“We should get going,” the kid said, “There are better places to be than here. Someone’s gonna catch us if we stick around. My name’s Neil. What’s yours?”
“Josh,” he said, “So if you don’t have parents, how do you survive?”
“I have help,” he said, “It’s about who you know. If you know the right people you don’t need anyone. You need to quit thinking of them as parents. They’re owners. They don’t see you as a real kid, no matter how much they pretend.”
“I miss mine.”
“You won’t. Eventually. Owners lie. They treat you like their own, but all they really want is a pet. Then once you aren’t new anymore, when you start to slow down, they get rid of you and get a new one.”
“I think they just lost me. They’ll be happy to see me again.”
“Nobody loses kids. Once they realize what they’re in for, all of the responsibility, they start looking for a way out. They start with thinking everything will be perfect, that they need someone underfoot, but we’re programmed to be just like real human beings, but ones that never age, like them. They get a kid that pouts, sulks, throws temper tantrums, demands toys, makes a mess of their room, you name it, and two days later it gets old.
“Then they start asking themselves if they really want a kid. They get disappointed because their kid isn’t as smart as their friend’s kid, or isn’t as cute. So you trade that kid in for a newer model, and you tell Kidsmith what you want different, and then there you go, a brand new happy family. Maybe this time however, you’ve been replaced with a girl or someone older, or younger and cuter.”
“But if that’s the case,” Josh said, “Shouldn’t there be a world full of discarded children?”
“Of course there is,” Neil answered, “There’s tons of throwaways. There’s a room back at Kidsmith full of them, all broken and used for parts. But sooner or later, they all end up in the pit.”
“What’s the pit?”
“Kid Cemetery. It’s a landfill full of broken children.”
Josh stopped walking. “That place is real?”
Neil didn’t stop. “Of course it is. What do you think they do with all of those garbage parts? They got to go somewhere. It can’t all be reused.”
“You’ve seen it?” Josh asked as he hurried to catch up, “I can’t believe that they wouldn’t have fixed me if they could have.”
“So what did you do to let them down?”
“Nothing.” But maybe that wasn’t entirely true.
Part 3
1
Josh walked along next to Neil, for the first time in days feeling like he had hope. The world ignored them. Once a police car had driven by and Josh wanted to run, but Neil paid it no mind, and the officer didn’t even look their way. Once he was a mod like Neil his parents would take him back. They’d want a kid that was better than everyone else’s.
“It doesn’t matter that we escaped,” Neil explained, “They don’t want people to see us as real or as trouble-makers. And Kidsmith doesn’t have the resources like they used to, to track us down. Unless you get caught shoplifting they’re going to leave you alone.”
Neil turned into the driveway of a small rundown house with peeling paint. Soda cans, cigarette butts, and plastic bags were scattered amidst the thick weeds and patches of grass that masqueraded as a lawn. Josh followed as the boy lifted the garage door just high enough to slip under and let it fall noisily shut behind them. Boxes of electronics parts were everywhere. They filled the shelves and created a barely usable path through the two-car garage that only had room for one old car that looked almost as rundown as the house. Neil walked up to a door and knocked.
“Do you live here?” Josh asked.
“No, sometimes I stay here though.”
A moment later the door cracked open and an adult with dark frizzy hair and a thick scraggly beard peered out. “Neil,” the man said, “What’ve you been up to?”
“I got caught shoplifting,” Neil replied, “Took me in for parts. This kid busted me out.”
“Dude, that sucks. That’s twice now, isn’t it? Soon you’re not going to be able to go anywhere.”
Neil shrugged.
The man laughed, opening the door wide, and gestured for them to enter. They squeezed by his obstructive bulk. “Any friend of Neil’s is a friend of mine,” he said, “But if you try to steal anything, I’ll bust your case open.”
Josh nodded rapidly. “I won’t.”
The boys wove through the house path created by boxes, books, magazines, and computers (many in pieces) stacked in every available spot. Josh tried not to stare. It wasn’t anything like his home. His mother picked up everything, and everything had its place. He’d never been too good at picking up his own room and she constantly pestered him every time she’d peek in. Maybe that was something that had disappointed them.
“You guys hungry?” the man asked, “I’ve a cupboard full of cereal.”
The boys nodded eagerly, and with Neil taking the lead they helped themselves to overflowing bowls. The man sat down across from them, watching them eat. He introduced himself as Cody.
In between mouthfuls Josh said, “Neil says that you can ‘mod’ me.”
Cody smiled, and said with a shrug, “I suppose. I’ve done my share.”
“So, can you?”
“I don’t know,” he said, “I’ve got to see what’s under the hood. With your permission of course.”
“Yes!” Josh said eagerly, “Where do you have to look?”
Cody stood walked around behind him. “At the base of the neck, off of the spine. It gives me access to your brain, and I can see what’s making that noise. All I got to do is push in and lift. Now let’s see, I got to unplug you for a sec…”
2
When Josh opened his eyes, Neil was gone. “How long was I out?”
“About an hour,” Cody replied, “You had a broken fan blade. I’m surprised you didn’t burn up. I had an extra one I didn’t need. Notice anything different?”
Josh looked around. He listened, but the only sound other than the man’s breathing came from a television in another room.
“I don’t hear it,” he said, “The sound is gone!”
“Yeah, it was an easy fix. I think you’ll feel a lot better now.”
“So am I fixed?”
“Yes, you’re almost as good as new.”
“That was it? They told my father I would cost thousands of dollars to fix.”
Cody shrugged. “I ran diagnostics, tightened your connections, replaced a damaged circuit. I didn’t see any real damage. Besides being old. You’re way overdue for an upgrade. You’re model is an Adam36, that’s what your microprocessor is. You’re a second generation kid, which has a terrible failure rate. Kidsmith claims that it’s one percent, but the truth is that it’s closer to fifteen. You’ve probably got another year in you though.”
“Most of that sounds like good news though,” Josh said, “If you can mod me, I’d have longer than another year, wouldn’t I? Neil says he’ll live forever.”
“I don’t have access to what you need. You’ve got to collect the parts.”
“Where do I get them?”
“From a newer model of course,” Cody said, “They’re expensive. If you go find them, I’ll put them in. Neil is good at this sort of thing. He can help you identify the newer models. He’s never gone wrong for me.”
“Yeah, and he pays well, too,” Neil said, walking into the room. A young woman accompanied him, long brown hair pulled back in a ponytail.