Norton Weisman leaned over his desk, putting the final touches on his "project" - the one that had taken (on and off) almost a year to complete. He looked over at his computer screen and smiled. It was almost done. All he had to do was ...
"Norton!" his mother shouted from upstairs.
He cringed, hearing her piercing voice. Then said "What, Mom?"
The doorknob on the basement door turned back and forth. It was locked.
"Don't you have classes to go to?" she asked, through the door.
"Not today. Remember?"
There was a pause. "Oh, yeah. I do remember now." There was another pause. "You're gonna come up for lunch, aren't you? I don't want you spending all your time down in that basement."
"I'm gonna come up soon, Mom. I just need to finish something."
"What are you working on down there, anyway?"
His mom was starting to annoy him. "Mom, can I just have some privacy? Please?"
"Fine." Then she was gone.
Norton sighed, then turned back to his project. Norton, he thought to himself. Even before I was a loser, I was a loser. Why did Mom and Dad have to name me Norton? What kind of a girl would want to date someone with a name like that? None, that's what.
But then he smiled, looking down at the goo inside the Petri dish sitting before him. "But that's all about to change," he muttered to himself. He scooped up some of the bluish-looking goo and put it on a slide, then put the slide under his microscope. Looking into it, he saw a bunch of tiny metal objects. Zooming in, the metal objects got bigger, but they were still tiny. They were nanobots. He had created them in his lab - that's what he called the basement. It took him nearly a year to do it, but considering what they could do, it was well-worth the wait.
A window popped up on his computer screen, with the word: PASSCODE
Norton smiled and typed in: YOU'RE A SEXY DRAGONFLY
Then he hit enter. A progress bar appeared and he just sat back and waited. When it was done, one word appeared on the screen that made him really excited. And that word was: READY
Norton smiled, then put all the goo into a small plastic container.
"Now to test it," he said aloud.
He turned off his equipment and his computer, then he grabbed the container and walked upstairs. Then he left the basement.
In the kitchen, his mother was sitting at the table, reading a magazine and (as always) smoking. It was a habit she had since she was in high school. She looked up at him. "Well, it's nice to see you finally coming out of that dungeon. I'd hate to think that you'd want to spend your entire vacation down there," she said sourly.
Norton walked to the counter behind her and opened one of the cabinets, making it sound like he was getting a plate or a cup or something. But what he was really doing was opening the container and lightly dipping his finger into it. Then he quickly turned around and wiped the goo onto the back of his mother's neck. It was the only way to do it. The nanobots in the goo needed to be as close to the brain as possible (from there, the tiny robots would be attracted to the brain like a magnet). The back of the neck was the best place to do it. He really only needed a couple nanobots to do the job, but it didn't hurt to have a few more. And he could always create more, although it might take a little time. But now that he got the design down pat, it wouldn't take as long as last time.
"Did you just put something on my neck?" his mom suddenly asked, turning her head towards him.
Norton walked around and stood across the table from her. "You're a sexy dragonfly."
Suddenly, his mother sat straight up, stiffly. She had a glazed over, blank look in her eyes.
"What I do with my time is my business. When I'm in the basement, you won't bother me. And you definitely won't go down there without my permission." A few months ago, he saw her snooping around down there. She didn't know what he was doing, fortunately, but it didn't matter. She was intruding.
Norton looked down at the ash tray and suddenly had a thought. He wanted to see how far he could go with these nanobots. How much control could he have over other people? Would his will (with the help of his nanobots) be strong enough against their will?
"You don't smoke. You hate smoking. You even hate it when someone else in the room is smoking." He paused. "Pick up the cigarette and put it out."
His mother did as he asked.
"Now throw it away. Throw all the cigarettes away."
Again, she did as he asked, then sat back down at the table.
Norton picked up the ashtray and dumped the ashes in the kitchen garbage can, then put the ashtray back on the table.
He looked at his mother. She was still in the hypnotic trance. He could say anything to her right now, make her think anything, make her do anything. But it didn't seem right. She was his mother. He couldn't even think of using her like that. But now that she had been "conditioned" (putting the goo on her neck and saying the passcode to activate the nanobots - since they attach themselves to the brain, they use the person's own ears as a way to understand voice commands), Norton could just put her into another trance anytime he wanted, without having to put more of the goo on her. All he'd have to do is say the passcode.
He looked at her, then said "You're a sexy dragonfly." It seemed like a good passcode to use. It's something that no one would say, or so he figured.
His mother blinked, then went back to reading her magazine as if nothing had happened. But then she stopped and put it down. "Where did that come from?" she asked, looking at the ashtray.
"Oh that?"
"Yes, that. Norton, you know how much I hate smokers. Where did it come from?"
"I got it at a yard sale."
"Well, get rid of it. I don't want people thinking that a smoker lives her."
"Sure thing," Norton said, grabbing the ashtray. He walked to the front door, then opened it. "I'm going out. Is that okay?"
"What you do is none of my business."
"Remember not to go in the basement."
"Norton, you know I'd never do that without your permission."
He smiled. It was working perfectly. But his mother was just the initial test. He wanted to see how far he could push people, and he didn't want to use his mother for those types of tests. No, he'd have to find someone else.
But who?
