Conduit - Season 2

Ch. 24

Despite Daniel being around the corner, for the first time all week, the air felt at peace inside of Lyons. The technicians assigned to the Bridge helped get every newly made 800A series in line and powered on. With their tablets, they ran standard diagnostic checks until each android gave them a green signal. They moved on to the next android with smiles on their faces and repeated.

As I entered the Bridge with a coffee in my hand, I watched Lyons' newest creations respond to the Garret code without the company's base programming. Frank walked beside me. When we glanced at each other, he moved closer and passed his hand over my back. Grinning, I reached behind and linked our fingers, just as running steps hurried in our direction.

We looked up and saw Victoria slow to a walk, eyeing the line of employees. An array of "Good morning," from the androids filled the space as she nodded at them, but then looked at me. "We have a problem."

No one heard her. The technicians continued, and the androids who were ready stretched their limbs and laughed, finding their source codes and personalities. The sound of excited voices should have made me smile but Victoria stopped in front of us and repeated, more sternly, "We have a problem, Elijah."

I let Frank's hand go. "What is it?"

Victoria motioned us to follow her. We obliged, walking down the path of functioning androids, greeting them as they greeted me. When we reached the end of the row, we stopped near Reggie. Unlike the other working technicians, he didn't wear the white coat or vest, but dressed as casually as Frank, Victoria, and me. Though he had a tablet in his hands, he wasn't looking at the screen. He instead passed his hand over the neck of the android in front of him. The android was designed for my father.

I gave Frank my coffee cup as I moved in for a closer look. "What's happening?"

Reggie curved his head to look at the sides of my father's android. "All the others responded to the Garret code without a problem. Your father's model, well," Reggie glanced at me, "hasn't done anything."

"Maybe he's stalled?" It happened sometimes with androids, especially when new updates were introduced. Their motherboards hit a wall and froze, leaving the androids immobile. The issue with my father was that I built him from the ground up. Had I missed something?

Reggie made a noise, close to a grunt but not quite. He wouldn't look at me, even as I got closer. Instead, he passed his tablet to Victoria, who peered at the screen. He hadn't closed any of the diagnostic windows; I saw them. As Victoria scrolled, she sighed and looked at me, frowning. "Nothing's connecting," she said.

"What do you mean nothing?" I took the tablet from her and passed my finger over the screen to take a closer look. What I saw made sense and matched what they said, but I'd known what I did to his android base. Every android needed a skeletal frame and I'd given him that. His artificial skin was unique and crafted per my design—a twin to my father. But based on what I read on the tablet's screen; everything was wrong.

His motherboard lacked power. Every computer chip installed inside of his body was dead; not even attempting to emit a signal. I gulped as I looked up at my father's face. His eyes were closed, short dark curls reflected the light from overhead, and all I could do was frown.

This wasn't my fault. I did everything based on my grandfather's data. I made a Garret, but were Lyons' premium parts compatible?

"I don't know what to do," I whispered, powering down the tablet as I focused on my father's face.

"He should be up, should be walking, he—" He should've been wrapping his arms around me with a fatherly hug. He would've met Frank and embraced him, thankful that he'd brought light into his son's life. He would've seen Victoria and been amazed at her advancements, her evolution, and the passionate connection she'd made with Reggie.