The Infinite Evolution - Conversion (5 page)

Spencer was well aware that there
would be no chance he could extract further information from this
HICAMS, so he decided to leave in hopes he find her another
day.

As Spencer walked back to the
elevator, he heard “Dad, I’m so going to be so late for school.
Where are you?”

“
Damn, I forgot about Jade. I’ll
be right there honey.”

“
Dad what are you doing? I’ve got to go,” said
Jade as soon as she saw her father run around the
corner.

“
I’m sorry. I met this amazing
women in the hallway a minute ago and now I can’t find
her.”

“
Yeah, ok Dad that’s really nice
and all, but I need to go. You know you’re going to have to drive
me to school now because there is no way I’m going to make the
hover rail in time,” snapped Jade who was utterly
annoyed.

“
Ok, let’s go.”

As both Jade and Spencer walked
out towards the parking garage, Jade went on about how embarrassing
it was having her father take her to school. Spencer acknowledged
with a simple nod as she continued to complain about the current
situation even though his mind was focused on Serafina.

“
Dad,” yelled Jade “Are you even listening to
me?”

“
Of course, I was just thinking.”

“
Thinking,” laughed Jade. “Yeah you’re
thinking all right, your thinking about that hot invisible girl you
just met named Serafina.”

“
She wasn’t invisible. She just
happened to walk away and I didn’t see where she went, and who said
she was hot?”

“
Ah, you did, when we were in the elevator,
you mumbled her name and talked about how attractive she
was.”

“
You heard that? I thought I was just thinking
quietly to myself.”

“
Yeah, more like thinking out
loud,” giggled Jade.

“
Well, you weren’t supposed to hear
that.”

“
Sure, ok Dad, whatever can we go now?” Jade
asked impatiently as they entered their car.

“
Ok, ok, car on,” commanded
Spencer.

“
Good morning, Mr. Cade. What
will your destination be this morning?” asked the
vehicle.

“
Destination… Um, yeah, Colbert Regional High
School.”

“
Yes, Mr. Cade, and will you be operating the
vehicle this morning?”

“
What?” asked Spencer.

The vehicle replied, “Will you be operating the
vehicle this morning or will I?”

Spencer had just purchased his
new cherry red concept vehicle with black trim a few days ago. He
quickly forgot it could drive itself when needed. His prior vehicle
was over twenty years old and had over three hundred thousand miles
on it. Spencer loved this vehicle and had it when the odometer
struck just eleven miles. Of course, it was unable to drive itself,
nor did it have the latest and greatest features, but Spencer still
thought it was the best, until the engine finally expired, due to
lack of proper maintenance. Spencer insisted on having the engine
rebuilt, over purchasing a new vehicle, but with proper persuasion
from Jade and the fact that it would have cost him more credits to
rebuild the engine, then if he just purchased a new vehicle, he
decided to go with the latter of the two.

“
Yes, I will drive the car thank you, that’s
why I’m called the driver, sometimes I ask myself who controls
whom, the humans or the technology?”

“
Understood, Mr. Cade I will disengage the
auto driver.”

“
Dad, why don’t you just let the car drive,
why do you always have to fight with technology?”

“
Jade, do we really have to go there
again?”

“
No, no, you’re right, never
mind,” said Jade realizing what she almost started.

Spencer drove down the ramp and
out of the parking garage, while he received the updated traffic
report from his vehicle.

“
I recommend you avoid Highway 347 near County
Route 83 Patchogue Mount Sinai Road due to a traffic accident,
expected delay thirty one minutes,” said the vehicle.

“
Thank you, navigation off,” replied Spencer
as he drove into the busy streets of lower Manhattan.

As soon as Spencer cleared the parking garage, he
turned off the engine and quickly switched over to magnetic
levitation.

“
I don’t want to be fined by
those Enviro cops,” said Spencer as he looked over at Jade and
realized she was not paying any attention to what he was saying
because she was too enthralled with her music.

“
Radio, talk show, educational,” requested
Spencer as the vehicle processed the command and quickly scanned
the thousands of channels to meet his request. As soon as a
suitable channel was located, the on board computer responded back,
“Our History with Technology and the Environment, brought to you by
Public Radio.”

“
Sounds good, play it,” ordered
Spencer.

“
Welcome to another episode of Our History
with Technology and the Environment. This week we will be talking
about magnetic levitation and how it came to be. Magnetic
levitation technology has been around since the twenty first
century. Magnets have a north and south pole and when the north
pole of one magnet encounters the south pole of another magnet,
both these magnets attract one another. If you switch this and
bring both types of poles together like north and north, the
magnets repel one another. New York City and other major cities
throughout the world ended up building magnetized coils in the
roadways, which repels the large magnets in vehicles allowing the
vehicle to levitate approximately four inches off the ground. The
biggest obstacle for engineers was to create a dampening field
around the roadways so the magnetic force would not interfere with
other devices. Seventeen years ago, the International Government
passed a law stating if a city has more than five hundred thousand
people, only vehicles with magnetic hovering capabilities could
operate inside those cities, excluding any highways. This was one
of many attempts to reduce air pollution in larger cities. The
International Government expanded the powers of the Environmental
Protection Agency and created Environmental Law Enforcement
Officers, AKA Enviro Officers, to assist in enforcing laws of this
nature. These Enviro Officers work very similar to other law
enforcement agencies throughout the world. One of their newer
responsibilities is to investigate any type of biological
outbreaks, natural or manufactured.”

“
Dad, what are you listening to?” asked Jade
as she manually reduced the volume.

“
Wow, did you see what you just did?” asked
Spencer.

“
What?”

“
You used your hand instead of your voice when
it came to telling the onboard computer what to do,”

Jade smirked then asked, “So, Dad, can we go look at
new holoscreens after I get out of school today?”

“
No, but why don’t you try and fix our old one
and I’ll pay you?”

“
I told you I already tried, we need new
parts.”

“
Oh, you were serious about that?”

“
You know Dad, I think you’re exploiting my
gifts in order to save on credits.”

“
I would never do that.”

“
Yeah right!” said Jade.

During this discussion Spencer
had taken his eyes off of the traffic for a split second, at which
point their vehicle came to an immediate stop, and prevented a
collision with a pedestrian, who failed to use the proper
crosswalk.

“
Wow! Quick reaction Dad.”

“
That wasn’t me, you can thank the onboard
sensors for that one.”

“
Well, I guess technology isn’t always that
bad now is it?” asked Jade with a smile.

Spencer ignored the comment and
lowered the window to ask the pedestrian if they were ok, but by
the time he started his sentence the ungrateful person was already
out of hearing distance and never acknowledged what almost
happened.

“
Wow, I can’t believe someone would just walk
in front of a moving car, almost cause an accident, and leave
without even apologizing,” said Spencer.

“
You’re kidding right?” asked Jade. “When was
the last time you saw someone apologizing for something they did
wrong?”

“
I guess that’s one of the many
flaws of humanity, many people don’t take responsibility for their
own actions. I see it more and more every day,” said
Spencer.

A number of people in their
vehicles, behind Spencer and Jade, started yelling and beeping
their horns.

“
Hey Dad we need to stop judging the world and
either put this car in auto drive or you drive, but either way
let’s go,” demanded Jade.

“
Calm down – we’re going, and
stop yelling at me. I’m your father! Show some respect.”

“
Ok, ok, sorry, can we just go?
Please…”

“
This just in,” reported
the Public Radio station. “The viral outbreak in Australia has been
contained." Approximately two weeks ago an unidentified virus, now
known as the Weed Virus or the T191 virus, broke out in Darwin and
spread as far as Port Hedland where it is now contained. Sources
indicate the virus had originated from a group of tourists visiting
Australia. Government agencies are not revealing where the tourists
came from, but are assuring the public their geographical origin is
not infected. Currently there is no vaccine for the Weed Virus;
symptoms are numbness, blurred vision, dehydration, and nausea.
Officials are refusing to issue a total number of infected.
Dr.
Philip Hathaway,
of the International Medical University, is part of the Major
Infection Disease task force in conjunction with the EPA, CDC, and
government officials in Australia.
Dr.
Hathaway was crucial in the
cure for the Cyrs virus five years ago. The Prime Minister of
Australia will be making an address to the United Nations tonight
in an attempt to request support from other nations. Again the Weed
Virus has been contained.”

“
I can’t believe there is another
virus spreading so quickly. It’s as if someone is mass-producing
these things. What’s up with these governments? Why can’t they just
tell us where the virus originated? What do you think?” asked
Spencer who was not getting a response. “Hello, you there?” He soon
noticed Jade had her earplugs in once again. “Never mind, you’re
better off not knowing I guess,” sighed Spencer.

A few minutes later, Spencer heard Jade ask, “Dad,
can you like, drop me off one block from the school?”

“
Really, why?” asked Spencer.

“
Well it’s not like I don’t love you it’s just
weird having your dad drop you off at school. You’re not mad are
you?”

“
No it’s just… never mind, I’ll drop you off a
block from the school.”

“
Thanks, Dad.”

“
You’re welcome honey,” said
Spencer with a somber tone.

“
You are 300 yards from your
destination,” reported the vehicle. Spencer quickly applied the
brake and lowered the vehicle to the ground. Before Spencer could
even say goodbye, Jade had the door open, was already out of the
car, and said, “Bye, I’ll take the hover train home, don’t worry
about picking me up.”

“
No kiss?” Spencer asked.

“
Sorry, I’m late! Bye,” yelled
Jade as she ran off towards school.

The End

Spencer decided to stop by and see Reece at work in
an attempt to solicit him for help. “Please adjust route to include
Central Circuit as the next stop.”

“
Route adjusted. What parking facility would
you like to use? Hex, Binary, or Legacy,” asked the navigation
system.

“
Let’s park in Binary, they seem to have the
fastest tram,” replied Spencer confidently.

“
Route laid in, with current traffic and
weather conditions you should be arriving in twenty three minutes,”
reported the navigation system.

“
Excellent,” said Spencer who then paused and
added, “Stop at the first coffee shop on the way.”

“
Understood, we will be arriving at Caffeine
Express in seven minutes,” noted the navigation system.

“
Outstanding.”

As Spencer pulled into the
parking lot of Caffeine Express, he drove up to the drive-through
and ordered one large coffee, with two shots of espresso, and five
sugars. After he paid the nine credits through his PDA, Spencer
drove forward, a small window opened up, and a metal tray expanded
with his steaming hot coffee. After Spencer grabbed his life blood,
he decided to place his vehicle in auto drive, so he could give all
his attention to the one thing he found utterly pleasing, his
morning cup of Joe.

When Spencer neared Central
Circuit, he took his vehicle out of auto drive and maneuvered into
the middle lane, thinking this lane would get him through the
security checkpoint quicker. As the lines of vehicles grew, Spencer
started to grow anxious. The combination of his hatred for traffic
and the security screening required him to drive his vehicle inside
an enclosure. This was perhaps just too much for any
claustrophobic. As Spencer approached the gate, an electronic
barricade raised from the pavement, and forced him to
stop.