Andlat's Story Spot

“Josh, come play with me!” Kinsey's shrill voice seemed to have no trouble getting through the door, her annoying habit of stretching his name out somehow even more grating this early in the morning. Josh groaned and pulled the covers over his head. “You promised!” “Computer, make Kinsey go away.” He moaned. He had been six by the time the dorky little girl came along. Why did his parents have to have a second kid? “I cannot do that.” The computer replied in that strange androgynous voice Josh had taken weeks to get used to. What was the point of living in an automated house if there were things it could not do? He sighed and kicked off the blankets, grateful that Kinsey did not know the passcode to his room. She could only get in if he left the door open. “Let me get dressed.” Josh yelled through the door as he gave his butt the best good morning scratch it had had in a long time. “Twerp.” He muttered. “I heard that!” Kinsey said, shocked. “Go tell mom then.” He muttered a...

"Bart, we're going to be late! Hurry!" "I am, mom! I can't find my lucky ball!" "You don't need your ball for every practice, mister. Go on. Into the auto dresser." She pushed on his head, pulling her hand away as she felt his hair. "Your hair's so greasy." She pushed a button on the display. "There. You just earned yourself a quick shower before you put on your soccer uniform." "Fine." He muttered as he stepped into the machine. The lights came on, always too bright at first. "Commencing undressing." It announced. At first, the machine had scared the boy, but now he was used to it, standing as still as he could as it stripped him down to his underwear before removing that as well. He stood for a moment, waiting. Normally the shower came on almost the second he was undressed. "Buffering." The machine said. "Unexpected loss of network. Rebooting." "Mom better not blame me for ...

Thoughts of the upcoming Little League season occupied Peter's thoughts as he wandered the halls of Paradigm Robotics, getting further and further from the lobby. He always signed up for Little League, but his team was never any good. All the same, he knew his parents approved of him getting fresh air and exercise and all that. Plus he made friends for gaming, didn't he? "Closed door after closed door." He muttered. What was the point of going with his mom to a robotics company if he just had to sit in the lobby while she interviewed the CEO for the news? He had imagined it would be exciting, but this place looked as boring as his dad's accounting firm. He sighed and turned to go back to the lobby, but noticed that one door was slightly ajar. "Room 105. How thrilling." He muttered, but he figured a peek inside might be more fun. He poked his head in. No one was there. Almost out of instinct, he flipped a light switch and saw that the room was mostly emp...