Close Obsession (The Krinar Chronicles 2)

Starving and mentally exhausted, Mia exited the virtual reality setting by telling her wristwatch-bracelet device to bring her back home. Her breakfast this morning had been light, just a mango-avocado smoothie, and she felt almost faint with hunger at this point. Opening her eyes, she got up from the couch where she had been sitting and went in search of food.

Approaching the refrigerator, she opened it decisively and stared at the various plant foods that occupied it. Some were familiar – she saw a couple of tomatoes and sweet peppers – but others were completely foreign. Mia wished that Korum were here, so he could make one of his delicious and filling concoctions. However, since he’d been at the trial in person, she figured he might be delayed for at least a while longer.

Suddenly, she got an idea. Korum had mentioned that one of the house’s functions was to prepare foods. Would it do it for her as well?

“Hey, house,” Mia said tentatively, feeling like an idiot, “can you please prepare me something to eat?”

For a second, nothing happened, and then a melodious female voice asked, “What would you like, Mia?”

Mia nearly jumped in excitement. “Oh my God, you talk! That’s great! Um . . . I’d like the same thing Korum made yesterday, especially if it can be prepared quickly.”

“Yes, Mia,” the female voice responded softly. “The shari salad will be ready in two minutes, and the kalfani stew will be done six minutes later.”

Grinning in amazement, Mia walked over to the sink to wash her hands. By the time she finished and sat down at the table, a part of the wall had opened and a bowl of salad emerged, floating calmly toward the table.

Mia watched in open-mouthed shock as the salad landed neatly in front of her. It was the perfect portion size for her, and the tong-like utensil was already inside the bowl. The dish was completely ready for her consumption.

“Um, thank you,” she said, trying to look around to see where the voice had been coming from. Was there a computer embedded somewhere in the ceiling?

“You’re welcome, Mia,” the female voice said again. “Please enjoy, and I will have the next dish ready for you within minutes.”

Grinning again, Mia dug into the food. So far, she was loving Krinar technology. It was everything that people had been fantasizing about in science fiction, yet it was entirely real – and had an almost magical twist to it that Mia found very appealing. She particularly appreciated how easy it was to operate everything. Natural language voice commands, simple hand gestures – it all seemed so intuitive.

By the time she finished the salad, the stew-like dish from yesterday had floated to the table as well. Mia greedily consumed it, feeling much of the earlier tiredness leaving her as her blood sugar levels stabilized. The food was as delicious as it had been yesterday, and Mia wondered again why Korum bothered learning how to cook when he had access to such remarkable technology in his house.

Finally replete, she cleaned up by bringing the dishes toward the wall – which opened up to accept them, just as it had for Korum – and went into the living room.

It seemed like as good a time as any to call the camp director in Orlando and let him know that she wouldn’t be starting on Monday.

* * *

By the time Korum arrived home an hour later, Mia had managed to get bored.

She’d spoken with the camp director and explained that unforeseen circumstances were preventing her from coming to Florida this summer. He had been disappointed, but surprisingly nice about the whole thing, which was a tremendous relief for Mia. Afterwards, she explored the house a bit and even tried talking to it, but the melodious female voice didn’t seem all that interested in carrying on a conversation. It did ask whether Mia was warm and comfortable (which she was) and if she desired anything to eat or drink (which she didn’t), but that was the extent of their interaction. There didn’t seem to be any books around or anything else for her to amuse herself with, either.

Sighing, Mia plopped down on the couch in the living room and stared at the greenery outside. She wished she were brave enough to venture out, but the thought of getting lost in a Costa Rican forest didn’t appeal to her. Studying the bracelet-like device on her wrist, Mia wondered if it would work like an actual computer, enabling her to get on the internet. She thought about trying it, but decided to wait for Korum to demonstrate more of its capabilities to her.

Finally, Korum walked in. He looked tense and a little tired, and Mia guessed that more politics had gone on behind the scenes after the trial had formally adjourned. Nevertheless, he smiled when h

e saw her sitting there.

“Hi,” she said, ridiculously glad to see him. Despite everything that had happened between them, despite the fact that she had just seen him treat his opponents almost cruelly, she couldn’t help the warm sensation that spread through her in his presence.

His smile widened. Walking over to join her on the couch, he kissed her softly and pulled her closer to him for a hug. Mia hugged him back, surprised, and mumbled into his shirt, “Is everything okay? Did anything happen?”

He shook his head and simply held her, burying his face in her hair and inhaling her scent. “No,” he murmured, “everything is good now.”

After a few more seconds, he pulled back and looked at her. “I hope you got something to eat? I programmed the house to respond to your verbal commands, to make sure you wouldn’t have any difficulties here.”

Mia smiled. “Yeah, I figured it out. Thanks for that.”

“Good,” he said softly, “I want you to feel comfortable here.”

Mia nodded slowly. “I’m starting to, a bit. But I actually wanted to ask you something . . .”

“Of course, what is it?”

“I’m bored,” Mia told him bluntly. “I don’t really have anything to do when you’re not here. At home, I have school, work, friends, books, TV –”