Sarah could hear the sirens screeching in the background, but her attention was focused on the horrible scene in front of her.
The hurricane’s winds were unlike anything they had seen before. Even their boarded up windows were no match for the strong gales.
And now Axel lay there on the ground, his hand crushed.
She was already contacting the emergency services.
“What’s your emergency?” the polite robotic voice queried, as cheerful as ever despite the circumstances.
“Axel… My husband… His hand…”
“Please close your eyes and take a deep breath,” the voice suggested.
Sarah closed her eyes, but couldn’t get the image out of her head.
“Please explain to me the issue.”
“I can’t…” she sobbed.
“Allow me to take a picture,” the voice prompted.
“Allowed,” Sarah managed to croak.
Suddenly the camera on her glasses activated, examining the scene in front of her.
“I observe one man, on the ground, with a hand injury. It appears to be highly damaged.”
“Can’t you do something?” Sarah’s voice was now barely audible.
“Scans indicate hand requires replacement.”
“But we can’t get to the hospital. The streets are flooded.”
“In the back of the photo I detected a BioForge printer.”
Sarah nodded, even though the voice wouldn’t be able to see that. She was a product manager for the latest biotech printers. One prototype sat in their office, though it hadn’t been fully tested.
“I don’t know if it’ll work. It’s still in development.”
“I’ve generated a 3D replacement using the photos. It can be sent to the printer.”
Sarah raced over to the device. The file was sent from her glasses into the machine’s memory. After a quick warm-up, it got to work building the scaffolding. She was scared, but knew this was the only way to do it in time.
Suddenly the machine shut down and her heart skipped a beat. What was happening?
The lights above her flickered as well. She realized the power was going out. The power lines couldn’t handle the winds either. But without electricity, there would be no way to save him.
She grabbed the raincoat hanging on the wall with a great deal of tension. Could she really go out there, in this storm? As she looked back at the print, she knew she had to brave it for her husband.
When she opened the door she was immediately blinded by the heavy rain. She squinted and could barely see the sidewalk in front of her. Each step took her deeper into the flooded sidewalk. She could not see where she was, but grew closer to the dull object in the center of the community square.
She placed her hands against it. The flat steel showed no signs of operating controls. The winds were now picking up and she did all she could to stay in place.
Finally she found the switch to the microgrid. It was a heavy piece of metal. She pulled down as hard as she could, switching the community to their local power supply.
Exhausted by the battering gusts, she trudged home hoping that she had been successful.
As she stepped through the door, she could hear the soft whirs of the machine again. She sighed with relief.
Sarah could hear the sirens screeching in the background, but her attention was focused on the horrible scene in front of her.
The hurricane’s winds were unlike anything they had seen before. Even their boarded up windows were no match for the strong gales.
And now Axel lay there on the ground, his hand crushed.
She was already contacting the emergency services.
“What’s your emergency?” the polite robotic voice queried, as cheerful as ever despite the circumstances.
“Axel… My husband… His hand…”
“Please close your eyes and take a deep breath,” the voice suggested.
Sarah closed her eyes, but couldn’t get the image out of her head.
“Please explain to me the issue.”
“I can’t…” she sobbed.
“Allow me to take a picture,” the voice prompted.
“Allowed,” Sarah managed to croak.
Suddenly the camera on her glasses activated, examining the scene in front of her.
“I observe one man, on the ground, with a hand injury. It appears to be highly damaged.”
“Can’t you do something?” Sarah’s voice was now barely audible.
“Scans indicate hand requires replacement.”
“But we can’t get to the hospital. The streets are flooded.”
“In the back of the photo I detected a BioForge printer.”
Sarah nodded, even though the voice wouldn’t be able to see that. She was a product manager for the latest biotech printers. One prototype sat in their office, though it hadn’t been fully tested.
“I don’t know if it’ll work. It’s still in development.”
“I’ve generated a 3D replacement using the photos. It can be sent to the printer.”
Sarah raced over to the device. The file was sent from her glasses into the machine’s memory. After a quick warm-up, it got to work building the scaffolding. She was scared, but knew this was the only way to do it in time.
Suddenly the machine shut down and her heart skipped a beat. What was happening?
The lights above her flickered as well. She realized the power was going out. The power lines couldn’t handle the winds either. But without electricity, there would be no way to save him.
She grabbed the raincoat hanging on the wall with a great deal of tension. Could she really go out there, in this storm? As she looked back at the print, she knew she had to brave it for her husband.
When she opened the door she was immediately blinded by the heavy rain. She squinted and could barely see the sidewalk in front of her. Each step took her deeper into the flooded sidewalk. She could not see where she was, but grew closer to the dull object in the center of the community square.
She placed her hands against it. The flat steel showed no signs of operating controls. The winds were now picking up and she did all she could to stay in place.
Finally she found the switch to the microgrid. It was a heavy piece of metal. She pulled down as hard as she could, switching the community to their local power supply.
Exhausted by the battering gusts, she trudged home hoping that she had been successful.
As she stepped through the door, she could hear the soft whirs of the machine again. She sighed with relief.