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 Storm  (28 ratings)by Christo Goosen Page 3 of 12 I sat there in front of the fridge, mentally reviewing the day again. Dene
would be fine, Medical had already patched her up, and there would only be
slight scarring to show. She would however, be out of action for about three
weeks. I crumpled my empty beer can, took another from the still open fridge.
Maybe I would go and visit her tomorrow, after I had finished work. I could buy
her a present, maybe try to get some flowers from somewhere in the upper
levels. The shot that had hit her had been meant for me, so I could spend some
money on her. Jonny, on the other hand, was more than fine. What had appeared
to be a deep wound when he had been hit was no more than a scratch, and Medical
had slapped some stuff on it, and then ignored him. I crushed the can, took
another beer. They hadn't yet identified the five individuals responsible for
the attempted redistribution of wealth. Probably wouldn't bother, at that. Five
people from the lower parts of the city didn't make any difference to this
population. None at all. Five lives, reduced to statistics in a matter of
seconds. Nobody up here would bother about next of kin, or anything like that.
There was simply too much crime, too many people, and not enough Police in this
city.
I reached inside the fridge, and then sat back in surprise. The six beers were now six empty cans, and I couldn't feel the alcohol at all. At least I wasn't thirsty anymore, I thought, shaking my head. Just another chapter in this weird day. At least I should sleep easily now. But I took very long to fall asleep that night. * * * "Smith has reactived." The man talking was almost a head taller than any other person in the room, neatly dressed. As befitted his place in the world of levels. "I want his monitors doubled. We need to see how he deals with it." He set his empty glass on the glossy surface of the small wooden table next to him. Real wood. Light from the intricate water feature behind him spilled into the glass. Reflected in the light blue lenses of the fashionable spectacles he wore. Another person, an attractive young woman, stepped forward. A sudden change in colour from the water feature turned her blond hair slightly blue. "We cannot be sure of that. All we know is that the autorepair has reactivated." The first man smiled, showing perfect white teeth, but there was no humour in his voice. "That is all we know. Understand? You," he pointed at the people around him. "You do not even know how they work. Call it autorepair? Fine. But how does it work? Why did it reactivate? I thought this was merely a test period, see how the technology works in an organized society. Without the more, ah, dangerous, parts. I thought that you had shut all the advanced functions down. But today we see the ?autorepair' working." He paused. "You all know where they came from. You know what type of use they had before we put them into tracking criminals. Do you know what could happen if every circuit in them reactivates itself?" The woman spoke again. "Sir, it was just the autorepair. Nothing else." The man interrupted her. "No, it's not. You saw him rub his eyes, when the light hit them. Think on that. Has one of them ever shown any kind of reaction to changes in optical conditions before this. And why did he feel the need to drink that amount of alcohol. That has not happened before." He saw his words take effect. "For now, I think we'll leave them. But double the guard on them from now on. I want nothing happening to them. The Emperor wants the technology behind them really badly. And we are supposed to give it to him." He turned, and left the room in silence. * * * Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2001 Christo Goosen, sffworld.com. All rights reserved. No part of this may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the author. The author has submitted the work in accordance with and in agreement with the following Submission Guidelines. |
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