Survivors

by Alex Isaacs

  All of us next went over to the fields where the crops were growing. I could see that they did not have any fields sitting empty for rotating the crops. The crops might not be producing the way they should. I saw some bags of fertilizer; my dad would hate seeing those bags. Rose saw me looking at everything; then, she asked me what is wrong with the crops. I said that my parents teach us about crop management, how to use natural fertilizer from the animals for the fields, leaving one field open in rotation. The crops will get the best results from following this routine. Rose said we do not have the space for crop rotation. Simon stepped up, saying we should visit your parent's farm to see how much better things can be for us.

  Simon took us back into the office, then asked me if my parents would be willing to help them with the crop question. My parents can grow the type of crop we are working with; we can buy a small portion when he harvests them. I said he could talk with my dad, but right now, we may have to sell the farm. We might have another farm that we can buy if the other farmer decides to sell. Simon said he would make arrangements then to see the farm of my parents, maybe making a deal.

  We went back to Urbina’s house; this will still be my home. Joe said on the ride home that everything went well, Simon seems very interested in your parent’s farm, it will help us out soon. Rose said she is going to talk with Simon; she wants to go to see my parents and how it runs. We got back, Rose telling us she would be back in a bit. I went to get my books to do some more reading; I was now nearly done what I have planned for each of the classes. When done my reading, I walked into the kitchen; Rose had gone shopping. Joe and Ann will be happy to find this out. We had a lovely meal; Joe even had a beer with his dinner. I helped with the dishes before going to send my parents a message about Simon wanting to come up to see the farm, saying there might be five of us coming up, I would let them know more when it might happen.

  I had a good night's sleep; my parents messaged me back that they would be happy for them to visit. Rose was up just after I was, both of us making breakfast. The other two came down like clockwork now; they were enjoying the meals. I went out for a walk, ending up at the nearby mall. I bought some more supplies for my classes; then, I wandered around looking at all the different shops. I got back late in the afternoon; the others were off doing their work. I got my things ready for the first class on Monday; then, I thought about going to the university to see more of it again. I did not have to worry about getting lost; Ann will be with me to show me around. I grabbed my psychology book to do some more reading; this course would be the hardest for me to understand.

  The rest of the evening went fast; I borrowed Ann’s computer to look at the bus schedule, marking down which bus to take for my excursion to the university tomorrow. I had a little trouble sleeping that night; I was excited about my trip. After breakfast in the morning, everyone went to do what they wanted. I went out to catch the bus I needed, ending up at the university about twenty minutes later. I began to look around, most of the buildings were empty, it being Sunday. The library was open; some students were in working. I guess they were taking classes as well this summer. I marked down where the different buildings for our classes are on a map; then, I headed back to the bus stop to go back to the house. I got my backpack ready for the two classes on Monday; then, I went out to the patio to sit and relax before dinner.

  The first week of classes went quickly; notes handed out for what we were taking, along with the assignments for each class. I thought this would be great; I can work at my speed, making sure I have the assignments ready for when they are due. The psychology class was different; it still interested me. I could not work ahead as I wanted to, like the other classes, but I did not mind that.

  By the end of the second week of classes, I was doing very well in my required classes; I think most of the others were also doing very well. I wanted to be able to do more when I was at the house, so I approached Joe about the computer. He made a phone call; then, we went to pick up a new computer for me to use at the house. Joe then told me that Simon would like to go up to my parent's farm on the second of August after our morning class. I asked what flight we will be on; Joe smiled, saying we will go on his private jet. Joe said there is an airstrip close to my town that we will fly into on that date. I took the name of it, then laughed. Joe looked at me; I said it is only twenty minutes from our farm. I asked how many will be going; I need to let my mom know for meals. Joe said four; he could not go. Rose will fill him in on everything when we get back. I sent my parents the information, saying I will let them know when we will be in at the little airport.

  My parents were happy to hear of my coming home, writing; they will have everything ready for us all. On Friday afternoon, Joe got Ann and me to come into his work; he wanted to get our input on a computer program that he wanted to run onboard the space vehicles. Joe heard of computers that use voice technology; he is hoping to get us to integrate it into our system. We got Joe to set us up with a separate unit for us to try out a program that the army gave him. We found that it needed to have a voice file made up; one of us would use our voice for the computer to use. I wanted Ann to use her voice, but she was hesitant about the idea. We agreed to make up a voice file each. We set about making a list of the most used words for us to put in our file. That way, we would have the same amount of words to put into the program. We took our work home with us; we did not want anyone hearing us do it, especially the other person.

  Friday night after dinner, I began recording my list of words, then thought of how the computer would use them to make sentences. I found that computers could understand if I talked to it if I had a program. I downloaded the program; it was simple, I could speak, and it would type what I said. I went into the program, looking at the code they used. I now downloaded the code writing program we were using in our courses. The program will help me to try to make changes to what we will need. I needed to go and look at the code of the program that is in the lab. I went to Joe, explaining my situation, saying what I wanted to try and do. He told me to get Ann; she might as well try to help as well. We got back into the lab, getting the program, copying it onto a stick; I did not want to ruin the program we have.

  The two of us went onto a separate computer to open the program up, looking at the code the person wrote up. Joe came to get us to go home; it was near eleven o’clock at night. We had been working on it for almost four hours. I wanted to take it home with me, but that would get the three of us in trouble. I could hardly sleep that night, thinking of the code. I kept turning the light on to write down some ideas I was getting. When I got up in the morning, coming down for breakfast, the three of them looked at me; I had slept in, something that I never did. Rose asked if I was feeling alright; I said yes, I was thinking of the computer program, writing down notes so I could try to sleep. After eating, I brought the notes down for Joe and Ann to look at together.

  Joe looked at me, then asked if the two of us wanted to go back into the lab to work on it. Ann beat me downstairs; we both brought our voice tapes to try out if we could make the changes possibly on the program. The two of us spent most of the day, then finally were able to get the program to talk back to us. We had to use only one voice; the computer got mixed up with the two files. I took my file out; then, we tried it once more. We both began to laugh; it was like we were talking with Ann; her voice was nearly perfect. I suggested that Ann try to change her voice a little for us to see if it copied the main voice file. I left Ann alone to do the recording; five minutes later, she came to get me. We input the file, then began to talk to the computer. The two of us almost fell out of our chairs, laughing so hard. It brought Joe and a few other people in to see what the commotion was.

  We told Joe and the others what we had been able to do; then we asked Joe to talk to the computer. When he did, the computer responded in Ann’s different voice. The group was shocked at what we had done, but they did not catch on to the voice. Joe called Simon, as some of the others took turns t
alking to the computer. The two of us were laughing at the voice response form the computer. Ann and I looked at each other; the group still did not catch on to the voice. Simon came into the lab; we explained what we were doing; then got him to try it out. Simon looked amazed as we laughed about the voice. Simon looked around the room at the others, who still did not know why we were laughing. Simon asked Ann if that was supposed to be her voice on the computer. We settled down, saying yes, explaining we wanted to see if the program would take a different voice. Simon asked if we could change the voice to a regular voice, he could not let the members hear a seductive voice on the computer for such a serious operation.

  We took the file out, noticing that the computer had increased its vocabulary on its own. I put Ann’s file back in; I did not want them to hear my voice at any of the meetings. Simon tried it again, then said good, that is the voice we will be using on the computer from now on. Ann looked at me; I do not think she was expecting that. The others went back to their work, while Ann and I made copies of our upgraded computer program. I copied the code down so I could work on it, trying to add more to it when I got the chance to work in the lab.

  Simon came back in, letting the two of us know he was proud of the job we did with the program. Simon then told the two of us to be prepared to talk and show the people in the group our accomplishments later this week. Simon then asked me if I spoke with my parents about coming up to the farm. I said yes, my mom would have everything prepared for all of us being there. On the drive back to the house, Ann asked me about my parent's farm, how big it is, what we had on it. I told her everything, adding that my parents may have to move if the town wants to expand. I then told Ann that we are looking at another farm in a beautiful valley, not far away from the present farm.

  At dinner, Joe told Rose of what the two of us accomplished at the lab today, saying that Simon will be getting the two of us in to see the group to talk of our progress on the computer speech program. I said we would try to get the computer to access other programs to give out the proper information before trying to put it in the system. Ann added that it should not be that hard, the computer was already adding to its vocabulary as we were trying it out. Joe suggested that we delete the other voice file, no need for anyone to hear that voice again. Ann looked at me; we both knew we had to put the data back in for the computer to keep working; we told Joe it had made special links to the file. We knew it would use the new file as the voice, but would not work without it. Rose asked what was wrong with the first voice. Joe looked at us then told Rose that Ann used a seductive rendition of her voice for the first trial. Rose was shocked; later, she asked why we did that. We told her why then everyone showed up. Joe said the two of them were having a good laugh knowing what they did. The rest of us thought that was the way the computer responded. I looked at Ann; her face was as red as mine felt.

  After dinner, I went to my room to do my studies; I guess Ann disappeared as well. I did hear Joe and Rose laugh before I closed my door. I went to bed early; I was tired as I did not sleep much the night before. I was up at my regular time, down helping Rose with our breakfast. Rose began to ask me questions about my parent's farm; I guess she is interested in seeing it, especially after what I had said about the farm down here. I spent most of the day working on my studies; the classes were going through the material as if it was a regular school term.

  The week went quickly again; my psychology class had us draw names out to work in groups of two for this next part of the course. I paired up with a girl, Zoey. This course is her major; she has nothing to do with what we were doing in the space program. I think she was upset that she got me as a partner. As we talked, I could sense this; Zoey might think I would bring her marks down since this was not my major. I decided to try harder just for her, making time to work with her on the project. On Friday after our class, Ann and I were taken to talk about our program. As we finished explaining everything, the General showed up. The General apologized for being late; he took Simon aside to speak with alone. We then showed him our program; the General was amazed at our work, then asked if we were doing any more work on it. We said yes, then he said he could not wait to see the improvements. Then he and Simon excused themselves; they needed to talk privately.

  Later on, Simon came looking for me, asking how things were at my parent’s farm. Were my parents going to have to sell and move as I said earlier? I said I had not heard anything yet, but my parents might not say anything to me while I am studying. Simon then told me the time we would be arriving at the little airport near my town. I told him the short time it will take to get to our farm. He asked how far is the other farm from the airport. I said about another ten minutes drive. Simon told me that he already let Rose know of the time we were leaving here; he would see us next Friday.

  That afternoon, Ann and I stayed at the lab working on the program. It took a while to get a couple of changes done on it, but the work looked promising to us now. We headed back to the house to have dinner. I needed to come back to the university to work on my psychology project for Zoey; I would see her on Saturday morning to go over some of it. On Saturday, I told Ann I would see her in the afternoon to work at the lab; I had some work on my other course to do at the university. She was happy with that; she was doing some work on her other class, some of it she would work on in her mother’s laboratory.

  Zoey was delighted with the time I was putting in for doing the project. We got the work done quickly. We had a little time before I caught my bus, so Zoey asked me some questions about why I chose this university; then, why I am taking the psychology course. I could not tell her everything about why I was here; I said it was the best offer I got. I said I looked over the course choices for an elective, then decided on this course because it seems interesting. Zoey asked if I was going to continue with it as my next elective. I said I might; it just depends on how I do. It might also depend on if I need to take another course for my major. We parted for the day; I rode back to the house to get my work for the lab work with Ann.

  I got to work; Ann was not here. Ann did not show up as it got closer to dinner time. I packed up after an afternoon of struggling with the program. I took the bus back to the house; no one was there. A little later, Ann showed up; she said sorry, she had to work on her own. I decided to start to make dinner, then, Rose and Joe showed up. They were happy the two of us made dinner; they said that they were talking with Simon all afternoon. That night and most of Sunday, I worked on my classwork, just like Ann. I sent my parents a message, letting them know what time we would be in at the little airport just outside of our town. I asked about the town buying our farm. My dad said he would be there waiting for us, then said he could not wait to see us. My dad said they are taking their time with it as usual, plus he had not heard from Mr. Hamilton or seen any notice of him putting his farm up for sale.

  At dinner, Rose and Joe looked like something was wrong, but I dare not ask; it could be about the business with Simon and possibly the army. I let it go, no need for me to think about it, if it involves me, I will find out about it soon. After dinner, I went to my computer. I brought up the pictures of back home, starting to go through them. My mind now went to thinking about what I will do if this scholarship falls through. What if the Urbina’s are worried the program is now known, and everything is closing down. There is a knock on my door; I see it is Ann. I let her come in; she asks me if I noticed her parents; they looked upset. I said yes, I hope it is nothing bad happening to the program. Ann said the same thing; then she asked me if we should go to talk with them to find out. I said okay, shutting my computer off.

  We found them in the kitchen; they stopped talking as we entered. We sat down, asking if everything is okay. Joe said everything is okay with what is going on here; it is just a problem that might arise with another area of the program. We have to think ahead, making plans for a problem that might arise. Joe then said they could not tell us anything about it, but we need not worry. We were
satisfied hearing this; I got up to let them talk, Ann moved over to hug her mother, then, her father before following me out of the kitchen. Ann thanked me for coming with her to find out if everything was okay. I went back into my room, putting the computer back on, looking at the pictures I have of back home.

  I remembered Simon asking me about my parent's farm if they had to move. I now wonder if there is a problem with the farm down here, maybe their experiments are not working out the way they want them. I put it out of my mind. If it is that, I will find out when I get back home. I looked at the pictures some more before going to bed.

  This week went slow; we had major assignments to do. We had to have them done and into the class before Friday. Thursday we were to do our project in psychology, Zoey was amazed and happy with my input, hugging me when we got an A grade, I think she hoped for the A-plus grade, but she knew we would not get it with this being a minor subject for me.

  Friday’s class dragged on, Ann and I were chomping at the bit to get going. We dropped our assignments off yesterday to save time. We had a bag packed for the trip to my parent’s farm. All we had to do now was to finish class, then head out to meet Rose to go to the plane. Finally, the class ended, Ann and I ran to the parking lot, Rose was standing beside the car as we came out. We got to the plane, Simon was waiting, talking with another gentleman that I had not seen before. We got on the plane, taking off from the smaller airport. The flight did not take as long as a regular flight, plus we landed closer to my home. We got through the check-in quickly; there was no one else at the airport.