Nanobots, Murder, and Other Family Problems

Technicolor swirls linger in the corners of my vision as I stagger from Father’s lab. What a mind-trip. So many colors that don’t exist in reality. At least we’re done now. No more days spent strapped down on the table. Father has all the sensory feedback that he needs to customize a nanobot cloud for my own special brain.

I grab a quick meal in the cafeteria just before it closes. The food isn’t bad, but it’s as bland as usual. For a place as racially diverse as the campus, they eat a lot of white people food. And now that I have a few rotations of the menu behind me, it’s getting boring fast. I wish I could get a good curry like the stuff from the takeout place down the street from my old house. Or better yet, some of the brisket from Gramps’s restaurant. Man, I miss that place. I miss barbecue.

I’ve still got an hour before enforced study time starts. I poke my head into the dorm common room to see if Evan is there. No dice. I head to the Learning Center and hit the rec room. I need to blow off some steam anyway. Chad is over on the weight benches when I get there, lifting a couple of plates on either side of the bar with Phil spotting him. I look around for Evan, but he’s not here either.

“Noah!” Marc greets me. “How’d it go? Did you lose your lunch again? I threw up like six times when we did the visuals.”

Marc isn’t the brother I would have picked to spend time with, but maybe beating him at something might be just what I need.

“No,” I answer. “Just dizziness and what I always imagined an acid trip would be like. Is Evan around? I owe him a game of foosball.”

“He’s working on something with Louise up in the lab. But I’ll play. I love foosball! One time I played with Chad against Louise and Andrea for like four hours. That was back when Andrea still talked. Andrea and I wanted to quit after like two games but we were down a game and Chad didn’t want to let them win, so we kept doing two more and they kept winning one of them so we never got ahead so we kept playing. Then it was time for dinner and we were tied and we had to stop and I don’t think Chad ever played again and I didn’t want to play for a long time, but now I love it again and—”

“Marc?”

“Yeah, Noah?”

“Let’s just play.”

He does seem to love the game. He pays enough attention to it that he even stops talking. That doesn’t happen often, and it’s nice. Turns out that he’s bearable if there’s a table between us and he’s not jabbering. I still feel bad for not liking him. He’s always so excited to see me, and he tries harder than any of them to be my friend. I can tell he doesn’t mean to be a jerk. I think there’s something wrong with his ability to filter. And it’s hard to spend much time with someone who never shuts up.

The game heats up, and I’m twisting the handles fiercely. The pointers from Evan and the girls and the practice I’ve put in are paying off. I think the only time I played this before I came to the Butler Institute was with Mom at an arcade that she used to take me to when I was a kid. That seems so far away now, a whole other life. Marc has more experience than I do, but he doesn’t have the drive to win. I play hard and keep up with him, tying the game at nine to nine.

“Good game!” he cheers as I slam the final shot in. I feel irrationally irritated that he’s so happy about being beaten.

“Yeah, I got lucky on that last one,” I say, trying to be more gracious than I feel. “I think that’s it for me tonight. I need to get some extra studying in. I’ve got my regular classes back on tomorrow, and I’ve got a lot to do to get ready.”

I don’t, really, since Father made sure I didn’t have homework to worry about while we did the implant calibration, but it’s the best I can come up with to politely ditch him.

“Was it hard when you didn’t have teachers just for you?” Marc asks. “I’ve seen school on Hillside High and some other shows, but I don’t really get it. How do you pay attention when you’re always dating someone? That seems like it would be really distracting.”

I sigh. This place is so weird. He really thinks that show is what the world outside is like. I wonder if my other sibs think the same thing. Maybe it’s just more obvious with Marc since he asks every question that pops into his head.

“I keep telling you, brother, Hillside High isn’t real life. Anyway, I’ll see you later.” I give him a pat on the shoulder and start walking.

“OK, we can play more tomorrow after lunch if you want. I’ll be here all afternoon except when I’m working on my project to—”

He’s probably still talking, but I’m out of earshot now. Time to work some more on getting my cybernetically upgraded mind in order. There are still a whole lot of sensors I want to bind up, and I’m feeling good enough to get some real work done tonight. I’m going to be the best with this thing. I’ve got to be. Gain Father’s trust, find his secrets, bring him down.