Free Fatherless: A Novel by James Dobson, Kurt Bruner Page B

October. He had yet to make good on the promise.
    Never one to show his disappointment, especially to Sarah, Matthew glanced at the clock. Ninety minutes until third period.
    “Mind if I camp out at my usual table until then?” He didn’t need to ask, but wanted to keep the conversation going. “I can
     catch up on research for my project.”
    Both Sarah and Matthew knew that he had long since abandoned his formal education. It had been three years since he completed
     his fifth and sixth community college courses, environmental studies and a comparative religions class called Our Spiritual
     Impulse. His “project” nibbled around the edges of both by reading this and that tidbit to become a self-appointed expert
     in the nonexistent field of “spiritual environmentalism.”
    “No problem!” came Sarah’s reply. “Need to borrow my access code?” The offer meant she felt bad and wanted to make it up to
     him. A promising sign.
    “That’d be great.”
    Seconds later Sarah reached over Matthew’s shoulder to swipe her finger across a ten-inch screen embedded in the table surface.
     Her fingerprint opened a window to the collective wisdom of humanity thanks to a gold-tier tech access subscription he could
     no longer afford. His own fingerprint gave access only to free, public domain content.
    Matthew resisted the urge to move closer to Sarah’s body, but couldn’t help breathing in her fresh, feminine scent. He felt
     bad for secretly enjoying the pleasure of her presence. Unlike the lurid images of seductive women that populated his virtual
     games, girls like Sarah incited feelings just as exciting, but more wholesome. He couldn’t describe the sensation, even to
     himself. She offered a mysterious healing from the diminished manhood his porn habit seemed to breed. But she was far too
     young, not to mention way out of his league.
    After a brief security scan, the screen came alive. Six taps on the digital keyboard presented Matthew with familiar icons
     conveniently sequenced in use-frequency order:
    GAMES
    GUY STUFF
    INTERESTS
    DAILY SYNOPSIS
    ACTIVE PROJECTS
    Knowing Sarah or Kelly might walk by at any time, he chose the safest icon on the screen.
Matthew’s Daily Synopsis—April 26, 2042
YOUR DAY :
9 a.m. = Start Work 
YOUR MESSAGES : 
TROLLMASTER: “You gotta see this one. Hot!” 
GAIMGOD: “I just got accepted into Zilla Clan. Eat your heart out!” 
YOUR NEWS : 
Release of Planet Battle VI exceeds game industry expectations 
YOUR MONEY : 
$578 monthly prescription fee charged on 4/14/2042 to Visa account 
$3200 from Campus Grinds deposit scheduled to Chase account on 4/15/42
    Matthew waved out of DAILY SYNOPSIS and selected the INTERESTS icon in search of something to occupy himself until the usual third-period rush. He went in and out of five recommended links
     that seemed promising, but none held his attention.
    “Here you go.” The singsong interruption startled Matthew. “Your usual poison, on the house.”
    “Wow. Thanks, Sarah.” He savored the unexpected attention.
    “You bet!” came her casual reply. “Enjoy.”
    After taking a cautious drink to avoid burning his top lip, Matthew returned to the screen and tapped the ACTIVE PROJECTS icon to initiate the research genie, hoping Sarah’s clearance would generate more useful links than his own. Seconds later,
     two new items appeared: a report in Green World Journal describing disproportionate environmental impact from larger households and a news brief quoting the director of epigenetic
     research saying something about reversing age-related dementia.
    Matthew browsed the second item. Skipping over the medical lingo, he found the article’s bottom line.
    Dr. Wayne Galliger sounded optimistic about the team’s initial findings, suggesting the project could yield practical treatment
     options for age-related dementia as early as fall of 2044.
    “That’s another two and a half years!” Matthew said aloud, prompting a