Your Move

Chapter 8 - Exodus

In the 10 minutes it took for the sun to set and the sky to turn dark, I'd gradually emptied my sippy cup and bladder. In one end and out the other. I heard an audible rumble from my stomach announcing the return of my dinner cravings.

"So there's miniaturized food as well?" I asked the hologram floating beside me.

"The ingredients are miniaturized, yes, but each dish is made fresh. What would you like?"

"Something spicy," I answered without hesitation.

Orphanage food had been filling but way too bland for my liking. I remembered a delicious burger recipe that my grandfather had often made for me when I was little. It would definitely make a good challenge for the robot cook. I went for it anyway, just to see what the machine was capable of.

"Make me a burger with the buns buttered and toasted. Melt a slice of cheddar cheese on top of a beef patty, then add a slice of tomato, two half-rashers of bacon side-by-side, two slices of pickle side-by-side, two concentric onion rings, breaded and fried, and Buffalo sauce, in that order from bottom to top. Make a side of thick-cut sweet potato fries, topped with melted cheese and chipotle sauce. For dessert I'll have mango sago pudding." I was on a wishing spree! Take that, machine. There's NO WAY you can make that.

"You're certain you can eat that much? Have you had any food not made for Littles since you got here?"

I thought about Luxuria's question for a moment. "Uhh... No, not really..."

I finally put two and two together. If everything here is massive, then the food would be too.

"Right, the size of the food. In that case, make the burger smaller and I'll just have, say, 3 fries." That I should be able to finish. I didn't like wasting food. "Oh, and size the pudding down accordingly?"

Luxuria nodded. "Will that be everything?"

"Yup, thanks." I confirmed, still confident that a machine would never be able to make a meal that complicated.

Around twenty seconds later, the smell of the patty cooking started wafting from a glass panel on the AmeniTea. A table flipped out automatically from the opposing side wall, at just about the right height for me to sit and eat at, perched Japanese-style on the bed. Less than five minutes after I'd ordered, the panel slid open and revealed my dinner on a large porcelain plate. The avatar brought it over to the table as the AmeniTea panel slid shut again.

"Bon appetit!" Luxuria beamed.

I thanked her and clambered onto the bed with a small jump. After saying grace, I grabbed the burger with both hands and took a bite. It was the most delectable food I'd had in weeks! My first bite brought back a flood of childhood memories. I hadn't had this meal in ages!

I picked up a fry the size of a hot dog and brought it to my mouth. The sweet potato was fried to a golden crisp, but the size meant it was just slightly too mushy for my taste. The cheese melted a second time in my mouth, and my taste buds exploded satisfyingly from the spice of the Buffalo sauce.

I may have been dubious of the robot's capabilities, but by the time I finished the dish, I was convinced that the only downsides to it were the slightly off taste of unshrunken ingredients and something missing that I couldn't quite put my finger on.

When my plate was empty, Luxuria swapped it for my pudding, which also made for the perfect dessert for this experience. The food had tasted almost as good as my description sounded, and definitely better than "unshrunk meal" could ever sound! I was stuffed, but satisfied.

After dinner, Luxuria put the pudding goblet into the AmeniTea, and the table sunk back into the wall. I heard a hiss and a light patter as both were cleaned... along with slightly more muted hiss coming from my diaper! A feeling of warmth spread through it. I'd just gone without any warning.

"Would you like to see a movie?" the avatar offered, returning to its floating position facing me.

"Sure. Anything sci-fi you can recommend?" I wanted to see what this dimension's science fiction entertainment looked like, given that the world around me was basically sci-fi already.

"I've got just the film."

I snuggled up to a soft cushion on the bed and watched as the screens delimiting the cabin lit up with billions of pixels blending together, each of which must have been too small for my eyes to register. Together, they seamlessly formed a realistic background of stars in space at a resolution that took my breath away.

While I was somewhat prepared for that, I was definitely not expecting the Star-Wars-style scrolling text that was holographically projected in front of me. I let out a giggle of delight, both at the quality of the visuals, and at the absurdity of the retro style photobombing an otherwise incredibly futuristic setting.

The movie was reminiscent of Interstellar, with realistic depictions of relativity and physics. If only more writers would depict science and technology more accurately. The single thing I hated the most about movies and books was the unrealistic depictions of hacking scenes. Hooded man furiously typing with green hieroglyphics and ones and zeros...

The movie's plot centered on the last human family searching the Milky Way for a habitable world. They teleported around the galaxy by folding the fabric of spacetime in a futuristic spacecraft. I never saw the twist coming, which was when the AI that helped the humans and kept them safe the whole time was actually hiding the habitable planet from them. I laughed out loud when it turned out to be caused by a bug in its code. You'd imagine their static analysis would have caught that. I looked worriedly at the avatar floating beside me, but Luxuria just shrugged.

"I'm nothing close to a true AI, if that's what you're concerned about. There's laws prohibiting military-grade machine intelligence."

The movie soon ended with the AI sacrificing itself for humanity's greater good and the human family getting to the habitable planet safely with human embryos to settle the new world. It was a rather Disney-like cliche ending, but I liked movies that way. It sucks when a main character fails or dies. That's what happens in life already, why make a movie or write a book about it?

When the credits started rolling across the floor, up the side wall, and then back across the ceiling, I yawned and got up to stretch out my legs. I'd certainly had a long day. From an orphanage to a self-driving limo speeding across the country. I shook my head. It felt like I was living in a fantasy. A quick diaper change later, I was back on the massive bed hugging the cushion. Before I snoozed off, I said a quick nightly prayer.

Dear God,

Thanks for everything you do for me. I don't know where exactly I'm heading, both in this limo and in life, but I know it's to a good place you've prepared. Thanks for showing me once again that you care about me and love me. And thanks for sending these good people my way. Please keep all my friends safe too, and help me make the right moves.

In Jesus's name I pray,
Amen.

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Check back tomorrow for the second part of this chapter!

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