...And We Will Have Snow

Chapter 5-6: Ray's Drone

Several days later the drone walked into the kitchen at dinner time and sat down. Everyone laughed. They knew it was Ray because it sat in his chair.

"It doesn't look like Ray."

"It might if we were wearing lenses."

"Oh, yeah."

"Not very big either. I mean, I thought it would look like Iron Man or something."

"That's because it doesn't have a man inside it. But it can do anything a man can do." Jack said this. He was just coming in the door and everyone turned at the sound of his voice. Ray was right behind him.

"Can it talk? It hasn't said a word."

"No, it's not equipped for that. But in QAR the avatar would have a voice." As he said this Ray picked the drone up out of his chair and seated it by the wall.

"Oh, it's light! How much does it weigh?"

"About ten kilos. A little over twenty pounds."

They all sat down to dinner, but the conversation continued to center around the drone. Jack and Ray took turns answering questions.

"Are all of them black?"

"All the originals were. They were designed for stealth. And they're made of carbon fibers, which are naturally black."

"This is one of the originals?"

"As far as we know. Doesn't look like it ever saw service though, no signs of wear and tear."

"Are they still being made, then?"

Jack answered. "We didn't think so, but there are rumors that the factory in China is back in operation. They say red is a popular color over there."

"The color of the drone doesn't matter. If you're wearing your lenses, it will look like whatever avatar is being projected."

"Can you show us what that will look like, Ray?"

"Sure. How about in the lounge, right after dinner? Just be sure to have your lenses on."

So when dinner was over Ray went into the lounge. After a few minutes the drone got up and followed him in there. When the others arrived they saw Ray sitting on the couch with the drone beside him. Those who already had their lenses on saw two Rays. Ray smiled when some of them looked over the tops of their lenses to see which was which. So did the drone.

Cheryl said, "Okay Ray, this is pretty creepy. Can you make it look like someone else?"

One of the Ray's flickered and turned into Iron Man.

Cheryl said, "Wait a minute," and took off her lenses. "Ray!"

Ray laughed, and everyone did what Cheryl had done. Without the lenses, Ray was sitting where Iron Man had been. The drone was beside him.

Sedna asked, "Can we try it?"

Ray said, "Put your lenses back on." They all did. Ray and Iron Man had switched places.

"Okay, Sedna, your turn."

Sedna knew what to do. She relaxed in her chair and closed her eyes. Iron Man's head moved. He said "Wow!" with Sedna's voice. After looking around the room for a few seconds, she said, "It doesn't blink."

Jack said, "No need. But it has other responses. Try picking something up."

Sedna reached with Iron Man's hand to the little table in front of her and picked up an ebook. "It has tactile." She used a finger to flip the pages. "The touch surface responds to it."

She put the ebook down and moved the body, raising the arms and twisting at the waist. "Feels pretty natural." Tentatively, she stood up and took a few steps. "Ray, I wondered how you made it look so easy. But the interface is almost perfect."

Ray said, "I made a few software tweaks to take advantage of our QAR link."

Sedna bounced it on its toes. "Oh, I can tell how light it is though. I'll bet I could jump it a long way!"

Ray said, "You'd want to be careful about that. It's tough, but not indestructible."

Sedna turned the hands and looked at the palms. "Too bad it can't fly like Iron Man."

Jack said, "We're working on that."