I've got my eye on you

Freddie looked down and weighed his options. This was going to be the most important choice he’d make all day. The kiwi or the strawberry chewing gum. He picked the strawberry and popped a piece into his mouth. He headed up to the cash register to pay. The cashier Redwan knew his name because of how often he frequented this establishment. Redwan was sporting his classic navy turban, his thick black beard and his trademark smile. 

“Freddieeeee,” he said warmly, going in for a fistbump, “went with the strawberry today?” 

He raised his eyebrows. 

“Yeah, just felt like mixing it up a little bit,” Freddie agreed with him, finishing the fist bump.

“Very nice,” Redwan said, nodding in appreciation. 

He loved coming to see Redwan at the Happy convenience store but seeing the giant robotic eye behind him always left him feeling a little uneasy. The eye was in the middle of a poster with the phrase, “EYE’m always watching you.” 

It was something that the government had put in place at nearly every spot in public, but everyone knew they had ways of watching you in private too. It had been this way as long as he could remember but he had never quite gotten used to it. 

He took his payment chip back from Redwan and continued on his way. Billboards featuring the EYE existed on nearly every block and the only thing that had them beat was the amount of skyscrapers that filled the air. 

Even though the EYE just looked like an advertisement, it was common knowledge that there were wiring and chips inside of each one that functioned as cameras recording all that went on on the streets. 

Big buildings with clear windows covered the skyline of New Brunswick, New Jersey, the windows remained clear for both function and form. People could be easily watched through an entirely clear window and that’s the way they wanted it (if you’re wondering who they are, you’re going to find out a little bit later). Freddie pulled off his backwards red cap and put on his red helmet for his hovercycle. He started up the hovercycle and heard that familiar electric hum which signaled that the bike was on. He climbed on and swung his backpack over his shoulder. His bike began to lift off the ground, he kicked off the kickstand and began to fly away into the highways. The highways of New Brunswick functioned on a grid system; no one had driven or ridden a gas powered let alone a grounded vehicle since 2038. 

Even the public transit was powered by air and soared along the highways. As Freddie zoomed along the highway, he noticed a new building had gone up just yesterday for “the EYE”. 

He wondered how many of them New Brunswick could possibly need, they already had seven in a five block radius alone. 

It felt like “the EYE” was closing in on him more and more each day. Eventually he reached Calci-tech high school, a place he might like even less than the EYE. 

He turned off the highway exit for HIGH SCHOOL and dismounted his hovercycle. 

Immediately a robot came to retrieve his bike and place it into line with the others. A storage rack would appear from underground that sorted and stored everyone’s vehicles until the end of the school day. 

He chucked his hovercycle at the robot (“what’s the point of being nice to something controlled by the EYE anyway”) and headed up the school stairs with his backpack slung over his shoulder. The local high school was a completely clear glass building with surveillance on every corner. There weren't any dead spaces except for the boys locker room which Freddie was pretty sure no one wanted to see anyway. 

As Freddie sat through his first period class, history of the EYE, he found himself doodling and zoning out, sketching cartoons of robots falling off of cliffs and getting hit by cars. Pencils poking into one of the thousand EYEs. 

He was so enthralled with his drawing that he didn’t notice the teacher’s aide (another gosh darn robot) glide up the aisle on its two wheels and promptly grab his drawing out of his notebook and crumple it up to throw away. Freddie felt his body freeze and tense up. He hated getting in trouble, and being the center of attention almost as much as he hated being that close to the cold hard metal of robots. His teacher and the other students stopped to stare at him since he was so clearly caught in not paying attention. His teacher looked unamused and said, 

“Freddie Bender, do you want to tell me how long the EYE has been around?”

He sat there whistling and waiting for someone else to come and be his savior by answering the question. He knew the answer but didn’t want to dignify it by giving it a response. 

“Too long,” he muttered under his breath as he scribbled in his notebook on a new page. He loved the feeling of his hoverpen merely gliding over the paper without actually making contact with it to make streaks. 

A boy with brown hair gelled in the front raised his hand to answer. Frank. He was somewhat of a know-it-all. And what was with that hair gel? No one had used that since 2036. 

The bell rang its shrill familiar ring and Freddie ran out the door smiling. First one out, last one in, just the way it should be. Later that day at lunch, Freddie sat at his own table in the middle of the lunch room pushing around his metabolized blueberries (essentially a blueberry mush in a blue sugary sauce that was supposed to be better for you than the actual thing, although Freddie had his doubts about that too). His stomach lurched at the blue mush even though he knew it might be one of his only meals that day. He pushed it away from him and looked up. He caught a glimpse of the cafeteria EYE that was located above the buffet line. He could swear that it was following his every movement. The red center made the hairs on his arms stand up and give him chills. 

“Ughh” he shuddered. He stood up just as the Principal Mr. Walker came into the room. Mr. Walker stood in front of the entrance with his hands on his hips. He had a thick black mustache and black hair. He was wearing a white collared short sleeve dress shirt tucked into his black slacks. And he did not look happy. He looked directly at Freddie tapping his foot impatiently. Freddie grabbed his tray, took one look at Mr. Walker and headed the other way.

“MIIISTER BENDER,” his voice boomed over the loud cafeteria. 

Freddie’s shoulders rose in tension and said, “busted” under his breath. 

“Please see me in my office after school,” and then he turned on one heel and walked away. 

Everyone stared at him, Freddie’s worst nightmare. 

Freddie walked as quickly as possible out of the cafeteria after depositing his tray but stopped to turn and see the EYE just one more time. 

The rest of the day passed on quickly and as uneventful as possible. The rest of his classes were boring and his stomach felt as though something was gnawing on it. Something was. It was anxiety.

The 3 pm bell rang and Freddie walked with his head hanging low towards Mr. Walker’s office. People stared at him and muttered things like, “good luck with that.”

Mr. Walker was looking down and stacking files when Freddie came into the room. 

“Mr. Bender,” he said calmly, “please sit down.” He gestured to the chair across from him. 

Freddie immediately noticed Mr. Walker’s assistant robot standing in the corner near his desk. 

“Do we have to talk with that thing in the room?” Freddie asked, jerking his thumb at it. 

“I will not tolerate prejudice in my office Mr. Bender! Prejudice towards robots is just as uncalled for as prejudice towards any other being,” he said angrily slamming his hands down on the desk. 

“Ugh. Fine,” Freddie said stooping down lower into his chair. 

Mr. Walker paused for a minute thoughtfully. 

“Shenaud, please go check on the boys locker room and make sure they aren’t destroying it,” he said to the robot. 

The robot sprung to life, its eyes lit up and wheels popped out of its feet. 

“Right away sir,” it said in a calm and commanding voice. It wheeled out of the room, shutting the door behind it.

“Happy?” Mr. Walker said sarcastically. 

“Barely,” Freddie responded. 

Mr. Walker stopped to assess Freddie. He was looking down pretending to doodle on his binder with the eraser of a pencil. 

Mr. Walker sighed. “Look son, I know it’s been difficult for you since your Father–”

Freddie looked up feeling his pulse starting to rise and yelled, “YOU DON’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT MY FATHER! THEY KILLED HIM! THOSE THINGS! AND EVERY GODDAMN DAY OF MY LIFE I HAVE TO SEE THEM STARING AT ME!”

He was screaming, he realized. His blood boiling past the point of no return. He was panting and looking Mr. Walker dead in the eye. All the color had drained from Mr. Walker’s face and he looked painfully uncomfortable. 

The EYE poster on Mr. Walker’s right blinked. Freddie didn’t even know they could do that. And then he watched as the EYE narrowed and looked at him even closer without moving from its place. 

Freddie felt his heart and hands go cold with fear. 

“Is everything alright son?” Mr. Walker asked, noticing Freddie’s change in demeanor. 

Freddie contemplated telling Mr. Walker the truth about what he’d seen just moments ago, but decided against it. No one seemed to believe his stipulations about the robots anyway. 

“Yes, everything is fine,” he breathed, “I’m sorry for yelling.”

“Yes, well, you can go. Just make it a point to pay attention in class,” Mr. Walker said back to him.  

Freddie saluted and walked out of the room. He headed to retrieve his bike from the hovercycle lock up but decided instead to walk. He had to clear his head. 

He walked past the school with both hands firmly on his backpack straps thinking to himself how it felt so unfair that the EYE had so quickly ruined his life. All it took was one year of his Father being gone for his mother to quickly go downhill and stop being a mom. Some kids from his school passed by in an expensive red Hydrocar. 

“It’s a long way to The Shacks from here, you sure you don’t want a ride?” the driver called and then threw his head back laughing. 

Freddie just shook his head at the ignorance. The Shacks weren’t that far at all, they just were generally avoided by most of the population except for the people who lived there. 

He cut through the park and kept thinking. He still couldn’t believe that there hadn’t been any justice for the blatant disappearance of his Father on behalf of the EYE. He still remembered the day they got the letter in the mail apologizing for his Father’s disappearance and a $300 check in its place. 

$300. That’s what the government thought was adequate to replace his Father. With his mother’s extreme drinking habit, it was gone within the month. 

Finally he saw the familiar brown wooden shacks that made up the neighborhood where he lived. New Brunswick was about 80% new buildings made of recycled and used material but a small population lived in the poor area of slums that made up The Shacks. 

Freddie walked in the front door and called out, “MOM! I’m home!” He found her passed out on their old ratty green couch and he brought in the mail on the table. He found a whiskey bottle lying open on its side, probably her most recent conquest. He placed the mail carefully next to it. He flipped through the bills until he reached an envelope with his name on it.  

Mr. Fredward E. Bender

2630 Shack Street, Shack #3

1263 New Brunswick, NJ

He slid one of the rusty old kitchen knives slowly across the top of the envelope until a piece of paper fell out. 

Dear Mr. Fredward Bender,

We request your presence in our office tomorrow at noon, Saturday the eleventh. We hope this message finds you well. When you reach our office please just show this letter to the security robot downstairs, he will kindly escort you to our top level which is restricted by security permissions only. There is a matter of which we need to speak. 

We have been watching you. 

Sincerely,

The EYE

(the Evil You Eliminate, since 2050)

Freddie’s heart just about stopped. Oh the irony of it all. “The evil you eliminate?” Just like they eliminated his father for speaking out against their heinous values and trite ways of doing things? He almost wanted to laugh out loud but he decided against waking his sleeping mother. It wasn’t her fault they had abducted his father and killed him. It wasn’t even her fault that she was so deep in depression that she drank herself to sleep every night. But it was her fault that in her sadness she had decided not to be a parent to Freddie. He had to take a job delivering groceries at the Happy Convenience store just to make ends meet. But his fear gave way into determination. He had been waiting for this opportunity to give the EYE a piece of his mind. And now he was going to get it. 

Sleep came easily that night for Freddie. He was going to get his revenge. His answers. His comeuppance. A good night’s sleep was the only thing separating him from justice. 

He awoke the next morning and dressed while it was still dark. He had to complete some grocery deliveries before heading to “the EYE.” He left the house and paused at the door to look back at his sleeping mother. He pitied her. He hadn’t just lost a father, but she had lost the love of her life. 

And he was going to make sure somebody paid for it. He closed the door softly behind him. 

Freddie ended up at the Happy Convenience store where Redwan was waiting to offer him a breakfast sandwich. They ate in silence. Freddie rose to leave. 

“I’m gonna need to take off early today Redwan,” Freddie said. 

“What do you have going on?” Redwan answered. 

“I have some personal business I need to take care of.” 

Redwan only nodded and Freddie began to leave. 

“Freddie?” 

Freddie turned around. 

“You’ve got a wild look in your eye,” he said to him. 

Freddie said nothing and left to finish his deliveries. 

At half past eleven Freddie arrived at the EYE. He stared directly up to see just how high the building reached. He figured it stood fifty stories high at least. He parked his hovercycle in a rusted old bike rack and proceeded inside. The doors were monitored by a system that registered people’s DNA just by staring into their eyes.

“FREDWARD BENDER,” the robotic voice said. Freddie rolled his eyes and the doors pushed open. Inside the walls were covered with colored murals filled with smaller eyes. They followed him as he moved about the lobby. 

Freddie walked up to the desk central to the lobby. A robot was waiting for him there. 

“Ah, Fredward Bender I presume,” the robot said in a distinctly British accent. 

Freddie figured they probably didn’t have a lot of 15 year old visitors here at the EYE. 

“Let me escort you,” the Robot said, leading Freddie into an elevator behind the desk. 

They stepped into the elevator together and endured fifty nine floors of awkward silence. Freddie refused to talk to a robot more than necessary. He was mainly focusing on the poster in the corner featuring the EYE with the slogan, “the EYE on progress.”

Finally, the doors opened and the robot instructed Freddie to take a seat in the waiting room. The robot did not exit the elevator and instead left without another word to Freddie. 

Freddie stepped out into an empty waiting room. The room only featured a few chairs, and a check in area with no one working it. There were no other people waiting in the room. It gave Freddie an eerie feeling to be alone in a room like this, but he tried not to lose his nerve. He was here for a reason. A purpose. He was about to be face to face with the person (or robots) responsible for killing his father. 

Five minutes later Freddie heard an alarm buzz and the only door in the room clicked slightly open. Freddie’s heart raced and he headed for the door. The office looked vintage, archaic even. A wooden desk, a large white board, almost no electronics. A leather chair turned away from Freddie. 

“Hello Freddie,” a voice finally said, “I know why you’re here.”

Freddie stood with his fists clenched at his sides. 

“I’m here to find out what you did to my father, the truth,” he said, voice shaking in nervousness and anger. 

“I know all about why you’re here,” the voice said again. 

“I know you’ve been watching me,” Freddie said, “and I wanted to come here and see the face of the coward who ruined my life.”

The chair slowly started to turn and Freddie felt himself grow more and more afraid. 

“Are you sure you’re ready to know who I am?” the voice said again. 

“Yes for god’s sake you coward! Just reveal yourself!” Freddie shouted. 

The chair turned and Freddie felt his heart drop into his stomach. 

Staring straight back at him with a robotic eye, in a suit and with slicked back black hair was his Father.