A.I. With Attitude

She checked the time on her Communicator, she had tweaked hers with the help of Jason so it had more of a unique personality & , since the communicator followed her into the online world, this gave her a personalized AI companion. Jason had been inspired by the butlers of old, expanding on that concept she remembered an old animated cartoon that her father had introduced her to. How she adored that show, the main character was a vigilante who dressed up as a bat & beat up criminals, but she always loved his wise but snarky butler named Alfred. Together these two concepts combined & what they got was a very sassy & full of itself AI "Henry, judging pedestrian traffic what time will Mom get home?".

A slightly british, & snooty 40s sounding male voice came through the Comm " Well, its about bloody time, I was getting bored do you have any idea how lonely it gets? You really should practice your social skills while out & about with me, you need to be interacting more with people or you'll never find let alone make a suitable match for youself in the future." She rolled her eyes, there he goes again talking about playing matchmaker for her, he really was like a mother hen in some ways. Though, how would the bat fare without dear Alfred? He was always forgetting to take care of himself, & in her mind this was common among successful people, which is what she wanted to be. She would never admit it but this was also true about heroes, & maybe she wanted to be that too.

As if sensing He wasn't going to get anywhere again he spoke up" And Mam should be returning in approximately 4.3 minutes".She smiled at his change in subject atleast he knew when to shut up about certain things. Though he was very repetitive harping on her about finding a suitable match for a partnership, he obviously felt his mistress was superior & deserved a superior mate.

The term "Marriage" was no longer used as it mainly belong to hetro relationships, nowdays it was called a "Partnership" which was two or more people of any gender or sexual orientation engaged in a long-term, usually life-long, committed relationship. Henry was always haressing her about her age & the fact she didn't have any suitable canidates in her life yet.

So, her mother would be home shortly yet with a few more mins left she decided to make one more thing for the dinner. She opened the cabinets pulled out a pot & a packet of Couscous, she emptied it into the pot, grabbed a spoon & headed to the sink with it. She put the pot under the faucet & touched the pad that said boiling, already boiling hot water flowed into the pot it filled about a third, not even enough to cover the Couscous completely, before she shut it off by touching it again.

As she did the front door opened & her mother entered in an identical protective suit the hood pushed back already exposing her mothers face & hair. Her mother had soft but homely feautures, with shoulder length black hair streaked with silver. The woman seemed to be in her late 40's maybe alittle older it was hard to tell, the tiredness in her face making her appear older than she actually was. She had high cheek bones but soft, gradual contours of her face. Her eyes had dark circles under them, crows feet had started to form in the corners showing she had a well lived life previously. Her eyes were a dim brown, as if most of the light in them had vanished over the years.

Upon seeing her mother Rose spoke up "Hi mom, dinner is almost done. Why don't you go ahead & shower? It'll be ready by the time you get out." Her mother's expression softened & she smiled though it was still abit weary. The light in her eyes seemed to brighten abit at the sound of her daughters voice. Her mother's eyes were full of thankfulness & love as she watched her daughter for a brief moment. It was such a shame her Husband hadn't lived long enough to see the beautiful & smart woman their daughter was growing into. After a brief pause, she quickly chased the thoughts away, she couldn't afford to get caught up in them. Her voice was slightly hoarse, but warm & loving like a summer's breeze, " Alright, Honey. I'll be right out."

Her mom left the room to continue the same process she had of decontaminating & changing. She stirred until it was cooked thoroughly, then adding a small slice of butter from the fridge drawer, & a small packet of parmesan cheese from the cabinets. She stirred until everything was congruent. She set the three items onto the bar top counter, then she got two small plates & two sets of utensils out placing them on the bartop just as her mom exited the bathroom.

Her mom wore a simple matching pajama top & bottom set, that was buttoned up the front, a towel still draped around her shoulders as her hand fluffed it through her hair. It had a large print of liliacs that varied in their shades of purple, with a background of dark green-ish Blue color, if you had to put a name to the color it was probably Phthalo Green in blue shade. Rose had always been fascinated with how many color names there were that no-one ever used, why bother naming them if you weren't going to use them?

Rose stood between the barstools & dished up small portions of each food on to both their plates, leaving the rest for seconds. Before sitting down on one of those barstools, the balls of her barefeet resting on the bottom rung of the stool. Her mother finished running the towel in her hair & hung it just inside the bathroom door before moving to sit in the barstool next to her daughter. Her mom closed her eyes as she took a deep breath in through her nose, " mmmm, Smells wonderful Rose." Her mom placed a hand on Rose's shoulder with a light touch. "Thank you for doing this, I really should be the one taking care of you.. Just with work lately.." Rose on the other hand seemed to repress a flinch at her mothers sudden touch, even so the muscles in her shoulder & arm grew tense at it. Accompanied with an ever so fleeting flash of discomfort that went through her face & eyes. She couldn't put a date to it, but shortly after her father's death, skin on skin touch seemed to prick her skin in thousands of little needles of energy. In the beginning it was so bad it was nearly intolerable, but over time she learned to not only bare through it but reduce her reactions & expressions to minor touches. Thankfully in this world most contact was protective suit-to-protective suit, skin-to-skin contact only happened in the confines of one's own home.

Now mentally prepared for the abrasive contact she clasped her right hand over her mothers that rested on her right shoulder. She smiled ever so softly as if to hide her true worries for her mom's health, she interupted her mother's words before she could continue that train of thought" No, it's nothing. It's the least I can do with you picking up extra work to pay for everything.."

Her mother noticed the flash of discomfort, after all she was her daughter how could she not notice? Rose always kept things bottled inside as if she was afraid of hurting those around her with them. Her mom knew Rose would never admit it or speak of it, but the tragedy & trauma of her husband's death had obviously left unhealed wounds, in more ways than one. She was about to remove her hand from Rose's shoulder, when Rose put her hand on top of her mother's. Still her mom only left her hand there for a beat, enjoying their touch for just the briefest of moments. She didn't want to cause her daughter any more pain, regardless of how nice it was to touch her from time to time. Her mom responded " Oh, you don't have to worry I'm handling it. Just focus on your studies & your tech gizmos."

At around the same time the two of them started eating quietly at first, they started to chat alittle about the day & current events. But the closer her mother's plate got to being finished the more dragged out her mother's words & actions were, it was obvious how tired she was. Rose quickly finished as she didn't want her mother to stay up longer because of her, "Are you going to eat anymore? If not I'll do the dishes, you should get some rest." knowing her mother was about to protest she quickly added " I'm out of school now, let me atleast help with this." Her mom's mouth which was open, shut after hearing her words & she nodded " Alright, goodnight" With that her mom pushed off from the counter and slugishly made her way to her own room for the night.

Rose was thankful her mom hadn't tried to argue with her, she wasn't sure she'd have the conviction to win against her mom. She opened the cabinet & pulled out a sealable rectangle conainer, then she began filling it with the leftover food from dinner. It was more than a servings worth, when she finished she sealed it & set it aside on the counter before she began cleaning up. She took the dishes, & went around the counter to stand near the sink. There was a several metal box, with a handle at the top of its door that was meant to be pulled down. She opened it & placed the dishes in a particular fashion inside, before shutting it & touching a pad labled "On" on the door. Not that it could be seen or heard, but inside the box little lasers etched away at the remnants of food & other particles left on the dishes.