“I can hardly wait.”
“The wait will determine if you’re good or bad.”
She smirks. “I’m not sure if being good or being bad will get me what I want quicker.”
“Then maybe you’ll have to try both and find out.”
13
Hannah
The next morning
The next morning, after Henry and I wake up and have breakfast, he takes me to his office where he shows me all kinds of security tools he uses on a daily basis. But there’s one that attracts my attention more than others.
“What’s that?” I ask.
“This is something we’ve been working on for quite some time.” He pauses. “Just like many phones these days emit something similar to a force field, this wearable piece of tech would do something similar.”
“Cell phones don’t emit force fields…do they?”
“They do. That’s how your phone knows to run when your hand gets close to it, depending on the model you have. Well, this device would function more like a ray gun, basically turning a woman’s cell phone into an antenna that shoots out a very high frequency radio beam that penetrates the skin to a depth of one sixth-fourth of an inch which is just enough to hit the nerves which creates an instant sensation of heat, which makes anyone hit with it try and get out of the way as soon as possible. And once you get out of the way you the pain goes away.”
“That sounds like something out of a Sci-Fi movie.”
It was featured on 60 Minutes back in 2008, but it was on a much grander, military scale. This would be something different, much smaller and more compact, but hopefully would make a lot of women feel safer about walking home at night, taking the bus by themselves, even going camping in a place where there might be bears.
“It’s that powerful.”
“It is, but the best part is that, although it feels like scalding water when you're in its path, the minute you step away it disappears…and there are no lasting marks or effects.”
“And you see every woman having one of these?”
“I sure hope so, and not just women, but anyone who is in a position where their safety is in danger.”
“Who would regulate it and control it and things like that?”
“That’s the last kink we’re trying to work out, to make sure it gets to where it needs to go and not where it doesn’t. But we’re getting closer, that’s for sure.”
“You really take security seriously.”
“Gotta keep my little angel safe.”
I smile as he pulls me in for a hug. He shows me some of the other things they’re working on and just as we’re about to leave I mention how I could have used some of these things on my ex-boss.
He grabs my hand firmly and pauses, squaring his shoulders up to mine. “About that.”
I cringe wondering what’s coming next and if I even want to know.
“You don’t have to worry about that pile of garbage anymore. He’ll never bother you again.”
I swallow hard, but my mouth is dry. It feels like I’ve been sucking on cotton. “What do you mean? What did you do?”
“There are certain things in the security industry that need to remain…well…secure. All you need to know is that he’ll never so much look in your direction again, and he certainly won’t bother you. Not him and not anyone else as long as I’m upright and breathing. As a matter of fact I don’t even need to be upright, or breathing.”
“Huh?”
“My team has been informed that your safety is paramount. Let’s just say we’ve all got your back, so you’ll never have to look over your shoulder again.”