Between the Lanterns (11 page)

She was gone, and Samantha had not been able to say goodbye.

And that would not do.

After a few minutes of crying on the floor while August sat with her, ready to be or do whatever she needed, Samantha suddenly sat up and said, “How does a BrainSave work, sweets?”

“Well, whenever you are ready to implant yourself into the Montek.Automaton you just press the main button, and a sharp point comes out. It seems barbaric, I know. But the instructions show you where to put it, which is right around here in the temple area, and the small spike will telescope into your mind and begin to download everything.”

Samantha scrunched up her face in disgust and said, “Yuck! There isn’t a better way to do it?”

“Not really, no,” he admitted. “You see, once the information is removed from your mind… you die. You need to have the automaton ready to go right beside you. It will take the BrainSave once the process is over and install it right away all by itself.”

“And the person just… dies?” she asked quietly.

August looked away and nodded, knowing that she was picturing Tara doing this. He knew it was an awful procedure. August realized it was against the laws of nature. But he couldn’t help being fascinated by it, which especially embarrassed him.

“Yes, Sam,” he answered truthfully. “They drop down about two seconds after the BrainSave is removed from their mind. They are dead before hittin’ the floor. Everythin’ they are or were inside the BrainSave. These new models, thanks in part to my work, have been able to capture much more than just memories and voices, though. You can have conversations. They have meanin’ and understandin’ now. It’s so much different than when John passed away. It actually is good for those of us left behind,” he said. Taking his wife’s hand, he added, “As long as a person chooses to implant himself or herself into a BrainSave, I see nothing wrong with it. It’s their choice, Sam.”

Silence filled the workroom as Samantha held the BrainSave, staring at it.

“And you think that this one might have Tara in it?” she asked, quiet as a mouse. “That we could put it in a tin can, and she could talk with me? I could… say goodbye?”

“Maybe,” August answered with a shrug. “There are two ways to find out. I can plug it into my equipment over here and check if it contains any information. If I do that, the data may be corrupted in the process, meanin’ that she might not act exactly like herself. Different kinds of glitches can occur that way. Or we can just plug the BrainSave into an automaton and… see if it works.”

Samantha looked down at the little electronic chip in her hand, slightly smaller than a hockey puck, and said, “I don’t want to ruin her if she is in here, so no plugging into your equipment. But how do we get an automaton? Aren’t they expensive, sweets?”

“Yeah, they cost a lot these days,” he said with a grin. “A good model costs as much Credit as a house. They do have some more affordable options, but I wouldn’t recommend them; too many problems, which Montek knows about but doesn’t care enough to fix. But, uh, we don’t need an automaton, babe,” he said, motioning to the automated wooden sculpture, and adding, “We already have one.”

Sam looked at the knee-high wooden creation in wonder, and breathed, “Will that work, sweets?”

“I believe so,” August told his wife. “I mean, it’s just wood and string. It probably won’t last very long, maybe a year or so, but that’s more than enough time to say goodbye.”

“One day is enough for me,” Samantha said, making up her mind. “If it works, I only want her in there for one day. One day, you hear? Then we take it out. Ok, sweets?”

“Yes, love. We can do that,” he said, taking her hands in his own.

August placed BrainSave into the port he had made on the back of the wooden automaton. There was a humming noise as the little drive inside began reading the information contained on the small black disk. He set the heavy little robot back down on the workbench, and they both waited for what seemed like forever.

The humming stopped, and there were three clicks followed by a whirring noise. The wooden robot then began walking up and down the length of the workbench, not saying a word.
 

“Tara, is that you? Are you in there, sweets?” Samantha said, her voice full of hope.

No answer. The automaton continued walking up and down the workbench. Tears sprang to Samantha’s eyes.

“Stop, Woodrow,” August said.
 

The automaton halted his march across the workbench.
 

“Damn,” August whispered. “He reacted to the name I programmed for him. That means the BrainSave is… empty.”

Chapter 11

THIS MIGHT HURT A LITTLE

Samantha looked down at the wooden automaton and scowled, saying, “Woodrow, could you please get out of the way, sweets? I’m trying to vacuum the dang carpets.”

“YES,” the little wooden robot replied in its strange monotone while walking in its awkward way to the opposite side of the room, directly in line to where Samantha was going to vacuum next.

“Mrs. Lurie, I have to say that is the strangest little thing I’ve ever seen,” Lee Parr said. “It looks like a Montek.Automaton made out of wood and strings. Does it have a BrainSave? Is there a relative in there?”

Sam smiled over at the lawyer and shook her head. “No, Mr. Parr, there isn’t a BrainSave in Woodrow. It was empty, so we took it out. It’s sitting over on that mantel gathering dust. My husband and I made little Woodrow. Don’t mind him, though, he just walks and talks. He doesn’t mean anything. He just keeps me company.”

“It certainly is quite strange,” Lee said, waving to the robot, adding, “Hello, Woodrow.” The lawyer waited expectantly, staring at the odd little wooden figure, but received nothing in reply.

“Woodrow, tell the man hello, sweets,” Samantha said, hands on her hips.

“HELLO SWEETS,” Woodrow said, exactly as he was told to do.

Samantha threw her head back and laughed. He had never copied her like that before. The lawyer was right; Woodrow was an odd little thing.

“So, you’ve got some final paperwork for me to sign about Tara’s property?” She asked Lee. “It took y’all long enough. She’s been dead over a year now. What’s been the problem?”

Lee Parr no longer worked for the state as he had when John had died years ago. He now worked exclusively for Montek, which, as everyone knew, was pretty much the same as working for the government. Six of one, half a dozen of the other, as they used to say.
 

“Oh, you know, Mrs. Lurie, the usual red tape,” he replied. “Montek has to make sure you’re not getting one Credit more than you should. But don’t worry, everything has been checked and triple checked. We found no problems and your settlement is ready. I must say that after this one and the settlement you received from Montek.Claims last year, you and your husband are now quite wealthy. Why haven’t you opened another diner? You could have a chain of them across the Southeast!”

Samantha looked sadly into the kitchen at the newly refurbished antique oven and stove August had bought and then fixed up for her.

“I’ll cook at home, but without Tara it don’t seem right to have another diner,” she replied quietly.

The lawyer nodded along, not listening to Samantha or caring what she had to say, and replied, “That’s nice, Mrs. Lurie. If you can just sign here, I’ll be on my way again.”

Samantha did as she was asked, and then walked Mr. Parr to the door with her hands on her hips. Her lower back was a little sore today. She noticed him glance back at the BrainSave on the mantle as he left, and then to Woodrow, who was awkwardly waddling along behind them.
 

Finally, Mr. Parr glanced down at her belly and said, “Oh, and congratulations on your first child. How far along are you?”

“Thank you, sir,” she replied, smiling and rubbing at her baby bump with one hand. “I am just now four months pregnant. So far, it ain’t as easy as they would have you believe.”

Mr. Parr grinned wide at her, and said, “Mrs. Lurie, I was led to believe that pregnancy was actually quite difficult.”
 

She grinned right back and told him, “Exactly what I meant, Mr. Parr. It’s even harder than you heard. Now you have yourself a pleasant day. And don’t come back, now, you hear? I like you and all, but we only ever see each other when someone dies. You keep far away from my door if you please.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said with a tip of his hat. “But if you recall, I always bring you Credit or property. Doesn’t that make it any better, Mrs. Lurie?”

“No, sir, it don’t. Now get,” she said with a smile and a wave before closing the door on Mr. Parr.
 

Woodrow pushed on the door with his little arms and said, “DON’T.”

Samantha nudged him with her foot and walked back to continue the housework with one hand on her sore back. Woodrow followed right along, standing directly in the path of the vacuum again.

-

August walked the production line, observing in detail everything that was going on. He was pretty meticulous when it came to running things at the factory. Everything got done precisely and on time. However, he always had an open ear for the workers to suggest improvements in any area.

Today he was out watching how this team handled the newest model BrainSaves. One of the members of the line had told him they could improve production if they had two people on QA. There were so many BrainSaves coming down the line that one person wasn’t enough. As August looked on, he had to agree that the employee had been right. They were missing a few bugged ones coming down the line, which were ending up getting packed for distribution.
 

He called a halt to production for just a couple of minutes so he could pull someone in to fill in temporarily until a full-time person could be trained and added to the team. With only thirty minutes until shift change, he was only putting a temporary bandage on the problem. But he wanted to make sure they all knew he was on their side, and would always try to listen to them and make changes when needed.

Phillip sat at the end of the line directly opposite from Greg, who had been doing this job since they began making BrainSaves. Greg was giving the temp some tips on how to keep things moving along.

August signaled for the production line to start back up, and the sirens went off for six seconds beforehand to warn everyone that parts would begin moving again. Phillip was not used to the belt that brought multiple components down the line, as the section where he regularly worked required no moving belt to transport parts. Phillip had placed his hands underneath the belt mechanism as he sat down and had not moved them when the assembly line began to flow again. The scream that echoed throughout the factory shook all of the employees to their cores. It was a cry full of pain and terror, and August looked on in horror as Phillip held his now handless arms in front of his face and continued to howl in agony.

“HALT PRODUCTION! NOW!” August screamed above the roar of the machinery and then jumped into action.
 

He gathered Phillip in his arms and raced to the factory AutoCar, which was typically used to run errands back and forth into town. He placed the mutilated worker in the back seat, and August then ripped his own shirt off to use as a tourniquet;, staunching the flow of blood.
 

“BRING ME THE FIRST AID KIT RIGHT NOW, DAMNIT!” August screamed through the now much quieter area.

A minute or so later, someone handed the kit to August. He tore it open and found the AutoCauterizer made by Montek.Pharm. It would be painful as hell without the numbing gel provided, but he was in too much of a hurry to think of that. August gently removed his makeshift tourniquet from the ends of Phillip’s arms and clicked the AutoCauterizer to ON mode.
 

 
“I’m sorry, Phil, but this might hurt a little,” August said.

The tip glowed with red laser heat, and he pressed it to each gory nub in turn. Phillip’s howls of pain sounded much more intense now because of August’s proximity to their source.

Having sealed the wounds with laser heat, August relaxed a little. He realized this meant that Phillip’s hands could not be reattached now, but August had seen what remained of those hands – chewed up by the belt as they were – and knew that they were never going to be reattached anyway. At least now Phillip wouldn’t bleed to death on the way to the clinic.

“I’m sorry, Phillip. I… it’s my fault for puttin’ you there without the proper trainin’, man,” August said. “I’ll get you to the clinic now. I’m sure they can provide some top-of-the-line robotic prosthetics for you. Montek will cover the costs, don’t you worry. It’s a work-related injury. And I’ll stay with you for as long as you want. Is there someone I can call for you?”

Phillip said nothing, as he was unconscious at this point, having passed out from the pain of the AutoCauterizer. The AutoCar raced on to the clinic while August held this man in the back seat, horrified at what he had caused.

Later, August sat on the couch gulping at a glass of real beer. He had stopped at Big Guy’s Pub on the way home from the clinic and picked up a growler full of the good stuff. Phillip’s wife and teenage son had met them at the clinic and didn’t want August to stay. They probably blamed him. He couldn’t fault them for that, as he definitely blamed himself. He took another big gulp from his glass. The real beer was potent, and he wasn’t used to it. After two glasses, August was already feeling the effects.

“It was all my fuckin’ fault, Sam,” August said with anger in his voice and tears in his eyes. “I put him there. I ruined his gGoddamn life with one stupid fuckin’ decision. It should have been my hands mangled up by the belt. It should have been me.”

Samantha reached over and held her husband’s empty hand and said, “Don’t talk like that, sweets. It wasn’t your fault. How could you have known it would happen? Accidents happen all the time in this world. We have no control over them.”

“But he wasn’t trained for it, Sam!” August wailed. “He had no business bein’ there! I was just tryin’ to look like I was still one of them! I was tryin’ to make them happy, and look what I did.”