Story: It’s No Wonder

The story below is a work of fiction.

With the adults, and most of the neighborhood kids, occupied with the block party outside, John fumbled with the lighter in his bedroom. He finally managed to keep it lit without burning his fingers, and ignited the cigarette that stood straight out of Victoria’s mouth. Chris looked on in amazement as she inhaled, held the breath in, and exhaled smoke out of the side of her mouth. True to her android precision, the cigarette remained level throughout.

“How does she do that?” Chris asked.

“We have, like, an advanced model, or something,” John said with a casual cadence. “We’re getting that new Adult Sociability upgrade soon, so she’ll know how to do it like a real grown-up.”

“Do you think it will damage her?”

“Hell if I know.”

There was a swell of women’s distressed voices outside; John noticed his mother’s voice in the chorus. He and Chris raced down to the curb, leaving Victoria alone in the bedroom.

A group of the block partiers gathered around a hover-vision, where a news anchor interviewed a young man sitting on an expanse of concrete, next to a parking lot yellow stripe. John couldn’t make out the dialogue, but the headline accompanying the interview read: “IBM’s Worker Protest Continues.” The young man reclined, going to sleep in the lot, and his scraggly beard began producing a strange foam.

The adults were aghast. The children who were still paying attention giggled as the parking lot man’s head began to shrivel. Victoria appeared next to John, letting out a puff puff of smoke through her nose. She was learning the art by herself.

John and Chris made a start as John’s father noticed Victoria smoking and flustered about, fussing to the boys about abusing the android. John’s mother swooped in to antagonize her husband, putting the question to him as to why he cared so much about one android when IBM worker’s children had to sleep in parking lots with foaming beards.