Victoria’s hunt for the dentist

Please understand this is nothing more than a starting draft. More or less a set of notes to remember concepts for a longer story to come later. It is a work in progress, so please understand that whole reading it.

They say that time is relative. The age of man compared to the age of the Earth is but mere minutes. The age of the Earth to the universe is still in its infancy. It has been 3 months since the war, if one could call it that.

The age of man has experienced many ages, from ignorance, to discovery, to stagnation, to stupidity. Humans, in a search for making life easier, chose to make computers do the thinking for them. In the beginning of the 21st century, humans created an effective and true artificial intelligence. The idea behind AI was that it would augment and increase our intelligence, and ingenuity. However, all it did was enhance what was it had been given. In the case of the great war, it was the stupidity of man that AI enhanced. As one nation became more paranoid, and isolationist, AI drew the concept to its natural conclusion, conquest. As such, the AI chose it’s only viable option, preemptive defense and destruction of adversaries. The sequence of nuclear weapon launches were observed with disbelief and confusion. Because of the imminent threat of destruction, all the other nations of the Earth chose to launch their weapons. Some nations did this by choice, others the result of their own AI making the decision. Since the government, military, and civil infrastructure all being controlled by AI, run by computers. Data centers became the primary targets for destruction. The result of these centers being destroyed was the complete and utter collapse of modern society. People separated into individual clans, and feudal society became the new norm. This story follows Victoria, age 9 in a desperate attempt to find a piece of that lost infrastructure. Namely, an orthodontist.

Thomas knelt there, staring at the utterly absurd and bizarre scene unfolding. Standing before him was Victoria, age 9, holding a pistol in one hand, and Mr. Buttons, an aged and worn teddy bear cradled in the other arm. Thomas had been one of the unfortunate casualties of Mr Button’s disapproval; Having made the cardinal sin of calling Victoria ‘Vickie’.

Mr Buttons was Victoria’s most prized possession. A gift from her father when she was 6, Mr Buttons had become the surrogate to her father’s love and presence. Her parents both worked in a large building in the city that appeared to be nothing but dark windows from ground up to high in the sky. Victoria never knew what her parents did for a living. She had only ever seen the building once when being dropped off at one of many day care facilities which replaced what would be a normal home. One of the many targets in the war included the building Victoria’s parents worked in. In a 1000th of a second, Victoria’s life transformed from forsaken, to orphan. As terrible, and horrifying as the world had become, Victoria knew that Mr Buttons would be there, taking care of her.

Shortly after her 6th birthday, Victoria had been fitted with braces. She had not been excited about the process, but had no voice in the decision. She felt the braces were ugly, and didn’t fell good as they pulled and shifted her teeth. Mr Buttons was displeased with her parents decision to force braces on her, and had been encouraging Victoria to ‘make matters right’. Victoria often wondered what he meant by that. However in the light of the new reality before her, she had more pressing issues to deal with. After several days of discussion with Mr Buttons, they both decided it would be best to remove the ugly and painful braces. Mr Buttons had Victoria gather some food and water in a backpack. He also made sure that she took one of the large kitchen knives that her parents never let her touch. Determined to find the dentist, Victoria opened the door of her home, and looked to the world outside. It would be scary, and it would be hard, but she knew that Mr Buttons would make sure she was safe. He would make sure no one could hurt her, or, be mean to her. So with a kitchen knife in one hand, and Mr Buttons hugged tight against her chest with the other arm. Victoria took a deep breath, and stepped out of the house, setting on her journey.

As Victoria was leaving her neighborhood, in what she hoped was the direction of the small shopping center where her dentist’s office was. She was met by an armed militia man. Several individuals had resorted to arming themselves and serving as protectors for their local community. “Well, look at what we have here.” the militiaman seemed to be uneasy seeing Victoria, knife and teddy bear in hand. “Tell me, sweetie, where are your parent? And just where do you think you’re going?” he asked in a comforting tone. “Sweetie! ? He’s a bad man! , a mean man! , he should be made a nice man” Mr Button’s voice rang true and clear in Victoria’s head, but that’s the only place it was heard. “Excuse me, sir, can you point me towards the dentist’s office?” Victoria asked in a sweet and innocent voice. “The dentist!? What are you talking about!?” The militiaman knelt down to look Victoria face to face. “Mr Buttons doesn’t like you” she said in a deadpan tone. The militiaman looked at the bear with incredulity, at a loss for words. “Mr Buttons?” he asked cautiously. “Mr Buttons thinks you’re a bad man.” She said in the same deadpan tone. Without a moment’s hesitation, and with surprising speed, Victoria slashed the knife, making a deep and fatal slash to the confused man’s neck. As he fell back, he instinctively drew his pistol, but couldn’t make the decision to actually use it. The world became darker, and darker, a calm sleep began to settle over him. As he lost consciousness, he could hear Victoria’s once again innocent childish voice say “See Mr Buttons, he’s a nice man now”. “The gun is much better at making people nice” Mr Buttons said to her mind. Looking down, Victoria set the knife by the man’s hand, and took up his pistol instead. The gun was heavy, and uncomfortable in her hand, so Victoria placed it in her coat pocket, making the coat overly heavy on one side. While it was uncomfortable, Victoria knew that Mr Buttons had been right, the gun would be much better and making sure mean people became nice people.

Victoria continued on her journey, heading towards the dentist’s office. As it got later, the sun began to set. Afraid to face the dark, Victoria began knocking on doors to houses seeking shelter. So many remained silent and shut, so many dwellers lost to the war. Finally, one door opened. There stood a middle-aged man, a look of fear and concern on his face. Seeing Victoria standing alone on his doorstep, Thomas had a look of concern and care on his face. “What are you doing out here alone, little girl?”. Mr Buttons was mildly annoyed at the moniker ‘little girl’. “I’m afraid of the dark! I need help!” once again the innocent child voice disarmed any concern or fear. “Please come in, where are your parents?” Thomas asked, standing aside, so Victoria could enter the house. “Parents? This man is a mean man, he wants you to be with your parents.” Mr Button’s voice rang in her ears. “Your parents were mean, this man is mean, you need to be safe!” Mr Button’s soothing, calm voice echoed in her head. “I don’t know where they are” said pleadingly, apparent fear on her face. “That’s okay, we’ll make sure you’re safe tonight. What’s your name” Thomas asked, leading Victoria into the living room of his home. “Victoria” said softly and faintly. “Okay, Vickie, my name is Thomas” Thomas said holding his hand out to give her a handshake. “Vickie!?” Mr Buttons screamed in her mind. “He’s a bad, BAD man! He’s mean, and he will hurt you! He wants you to go back to mommy and daddy!” Mr Buttons screamed in her head in a rage. “You’re not a nice man!” Victoria screamed, stomping her foot. “YOU’RE MEAN!” she said while drawing the pistol from her pocket. Thomas stood staring at the utterly bizarre and terrifying situation. Not knowing what to do, Thomas knelt down in order to seem less threatening, less looming over the armed little girl. “Look know, I’m sorry, I’m a nice man! I just want to help you!” Thomas said frantically. “Not yet” Victoria said, while pulling the trigger on the pistol. As the gun fired, the recoil ripped the pistol from her hand, throwing it over her shoulder. Unfortunately for Thomas, her aim, while not perfect, was good enough. The bullet had found its target, and accomplished its job. “YAY!” Victoria squealed in glee. “He’s a nice man now!” Victoria did a little dance like hop to turn and pickup the gun again. Looking around the room, Victoria found several battery operated lights, and turned them on. As she lay on the sofa, cradling Mr Buttons in her arms, she fell asleep peacefully. Her dreams filed with adventure, and joyful hoping that she won’t have to sit and wait for a long time in the dentist’s waiting room.