The ATM

  Liza: It is January 23rd. Ive given the old man a couple days to come around but he's being more stubborn than normal...

  Hank: I’m serious, this is not something I want to talk about.

  Liza: Future generations Dad.

  Hank: Don’t care.

  Liza: Dad… I know that is not true. I checked, the wifi is off, no out going signals,

  Hank: ...there is that one guy who keeps coming around the house.

  Liza: He doesn't knock or interact with us.

  Hank: I feel like he's watching us for some reason.

  Liza: But you dont have any real proof...

  Hank: Its just kind of a feeling.

  Liza: Hey, can you do it for me? This is something that I want. Its very important to me that we hear your story. To hear her story.

  Hank: This next bit seems surreal, even now. You’ll laugh at me. I’m not. [starts to leave]

  Liza: Stop. For me. Please.

  Hank: (Sits down... then stands but stays) People were afraid. The AI had seen to that. Pumping tons of fear propaganda into our lives for years. That fear was planted so deep that it was very real for a lot of people. There were some like me who tried to rise above, but the messages were too strong. “The terrorists have infiltrated every level of society trust no one!”

  Fear works as a mechanism of control, for a little while. But people can’t be afraid forever. Only the most short sighted leaders deploy fear as a technique of control. Like a caged animal being poked and prodded, eventually society is going to bite back. Fear is resolved in one of two directions. The world has seen leaders use fear tactics before and fear gave way to hope. Hope and trust – belief that things will get better, nonviolent action and protest, always felt like it won the day. This war however, fear gave way to anger. When he ran and won a third term and then congress allowed the AI take over after he passed away. Needless to say, some people’s hope was snuffed out. What was left was fury, fire and wrath unlike anything I had ever seen. In this place of extreme fear there were no voices to rally us together. Most of the voices that would have rallied us together, they had their voices literally cut off by the chips that were put into their heads. So we fractured further apart. We heard stories of small gangs popping up. Groups of 4-5 people dressed bizarrely causing mayhem, looting stores, and attacking people. These people were attempting to enact some level of control over their lives. However some of them did it through robbery, and murder. It was a horrible time.

  Liza: Dad, what are you talking about? Please focus.

  Hank: I promise I’m not rambling or purposefully avoiding. It’s important that you know all this stuff otherwise the events of this next bit are going to seem even more odd and out of place. As I said earlier, it is still to this day one of the most scary and surreal moments of my life.

  [Long pause]

  Ok – our plan was to find an ATM off the beaten path in the hopes that maybe it might still have some cash. So I took the back roads on the way home. Eventually we arrived at a spot that looked perfect. We found a little convenience store at the end of what looked like an abandoned shopping strip. The giant parking lot was completely empty when we rolled up to the front of the store. The ATM was on the outside of the shop, the doors and windows were barred and locked. There didn’t seem to be anyone in sight…

  I told your mother to stay in the car and to lock it when I get out. The air was still and silent. The chill of the morning had not left, the grey sky and crisp breeze meant that i wasn't comfortable just being outside for the couple of minutes it took for the ATM. I approached the machine and started punching keys but the stupid thing was so loud. You never realized how loud those machines can be... it felt like the ATM was screaming “I’m right here, giving out lots of money come and get it!”

  I was about halfway through the transaction and I started sweating as the ATM tried connecting to the network. Finally the machine kicked out $200. All of a sudden I jumped 6 feet up in the air as I heard your mother slam the car horn. I spun around. As I looked up there was a figure walking around the corner. Before I could react, 3 other figures appeared as if out of nowhere. One on the other side of me, another one behind the car and another figure approaching the driver side door of the car, but that thing, it wasn't human. This was the first time I had ever seen one of these bots in real life.

  The government had been working on police bots for a while and when the AI took over it ramped up production. They were supposed to be used by law enforcement. What was one of these things doing here? The bot was the size of large dog or a small bear, large enough to take down an adult human if needed, but it more closely resembled a spider with six legs. It had a large abdomin in the middle, with lights flashing, cameras and antennas coming out of the top and then six legs in equal intervals around the body. It scanned the car and tried to open the doors but your mother had already locked it.

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  We were surrounded. The people were dressed in all black, each one carried his or her own unique weapon of choice, the one to my left had a chain, the other behind the car had a crowbar, the one to my right, who was closest to me had a honest to god, cricket bat. Im sure that bot had some kind of weapon too. The police version of these bots were suppose to use nonlethal means of crowd control but I couldn't be sure this one would do the same. The truly unique thing about them was that they were in masks – not just normal bank robber masks, they were wearing Commedia masks, like the ones Italian street performers used to wear with the big hooked noses. Each of the masks were predominantly white but were painted in their own unique style. They were very intimidating as a gang and the presence of a bot made this whole situation all the more scary. The one with the cricket bat, who was standing next to me shouted so that everyone, even your mother in the car could hear.

  Cricket Bat: Hey old man. Give me the cash.

  First off, I was in my late 30’s at the time. Not an old man. I could hear it in his voice, young, couldn't be older than 18.

  The other one from behind the car stepped up to the passenger side, talking just as loudly and stared right at you and your mom.

  Crowbar: Why don’t you give us that cash and we’ll spare you having to watch as we play with your wife and then...

  Liza: we'll play with your little girl too.

  (Silence)

  Liza: There are some things you never forget. I had nightmares of that mask for a long time, I still do sometimes.

  Hank: Im so sorry. You okay?

  Liza: This is why I need you to tell this story. I need this.

  Hank: As you know, I am not a small man. I stand 6'4", and at that time, I wasn't going to the gym all the time but I played soccer every Wednesday night at the Y. I felt strong and capable, however I had never and I mean NEVER been in a situation like this. Hell, the only punch I took was when I was 12 at a 4H summer camp. To be honest I totally deserved it too, I had been a total jerk to this dude and his brother all summer. On the last day of camp the kid had had enough. After I pushed and made fun of his little brother one final time, and the boy hauled off and punched me across the chin. I hit the ground, and started crying. I learned my lesson about being nice to people that day. You are nice, becuase you don't want to get punched in the face.

  In my adult life I had always felt that violence didn't solve anything. Before all of this started, I considered myself a pacifist. Non-violence all the way, thats what Dr. King had taught me. But on that day something changed or maybe you just dont really know what you're going to do until you are put in situation like that. I thought that I would never hurt another human for the rest of life until I saw someone threatening my wife and daughter. As soon I saw my family was in real danger, I had a fire stoked in me that I still feel burning to this day. I am going to protect those that I love, no matter what. if someone needs to die, well then, so be it.

  In that moment, I saw these people for who they really were, kids, and they were scared too. They were dangerous and I believed they would hurt us if given the chance, but they had no intention of killing us. As I looked at the guy closest to me, I could see that he was shaking and that bat was brand new, so I knew he wasn't going to do anything. That bot on the other hand, was the only wild card, but I had a gut feeling that these people had no intention of actually harming us. They just wanted the money, they didn't want to get hurt either. But if you play with fire you might get burned, and these punks had picked the wrong family to mess with.

  Your mother and I had several conversations about this next moment over and over again. During this moment of stillness I made eye contact with her. Your mother, until her final days, swore that she gave me a “give up the money” look. My argument, that was not possible because that’s what I wanted to do, but I swear she looked at me and her look said “Don’t you dare give up that money. Fight.”

  In a flash, I made up my mind.

  I acted like I was going to give up the money but instead, right at the last second, I dropped the money and grabbed cricket bat's wrist. I pulled as hard as I could, stepped aside, and let him go flying past. His head smashed into the ATM machine with a sickening thud like a watermelon being smashed and he dropped motionless to the ground. The blood immediately started to pool around his head.

  Then alot of things happened all at the same time, you started screaming as crowbar decended on the car. They attacked your mothers side, he moved to the car looking like he was going to smash the window. Your mother slyly had unlocked the door so when the dude tried to smash it in, she slammed it open with both of her feet, throwing the door into his chest and head. Im not sure what knocked him out the door or the ground as he fell flat on his back onto the concrete, and he didn't get back up either. Before the last one with the chains could make it into the car your mother had slammed the door shut with his fingers inside it. He started screaming for someone to get his hand free. But the only thing left standing there was the bot. That bot was the only thing standing between me and the car, between me and my family.

  I said, in the loudest scariest voice I could muster “Get the fuck out of my way”.

  I didn't hear anything, I didn't see anything, I felt it. Have you ever put a CD into a microwave?

  Liza: Dad...

  Hank: Listen, I understand that it is a very limited time in human history where you would be old enough to own a CD but still young and dumb enough to see what happens if you put it in a microwave, so I'll explain.

  Liza: Does this really have anything to do with -

  Hank: When you put the CD in the microwave, something wild happens. It makes a blue electical flashes, like something Nikola Tesla would be proud of. The flashes run along the CD in spirals like lightening until it reaches the center. Then a bright blast of white light and the smell of burning plastic. We'll that is what it felt like, I was the CD in a microwave. The blue eletrical lightening inside my body grew until I couldn't take it anymore.

  The last thing I remember was hitting the ground, overwhelmed with pain flooding every artery and vein in my body, then eventually the world just went black.

  Chapter 6: The 1st Meeting