Monica had been staring at the camera for what seemed like an age while Benji had been so comfortable and yet so bored, as all seven-year-olds of Generation Beta would be when denied the constant stimuli of their worlds.
Nothing flickered and the sounds had gradually died down from outside.
Silence.
She thought more about her predicament and realised she hadn’t even had a solitary X-App message from Josh, let alone a call. She asked her rig to send him a quick text.
‘You OK?’
A ping came straight back, as she manoeuvred her arm free of the sleeping child and sat upright to manage the situation.
‘Yes, I’m fine. Got out of town and am with my brother in Jersey, upstate.’
‘Why haven’t you called, Josh?’ she replied in basic text form, not wanting the face-to-face confrontation of a call. She didn’t even know he had a brother in Jersey.
‘I think you know why, Monica. It’s no use for us. You have a family and they are number one in your life, and I won’t ever come close. I’m pleased you are safe though. I’ll hopefully see you soon at work once this has all died down.’
Monica slumped back into the sofa and stroked Benji’s arm as she contemplated her reply. In many ways she was relieved that Josh was taking any decision she had to make out of her hands. It made her reply simple.
‘Yes, I think you are right, and I feel the same way too. Take care, Josh, and I’ll see you at work.’ She didn’t even sign it off with an ‘x’ or an emoji. It was over.
Then the noise came. It was so strong it shook the house. Is this it? Is this the end? thought Monica to herself as her stomach felt like it had jumped from the top of a nine-storey building. Was it a bomb? A nuclear attack?
Benji awoke with a jolt. The cameras remained on. The only indication that something was occurring was a flicker of light that was now gone again. Still dark, screens still mostly black. As she stroked his head again to calm him, she was encouraged by the fact the electricity hadn’t gone out, and the cameras were still alive. And then what look like static engulfed the screen. Black, white and grey shades were vertically moving, fast and random. Then she heard the noise from outside. What was it?
This wasn’t rain, this was Biblical, unlike anything she’d ever seen before. She finally pieced together the puzzle of the noise and the static, which it wasn’t. The noise came again, as thunder shook the foundations again, this time with recognition from Monica. The quiet from the cameras, together with the calming sound of the white noise from the rain, emboldened Monica to call out to her assistant.
‘HIM, put the latest news on please.’
The screen above the fireplace sprang to life and showed that CNN was still going crazy with a ticker across four different screens as a succession of newscasters took it in turns to explain what was going on. In one corner, the scenes on Fifth were a lot calmer as the rain had the protesters running for shelter. In the other, the scene at the airport was also calm, with the camera fixed to the amalgamation of the two planes she knew full well about, with everything else still and what looked like a car park would look if it were full of planes instead of GCabs. The third screen showed the empty podium at the White House as the ticker explained that they were expecting a speech from President Obama II at any moment. The final quadrant showed somewhere in London—she wasn’t sure where—again showing things calming down as what looked like a similar storm bashed a city over 3,000 miles away.
Monica snuggled tighter into Benji on the sofa, engrossed in the ever-moving news, yet missed the glare from the screen over on the other side showing the cameras. The sound from the front door suddenly jolted her from her position into full-on attack mode.
How could the HIM have let anything come near?
As the front door sprang open, she was poised to do something, anything, to attack and defend Benji, yet the fight or flight mode suddenly dissipated when she saw the figure and heard the voice.
‘Hey, it’s me. Don’t worry. All is good.’ Joe appeared from the gloom behind him and the open front door, and Benji leapt from the sofa and into his arms.
‘DADDY!’ he exclaimed and a smile erupted onto all of their faces as Joe picked him up high in the air and then approached Monica for what he hoped would be a similar reception while he gently lowered the boy to his feet. His eyes never left hers as he hoped she was as glad to see him. His first instinct for a warm hug was correct, but then came the slight arch of his back as he positioned his face close to hers and held her cheeks softly, the inevitable kiss being so magical that they could have generated electricity themselves. He’d forgotten how warm and soft her lips felt as his eyes closed with ecstasy, Monica visibly wilting at the knees as she pressed tighter into him, the hug returned. And they both continued the embrace while reaching for the boy. Now three happy people were intertwined as they all stumbled sideways off balance towards the couch.
‘Is everything OK, Joe? I’m, we, are so glad you’re here.’
‘I hope so, Monica, and I’m not leaving again. Please don’t make me. We have to be together. We belong together.’
‘I won’t,’ she whispered as she grabbed into his side for another hug and Benji excitedly climbed all over both of them.
‘I have so much to tell you,’ Joe exclaimed as on the TV the four squares dissolved into one and the familiar face of the president appeared on the briefing podium.
‘Good afternoon everybody. Please have a seat.’ She opened the event very solemnly and then got right to the point.
‘Our nation, and the wider world itself, has today been the victim of mass tragedies. We immediately think about those who are suffering, who have lost loved ones and family members today, and we pray that peace and harmony can quickly be restored in all territories around the world, and in all states and cities across our great nation.
‘While we still do not have all of the facts, we know that a series of simultaneous backup failures have caused chaos around the world. Our great nation leads the world in technological advancement and in the automation of our world, which has made us all very prosperous. We have immediately put in place a series of safety measures that will restore order to our known way of life, and how we live it. We have deployed our amazing armed forces to the streets to keep law and order and support those who wish to make their feelings known to the world. I have been in constant contact with governments and heads of states all over the world, and we have a unified solution to fix for good some of the challenges caused by these backup failures. And we will ensure they do not happen again.’
Joe looked calmly at the screen while Monica sat wide-eyed and Benji attempted to amuse himself by clambering over both of them and chattering on about the rain, before being simultaneously shushed by both parents.
‘We have armed forces and police on the streets, and I have tonight signed an executive order to impose martial law all over our great nation until we fully get to grips with the situations at hand and we can bring them to a peaceful and safe conclusion.’
Her brow furrowed and her voice deepened and she wanted to sternly hammer home this next point.
‘Leave the streets. Go home. We will issue instructions widely via the media and directly to cells and rigs to people all across our nation to keep you informed. Listen for official broadcasts and statements only as we continue to be your only source of truth. You must trust in our ability to keep everyone safe, and to do that we need you all to peacefully go home. Go home.’
Realising the detail of what was happening was surely going to be lacking from anything in the media, so Monica turned her attention to Joe.
‘So, what’s really gone on? Are you able to tell me? Are we safe?’ She had a million questions but stopped herself from asking them all at once. Only she couldn’t settle for just one.
‘It’s all connected to the pop star going missing. The young guy who took her has also hacked a lot of systems around the world, and they started going crazy, confusing themselves and each other, which is why things started malfunctioning. They gave your plane clearance to land on runway one as the AI was trying to protect a government employee on board, but the same system gave the other flight the same call at the same time as it was also trying to protect someone. It’s been a mess, Monica, but I think it’s going to calm down. I have to go back in the morning. I think they want me to help coordinate the recovery efforts. They are saying I’m some sort of hero or something!’
‘Yay! Daddy is a hero!’ exclaimed Benji, jumping on the sofa this time before once again being unceremoniously hushed in stereo.
‘I’m being promoted. Seriously. They aren’t concerned about my dodgy knee. I think I’m going to be working for General Adams as some sort of advisor. Not sure what yet, but my pay is going to double at least. They had me controlling this troop of robots over in Manhattan the other day. Four arms! They were picking protesters up left and right, and through my rig I could coordinate with them all, issue orders, and generally make them part of my team. I stopped them smashing up the big Nike store on Fifth. I think they were impressed.’
He wasn’t stopping, the excitement and the pride palpable in his voice.
‘...and then I was working with this British guy, Ethan, and we were trying to work out who got Suki, and we figured it out, and we got him, and we got her back safe. But then I was holding the interview with the Brit and he was singing like a canary, and we figured out what he’d done, and I been working with the CEO of Alphabet to try fix it. We fixed it, Monica!’ He was barely stopping for breath, sentences running into one another.
‘Oh my God, that’s amazing, honey! Thank you so much for saving us, and for keeping us… safe,’ she said softly as she stroked the top corner of his brow.
‘Monica, I’m so sorry for going off the rails. I’ve always loved you. I only need us. That’s what I’m here to do, to keep us safe and be happy. I don’t care about the thrill-seeking or trying to get my next fix of adrenaline from somewhere, I think I’m getting a new job anyway. Hahaha.’
‘I’m sorry too,’ she whispered. ‘And you are staying right here. I never loved Josh, you know. It was just… a phase. I’m sorry. Can you forgive me?’
‘Let’s forgive each other and focus on the future, Monica. And I think it’s going to be bright.’
Benji dived over the back of his father and screamed with laughter as he ended up in Monica’s lap. Another group hug ensued and, sensing the mood, the HIM switched on the lights, lit the fire, and then asked to be excused for a few minutes as it installed an important system update.
Joe smiled and wondered if his HIM was going to learn about God.