Optimus

February 3rd, 2024 – Saturday

9:00 AM, one of the Shorties had just taken some of the breakfast they prepared down to the others. Katherine knew they wouldn’t be back up in some time. She’d heard the word ‘Gizergleam’ from that Worlds Online system Garrick ran the servers on. Tracing a finger on his chest she began to hum a tune from a song she had like and a few seconds later that exact song came over the speakers in the room mounted in the ceiling. Apparently they were actually integrated into the light panels. Wondering for a split second how this happened she remembered Garrick saying Optimus before and the house would respond like the smart homes on the ‘Hill’.

She wasn’t certain if she could get the house to respond to her, but tried asking for the music to be set at a ‘low’ or ‘ambient’ volume because he is sleeping. About a two second delay and the volume was adjusted but no voice. ‘Hmmm,’ she thought to herself, and she found some of Garrick’s jeans and a shirt able to fit his mundane size. She threaded a piece of yellow nylon rope through the belt loops to still help hold them up. She took her clothing and and headed for the washer and dryer.

This time when she had hit the button to close the doors behind she asked, “Optimus?”

“Katherine Davis, how can I be of service to you?

Putting her clothing in the blue washer, “Can you start my clothing on a delicate wash cycle?”

“Yes, Katherine Davis, it will be done in 35 minutes. How else can I be of service to you?

The washer started as the house was talking to her. It was the first time she noticed that each floor had 15 foot high ceilings designed to have classic drop ceilings installed like most office buildings. However, as she checked the second and ground floors she noticed, or maybe paid more attention to speakers, drop microphones, and how many cameras actually covered nearly every angle of the house.

“Optimus, is there any place in this house you can’t see?”

“Yes, Katherine Davis.”

“Oh, where might that be?”

“Katherine Davis, you do not have access to security procedure information.”

“Whom does have access?”

“Garrick Faulkner.”

Happy to know Patty, Patsy didn’t have access to someplace she didn’t. She focused and thought about some things sitting at kitchen island. Garrick was used to money because he grew up in Victoria Beach and his sister, Adeline, still occupies that house with her children. She still couldn’t believe the ‘letter’ he showed her and the numb look on his face about it. “It’s easier to be hated…,” she remembered him saying. It sounded like a form trauma he had become used to. He said the ability to need less sleep was the primary motivation for staying in his “hero-mode” but she wondered if it had to do with nightmares. Was he scared to sleep? Maybe she could help him with that, and wait, he’s been asleep since midnight! Looking at the clock it now read 9:20 AM.

“Optimus, Garrick said you delete the camera footage from the previous day at 7 AM if he doesn’t take measures to stop it, right?”

“Yes, Katherine Davis.”

“Optimus, Is there any statistical data from that footage you retain?”

“Yes, Katherine Davis, I track speech patterns to determine happiness ratings. I have health profiles on every person that uses the exercise equipment. Garrick has taken steps to shadow file the names of the health profile with md5 sum hashes. Any attempt by someone other than Garrick to open the file will wipe the data in them. I also track sleep patterns of anyone using the beds as they are all networked and use the same profile parameters as the health equipment.”

“Optimus, what is a Happiness rating?”

“Katherine Davis, being happy is the key to health. The lower a person’s happiness rating the more I track that person’s vital signs to alert Garrick if someone were to show warning signs of a heart episode or seizure. Garrick watched his father have a heart attack and by the time he got a hold of medical trauma team. Cuthbert Faulkner had passed approximately 5 to 10 minutes before they entered the room. According to the medical examiner’s report.”

“Optimus, Is there sleep data on Garrick you can share? Has he ever slept this long?”

“Yes, Katherine Davis, both you and Patsy Palmer have access to everything regarding Garrick Faulkner’s journal entries, bio-data, and historical data and documentation records. In regards to the length of sleep he is under, it appears he should be awake soon. I can no longer detect a REM state. This is the first time he has slept this length since my tracking of his sleep began. It has also set a new record for him as restful sleep on the quality index. While, one night is hardly facts, one conclusion is that sleeping with you as a bed partner is a drastic improvement.”

“Optimus, thank you for the compliment.”

“No, Katherine Davis, it was not a complement, merely a conclusion based on minimal data collected over a narrow time frame.”

“What a Garrick thing to say, yep, your his brain child.”

“FUCK!”

Katherine whipped her head around but nothing in her repertoire of powers was signaling a problem. Her eyebrow arches and a slow grin grows across her face as the source of the loud noise continues, “Optimus, please do something, anything to help me go back to sleep. I don’t care if this dream was inappropriate for a working relationship or if she’s dating Nathaniel. I want that dream back right now, FUCK! SHIT! Never mind, Optimus, I’m awake now son-of-a-bitch! Start my shower and how late am I from my schedule?”

“Yes, Garrick, it is 9:30 AM. One of the Shorties made breakfast for the others so the children have been fed.”

“Bless those kids for being so damn self sufficient. Now to make this other issue go down.”

“Yes, sir, however no amount of my programming is going to help you with your internal blood flow dilemma. May I recommend calling Katherine Davis to help with it?”

“OH LORD NO! I’d never be able to look her in the eye again! I’m not her type,” as he walks over past the door he waves his hand and it opens. Anyone watching the video later would see it as a automatic/muscle memory response. On the way to his shower, “Besides, Nathaniel has a sniper rifle, FUCK THAT NOISE! Well, thanks, glad to see the humor module of the emotional program is finally blossoming after months!”

“It was your interacting with other people that gave me the required data.”

Katherine was gripping the island with one hand stifling her laughter with the other. She wanted to high five Optimus because this was intelligence you couldn’t pay for. She knew exactly how he felt about last night! Katherine looked up at the camera and mouthed the word ‘surprise’ and she sneaked over to his doors which were open. She heard him get in the shower and she tip toed into the room and shed his borrowed clothing. She moved quietly to his bathroom and the enormous 10-ft wide shower with eight shower heads! The amount of steam was impressive! She managed to slip into the shower and stood back against the shower wall,

“Garrick, this was no dream.”

He spun around into a fighting stance sword in hand! She saw genuine fear for a moment! Then he relaxed and the sword changed into a bracelet once more. The water made it hard to tell if there were tears, “Kitty Kat, I’m sorry I’m just not used to my life looking up so much.

He looked so adorable, “Care-Garr, you’re safe but you started the shower class without me. Doors Optimus.” She smiles as she moves through the steam to him.

His doors closed shut with the familiar whoosh sound and a tuft of steam escaping between them.

 

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Art by: AZ_Artisan