Read Socket 1-3 - The Socket Greeny Saga for Free Online Page B

Nation was in its infancy, these
were just tunnels. Technology has advanced.”
    “Yeah. No shhhi…no kidding. I take it this
thing wouldn’t go anywhere without clearance.”
    “You would not be here if you did not have
clearance.” It seemed like he was refraining from laughing at
something so stupid because, clearly, you’re not getting here
without a wormhole and a flying car. “Spindle, access code 0452B.
Security assignment room, level 1. Prepare for new arrival.”
    There was a sharp pang in my stomach, and
then it was gone. The door opened to a short, doorless hallway. So
far I’d been in a cave and now a white hallway. For all the
technology, Paladins weren’t flashy.
    Spindle started down the corridor and
stopped halfway. “Here we are.”
    “Where?”
    “Doors are composed of plasmic particulates
creating the illusion of a solid surface.” He pushed his hand
through the white wall in front of us. “Much like the cliff you
drove through.”
    I knocked on a solid wall. “It’s not
working.”
    “That is because you are touching the wall.”
His face lit with sunny yellows, shaped a little like a smile. Dumbass.
    “Are you laughing at me?”
    “Laughing? I do not experience emotions,
Master Socket. However, it does appear odd you are trying to push
through a wall when the doorway is right next to you.”
    “Yeah, well I don’t see a doorway.”
    “Not yet.” He walked through the wall, poked
his head out several seconds later. “Are you coming?”
    “I’m not used to walking through walls.”
    “Here.” He extended his hand. “I am
programmed to assist you.”
    An odd color lit his face. He lightly pulled
me through—like a sheet of frigid air—into a large room. It was
empty and sterile. How exciting. Let me guess, dinner is white rice
with water.
    “This is the security assignment room. I
will assign you level one access. If you will have a seat, I will
start the process very soon.”
    “You mean, on the floor?”
    Spindle crossed the room in five steps. As
he did, it reshaped. A chair emerged from the wall. End tables
popped out of the floor. The white walls turned dark green with
burnt orange trim. Pictures formed on the walls with views of
oceans and deserts. A window appeared with the view of scenic
mountains, a flock of birds passing by.
    “Now that’s what I’m talking about.” I sat
on the chair, felt it reform to fit my body, left me weightless.
“This room… it’s made from the same stuff as those servys?”
    “Yes.” He was busy with a control panel on
the wall. “Our rooms can suit any purpose. I hope you are
comfortable. We will begin in a minute.”
    A vase emerged from a table with flowers. I
took a white daisy and sniffed. It smelled like a flower. The room
was a regular room in any house across the world, and yet it
wasn’t. It was buried in a mountain made up of tiny cell-sized
robots that made a flower smell like a flower and a window overlook
a mountain. I could dig this.
    “Can I ask you something?” I said.
    “You may ask me a question at anytime,
Master Socket.”
    “What’s my mom do?”
    “She is the Commander’s assistant.”
    “Commander? You mean this is like a
military?”
    “It is not a military, but it has order.
There is protocol. Any society must have rules and it must have
leaders. Commander has been traditionally used.”
    “So my mom, she’s a Paladin?”
    The eyelight circled to the back of his head
and focused on me while his hands continued to work. “No, Master
Socket. Paladins have inherent abilities which she does not
possess. She has developed some mild extrasensory powers but she is
a civilian, and she is vital to the Paladin Nation. Has she not
told you these things?”
    “We don’t talk a whole lot.”
    “But she is your mother.” He stopped
working. “Your caregiver.”
    “She’s been a little busy. Since Dad
died.”
    His face sparkled. “I knew your father.”
    “You did?”
    “Yes.” His eyelight