False Idols - Published Version

Chapter 10

The nymph gave Nick a flirtatious glance before dropping her towel and diving into the pool of clear water. He watched her perfect naked form swimming away from him until she reached the island in the center of the pool.

"I think she smaaks you, bra," exclaimed Kobus. Even as a bear, he was licking his lips and breathing heavily, the way he always did when excited by some erotic adventure in the ether.

Nick saw that Kobus was right. The nymph had sprawled herself suggestively on the grassy ground of the island and was beckoning to him.

"Nick," came her voice.

"I'm coming," said Nick, stripping off the heavy leather armor he wore.

"Nick! I'm talking to you!"

The voice was no nymph. It was his mother.

Nick pulled the network cable out of the back of his MindWave and became more aware of his surroundings in the real world. He smelled the musty odor of his bedroom, and heard his favorite music compilation playing. He blinked his eyes open, flinching at the bright sunlight streaming through his window.

"Ah, so you're finally back inside the real world," said his mother with a tone of cross satisfaction. "What on earth were you doing with your MindWave?"

"Sorry, Mom, I was hanging out with some friends," he sputtered.

"Friends?" asked his mother with raised eyebrows. After a pause she gave him a friendly nudge. "Well, you'll do much better with your friends if you socialize on a full stomach!"

"OK, I am really hungry, let's go eat," allowed Nick, trying not to let his impatience show. He would much rather shove a handful of food into his mouth and be done with it than have a long, drawn out meal with his parents.

He followed his mother down the grand staircase that dominated their massive duplex penthouse and through the maze of hallways, a Bach concerto following him wherever he went. Finally, they arrived in the dining room, where the family cook had just laid out a finely prepared meal with dishes including Punjabi curries, Brazilian filés, and freshly baked Italian bread on the heirloom cherry wood table. Of course, none of the cook's ingredients came from his parents' food factories. His mother would never settle for eating the artificial nutrients she had developed to feed the rest of the world.

Throughout lunch, Nick was distracted. He could barely stomach looking at his parents. His mother's eyes had dark circles under them. And Nick's enhanced vision spotted hundreds of blocked pores on his father's nose. So many imperfections, he thought with disgust. In the ether, no one ever looked tired or had oily skin.

He barely noticed what he was eating, and only made feeble attempts to keep up conversation with his parents.

"So, your father tells me you're thinking about moving into your own apartment?" asked his mother.

"Uh, yeah, I'm kind of thinking about it," responded Nick absent-mindedly.

"Aren't you happy living with us?"

"Yes, mom, I'm very happy here," he said, suddenly exasperated. "But I'm eighteen years old and I shouldn't rely on you and dad for everything anymore."

"Well, now that you've dropped out of school, and you don't have your old classmates to spend time with, won't you be lonely if you live on your own? And who will take care of you?"

"I'll hire a maid to take care of me. I'm sure my new maid will be able to take care of me as well as the ones who take care of me here."

His mother ignored the implied rebuke. "You'll still be terribly lonely, won't you?"