Chapter 139: 2020
The future of 2020 remained largely unchanged. The sun hadn't moved any closer, and the Earth hadn't stopped spinning.
Everything was much the same as in previous years.
Wandering through a slightly futuristic city in Texas, Jake found himself quickly blending in.
If he had to identify the key difference, it was the prevalence of advanced robotics. Aside from the fighting robots and somewhat more sophisticated information technology, everything else was familiar.
Children played in the streets, holding intricate robot toys and staging mock battles with each other.
In this world, robots had become mainstream culture.
He recalled his earlier conversation with Charlie. He'd only intended to hitch a ride and maybe help the guy out a bit—to be honest, while the father-son storyline in the movie was predictable, it wasn't unbearable.
But he hadn't expected such an unexpected windfall.
As a local with connections, Charlie knew practically every low-tier robot factory and salvage yard in the state—after all, that was his livelihood. As the protagonist, you should never underestimate his networking abilities.
Jake's casual mention of wanting robots had unexpectedly led to Charlie actually offering to help him purchase them in bulk.
A hundred robots, brought back to his Fury Road base, could definitely accelerate construction by dozens of times!
And a hundred robots could also be customized in appearance and function!
After wandering around the city for a while, he grew somewhat contemplative. This world wasn't so different from his original one—perhaps only robot battles could capture his attention and make his eyes light up with genuine interest.
The reason he'd gotten dropped off in the city center was because Charlie needed to pick up his son. His ex-girlfriend had died, and his son was now alone, even though Charlie had never actually met the kid.
Undoubtedly, Charlie—who hadn't yet experienced the emotional awakening that comes with fatherhood—was still a hustler, a con artist at heart.
He possessed all the questionable qualities of a deadbeat: stingy, greedy, and self-centered.
In the original film, Charlie sold his son's custody rights to someone else for $100,000, though he later came to deeply regret it.
Compared to Charlie's current state, Jake preferred the man he'd become by the film's end—someone who'd learned what actually mattered in life.
He lit a cigarette and took a drag.
Perhaps this thing truly possessed some special quality? Just one puff, and much of the mental clutter in his mind seemed to dissipate.
Maybe Charlie was right—men have to grow up eventually, and you can't eat candy forever.
Passing a convenience store, Jake bought a bottle of 2020 Coca-Cola. The taste was identical to what he remembered, and the sugar content was the same, except the packaging featured an image of Zeus, the robot currently dominating the World Robot Boxing league.
The cigarette burned quickly, and Jake barely registered finishing it.
Perhaps this was a kind of maturation? Moving from candy to cigarettes.
"Take me to Bailey's Gym," he told a taxi driver, casually checking his phone.
But he soon felt somewhat self-conscious.
The taxi driver's phone had a transparent touchscreen display showing various applications, which could be voice-controlled or manually operated.
Compared to that, his phone seemed outdated—a large screen with rounded corners and a physical home button, a design common in his original world.
So he decided to make a detour before heading to Charlie's place to discuss the robot deal. He asked the taxi driver to take him to buy a new phone first.
The Sony X-2020, a newly released model this year.
It was sleek and compact, and supposedly boasted 100GB of RAM. According to the salesperson, it was equipped with a processor derived from fighting robot technology, making it incredibly fast!
Jake simply smiled at the marketing pitch.
100GB of RAM? Like it could control a sophisticated fighting robot? He knew machines like Zeus required multiple operators working simultaneously—the amount of data processed every second was astronomical.
However, 100GB was definitely more than sufficient for a phone, completely surpassing the 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB of his original world's smartphones.
He bought one for two thousand dollars. Thank goodness U.S. currency still worked in this world.
Some might wonder—how can the U.S. dollars Jake obtained from other worlds still be used here? What about duplicate serial numbers?
That's overthinking it.
These are all parallel movie universes. Can you claim that U.S. currency printed in one world is automatically counterfeit in another? Why would banknote verification technology differ between similar timelines?
As for serial numbers—if not used in massive quantities, even duplicates won't raise flags. After all, most cash just circulates through the economy. It's entirely possible for a bill to circulate for over a decade without returning to a bank.
Even with large-scale transactions, as long as the bills aren't counterfeit, someone will accept them, and they'll get mixed into circulation and effectively laundered.
After purchasing his phone, Jake got into a cab and headed toward his destination.
He casually played a couple of futuristic mobile games during the ride—they were surprisingly engaging.
When he arrived at "Bailey's Gym," a woman in a athletic tank top appeared before him. "You're looking for Charlie, right?"
Nodding, Jake waited for her to continue.
"Charlie just called and said if a guy in a dark suit shows up, to let him come in and wait."
Watching the rather aloof woman's back, Jake shrugged and followed her inside.
Bailey Tallet—Charlie's close friend and business partner, the female lead of this story, and the only person who consistently believed in Charlie despite his flaws.
However, she seemed to be in a foul mood today.
With nothing better to do, Jake found a seat and watched Bailey welding and repairing parts—all robot components.
After watching for a while, he lost interest and took out his newly purchased phone to explore its features.
Two hours passed with both of them absorbed in their respective activities. Bailey hadn't even offered him a glass of water, completely ignoring Jake's presence.
Finally, Charlie returned.
He rushed in before his truck had even fully stopped, calling out to Jake, "Sorry I ditched you on the road! Had to deal with my son!"
"Charlie, why are you so late!" Bailey stepped forward, blocking Charlie's path to Jake.
"What's wrong?" Charlie was still trying to wave at Jake—after all, this was a high-value client, and he couldn't afford to be rude.
Bailey lowered her voice, grabbed the arm of the man she cared about, and pulled him aside. "You owe me three months' rent, and now someone came by demanding payment!"
"Oh!" Charlie scratched his head and laughed nervously. "What are you thinking?!"
He gently moved Bailey aside and walked up to Jake, throwing an arm around his shoulders. "This is my buddy, and we just closed a great deal together."
Businessmen rarely have genuine friendships, and though Jake understood this was mostly performance, he still nodded in agreement with a knowing smile.
[A/N: Bailey Tallet is played by Evangeline Lilly in Real Steel (2011). She runs the gym where Charlie trains his robots and is one of the few people who still believes in him despite his many failures. The year 2020 in this universe features advanced robotics but is otherwise similar to our timeline.]
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