Neon Helix Page 3

  Below, the woman was now whimpering in pain and was staring at her arm. Suddenly the infection faded as blood pooled around the implants’ edges.

  “See as the power of the divine take effect! Heal this woman from her evils!”

  The implants raised out from their sockets, the blood pooling more as they detached from the woman's skin. A moment later, they finally fell from her arm and dropped to the floor. The infection now vanished, with only two small scars where the implant had been, as the only evidence they had even been there.

  The crowd stood, stunned as they watched the man pick up the scraps of the implants from the floor.

  “Nothing but metal shards of imperfection.”

  He threw them behind him into the depths of the church, then offered a hand to the woman who was rubbing the scars in shock. She looked up at him, taking a moment to realise she was free of the infection she had suffered with for so many years. She smiled and took his hand and hugged him tightly.

  “Bless you sir,” she repeated over and over.

  “Welcome to the flock my dear and welcome you all! Join me and let us end this tyranny of evil which infects all it touches!”

  With both hands raised, he welcomed them and began his baptism of technology within the community.

  Within two years, the neon cross was the only visible modern technology in the area. It’s red light, both a beacon to guide lost souls, but also the representation of technology as the symbol of death of the modern Jesus.

  Father Jacob lifted the community into a new age of belief.

  CHAPTER 6

  Julian

  Julian walked down the Boulevard of the Metro. Officially known as Lamplight Boulevard, but known to the locals as the Neon Boulevard due to the constant rainbow of neon which illuminated it from end to end. The Boulevard ran through the city like a central nervous system.

  Beginning at the outskirts of the Metropolitan, commonly referred to as the BitSlumbs, where average income was close to nothing, the Boulevard continued through thousands of kilometres, past the dock lands, or MegaTown where Julian lived, and further into the heart of the city. Following this it evolved into the GigaCity, which was the main shopping district of the Metro, containing the most shops and food areas. Next ,it spread into the more wealthy research areas of the TerraCity before moving into the ZetaCity, here was where the most advanced tech and wealthiest inhabitants lived. Every inhabited area of the Metro spun off the Boulevard. There was also the Underpass of the Boulevard, built on the remnants of the old city. It was supported on several large pillars, under which the residence of the Underpass lived. Though few crossed between the Over and Under levels of the Metro.

  Julian stopped at one of the food stalls upon entering GigaCity and walked up to check the menu out, the smells of fried vegetables and soy sauce saturated the air.

  “Hey Jools, how’s it going, buddy?” The voice shouted over the drone of conversation emanating from the several customers sat at the stalls’ seven seats, which ran along its counter. George, the noodle bar owner, waved as he spoke and beckoned Julian over.

  “Going good Georgie, how's the noodles today?”

  “Best in the Metro as ever Jools!” He beamed and dished fresh Szechuan noodles into a box and passed it over to Julian. As he took the bowl, Julian swiped his forearm over a detector on the counter of the food stall. A confirmatory beep indicated the credits were debited from Julian's account.

  “Thank you, Georgie,” Julian took a seat as a space became available at the counter.

  “No problem Jools, always a pleasure.”

  “How’s the augmented hand holding up?” Julian asked watching as Georgie cooked a fresh batch of food.

  As he watched, Georgie lifted his right hand to display it. As he did his bottom two fingers rotated and fused together and the edge of his hand from his little finger all along to his wrist tapered to a sharp knife edge. Laying a cucumber along his chopping board, Georgie sliced it into thin sections before his hand morphed into an elongated spoon, with which he scooped up the cucumber and threw it onto the hot wok which was waiting for them.

  “Perfection Jools, sheer perfection,” he laughed.

  Smiling, Julian made a mental note of the success. A few months ago, Georgie had lost his hand when one of the city’s automated garbage disposals had glitched and clamped down on his arm whilst throwing away the trash. Julian had reported on the incident, exposing the lack of maintenance for the disposal systems. The council had compensated Georgie with enough to cover the expense of the Augmented hand, something which only some Five Star chefs had access to. Now, this street noodle bar was one of the most popular locations on the Boulevard.

  “What’s the word on the street Georgie? Anything I should be paying attention to?” Julian asked between mouthfuls.

  “Eh just the usual Jools,” Georgie shrugged, “The street gangs have been fighting amongst themselves as usual, but they're staying out the Boulevard for the time. The Aug place just down from here, ‘Aug or Nothing’ got jacked a couple of nights ago but they only got the basic shiz from the display window,” Georgie pointed to the shop.

  “Sliders?” Julian asked.

  “Eh, who knows?” Georgie shrugged again. “Probably,” he passed some noodles to another customer.

  “One other thing, probably nothing, but I’ve noticed a few less of the homeless guys hanging around after closing. Ya know, normally I’m passing out the leftovers to those guys, doing my bit, but they not been around this last month or two. Could be they jus’ moved to newer locales but who knows,” Georgie took Julian's empty box and threw it in the trash. He grabbed a bottle of beer from the fridge behind him, his hand morphing into a bottle opener to pop the cap, before passing it to Julian.

  “Hmm, let me know if you hear anything, might be something,” Julian tapped his PDA making notes. He liked to keep track of anything he heard, never knowing when it could be the start of a new case.

  A few more customers were arriving, so Julian gave up his seat.

  “Thanks for the noodles Georgie.”

  “Anytime Jools, anytime,” He smiled his big grin and waved before getting back to the cooking.

  Julian continued his journey down the busy boulevard, shouldering his way through the crowds which became denser as he got closer to the main shopping district in Giga, a 24/7 hub of retail. As he progressed further, the advertising increased in both technological style and also the cost of the goods. What began as billboards with a three-dimensional image, became full hologramatic visuals. A woman walked over to him, commenting on his hair style, before offering him some matching clothing from the shop. Next, a young man waved him over, then suggested a bar behind him as the greatest place to start the night for a bachelor such as himself. The image-recognition algorithms the advertising used had so much access it, not only considered the way Julian looked but could also get a fast check on his basic details such as his marital status and address. Within nanoseconds, it could create personalised advertising bespoke to him. Julian was accustomed to it and could recognise the holograms before they even reached him, not that it made them any less annoying.

  He arrived at the store he was heading towards, a mid-ranged Aug shop where he had purchased most of his current tech, including the hair augments.

  Aug-Tech was the go to place for the best new tech at reasonable credits that Julian had come across. He stepped inside and took a seat in one of the booths,which lined either side of the store. The lighting was bright white, creating an almost clinical feel. Once sat, he placed his forearm on the arm of the chair. A virtual display materialized in front of him, showing a loading screen as it completed a full body scan. Taking account of all the current Augs within his body, checking their status and condition. It also took a down payment from his account which covered the virus scan and optimisation.

  1 count of onset T-Pox detected, medical advise recommended.

  1 Aug glitch detected.

  It dis
played a full map of his body and augs like a digital Vitruvian man. He had twelve different Augs across his body, eleven of which were in green. One, highlighted across his eyes, was orange, the upgrade. His right arm had a red flashing exclamation mark, showing the T-Pox.

  Optical Aug, minor glitch detected. Would you like the system fixed? Y/N

  The system chimed, Julian double tapped the Y on the screen and replaced his forearm to the armrest. The credits debited and a flashing blue light filled the booth with a glow. The procedure was wireless, however if Julian left the booth while the light flashed, it would be incomplete and could cause an unexpected error.

  After twenty seconds, the light turned green, showing the procedure was complete and a success. Julian rubbed his eyes and opened them. Blinking for a few moment, he tested the fix. He looked at the screen and focused, his retina zoomed forwards and he could make out the tiny pixels which made up the screen. A double blink and his retina delivered a screenshot of his vision to his personal air-drive, where it stored it for future use.

  All systems upgraded. Would you like to browse the new arrivals Mr Travitz?

  “No, I’m good thank you” He answered before getting up and leaving the store.

  Food and optimizing done, he was ready for a drink and for some real work. The bars scattered around the Metro varied from high-end cocktail bars to the more seedy dive bars. He headed towards the Valkyrie, a bar which had stood throughout the development of the boulevard, adjusting to the newer surroundings as they changed. Before he walked through the entrance, he tapped his PDA.

  “Hey Quartz, you there?”

  “At your command sir,” came sarcastic the response.

  Julian wondered how he had got sarcasm from an AI but shelved the thought.

  “Anything on Cy-Bio of interest?”

  “Not really, it looks like Yuri is the main guy running the show now that Winters retired, no one has heard much from Owens in the run up to the conference. I’ll keep digging though.”

  “Thanks Quartz. One more thing, have you seen any news about homeless disappearances at all on the wire?”

  “One moment please,” Quartzig ran a quick search, “Only two missing person reports to the MPD but being homeless they haven’t really been looking into it seems. Something up?”

  “Just something else to have a look at, not sure yet. Thanks Q”

  “Anytime sir."

  Julian closed the connection and headed into the bar, brushing past a couple on their way out.

  CHAPTER 7

  Xander

  ALEXANDER DRAVEN

  That’s what the sign above the door should have said, but the green neon tubing was faulty in several sections ,causing them to flicker like a nervous junkie, so it now read;

  A XANDER RAVE

  Because of this, the locals called him Xander.

  He sat with his feet up on the wooden desk and looked at the sign flickering on his door. He should get that fixed, he thought, as he stubbed out the last embers of a dying cigarette into the ashtray. He’d set up as a Private Investigator since the dismissal and had bought the office space and the apartment above with the last of his savings. The office was predominantly wood of varying types, from the door and floorboards to the desk and chairs. Following the AI Judge’s decision in the trial, and his newfound hatred for all things technology. The only advanced tech to be found in the room was the Visual Display Unit, a floating hologramatic display, which he tried not to use. His old monitor was smashed in a rage several months earlier. Next to the display was his answer-phone, a retro digital machine connected to the phone. He stabbed the play button with his now cigarette-less hand, hoping for something of interest.

  “Erm..hello? Is this Alex Draven? I want to hire you to show my husband who is really in char..”

  “Angry Wife, nope,” Xander said, as he hit the next button.

  Message Deleted

  “Hi, Mr Draven, we need some security for the fight late…”

  “Security, nope,”

  Message Deleted

  “Listen to me, it’s important ok. You want some escape then this is how you do it…”

  Message Deleted

  End of Messages

  Xander sighed and lit up another cigarette using his lighter. His reputation preceded him, labeled as the ‘violent ex-cop who would fight for anyone’. The label had got him plenty of work when he first started out, but then he became a glorified security guard, and he felt it was time for more vetoing of the work he took on. This had meant, however the cash-flow had dried up like a sponge in a desert.

  Exhaling, the wisps of smoke coiled around neonbeams coming in through the window behind him. He closed his eyes and leaned back in the chair.

  A knock on the door snapped him back to reality. He couldn’t remember the last time someone had knocked on the door.

  “C’m in,” he hollered.

  The door slowly opened and a tall woman entered the room, she immediately raised the style of the room from zero to a hundred. Wearing a long black dress ,which emphasized her height.

  “Mr Draven?” Her voice poured out.

  Xander subconsciously straightened up.

  “Yes Ma’am.”

  “Thank god, I need your help. Someone has murdered my husband.”

  Xander had to hide a smile, finally something worth his time.

  “Please, take a seat Miss…”

  “Owens, Ava Owens,” she replied, as she took a seat opposite Xander.

  “Why haven’t you gone to the police?” Xander didn’t want to ask, but felt he should.

  “I have, but they concluded it a cold case because of lack of evidence. It’s still an open case but they aren't doing anything about it.”

  Her voice trembled, the cracks forming on the strong front she had put on coming in.

  “When did he die? In fact, just tell me all you know,” Xander was interested now, a dead husband, a cold case the MPD couldn’t solve. This could help him redeem some of his name.

  “Can I have one of those?” Ava pointed at the cigarette in Xander's hand. He nodded and lit one before passing it to her. Taking one long drag in and an equally long breath out, she began her story.

  “Last week, February 2nd, I returned home and found my husband laying across the hallway, covered in blood. Mutilated, with his left hand missing,” Ava described the situation as if reading from a police report.

  “I see, and this doesn’t seem to have hit you too hard?” Xander noticed the lack of feeling coming from her now and wasn’t ready to be played a fool, something was off.

  “Oh, my apologies,” Ava blinked twice in deliberate timing and after a moment her eyes welled up. “I… I didn't know what to do,” Ava’s voice now cracked as she spoke, the emotion getting caught in her throat.

  “Okay… ” Xander wasn’t sure how to react to this.

  “I, I called the police immediately, and they did a full sweep of the apartment. The autopsy said Mr Owens died of blood loss,” Ava continued.

  “Mr Owens? Did he not have a first name?”

  “Oh, Maxwell. Max. He was my Max.”

  “Ava, what is going on here? For a mourning widow, you don’t seem upset,” Xander had enough of the guesswork, his hangover was taking root now and his patience was getting smaller by the minute.

  “Excuse me? Oh, excuse me Mr Draven. I should explain,” as she spoke, Ava placed her fingers to her left temple and pressed down. “I am not like you, Mr Draven.”

  Where her fingers had been, a small square about the size of a credit card indented inwards, then slid to the side. “I am a synthetic human. Mr Owens created me.”

  Beneath the square, a small circuit board was revealed, with several connections and sockets.

  Xander just stared for a moment.

  Ava tapped a button on the side of her temple, before the square replaced itself, becoming perfectly flush with the scalp and indistinguishable.

  Xander had heard of Synth
Bots before, mostly they were in the sex clubs and gaming industry; programmed to perform set tasks with basic sub routine informations. Ava seemed to be free functioning.

  “Mr Owens built you? He built his wife?” Xander exclaimed.

  “In some regards, yes. Mrs Ava Owens died five years ago in a tragic accident. The work that CyberBio had been working on was on mapping the mind into data, luckily Mrs Owen had been scanned before the accident. After her death, Owens constructed my shell from digital imagery before transferring her prior mental data into a prototype DataBrain.”

  Xander listened, understanding the words and comprehending the general idea, but to be seeing it in the flesh was something else.

  “I hope I don’t make you uncomfortable Mr Draven,” Ava smiled politely. “My emotional triggers and human responses are still developing, so I can sometimes appear, cold.”

  “Yeah, you are a little icy," Xander replied, “But it’s ok, you aren’t making me uncomfortable,” he lied.

  “Good, I hope we can move forward into looking at the investigation?”

  “Sure, sure," Xander welcomed something which he was more familiar with. “So you found the body, called the cops, they looked around?”

  “Correct, it was two days before I heard anything more. They called me to tell me the investigation was being indefinitely suspended for inconclusive evidence. They ignored any further of my questions, and I’ve heard nothing since,” Ava genuinely looked sad. “I believe my, nature, being the reason they didn’t feel the need to speak to me as a person. Giving me more of an update than anything else,” she swallowed, trying to regain composure and looked up at Xander, “I may be a synthetic but I have, developing emotion responses.”

  Xander struggled to understand the situation in front of him. Knowing that Ava wasn’t human and yet, looking at her, how could he not see her as such.