I Still Call Her Mother.

How did they know we would adapt so easily? Was it our affinity for cellular devices? Our constant need to stay connected? Our strong distaste for being alone, unless we were specifically seeking independence and solitude? Maybe it was a combination of all of those things.

My mother comes into my bedroom and wakes me up with a gentle hand rubbing my back. "Sweetie. It's time for work," she says.

I groan and roll over. "God mom. I was right in the middle of the best dream. I was..." my voice trails off. For the life of me, I can't remember a damn thing about it now.

"That's nice," she says and she stands up and steps back from my bed. I suck in a deep breath. She's always such a snoop. Coming into my bedroom uninvited when I've been very clear that she needs to knock first... but she never does. She just... doesn't understand. I could have been... doing something.

Scarlett cocks her head at me and smiles. I become inherently over-aware of the erection I'm sporting under the covers. Morning wood. I consider exposing myself to her for shock value but... she'd probably not even notice. Or would she?

I decide to play it cool and I feign grogginess until the stiffness in my "joints" goes away. I sit up, turn, put my feet on the floor. Scarlett grabs my slippers from the top of my dresser and bends over, slipping them onto my feet.

"You know you don't have to do that," I say in an awkward embarrassed tone.

"I know. But I like doing things for you. It makes me feel good."

I groan at her... perfection. Her lips are so full and pouty, her face blemish free. Her deep sea-green eyes stare at me, pupils dilating, the edge of one eyebrow raises in question, as if challenging me to do something. I wouldn't of course. Never. She's my father's wife. His "newly-wed" wife. They've been together for two months now. It seems like years.

I suck in a deep breath of fresh air. I feel like I need a shower. I cock my head to the side, mimicking her earlier movements. "Can you start the shower for me?" I ask, grabbing my shirt and pulling it off over my head.

Scarlett smiles and turns half a turn away from me. "Of course," she says in a subdued tone of voice. I glance at her. Cheeks turning rosy with embarrassment. I push my boxers down and step out of them, and then walk to my bathroom. There's shock value for you. Scarlett just stands there. I leave the door to the bathroom open, go right to the shower and pull the door open. Steam billows out and I step in, wincing slightly at the heat and the penetrating power of the water streams.

"Hey! It's a little hot!" I yell.

"Oh! Sooorrry!" she calls back, drawing the word out. The heat of the water lessens just a bit and I turn around, relishing the feeling of it scouring the sleep from my weary muscles. I soap up quickly, wash myself down, rinse off, and then hit the button for insta-dry. A powder shoots out, coats my skin and the flakes off a split second later. I feel reborn. All clean and new, like a baby... a baby's butt even.

I step out of the shower and Scarlett is milling around my room, inspecting the objects on top of my dresser. She picks up a large golden disc and inspects it, holding it up to the light. "I won that last week," I say, taking it from her hands and hanging it back on the wall. I'm not worried that she'll drop and break the gold-plated record I won for my latest DJ battle, but... I still don't like her touching my things.

"You're very talented," she says, smiling at me with her standard cold wrought beauty. I suck in another deep breath. I have to keep reminding myself that she's taken. She's... God, what am I doing? I reach over and grab my top dresser drawer, yank it open and rip a fresh pair of boxers out of the box. I struggle to put them on quickly, and then, in a perturbed tone, I ask Scarlett to please leave my room so I can get dressed... alone.

"Yes, of course," she says, assuming the same awkward embarrassed tone as I. She hurries out of my bedroom, gently closing the door as she goes, until it's almost closed, but... not quite. I pull a fresh t-shirt on over my head and grab a pair of socks. I like the spray on socks for athletic events, but nothing beats traditional socks when it comes to breathability and comfort. I glance at the door and see it's still open a fraction of an inch. I imagine Scarlett with her face pressed up to the slit, one eye focused on me, watching... observing. I know she's not. She wouldn't. I kick out and my foot catches the door and slams it closed, hard. Too hard. Fuck. Now she's going to think I'm mad at her. I groan.

I finish getting dressed and come downstairs once I'm sure I've got my entire day planned out. I lift my wrist and check my chrono kit. Light blossoms from underneath my skin and a quick revolving circle starts flipping through my messages, the current news headlines, current events, dates in history, recent accomplishments. I drop my wrist and look for Scarlett. She's standing at the cooking range and she turns a smile my direction, as if reading my mind. "Can I get you something for breakfast?"

"Scrambled eggs and bacon. Oh, and... toast with butter. And apple jelly!"

Scarlet smiles so big it melts my heart. She turns, opens the door to the cooling unit and punches a code in. Whirring announces the delivery of all the necessary ingredients and Scarlett takes the items and sets them on the counter quickly. I grab a bar chair and sit at the counter, watching. She's such a freaking pro at this.

Scarlett cracks two eggs and with expert precision, she swirls the egg whites out of the shell onto the heated surface. She ends the dance with the plop of two yolks, and then strips of bacon slap next to the eggs and begin sizzling almost immediately. Scarlet turns around, glancing my direction and giving me little smiles, her way of letting me know, that she knows, that I'm watching her. I sigh. She turns around, scrambles the eggs quickly, shakes some butter flakes onto the eggs, salt, pepper, and a secret blend of spices she knows I like.

My wrist vibrates and I lift it up to eye level. "Yeah? What's up?"

"Yo Rocky!" the familiar voice of Trax belts out of the speaker patches on my deltoids. "You still coming to the Riff-rox?"

"Yeah man, I can't spin without some protein first," I say.

"I hear ya," Trax says and then he does that thing he does with his eyebrows. "So, like, when you gonna get some real implants, yo?"

"When I feel like it. When... I'm ready."

"I was born ready!" Trax says and then he cuts the signal feed.

I chuckle to myself and then look at Scarlet. "Trax was born ready. We all are, technically, but... implants are a big step. They're more than just speaker patches and simple enhancements. They're... like, part of you."

"Do you want me to schedule you an appointment?" Scarlett asks as she slides a eating wafer in front of me and then sets a froon next to it.

"Can I get a normal fork?" I ask, disregarding Scarlett's question. I don't want to give her an answer right now. I don't even want to think about it. To be honest, it's killing my mojo.

"Of course," Scarletts says, taking the double ended eating utensil and switching it out for the single ended pronged device my dad keeps around for "nostalgic significance".

"So, what do you think?" I ask, and then I regret asking. What can she tell me that I haven't already thought about? What perspective can she provide, that I don't already have? I mean... isn't she just the major-domo? So then, what wisdom, what wisdomo can she-

"Start small," she says, sliding the flat of a metal spatula across the butterflakes, spreading them out on a piece of piping hot toast. "If you're pleased with the results, then you go bigger. Beware of the sales pitches... usually, they're just pushing their products because they want notoriety and popularity. They want everyone to use their products." She hands the toast to me after putting the perfect amount of apple jelly on top of the butter. I have to remember to close my mouth, and then realize I need to open it, to eat. Silently, I swear to never get the fast nutrient injection modification. I would... I think I would miss eating, too much.

As soon as I'm done eating, Scarlett is there, taking my wafer away, washing, drying and sterilizing it in the flash of an eye. I watch her vacuum and wipe down the counters, and then she proceeds to slide the cabinets and counters back into the walls. She comes right up to me, face to face. "Time for work... Rocky"

My jaw drops open. She smiles and then turns, sliding the counter away from me and pivoting it upwards where it too slides into the wall next to the window. I swallow dryly, wondering if... if something's wrong. I shake my head. No, nothing's wrong. She's just... being nice. Being familiar, right?

"I'm gonna go hang with Trax after work," I say, backing off my stool and stepping toward the door. "If... you know if my dad asks."

"I'll let him know. Do wish for a no-contact measure?"

"No, no... nothing like that. He can stream me if he needs."

"Oh, okay," Scarlett says. She smiles and then the smile slowly fades from her face and she looks... she looks happy. I can help but stare at her for an additional few moments and she seems to notice. I don't expect it when she addresses me again. "Jeremy? Is there something wrong?"

"Nu-no," I stammer, shocked back to reality. She looks so close... so much like her. I have to say something. I just have to. "You know... you look so much like..."

"Your mother?" Scarlett says. She smiles an embarrassed little smile and looks down at her hands. The wedding band stands out on her finger like a shining beacon of light. She nods. I'm caught up. Is she thinking about this? Is she like, formulating a response? She looks up and smiles at me again. "You know... you can still call me mom... if you want."

"Heh, uh... no. No way," I say. I sound like a scared little twerp kid, about to piss my pants. "Nah, that... that's fine. I'm okay. I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" she asks. Her hand reaches out and her fingers touch my arm. Her hands are so soft, and warm... I reflexively pull away. I turn. I can't think. I grab the door and pull it open, and step outside. The sun is brilliant, shining down from above like a hundred million megawatts. I raise my hand to shade my eyes and a dark disc appears above me. Hover-shade. I crack my neck from side to side and take another deep breath of air. It's hot outside. Too hot. I glance back at the front door and Scarlett is standing there, watching. She's got one hand on the door frame, the other wrapped around her waist. "Take care," she says.

"I will," I mutter and I step forward into the flow.

A pod scoops me up and joins me with the hundreds of other pods flowing along the inter-tube. Seconds after I'm in the flow, a machine display and dispenser slide in front of me. "Would you like some refreshment?"

"No," I say, slightly perturbed with being bothered.

"Would you like to view current events? Trends? The latest fads? Would you like to participate in intellectual discussion, stimulation, variable transitioning, statistics, ranking, wha-"

"No. Just... leave me alone for now, would ya?"

"Destination?"

"Riff-rox. I'm spinning beats for the sports world opener."

"Riff-rox stadium selected. Travel time is ten minutes, six seconds. Would you like a massage? Communications stream? Messaging?"

"Silence," I say.

"Audio cancellation commencing. Thank you for "going with the flow"."

I groan at the tag-line but can't help but recognize, it's pretty killer. I mean, they are "the flow" and that's what you do... you "go, with the flow". Silently, I wish I could come up with killer stuff like that. I wrack my brain, trying to think of ways to incorporate the "go with the flow" word string into my planned spin. If I can get something smooth enough, people will take notice, and I'll get a higher ranking. If I can get a better ranking, that means more accommodations, more selection, more perks. I might be able to get a pad of my own. Maybe... maybe hook up with a girl... or something like that.

I feel the pod disengage from the flow and slow to a stop. It raises up and then sets me on the Riff-rox stadium platform before picking someone else up and rejoining the flow.

"Yo! Rocky! What's pumpin man!"

"Nothing much my man!" I say, greeting Trax with our customary exclusive triple-slap hand-grab. "You ready to rock this house?"

"Deep Drinks Yeah!"

"Deep Drinks," I reply heartily. We'll be knee deep in drinks soon enough.

---

It's late. Too late in fact. I look over at Trax and he's fucking wasted but, he's got a girl with him and I don't want to interfere in his mojo. I tell him I gotta flow, and he nods and then flips me a parting sign. I'm out. I head out the front door, and walk up to the flow and then sit down, feeling it might be safer this way. The flow is only so good. If you fall, well... that's it. If someone or something catches you, then you're good, but you don't get any guarantees. People die every day because they don't pay attention. They go with the flow, but they die with the flow...

I groan, berating myself for not including something as sick as that into my spin today. I was good, don't get me wrong, I was good, but I wasn't awesome. I wasn't killer. I wasn't hype. I was just... good. Good isn't good enough though. I need to be better. I need to be... it. That's it. Flow it. Oh shit. Oh shit!

I try and memorize the lyrics as they come to me in rapid fire style. You wanna go with the flow, not die with the glow, don't blow it, just flow it, don't... shit. Don't... what... shit.

"Oh, look! We got a rapper boy!" comes a voice from above and behind me. I look back to see three very angry looking dudes checking me out. "So... what kind of enhancements you go on you?"

"Nothing," I say, suddenly nervous about being out here, in the middle of Knoxville, without a guardian or even a spotter. There's cameras everywhere but... it takes time for the authorities to get to you and even then, you can't heal a broken heart or a missing head.

"Nothing? I'm sure you've got something," the talker says as he advances towards me. "Out this late? You either got a full score, or... maybe you're testing us..."

"Maybe," I say. "You wanna find out?" I swear to the heavenly matric, if this guy comes at me, I'm jumping. I'll take my chances with the flow, and hope something catches me. Anything's better than being taken apart by a couple of thugs looking for blue-market enhancements.

"You boys look like you need a hot meal," comes a voice from behind the thugs. "Are you friends of Jeremy?"

The talker and one of his buddies turn and regard the owner of the voice. I blink dumbly. Scarlett?

"Yeah! We're Jeremy's friends!" the talker says. "Who the fizz are you?"

"I'm Scarlett," she says, slowly striding forward.

"Mom," I say, trying to warn her without actually telling her the correct words, words these thugs would know.

"Mom? You're his mom?" the talker says, sizing her up. "God damn! Can you be my mommy too!?"

"I... I am, his father's wife..."

"Huh?" the talker says.

"Plobby this!" the guy to the talker's right says, and he slaps his left arm. I gasp. It's all I have time to do. Plobby spikes fire from his forearm, ripping through my leg, my side, and lodging in the right side of my chest. The talker laughs. His buddy pulls a night blade off his back, the edge, the only part of the weapon in the visible light spectrum.

"Jeremy!" Scarlett shouts.

"Run!" I scream. I never thought I'd be such a pussy but... without any enhancements, and no guardian... I'm just meat waiting to be eaten by predators.

The pain up and down my right side is debilitating. The guy with his spikes in me, laughs. I hear Scarlett yell for them to stop... I can't... I can't imagine what they're doing to her. Darkness washes over me and I fight it, I fight it with every ounce of my soul...

I wake up coughing. Scarlett looks down at me and smiles. There's blood on her face. Red blood. Real... blood.

"Mooom?" I ask, my voice weak and rasping.

Scarlet smiles and looks sideways and then back to me. She smiles again. "It's okay Jeremy. You're safe now."

"I... I am?" I ask.

She nods. Her hand reaches out and brushes a bit of stray hair out of my face. Her fingers are cold, but still extremely soft, all considering. I close my eyes, thankful... lucky to be alive.

"What happened?" I ask, reopening my eyes and looking around. I'm in a medical compound. I glance at the panel next to the door. Enhancements and biological replacements. Slowly, I clench my hands, not too hard, but... just enough to make sure they still exist. Scarlett looks down, grabs hold of one of my hands and holds it. Her hand slowly warms up. I wince in pain and then look down. Four large patches stand out on my chest and abdomen. I know, underneath the sheet that's covering my waist and legs, there's more patches. More holes. Missing... meat.

"You were attacked," Scarlett says quietly. "I'm sorry. I... I tried to prevent it but-"

"How did you even know?" I ask, cutting her off. "I mean, you... how did you know?"

Scarlett almost cowers at the question. The beep of heart rate monitors and oxygen sensors breaks the silence. She looks reluctant to answer which is... strange. "Mom..." I say, the tone of my voice demanding an answer and at the same time, giving her recognition of her efforts and accomplishments. "Mom... what happened. How did you know where I was going to be?"

"You told me," She says. "You told me where you were going to be. Your father said to leave you alone, but..."

"But what?" I ask. What could require her disobeying my father's orders?

"I was... worried."

My jaw falls open, again.

"I went to the Riff-rox."

"And?" I ask. "Tell me everything."

"I... I went to the Riff-rox. I go see you play... I mean, spin. Spin words and lyrics. I... listen to your songs." I can't believe it. It's like the strangest thing I've ever heard. I ask her for more information. I need to know more.

"I... well... when you finished your set, I waited around. I normally wait around. And then you went to Trazka... uh... Trax's house. So, I went home. I told your father where you were. But when you didn't come home on time, I... decided to come looking for you."

"What happened to those guys?" I ask.

"I was... I... I was... forced to defend myself."

"Defend yourself?" I say. "You? Defend yourself? Since when do you defend yourself?"

"I... I don't know. I guess since today?"

"Since last week," comes a familiar voice and I look up to see my father standing in the doorway. He's got this huge smile on his face, bigger than mine and Scarlett's combined.

"Dad. What in the fizz is going on?"

My dad looks at me and then looks at Scarlett. "Go wash up in the bathroom, just there. You've got blood on your face."

Scarlett reaches up and touched her face absently, and that's when I notice she's got blood all over her hands too. Dried clumpy blood. Her action leaves another dark red smudge and she gets up quickly, smiling, and apologizing. She says she'll be right back, and she goes around the bed and into the bathroom.

"Dad, what in the fizz is going on?"

"Isn't she great!" he giggles.

"Yeah, she's it but... what in the-"

"Special upgrade. Experimental. I got approval after that little incident downtown last month. Combat readiness. There's a lot of safeguards and triple redundancy going one but, she's fast. Did you see her take those guys out?"

"No," I say. "I passed out like... right off the spin."

"Check it out," my dad says, lifting his arm up and tapping the port by his elbow. The side of his arm slides like water, becoming a screen which begins playing a video clip from multiple cameras positioned outside of Trax's house. I can see Scarlett, myself, and all three of the thugs.

The moment I get hit, Scarlet moves. The guy with the night blade barely pulls it loose before Scarlet has it, and cleaves him down the middle. The talker pulls a projectile weapon, but he's too slow. Scarlett uses the night blade to disarm him, and I mean dis-arm. She takes his head and one leg as well before she's within range of the guy with his hooks in me. Before he can yank them back, she slices clean through them, disconnecting me, from him, and then, in a flash of blood and gore, he's gone. Scarlett drops the night edge and then runs to my side. The video cuts out.

"Oh my god dad! That is so... killer!"

"I know," he says, tapping his arm quickly as Scarlett comes walking out of the bathroom, her hands and face now spotless.

"Sorry about that," She says, coming around the bed to sit down on it, next to me and facing my father. "I'm sorry I didn't get to him faster."

"That's... it's okay honey. You did what you could. I... I'm just happy you went to go find him. That was, really amazing."

Scarlett looks at my father and then sheepishly, she leans in and gives him a kiss. He smiles and then glances at me and sees me looking at him. "Don't tease me about it," he says.

"I won't tease you," I say, and I mean it. I might have teased him in the past, for buying a companion android and more for marrying it, but after today, I wasn't saying a word. Never again. "I still call her Mom."