A Futuristic Affair

Chapter Two

TWO

Fred did not recognize the make of the car Alfred led him to. It was black, and sleek, and apparently did not exist in his time. The car door opened automatically as soon as Alfred stood near it. Wow, Fred thought. Technology had advanced quite a lot in the last fifteen years.

The first thing Fred noticed about the inside of the car was that it lacked a steering wheel. Of course, it was 2032. Things were bound to be automated. Alfred pressed a switch. ‘Take me home.’

‘You did not have automated cars in your time?’ Alfred asked, noticing the fascinated expression on the face of the younger version of him.

‘No.’

‘Of course. They didn't take off till 2025, didn't they.’ Alfred said, seemingly to himself.

Fred peered through the car window, watching the other cars go by. London hadn’t changed fundamentally in the past fifteen years. The layout of the roads remained the same.

Watching the sights of the city go by at least temporarily distracted him from the most discomfiting fact about being in the future-the fact that he was undeniably attracted to his future self. He had been attracted to him ever since he set his eyes on him and the knowledge that he was the same person as him did not put a damper on his attraction as much as it should have had.

He almost laughed out loud at the absurdity of the situation. He had never considered himself a narcissist, but here he was, walking down on the same path as Narcissus himself. He pushed that thought away. Perhaps, there was some kind of a scientific explanation for the attraction. He had once read about genetic s****l attraction, a form of s****l attraction that occurred between people related by blood who had been separated at a young age, upon reunion. At that time, he had found the idea quite disgusting, however; all the same, he went on to read more about it. The explanation behind it was that one generally tended to choose a partner who was similar to them-whether it was in appearance or personality, and close family members usually fit in that criterion.

Perhaps this was just that taken to the next level. The idea gave him a weird taste in the mouth.

He stared the house Alfred drove him to. While he had been expecting something magnificent, considering Alfred was a billionaire, this was beyond his wildest imaginations.

‘Impressed?’ Alfred asked, raising an eyebrow, a gesture he did not know he was capable of. Nonetheless, it looked exceedingly attractive on him.

Of course he was impressed. It was obvious from the way he had been gawking at the house for the past hour. This would all be mine someday. His last thought probably had the tenses wrong, but he did not really care. He was too overwhelmed to bother about trivial matters like that.

‘Would you like to have lunch?’

Lunch. Coming to think of it, he was rather hungry. The matter of his hunger had been completely swept under the rug by him, deemed to mundane for the moment. Before he could think of a reply, Alfred clapped his hands, and an android made an appearance.

This android was far more anthromorphic than the servers he had seen at the café. As Alfred quickly gave orders to it, Fred found himself idly thinking about s*x robots. He had about the plausibility of them eventually being common. At that time, he didn’t think they were his cup of tea; however Alfred seemed nothing like him, even though technically, he was him. He wondered if he owned any, and then he wondered why he cared.

‘So.’ Fred said. ‘How did you-we-do all this?’ He glanced around the living room, which was luxurious beyond his wildest dreams.

‘It was not easy.’ Alfred admitted. ‘Sometimes I wonder how I managed it. Legolas was Kevin’s brainchild, really. I knew nothing about electronics, he was the electronic engineer. That’s why I did not even bat an eyelid when he suggested we name the company after him.’

‘Wait, name the company after him?’

‘Yeah, since his name was Kevin Legolas. What, did you think it was a Lord of the Rings reference?’

He had. So, where is Kevin now?’

‘Oh, at some point he decided he didnt want this anymore. He was always a bit of a hippie. He decided that money could not bring him true happiness, whatever that meant.’

Fred was about to say he didn’t believe money could bring true happiness either, when the android arrived, trailed by two others who looked exactly like it. They laid the table and set a bottle beer, and at least ten different varieties of sandwiches-each of which looked like it was prepared by a gourmet chef- on the table.

‘You know, I just realized you could give these androids orders as well.’Alfred said.

‘Really?’

‘Yes. They have been programmed to recognize me by my DNA. Since we are technically the same person, they would obey your orders as well.

Wow. ‘Okay.’ Fred said. He looked at one of the androids. ‘Pour me a glass of beer.’

The android stared blankly at him.

‘Oh, you have to address them by their number. This one is X55.

‘X55.’ Fred said. ‘Pour me a glass of beer.’

The android immediately poured him a glass of champagne. ‘Nice.’ Fred said. ‘Could you do ten jumping jacks?’

‘I am sorry.’ The android said in a metallic voice. ‘I am unable to process your request.’

Alfred laughed. ‘You cannot order it to do anything. It follows a limit set of orders.’

‘Oh.’ Fred said, slightly embarrassed.

The food was delicious. When Fred told him so, Alfred responded by saying ‘The credit goes to Xora.’

‘Your cook?’

‘My automated food generator.’ Alfred paused, before saying ‘So, what are your plans for now? Are you going to stay here, or would you be returning to your own time?’

‘I…I’d like to stay here a little longer. If it’s okay with you, that is.’

‘Why wouldn’t it be? I will show you to the guest room. You can stay there for now.’

The guest room was larger than any room Fred had ever stayed in. He tried not to think about how weird it was that he was occupying the guest room in his own house in the future, as he sunk underneath the covers and drifted to a peaceful afternoon nap.

Where am I? Fred looked around, as he woke up. This definitely was not his one-bedroomed flat. He stood up, as the memories rushed into his head. This was stranger than any science fiction novel he had ever read.

It struck him that perhaps this was all a delusion, or a hallucination. Perhaps, the pill he took was actually a drug of some sort. Or maybe, it was all a dream. He pinched himself hard, and cried in pain. It definitely wasn’t a dream.

‘Fred!’

Fred went to the living room, to see his future self on the couch, in a plain white T and grey sweatpants. His casual attire lent him a boyish charm that Fred tried not to notice. Also, the T-shirt emphasised how fit his body was. Clearly, someday Fred would become a gym buff.

‘I was thinking, you must be quite bored here.’ He said. ‘Do you like playing video games?’

Fred thought about it. He used to enjoy video games back when he was a teenager, but he hadn’t played them in years. And besides, he had no idea how games worked in 2032.

Reading the confusion in his mind, Alfred said ‘Let’s play a couple of rounds of Firenze. I know that the technology of the present would be terribly unfamiliar to you, but don’t worry, I will teach you.

Gaming in 2032 was beyond his wildest dreams.

The virtual environment seemed almost indistinguishable from reality. All the sights, smells and sounds of the game seemed…..real. It took him some time to get adjusted to it, but eventually Fred managed to match Alfred’s moves with perfection.

‘Wow!’ Alfred said. ‘You are a natural.’

Fred smiled, thinking of the real reason he had stopped gaming. His friends actually refused to game with him as he kept beating them every time-there was no real challenge left for him.

‘Or maybe my skills have gone rusty.’ Alfred said. ‘I used to play with Michael at times, but I don’t so that anymore?’

‘Michael Dawson?’ Fred immediately regretted blurting out his suspicion, for Alfred had gone all pale at the mention of the name of his ex-husband.

‘I meant Michael Richards, one of my friends from work. But how do you know about Michael Dawson? You looked me up, didn’t you?’

‘I looked myself up.’

Alfred stared at him for a moment. It was rather unsettling knowing those brown eyes were his own. ‘I am sorry, if I upset you by mentioning him.’

‘It’s okay. It was a long time ago, and I’ve totally gotten over him.’

‘So, how old was Michael? The same age as you?’

They were eating a simple dinner of macaroni and cheese. Fred couldn’t help cringing slightly as he asked the question. He knew what he was intending to ask. It was whether or not he would be open to dating a much younger man. The idea that age was what would come between them was quite laughable, yet he felt like he needed to know.

‘He was six years younger.’ Alfred admitted. ‘But we were equals in maturity.’

There was an awkward silence and Alfred was the one who ended up breaking it. ‘He was an American journalist. We met five years ago when he was interviewing me, and there was an almost instant attraction. We dated for a year before tying the knot.’ He smiled wistfully. ‘We were so in love.’

‘What happened then?’ Fred immediately caught himself. ‘Because it would happen to me. I deserve to know.’

Alfred gave a wry smile. ‘You do. He….he cheated on me.’

‘Oh.’ Who would cheat on him? Fred almost thought, before realizing he was being rather narcissistic.

At times, it was hard to remember that the handsome, suave CEO was the same person as him.

That night, as he crawled into the bedcovers, he found himself staring at a distance absentmindedly. Perhaps he should move out and stay in a hotel or something instead of staying with his future self. Then, he wouldn’t be so aware of the man and his attraction towards him. He’d be able to think with a clear head.