Chapter 1 - memories

"Things end but memories last forever."

Forever... Really? How?

The alarm clock is playing a popular song with a soft voice in the background.

"wake up, sleepyhead, it's already 9 am, the date is: June 27th and the year is 2040. It will be sunny today but high levels of pollutions are to be expected, wear a mask if you go out." says the AI through the clock.

Angelica is 10 years old, yesterday was the last day before the summer vacation started. She stayed late watching old movies with her parents, she struggles to open her eyes while letting out a big yawn.

"Dad! " She calls.

The alarm suddenly stops and a male voice comes out.

"Yes? Angel? Come down, breakfast is ready. "

"You were supposed to wake me at 7!" she complains.

Her dad starts laughing "I thought you could use more sleep, yesterday you fell asleep watching movies with us. "

"but dad! We are supposed to start our project today! " she says.

"We surely can't start on an empty stomach, come down to eat! " her dad replies.

"Humph, you are impossible," she complains again while dragging herself out of bed.

She puts her feet in her fluffy sleepers and heads downstairs. Her mom is sitting on a high stool, in front of her, the breakfast is already served. Her dad is cutting slices of fresh bread.

Angelica heads straight to her mom and gives her a big hug. "Did you sleep well love? " asks her mom while caressing her hair.

"mmmm" Angelica replies "But I hate dad! " She continues.

Her father laughs and puts the fresh sliced bread in front of her.

"Do you hate the smell of fresh bread, too? " he asks with a big smile.

Angelica takes a good sniff and instantly recognizes the smell of chocolate.

"Awww, chocolate bread! Dad, I love you! "

They all laugh and start eating breakfast.

After breakfast, her dad puts a wrapped box in front of Angelica.

"What's that? " she asks.

"Open it. " her mom answers while her dad keeps silent.

Angelica rips the paper to reveal a box that looks like a medium-sized pink briefcase. Her face brightens as she opens it and tears of joy start to drop on her cheeks. She jumps off her chair and hurries to hug her father.

"that means you like your toolbox? " asks her dad.

"dad! I love it! " Angelica answers while hugging him.

"our project starts today, you will be my little apprentice techie for the whole summer!" her dad says.

Angelica's mom and dad work for Meditech corporation in the research and development department, they are in charge of developing new technologies. Meditech mainly focuses on enhancing people's health, it does so through the development of drugs and cybernetics. Angelica is fascinated by her parents' work and asked her father to teach her several times about techs, but he never had the free time to do so, this summer he finally got a long holiday.

They live in a big apartment equipped with the latest home enhancements provided by Meditech. It comes with a small workshop, although the corporation does not let sensitive projects out of the R&D ground, Angelica's father often brings smaller projects back home.

She would spend hours looking at her dad working in that workshop, sometimes designing on the holographic screen and other times binding together some parts. Her imagination always ran wild, she would think her dad was assembling robots or spaceships to go on amazing adventures.

As she grew up she understood that her parents' work was mainly committed to save lives or to give amputees new limbs. Her fascination for her parents' inventions grew even bigger and she couldn't wait to take part in it. The day finally came, she is holding her pink toolbox tightly against her chest as she enters the workshop. Her dad shows her the new additions, a smaller desk with space for new tools.

"Do you like your workspace, little techie? " he asks her.

Angelica stays silent while placing her new tools in the appropriate space. She suddenly turns to her father "I will never forget this day! " her own words echo in her head.

"dad! I know what will be my first project! " she exclaims.

"What will it be then?" asks her father.

"I will make a device that allows people to record and relive their memories anytime! " as she says the last words statics appear, loud shrieking noises, and pitch black.

"damn machine! "