Devil's Paradise

16: Time Machine: Changing World

A general weakness reminded me I had not eaten in two days. Passing the kitchen, I told it to have breakfast ready when I got out of the shower. I peeled off my filthy clothes, and then stopped and looked around. When was the last time I had cleaned anything?

The apartment was immaculate. "Merlin," I muttered. I had given the artificial intelligence the ability to use my credit cards and pay my bills. And I had never objected as the latest of Merlin's inventions got installed in my place first. "Must be a general cleaning bot somewhere," I muttered. I'd never seen one, though.

I dropped the clothes on the bathroom floor, and said, "Wash these," as I stepped into the shower. "Full cycle, shave and haircut," I told the shower, as the wash bot reached out from under the sink and pulled in my clothes. I knew the kitchen would adjust the delivery time for breakfast, based on the shower I ordered.

Fifteen minutes later, I was sitting at my table, wearing clean clothes, and eating an excellent breakfast. The clothing was rough cotton, as cloth making was one industry which still hadn't spun up with automation after the war. The food was fresh.

As I bit into the mouth washer after breakfast, I thought about asking Merlin to focus on making good clothing next. By the time the washer pinged a few seconds later and I spit it out, I realized I didn't care. I was going back to 2029, where I would have to go back to brushing teeth the old-fashioned way. The problems of this world would no longer bother me.

My walk over was in pleasant sunshine, and most people greeted me cheerfully. The ones who didn't either had on virtual reality helmets, or were protesting in front of city hall. I bought an apple from a pushcart vendor and crunched it as I walked.

"Louis!"

I turned to the familiar form hurrying over. "Hello, Mayor Witherstick." Delilah was in her usual business attire, so I addressed her formally in public.

"Louis, we had complaints about your power usage last night. I went by your lab again, but you'd already gone home, although you were still drawing an awful lot of power." Her eyes went wide. "What were you doing?"

I frowned. "There was power available for all demands last night."

"It's not the amount of power, Louis, it's the disruptions. They wreaked havoc with the regional VR games last night."

"Oh. Sorry. I had forgotten how popular those are getting," I mused, as a group of Jedi knights made their way past on the street. "I'll try not to cause more disruptions." Actually, after today, I won't have to deal with you at all. I smiled at her and started to move on.

She sighed. "Can you please put sanitation higher on that robot's to-do list?"

I sighed myself, which got me a large whiff of the ripening street, tried not to choke, and nodded. She knew Merlin was not a robot, but it wasn't worth another argument.

She let me go but she was watching me with intensity as I walked away. No time to lose.

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