Jeurridam Ch. 01: The Arizona Paradise

"Did that wrench not give you a clear enough message, yesterday?" I asked, teasingly. He looked on as though I was menacing threat to his life, not bothering to respond. It was then I realized I forgot to smile. Eh, where was my fucking humanity? Zion too looked on in horror. I didn't want to be portrayed this way.

"Zion," I sighed, "Don't let these fools make me out to be a bad guy. I'm not too fucked up." I walked between both of them, pushing them aside. I then tapped the TC activator on my watch. The traveling torpor chamber came down from the ceiling, enveloping me with a loud clamp.

About an hour and a half later, I was behind a tall veil with a dishwasher to fix. With my watch, I scanned the machine detailing what was wrong. It was an issue with the solenoid that turned the motor, one of the more prevalent issues with this model. It was an easy fix, just required a realignment. I was finished in twenty minutes, back inside the torpor chamber.

Minutes later, the torpor chamber opened and was tasked with fixing one of my rarer designs. It was a sonic hoverboard board which used resonant frequency matching to allow the board to hover. With practice, one could travel extremely swiftly across terrain with one of these. The issue with these boards was that the ventilation intakes would clog with sand and the poor machines couldn't cool properly so they'd often overheat. That meant that run-times were shorter and the board couldn't move swiftly enough. This was not an easy fix.

I spent hours blowing sand out of every nook and cranny on the board. It was a tedious process, the board having many small components with openings seemingly everywhere. This was so very frustrating. The board was never meant to be sold, being a very, very limited prototype with many flaws I had to kink over. However, Angelo thought differently, seeing it as another way to make money. Fortunately for me, it was one of those inventions I cared least about, one that had little value to me.

When I was finished, I was beyond glad. I entered the torpor chamber and the machine retracted the veil. I then was wheeled back to the truck and we rode for an hour and a half. When it opened again, I was back in the shack.

"That's all the calls we had today. You get the rest of the day off." A gunman said, closing the door behind him.

"Wow..." I said, truly surprised.

This by far was some of the best news I'd gotten in a long time. I walked over to my workbench only to realize something was terribly wrong. My project, my oh so dear project was gone! I ran over to the vault, swiftly opening it. The project wasn't there either, only a few SSDs and my laptops. I ran back over to the workstation wondering where could I have misplaced it.

I then looked over to the corner of the workshop to see Ezekiel was gone. My gut told me he took it. I just knew he had to. Drawn to a panic, I struggled to think of what could be done, pacing all around the shack. I had to ask around for it.

I walked over to the hangar exit, pulling on the chains of the door. It had just enough height for me to duck down and get out before a guard noticed me. I walked around back heading towards the house. There, most of the brothers and cousins sat frolicking in the midday sun.

"Hey!" I said. The young men looked at me, startled to see me outside the shack, "I'm missing a very, very, VERY important prototype! It looks like a small deer... silver. Have any of you seen anything?"

"What are you doing out of the shack!" Miguel asked from the veranda. I held up my palm, pausing him from speaking.

"Have any of you seen it, or've been inside the shack, maybe even took it?" I continued to ask. The young men shook their heads, each not seeing anything out of the ordinary.

"Well," Heaven began, "I haven't seen Zeek since last night."

"ANGELO!" Miguel screamed, entering the house.

"I have surveillance all over my shack. I'll find who took it and so help me..." I said, walking back to the workshop.

I entered around the hangar exit, heading towards my main computer terminal. I punched in a few codes and pulled up my security feeds. Pinpointing the hours of the theft, the videos found clear footage of Ezekiel taking the prototype and exiting with it.

"Oh my God!" I said, completely horrified.

"HEY!" I heard someone shout from the front of the shack. It was Angelo, incredibly angry and followed by his Brother, sons and nephews, "You know you can't leave the shack..."

I turned the terminal so he can view it.

"Your son," I said clenching my head, "STOLE something of mine and I NEED it back!" Everyone was silent before Angelo broke out into laughter.

"That damn boy...will do anything to get a quick fixing won't he..." He chuckled.

"I know right. That probably why he came in here last night, to scope this place out, to see what he can take and sell." Miguel chimed in laughing, too.

It then dawned on me. This was all part of an elaborate plan that Ezekiel devised well before coming to visit me and I fell for it so easily. It was so embarrassing, more so than anything I felt in a long while. However, the boy knew very little of what he was jeopardizing and I had to get this prototype back.

"Where is he?" I asked, trembling from rage.

"Oooou, someone's angry..." Miguel teased.

"I wouldn't tempt me right now, Miguel." I threatened through the grit of my teeth.

"Good luck finding him. He probably won't be back for a few weeks." Angelo laughed, heading towards the exit.

"That automaton was worth fifteen million dollars in that state and once completed, would have been worth ten times that." I said, freezing Angelo right in his tracks.

"Fifteen mill? What the fuck can this thing do?" Angelo asked shocked.

"Nothing, it just has a lot of information on it. It was meant to simply never be caught, which is why I based it upon the design of an antelope. It was built for speed, crazy speed but I never finished it before your damned boy STOLE IT!" I said.

"And what information is worth that much?" Angelo asked. He was beginning to suspect I knew more about my past than he previously thought. He slowly began to prowl over towards me.

"Nothing that concerns you!" I snarled.

"Well if that's the case, it's just a prototype...build another one." Angelo said, walking out of the of the shack.

"If that boy has sold my robot, so help me God I'll.."

"You'll what?" Angelo said at the door. I couldn't even come to finishing, beyond enraged, "You know the basic rules I give you? Follow them! Ah, lookie here."

Suddenly, Angelo pulled someone into the shack.

"Hey dad! What are you doing..." He asked. It was Ezekiel being forced towards my work bench.

"Tanzanir wants to talk to you." Miguel said, pointing towards me.

Ezekiel stood there, looking lost.

"Did you take the robot that was sitting here on my desk?" I asked, as calm as possible, supporting my aching head with a hand as I navigated the interface on the monitor.

"No, why would you think I..."

I didn't even give him the time to finish. I turned the screen so he could see the video evidence of him stealing the machine. His jaw dropped, his shock turning into anguish. Those gorgeous warm eyes turning to scalding pools of raw anger.

"Do you know what you've done?" I asked, still trembling from rage.

"It's just a robot, you build countless of them...big deal, build another one." He shrugged.

"I can't because that robot had ONE OF ONLY TWO variable power conduits EVER MADE!!!!" I snapped. Silence spread throughout the shack.

"Quite frankly, I don't give a fuck." Ezekiel said, nonchalantly. Angelo burst out laughing, causing everyone else to do the same.

"You don't?" I asked, growing angrier and angrier.

"Nope..." He shrugged, steadily laying that intense gaze upon me.

"You need to get it back... Ezekiel..." I said, feeling my anger reaching a level that couldn't be contained.

"Hell no." He refused.

"One of you...someone!" I said, hoping someone would volunteer. After all the hard work I did so all these people could live comfortable lives.

"It's nothing that concerns us right?" Angelo chuckled, obviously lapping this all up.

I couldn't take this anymore. I navigated the interface of my watch, activating the BL99 protocol. A pile of metal sitting on my desk configured into a sleek metal gauntlet. I waved my hand in front of the crowd of people.

Suddenly, flying blades came out of every inch of the shack, stopping short of slicing

the neck of each man that stood before me. Each blade hovered in place ready for my command.

"I should kill you all." I said, eyeing each one of them with rage I never before felt. Angelo looked around, seeing his family with blades to their throats, all trembling in fear.

"You don't want to do this..." Angelo said, pleading for the life of everyone here. I had no response, only navigating the interface of my watch. Fortunately for me, the tiny prototype, my life's work was in a state of suspended torpor, emitting a faint radio signal that could easily be traced.

"It's so sad that," I started, still very upset, "I ask you to do something as simple going fetch a stolen robot, a robot that could very well save your lives one day...and YOU...." The blades dug into each of their skins, "CAN'T DO SIMPLY THAT! I slaved for you all, did the work you all were not smart enough to do! And you, Ezekiel... You need help!!!! All of you just get out!"

There was no hesitation for each and every soul to flee the premises. The blades dropped to the floor as I shielded my teary face. I didn't know what to do but cry. All I could do was think about this betrayal from Ezekiel. I let him into where I lived, offered him help but he did this to me. This could possibly ruin me, my cause, what my dad died for! That tiny antelope-like automaton was just that damn important.

"I can't believe this..." I sobbed.

"Zanir!" A voice said.

I looked up, seeing it was Beth, in the doorway cautious to come in. All I could do was shake my head.

"It's over, Beth." I said, "It's done."

"Wait what do you mean?" She asked, growing more and more afraid.

Navigating the interface of my watch. I activated the Big Daddy Protocol. It was now or never. The massive, reinforced filing cabinets splayed apart, revealing a red mechanical cube. The cube began to unravel, locking into place. It turned into a massive, thirteen feet tall automaton.

"Ooooh," Beth said, completely horrified at the sight of such a fearsome looking machine. The bulky robot blasted through the tin paneling of the shack, sending the armed gaurds spiraling into the air. Beth screamed, the concussive shock wave throwing her to the floor. The entire family was now on alert!

I summoned the blades from the floor, they following after me as I walked over to the vault. I packed the SSDs, and laptops into my bag, grabbing the second gauntlet out of the rear of the vault. Before putting it on, I activated the ORBOS Warrior protocol on my watch. Two four foot diameter spheres erupted from the roof of the shack. Four wings splayed out of the tops as well as a laser guided thirty millimeter cannon.

I walked out after the Big Daddy mech, stepping over the dead bodies. My hovering blades followed me like metallic wedge shaped sprites, their solenoids spinning and counter rotating as they moved along.

"TANZANIR!!!!!!" Beth screamed as I walked past. I didn't bother to acknowledge her. The family all came from the house, holding rifles and shotguns all aimed at me.

"I won't let you leave. I'll kill you before I let you walk out of here!" Angelo threatened.

Big Daddy's hands retracted, forming two one hundred ten millimeter cannons. The two Orbs aimed their thirty millimeter cannons down at the family, the bright lasers alerting them to the fact that there were guns aimed from above. My blades also took aim at each and every one poised with a gun.

"I don't want to kill any of you...I really don't but it's time I go. If you want to stop me, you can try but then I'd have to kill you...don't make me have to kill you." I said as banal and expressionless as ever.

"Tanzanir!" Beth said, running towards me. Big Daddy watched her approach, his left arm cannon following her as she neared.

"I'm warning you boy, don't you touch my daughter!" Angelo threatened, cocking his rifle.

"Let me come with you!" Beth begged.

"No..." I said, reaching into my bag. I handed her a laptop and a flash drive, "Help out in any way you can."

"Tanzanir..." Beth said, not wanting me to go.

"I"m sorry but I must." I sighed, full of reluctance.

"You can't..." She said drawn to tears.

"BETH!" Angelo screamed.

"I'm gonna travel very far north, Beth. I got to go all the way to Labrador. You know how far away that is from Arizona? Would you really want to travel that far? It's over four thousand miles away. It's going to be dangerous, very dangerous." I said, not wanting to reveal my true objective.

"Labrador?" Angelo asked, "Don't tell me you knew about your father all along?"

"Of course I knew! I knew he died years ago, his brain the only thing that could be saved, hence this giant thirteen foot machine you see before you. It's from the Cybernetic Reincarnation Program from six hundred years ago! He's in there! I built it right under your nose and I can assure you, he's not happy." I said.

It was the first time I ever saw Angelo light up with fear. He stopped aiming his rifle at me and up to Big Daddy.

"You little..." He said, truly in disbelief, "I can't beleive..."

"You tried keeping it from me for so long... How do you think I came across figuring all of this out, huh? You think after I worked hard out there in the city, I'd come back and just sleep. No! I like many of your children, have dreams and ambitions too! I aspired to become something more that a mechanic slave to your family but my dreams got shoved aside so you can make yours come to fruition. Plus, I knew you hid his cerebral matter hidden in the freezer for years! Did you forget I was there when I saw your wife bring it in? I may have been a child but I wasn't stupid... I knew like most things in A99, it had something to do with my father! I also knew that there was old wartech that gave life to those who had fallen. The tech was called the Cybernetic Reincarnation Program and sitting here on these resource rich lands... I had all the means to build it! It meant my dad could someday be alive again! If you knew how hard I worked to build it you'd wonder how I still able to get around. The project started when I was twelve... ya know that day you thought I ran away? I told you I was in Sloan but you didn't believe me? I was really there! I saw somethings that would make a grown man cry! It had everything I needed for this day and I'm so glad I went. It makes me glad you didn't believe me, Angelo." I continued.

Angelo was at a loss for words. Things tried rolling off his tongue but words simply couldn't manifest.

"Why now?" Miguel asked in his place.

"Because," I began one of my blades floating over to the family. Everyone's gun pointed at it but it only had one target, "Your little nephew here stole something of mine, something so key to my plan, I'll do anything to get it BACK!!!!"

The blade dropped down, wedging itself between the boy and the rest of his family. Everyone stepped out of harms way as the blade pursued the boy. It caused him to fall from the stoop to the ground. He got to his feet only to see Big Daddy's cannons aimed right at him. He shook with fear.

"If you hurt my boy..." Angelo threatened, fearing the worst. I walked over to Ezekiel, my blades each surrounding him, spinning slowly as though they had blood lust. They seemed to long to pierce his flesh, rotating again and again with a sterling fixed focus. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he stood there in utter terror.

"How much did you sell my android for?" I asked.

"Two hundred! I tell you where it is!" He pled.

"Two hundred," I chuckled, reaching into his pocket, "I already know where it is..." I grabbed the wad of money out of his pocket.

"Come on, don't do this to me..." Ezekiel begged.

"What, the money?" I asked, unsure what he meant.

"I need this..." He continued. I reached in my pocket grabbing a folded wad of paper. I slipped it into his pocket.

"You won't even plea for your life but will plea to soothe your addiction..." I sighed, walking away. The blades suddenly darted after me, startling everyone. The blades continued to follow me, rotating every now and again. Big Daddy turned back to the shed firing a mortar round on it. The workshop exploded, destroying every machine, every electronic, everything I slaved to build.

Everyone ducked down, fearing shrapnel from the explosion. I looked down at my watch. We had a long walk ahead, having to cross the Hoover Dam and enter Nevada. Our next stop would be northern Jeurridam, the City of Rust.

As we walked away, Beth screamed my name. There was no point in looking back. If I did, I'd break down. I needed to stay strong for her sake! This was all for a cause that would inexplicably affect her future. Still though. she was my best friend and I was... abandoning her! She screamed and screamed, "LET ME GO!!!!" It was the most heartbreaking thing I could ever have heard but today was the start of a long journey. I truthfully had no idea where it'd take me but it was now or never...