#18: Levi - We Need Some Money

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“About that walking part.” Jeanie said “You don’t have to do that. There are many other options. Check out the Magic Wand menu under personal transportation devices.”

“Huh?” Levi said “Oh yeah. Right. I keep forgetting the Magic Wand.”

He did that. “Man oh man. Look it all the neat stuff. Even a personal helicopter. Wouldn’t that be cool?”

“Yup” Jeanie said “Not very inconspicuous though. You’d stick out like a sore thumb.”

“Oh yeah” Levi said “That. Hmmm. Hey…what’s this?”

“It’s a type of electric unicycle” Jeanie said. “It’s self balancing, very maneuverable, very small and very convenient. Currently it’s subject to no more rules than a bicycle. A lot of college kids have taken to using them. Notice the built in handle? The foot rests fold up and the whole thing can be carried just like a brief case, or use the pull out shoulder strap, put it over your shoulder and carry it like a purse. It’s just about the same size and weight as a briefcase.”

“It works on Batteries huh?” Levi thought about his battery powered light back in the storage unit. It worked great until the batteries ran down. “How long do the batteries last?”

“Forever” Jeannie said

“Huh? How can that be?“Levi was dubious.

“Recall the part about ‘non-statistical fusion nano-generators’ you read earlier?” She asked “it’s got that, not batteries. In fact every powered device the Magic Wand makes has that feature.”

“O-Kaaay. Sounds like a winner. Go ahead and make it.” He said “Next problem. I need some money. I’ll need money to find another place to stay. Unless I sleep under bridges. Sally does that. She’s the girl that gave you to me. She sleeps under the river bridge. I might think about that if I can’t come up with something else. Everywhere else is more expensive than the storage unit. I could barely come up with enough money to pay for it. This is really strange. I can get everything I want, and yet I have no money.”

“Odd that.” Jeannie agreed “simple solution. Sell some stuff.”

“Oh”. Levi said “Yeah. I suppose we could do that. Now the question is how. What are the options? Last I heard there were so many rules, regulations, licenses, fees, and permits involved that kids can’t even sell lemonade anymore.”

“My job. I’ll do the research.” Jeanie said. “First we need a computer, then an internet connection. I’ll handle that too.”

“Don’t we need money to do that?” he asked.

“Maybe not” she replied. “Let’s see what we got here.”

And she did…it only took her a little while. “Got it. Done deal.”

“How’d you do that?” Levi asked.

“The explanation is Technical. It requires a lot of GeekSpeak and TechnoBabble.” She said. “Us Cybernetic, Dissociated Special Purpose Identity Neural Interfacial Controller Happy Meals can do that.”

...........Blink.................

“Still pissed huh? I apologize ok? You’re not a meal. You’re the real deal. Uh…Ok, what you said.” Levi’s eyes were glazed. Had she really said that? “I guess the important thing is that you got er done. Where is it?”

“Apology accepted. No hard feelings. But I reserve the right to harass you mercilessly forever. Us happy meals never forget. Where’s what?” she asked.

“The computer and stuff” he said.

“Oh that.” she replied. “It’s in your head already. Me. I’m the computer, or so close as to not matter. I just added some aps. Lookie here. I went virtual.”

Levi was still wearing the ‘sunglasses’ that Blue had made when he made the coat. A web page appeared before him out of thin air. He jumped a foot.

”What the hell?”he said.

“I’m your virtual reality sonny boy” Jeannie sang…poorly. “I’m all in your head. That was easy part. The hard part was syncing to the local wifi to get online and then creating an internet presence. I used FunnyBook and Giggle. It seemed the logical thing to do.”

“Not that part, Sunglasses part.” he said” what the hell are they? I can see video’s in them.”

“They’re part of the ‘Navigational ‘ systems of the coat. You really should read the specifications more closely before you choose something” She said.

“Yeah. Ok.” Levi said “I’ll be sure to do that from now on. Now…about selling stuff?”

“Easy. Local Internet Want Ads.” she said opening appropriate web pages. “We go to the wanted to buy section..ah…here we are. We find someone that wants to buy something. Hmmm…seems like everyone wants SmartPhones. We can do that. Blue has a whole list of SmartPhones that he can make. They tell us which one they want. Then I make makes it, we sell it to them. It’s a win-win.”

“What about Blue?” Levi asked “What happened to him?”

“We integrated.” Genie told him. “He’s part of me now.”

“Oh.” Levi said. He thought about that for a second and decided that he didn’t want to go there. Let sleeping dogs lie. Then he said. “Smart Phones we can do. I don’t want anything to do with Black Market Stuff or Drugs though. I want to be strictly legal. I don’t want to mess with cops. They’re dangerous, mean and they like to hurt people. They shoot dogs a lot too.”

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