As always, nobody under eighteen is involved in any sort of hank-panky in this story, and any similarities with real life are purely accidental.
-[::]-
As Jack Terrence stepped through the front door of his apartment, he dumped his jacket on the hat rack he'd picked up... somewhere, barely noticing the way the lights came on unbidden and the soft sound of music began to fill the air.
"Good evening, Jack," a feminine voice said from seemingly nowhere. "A good day?"
Running a hand through his short dark hair, he ambled into the lounge and dropped himself into a sprawl on the couch.
"Meh."
"The same as usual, then."
Jack smiled tiredly to himself, glancing over at the screen that took up most of one wall and shrugging. "Pretty much, yeah. Did I miss anything whilst I was at work?"
The household AI, though definitely of the non-sapient variety, was still very efficient and well programmed. The wall screen came to life, various windows shimmering into life on its surface while behind them an image of some rainforest or other provided a backdrop.
"The latest episodes of your selected shows have been recorded and are ready to watch at your leisure. Three mails await your attention from official sources, as do fourteen calls from your mother."
Jack snorted at that last part. With a week or so left until she got married again -- for the fourth time -- his mother was demonstrating all the calm and serenity of a hamster on amphetamines.
"Monthly bills have been paid," the AI continued, "and the dinner order you mailed me earlier has been passed on. Estimated delivery time is 43 minutes."
Absently, he nodded, muttering a "thanks" as he kicked off his shoes, hauled himself to his feet, and shuffled off toward the bathroom. A short while later, freshly showered and feeling moderately more human after a day at work, he took a moment or two to study himself in the mirror. Working construction was not the sort of job to promote physical fitness, these days. Not when most of the job involved bossing drones around as
they
did all the heavy lifting.
That didn't mean he wasn't going to let himself fall out of shape, though. There was a gym only a few minutes from his apartment, and he saw no reason not to use it... And besides, it actually worked out cheaper in the long run than body sculpting, and had even become a pretty major part of his social life.
With that thought in mind, he tapped the corner of the mirror, glanced at the time/date display that appeared just under its surface, and nodded to himself. There was plenty of time yet before he was due to meet up with a bunch of his friends, and with dinner on the way, he was going to be able to fit in at least one of those recorded shows before heading out.
As he tried to decide which one to watch, he shrugged into a bathrobe and wandered back to the couch. "Gimme Void Hunters please, Amy."
"Of course," the AI replied, and the wall screen blazed to life with the opening credits of the show.
-[::]-
Pleasantly stuffed by good pizza, and dressed in a ratty jeans and t-shirt combo most places would have tossed him out for daring to show up in, Jack stepped through the door and into the breezy, open plan bar. Off to one side, the counter stretched across one bamboo wall, whilst tables, stools, and chairs dotted the bare wooden floorboards. A pleasant breeze wafted in from the beach outside, and something cheerful and bouncy warbled out of the old-looking jukebox in the corner as he nodded amiably to everyone that was already there.
"'Sup guys," he said loudly enough to be heard over the music, then stopped and blinked in surprise at the sight of what was standing behind the bar counter. Of all the things he might have expected to see there, a two meter tall cartoon rabbit with pale blue fur and a fat cigar in its mouth was
not
one of them.
A couple of chuckles sounded from around the place at his reaction, then he sighed, shook his head in bemusement, and ambled over that way.
"Your kids get at your avatar settings again, Duke?"
The rabbit grinned, pulled a frosted bottle from under the counter, and handed it over.
"And I suppose that's how
you
look in meat space, hmm?"
Jack just shrugged again, twisted the top off of the beer, and took a swig. In fact, his appearance
was
pretty much accurate, though probably a bit more attractive than he figured he was. That was one of the perks of cyberspace, of course, and there was no way at all anyone here was going to be able to tell that he was actually laid out on his couch at home, still in his bathrobe, with a wireless 'trode headset resting on his brow.
Just like there was no clue as to where anyone else in the bar was in reality, in fact.
"Yo, Jack!" came a call from one of the tables, and he grinned as he walked over. A hand was waved at one of the empty chairs, and he nodded in friendly greeting at the trio of guys already sat there.
"Gentlemen," he said, then his smile turned sly. "For want of a better word."
That got him a couple of laughs, and one of the three -- Sahim -- grinned back at him and started shuffling a deck of cards. Laying a hand on the tabletop, Jack concentrated for a second, then lifted the hand away from the stack of poker chips that had materialised on the wooden surface.
Things dropped into a well-worn groove at that point, with friendly banter, casual insults, and the latest domestic gossip from four widely scattered parts of the world, flowing with ease as hand after hand of cards was played. It was easy to loose track of time, and Jack did -- though the occasional breaks for someone to head over to the bar for refills gave at least some measure of how long they'd been at it.
