Chapter 1 — The View

RING!

Theo Roman kicked off his blankets and raced to the window. It was his first day of school but for a moment he forgot all about that.

From his bedroom on the ninth floor of Optima Tower, he could see almost all of his new home, Optima City, and this morning, it took his breath away.

Golden sunlight danced across the tops of skyscrapers. Rooftop gardens shimmered with morning mist, and giant solar panels slowly tilted toward the rising sun. Far below, a silver monorail glided around a bend on its elevated track. On the streets beneath it, CyberCabs flowed through traffic like schools of fish.

Then Theo spotted something incredible.

Far across the city, a giant sphere of blue-white energy glowed above the power plant. It looked like the city had captured a piece of the sun.

Theo smiled.

This wasn't just a smart city. It was the future.

As Theo admired the view, he caught his reflection in the glass. His red hair was sticking up on one side.

He smiled but didn't bother with it. At eleven years old, he would rather build something than fix his hair.He turned toward his desk.

Resting on a glowing blue charging base was H.E.R.O.The little robot wasn't much bigger than a basketball. Oversized headphones curved over the sides of his smooth, round head. His stubby arms and legs were for show, not function. His freshly painted black body couldn’t hide the tiny scratches from years of upgrades, repairs, and experiments.In sleep mode, his bright blue eyes had faded to two tiny white dots.

A glance at the clock told him he only had a few minutes before school, but there was still a test he wanted to run.

“Good morning, H.E.R.O.!” Theo said.

H.E.R.O.'s eyes brightened and blue light filled the room.

“Good morning, Theo,” said the friendly robot voice.

Theo hurried to his computer to check the software update that had been running while he slept.

Slipping on his Smartglasses, he connected to H.E.R.O.  Floating windows began popping up before his eyes.

“Ok. Let’s run a systems check.”

H.E.R.O.'s base glowed yellow.

"Checking memory..."
"Storage... 64% available."
"Vision... Audio…"
"Battery... 100%."
"All systems operational."

"Great. Connect to the Optima City network."

H.E.R.O.’s base turned yellow again.

"Connecting..."

At that moment, Theo noticed the lights in the room flickered.

He lifted his Smartglasses and looked out the window.

The giant power sphere was glowing steadily.

Weird.

“H.E.R.O., did something just happen?”

“There was a brief power surge.”

“Any issues?”

“I was not affected.”

Theo chuckled, “Okay, good.”

His eyes drifted toward the new optical lens on his desk.

He couldn’t help himself.

He picked up his screwdriver and carefully opened H.E.R.O.'s side panel.

“You have to leave in six minutes.”

"I know. This'll be quick."

"Is it wise to rush this operation?" H.E.R.O. asked.

"It's fine."

Theo snapped the first wire into place.

Then the second.

He reached for the last connector, glanced at the clock, and smiled.

Plenty of time.

He pushed the connector home.

"Let's test it."

He flipped the power switch.

POP!

A bright spark jumped between two contacts. Then a thin curl of smoke drifted from the wiring harness.

Disaster.

Theo stared at the loose connector.

He knew.  

“No…”

H.E.R.O.’s eyes dimmed.

"The upgrade appears to have failed.”

Theo sighed. "I know. I screwed up.”

He unclipped the damaged harness and looked it over.

“Yep. It’s fried.”

He let out a breath of frustration.

H.E.R.O. caught it. He had very good hearing.

“Are you ok, Theo?”

“Yeah, I’m just mad at myself.”

He began reattaching the old wiring to H.E.R.O.'s vision panel.

“Did you make a mistake?”

“Yeah… a costly one,” he said as he pursed his lips. 

H.E.R.O.’s eyes widened, “Is there a lesson to be learned?”

Theo lifted his head. “Yep.”

H.E.R.O.’s voice got softer. "What is the lesson?"

Theo thought about it for a second. He wanted to get the wording right.

"Some jobs can’t be rushed."

H.E.R.O.’s blue lights brightened.

“That seems important. Should I lock it as a lesson too?”

Theo smiled. "Probably a good idea."

"Lock it."

H.E.R.O.'s base glowed green. "Lesson locked."

DING!

“6:20 AM. It is time to leave for school!” H.E.R.O. announced.

“Thanks buddy.”

Theo disconnected his cyberdeck, slipped it into his backpack, and took one last look outside.

Downtown was already buzzing with activity.

He knew he had to hurry or he was going to be late.

Patting H.E.R.O. on the head, he said, “Alright, I’ll see you later.”

“And don’t worry, I’m still going to upgrade your lens.”

H.E.R.O.’s lights brightened.

“I will need a new wiring harness.”

Theo laughed.“I know. I’ll order a new one today.”

“I will be here.”

Theo smiled, grabbed his scooter, and raced out the door.