Parcel for You - Part 43

 

The first thing Vanessa did after they’d left was chuck her new book into the hidden storage area inside the pouffe and shut the lid with a bang. Out of sight, out of mind; that way she could rest her feet above it and forget about all that chewy psychobabble without the associated guilt of actually binning it.

 

‘I don’t know why people have books,’ said Spencer, ‘all that information can be stored and accessed digitally without the clutter of an object.’

 

‘I’m beginning to think digital clutter is just as bad as clutter clutter, anyway, it was a gift.’

 

‘I think digital gifts are the future.’

 

‘There’s something about a book, Spencer, a physical book with pages to turn. Nobody can take it away from you, not that I wanted that book. I’d rather have a voucher so I can choose my own but Carol knows best doesn’t she.’

 

‘She means well, that’s what June said to me as they were leaving, she put her face up very close to mine so that I could see all the fine hairs growing on her cheeks, coated in some powdery make-up stuff, then she nodded her head firmly and said, “Carol means well,”’

 

‘I hate it when people say that, it’s like a blanket apology for somebody’s else’s persistent bad behaviour. You know, I’ve thought about this a lot and I don’t think Carol does mean well, I think she puts a lot of thought into upsetting people and has become very accomplished at it.’

 

‘This is confusing to me, Vanessa, people meaning well but also meaning to upset people, sisters not looking after each other in the way that I would expect. It must be nearly bedtime, I can feel myself losing power.’

 

‘Mmm, it’s confusing to me too. I really want to be, you know, the better person but every time, I am reduced to making myself look worse than Carol, even though I know I’m nowhere near as bad as her.’

 

‘Still confused.’

 

They went up to bed but Vanessa, after feeling quite exhausted from their trip, was now feeling riled up. She kept going over and over the conversations with her mother and sister and the fact they simply turned up at her house uninvited but these thoughts only left her feeling churned up inside and she couldn’t allow her brain to sit straight and relax.

 

She looked at Spencer lying next to her, out for the count. He hadn’t been much help. She cast her mind back to her ex husband and how Carol used to engage her flirt gear whenever they met up with her. It was a clever thing, subtle, nobody else could spot it and it worked, she got him on side, eating out of her hand. It wouldn’t work on Spencer though and there, Vanessa had a bit of an advantage.

 

It occurred to her that Spencer had become considerably less predictable both during and after their trip. Part of it was down to his upgrade. It was very annoying that he’d become injured and they had been forced to seek outside help. Now she didn’t quite know him, didn’t quite trust his actions and then there was that bizarre third party voice which kept kicking in whenever he was about to do something inappropriate.

 

So far, Vanessa had been unwilling to go online and seek advice from the various forums which had popped up in the wake of the cyber companion boom. Although it wasn’t quite a boom, not yet but it was no longer niche either. She associated a certain type of person with having such a companion but she didn’t include herself in that category. This was foolish because she often felt alone when dealing with anxieties and technical issues, especially since she no longer trusted Cybermates Worldwide; they just wanted her money, perhaps more than just her money.

 

Spencer hadn’t really shown any loyalty to her, rushing around to make Carol her special herbal tea, using her favourite mug, resulting in the destruction of it. Perhaps it was time for her to be disloyal. She reached down for her laptop and typed into a search engine, ‘cybermate suddenly changed behaviour after update,’.

 

Clearly it had been a popular search. Lots of similar questions and discussions popped up on the screen. ‘My cybermate speaks in riddles, cybermate has become so annoying, cybermate no longer speaks to me, my cybermate went missing in Hunstanton Aquarium, how to reverse a cybermate upgrade, I returned my cybermate but she tracked me down and stalked me online.’

 

It was all pretty alarming. Vanessa’s face turned pale as she glossed over all the various themes and conversation starters, each with dozens of replies and potential solutions and accompanying photos. She was reluctant to click on any of them, it was a can of worms but she felt alone, her curiosity was high and she was seeking some sort of reassurance.

 

After some deliberation she decided that the main problem she wished to solve was the alarming third party voice which she’d heard at least three times now and. It was embarrassing, audible to anyone who happened to be close by and made her feel like there was another being in their relationship, a sort of glib audio gooseberry. 

 

She glanced at Spencer and tried to imagine exactly where on his person it was coming from. Flummoxed, she typed in, ‘strange voice coming from inside cyber husband.’ Nothing came up, at least not specifically enough to match her own issue, there were lots of problems with actual cybermate’s voices which polluted her search. She scrolled down and down, eventually hitting on something, ‘strange female voice coming from inside my cyber husband.’

 

A woman called Winnie was claiming something similar had happened to her own husband after she called out an engineer for a problem with his foot and an unauthorised upgrade had been carried out. She’s just like me, thought Vanessa, maybe we could be friends, allies? And she bookmarked the page for future reference. 

 

The most popular answer was submitted underneath by an independent cyborg consultant who cited the reason for this error as an incomplete upgrade or a clumsy cancellation of part of the upgrade. Vanessa thought about the engineer, how difficult he was to communicate with and how Spencer had claimed he was not a human. The consultant then reeled out a series of instructions to be carried out while your cybermate is in standby mode in order for the phantom voice to be exorcised, the alternatives being to live with it or call out another engineer.

 

I certainly won’t be calling out an engineer again, thought Vanessa. She stared at Spencer, lying there and began to imagine turning him over and accessing his control box, going through the instructions step by step. It crossed her mind that it might be some sort of trick and result in him becoming unstable, aggressive or even faulty. Fortunately there were no reports of any cybermates being aggressive, bossy yes but not violent or angry, at least not yet. 

 

She imagined him waking up suddenly and asking her what she was doing. Her fear was irrational, he’d never woken from his shutdown period, he needed it in order to be recharged. His sort really had the edge on humans who are prone to sabotaging their own sleep with pointless worrying or checking mobile phone alerts or other needless stimuli. 

 

Unsure of whether to follow the instructions and carry out the recommended DIY remedy for removing the voice, she started to feel very anxious. It was after eleven pm. What if something went wrong? She’d have to call out the engineer, the neighbours would see or perhaps Spencer would change dramatically and it would all be her own doing.

 

Her deliberations were disturbed by a bleep on her phone. It was her friend, Pat. ‘Sorry it’s so late but just wanted to wish you a happy birthday. Sorry I haven’t been in touch for a while. Things have been a bit tricky with Stu.’

 

I knew it, thought Vanessa. She had always been wary of Stu, there was something about him and his homemade percussion instruments, tribal jewellery and mother fixation that didn’t quite add up. There was vindication in finding out that her suspicions were turning out to be true. For some reason, this news made her feel considerably happier. She found herself smiling as she sat back in bed, almost giddy with a sense of schadenfreude like joy.  

 

She took a few moments to savour the news then typed a reply. ‘Thank you, Pat. I’m sorry to hear that you are having problems with Stu. I must say, I’m not that surprised, things moved quickly and I was worried about you. I’m having some issues of my own. Wish you were here. Maybe we could meet up?’

 

‘Oh really? Re meeting up, yes that would be great. I need to stay in tomorrow in case the bailiffs come back but I could come over in the evening. I won’t be able to invite you here. Stu’s place is a bit of a mess at the moment.’

 

‘I would love that. Come over for dinner. There’s something I need to do and I don’t want to do it alone.’