Cynthia shook her head in disgust. Horrid, pencil-thin red lines ran up the walls, down the hall, and into the bathroom vents. Most disturbing were the five lines converging into a tiny hole in the wall of the guest bedroom.
The ample behind of Cal, the exterminator, backed down out of the attic, his overalls speckled with dust and insulation.
“Sorry to tell you ma’am, but you got ‘em bad.”
“Nanites?”
“Yup, that nasty red strain. Them buggers is hard to kill. All it takes is one to start replicating.”
“Can you make sure they’re all dead?”
“We never can get ‘em all. I can spray the appliances and other large metal items with Disturb. That’ll keep ‘em off those things, but smaller items – nail clippers, car keys, and stuff like that – you gotta keep them items bagged up when they’re not bein’ used. I got a list right here of the stuff you need to bag.”
She let out a sigh and dropped into the recliner. At least the springs underneath the cushions were still intact – for now, anyway.
She should have let Andy get the house in the divorce like he wanted. Then he’d be the one dealing with this mess. But it was the home where she grew up, where the memories lived. Memories like standing in front of the mirror with her sisters singing into their hairbrushes, or that crazy day when the whole family had a water fight inside the house, these were memories worth fighting for; ones that Andy would never understand. She wasn’t about to let Andy walk away with the home that held her history. Besides, he had been such a dick through the whole divorce, trying to get custody of their son. And how old was the latest slut he was strutting around with, showing off her fake boobs and counterfeit Jimmy Choos? There sure as hell weren’t many adult women with braces, she knew that. He was embarrassing them both with that bimbo.
Cal set a handful of pamphlets on the counter. “I’ll leave some of these with you and check back in a few weeks.”
Cynthia thanked him for the help and saw him to the door. She watched through her favorite picture window as Cal’s pear-shaped body lumbered down the driveway and struggled into the white van. Was it her imagination or did he have a rather peculiar grin on his face? She shook off the thought, returned to the counter, and looked at the pamphlets. Maybe those would contain some hope.
Red VI Dos and Don’ts
Tips for Dealing with Nanites
Living with Nanites
The last one made her feel like the house had contracted a sexually transmitted disease. How could this happen? She would have to educate herself on these reds and fast. Didn’t her son have that sketchy friend who knew about tech like this? Derek, she thought his name was. He was a bit of a troublemaker, but maybe she could check all this out with him. Kids seem to pick up on tech faster than anyone. Maybe he could help her turn the situation around.
#
Cal walked into the home he inspected two months earlier and placed the viewer in the center of the dining room. The screen, almost completely red, indicated over 180 million of the reds within active range. They had replicated quite nicely. He adjusted the machine to broadcast a signal to tell the nanites to return home to the collector.
Andy Mills knocked on the door as he opened it, stepping into his old home. He greeted Cal with a handshake.
“You did well, Cal. I never thought Cynthia would sell it back to me, even with the infestation, but in the end, I got it for a hell of a good price, thanks to you.”
“Well, divorce is dang tough on everybody,” Cal said, both men chuckling.
“We oughta get serious and make a real business outta this, ya know? Nanites scare the hell out of people. We could run this little trick a couple times a month and people’d pay dammed near anything to be rid of ‘em.”
Andy scratched his chin thinking it over. You could build a real estate empire that way and pretty fast. It would also be hard for the authorities to prove anything fishy was going on unless they had the right equipment, but Cal could scan for that kind of surveillance.
“I think I like the sound of that, Cal. After this, let’s grab a drink and talk about our arrangement a bit more. How long will the repairs take on this place?”
“Once we have our little red friends back in the box, I can reconfigure ‘em as Constructors and this place will be as good as new in a week.”
Cal returned to the viewer to check on the homing progress.
“Good lord, we’ve been hacked,” he said, pointing to the screen.
The nanites had arranged themselves to form letters.
ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS OR THE HOUSE FALLS -CYNTHIA.
Andy turned to Cal.
“Maybe we’d better hold off on that business idea after all.”
Breaking Into The Craft 