Homeworking

For sixty years it had remained - buried deep in this aged earth.

There had been nothing but rain for nearly two weeks. The sky was a sludgy grey; it felt as though the whole country had a lid on it.

Ty pulled off his Cyber Educator and peered out of his bedroom window. It was 11.am and time for morning break. Sure enough on queue his door opened and Sir Preceptor, Ty's personal robot entered with a tray.

"Break Time." he announced in vintage robotic speech.

Ty took the tray and muttered thanks, a green light on Sir Preceptors left arm flashed in polite acknowledgement. Ty sat on the bed curling his feet awkwardly underneath him. A mid morning snack of dried fruit and veg washed down with purified water broke the tedium of his school day.

It had been over half a century since the War of De Americanisation and a great deal had changed since.

The gasses that had been unleashed over Europe had damaged the natural world beyond recognition. It was no longer considered safe to venture outdoors for any length of time. Adults were ferried to and from their place of work in Slue Capsules, which they gained access to via converted underground stations. On entry the occupants were de moleculised then then re moleculised once on arrivel at their destination.

Early versions of this now common method of transportation had been disastrous, molecules mixing and regrouping incorrectly. Thereby creating people with the wrong head or longer legs than when they entered the capsule. Sometimes lab technicians did it on purpose, experimenting with people of different races. How they laughed at the white woman with the black mans torso and the old lady with the body of an African supermodel but her own face.

These days the Slue Capsules are a perfect object and mistakes are never made.

Due to the irreparable post war ravaging of the atmosphere, children are required to stay in their homes and complete their education through a virtual mask not dissimilar to the old-fashioned simulator visors that were so popular in pleasure arcades at the turn of the last century.

As Ty sipped his water and stared vacantly through the window, a flash of lightening streaked across the dark sky and a clap of thunder sounded an electrical storm. They were fairly common in this decade, the Stormy Sixties but this one was different.

With little warning Ty’s room was plunged into darkness, a sudden blackout engulfed normality. Ty opened his door and saw Sir Preceptor stood mid step in the hall.

Ty remembered this happening once before, years earlier. His father told him that electrical storms could sometimes short circuit household robots, it was easy enough to fix them but Ty decided to take advantage of his minder being out of action.

Why not? Who was to prevent him? The storm had triggered his curiosity and a sudden aptitude for Boy Scout skills had surfaced. He crept downstairs to the back door and tapped in the exterior release code.

The door sprung open and Ty was met by the world. Even though it was a wet miserable day the wall of the outside air smacked him in the face and his overriding emotion was one of pure joy.

He could feel the unfamiliar mud squishing under foot as he braved the path leading to the back garden and it felt good.

The sensations were so peculiar and foreign outside. Even when he played football for his local squad they never went out there, preferring instead plugging into a central sports computer and assuming on screen doppelgangers.

There were no flowers in the garden, hadn't been for many years now. Flowers stopped growing after the CV4 factory explosion back in 38, huge plumes of black smoke had settled overhead, the birds gave up too, giving the circle of life a few major missing links.

The Great War of De Americanisation had brought casualties as well as freedoms.

But they survive, they are human, they have no choice.

Then he saw it, at first just a hand sticking up through the earth, reaching out for a rescuer.

Me, he thought, me. I’ll save you.

Ty pulled at the hand with all his might and out she came. He swore she was smiling. What was left of her hair was blonde, her once flawless face now grimy and her beauty concealed by layers of soil. He’d never seen anything like her. She wore what could only be described as a faded pink swimsuit, old fashioned, clinging tight to her body, maximizing her fine breasts. Not like the huge billowing modest costumes that women favoured these days.

On her feet were gold shoes with high heels and pointed toes, like the ones he'd seen in old photos, pictures that the state did not approve of. He cradled his darling in his arms and took her into his home.

A crackling noise and the sudden brightness in the kitchen brought him back to his senses, the power cut was over.

He went back inside and flicked a switch in Sir Preceptors back.

"What happened?" asked Sir.

"You fell asleep." said Ty.

If a robot could register shock then Sir did just that.

Ty took his find to his room and placed her carefully in a box then hid it under his bed.

Much later when everyone was sleeping and Sir Preceptor had been de activated for the night, he heard her speak.

Faint at first and indecipherable, but before she stopped speaking for good he caught her last words.

"Hey, surfs up."

"Hey, want to go grab a shake?"

"Helloooo mmaah naaammm issss Baaarrrrbbeeeee.

Then nothing, Ty slept fitfully that night, dreaming of a different time when the world was full of colour and magic and promise and the terrible bleak truth just a morbid prediction of the future.