PHANTOM

Chapter I

The many footsteps and the occasional clanking of metal filled the city of New Manhattan. There were shops for almost any purpose, anything from bakeries to a spare parts shop, you name it. Tyna Daey had just gotten out of college with a Bachelor's in electronics. There she was, in New Manhattan, a place where robots and cyborgs hardly got a second glance and blended in like any human. Well, that's what she thought.

Tyna pulled out a shiny, new, brass key from her oversized pockets. She looked at the black door in front of her, and then down at the sidewalk five stories beneath her. She gently pushed the key into the door of apartment five of building 6345. The lock clicked and she pushed open the door. There was a small living room with a couch and a new Skrean. Skreans are the 3-in-1 all inclusive communication and entertainment boxes. Tyna dropped her boxes on the tan-colored carpet and admired the Skrean. There was a small kitchenette with a counter and tall stools. Tyna brought a few boxes of clothes and personal items into the only bedroom in her apartment. There was a shallow closet in the wall and a large window looking out onto the streets of New Manhattan. Tyna imagined herself looking out this window everyday. She threw herself onto her twin sized bed and smiled. Her untamed curly brown hair was stuck on her face and she used her small, but strong hands to untangle her face from her mass of hair. Right now, she couldn't bring herself to worry about not being able to afford anything. Tyna got ready to sleep, and crawled into her bed again. She drifted right off to sleep.

The next morning, Tyna got up and stretched her arms. As she walked to the kitchen to get a bowl of cereal, she heard the wail of police sirens nearby. She walked over to the window in her living room and pulled open the old curtains "I'll have to replace those," she thought as clouds of dust billowed from the curtains. She pressed her face and hands against the window and looked at the scene below her. A tall man was being handcuffed outside of a bakery across the street. As Tyna looked closer, she saw that he had a metal leg and green lights on his jaw-a cyborg. She sighed and returned to the kitchen. She turned on her Skrean and detached it from its mount. She ate her cereal and turned it on. The Skrean made a beeping noise and Tyna set down her bowl. "What is your name?" asked the Skrean in a somewhat realistic, but robotic voice.  Tyna enunciated "Tee-nuh Di-A". The Skrean asked for more information before saying "Welcome Tyna!"  Tyna smiled and scrolled through the different applications. As she scrolled through the news, she saw an eye catching article: CYBORG WANTS TO ADOPT CHILD, JURY SAYS NO. Tyna scrunched up her face in confusion. Why could the jury tell a cyborg that he couldn't have a child? She read the rest of the article, disagreeing with most of it. She picked up her spoon again, only to find the her cereal was extremely soggy. Suddenly, there was rushed knocking on the door.