Re-Wired
Authors: Greg Dragon
Tags: #Mystery; Thriller & Suspense, #Thrillers & Suspense, #Technothrillers, #Science Fiction & Fantasy, #Science Fiction, #Cyberpunk
RE-WIRED
Greg Dragon
This is a book of fiction. Names, characters, and situations are of the author’s imagination. Any similarities to people, places, or crimes is purely coincidental.
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted without the express written consent of the author.
Copyright © 2015
Thirsty Bird Productions
Brad Barkley was average. People could look at him, blink and lose him in the background as they focused on someone who was much more interesting in look and dress. He knew that he was average, but if given the choice, he would not have wanted it any other way. Being average allowed him to easily fade into the background, get passed over for questioning, and blend into places without any issue. People were always making a fuss about anyone that looked different, so why would he want that sort of attention? He wanted as little interaction with people as possible, and being average made that very easy to do.
The time struck 4:00 p.m. on the university’s large, grand clock as he hurried past some giggling girl volleyball players on his way towards his car. In his hands was a large box, wrapped to conceal its contents. He was excited, and the only thing he could think about was going back to his apartment and opening it. Advanced Robotics was the one class that he looked forward to during the week, and this last assignment was one that he couldn’t believe was real.
The Robotics professor, Dr. J.L. Anthony, wanted his students to make individual androids. Not just any android, but one that was unique to its creator. He had given all thirty students the base android development kit, and they were professional ones from
Threerade Manufacturers
—developers of FORTHOX, the android that changed the way the world saw modern robotics. With a Threerade kit he would not have to worry about the base mobility and functions of the android. He would only need to adjust the A.I., develop skin, and train it to do whatever he wanted it to do. Who wouldn’t be excited at the prospect of playing creator to a future driver, lawn mower, or chef?
He almost tripped and fell from walking so hard, drawing more attention than he liked. One of the ball-throwing giants on the football team saw him coming, and playfully used him as a prop for displaying his acrobatic catching skills, but Brad did not see it as good fun. He stopped and gathered himself when the boy issued him a “Watch out! Duck!” and kept his head low as he continued moving towards the area where he had parked. The campus was a large, archaic one that did not have the sliding sidewalks that other schools offered. His classes were blocks apart from one another and he thought it was done on purpose to keep the student body in semi-decent shape.
He found his car and threw the box into the backseat before hopping inside and sliding the tint meter all the way to jet-black. The sun was too hot and people were too nosy. After turning his radio to a classical station and popping a hydrous capsule to clear his head, Brad lifted his car off the ground to the highest level permitted by law and sped off towards
Tasee Avenue
, and his apartment on
Whipshire Drive
. His thoughts drifted to Mika Scheider, the dark-haired foreign girl who always sat near the back of the classroom whenever Professor Anthony would lecture. She had caught him looking back at her twice that day. She had long, dark hair, and a slim, tight body. This was not uncommon for people that maintained a good dosage of
Cersing Supplement
, but something told him that she was naturally slim. She probably ran every morning, her long brown legs glistening beneath thermo-primed and near-invisible hose. The vision of her running got him excited and when he pulled into his designated parking space and whisked the box up the stairs to his apartment, he could still see her as clear as day.
Fumbling for his card, he slid it quickly and slipped inside to get out of the heat. Mika was always on his mind whenever he missed having a girlfriend, or simply a girl friend to talk to. She made it worse by being unbelievably sweet. Unlike the girls that ignored him, or dismissed him whenever he would try to partner up for projects, Mika was always cordial, made light jokes, and asked about his life.
Why don’t I just ask her out
, he thought to himself, disappointed. She had given every clue known to man that she was interested, and instead of asking her out, he had just smiled. It was all he would ever do when faced with indecision.
As he thought about Mika and his disappointment in himself, Brad began to tear open the box and started working on assembling the android. He was all focus and drive as he rotated screws, pushed in rods, and soldered wires to the various boards. He worked well into the night before he saw that it was 12:13 a.m. He had a class in the morning so he set the metallic skeleton on the kitchen table and dragged himself into his bedroom.
His personal device chimed. He held it up to see who was calling and recognized his mother’s face.
“Hi, Mom.”
“Hello, Bradley. How is school?”
“It’s okay, I guess.”
“Well, did you get all your classes? I know that you were stressing out about that earlier so—”
“Yeah, yeah it worked out. I actually got ‘em all and took Robotics as an elective.”
“Really? I thought that you would grow out of your love for those things by now, but if it makes you happy—”
“Why would I grow out of robotics? Droids are a major part of our everyday lives. Why can’t you and dad see a future in it for me, instead of being—”
“Because of our deal, Bradley. Your father and I agreed to pay for your schooling if you stuck to the plan of becoming a doctor. The Barkley’s are a medical family, and as the only son, you—”
Brad placed the device down on its face and walked over to his bed and laid down. A medical path was not one he intended to take, even though he had told his parents that he would. Since his elder brother had gone to school to become a failed accountant, their father was not willing to fund any more careers that he deemed “short-termed” or “experimental.” With a son as a doctor, his connections with the hospitals across the country would guarantee a job for him, and he could then influence the powers-that-be to make sure that the salary was substantial. But Brad’s passion was with artificial intelligence, and while he would go through the motions to become a doctor, he would be mastering the art of creating artificial life.
As he waited for his mother to tire herself out by talking to dead air, he picked up the device and switched it to the internet, muting his mother and blocking any other calls for the night. He found Mika’s profile—she kept an account on the
Kiss-n-Hugs
website, and he would lurk their once in a while. It was the most exciting thing to find a familiar face on a dating website and he wondered why a girl as pretty as Mika would have an account there. He flipped through a variety of photographs of her wearing bikinis and various other clothing. She was so perfect and as he flipped through the images, he let his mind roam. Eventually, he fell asleep with his mother yelling into nothingness and Mika’s bikini on his mind.
0 1 0
The following day Brad ran into Mika as they got on the elevator to go to Robotics class. He felt guilty for his snooping the night before so he kept his eyes forward, as if he didn’t notice her. She stood next to him, trying to make eye contact.
“Wake up, sleepy!” she said to him playfully.
He looked at her and forced a horribly fake laugh.
“Are you ready to make the next FORTHOX, or will you be the man to take androids to the next level?” She was being cheerful, and her happy-go-lucky antics made Brad’s mood lighten.
He struggled to talk as the bikini pictures stood fresh in his mind. “Di-did you open your box last night?” he asked her before he could stop himself and before he could fix the awkward phrasing.
As if catching his faux pas and taking advantage of the opportunity to keep him uncomfortable, Mika looked around at the people who were now laughing at Brad and said, “Excuse me? What I do with my box at night is none of your business, Brad.” She winked at him playfully.
It was too much to take, and he turned beet red from embarrassment. The elevator doors opened then, and he stepped out, gasping for air. Mika walked out and stood in front of him with a look of disappointment, not letting up on the teasing just to see how long he would remain red.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t, I wouldn’t, I meant the—”
“The Threerade Model Five? I know, Brad. You’re so cute. Lighten up. I did open that thing and it was so confusing. How did you do on assembling it? You’re so smart, I bet you kicked that thing’s ass!”
“Actually, I did assemble most of it. They make their models standard and—” Brad shut himself up quickly, as he thought that going off on a nerdy diatribe was the bane of a woman’s existence. With Mika giving him so much attention, the last thing he wanted to do was ruin it.
“Is something wrong, Brad?”
“No, I just don’t want to bore you with the details. I got mine assembled, and I can probably help you if you want me to.”
“Oh my god, you are amazing. Thank you! Wanna go out after class? I live near 15th and Mear, which is right down the hill. I can cook for you… Do you like Italian?”
“Love Italian food. I-it’s my favorite, actually. Here’s my contact code.”
“Give me your address too. I can come pick you up.”
Brad couldn’t believe his luck; was she being serious? She said she would come pick him up! He was sure that it would be much more than dinner, and if everything he’d heard about college was correct, tonight would be the night that would start his first true romance. Who would have thought it would be with a girl as wonderful as Mika? He would be the envy of the school once they were together, and those four painful years of high school that he had endured would be a distant memory.
When he got home, he began to work at finishing up his droid model. It would be good to have an example of the finished version for Mika to see before they started. He put on some hot water—just in case she’d be interested in some coffee before they left, and he cleaned up his already spotless home. He thought of how he and Mika would eventually be married; they would be two android engineers that supported and loved one another as they made the world an easier place to live. It was silly to think about things like this, of course, but it was how his mind worked. He delved deeper and deeper into the fantasy as he toiled away at assembling the android.
When he was finished putting the base model together he powered it on and the humanoid machine stood up. Brad almost laughed at how wooden its movements were. It reminded him of an ancient silent film called
Metropolis,
when the signature robot, Maria, stood up for the first time. This android would need a lot of work, possibly years before it would be anywhere near what the FORTHOX models were that everyone had inside their homes. He walked around it, making his observations, and as he adjusted one thing and replaced another, he lost track of the time. When he finally looked at the clock, he realized that it was past the time Mika set for their date.
9:00 p.m. and she still hasn’t called or gotten back here
, he thought, so he picked up his personal device and gave her a call.
“Hello.” A soothing female voice answered but it sounded nothing like Mika’s.
“Hi, there. I’m trying to reach Mika. Is she around?”
“Mika’s not here. Who is this?”
“Could you tell her Brad called? She will know who I am.”
Either Mika had forgotten all about him or she was playing games, so he took the opportunity to work on the android.
Vertech Enterprises
was a 24hr seller of electronic replacement parts, so he got into his car and headed over there. The top droid engineers online had made a cookbook of sorts for their homemade robots, and Brad had stumbled upon one recipe that could turn a kit android into an extraordinary homemade version. He had just gotten his money in from his parent’s deposit, so he had $1,000 to spend. He tried to focus on buying parts but his mind wandered. He couldn’t help but wonder how many guys Mika had been friendly to. If she could make a plan for their date and blow it off so easily, chances were it was something that she did quite often. The thought angered him, but he put his anger to the side and concentrated on his android.
The next day Mika was absent, and Brad stayed after class to show Mr. Anthony his progress. He was careful not to mention that he had found a way to remove the restraint on the adaptation matrix. Skilled droid hackers would code in their own “robotic laws” into the CPU of their androids, since the government-approved version that came shipped inside all android kits was overly restrictive. The professor was pleased with Brad, and enjoyed his enthusiasm since the majority of the class seemed to get lost in his lectures. On his way home, Brad saw Mika walking with a man. She didn’t see him and he followed them for a time before realizing that he was stalking her. He headed home.
He called her again that night while he applied a plasticine skin solution over the metallic frame of his android. The modifications had been made and it would be able to walk around and move the same way a human being could. Mika’s phone continued to ring, and just when he was about to hang up, she answered, sounding very annoyed with him.
“Is this Brad?” she asked, as if she couldn’t see his face and code on her handheld phone device.
“Yeah, Mika, it’s me. Look, you weren’t in class today, and I wanted to see if we’re still—“
“Oh, yeah. Christ, I’m slipping.”
“Slipping?”
“Yeah, I totally forgot. I’m so sorry. Can we do it tomorrow?”