The Human Inside

Chapter 7

2135

Gymnasium

    An alarm caused everyone to jump. Brad dropped his pencil and bent down to pick it up. Dr. Kendrick stood up and looked at Serina who had been lounging on the arm rest of his chair.

    "Serina, go find out what's going on," he said adjusting his glasses. "How strange. That's an internal breach alarm..."

    "I'm on it."

    Serina gave a quick thumbs up, turned bright blue and then leaped towards the wall. She became a light in the wall panel and they watched her zoom across the surface and then out the door.

    "Are we in any danger?" Brad asked nervously as he instinctively moved and stood behind 117. His amborg narrator had stopped telling the story when the alarm went off and looked like he was deep in concentration.

    "Negative," he said reassuringly.

    The strain of talking with his voice made 117 cough and he then switched to his own bracelet. It was the first time Brad noticed that 117 was wearing an A.I. Industries amborg bracelet except it looked different than the one he had been given.

    "What kind of bracelet is that?" he asked 117.

    "This is a bracelet that Dr. Kendrick designed especially for the amborgs," 117 said holding up his wrist for Brad to see. "Remember when he approached me and wanted me to volunteer for a project? This was what he was designing at the time."

    "Especially since you brought up the issue 117," Dr. Kendrick nodded approvingly. "You see, I wasn't too big on the idea of allowing asylum or extending an olive branch to gang members since many of them committed crimes I could never have forgiven. But during his first operation, I heard about 117's willingness to offer redemption to his enemies in his initial report. So to make it more convenient, I designed these custom bracelets only for the amborgs. A little more expensive than I wanted it to be but at least they can speak literally for themselves instead of having to rely on the standard issues."

    "They're custom made?" Brad asked curiously.

    "Unfortunately yes," Dr. Kendrick shrugged. "There's only so much a genius can do. I had to actually create the bracelets so they could be linked specifically to the owner. They had to be much more durable and strong just like the amborgs than what law enforcement and military officials were using. Uh. Unless you forget about the part where we just told you 117 got stabbed. So... they're almost durable. 117 didn't get his bracelet when he first encountered his grandfather because I chose to reveal them as gifts during Christmas later that year. So naturally, communication during that particular battle was complicated."

    "So that man was his grandfather?" Brad asked with uncertainty. "How does that make sense?"

    "Hold on Brad," Dr. Kendrick said, "Let's wait for 117 to stop concentrating with the others. It isn't actually proper etiquette to forget about the person who was actually there."

    "Speaking of proper etiquette," 117 replied after Brad and Dr. Kendrick waited patiently for a minute. "According to number 8, I found out what caused the internal breach. In this case, it actually was a breach from internal housing within the residential area."

    "Let me guess," Dr. Kendrick sighed, "Did 9 pull another prank?"

    "It would appear so."

    "They are the two amborgs who love following crude but amusing behavior patterns," Dr. Kendrick explained to Brad. "You could describe them as the residential pranksters."