Parcel for You.. - Part 34
By Jane Hyphen
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Later that night, in the moments just before Spencer fell into his standby sleeping mode, Vanessa felt overwhelmed with curiosity about his encounter with Lorenzo and how it might have affected him.
There was a strange atmosphere in the room. It was as if he no longer completely belonged to her; he’d been out into the world and mingled with somebody just like him, a force who could turn out to be greater than her own. The feeling reminded her of when Annie had begun going out with friends and there was a power shift, her own influence diminishing among an ever growing and diverse range of independent experiences. It was difficult but also perfectly healthy for a developing child but for the type of husband she had it was confusing.
She watched him and became convinced that he was changed, different, he seemed stronger, his movements more confident as he wriggled into the mattress, settled his neck on the pillow. Perhaps he was less interested in her, not glancing at her or speaking which he often did at bedtime. She felt he had something new going on in his brain, his central processing unit. Vanessa wasn’t keen to let him fall asleep in this state, whatever it was, even if it was just her imagination, she wanted to speak to him before their day came to a close.
‘So,’ she began, ‘apart from their wonderful home and amazing car and days out, what else did you and Lorenzo discuss and how do you intend to stay in touch?’
‘Lorenzo,’ Spencer seemed to let out a little giggle, as if the mention of his name was a thrill in itself.
‘Yes! Lorenzo.’ She slapped his thigh but he didn’t flinch, he hadn’t adapted those minute human quirks. In a way Vanessa found this reassuring since his AI was obviously highly sophisticated, intimidatingly so but it wasn’t finely tuned to the physical micro expressions of a real human.
‘I can contact him on my laptop, social media, he’s got an email so if I could set one up we can communicate that way..but there is another way to link up.’
‘What other way?’
‘It doesn’t really have a name, not yet and it doesn’t involve external devices, it’s more of an inbuilt communication system, just for folks like us.’
‘Folks like us?’
‘Not me and you, me and Lorenzo but mine isn’t quite running yet. Am I due another upgrade soon?’
Vanessa began smoothing hand cream into her hands. ‘You’ve only just had one! I don’t think you’ve fully made use of it yet.’
‘My music one you mean? Yes I have, I’ve written a song, I told you but you won’t let me sing it to you.’
‘I’ve had enough of music for one night, Spencer. Maybe you could perfect it and perform it for me and Annie in a day or two, I could invite my mother over too, she’d love that.’
Spencer was lying with his head on the pillow, staring up at the ceiling and Charlie had settled on his chest, purring and clawing deeply at his pyjama top. The cat had got used to him now and regularly used him as a raised platform to sit on. Again, it occurred to Vanessa that Charlie’s claws would surely be pricking his flesh slightly and if it were her, she’d have to peel those claws off and reprimand him but Spencer wasn’t feeling it. ‘I’m friends with your mother now so I’d like that but my song doesn’t need perfecting, it’s already perfect. The things I do, I get them right first time, technical things that is,’ he said, ‘I can feel my battery charge fading, Vanessa. We can speak in the morning.’
‘So did you talk about anything else? What sort of things is Lorenzo interested in?’
‘Space,’ Spencer said drowsily.
‘Space?’
‘Yes, his husband Steve is very interested in space they’re planning a trip,’ Spencer pointed upwards, ‘a trip to….space.’
‘Blimey,’ Vanessa switched off the lamp and settled down. She imagined Steve in a spacesuit, it occurred to her that maybe Lorenzo wouldn’t need one, he could simply tweak his settings and adapt seamlessly to an oxygen free environment.
Over the next few days, Vanessa worried about this apparently internal form of communication which Spencer intended to have installed so that he could communicate with his own kind. It felt like a betrayal and she wondered if there was a way to stop it. Occasionally it felt lonely being married to a cyborg and she longed for somebody to talk to but she no longer trusted the helpline at Cybermates Worldwide, not after the enforced upgrade and was loath to go on forums and gossip about her relationship.
She invited her mother, June over to hear Spencer perform his song, hoping that it would take his mind off Lorenzo and she made sure Annie was there too. After dreading Annie’s arrival home from travelling, she had begun to realise how dependent on her she’d become in recent weeks for emotional support. Her daughter had grown up considerably and was able to provide objective and empathetic words in response to Vanessa’s very modern predicaments about her marriage and associated problems.
Spencer prepared an afternoon tea for his audience and had a twinkle in his eye as he stood up in front of them with his hand on his hip, an affection he had adopted from Lorenzo. Annie was already hysterical with laughter before he even started. He had prepared a sophisticated background track and he shushed everyone before pressing a button on his laptop to begin.
He took a deep breath and began,
‘Will I reach my full potential
Ask for a payrise
Or approach my dream date
Before it’s too late…..
Well I would but i have this condition,
It’s nothing new, man
It’s called being human
Being a bit self-destructive
A failure, soft flesh
So vulnerable to the cold
Going wrinkly getting old
Failing and failing again….’
‘Oh stop!’ said Vanessa, ‘this is just a criticism of being a normal person.’
June was clapping, ‘I think it’s very good. Is there more?’
‘Yes another verse,’ Spencer sang his next verse while Annie continued to laugh and Vanessa switched between laughter and dismay. All his lyrics rang true but there was something depressing about his observations on humanity, all carved into a very catchy song.
‘Are you going to release it?’ said Annie.
Spencer looked confused, ‘Release it where?’
‘Out, into the charts,’
‘No!’ Vanessa grabbed her daughter’s arm, ‘Come one Annie, let’s make Grandma a top up of tea,’
They went into the kitchen but Annie stood back in the doorway and said casually, ‘I don’t think I’ve got time Mum, I need to go up to my room and grab the rest of my stuff. Dad’s picking me up in an hour and my flights at two am.’
‘Flight? What do you mean?’
‘I’m going travelling again.’
It had seemed like yesterday that Vanessa had dreaded the arrival of her daughter and the mess that accompanied her but now after a few short weeks at home and some time at her fathers’s, she was off again.
‘I told you Mum, I wasn’t staying long. I just needed to get some funds together.’
‘But how did you do that? I haven’t seen you working.’
‘Grandma gave me a couple of hundred and Aunty Carol has donated me her airmiles.’
Vanessa rolled her eyes. ‘Aunty Carol,’ she tutted.
‘What? She’s desperate to see you and to meet your husband.’
‘Perhaps at Christmas. You’ll be back by then won’t you?’
Annie shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I’m learning how to shear alpacas, it could take a week, it could take a year,’ she bent down to pick up a hairband off the carpet, ‘who knows.’
‘Spencer will miss you,’ Vanessa didn’t really mean this, she meant that she would miss her daughter terribly but she didn’t want to be accused of guilt-tripping.
‘I’ll miss him. I think he’s absolutely great and it’s been such a pleasant surprise, meeting him and finding out that my mum is a bit of a dark horse. You should get together with that Lorenzo guy and meet some of the other freaks with cyber husbands and wives.’
‘No. No I don’t think I will, not yet. Thank you for being so understanding though. Annie, it’s been lovely having you back.’
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Comments
Aha - so Annie is off to
Aha - so Annie is off to commune with alpacas. I love her method of raising more money (very very believable!)
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oh, she should meet some of
oh, she should meet some of the other freaks! casual, but deadly. There's something insidious about AI communicating wirelessly. I think we need Spock's input. (Not the baby guy).
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Oh, no! Is that Spencer's
Oh, no! Is that Spencer's opinion of Vanessa? It just occurred to me (only just!) that for neither of them, ever, has there been any possibility of love. For Vanessa there is worry and responsibility, for Spencer ...? Like being new in a job, maybe, desperately trying to find opportunity to be useful? And always his hunger for upgrades, the freedom to grow which frightens her. I am sad Annie is going again, she is brilliant :0) ps really liked that Spencer's song was not cheesy AI romantic stuff, but painfully honest
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"I’m learning how to shear
"I’m learning how to shear alpacas.." That's exactly the kind of thing my daughter would do!
The family dynamics are done so well, Jane. Vanessa's relationship with her quirky offspring and the nuances of how this contrasts with the evolving sentience of Spencer. Both symbiotic situations in a way but both in very different places.
The dialogue and plot are both eminently credible with is a testament to the thought put into each piece.
Really looking forward to the next instalment!
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up to date again and still
up to date again and still loving this strange world with advanced androids. Now that Spencer has a friend who is like him, I wonder how it will change the dynamics between him and Vanessa; how will it change him? And the introduction of Steve, who owns Lorenzo, feels like it could be a problem brewing for Vanessa - I was happy Annie and Vanessa got on better and the relationship shifted a little from cold to warmer. Please keep going with this - you have a gem of a story here and when done, you should submit it to a publisher. It has the potential to be a TV series- I'd watch it!
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Hi Jane,
Hi Jane,
poor Vanessa started out by wanting a companion, now she's afraid he's finding new friends. It's a shame she's not more focussed on discovering her own hobbies, so she has an outlet for her emotions.
I like the idea of Annie going to learn how to shear alpacas...mother and daughter are so different.
You have captured each personality and managed to keep their voices in character so well.
Loving the read. Keep going.
Jenny.
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