Krishna kumar Mani - SFS2 - Science Fiction Short Stories

Now like me, you might guess that the agent, detective agency or even the virtual reality company may have stolen my money. But there’s no clue to be found, there’s no proof to be had. I went to another detective agency but they said they couldn’t help. It wasn’t who stole it, but how? Read over the story again or recall the details. How was it stolen? I ran my own story back in my mind.

After that night I was upset to say the least. I was sleepless. I couldn’t go to the police. I felt sick. So I stayed home the first day. And then the next day I stayed home and took sick leave. I moved to a different place to stay. When I go anywhere I search for that money, my ten million. It’s like I was blind and saw for a second and then became blind again immediately. But it’s nowhere to be found. I have to make that money once again. I know I can do it.

Today our company is giving a demonstration of a new gaming console. The gaming console teamed up with the virtual reality start up. They produced a virtual glass which has had a good response. They announced that it was the future of gaming. I don’t really care for games and I had lost the ten million so I didn’t want to watch. But I sat in the front row regardless.

In the beginning they rambled on with a big boring introduction without a demonstration. For a long time I didn’t see a gaming console on the stage or on the screen. For a demonstration they wanted a volunteer from the audience. Many were interested by they picked a college student. He eagerly approached the stage.

The demonstrator gave him a watch as a gift before he began participating. He asked him to put it on which he did. The demonstrated had another volunteer from the audience, a woman whom he gave a bracelet. She put the bracelet on as had the college student the watch. The demonstrator asked the college student if he could catch the rabbit and pointed to a spot on the stage. He ran and ran around the stage chasing what seemed to be nothing. The demonstrator then had the woman join in the chase for the rabbit. They ran around the stage but couldn’t catch it.

The demonstrator turned to the audience and explained that what they were wearing was the gaming console. This was the future of gaming. You will feel it and you will believe it. The audience burst into applause which seemed to bother the volunteers who were still trying to catch the rabbit.

Now I understood. The virtual reality company cheated me. They gave me an empty trolley and the key chain. The key chain had to be the gaming console.

But I didn’t have any proof. Did I throw away the key chain? Even if I had it, could I get my money? No of course not. Now I knew how they stole the money but I couldn’t do anything. There never was any money, only an illusion.

This story is based on a pre-approved patent, soon we may see some advertisements related to this patent.

Place: FuturZ Kids Clinic

Time: Near future

Stephen looked at the visitor’s area and confirmed that no one was watching him.

“I’m not convinced, Mary. Can we reconsider?” he asked his wife.

She looked at him silently.

“Test tube babies were used in the last century for couples were incapable of giving birth. Now though… this is a business. They’re taking advantage of everyone. What I’m saying is—”

“I know what you’re saying. You’ve already said it hundreds of times,” she replied. “I know we’re both capable of having a child on our own. But you know why we have to get some other person’s DNA to give birth to a baby. I’ve also told you that a hundred times. It’s because-”

“Excuse me,” said the receptionist. “Our kid design consultant is ready for you.”

Mary smiled at the woman and she pulled Stephen into the room. A forty year old woman sat in an executive chair. An assistant stood nearby with a tablet for note taking. Mary and Stephen sat across from the well-dressed woman.

“My name is Jennifer and I’ll be your kid’s design consultant,” she said looking at Mary. “I checked your records and I see that you’re able to give birth to a custom child. So let’s design your dream kid!”

Jennifer touched corner of the glass table and it began to display images. Only now did Stephen and Mary realize that it was a large computer display that was between them and the design consultant. The screen asked:

“What gender do you prefer?”

“Male,” replied Mary.

Jennifer touched the male option and now it showed various appearance based options. Based on Mary’s suggestions, Jennifer chose skin complexion, hair type, eye color and many more traits. Finally when she believed she had designed Mary’s dream baby, she showed him to her in various angles as it was rendered in 3D. Mary touched emotions options to see him crying, smiling and laughing.

“Is this the design you’d like?” asked Jennifer.

Mary had some more critiques and asked if he’d have freckles. She wasn’t a big fan of freckles.

“I can show you how he’ll look when he’s 5, 10 and 25 or any age in between.”

“Really?” asked Mary. Her face brightened as they touched the kid’s age. He grew from a child to a boy and from a boy to a man.

“This is, of course, provided that he gets adequate nutrition and exercise. His weight could vary, but this is set up for an average look at him during these ages.”

“I think this is great. But perhaps we could go more similar to the actor Tom Cruise?”

Jennifer selected the appearance option again and changed the appearance. After about half an hour of customization, Mary was delighted with the kid’s appearance.

“Alright, so let’s customize his behavior and his attitude. I’m sure you don’t want him to be angry or mean, so let’s cross those out!”

“My son should become a tennis player. He should like painting as a hobby as well.”

“Both great choices,” replied Jennifer. “Is there any special characteristic that you want him to inherit from your husband?”

She looked at her husband and thought for a while before she said, “No.”

After they completed the behavior and attitude section, Jennifer once again confirmed the kid’s settings and then they started to discuss price. After that, she told them about the warranty and gave them the terms and conditions agreement. The terms and condition agreement was over one-hundred pages. Stephen was surprised by the length.

“Don’t worry, Stephen,” said Jennifer. “This is customary procedure for all kid design clinical labs. It is a favor to you really. It even includes 24 months warranty.”

Stephen browsed the document quickly and asked, “What does warranty mean for a kid?”

“Nowadays it’s a common thing for test tube babies in medical procedures. Basically the warranty means that in case of a miscarriage or if there is some kind of accident with our process that we will help you to conceive again without an additional fee. Most only cover until the birth, but our warranty is extended as it covers after the birth until the age of two.”

“Well what-”

“When do we start the process?” asked Mary.

“It takes about a week to process the paper work. After that we will implant the child into your body. It’s perfectly safe. Afterwards, we will regularly monitor your health and tell you about the growth of the baby.”

“That sounds great. Can I get a print out of what my baby will look like and his features?”

“Why not? But not a print out. We have something better.” Jennifer touched the print button on the glass display and informed them that it’d be just a few minutes. After they had returned to the waiting room and fifteen minutes had passed, the receptionist brought out the doll which looked exactly like her baby would. Mary took it and hugged it with a big grin. Her eyes shone with excitement and forgot her surroundings, pretending that she was holding her actual baby.