Chapter 51

“Good morning, James,” Dagger’s voice greeted him as his immersion pod opened. The dog robot, officially referred to as DOGE-1 by his parents, wagged its tail at him, in a very convincing dog-like way. If James hadn’t been told Dagger was a robot, he wouldn’t have guessed. That was just how impressive his parents’ skills were. Which, apparently, was both a blessing and a curse. Because of them… the elite had a way to become immortal. But also because of them, James had gotten the chance to meet Rue, and hopefully, would be able to save the world.

“Morning Dagger,” James said as he quickly got out of the pod. He was halfway to the door out of his room, when he noticed a steaming plate sitting on his computer desk. Pancakes, with syrup, and a glass of orange juice?

“Dagger…” James began slowly, “please tell me you’ve been guarding me all night.”

The dog-bot barked happily. “I have,” Dagger said, “no one interrupted you during your immersion period. As long as I am here, you’ve nothing to worry about.”

“Okay then,” James looked back at the food. “So, one question then.”

Dagger’s head tilted to the side.

“Why is there fresh food there?”

“Your mother asked me to ensure you ate a proper breakfast in the morning.” Dagger responded, his tone quite proud. “As such, I utilized the my ability to interface with the house’s systems to prepare an appropriate meal for you, and delivered it to your room. By my calculations, it should be at the perfect temperature range for consumption now.”

James looked at the dog in disbelief. What else had his parents programmed into it. What else was Dagger capable of? But beyond that, he knew, if his mother was involved, that he’d likely not get away with skipping out on the meal. And considering he was due to call them this morning, he figured he could afford the few minutes it took to eat the food. In fact, the breakfast may give him time to collect his thoughts, before he began his day.

“Thank you, Dagger,” James said as he walked over to his computer desk. He grabbed his AR glasses while he was at it, putting the high end tech on as he ate. No new messages just yet. Not that he’d expected any, given how secretive they needed to be. Anything out of the ordinary was risky. He was probably being paranoid, but honestly, he had no idea. Was it paranoia? It didn’t feel baseless. And there was always that lifelong saying of ‘better safe than sorry.’

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“What are your intentions for the day?” Dagger asked as James dug into his food. “Are we leaving the house again?”

“Maybe,” James answered, wiping a bit of pancake from his lips as he did. They were buttermilk and had been perfectly cooked. There was a touch of cinnamon added to the batter, if he had to guess, and it blended amazingly with the vanilla infused syrup. They were just like his mother would make for him. “First though,” James continued after he took a drink of the orange juice. Just like Dagger had said, everything was the perfect temperature. The pancakes, not too hot. The juice, not too cold. “We’re going to my parents’ workshop.”

Dagger nodded, which was a very un-doglike action. “The appropriate timeline has been met; therefore, my programming will allow me to unlock their office and grant you access to it.”

“The appropriate timeline has been met,” James said in a slightly mocking tone as he finished eating. How much did his parents know? How much did they suspect? Dagger felt like a literal godsend. And he had no doubt whatever was in their workshop, would be invaluable for what was to come. Which made him all the more curious to know what was behind that locked door.

He’d never been allowed inside of the workshop. His parents spent a lot of time there, when they were home, but they did their best to keep their work, and time with him, separate. And James had respected that. Now though, he was wishing he’d asked more. Would they have let him in? Probably not. Still, he couldn’t know. All he knew was whatever was in there was extremely important. The Cyb3ru5 hackers that had attacked his house had wanted to get in there. And apparently, it was of such importance that Fel had been given a literal bomb as insurance, just to make sure no one would get access to it. A bomb that, thankfully, was no longer in the vicinity, as Fel had given it back to her mother yesterday.

James pushed those memories aside, prepared to grab his dirty plate, and paused. He was going to have a call with his parents once he made it into their office. They’d implied Dagger had some sort of Quantum Encryption technology built in for communication with them. Which, sounded extremely secure. However, he didn’t know what type of communication it would be, and if it was a video call, well… it was probably for the best that he at least get dressed properly before that. Just in case.

“Can you take these back to the kitchen?” James asked Dagger, holding the plate and glass towards the dog. He expected robotic arms to extend from the creature’s back to grab them. What he didn’t expect… was for Dagger to stand upright like a human, its paws expanding to become mechanical hands.

“Opposable thumbs, eh?” James said as Dagger took the glass and plate from him. “They really did make you unstoppable, didn’t they.”

“I was made to serve, in every way possible,” Dagger answered dutifully, as the robot turned to leave. “And there are some cases where having access to thumbs, can be a lifesaver.” James watched the dog leave, the absurdity of the scene leaving him speechless for a moment. What, just what, had possessed his parents to add that feature to Dagger?

He shook his head, knowing better to question their genius when it came to robots, and grabbed some clothes. It was time to finish uncovering the secrets that had plagued him. It was time to enter his parents’ workshop.