by Jamie Davis
“Hi, Mom. Hi Dad. I’m all set to go home.”
Cass wasn’t sure how her parents were going to react to seeing her. This was the first time they’d seen each other in person since her father’s discovery of Shelby’s cyber human status.
Her dad’s awkward smile at his daughter didn’t seem genuine to her. She thought it appeared a little forced. He entered the room and pointed at the collection of boxes and the suitcase on the bed. “Is this everything you’re bringing home with you?”
“Ummm, yeah. I think I’ve got everything I need.”
Cass’s dad grunted as he picked up one of the boxes. “All right then, I’ll start carrying things out to the car.” He headed through the door and down the hallway.
There was a moment of awkward silence as Cass and her mother stood alone in the room. They’d only said a few words to each other over face chat calls in the past few weeks. Cass wanted to go over and hug her. She needed reassurance her mom still loved her. Cass missed both her parents desperately, especially since Shelby had gone home.
It was her mom who initiated the conversation, breaking the silence as she walked over to Cass’s desk. “Are you sure you have everything you need? We aren’t going to be able to turn around and come back if you’ve forgotten anything. Your father and I have a dinner to go to tonight after we get home.”
“I have everything. I’m sure.”
Her mom pointed to the dresser and crossed over to it. She pulled open the top drawer. “You’ve double checked everything, right?” She glanced inside and reached in, pulling out Cass’s wig.
Cass froze, assuming her mother would see through the deception immediately. She struggled as her mind whirled through possible explanations, trying to come up with a reason for having the wig in her dresser.
“What’s this?”
“Oh, that’s a wig, Mom. You’ve seen wigs before.”
“Very funny. I know it’s a wig. Why do you have a wig that looks just like your hair?”
“Ummm, it’s from a costume party. I went dressed as Shelby and she went dressed as me.”
Her mother stiffened as soon as Cass mentioned Shelby’s name. She dropped the wig as if it were suddenly on fire and slid the drawer closed. “We’ll leave that here, then.”
Cass didn’t wait for any further comments from her mother on the subject. It would only cause a fight. Instead, she said, “We should help Dad carry the stuff out. It’s going to take us all several trips.”
“Good idea. Let’s get this over with so we can head home.”
Cass picked up a box from her bed. Her mother did the same. The two of them headed out to the car as Cass sighed. She’d managed to dodge a lot of awkward questions from her mother regarding the wig she’d used to hide her implant while her hair grew back.
A half-hour later, Cass turned in her key card to Mitch at the dorm’s front desk in the lobby. He had her sign out on a tablet with a checklist stating that she’d completed locking down her room during winter break.
“I look forward to seeing you back in about a month and a half, Cass.”
“Yeah, me too,” Cass said. “Enjoy your break, Mitch.”
“You, too.”
Cass turned and headed outside. Her parents waited in the car at the curb. She climbed into the back seat and her father pulled away onto the street, heading towards the interstate to take them north towards the enclave.
Cass’s nervousness had her feeling jittery all over. It wasn’t just the possibilities for an awkward conversation with her parents on the drive home. She was just as afraid of there being no conversation at all because they were still angry with her. And then there were her worries about getting through the enclave’s security firewall.
She double checked her memory bank, verifying the protocol one file was still in place. There was a pop-up notice attached to the file when she looked at it. She opened the notification to find a text message from Derek.
Cass glanced up at her parents in the front seat. They sat talking quietly about something to do with the neighbors back home. She returned to concentrating on her implant’s internal interface and played the short video message attached to the notification. Only she could hear it since it played inside her implant’s direct cerebral interface.
“Cass, my system notified me that the administrator of the enclave security protocol uploaded a new version right after you left. I’ve included a link in this notification for you to download an updated version of the protocol one file. Make sure you do that before you arrive. Otherwise, it’s likely the existing version will not allow you to pass through undetected.”
Cass rechecked the notification. There was a clickable link at the end of the message. She activated it and approved the download of the new version of the file. Cass settled back and closed her eyes, resting as the file downloaded in the background. Maybe it would be all right if she didn’t talk to her parents after all. She needed to be alone with her thoughts.
Having this new file downloading made her nervous and she was afraid she’d say something that would tip them off. Cass closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. The system in her implant automatically updated the file while she slept.
Chapter 5
Cass jolted awake as something brushed against her arm. She looked around, getting her bearings as her mother said, “Wake up Cassie. We finally got you home.”
Cass recognized the familiar painted tan stucco of the enclave’s walls passing her window. With shock, she realized they were driving up to the black iron gates at the entrance to the Sapiens Movement compound she called home. She was supposed to start running the protocol one file before she got this close to the sensor systems.
Cass couldn’t afford to let her father drive through those gates, not yet.
“Stop.”
“What’s wrong?” her father asked. He stopped the car just before turning into the entrance. The gate had already started opening. It had sensed the car’s arrival and recognized the sensor installed in the car’s license plate bracket as it approached.
She had to think quickly. Cass knew she only had a few seconds before her father continued on and passed through the gates. That would trigger the security alarms for sure. Cass didn’t know if it was already too late or not.
“I want you to take a picture of me and Mom, Dad. I want to celebrate my homecoming. Let’s get out here by the community’s sign. Come on, we took one by the sign at school at the beginning of the semester. This will commemorate my return home.”
Not waiting for an answer, Cass removed her seat belt and opened her door to get out.
Cass’s mom did the same. “Let’s just take the picture so we can get home, James.”
Her father didn’t look convinced. Cass knew he hated doing this kind of thing, even when on family vacations and outings. She could tell what he really wanted was to get back to the house.
Cass jumped out onto the street, walking around the front of the car and across the broad strip of grass to stand by the enclave’s sign notifying passersby they were entering the Sapiens community.
Noble Haven
an AI restricted neighborhood.
“Come on, Mom. Let’s get that picture.” As soon as she said it, Cass activated the protocol one installation program inside her cerebral implant. Immediately, the diagnostics started querying nearby systems. A notification popped up telling her it found the enclave’s firewall.
As she posed next to her mother, the program Derek had created and installed in Cass’s head started assessing the new upgrades to the firewall. A status bar filled a screen in the corner of her mind. It was moving way too slow as it filled from left to right.
Cass’s mom climbed out of the front passenger seat and walked over to stand next to Cass by the sign. She reached out and pulled her daughter close with an arm across her shoulders. She didn’t say anything to Cass, though. Instead, she turned back to her husband. “James, honey. Get out and come over here so you can take the
picture.”
Cass thought she could actually hear her father grind his teeth over her enhanced auditory inputs, but it could have been her imagination. With an exasperated sigh, he climbed out, pulling his phone from his pocket.
He walked around to the front of the car so he could get both of them in the frame and held up his phone so the camera faced them. When he spoke, his tone told Cass how annoyed he was at this little diversion as he said, “Say cheese.”
Cass and her mother both replied, “Cheese.” Her mother didn’t sound like she was all that into the photo op either.
Her dad tapped the screen of his phone once and then slid it back into his pocket. “There, I took the picture. Now, let’s get in the car and go home.”
She and her mother started back towards the car’s passenger side while her dad climbed back into the front seat behind the wheel. Cass checked the status bar of the program loading in her implant. The diagnostics still ran, searching the firewall program for its security protocols. The status bar was only about half full. By her estimation, it would take at least another minute or two to complete its system check and make the necessary upgrades to her firmware.
“If it’s all right with both of you, Mom and Dad, I think I’ll walk back. I miss the old neighborhood and want to take a look around before I get home.”
Both her parents glared at her from the front seat of the car for a moment before glancing at each other. Her father nodded once and her mother leaned out the window. “It’s fine. Don’t be too long, though. We’re not unloading the car for you if that’s what you’re working at.”
Cass forced a laugh and hoped it was convincing. “No, it’s nothing like that. I really just want to have a look around my old hangouts on the way home.” She pointed to the community recreation center just inside the gate where she’d spent a lot of time with her friends over the years.
Her mom looked where her daughter pointed and then back her way. “That makes sense. I think a few of your friends might even be around. Don’t get distracted with idle chatter, though. You need to come straight home and help unload your things. You can find time to visit with people later.”
Cass nodded as her father pulled the car onto the entrance pad and through the open gate into the community.
A quick check of the status bar one more time showed it was about 90% complete now. She needed to get through the gate before it closed again. She wasn’t sure it would open if she approached after it closed. Her personal access code might not work anymore.
Cass started walking towards the gate and tried to time her approach so that she could slip through the closing barrier, but only after the system completed running the diagnostic update in her mind. She hoped that everything worked as planned or the security alerts would sound and the guards would arrive to find out who had breached the system and entered the enclave without permission.
She stepped through the gate just before it closed and stood inside on the pavement for a few seconds, taking a long, deep breath. Cass didn’t know what the alert would be like but there were no sirens or alarms sounding. No security guards came running from the community center towards the gate to stop the interloper, either. A quick check of the protocol one file showed it pulsing a bright lime green color.
The upgrade installation had completed successfully. She activated a drop-down menu and saw there were a series of green checks next to the list of firewall breaches that the hacking program had made to allow her entry. She would have to check that list periodically to make sure the checkmarks remained in place or turned red to indicate a problem.
Cass set a reminder in her internal system to make sure she checked each morning to update the protocol one program in case it required any changes based on adjustments to the AI detection system. As long as she caught them quickly, Derek had assured her she would be able to bypass the system before it noticed her. She’d made it this far, but there was no guarantee she was going to be able to keep it up for the next month and a half. That worry, and everything she’d faced coming home, caused her stomach to roil as she started walking towards her house through the neighborhood.
Cass strolled past the community center but didn’t enter. She spotted a few familiar cars in the lot, but she decided she didn’t really want to see any of her friends right now. She continued down the street and turned the corner, heading back to her house.
She had a lot of thoughts spinning through her mind. Cass had slept the whole drive home, so she and her parents had not had a chance to talk about anything regarding school, or Shelby, or anything else. She knew that couldn’t last. At some point, the topic of her relationship with Shelby was going to come up. Cass needed to figure out a way to bridge the gap between her family’s feelings about Shelby’s implants and accepting their daughter’s relationship in some way, all while hiding her own cybernetics from them.
The whole thing felt disingenuous. Cass hated lying, which was probably why she was so bad at it. She was sure her parents would see through her deception immediately. The question was would they know what she was lying about? All these thoughts occupied her brain as she strolled down familiar streets.
Cass made a final turn into her part of the neighborhood. The house was at the end of the street in a small circular cul-de-sac. She’d almost reached her home when a voice called out to her from the house just before her own on the left. Cass recognized the voice immediately. It was one of her friends from high school.
Nick was the guy her parents had probably thought she would marry someday if she weren’t gay. Though they accepted her homosexuality for the most part, they still kept inviting Nick over all through high school as if she’d change her mind or something.
Despite her parent’s intentions, she and Nick became good friends, but that was all. They’d known each other since they were young. Their mothers had arranged play dates dating back to preschool. Nick was her best friend for the longest time until she met Susan in high school and the two girls began their relationship. When that happened, she and Nick sort of drifted apart. They still kept in contact with each other from time to time all through high school, though.
“Hey, Cassie, it’s good to see you. My mom said something about you coming home today.”
Cass smiled as the tall, dark-haired boy strolled down to the sidewalk through the grass of his front yard.
Nick pointed at her head after they exchanged a brief hug. “You look great. I like the new haircut.”
Cass reached up and ran her fingers through her hair before jerking her hand back down when she realized she was lifting the hair away from where the skin patch covered her implant.
“Uh, yeah. I mean, thank you. I figured I needed a new ‘do while I was away at school. It was time for a change.”
Nick nodded and he changed the subject. “So, how was school in the big city? I always envied you a little for the way you broke away from the pack and decided not to attend one of the approved Sapiens college programs. That took a lot of guts.”
“It was all right,” Cass said. She wondered how much Nick knew about her time away at school. The enclave was a small, close-knit community. There weren’t many secrets. “I met a few new people there. Honestly, I didn’t have all that much in common with most of them.”
“Nonsense, Cass. You can make friends with anyone.”
“I used to think so, but it’s awkward explaining where I come from to people who haven’t lived here with us. That was probably the biggest challenge.”
“You should come over to my house later once you get settled in back at home. We’re having a bunch of the old gang over for burgers and hot dogs on the grill if the weather stays this warm. If not, we’ll move the party inside. Since everyone is home from school for break, my mom thought it would be great to catch up and see what everybody’s been up to.”
Cass wasn’t sure that was necessarily the real reason for the gathering at Nick’s house. All of her friends had been away at school together the whole
time she was away. The only one who needed to catch up on anything was her. She wondered if her mother had orchestrated this with Nick’s mom. The two women were close friends and she wouldn’t put it past her mom to use her friends to try and get information out of her daughter.
Cass tried to avoid committing to anything. “I’ll see if I can come over. Honestly, I just finished exams and I might want to hang in my room a little bit.”
Nick had a hard time hiding his disappointment. Cass spotted it right away. “Well, I hope you change your mind. It would be nice to have you over and I know everyone will want to see you.”
Cass smiled. Maybe she’d misread the situation. “I’ll see what I can do, Nick. Really, I just got home and need to settle in a bit first. I’ll text you and let you know later this afternoon.” She waved a quick goodbye as she turned back towards her house.
Nick stood for a little bit watching her go before he turned and headed back up the lawn to his place.
Cass cringed at the awkwardness of the encounter. Maybe she was wrong about the reason for the get-together. So many things had made her paranoid lately. She had a hard time trusting anyone since the events at the Sapiens rally when Shelby’s brother was murdered. Cass realized she needed to find a way to push past that apprehension. She was home now. Things from back in the city couldn’t touch her here.
Cass was lost in these thoughts as she walked up the driveway towards her house. Her parents stood at the back of the car, picking up a load of boxes from the trunk when she arrived.