SoulStone
#52: WheelChair Shop
Shelby was stopped and talked to by more people about the track chair in the next few days than he had ever spoken to in the whole time that he’d been there. They were VERY interested in his track chair. They had the same headaches with wheelchairs that he did. They wanted one for themselves. During lunch break he mentioned it to Sam.
“It’s not a bit surprising really. “ Sam replied while munching on his Sammich. Shelby and Sam tended to eat lunch together at least once a week. It wasn’t Shelby so much as Sam. Sam made a point to know, on an informal basis, everyone who worked for him. Ofttimes he’d buy them lunch.
“Lookit those damn things ya’ll have to put up with.” he said, referring to the chair. “I don’t know how you do it.”
“Yeah. There is that” Shelby agreed “There seems to be a lot of interest in my new Chair.”
“Make em.” Sam replied.
“Huh?” Shelby looked at him in surprise.
“Make em.” Sam replied. “Pick a spot, here in the building, out of the way. Set up shop and make a few. See what happens.”
“I can do that?” Shelby replied. “What about management? What would they say?”
“I haven’t been entirely forthcoming with you. “ Sam looked at Shelby innocently. “ I ARE management. If you want to make wheelchairs instead of running that nasty glass bead machine, go for it. I can always find someone else to sand blast.”
Shelby stared at Sam and blinked.
“Ooooh Kay..” he finally replied “ I think I’ll do that.”
He and Sam went back to eating. Sam said “The weather has been a little unusual lately don’t you think?”
“I think so.” Shelby replied. “Wet and Cold.”
So it went. Shelby quit running the dirty glass bead machine. He located a space further down the old building with an outside entry. Sam had stressed that point. An outside entry was important. Shelby had no idea why but Sam was the boss.
The old factory was almost littered with building materials left over from the old days. There were racks of lumber and stacks of plywood of all kinds. There was even a complete metal shop. Shelby appropriated what he wanted for his undertaking. He built a cozy showroom and a shop. He stocked it with materials and tools he found laying around for the sake of appearance. He used the materials but didn’t need the tools. He used his SoulStone generated abilities to make his products.
No one needed to know that.
Shelby began making wheelchairs. As he suspected none of the other amputee’s were strong enough to use them manually as easily as he could, so he added electric motors and joystick controls. He made some very powerful nanotech batteries too. The batteries were recharged by solar panels on Bimini tops.
The news was full of solar this and solar that lately. Almost all of which was pure bovine excretion. More than likely Shelby’s products were they only ones on the market that weren’t a sham. They actually worked. His wheelchairs were solar powered, with very advanced technology. His chairs were ‘green’.
At first he provided track chairs almost exclusively to fellow workers. Eventually word of mouth brought in ‘outsiders’. Civilians wheelchair users from all walks of life who had heard about the new stair-crawlers wanted one. Shelby had all the work than he could handle. He belatedly realized why Sam had insisted on an separate entrance for his shop.
Sadly, for Shelby, came the day when the increased business meant that he absolutely HAD to have a phone. He hated that idea with a passion. Unfortunately he needed one for his business and the old steel mill no longer had landlines. He needed a cell phone. He finally broke down an bought one. Since he would be using it for business...he purchased the best smartphone the phone store had.
Shelby dangled the chain from his fingers. Elvira had just grown it. The workmanship was impressive. Blood-Nanites could do that. If he looked really hard he could just make out an inscription on one of the larger links.
“SoulStone tech.” she said “it’s an inductive neural interface. If you recall you’ve had to turn away people who wanted a “service” robot?”
“Yeah I have” Shelby recalled “ I didn’t want to. Some of the guys (and gals) could really use an extra set of hands. Theirs are missing. Not just legs like me.
“This will do it” Elvira told him. “It’s a non invasive neural link. When worn around the neck it connects by induction to the brainstem. With a little practice they can (almost) become as good as me.”
“A little gaudy perhaps?” Shelby stated dubiously.
“Chicks dig it” Elvira said. “It’ll be just fine.”
The Next Episode is
#53: Night Out
The Previous Episode was
#51: Track Chair
the First episode was
#1 : Prologue
I'm
@everittdmickey
.
I write
SPECULATIVE FICTION
I have books on Amazon too.
Sometimes I also comment on the news
Sometimes it's hard to tell fiction from the news.
I think the future is closing in. Non-invasive Neural Linkage to add abilities to the disabled. One day, we won't need those arms and legs, just like Zager and Evans sang in their song.
non invasive neural interfaces are a real thing.
that's what I do in my fiction.
I take real stuff...and speculate...what if?
Where do I get one?
Well nice one . But not much thrill in it. May I get in another part.
there has to be lows so that you can appreciate the highs..
not everything can be exciting and thrilling.
back ground...don't ya know?
LOL