Ty, a shift manager with an alcoholic wife, creates a female replicant in a dystopia veering toward full mechanization. For Ty, the surreal drudgery of working in a retail environment is interrupted when robotic interfaces are installed at his job...
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Back home, he was pleased to find Jennifer setting the dinner table. Her hair was combed, her clothes were clean, and her face sparkled with hints of makeup. Ty grabbed her by the arm to check her eyes, smell her breath. Both eyes were clear, and her breath blew minty fresh.
The show was nothing new. For a few months at a time, Jennifer turned her shit around. When being a regular, caring person over-burdened her, the drinking started all over again, worse than before.
Déjà vu hit as she spoke.
"I know I've been slipping, but I promise I'm gonna fix it."
The next part of the re-run happened when Ty kissed her.
"I know," he said.
Though they had experienced the same cycle more than once, he still trusted his wife. They had coupled since high school, nearly ten years. Ty couldn't imagine life without her or Helia, no matter how fractured their lives.
They enjoyed a family dinner, with Damon joining mid-course. He wolfed down a pork chop and skulked back to his room. Ever since his failed experiment, he tried endlessly to re-program the printer. Ty knew that because it was the only information he managed to wrestle from his brother. Before, he had spent most of his time in his bedroom. Now, he spent all of his time in his room, only emerging for meals. From the smell of him, Ty doubted Damon showered.
"Bug!" Helia exclaimed in between bites of carrots. "Bug fly!"
"Yes, baby, a bug flies," Jennifer agreed.
He and Jennifer shared civil conversation during dinner. Ty elaborated on his managerial responsibilities, and vented about technological advances.
"You think the machines might someday replace you," Jennifer said.
It wasn't a question. She waited for an answer. A sober Jennifer was far more perceptive. The truth of her statement rang loudly, and he didn't want to listen. Resentful of the machines? Yes. Scared of the machines? No.
Same thing.
In response to both Jennifer and internal wisdom, Ty shook his head.
"Not afraid." He swallowed a lump. "I see people becoming so dependent on these constructs and they aren't remembering who built the things. Humans."
She jumped ahead. "So it's humans overall who are going to be forgotten?"
Right then, he wished she weren't sober. "No, I uh, I don't know." Ty went a different way in the discussion. "An old man shit on the floor today!"
"What?"
"Bug!" Helia cried for the third time.
A fly buzzed around her head. Her chubby arms waved around trying to catch it.
Damon's little pet. Must've let it out of the case. Why did he do that?
Jennifer hijacked his wanderings by asking him to elaborate on his shit story. Ty forgot about the bug, choosing to focus on his family. Later, Jennifer and Ty took turns with Helia's bedtime rituals. The familiarity was comforting. Helia drifted off to sleep happy, and on time, allowing her parents peace to stay up and watch a movie. After, they released the sexual energy built up between them. From the adjacent room, Damon knocked on the wall, an alert to quiet down.
Jennifer blushed, but Ty laughed and knocked right back.
~*~
A/N: Click vote. It's quick, it's easy, and it'll make my day!
Her work is amazing, particularly her latest Watty's shortlisted novel, Cursed Maiden. However, my favorite story by her is, of course, a sci-fi one: Ro the Unaltered:
