Nanobots, Murder, and Other Family Problems

Wed 10/19 08:21:04 PDT

A thumping beat resonates through the ground as I open the dorm doors and head outside. Chad is out on the grass near Andrea as she dances around the center of the commons. A pair of three-foot-wide boulders bounce up and down against the sidewalk, accompanying the music she plays with her cloud. I don't need to turn on the overlay to know they're Chad's work. I'd be worried about a personality shift with how nice he's being to Andrea, but I think he's just looking for another excuse to show off. He shouts at some of the younger kids on their way to the cafeteria to watch out, making sure they know the massive balls are his. I think there's some symbolism there.

He's definitely been loving his two weeks as the one and only super-sib. As Jeff predicted, he's been in the lab with Father for a couple of hours every day for calibrations to fine-tune his upgraded capabilities. With every visit, he comes out with more powers that he goes out of his way to show off.

One of the younger girls whose name I can't remember runs up to him and says something I can't hear. He smiles a magnanimous smile that I swear he pulled right from Father's face and puts out a hand to project a small image of her face into the air. She claps her hands in delight and runs off to tell her classmates. Looks like his latest upgrade lets him put together detailed holograms of anything he's seen with no apparent effort. The picture fading from the air isn't artistic like Andrea's projections, just a photo with modest resolution. Still, I won't mind being able to do that too when Father finally gets around to doing my implant upgrade.

I make it to the cafeteria and settle in next to Evan at our usual table. He's already almost done with his waffles and starting on his hash browns. The pervasive bass beat finally stops as I pour the syrup. Evan tilts his head toward the windows facing the commons and squints.

"What's Mega-Chad doing out there now?" he asks.

"I think he's starting to build something," I reply, turning on my overlay and looking around outside with several eyes. Streams of Chad's bots are heading over the wall and into the desert and coming back weighted down with tiny payloads. "Yeah. He's printing something right in the middle of the field. Can't tell what yet, but it's going to be big. He just wrecked a ton of grass putting down a foundation for it. You should make an eye and look for yourself."

"You know I hate running extra eyes," Evan protests. "Especially when I'm eating."

"Then finish up and go look at it."

He crams the last of his breakfast into his mouth and gets up. As he heads toward the door, I see what looks like a huge pair of stone feet rising out of nothing on the broad pedestal that used to be the lawn. I eat my bacon and a quarter of my waffle, then follow Evan out. Some things are worth seeing with biological eyes.

Chad stands in front of his growing creation, slowly moving his hands and darting his head between looking at the giant faux-stone figure and glancing out to where he's harvesting the materials for it from outside the campus gates. It's only built up to its waist and it's already a good fifteen feet tall.

"Bet you tonight's dessert that it's a statue of himself," Evan says.

"I'll take that money," I respond. "That's supposed to be Father. Chad would have made the legs look way thicker if he were doing himself."

The creation stays ambiguous as the torso and arms slowly form. Whoever it's supposed to be is wearing what looks like the start of a suit and tie, but that could be either of them. Guess we'll find out for sure when he starts building the head. The thing is a good thirty feet tall at the shoulder, once the head is on there it might get as tall as the Residence roof.

"It's definitely himself," Evan says. "Look how broad those shoulders are."

"Could be he's just trying to make Father look more manly. Artistic license, maybe."