THE EDGE OF THE UNIVERSE

CHAPTER 6: THE WEEKEND

"Wake up, my love. I made coffee."

As I opened my eyes, I saw the beautiful face of my wife. She was lying next to me in our bed, softly holding my cheek. Her blonde hair fell loosely over her shoulder, her flowery gown revealing a bit of her naked breasts. Oh, maybe I want something more than just coffee... As I leaned over to kiss her, a deafening sound pulled me back to reality. My alarm. It was just a dream. Furious that I couldn't kiss Grace one more time, I smashed the clock against the bedroom wall and went back to sleep. But first I saved the dream to my memory file so that I could rewatch it at any time.

My internal clock wouldn't let me sleep much longer though. It was Saturday, which meant I had to buy groceries, clean the apartment, and maybe work out a bit. I could have bought an assistant or a cleaning bot like everyone else, but I liked keeping myself occupied. Since the death of Grace and Joanna, I hadn't taken up my old hobby again - writing my book. But as more time passed, I started to feel like I should get back to it. Maybe I will tonight, with a nice glass of wine.

I finished cleaning the place and was about to go to the store when I heard my phone

ringing. Mom.

"Hey, Mom!"

"Hi, my baby, how are you? Am I interrupting?"

"Not at all, I was about to head out. What's up?"

"I was wondering if you had time to grab a cup of coffee with your old Ma?"

"I wanted to say you're not old Mom, but in your case, it's true." I smiled through the phone.

"Ha, ha you're so funny."

"Yeah, I could meet you in an hour over at Marney's. Would that work?"

"Yes, lovely! See you in a bit!"

It was a really hot day; the ozone protection film was not really doing its job, I thought to myself. Better turn the body temperature down a bit. My AI lenses, VOXX, were regulating everything for me. I could give them every command to execute just through my brain impulses - I only had to think of the words. Marney's was an original café from 2024. It had been renovated a few times, but most of its original features were still intact. As I walked into the café, my mother was already sitting at her favorite table - the one in the back by the window. Considering she was 336, she still looked like 57. That was the year she got her switch No. 1. She was still always checking up on me, asking for dinner, coffee, or a movie. She knew how hard the last couple of months had been for me. I appreciated her concern.

"So tell me, Marc, what have you been doing lately? How was your first day back at Space Riders?" Mom asked.

"It was surprisingly okay. I still have a lot of work to catch up on, but my latest project is coming along quite well."

"Oh, that's lovely to hear. And are you eating properly? You are still a bit thin."

Mothers. I knew she meant well, but she was constantly worried about me.

"Mom, I'm okay, please stop. I know that worrying is your job, but really, I'm doing better day by day."

She took my hand and squeezed it. "Okay, fine. You will always be my baby, no matter how old you are. Or me." She smiled.

We talked for a while, had coffee and some pastries, and I walked her back to her house. Even though Dad isn't alive anymore, my mother still lives in my old childhood home. I, too, am sometimes concerned she might be lonely. But she has two dogs, many friends, and acquaintances from her voluntary work.

"Bye, Mom, have a great Sunday. I'll see you soon."

"You too, Marc. Take care. Bye now." She gave me a kiss on the cheek.

Back at my apartment, I was greeted at the door by Carl. That little rascal was always looking for something to eat. Initially, I only had a few things for Carl, but he really grew on me. He became a spoiled little fur baby. He now had multiple cat beds and trees, the best and healthiest cat food on the market, and even a cat bot to play with. He was living his best life, maybe even better than mine. I gave him a little treat.

For dinner, I had a meal already prepared with the exact nutritional values my body needed. I just had to warm it up. It was potatoes with coccoli (formerly known as broccoli, but now crossed with coconut) and fish. Slowly, the fish stock was being replenished, so you could buy it in the store again. For many years, fish was not available due to overfishing in the early 2000s. I bought meat and fish only on very few occasions. You might think such a meal wouldn't be very tasty, but that wasn't the case. It tasted like a home-cooked meal.

As I sat down at the table, Carl, as always, sat beside me while I ate. I couldn't forget the strange encounter we had yesterday at "the Fox" with that Astrix guy. What did he want with the Uranium? I knew that this chemical element was used as a fuel many years ago, but today, there were plenty of other eco-friendly alternatives. I took a sip of my wine and started thinking about the MSS project. It was so close to completion. The only thing missing was enough fuel. The mobile space station resembled a car, but when you got in, it was much bigger than it looked. It was almost like a smaller space station. You had all the amenities you'd need – a bedroom, bathroom and kitchen, even a small living room. The enhanced kerosene we used for the MSS and other vehicles was strong enough to take you to any planet at the edge of our Milky Way. But what if you mixed kerosene with Uranium? Could that result in a super fuel, an endless source of power?! I needed to do some research on Monday at work.

Sunday used to be myfavorite day of the week. Grace and I would sleep in, have a late breakfastwith Joanna, and do something together as a family. We would go for a walk, visita museum, go to the movies or the lake, or have a picknick. It was alwayssomething special. And for dinner, we'd order takeout. Now, my Sundays aredreadful hours spent reminiscing about old times. Sometimes would I meet up withJames and Becca in the afternoon, but I still miss my family.