Apprehension tingled. She set the stuff down to open the doors twice more. Hugging the food to her chest, she returned to the island in the middle of the room. Dumping it all, she brought the juice jug to her lips.
“Glass,” Creighton ordered without raising his eyes from his screen.
She ignored him and puckered to swig and swallow.
“Kali.”
She peeked over the rim of the jug. The disapproval was clear to see. “Howl,” she called. “Please can....”
“Stars above, do not use that FetchMe.”
She gave Creighton an exasperated look. “His name’s Howl, Papa.”
“I’m used to calling him that. His ears are damn sensitive. The moment you even whisper his name, even if you don’t actually want to summon him, he comes running. I hate that.”
On cue, the Loklear’s FetchMe came scuttling around the corner on energised mechanical legs, eager for attention. He skidded to a stop at the threshold of the kitchen, sleek head swinging between Creighton and Kali.
His tail whipped side to side in excitement.
The latest design in biogenetic robotics, the FetchMe was designed with the characteristics and physical attributes of a living organism. Having the cognitive ability of a young adult, Howl was cloned and grown within a biomechanical womb from stockpiled animal DNA.
The companions were cyborgs considered indispensable to HiCaste families, and recognised as honorary members.
Kali’s first FetchMe was a gift from her parents when she was a baby, an adorable wolfhound called Fluffy who died of old age. Left to choose the breed of the FetchMe this time, Kali had been tempted to get a felid breed like her best friend Max, but in memory of Fluffy, she got an Arctic wolf instead.
Howl was loyal to the family and programmed to protect them from danger. His intelligence was considerably higher than most FetchMe borgs because Kali didn’t see the point of creating such a beautifully intelligent creature to dumb it down to just look pretty. Wolves were naturally intellectual creatures, and by adding lines of genetic coding, the FetchMe had become a friend, confidant, guardian, and genuine member of the Loklear family.
Most importantly to Kali, he had the ability to control certain household functions.
She trained Howl to be able to open cupboards and bring her things the moment she realised he was canny enough, and only recently had her parents figured that out.
And they gave her hell about it.
Reading Creighton’s adrenaline levels to determine him unapproachable, Howl sat at Kali’s feet.
Obsidian eyes with gold slits stared lovingly.
Dropping to her knees to give him a hug, she let his silken muzzle rub her neck. His off-white coat was satiny smooth, and smelt like cotton, as it had been coded to. Kali purposefully allowed him to keep his sharp teeth because giving him a mouth full of blunt herbivore canines felt cruel. In essence, he was a wolf, and loved to hunt. Curbing those urges detracted the primal essence of what he was.
Rikard Loklear had been hesitant to allow her a full wolf breed because the animal fell in the high-risk category. Wolves and predatory big cats malfunctioned more often than any other kind of borg. Their animal sides overrode the genetic suppressants keeping them docile, and there had been occurrences of attacks on humans. By keeping Howl’s hunting and tracking instincts, Kali had removed those suppressants, relying on Howl’s connection to the family to keep him in line. Regardless of logical argument, when Kali had seen him freshly birthed as a puppy, covered in embryonic fluid and the metal alloy enhancements showing through his thin, hairless skin, she’d known he had to be hers. Howl would never hurt her. He loved Kali as much as she loved him, and that bond was the reason Rikard relented.
Howl’s genetic makeup remained unaltered; sparing him a painful process that Kali feared would take more than natural instinct. He would lose his soul. Kali believed steadfastly that FetchMe had souls. They were alive no matter what convoluted arguments scientists used to push twisted legislation, demanding the Alliance allow horrific experiments on discarded companions.
Rumbling low in his throat, Howl nuzzled her, and pushed forward until she fell onto her butt. Kali laughed and gave him a decent rub, enjoying his heavy body. Howl was large for a wolf, and came up to Kali’s waist when she stood. On hind legs, he easily rested his fore paws on her shoulders, as tall as her.
Kali popped a kiss on Howl’s pink nose before jumping up.
“To get a glass I have to travel all the way to the cabinet behind you,” she said to Creighton eventually.
She omitted from the petulant statement she’d have to open another cupboard door, and that she really didn’t want to.
Creighton’s gaze remained steady on hers. He wasn’t budging. “The journey to the glass cabinet is littered with peril, but I insist you get a glass.”
Kali made a show of marching past him.
Sensing her unease, Howl followed, but with a hand gesture, he backed off. He lay by the window, head on his forepaws, stunning eyes tracking her closely.
“Papa, would you like a fresh coffee?”
The last time she made coffee the machine had exploded a little bit. Her parents – who may as well be jacked into IV drips of the stuff – had mourned as if she’d murdered a family member until a new one was installed.
Creighton winced at the suggestion. “No, thank you. This cup is standard.” He glanced at his watch. “Can you hurry your father up? Make sure he comes now and not five minutes from now.”
Nodding distractedly, Kali focused, and opened the cabinet to get that damn glass. She quickly closed the door. Her hand remained on the handle. She took a tentative step back, visualizing letting the handle go, but her damn hand remained on the handle, tightened even. She willed herself to let go, to ignore the need to open it again, but the pressure built until strangulation would have been kinder. Closing her eyes on a sigh, she opened the cabinet door and closed it. Again, she fought the urge, but no. She opened the door again and closed it. After that third time, the tension eased, and she was able to let go.
Then came the usual feeling of shame and embarrassment for her inability to control her baser urges, a senseless need to repeat certain actions in sets of three.
She slid the tumbler onto the tabletop and caught Creighton studying her.
“Sure,” she mumbled in answer to his earlier request.
Kali always felt like a disappointment. For all the hard work Creighton put into helping her get past her condition, she never made any real progress. He never judged and was never negative. His unwavering support made it worse somehow. Too loyal to understand his daughter was a nutcase.
Swiftly following the self-pity was relief he would never give up, and wouldn’t turn from her because she was different. Her father cared how she saw herself and worked tirelessly to understand the issue. In the meantime, he pushed, and gave her the strength to fight it. If he hadn’t shown such determination in her childhood, Kali would be worse than she was, barely able to function.
As she walked past, she acknowledged what he’d done by touching his hand. He grabbed it, and brought it up to press a comforting kiss on it.
Kali adored him.
With a wiggle of her fingers to summon Howl, she stepped out the kitchen into the brightly lit passageway that ran the length of their domicile. She passed more arches leading to the central room, guest quarters, utility units, and bedrooms.
There were few doors in the Loklear house because of Kali’s compulsive disorder. Whenever she had to open a door of any kind she had to repeat the action before she was able to move on with her life. Tragic. That was not the only tic Kali had. New ones appeared and disappeared as she grew and developed, but the doors were the most disruptive. It was controllable at home. Her parents remodelled the house, and she was not constantly facing barriers to enter rooms. Nevertheless, they wanted her to come to terms with what affected her, and put everyday things behind cupboard doors, like normal people. If s
he tried avoidance, her parents gently but firmly pushed her in the right direction. Kali had been getting around the discomfort by allowing Howl to grab most of stuff for her. After being caught red handed using the FetchMe, they’d berated her on becoming dependant on the borg, and watched her more carefully.
As she walked the length of her home, Kali took in her lush surroundings and acknowledged she was privileged. She had phenomenal parents, and lived on Earth ContinentOne, the birthplace of the Alliance where the mantra was OEOP; one earth one people.
Treaty10 was passed in the late twentieth century. Manufacturers were forced to limit the technological upgrades to both people and land as long as it remained an economically viable option. For people with less credit in the bank, limiting themselves to old Earth technology simply wasn’t cost effective, and households that fell in the LoEco sectors lived in high-rise domiciles not detached habitats. If Kali remembered her history correctly, two super powers had actually resisted the treaty when first inaugurated. Pressure had been applied, and the detached countries acquiesced, rejoining the rest of the world under the Alliance. The land was divided into quadrants, and adhered to Treaty10 barely a century after declaring independence. Despite the political turnabout, the economy and standard of living deteriorated exponentially. Those quadrants were now survival colonies, living on the ragged edge of existence, barren. The land had been stripped to make way for the machines. Once the machines were destroyed there was nothing left. Most people emigrated. The hardcore stayed. Because of its greenery, brick, and mortar structures, clean streets, and low crime rate, Quadrant2 on Earth had become the place to live for all HiCaste families with credit to spare because it was on Earth ContinentOne. Despite the global radioactive desolation caused by world war five, Earth remained the most stable of the planets, and most able to support Human life. Not that those who lived on the new planets humanity had colonized had much of a choice. Space was limited on Earth. Unless you won the Lotto, you had to fly to an out post and make the most of what you’d been allotted. The alternate option was to move to the OutRim, wastelands supported by synthesized oxygen and food, and riddled with pockets of deadly radiation. There were SafeZones, but if you lived in the OutRim on a permanent basis, it was a matter of time before you suffered radiation poisoning. The solution? Get on a shuttle and move off Home World. Politicians and celebrities preferred Quadrant1, the bustling capital city of Earth. Kali’s family unit preferred a domicile to a single floor dwelling, no matter how luxurious the dwelling was. The second quadrant was perfect. Her parents believed it was good enough for them to live as their ancestors did, without machines supporting every facet of their existence.
Safely cocooned within a family of wealth, and the highest of HiEco class, Kali had everything, and was kept safely away from the dregs of society.
She walked the hallway to Rickard’s study. Her hand brushed the smooth white wall.
Her parents were the greatest in the universe.
3.
Hunger woke him. Blue’s eyes opened and he was awake. There was no grogginess, no yawing, or procrastination.
He stared at the blank wall opposite and listened to the monotonous humming of his home. Blue threw away the blanket and rolled out of bed. He dropped to the floor into position for his usual count of push-ups. Arms burning, he shifted to his back and worked his abdominals, mind churning with his schedule of the day.
Disconnected information fractured his concentration and he fought to streamline his thoughts into clean lines.
His door beeped and opened with a soft mechanical whoosh.
Bare feet slapped the cold floor, and a shadow blocked the fluorescent light beaming in from the corridor. “Sunshine, Blue.”
“Caesar.”
“Will you be seeing her today?”
Blue finished his reps and stood to stretch. Touching his toes, he enjoyed the rush of blood to his head and locked his wrists around his calves. “It is likely.”
“You remember what we discussed.”
“Yes.”
“I will see you later then.”
Hypatia roused from her slumber and crowed loudly. She flew across the room to land on Caesar’s shoulder where she would likely remain for the remainder of the day, as programmed.
The door slid closed.
Straightening, Blue wondered if confessing his obsession to Caesar had been the right thing to do. They kept nothing from each other, but maybe he had crossed a boundary by revealing his strange feelings and the recent changes in his attitude toward life.
Blue sat in front of his ComUni and swiped a finger across the hovering symbol. The dark screen flickered on and the VirtuaPad unfolded. He ran the programme that would keep his profile anonymous, and typed words that had been swirling in his mind all night.
His breathing hitched and he paused. Later. He would replenish later.
4.
Kali knocked on the archway before popping her head around the bend. “Sunshine?”
Ash blonde hair wild, Rikard Loklear sat curled over his ComUni. The hovering screen was black and covered in colourful bits of code. He sort of muttered his own greeting in reply, but did not actually register she was there.
Kali walked behind him, nosey, but ready to back off if he commanded it.
She watched with daughterly pride as her father’s long fingers nimbly streaked across the electric blue keyboard being holographically beamed in front of him on the desk. To an observer greater than five meters away it would seem as if he tapped the air.
“Ten minutes and I’ll be right with you.” His hand shot out to pat Howl twice on the head before his fingers went back to work on the VirtuaPad. “Did you enjoy the breakfast dumplings I smelt your father creating for you?”
“I have yet to taste them. He wants you to come now not five minutes from now.”
“Standard. I’ll come ten minutes from now.”
She scrunched her face, knowing ten minutes and the sarcastic message would make Creighton pissed.
They would fight, and she hated that.
Distracted by the code, Kali figured if she pointed out a mistake, he’d be pulled from his focus. She bit her lip. As usual, his work was near flawless. It needed to be when you were a highly ranked security officer for the Alliance.
Kali had been taught to be as masterly as he was, maybe better in the future.
“Mistake,” she murmured and pointed it out to him two rows from the top. “See here. This sequence won’t work in the mark-up language you’re using. You probably need to redo this whole section. You don’t have time to do that, and carrying on is a waste of time until you’ve corrected the error.” She patted his shoulders. “Come now. Please?”
Flying fingers froze, and Rikard blinked at what she pointed to. There was silence before the tension and disbelief vanished. His expression shifted to pride. “Thanks, princess.” He rubbed his hands tiredly over his whiskered cheeks.
He turned to pierce Kali with sea blue eyes, a genetic trait of the Loklears, and ran an appraising look at her thick pyjamas, fighting a smile when he figured out the pattern emblazoned on the fabric was fluffy bunnies on fire. “Kali, my dove, what happened to that lovely sleepwear we bought you last weekend?”
She cringed. “Max spilled sauce on it. It stained.” She grabbed his hand and pulled. “Come on, Papa wants to go. He has a meeting, and he’s got the, “I’m stressed and going to get more crows feet,” look on his face. You know how cranky he gets when you make him late.” She looked at the ComUni. “Computer, hibernate.”
The VirtuaPad folded until it was a symbol floating in front of the blank ComUni screen.
Kali pulled again, and Rikard lifted out the high-backed chair. His eyes twinkled when she tugged on his hand.
Rikard was a gentle giant whom loved Creighton and Kali, and would do anything for them. Raised in the upper echelons of HiCaste society, as the second born son in the Loklear clan it was expected he lead a privileged and blessed life.
His peers cringed at what he had; thinking him better than what he “settled” for, but to Rikard, life was bliss.
He was in love with a man who was handsome and intelligent, tempered severity with kindness, and who loved Kali as much as he did.
He had married that man, and given him his last name, something that was not done in modern society, but something Rikard had to do. It was insurance. If anything ever happened to him, Creighton and Kali were lawfully able to demand the sanctuary his family name provided.
His daughter was precious, rare, and every day he thanked the stars she had been given to him.
Kali was part of the reason he worked hard. Creating a better world had driven him as a youth, but the need to create one for his child drove him as a man.
Society was a mess.
Genetic tampering had changed mankind into something other than Human. Technological advances had seen more than two thirds of the world living in a post apocalyptic squalor. It wasn’t even contained to the quadrants that had come late to the treaty.
The Continents off Home World were an abomination.
His family had a house, a garden, and real food rather than cubicle rooms, and nutrient liquids. They knew what it was to sit in the sun and breathe fresh oxygen rather than dying under toxic smog and manufactured air. His child laughed and relaxed rather than trained in weaponry to learn how to defend herself in the harsh OutRim.
The LoEco quadrants sickened him. They gave him night terrors he woke from drenched in sweat.
Treaty10 hadn’t been as successful as the ignorant reckoned it to be. There were sectors on the continent that were fully computerized. Cold, impersonal, barren areas of metal that supported the basics of life but hindered its growth. The people were weak, breeding into emotionless voids and genetic misfits.
The very thing the treaty had been created to avoid.
He was ashamed to say his family, his ancestors, were one of the direct causes of this horror, but Rikard was determined to become part of the solution.
“Princess, next time, don’t read what is on my screen. That habit must stop. It’s dangerous for you to know the things I work on. Not again, do you understand?”