Power Outage (Patreon)

A cold breeze kicked up dust accross a desolate patch of land, which had been graded by the construction equipment that sat idle. Clouds rolled over the real estate development where one fully furnished dwelling, a show house, stood. However, despite its minimalist exterior and modern design, the contents of this house were rather futuristic: cutting edge devices were strategically placed throughout the model home. These gadgets promised to deliver comforts and automation beyond anything mankind had yet seen. 


In front of the building stood two impatient men, boys really. Each was just shy of being twenty. One had a crop of blond hair which reached his petite shoulder blades. The other had a stylish emo hair cut, one eye obscured from sight with a streak of blue at the ends of the chopped up strands of hair. 


The two older teen's chatted amongst each other while waiting for the technician who was supposed to meet them. Once he arrived, he would engage the testing of the features of the household. Regardless of that, the boys cared more about getting paid once the tests were completed. 


"Man, when's this guy supposed to get here?" The black haired boy, named Kevin, asked in an annoyed tone, shivering from the cold. 


"I dunno, but this is weak. We got here on time and now this clown is lagging." The blond with the shaggy mop whined like a petulant child. 


"I know, man. Wish I brought a hoodie or something." Kevin replied. 


"Shit, I wish we could get lit while we wait, but I ran out the other night." The blond explained. 


"I'd smoke a bowl with you, got some in my car, but who knows if this guy will be a hard ass about it. I didn't even blaze because it's the potent stuff." 


"Shoot, good point. I don't want to go home broke just for smelling too dank." The blond smiled as Kevin chuckled. 


"Shit, man. After we finish here, I'll blaze you out if you're down. Just throw me a fiver." 


"Eh, are they going to pay us straight cash or what?" The blond scratched his head. 


"Doubt it. I just meant that you could cash your check and pull some money out of the ATM. Throw me a five and we'd be even." Kevin elaborated. 


"Yeah, sure thing." The blond looked up at the interior of the porch, a mock stone pillar stood next to the two, supporting the second story. 


"You don't think that they got cameras or like, audio devices up there do you?" Kevin looked at the blond with a blank face.


"Uhhh, don't be paranoid, Eric. Besides, we're sober. They can't say shit." 


"True." Eric instantly felt better. Kevin made a good point. They were just chilling, waiting for this tech guy to show up and let them test out the house. Not like they we're getting drunk or something stupid on their property. 


"Sweet!" Kevin pointed towards the lone road which dissected the wide open development. A white van appeared out of seemingly no where. It was fairly quiet and pulled into the driveway.


"I think he's here, bro." Eric and Kevin's spirits finally lifted. The sooner they could begin the tests, the sooner they'd get paid and could leave. 


However, much to the teen's surprise, a beautiful young red head stepped out of the driver's side door. She was of average height, about the same size and weight as the boys. Her vivid red hair draped across her shoulders, contrasting with her white coat. 


"Damn." Kevin whispered to Eric. 


"I know, dude." Eric replied, almost dumbfounded, completely caught off guard by this woman. He had expected some old dude, hairy fat guy or some combination of the two. 


"Good afternoon." The redhead greeted. "Kevin and Eric, right?" 


"Yeah, I'm Eric." The blond smiled a dumb little grin, intoxicated by the woman's perfume. 


"I'm Kasey." The technical minded woman smiled at the boy with the emo hair. 


"And that must mean that you're Kevin?" 


"Yeah, I am." The nineteen year old stated, a little more level headed than his new buddy. "So, like, you want us to test out this place, right?" 


"Yep, and I've noted that you've agreed to all the waivers and such, but I need you to sign this disclosure form." Kasey pulled out two pieces of paper from within her coat. 


"What are we agreeing to by signing this?" Eric asked, starting to think clearly again. 


"It says that you both agree not to tell anyone about what you see inside. You know, we got to protect our trade secrets." Kasey explained. What she didn't tell them was that the papers held a clause which vaguely eluded to the fact that the corporation would not be held liable for any malfunctions that caused the boys injuries, or even death. 


"For sure." Eric answered.


"Makes sense." Kevin added, as he signed the paper with the pen that Kasey handed him. Eric grabbed the pen from Kevin's hand and jotted down his signature. 


"Good." Kasey smiled, "Everything looks to be in order." The technician put the papers away. "Let's get out of the cold and into the house." 


Kasey pulled out a small laser pointer and shined it onto a small, black surface on the front door. It was a tiny square, barely an inch by an inch in diameter. Suddenly, the door opened automatically. 


*Welcome home, technician three seventeen* 


A sleek, humanoid voice greeted Kasey. 


"Not bad, sounds better than Alexa." Kevin smirked. 


"Yeah, beats the average robotic voice you hear on Google." Eric said, not wanting to be out done by Kevin. It was silly, but the two young men were engaging in the timeless act of trying to impress the fairer sex. However, they both failed to realize that this slightly older lady was not interested in them. She may of been in her mid twenties, but that didn't mean she was into guys that were probably fresh out of high school. 


"Thanks, I didn't design the voice, but I am glad to hear that it's a pleasant enough tone. You'll be hearing her all day." Kasey stepped into the living room, leading her male companions. 


"So, do you like, monitor our reactions or how is this going to go down?" Kevin asked. 


"Basically, I'm here in case something needs adjusting or if a glitch happens. We've tested this system a million times in a closed environment, but this is the first test where the house is actually out in the literal elements. For instance, I'll be monitoring the power consumption and other variables to ensure that everything goes according to plan." 


"What happens if the storm knocks out power? We're not trapped in here, are we?' Eric asked.


"Good question. Depending on what exactly happens, I can call HQ and they'll activate the remote generator to power everything. It's in the prototype stage. In the future, this house, and the rest, will just run back up power automatically." Kasey stated. 


"Why isn't the generator always hooked up to the house?" Kevin wondered aloud. 


"Well, to be honest, it's to test our remote systems. In fact, that'll probably be the last thing that we test. HQ said that they would simulate a blackout to test it." 


"Okay, cool." Eric nodded. 


A loud crack pierced the sky above as the thunder clapped, jarring the trio out of their calm conversation. The boys looked startled by the unexpected noise as the room descended into darkness. A low hum was heard as the house tried to stay online. 


"Shit, I thought it wasn't going to rain until tonight!" Kasey was slightly annoyed by the power going out. 


"Yeah, what's with the thunder?" Eric added. 


"The storm must've blown in earlier than calculated." Kasey sighed and went for her phone which normally rested in her pocket, only to find it missing. "Shit!" She exclaimed. "I left my cell in the van." 


Kevin noticed that the calm demeanor which Kasey carried herself with was broken by the fact that she didn't have her phone and the power had gone out. It was interesting, to the young man, to see how people reacted to minor annoyances. However, had he known that her phone was the only way to get them out of the house, he may of respected the nature of the situation that was rapidly developing. 


"Okay, I have an idea. I'll go manually activate the back up generator since I can't contact HQ." 


Kasey was starting to head down the hall when Kevin called out to her. "You can use my phone." 


"I appreciate it, but it'd probably take longer to wait on hold. We could end up waiting an hour to get the right people on the line" Kasey lamented. "I'll just manually start the back up power. Thanks for the offer though." 


Kasey began to walk deeper into the house, hoping that she could fix this. The last thing she wanted was to end up trapped in here all day with these guys. 'Hell, I'm practically babysitting these guys, but I want to be the...' Kasey shook her head, trying to rid herself of those thoughts. She had to maintain her composure and think professionally. 


A hallway opened up to the garage and a door stood between the technician and the generator. 'Shit, I hope they don't go snooping around. If they find my stash, I'd just die.' Kasey knew that she should have removed everything related to her shameful kink, but she didn't want to abandon her private fortress of infantile delights sooner than she had to. Having an automated system literally pamper her was a dream come true and she wasn't quite ready to let it go. 


"Here we are." Kasey pulled off a panel of the wall, exposing the black, cylindrical device which sat on the ground inside the wall. It was an odd set up, mostly because it only allowed enough room for one person to fiddle with the generator. Still, it had to be compact, the suburban homes couldn't waste space in their layouts. Despite the crampt quarters, Kasey got to work plugging in a few wires and typing a code into the key pad which would turn on the slumbering generator. A low hum came from the device. 


"Eureka!" Kasey shouted as the lights turned on in the garbage.


 *BOOM* 


A blue flash engulfed the entire house thanks to a direct hit with a lightning bolt. The house absorbed the energy like a sponge, but the internal systems were thrown offline. Kasey had covered her head, ducking down, due to the shock wave which had scared her half to death. While she huddled by the generator, she had no idea that the house was rebooting, and that the program she had designed for her private fetish would override the traditional programming. 


To Be Continued...