Short Story - "Better Days Ahead."

[Chuck_The_Duck]

Working on a short story in my off time, it seemed like a good idea, but now I've got a bit of writers block. So, if anyone wants to take a look, here are the first five chapters of the manuscript.

-=WARNING - TEXT IS UNABRIDGED - MATURE CONTENT WARNING=-

Its two AM and yet again, I stand in my basement, arc-welder in hand, glasses off and a hand to my forehead in exasperation. Why won’t it work? Again and again and again and again I've run it by the computer and by SCIENCE it should work. There’s nothing more thrilling then secretly building a laser in the pit of your mothers basement under the secrecy of night. I hit the device again, and it gives a groan of complaint. Why should it be groaning? By all rights, it should be spewing forth a torrent of superheated plasma into my arch nemesis in the heart of downtown Manhattan by now...
But I remiss. My name is Chuck. Chuck Collison. Remember that name, it'll be important one day, I can assure you. So why am I sitting (standing, now) in my mother’s basement attempting to build yet another world-ending device? Well, to put it quite simply, I am a criminal mastermind. An evil genus? There’s really no good word for us. I can’t be a super villain, as I don’t (yet) have any good superpowers, and I'm really not into destroying the world because of some crazy childhood thing, I just want to rule the world. Although I suppose that I should be doing my work in, say, a giant underground lair, not ALL of us can afford these niceties, believe it or not. But seriously, who hasn’t thought of being a super villain at least once in their lives? Come on, I mean, what’s wrong with you? Haven't we all wanted to take over the world, or control the moon with nuclear blasters, or throw the world off orbit using thermal power, or hold New York ransom from the moon while aiming your Doom Laser at it?

Honestly.

I take off the welding goggles and head back to my bedroom, the artificial light from my computer stinging me a bit. What can I say, I'm a creature of the darkness. I sit down on my bed and hit the switch for the lights, the spot lights shining down and making more than a few buggers run for their short, meaningless lives. Kind of reminds me of the one time I took in my first AI to the science fair... Look, to be honest, I didn't MEAN for it to go crazy and start swearing, but it did. AI can be insane, man. In any case, I hop on the interwebs and boot up my remote server from my bed. Comfy, I know. Eve welcomes me in her traditional manner, a "Good day master," and things of that nature. Voice-activated AI for a super-nerd. More impressive things have been accomplished. I pull up the blueprints for the Death Laser (Look, it’s a stupid name, but **** it. I'm a super genus, not an author) and review the schematics intently. God, it SHOULD work perfectly... The wires are all correct, the mirrors are aligned, and the power is good at a couple of megajoules, I don’t see the...
And then suddenly, like a squirrel caught in a lawnmower, it hits me.

The crystal. I'd been a cheap bastard and used glass for the focusing crystal, but all this time... Rubies. I need rubies. Well, one ruby, but it made me feel like a real super-villain to scream "RUBIES!!!" at the top of my lungs. A sudden banging on the roof of my room reminds me that my shrill cries have indeed woken up my parents. Curses. They yell down at me to keep it down, they have work in the morning. Grumbles ensue. I'm a supervillan, damn it. I don’t have to put up with this. Rubies, though. That’s the answer! If I can just get one raw one, I can use the vibroscapel to cut the it into anything I'd like... For those of you not in the know, a vibroscalpel is a little diamond-tipped blade (the scalpel part of it) that vibrates at an ultrasonic frequency (the vibro part of it) to give it far, FAR more cutting power. Thank you Star Wars for giving me the idea, and thank you rainy day fund for giving me the money to buy a microvibrator. It’s not as dirty as it sounds, I swear.

After a short stint on the schematic plans (Scribbling "RUBIES" on the plan with a tablet) I hopped on the interweb to see what EBay could provide for this little maniac today... Click click, Ebay.com... Click click, RUBIES... click click... Oh, wow. This may take a little more funding then I supposed. Let’s see here... "Grade-A RUBY," "Cut RUBY for cheap!," or "Grandmas RUBY for sale for CHEAP?"

Oh for petes sake.

Buy now price? Twelve hundred dollars. Nine hundred dollars. Thirteen hundred dollars. What is this? How do people afford this crap? They're not even good rubies! RUBIES. I mean, if I sell the Doom Laser, I could afford mayb- Wait a second. I have to have the laser first. Frack. Okay, what if I sell Eve?... No, no, she'd never make it on another OS, the poor girl. Fine, fine. "Eve, formulate plan. How do I afford said rubies... RUBIES. Rubies. -Aherm- How do I afford said rubies in time for my 21st birthday?"

"Theorizing... Three solutions found, master."

"Well, shoot, love."

"Designation: Eve."

"It’s a joke, Eve. Relax."

"Affirmative. Solution one: Work honestly for set period."

"No, no. I'm an evil mastermind, remember? We don’t really work, per-se."

"Affirmative. Solution two: Sell previous invention 'Heli-Chopper.'"

"Argh, no... That sounds like a good idea, but he needs some fixing up, the rotor broke off the last time we took him out..."

"Affirmative. Solution three: Steal said rubies."

"RUBI- Errr... Wow. Actually, that’s not a bad idea. How did you think of that one, Eve?"

"You /are/ a mad scientist, master."

"Point taken. Formulate plans, then Eve."

"Yes, master. Etc is four hours. Should I order pizza for the master?"

"Erm... No, no. I'll grab a hot pocket or something. Silence unit Eve until plan completion."

The computer fell silent, and the progress bar came up on the screen. Four hours? I need a CPU upgrade. Granted, though, none of my other friends can say that they're running a speech-driven AI on their computers... A small accomplishment, but an accomplishment nonetheless. Blasted computer... I suppose that stealing a ruby RUB- ermmm, right. Stealing a ruby is kind of what we do, really. You know, along with taking over the world, and building super computers and enslaving the masses and such. The hot pocket cooked in the microwave and as the cheese melted, I knew that life would never be the same again. Well, it would at least start to get good, right? I mean, sure, I'll be putting over a jewelry store or something, but if I get away with it, it'll be great, and I'll have a functional laser and EVERYTHING. Then I can move on to the robots! Robot army! Wooh! The bell sounded on the hot pocket, and as I picked it up (quickly dropping it on the floor, I didn’t realize it was at about 320 degrees) I smiled to myself and started to practice my evil laugh.

"Mwahahaha! MwahahHAHAAH! MWahaha-"

"GO TO BED!"

Damn. At least I can do it in my mind... Mwaha. Mwhaha. MWAHAHA. Ah... yes. A good day indeed. I went to my bed and placed the computer on its side, making room for myself to lie down. A good night’s rest and everything would come together... Everything would come together quite nicely...

End Chapt 1

[Chuck_The_Duck]

"-Seven o' clock - AM, master. It is time for school. I repeat, it is seven o' clock - AM, master. It is time for schoo-"

"Urrrrgh... Silence unit Eve..."

Fffffffuuuuuu- Its seven o clock already? I take off my welding glasses from last night and get up from my bed, a quiet flashing on the screen of my laptop reminding me that "Plan - Steal_Item_Designation_Rubies" is complete. Oh, wonderful. I think I'd be happier if I had gotten more than three hours of sleep, you know? I rub my hands down my face and slowly move to the bathroom, throwing my clothes on the floor in piles. A look in the mirror reveals my raccoon face; a mixture of grease, soot and ash covering everything but my eyes. Wonderful as this look is, I turn the shower on using the wall mounted display and jump in. The cold water shocks me awake, and I suddenly realize just how important last night’s completion was.

"Eeeeeeeve!"

"Yes, master."

"Display plan... And turn the heat up in this shower."

"Yes, master."

Ahh, yes. That’s the ticket, a steady ninety-five degrees and the plans to world domination projected onto the shower wall. Let’s see... I'll need to make a micro-grapple, a small welding device, and an EMP bomb all within the month if I'm to succeed... Not a problem, really. Not for an evil mastermind, that is. I smile to myself. They called me insane in high school, now they'll pay for it. Mwahaha... As I step out of the shower, I examine myself in the mirror above my sink. Not bad - even though I've gained a few pounds since my last girlfriend. Definitely stronger than most evil masterminds. So what if I've got a good combination of brain and brawn? I believe that when I take over the world, I should at least have a halfway respectable figure. The suit wouldn’t fit, otherwise. Yes, I'll get that suit done when I get enough Kevlar weave synthesized for myself. Trust me, it'll look great on me. Hell, everything looks great on me. So, let’s see...

"Eve, class list for Monday, project onto central mirror, please."

"Yes, master."

Hurm. English 122, Theatre 111, and Psychology 111 all in order today. Well, Brian will at least let me sleep in his class, he knows what hard nights I have. Theatre will be no problem at all, I could sleep in that class and act with my eyes closed. Psychology is the only class I've ever worried about, however. Not only is my teacher looking out for any abnormal behavior to report to the counselor, but there’s also Jeane, my lovely lady friend. Well, not exactly a friend, but we go to class together. Okay, so I haven’t exactly introduced myself, but I will soon. So what if I don’t actually know her real name? Jeane looks like a name that she'd have. I'm only months away from actual... verbal communication. So far, my mental strains have only demonstrated that I have a pathetic lack of telekinetic powers. Brushing my teeth with my ultrasonic toothbrush (so I have a fetish for the ultrasonic realm. What of it?) I realize that today was the day that I was supposed to pick my partner for the psychology project... Oh Lord, I haven’t actually talked to anyone in any of those classes...

"Eve, make reminder. Select partner from student body, preferably Jeane. Set reminder time for 11:45 AM."

"Yes master. Also, master, breakfast is ready."

Such a wonderful computer, it almost makes me wonder why I pursue the female species anymore. I jump upstairs (in the nude, yes. I love living in a house that has been cleared out by seven.) and pick up my hot pocket from the microwave, pouring a cold glass of milk for myself. I haven't quite gotten down the programming for the beverage serving device, but I'll get there. I sit down at the sofa and turn on the television to Tech TV, my one and only station for all the updates I'll ever need in my evil genius life. Perfection, today they're reviewing a schematic I submitted anonymously to a large forum. No need for details, just trust me... A large forum.

"...And you can trust me, Jon, this thing /will/ work. I know it doesn’t look like much, but the beauty of it is that it is so simple."

"Well that’s great, Rob. Props to whoever did this, we'll be sending this into our R&D team so we can start to build a... What was it, again?"

"A carbon-based computer screen, Jon, and yes, if you do indeed wish to call us with your IP and username, we can credit you with this discovery..."

Splendid. I do think that this particular scientist will stay under the radar for now, but maybe in a few years, they'll finally have the honor of knowing their conquerors previous inventions. I go down, dress in the usual (jeans, black formal short-sleeve shirt, and a red tie), and grab my keys and watch as I head out the door. Ah yes, the all-important watch. It’s a miniature LED screen, so it has perfect resolution for its size, but the real beauty of it is that it has a direct link to my home computer (Eve) at all times. In essence, I can control everything at my house, from my watch. And to think that ten years ago, this was all part of a really good Star Trek episode. The pimpmobile is waiting for me when I get outside, and I have to admit that the wax coat that I put on her is really starting to get to me. I might have to invent an auto-waxing device for my baby; she really is starting to shine inside and out. As I jump into the all-leather interior, a slightly more accented version of Eve's voice comes on.

"Good day, master. What are your commands?"

"Upload playlist, Deny a Monochrome Future. Play playlist, DAMF. Set course, University of Maryland."

"Of course, master. Anything else the master pleases?"

"No thank you, Jule. Engage, and silence unit until destination has been reached."

The car starts upon my voice, the sound system starting up and the bass making the windows vibrate. The windows start their auto-tint to a value of 80, and I grab the steering wheel and put her in gear. You thought that the mastermind would let his car drive itself? Zounds! You must be more foolish then I thought. It’s a freaking car, who knows what it could do to me?! Haven’t you read any of the Terminator fan-fic? Good lord, man. As I pull out of the driveway, the gate shuts behind me. Nothing fancy, and certainly not to my standards, but it intimidates and keeps the robbers out. If they stole Eve from me, I don’t know what I would do...

The bass rocks the car as I drive along the highway, and through the heavy tint, I can feel the stares of the less fortunate as I blast past them. Not everyone can have what I have, no, but then again, I am only getting what I deserve, as an evil genius. The HUD on the windshield notifies me that there is a Trooper car ahead of me, at one point five miles and closing quickly. I slow down to a cool seventy-five and lighten the tint to a respectable sixty, well within the limits of local law enforcement. As I pass the police officer, I nod, not that he'll be able to see it. One day, they'll all know me as their leader, but there is no way that he could know that... not just yet...

The AC keeps the internal temperature of the car at a cool seventy, and my HUD informs me that my biorhythm is spot on for today, my body temperature is a normal ninety-three, and that I will be early to class by a respectable fifteen minutes. Perfection, utter perfection. Oh, and I know what you're thinking. "Chuck, ninety-three isn’t a good body temperature! That’s low!" Yes, you fool, you think I don’t know that? I keep a low body temperature, I don’t know why. Perhaps my body is just adjusting to how cold my mind is. Or perhaps I'm just a cold-blooded person? Who knows, honestly, but ninety-three is what my body keeps itself at. As I pull up to campus, the stone enclave greets my weary eyes. For all my bitterness and hatred, UMD has never struck me as anything but a beautiful college, and it’s an absolutely splendid place to indulge in my physical activities. Parkour, if you must know. It’s a great way to loosen up after a hard day at the lab, especially if you've still got toxins in your system after working all day.

I park in the garage, and head down after making the car recognize my thumbprint for lockup, as usual. Heading down to the English department, I see a couple of new students heading my way, with a puzzled look on their faces. Don’t come to me, don’t come to me, don’t com- Oh, wait, she’s pretty cute. No, no, don’t approach m-

"Hey! Hey, you! Do you know where the English department is?"

"Actually, ladies and gentlemen, I was heading there myself. Perhaps you would like to keep me company as I stroll?"

The young lady speaks up, and although I don’t know her name, I almost certainly already want to tie her up and leave her in my basement.

"Um, well, we have class soon..."

"Let me guess. You're stepping in for our recent absence in class 121. With Brian?"

"How did you know?"

"Well, I didn’t score one hundred and eighty two on the IQ test for nothing."

I motion to the path ahead and put a finger to my mouth as I "shh" the crowd. Ohh, overachieving freshmen, I do love your cannon-fodder selves so. As we walk, I can hear the whispers behind me. Irritating, to be sure, but those are feminine voices. So much the better. Women have a way of spreading word faster, and the more people who know to leave me alone, the better. Yet, the only thing I can think of through my exhaustion and bitterness is the rubies. How will I steal them? Hell, how will I keep it quiet? Questions, questions. All of a sudden, the central office is upon us. As I open the door, the AC grips me in its cool tendrils, and the small crowd behind me gasps for air as the warmth is forced out of their lungs into the surrounding cold.
"Ladies. Gentlemen. Let me be the first to welcome you to the English department. This is where we part, though one of you will be coming with me?..."
The small girl raises her hand. I hardly noticed her before, but I certainly do now. Long, blond hair, petite figure, small glasses, and an armful of books? What is this, the poster child for "Sexy Librarian Monthly?"

"That’s... me. I've got it..."

"Splennnnnndid. Come with me, if you would."

As I lead her down the hallway, no one kissed her goodbye, and the only calls I could hear were the soft goodbyes and spoken promises to call her later. Wonderful. No real attachments, awkward silence, and a slightly flushed look on her face? I might actually have a good chance to use her as my lab partner. She at least looks like she'd be able to hold her own in a research project...

Oh well. The day is long, the classes short, and the possibilities endless... With my plan to steal the rubies, my waiting inventions back home, and my mental prowess, I was sure to have a good day yet again...

[JustinCredible]

I read the first two paragraphs (due to a time constraint) and this sounds interesting. Nice job.

[Riykku]

Man this thing is long...

[SalamiNipples]

That's why you read it, and it's not really that long

[Chuck_The_Duck]

So at this point, I'm tired and I dunno why I didnt post the entire work at once, so just make do with chapter 3 and please feel free to write along with me.

=====

My heels click and clack down the hallway as I advance towards my first class with the woman in tow. The silence is unnerving, the first time I've ever felt this way about such a thing. Strings of conversation go through my head.

"So, are you new here?"
"So, I see that you've got English 121, impressive."
"So, I'm a mad scientist bent on taking over the world..."

...Needless to say, I keep my mouth shut. I awkwardly open the door for the young lady, and she smiles as she brushes my tie aside to get through. I turn away - no need for anyone to see me blush. As I make my way to the front of the room, Brian nods and turns to face the new student.

"And you must be... Amanda? Amanda Turner."

She blushes and nods yes quietly as I try to hide a smile. Among being one of the youngest teachers on campus, Brian is also one of the most attractive males I know. Interesting how things work out. He smiles at the young girl and faces me, frowning.

"Early again. What was it last night?"
I smile and raise my hands in mock surrender.
"Nothing too big. Just getting the laser to work properly."
"Anything I should be made aware of?"
"Maybe after class. The students are out in the hall, I 'inadvertently' locked the door as I came in here."
"I'm not even going to ask how many cameras you've wired in the last few months."

I smirk quietly as Brian goes to unlock the door. Checking my watch, I flip through a few views of the hallway and a few more of the area where my car is parked. No people trying to look inside to steal it... yet. They come about once a month, attempt to break a window or jimmy the lock and realize that six hundred thousand volts of electricity is just not worth the hassle anymore. Amanda looks across at me and gasps in surprise. Far too late I attempt to cover up the small screen, and I blush slightly as she stares at the otherwise unassuming watch.

"How did you do that?..."
"Well... I mean... It was just a simple matter of plugging in a couple of transmitters into the connecting wires becau-"
"Because it’s a closed-circuit system, right... That’s bloody brilliant..."

I stand (well, I sit) there for a moment before what Amanda has said has registered. She... Knew? Knew what I was talking about? Hell, she finished my sentence for me! I... Wow. I'm sorry, this is coming as a shock to me, but-

"Hey! Hey, you okay?"
"What?... Oh, yes... It was just-"
"Surprising to have a woman know what you're talking about, I know."

She offers me her hand and smiles broadly at me, exposing a really quite perfect row of teeth and a brilliant white smile.

"I'm Amanda, if you didn’t hear him..."
"Who, Brian? Oh, yes, yes... Amanda. I'm Chuck..."

I take her hand and blush a bit, turning away as she giggles softly. The electric that flows through her is horrifyingly unfamiliar, and I suddenly realize that even at the age of nineteen, I am still a virgin. Then it hits me that I haven’t touched a woman in three years. Call me shy - it’s just the way I am.

"Your hands... So cold..."

I pull the hand away as Brian swears and finally engages the lock. When I want to buy time, I know how to buy time. He hollers at me, but his exclamations are lost on my ears as the deafening rumble of the student body dampens any chance of conversation instantly. As the students file to their seats, Brian begins his lecture, and as Amanda begins to take notes, I get my notebook out and begin to sketch my next invention - the mini-wench. Deftly, and quietly, I begin to calculate the base needs in my head. The rope itself must be at least fifty feet long, must have a tensile strength of at least three thousand Mega Pascal’s, and have a relative density of at least two points... Kevlar strands? Steel strands? Kevlar, most definitely. Must be able to lift at least one thousand pounds at full extent... And also-

"And you, Mr. Collison? What are your views on the matter?"
I raise an eyebrow and Brian shrugs as if to say, "It had to be done."
"I'm sorry Brian, I didn’t catch that last question. May I have it rephrased?"
"What is anarchy?"
"A social state in which there is no governing person or group of persons, but each individual has absolute liberty without the implication of disorder."

Brian smirks and taps his head.

"A perfect library definition, of course. But what does it mean to you, Mr. Collison? What would /you/ define it as, in a personal manner?"

My body’s first reaction is to panic, to deny what I just said. Repressing that, I think, the gears in my head churning for my professor. What is he getting at? What could he possibly want from me today?...

"Freedom, Brian. Freedom in the purest sense of the word. No laws, no rules, no regulations. Complete freedom, Brian. But we, as humans, cannot possibly operate at such a level of self-awareness. We cannot comprehend a lack of authority, we cannot live without it. Even feral children, even the lowest animal establishes a pecking order. Humans are no different."
“And if anarchy was to be implemented? What would occur then?"
"Social failure, chaos, splinter governments. People would steal and kill and rape and maim until there was nothing left. They would destroy themselves, then the others around them, then those around them, until there was no more, then move on to a new area. By definition, the human race would become a virus."
"You sound bitter."
"I can assure you sir, I am not."

What is he doing?... Brian nods to me and addresses the class once again.

"Greed. Anger. Passion. Emotion. This is why anarchy cannot work in human life. Why it will never work. There will always be someone to take advantage of the system, someone to cheat the others, to kill and maim and steal. I think that will do it for today, class. Dismissed. Mr. Collison, I wish for you to stay behind."

I put my notebook in my back pocket and wait as the class slowly files out. Amanda leaves without a word to me, and Brian motions me to his desk, sitting down in his swivel chair for the first time today.

"Chuck, I want to know what you're doing, and I want in."

I look at him incredulously.

"I'm sorry, what?"
"I said, I want to know what you're doing, and again, I want in. I know you and I see eye to eye on a lot of things. I know that you and I share a bitterness for the human race. We want the same things. I can help you, Chuck. Seeing as how I'm over twenty one, I can get things for you that you yourself can’t."
"Example."
"A pistol, for one. Grain alcohol. Access to school property, our computer terminals. Legally. No need to look over your shoulder. Now, I don’t expect you to answer me today, but get back to me on it."

Brian smirks and points towards the door.

"Your guest is waiting for you anyway. Get going, and remember to let me know what you think about a deal."

I nod numbly and walk towards the door with a slight headache. I had told Brian too much, of course. I knew that I shouldn’t have mentioned the things that I did... I cant imagine that he'd want to help me for free, or for being a friend or whatnot but he was the surest friend I had on campus, and he was right when he said that he could help... More thought, more time was needed for this... It was all so sudden, like someone had caught me or something... I opened the door slowly, and Amanda was waiting there, for me, I'd assume. Or hope. Either way, she was there. As soon as I looked her way, she frowned and moved towards me.

"So what was that about?"
"Brian just wanted... a chat. Nothing more than a chat. He really liked my presentation..."
"I'm not going to press you, but you and I both know that’s a bunch of crap."

She frowned at me and thought for a moment.

"It’s about the laser, isn’t it. He’s interested in that... I saw those schematics, too... He'll want in on whatever that’s for..."
"Mm."
"Well, it’s nearly ten... Why don’t you show me where the cafeteria is so we can get some lunch?..."
"Lunch? Wa- oh, right. Right. Cafeteria it is then. Follow me, if you would."

With Amanda in tow, I headed the longest route I knew to the cafeteria. Things were taking a turn; that much I knew. A turn for the better? Maybe. A turn for the worse? Probably. I'd have to see how much I could trust Brian, or even Amanda, for that matter. She seems to be pretty attached for now, it would probably be better to keep everyone at a distance... Whoever said, "keep your friends close and your enemies closer," really was an idiot. I keep them both miles away. Friends have a way of hurting you worse than your enemies most of the time...

[F3ar]

I can't read big text on a computer, only in a book and if it has the yellowish older page look, it doesn't hurt my eyes as much.

[SalamiNipples]

I can't read big text on a computer, only in a book and if it has the yellowish older page look, it doesn't hurt my eyes as much.

You have point I should stop, before my eyes start straining

[Riykku]

Argh,my eyes are burning.
I don't know if it's the computer screen or because im tired...
...could be both...

[JustinCredible]

Instead of complaining about all of your eyes hurting how about giving him some actual feedback?