As James opened his eyes, he glanced at the unfamiliar ceiling with a glimmering neon lamp, realizing he was not in the forest. This room was a wet concrete hole, which had almost no furniture except an air vent, a set of mediocre medical equipment, a metal bucket and a bed that could restructure anyone’s spine to a cogwheel.

“What the heck?” the blonde guest exclaimed furiously.

A human-like creature, with its metals clinking, emerged from the shadows, scaring James to death and putting him into a state of frenzy, desperation and dread. He couldn’t apprehend what would happen. Whether he was a subject of a harsh treatment or will be butchered like the Paragon told so. Discovering being bonded to the bed, his emotions grew uncontrollably.

“What are you going to do? Kill me? Slaughter me? Use me as lab rat in your cruel researches?” said the organic one afraid of being deprived of his life.

“On the contrary, Sir, This Unit and Master Charles found you in the forest, unconscious and hurt.” responded the pile of metal in a calm manner.

“Wait, what?”

“We mean you no harm.” the bot was able to read his surprised facial expression.

“We?”

“My Master will arrive soon.”

“Your Master?”

“Master Charles, he is a researcher of robotics, mechatronics and advanced AI and so much more.”

These were mostly curse words in the State of Virtue. The Nation dismantled all kinds of mechanical imitation of a human being and systematically killed off the experts on the topic. The population were manipulated into the state of being petrified of their immortal counterparts, which were displayed as savage, brutal, immoral, unethical beings, the harbingers of sins, the cursed ones. None of that were true apparently.

“So… What are you?”

“I am a first-generation personal assistant. Being designed and built by a legendary scientist, my existence is justified as a humble servant.”

“What happened?”

“We found you in the forest unconscious and hurt so we transported you immediately to the nearest outpost.”

“Where is that?”

“In the mountains, not far from the Domes.”

“The Domes?” he asked the moment a balding older figure opened the door. His outfit included a blue striped shirt, green trousers with black suspenders and faulty glasses over his brown eyes. James thought he was in his fifties, which he deduced from his grey hair, his elegant walking and the way he talked.

“Oh, you are finally awake. What a nice surprise.”

“Sir, I will leave you two alone.” the android removed itself from the conversation and withdrew from the room.

“Thanks. So how are you on this gloomy day?”

“Fine, thank you. My head hurts a little and I do not know where I am, except that I am somewhere in the mountains.”

“Correct. We are going to take a ride back to A1. We succeeded in connecting all the outposts, so it takes about an hour to travel through the region. Have you ever seen a subway station?”

“No, I haven’t. We do not have anything like a station in the Capital, and we do not need it.”

“Interesting. So you lived all your life in the West?” asked the scientist.

“Are there any more nations around?”

“If there is West and East, then there is North and South. And another in the mountains which we call The Order. I guess you do not have any kind of education back there. I hope you can read or write.”

“I can.”

“Nice.”

“So what will you do with me now that you know that I am a citizen of a hostile nation?”

“I’ll bring you back, and turn you into my personal assistant. That old pile of trash needs a replacement.”

“That hurts.” The droid replied from outside the room.

“I thought you would imprison or kill me.”

“I am not a barbarian. Look at me, I cannot even swing my arm properly.”

“Then why did you save me? I could be dangerous to old people like you.”

“I do not know yet.” He lied.

“What will happen?”

“You’ll have to take some classes on arrival that teaches you some general information, and we will upload your DNA into the database since you don’t have the key gene. I think you are old enough to apply to the class my daughter attends.”

“Well… Could you release me? This bed is horrible, it makes my back hurt.”

“It was designed to hold scouts from your nation.” He explained while he freed his new apprentice. “I guess I have not properly introduced myself. My name is Charles.”

“Mine is James. I appreciate your trust.”

“I have brought you some of my old clothes. There is a bathroom in front of this chamber, so you can use it to have a shower and get dressed after doing your things.”

“Understood.” he moved to the place mentioned before and did all of the above. His waste was due, he stank viciously and the outfit he wore was obsolete. Completing the first two tasks, he put on the red shirt, the black vest and trousers which held a golden pocket watch. This resulted in looking smart and elegant he had never ever been before.

They left the outpost and got on a train. Travelling caused James to experience sluggish nausea as he had never been on any kind of vehicle before.

“You’ll get used to it.”

“I know, but I still feel inconvenient.”

“Sure, if anything is to come out, there is a litter bin on the right.” Several seats, which were covered with synthetic leather, could be found at the sides along and a trash can at the entrance of the car. The inside was coloured white and was gleaming in the light neon lights. It was made of plastic that was extremely elastic and strong compared to other materials of the same cost.

“You know, this was my nephew’s innovative idea. I am proud of him. This train is hurled towards its objective with a high speed by accelerating positive ions with electricity. The ions are recaptured after release. It uses some magnetic technology as well.’ Said the native breaking the silence.

“I guess you have siblings then.”

“Had. My only sister died of Memento Mori. Same as my wife.”

“My condolences.”

“It was five years ago, I…” he stopped.

“If I remember properly, you have a daughter as well, right?” James saved the day.

“Yes, I do. She has a difficult personality, but I still love her unconditionally as any father should their child. I think she have not accepted the death of her mother yet.”

“How old is she?”

“Eighteen. And you?”

“I wasn’t told about my birthday, therefore I can only guess. About nineteen.”

“That’s sad. You don’t have a family, do you?”

“No, I was taken away because my parents were not eligible, or were the enemies of the state.”

“Not eligible?”

“Not officials or soldiers. Why would you think that?”

“Being left behind in a forest near the city presents a lot of clues to your current situation. You might have had a friend to bring you there as you were wrapped in blankets. If you had any parents they would rather hide you in their home, even if you have done something unacceptable or at least that is what I would do. But I do not have the necessary details to conclude anything.”

“I don’t know what to say. That was impressive. To say the least, my story starts with reading a book that was forbidden, being sent to jail, where I befriended a fellow criminal. His comrade helped us to escape, but I do not know what happened afterwards.”

“The automated people-mover has arrived at A1, please leave the cabin at your convenience.” Said a recorded female voice indicating the end of their jolly-good journey. The doors unlocked to reveal the modern style of the station. Although it was mostly empty, one or two benches were placed so that the associates of the passengers could sit down and wait. The train delayed itself for you if you applied a ticket at your social appliance device and sent you three warnings to get on the vehicle. After checking on your location and speed, the train could decide to leave if you had no intention to board it. These means of transportation were not very popular, but were very important to people who had to get around the region.

“Do you need anything? Just ask. You are not registered in the database yet, so it would be dangerous wandering around alone. If you are not with me, an extermination squad will be dispatched and will hunt you down.”

“I could use a snack.”

“If we turn right and take the stairs, there will be a stand with all kinds of meat sandwiches right in front of us.”

“Meat sandwiches? I have not eaten meat since the festival.” He initiated a step towards the stairs.

“Festival?”

“Adequacy Festival. We celebrate everything we have by fucking and eating as much as we can.”

“That is interesting. Did you fuck and eat?” he asked smugly.

“I ate a lot, since exceptional food was scarce, the other did not happen. I consider it as an expression of a special bond rather than some mindless instinct.”

“So there was nobody of your liking?”

“That is another thing and also not true.”

“Well, look at that.” He exclaimed at the peak of the staircase. “I’ll get my SAD.” He took his device out of his pocket.

“Wait, how much does the food cost around here? I do not want to worry you financially.”

“It is free.”

“What?” James was astonished.

“Free. The bots do not ask for money or anything. Why would they? I’ll just send an appliance through my device and they will fulfil my orders. The menu is on the stand.”

“As I see, they have fish sandwiches. I have never had one before.”

“Okay. I’ll order it. The drones will bring it to us.”

As James inspected his surroundings, he realized he was in a contrasting environment to the Capital. The Sun was shining brightly, one could not observe any signs of clouds in the turquoise sky. The street was full of hexagonal solar panels that were disguised as some regular brick tiles of a fancy square and several trees were planted at the sidewalks. There were two rails at the sides in between the road and the pavement for an object called heaver that used electromagnets to push towards the destination. Its resemblance was similar to a scooter that was equipped with a windshield. Having a self-driving function, it would find its way back to its underground lot at any stations.

“I have brought you the sandwiches.” Reported a drone floating at the height of a human with a relatively hefty package. Charles gave his SAD to the automatized errand boy for identification while James unwrapped the sandwiches.

“Wow, this is delicious. I haven’t eaten anything like that before.” Exclaimed the young one as he munched on the rather average sandwich to a domesman.

“Yeah, not bad, but I have eaten better.”

“What’s in this sandwich?”

“Tuna, pickles, boiled eggs, some ham, salad, tomato, mayonnaise.”

“Mayonnaise? What’s that?”

“A sauce made of eggs, vinegar and several other things.”

“This is spectacular. We were given some pretty nasty food back at the quarters. Sometimes I found copper casings in my rolls.”

“You had to grow up on that?”

“Yeah. But I am still healthier than my generation.”

“Let’s go to to the administration, shall we?” He fiddled with his device and two heavers appeared.

“Okay.” He mounted the vehicle.

Some minutes later, they landed at the destination safe and sound. Since James had no means to control his heaver, Charles set it into convoy mode to ensure the arrival of his new assistant.

“This is the Government Appliance Section, or GAS for short.” Explained Charles as he pointed his finger towards a mediocre-sized but rather extraordinary building. Although the outer edifice was very similar to the blooming buds of a snowdrop, the inner parts were simple office blocks of the Bureaucratic Artificial Intelligence Telemetry that was to manufacture new SADs. Also, there were no jobs for organic lifeforms there, everything was taken care of by machines.

Heading through the vast hall of the complex, James realized that it was used as a theatre rather than an administrative complex. There were some booths for gathering personal information and appliance to full citizenship, which needed a reference as a prerequisite for registering into the database entitling you to possess a device of your own. Accepting the constitution, you were given a newly-built or reinstated smart house and literally everything one could dream of. The latter was only available after the validation of one’s identity, of course. The only thing the applicant had to do was to bestow upon the AI some DNA sample, so that they could be registered. Also, nobody could obtain multiple SADs that way.

“Just go to the booth, state your name and apply for citizenship. I have given a reference to the Telemetry already.”

“Okay, anything else?”

“Your eye colour is strange. Yellow is the rarest outcome. The closest I saw was amber, but your eyes are truly golden.”

“Do you even want to inspect the colour of the most sensitive part of my manly spectre?”

“Just go.”

James approached the booth.

“I would like to apply for citizenship.”

“Give me your hand, Sir. Would you spit into this?” The robot handed a cup over. And he spat in it. After some minutes, he was given his very own SAD device.

“You were a citizen already, but we haven’t given you a device. You will be given a house in two months. We registered you to our Coming of Age class as your referee requested. Attendance is not compulsory.” Said the drone, which was not at all human like.

He went back to Charles with his brand new device. “It said that I was a citizen already, but they did not give out any data about me what so ever.” Both of them stood there blankly.

“Then your parents must have been born here.” He murmured. “What else did it say?” Replied Charles after a while.

“That thing said that I will be given my own house two months from now on. Also, I am requested to attend school to obtain the basic knowledge about this place.”

“You can live with us, if you want to. Or you can apply to the Dormitory. Your choice.”

“I’d rather accept your invitation. You said something about me being your assistant.”

“Old Sid needs to be relieved of duty. You know, he is a servant-class personal assistant from the first generation of droids. If you ever need help just broadcast to him. He’ll come.”

“Okay. How do I initialize a broadcast?”

“Type in ‘/broadcast’ and the desired bot’s ID, S-1-500 for instance.”

“Understood. Will we travel to your house then?”

“Yep.” They took a ride back home. It took some time, since the sun set at the time of arrival, creating an incredible scene for someone who never had a chance to glance at the bare sky.

“Come inside.” Said the scientist on arrival.

“Okay.” James stumbled in, noticing the remarkable properties of smart houses. The house were equipped with all kinds of electronics that made life easier, for example everything was connected to your SAD, the heating, the shutter, the computers. Though every room had their own specialty features, the kitchen was one of the most peculiar, where two machine arms were preparing the food the owner asked for. Being on rails, it was fixed on the ceiling. A central controlling unit, or CCU, could be found in the cellar that controls every piece of electronic equipment the house had.

The interior of the building was not extraordinary, though. The wall on the other side in front of them was made of glass, which presented a pleasant view of the garden that was maintained by robots designed for gardening plants. The ground floor had three rooms, the living room which occupied two thirds of the whole level incorporating the kitchen, excluding the bathroom and Charles’ bedroom. A staircase crawled up at the left side, eventually turning into a balcony over the living room. The second floor contained three smaller bedrooms, a bathroom, and the workshop, where Charles conducted his research.

“Emily, I’m home.” screeched the elder. The balcony vibrated of frequent footsteps that suddenly turned into rumbling at the staircase. Soon, Emily’s stylish hair waved in the distance exposing her platinum-coloured locks and black roots. She had seamless skin, defiant and narrow eyebrows, an adorable, small rounded nose, yielding cheeks, a small thin chin all of which together exhibited a beauty incarnate.

“You haven’t told me that we are having a visitor.” Her blue eyes gawked at the unexpected company of his father in suspicion.

“I was away for two weeks. I didn’t know it either. Let’s introduce you to each other, shall we? This is James, my new assistant.”

“My name is Emily, nice to meet you.”

“You, too.” He replied. Wondering about her intentions of the future, he came upon a scar-like structure at her right iris on the upper border of her pupil blazing in greenish and goldish colours.

“How did you find this exceptional specimen?”

“Stop, Emily, I don’t need you to pester my new employee. Also, that does not concern you, only if he wants to speak about it. He stays here for two months until his house is finished. I gave him the third bedroom upstairs. I think he will attend the same class as you. There is no need to be rude. You only have to bear him for two months.”

“Two months!? Hmm…”

“I see you are tired, James. If you want to rest, just go upstairs, take the left, and the third room on the right is yours. It is prepared for you along with some clothes and other things you would need.”

“Thank you. Then I wouldn’t bother you anymore, I am pretty fatigued alright.” He set off to his new chamber.

“Would you sit down with me, Emily? I have missed you.” Charles murmured in the distance.

“At least I can rest a bit now.” James thought. “This Emily seems to nurture a challenging nature. Charles said that they lost her mother, so she craves for the attention of her father. I assume she hoped to be his next assistant. Why would I be chosen over his only child? Maybe she did conceal her desire so that her father wouldn’t notice.”

Following the rather trivial direction, he turned up at his new safe haven. He opened the door to observe the habitat he owns for a while. In the eyes of an outsider this room might seem a little extravagant, yet it only consisted of a cosy, white double bed, some bookcases and a wardrobe that was filled out with recently fabricated clothes that were famously fashionable according to his generation.

“Well it is time to sleep.” Murmured while he lied down on his humble bed.