Inception - Ascension Paradox, Book 1
Copyright© 2023 by L.R. Thornton
Chapter 13
Ray’s body still shook in reaction to what had happened. Could he ever go back home again? Probably not. That robot had found him. How did it find him? Why did it find him? That was the more important question.
Downtown Detroit was packed with traffic. It took him twenty minutes to find a parking spot due to the VEX conference as well as the dozens of other events going on in the city. He parked near Ford Field and took the people mover to Cobo Center.
He tugged down the edges of the hoodie he had put on after finding it in his car when he parked. The city’s surveillance system used face recognition software to identify certain people. A fact not generally known to the public. As a former police officer, he’d had access to the information. Someone watching could identify his presence. The last thing he wanted was some crooked city worker giving away his whereabouts to the media.
He already lived like a hermit except for those moments he worked out with Dylan. Sitting on the cushiony seats of the people mover, watching as the Detroit River came into play, he tried to figure out what in the world was going on. That robot had come after him but it didn’t try to take his life.
It wanted him to run.
The people mover went under a bridge and through a dark tunnel. As he stared into the brief darkness, he could almost see the glaring red eyes of the robot.
Someone had to know more about this than he did. He had to talk to Amy.
Dialing her number, he waited. The people mover came out of the tunnel at the same time she answered the phone.
“Hello?”
“Amy, its Ray.”
A long pause and then, “Hi Ray. How’s it going?”
“Look I need to talk to you.”
He could hear background noise in the back, a muffled voice talking through a microphone, but he couldn’t make out the words.
“We can talk but now is not a good time.”
“No, Amy,” he insisted. “It has to be now.”
“What do you mean it has to be now? Ray, what’s wrong? Where are you?”
“I’m downtown. I’m on the people mover heading toward Cobo. I’m going to the VEX conference.’
“Well, that’s where I am now. Why are you—”
The mover stopped at his destination and he got out along with several other passengers. He pulled the hoodie further down over his forehead.
“There’s some crazy stuff going on with me right now, Amy.”
“Like what?”
He took in a deep breath as the escalator continued moving along. “I got attacked by a robot?”
“What?” Some loud cheering sounded behind her.
He sighed again. Saying it out loud for the first time since he’d told Jessie made it sound all the more ridiculous. But that was the point. He couldn’t make this up. If anything, he felt as though he kept repeating himself but no one was listening.
“I was attacked by a robot.”
There was silence on the phone except for background noises. He wondered if Amy had thought he’d gone completely insane. Would she hang up the phone?
After what seemed like a long minute but only had to be a few seconds he heard her say, “Excuse me Professor.”
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