The Rise of the Cyborgs

Interlude 6: Michelle

A/N - Yeah changes.

After school, Michelle looked at the plain envelopes. She had picked them up from behind a trashcan on Main street just where Naberus said they were. They had just been sitting there. Lying on the ground carefully wrapped in a clear plastic bag. Who had brought them? Where they still watching? Michelle glanced over her shoulder, then bent down to pick the envelopes gingerly up. She peeled back the wrapping to study each grey envelope. Each one had a printed address in the neighbourhood in the Glades. Before she had arrived Michelle had run one thousands of different scenarios through her mind. Each one seemed less likely than before. These could easily be party invites. She rubbed the outside with her fingers. There appeared to be nothing inside except old-fashioned paper. It was peculiar after all drone delivery made everything so cheap. People hardly ever stepped inside a physical shop any more. Cheap but trackable. Why did her tormentor want her to do this? Michelle had expected to find drugs or something. She decided to go to the police if that had happened. 'How bad can words be'? Michelle asked herself.

Michelle popped the envelopes into her shoulder bag. She would have a look around the shops as cover then summon her Father's car to take her back to the Glades.

It looked so much like a normal evening. After a family dinner, Michelle's father retired to the basement to pray and through god inspiration decide to pick a Chapter of the Bible. To night he had randomly picked

Peter 2:1-2. 'Therefore, rid yourselves of every kind of evil and deception, hypocrisy, jealousy, and every kind of slander. Like newborn babies, thirst for the pure milk of the word so that by it you may grow in your salvation.' He read aloud to himself nodding.

Her brothers fought over the game-station. Her mother in hail of resignation came from the kitchen. From her face, they both knew that the other would not go unpunished to.

In her bedroom Michelle checked the cards still in her bag. She offered as she often did to walk the dog Putsy. Her Mother as she always did, reminded her to take a phone. Putsy snapped to attention as Michelle approached with the lead. As Michelle walked out she remembered to switch off the location tracking on her phone. She had done this frequently while dating Mike. She did it again casually, to hide a greater sin. Then stepping over the robot lawnmower Michelle made her way to the uneven sidewalk.

 The Glades was gated and safe. Manual cars had to be left in the lot so the kids could move around without being in danger. It was a quiet neighbourhood in the style of old Pennsylvania I-houses. Trees had been spotted everywhere. The roads curved lazily, for no reason but the whim of the designer. It was quiet to the point of being boring.

Michelle walked quietly with the dog Putsy. She pulled it back while a rolling drone passed them on the sidewalk. Michelle checked the address. The sunset played its usual paintball with the sky. The positive sky was a grim opposition to her mood. Michelle checked her phone. It was difficult as the map was leading her to the corner where the screen crack was. There before her was number 55. She looked around. Her heart was in her neck. What was she to do? Naberus still had her photo.

She approached the building. It was old and looked like it had received some care. There was an old veranda with a deck and a large overhanging window. A swing seat hung down from the overhanging roof along a comfortable veranda. The garden looked partly looked overgrown but there was a jar full of fairy lights some painted rocks, showing the playful nature of those living within.

Mostly, people got physical post by a drone drop box in their back yard. You would saw drones moving like bees to the hive day and night. This place had an old pre-war postbox. Michelle looked around then rushed up to the postbox and pushed the letter in. Then she and Putsy trotted quickly away. Every time the dog stopped to sniff a rock or a fence it got sharply reminded and dragged away. 

Soon she was back home being greeted by her mother by her father. It all seemed so normal. The Wi-Fi connected and she was able to send the videos proving she had completed the task. She then quickly deleted them.