Avatar Days
A gentle voice attempts to wake me. I keep sleeping, but lighter now. The voice returns with just a hint of sarcasm in it.
“You’re going to be late if you don’t get a move on.”
I groan and turn over. “Chuck, you’re beginning to sound like a wife.”
“You can change my tone if you like, but you’ll still be late.”
“Fine. Coffee?”
“Ready. We’re almost out of cream, but I ordered some from Fresh Direct for you.”
“You’re the best.”
I drag myself up on two legs and wobble toward the bathroom. A click sounds in my ear as the lights dim up and the water begins to flow into the sink, not warm yet. I pee as I stare at myself in the mirror. Not a pretty sight.
“Dim up.” Then lights brighten so I can find the razor. “Full up.” There it is next to the house input pad. I swipe the splashed water off of the pad and accidentally engage last night’s playlist. A rush of techno blasts my ears. ”Off!” The silence returns.
“Oh yeah. What a night.”
“You slept soundly, but not long enough. Just 6 hours beginning at12:37am. A dose of zinc and a juice would help.”
“Yes. Good idea. Pineapple.”
“We’re out of pineapple. On order. Orange okay?”
“Sure.” I walk out into the kitchen and reach into the service well to grab the hot coffee and fortified juice glass that are there for me. I gulp the juice down and warm my hands on the sides of the coffee mug as I pad back to the bathroom.
“News?”
“Interest, Events or Critical?”
“Interest. Then Events.” Not quite ready for Critical, I mumble to myself. Chuck raises the volume in the bathroom and a female voice addresses me.
“Scott, these stories may be of interest: ViaSym announces breakthrough in A.I. responsiveness. Spiral Genesis breeds light-emitting anaerobic bacteria. Second Skin plastic makes its swimwear debut.”
“Hi Janet. Hmm. Second Skin with video.” On the bathroom mirror, a screen appears immediately to the right of where I’m about to shave my stubble. As I lean over the sink to wash away the soap, the screen on the mirror follows until it reaches the limit of the glass. I catch a glance at swimsuits on the models playing beach paddles in Rio. A choice of tints are shown and three retailers listed at the bottom. I remember I have shopped at one of the retailers before.
“Chuck, how would number 3 look on me?”
“Let’s find out.”
The side wall that serves as full-length mirror illuminates with the reasonably realistic wireframe of my full body image. It follows my movements as I turn my head and scratch myself. The wireframe is “skinned” and given coloring as the file loads. The three choices from the video are displayed in small windows to the side.
“Load 3.” The suit appears on my avatar immediately and begins to move with my movements. “Not bad. What do you think?”
“You usually like box cuts. But this is okay. It might be a little… youthful for you.” Silence.
“What are you trying to say? I’m too old for this?” I continue to look at my avatar with renewed skepticism. “What are guys my age supposed to be wearing, anyway?” Next to my avatar, a media montage window appears. Images from various articles on fashion, news, celebrities and some recent pictures from my digital photo collection appear one-over-the-other at a quick pace. The images are all of men in my age range wearing swimsuits. Some of the men look ridiculous in too-tiny things that should be seen only in a catalog. Others look like middle aged men practicing for their retirement in Florida. Each image has a tiny source credit in the corner.
“Frequency?”
“Similar styles are shown in 12% of this sampling.”
“Sources?”
“Almost all catalog.”
“Okay, you win. I don’t need any more swimsuits anyway.”
“Back to News?”
“Sure. Let’s try Events this time.”
Janet’s voice returns. “Events today include: Telegraphic conference of the global political summit, Riots break out over water council decision, Mel Gibson released from rehab to face court ruling.”
“Hmm. More?”
“Off-shore geodetic observation system detects seismic activity near Japan; Automated translation software averts crisis of U.N. Security Council misunderstanding; Jets hang on for 31-24 win over Lions.”
“Water Council. No video. Continuous load.” As I dress, the news stories flow on without interruption, each story is introduced with a short headline to which I respond with either “yes” or “next.” The story sequence was pulled based on the subjects I responded to with a “yes” over the past 7 days. If I showed interest in a subject over the last week, related stories would be placed in the front of the queue.
“Speed read.” The pace of the reading picks up, but Janet’s voice still sounds calm and reassuring. I finish dressing. “Off. Read schedule. Today.”
Chuck ticks off the day’s events. “At 10:00 you meet with Ron for one hour to review the Pacific Region’s designs. Ron may be late. He travels by Metro North. There was a problem on the Northeast Corridor line at 7:25. At 11:00 you will continue your discussion with Angela via conference call from Denver. She and you share another one-hour opening at 2pm if Ron’s meeting run’s over. Should I reschedule Angela?”
“No. Let’s reschedule Ron if we have to. The Pacific Region designs are just preliminary, anyway. Do I have time for the gym today?”
“Yes. 2pm and 4:30pm.”
“2pm schedule gym.”
“Got it.” Chuck continues to rattle off the day’s events, then downloads the changes to the house database. After the red light on the nearest data pad turns green, I grab it, hit the power button and drop it into my pocket.
“That data unit did not sych properly. Please take another.”
I grab one from the kitchen console and head out the door. “Thanks Chuck. Lock up.” I jump into the car and insert the data pad into the navigation system. “Any traffic problems today, Chuck?”
“None. But we’re low on fuel. Without side trips, it can wait until tonight.”
My car slides into the street as I open the console and continue my morning upload from Janet. I place the headset on and wait until the car has reached the end of its launch sequence. I take the controls fully and drive it down and left, then right, then queue up for my slot on the autoport highway. I pay half-attention to Janet’s recitation of events while I actively drive. As soon as my car reaches the locked position in the autoport chain of vehicles, it begins its slow crawl toward the city center and I shift full focus to the console to start work.
“Chuck, music please. Shuffle. Acoustic.” The car glides along its track as I review the designs presented last week.
“Only four of the sample materials came in. What’s the story on the fifth?”
“I found an example of Aluminio-Polymide that has already been used in production in Australia. Ordered yesterday. Estimated delivery to your office on... Friday. FedEx tracking number…”
“Great. Thanks.”
“The phone is ringing. Your brother. He categorized this call as ‘catching-up / favor’ Take it?”
“Sure… (connects) Hi, Jim! What are you up to?” Jim tells me about his daughter at school, his new golf clubs and last night’s game. Then he asks if he can borrow my laser cutter for the weekend. Says he needs it to trim some tree branches in the back yard. We hang up.
“Chuck, remind me to put the laser cutter in the car before we leave the house tomorrow?”
“Got it.”