Wed 11/30 14:22:57 PST

It’s good to be back in the real world instead of living in the code in my head all the time. The last few days have flown by. Sometimes literally, as I’ve been practicing with the flight options. I can see why Chad likes it so much. There’s an adrenaline rush from cruising at low altitude and high speed while encased in a protective shell of nanobots. The flight suit that the bots form is customizable, which is cool. Tweaking the color scheme is easy, and adding style details isn’t hard either. I go with a red and gold pattern in tribute to an old comic book hero I used to love. I have to admit that I had to look him up. I had vague memories that I liked him, but I couldn’t remember what he looked like.

It’s funny that I could remember him at all, but then again, it didn’t come back to me until after I’d armored up and taken my first flight around. I think the memory triggered when it was prompted, like some others have. That gives me hope that I can regain more of my past if I can get some reminders. I bet if I looked through my old stuff that Grammy and Gramps are keeping at their house, more would come back to me. I’m tempted to have them send it here, but I don’t want to be distracted by it right now. Not until I’ve killed him.

Anyway, the nursery kids are just as delighted by my aerobatics as they were with Chad’s. I take another loop around the commons, my blur of red and gold causing a gust of wind across the Residence steps where a crowd of little ones sit with their nannies. The women seem to enjoy the show too. I wonder if Chad was showing off for them instead of the kids. I’ve seen the way he looks at them when he thinks no one sees. After what I’ve learned, I’m not worried about impressing them. I have no interest in hooking up with anyone that’s already part of Father’s baby-making operation. From the way Chad’s eyes linger on them, I don’t think he has any such reservations.

And my douchebag brother is done now with his elaborate stretching routine out on the grass. He suits up and joins me in flying laps around the commons. He’s wearing the less cool standard flight suit, a sleek thing in shiny black with minimal adornments and a rounded helmet. The kids get more excited and whoop and holler for us to race. We do, and he wins. Not surprising, he’s spent a lot more time practicing with the flight suit than I have.

“Good race, brother,” he declares as we touch down and our helmets dissolve. His flight suit melts away as he reaches out for a handshake. I let my suit go and take his proffered hand. I even force myself to give him a smile.

“You too.”

“Have you thought about what you want to focus on for the next few years?” he says with what feels like practiced casualness. Something about it makes me feel like this is some kind of job interview.

“I don’t know. I’ve got a spot waiting for me at Stanford that they held for another year, so maybe that. Why do you ask?”

Chad laughs and slaps me on the back in a way-too-familiar way.

“You’re thinking much too small, Noah,” he declares with that confident smile of his that still makes me want to punch him. “We’ve got a calling much higher than that. I’m going back to Africa soon. I’m going to do what we did in Ethiopia everywhere that I can find people that need clean water.”

Father’s cryptic note about Chad leaving triggers from my index and pops up in my overlay. So that’s what he was talking about. Is Chad really leaving? It seems almost too good to be true.

“That’s great,” I tell him, kicking on my polygraph functions. I trust Chad about as far as I can throw him. “Is Father going to be all right without you? It seems like he counts on you a lot around here.”

“Yeah, I’ve been planning this with him. The whole thing was actually his idea. As long as a few of us stay here with him, the rest of us can go out and take on the missions that we think are most important. I’ve been setting up my support team for the last few weeks. I should be ready to go at the start of the new year.”

Pulse steady, no changes in eye dilation, blood pressure normal. All true, as far as my cloud’s analytics can tell.

“I wondered where you’ve been lately. Well, congratulations,” I tell him sincerely. “Good for you.”

Good for him, better for me. As much as I dislike him, I don’t want to kill Chad. But I hadn’t been able to figure out any way to avoid it. There was no way I could have kept him on the sidelines when things went down. This is better. I just need to delay the plan a few weeks. I think I can do that. I’m not past the point of no return with Jeff yet.

“Thanks, Noah. One more thing. I want you to keep an eye on things here for me when I’m gone, would you?” he asks in that patronizing tone of his. “Father needs a lot of help. He’s not the young man he once was.”

I nearly laugh. The irony is almost too much. And it’s not like he ever knew Father as a young man. He was over fifty when Chad and I were born.

“Of course,” I answer, carefully keeping the smirk from my face. “I’ll help him out with whatever he needs.”

“Great.” He flashes that smug too-handsome smile of his. “I’ll let him know. Hey, I think the kids want another show, you up for it?”

I focus on the eyes looking in their direction. I think one of the more enterprising five-year-olds is starting to take bets from his class.

“Yeah, why not?”

With a thought, I encase myself back in red and gold, complete with the iconic visor. The eye slits are way too narrow to be useful, but I don’t care. I only use my bot vision when I do stuff like this anyway, and the fashion statement is worth it. Raising two fists high, more for the audience on the steps than for any practical reason, I jump and rocket into the air. We don’t actually go all that fast in these things, less than the top speed of a decent car, but you don’t need to actually be that fast when you’re flying low to appear to be moving like a bullet. The little ones and their nannies cheer as we start a lap around the campus.

Chad’s suit isn’t as stylish as mine, but he makes up for the lack of flair by throwing in some flourishes that I wouldn’t even think to try. His quick twirls and corkscrews earn him big cheers but slow him down a little. We both touch down at nearly the same instant back in front of the Residence to a thunderous applause.

“Very good, my sons! Very good!” Father’s voice rings out over the clapping and squealing of the children. He makes his way down the steps, careful not to step on the youngest ones as nannies shepherd them back inside through the big double doors. We turn to meet him, suits melting off again.

“Have you discussed the good news with Noah, Chad?”

He looks back and forth between us, his proud dad smile filling his visage.

“Yes, Father. I just told him before that flight.”

“Good, good. Noah, once he is gone, are you willing to spare a few hours each day to help me?”

Increased access? More opportunities to find a good chance to kill you? And no Chad around? Yes, please!

“Yeah, I can do that,” I answer in as casual a tone as I can manage.

“Excellent!” Father says jubilantly. “I was thinking that some sort of celebration would be in order to mark the occasion, don’t you two agree?”

“Yes, Father,” Chad says.

“Sure.”

“Good, good!” He gives us one more pleased grin. “Please get together with Mrs. Hastings and make the arrangements. I’m sure the two of you can put something memorable together in time for Chad’s departure.”

“Of course, Father,” Chad gushes, basking in Father’s approval.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The old man turns and ambles back into the Residence. Chad and I follow behind him to find Mrs. Hastings and get started on the party planning.

Thu 12/15 12:41:19 PST

Evan, Louise, and Andrea look so tired these days. Even with alternating and only going in half-days, it’s been a grind for them to get recalibrated with the new implant. Andrea finished yesterday and Evan wrapped up this morning. Louise is going in again for another session this afternoon. She still doesn’t have an end date. She seems to be having a tougher time with it. They’ve all got the bigger phones, but I don’t think Louise has enabled most of the new features yet.

Andrea, on the other hand, is happily restoring her old control set to work on the new system as we sit around our table in the cafeteria. She stares at one long finger, flexes it partially, extends it, flexes again, extends, flexes, stares blankly for a few seconds, then repeats on the next finger. I wonder if I looked like that when I was setting things up. Probably, but infinitely less graceful. Even her hands seem to dance as she moves.

“Hey Andrea, are you going to have your part ready in time for the big party?” I ask her.

She nods. The hand that she just finished starts weaving and ribbons of color form in the air.

“Great. Thanks again for helping. Let me know if you need anything.”

She nods again, smiling broadly as she finishes the fingers on her other hand. My predictions came true and her hesitance about the new implant has evaporated. We get up from the table, and she tosses the notepad she’s been carrying around into the recycling bin on the way out of the cafeteria. I guess she’s ready to go back to a purely visual vocabulary again.

“How about your part, Evan?” I ask as we reach the grass of the commons.

“Almost done with it. The highlights of his whole life, ready to roast him.”

“Don’t be too rough on him,” I laugh. “We don’t want him to kill you before he goes.”

“Don’t worry, brother. I’m keeping it light.”

“How come I didn’t get a part?” asks Louise.

“Because you can barely walk and talk at the same time these days. You just focus on getting your implant working again.”

She scowls at me, but then yawns. “I’d totally punch you if you weren’t right.” She glances off to the side. “Anyway, time to go back to the lab for more fun with Father.”

“Have a good brain adjustment.”

“You know I will,” she responds snarkily as she heads to the Research Center.

“You still want to come with me out to the boonies?” I ask Evan once she’s gone.

“Sure. I’ve got time. I’m not growing any bigger than what I’ve got, but I’ll provide you with my scintillating company.”

He follows me as we head out through the front gates. I zip up my jacket against the cold desert wind. Since my last check-in with Father, I’ve had access to come and go as I please. The desert outside the compound walls is a great testing ground for all sorts of things.

BUILD(SAND-BUGGY)

My bots spread out to gather minerals and create a solar-powered two-seater buggy mostly made out of something that looks and feels a lot like sandstone. Made from sand, for travel on sand. With the winter sun high in the sky, its solar roof starts charging and is ready to go in a few minutes. I hop onto the hard driver’s seat and once Evan gets situated, I start driving toward the mountains west of campus.

“You sure you want to do this?” he asks. “It would be incredibly stupid if you’re wrong and Jeff was right.”

“Absolutely certain,” I reassure him. “But if I’m wrong, go ahead and kill me before the swarm AI makes me act like Chad.”

Evan laughs. “You start acting like Chad, I’ll kill you just on principle. One Chad is already too many.”

“For sure.”

We drive in silence for a while, bumping across the sandy wasteland. The suspension on this thing leaves a lot to be desired, but if I was worried about a smooth ride I would have borrowed something with four-wheel drive from Father’s garage. Something about the situation feels familiar, me and Evan and a bumping vehicle moving across the desert, but I can’t remember why. Evan gets a serious look on his face as we go.

“Are we really doing your Jeff plan?” he asks.

“I haven’t been able to come up with anything better, have you?”

He just sighs and we spend another couple of minutes in silence.

“It’s just a really shitty thing to do.”

“I know, brother,” I tell him. “I know. If there were any other way that wouldn’t get some or all of us killed, I’d jump on it. But I’ve seen what he can do. You’ll see it soon when you get the weapons training. There’s no way we’d all survive doing it any other way.”

Another dozen minutes go by in silence. The mineral-rich foothills loom ahead of us. We’re close enough now. The party tricks I’m planning are the perfect pretext for the cloud growth I’ve wanted to do anyway.

“All right. I’m starting. We’ll know for sure whether Jeff is right in a few.”

GROW

Evan watches me calmly, his face still full of sadness at what we’re going to do to our brother. The sensation of the growth is different than with the old control system. Where before it was a separate patch of skin growing, now it’s me growing. I push it for a long time, letting the bots gather and build. I wish it were warmer. I’d be able to grow so much faster with more energy. The sky darkens as my bots start catching almost all the light above us. I push on, creating more bots as fast as the sunlight I’m collecting lets me do it. The air gets even colder as the new bots suck in all the ambient heat that they can. It feels amazing, like I’m gigantic.

Evan pulls on gloves and starts talking about Valerie again. I’m sure she’s great, but no one could be as amazing as he thinks she is. I mostly just nod and listen. He’s really head-over-heels for that girl. After an hour or so, he runs out of things to tell me about her and goes quiet. I’m still reveling in the additional senses as my cloud grows and grows.

“Feel any different?” he asks.

“Better. Like I can lift a mountain. But it’s the same kind of feeling the bots always give me. Just more of it.”

“And you’re sure you’re past the critical mass point?”

Instead of answering, I pull in my new bots and let them start piling up on the ground near the buggy. After a few minutes, they’re all gathered in from the kilometers around us where they’ve been gathering heat, light, and minerals. The pile is enormous, a cone at least four meters across and two meters high at its peak.

“Well, it might not be quite a dump truck full,” Evan says, “but it’s probably big enough. All right, I’m convinced. Jeff is as crazy as you say.”

I’m not sure what a dump truck has to do with anything, but if he’s satisfied I’m good.

“It’s still a really shitty thing to do to him, crazy or not.”

I look over at Evan. His visage is tortured.

“It is. But it will work. You know it will.”

He nods glumly. I need to get him fully on board.

“Oh, hey, I checked Father’s calendar and I have good news. Valerie hasn’t been on it yet. You know, for one of his future mother meetings.”

“Really?” he asks. A look of relief starts to overtake the pain on his face.

“Yeah. She’s not scheduled until the end of January,” I tell him. “So, as long as we stick to the plan, he’ll never touch her.”

That clinches it. I can almost feel his spine stiffening, his resolve growing firm. I let my cloud grow for another hour, luxuriating in the rich flow of sensations from my uncountable extra appendages. I’m not sure if there’s a hard limit to how big I can go. But I can only allocate so many bots for any given task, so unless I want to build a city or something, I don’t see the point of growing more.

“You mind driving the buggy back?” I ask him, getting out and stepping toward the pile. “I’m going to take the slow way home, get comfortable with my new cloud on the way.”

“Yeah, OK,” he says. “You’re sure you’re not getting your brain eaten by the swarm?”

“I’m great,” I assure him. “Better than ever.”

He nods and says goodbye, and starts driving back toward campus.

I step to the edge of the pile, turn around, and lean backwards. I keep my body straight until my center of mass passes the tipping point, and my body collapses back to be caught by the bed of bots. I let the mass of them cradle my organic self and carry me back to the campus, crawling like a horde of metal ants as they charge up their batteries using the last rays of the day’s sun. It’s slower than the buggy, slower than flying, but it’s a very relaxing way to travel as I let myself fully acclimate to the phenomenal sensations that the bigger cloud brings. It doesn’t even hurt. It’s like my brain is made for this now.

As I let my infinite tiny workers carry me, I run through the preparations in my index for Chad’s big farewell. Between Mrs. Hastings doing the bulk of the setup and the help I recruited from my siblings, the only prep I have left is the presentation I’m supposed to give. Chad provided some really terrible text that he wanted included, but I need to decide on the orchestration of it. I close my eyes and script things out for a while as my swarming self carries my biological core over the sand. I think it will be memorable. I hope so anyway. It’ll probably be the last good memory most of us have for a while.

When I arrive back home, I park the bulk of the new growth outside the campus walls, spreading it thin over kilometers of rocky sand . A trail of bots automatically spreads along the path between the giant mass and me, keeping the dynamic mesh network connected to my phone. Jeff shouldn’t be able to see more than a tiny fraction of what I’ve got out there, even if he bothers to look outside the walls.

So close now. It’s all so close.