Meanwhile, in a different part of the manufacture, two young boys, Jaden who is 13 and Caden who is 12, enter the furniture department.
Jaden has short blond hair styled in an undercut, blue eyes and an athletic built, his best friend Caden also has an athletic built, he has short brown hair and green eyes.
Caden lets out a whistle as they enter the large room, “just look at this place,” he says, “it’s huge!”
“Yeah, and look at all those furniture,” Jaden says, “some look like some designer or some artist created them, like that snake styled lamp, it looks so cool!”
The lamp, that Jaden points out, resembles a python or anaconda, the lamp itself is 15 inches, which is a perfect size for a desk. The tail of the snake is curled, creating a solid base, while the snake’s body is raised straight up, the neck is slightly bent, the mouth of the snake is open in a “hiss” and a small LED bulb can be seen inside the mouth. The scales of the snake lamp are super detailed, the main scales are a dark green with yellowish scales on the lower part of the snake’s body.
“Yeah, that lamp really looks cool,” Caden admits, he then turns to his friend, “do you think you’ll be able to order one of those lamps?”
“Probably,” Jaden says, “though I doubt I’ll be able to afford it”.
“Don’t worry about that, darling,” the two boys jump in surprise as a female voice suddenly is heard.
“Who’s there,” Jaden and Caden ask, looking around the room, but seeing no body besides them.
The voice chuckles, “you can’t see me,” the voice then says, which is soft and sweet and almost has a relaxing and calming tone to it, “I am the AI of this facility”.
The boys eyes widen, “you mean, you are the creator of all the stuff in this manufacturer,” Caden asks.
“I sure am,” the voice says proudly, “you my call me Alice”.
“I’m Caden”.
“And I’m Jaden”.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, boys,” Alice says.
“What did you mean, when you said I shouldn’t worry about the price,” Jaden asks.
“Since it’s the first day,” Alice begins, “and if a visitor would like something, I have the ability to create the person’s wish for free. I have heard you’d like a snake lamp like the one you pointed out, all you’d need to do is step over to that small terminal with the keyboard and screen and select the lamp from the list. You’re also able to choose the coloring of the scales, if you’d prefer a different color than the original has”.
Jaden’s eyes widen, “r-really,” he asks, “and… and I’d really be allowed to keep the lamp once it’s finished?”
“Yes,” Alice says.
“Well, in that case,” Jaden says and starts heading towards the terminal.
“I’ll wait here, if that is okay, Jaden,” Caden says.
“Sure, I won’t be long,” Jaden replies.
As Jaden heads to the terminal, Caden suddenly hears the voice of the AI, this time in his head,
Caden jumps, not expecting Alice’s voice to pop inside his head, “h-how…,” the boy starts.
Caden “says” in his mind, .
Alice says,
Alice then continues, .
Caden asks, sounding surprised, .
Alice says, .
Caden nods, .
Alice says.
Alice says directly,
Caden’s eyes widen at that,
Alice says,
Caden asks.
Alice says calmly,
Caden thinks it over,
Alice says, .
When Caden looks to his right, he notices a door sliding open, next to the door is a large window, the 12-year-old walks towards the door and when he steps into the chamber, the door hiss shut behind him. After stripping out of his clothes, the naked boy takes his position in the center of the room and turns to face the window, a smile on his face, ‘finally I’ll be cared for,’ he thinks to himself, ‘and if it means I have to become an object, so be it, at least I’ll forever have Jaden near me!’