Binary Cycle - (Part 1: Disruption) by WJ Davies Read Free Book Online

as his programming would allow. She chased after him across the kitchen floor toward the living room, bubbling with anticipation.
    ∞
    “Wow! Oh, wow!” Skyia exclaimed.
    Sitting on the table and covered with a large red bow, was a new holo-camera. It’s shiny metal and synthetic polymer parts glistened in the orange light streaming through the living room windows. 
    “It’s beautiful” she told him. “Thank you thank you thank you! I promise I won’t drop it this time.”
    MiLO wheeled over to the camera and lifted it up, showing her an attractive leather strap he had fastened to both ends.
    “Oh, you’re so thoughtful, MiLO.”
    “It was all your mother’s idea, all I did was build it.”
    “Thank you all the same. I miss her so much.”
    “As do I, she is a kind woman and an excellent Keeper.” He turned to go but stopped, lights blinking multicoloured on his various panels. “Skyia, one more thing about the camera.”
    Skyia had already plunked herself down on the floor and was examining her birthday present.
    She looked up at the robot, admiration beaming through half-moon eyes.
    “There’s only one light relay in there. It’s all I could afford to take from the communication room. But there’s more being delivered.”
    “A delivery all the way from Alexendia? No, that’s too expensive, don’t worry. This one will be just fine. I can print out the pictures and then delete them from the relay. You should cancel the order.”
    “No, Skyia, there is no delivery from Alexendia.”
    “But then… where did you order them from?” She was confused. Alexendia was the only city for five-hundred kilometers. There was no other place he could get them from. Unless—
    MiLO beeped happily. “Skyia, you’re mother is coming home.”

Chapter 8
    It was an unusual thing that at his age—fifty-six years last spin—that Reginald Horace Samielif found himself in his apartment in Alexendia gathering up equipment and preparing to disembark on a holo-documentary shoot in the jungles of Ganji province. Their prime target: the Spindroth.
    As he organized his packs, Reggie contemplated what sort of documentary it would be when it was finished—if indeed they made it back alive after this one. This would be a film to end all films, the last piece in his sprawling legacy as a famous documentary maker. 
    He’d started young: When other boys were at school or apprenticing for their father’s trades, Reggie had travelled the world, earning his living as a research assistant for teams out exploring the harsh Taran landscape.
    He started out as a saddle boy, maintaining equipment and lugging gear through the jungles. His skill and enthusiasm caught the eye of the man who became his mentor: Jacque Caraway. Caraway was the pioneer of holographic documentaries, and Reggie learned first hand how to glean compelling and heartwarming stories from the unforgiving landscape.
    Reggie relied on old habits and muscle memory as he collected belongings from around the apartment. He paused, glancing at a photograph of himself and Jacque, standing on the precipice of a cliff, only months before the old man’s death. Screaming still filled his ears whenever he thought back to that horrific Spindroth attack. He had done everything he could to save Jacque, but it wasn’t enough. The Spindroth were too fast… too cunning.
    After losing his mentor, Reggie had bought his own camera—the best he could afford—and within a few cycles was leading his own film crews deep into the heart of the Taran wilderness, filming the native creatures in their most pristine states.
    His documentaries quickly gained traction, full as they were of enthusiasm, humor, and suspense. Critics praised Reggie for his unique ability to humanize the planet, take it from being something alien to that of an inviting home. Before long he became a mainstream sensation and suddenly Reggie Samielif was a household name. 
    He reliably released material every cycle or