Photo-Mix / Pixabay
Jordon inserted the key into the lock. “This is kinda disappointing, actually,” he said, opening the door for his girlfriend. “The fingerprint scanner won’t be changed over to my until next week.”
It was dark inside, and all the windows were tinted. “Aleya,” he said, “turn on the lights.”
The lights rose, slowly revealing the open floorplan. You could see the entire first floor from the entryway. Addilyn gasped. “It’s so cool!”
“My uncle paid top dollar for this place. Cutting edge stuff. Aleya, bring up Netflix.”
In the back left corner, an entire wall shimmered to life, the newest series lined in four-foot high rows. “It’s very Bradbury,” he said proudly. He wasn’t sure what that meant, but his uncle had joked about the screen that way and it sounded clever.
“It’s like owning an iMax,” Addilyn said, wandering over.
“Come here, into the kitchen.” The sleek cabinets and space capsule fridge occupied a corner where the screen was not visible–except once they entered the kitchen, the image slid to the wall opposite them. “Aleya, open the recipe book, subcategory Thai.”
The surface of the kitchen’s island lit up, displaying the names of dishes beside mouth-watering images. Jordon flicked through a few screens. “How about panang chicken curry?” He touched the image, chose Dinner Planning, selected next Tuesday, and hit Confirm. “The ingredients will arrive from Amazon that morning, and we can follow the video directions or let Aleya cook.”
Addilyn squealed. “I can’t believe this! What else is there?”
The dining room table could project the gameboards of a hundred different games, with buttons to handle the rolling and math and shuffling.
The den had curtains that extended from the wall for privacy, if desired, and a massage chair that customized to the tightness of your muscles.
Addilyn closed her eyes and sighed as the chair kneaded her neck and feet. “This can’t be real. This is really your place now?”
Jordon grinned. “Kevin left it to me.”
“I’m almost glad he died. Is that horrible?”
“Naw. He’d been depressed for like a year. He’s not suffering any more.”
The den had a few Easton Press classics, mostly for looks, and a pair of Kindle Infernos preloaded with close to 10,000 books, comics, and magazines.
As Addilyn reluctantly told Aleya to turn off the chair, she watched a small flat robot hum along the floor. “What’s that?”
“One of the cleaners. Looking for dust, I think. You want to check out the bedroom?”
Addilyn smiled seductively. “Yes.”
The bed was a grand king with two remotes. The closet had a track upon which the hangers moved, a wall of mirrors, and a smaller closet within. An exercise room with another wall screen, an elliptical, and a multipurpose weight machine opened on one side of the bedroom.
Sometime later, Addilyn was staring at the ceiling from the bed. “What are those holes? Do you see them?”
They were small, like the pinpricks in a showerhead.
“They control the atmosphere. Watch. Aleya, cinnamon scent.” Soon, they could smell the comforting aroma. “This room can be sealed off from the rest. We can change temperature, humidity, aroma, style of lighting, background noise, pheromones, anything. It even comes with a release setting.”
“You mean, it happened here?”
“Painlessly, like falling asleep. Don’t worry. I’ve changed the sheets since.”
Addilyn closed her eyes, wiggling deeper under the covers. “They’ve thought of everything, haven’t they?”
“Want to try the hot tub?”
She answered with a laugh and sprinted for the bathroom/spa/sauna complex that took up half the second floor.