Implanted – Book 1: Disconnected
by Chris B. Porter
Copyright © 2015 by Chris B. Porter
All rights reserved.
http://www.chrisbporter.com
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without expressed written permission from the author. To contact the author, visit www.chrisbporter.com.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author's imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
The author greatly appreciates you taking the time to read his work. Please consider leaving a review wherever you bought the book, or telling your friends about it.
Implanted – Book 1: Disconnected by Chris B. Porter – 1st ed
Images licensed through ©DepositPhotos/rolffimages
Dedication
To my mother, who is a robot. I remember when you used to always say, “Sqreeekkk, bleep eeeepp. Pa-kew pa-kew!” (That's her laser.)
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
About the Author
Chapter 1
Jamie dodged little Erica’s sweeping kick and planted the ball of his foot on her ankle. He put just enough pressure on it to bring her to the mat.
“You almost had me,” he told her, trying to slow his breathing. “If I hadn’t been looking down, you might have knocked me off my feet.”
The twelve-year-old stood and bowed to him. “I’ll be sneakier next time, do it when you’re not looking.” She grinned, showing teeth still too big for her growing face.
The other seven students in Jamie’s martial arts class watched on; listening, learning.
“Time’s up for today. Meet you all back here on Monday,” Jamie told them and rubbed the back of his head. He would get the usual 50 Xchange Credits for volunteering to teach the class, as he did every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
He had his long, brown hair in a bob at the base of his neck, and once all the kids were gone, he let it out into a ponytail trailing to his mid-back.
It’d been a long week. Teaching in the Master’s program at Arizona State during the last week for finals kept him busy at home grading, grading, grading. Between ASU work and his martial arts class, he hadn’t had time to spend with his wife, Amanda. He couldn’t wait to get home, shower, and dress for the evening. Amanda wanted to go out to eat at their favorite Chinese restaurant, saying she had some great news. If it’s what he thought it would be, then he could barely contain his excitement.
He knew she’d seen the OBGYN yesterday, although she thought she’d kept him in the dark. He’d peeked at her phone to confirm her odd behavior and was surprised she’d managed to keep the news of her pregnancy a secret for over twenty-four hours. Both of them were thirty, married for four years, and they were ready to start their family.
When Jamie got to their house in Tempe near the University, Amanda wasn’t home. She must be working late he thought, knowing how much she loved her job at the newspaper downtown. He showered and dressed in his best suit, pulling his wet hair back into his usual ponytail.
As he finished shaving, he heard Amanda come in. She called to him through the door, “You’re wearing the Musk cologne. What’s the occasion?”
“I thought you were the one with the occasion.” He wiped the excess shaving cream from his smooth cheeks and buttoned the top of his shirt.
She opened the bathroom door, and he gasped. She wore a tiny red dress and high red heels and black fishnet hose. Her blonde curls fell around her shoulders like a halo. “You’re going to let this be my surprise, aren’t you, mister-knows-everything?”
He kissed her lower lip so he wouldn’t smear her lipstick and said, “What did you do, get ready at the office?”
“Brenda let me use her shower.”
“Mmm. You look great. Maybe we should stay in.”
She coyly pulled away from him. “No, no. I’m starving. And I haven’t hardly seen you all week. How many Xchange Credits did you earn grading papers and teaching judo?”
“Why?” he asked.
“Because maybe we can afford a place a little classier than the same ole Chinese.”
“I like our place.”
She sighed, grinned, and rolled her eyes. “Okay, but check them anyway. I checked mine, and I got 800 for the week. I wrote an extra piece for March’s edition and helped someone in the office with a personal problem.”
Jamie went to the bedroom and put his thumb on the Xchange Credit counter on the bedside table. He’d earned just over 500 Credits. Yep, he thought, she’s certainly the bread winner. He rubbed the back of his head again, thinking about the implant in his brainstem. All of his good and bad deeds were counted, tallied, tracked, ensuring he didn’t break any laws.
Amanda’s heels clicked across the tile floor and she wrapped her arms around him from behind. “I love it when you wear Musk. I love how you only wear it on special occasions. But this is just an ordinary day, like any other.”
“But you said—”
She grinned. “You’re so impatient, like a little boy sometimes.”
He spun around and picked her up. “Can a little boy do this?” He held her out from his body as though she were a newborn kitten.
“You make that look so easy!”
He grinned at her as he slipped her back onto the floor with a clacking of heels. “I could carry you around the world.”
Chapter 2
They took the tram downtown, then walked to the restaurant, Fulin’s. They waited only ten minutes before being seated.
“So,” Jamie said, “are you going to tell me now?”
“Let’s order first.”
“Will you be getting a beer?” He winked at her.
Her blue eyes widened. “Shut up! Okay, okay. Fine. You know already.” Her cheeks flushed, and she smiled as big as possible. “It’s happened. We’re going to have a baby!”
He laughed, got up and pulled her out of her chair, hugging her tightly. “Boy or girl?”
“Boy.” She peeked up at him. “And girl. Twins!”
A wave of shock hit him. “Two? How?”
“The fertility drugs. Remember the GYN said twins were possible?”
“Yeah, but…”
She put her dainty hands on his face. “We’ll handle it just fine. I want to stay home with them. We can live off your Xchange Credits. Sure, it might be tight, but we’ll be fine. You know we will.”
He hugged her again, smelling the honey of her hair. Twins!
They ordered a lot of food, but the excitement kept both of them only nibbling at the delicious Chinese cuisine. They were silent, smiling at each other when their eyes met. It reminded Jamie of when they went to a park after he asked her to marry him. They’d said nothing then, either, just enjoyed the moment.
Two-hundred-fifty Xchange Credits came from Jamie’s thumb to pay for the meal. Amanda wanted to pay, but he wouldn’t let her drop even one Xchange Credit. She told him she wanted to freshen up in the restroom before they left, and Jamie walked outside to the tepid desert winter to enjoy the relatively cool city.
Five minutes stretched into ten, then fifteen. Amanda should have been here. Was she waiting for him inside?
He went back into Fuli
n’s and his eyes swept the restaurant. She was nowhere to be seen. He asked the young girl at the hostess stand if she’d seen his wife, describing her.
“I saw her when you were eating, but that’s it. Retro dress, right?”
“Yeah, I’ll check the bathroom.”
He went to the narrow hallway housing bathrooms and knocked on the ladies’ room door. “Amanda?”
Nothing for a moment, then he heard a thudding sound, like someone kicking a wall. Jamie tried the doorknob, but found it locked. He hammered on the door. Something wasn’t right…something was very, very wrong.
“Open the door. Amanda!”
He threw his shoulder into the bathroom door and it burst open, breaking into four pieces of wasted wood.
Someone was choking in the stall.
Jamie pulled open the stall door and a man in a ski mask shoved a knife in his gut. He fell back, catching a glimpse of what was happening inside.
Two men had Amanda pinned to the wall with her back to them, the one who stabbed Jamie returned to business. Both were dressed in all black, complete with masks.
He gasped and felt the blood pouring out of his gut. He knew bodies; he was a martial arts master. The knife had missed anything important, but he didn’t want them to know that.
What were they doing to his wife? And how the hell were they getting away with it? Wouldn’t their implants stop them?
He cracked his eyes open a little wider. The man who stabbed Jamie held Amanda’s right hand against the wall, pressing her thumb flat. He pulled out a hatchet and in a swift, almost thoughtless movement, chopped off her right thumb.
Jamie’s heart exploded. He saw red and felt a surge of power fill him. He jumped up and punched the man in the neck. The masked man grabbed his throat as his face darkened and he fell down. The other man cursed, and said, “I gotta finish it.” The second attacker’s green eyes looked at Jamie through the black ski mask.
Before Jamie had a chance to rescue his screaming wife, the man hammered something deep in the back of her head and pulled out a thin metal tube. Silence filled the bathroom. Amanda had no more screams. She had no more anything. She fell to the ground like a doll.
“Sorry, I had to,” said the man who had just killed his wife.
Jamie didn’t really remember exactly what happened after that. He had the knife at one point, but he didn’t recall using it. He used his fists, his feet, his knees, his elbows. He used his fingernails and teeth. There was no need to take off the masks; their faces would be unrecognizable.
He killed them quickly, but made sure it hurt.
Once he had Amanda’s warm body in his arms, he buried his bloody face in her matted hair. He heard the people from the restaurant around them, but didn’t open his eyes. He just kept her as close to him as possible, placing one bruised hand on her belly.
Then things began to fade… the lights dimmed. Amanda’s scent grew faint. He felt prickling in his brainstem. His implant was doing something… and then all was darkness.
Chapter 3
Jamie awoke in a white room in a hospital bed. His eyes focused on a painting of a desert sunrise hanging on the wall to his right. Where was he?
Everything came back to him. Amanda. He grabbed his head and tears streamed from his eyes. The twins. Amanda. His life.
Panic and fear took him into hysteria. The door to the hospital room opened and a pale man with black hair came in and injected him with a dark blue syringe. He fought against it, but soon stopped caring. He welcomed the drowsiness it brought, how it eased the pain, and then there was sleep.
He woke up again and the same man was in the room with him, leaning over him, prying his eyes open and shining a light into them.
Jamie jerked upright. “What’s going on? Where the hell am I? Who are you?”
The man held out his bony hands and put the light on the counter by the sink. “Calm down, Mr. Jenkins. Calm down.” His black eyes penetrated Jamie.
“Tell me what’s going on!”
“I’ll have to sedate you again if you don’t stop shouting. You have to calm down.”
Jamie took a deep breath, willing his nerves to settle.
“I’m Dr. McElroy.”
The doctor was dressed casually. “What kind of doctor?” he asked.
“I work with the UNE.”
That didn’t answer his question, but the doctor wasn’t going to give him that one.
“Well, what do you do?”
He sat on the edge of the bed. “You killed two men. We had to shut you down and contain you.”
Jamie rubbed his face, realizing they had cleaned the blood off him, changed him into a hospital gown, and laser-mended his cuts. The stab to his gut was gone, leaving only a dull, internal ache. “Shut me down?”
“It’s part of the Xchange Credits implant. We do that when criminal acts take place.” He put on a pair of glasses he’d had hanging from his neck and picked up a clipboard. “Tell me, what do you remember?”
Jamie sighed, resigned. “What are you going to do to me? How did those men get away with attacking her like that?”
Dr. McElroy adjusted his glasses even though they were straight and wouldn’t look at Jamie. “Just answer the question.”
“I don’t remember much. What are you going to do with me?” He gripped the sides of the bed, glaring at the doctor.
“We need to get all the facts and then we’ll treat you for your crimes.” He met Jamie’s stare.
“What kind of treatment?”
He set the clipboard down. “Most people don’t really know what happens when a serious crime occurs, for instance, a crime like a double homicide.”
“But they killed her!”
“Please lower your voice.” The doctor’s face had grown hard, his voice firm. “I will sedate you again.”
Jamie relaxed his hands and put them on his lap. “Okay, okay. I’m calming down. You have to understand. My wife just died. Did you know she was pregnant? Do you know if the pregnancy lasted until she got to the hospital? She’d just… just told me.”
“I’m sorry to have to be the one to tell you, but the twins didn’t make it.”
He slumped, tears stinging his eyes. Numbness took over his body.
The doctor continued, “Our procedure will erase your memory of what actually happened. We plan to relocate you to Amsterdam where you’ll wake up in your new home with a memory that your wife died from a heart attack. You’ll have no memory of the pregnancy.”
Jamie was enraged. “I don’t want to forget! You can’t do that.” He pulled the sheets off his legs and got out of the bed. He towered over the plainclothes doctor, who reached in his pocket and pulled out a syringe.
“There is enforcement just outside the door. All I want to know is if you knew the two men who assaulted your wife, and then we can begin the procedure. You’ll remember none of this.”
“Know them? Know them! They wore masks. How the hell would I know two men who cut off my wife’s thumb and killed her by yanking out her implant?”
Jamie was furious, but he had to do everything he could to avoid having the procedure done. What the hell is going on? The twins not being saved with the advanced medicine. The men getting away with murder without their implants shutting them down like Jamie’s had. Those were just two examples that things were adding up to the world not being what it had seemed all his life. Without his real memory intact, Jamie would never find the truth of what happened.
“Well,” Dr. McElroy said, “if that’s all you can recall, just please lie back down on the bed and someone will be in shortly to take you to the procedure room.” He left without looking back, locking the door behind him.
Jamie scanned the small room and spotted a camera spying on him from above the air vent. He had to get out of this room, out of the building.
He scooted his cot over to the wall below the air vent and hopped up, draping the cot blanket over the camera. That’ll bring someone in here pretty quickl
y, he thought. As fast as he could, he jumped from the cot and pressed flat beside the door.
He heard it unlock, saw the knob turn and the door open inward.
Jamie slammed the door into whoever was on the other side. He heard a body fall. Peeking around the corner of the door, he saw a woman sprawled on the ground with blood coming from her nose.
His brainstem prickled again, and the room began to spin. “No!” he cried out, but it was too late. He fell unconscious.
Chapter 4
Five Years Later
Jamie ended his lecture about the beginning of the Internet as the girl with all the questions in the front row raised her hand. “Mr. Jenkins? You were alive when implants became law, weren’t you? What was it like?”
The private college he taught at in Amsterdam usually only had about ten students per class. He hazily recalled the days of auditoriums in Tempe before Amanda had her heart attack. He enjoyed the smaller groups better, and felt the kids did, too. “That’s twenty-first century history.”
She pursed her lips. “But you know about other history. You don’t stick with only twentieth century, right?”
He smiled at her curiosity. “I don’t remember what it was like. I was only five when they became mandatory. Class dismissed.”
He put his studies in his briefcase as the kids left the classroom. The girl with the questions didn’t leave with the others. She approached him and glanced over her shoulder to make sure everyone was gone, tossing light brown wavy hair back and forth. “Mr. Jenkins, I have a lot of respect for you.”
Oh no, he thought. He’d never had a student hit on him, but now this twenty-year-old tapped her lips with painted pink fingernails and grinned. “Uh, thanks, Amy. You’re from the States aren’t you?”
“California district. Where are you from?”
His stomach turned over. “Near there. Arizona.” Images of Amanda lying in a coffin came to his mind.
Disconnected (Implanted Book 1) Page 1