The Extensions were buckled into the seats in the back and, although it made no sense, Levi always said good morning to the hi-tech mannequins. First he greeted the shiny metallic face of the Life3000, with its empty eyes sitting in the middle of an ambiguous face that looked like everyone’s and no one’s at the same time. Then he acknowledged the Life5000 buckled in the back. Its cobalt metal casing was devoid of any significant feature except for a slight indentation where the eyes would be and a rounded protrusion where the nose would form when someone put on the suit.
“You’re so weird,” Sherman mumbled brotherly.
Levi couldn’t argue that. He imagined the Extensions sitting in the freezing cold all night, lonely and bored, dreaming of the next day when they could come alive again. It was a silly thought, and in a moment of metacognition, Levi realized maybe he had been out on the road too long to become so attached to inanimate objects.
The four men pulled up to the side of West Freemont High School where the entrance to the auditorium was already propped open for them. At this point in the tour, unloading the van and setting up for the demonstration was muscle memory. By the end, they had the cube and Extensions in view on stage, but the mat for the Life5000 was hidden behind a set of tableau curtains. Levi had already dressed into the Life5000’s suit, allowing the Extension ample time to conform to his body. Now he stood on the mimetic mat, out of site, waiting for the show to start.
Soon the Knights came pouring into the auditorium, excited for the chance to miss class. As he waited on the mimetic mat, Levi looked to Peanut, who was hurrying to find a hiding spot backstage until the presentation was over. The Hamza had become uncomfortable with the American teenagers and their abrasive, often rude comments upon seeing a Hamza for the first time in person. One student even suggested making a Hamza their new school mascot.
Sherman made his way to the stage and rapped on the microphone, sending thunderous beats echoing around the room. The students settled except for a few curious murmurers.
“Hello, Knights!” He shouted unnecessarily like he didn’t have a microphone at his lips. Sherman waited optimistically for them to respond like a room of grateful teenagers.
“Giants suck!” a student yelled from the pubescent sea. Laughter filled the room.
“Passion!” He spoke in the shouter’s direction. “I see that you have it, but perhaps are not using it to better your life. Young man, thank you for volunteering. Please come up to the stage.” When no one stood up he added, “Let’s give the Eagles’ fan a round of applause.”
Sherman was the master of teenage psychology, usually by utilizing a lot of reverse psychology. Now the room erupted in applause at the chance to cheer for their home team. An athletic black boy stood up and made his way to the stage. At first he walked hesitantly, but was half-jogging by the time he reached the steps.
“What’s your name?”
“Lucas,” the boy said. Several hoots came from the audience.
“Lucas, what do you want to do when you graduate high school?”
Lucas didn’t pause when he said, “Run track.”
“Excellent. Now Lucas, you are going to demonstrate for us how to use an Extension. Our assistant, Fletch Hemingway, will assist you,” he said, pointing for Lucas to walk off the side of the stage. The audience was all in now, laughing and excited to see one of their most popular jocks as a robot.
Although it had been thirty years since The Great Rescue, Extensions were still possessions of the middle to upper classes on Earth. All of the children in inner-city schools had seen Extensions of course, but most had never used one, partly because having access to them required money, and partly because there wasn’t a need for one in their lives. Even if they had ever used one, the Extensions the team brought with them were so new, they were still rare to see on the ground.
“Now,” Sherman addressed them again, “I have the pleasure of introducing to you your guest speaker, Levi Avondale. He is the face of Excorp’s Life5000 model Extension, and has gone down in history as the first person to ever compete in a sporting event by extension. Does anyone know what sport was the first to use Extensions?”
“Basketball!”
“Football!”
“Track!”
“Surfing!” Sherman yelled back. This audience had little experience with the sport of surfing, but gasped in surprise.
“How?!” many of them yelled in curiosity.
“We’ll show you. Could you imagine if Lucas received a track scholarship and could compete anywhere on Earth, even Ohmani, in Extension?”
Sherman sparked something in them and the students talked amongst themselves in electrified chatter.
“We ain’t got no money!” a student yelled loudly.
“Money, money, money,” Sherman shook his head. “It’s annoying isn’t it? Like a tether to your ankle while you try to run towards your dreams. I was a C student who grew up in New Jersey…ok, I was a D student. Couldn’t get into a good college and didn’t think I was good at anything…except talking and eating. Those are pretty good credentials for working in the food industry.” He rubbed his paunch and the kids laughed.
“For sixteen years I barely made ends meet, but I worked hard, you see, and when you work hard and have integrity, things just kind of fall into place. Wasn’t long before I was moving to Ohmani as a general manager. Little ol’ me,” he grabbed his beer gut and shook it ironically. “After my heart attack, thought maybe I should get away from the fried food so I left that business behind. With management and customer service under my belt, I got a few gigs as a project manager. That’s where my story found me at a crossroads with Mr. Levi, and now I have the honor of being here today. Speaking of Levi, are you ready to meet him?”
“Yes!” they yelled and broke out in applause, fully engaged.
Levi already had the helmet on that came with the Life5000 and began walking in place on his mat as Peanut kicked on some upbeat music. Levi was hidden from the audience, but the synced Extension walked out onto the stage, waving dramatically. At first the children thought Levi was in the flesh, but as the overhead stage lights reflected off the cobalt blue metallic sheath of the android, Levi could hear their inhales over the music. It was his favorite part. He squatted and jumped as high as he could, spinning around in a complete three sixty before landing solid on his feet. The students cheered loudly.
“How are we today, Knights?” Levi spoke into the microphone. “Speaking of not having good grades, when I moved to Ohmani at eighteen, I was labeled a delayed until twenty-one because my GPA was so low. That’s right,” Levi confirmed their faces of disapproval over the asteroid’s rule. He heard one classman announce he would be labeled “expired.”
Levi continued to talk about his journey to Ohmani, omitting a few details of course. It really was an inspirational story of growth, and he was proud of how far he had come from that boy who had cultivated an unhealthy dependency on the ocean. The students were fully engaged, their eyes transfixed on the face of the Extension even though picture slideshows and video clips played on the projector behind him.
“Which leads me to why I am here. This technology is not available to everyone, but it opens so many doors for those who love to dream big. We will be giving out scholarships to students who feel that an Extension would help them reach their career goals. Applications can be found on this website,” he turned to point to the gigantic words above his head. “All you have to do is write an essay about why you feel like extending could be beneficial to you. There’s an interview after that, and then if approved, you will be given free access to your local Extension Office. I hope everyone here puts their name into the lucky draw. Three people will win a free five night vacation to Ohmani in the flesh.” The students talked amongst themselves, excited at the possibilities being thrown at them.
“Now, are you all ready to see Lucas in an Extension?” They cheered wildly. “Alright, come on out Lucas!”
From the side,
Sherman pressed a control that sent a stage curtain shuffling sideways. Lucas stood in an Extension cube in the signature white leotard Levi had worn the first time he extended…the one that made him look like an albino penguin on steroids. The students chortled in their seats at the sight of one of the most popular athletes in a tight unitard. Levi could tell Lucas was a master manipulator – not in a bad way, but in a way that proved his emotional and social intelligence. The jock twirled and curtsied for the audience, turning their laughter into something he controlled. Smart kid.
Levi walked Lucas through the rules of translating his movements in the flesh to the Extension’s kinetics, deciding he liked the boy enough not to let him crash into the front wall of the cube as most beginners do. He grabbed Lucas just in time and repositioned him in the middle of the mat, holding his shoulders and allowing him to walk in place while leaning forward. The Life3000 began walking onto the stage…like a prehistoric chicken. When the auditorium responded with laughter, Lucas looked to his right and saw the Extension he was controlling. He immediately jumped in surprise and watched, fascinated, as every arm movement was exactly replicated through the avatar.
“This is so cool!” Lucas said through his helmet.
“Walk over to the microphone and tell everyone what extending is like,” Levi coaxed, letting go of his shoulders.
Lucas tried to concentrate now, but luckily his facial expression did not show up on the less advanced Life3000. He walked it to the microphone and yelled, “Go, Knights!”
After a round of cheers, Levi signaled for Sherman to pull back the other side curtain, where he was standing on the mimetic mat. He spent five or so minutes talking to the students about how the new models could allow Lucas to attend track meets and run competitively around the world if he received an athletic scholarship. He used the segue to run some drills with Lucas. They did lunges, high knees, and then began throwing a football.
“Over here!” A kid in a letter jacket stood up in the audience.
Lucas wound up and tossed the football over the audience’s heads. The boy caught it and threw it back to Lucas who pivoted on his right ankle to catch the overhead pass. He rolled his shoulder back to throw it again but just as he stepped forward to follow through with the ball, his Extension went crashing to the floor.
Levi looked over at the cube, hoping the unitard wasn’t so tight it had caused Lucas to pass out. The boy was fine. Levi walked over to the Life3000, confused as to how it had simply stopped working. Was it broken? He stood back up and walked to the microphone. “Well, guys, sorry about that. It appears — "
The world seemed to be spinning around him. He was falling off the stage and hit the concrete below with a thud. Pain shot through Levi’s head as the suit responded to the pressure of the Extension making contact with the ground. It was a good thing pressure limits were programmed into the syncing system, Levi thought, or he might have a concussion.
Sherman, Fletch, and Peanut came running to the stage.
“Aliens!”
“What is that?” one student had the audacity to say. They gawked at the two extra-terrestrials with little sensitivity, and any sense of maturity they had flew out the window.
Peanut and Fletch tried to ignore the ignorant teenagers while the three of them worked together to get the Extension back on stage and close the curtains. Levi did his best to close the presentation with the summative speech he had practiced so many times, but the students were too riled up to listen. The worried teachers began shuffling the students back to class in what was the most disastrous show they had ever done.
“What happened?” Levi asked Peanut.
“Don’t know,” the Hamza replied honestly
“We’ve got another high school to hit today so we better figure it out,” Sherman insisted.
“Hey guys, sorry about what those kids said about you,” Levi sympathized. He felt like high school kids were not the best representation of America’s finest. Then again, they only knew what they’d experienced, which wasn’t much.
“I lived in India as a kid. I’m used to it,” Fletch assured with a sharp smile.
“Same thing no matter where I am that’s not home,” Peanut shrugged the sad truth. He tossed the Extension over his shoulder and carried it up the stairs.
They tinkered with the technology for twenty minutes to no avail. Finally they heard the door swing open in the back of the room and a thin man with long white hair started making his way towards them. His natural gait was fast, and his hair flew behind him like a kite.
“Still can’t figure it out?”
“Nah,” Sherman said, with his head in the floorboard on the Extension cube.
“Have you checked your phones lately?” The man asked.
Levi pulled his tablet from his trousers and pulled the edges of it to expand the screen. Colors danced across it as it faded in and out of blackness. “What the — ”
“Solar flare,” the man confirmed. “I’m the physics teacher here. Just had to come over and tell you what happened during your show.”
“What’s a solar flare?” Levi asked.
“The sun put out a burst of x-rays and energy.”
“That’s why the Extensions died on us and why our electronics are acting wacky,” Fletch theorized. “It’s probably messing with the micro-universe just enough to disrupt the particle entanglement of the equipment.”
“Of course,” Levi replied sarcastically.
“It was a pretty big one, so now they’re talking about an approaching CME,” the science teacher informed them.
Acronyms. One of Levi’s least favorite things. “What’s a CME?”
“Coronal mass ejection,” Fletch answered. “Solar flares travel at the speed of light so there was only an eight minute warning. Coronal mass ejections are charged particle storms, and depending on how fast it’s traveling, that gives us one to three days to prepare.”
“Is it…serious?”
Fletch and the science teacher looked at each other. “It could very well be,” the man nodded. “Usually Earth’s magnetosphere deflects these charged particles, but with the poles switching, this protective bubble is much smaller.”
“Solar flares are like a muzzle flash, and CME’s are like the cannon ball. It won’t kill anybody, but it has the potential to mess up electronics,” Fletch expounded.
“Where are you all supposed to be heading?”
“New York City.”
“I would head there as soon as you can. I’m sure the skyways are closed. If I were you I would get settled in before things start to get really interesting around here.”
5 THE MOON HIVE
The trip to the moon was much shorter than Talon anticipated, although her sleeping pills and the gravity assist had helped with that. The act of slingshotting proved to be a little hard on the body, and her neck had become a constant reminder of that. As she cracked her cervical spine, Talon could understand why commercial flights chose not to use GAO technology. Too many people were suing nowadays.
Talon wasn’t nearly as familiar with the happenings on the moon, and so in addition to the files, she used her flight time to study up on lunar life. The people there lived in the various lava tubes just below the moon’s surface. The exterior was littered with atmospherically-enclosed factories and plants. The only movement above ground was the people being shuffled from lava tube to lava tube on the maglev trains that zipped over the craters like scattering mice. Also, there were no personally-owned vehicles, only public transportation, controlled by the local government.
Thump. Talon was jerked forcefully to the left. Thump. This time her coffee was knocked over.
“It’s just space debris,” Aberdeen interjected when she noticed Talon looking a bit worried. “No big deal.”
She had yet to have a conversation with Aberdeen Green, but Talon liked her. She watched the Sydces woman scan through her mission files for the umpteenth time, un-phased by the bombardments, and couldn’t help b
ut want to know more about the raven-haired beauty. Eon had called her Mrs. Green, but there was no ring on her finger. Did she just not wear it for anonymity? Or was she trying to minimize bodily obstruction? Should Talon take her ring off too, she wondered, turning it on her finger? Talon would never breach professionalism, but she found herself unusually curious. She had never seen Aberdeen in the DOLO building.
“So what’s the plan when we land?” Talon asked her.
“We’ve got a day head start. I think we should collect evidence from the crime scene and start to get a feel on the employees.”
Talon agreed, but that was basically what Eon had already suggested. Although her adviser did not officially make Aberdeen lead on the case, her age and familiarity with the uppers gave her unspoken seniority. As a fresh graduate, Talon would respectfully let Aberdeen take lead.
The white noise of flying died down as the ship decelerated. When its legs finally hit the crust, she could hear the droning of the temporary atmospheric capsule closing around them like a Venus fly trap around its prey. Several clicks resonated as the two panels locked into place, followed by the loud swooshing of the artificial atmosphere rushing into the dome.
Talon and Aberdeen were not the only two aboard. Relatives of the military received a reduced rate to fly on their ships. Talon was watching two children, a brother and sister she presumed, jump out of their seats against the pilot’s request. They proceeded to bounce up and down like they were on pogo sticks. They bounded in uninhibited play and she found their laughter infectious. Gravity on the moon was one-sixth that of Earth and it took all of Talon’s willpower not to satisfy her inner child and join in.
“Settle down!” their mother scolded with little patience. Between the two bundles of energy, the woman had gotten little sleep on their flight. “Put your shoes on.”
The two children sat down giggling, threw off their shoes, and swung their feet from the edge of the seat. Their mother reached into her carry-on and pulled out two pairs of boots. She pulled back the magnetic strips and slipped them onto their tiny feet. Talon watched curiously, having noticed other passengers had switched out their shoes during descent and docking also. Once their new boots were secured, the children stood up and tried to jump again, this time failing to reach any remarkable height.
An Eagle's Revenge (Across the Infinite Void Book 2) Page 6