The Regeneration Project

~7~

  Risa—

I wake up, very well rested from the long night of sleep I had, and reach over to the control panel on the side of the bed. I hit the alarm button and the bed immediately stops vibrating to wake me up.

"Good Morning Risa M. Finnow!" the AIS says, "Was your sleep sufficient?"

"Yes, very sufficient." I reply

"Great! Whenever you are ready, please recite the national motto."

"Ready," I say, "I pledge my life to the Nation, the glorious Nation, and to its citizens forever. I will obey authority and do as I am required. Security before privacy and consistency before freedom."

"Your pledge has been accepted Ms. Finnow! Please serve your nation faithfully today!"

"Always will I serve."

Even though no one is here, the AIS still requires the morning protocols before the doors out of the too are unlocked. Still. Although it is very inconvenient, it does keep some normalcy in my already very unusual life. Aspen is tech savvy though and is trying to find a way to disable that particular system lock. Seeing that it isn't fixed, I continue my morning routine starting with my shower and ending withy wardrobe. I look in the mirror for a log while and am pleased with what I see. Tallish curvy body, with prominent features, and my signature hairstyle of a messy high ponytail. Satisfied with my appearance, I waltz over to the door and enter the kitchen to did that I am the kent one awake, which is strange. Aspen is usually up before I am.

"Aspen?" I call as I gently knock on his door.

"BOOO!" he says as he flogs open the door.

My heart is racing a thousand beats per minute and I have an insatiable urge to slug him. Giving into my impulse, I punch him in the arm just enough to hurt and am eased with his response.

"Ow, Risa, what was that for?" he whines.

"Oh you know," I taunt, "Just for being the wonderful prankster you are. You know what they say, Aspen, 'do to others as you would like to be done you you.'"

"Whatever. You're just jealous you don't have my ninja abilities." he said with a grin.

"Oh please," I retort, "You are the one who is jealous of my wonderful charm and amazing looks. I'm not the one jealous here."

"Well, I can't really deny that," he laughed, "but neither can you." he said as he poked my rib cage.

"Okay, okay, I admit your ninja abilities are superior."

"Why thank you, I know."

"Stop flattering yourself and let's get packed for the road. I want to leave at 1:00 for the next residence we will stay at. Have you had any luck with disabling the morning system lock?" I question.

"Yes, and no." he says, "I figured out which system it is, but I don't know how to disable it yet."

"At least it's a start!" I say trying to encourage him.

"Yeah I guess so."

We walk side by side into the spacious kitchen and grab whatever we want out if the fridge. Aspen was able to disable the system in that at least so we can get extra food for the road. I grab an orange juice, hard boiled egg, and an apple breakfast pastry that I promptly put into the toastawave to heat up. After five seconds, my pastry pops out, warm enough to be delicious, but not too hot as to burn the inside if my mouth. Aspen grabs a similar breakfast but substitutes apple juice instead of orange juice. I've never like apple juice that much; too sweet. But I suppose that is appealing to some people. After we finish breakfast, we pack some food, extra clothes, and other essential items for our trip.

"By the way Risa," Aspen says, "I'm driving the hovercar this time."

"What?" I say with mock hurt, "You didn't approve of my flawless driving skills?"

"Um, no actually, last time you were in one you crashed into another hovercar and I can see the dent in the side through my window all the time." 

"I feel a little unapreciated. That was my third time in a hovercar. I think I did quite well."

"Regardless," he says, "I would rather drive because I have more experience and I would like to get where we're going in one piece."

"Fine." I say.

"Fine." he says back, copying my tone.

We walk out the door about ten minutes later and head to another hovercar. I scan my mom's license which I held onto and then Aspen scans his permit. The hovercar does its usual greeting and plotted course objects and  we enter the address of our destination. It plots our course on the holographic map and the controls pop open.

"Hold on," Aspen says, "I just got a message."

"From who?" I ask.

"Oh no...this isn't good." Aspen says as he starts to panic, "This is not good."

"Well what is it?" I ask impatiently as I grab the AirPhone out of his hand.

I barely get to skim it before my stomach drops. It reads:

"We told you not to do the wrong thing. Right now you are doing the wrong thing, and we don't like it. I hope you learn your lesson.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       ~the SST"

I look up just in time to see an unmanned hovercar heading straight in a head-on collision course for us.

"DRIVE ASPEN," I scream frantically, "DRIVE!"

Aspen barely manages to get the hovercar in motion before the world turns into spotty glimpses and ultimately black as I faint, overcome by the sudden sense of helplessness.