A. I. Evolution: The Coming of Christopher

Chapter 12

I take my small bag of clothes and the mementos from the few staff at the clinic that had known me for months while I lay recovering, oblivious to their care, and head up to the top floor and the front door to my apartment. The sun is shining on the front of the building, which is where my big windows are, as I open the door with the key that was still in my jacket after the accident and enter the brightly lit, but sparsely furnished apartment.

I look around at the space that seems so far removed from who I am now, realizing it is all in the past for me. The fact that the apartment has been empty for quite some time quickly becomes apparent as the smell from the kitchen assaults my nostrils. Oh no. Whatever was in the fridge before I left for work that day, must have gone bad. I rush in to see the dishes that I had left uncleaned in the sink. They had grown a nice crop of mildew over the five months I was gone, but I move past them to the fridge at the end of the short counter, on the opposite side of the sink from the stove.

I take a deep breath before pulling the door open, afraid of what I might see inside. The door opens smoothly, which is a good sign, but the smell that billows out like a cloud of steam from hot water being poured through a strainer to drain noodles after cooking, forces me to take a step back.

The first thing I see is the container of milk that I suspect is the main culprit, as I pick it up and give the side of the cardboard container a slight squeeze, forcing the foul odor out of the small opening on top like a blast from an air gun. I quickly realize that everything in the fridge needs to be gathered up and sealed inside a plastic garbage bag, before the smell can flow farther into the apartment, impregnating the cloth of the couch and curtains on the windows. The garbage bags are in the drawer between the sink and the fridge, and in moments the foul-smelling contents are secured under thick plastic.

There is no help for it now, the fridge and sink will have to be washed thoroughly, before I can relax in my own home. I open the cupboard doors below the sink, which is where I keep my cleaning supplies to find them all but gone.

I smile, and sigh "ah", at the fact that I will have to go out and get some more from the store. I reach for my coat and realize that my car is probably already a crushed cube sitting in some wrecking yard somewhere, and I either need to walk or call a cab to take me to the mall, which is just down the street and across the boulevard. I reach for the phone but realize that I don't even have any money on me, and the money I had in the bank would have gone to pay the automatic bills. I stop to think and try to remember if there was any money left behind in the apartment that day, so long ago.

I find myself staring out the window, surprised that I was doing so, as I remember distinctly thinking that I needed to go to the bank after work, so I could get the weeks groceries. The sureness of the memory makes me smile. "Maybe the Nanos left me a little bit of a surprise."

I think of the check in my coat pocket from the Firm and smile, "well, I guess a trip to the bank and then cleaning supplies, along with some necessary groceries, is in order."

The mall is nearly empty when I walk through the main doors and look down the long wide corridor that goes the length of the structure. The walk in the sunlight had brightened my spirits greatly, and the fact that I was heading to the bank and would soon have more money than I had ever had in my life, only added to that euphoria.

The bank manager had to come out and authorize the check, because of the large amount it was for. It felt good to see the man, who had never even noticed me in all the years I had banked in his branch, smile sweetly at me from beside the clerk on the other side of the teller's opening after he saw the check from such a respected company. "Well, Mr. Stronge, is there anything I can help you with? My office is right this way."

"No, I have just returned home after being away for almost five months, and there are a few things I need to pick up first, but thank you for the offer."

He nods his head and hands me his card. "Just in case you need to make some investments or anything else, Sir."

I take the money from the blond teller who is smiling sweetly at me. "I will let you know, but right now I should be going."

I walk a little taller towards the grocery store and the necessities that I need. In no time, I have numerous bags full of milk, bread, and meats for munching on, along with the dreaded cleaning supplies and gloves, so I call a cab to take me back across the boulevard to my apartment.

I quickly clean the sink and the fridge with the strong disinfectant and open the windows to air out the place. I get the apartment back into some resemblance of a living space and sit down to watch some TV. I lay back on the couch and relax with a large cup of coffee, along with a ham and cheese sandwich to eat before I decide what to do with the rest of my day and the next few, before I am due to go back to work.

I turn on the flat screen TV to check for the shows that I had programmed the receiver to record automatically, and stare at the screen, trying to make some sense of what I was looking at. The picture looked like it was not coming in fast enough, almost as if it was loading from the top down slowly. I could make out what was on the screen, but it was blurry. "Great", I think to myself. "Now I need to go out and get a bigger TV, could this day get any better."

Ishut it off and eat my sandwich and drink my coffee as I stare blankly out thewindow to the leaves moving slightly on the branches just outside my window. Ineed to pull myself back from my random thoughts forcefully and consciously. Idon't remember what I was thinking during that time, but the feeling ofhappiness was welcome.