"Of all the time you could pick to investigate it's now you chose." I muttered.
"I understand that you're annoyed but we only wasted time because we were on our personal investigation." Detective Nelly said.
I gazed at her."And what did you find?."
She walked towards me slowly, stretching out piles paperworks."We found out through the drone that was in the area that there were four individuals involved in the act that night."
I swept through the paperwork slowly analyzing the content." Why can't I see any of their pictures here?."
She sighed." We're sorry but we couldn't identify them." Detective Nelly added.
"So the stupid thing stayed in the sky watching how me and my dead wife suffered?." I said.
"We understand that you're annoyed but some people can bypass our system." Detective Nelly said.
"So you have these things flying above our head,that can read the I.D. chips in our fillings,but they don't actually do anything?." I said.
"Look you don't understand, criminals can find ways around them. If they can find the right people they can build a firewall that prevents our drones from identifying their faces. Believe me I understand your frustration." Detective Nelly said.
"And I can't tie my shoes anymore detective,so you don't have to talk to me like I'm a goddamn three year old." I muttered.
"I'm gonna work through the footage and if you want to work with me, we're going to find them." Detective Nelly said with reassuring words.
"How can I work with you?I can't even stand it." I said, gazing at her with a pale look.
Detective Nelly gazed at me with her eyes filled with pity.
I sat on my bed in my home, my fingers tracing the familiar pattern of the quilt, as Davis Junior's words echoed in my mind. "What would your wife want?" The question replayed incessantly, each repetition a soft whisper that grew louder until it filled the room. I glanced at the picture frame on the nightstand, her smiling face looking back at me, and felt a tightening in my chest. The light from the window cast long shadows, mimicking the lingering uncertainty in my heart.
"I could die if it goes bad.but at least I'll be joining you and if it goes well I'll bring those bastards to justice,"I said to myself.
I looked into the ceiling overthinking about it as my eyes slowly jammed each other until I saw nothing but darkness.
I woke up with the sound of an A.I. machine cleaning the room and rays of sunlight glooming in my room filling every inch in my room.
"Good morning Mr Thomas,would you like anything?." The robot said in a robotic voice.
"Yes,make some coffee,"I replied.
It moved swiftly to the exit bringing a mug of coffee as I sip through it.the cup off balance fell from the robots hand shattering into pieces.
"This is why I've hated things like you being so unreliable." My heart filled with dissatisfaction for not being able to fend for myself."Call Davis junior." I shrugged.
"Calling Davis junior." A robotic voice replied.
"Hello Mr Thomas,nice to hear from you. I believe you called for a positive response to my proposal." He asked.
"You sure do talk a lot,fine I accept your proposal so how do we get on with this."I said with curiosity filling me up.
"It's better we see each other in person than for this conversation,I'll send some people to pick you up,be ready by 8 pm." He replied as the phone call hung up.
My mother walked slowly into my room."Hey Thomas, I suspected that you'd be awake by now.have you had anything to eat yet?."
"No mum,the stupid machine can't even hold a damn cup straight."I muttered.
"You still hate machines.Luckily, I made some food by myself. You'd like it," she said, her hands gentle but firm as she guided me to my wheelchair. The aroma of home-cooked stew wafted through the air, a comforting blend of herbs and spices that made my mouth water. She flashed a warm, proud smile, the kind that lit up her eyes, and I could feel the love and care she had poured into every bite.
"This is a really good mum,how did you get it to taste like this?" I said.
"Just some old recipes I used on the curry stew,"she replied.
"This reminds me of Angela's secret recipe,I really did like her cooking a lot.i really do miss her."I said to myself as my face slowly turned pale."now I have to rely on machines to cook for me."
"Thomas, eat up. Don't let your meal get cold," my mother's words broke through my daydream. I picked up the cutlery, feeling the warmth of the plate beneath my fingers and the rich scent of her homemade lasagna reminding me of home. Her expectant gaze lingered on me, a mix of love and concern etched in her expression.
I waited impatiently, waiting for Davis to pick me up.A sudden bell rang filling the atmosphere of the house."who's there?." I screamed out."we were sent by Eronx Electronics to escort you." The voices behind the door replied.
"Open door." I said out loud as the door opened slowly and footsteps rushed in swiftly approaching me."good evening Mr Thomas,I'm luke, I'm in charge of escorting you safely to Mr Davis junior along side these other escorts." He said gazing at me.
"Sure I've been expecting you,let's get going." I muttered.
We inched towards the door, our steps hesitant and deliberate. The door seemed to grow larger, drawing closer with each step.
As we exited the house, the robot's voice called out, "Are you leaving, Mr. Thomas?" I didn't respond, focusing on the task at hand.
The night air was cool and still, and the white van parked in the shadowy part of the street seemed to loom ominously. We reached it, and they lifted me, chair and all, into the back part of the van.
We moved swiftly driving through the night,I leaned towards the window looking at city's street light as they swiftly passed."This is for you Angela." I said to myself.
"We're here sir" a voice said.
I leaned forward to see where we were.i saw the building with drones attached with guns slowly scouting the area.Damn now that's alot of gun power."I said,my eyes filled with excitement as we approached the building.
"Access granted," intoned a robotic voice as we neared the building. The gates swung open with a smooth, silent efficiency, revealing layers of fencing and cameras swiveling to track our every move.
As we drove in, I couldn't help but stare at the tall, electrified perimeter walls and the guards patrolling with alert, watchful eyes.
"Wow," I muttered, glancing at the fortified security towers, "I've never seen anything like this."My companion's face tightened, eyes scanning the surroundings.
"We've had to be on our toes," he said, nodding towards a patch of scorched earth near the entrance. "Intruders keep trying to breach us. Last month, we caught a team with hacking equipment. Everyone wants our tech." Luke said with a smirk.
They opened the van carrying me out,as they rolled me slowly into the building I felt a warm tap on my shoulder "welcome Mr Thomas hope the trip wasn't stressful." Davis said.
"Oh Davis when did you get here, sometimes you appear at the most unusual places."I muttered.
"It's not the first time I'm hearing that,it's in my nature not my fault,now let's get down to business.Take him to the medical hub, prepare surgery for Mr Thomas." He said gazing at me.
Medical practitioners came out of the building pushing my wheel chair swiftly into the building,the building gloomed with overcast light across every part in part of the building.
We arrived at a room filled with surgical equipments,as they carried me on a patient bed.
"Mr Thomas sign this contract before we begin." Davis said.
"You must think I'm desperate Davis,tell me what I need to know about this advanced technology." I muttered.
"Fine, I apologize for my ignorance. Now the technology I created is one in a kind, I call it grain. Its a small chip that does anything, everything and all. It's a new better brain." He replied.
"Can it make babies or play football."I said with a slight smirk on my face.
He gazed at me with a cold pale look."it's cancelled do things that will benefit society."
"Not bad for a small widget. Fine let's get on with it." I said.
"So can we begin now?." He said stretching a tablet and a pen."sign there and we'd begin."
"Should I be doing this,I can't let her death be for nothing,but is this right."I said to my self as my hands trembled moving slowly towards the tablet.
"Mr Thomas think about your wife's death,What meaning is there if you don't have real convictions." He said gazing at me.
I looked at the tablet handing it back to him.