Prodigy Returns (book 3)

Chapter Twenty-Six

Alex had been on the planet for only four nights and each night her bed had become more comfortable. She slept soundly through the night and in the morning she was awoken by her father. Since there wasn't any natural light inside the room, she had no idea what time it was.

After taking a few minutes to properly wake up, Alex eventually followed her father to the breakfast table. The rest of the family were already at the table preparing to eat. In the lighted kitchen, Alex saw her dad looking younger and spryer, even from the night before. He went over to the stove and poured batter into a large frying pan.

"Good morning," Alex said, taking a seat next to her little sister. "Hi Olivia, how are you?"

Olivia smiled and offered Alex a piece of fruit.

"Oh wow, what is this?"

"It's a bobo," Olivia said.

"We let her name a lot of the fruit here," Kyodin said.

"A bobo, huh?" Alex said, accepting the peculiar-looking fruit. "Thank you, it looks delicious. Are these your favourite?"

The girl smiled and nodded. Alex studied the fruit, looking for the best way to eat it.

"It's like a pear," Maxim said, "you can eat everything accept the core."

Alex took a bite and was blown away at the rich flavour and texture. The bobo fruit had the consistency of a pear, but the flavour of a sweet grape.

"It's amazing," Alex said, still chewing.

"It's really great to have someone here that gets my references," Maxim said. "These guys have never been to Earth and have no idea what I'm talking about half the time."

"Father often says, 'life is like a bowl of fruit, you never know what you're going to get'."

"Is that, right?" Alex said, recognizing the famous line from an old movie. Maxim looked slightly embarrassed. "It's good advice... good and original," she said, winking at her father.

"Shall we eat?" Maxim said, approaching the table with a hot skillet. "In honour of our guest from Earth, I made pancakes and omelets."

"That's an interesting combination," Alex said.

"Of course, if this doesn't suit your appetite, we always have this lovely spread of fruit that you are more than welcome to eat. I want you to feel completely at home here at Eden. This is your home now too."

"Thanks."

Breakfast was served and Alex used the opportunity to ask more questions. She wanted to keep it light, especially since Olivia was present. However, at some point she wanted to discuss more meaningful questions with her father.

"What's an average day look like for you guys?" she asked.

"Most days, I busy myself in the garden or work on various projects."

"What sort of projects?"

"I tinker around in the lab. Right now, I'm trying to develop a servant droid."

"A friend of mine in Tokyo had one, they're really cool. Perhaps I can help you with that," Alex offered.

"I'd like that," Maxim said. "As I was getting older in age, I found a lot of menial tasks becoming increasingly difficult. I wanted to create a multi-functional droid that I could program to do certain tasks for me such as cooking, cleaning, and other household chores. The idea is that it could follow me around and obey my mental commands through an implant or some kind of headset."

"Sounds interesting."

"Dad, speaking of old age, you look great by the way," Kyodin said.

"Thank you. I've been given a new treatment that should help me look and feel a bit younger. In fact, after breakfast, maybe we can all go for a hike. I'd love to show Alex around. How does that sound?"

"Well, since I have no other plans, I'd be delighted to go for a hike."

In Alex's periphery, she could see Olivia taking food from her plate and putting it under the table. Alex arched her neck back to see Olivia feeding a little animal on her lap.

"What do you have there?" Alex asked.

"Zeus," Olivia said shyly, showing Alex what she was holding. In her hand was a tiny mouse-like creature with big ears and large hind legs. It looked like a pygmy jerboa from Earth.

"Is Zeus your pet?"

The little girl nodded.

"We got Zeus for her birthday last week," Maxim said. "Oddly enough, he just sort of showed up at our home. Friendly little guy. Haven't seen any others like him around."

"Oh my gosh, how exciting!" Alex said. "Happy birthday! I'm sorry I missed it."

This seemed to make Olivia happy as she continued to feed her pet. The little creature was docile and didn't move around a lot. He just sat comfortably in the palm of Olivia's hand and nibbled on some leaves.

"So what do you guys do for fun around here?" Alex asked.

"The kids have toys they like to play with, but we also watch movies together, play games, go for hikes," Maxim said. "Kyodin hunts every couple of weeks or so. Sometimes Monk goes with him, or other times Monk stays around here to help me take care of Olivia. I used to go with Kyo, but at a certain point my health prohibited me. Right now, I'm teaching Olivia how to swim."

"Ooh swimming, that sounds like fun. What about school?" Alex asked.

"I've just started teaching her mathematics. She already knows how to read and write."

"Wow, you must be really smart, Olivia," Alex said.

"Yes she is. She reminds me a lot of you."