Read The Midnight Stand (The Elysia Saga Book 1) for Free Online Page B

functions and even thoughts. The Council assured this wasn’t the
case and that the device was just a way to more easily distribute information.
It wasn’t mandatory for adults to have it embedded, but there were rumors that
this would not be the case much longer. Maxon had his embedded a couple of
years ago, at the behest of the Department Chief who required all crew members
to have one.
    He checked the time. It was five past ten. He
had plenty of time until he needed to brief the crew. He swiped the screen and
activated the voice control.
    “Call Erica,” he said into his arm.
    “Calling Erica,” a sweet sounding female voice
replied back. A person with the device was able to hear the audio directly
through his ears, almost like the sound was coming from inside his head. Three
seconds later Erica’s face appeared on the screen. She had her own bio-link
device as well. He could see that she was lying in bed with a treating cap on.
    “Hey,” she said. “Everything okay?”
    “Yes, I just wanted to check in and see how you
were doing.”
    “Doing fine, just about to go to bed.” A
whirring sound was coming from her side of the call. Maxon recognized it as the
sound of the manicure device.
    “How’s Elliot?” he asked.
    “He’s sleeping. Took forever to get him down in
the grow bed,” she said. “I don’t think he likes it.”
    “Well, the doctor said for the first couple of
years he should be in it.”
    “Are you coming home soon?” she asked.
    “Not yet, I have a midnight wreck to do,” he
said. “I probably won’t be home till after one.”
    “Can’t they find someone else to do it?” she
asked.
     “You know it’s done by assignment. I have no
control over it,” he answered.
    “Yeah I know, but why do you even have to be
there anymore. It’s not like you’re doing any of the actual work.”
    “It’s more about quality control and safety
concerns,” he said. “We still need to be onsite.”
    “Right, until they program the machines to handle
that too. Then where will you be?” she asked with a wry smile.
    “Running the department, of course”.
    Erica’s expression changed when he said that.
The smile was gone.
    “I know you’re trying to be funny,” she said.  “But
I do think you should make that a priority of yours. You’re approaching mid-age
and you have to think about sustainability.”
    They had talked about this several times, more
so since Elliot was born. Maxon didn’t expect her to bring it up at this time,
in this way. It made him uneasy to think about, the idea that he could be
deemed non-essential by a computer one day. It was a very real possibility
though and he would have to prove his worth one way or the other. It scared him
to think about, which is why he didn’t.
    “Erica, we talked about this,” he said. “Decisions
on who is appointed Director are made by the Council. You know how much
maneuvering needs to take place? I doubt I’m even being considered. Besides,
Donovan isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.”
    “Didn’t you say there were grumblings about
him?”
    “That’s not something we should talk about
here.” A wrecker turned the corner and came down the hall. He gave Maxon a
brief glance and continued walking. “There’s too many ears around,” he said in
a hushed voice. “Why are you bringing this up anyway?”
    “I just don’t want you to miss an opportunity,”
she said. “We have to be prepared for the future.”
    Maxon sensed that something was up. Erica’s
voice had a tone to it that he recognized as her being worried about something.
“Is everything alright? You sound like something is bothering you.”
    Erica didn’t respond right away. “Yes,
everything’s fine.” Her eyes looked down when she said it. Maxon caught the
lie.
    “No, something’s wrong. What is it?”
    She sighed, “I was feeling sick the past couple
of mornings and I decided to take a test. Max, I’m pregnant.”
    The words stunned him. He