The Company Of Longblades

Chapter 1

Present
June 21, 2090

Motes fly as shafts of afternoon sun peaked through the windows between curtains.  He woke up filled with sweat and craving for water. Chris blinked, feeling indolent atop his bed.  The digital clock of his computer monitor near the bed showed that it was already 4:45 in the afternoon.    He lives in the tropics and it was currently summer -- and it was hot as hell. He has slept all day after arriving from work and forgot to setup his air-conditioning.

He sat on his bed, reached out for his communicator and had the air conditioner turned on. Fuck, he's so thirsty and feeling like shit.  Luckily, no hangover. He slowly stood and went out of his room to the kitchen and got a cold bottled water from the refrigerator.  He gulped it all down and threw the empty plastic to the trash.  He went back to the Family room, sat on the sofa, and looked around.  It was quiet as the house was designed to muffle sounds from the outside.  The neighbourhood kids would be playing in the street at this hour, he thought for a bit, and then wiped it off his mind.

An Android Assistant would be great, he thought.  It would help clean the house and maintain the yard, but the most important thing was it could bring him water when he desperately need one. He should order one right now. One that could also cook.

He checked on his communicator which was hooked into his central computer. "Eve. Show me a list of top-of-the-line Android Assistant for home." He looked at the screen and sorted out the list. What he wanted costs a small fortune, but then he could afford it. 

Eve confirmed the purchase and showed him the estimated delivery time the next day. Feeling contented, he went back to his room and got a change of clothes, and went out of the house.  Chris had a mid-sized yard and a huge single story house. The door was locked behind him by the AI Eve as he went out for a walk. He had no particular destination in his mind and found himself​ at the park an hour later where he found a vacant bench to sit on. He watched everything went by as the sun began to set and the street lamp went on. There was this boy, about four years old who was running around his mother. Unfortunately, he was not able to see a protruding tree root and promptly tripped, crying for his mother. He'd be four as well if it didn't happen. Chris went home with a heavy heart. It was bad, coming to the park.