“Good luck on your dates, Bill!”
I took the 5th Street
HighWalk to the 28th Avenue UnderWalk, cruised under two
blocks of local foot traffic, and came up about a hundred yards from
my unit, which was a modified 21st century Stacked
Brownstone, situated in a row of the same structures between two
office towers. I went up the West Office Tower... it has a
rapid-lift, and we have an entrance from one of the interior
catwalks. Stepping from the matted beige office interior to the
lush, wallpapered hallway of my own building... it was like a gust of
warm, perfum'd air, a breath of comfort.
From the hallway to my front door... a
retinal scan, a quick bioprint (we were thorough with our home
security), and the outside door unlatched and let me into our foyer.
I could hear Janie at the end of the hall, tapping away on a Hand
Tablet.
I looked into the rear study and
regarded Janie for a moment. At 9 years old, she was already
beginning to look like an adolescent... her frame gradually
lengthening, her red hair falling luxuriously across her shoulders.
She was very smart, too... CONTRACT had pushed up her Rigor Curve a
point last week, and she was still knocking out her homework 41
seconds ahead of baseline. She still had a few years to go before she
entered her secondary track, but Marge and I were already thinking
maybe she could be a level-6 or level-7 specialist... not a level-3,
like me, stuck as I was with routine maintenance jobs.
As I watched her touch the Tablet,
lightly, with intricate caresses, I felt a soft hand on my shoulder.
I turned around to find Marge looking at me with a warm, sleepy
smile.
“Napping before dinner, darling?” I
put my arm around her and pulled her into me. I glanced back at
Janie; she hadn't looked up at us.
“You look at her like a little boy in
love,” Marge said softly.
“Yeah, well, it's a nice scene to
come home to.” I pulled Marge in and gave her a kiss; at this,
Janie glanced up for a second, and then went back to her homework.
“Did she go into Primary to get the Tablet scanned?” I asked
Marge.
“Yes, spent most of the day playing
with some friends, then stopped by Primary before she came home. Now
diligently doing her homework, before she eats us out of house and
home.”
“That's what it takes to grow that
fast, I guess.”
“Well, she eats so much, we're
practically over allowance for this period.”
“Seriously? Are you being serious
about that? We can raise our Appeal next period...”
“No, Bannon, I am not serious.
Between you and her and my snacks, our Appeals are big enough for two
families.”
I looked at Janie for another second,
and then Marge and I drifted off toward the kitchen, as if to check
that we had enough food for the three of us. Marge settled in behind
our mini-bar and started pawing through the cupboard for some
ingredients. I watched her for a second, and then turned to our
dining area to see if anything needed cleaning up before we sat down
to eat. I noticed a beautiful red velour hat on the table, a sort of
squat little thing, with a small feather tucked into the band.
(The RSS for this serial fiction can be found here.)
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