Music played in the distance, a soft melody of harp and piano. I look up at Mom, sitting next to me. She smiles.
"That's my girl! You've worked so hard for this. The past five years you've learned enough to build all kinds of robots. Your father and I are so proud that you decided to make them, instead of going to the store and buying them." She brushed the hair from my forehead and plants a kiss there.
"Tara." My dad calls from the doorway of the garage, I turn to face him. But the door way is empty.
"Tara." Softly, as if from a distance, a voice calls to me. Pain resonates in my head like a bell in a clock tower. Slowly, I become aware of the fact that I am lying somewhere. I'm not in my deck, I can feel sunlight on my face, and my deck has no windows near the bed or couch. I open my eyes, only to be struck with a wave of nausea as bright lances burn into my retinas.
"Aaauugh." A cool, moist cloth is placed over my eyes. "Who's there?" I struggled feebly to get up, even though the pain in my head doubled. Firm hands, grasping me by the shoulders, pulled me up into a sitting position.
"You are safe. What you are feeling right now is the side effects of energy depletion. Like a common hangover, you should feel better in about a day." A female voice answered.
"Energy depletion, what happened? Where am I, and who are you?" Frustration and soreness lent an edge to my words that I hadn't meant. My throat felt as though it were lined with sandpaper.
"Forgive me for not introducing myself sooner. I am Silvia Goldberg. I am the daughter of George Goldberg, proprietor of Goldberg Jewelry. You are currently in my apartment, above the store's display room. You are here, because of your friend Sonja. Please, before I continue, drink this water." The lip of a cup was placed at the edge of my mouth. I tilted my head back to let the cool liquid flow into my mouth. For a moment the harsh, gritty texture in my throat was banished.
"What about Sonja?" I croaked after I'd swallowed the whole glass.
"She sent a message to my father. She suspected that you were being robbed. She also knew your location. You're lucky we were so close by." I felt her remove the cloth from my face. My skin felt cool and airy where it had been. "Try to open your eyes." I did as instructed, then covered my eyes with my hand, blocking the majority of the light.
"Ugh. It still hurts pretty bad. Actually, I was on my way here for a new netlink system, one that was for work only. So, could you explain the energy depletion? Is it why I feel like I'm hung-over?" Slowly, I gazed at the room around me.
"I suppose it is why you feel hung-over." I was sitting on the edge of a bed. "You energy was drastically depleted." The room the bed was in was easily as large as my entire deck. "Taken is perhaps a better way to think of it." There was a nightstand to the side of the bed, and a tall dresser next to it. "Someone, or something to be more specific, tried to access your data crystal as well as your energy." On top of the nightstand stood a solitary lamp. "Your body is trying to replenish the energy quickly, which is causing severe dehydration." On top of the dresser was a picture of a middle-aged man standing next to a hover car. Seated in the car was a teenage girl. The man was handing her a thin card. That's probably her father, handing over her driver's license. Quickly I turned my head away from the picture. My head swam and the bile in my belly rose. I gulped, while Silvia reached for another cup waiting on a small fold up tray. She put it in my hand and I swallowed half of it in one gulp. I coughed and sputtered.
"Carefully. I imagine your throat is still raw."
"Yep. My eyes are sensitive, I'm nauseous, It feels like a nail is being driven through the top of my head from the inside. I've heard that's what a hangover feels like. I'm not gonna get any work done today." My shoulders slumped. First day with this promotion and I've blown it.
Silvia placed a hand on my shoulder. "You shouldn't try. Your condition isn't serious, but you need plenty of rest. I'll g..."
"Silvia1! Stop talking the poor madel's ear off. Go, get the food it's ready." At the door way stood the source of the interruption. It was an older man, bald with a patch of white hair stubbornly clinging to its perch above the old man's ears. His head was not quite spherical, having an almost triangular mold to it. His eyes, though sunken in, seemed kind and wise. The wrinkles around his face and nose bespoke of smiling and laughing often. This strange man, who I'd never laid eyes on before, looked so familiar, so recognizable. He wore a green turtleneck, covered by a plain linen cardigan. His trousers were a baggy mass of shapelessness beneath him, as if he had no legs but instead hovered in air. He held onto a simple wooden staff with a gentle curve for a handle. If he has a cane he must have at least one leg. Stop staring, its rude!
Quickly I shifted eyes back to the woman beside me, whom I hadn't even looked at through our entire conversation. She had a typical oval face with a slight cleft in her chin. Her nose was long and thin, but not too pointy. She had the darkest brown hair falling across her forehead, which stood in stark contrast to her bright blue eyes. She was smiling at the man in the doorway.
"Yes, Papa. I'll go get the food. And don't you wear out our quest either! Tara, this is my father, who I told you about earlier. I believe he has some more answers for you." She then left the room and disappeared out of sight.
"Indeed I do." Mr. Goldberg replied. He came into the room and sat in a chair that was to the left of the tray. I noticed only one knee. "For starters I have the encryption key for the video in your netlink. Without it, you won't be able to see the message."
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