Agency

23 Not Trusting in the Glitch

After reheating beef lasagna, from Eunice’s restock of the fridge, she ate at the kitchen table, watching the drones sneak in and out, via the open window, fussily navigating 3D geometries she guessed kept them off-camera to Cursion. To whatever extent they weren’t, she supposed, Eunice’s postproduction would erase them, showing Cursion a drone-free kitchen.

After she’d eaten, she decided to shower, anticipating actual nonvirtual privacy behind the La Sirenita curtain that matched Joe-Eddy’s towels. Remembering where Eunice had shown her the bathroom’s faux-Robertson head was, she put the tactical bathrobe on over her clothing, her back to the cam, then awkwardly undressed. Getting behind La Sirenita, she discarded the robe and her t-shirt, reaching out to hang them where they could easily be retrieved. She showered, until the hot was almost gone, then hooked the robe back in, put it on, pulled the hood up, got out, and brushed her teeth in front of the mirror.

More of me, all the time. Doesn’t feel bad. Just different.

Verity helped herself to a swig of Joe-Eddy’s naturopathic mouthwash and started swishing. Counted to twenty before she spat it into the sink. “Cam in here still glitching?”

Eunice showed her a feed of the bathroom, featuring an inconstant vertical oblong in front of the mirror, the color of the tactical robe.

She went into the bedroom, to the closet, selected a change of clothes, then back to the bathroom, where she toweled her hair semidry and started dressing with the robe over her shoulders, not trusting in the glitch.