Socket 1 - The Discovery of Socket Greeny (5 page)

Oh, great. Telling me I’ll be safe meant I
was in danger, like when someone says they ain’t scared means
they’re really scared shitless. But Mom wasn’t prone to signs of
affection. It didn’t happen often, so I was caught by surprise when
she gently placed her hand on my cheek. “I’ll see you in a couple
hours.”

[It’ll be all right.]

That’s what she was thinking. Instead of
telling me where I was and why, she just wanted me to know it was
all going to be all right. The last time she said that, she took me
to the doctor for shots. While I waited, the nurse told me we were
waiting on
a little stick
, then rammed a needle in my ass. I
would’ve preferred a better explanation, then and now, but her
touch and smile seemed to be enough for the moment. What else was I
going to do? I didn’t know how to fly that car and even if I did,
where the hell was I going?

Mom was off to the only door in the cavern.
The door slid open and closed behind her, leaving me with the
muscular android.

“Do you have any questions?” Spindle
asked.

His posture was friendly, his face bubbly
yellow and orange. He was completely unaware I had just been
squeezed through time and space for the first time like a birthing
canal. But he waited patiently, the eyelight glowing, like a video
game character waiting for my response.

“Okay. Ummm… where I am?” I said.

“You are in the Garrison. It is one of many
global training grounds of the Paladin Nation.”

“Right. The Paladin Nation.” I glanced around
the cave. “Why haven’t I heard about this place until about three
minutes ago?”

“There are many things you have not heard
of.” He gestured to the servys still bobbing around us.
“Nano-plastine technology, for instance. These servys are composed
of cellular-sized nanomechs that make up a generic round body, much
like cells of your body. A processor is located at the core and can
shift the cellular nanomechs into whatever form is necessary. Very
useful. Humanity has not been granted access to this technology
yet.”

“What, you don’t like to share?”

“Many discoveries are still considered too
dangerous. When the circumstances are right, they will be
released.”

“These Paladins,” I said, “they’re
human?”

“That is correct.”

“What gives them the right to horde all this
stuff?”

“The Paladin Nation is a much more evolved
race of humans. The general public cannot be trusted with such
power. It would be like giving a gun to a two–year-old child. In
the hands of a responsible adult, a gun can be used safely.
However, a two-year-old child would likely harm himself.” He pushed
his shoulders back and tilted his head. “Does that make sense?”

“But adults still shoot each other, so I’m
not sure the gun analogy works.”

“That is why it is a perfect analogy. Even
guns are used irresponsibly. Can you imagine what the same people
would do with some of these magnificent advancements?”

Spindle waited for my response. His facial
colors were muted yellow, fading back to silver. He turned to the
servys. His face jumped with dark blues but he said nothing out
loud. The servys drifted back to the walls and merged through them
as if the openings were all there, just masked with the illusion of
rocky walls.

“If you have no more questions, we can
proceed to security assignment. We can begin our journey with a
friendly gesture.” He held up his hand, fingers spread. “Stick it,
Master Socket.”

I looked at his expectant hand. “Do
what?”

“Stick it.” He shook his hand. “It is a
friendly handshake that kids do. You stick it.”

I held up my hand like his, expecting
something like a high-five.

“No, no, you stick your fist in the palm of
my hand.”

I did like he said, only in slow motion.
Where’s this going
? He wrapped his soft, fleshy fingers
around my fist and shook. “Do you see?” he said. “You stuck
it.”

“What, you mean like Paladin kids are doing
this?”

“No, kids in society. Kids like you do this,
yes. I hope I did it right. It is a friendly gesture. Did I do it
too soon? Should we be better acquainted before such customs?”

“I’ll be honest, I never heard of it.”

“You have not?” His head looked yellow again,
splattered with specks of black. “My data says this is very
popular.”

“Where’d you get the data?”

“The data originated from a teenage website
named Pops. It is rated the number one virtualmode website for
teenagers in your age bracket.”

“There’s your problem. Pops is for little
teeny girls and boys wanting to meet their favorite boy bands and
movie stars. About as stupid as it gets.”

“Is that true?” The colors changed. “I will
have to rewrite my database.”

“Good idea. And don’t ever do that gay
handshake again.”

“Please do not curse, Master Socket. It is
unbecoming of you.” His tone was stern.

“I didn’t curse.”

“I believe you did when you used the term
‘gay’ as a derogatory reference.”

Now the colors on his faceplate were dark. I
was being scolded by a robot. And he wasn’t moving until I
complied, I think. “Yeah, okay. No problem. Consider the word
erased.”

“Very good.” The faceplate brightened. He
stepped aside and gestured to the door. “Let us proceed to security
assignment.”

* * * * *

We went through the same door as Mom. It was
an elevator.

“This is a leaper,” Spindle said. “It will
take us to any part of the Garrison in a matter of seconds. It can
move as fast as two hundred miles per hour.”

“Two hundred? We’ll be pancakes.”

“Not to worry. Anti-gravity floaters offset
the velocity. You will not feel motion.” Spindle stepped inside.
“This is the main mode of transportation within the Garrison.
Centuries ago, when the Paladin Nation was in its infancy, these
were just tunnels. Technology has advanced.”

“Yeah. No shhhi…no kidding. I take it this
thing wouldn’t go anywhere without clearance.”

“You would not be here if you did not have
clearance.” It seemed like he was refraining from laughing at
something so stupid because, clearly, you’re not getting here
without a wormhole and a flying car. “Spindle, access code 0452B.
Security assignment room, level 1. Prepare for new arrival.”

There was a sharp pang in my stomach, and
then it was gone. The door opened to a short, doorless hallway. So
far I’d been in a cave and now a white hallway. For all the
technology, Paladins weren’t flashy.

Spindle started down the corridor and stopped
halfway. “Here we are.”

“Where?”

“Doors are composed of plasmic particulates
creating the illusion of a solid surface.” He pushed his hand
through the white wall in front of us. “Much like the cliff you
drove through.”

I knocked on a solid wall. “It’s not
working.”

“That is because you are touching the wall.”
His face lit with sunny yellows, shaped a little like a smile.
Dumbass
.

“Are you laughing at me?”

“Laughing? I do not experience emotions,
Master Socket. However, it does appear odd you are trying to push
through a wall when the doorway is right next to you.”

“Yeah, well I don’t see a doorway.”

“Not yet.” He walked through the wall, poked
his head out several seconds later. “Are you coming?”

“I’m not used to walking through walls.”

“Here.” He extended his hand. “I am
programmed to assist you.”

An odd color lit his face. He lightly pulled
me through—like a sheet of frigid air—into a large room. It was
empty and sterile. How exciting. Let me guess, dinner is white rice
with water.

“This is the security assignment room. I will
assign you level one access. If you will have a seat, I will start
the process very soon.”

“You mean, on the floor?”

Spindle crossed the room in five steps. As he
did, it reshaped. A chair emerged from the wall. End tables popped
out of the floor. The white walls turned dark green with burnt
orange trim. Pictures formed on the walls with views of oceans and
deserts. A window appeared with the view of scenic mountains, a
flock of birds passing by.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about.” I sat on
the chair, felt it reform to fit my body, left me weightless. “This
room… it’s made from the same stuff as those servys?”

“Yes.” He was busy with a control panel on
the wall. “Our rooms can suit any purpose. I hope you are
comfortable. We will begin in a minute.”

A vase emerged from a table with flowers. I
took a white daisy and sniffed. It smelled like a flower. The room
was a regular room in any house across the world, and yet it
wasn’t. It was buried in a mountain made up of tiny cell-sized
robots that made a flower smell like a flower and a window overlook
a mountain. I could dig this.

“Can I ask you something?” I said.

“You may ask me a question at anytime, Master
Socket.”

“What’s my mom do?”

“She is the Commander’s assistant.”

“Commander? You mean this is like a
military?”

“It is not a military, but it has order.
There is protocol. Any society must have rules and it must have
leaders. Commander has been traditionally used.”

“So my mom, she’s a Paladin?”

The eyelight circled to the back of his head
and focused on me while his hands continued to work. “No, Master
Socket. Paladins have inherent abilities which she does not
possess. She has developed some mild extrasensory powers but she is
a civilian, and she is vital to the Paladin Nation. Has she not
told you these things?”

“We don’t talk a whole lot.”

“But she is your mother.” He stopped working.
“Your caregiver.”

“She’s been a little busy. Since Dad
died.”

His face sparkled. “I knew your father.”

“You did?”

“Yes.” His eyelight drifted upward, thinking.
“Your father was a remarkable man. He was head of mech design and
maintenance. Your father was involved in my prototype design and
personally worked on my bodyshell.”

“He was a Paladin?”

“He expressed Paladin traits, much more than
your mother, but never fully realized them. He worked in the
Garrison and was not often involved in missions. The Paladin Nation
has been watching to see if you would inherit his traits. I believe
you caught them by surprise.”

“What’s that mean?”

“All the details will be revealed to you
soon.”

My dad died in for a secret agency and no one
ever told me. That’s super. No doubt she knew I was next line to
follow in his footsteps. What else did Mom have in the family
vault?

I buried my face in my hands and took a deep
breath.
I want off the crazy train
.

“Was he a good father to you?” Spindle
asked.

To me?
He was asking like my father
was a good father to him. Did he think we were brothers? I shook my
head, my voice echoing through my hands. “I guess. I don’t remember
much.”

“I remember your father quite well, from the
very first day he ignited my awareness panel.” His eyelight drifted
up, again. He was lost in thought for several seconds while colors
flashed on his face. “We spent every day together in the beginning,
perhaps the entire first year of my existence. He worked on my
programming to perfect my learning impulse. After that, I saw him
once a week. That is unusual, you realize, for a creator to remain
after programming is complete. Your father did that.”

He had that drifting look again. “You miss
him?” I said.

“Miss him? I am not sure what you mean.”

It feels like there’s something missing,
that’s what. It’s longing. Sadness. It’s all of the above. “It
feels… empty.”

“Empty?” He contemplated that, feeling his
belly with his hand. His face brightened in a
got it
moment.
“There is something missing. A… hole in my awareness. Not a hole,
but an…” His eyelight focused on me. “
Emptiness
. Yes, I do
sense that. I do miss him, Master Socket. Thank you for teaching
me.”

The colors on his face ran through the full
spectrum, brighter and brighter. I didn’t consider emptiness as
something he needed to thank me for. For me, it ached. But for
Spindle, it was obviously something joyous to experience.
Whatever
.

He turned back to the control panel. Then
said, “If you hold still, a body print is being scanned and a
security access level assigned.”

Tiny shockwaves started at my feet and ended
at the top of my head. The control panel folded back into the wall.
The pictures, vase and flowers dissolved. I stood and the chair
disappeared. The room was empty, once again.

“You have been assigned level one access.”
Spindle walked through a dim arching outline on the wall. I could
see the doorway now. No more walking into walls for me. I followed
him into the hall.

“You should be able to see doorways to rooms
you have clearance to enter,” Spindle said. “Do you see them?”

There was a similar outline that simulated a
doorway at each end of the hall. I nodded. “Got it.”

“Good,” he said. “Agent Pike is waiting.”

“Agent Pike? Who’s that?”

“He will be conducting your preliminary
evaluation.”

“Whoa, wait a second. I thought we were going
to Mom’s office. I don’t know anyone named Pike.”

“All potential cadets are evaluated for
potential traits upon arrival. It is the first assignment after
security clearance.”

“I’m a cadet? Wait, when did that happen? I
didn’t sign up for anything.”

Spindle remained absolutely still, assessing
the conversation. “Why do you think you are here, Master
Socket?”

“I don’t have a clue.”

Long pause, again. “You were assigned to the
Garrison because you exhibited exceptional abilities that need to
be assessed.”