Broken Protocols 3.5 Read online

  After the others saw how much fun it could be on a small scale, maybe they’d want to do something bigger next year.

  She grinned. The issue had been decided. She’d make Charmin a Christmas celebration. There may not be the same religious or commercial aspects to it, but one thing was the same. She, no, they all had a lot to be grateful for, and Christmas was a wonderful time to give thanks. Hell, Thanksgiving would be wonderful as well.

  She stared out at the lazy sunset as it slowly dropped, her toes curling into the warm sand. She’d lost track of time. The days of the week, the calendar for the months. The years never had clicked for her, and now that she was centuries ahead of her time, she really couldn’t get any perspective.

  But this was a place to start. Maybe she could do something special for Valentine’s Day, too. She bet Levi or Milo had never celebrated such a thing in their life. Well, it was something she could do. As she glanced back at the Pacific beach home humming with techno geeks inside, she wondered if she could do something in secret. Or did that just mean everyone would know?

  And whose help could she employ to make this happen? It was not like she had friends to enlist, and she didn’t dare let Milo in on it. Like any teenager, regardless of his twenty-something status, he couldn’t keep a secret. Especially from his brother. As she mulled it over, she wondered if she could somehow pull off a trick and surprise them all.

  Her mind turned back to the fancy computer equipment Milo had put together for her to learn their lessons. She found it hard to believe that she was still only working at the elementary school level while Charmin had danced in a half dozen times, listened for a quarter of the time that she did, and was now listening to university level stuff.

  “If there was one Christmas gift I could wish for, it would be enhancements so that I could learn faster and retain more,” she muttered.

  “Ha. No Christmas gifts here. Remember?” Charmin wandered in front of her and down to the water’s edge where he stared hopefully into the water that teemed with fish.

  “You just ate,” she said in exasperation. “Besides, the fish know you. They aren’t stupid enough to get close again.” And know him they did, but not in the way he might want to remember. He thought of himself as a big bad hunter, but his last attempt had him going for an unexpected swim. She grinned at the memory of the soaked orange ball and Milo’s solution to stick him in the upright dryer. Poor Charmin. He’d looked like a puffer fish for hours.

  Charmin, as if understanding what she was thinking, spun and glared at her.

  Instantly she wiped the smile off her face and glared back at him.

  Injured pride kept his back stiff and his tail upright as he stalked back inside.

  “Isn’t it time for you to get back to primary school lessons?” he tossed back snidely.

  She gasped. “That’s just mean.”

  “Bite me.” And he stalked inside.

  Maybe she wasn’t going to make a Christmas celebration for him after all.

  *

  Levi hated to leave Dani even for the day, but he’d avoided showing up in the office for too long. He’d have to change that.

  He couldn’t help but wonder if this was a good time for her to try a few hours on her own. She’d been doing so well. He knew she was frustrated with the education system and the lack of enhancements, but it wasn’t exactly something they could order off the shelf. They had to be customized for her.

  And that meant it would take a bit of time.

  Milo appeared to be in one of his resting phases as compared to his brilliant driven-to-get-a-concept-from-his-head-into-form phase. Maybe they’d all needed a break after the stress of the past few weeks. They’d have to return home soon, but he needed Dani to adjust emotionally and philosophically to her new status. And what a status that had been. From obscure in the shadows to being a celebrity of sorts. It would calm down, but every time she opened her mouth to answer questions, she was in danger of blurting out something that would reveal the truth of her background.

  The education system they’d dug out of the archives wasn’t ideal, but as it ran independently without connecting to the other computers or the government system, it was perfect for her right now.

  Except it was slow.

  And they didn’t have much time.

  Chapter 3

  Dani rubbed her eyes. The stupid computer was giving her a headache after only a couple of hours. Why was it so hard to figure out when Christmas – if they still had that holiday – would be in today’s calendar? She’d been through several databases and had been overwhelmed with links to follow, but the actual term Christmas appeared to have been deleted from their history. She’d entered Easter and Thanksgiving and Halloween and got the same response. Outside of a short description of what the holiday was, there was no information on the type of celebrations that took place or when it happened. She didn’t get that.

  Was she the only person left in the world who knew it was December 25? Then again, that had been the day for her, but she remembered European consultants that had worked at her old company for a while and they celebrated an earlier day in December. There was no mention of any of these holidays in the computer systems. This time period hadn’t just made the holidays illegal, they’d tried to wipe them out completely.

  She snorted. Sounded like the same thing they’d tried to do to her people. Or rather the Naturals, the people her name was now associated with. Given that she’d only been trying to do the right thing, it was nice that the association gave her a cover for her continued ignorance of the way things worked here, as the Naturals were a fringe group who’d lived their lives disconnected from mainstream society.

  She was rather hoping to be further along in her adaptation into her new life, but living on a Pacific island didn’t give her too many opportunities to learn.

  And with Levi so quickly producing clothes and other necessities while she watched, she wondered if shopping happened at malls, small boutiques, or even online. He said it did, but he didn’t understand why one would bother when he could just input it in a program and it would instantly use her form to model each design on the monitor. The ones she liked, he only needed to push a button, and damn if the printer didn’t just create it for her. She’d had to stop him at one point. She’d been enthralled and had loved the dresses, the different underwear. He’d been all over those, too.

  When they arrived on the island, he’d made a dozen different bikinis, each one getting less and less material until she was afraid to look at the next in case it was a single G-string. But he’d outdone himself on the tropical skirts and sundresses. Even now, she’d only had a chance to wear half of them. She loved it.

  But he had the control. She didn’t. If she were shopping in a store, it would be a different experience. And one she missed. She knew his income was much higher than most other people’s in this place so not everyone would have access to what he did, but she was delighted that he did. She had said she needed a pair of slip-on sandals to walk on the beach, and he’d downloaded a program and let her choose between a half dozen different designs. Then, when she was just about to make a choice, he decided that she needed to try them on sand to see which ones she loved and proceeded to create them all.

  She glanced at the white stretchy sandals she carried in her fingers. That was the other thing. One size fit all. Like the furniture, when anyone stepped into her sandals, they automatically adjusted to fit the foot. God, she loved this stuff. She’d tried to get Charmin to stand in one of her sandals when she’d first gotten them, but he’d been too smart and had given her one of those looks that said “Do you think I’m stupid?”

  And it was all this technology that was precisely the problem. How could she even begin to give Levi a gift when not only could he make and buy anything he ever wanted, there was nothing he wanted?

  Milo was the exact same. It wasn’t like she was an artist and could paint him something personally. She could hardly bake them a specia
l dessert when Levi ruled the kitchen and all the ingredients. She might enlist Charmin’s help there as he was known to successfully steal from the kitchen, but she knew that Levi wasn’t fooled. He just let Charmin get away with it.

  She really wished she had a creative streak. If she could write, she could write a special poem for Levi. It would be special and personal. There was nothing she could give to these two boys – they already had everything.

  *

  The wall holo shut down as Levi pinched the bridge of his nose. Maybe he did need to go back to the office for a few days. It shouldn’t be happening, but it seems like the place was falling apart on him.

  “Trouble?”

  Milo stood behind him. Levi turned and gave his brother a reassuring smile. “Not really. I’m just going to have to show up at the office more often. When the boss is away and all that.”

  Milo nodded even as he curled his lip. “Figures.”

  “How are you doing on that personal portal device?”

  Milo shrugged. “Haven’t been working on it.”

  Levi’s eyebrows shot up. “Why not?”

  Milo shifted his weight and tucked his hands behind his back. Then he shrugged. “Got sidetracked.”

  “Damn.” Trying to keep Milo on track was a full time job. He was into the creation process and much less the detailed final stage required to make something user friendly enough that it could be brought to the market. He was constantly wanting to leave projects when it hit the tedious stage. The new shiny idea always beckoned him away.

  “Christmas,” he said in a low tone.

  “Say what?” Levi walked closer. “Did you say Christmas?”

  “Ssshh.” Milo shot him a warning look. “Charmin is too damn smart. He’ll hear you.”

  Running a hand through his already-tousled hair, Levi stared at his brother, trying to figure out why Charmin would give a damn. “What about Christmas?” he whispered, playing along.

  “I was trying to research the holiday. There’s like nothing there to research. It’s not right,” he complained. “We should have access to all information. Not just what they want us to know.”

  “Ah.” Now it made sense. Milo, being the brain he was, was offended that there was information that he could know but because someone had kept it secret, he didn’t know.

  Yeah, that wasn’t good. Best to nip this in the bud.

  “Take it up with Stephen,” he suggested. “Dani has shaken things up a lot, but I warn you that I doubt sufficient change has happened to make enough of a difference yet. Especially with regard to the flow of information – particularly archived information.”

  Milo looked undecided then muttered, “I’ll think about it.” And he walked away.

  Levi stared at him in consternation. Milo thinking about anything could mean everything – from making the company millions to destroying something major, depending on which side of that decision he landed on.

  Just then, his holo beeped and he had to return to the mess at work.

  Now if only Milo would concentrate on his work. Life would go so much smoother.

  Chapter 4

  Dani woke early the next morning, careful to not wake either Levi, who slept soundly at her side or Charmin, who snored on his back – all four feet to the wind – at her feet. It was almost impossible to do anything on the sly in this house. Still, she escaped to the kitchen and brought up the big 3D counter computer. Entering several commands, she left it humming and went to the coffeemaker, setting it to make her a wonderful rich cup to start the morning.

  With cup in hand, she walked back to the computer and studied the information. Great. One wasn’t allowed to buy real trees in the world. Didn’t that figure? She looked outside at the palm trees just waking up under the bright morning sun and frowned. She was not going to decorate one of those. She would as part of the larger design, but not for the actual Christmas tree. She sent out more search requests for fake evergreens. She didn’t dare search for Christmas trees. That much she’d learned already about her new home.

  She waited and watched. She’d logged in as Levi deliberately so that no one would know what she was up to.

  There.

  The screen flashed with several options. Now were any of those good ones? She mulled over the options and prices, saved two to consider later, and carried on searching for lighting. That almost made her give up. What on earth did any of those terms mean? Whatever happened to simple LED lights? Or the colored glass lights, the racing lights. Was it all gone? And if it was, what had they replaced it with? Frustrated, she closed that search down and tried to find decorations. But that was too broad a search. She needed to narrow it down without mentioning Christmas or holidays. She tried for tree decorations. Then ribbon style decorations. Then glass balls, painted wooden miniatures. Too much and too many choices, and yet nothing came with hangers. She frowned, cleared her search pages, and shut it down. Damn it. There had to be an easy way to find stuff.

  Even ordering, shipping, and storage had to be dealt with, but she wouldn’t have to worry about those if she couldn’t find anything. She walked outside with her coffee and considered asking one of the three males for help, then immediately tossed the idea. She wasn’t ready for that yet. Her fighting spirit was pushed to the forefront now. There had to be something she could do. As she looked around the bushes and trees, she envisioned lots of little lights, maybe ribbons, maybe little glass balls. Who knew once she got started? She just needed to find the stuff. Or maybe she could make some. She used to make some wonderful Origami. She could do a few of those, but not tons. And it still didn’t nullify the need for a special tree and lighting.

  “Couldn’t sleep?”

  Levi sat down on the top of the deck, a mug of coffee in his hands. She sat down beside him. “Just a lot on my mind.” His searching gaze bore into the side of her cheek. She linked her arm with him and laid her head on his shoulder. “I’m fine.”

  “Good. I’m glad to hear that.” He dropped a kiss on her forehead. “Anything I can help with?”

  She shook her head. “I’ve just got a few things to work through.”

  He wrapped an arm around her and hugged her. “If you need to talk…”

  “I know. It’s not major and it’s not serious. I just want to do something and have to figure out how.”

  His face twisted with effort, and she knew how hard it was for him to hold back. To not push. To not pry. “You did a great job with Milo,” she said.

  His eyebrows flew up, and he stared at her. “Really? I can’t say that I see it myself.”

  His droll tone made her giggle. “It couldn’t have been easy.”

  “No. Nothing with him is easy. Not even when it’s supposed to be.”

  She laughed. “He’s a good soul.”

  “True enough.”

  Sitting together in the morning dawn, it was hard to find anything wrong with her world.

  “Breakfast? Surely you didn’t forget to call me for breakfast.” Charmin’s plaintiff cry wobbled toward them. Dani turned to see him sitting in the doorway.

  “Hey, big guy.”

  His jaw opened into a huge yawn. “Is this what morning looks like?”

  She grinned. “Yes. And stop kidding around. You’re often up at this hour.”

  “Only while I’m getting a snack or drink or something…” He sauntered forward until he reached her. He lifted his nose and smelled the air experimentally. Then he shuddered. “Still smells too fresh. Too real. Too morningish.”

  She stroked his back. “You’ll survive.”

  “Yeah, I will.” He dropped to his belly and sprawled sideways across the deck, his head hitting it with a thud. “But I won’t like it.”

  She scratched his belly, and damn if a wave of love didn’t wash through her. He was special.

  He rolled onto his back and stretched his legs up as far as they’d go and offered more belly.

  In silence they sat, enjoying the morning.


  Until a roar came from inside.

  She winced. Surely it hadn’t been her on the computer that had brought that reaction from Milo? Surely?

  Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Charmin’s expression before he jumped to his feet and disappeared around the bushes.

  Milo came storming out. “Who was on my computer?”

  Ah shit. She immediately apologized. “Me. I’m so sorry. I was just trying to do some research.” Levi tugged her close. “Milo, she has to have access to a computer somewhere. Just because you live here doesn’t mean all the computers are yours.”

  She risked a glance up at Milo to see him grabbing the Mohawk with both hands and pulling it in frustration. “They don’t have to be all mine…”

  “Then what’s the problem?” Levi said in a no-nonsense tone.

  “Arrgh.” Milo spun on his heels and left.

  Levi chuckled. “Don’t worry about it. He’s a little possessive.”

  “A little?” She worried about what evidence of her activities she’d left behind. She didn’t really want them to know what she was doing, but if Milo wanted to know, he could find out easy enough.

  Feeling despondent and not a little crowded by the lack of privacy, she stood and walked down to the water.

  “Don’t worry about Milo,” Levi called to her.

  She tried to smile back at him, and seeing the worry on his face, she knew the smile attempt was a giant failure. “I’m fine. I’m just going to go for a walk.”

  She sensed his indecision as she walked away. She wouldn’t mind a few minutes alone. She should just ask him for a computer of her own. They probably had dozens in the place. The problem was that they were all connected somehow so no matter what she did on one, they’d know about it on the others. What she should have done was use her school computer. That wouldn’t have brought any raised brows. It was older and only used for training. Meaning it hadn’t been used for years before she came around.