(NOTE: This was a short story I wrote for my creative writing class, during last school year, when I was a senior in high school. Regardless, I hope you enjoy! I figured I’d post this short story here so that I can actually share my work with you all, but I also want my work to start reaching more people, so I thought my blog would be the perfect place to do so. I might even post my most recent work here in the future. I’d also like to add that I decided to add a photo/visual to go along with this story, which explains the significance behind the picture above. I don’t own this picture, by the way, and came across it on Google Images).
Leon stepped out of his car, and grabbing his briefcase, he closed the main door to his car and locked it, using only a small motion of his hand to do so-that’s the thing everyone did nowadays whenever they wanted to lock things such as doors, or open doors, or simply get through anything that had a door at all. That’s just how things were in the year 2045. There were no such thing as keys anymore. To get through to something that required the opening or closing of a door, people would just give a little wave in front of the door, and it would open for them. Now, unlocking doors was a different story.
Before anyone could wave their hand in front of the door they were standing in front of to gain access to whatever was beyond it, their faces would be scanned whenever they approached a door by a small facial recognition computer that would pop up in front of the door. It only scanned a person’s face for a maximum of ten seconds before disappearing, and then the door would unlock for them, where they would then wave their hand to open it. This process was done in order to keep track of the people who exited and entered the doors, as a means of safety purposes, and of keeping records, as that was something that was seen as necessary.
Leon heaved a sigh as he carried his briefcase, and headed over to the crosswalk to cross the street, to get to the office building that was on the other side. He glanced towards both sides of the street corner, and once he saw that there were no cars passing by, he crossed the street. In a matter of moments, he was already heading up the stairs of the office building, but stopped once he approached the glass doors that led inside the building. Just then, he saw the all too familiar facial recognition computer pop up before him, and he stood very still, as it scanned his face. After about ten seconds, the computer disappeared, and Leon heard the click of the doors-they were unlocked.
Without hesitation, Leon raised up his hand, and waved it slowly in front of the door. The glass doors suddenly gave way and opened for him. With his briefcase still in his hand, Leon stepped inside the building, smoothing out his tie with his empty hand. “Ah, Leon-there you are! I was hoping you’d show up at some point or another”. Leon looked up to see his boss-Ryan Conley-standing there. He had an eager look on his face, and he was smiling at Leon.
“Come now, Leon”, he said, his voice calm, but in it’s usual deep tone. “I have something I’d like to show you”. Leon glared back at him, and gave him a slight nod of his head.
Ryan beckoned him to come forward, and without another word, the two men walked out of the building’s lobby together, and turned the corner into another hallway. When they reached the end of that hallway, they turned the corner again, and entered another, but did not walk all the way down it this time. They stopped walking once they had approached a door that stood to the left of them. It was then that Ryan turned to Leon. “Oh, you are going to love what I have to show you. She’s nearly finished, and you’re going to be the first person to get a proper view of her. She’s simply gorgeous, Leon!”
Leon raised his eyebrows in confusion at him. “What...you mean...the android?”
Ryan burst out laughing at his response. “Of course I’m talking about the android, you loon! Who else would I be referring to as ‘she?’”
Leon’s eyebrows furrowed, and he no longer looked confused. Just then, the facial recognition computer popped up before them, and both men stood completely still as it scanned their faces. “I dunno”, Leon replied, as the facial recognition computer disappeared.
Ryan turned toward him again. “Well, you’re in for a real treat this time”. He then turned back towards the door, gave it a little wave, and it opened. The two men walked inside, and once they were inside, Ryan turned towards the door a second time, gave a little wave of his hand again, and the door closed behind them. Leon had been inside Ryan’s office many times before, so this was nothing new to him.
The office room was the same as it has always been throughout the four years Leon had been working with the company-medium sized walls painted a light gray, a single desk with a few chairs placed near the back end of the room-and the most noticeable of them all-an adjoining alcove where another door stood on the wall that led to another room. Leon had only been inside that room twice before, but even so, he knew what was usually kept inside it-a variety of things, projects, that his boss had been working on, as part of the company. This company was mostly known for its connection with all things robotic. The company that Leon worked for was best known for the building, manufacturing, and construction of androids.The main focus of the company was to build androids that could function, interact, and live in daily life-as part of what was known as the human world, the real world.
Ryan then turned toward the door by the alcove, and walked inside it once his face was scanned. He walked out a few moments later, rolling something that was covered by a white sheet. Leon looked at it with amusement, and seeing this, with a smile, Ryan said, “This...is what I’ve been wanting to show you”. Suddenly, Ryan placed one hand on the sheet, and removed it, revealing something underneath,
Leon gasped, and stood, looking in awe. Standing before him now, next to Ryan, was the most beautiful android he had ever seen. The android was female-with a long curvaceous body, pale skin, narrow facial features, short auburn hair, and big blue eyes. Although she was only an android, she looked a lot like a human and to Leon, seemed very lifelike.
“Wow”, Leon said finally, a few moments later. He turned to Ryan. “You were right...she’s...she’s beautiful! Absolutely beautiful!”
Ryan laughed. “I told you she was, Leon. And she is”.
Leon turned towards her, and smiled. “Hi, Shauna. I’m Leon. Pleased to meet you”. Shauna didn’t respond immediately, and it was then that Ryan cut in. “She hasn’t been switched on yet. My apologies”. With that, Ryan reached behind Shauna, and turned on what Leon guessed was some sort of switch, and she suddenly came alive; turning her head, and blinking her eyes.
Ryan glared at her intently for a moment and said, “Hi, Shauna. It’s Ryan...your creator. I have someone I would like you to meet. He’s quite a nice guy, and his name is Leon”. Ryan stepped aside, so that she could get a better look. When she saw Leon, Shauna smiled, and Leon smiled at her. “Hello, Leon. I’m Shauna. I’m pleased to meet your acquaintance”, she replied, a female robotic voice emitting from her.
“I’m pleased to meet you too. Shauna”, Leon replied, still smiling. “My, I must say, you are absolutely stunning!”
Shauna laughed. “Why thank you, Leon. You’re quite good looking yourself”. The smile on Leon’s face spread even wider. “Why thank you, my love. Hell, I’m always likely to compliment a pretty girl when I see one”. Shauna laughed again, and put her hand up to her mouth.
Ryan turned to Leon again. “Quit flirting with Shauna! Jesus, Leon, I didn’t know the first thing you would do when you first saw Shauna would be to flirt with her!”
Leon glared back at Ryan with an un-amused expression. “I’m not flirting with her. I’m just giving her a compliment”.
“Well, whatever it is, it looks like flirting to me”, Ryan replied. He then turned back towards Shauna again. “My apologies, Shauna. I didn’t realize he’d be such a flirt”.
“Oh, I don’t mind”, Shauna replied. “I don’t mind at all”.
Ryan then turned to Leon again. “So...what do you think of her?”
Leon chuckled slightly. “I think she’s wonderful, to say the least”.
The rest of the day went as it usually did. Leon got off of work at 6:30, and was home by 7:00. When he got home, he parked his car in the driveway, and after he got out, walked up to his front door, and once his face was scanned, he stepped inside his house, and let out a sigh of relief. Finally, the work day was over, and Leon had a chance to unwind. He walked into his living room, set down his briefcase, and proceeded to take off his coat.
Suddenly, a sudden sound at his front door caught his attention, and he perked up, turning his gaze towards the door. It was probably nothing, he thought. Maybe he thought he’d heard something when he hadn’t. However, he was wrong. There was another sound on his door. Hearing this, Leon’s heart began to beat, and paranoia flooded through him.
He went to the window, and pulled back the curtains. He didn’t dare go towards the door. When he looked through the window, however, his heart sank, and he immediately regretted his decision. Standing there, peering through the window back at him, was a girl holding a huge knife, with a crazed look in her eyes. But it wasn’t just some normal girl. It was Shauna, and she had the look of an insane person plastered across her robotic face.
Leon let out a scream of terror, and fell to the floor, Once he got back up, before he had much of a chance to do anything at all, Shauna smashed the window using her knife, and began to climb into the house. Leon backed away, terrified, not knowing what to do. When her crazed gaze met his, she held the knife up saying, “Kill Leon”, over and over again. After several moments of panicking, an idea went off in Leon’s brain, and he knew exactly what he was going to do, even if he hated having to do it. Thinking quickly, he grabbed the knife from her hands, which was a bit of a struggle, and pointed it at her.
“No, Shauna. No. Dear, I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but something’s just not right here. I’m sorry to have to do this to you, Shauna. I’m really sorry”. Tossing the knife aside, Leon then jumped behind Shauna, and ran to the kitchen, where he quickly rummaged through the drawers until he found a screwdriver. Once he found it, he managed to back Shauna into a corner, and with her back facing him, he quickly began unscrewing her backside with the screwdriver to get to her batteries. Shauna thrashed violently in protest all while he did this. Leon managed to get to her batteries successfully, and when he did, he yanked as hard as he could, and to his surprise, he managed to pull Shauna’s batteries out. When he did this, she suddenly stopped moving, and froze in place, as if she were a statue. She had been powered off at last.