The box

January 1, 3005. On New Year's Eve, the sky was bright with dazzling fireworks displayed like blooming flowers and flying bees and dragons, but Daisy silently sat in her parent's empty and cold bed.

The neighborhood loudly thumped their drums in the streets. Houses volumed their home theatre speakers to full blast. Some made loud honking from their car and motorcycles. The people were in a festive mood, drinking, eating, dancing, and singing together with their loved ones inside and outside their homes.

In the suburbs, people struck ladles on pots to create a loud banging noise while bamboo canons indifferently gave booming noise when ignited the old fashion way only the old-timers knew.

However, Daisy couldn't hear the noise around her silent two-story house that was located at the beach line town of Compostela in Cebu, Philippines. The only thing in mind was her missing parents.

She went to her father's table and reread her father's email on the table monitor, saying they will return before the new year, but they weren't back. Although she was now an adult, earning from her small rent-a-house-robot shop and cafe while studying in a university, she always celebrated the new year together with them.

Moreover, even if her parents were busy as research engineers, specializing in mass-produced robots, they never missed celebrating Christmas and New Year with her.

She shook her head, brushing the negative thoughts away. She might only be overthinking. Her parents might come back tomorrow, she thought. However, a nagging thought itched in her saying that they were in danger.

This sense of foreboding wasn't new to her. She felt this before when her mother had a car accident on the highway. Thankfully, she only got a few scratches and minor bruises. Not that fatal at all.

'It's been six months since I received their email, but there's still no news from them until now. This is really odd. Mom, can't bear not bugging me about trivial things, but she didn't call again after they left for that trip.'

She recalled the last time his mother called while she was in the middle of repairing her own cleaning bots since her meager income couldn't afford to hire someone literate in robotics.

"Daisy, eat properly, and brush your teeth before going to sleep." Her mom called in the middle of the night from her hotel room in England.

"Ma, it's still morning here and I'm now an adult and Victor is with me. Even if the world will fall apart, he'll make sure that I'll brush my teeth before sleeping. You don't need to make an outdated long-distance call just for trifling things. Just send a message in FaceMes or leave a voicemail with our home's AI. I will surely reply to you."

"No, I need to hear and see you with my own eyes. Remember, even if you're a genius and independent, but I'm still your mother and you're my only child. So, don't tell me not to call you. Say that again and I'll fly as soon as I can just to tuck you in bed tonight." She said with a reprimanding tone.

Daisy hand-brushed the strands of hair on her face and groaned. "Genius! Don't rub salt on my old wounds. Duh! I'm not as smart as you. Ma, please. I beg you. Don't waste your time doing that. I'm now an adult." She heard a loud harrumph on the other line. "Fine, fine. I'll let Hixa send you a video feed when I eat and brush my teeth. Okay? Are you happy now?"

"Fine. Do it or I'll zoom back using our spacejet tonight."

Daisy rolled her eyes and sighed. "No, no, no. Just stay with Pa, Ma. Just wait for the video feed. No, I will let the AI send it every day. So, don't worry and smile watching my dramatic eating and brushing of teeth. Or if you want a comedy genre, I will make funny faces while I eat Victor's delicious French cuisine and send them to you right after."

Although Ma was still acting like she was still a child, she knew how much her mother loved her.

That was the last communication Daisy got before they left for a vacation on a remote island in the Philippines six months ago.

She got up and asked their home AI, Hixa, "Hixa, show me Pa's and Ma's communication before they left for England."

"Please be specific. Give me a date or from which months I need to retrieve." A lady's voice sounded inside the room, out of nowhere.

Daisy looked up at the ceiling with an index finger tapping her chin. "Hmm, a month before they left."

Many transparent monitors instantly projected in front of her, showing the emails and phone calls her parents made seven months ago.

She stood and read the contacts and messages, but midway her temple throbbed as she hastily swiped away one by one the personal and romantic communications between her parents. Most of all their teasing DMs, mentioning their intimate times in the privacy of their bedroom.

She looked down at the floor, patting her chest and face that went red. "Pa, Ma. Why are you writing this type of messages where you're innocent, virgin, and never been kissed, never been touched, the twenty-year-old daughter of yours that can access too?" And blew off a good amount of air.

After seeing those Rated Adult DMs and photos, Daisy's outlook of his parents broadened. She just realized how lovey-dovey her parents were, but she couldn't believe how perverted her old man was.

She coughed out loud. "Hixa, please don't show me the censored, rated R messages and calls between my parents. Filter the mails to friends, associates, and others, including the spam mails."

"As you wish," the voice nonchalantly said.

At that point most of the see-through monitors vanished, leaving only a tenth.

Daisy read them one by one but got nothing worth noticing. Her mother's contacts were from bargain online stores giving out free discount vouchers. Only two or three were from her girlfriends, but only those gossipy types. Her father's emails were more the serious type and one caught her eye.

"Hixa, how many calls and messages this Dr. Allendorf made to my Pa."

"Engineer Chris Allendorf sent twenty messages and five calls to Dr. Hugh Barclay. Do you want to retrieve all of these files?" Hixa's soft voice answered.

"Yes, please."

A monitor was left in mid-air with folder icons on it. She opened a folder and heard a male raspy voice greeting her father until they talked about meeting in a cafe in person. Daisy didn't finish listening and opened another one until nothing was left unchecked.

Daisy's brow's furrowed. "Nothing unusual at all, just common research talks."

She paced around the room and looked up and down at the wide wardrobe with drawers below.

"Hixa, show me the contents of this wardrobe."

Without delay, the steel wardrobe door became transparent before her very eyes, revealing her father's and mother's clothes, including Mrs. Barclay's lingerie and stockings. She blushed, looking at the thin, red, black, and see-through lace panties and bras.

"Damn. What's the difference between being naked and wearing these?" She shook her head. "Wow, this is really mind-blowing. I never expected Ma to have this aggressive side. Hixa, stop the scanning. Show me the items in the drawers below."

The wardrobe returned to its original form, and virtual envelopes flew out from the said drawers, having only two sender and receiver's names, her father and mother. Her mouth arched a smile. She believed these were her parent's love letters based on the dates written.

"Gosh, my folks are really old-fashioned. Well, good for them." Her blue eyes lit up, feeling proud for having parents who were deeply in love with each other. This type of relationship was now rare in this high-tech age where a wedding was no longer that hard-pressed.

Children out of wedlock were so common where no one would bother to care, not even the government.

The other contents were books, blanked papers, and small figurines, the same as those souvenirs you buy when traveling abroad.

"Not this one. How about the walk-in closet? Show me what's in there."

Virtual images popped up in front of her, showing her parents' clothes, shoes, photo albums, watches, and jewelries.

"Hixa, open the albums."

What showed up were her parents' lovey-dovey pictures. "Gosh, how could they be so sweet, I feel ants crawling over me. Close the albums." She palm-wiped his arms, leveling the standing hairs after getting goosebumps.

"Show me their research files."

"Reminder, Miss Daisy. I can only retrieve the files saved from the home system. I have no access to their laboratory files."

"No problem," Daisy replied.

Virtual research papers with the names of Dr. Hugh Barclay and Dr. Corazon Barclay popped up in front of Daisy. She read through them and only found files about certain complicated robot designs and its usage. They were past research studies dated years ago.

"I don't think these are related to Ma's and Pa's disappearance." She heaved a deep breath. "Hixa, are there any items or devices in this room that are possibly connected to their disappearance?"

"I already showed you all the files connected to your parents. Nothing else, aside from one of which I cannot access or not part of the system."

"Where is it?"

Something lit up behind her mother's vanity table lit up. She pulled the table away and saw an unusual square tile behind it. She let Hixa scan the object and found a hidden box sitting at the back of the tile.

"That box? That is just an ordinary jewelry box. What's so special about it? I think only Ma's fancy jewelry could be found inside."

"That box is different, Miss. Someone sent it to your mother two months before their trip. She has never touched it since then. But something is blocking me from scanning its contents. When I try to probe it, something powerful is trying to corrupt my system."

"Pa paid a hefty price for your custom programming. You are one of the advanced systems in this country. Try to access it again."

Hixa went silent for thirty minutes.

"Hixa, Hixa, are you there?" She looked around, afraid if Hexa met a mishap because of her.

"Miss, I cannot access the box. It seems dangerous. It's best not to touch it."

"Fine, if you won't do it, I'll do it."

"No, Miss. Don't touch it. It might be harmful to you. I suggest leaving it be."

"I only need to know what's inside. Relax. I won't touch it. I will use my protective robotic hands." Daisy opened her hands wide. "Gloves on." She said and metal gloves covered her arms.

Using this specially programmed gear, the tile was yanked out with ease. She took the purple-colored box with gold inlays at the rim. When she opened it suddenly, a blinding and earth-shaking blast of light flashed before her, throwing her to the other side of the room.

Downstairs. Victor, the family butler, was busy cooking in the kitchen and heard a deafening blast followed by a tremor. The glasses on the table almost fell from the shaking.

"Hixa, where is Daisy?"

A buzzing sound entered Victor's ears until a clear voice spoke out of nowhere.

"Hurry, Victor! Miss Daisy is now unconscious in her parent's bedroom."

Without delay, Victor jumped up the two-story stairs, entered the room, and found Daisy lying on the floor with eyes shut. He knelt before Daisy and checked her wrist for a pulse and placed his index finger under Daisy's nose. And then his tensed shoulders relaxed.

"Thank God, she is fine. Show me what happened, Hixa."

Hixa displayed the video feed on a floating monitor showing what took place earlier.

"Scan the object again and find out what that light was." Victor said as he carried Daisy and hurried to the car. He drove straight to the nearest hospital, St. Mary's General Hospital.

Daisy laid in the emergency room while a nurse placed a steel-ring on her finger. A blue light burst out from the ring, enveloping Daisy's body. Minutes past and the monitor behind the bed displayed her vital signs.

Next, a doctor pricked Daisy's finger with a pen connected to a machine they called mobile-laboratory. Later, the monitor on the machine displayed Daisy's lab results.

-----

While she was unconscious, something strange happened in her body. Two hours had passed, and she woke up and saw herself in the hospital bed. When she looked in front of her, a transparent monitor hovered, showing a message she couldn't make out with her still aching head.

'Huh?' She wondered what it was and looked at the surroundings, then to Victor, who was sitting on a sofa beside the bed. She was about to call the butler but felt a pain in her throat.

"Water!" She asked with a hoarse voice.

"Miss! Thank God you're awake. Here's water." Victor handed a glass full of water and Daisy gulped it down right away.

After drinking, Daisy laid down again, thinking of resting. Then a beep came to her ears. She opened her deep-set eyes and looked upfront to find the said screen again. She swept a glance to Victor, who didn't seem to mind but only read her vital signs on the monitor beside the bed.

"Daisy, the doctor said you are fine. Nothing serious happened. Just a bump on your head. He said you can rest today and we'll go home tomorrow morning. We'll talk about what happened to you later. I already left a message to your father and mother. Let's hope we'll get a reply this time."

Daisy frowned. It seemed Victor couldn't see the virtual monitor.

Victor saw her frown and asked. "Anything wrong? I will call the doctor if needed."

"No, not needed. I think I just need to rest," she said. "By the way, does this hospital have its own AI like ours that will show virtual monitors to their patients?"

"Virtual monitor?" Victor wryly smiled, pointing at the monitor attached to the wall. He wondered if something hit Daisy's head after the blast to cannot differentiate between the virtual and the physical one.

Daisy's eyes thinned with Victor's dry joke. "Then what is this?" She pointed at her front.

Victor's brown eyes grew enormous and narrowed, scrutinizing the space where she pointed and looked back at her, nodding. "I think we need to call the doctor now."

"Knock it off." She threw him a glare and looked away. "Never mind. I'll go back to sleep." She said with a wave of a hand and looked back at the message in front of her.

"Congratulations and welcome to the Greatest Inventor System."