Free Complete Atopia Chronicles by Matthew Mather

behave.”
    “Uh huh,” she replied skeptically, “why don’t you just get them to send you a bunch of mock–ups and we can stick them up on the wall and pick a model we like?”
    The sarcasm was obvious, but lightened with humor. I could sense the clouds clearing.
    “It’s not just that,” I added encouragingly, “these things, you have to take care of them, just like they were real babies...feed them, burp them, put them to sleep. You get the full treatment, and that’s really the point—you can see how your kid will behave at different ages before you have them, to make sure you’ll like what you’re getting.”
    “And why would I want to do this?”
    “Well, I thought that if we took care of a proxxid for a few weeks or months,” I answered, looking straight into her eyes, “we could see if we liked having a screaming kid around.”
    I smiled at her.
    “...and then?” she asked, smiling back.
    “And then, well, if it felt right, we could have a real child, but we’d get to experiment a little first. What do you think?”
    She cuddled into me and looked up into my face.
    “Okay Mr. Rick Strong, I’m willing to give it a try.”
    Maybe this whole thing would work out, I thought, and a great weight lifted from my chest.
     
     

3
     
    BABY SHOWER — I’D never really understood the term. Why did they call it a shower? Because they showered the mother with gifts? Weren’t they supposed to have these parties before the baby arrived?
    Anyway, I guess it didn’t matter, and I had to admit, he sure was a cute little sucker. Our Little Ricky had bright blue eyes—his daddy’s eyes.
    This had turned into something of a coming out party for the Strong family on Atopia. The place was packed and everyone was milling about our apartment with drinks in hand, dropping into spontaneous little groups for small talk around the entertainment space I had Echo create for us. The star of the evening, of course, was Little Ricky, our bouncing baby proxxid, who burbled and gurgled away in his mother’s arms.
    Cindy positively glowed.
    From the corner of one eye, I could see Bobby Baxter, Jimmy’s adopted brother, making his way towards us with a stunning blond in tow.
    “Congratulations Commander Strong!” he immediately blurted out when he got near, outstretching his hand.
    I smiled and rolled my eyes slightly, but gripped his hand tightly and shook it.
    “Thanks Bob.”
    I still wasn’t quite sure if everyone was being genuine, or if they were gently poking fun at someone having a simulated baby.
    “Is Jimmy coming?” I asked.
    Bob shook his head. “You’d know more than me, Commander.”
    Awkward pause.
    “And of course congratulations to the lovely new proxxid mother,” laughed Bob as he let go of my hand and leaned over to kiss my wife on the cheek.
    I looked past him to have a look at his date. She shifted uncomfortably, waiting to be introduced. The rumor mill was constantly circulating with stories about how Bob was wasting his life away, but he sure could pick his women.
    “…and this lovely lady is?” I asked, smiling at his date intently. She smiled back. Stunning.
    “Oh, ah,” mumbled Bob, “this is Nicky”
    “Pleased to meet you,” I said as I reached out to shake her hand, gently pulling her close for a kiss on the cheek. Just being polite, of course.
    “A pleasure,” replied Nicky, smiling radiantly.
    Bob wandered off for a drink while my wife and I exchanged some pleasantries with his girlfriend. A few more women arrived and began mobbing my wife to have a look at the proxxid.
    “Here, could you hold him for a second, Rick honey?” asked my wife.
    I nodded, returning my attention to her. The group of woman all smiled watching me awkwardly take hold of him. Such a tiny package, so warm and soft; it was disarming to look down into his little face and see part of myself staring back up at me. I couldn’t help but smile.
    “I’ll be back in a sec,” said Cindy. “I just need