The Cost

A story of Josh and Argos

After reviewing the contents of his backpack one more time, Josh went back to his mom’s room to say good-bye.

“Hey Mom,” he said. “I’m going to try going to Uncle Brian’s cabin. I know it’s probably a stupid plan, but I can’t figure out anything better.”

He waited a moment. His mother didn’t answer. This did not surprise Josh because she’d been dead since yesterday afternoon. But he still waited a moment, as if she might respond.

His mother was in her late thirties with straight blonde hair just past her ears. Looking at some of the family pictures in the room, you could see she had been a warm, attractive, smiling woman, not a knock-out beauty, but would make a lot of guys look twice.

Now, she was pale, shrunken. Lying on her pillow, she looked more like a plastic doll than a person.

Standing in her doorway, the fourteen year old boy continued, “I know you thought he was crazy, but Uncle Brian had a plan, and he made sure I knew how to get there.”

Josh couldn’t really cry right now, although he kind of wished he could. He’d cried most of yesterday afternoon, and there just wasn’t any more there at the moment.

He took a few more steps into the room. “I’m sorry I didn’t know how to help you, Mom. I tried.”

She had contracted pneumonia three weeks ago. Despite his age, Josh knew enough to understand that just a few years before, this would have been an almost harmless annoyance. In his part of what used to be the United States, though, in 2034, medicine was not what it used to be. Her cough had gotten worse and she’d spent more and more time in bed. The best they could do was aspirin to keep the fever down.

Josh walked in, step by reluctant step. He took one of his parents’ wedding photos from the dresser. Then, rummaging in her jewelry box, he pulled out a necklace chain. He walked up to the bed and kissed her on the forehead. Although he didn’t know it, she had done the same to him night after night half his life.

He took her left hand and gently worked the wedding ring off of it.

“I’m sorry. This doesn’t really feel right, but I wanted something of yours to hold onto.”

The boy strung the ring onto the necklace chain then put it over his head. He turned around and, even more slowly than he’d walked in, left her bedroom.

Six hours later, Josh was riding his mountain bike through a commercial neighborhood on the northern outskirts of Pittsburgh. It was starting to get dark, he was exhausted, and his butt was horribly sore. He hadn’t even stopped to eat, just drinking from the water bottle clipped to his bike frame.

Looking for a place to stop, Josh spotted an old, abandoned mechanic’s garage. It wasn’t a big place, just a bay that could fit two cars and an attached office.

Josh peeked in through the garage windows. It was definitely empty. It looked like it hadn’t been used a good while even before the rioting, then full war, had swept through. He pulled up on the roll-up door, and found it opened. After looking and listening a moment more, Josh rolled his bike in.

He sat down on the concrete floor beside the wall, opened his backpack and pulled out a couple of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. He had some canned food too, but he figured he should eat these while they were still good.

With nothing better to do, and utterly exhausted, Josh unrolled his sleeping bag, rearranged his backpack into an improvised pillow, and lay down. Despite anxiety about his safety in this unknown neighborhood, he was asleep within a few minutes.

He dreamed, but later could only remember that he was at the kitchen table at home talking with his mom and dad. Just before he woke up, his dad said, “You’re going to need a friend on the road ahead.”

He woke up with his dad’s face in mind, his eyes glinting behind the wire-rimmed glasses and his lips in a gentle smile.

Josh’s first thought was wondering why he was so sore. Second, he wondered why he smelled car grease. Then he sat up and looked around in confusion a moment before he remembered where he was…and why. He put his face in his hands and sobbed quietly a minute.

When he got himself together, he stood up and got a better look at the garage in the early morning light. Towards the back, he saw a couple of rolling tool chests. He idly wondered if there might be any usable tools in there.

When he turned towards the office, he almost fell over jumping back in fright. There was a military robot there, apparently looking at him.

He’d seen videos of these things in the breakup wars. They were fast, and even the ones without mounted guns could be deadly. He’d never imagined he’d see one in person.

He stood very still, breathing hard, and waited, hoping it would ignore him and go somewhere else.

And after a minute, he realized it wasn’t moving…at all. It just stood there with one leg raised, as if it were in the middle of taking a step. Slowly, as if he were trying to carry a big tub of water and not spill, Josh walked towards it.

It was deactivated. It had to be.

Now that the terror had passed, the boy took the time to examine the robot. It was roughly the size and shape of a large dog: about three feet tall with a rectangular torso about a foot wide. It was grey-green with a few spots of chrome. There was a camera and sensor panel in the front of the torso. It had no “head,” but it did have a grappling arm attached near the front of the torso. The claw on this was gripping the doorknob.

Now Josh realized what must have happened. He’d heard about EMP weapons being deployed against drones and robots. This one was stopped in its tracks while scouting by one of those.

Curiosity now completely surpassing fear, the boy walked around the inert robot, examining it from all angles. He found the detachable battery pack on the bottom and pulled it out. A solid lithium battery, high capacity, very long-lasting. As he turned that over, he recognized the twelve amp charging port on the battery.

He slotted the battery back in and resumed his inspection. For the moment, his parents’ deaths and the journey ahead were pushed aside. Now, he had a puzzle to solve, and that made him, if not happy, at least engaged.

He found on the back left flank of the machine a tiny panel which he opened to discover a USB port, one of the old, rectangular types. Excitedly, he ran to his backpack, pulled out his laptop and a USB cable. He connected his laptop and worked on accessing the file system of the robot.

After digging through various folders for twenty minutes, he found a folder labeled system/diagnostics. Within, he found a file called init_config.bin.

“Think I found it!” he said to himself in a sing-song tone. He started the program and unplugged his cable.

After a few seconds of watching he heard a beep. Then the robot set down its front leg and retracted its grappling arm.

All of a sudden, Josh realized in his curiosity, he had done something very foolish. He slowly backed away. The robot took two steps forward into the garage, its feet clattering on the grimy concrete floor.

Josh yelled, “Shit!” Then he thought that Mom would be mad at him for saying that out loud. Then he realized she wasn’t going to be mad at him ever again.

He was about to turn to run when the robot crouched down to the floor. He heard a click and another panel, near where the USB port had been, opened up.

Josh watched the robot warily for a moment, then slowly walked up and looked at the open panel. There was a number pad and a small LCD screen which read: OPERATOR AUTHENTICATION REQUIRED. INITIATING BIOMETRIC ENROLLMENT SEQUENCE.

Josh read it a couple of times, then tapped the ENTER button next to the screen. He knew this was almost certainly a waste of time at best, dangerous at worst, but he couldn’t ignore the tingling curiosity at the back of his mind.

The screen now read, FACIAL SCAN. PLEASE LOOK DIRECTLY AT CAMERA.

The robot raised itself on its front legs so the sensor assembly was pointed upwards. Josh thought it looked like a dog sitting and chuckled a bit.

He stood in front of the sensor panel. The gripping arm extended and circled his face. He guessed there was a secondary camera there. It beeped and he went back to check the screen.

It read, VOICE RECOGNITION. PLEASE SAY, ‘MY NAME IS [FULL NAME HERE] AND I AM THE PRIMARY OPERATOR OF THIS UNIT.’

Josh repeated, “My name is Joshua Theodore Hartlove and I am the primary operator of this unit.”

IS YOUR NAME JOSHUA THEODORE HARTLOVE?

“Yes!” He smiled at the recognition.

DO YOU HAVE A PREFERRED VERBAL DESIGNATION FOR THIS UNIT?

Josh sat back on his haunches to think. He wanted to get this right. What did he want to name his robot? He didn’t even notice he already considered it his.

The boy tried to think of doggish names. He skipped over the easy, obvious ones: no Rex, Fido, Rover. He stood up and walked around the empty garage while he thought. After a couple of minutes, he realized he was hungry, went over to his backpack and pulled out his last PB & J. Canned food the next couple of days.

As he sat down to eat, Josh remembered Mom reading to him The Odyssey for Kids, and how when Odysseus arrived home, his faithful dog is waiting for him. The dog’s name was…

“Argos!” shouted Josh. “Your name is Argos.”

The robot beeped again, and Josh went over to check the screen.

YOU ARE JOSHUA. I AM ARGOS. CORRECT?

“Yes!” Josh stood up, excited at his success. He wanted to show Dad what he’d done.…

Then he sat down beside Argos and started crying again.

When he got himself back together a couple of minutes later, Josh checked the display panel again. He saw it listed the battery at 12%.

“Oh no. There’s no way you could go a full day with me like that. I’ve got to get you charged.”

Josh knew what the twelve amp charging cable would look like, but where would he find one? He stepped into the office and spun around in the sickly green chair behind the old scarred desk as he ruminated.

Wait, on his way in, had he passed an old Micro Center? He thought he had. And it looked abandoned. It was possible if it hadn’t been cleared out deliberately, he might still find what he needed.

How far back was that? Two miles? Three?

The streetlights outside had turned on last night. This place probably had power, but charging Argos’s battery would probably mean waiting until tomorrow to leave. He’d have to stretch out his food another day.…

Still, if he could have the robot go with him, it could help a lot: carry things, maybe protect him.

Plus, having his own robot would just be so cool.

“Argos, do you have a low-power mode?”

The robot just stood there. Josh looked at it and listened, then went to check the display panel.

LOW POWER STAND-BY MODE IS AVAILABLE.

Josh thought a second. This was a slow way to talk. He walked back in front of Argos.

“Argos, raise your arm.”

The robot did so. Josh held out his own fist, and said, “If the answer is yes, do this.” He bobbed his fist up and down like someone nodding their head.

“If no, do this.” He turned his fist side to side like someone shaking their head.

Argos did not respond.

“Show me yes.”

The gripping claw “nodded.”

“Show me no.”

The gripping claw turned side to side.

Josh smiled. “I have to go do something. Stay here in low power mode until I get back.”

Argos nodded, retracted its arm, and crouched low.

To himself, Josh said, “Now let’s go get you some power, boy.” And he rolled up the garage door, wheeled his bike out, then rolled it back down.

As he started pedaling back the way he had come towards the electronics store, Josh wondered why his legs were so sore, then he realized how much he’d biked the day before and that he’d never done that before.

When he had arrived last night, it had been getting dark and he’d been too tired to pay much attention to his surroundings. Now, Josh looked around at the neighborhood he was passing through. There were no active businesses here. Some places were boarded up, others had the glass broken out, and some were intact, but empty. Plastic bags, glass bottles and crushed cans were scattered across the streets.

In his ten minutes or so of biking, Josh passed a half dozen or so people, and had a couple of cars pass him as well. Some of the people seemed ok. A couple, though, were strangely twisted. They walked bent over, with shuffling steps. Although he didn’t like the look of the people, he was moving fast enough that he didn’t really worry about them too much.

He came over a rise and saw the Micro Center he had passed last night. The cracked parking lot looked bizarre with no cars to give it purpose. He biked up to the entrance, and regarded the sliding doors. He pushed on one of them, and it moved a couple of inches. He pushed harder and made enough room to squeeze through.

It was dark inside, and it took a bit for his eyes to adjust. There was a dry, musty smell, but nothing more offensive. Once his eyes had a chance to adjust to what light was coming through the front windows, the sight was dispiriting. The shelves up front were almost completely empty, a few were completely turned over.

Josh sighed and his shoulders slumped. It was all gone. No charging cable. No robot.

After a moment, he realized these were pretty popular retail electronics: laptops, stereos, game consoles. Things everybody would use. But further back in the store…

Walking carefully around the toppled shelves in the dim light, he went further in. He didn’t notice a trail in the dust on the floor leading elsewhere in the store.

As he got near the back, he saw the shelves indeed still had products hanging, peripherals, parts, and, yes, charging cables. He started sorting through them, hunting for one with a plug that matched the port on the battery.

After a few minutes of careful scrutiny in the dim light, he found one that matched.

“Yes!” Josh yelled.

And then he heard a strange, squeaky voice, “Hey! Who’s there?”

Josh spun around, trying to find where it had come from. He grabbed the charging cord and ran towards the doors, heedless of the poor lighting

“Hey! Who is that? Where do you think you’re going?”

Josh made it to the front of the store, but tripped over one of the toppled shelves. As he was getting up, he felt a hand grab his arm and jerk him around.

He saw a man a couple inches shorter than himself, his head seeming outsized for his body. The man’s lower teeth jutted out at a weird angle, almost over his upper lip. His clothes were dirty and ragged.

He shook Josh by his arm.

“What do you think you’re doing here?” Then he spotted the cable on the floor. “Were you stealing that?”

Despite the man’s stature, something about him scared Josh. There was an air of malice about him.

“I…uh…I didn’t think anyone was here. I—”

“So you thought you could just walk in and take our stuff? Is that it, you little thief?”

“No, I just…I didn’t know…”

The short man raised his other hand. “I oughta take it out of your hide!”

Josh pulled away, but could not break the grip on his arm.

“Please, I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

“You little devil!” the man spat out.

Just as he started to swing his fist at Josh, another voice called out. “Damien, what is this about?”

The incoming punch suddenly pulled up short. The man turned around, still keeping his grip on Josh’s arm.

“It’s nothin’, boss. I caught an intruder and was going to deal with him.”

Another man came out of the shadows. He was taller than Damien, normal height for a grown-up. In fact, he was startlingly normal. He wore a blue polo shirt and khaki pants. He looked almost as if he were showing up for work when this place was actually doing business. The only clue otherwise was his unkempt black hair and his scraggly beard.

“Damien, I don’t like intruders or thieves any more than you do, but you go too far.”

The short man whined just like a child whose toy has been taken away. “I was not going to do too much. He woulda been fine!”

The second man turned to Josh. “Who are you and what are you doing here?”

Josh, still trying to pull his arm away unsuccessfully, answered, “Well who are you?”

The taller man nodded. “Fair enough, my name is Todd Davis. We’re all friends here, so you can call me Todd.” He grabbed Damien’s arm and pulled him away. The dwarf let go off Josh’s arm and went to stand beside Todd with a sullen expression on his face. “Now, who are you?”

“I’m Josh.”

“And…?”

“I came looking for a charging cable.”

Damien took a step forward. “I told you he was stealing!”

Todd glared at Damien a moment, then said, “Well, we can’t have shoplifters.”

“Shoplifter? Why are you talking like this store is yours?”

Todd looked around a moment as if surveying his domain. “Well, until the corporate office or the local police show up to say something about it, who’s to say otherwise?”

He looked down at Josh and tilted his head to the right. “Now, what were you trying to take?”

Josh stepped back and gestured towards the cable on the floor.

“I see. Well, what do you have to offer in exchange?”

Josh looked at him warily. “I…I have some money.”

Todd waved this away and started to pace in a circle. “No, no. I know some people still take U.S. dollars, but I’m not interested.”

Josh considered trying to run while Todd’s back was turned, but didn’t like his odds of getting away from both of them.

“What about food? I’ve got some food I could trade.” He didn’t have a lot, but he knew Uncle Brian’s cabin would be well-stocked, and figured he could make the next few days on low rations.

“No. We’re well set for food.” Todd turned back and walked closer to Josh. “I could, I suppose just let Damien handle this. You’d probably be fine, and then you could leave with the cord.”

Damien grinned at this, his bottom teeth jutting out.

“No. No, please. I…I don’t…”

Todd pulled out a flashlight from his pocket and shined it at Josh. In its light, he spotted the gleam from Josh’s necklace.

He leaned closer. “Hey, what do we have here?”

Josh put his hand to his chest over his mother’s ring. He drew in a sharp breath.

“Uh, no, no. I can’t give you—”

“What? What is it?”

Josh tensed himself to run. Maybe he could make it. Then he realized that Damien had quietly walked between him and the door.

“It’s Mom’s wedding ring. I can’t…” Tears started coming to his eyes.

Todd drew a deep breath and stood back, hands on his hips. “Well that could be worth something. Let’s see.”

“I can’t give you this. It’s all I have of her.”

“That,” Todd said, taking a deep breath, “sounds like a you problem.”

He idly drummed a hand against one of the empty shelves a few seconds, then said, “So which is it? Trade, or see what Damien has planned?”

“I—I’ll just go.”

“No. Too late for that,” Todd answered.

Josh turned around to see the little man with an ugly smile on his face. As he looked back and forth between the two of them, despair began to set in.

Todd said, “So let’s see what you’ve got there.”

Josh pulled his mother’s ring out of his shirt. He held it up.

Todd leaned in and looked close, shining his flashlight on it. “Well that would do nicely.”

Josh couldn’t stand it. This wasn’t right at all. He wanted to punch this guy in the face. He couldn’t let go of this so easily.

“It’s not right! You can’t take this from me!

Todd stepped back and looked at him, shaking his head sadly. “I’m not taking anything from you, Josh. It’s a trade.”

Josh looked back at little ball of malice behind him.

“You’re not giving me a choice.”

“You have a choice, Josh. You just don’t like the options.”

Finally, squinting his eyes and clenching his teeth together, Josh mumbled angrily, “It’s worth more.”

“What? I couldn’t hear.”

Clearly this time, Josh said, “It’s worth more than just that charging cable.”

Damien stepped up behind him, fist raised, “You arrogant little punk!”

Todd caught Damien’s arm mid swing and pushed the dwarf back to the floor. He smiled at Josh like a teacher who sees the student has finally caught on.

“Fair enough. Fair enough. What else would even the scales, Joshua?”

Twenty minutes later, Josh came out of the Micro Center lighter one wedding ring, but with a charging cable, an external hard drive, a portable battery pack (sadly not Argos’s type) and several cans of food, all stuffed into a large nylon backpack they’d had lying around.

As he biked back to the garage, he blinked back furious tears, but he didn’t see what else he could have done.

As soon as he rolled the door back down behind him, Josh pulled out Argos’s battery and plugged it into the new charging cable. The LEDs on the battery blinked to show it was indeed charging.

He then sat at the scarred desk in the office and ate cold soup from a can. He looked over at the currently powerless robot crouched a dozen yards away.

“I hope you were worth it.”

The End

The story of Josh & Argos continues here in Two Hard Days.