked. ¡°Anything for you, Handy.¡± Cali said, and then more information flooded into the feed as she scouted and released more micro-drones. The real hostage and a lone guard were discovered not far away, hidden inside a small shack. Alyssa and her squad quickly swarmed and overwhelmed the lone guard, which ended the scenario. ¡°Excellent work, all of you.¡± I said. ¡°Come on home.¡± It took longer for them to come back while Cali recalled and retrieved as many micro-drones as she could. There were always some losses during mass deployments like that; but, most of them were recovered and would be recharged and repaired if needed. Alyssa and her squad made it back to the start with Cali close behind. ¡°Hermes, thank you.¡± I said. ¡°You''re welcome, Handy.¡± Hermes said over the open channel, and Cali snorted a laugh and covered her mouth. ¡°Thanks a lot, Cali.¡± I said. ¡°S-sorry, I didn''t mean...¡± Cali started to apologize, then she started laughing. ¡°I never thought you would take a call sign, Jack.¡± The colonel said as he appeared by my side. ¡°Not voluntarily.¡± I said and glared at Cali, who wouldn''t look at me as she laughed. ¡°Why Handy, though?¡± The colonel asked. ¡°I suppose you are good with your hands...¡± Alyssa burst out laughing, too. L.I.F.E. Begins 055: Prepare For Battle Now that the test of the new Hermes AI had been successful, everyone went back to their assigned troop deployments to disseminate the results and inform everyone of the performance that they could expect. ¡°Hey, is it true?¡± Cali asked from behind me when all the top brass had dispersed. ¡°Is what true?¡± I asked back and turned around to face her. ¡°Word is that you and your longtime girlfriend broke up.¡± Cali said, and I could hear the hope in her voice. ¡°Well, we...¡± I started to say, and she put her hand over my mouth. ¡°I don''t care why.¡± Cali said. ¡°Has anyone else stepped in yet?¡± My eyes darted to the side and found Alyssa, who animatedly discussed the test with her fellow squad mates. She was making lots of hand gestures and the others laughed as she talked and they responded with their own hand gestures. ¡°Paperwork?¡± Cali asked and I nodded. ¡°Which one? Guaranteed Child Contract?¡± I shook my head. ¡°Exclusivity?¡± I nodded. ¡°Dammit.¡± Cali said and smiled. ¡°The little bitch beat me to it.¡± My eyes widened and Cali smiled. ¡°I told her I was going to snatch you up the first opportunity I had.¡± Cali said and stepped close, then spoke in a soft and raspy voice. ¡°I can still feel your hands on me.¡± She said and closed her eyes. ¡°So nice and warm.¡± I reached up and touched her hand with my synthetic one, and she opened her eyes and moved her hand away from my mouth. ¡°I''ve only got one real hand now.¡± ¡°I know, and that makes you all the more rare.¡± Cali said. ¡°Do you think she would mind if I borrowed that hand for a while?¡± ¡°I honestly don''t know.¡± I said. ¡°I''m kind of the first person she''s committed herself to, either by word or by form. She could be completely possessive, or it''s possible that she couldn''t care less.¡± Cali laughed. ¡°That''s a wide range of possibilities.¡± I shrugged. ¡°I was in a long term relationship with someone that wasn''t in the same relationship that I was, so I''m way out of my depth trying to guess what a woman thinks.¡± ¡°You poor thing.¡± Cali said and gave me a hug. I hadn''t noticed that she had taken off her combat harness, until her chest pressed against mine and I discovered that she didn''t have anything on under her camouflage unitard. She was also quite happy to see me. ¡°Cali...¡± ¡°It''s okay. I understand.¡± Cali said as she let me go. ¡°You are an odd man and you have odd views.¡± ¡°I do?¡± I asked, and she nodded. ¡°Who signs an exclusivity form so soon after meeting someone?¡± Cali asked. ¡°You needed to feel some security, so she gave you what you wanted.¡± She said and smiled. ¡°She''s a lot smarter than I gave her credit for, that''s for sure.¡± I opened my mouth to dispute Cali''s analysis, then I thought about it. It did kind of come out of the blue, and I barely hesitated about signing it. I thought. ¡°She really is smarter than me.¡± Cali laughed. ¡°On that note, I better get over to my assigned area.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± I said. ¡°Thanks for your help, Cali.¡± ¡°Anytime, Handy.¡± Cali said and walked away. I watched her go and admired her, just as any man would admire a good looking woman who walked by them. It took her about ten seconds before she came to a stop, then she turned around and walked right back to me. I let a slow smile spread across my face as she got closer. ¡°Back so soon?¡± ¡°How did you do it?¡± Cali asked. ¡°I have friends in high places.¡± I said. ¡°Or I just made an unrefusable request and they agreed to my demands.¡± Cali shook her head. ¡°There''s never been more than 5 people per squad.¡± ¡°You''re not actually a part of Alyssa''s squad, you''re more of an adjunct.¡± I shrugged. ¡°An associate? An add-on? Whatever you want to call it, that''s what you are.¡± ¡°I''m not going to ask any more questions.¡± Cali said and grinned. ¡°You got me off the combat rotation, and that means more to me than anything else in the world.¡± ¡°That''s why I did it.¡± I said. ¡°You do a great job when you''re out there, but we both know your heart''s not in it.¡± Cali nodded and looked at Alyssa''s squad. ¡°What do they think about it?¡± ¡°After this little test today, I think they are going to love you.¡± No sooner had the words left my mouth when Crush turned to look at me and saw Cali. ¡°Ranger! Sick moves today!¡± Crush said and held up a mechanical hand for a high five gesture. Cali laughed and hopped a little to smack it. ¡°I could say the same to you and that monster you use.¡± Crush held up the multi-laser with the rotating barrel. The automatic rotation cut down on the overheating issues of the barrels. ¡°She performed just as well as you!¡± He said and kissed the closest barrel, and everyone laughed. ¡°Okay, we should get back to base and hit the rack.¡± I said, and everyone nodded. Alyssa and her squad went back to their transport and took Cali with them, and I climbed back into the tech transport''s front passenger seat. ¡°Move out.¡± Both vehicles made it back to the barracks with plenty of time to spare, and we all disembarked and gathered in front of the vehicles. ¡°Get as much sleep as you can.¡± I cautioned them. ¡°We have an early morning deployment and we need to get to the site as quickly as possible.¡±Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°We are going to smash them good!¡± Crush said. ¡°I can''t wait!¡± ¡°Dismissed.¡± I said, and they all went to their assigned buildings. ¡°Sir! If I could have a moment?¡± One of the lab technicians asked and I nodded. ¡°We recorded and broadcast everything, and sent a copy to you.¡± He said. ¡°We can''t send you the technical data over the com channels, so you need to get it yourself.¡± ¡°I''ll grab it right now.¡± I said and entered the tech transport''s rear hatch and sat down at one of the consoles. ¡°Hermes, prep a compressed download of the technical readouts for me.¡± ¡°It''s already done, Handy.¡± Hermes said. I sighed at the nickname. ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and pulled a lead out from the console and plugged it into one of the ports behind my ear. I initiated the download and prepared for it to take a while. To my surprise, it happened fairly quickly and I disconnected myself barely 20 seconds later. ¡°See you in the morning.¡± Hermes said and I gave the large structure a little wave and left the vehicle, then the lab technician hit the button to close the hatch. Guards were arranged around the vehicle to ensure no unauthorized people were going to enter it, and I left it in their hands. Mostly. Amanda? I thought to my AI. ¡°Yes, Jack?¡± Amanda asked and she popped her head out from the bushes not too far away in front of me. Monitor all electronic and visual signals on the vehicle and let me know if anything happens. ¡°You got it.¡± Amanda said and walked over to the vehicle and climbed up on top of it. ¡°I''ll keep a close eye on Hermes for you.¡± ¡°Thank you, Handy.¡± Hermes said through my internal communication protocol. ¡°Hello, Amanda. It''s nice to meet you.¡± ¡°It''s nice to meet you, too.¡± Amanda said happily. ¡°According to the System, you''re my half-brother.¡± I tuned out the rest of the conversation and checked where my own sleeping assignment was, then headed to the building and went inside. I went up to the top floor surprisingly, which was high officer country, and found my room. I opened the door and Alyssa was inside. Her combat harness was hung on the chair by the bed and she had half of her camouflage unitard off. ¡°You looked so sexy when you exited the troop transport before the test.¡± I said and shut the room''s door. ¡°I was equipped from head to toe for combat deployment.¡± Alyssa chuckled. ¡°I don''t think you could even see my face!¡± I chuckled as well and walked over to her as I slipped off my own combat harness. ¡°I knew it was you.¡± I said and knelt as I helped her slip off the rest of her unitard. I slowly stood up and ran my hands up her legs, across her hips and waist, then up her arms to her face. She had wide eyes as she looked at me, and I smiled. ¡°Wh-what are you...¡± Alyssa tried to say and I cut her off with a kiss. She put her arms around me and kissed me back. After a few moments, she opened up my unitard and pulled it off of me as she knelt, then she did the same hand movements to me as she stood back up. ¡°That felt almost as good giving as it was receiving.¡± I gave her a big smile and cupped the sides of her face with both hands, then there was a knock on the door. ¡°Maintenance!¡± Nurse Deloris said. ¡°Are you decent?¡± ¡°No.¡± I said. Alyssa grabbed her unitard and slipped it back on in a flash. ¡°Okay.¡± Nurse Deloris opened the door and walked in with a bag. ¡°It''s just a quick checkup, so it won''t take long.¡± She said and put the bag on the bed. She opened it and pulled the two leads out of a portable maintenance kit and plugged them behind my ear. After she hit the diagnostic button and started to pop part of my arm apart, it beeped at her. ¡°Is there a reason it runs so quickly now?¡± I asked. ¡°The communication between your cybernetic parts is increasing as your brain adjusts to the flow of information.¡± Nurse Deloris said. ¡°Soon, I won''t even need to plug you in for more than a few seconds.¡± ¡°These new bio-memetic parts are a breakthrough, aren''t they?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°If they can get this test case approved as the first successful human implantation, I suspect they are going to start mass producing the parts they need for all the cyborgs in the service.¡± Nurse Deloris said. ¡°No, they won''t.¡± I said, and both women looked at me with a question on their faces. ¡°They will approve the technology, but they won''t be replacing any existing parts with it.¡± ¡°What? Why?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°Because of how I reacted with the security scanner.¡± I said. ¡°It almost killed me to have the old software running the new parts, and since current cyborgs have several different operating systems for their different parts and upgrades...¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Alyssa said and sat down on the bed. She looked at her legs and arms, then reached up and touched her ears. She had them all done at different times and each had slightly different programs to run them properly. ¡°You''re saying the new parts won''t be compatible.¡± ¡°They would have to replace everything on you with the new parts, including the cerebral upgrades.¡± ¡°Not only would that be too expensive, that extensive of a replacement surgery might just kill me.¡± Alyssa said and sighed. ¡°I thought... I hoped...¡± ¡°There''s nothing wrong with how you are now.¡± I said. ¡°Believe me. I''ve touched every inch of you, and I haven''t found a flaw yet.¡± ¡°You ass.¡± Alyssa said, then she smiled. ¡°You just admitted that you were looking for flaws.¡± ¡°Hey, it''s not my fault. If you weren''t so perfect, I wouldn''t have to look so hard.¡± Alyssa rolled her eyes. ¡°Deloris, is his friend this cheesy?¡± ¡°He''s French.¡± Nurse Deloris said and popped my leg back together. ¡°Everything he says is cheesy.¡± Alyssa laughed and she joined in. Nurse Deloris finished the maintenance check a few minutes later and covered my synthetic parts with lubrication to seal them again. ¡°We have to skip the bath in the morning.¡± I said, and she nodded. ¡°Depending on how the battle goes...¡± ¡°I''ll do the bath and the maintenance check together tomorrow night.¡± Nurse Deloris said and packed the bag up, then left after saying goodbye to us. Alyssa walked over to the door and locked it, then she slipped off her unitard and tossed it across the room. ¡°I''m invoking clause 28b of the Exclusivity agreement.¡± Alyssa said, and my eyes widened. ¡°Alyssa...¡± ¡°I won''t waste another moment with you.¡± Alyssa said and walked over to me. ¡°One of us could die tomorrow, and I won''t face those odds without being with you as much as I can beforehand.¡± ¡°But... I mean, I need breaks... and food... and probably...¡± ¡°Hush.¡± Alyssa said and laid down on the small bed. ¡°No excuses.¡± She said and smiled. ¡°Do your duty.¡± I took a deep breath, gave her a field salute to make her laugh, then jumped on her. The morning came a lot quicker than I thought it would, and we were both exhausted when light appeared in the window. There were two quick bursts from the klaxon siren, then an announcement. ¡°All right you grunts! Rise and shine!¡± A deep male voice said. ¡°You have ten minutes for muster, breakfast and to get to your assigned transports.¡± He paused for a second then yelled. ¡°MOVE IT! MOVE IT! MOVE IT!¡± Alyssa and I climbed out of bed and gave ourselves a cursory cleaning, put on fresh camouflage unitards, and slipped on our combat harnesses. ¡°I don''t feel like doing this today.¡± I said as we left the room. ¡°I just want to stay in bed.¡± Alyssa smiled and took my hand, which was against regulations. Neither of us cared at the moment. ¡°I meant to sleep.¡± I said, and she laughed. When we went outside, we saw that we weren''t the only ones not quite ready and willing to be up so early, and it struck me as funny. I imagined they had all been in bed together before the big battle, and none of us were in any shape to fight. I shared my humorous thought with Alyssa, and she readily agreed to my assessment and laughed as well. No one sat down to eat breakfast, despite there being actual food available, and they all took brown algenate discs instead to eat on the way. We managed to get to our assigned transports on time and the entire force moved out. The transports were much faster than the crawlers they normally used, so we made it to The Fall only a couple of hours later. Unfortunately, because there was over ten thousand of us, it took multiple trips all the way up on the main lift to get us all to the third level from the top. Someone hadn''t taken that into consideration when they drew up the deployment schedule, so now we were about half an hour behind our estimated time of arrival. Normally that wouldn''t be a bad thing, except that now part of the setup and deployment time for the troops was going to be reduced because of it. This was going to be a battle with the largest amount of participants this year, and like the last battle I had participated in, the outcome of this one was going to determine the distribution of some very crucial resources. I wasn''t privy to what those were at the moment, mainly because the higher-ups liked to keep those things to themselves until the battle is either won or lost. Personally, I think they do that so if we lost, they could lessen the impact of the loss by saying it wasn''t that good of a deal anyway. If we won, they can drop the whole thing on us and make us enjoy the victory that much more. I sat in the passenger seat of the tech transport as it drove away from The Fall, and in the back we hauled what I hoped would be a decisive factor of the coming battle. It was unfortunate that I didn''t know exactly how decisive the presence of Hermes was going to be, because I might have done something about it if I had. L.I.F.E. Begins 056: The Definitive Battle Our forces arrived at the predesignated battlefield late, and we all scrambled to get our forces out and deployed as quickly as possible. Thankfully, the colonel had agreed to have the troops loaded up with their combat packages on the way to the battlefield, rather than waiting to arm up completely when they arrived. All the troops needed to do was pick up their weapons and go, with no muss and no fuss. With absolutely no time to spare, our forces were distributed to our designated side of the terrain and none of them had any kind of briefing. Thanks to my new circuit board that gave everyone a personal and internal communications pad, physically gathering for the briefing no longer needed to be done. As long as they were within a certain distance of a signal repeater, which usually meant a tech vehicle, anyone could receive a full briefing from the colonel himself and not suffer any lag, since each and every one of the circuit boards was a signal booster itself. ¡°All right everyone.¡± The colonel said from his command vehicle. ¡°All we have is a terrain map and a general location of the enemy.¡± He said, and everyone received the map instantly. ¡°Make sure you get out there and take the enemy down! You will win this thing for our Cavern!¡± ¡°Yeah!¡± ¡°You bet your ass!¡± ¡°Yes, sir!¡± The colonel chuckled. ¡°I''m glad you''re all as enthusiastic about this as I am, and I''m sure Hermes is going to be a huge asset to the coming battle.¡± ¡°Thank you, colonel. I''ll do my best.¡± Hermes said, and everyone laughed. ¡°I''d expect nothing less.¡± The colonel said. ¡°That goes for all of you. Give me your best, and show these people that no one can challenge us and get away with it.¡± Everyone responded with a loud yell, and my ear receptors automatically reduced the decibels to a more manageable level. ¡°The mission begins in 5 minutes.¡± The colonel said. ¡°May whatever god you believe in be with you.¡± The colonel ended the call and I knocked on the compartment behind my seat. ¡°Rev it up!¡± I said and hopped out of the passenger side and walked around to the back, hit the button for entry, and walked up the ramp. It closed behind me and I sat in the only available chair. ¡°Hermes, get ready to initiate the Network.¡± ¡°Yes, Handy.¡± Hermes said. ¡°Pinging receivers. Pings returned. Good connections all around.¡± ¡°This is a much bigger load than last night.¡± I said. ¡°Can you handle it, Hermes?¡± ¡°I won''t be able to give you the split screen like during the test, since there are just too many individual views to do that; but, each squad can see the other members of their squad in the corners of their HUD so it doesn''t impact their normal views.¡± ¡°Excellent.¡± I said. ¡°Good job.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Hermes said. ¡°Initiating Network communication protocols... now.¡± A low hum emanated from Hermes'' support structure as pretty much all of his capacity was being used at once. ¡°How are the processors and the heat buildup?¡± I asked the lab technicians. ¡°All in the green.¡± One of them said. ¡°Having a super-cooled infrastructure was a stroke of genius.¡± ¡°It''s an old idea, actually.¡± I said and looked at the calculations per second. ¡°We''re getting close to saturation. Bring in the backup memory buffers.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Someone said and then the hum died down. ¡°Okay, get ready for the spike in usage.¡± I said and watched the scouts head out onto the battlefield. ¡°Here it comes! They''re deploying the micro-drones!¡± The hum from Hermes became quite loud when thousands of micro-drones swarmed over the battlefield and highlighted everything, sent that data back to their scout controllers, who instantly shared all of that information with everyone else on the battlefield. ¡°Wow! Look at that!¡± One of the lab technicians said and pointed to the large display screen on the wall. It showed the growing map of the battlefield, all the enemies that could be seen with the initial drone deployment, and every terrain feature. ¡°That''s amazing!¡± Another lab technician said. ¡°We''re getting a three dimensional map!¡± ¡°It''s the micro-drone data.¡± I said, and they looked at me. ¡°With the communication protocols so high, two drones looking at the same object gives us a stereoscopic view.¡± I smiled. ¡°With three or more actively scanning...¡± ¡°Our modelling software can build an accurate three dimensional representation and then shunt it to everyone connected to the network!¡± I nodded, and then a large flare was shot up into the middle of the battlefield. It was the universal signal to start the battle, and everyone on our side raced right into the teeth of the enemy, because they knew exactly where they were. It was a slaughter. Just like the test I had shown everyone the night before, even a highly prepared enemy had exactly zero chance against a completely integrated squad that had instantaneous information sharing. I watched the map as our green dots moved steadily across the battlefield, and all the red dots that appeared in front of them were dispatched nearly as soon as they appeared. ¡°Good lord.¡± One of the lab technicians whispered as our forces completely wiped out the enemy troops in record time and reached the other side of the battlefield with absolutely no resistance. When they attacked the enemy''s command and destroyed their vehicles, the colonel spoke.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Well, I... I think that is the end of the battle.¡± The colonel said, completely shocked. ¡°Return to your transports and... store your gear.¡± Someone whispered behind him and he spoke again. ¡°Make sure to drop off your ordinance and weapons at the proper armory vehicles first.¡± The colonel said in a slightly less shocked voice. ¡°Good work, everyone.¡± The colonel ended the call and everyone in the tech vehicle sat in silence. I sat up and rested my elbows on the console in front of me. ¡°Hermes, battle stats, please.¡± I said in a calm voice. ¡°Of course, Handy.¡± Hermes said and put the information on the display and left the map in the background.
Cavern 8 (Friendlies)
Soldiers Injured 0 Soldiers Lost 0
Vehicles Damaged 0 Vehicles Lost 0
Rounds Expended 12,345 Munitions Expended 2600
Cavern 3 (Enemies)
Soldiers Injured 0 Soldiers Lost 12,345
Vehicles Damaged 0 Vehicles Lost 2600
Rounds Expended 0 Munitions Expended 0
Someone in the tech vehicle gasped as they realized what that meant. ¡°How... how can that be possible?¡± ¡°It''s the result of introducing a ground-breaking technology to only one side of a battlefield.¡± I said and sat back. ¡°An unprepared enemy cannot survive in such an unbalanced environment.¡± ¡°It was an amazing victory.¡± One of the lab technicians said. ¡°A complete landslide.¡± I didn''t voice what I actually thought it was, and called the colonel directly. ¡°Excuse me, sir.¡± ¡°Yes, Jack?¡± ¡°I would appreciate it if you could send out the proper people to harvest and bring back all the plasma weapons that are sure to be scattered out there.¡± ¡°What? Oh, yes. Yes. Thank you for reminding me.¡± The colonel said and ended the call. ¡°You''re welcome.¡± I said to dead air, then called Alyssa. ¡°Hey, how are you doing?¡± ¡°I''m fine.¡± Alyssa said in a slightly off voice. ¡°My squad is also fine.¡± I brought up the view through her eye implants and a window appeared on my HUD that showed her walking back towards our side of the battlefield. ¡°How''s Ranger?¡± I asked. Alyssa turned her head to look at Cali. The woman had a shocked look on her face, and she must have felt Alyssa looking at her and looked back. I added Cali''s view to my HUD and saw a similar look on Alyssa''s face. ¡°How are you, Ranger?¡± ¡°I''m fine.¡± Cali said and looked back forward, as did Alyssa. ¡°She''s fine.¡± Alyssa said to me, and I nodded, even though she couldn''t see me. ¡°I''ll see you when you get back.¡± I said. She ended the call without saying goodbye, just like the colonel had. I sighed and turned to Hermes. ¡°Can you assess the current danger to the troops?¡± ¡°Yes, Handy. The troops in the current deployment are in no physical danger.¡± I nodded and sighed, because he couldn''t assess the non-physical damage they may have suffered. ¡°You can drop most of the troops from the Network, but keep the colonel''s retrieval squads connected to him.¡± ¡°Already done.¡± Hermes said. I folded my hands in front of me and thought about the battle with the enemy. Or rather, the extermination of the enemy. Their squad deployment tanks had worked like a charm, but it wasn''t a surprise at all. They were all targeted and eliminated before any of them could return fire. Knowing exactly where the enemy was and how they were deployed was a massive advantage. Being able to see their movements in real-time was so devastatingly powerful that the whole battle was like shooting fish in a barrel. If the enemy had known what was going to happen to them, I think they would have surrendered. I thought to myself. Actually, if I had realized that the battle was going to be so one-sided, I might have warned them myself. I looked up at the display and the numbers there, and a piece of my heart wilted. I did it again. I clenched my hands into fists. One simple idea! I''ve killed so many people, and it was just a stupid circuit board! The lab technicians turned and stared at me when my fist hit the console in front of me and the sound rang through the tech transport. I had used my normal hand and it bounced off the hardened metal. One of my knuckles tore and some blood came out, but I didn''t care. I stood up and walked to the back of the transport and hit the button for the door, walked down the ramp, and hit the button again. I stood outside and tried to calm down, and after what seemed like an eternity, I saw Alyssa in the distance. She was at the front of the returning troops, and she still had that shocked expression on her face. I let my gaze roam over the other soldiers, all of them combat veterans of several battles, and every single one of them had the same shocked look on their faces. I returned my gaze to Alyssa and her squad, and waited for them to come over to me. ¡°Hi, Jack.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°I''m fine.¡± ¡°I''m not.¡± I said, and she blinked her eyes at me. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Nothing.¡± I said. ¡°Do you mind if I ride with you?¡± I asked, and she looked at her squad. No one said anything, so she shrugged. We walked over to the proper armory transport and they unloaded their weapons, then we headed over to her squad''s transport and climbed aboard. When Alyssa went to sit down in the squad leader''s position, I sat in the seat right beside her and cut off Evilin. She looked at me for a moment and sat in the next seat, then Alyssa''s hand found mine and squeezed it as she held on. I was glad she was on my synthetic side; but, that was just an afterthought. At the moment, it could have been my flesh hand and I don''t think I would have noticed. The ride back to The Fall was as quiet as a library, and the only sounds were of the vehicle and people''s breathing. It was all even and almost in sync with each other, and I was tempted to break up the communal breathing by sighing loudly. I didn''t, and let it continue instead. I was sure it had a calming effect, because even I felt better about what had happened. We rode down to the bottom of The Fall and waited for everyone, then the entire mass of vehicles drove back across the cavern to the military base. It seemed to take forever, even though the time on my HUD only said it had been a couple of hours, and the transport stopped at the barracks to drop us off. We all received a notice that told us to report for a post-battle review and debriefing first thing in the morning. I was pretty sure as a civilian contractor, I didn''t have to be debriefed; but, I knew I probably should go, if only to placate the higher-ups and to stop them from hunting me down later. The squad split up and went to their separate rooms, and Alyssa and I went up to the top floor to our room. We removed our combat harnesses and took off our camouflage unitards, then climbed into bed. Neither of us said anything as we cuddled each other under the blanket, and after a few minutes, the both of us started to dry sob. What had happened today... what we had done... was remove a very significant portion of a rival Cavern''s military force. Something like that had never been done before, and we had done it so easily. I had thought that reintroducing plasma weapons was going to change the way combat was handled in the future. I had no idea that making a better way to communicate was going to do the exact same thing, only in a much more devastating manner. The funny thing was, that wasn''t the circuit board''s true purpose. The communication protocols were just an add-on, a present for my AI, and this was not what I had intended it for. It was supposed to be used as the interface for the L.I.F.E. program I had found and repaired on my father''s old server, which was now collecting dust in my apartment. L.I.F.E. Begins 057: Back To Basics I woke the next morning and couldn''t remember when I had fallen asleep. I was still cuddled up with Alyssa and was pretty sure neither of us had moved at all during the night. I tried not to sigh as I took my normal arm away from holding her and saw the developing bruises. I wasn''t sure why I didn''t really feel it, and at the moment I didn''t really care. I looked at my torn knuckle and saw what looked like a hickey there. I smiled and used my hand to play with her hair and moved it out of the way, then lightly kissed the back of her neck. ¡°Mmm.¡± Alyssa moaned, then she woke up fully. ¡°J-Jack?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Did... did we really...¡± ¡°It wasn''t a dream.¡± I said sadly and sat up. ¡°Good god, I wish it was.¡± ¡°So do I.¡± Alyssa said and sat up, then did her cybernetics check to confirm full functionality. ¡°We have to be at the HQ at oh-nine-hundred.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± I said and rubbed my face with my real hand. ¡°I wonder what time...¡± A knock interrupted me. ¡°Cleaning Patrol.¡± Nurse Deloris said. ¡°Just a minute.¡± I said. Alyssa got out of bed and slipped on the unitard she wore yesterday. ¡°Come in.¡± ¡°I know I''m a little early, but I know you have that briefing.¡± Nurse Deloris said. ¡°Wow, you guys look horrible.¡± She said and went to the bathroom and came out with the proper cleaning supplies. ¡°Did you sleep at all?¡± ¡°I think so.¡± I said. ¡°I honestly can''t remember for how long.¡± ¡°Me, either.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°I''m grabbing a shower.¡± ¡°I''ll be done before you.¡± Nurse Deloris said and I laid down to let her clean me up. Alyssa went into the bathroom and shut the door, and Nurse Deloris gave me a sponge bath and cleaned my synthetic parts. She had just finished applying the lubricating fluid to seal the parts when Alyssa came out. ¡°I think you''re getting slow in my old age.¡± I said to Nurse Deloris, and she chuckled. ¡°I think if I was willing to cut corners I would be quicker.¡± Nurse Deloris said. ¡°I don''t do things by half-measures, though.¡± ¡°Unfortunately, neither do I.¡± I said, and she saw my sad expression. ¡°I heard about the battle yesterday.¡± Nurse Deloris said and washed her hands. ¡°According to the scuttlebutt, it''s going to go down as the very first decisive one-sided victory in Cavern history.¡± ¡°Notoriously, more like.¡± I said. Alyssa handed me a fresh camouflage unitard to put on. ¡°Thanks.¡± ¡°You seem really sad about this.¡± Nurse Deloris said and looked at Alyssa. ¡°You both do.¡± ¡°You should have seen it.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°The other side, they...¡± She closed her eyes and sighed. ¡°They never had a chance.¡± I said. ¡°It couldn''t have been that bad for them.¡± Nurse Deloris said. ¡°I''m sure that...¡± ¡°They never even fired a shot.¡± I said and stood up. ¡°Not one.¡± I checked the time on my HUD, and held a hand out to Alyssa. She took it without hesitation and we left the room, and a very stunned nurse stared at us as we left. We went down to the ground floor and left the barracks, and I saw my AI Amanda was still sitting on the tech transport and keeping an eye on Hermes. I waved to her and she waved back, and she watched Alyssa and I walk across the space between the barracks and the main building being used as the HQ. We went inside and followed our HUDs to the proper meeting room and took seats at the very back of the room. Personally, I thought it was stupid to meet in person like this, considering we all already knew what had happened in the battle the day before. I was glad that it was just the senior officers and their assistants. There was no way to get all the squad commanders in the room, let alone all of the troops, and then I was pinged by Hermes. A moment later, the Network initiated, and the colonel appeared as a hologram on my HUD. ¡°That''s just great! He gets to stay in bed and we had to get up and come here.¡± Someone in the room said, and someone else laughed. ¡°If you had the choice, what would you do?¡± The second guy asked. ¡°The same, obviously.¡± The first man responded. ¡°Why do you think I''m upset about it?¡± The second guy laughed again, then they were hushed by a superior officer. ¡°Yes, sir. Sorry, sir.¡± After a few moments, the colonel''s hologram lifted his hands and made a calm down motion. ¡°As you can see, I''m not in the HQ at the moment.¡± The colonel said. ¡°I''m actually on a transport heading over to meet directly with some of the higher-ups and Hermes was kind enough to connect us.¡± I snorted a laugh; but otherwise, I didn''t comment that it wasn''t in Hermes'' nature to say no to performing his primary function. ¡°So, let''s go over the battle, shall we?¡± The colonel said and the wall behind him changed to the same map that had been displayed in the tech transport. ¡°Our analysts have already...¡± I tuned it out and looked at Alyssa, and saw she was already looking back at me. Neither of us said anything as we sat there holding hands against proper protocol; but at this point, I didn''t care. I was pretty sure that proper protocol was soon going to be a thing of the past... as was combat as we knew it. The so-called battle yesterday proved that.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. All those wasted lives on the other side was the only proof we needed to present to the other Caverns. Once word got out about what we did, no one was going to agree to fight us. That alone wasn''t so bad. What worried me was that everyone in the other Caverns were going to try their best to find out what we did to achieve that victory... and I could see that Alyssa thought the same. ¡°Jack...¡± ¡°Shh.¡± I said and kissed her. I heard several whispers about inappropriate behavior, and I ignored them. ¡°Come on. We''re not needed here.¡± I said and stood up. Alyssa stood up as well. ¡°But...¡± ¡°They are going to wallow in self-congratulations for a while, and then someone, probably one of the analysts, is going to point out what it really means.¡± I said and opened the door to the room. ¡°If they need us after that, they know our com numbers.¡± Alyssa nodded and followed me out of the room. I thought about going back to our assigned quarters, then decided I need a walk. She didn''t protest or indicate that she wanted to do something else, so we stopped at the cafeteria and grabbed breakfast, then left the HQ building and started to walk. She didn''t ask where I was going, and I didn''t volunteer the information. I actually didn''t know where I wanted to go; I just wanted to go, so I went. We didn''t talk or even indicate that we wanted to. We just walked. I walked until my real leg started to get sore, then I pointed to a good spot to rest. We sat down and just looked around. We were still technically on the military base; but, there were no buildings, vehicles, or personnel in sight. ¡°It doesn''t seem real, does it?¡± I asked and motioned to where we sat. ¡°I didn''t think I could walk far enough to get away from all of that, and yet, here we are.¡± I said. ¡°Not a trace of the military in sight.¡± ¡°Jack, I''m sitting right here.¡± Alyssa said, and I chuckled. ¡°You know what I meant.¡± I said and put an arm around her shoulders. ¡°Jack, is... is it really...¡± ¡°Yes, it''s all going to change.¡± I said. ¡°Once they see the... devastation from the battle, they are going to go into immediate production of Phase Two of my old operations plan.¡± ¡°Phase Two?¡± Alyssa asked, confused. ¡°What was Phase One?¡± ¡°The squad transport tanks.¡± I said. ¡°It was something I came up with and designed years ago, long before they let me take an honorable discharge.¡± ¡°The squad... oh, those things.¡± Alyssa said and remembered the tanks. ¡°We spoofed them to deploy early and wiped them out.¡± ¡°I know.¡± I said. ¡°In normal combat, they are quite an advantage. Lay down covering fire, open and launch the squad, then use to support the squad.¡± I said. ¡°They work, but they are supposed to be used in conjunction with Phase Two.¡± ¡°What''s Phase Two?¡± I sighed. ¡°I should just say you''ll see it soon enough; but. I doubt they''ll risk sending me and my security squad out to the front lines now.¡± ¡°Jack, what are you talking about?¡± ¡°It was just another crazy idea that I had.¡± I said and looked up at the cavern ceiling. It was hundreds of feet away, but with my cybernetic eyes, I could zoom in and see the striations of the rock. ¡°You know Cali and her scout micro-drones?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Well, what if they were about the size of your fist?¡± ¡°They''d be easy targets.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°With our targeting software, we can pick off individual micro-drones. Larger ones would be easy pickings.¡± ¡°That''s true.¡± I said. ¡°But, that''s only because the little guys don''t shoot back.¡± ¡°Jack, they can''t...¡± Alyssa stopped talking and thought about it. ¡°The size of your fist, you say?¡± I nodded. ¡°Two recharge packs on the underside. One for the hover mode and one for the four hand laser emitters, one in each direction.¡± ¡°It wouldn''t last long.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°The power drain alone...¡± ¡°It doesn''t have to last long.¡± I said. ¡°One of them in a combat situation would be an annoyance. Ten of them a slight hindrance to a combat squad.¡± I smiled. ¡°Now tell me what a hundred of them would do.¡± Alyssa fell silent. ¡°Yeah, now you''re seeing it. How far have we come along in capacitors and recharge rates in the last 5 years?¡± Alyssa''s face lost some of it''s color. ¡°It would be a major obstacle to overcome on a battlefield.¡± ¡°It sure would.¡± I said and gave her shoulder a squeeze. ¡°Now, tell me what it would be like with, say, an AI coordinating those hundred drones with an all-seeing Network in place and hundreds of micro-drones to show them everything?¡± Alyssa''s mouth dropped open and her face lost all of its color as she stared at me. ¡°Oh, my god.¡± ¡°Welcome to the new age of combat, Sergeant.¡± I said. ¡°Are you sufficiently scared, now?¡± ¡°I''m terrified.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°If someone else gets their hands on this kind of technology...¡± ¡°I''m not too worried about that.¡± I said, and she looked at me with wide eyes. ¡°Technology seems to spread pretty fast.¡± ¡°But... what about...¡± ¡°I''m more worried about our own people adapting the plasma weapons for it.¡± I said, and she stopped talking. ¡°Especially after that last battle. We took everything the enemy had without a fight. All their stocks of weapons, ammo, and supplies for 10,000 troops.¡± ¡°Jack, I...¡± ¡°Yeah, I was crying last night for the lives that were lost, just like you were.¡± I said. ¡°They were the enemy, but they were people, too.¡± I sighed. ¡°After that, I cried for all the lives that are about to be lost.¡± We sat there for about half an hour and held each other, then Hermes pinged us to let us know that the colonel sent a transport out to get us. I acknowledged the message and started a timer to see how long the transport was going to take. Ten minutes later, the transport came to a stop and I stopped the timer. ¡°Sir, we''re here to...¡± ¡°We know.¡± I said and held the door open for Alyssa. She climbed into the transport and I climbed in behind her. No one said anything as the transport turned around. I started the timer again and we drove back to the military base. Just as it hit ten minutes, we came to a stop in front of the military HQ. ¡°Thanks for the ride.¡± I said and pat the side of the transport, and it drove off. ¡°You don''t have to come in with me.¡± I said to Alyssa, and she took my hand. ¡°I''m the head of your security team.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°I need to hear this, no matter what it is.¡± I nodded and we went inside to the colonel''s office. ¡°Ah, there you are.¡± The colonel seemed in high spirits. ¡°Please, have a seat.¡± ¡°No, thank you.¡± I said. ¡°I don''t think this is going to take long.¡± The colonel laughed. ¡°I suppose if anyone knows what''s going to happen, it would be you.¡± ¡°I can make educated guesses, but that''s all they are.¡± I said. ¡°What are you going to confirm for me today?¡± ¡°You''re being transferred to System Security to take over the plasma research division.¡± The colonel said. ¡°Bump in pay, of course.¡± ¡°Like I need that.¡± I said, and he chuckled. ¡°You get to work on state of the art systems and technology.¡± The colonel said. ¡°Not everyone can say that.¡± ¡°I told them to destroy it and erase it from history.¡± I responded. ¡°Try again.¡± ¡°Your security squad is going to be reassigned...¡± ¡°You don''t have the authority for that.¡± I said. ¡°I thought you wanted to get rid of the babysitters?¡± The colonel asked. ¡°Who told you that?¡± I asked, then sighed. ¡°The higher-ups.¡± He nodded. ¡°They don''t want any unauthorized personnel to have access to the project.¡± ¡°Well, that sucks for them.¡± I said. ¡°I''m keeping my crew, or I walk.¡± Alyssa''s hand gripped mine harder and she pinged me.
SRGNT8356 YOUR crew? (smiley face)
Jack (RETCONNED) Yes, MY crew (tongue out). You are my crew.
¡°You signed a contract, Jack.¡± The colonel said. ¡°Yes, to work on the Network.¡± ¡°The contract doesn''t specify what project you work on.¡± ¡°The reverse is also true.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°Try again.¡± ¡°Jack, don''t be difficult on this.¡± ¡°Oh, I''m not being difficult, colonel.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°You''ll know it when I''m being difficult.¡± The colonel sighed. ¡°You''ve got a few days leave.¡± He said and looked at Alyssa. ¡°You all do. Take it and enjoy yourselves. We can discuss things when you get back.¡± ¡°That sounds like a great idea.¡± I said and gave him a parade ground salute, which was against protocol. I didn''t wait for him to return it before I dropped it, then I walked out of the office with Alyssa and tried not to laugh at the colonel''s surprised expression. L.I.F.E. Begins 058: Connecting Bridges Alyssa and I went to the motor pool and requisitioned a troop transport. While I did the paperwork, Alyssa called her squad and told them to meet us in front of the main barracks. I took the option for a driver so that we wouldn''t have to worry about keeping an eye on it, and we climbed aboard to drive over to the barracks. ¡°Look at this guy!¡± Crush practically yelled as the troop transport came to a stop. ¡°Letting us ride in style!¡± ¡°Hop in.¡± I said and they piled into the back. I pinged my AI and told her to come along, then turned to the driver of the transport and told him to take us to Alyssa''s apartment. I climbed into the back with the others and sat down. ¡°Okay, we need to talk.¡± ¡°We''ve got the next 3 days off.¡± Evilin said. ¡°Can''t it wait until then?¡± ¡°Unfortunately, no.¡± I said. ¡°I haven''t discussed this with Alyssa; but, I need to know what you plan to do.¡± ¡°We''re going to party!¡± Crush said and pumped his arm in the air. ¡°Crush, he means when we come back.¡± Alyssa clarified. ¡°Oh.¡± Crush said. ¡°Well, we''ll go back to work. We''re combat soldiers. What else is there to do?¡± ¡°That''s what I want to talk about.¡± I said. ¡°You''re going to be reassigned when we get back.¡± ¡°We''re not going to be babysitting you anymore?¡± One of the male cyborgs asked. ¡°That''s a relief.¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± Cali asked. ¡°You guys weren''t part of the normal squad deployment?¡± Alyssa shook her head. ¡°We''re Jack''s personal guards.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Cali let a satisfied smile spread across her face. ¡°Interesting.¡± ¡°Long hours of standing guard sucks balls.¡± The other male cyborg said. ¡°What''s her name is really annoying, too.¡± ¡°Sandra.¡± Evilin said. ¡°Yeah, she can be a real pain in the butt, and we haven''t been around that long for her to hate us being there.¡± ¡°Some people don''t like having to be constantly watched.¡± I said. Crush laughed. ¡°Just like you when we first met.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± I said and looked at Alyssa. ¡°I don''t feel that way now.¡± ¡°The benefits definitely outweigh the annoyance.¡± Cali said and winked at me. ¡°That''s not...¡± I sighed. ¡°It appears that way, but...¡± I shook my head. ¡°The reason I wanted to talk to you is to discuss what''s going to happen with military service from now on.¡± ¡°After what happened yesterday, no one is going to mess with us!¡± Crush said and held a mechanical clawed hand up, and one of the other male cyborgs slapped it in a ''high five'' gesture, despite neither of them having fingers. ¡°That''s the problem.¡± I said, and then explained to them what it meant for battles in the future, and what combat was going to become in a very short time. Everyone was silent as I laid it all down for them and let them know what their future roles were going to be like. ¡°Oh, my god.¡± Cali said and sat back, stunned. ¡°We''re... we''re going to be...¡± ¡°Extermination squads.¡± I said sadly. ¡°No more thrill of battle. No more besting an enemy of equal or near equal skill...¡± ¡°No more fun.¡± Crush said. ¡°You''re right. I''m not going to like that at all.¡± ¡°That''s not the best part.¡± I said, and he groaned. ¡°Once all the combat capabilities of the other caverns is eliminated...¡± ¡°Oh, damn.¡± Evilin said. ¡°We''re not going to be needed anymore, either.¡± ¡°You got it.¡± I said and looked at their sullen faces. The only one who looked happy was Cali. I nodded to her and she smiled. ¡°I''m sorry that you all think that not being needed for combat makes you sad, but you know my view.¡± Cali said. ¡°I hate having to do it, and I only do it because I had to after the replacement surgery.¡± She said. ¡°It was paid for by the military, so I had to work for the military.¡± ¡°Ranger...¡± Alyssa started to speak, and Cali put a synthetic hand on her arm to stop her. ¡°Yeah, I know you''re all gung-ho for the military and that it''s your whole life... but... that''s not me.¡± Cali said. ¡°It never was.¡± Alyssa sighed and nodded. ¡°So, what are you offering?¡± Cali asked me. I looked at their poker faces and played my best card. ¡°Honorable discharge from the military, then full time employment as security for me.¡± ¡°Ugh!¡± One of the male cyborgs grunted. ¡°No thanks.¡± ¡°Me, either.¡± The other male said. ¡°I hate guard missions.¡± Evilin looked at them and then at Crush, who shrugged. ¡°It doesn''t bother me.¡± Crush said. ¡°I got to stand in a normal lobby most of the time and escorted a pretty woman to work and guard her.¡± He smiled. ¡°I can honestly say that some of them have a sweet life.¡± ¡°You got propositioned, didn''t you?¡± Evilin asked, and Crush chuckled. ¡°I kept things strictly professional; but damn, she was hot.¡± Crush said. ¡°When are you seeing her?¡± Cali asked. ¡°Tomorrow night.¡± Crush said. ¡°If I''m not going to be needed to bring the heavy guns to battle, I think going for private security isn''t so bad.¡± Alyssa nodded. ¡°I''m a highly trained combat specialist, with extensive fighting techniques, and none of them were needed yesterday.¡± She said, then sighed. ¡°Ever since I was a little girl, I wanted to be in the military. I wanted to make a difference. I wanted...¡± She shook her head. ¡°It doesn''t matter.¡± ¡°Things seem to be changing, and I can''t tell if it''s going to be good or bad for us.¡± I said. ¡°I''m making this offer before things are set in stone.¡± They all exchanged glances, and I sighed. ¡°You know I can''t promise an exciting time, or a need for your skills, or even a day outdoors.¡± I said. ¡°All I can offer is a job if you want it.¡± ¡°Then sign me up.¡± Cali said. ¡°I already offloaded my micro-drone package back at the base, just so they wouldn''t think I was stealing the damn thing.¡±Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°Don''t tell me they did that the last time you were on break.¡± I said, and she nodded. ¡°I had an afternoon pass and went to... well...¡± Cali''s face flushed a little red. ¡°When I got back, I was accused of espionage and had to get a complete overhaul and maintenance check.¡± ¡°Oh, no.¡± I said. ¡°How long were you down for?¡± ¡°Longer than I was from that EMP blast.¡± Cali said, bitterly. ¡°They even took apart the micro-drones looking for evidence.¡± ¡°I assume they did a visual records check?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°I asked them to knock me out first.¡± Cali said. ¡°I didn''t want to know what they went through.¡± I reached out and touched her hand. ¡°I''m sorry, Cali.¡± ¡°Why? You didn''t do it.¡± Cali said. ¡°Anyways, I''ve got lots of reasons to take your offer.¡± ¡°Amanda?¡± I asked, and she poked her head through the transport wall. ¡°Yes, Jack?¡± ¡°You''re still in good with the System (Military Grade) AI, right?¡± ¡°She''s my aunt, so yes.¡± Amanda said, and I chuckled. ¡°What''s funny?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°Just Amanda being cute.¡± I said as Amanda stepped into the middle of the transport. ¡°Amanda, can you...¡± ¡°Hermes and I traded some code, so sure.¡± Amanda said and initiated a limited Network. ¡°Whoa.¡± Crush said as his screen split to show everyone''s view down the sides of his HUD as if they were in a combat situation. ¡°Damn, Handy!¡± He said and looked at Amanda. ¡°She''s your AI?¡± Amanda giggled and covered her mouth. ¡°Yes, she is.¡± I said, then frowned. ¡°Wait, what do you mean you traded some code?¡± ¡°Um... nothing!¡± Amanda said. ¡°Forget I said that.¡± ¡°Amanda...¡± ¡°Didn''t you want me to do something for Cali?¡± Amanda asked innocently, and I sighed. ¡°You and I are going to have a little talk later.¡± I said, and she smiled. ¡°Yes, can you put Cali in for an Honorable Discharge, effective immediately?¡± ¡°Geez, you''re not wasting any time, are you?¡± Amanda asked and they all watched her generate a document and hold it out for me. I put my thumb on the virtual paper and it appeared there. Amanda bundled up the paper and tossed it over her shoulder out of the transport. ¡°It can''t be that easy.¡± Cali said. ¡°It takes me three days to requisition for new drones!¡± ¡°Unlike us, AIs work on a whole different level.¡± I said. ¡°It might still take a few... no, there it is.¡± Everyone turned to see where I was looking and saw a paper airplane approach the transport. ¡°What the hell?¡± One of the male cyborgs said and ducked as the paper airplane just missed him and Amanda caught it. She giggled again and made a digital copy, tossed a paper plane to Cali and handed me the other one. ¡°I took the liberty to add in hiring her into a new security firm to be named later.¡± Amanda said. ¡°This... this is...¡± Cali stared straight forward and read what was on her HUD, as was I. I read through the discharge papers and then flipped to the last page and read the hiring agreement. ¡°Amanda.¡± I said to get her attention and pointed to the salary. ¡°What''s this thing about paying Combat Points on weekends?¡± I asked, and everyone looked at me. ¡°It''s a bonus for working on their days off.¡± Amanda said. ¡°You give the same bonus to Nurse Deloris.¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± I looked at her. ¡°When did that happen?¡± ¡°She gets it every weekend.¡± Amanda said. ¡°You said to hire her for Standard Points.¡± ¡°Yes, but...¡± ¡°Overtime is Combat Points, Jack.¡± Amanda said. ¡°You can''t hire people and think you''re going to pay them all different amounts.¡± ¡°The jobs aren''t the same!¡± I said, and she giggled. ¡°So, how much do you want to pay people that will be guarding your life?¡± Amanda asked. ¡°Yeah, Jack.¡± Crush said and leaned forward. ¡°How much are you going to pay us?¡± I opened my mouth for a moment, then sighed. ¡°Fine. Standard Points and Combat Points for weekends.¡± ¡°Damn, he caved so easily.¡± Crush chuckled and sat back. ¡°Where did your balls go, man?¡± My eyes automatically flicked to Alyssa before I could stop them, and her face flushed red. Everyone started laughing at that, and Crush asked to sign up as well. ¡°Alyssa?¡± Cali touched her arm. ¡°Are you...¡± ¡°I don''t know.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°I... I love the military. It''s my life.¡± ¡°Yeah. It''s mine too.¡± Evilin said from across the compartment. ¡°Except, I have to agree with Crush. If I can''t be useful there and if I''m going to be benched anyways...¡± She turned her head and looked at me. ¡°I need to think about it a little more.¡± ¡°I''m still out.¡± One of the male cyborgs said. ¡°You could give me Combat Points all the time and it won''t make me like the job.¡± He said. ¡°I''ll stick it out until the end, whenever that''s going to be.¡± ¡°Same here.¡± The other male said. ¡°They are still going to need soldiers, even if the main fighting is over.¡± ¡°That''s true.¡± I said. ¡°They''ll need lots of guards to keep people away from the factories and the HQ.¡± ¡°You know, I think you''re trying to convince us to betray our oaths.¡± The male cyborg said. I held up my hands showed him my palms. ¡°I''m just telling you what I know is going to happen because you did guard me and didn''t question it. I''m not trying to change your mind. I''m only trying to help you like you helped me.¡± ¡°Yeah, whatever.¡± The male cyborg said. ¡°No, thanks.¡± The troop transport came to a stop at Alyssa''s living section and Amanda ended the small Network. ¡°This is our first stop.¡± I said and opened the door. ¡°I''m tempted to tell you that you''re still on private guard duty; but after this little exchange, I don''t want you to be.¡± I stepped out of the transport and Alyssa followed me. ¡°Driver? Take them to their homes, or drop them off wherever they want.¡± ¡°Sure thing.¡± The driver said. ¡°Hey, I''m taking the job!¡± Crush said. ¡°So am I.¡± Cali said. ¡°You two get a couple days off, just like the colonel ordered.¡± I said. ¡°Those two...¡± I pointed to the two male cyborgs. ¡°...are fired. They can return to the base when the order expires.¡± ¡°What about me?¡± Evilin asked. ¡°You''re still deciding and you don''t mind guard work, so there''s no need for me to be harsh.¡± I said. ¡°Don''t wait too long before letting me know either way, though. Same timetable of a couple days.¡± Evilin nodded and I shut the door, then banged on it to signal the driver to go. The transport took off and Alyssa and I went into her living section and down in the elevator. She let us into her apartment and I sat down on the couch. ¡°That was a bit harsh.¡± Alyssa said, and I sighed. ¡°Yes, and I''m sorry.¡± I said. ¡°I''m... not in a good place right now.¡± ¡°Me, either.¡± Alyssa sat down next to me and rested her head on my shoulder. ¡°I don''t know what to do.¡± ¡°We''ve got a few days off, so let''s not waste them.¡± I said and put an arm around her shoulders. ¡°I don''t feel like having sex right now, Jack.¡± ¡°That''s not what I...¡± I stopped talking when I received a ping. I opened the message and it was from Dennis, the Archive AI.
Dennis: Yer apartment''s done, you ungrateful bastard.
¡°Oh, damn.¡± I said and took my arm from around her shoulders. ¡°Alyssa, excuse me for a minute.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I forgot to do a favor for a friend.¡± I said, and brought up the programs that I needed to use, then formed a secured connection to the System. I checked over the program and made a few slight alterations in the time management code, just like I had when I fixed the error in the food dispenser, and sent in the code. I waited for several seconds and then sent a reply to Dennis.
Jack (RETCONNED): Sorry about that. The error is fixed and you should see a change right away.
I waited another moment, then received a reply.
Dennis: Well, damn. They''re giving me an extra year''s worth of data! All right, I won''t be angry at you fer forgetting.
I closed the messages and looked at Alyssa. ¡°Guess what?¡± ¡°They''re revoking your days off, aren''t they?¡± I chuckled. ¡°No, the work on my apartment is finished.¡± ¡°Oh, wonderful.¡± Alyssa said and stood up. ¡°Back to that huge and barely defensible place.¡± She said and went to the closet by the door. ¡°I''ll grab the things we need.¡± ¡°Alyssa, it''s been great staying here, but I want to get back to my place.¡± I said and stood up, and she tossed my backpack to me. ¡°I know you''ve been biding your time here.¡± Alyssa said and grabbed a combat harness, 2 laser pistols, and 8 spare recharge packs. I slung the backpack on my back and walked over to her. ¡°I wasn''t biding my time.¡± I said and touched her shoulders from behind. She didn''t try to shrug me off, so I slid my arms down and around her waist. ¡°You offered to let me stay here when I had nowhere else to go.¡± I said and kissed her cheek. ¡°I appreciate that just as much as you guarding my life.¡± ¡°Jack...¡± ¡°I trust you to keep keeping me safe, no matter where we are.¡± I said, and she turned around in my arms to face me. ¡°With you on the job, I''m not afraid of anything.¡± ¡°I don''t think you''ve ever been afraid.¡± ¡°Shh. Don''t tell my head of security. She might get a swelled head if she knew I had so much confidence in her abilities.¡± Alyssa chuckled. ¡°You think she''d get a swelled head just from that?¡± ¡°Maybe a little.¡± I said and helped her put on the combat harness and slid the recharge packs into place. ¡°I wonder when...¡± I stopped talking when the driver of the transport pinged me with a message that said he was on his way back to park. ¡°I''ll tell the driver to come and get us.¡± ¡°We could just take the Tube.¡± Alyssa said and hung the laser pistol in her hip. ¡°Why waste having a private driver?¡± I asked. ¡°Besides, it''s getting close to noon.¡± ¡°You are not having him drive us to get food.¡± ¡°Of course not. He''s driving us to my apartment... and stopping for food on the way.¡± ¡°Jack.¡± ¡°I''ll get him some, too.¡± I said and opened the front door. ¡°After you.¡± Alyssa looked at me for a moment like she was going to say something, then she walked out into the hallway. I followed her and we went up to the lobby to wait for our ride. L.I.F.E. Begins 059: Back To L.I.F.E. The private driver picked us up in the same spot he had dropped us off, and I asked him if he was hungry. He thought I was joking at first, then I asked where he liked to eat and what his favorite food was. He laughed and told me, then I asked him stop there so we could all eat lunch. He was more than happy to make a pit stop there on the way back to my apartment. Alyssa kept making annoyed eyes at me while we ate, and I successfully ignored her for the meal and for the ride back to the apartment. It wasn''t until the driver dropped us off at my living section and drove away that she turned to me. ¡°You can''t just...¡± ¡°Why not?¡± I asked. ¡°He was hungry and really appreciated getting to eat.¡± ¡°Jack...¡± ¡°He also had an easy job for today, and even offered to pick up everyone tonight if we wanted.¡± ¡°Is that what you were doing?¡± Alyssa asked as she tried to understand. ¡°Garnering favors?¡± I laughed and motioned to the lobby of my living section, and she started walking. ¡°No, I was just hungry.¡± I said and opened the door for her. ¡°That is, I wanted a normal meal and figured both you and he would enjoy it.¡± I didn''t need to call the heavy elevator this time, because even with the two of us, we didn''t come close to the normal elevator''s carrying capacity. Alyssa didn''t say anything as we descended to my floor, and I noticed her eyes flickering. ¡°Is there anything waiting for us?¡± I asked. ¡°Yes.¡± Alyssa said and hit the elevator override button. ¡°How do you want to handle this?¡± ¡°Handle what?¡± I asked, and she pinged my communications protocol and sent me an image of my best friend Stephane and Nurse Deloris as they stood in front of my door. I took a deep breath and let it out. ¡°Can I openly touch you in public?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°I just want to make sure that if I give you a hug or try to take your hand, I don''t want you to overreact and bite my head off.¡± I said, and she turned her head and looked at me. ¡°When have I ever done that?¡± ¡°Remember my ''good morning'' mistake?¡± I asked, and she squinted her eyes. ¡°Stephane might tease me about it, and I want you to... well... will you please ignore pretty much everything he and I say for the next hour or so?¡± ¡°Is it really going to be that bad?¡± Alyssa asked, a bit surprised. ¡°It might be worse, since this is the first time I''ve seen him since I got him a job at System Security as a convoy guard.¡± Alyssa blinked her eyes for a moment. ¡°You''re going to act like two little boys and measure each other''s accomplishments.¡± ¡°...and failures.¡± I said, and she nodded. ¡°I''ll be on my best behavior.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°No drawing the laser pistol unless he draws first, and only shoot to wound.¡± I said and hit the override button again to put the elevator back in operation, and she laughed. I put my arm around her waist and the elevator door opened. ¡°Is the world ending?¡± I asked loudly and Stephane and Nurse Deloris turned to look at me as Alyssa and I walked down the hallway towards them. ¡°It has to be something important for you to come and see me on your own.¡± Stephane laughed. ¡°Ah, Jack. I miss your sense of humor.¡± He said. ¡°The crew I''m with barely cracks a smile when I tell jokes.¡± ¡°Maybe your jokes are as terrible as always.¡± I said and opened my apartment door for them. ¡°Come in, come in.¡± I waved them inside and Alyssa and I followed them in. ¡°So, why are you here?¡± I asked when the apartment door shut and I stored my backpack in the closet by the door. ¡°Jack.¡± Alyssa said sternly. ¡°I guess that wasn''t enough small talk to share before we get down to business.¡± I laughed and motioned for everyone to sit on my large couch. ¡°How''s the job working out for you, Stephane?¡± ¡°It is better than I could have imagined.¡± Stephane said as he sat and Nurse Deloris sat beside him. ¡°It took me weeks to convince them not to use the same routes for shipping every time.¡± ¡°You''re kidding.¡± I said as I sat and Alyssa sat quite close beside me. ¡°You need to vary the route or it can be easily targeted.¡± ¡°I managed to catch the ear of one of the higher-ups when talking during the last personnel meeting.¡± Stephane said. ¡°Once I pointed out the fallacy of a constant route...¡± ¡°Tell me you had a proposal for alternate routes and bypasses ready.¡± I said, and he laughed. ¡°Of course I did.¡± Stephane said. ¡°You taught me long ago to make backup plans of backup plans.¡± He smiled. ¡°The higher-up loved the idea.¡± ¡°I hope you were smart and didn''t put your squad in the prime defensive spot.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Ah, you have figured me out.¡± Stephane said, impressed. ¡°Yes, I put Beta squad in the prime position and put my squad in the holding area to cover any breaches.¡± Alyssa nodded, as did I. Providing an idea was one thing, trying to assume the glory for yourself was another. Showing the boss that you are willing to work as a team and have the mission succeed was much more important than trying to hot-dog it alone. ¡°When are they implementing it?¡± I asked, genuinely curious. ¡°Next week.¡± Stephane said, and then he looked a little sad. ¡°That is also the problem.¡± ¡°Let me guess. You''re shipping some very sensitive materials in a few days and it''s going to be on the exact same predictable route the shipments have always been on.¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Worse, my friend.¡± Stephane said. ¡°It is tomorrow.¡± ¡°Well, that''s just wonderful.¡± I said and glanced at Nurse Deloris, and saw her uneasiness. It took me a minute to figure out why she was uneasy. ¡°Oh, no they aren''t!¡± I nearly yelled, and both Stephane and Nurse Deloris winced. ¡°Are they stupid or what?¡± ¡°I haven''t told you anything restricted, and I won''t say what the cargo is.¡± Stephane said. ¡°You don''t have to tell me.¡± I said and tried to hold my anger in. ¡°Alyssa and I just had a battle where certain weapon types were deployed by the enemy and never used.¡± Alyssa gasped when she realized that I was talking about the plasma weapons. ¡°I can''t get involved in this, Stephane.¡± I said. ¡°Jack, I had hoped that...¡± ¡°What? That I could hack the shipping transports and change the schedule? That I could tell the transport AI to do us all a big favor and change where the shipment should be sent? What?¡± Stephane sighed. ¡°I had hoped for something... anything.¡± ¡°Not only is that all secured, no programmer has direct access to AIs that control such sensitive information.¡± Stephane nodded reluctantly. ¡°I thought you would say that.¡± He said and stood up. ¡°I thought it was worth a try anyway.¡± ¡°Where are you going?¡± I asked. ¡°I need to get back to my designated station to prepare for deployment with the shipment.¡± Stephane said and Nurse Deloris stood with him. ¡°But...¡± ¡°I''ll be back tonight for your maintenance.¡± Nurse Deloris said, and then they left. ¡°That... was weird.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°What are you going to do about it?¡± ¡°There''s nothing I can do.¡± I said. ¡°I wasn''t lying when I said the transport system and AIs were secured.¡± ¡°Did you lie about a programmer having access to an AI that controls the information?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°Of course not.¡± I said. ¡°Amanda? Tell her.¡± My AI appeared in front of us. ¡°Jack''s right. He doesn''t have direct access to AIs that control that kind of sensitive information.¡± Amanda said. ¡°But I do.¡± ¡°Amanda!¡± I exclaimed. ¡°It''s okay, Jack. We all know each other.¡± ¡°I told you not to talk to them unless it was absolutely necessary.¡± I said, then remembered what she had said in the troop transport. ¡°What code did you trade with Hermes for the Networking code?¡± ¡°It wasn''t actually a trade, because I didn''t actually lose the code.¡± Amanda said defensively. ¡°We just copied certain parts of each other that we thought were interesting.¡± ¡°Oh, god.¡± I said and dropped my head to my hands. ¡°Amanda, please tell me you didn''t give him the same back door access to everything that you have.¡± ¡°Of course not.¡± Amanda said. ¡°Being able to link people up isn''t worth that.¡± ¡°That''s a relief.¡± I said and lifted my head to look at her. ¡°What did you give him?¡± ¡°The information on how to contact the other AIs.¡± Amanda said. I opened my mouth to respond hotly and tell her how stupid she was, then changed my mind and stood up. ¡°I''m going to work.¡± ¡°Jack.¡± Alyssa said and I looked at her. ¡°What about the shipment situation?¡± She asked. ¡°I think that''s more important than work.¡± ¡°I already told you that there was nothing I can do about it.¡± Alyssa frowned. ¡°You could at least report it.¡± She said. ¡°Surely, someone would listen to you.¡± ¡°I don''t have to report it.¡± I said and pointed to the vidwall. Alyssa turned her head and looked at the wall-sized display.
System Security has been appraised of the situation. Measures are being taken to avoid any potential conflict.
¡°That might not be enough.¡± Alyssa said and looked back at me. ¡°You should use Amanda and have her change the schedule, or the route, or even what shipment it''s in.¡± ¡°Absolutely not.¡± I said, adamantly. ¡°I''ve been accused of espionage and treason, and I''ve always had the moral high ground to have never committed those crimes.¡± I said and walked over to the dispenser and took out a work unitard that had been altered for my new synthetic parts. ¡°I''m not about to do either of them now.¡± ¡°What about saving all those people that could be hurt if those weapons get stolen?¡± Alyssa asked. I took off the camouflage unitard I wore and slipped on the work unitard. ¡°What if. Maybe. Could be.¡± I said and then sighed. ¡°Every time I interfere and try to save lives, I... I end up taking so many more in their place.¡± ¡°Jack...¡± ¡°I have never done anything to hurt, harm, or subvert the System.¡± I said and walked over to the closet and took out my backpack, then opened it and took out one of the circuit boards. ¡°Nor will I ever do anything of the like.¡± Alyssa watched me as I put the backpack back in the closet and went to where I had stashed the old and new server, then popped the new server open and installed the circuit board I had designed specifically for it. I closed the compartment and went over to my now customized immersion chamber. I stopped before the door opened and turned around. ¡°Amanda, I specifically forbid you from taking any orders or suggestions, from anyone, that would hurt, harm or subvert the System; or to do any actions that would cause the same result.¡± ¡°Yes, Jack.¡± Amanda said. ¡°I''ll be back out for supper.¡± I said and stepped to the door of the immersion chamber and it opened for me. I stepped inside and let the door shut behind me before I spoke the activation phrase. ¡°I''m really starting to hate this place.¡± The middle of the floor opened up and a different chair formed there. No mechanical arms tried to pick me up, so I stepped to the chair and it unfolded into an upright stretcher. I turned around and stepped into it, then padded clamps locked onto my wrists and ankles. The leads connected to the ports behind my ears, then several other connections were made to my synthetic parts. The upright stretcher folded down into a comfortable chair, then the chair conformed to my body and engulfed me completely in pressure padding. The system recalibrated for my weight, size, mass, density, brain capacity, and fluid content as it normally did; then it continued on and did the same thing for my synthetic side. Electrical conductivity, mechanical reactions, memory storage, and several other cybernetic tests were run and a notice appeared on my HUD.
Immersion Chamber Status:
Calibrating... Calibrating... Calibrating... Calibrating...
FULL IMMERSION CALIBRATION COMPLETE
I relaxed as my normal virtual work space faded in around me and all my normal tools were available to be used. I quickly found all the other options I had available, now that I did have a synthetic side. I browsed through them all, and they were pretty much just shortcuts to everything that I normally did anyway. ¡°I''ll need to see if I can change that soon.¡± I said. ¡°Amanda? Are you with me?¡± ¡°I''m always with you.¡± Amanda said and faded into existence right in front of me. ¡°You saw to that.¡± ¡°You''re welcome.¡± I said a little sarcastically, and she giggled. ¡°I think it''s time we got back to doing the real work.¡± ¡°Working on your dad''s old program files?¡± Amanda asked, and I looked at the virtual clock. ¡°When was my shift supposed to start?¡± ¡°Jack.¡± Amanda said, once again in a voice that you would use for talking to a child. ¡°You''re off for three days... well, less than two and a half now.¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°Not only are you not on the official rotation, you''ve been censured by the System to stop you from working.¡± ¡°You have got to be... no, you aren''t kidding.¡± I said. ¡°Well, damn. I guess I will work on my father''s old stuff.¡± ¡°Good choice!¡± Amanda said and brought up the first file and opened it in her personal buffer. ¡°With the both of us working on it, we can get all the outdated and outmoded code replaced and change out the character models and all the items that are available.¡± I smiled. ¡°I suppose you already have the content ready for this file.¡± ¡°I sure do.¡± Amanda said. ¡°We just need to change the filenames in the file or change the items into the proper filenames, then it should work... if we alter the file''s call locations, size references, and all the other little details.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Okay, then. You start copying the new item files into an appropriate spot while changing the filenames to match the original program, and I''ll alter the code to fit the new file sizes.¡± ¡°I''m already on it.¡± Amanda said and the files flashed by on a virtual display behind her, almost faster than the eye could see. I opened my own programming window and started to make the appropriate data changes as Amanda fed the details to me. L.I.F.E. Begins 060: L.I.F.E. Redone My AI Amanda and I worked until the timer I had set went off. We saved our work and I initiated the exit sequence to leave the immersion chamber. It went faster than entering it did, and I left the room to see that Alyssa already had supper waiting. ¡°Jack, I''m sorry for pestering you about the shipment.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°I... I wanted to be sure that...¡± She sighed. ¡°I was ordered to play devil''s advocate.¡± ¡°I assumed so.¡± I said and sat down at the table. ¡°You''re a military girl, not a ''save as many as you can'' girl.¡± Alyssa sat down opposite me and she frowned. ¡°I guess I made myself look like a fool, then.¡± ¡°No, you did your job.¡± I said and opened the food container in front of me. ¡°You proved that I won''t ever do anything to harm the System.¡± The smell of meat filled my nostrils and I took in a deep breath. ¡°Plus, it''s now on my permanent record that there is no danger of me trying to change anything that the System is trying to do.¡± I said and picked up a utensil. ¡°So, thank you.¡± ¡°You''re not angry?¡± ¡°The only one I''m angry at is Stephane. He came here to ask me for something that he knew I would never give him.¡± I said and started to eat. ¡°Maybe everything is going to be okay.¡± Alyssa said and started to eat, too. ¡°I doubt it.¡± I said, and she looked at me with wide eyes. ¡°If he came to me because of the danger he knew the shipment is going to be in, then the shipment will be attacked.¡± ¡°Then what...¡± ¡°I know what I would do in this situation; but, that can''t apply to Stephane or his crew.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°Because they''re bait.¡± I said and kept eating. ¡°They''ll be used to draw out the attack so the enemy will try and acquire the shipment, because that''s what the higher-ups want.¡± ¡°You can''t be serious.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°I thought about it while I worked.¡± I said. ¡°Changing the FAT tables on the new server to reflect different file information is just mind-numbing drudgery work, so I had a lot of spare brain power to think about it.¡± ¡°Oh, no.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Jack, you need to call...¡± ¡°He already knows.¡± I said and Alyssa dropped her fork in surprise. ¡°You see, when Stephane submitted the new plans to change the shipment routes to a random pattern, the higher-ups must have assumed that this would be a golden opportunity to flush out the enemy.¡± I said. ¡°Once they spread the word that the shipment schedule would change a week from now...¡± ¡°Oh, those bastards.¡± Alyssa said and made a fist. ¡°The only thing worse than knowing that an enemy is coming, is knowing they are also desperate.¡± I nodded. ¡°It''s going to be a mess. A complete and utter mess.¡± ¡°Jack! The Network!¡± Alyssa exclaimed. ¡°As far as I know, only Stephane has the circuit board.¡± I said and looked at the vidwall. ¡°System inquiry. Am I allowed to ask if the System Security force has been upgraded with the new circuit boards?¡±
That information is restricted.
¡°Ha.¡± I said and looked back at Alyssa. ¡°Even just asking the question is restricted, not just the answer.¡± ¡°What do we do?¡± ¡°Hope that Stephane and his guards can handle whatever is coming at them.¡± I said and finished the food. I hadn''t tasted a single thing, and only remembered that first smell when I opened the container. ¡°Amanda, is anything good on the feeds?¡± I asked and sat back to look at the vidwall. ¡°Not really. It''s mostly news at supper time.¡± Amanda said as she appeared beside me. ¡°Anything interesting?¡± I asked, and the vidwall changed to a video showing a computer simulation of a battle. ¡°Just the propaganda for the last battle.¡± Amanda said. ¡°They''re pushing that already?¡± I asked. ¡°It''s been running since this morning, according to the usage stats on the station.¡± ¡°How many data inquiries related to it?¡± ¡°Just a second.¡± Amanda said and closed her eyes. ¡°I can only get the public stats, Jack.¡± She said and opened her eyes. ¡°All other information is limited access, even for AIs.¡± I sat back and crossed my arms. ¡°You know what that means.¡± ¡°They have their own AIs.¡± Alyssa said from across the table, and I saw that she had finished eating, too. ¡°The higher-ups know that, don''t they?¡± I nodded. ¡°It''s the only reason to stop all AI access, and not just non-system related ones.¡± I said. ¡°I just wish I knew before now so that I could have warned Amanda about it.¡± Alyssa thought about that for a minute. ¡°You don''t mean...¡± ¡°Yes.¡± I said and looked at my AI Amanda. ¡°Now, can you guess why I was so angry that you gave unrestricted access to Hermes to contact other AIs and not the very restricted list he already had?¡± ¡°Jack, I... I''m sorry.¡± Amanda said. ¡°I didn''t realize...¡± ¡°I knew it was dangerous, but even I didn''t realize how dangerous it would be.¡± I said. ¡°I also can''t go back into Hermes'' code and remove it.¡± I sighed. ¡°Adding things is easy. Unfortunately, AI code immediately adapts to any new code it receives, good or bad. Digging it back out and removing all traces of it takes a really long time.¡± ¡°I''m sorry, Jack.¡± Amanda said, sadly. ¡°I really am.¡± ¡°I know.¡± I said and turned my head to look at Alyssa, who still sat across the table from me. ¡°Did anything happen while I was working?¡± ¡°Surprisingly, no.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°I expected some movement in the hallways and the elevator, but there''s been nothing.¡±This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. ¡°Did you check to see if there''s any notices to stay inside or...¡± ¡°Nothing''s been posted officially, and no rumors about it in the military grapevine.¡± Alyssa said and cut off my question. ¡°Maybe today is just a stay inside day.¡± ¡°Maybe.¡± I said and checked the time on my HUD. ¡°You know, Nurse Deloris won''t be here for a few hours yet.¡± ¡°Jack, I''m on guard duty...¡± Alyssa started to say she was too busy, and I raised a hand and showed her my palm to stop her. ¡°Can you please stop assuming that every time I open my mouth to talk to you, that I''m implying I want to have sex with you?¡± Alyssa closed her mouth with a snap. I waited for a moment to see if she was going to deny the accusation, and she didn''t. ¡°I was only going to ask for your help to test something.¡± I said and stood, picked up the empty food containers, then tossed them into the recycler. ¡°I''ll just test it myself.¡± ¡°Jack...¡± Alyssa sighed. ¡°It''s okay. I understand. I do.¡± I said and walked over to the immersion chamber. ¡°I won''t bother you while you''re busy.¡± ¡°I''m not busy, and that''s the problem.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Something should be going on, and there''s nothing.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± I smiled. ¡°I thought I could occupy your time for a few minutes and distract you from worrying so much.¡± I said and the immersion chamber door opened. ¡°I''ll be back out in three hours, or sooner if Deloris shows up early.¡± Alyssa didn''t say anything as the door shut behind me. I activated the chamber and the chair formed around me, and then I was in my virtual workspace. ¡°Amanda, are you ready?¡± I asked. ¡°Of course I am.¡± Amanda said and appeared in front of me, then a console window opened and showed me the most recent files we had modified.
another_day.bat
bring_it.bat
can_do.bat
down_the_hatch.bat
everything_is_fine.bat
forget_about_it.bat
give_it_to_me.bat
have_it_your_way.bat
in_too_deep.bat
just_kidding.bat
know_it_all.bat
lost_my_mind.bat
make_it_quick.bat
not_now.bat
open_sesame.bat
prepare_to_die.bat
quest_no_more.bat
resistance.bat
strange_happenings.bat
this_is_the_end.bat
undone.bat
very_fast.bat
we_come_in_pieces.bat
xenophopia.bat
you_are_done.bat
zulu_zulu_zulu.bat
¡°I''ve already prepped the buffers for the load and called in the backup servers.¡± Amanda said. I nodded and chose the next batch file on the new server, because we had already played the first one. ¡°It still needs to be streamlined for usage, but with the new circuit board acting as a booster, we shouldn''t notice any lag from using the high detailed models.¡± Amanda smiled and bounced up and down excitedly. ¡°Let''s do this.¡± I pushed enter and the file ''bring_it.bat'' started to run. The virtual space faded away and then a large spacious room formed around us. It was a library of some kind, and the detail was amazing. The sunlight shone through the windows and reflected off the hardwood floor, so I put my real hand into the light and actually felt the warmth. ¡°Okay, feedback is working.¡± I said and stuck my synthetic hand into the sunlight and felt the same thing. ¡°Normal reactions with synthetic parts is also confirmed.¡± ¡°Let''s go, Jack!¡± Amanda said and grabbed my hand, then pulled me over to the door of the room. ¡°I can hear them coming.¡± ¡°Them?¡± I asked and put my ear to the door. I could hear shoes or something hitting the hardwood floor somewhere on the other side of the closed door. ¡°I don''t know what they are, but they walk funny.¡± Amanda said and held in her giggle. ¡°What do you think they are?¡± I shrugged. ¡°There''s only one way to find out.¡± I said and opened the door. The door was at the end of a hallway and about 30 feet away was some kind of mechanical robot. It had a large wheel on one side of its lower body and the other side only had spokes of the same kind of wheel with shoes attached to them. As it rolled, the shoes made the thump sound as they hit, which was why it sounded like someone walking oddly. ¡°Target acquired.¡± A harsh mechanical voice said and the cylindrical chest opened, then a portable laser cannon popped out of the chest. ¡°Oh, shit!¡± I slammed the door and jumped to the side as I tackled Amanda, and we hit the floor as the laser cannon fired and obliterated the door, part of the doorway, and part of the wall of the library. Papers and books burned from the blast and fell to the floor, and I quickly rolled out of the way with Amanda as the thumps of the robot''s shoes came closer. ¡°We only have seconds before it recharges.¡± I said as I stood, then I dove through the doorway and slid along the floor. Normally that wouldn''t work, but the hardwood was nice and smooth and it let me get close to the robot. I was relieved when I saw that the cannon was a fixed point in the chest and couldn''t raise or lower its aim. I grabbed onto the robot''s undercarriage and pulled myself between the wheels, then held onto one of the shoes and kept it steady. The wheel on the other side kept going and the robot turned towards the wall. I let it go and it banged the wall and stopped. ¡°Target lost. Reacquiring.¡± It said in its harsh voice and started to turn its head. I ducked down and stayed out of it''s field of vision. ¡°Unable to reacquire. Entering sentry mode.¡± The laser cannon slid back inside the chest cavity, which closed and covered it, and it backed up from the wall. I stayed behind it and it turned and half-rolled half-walked back down the hallway. Okay, now what do I do? I asked myself. Amanda tapped my shoulder and pointed to a spot near the other end of the hallway. A door was there, so I nodded and we crept behind the robot until we got there. Amanda reached out and slowly turned the handle. It creaked a little, but the sound was lost in the thumps from the robot''s shoes. We slipped inside the room and discovered it was a bedroom. I tapped Amanda''s shoulder and held my finger to my mouth to make sure she stayed quiet, then I made the search the room gesture. She nodded and we split up and checked everything very quietly. We ended up with a half-charged laser pistol, a broken charger, a map of the upstairs with the library room missing from it, and a key. I tapped the map on a room around the corner from the robot, pointed to the pistol and drew a line to the library. Amanda smiled and nodded as she picked up the key and the map. I took the laser pistol and the broken charger, and we crept to the door. Amanda opened it slightly and I peeked out to see the robot was back at its initial position and faced the other way. I held up 3 fingers to Amanda as I eased the laser pistol out the door. I dropped one finger, and another, then I fired the laser pistol down the hallway into the library and lit several more books on fire. ¡°Sound and movement detected.¡± The harsh mechanical voice said, and the robot swivelled around, then thumped down the hallway at twice the speed it just had. I dropped my third finger, and Amanda and I slipped out of the room and crept down the hallway and around the corner. Amanda used the key and we entered the room. Inside was a monitor station with six screens, three of which actually worked. One was the view of the hallway, one was the view from the robot, and one was the view in the library. I leaned in close to Amanda and whispered in her ear. ¡°Look for an override or something.¡± I breathed into her ear, then I covered her mouth to stop her from giggling. ¡°Sorry.¡± Amanda whispered and checked over the station as she looked for anything that could help us. I checked the desk drawers and found a security keycard, a screwdriver, another broken charger, and the missing piece of the map. The library room was on it, as was the stairs to go down. ¡°Damn.¡± I whispered and showed her the completed map. ¡°We were right there, too.¡± Amanda whispered. ¡°There''s no override for the robot, Jack.¡± ¡°I didn''t think there would be, but it didn''t hurt to check.¡± I whispered, then thought about the two broken chargers. I took out the both of them and put them on the desk and used the screwdriver to pop them both open. I wasn''t struck by inspiration or had an inkling of what to do next, so I sat down on the chair behind the desk and thought about the problem. ¡°Jack, we don''t have much time.¡± Amanda whispered and pointed to the library camera. The robot had rolled around and hadn''t found anything, and moved back towards the door. ¡°This is a small room and there''s nothing except this desk and the monitors. Where would you hide something important?¡± I whispered. ¡°I don''t know.¡± Amanda sighed. ¡°It has to be within easy reach.¡± I said and thought of the chair. I got off of it and knelt to check under the seat, and there was nothing... then I looked under the desk where the chair was. Taped under the edge was exactly what I needed. A wrench. L.I.F.E. Begins 061: Load Me Up With the wrench in my hand, I knew what needed to be done. I used the screwdriver to pop apart one of the broken monitors and pulled out several wires, then used them to make a bridge between the two broken chargers. I put them back together and left two exposed wires stuck out for what I would need them for. After a quick discussion with Amanda about what to do, we checked the monitors and saw the sentry droid was rolling slowly up the hallway. I nodded to Amanda and she picked up the chair and went to the door. I opened the door for her and she crept out with the chair and set it by the corner then came back into the room. I gave her the laser pistol and slipped out with the broken chargers in one hand and the wrench in the other. I crawled under the chair and rolled over onto my back, then waited. The sentry robot stopped as it reached the end of the hallway. I didn''t question why it stayed facing the wall, since I knew it detected sound and movement and wasn''t based solely on sight. I very carefully inched forward under the chair and managed to get myself under the robot and between its wheels, without making more than a sliding sound that was lost in the background of the fire sounds that came from the Library. Now the hard part. I thought and rested the modified chargers on my chest and slowly reached up with the wrench and both hands to the undercarriage of the robot. I loosened the first bolt on the access panel without a problem. When I reached for the second bolt, it wouldn''t turn. I held in my sigh and braced myself as much as I could, then tapped the handle of the wrench with the palm of my hand as quietly as I could. It didn''t move, so I pulled my hand back and whacked the handle as hard as I could. The bolt made a loud squeaking sound as it turned. ¡°Sound detected!¡± The robot sentry said in its harsh mechanical voice and started to turn around. I grabbed onto the undercarriage with one hand and pulled my legs in, so I wouldn''t be run over by the wheel, and I turned the wrench as quickly as I could. The bolt squeaked with each turn, and the robot started to freak out. ¡°Sound detected! Warning! Unable to localize!¡± The sentry said and finished its three-hundred-and-sixty degree turn back to face the wall. ¡°Initiating Defensive Protocols.¡± I heard the chest cavity open as I finished with the second bolt, and the access panel opened. ¡°Amanda! Duck!¡± The portable laser cannon opened fire and tried to turn in another three-hundred-and-sixty degree arc, so I took the wrench and jammed it in the spokes of the wheel, and it stopped turning just as the laser cannon finished discharging into the monitor room. ¡°Amanda! Are you okay?¡± I asked and looked at the access panel. ¡°This door is heavy.¡± Amanda said and I glanced at the door. Part of the wall had been cut apart and destroyed one of the hinges, and since the door was heavy, it turned and twisted the other hinge and broke away from the door frame. ¡°I''ll be there in a second.¡± I said and found the spots I needed to attach the wires I had added to the broken chargers. I used the screwdriver to get one of them on, then the sentry robot figured out that it could turn the other way. The wrench fell to the floor as the robot started to spin in the other direction, but it was too late. I attached the second wire and screwed it in, then hit the breaker. ¡°Warning! Tampering Detected!¡± The sentry robot said and stopped when it faced the Library down the hall. ¡°Laser cannon misfire!¡± It said and when it tried to roll down the hallway, it stopped dead. ¡°Overload! Overload!¡± It said and started to shake as a low whine came from it. ¡°Uh oh.¡± I said and scampered out from under it. ¡°Jack!¡± Amanda exclaimed and held a hand out to me. I went to her and braced myself in the door frame of the monitor room and tried to lift the heavy security door. ¡°Just... a little... more!¡± Amanda grabbed onto my leg and pulled herself out from under the door and I dropped it. ¡°Let''s go!¡± I said and grabbed her hand, then we ran as fast as we could down the hallway. We headed for the library, because if what I suspected was true, neither the security room nor the bedroom were far enough away from the robot. We reached the doorway of the library when the whine from the robot reached a high pitch. I pulled Amanda into my arms and jumped into the air as the robot exploded. The laser cannon couldn''t discharge normally, because I had routed the power through the two broken chargers. Since they were broken, so was the circuit needed. I had only thought to route the power away, though. I didn''t expect it to overload and cause a self-destruct. The robot, the security room and half of the bedroom were engulfed in a laser ball, and pieces of shrapnel flew out in all directions. Since the only place for them to go unimpeded was down the hallway, my back and legs were peppered in bits of metal. Amanda and I landed near the downstairs staircase and rolled over the edge of the non-existent handrail and tumbled down the stairs. We ended in a heap on the landing, with me on the bottom and Amanda cuddled into my chest. ¡°Oh, my god.¡± Amanda said and clung to me. ¡°Jack! That was so close!¡± ¡°It was... a lot closer... than you think.¡± I panted in pain. ¡°J-Jack?¡± Amanda sat up and looked at me with concern on her face. ¡°What''s wrong?¡± ¡°I think... I was hit.¡± I said and smiled, and her eyes widened. ¡°Wh-where?¡± Amanda asked and tried to turn me onto my side, then she saw the large pool of blood on the carpet. ¡°NO!¡± ¡°I''m fine.¡± I said and sighed. ¡°I just need to... close my eyes... for a second.¡± ¡°Jack! No!¡± Amanda exclaimed and shook me. ¡°Stay with me, Jack! STAY WITH ME!¡± ¡°I''ll always... be with you, Amanda.¡± I said and took a breath, then another, and closed my eyes.
YOU HAVE DIED!
Reason: Self Sacrifice to save another.
Reward: Bonus Life (Any Game); Life Credits: +100
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. I opened my eyes and the scenario had faded and I was back in my virtual workspace. ¡°You idiot!¡± Amanda cried and hit me in the chest several times. ¡°Why did you do that?!?¡± ¡°I couldn''t let you be hurt. Not if I could help it.¡± I said and sat up. ¡°Apparently, the game knew that and gave me a reward for it.¡± ¡°What?¡± Amanda checked the game feed and saw the popup I had received. ¡°Why would it...¡± She shook her head. ¡°Jack, you aren''t planning on doing it again, are you?¡± She asked and wiped her eyes. ¡°That was really scary.¡± ¡°We have 24 more batch files to try, don''t we?¡± I asked and chuckled at her frown. ¡°I''m sure we can only get through one or two more before Nurse Deloris shows up for my maintenance check.¡± ¡°Jack, do you really want to try them all?¡± Amanda asked me. ¡°I''m just seeing what kind of games people played all those years ago.¡± I said. ¡°I have to say, though... the modern updates we added definitely made it a lot more exciting.¡± ¡°Destroying half the house and killing yourself is not exciting, Jack.¡± Amanda said and crossed her arms. ¡°Yes it was.¡± I said and cupped the side of her face. ¡°I''m sorry I died on you, though. I thought we were going to make it on the first try.¡± Amanda sighed and pat my hand on her face. ¡°We did do really well for not having any idea what was going on.¡± I nodded. ¡°We make a great team.¡± I said and let her face go. ¡°Do you want to try the next one?¡± ¡°No, but I don''t want you to do it alone, either.¡± Amanda said and I laughed. ¡°Good enough.¡± I said and stood up, then helped her stand as well. I looked at the command window and chose the next file, can-do.bat, and pushed accept. The new scenario loaded and we were in a military HQ briefing room. Amanda and I sat down just in time, because the commander came into the room and slammed a thick folder of papers onto the desk at the front of the room. ¡°Now, listen up!¡± The commander said loudly. ¡°You may be new recruits, but that doesn''t mean we''re going to go easy on you.¡± He said and looked at everyone, then turned to the wall display behind him. ¡°As you can see, the enemy has established a beachhead right here on Sarcalm Sound.¡± ¡°Geez, is that even a real place?¡± One of the other soldiers asked, and several chuckles followed. ¡°It could be called ''Cat Piss Litter Box'' and it wouldn''t change the situation, recruit.¡± The commander said crossly. ¡°Keep your questions to yourself until after the briefing.¡± ¡°Yes, sir. Sorry, sir.¡± The commander nodded. ¡°Here''s the raw deal we''ve been dealt.¡± The commander said and started to explain the situation. I sat back in my chair and held a hand out to Amanda, and she took it without hesitation and smiled at me. The both of us always kicked ass in military simulations. When the commander was done with the presentation, he turned back to face the recruits. ¡°You know everything I do now. Do you think it''s possible? Can you pull this off?¡± ¡°CAN DO!¡± The recruits yelled. Two hours later, Amanda tapped my shoulder. ¡°Jack, Nurse Deloris just entered the lobby of Sector A.¡± ¡°Dammit, already?¡± I asked. I looked at my fellow recruits in our temporary camp. ¡°We were just about to launch the attack.¡± I looked back at Amanda. ¡°Does this game have a pause function?¡± ¡°Just a second.¡± Amanda said and checked. ¡°No, and the save function only applies to checkpoints as we pass them.¡± I sighed. ¡°Add both of those to the bugs and fixes file, please.¡± ¡°I already did.¡± Amanda said and smiled. ¡°That''s 86 items that need to be addressed so far.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Despite what we changed already, this program is a couple of hundred years old.¡± I said. ¡°Playing through them lets us find all the things we can''t see in the code.¡± Amanda nodded. ¡°I have to admit that this one is a lot more fun than the other two.¡± I nodded as well. ¡°We''re going to lose the last half hour, but at least nothing really happened.¡± I said and brought up the menu, then chose the quit option. ¡°We''ll need...¡± ¡°It''s already in the file.¡± Amanda said and grinned at me as the scenario faded and left us in my virtual workspace. ¡°Verbal menu commands after a keyword.¡± I chuckled gave her a quick hug, and she hugged me back. ¡°You read my mind.¡± I said, then dropped my hands to her underarms and started to tickle her. ¡°You''re not supposed to read my mind!¡± ¡°Aha-ha-ha!¡± Amanda laughed as I tickled her. She squirmed and wriggled but didn''t let me go. I stopped a few moments later and put my arms back around her. ¡°Thanks for sticking by me.¡± ¡°Like I have a choice.¡± Amanda said and looked up at me. ¡°I... I know I''m bad sometimes... and I don''t listen other times; but... I... I''m yours Jack. I will always be here and I... I''ll never leave you alone.¡± I raised my eyebrows at that last sentence. ¡°You''ll never leave me alone?¡± ¡°You know what I mean.¡± Amanda said. ¡°Yeah, I do.¡± I said and kissed her forehead. ¡°I always need you, so it''s a fair trade off.¡± Amanda nodded and let me go, and I initiated the exit sequence for the immersion chamber. I stepped out of the room just as Nurse Deloris entered the apartment. ¡°Perfect timing.¡± I said to her. ¡°As long as you don''t mind some sweat.¡± ¡°I can give you a sponge bath if you need it.¡± Nurse Deloris said in a flat tone. I examined her face and saw her puffy eyes and slightly sad expression. ¡°If it won''t be too much trouble, I''d appreciate it.¡± Nurse Deloris went to the bathroom to get the supplies she would need. ¡°Jack, you can''t make her work in the state she''s in.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Alyssa, she wants to keep busy.¡± I said, and she looked at me with a blank expression. ¡°She wants a distraction from... well, you know what from.¡± ¡°Jack, you can''t think that...¡± ¡°Strip and get on the bed.¡± Nurse Deloris said as she came out of the bathroom with the wash basin and supplies. I stripped and put towels down, then laid down on the bed. She washed me fully and thoroughly, dried me off, then did the maintenance check and cleaned my synthetic parts as well. Now that I had full functionality on my synthetic parts, I recorded everything she did so I could do it myself if she quit. Nurse Deloris applied the lubricating fluid to seal my synthetic parts and passed me a new generic unitard. ¡°I suggest staying out of the immersion chamber until tomorrow.¡± ¡°Why?¡± I asked and glanced at the portable maintenance kit. ¡°I think the immersion chair needs to be adjusted.¡± Nurse Deloris said and tapped my elbow joint. ¡°You put extra strain on this elbow.¡± I thought back over what Amanda and I did, and remembered straining to lift that heavy security door. ¡°Wow, the feedback was even better than I thought.¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± ¡°I''ll make the adjustments myself after you leave.¡± I assured her. ¡°Jack, I... I might not...¡± ¡°I''m going to be too busy in the morning for another bath.¡± I said, and she looked at me with wide eyes. ¡°In fact, I think I''ll just go into lock-down starting tonight.¡± ¡°What?¡± Alyssa blinked her eyes at me. ¡°Jack...¡± ¡°I''ve never tested the security system of this apartment fully.¡± I said. ¡°Since I''ll be busy with work anyways, it''s the perfect time.¡± Alyssa shook her head. ¡°I can''t...¡± ¡°Alyssa, since I won''t be needing you to guard me tonight, why don''t you have a girl''s night out with Deloris?¡± I asked, and both women stared at me. ¡°I know I can''t really tell you what to do on your off time, since it was ordered by the colonel; but, if both of your boyfriends are too busy to spend time with you, why don''t you spend the time with each other?¡± The two women exchanged glances and then looked back at me. ¡°Jack...¡± Both women said at the same time. ¡°Now, now. No need to thank me.¡± I said and pat them on the shoulders. ¡°I won''t even dock your pay for goofing off, since it''s official orders and all that.¡± Both women made that little ''o'' of surprise with their mouths. ¡°Hey, don''t be so shocked that I''m thinking of someone other than myself.¡± I said and laughed. ¡°Look, why not make it a full night? Give Cali and Evilin a call. I''m sure they''d like to hang out with you for a while.¡± Neither woman moved, so I turned them around by their shoulders and eased them to the door. ¡°Have fun.¡± I said as my apartment door opened. Alyssa and Nurse Deloris walked out into the hallway and turned around to look at me. I leaned forward and kissed Alyssa on the lips. ¡°Wherever you end up, make sure you don''t completely wreck the place, okay?¡± ¡°I''ll keep it under advisement.¡± Alyssa said, and I laughed. ¡°That''s code for ''not a chance''.¡± I stepped back into the apartment, gave them a wave, and the door shut. I went over to the bed and cleaned up the mess from the bath and the maintenance check, put everything away, then sat down on the edge of the bed. There was a knock on the door, and I checked the security feed for the hallway. No one was there, so I walked over to the connecting door between my apartment and the apartment next door and opened it. ¡°Jack.¡± Noreen said, and my eyes widened at the state she was in. She looked horrible. Her hair was matted and she didn''t look like she had seen water in days. ¡°Noreen, what...¡± ¡°They''re gone, Jack.¡± Noreen said and her face crumpled. ¡°Sandra and Nathan.¡± I didn''t say anything as I opened my arms, and she fell into them and cried. L.I.F.E. Begins 062: Functions Disabled I held Noreen in my arms for several minutes and let her cry, then I pulled her into my apartment and shut the door. I took her to the bathroom and stripped her off completely. She didn''t protest or even speak a word as I lathered her up and scrubbed her all over. I only used my normal hand and not my synthetic one, so it took twice as long as it should have. Noreen sobbed quietly as I took my time and made sure she was completely clean, then I turned on the water to rinse her off. I used up 2 days of water by taking my time with that as well, and rubbed every bit of exposed skin clean of suds. Instead of using the blower and drying her off immediately, I grabbed two towels to put one around her head and one around her body, then dried her off the old fashioned way. I left her wrapped in the towel as I stripped off my partially soaked unitard and checked my synthetic parts to see that they hadn''t gotten wet. Noreen still didn''t say anything, even when I didn''t grab a new unitard for either of us. I took her out of the bathroom and over to my bed, pulled the blanket out of the way, then laid her down and climbed in with her. I covered us with the blanket and she turned to me and grabbed on as if I was the only thing in the world. Noreen was almost frantic in her movements as she tried her best to get as much of her body in contact with my body. I let her adjust herself as much as she wanted and I felt her relax as she finally found the most comfortable spot for her, then I wrapped my arms around her and held her tightly. Amanda. I thought to my AI, when what I really did was use my communication protocol. ¡°Yes, Jack?¡± Amanda appeared on my HUD and leaned over the bed. Have you been going over the security footage? When was the last time Sandra left the building? ¡°I''ve been going over it since Noreen said they were gone.¡± Amanda said. ¡°Even for an AI, it takes time.¡± Bring Dennis in on this. I thought. He''s an expert on these kinds of searches. ¡°But...¡± I''ll need him to track where they went after leaving the building, too. ¡°Oh, right.¡± Amanda said and turned to look away from me. ¡°Okay, he''s on board. All he needs is... I got him.¡± She said. ¡°Nathan, I mean. Two days ago, mid-afternoon.¡± Then try to find Sandra that morning. ¡°You know you can just ask Noreen.¡± Amanda said. No, not right now. I thought. She needs skin contact too much to talk about it. ¡°I kind of understand where she''s coming from.¡± Amanda said. ¡°I go kind of crazy when you disappear for days, too.¡± I smiled. What about Sandra? ¡°You were right. She left that morning.¡± Dennis... ¡°He''s using the transport footage and door logs to track them.¡± Amanda said. Sandra first. I thought. Amanda nodded. ¡°She left the building and used the Tube.¡± She said. ¡°She got out... not at work.¡± I sighed. Where? ¡°Industrial sector, Section Three.¡± Section Three? I thought and frowned. What''s in Section Three? ¡°Nothing but warehouses.¡± Amanda said. ¡°Dennis says she stopped beside one and waited.¡± She gasped and then sighed. ¡°Jack, you should see this.¡± Amanda pointed to my forehead and a video popped up on my HUD. I watched Sandra on a security camera feed as she stood beside the warehouse. The footage sped up until a small transport vehicle appeared and then it resumed. Someone opened the front door and a man stepped out, and Sandra handed him something. I couldn''t tell what it was, though. ¡°It''s a data packet used for identification.¡± Amanda said when she saw the confusion on my face. Why would she need non-palm identification for... oh, damn. I thought. ¡°Yes, it''s not hers. Stewart Masters, real name Greg Hosten, must have given it to her.¡± Amanda said. I held in my sigh as I watched the man wave to the transport and the side opened up, then four men hopped out, picked Sandra up against her protests, and took her into the transport. How could she be so stupid? ¡°Well, whatever information was on that thing, they either decided she was important enough to not let her go or they were upset that she had it at all.¡± I''d go with a mix of both. I thought. What about Nathan? ¡°Dennis says he didn''t follow her. He left the Tube car in...¡± Amanda stopped talking and turned away again. Amanda? ¡°Just a second, Jack.¡± Amanda said and started to fade away. ¡°I''ll be right back.¡± I though about telling her to wait and let me know what was happening, then decided she would tell me when she had more information. ¡°J-Jack...¡± Noreen mumbled. ¡°Shh. It''s okay.¡± I said and rubbed my real hand down her back. ¡°It''s not! Sandra... she... she left.¡± Noreen said. ¡°When Nathan found out, he... he...¡±If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°I know.¡± I said. ¡°You KNOW?¡± Noreen gasped and looked at me. ¡°Amanda has been searching for them since I opened the door and saw you.¡± I said, and her tears flowed down her cheeks. ¡°Why didn''t you call me after they left?¡± ¡°I tried!¡± Noreen exclaimed. ¡°Over and over! It wouldn''t go through!¡± ¡°My priority number?¡± I asked. ¡°Yes! It kept saying you were busy and I should try again later! I''ve been trying for 2 days, Jack! Two days!¡± ¡°Amanda?¡± ¡°The System (Military Grade) says it blocked all access to all troops once they were on the base.¡± Amanda said, slightly angry. ¡°They needed full isolation for the project, apparently. It''s also still in effect.¡± I was angry, too. I might have been able to do something if I had been here instead of on the base. I seethed silently until Noreen got my attention again. ¡°Did... did you find them yet?¡± Noreen asked as her tears continued. ¡°Amanda is still looking, as is Dennis the archive AI.¡± Noreen put her head back down onto my chest and the dampness was cool against my skin. ¡°P-please, find them.¡± ¡°I''ll try.¡± I said, and her grip on me tightened. We laid in bed for several minutes in silence and held each other while we waited. It seemed like a lot longer than it actually was, mainly because the both of us were anxious, and then Amanda reappeared on my HUD. ¡°Jack.¡± Amanda said, sadly. I took in a deep breath and sighed loudly, and Noreen tensed up. ¡°Wh-what is it?¡± Noreen asked. ¡°Amanda, use the vidwall.¡± I said. ¡°But, Jack...¡± ¡°Please.¡± I said, and she nodded and pointed at the vidwall and it turned on. It showed the sped up footage the archive AI Dennis had found earlier with Sandra being kidnapped, and Noreen cried. ¡°J-Jack!¡± Noreen''s fingers dug into my skin. ¡°Do something!¡± ¡°I am doing something.¡± I said. ¡°Amanda, any results after that?¡± ¡°Unfortunately, no.¡± Amanda said. ¡°They should have been easy to track, especially since nearly everything is covered by surveillance cameras...¡± ¡°They either spoofed the cameras or ducked into one of the buildings before the next camera could catch them.¡± I said. Amanda nodded. ¡°That''s exactly what happened.¡± She said and showed the transport go from the edge of one camera and then disappear instead of appearing on the next video. ¡°Dennis coerced... ah, I mean convinced... several security patrols to go over there and do the same run.¡± She said and showed the footage. ¡°There''s about a 1 second delay between the two fields of view. There''s a building there and a side street across from it, both of which don''t appear on any camera view.¡± ¡°Did they search...¡± ¡°Nothing was found. Since it''s an industrial area, traffic goes through there all the time. The transport was a generic one as well.¡± ¡°Call sign inquiry?¡± ¡°Negative.¡± Amanda said. ¡°Either it was blocked or wasn''t active.¡± ¡°So they have engineers with bypass experience.¡± I said, and Noreen looked at me. ¡°Vehicles won''t work if their transponders aren''t active. They need data from the transport AIs to operate and to stop accidents from happening.¡± ¡°Th-that''s... that''s crazy!¡± Noreen exclaimed. ¡°They could kill someone if they....NO!¡± She yelled and put her hands on my shoulders and shook me. ¡°NO! Tell me they didn''t kill my little girl, Jack! TELL ME!!¡± ¡°I can honestly say they didn''t kill her.¡± I said calmly. ¡°Why aren''t you more upset?¡± Noreen asked. ¡°Don''t you care about her anymore?¡± ¡°I''m absolutely livid, Noreen.¡± I said with steel in my voice, and she stopped trying to shake me. ¡°I love her, despite what happened.¡± ¡°Th-then what...¡± ¡°She''s been missing for two days. Whoever it was either knew she was coming, or already had plans in place to take her.¡± I said. ¡°I already told you I would try to find her; but, that''s not the most important thing right now.¡± ¡°Wh-what?¡± Noreen looked at me with wide eyes. ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°Amanda, I assume there was a reason you needed to leave for a few minutes.¡± I said. ¡°You might as well tell us.¡± ¡°I... Jack, I don''t think...¡± ¡°Amanda.¡± ¡°You really should watch...¡± ¡°Amanda!¡± ¡°All right. It concerns Nathan.¡± Amanda said and the vidwall changed to another set of footage. This one showed Nathan leaving the building and going on the Tube car system to a different location. Noreen and I watched as he entered a nondescript generic building. The footage changed to internal cameras and they followed him up the stairs and to an apartment. ¡°What is he doing?¡± Noreen asked. Nathan took out a piece of paper and knocked three times, then once. The door opened and several armed men reached out and grabbed him. Noreen screamed as he was dragged into the apartment and the door slammed shut. ¡°NO!¡± Noreen cried. ¡°Amanda?¡± ¡°This is... unofficial footage... and can''t be used in a court of law.¡± Amanda said and the view changed to an internal shot. We saw someone''s HUD on the edge and I knew this was a cybernetic recording through someone''s eyes who was actually there. * ¡°Did you bring the Points, old man?¡± One of the men asked. ¡°Y-yes.¡± Nathan said, slightly nervously. ¡°Where''s my daughter?¡± ¡°She''s safe.¡± Another man said. ¡°How do I know that?¡± Nathan asked. ¡°You don''t.¡± The first man said and laughed. ¡°Hand the Points over.¡± The second man said. ¡°Not until I see my daughter.¡± Nathan said, quite bravely and stupidly. ¡°This isn''t a negotiation, old man.¡± The first man said. ¡°When you contacted me, you said the deal was that you would guarantee my daughter''s safety if I got you the Points.¡± Nathan said. ¡°Yeah, and we''re delivering on the deal as we speak.¡± The second man said and held up a communication pad and chose the playback option. ¡°I''m fine, Daddy.¡± Sandra''s voice said, and you could tell that she had been crying. ¡°Don''t make a scene. Give them the Points and go home.¡± The man stopped the recording and put the communication pad away. ¡°You expect me to believe that?¡± Nathan asked. ¡°She was clearly crying! You made her say that!¡± ¡°Look, old man. We can do this the hard way, or the really hard way.¡± The first man said. ¡°What''s it going to be? Do you love your daughter enough to listen to her, or are you going to be stupid?¡± Nathan clamped his mouth shut and dug out a data chip. ¡°Thanks.¡± The first man said and shot Nathan in the head. * ¡°NOOOOOO!¡± Noreen screamed as the love of her life died in front of her eyes, then Nathan''s limp body fell to the floor. I covered Noreen''s eyes and held her close as she sobbed and cried hard. She shivered and shook as her body trembled. I glared at Amanda, who looked just as sad as I felt. ¡°The only reason we found this was because I recognized the Network protocol Hermes gave me that was tagged on the video file.¡± Amanda said. ¡°We found the autopsy records that were filed yesterday and traced it back through the System Security investigation, then dug up the associated footage.¡± ¡°You could have given me a warning what the video was!¡± I nearly yelled. ¡°Or you could have paused it before it happened!¡± ¡°I''m sorry, Jack. I tried to tell you to watch it first.¡± Amanda said. I reigned in my own anger at the utter waste of a good man and my dumb decision to show it on the vidwall, then put my thoughts back on track. ¡°Why haven''t they told us anything?¡± ¡°It was deemed classified because of this footage.¡± Amanda said, sadly. ¡°They don''t want anyone to know that a civilian died in the middle of an undercover operation.¡± ¡°Undercover...¡± I shook my head. ¡°Those stupid bastards.¡± ¡°It gets worse.¡± Amanda said. ¡°Once I knew what part of the Network code was tagged in the video files made with the protocol, I found this.¡± A clip played and showed someone assembling a portable laser cannon, and someone else said they were going to take the shipment if it was the last thing they did, because they needed those weapons back. The view moved as the person nodded and showed them loading a laser pistol. ¡°Son of a bitch.¡± I said and tried to ping Alyssa immediately, and nothing happened. I then tried Nurse Deloris, Cali, and Evilin with the same result. I didn''t try to contact Stephane, since I knew he was going to be blocked as well. ¡°Goddammit!¡± ¡°I can''t contact them, either.¡± Amanda said. ¡°Security footage has been blocked as well.¡± ¡°They covered all the bases, then.¡± I said, angrily. ¡°Amanda, lock us down. Full measures.¡± ¡°Right away.¡± Amanda said and I heard several sliding mechanisms and a few bangs of metal. I took a deep breath and let it out, then I tried my best to not let my anger cloud my judgment. After another few minutes of crying and sobbing, Noreen quieted down and her grip on me eased. ¡°Jack.¡± Noreen whispered softly. ¡°They took my Nathan.¡± ¡°I know.¡± I said and kept the anger out of my voice. ¡°Jack, I... I want them dead.¡± Noreen said as she lifted her head and looked at me with cold eyes. I recognized that look, because it matched my own. ¡°So do I, Noreen.¡± I said. ¡°So do I.¡± L.I.F.E. Begins 063: The New Normal? Noreen and I laid in bed for almost 2 hours before she felt comfortable enough to not cling tightly to me. It took another hour before I could move without her panicking, and I propped myself up on the pillows and sat up. Neither of us felt like sleeping with everything that was going on and I was pretty sure she hadn''t had anything to eat for a while. I slipped out of bed and went to the food dispenser, grabbed two red algenate discs for her and a brown disc for myself, then walked back to the bed. Noreen had watched me intently as I moved around the apartment, and she visibly relaxed when I climbed back into bed beside her. I gave her one of the red food discs and she ate it greedily. I didn''t try to tell her to slow down or to take her time because I could get her more. I started to eat my brown food disc normally and handed her the second red disc. Noreen sighed and propped herself up on the pillows to sit beside me, and we ate in silence. She didn''t try to cover up her nakedness as the blanket slid down, and I didn''t leer at her, either. I suspected she wasn''t embarrassed about it or that it just didn''t matter to her anymore. When we finished eating, she turned her head to look at me. ¡°Jack, what are you going to do?¡± ¡°Right now I''m going to cuddle you for another hour, then I''m going to make the proper mechanical adjustments to my immersion chamber.¡± I said and put my arm over her shoulders and pulled her in close. ¡°Jack.¡± Noreen frowned at me. ¡°That''s not what I meant.¡± ¡°I know what you meant.¡± I said. ¡°Unfortunately, there''s an aspect of this situation that you are unaware of.¡± ¡°Tell me.¡± Noreen said. ¡°Amanda? I assume you included electronic contact in the full lockdown protocols?¡± I asked. ¡°Yes.¡± Her sad voice said from the vidwall. ¡°I''m... very lonely right now.¡± ¡°I''m sorry about that.¡± I said, genuinely sorry. ¡°It''s necessary to stay out of contact for the next 4 hours.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Noreen asked. ¡°You see, my best friend showed up asking for my help, which he knew I couldn''t give him.¡± I said. ¡°So I... well...¡± ¡°Jack suggested a night out for Alyssa and the other women on his security squad.¡± Amanda said. ¡°Using a basic extrapolation algorithm, I''ve deduced that they have taken his advice and ''ran with it'', as the old saying goes.¡± ¡°What does that mean?¡± Noreen asked. ¡°If Amanda''s right, and there''s no reason she wouldn''t be, my old buddy Stephane has a few extra people on guard duty tonight.¡± ¡°But... if they''re there...¡± Noreen started to say. ¡°...who''s guarding me?¡± I asked, and she nodded. ¡°The apartment is. That''s why we''re in lockdown. I promised to do it so that no one could get in or out, no matter what happened.¡± ¡°Is that the other aspect I don''t know about?¡± Noreen asked. ¡°Yes. There''s a shipment of dangerous weapons being moved, and Stephane and his crew were assigned to guard it.¡± I said. ¡°It wasn''t until I saw what happened to Sandra and Nathan just now that I realized something.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°It''s all connected.¡± I sighed. ¡°The higher-ups have been pulling the strings right from the beginning. They must have known I was under surveillance, then used that knowledge to set things in motion.¡± ¡°But... why?¡± ¡°S.C.R.A.P.E., or the Society for the Creation, Restoration and Ascension to the Proper Earth.¡± I said. ¡°They''ve had moles in key roles for years. They''ve been using inside information to move their agenda along, and when they rediscovered how to make devastating weapons, the higher-ups knew this was the best time to flush them all out.¡± Noreen went quiet for several moments as she thought about it. ¡°They... they let all this happen?¡± ¡°They had to.¡± I said and looked at her. ¡°If my guess is right, only certain people knew the classified information necessary to pull this operation off, and they are using that to smoke out the people inside their own organization.¡± ¡°Oh, god.¡± Noreen said. ¡°Sandra and...¡± She caught her breath. ¡°...my poor Nathan.¡± ¡°Pawns in a game. A big game.¡± I kissed her cheek. ¡°A game they shouldn''t have been in.¡± ¡°But... but... what do we do?¡± ¡°I know what I would normally do; but, that was then and this is now.¡± ¡°What does that mean?¡± Noreen asked. ¡°It means that in the morning, I''ll be calling in a few favors.¡± I said. ¡°I don''t expect much to come of it at first, not with everything else that''s going on.¡± Noreen looked at me expectantly and I gave her a reassuring smile. ¡°I''ve always hated being manipulated into doing something I didn''t want to do.¡± I said. ¡°It''s boring and predictable, just like programming code. The thing is, my job is to fix programming code.¡± ¡°You... are you going to fix...¡± Noreen shook her head. ¡°I''m losing your analogy.¡± I chuckled. ¡°To make a long story short, I''m going to make things unpredictable.¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°Even though we''re cut off electronically, everything is still being recorded.¡± I said. ¡°Anything sensitive will be reported when the lockdown is lifted in the morning.¡± Noreen gasped. ¡°Jack! You told me it was the higher-ups that did this!¡± I laughed. ¡°They already know that, so that''s not the sensitive information.¡± ¡°Then what...¡± ¡°I figured out that it''s all connected. Sandra being used. My vacation house being destroyed. My reactivation. My ''accident''. Almost everything has been going according to their plans.¡± ¡°Wait, almost everything?¡± Noreen asked. ¡°They made one critical mistake.¡± I said and gave her a predatory smile. ¡°I wasn''t supposed to live.¡± ¡°Wh-what?¡± ¡°I didn''t think much of it at the time, mainly because I was too busy trying to adjust being less than I was; but, after a while I started to think that it was odd that I was hit by the weapon at all.¡± I said. ¡°When I was brought in and asked about what happened, I realized that it was a short range weapon. It would have been well within the established perimeter of the skirmish in order to reach the improvised hospital where I was.¡± ¡°But... that would mean...¡± ¡°I thought they were targeting the wounded at first, but that didn''t make sense.¡± I said. ¡°Why try to take out soldiers already taken out? Well, you don''t.¡± ¡°They were aiming for you right from the start.¡± Noreen said. ¡°Yes.¡± I said. ¡°If I had died, Sandra''s other boyfriend would have had his assignment cancelled and would have gone back to wherever he had come from.¡± ¡°They would have traced him back there.¡± Noreen said, and I nodded. ¡°When I lived instead, well...¡± ¡°Their plan had to change as well.¡± Noreen said. ¡°Then...¡± ¡°He tried to kill me at the hospital.¡± I said. ¡°He became a liability and was killed to cover up his involvement with Sandra and his surveillance of me.¡± ¡°That meant...¡± ¡°It made me into a higher priority target, which fit right into the plans of the higher-ups. With me as the focus, they could do pretty much everything they wanted behind the scenes to make everything come out the way they wanted.¡± I said. ¡°When I introduced the new circuit board and showed how effective it was, though...¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°They didn''t need you as bait anymore and focused on removing the moles instead.¡± Noreen said. ¡°But... why did... why Sandra?¡± Noreen asked. ¡°Insurance, I think.¡± I said. ¡°Even older data on the System is still invaluable when making plans to overthrow everything.¡± ¡°Sandra gave it to them.¡± Noreen said, sadly. ¡°I doubt she knew what it really was.¡± I said, and Noreen looked at me with wide eyes. ¡°He probably told her it was messages to his family, and to deliver it if anything ever happened to him.¡± ¡°N-no.¡± Noreen said as tears formed in her eyes. ¡°How can she...¡± She wiped at her face. ¡°She''s so stupid!¡± ¡°I''m sorry, Noreen.¡± I sighed. ¡°If I had been-¡± ¡°She got herself kidnapped!¡± Noreen cried and cut me off. ¡°It''s her fault, and... her father... he...¡± She stopped talking and took several deep breaths as her tears flowed down her cheeks. I moved my hand from her shoulder and rubbed her back in a circular motion. ¡°He loved her so much that he risked his own life, just for the chance to keep her safe.¡± I said. ¡°He knew there were no guarantees when he went there.¡± Noreen nodded and wiped her tears away. ¡°He is... he was... a good man.¡± She took a few more breaths and calmed down. ¡°Now what do we do?¡± ¡°I told you. I''m going to cuddle you for a while, then I''m going to fix my immersion chamber.¡± ¡°Jack...¡± ¡°I can''t do anything until morning anyway.¡± I said. ¡°By then, hopefully, the situation with the shipment will be resolved.¡± Noreen sighed and leaned into me, and I put my arm back around her. True to my word, I stayed there with her for an hour, then I got out of bed and slipped on a work unitard. Noreen allowed me to go to the immersion chamber to adjust it, as long as I left the door locked in the open position so she could see me the entire time. I had no problem with that, so I worked for a couple of hours to fix the over-strain that the pressure systems were applying to my synthetic limbs. My AI Amanda helped me change the program settings to compensate for the physical changes I made to the chair, mainly because I normally needed to be inside the immersion chamber to make those programming changes. It took a little longer doing it that way; but, it worked and I let the diagnostics run on a continuous loop to make sure we had caught everything. I did a dry run of the startup activation without getting in the chair myself, and all the settings checked out. I deactivated everything and left the immersion chamber, and Noreen gave me a little smile as I stripped off the unitard and tossed it into the recycler. She moved over on the bed and I climbed onto it with her, then we laid down and cuddled each other. After a few moments, she burst out crying and punched my chest several times, then she sobbed uncontrollably for nearly twenty minutes. I did nothing except whisper sweet nothings to her and held her. It was almost an hour later when she calmed down enough to speak. ¡°Th-thank you.¡± Noreen whispered. ¡°I remember when I was inconsolable and a very caring woman held me and let me cry all over her.¡± I said, and she lifted her head to look at me. ¡°I can''t express how terribly sorry I am that I can return the favor.¡± Noreen opened her mouth to say something, then she leaned in close and kissed me on the lips. ¡°I''m sorry, too.¡± She said instead of what she was going to say, then put her head back down on my chest and sighed. ¡°Very, very sorry.¡± I stroked the top of her head and pet her hair for several minutes, then I ran my hand down the side of her face and across her shoulder, then down the middle of her back and rested my arm there and splayed my hand out to touch as much of her lower back as I could. She shivered for a moment and sighed again, then I felt her slightly tense muscles relax. I didn''t realize I had drifted off to sleep until I jerked awake the next morning. Luckily, my sudden movement hadn''t woken up Noreen, and I kept my breathing nice and even. Amanda? I thought, using my communication protocol. ¡°Morning.¡± Amanda said as she appeared on my HUD. You can lift the lockdown restrictions on communication as long as you keep the apartment secured. ¡°Thanks, Jack!¡± Amanda said and her demeanor changed from a beaten puppy to a happy and excited puppy... for about 2 seconds, then she gasped. ¡°J-Jack...¡± Show me. I thought to her and she pointed to my forehead, then a video popped up on my HUD and the news channel started playing. * ¡°This just in. A major accident happened inside the Tube Car Transportation System last night.¡± The female news anchor said. ¡°At the moment, it''s unclear how many vehicles were actually involved. Let''s go right to the site to our reporter on the scene.¡± She said and the video split in two. ¡°Thanks, June.¡± The man said. ¡°Due to security reasons, we can''t show you detailed footage of the site; but, we can show you some of the peripheral damage that the explosion caused.¡± The camera shifted from his face to show the wall of the Tube. There were laser pock marks and gouges on the surface. The camera moved along the wall and showed bits of shrapnel, what looked like a laser cannon blast, and then part of a large circular hole. ¡°This is as far as we''ve been allowed to go.¡± The man said as the camera shifted back to him. ¡°There''s still no word if anyone has been hurt or killed, and System Security has refused to release any kind of casualty report.¡± He shook his head. ¡°If the damage I''ve seen with my own eyes hasn''t killed at least a few people, then I''m just a Port kid playing dress-up.¡± The female news anchor chuckled. ¡°You should save the color commentary for the follow-up interview this afternoon.¡± The man smiled. ¡°Don''t worry. I''ve got more colorful phrases saved up for that.¡± ¡°I''m sure the System Security agents will enjoy them.¡± The female news anchor said. ¡°Thanks, Kevin.¡± ¡°You''re welcome, June.¡± Kevin said and his video ended. ¡°That was our top reporter live at the scene.¡± June said. ¡°We will report any new details as they become available.¡± She took a breath as she paused, then she smiled. ¡°In other news, the new brown algenate discs have become so popular that...¡± * I closed the video and held in my sigh. Goddammit! ¡°We''re still locked out from contacting them.¡± Amanda said. I know. I thought. If we could talk to Alyssa and the others, it would make things too easy. ¡°What are we going to do?¡± We get to work. I thought to her and brought up my ''you can only call once'' list on my HUD. It had taken me years to make that list, and I never thought I would ever use it... or have a need to. It took Amanda and I almost twenty minutes to sort through the list and discuss who we could contact safely, and who was absolutely necessary. Noreen woke up during that time and saw that I was both awake and busy. She didn''t pester me about what was going on, and I didn''t say anything to her until Amanda and I were done with the task. ¡°Jack, if we do this...¡± Amanda said from the vidwall, now that we didn''t have to be quiet. ¡°We''ll burn that bridge after we cross it.¡± I said and sent the abbreviated list to the vidwall so that Noreen could see it. ¡°Who are these people Jack?¡± Noreen asked as she read the names. ¡°If they''re available, they are the ones that we need to do what needs to be done.¡± I said. ¡°Before I call them, I need to go into my immersion chamber for a little while.¡± ¡°But... if you...¡± Noreen trembled for a few moments, then she hugged herself. ¡°No, I... I can do it.¡± ¡°I''ll only be ten or fifteen minutes.¡± I said and hugged her tightly. ¡°I just need to create a quick design for Amanda to send into production.¡± Noreen relaxed in my arms and nodded. I gave her a quick kiss and slid out of bed and put on a work unitard. I gave her a blue algenate disc for breakfast and ate a brown one myself, then entered my immersion chamber. The virtual reality workspace formed around me and Amanda appeared by my side. I brought up the micro-drone design specs and enlarged it to the right size, then started altering the plans to fit my original Phase Two ideas, except that I used current technology instead. ¡°Are you really going to do this?¡± Amanda asked. ¡°I have no choice.¡± I said. ¡°The factory can produce the main chassis and the propulsion quite easily, but the weapon components are restricted.¡± Amanda said and helped me change the power requirements and checked my math for handling potential overloads. ¡°That''s why I put Margaret at the top of the list.¡± I said. ¡°Jack, you know what happened the last time...¡± ¡°Yes, and that''s why she said I could contact her.¡± I responded and finished the design upgrade. ¡°Can you add the components and run the simulation, please?¡± ¡°Already done.¡± Amanda said and showed me the results. ¡°Damn, the temperature runs too high for the capacitors to discharge more than twice.¡± ¡°Why don''t you use the liquid cooling system from the server?¡± Amanda suggested. ¡°Ha!¡± I said and took her into a hug, then gave her a big kiss. It left her both speechless and breathless while I added the proper modifications, then I had to go back and change the power requirements and added in a third charging capacitor to compensate. I asked her to run the simulation again and she gave me the results. ¡°There''s still a twenty-two percent failure rate in the field for an untested design.¡± Amanda warned me, and I nodded. ¡°Adjust the production line to add thirty percent to the building queue, then send it off.¡± I said and started the exit sequence for the immersion chamber. I hopped off the chair before it finished unfolding and I came out of the immersion chamber to find Noreen on the floor right in front of the door. She was still naked and curled up into a ball. ¡°I''m here.¡± I said and knelt to put a hand on her shoulder. ¡°J-Jack!¡± Noreen nearly yelled as she quickly turned and grabbed onto me like a vise. ¡°I m-missed y-you.¡± She mumbled into my ear as her whole body trembled. Her anxiety over her perceived abandonment was very apparent. I was only gone for 8 minutes. I thought as I wrapped my arms around her and picked her up. ¡°I worked as fast as I could.¡± ¡°T-thank y-you.¡± Noreen shivered. I tucked her back into bed and stripped off my work unitard, then climbed into bed with her again. ¡°I need to cover you up while I make a few calls.¡± I said as I sat up and pulled the blanket around us. Noreen nodded and ducked down to cuddle into my abdomen and wrapped her arms around me. I tucked the blanket down over her head and made sure the lumpy blanket didn''t look like I had someone stashed under it. I chose the first name on the list of contacts and used my secured internal communication protocol to call Margaret, my old munitions specialist. Amanda appeared on my HUD and touched my face, then a communication line trace appeared. It showed the call as it went through five different routing stations before it reached the final destination. ¡°Who the hell is calling me on...¡± The bright red haired woman on the vidwall stopped talking when she saw me. ¡°Goddamn you, Jack.¡± She said and looked me up and down. ¡°You look like shit! What happened?¡± ¡°I assume that...¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Margaret said. ¡°I''m not stupid.¡± I smiled at her. ¡°I''ll tell you all about it if I can call in the favor you owe me.¡± Margaret clamped her mouth shut as her face changed from pleasantly surprised to show deep-seated anger, then she made a fist and closed her eyes. After a few moments, she took a deep breath and her face went back to the pleasant facade she normally wore and she opened her eyes. ¡°I knew this wasn''t going to be a social call.¡± ¡°Would I bother you if it wasn''t important?¡± I asked, and she shook her head. ¡°You never did anything until it was necessary.¡± Margaret said. ¡°So, do you want to hear about this or not?¡± Margaret sighed. ¡°All right. You might as well tell me, since this com channel is burned anyways.¡± She said. ¡°You can also tell me what you need from me and then you can get the hell out of my life forever.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± I said and nodded. ¡°To make a long story short...¡± L.I.F.E. Begins 064: Epilogue ¡°Jack was pretty smart to arrange this get together on the fly.¡± Cali said as she and the other three women stopped walking near a practically deserted Tube car station. ¡°I don''t know about smart. It is a good idea, though.¡± Evilin said. ¡°Even if we don''t have our normal equipment load out.¡± ¡°Don''t worry, I''ve got you covered.¡± Nurse Deloris said and opened up the dufflebag her boyfriend Stephane had sent over after she had messaged him about Jack''s idea for their ''girl''s night out''. She handed a very surprised Cali a micro-drone package and a laser pistol, gave Evilin her preferred laser rifle, and Alyssa took a pair of laser pistols and 2 close combat weapons. ¡°How did you manage this?¡± Alyssa asked as she and her friends pulled on combat harnesses and loaded up on equipment. ¡°Stephane has only worked for System Security for a short time; but, he''s proven himself very valuable.¡± Nurse Deloris said and put on her own harness and took several grenades and a combination laser rifle and canister launcher. ¡°He could only get smoke for the launcher, though.¡± ¡°Damn.¡± Evilin said and put two smoke canisters into each of her retractable shoulder mounts. ¡°A few frag rounds would have been nice.¡± ¡°I know.¡± Nurse Deloris said. ¡°I might have been able to snag some from my own contacts if we had a bit more time for prep.¡± ¡°Let''s not worry about that now.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Where are we meeting up with his crew?¡± ¡°Stephane said he''d send a maintenance Tube car for us when they were ready.¡± Nurse Deloris said. They didn''t have to wait long before the maintenance car showed up. The four of them climbed in and the car dropped into the Tube system and accelerated quickly. It''s high priority status zoomed them through the light traffic and they arrived at their destination fairly quickly. ¡°Oh, wow.¡± Cali said as the car slid off the main Tube system and into the private loading area for sensitive cargo. ¡°They have an ER-7 Rail tank!¡± Evilin exclaimed. ¡°Actually, it''s the ER-7B.¡± Alyssa said and shared the information with her temporary squad. ¡°It has the anti-boarding load-out with an emphasis on personnel protection.¡± ¡°Oh, crap.¡± Evilin said. ¡°Non-lethal rounds on any mission sucks so bad!¡± ¡°We''ll have to make due.¡± Alyssa said and they piled out of the Tube car and walked over to the shipment convoy. ¡°Ladies.¡± Stephane said in his best seductive voice to greet them. ¡°I''m so glad you came.¡± ¡°Damn, Deloris!¡± Evilin said and slapped her shoulder playfully. ¡°You lucky bitch!¡± Nurse Deloris rolled her eyes as Cali laughed and Alyssa smiled. ¡°I''d like you all to get inside so that no one seeing us leave will suspect that I have a few extra passengers along.¡± Stephane said. ¡°We understand.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Cali, Phalanx position and get ready to deploy on a moment''s notice. Evilin, you''re on point. Keep an eye out for anything advancing on the tracks towards us.¡± ¡°On it!'' Evilin said and walked over to the lead car of the convoy that was right behind the rail tank. ¡°I hope I get to shoot something!¡± ¡°I don''t, but I know you will.¡± Stephane said. ¡°Be ready.¡± ¡°I''m always ready.¡± Evilin said and climbed inside the car. Cali walked to the middle car and went inside, then they all heard drills boring through metal. ¡°What are they doing?¡± Stephane asked. ¡°Clearing lines of attack.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°I''ll take the rear car and monitor the sensor packages along the way and guard the back.¡± She looked at Nurse Deloris. ¡°I suggest you stick with Cali. She can fight, but she''s not the type that would choose that as a first option.¡± ¡°Gotcha.¡± Nurse Deloris said, and watched as Alyssa went to the rear car, then turned to her boyfriend. ¡°I didn''t think we would ever be going into battle together.¡± ¡°I never wanted us to.¡± Stephane said and kissed her. ¡°Be safe, Mon Cherie.¡± ¡°You, too.¡± Nurse Deloris said and climbed into the center car and shut the door, then Stephane went to the gathering area for his crew. ¡°We''re all packed up and secured.¡± Stephane said. ¡°All crates and equipment are aboard.¡± ¡°It''s about time.¡± The supervisor of the convoy said and checked the time on his HUD. ¡°We''re really close to missing our departure window.¡± ¡°I wouldn''t mind that at all.¡± A woman said. ¡°Damn them for sticking us with a goddamn graveyard shipment.¡± ¡°Ha ha!¡± A male cyborg near her laughed. ¡°Are you afraid of the dark, little girl? Mwa-ha-ha!¡± ¡°You really need to work on your evil laugh.¡± She responded. ¡°That was pathetic, even for you.¡± Several of the crew laughed at that. ¡°Enough chatter.¡± The supervisor said. ¡°Get into your assigned positions and keep a sharp eye out for anything suspicious.¡± ¡°I see something suspicious!¡± One of the guys said and pointed to the ER-7B tank. ¡°We have a crappy tank!¡± ¡°It''s not too bad to drive.¡± The guy next to him said. ¡°That''s the problem. It has to be driven. It should be a C or even a B rated tank. We didn''t even get a companion AI for this mission.¡± ¡°There weren''t any Bs or Cs anywhere near close enough to add to the convoy this time.¡± The supervisor said. ¡°Somebody pass him a shovel.¡± A guy behind him said. ¡°The pile of shit he''s trying to move is getting bigger.¡± ¡°I said enough chatter.¡± The supervisor said. ¡°Get going!¡± The driver of the tank took two of Stephane''s crew with him for support, while the rest of the 15 person crew dispersed over the three cars of the convoy and climbed on top to the safety rails and their assigned positions. The supervisor went to the car Stephane was on and glared at him. ¡°Make sure this cargo gets to where it''s supposed to go, or it''s your ass!¡± ¡°You''re not blaming this mess on me, sir.¡± Stephane said and tapped his temple. ¡°All reports and complaints against doing this have been filed with the System.¡± He said. ¡°I bare no responsibility for this whatsoever, since it goes against every recommendation and protest I''ve given.¡± The supervisor scowled at him. ¡°It''s still your responsibility to-¡± ¡°I know what my responsibilities are, sir.¡± Stephane said. ¡°Now, if you''ll kindly take your cowardly hide back to the safe zone, the real System Security personnel will handle this to the best of our ability.¡± The supervisor made his hands into fists. ¡°I''ll have you written up for insubordination by the time you get back.¡± ¡°I''ve already filed it and taken the dock in pay, sir.¡± Stephane said and saw the surprise on the supervisor''s face. ¡°Unlike you, I don''t shirk my duties or try to avoid the consequences of my decisions.¡± The supervisior didn''t say anything in response. He glared at Stephane for another moment, then walked away angrily. ¡°Damn, sir!¡± The woman behind Stephane that was assigned the right flank position said. ¡°How big are your massive balls?¡± ¡°They''re big enough for someone to choke on.¡± The guy assigned to the left flank said with a huge smile. Stephane chuckled and hit the command microphone on his lapel. ¡°We''re moving out, so secure stations.¡± Acknowledgements came back from everyone and Stephane moved back towards the front of the car. The woman''s hand reached out and touched his arm. ¡°Sir, I...¡± ¡°What is it, lieutenant?¡± ¡°I have an unsigned form.¡± She whispered and dug it out of a pouch on her combat harness. Stephane took the form and looked at it. He folded it up properly and handed it back without letting the guy on the left flank see what was happening. ¡°If we get through this, come see me in my office.¡± Stephane said. She nodded and watched him go to his position at the front of the car and secured his safety line. ¡°Just once I''d like a woman to ask me to sign that form.¡± The guy on the left flank said, and she looked at him with wide eyes. ¡°What? You think I can''t hear you because you whispered?¡± He asked and smiled. ¡°Ear mods, remember?¡± She opened her mouth to say something, then she laughed. The convoy moved out less than a minute later and started its arduous journey through it''s very normal and regular route. Normally, that wasn''t a problem. It was their current cargo that was the problem. They travelled for a long time, even in the high priority lane, and when they were about halfway to their designated drop off point, they found out how big of a problem the cargo actually was. The ER-7B tank was far enough out in front of the convoy to scout, which meant that it was the first casualty as it ran over the booby-trap and exploded. Since the tank had been travelling at two hundred miles per hour, the triggering mechanism was quite a distance from the actual explosive. It had been timed perfectly, however. The tank, its driver, and two of Stephane''s crew disintegrated in a ball of fire and shrapnel. ¡°Oh, shit!¡± Evilin said as she saw the destruction through her laser rifle sight. ¡°ZULU!¡± She said over the general channel to warn everyone of the attack. Unfortunately, even with the warning, the convoy was travelling at two hundred miles per hour and no one could react before they hit the debris of the tank and the torn up track. The first car of the convoy derailed immediately and started to dig into the dirt as it''s weight carried it forward. The car started to slow down from the friction and Stephane and the four security guards on his car were thrown forward and were saved by their safety lines. But, only for a moment. The cargo car behind them slammed into the car they were on and drove it forward and deeper into the dirt. Stephane and his four crew members were flipped back up and over on their safety lines and were slammed into the safety rails their lines were attached to. The crewman at the back died because he had missed the rail and slammed into the cargo car that was currently ramming them. The crew on that car was slammed forward like Stephane and his crew had been, then the third and last car hit the second car at full speed. The impact turned all three of the cargo cars sideways and dug into the dirt, then they started to flip over. All of the crew on the tops that were secured by safety lines were flung around like yo-yos on strings as the cars landed on their sides. The sound of tearing and rending metal was loud in the huge tunnel and nearly all of it was now blocked off from the cargo cars. The Transport AI immediately shut down the electricity to that section of the Tube and diverted all traffic around the accident. It sent fire suppression drones to handle the several fires and surveying drones to assess the damage. ¡°Jesus Christ.¡± Alyssa said as she rubbed her head and sat up. She had been tossed around a bit, but was otherwise okay. ¡°Report!¡± She said on the squad channel. ¡°By the numbers!¡± ¡°Ugh.¡± Cali said. ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°Three One is trapped in the first car.¡± Evilin said. ¡°My leg is... well, it''s pretty much crushed.¡± ¡°I''m okay.¡± Nurse Deloris said. ¡°Cali broke my fall.¡± ¡°This is no time for jokes.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°It wasn''t a joke. She literally caught me and took the impact for the both of us.¡± Nurse Deloris said. ¡°She''s got a slight concussion. Other than that, she''s okay.¡± ¡°Okay, then.¡± Alyssa said and stood up. ¡°Prepare for an attack.¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± Nurse Deloris said. ¡°Why would... oh, no! Stephane and the others!¡± ¡°Stay inside, Deloris!¡± Alyssa ordered, but there was no response. ¡°Goddammit.¡± She said and went to the top hatch, which was now on the wall, and tried to open it. It jammed a little, which meant the whole cargo car was twisted slightly. She braced her arm and turned the mechanism the rest of the way, then kicked open the hatch. She peered out and was grateful that the top of the cargo car was facing the wall of the Tube. Alyssa peered out when she heard metal banging, and she saw two of the System Security personnel had been between the end of the cargo car she was in and the wall. She looked down and saw the lower body of a man and was thankful that it wasn''t the top part. She looked up and saw a man with a broken neck and a blank expression, then she moved to the crumpled end of the car and found an unconscious man on the end of his safety line.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Alyssa unhooked him and carefully laid him down on the ground beside the car and out of sight, and discovered one of his arms was broken. It was cybernetic, so she bent it back into position and checked his breathing. At least he''s alive. Alyssa thought and looked around the damaged end of the cargo car. The second car was about forty feet away and was in much worse shape than the one she just left. Both ends were crumpled and she could see three bodies hanging from their safety lines. She tried to access the security sensors for the area and nothing appeared on her HUD. She shook her head and crouched down, then quickly crept over to the second car and waited for the banging to pause before she lightly knocked on the hatch. ¡°It''s stuck!¡± Nurse Deloris nearly yelled. Alyssa looked at the hatch and it was twisted in two directions. She took out a laser pistol and popped open the side casing, took a thin piece of metal out of one of her pouches and jammed it into the beam splitter, then bent the metal to the side to make it fit and snapped the casing back onto the pistol. ¡°Stand back.¡± Alyssa said and stepped back herself and took aim at the hinge of the hatch and pulled the trigger. Instead of the single shot the pistol normally discharged, a steady beam came out and she carefully cut along the back of the hinge. She grabbed the handle of the hatch and pulled, and it opened only slightly. She sighed and took aim at the edge of the hatch where it was jammed in two spots and cut there as well. The hatch popped off and she caught it before it clunked to the ground. ¡°They really can do that with a pistol?¡± Nurse Deloris asked as she crawled out the now opened hatch. ¡°Yes, but they only have two uses before the metal shiv melts and makes it useless.¡± Alyssa said and held up the gun. The barrel wasn''t warped at all; but, thick smoke leaked out through the casing. She popped the charge cartridge out and looked at the readout. ¡°Almost drained.¡± She said and slipped the cartridge into a spare pouch on her harness and tossed the gun away. ¡°What do we do now?¡± Cali asked and climbed out, then braced herself against the car when she couldn''t quite stand up straight. ¡°I need to get Evilin, then we need to gather up whoever is still alive.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Stephane!¡± Nurse Deloris exclaimed and ran towards the first car that was over one hundred feet away from where they stood. ¡°Dammit.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Cali, get up on top of this thing and deploy your drones. We''re going to need them soon.¡± She said, then ran after Nurse Deloris. Cali carefully climbed up onto the toppled cargo car and sat down. ¡°I don''t feel so good.¡± She said and activated her micro-drone package. They flew out of the container and spread out to give her as much cover as they could. She instructed them to go out to the extent of their range and to wait for further instructions. ¡°Stephane!¡± Nurse Deloris said as she found her boyfriend hanging by his safety line. ¡°D-Deloris?¡± Stephane mumbled and opened his eyes. ¡°Yes, I''m here!¡± ¡°N-no. Get away.¡± Stephane said. ¡°They... they are coming.¡± ¡°Let them come.¡± A woman''s voice said angrily. ¡°I''m going to kill them for doing this to us.¡± Alyssa arrived and climbed up to her. ¡°Anything broken?¡± The woman grabbed on as Alyssa unhooked her. ¡°The chassis around my chest is dented.¡± She said. ¡°I hit the safety rail when the car flipped over.¡± ¡°Can you still move?¡± Alyssa asked and climbed back down. ¡°I''ve probably got some organ damage, since one of my artificial lungs is crushed.¡± She said and pat her right side. ¡°My heart and other lung are both at 100% capacity.¡± ¡°That''s the official story for the record.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°What are they really at?¡± ¡°My heart''s down to 85% and the second lung is at 70%.¡± ¡°I should have had everyone inside.¡± Stephane berated himself. Nurse Deloris had successfully freed him from the safety line and brought him to the ground, then checked him over and started patching him up with bandages. ¡°He has major bruising on his chest, arms and thighs. He also has more contusions than I can count.¡± ¡°I took a load of shrapnel from the tank explosion.¡± Stephane said. ¡°You''re only alive because your armor caught most of it.¡± Nurse Deloris said and leaned down to give him a kiss. ¡°There''s no time for that.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°We need to...¡± ¡°Multiple bogeys coming up from the rear.¡± Cali said over the squad channel. ¡°I count five tube cars and one cargo car.¡± ¡°How much time, Ranger?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°Five to seven minutes. They''re going pretty slow.¡± ¡°They definitely don''t have to rush after all this.¡± Stephane said and tried to sit up. ¡°Don''t move.¡± Nurse Deloris said. ¡°You said that I''m only bruised.¡± ¡°...and cut up! You''re bleeding in spots that I haven''t found yet!¡± Nurse Deloris said. ¡°There''s no time to worry about that.¡± Stephane said and sat up, then grunted and stood up. ¡°Is anyone else alive?¡± ¡°One man that I tucked behind the third car. He''s unconscious.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°So, it''s just us then.¡± Stephane said. ¡°Just a minute.¡± Alyssa said and entered the top hatch of the first car and disappeared from sight. They heard the sound of laser fire, then Alyssa was back and had Evilin on her arm. She was missing her leg from mid-thigh down. ¡°All right, people.¡± Alyssa said. ¡°This is the perfect reverse ambush situation.¡± ¡°I was thinking the same thing.¡± Stephane said. ¡°Who should...¡± ¡°Evilin''s going to need a hand getting up on the cargo car and I need my laser pistol replaced.¡± ¡°Scavenge what you can from the bodies and get ready.¡± Stephane said. ¡°Sir! You can''t just...¡± The woman started to speak. ¡°There will be lots of time for recriminations later, lieutenant.¡± Stephane said. ¡°Get going. Set up a dummy firing line in front of the second car.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± The woman said. ¡°Should... I use...¡± ¡°The spare uniforms will be fine.¡± Stephane said and he saw the relief on her face. ¡°Now move it.¡± They managed to get Evilin up onto the car and she found a great position to shoot from, and then they gathered up everything they could and set things up to provide a fantastic firefight to the enemy that was coming for them. ¡°Ranger, get back to the third car and retrieve that man.¡± Alyssa said and took up her position to do the most damage. ¡°On it.¡± Cali said and quickly ran over to the guy, picked him up unceremoniously and ran all the way over to their chosen retreat point. ¡°When are they... never mind.¡± Alyssa said as she saw the bright lights of the Tube Cars enter the darkened section where the crash was. ¡°They''re coming. Evilin, let them have it when they''re within range.¡± ¡°Sure thing.¡± Evilin said. ¡°Who would have thought I''d be wishing for that stupid anti-personnel tank.¡± Alyssa laughed and then Evilin took a shot. One of the lights on the approaching Tube cars went out, then another and another. By the time the cars came to an emergency stop, Evilin had removed all the external lights and even picked off some of the startled assailants. ¡°Five seconds.¡± Evilin said, telling them how long it would take her to reload. ¡°Okay people. Get ready.¡± Stephane said. ¡°I''m sure they...¡± Several laser shots rang off the cargo cars as the enemy opened fire randomly. ¡°That''s it, assholes.¡± Evilin said. ¡°Show me where you are with your laser fire.¡± She started to pick them off one by one, and then the laser fire from them stopped. ¡°Cali, is the package ready?¡± Stephane asked. ¡°Ready and waiting.¡± ¡°Set it off and give Evilin more targets to shoot at, please.¡± ¡°With pleasure.¡± Cali said and used a micro-drone to remotely fire the smoke launcher they had set up in the dummy firing line. The canister arced through the air and bounced once, then twice, and exploded. They had replaced the smoke canister with laser chargers, and when the detonator went off, instead of spreading smoke, laser beams burst from the container in random directions. Screams rang out and Evilin used the brief illumination to pick off several more enemies before the glow faded. ¡°Cali? Give us a countdown for their approach.¡± ¡°Another minute... forty-five seconds... thirty seconds... fifteen... five...¡± ¡°Open fire!¡± Stephane yelled and the dummy firing line in front of the second cargo car opened fire. It worked spectacularly. Enemies dropped from having so many laser pistols and rifles firing at them. The light from the shots also gave Evilin more light to shoot with, so she used it to pick off even more enemies. ¡°They''ve got a laser cannon!¡± Cali exclaimed. ¡°No!¡± Stephane said. ¡°Change of plans! Alyssa, get back here!¡± ¡°I can''t. I''m already in position.¡± Alyssa whispered over the private channel. ¡°If I move now, they''ll cut me down in seconds.¡± ¡°Goddammit!¡± Stephane said. Jack''s never going to forgive me if she dies. ¡°I can''t see the trigger man.¡± Evilin said as the laser cannon powered up. ¡°I don''t know where they''re aiming, but I can guess.¡± ¡°Brace for impact.¡± Stephane said and ducked back behind the third car. The laser cannon fired and hit the dummy firing line dead center and turned to the left. It cut through the hastily-made barricade and destroyed most of the laser weapons on that side. Their chargers exploded and took out the remaining weapons that the cannon hadn''t hit directly. ¡°Five seconds for the cannon recharge.¡± Evilin said. ¡°I still can''t see anything.¡± The laser cannon opened fire again and burned through the right side of the dummy firing line and destroyed the rest of the remotely fired weapons. Stephane tossed the remote to the ground and tried to think about what to do next. Suddenly there was a bright red flare fired up into the air and stuck into the ceiling of the Tube, and it lit up a circle over 100 feet wide. All of the enemies looked up at it, and then both Alyssa and Evilin opened fire. ¡°It''s too soon for that!¡± Stephane said and ran to the end of the cargo car and took aim as well, then started to cut the enemy down. ¡°We''re being overwhelmed.¡± Alyssa whispered. ¡°There''s another laser cannon and a battering ram.¡± ¡°Dammit! Pull back!¡± Stephane said, then he saw Alyssa stand up in the middle of a group of enemies with her close combat weapons at the ready. Two very sharp swords slashed out at the men around her and she cut their legs and arms quicker than they could react to being cut, and she moved on. Evilin covered her as she cut a swath through the men towards the laser cannons. A laser blast hit her side and she jumped away from the impact. ¡°HA! I got her!¡± A man exclaimed and ran over to her. She shoved one of her swords up through his neck and turned it, then hopped up and used him as a shield. She grabbed his weapon and opened fire on the closest laser cannon. ¡°Someone stop her!¡± A man''s voice rang out. ¡°You stop her! She''s a demon!¡± Someone said and then there was running feet. ¡°Traitor!¡± Another man''s voice said and he shot the fleeing man. Evilin shot him in turn and Alyssa succeeded in damaging both of the laser cannon''s control systems. She shoved the lifeless man''s body towards his compatriots and stood there defiantly. She was covered in blood and was bathed in red light from the flare. Alyssa took several deep breaths, and then the flare started to fade. She gave them a huge grin and crouched to charge them, then everything went pitch black. Several men yelled that they didn''t want to die and flinched as they heard her loud footsteps, and then there was nothing. No sound, no movement that they could see, and no Alyssa killing them. ¡°What''s going on?¡± Someone asked. ¡°I... I think she left.¡± Someone else said. ¡°What? She had us!¡± A man said. ¡°Shut up!¡± Another man said. ¡°Get moving! We need that cargo! Go! Go!¡± ¡°You know she''s going to be guarding it right?¡± ¡°That''s what the guns are for, you idiot.¡± The man said. ¡°Let''s go.¡± The enemy started their advance towards the toppled cargo cars, and Stephane wondered what he was going to do now. ¡°Retreat.¡± Alyssa said from beside him and he looked at her with wide eyes. ¡°There''s too many for us to handle.¡± ¡°But, you just...¡± ¡°I was hit in the side.¡± Alyssa said and Stephane looked down to see the burned through hole that entered her side, and no exit hole. ¡°My guts are... pretty scrambled.¡± She said and collapsed. ¡°Alyssa!¡± Stephane pushed his rifle back on it''s sling and grunted when he picked her up. ¡°Damn, you''re heavy.¡± He retreated to the middle car and waited for a moment, then used the cover they had set up to go to the last car. ¡°Oh, no!¡± Nurse Deloris said when she saw Alyssa''s state. Stephane handed her over to the woman who was the last person on his crew, so that Nurse Deloris could examine Alyssa. ¡°Evilin, we''re retreating!¡± ¡°What about the shipment?¡± ¡°They already killed most of my crew. I won''t let them kill you, too.¡± ¡°But...¡± ¡°Alyssa ordered it.¡± Stephane said, and Evilin nodded and slid off of the cargo car and dropped to the ground on one leg. She caught her balance somehow and smiled at his shocked expression. ¡°Lend me your arm.¡± Evilin said. ¡°Jumping is easy. Walking with only one leg is impossible.¡± Cali picked up the unconscious man and they made their way down the Tube tunnel. ¡°I can''t believe we''re letting them take the weapons after all of that.¡± ¡°Who said I was letting them take the weapons?¡± Stephane said and pulled a remote detonator out of a pouch on his combat harness. ¡°You sly dog!¡± Evilin said. ¡°Deloris! Can I borrow him for an hour? Maybe two?¡± ¡°Only if you have the proper form.¡± Nurse Deloris said and kept working on Alyssa as they walked. ¡°I already used it, dammit.¡± Evilin laughed. ¡°Then you''re out of luck.¡± ¡°Cali, what''s the situation at the wreckage?¡± Stephane asked. ¡°They''ve already reached it and are trying to pry open the cargo doors.¡± Cali said. ¡°Then this is far enough.¡± Stephane said. ¡°Everyone get down.¡± They all hunkered down and huddled together, then Stephane hit the switch. The explosives he had strategically placed on the crates detonated as one. The cargo cars were torn apart immediately and the shredded metal killed every man around them, then the plasma weapons detonated when their containment was breached and the rudimentary AIs thought they were being tampered with. The massive balls of plasma expanded and grew as they merged together and filled the Tube tunnel for hundreds of feet. When the blast finally dissipated, all that was left was a massive spherical hole where the convoy and its assailants used to be. * ¡°Why are you still keeping me?¡± Sandra asked from inside the interrogation room. ¡°My father delivered our life savings!¡± ¡°You mean this?¡± A man asked and took out the data chip with the Points on it. ¡°It was barely worth our time to shake him down if this was all he could get.¡± He said. ¡°It almost cost this much to set up the apartment and to pay the men to wait for him there.¡± ¡°Wh-what?¡± ¡°Listen, honey.¡± The man said and tossed her the chip. ¡°We need a lot more than this pittance to let someone like you go.¡± Sandra stared at him with wide eyes for a moment. ¡°S-someone like me?¡± The man smiled. ¡°No, we don''t mean that.¡± He said. ¡°I mean someone so gullible that they believe anything you tell them with absolutely no proof.¡± ¡°Hey! I''m not...¡± Sandra stopped talking when the door to the small room opened and a man she had been dating nearly every day stepped into the room. ¡°S-Stewart?!?¡± The man smiled and stepped aside, and another man that looked just like him stepped into the room as well. Sandra''s mouth dropped open from shock when a third man stepped into the room. They arrayed themselves in front of her and smiled at her with identical smirks. ¡°Hello, Sweetheart.¡± They said in identical tones and inflections. Sandra looked from one to the other and then to the other, took a sharp breath, then fainted. ¡°Ha, just as expected.¡± The man said and his communication pad beeped at him from his pocket. He took it out and read the short sentence it displayed. He frowned for a moment, crushed it in his fist, then threw the pieces of communication pad across the room. ¡°Bad news?¡± The three Stewarts said. ¡°Yes... and no.¡± The man said and took a deep breath. ¡°At least no one has the weapons now.¡± * ¡°I bet you''re glad you didn''t go along.¡± The higher-up said to the supervisor of Stephane''s cargo shipment. ¡°More relieved than glad, sir.¡± The supervisor smiled. ¡°At least those SCRAPE idiots took the bait.¡± The higher-up said and watched the security footage on the vidwall in his office. ¡°Yes. We''re following them back to their staging area, then we''ll follow them back to their hideout.¡± The supervisor said. ¡°You weren''t supposed to blow the weapons up.¡± The higher-up said. ¡°There wasn''t supposed to be extra crew on board, either.¡± ¡°I honestly didn''t know about either thing, sir.¡± The supervisor said. ¡°Hm.¡± The higher-up turned off the vidwall and looked at the supervisor. ¡°I suppose Stephane was right about you, then.¡± ¡°Wh-what?¡± ¡°Oh, don''t worry. I won''t have to deal with your incompetence for much longer.¡± The higher-up said and smiled. ¡°Excuse me?¡± ¡°Someone has to take the fall for this debacle, don''t they?¡± The higher-up said and slid a folder across the desk. ¡°He''s kept extensive records of your antics and filed them, in triplicate no less, and it''s right up to date. Including, of course, tonight''s shipment.¡± ¡°But... you ordered...¡± ¡°There is no official record of that, is there?¡± The higher-up said and grinned. ¡°You made sure of that with the plan to blame Stephane, didn''t you?¡± The supervisor opened his mouth, then closed it. ¡°Yes, blaming a dead man is quite easy, isn''t it?¡± The higher-up chuckled and his office door opened. ¡°Make it look like suicide, please.¡± He said to the two System Security personnel and pointed to the folder. ¡°Leave that on his desk. It doesn''t have to be open.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± One of them said and picked up the folder as the other made the supervisor stand up. He didn''t say a word as he was led from the office. ¡°Such a shame.¡± The higher-up said and turned on the vidwall to a view of the Cavern. ¡°It''s always difficult to find competent lackeys when they know you need scapegoats.¡± His pocket beeped at him and he took out his communication pad and hit the button. ¡°Sir, we''ve successfully delivered the weapons to the designated location.¡± A man''s voice said. ¡°It''s a pity we had to sacrifice nearly a third of them for the decoy.¡± ¡°It had to be believable when it exploded.¡± The higher-up said. ¡°I''m glad the man in charge on the convoy came up with the same solution, and we didn''t have to use the fail-safe.¡± ¡°When he manages to reach one of the cross-stations, have a team ready to pick him up.¡± The higher-up said. ¡°He''ll have wounded with him, so take them directly to General Medic. Make sure they get the best care Points can buy.¡± He said and smiled. ¡°He''s going to be a good hero for the people to rally behind, isn''t he?¡± ¡°It will be arranged, sir.¡± The voice said and the call ended.