Sybernika by Patrick Whittaker

Author:Patrick Whittaker
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: cybernetics, drugs, sex, violence, science, free, computers, virtuality, hallucinations, narcotics
Publisher: Patrick Whittaker

~o~

Back down the hill. On to a country lane. Danny had another go at listening to Mozart’s 40th. This time he heard melody and harmony.

He pushed the car up to 60mph. Raced past hedgerows and fences. Little cottages with thatched roofs. Farmhouses. Crossroads. Caravan parks. A stately home.

‘Reduce speed,’ said the car. ‘Turn right after 200 metres.’

But he didn’t want to slow down. Not with Mozart in full flow. The car was running at a speed that matched the music’s tempo. He was part of the orchestra now, keeping up with the violins and the oboes and the percussion instruments. If he slowed now, he’d ruin everything. The music would fall apart and become the ever-fracturing cacophony he’d heard back in the hotel car park.

‘Reduce speed. Turn right after 100 metres.’

‘I’m going straight on,’ said Danny. ‘I’m not turning.’

‘You are approaching a 30 mph speed zone. Reduce speed.’

‘Will you shut up? I am not reducing speed. Not in the middle of Mozart’s 40th.’

A sign flashed by. It displayed the number 30 surrounded by a red circle.

‘You are breaking the speed limit,’ said the car as it hurtled past a sign that said Welcome to Chumley Wick.

With his heart pumping wildly, Danny pushed the accelerator all the way down. The buildings he passed were a blur. Quaint old buildings, many of them hundreds of years old. He passed a stone cross sitting on a small island in the middle of the road then took a tight corner with a screech of tires.

‘Slow down!’ The car sounded slightly hysterical. ‘You are breaking the law.’

Danny was starting to laugh when he saw the children in their blue school uniforms. About twenty of them were walking in pairs, crossing the road under the watchful eye of two women.

He slammed his foot on the brake pedal.

As the car suddenly slowed, momentum slammed his sternum against the steering wheel. Air fled from his lungs. Pain like lightning forked from his chest to his temples.

Thunder followed. It was the sound of metal meeting flesh.

A wave of blue uniform broke over the car’s bonnet and rolled up the windscreen. Something bounced along the roof.

Danny brought the car to a halt. A quick look in the rear view mirror provided a glimpse of four children lying on the road, limbs arranged at odd angles. Their schoolmates looked on in horror. Some were crying. Some screamed. The two women came running towards him, filling the air with hate-filled invectives.

‘This is not my fault,’ he declared, taking his foot off the brake and accelerating away. ‘Not my fault.’

‘I think,’ said the car with a calmness that belied the situation, ‘you had better let me drive.’

‘Yes,’ Danny agreed. ‘You should never have left me in charge in the first place.’

He was shivering now. It felt like millions of tiny icicles had penetrated his skin and were melting into his bloodstream. ‘Why didn’t you stop me? You’re supposed to prevent me breaking the speed limit. That’s what you’re programmed to do. This is your fault.

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