VOLTAGE

part 2

Volg tries to form what looks like a smile and leaves the room and the scientists follow close behind. Soon it's just me and Cassandra in the VR chamber. She's so beautiful, her eyes, her hair..."Daniel!" Her voice startles me. "Daniel, you're staring again." Great she noticed. I bet I look real smooth right now. I stumble to form an apology. "Sorry, I just..." "Its ok,"She interrupts. "I'm used to it." "Wow" I counter, "I guess humility isn't listed under your skillset." She laughs "It's not bragging if it's true." "Ok ok well you might win in the looks department but I take the lead when it comes to brains." I craftily respond, knowing full well where I'm going with this. "Oh really?" She says through that beautifully dorky smile of her's. "Name your subject." "Astronomy." I respond. She stops, the look on her face tells me she has an idea of what I'm up to. "How do you propose to settle this?" Confidently I tell her, "At exactly 10:00pm you and I will meet on the highest balcony on the Volg tower building." Intrigued she let's me continue. "There we will each name as many stars and planets as we possibly can. Who ever names the most wins." She smiles slyly "Are you sure this isn't an overly complicated plan to get me alone under a field of stars?" Yep that's exactly what this is. "Call it what you want." I say confidently "But either way, I'm going to win." Knowing full well that Cassandra's competitive side won't let her miss this opportunity to win at something my first date with her as sure as the stars we'll be naming. Just call me Daniel, the social ninja. And with that I leave the room.

Day 10

11:42am

I can't believe I asked her out! Even more so i can't believe that she said yes!! Oh no. I don't know anything about Astronomy. Great job Daniel. Why didn't you challenge her to a subject you know about? Like a competition to see who knows more about her? You could win that. You know more about Cassandra than Cassandra does. You little creep. Wait. What am I worried about? We have a huge on site science data base in the VI library. And I have all day to study. I should be good, right?

Day 10

6:55pm

I am definitely not good. I have been staring at this screen for HOURS!!! what am i doing with my life? Astronomy terms, star names and oh so many planet descriptions bounce around like ping pong balls within my skull. I Need to take a break before I put my fist through this screen. I stand up and look around the library. My vision is blurred and when I walk I feel like a newborn deer, just learning how to walk. So far I'm not very good at it. Finally after about a minute or so my eyes can see like normal again. The shelves and shelves full of NFC chips can once again be seen. And the wireless charging station can be made out doing its job of filling the glass tablets with power. Most people don't like the direction most modern libraries have been taking. That there was something special about owning a book made out of paper. I see nothing wrong with it, less paper equals more trees. But then again I've never had a physical book. It seems so much simpler to simply tap your tablet to the NFC chip and instantly download the book. Simple right? Well I don't know. Right now I just need to focus on Astronomy. My stomach begins to growl I haven't eaten since breakfast. The cafeteria is right next door Well I need a break anyway. I step out of the library and the glass door hisses shut behind me. The cold, gray, brightly lit hall way stretches out before me. I'm alone in the hall way but I can hear the distant hum of many people talking at once. The familiar sound gets closer as I near the cafeteria door. It slides open and expose the tables and tables of people enjoying their meals. The room is a chalky white and the the glossy floors reflect the pale sunlight streaming in through the large skylight. The tables are a dark navy-blue with seats attached to them. All of which are filled with with VI employees in matching one piece jumpsuits. Well, the uniforms only match in the design aspect as each department of VI has a different color jumpsuit. Green for the technicians charged with running the mass farming being done in the giant glass domes at the base of the VI tower. Red suits run the public medical care facilities which provide free care for less fortunate citizens. And navy blue for the Biology and life sciences research team who technically isn't it's own department as its had many different jobs the years. Which obviously is the division Cassandra is the assistant director of. And is also the jumpsuit I'm wearing right now. There's obviously more colors I could go through but I'm putting myself to sleep thinking about it and besides, I'm hungry. I walk over to the long line of employees waiting for their food order to be prepared. Over their conversations to each other I can hear the 3D printers whir to keep up with the food specifications being entered in the glass tablets. I find it strange that I've almost gotten used to my food being printed by machines, with no human preparation. Unless of course you count the effort it takes me to specify the meal I want. Its really an amazing process. For example, Pizzas are the most common meal print among VI employees choose. So worker will find the printer fitted to handle pizza for that day. Theres usually about twenty food choices with at least two printing each option.The printer will have multiple apparatuses, one for pasta sauce, one for dough, cheese, etc. You select the size, toppings and some aspects of the flavor and after less than a minute you have a perfectly square pizza. Which, I have to be honest, is much better than random ingredients being mixed, burned, and served in large vats. (as it was at the high school.) Right now I'm waiting in the pizza line. I begin to think of my toppings when I hear a a voice. But not just any voice. It sends chills down my spine and after a moment I realize why. The last time I heard that that voice it was from the opposite end of a pistol. Its the voice of Captain Christopher James Talon. My eyes madly dart around the cafeteria, dismissing any scathe of logic. What am I even thinking? Talon's dead... Or at least I think he is. Our class never really covered what happened after he blamed the President for "forcing" him to kill innocent Reich members, kidnapped him, and made him undergo a makeshift court martial. I always loved that story. Not just because Talon and some hired mercenaries held the leader of the free world at a Boy Scout Camp. (of all places) But the funniest part is that no one could save the President! Not the Police, Social Service, not the Military. You know who saved him? Boy scouts. It may have been the best history lesson I've ever sat through. Anyway... he'd be dead or  in a maximum security prison, or sitting at a cafeteria table talking and laughing with with VI employees as he enjoys his meal print. Because that's exactly what I'm looking at. "Its not polite to stare, Daniel." Her voice startles me. I spin around and find Cassandra's grin. "Its not polite to scare people either." I counter. "True True." We stand in silence for a moment until she says "So, who were you checking out?" "I wasn't checking out anyone." I protest "Why do you want to know?" Raising an eyebrow I add "Jealous,maybe?" She brushes it off "Please, like I have anything to be jealous of." Her smirk disappears for a moment. "But seriously, who were you looking at?" I sigh as I silently pray that the person I was looking at at least sort of looks like Talon. I gesture over to the table where he's sitting and explain myself to her. Doesn't the guy in the *STF uniform looks like Talon? (*Security Task Force) She looks at me in thought while I continue my explanation. "I mean besides the fact he's clean shaven and doesn't have the scar." She breaks into a smile. "You really don't know do you?" "Know what?" She laughs as she grabs my arm and begins pulling me towards the table. "Hey chief !" She yells toward Talon.  He looks up inquisitively. His young face breaks into a gentle smile. "Hey little C!"he calls back.  Arriving at the table Cassandra lets go of my arm and straightens her uniform. "I'm not THAT little anymore." Talon nods. "Well, when you get taller than 5'3 we'll talk about changing nick names." she chuckles and Talon asks, "So who's your boyfriend here?" We both stumble over our words, "Umm.""He's not my..." "I'm not her..." "We're not..." Congratulations, Talon way to make things awkward. Talon cuts us off. "Relax you two, it was a joke." He leans forward and looks at me. "I recognize you!"he says. I snort, "You should, you shot me this morning."He laughs "Yeah well I wasn't really conscious when it happened. You see they base the simulated Talon off my DNA and while I'm strapped in I can't really enjoy the show." I must have looked clueless because Talon turns to Cassandra and asks,"He doesn't know?" "Thats why I brought him over here." "Oh,OK well let me start from the very beginning of this complicated explanation." I watch him closely as I wait for him to continue..."I'm a clone." He leans back. "End of explanation." Everyone laughs but me. I still stand there. He repeats himself. "No seriously, I'm a clone of Chris Talon. ID Number VT3." I've never met a clone before,  although we learned there's been huge advances in that field in school.  "VT3 right? What happened to the other two clones?" VT responds, "You mean my brothers? They died when i was about ten'ish." VT shrugs off emotion "Just growth complications. Very common clone stuff." "I'm sorry to hear that." I say. He shrugs, "All we can do is move on , carrying our past only slows us down." Wow that's very profound. Cassandra once again breaks the silence, "Pretty well spoken... for a CLONE!" VT laughs "That's would have hurt...if it wasn't from a NERD!" They both smile. Cassandra looks to me,"VT and I have been friends since forever." VT cuts in ,"What the nerd meant to say was I talked to her when no one else would." I laugh, "That's funny that's what I do now." Cassandra rolls her eyes. I guess she doesn't like being on the receiving end. "So, seeing as I've never met a clone before..." VT raises an eyebrow "...what do you do for fun?" He laughs "We don't have fun, we're programmed for nothing more than destruction." Wow that sounds horrible. "I'm joking." Oh. "But yeah, I like doing VR simulations they can be a lot of fun." I nod as he continues. "They're not all violent battles you can reenact famous moments in sports or create your own story." VT  leans back "Technology's Awesome!" Cassandra rolls her eyes and VT laughs "Don't look at me like that C. Let's not forget you were the one who got me hooked on them." Cassandra acts surprised "I don't play those dumb games." VT gives her a sarcastic  look then turns to me. "Don't let her fool you she plays more Sims than just about everyone here, her favorite are the self defense simulators but lately she's been trying to out score some soccer player." Cassandra sighs, "Mia Hamm." VT smiles in triumph for getting her to admit it. "You gotta give her some credit though, She's already beat the Sim of Alex Morgan." I try to look impressed although I have never heard these names before. Cassandra looks down at her rubber wristband and a display is projected onto her sleeve. "Daniel, you're almost out of time." I look across the room at the wall display. She's right! I politely excuse myself and head towards the lunch line as fast as I can.