Simulation: A Pop Travel Novel

by Tara Tyler

  “Okay, but be careful. It hasn’t been charging long in the car and you’re bigger than I am. Can you pick the lock on the truck?” She gave him the camo cover wristbands.

  “No problem.” Cooper turned on the device and checked himself in the rearview mirror. He was invisible, except for a glint here and there.

  When the driver reached the rear tires, Geri stepped out and offered him a hand.

  “Are you all right? I saw a board or something go flying off into the woods after you ran it over. Must’ve had some nails sticking out of it or something.”

  Cooper slipped out the driver door after her and waited for them to scoot around to the other side.

  “Yes. Nails could puncture the tires.” He looked into her eyes, then continued his inspection.

  Definitely a droid. The neutral-toned, average-looking guy had no interest in how hot Geri was in her shockproof work clothes. Aimee had brought Geri some high black boots, black leggings, and a matching leather jacket that was cropped in the back. Cooper certainly appreciated the gesture.

  As Geri tried to distract an undistractable droid, Cooper inspected the door on the back of the truck. It had a strange lock, completely smooth, no hole for a key. The only clue of how it might open was a slight indentation that fit the tip of his finger. How the heck was he going to pick that? He wasn’t great at picking locks anyway, even with the gadget on his QV. He took a picture of it to show Geri. At least now he had a good excuse for not getting by this one. He should’ve asked Hasan for more cool spy stuff, like an x-ray viewer to see inside the truck.

  “Do you need help changing your spare?” Geri spoke up as they headed back in Cooper’s direction.

  “Ma’am, please go back to your car. I do not need assistance.”

  “What are you hauling?”

  “Ma’am, please go back to your car. Do not make me use force against you.”

  “I was just trying to help. Sheesh.”

  Cooper was ready to take the droid by surprise and twist its head off. Then they could look for a key or something on him to get the truck open. But when he took a step toward it, he slipped on some gravel and the camo flickered out.

  Though he recovered his balance, he looked back and saw Geri’s eyes widen, making the droid’s head jerked around to see him.

  Time to go. Cooper sprinted for the open door on the driver’s side.

  Before Geri joined him, she took advantage of the baffled droid watching Cooper blink in and out of view, and stuck something under the rear of the truck. Then she dashed for the car and jumped in the passenger seat.

  As they sped past the truck further down the road, Cooper glanced in the rearview mirror and noticed the droid climb back into the truck and start it up. It wasn’t programmed to deal with the unexpected actions of people interfering with its orders. It was just supposed to drive the truck, though it could apparently handle roadside emergencies. It seemed like an older model trucker-droid. Once they left him alone, he was able to continue his directive.

  Geri piped up. “Want me to drive? You still have quite a lump.”

  “Nah. I’m fine.” He knocked on his head with his knuckle. “Solid rock.”

  She chuckled. “Fine. What about picking that lock? “

  “Yeah, well, this one was different. A block of metal with an oval indentation, like it would read a fingerprint. I think I’ll leave the spying and gadgets to you. Take a look.” He showed her the picture of it.

  “A fingerprint lock isn’t new, but they are definitely harder to pick. This lock is different. I’ve seen some research on newer droid locks, where a droid itself is the key to opening it. I will have to ask Nate if we have something for that. Or maybe Hasan could figure it out.”

  “Why don’t you call him? I’m going to pull over and wait for the truck to see where he’s headed. Do you think the driver got a good look at me?”

  “Possibly. And they could enhance the image. But there’s no need to follow him too closely and risk getting caught. Look.” Geri pulled up a map on her QV, and a blue blip rode along the street behind them. She’d put a tracking device on the truck.

  “Nice. We should still follow it so we can see what’s inside when they unload.”

  “Sure. Let’s grab a bite and let him pass us.”

  Cooper was hungry too. He nodded and gave her a crooked smile. Spending so much time with Geri in her Gina disguise was awkward. And now they had to spend more time together waiting for the trucker to reach his destination, wherever that was. Killing time with her would be the hardest part. He had no idea what to say.

  As he looked for a place to eat, he glanced at Geri talking to Hasan out of the corner of his eye. Being with her, he felt like he was cheating, even though he wasn’t doing anything. He wasn’t even in a relationship, and it was still Geri. The situation was confusing and the downtime made it too easy for him to overthink things. He focused on her conversation with Hasan, hoping he would stop wracking his brain about their ruined relationship.

  Geri was giving her opinion. “Since the driver was a droid, I think it might be a droid lock. Similar to a fingerprint lock, but it might have a code for a droid to connect with in the lock to open it.”

  Hasan tapped his chin. “I’ve heard of those. New and experimental. I don’t like them because I don’t want to wait for my droids to open locks for me.”

  “Can you figure a way for me to crack it open?”

  “Hmm. It would take some juicing. Good thing I know someone with some juicing skills.” Hasan called to his droid off to the side. “Oscar. Get Jared for me, please.”

  That got Cooper’s attention.

  “Jared?” Jared was an old friend of Cooper’s from Walnut Grove. He married Cooper’s office manager a couple of years ago. Since Cooper moved back to Atlanta, he’d lost touch with them. He was terrible at that stuff.

  “Yes. Jared works for me remotely. He’s quite bright. And lots of fun. A creative prankster. One time, he got some firecrackers and some balloons—”

  “Hasan. The lock. Please, try to figure out a way to open it.” Geri was losing what little patience she had. Maybe she was having a hard time being alone with Cooper too. She barely looked at him.

  “Of course. My apologies. I will speak with him about it and ring you back. By the way, I think you have something in your hair.” He scrunched his nose at her. “Oh, there’s Jared. Until later.” Before he ended his connection with Geri, he greeted Jared on another frame in his imager. “Ah, Jared, my main man…”

  “Wait. What? Hasan?” But he was gone. She shrugged.

  “We’re here.” Cooper pulled into one of his favorite classic diners. A Waffle House.

  “Good choice.” Geri smirked as she got out of the car.

  They sat down and ordered. Then the uncomfortable silence set in. Again, he wondered why it was so hard to be casual with her. She had been a friend as well as his girlfriend. When he was in high school, he never had any trouble talking to girls. He was actually pretty popular. The same went for college. He could talk with girls about anything.

  Kristen had been his first challenge. He never had to work so hard to get a date in his life. That’s how he knew he had to marry her. Losing her had decimated most of his heart, leaving him a bitter old soul before his time.

  Then Geri came along and his whole dark outlook on life changed. He went from a cynical recluse to a hopeful homebody. He just wanted to take it easy and grow old with her. He went out when she made him, and sometimes enjoyed it. He knew Geri would always be more than just a friend. And he kicked himself for letting her get away. That was why he was tongue-tied. He was a big, dumb loser.

  After the waitress brought them coffee, he decided he had nothing more to lose, so he chipped at the frigid iceberg between them.

  “So how’ve you been?” Terrible opening line. He should’ve kept his mouth shut.

  “Busy. You know, besides being on the most wanted list. How ‘bout you? Taking care of Atlanta
’s derelict scum?”

  “Oh, yeah. I’ve been busy too. Gotta pay the bills. And there’s always an abundance of derelict scum to scoop up.”

  “Right.”

  They smiled at each other, but it felt so wrong. Cooper couldn’t get rid of the conspicuously awkward feeling he had. Even the waitress gave them weird looks each time she left their table. He felt like he was in a bad dream, wearing a dress and stumbling around in high heels while a snotty little kid pointed and told everyone to look at him. Having a meal with her shouldn’t be that difficult. And he didn’t look so bad in a dress. It was one of his better disguises.

  He stared into his coffee. Maybe he was trying too hard. He knew this woman. Sure, she could be intimidating and controlling, but they had something solid, for a time. And even if that time was past, he should still be able to talk to her. He respected her and appreciated the way she handled herself. Especially in tough situations. What he needed was an unrelated topic. Something that would get her to talk. Something that didn’t involve the two of them.

  “Your partner seems nice.”

  Geri nodded. “Yeah. Aimee’s great. Very nice. And extremely bright. But that little girl needs a heavy dose of common sense.”

  “That comes with experience. She’ll learn a lot from you.”

  “I guess.” She studied him for a moment, then looked out the window.

  Good start, but not enough. His compliment clearly made her as uncomfortable as he was.

  He tried again, “Hasan seems to like her.”

  That brought a smile to her face. “I know. They’re like lovesick teenagers. I’m afraid to leave them alone together.”

  Cooper remembered acting that way with Geri. And that brought their uncomfortable silence back. He gave up. Getting past their break-up to work together was proving to be too hard. Harder than any case he’d been on.

  As he opened his mouth to try talking about the case, their food arrived.

  They ate in silence. So much silence. Cooper used to like it that way. The constant noise was one of the reasons he let her go. He couldn’t take all the complaining, arguing, and pestering. At the time, he’d forgotten that part of a relationship and questioned if he had jumped into it too fast. He shook his head, not wanting to replay the bad times. Why were they so easy to remember? There were lots of great times too.

  When they were done eating, they paid at the register. Their waitress was still giving them strange looks, and scrunched her nose at them. Cooper assumed she could feel the tension between him and Geri. Before they left, she gave them some advice.

  “I don’t mean to be nosy, but there’s a thrift store just down the road a-piece. I don’t know what y’all two been rollin’ around in, but they may take pity on you and give you some free duds.”

  Geri and Cooper took a good look at each other and laughed. Plucking a wrapper out of her hair, Cooper had forgotten what a mess they were. And with the windows down as they sped along the highway and so much on his mind, he must’ve blocked out the offensive rotten egg smell from the dumpster.

  “Thanks for the tip.” He gave her an extra few bucks.

  They took the waitress’s advice and stopped at the thrift store. After making a quick change and freshening up in the rest room, they picked up the trail of their truck. Cooper had no fear of losing it. Those things lumbered down the highway at a slow pace and any cars that passed it would rubberneck at the huge beast. A traveling sideshow attraction.

  A few long, quiet miles later, Cooper couldn’t take the deafening silence any longer.

  Apparently, neither could Geri, as they both spoke up at the same time.

  “What…?”

  “You go ahead,” Cooper offered. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to say to her. She’d become a stranger, and not just because of the disguise. He wondered if they ever really got to know each other. They’d gone from an exciting adventure straight into daily doldrums, as if they’d been married for twenty years.

  “No. You. I forgot what I was going to say.”

  Cooper nodded and took the direct approach. “I just wonder where things went wrong with us.”

  Geri raised her eyebrows and considered. Not responding with a snide comment was a good sign.

  “Life got complicated.”

  “It didn’t seem complicated to me. I was comfortable.”

  “Maybe that was it. You were too comfortable.”

  “What’s wrong with comfortable?”

  “Comfortable is lazy. Comfortable is complacent.”

  “Comfortable is nice. So I wasn’t exciting enough for you?”

  “No. Well, maybe. I don’t know.”

  Cooper looked at her, seeing the real Geri through the disguise. “How about now?”

  “It shouldn’t take a life-threatening, world-shattering crisis for us to…” she trailed off and looked out the window.

  “To what? Feel something? I’m the same guy, no matter the situation.”

  “But in the downtime, it’s easy to get… bored.” She pouted at the road ahead of them.

  “And there you have it. I’m boring.” Cooper nodded again. That said it all and there wasn’t much he could do about it. Spark gone.

  He glanced at her QV map. “I think the truck is slowing down.”

  The blue blip had moved onto a side street.

  Cooper took the same exit and they entered a warehouse district. A few old, vacant buildings sat with loading docks empty, while others had been converted into kid zone playgrounds, indoor sports facilities, or business offices. Cooper parked in the front lot of a building with a For Lease sign in the window near the one their truck had pulled behind. When he was sure the truck had stopped moving, he and Geri snuck around to the back.

  The truck was backed up to the farthest bay dock of three and its doors were open, blocking them from seeing what was being unloaded.

  When Geri focused her telescoping gadget on the small space between the building and the truck doors, Cooper shook his head at himself, remembering he could do the same. It was a standard spy tool he had for his own job. At first, he thought workers were carrying something into the building. Then he realized it was a continuous flow of men leaving the truck. Men in gray uniforms, too many to count. Then it hit him. An android army was marching into the warehouse.

  “Guess we won’t need to break the lock,” Geri whispered.

  “How many do you think there are?”

  “Judging by the size of the truck, about two hundred?”

  “What does he need two hundred droids for? What’s on Wells’ agenda?”

  Geri pulled up the schedule.

  “He’s doing a live debate over the Proposal tomorrow morning with… your brother.”

  “What? Where?”

  “Shh!”

  The truck had finished unloading. Once the driver locked the loading dock door, he got back in the truck and pulled away.

  Cooper and Geri ducked down behind some bushes. As the truck rounded the corner out of the lot, it came pretty close to where they were hiding. Cooper hovered over Geri.

  “I think it’s safe now.” Geri’s vivid blue eyes smiled up at him with that same sparkle he could never forget. The color didn’t matter. He stared for a few extra seconds before he stood, held by her sweet gaze.

  When he remembered what Geri said a moment before about Dawson, he snapped out of it and opened Wells’ schedule for the next day on his own QV. Whenever the Colonel and Wells had an event with someone, accidents happened. Now the old guy was hitting too close to home.

  Cooper frowned. “Their debate tomorrow morning is at the broadcast station right next door.”

  Norcross, GA

  Tuesday, June 23, 2082

  ’m going in there. We need to see what we’re up against.” Cooper was in take-charge mode, Geri’s favorite. “I only see one camera. How ‘bout you?” He pointed to the lone security camera hanging under the gutter on the opposite side of the building.

  “
Me too. I think I can patch into it.”

  “Don’t bother.” Cooper turned on the invisible suit. Geri hoped it was charged enough and watched him shimmer across the parking lot like a breeze.

  By the way the tree next to the building shook, Cooper must’ve been climbing it. One good-sized branch snapped off and floated toward the camera. Cooper maneuvered the branch so leaves covered the lens and wedged it into place. When he hopped down, he turned off the camo and shrugged at Geri with his hands lifted.

  She nodded. “I guess that’ll do.”

  Geri met him at the door where the truck had unloaded. Another one of those plain-faced new locks kept them out. The two other bay doors were sealed with matching locks.

  Cooper started to leave. “I’ll check out the front. Maybe we can break in there.”

  “No, there will be more cameras to worry about. Leave it to me.” Geri called Hasan back.

  “Hello, Geri. I mean, Gina. Jared said he might be able to juice the lock remotely but you need to talk to him directly. Oh, wait. Here he is. He just popped over.” Hasan and Jared chuckled.

  “Hi, Geri? There’s something different about you. Did you dye your hair?” The morons laughed some more.

  She wanted to bang their heads together and yell at them. Cut the crap, children! But she chose the more mature response.

  “Hello, Jared. Yeah, it was time for a change. Now what do we need to do?”

  Jared caught the seriousness in her tone and cleared his throat. “Well, I believe I can juice it, but I will need you to plug me into the lock.”

  “How do you suggest we do that? There aren’t any ports and we don’t have any androids handy.” Geri tapped her foot. They had no idea of the pressures of being in the field, especially in broad daylight. If anyone came around the corner, she and Cooper would have some explaining to do.

  Cooper hid his grin. He was also a child. Men.

  Jared tried to find something they could work with. “Do you have a remote port?”

  “Do you think I have a remote port?”

  “I guess not.”

  Then Hasan chimed in, “Ever consider human conduction?”

  Geri squinted. “I’m afraid to ask. What’s human conduction?”