Chapter 2: Dada

The hike home was excruciatingly long, or perhaps that was because I was a very lazy teenager. My neighborhood, known as Chanticleer, was a large, lively place. Every house was at least four stories tall, and each one had their own glass elevator. People parked their floating cars in their driveways, as well as in the street. There were also two different sidewalks. One was a moving sidewalk, and the other was mobile. For the most part, the moving sidewalk was reserved for elders or anyone who had trouble walking, but not me. I did not feel like walking. Therefore, I just plopped myself down on the moving sidewalk.

It was to a few elders' disbelief, and they told me, "You're young! You can easily walk!"

Now, did I listen to them? No, I did not. Meet seventeen-year-old me.

My house was towards the edge of the neighborhood and behind what used to be a golf course 3,000 years ago. Like any other house in Chanticleer, it was four stories high and had a glass elevator. The building itself was white with black window frames, and the top of it looked a bit like a spaceship. At one wing was an enclosure, which held our pool, and the other wing housed the garage. The elevator was on the pool wing. A white fence surrounded it.

The grass went up to my shins, but it did not look like Dada was home yet–thank goodness. Perhaps I could let my laziness slide? Sure, Dada, I wasn't out hoverscooting at the Valley of Green. I did the lawn just like you wanted me to. My room was on the fourth story of the house. I could see it from the front yard.

Carefully opening the gate, I shuffled through the grass and climbed up the front steps, with my hoverboard still under my arm. Goodness, how much longer could I hold it? I forgot it was quite heavy. Next to the front door was a gray pad. I placed my hand on it. Right when I did, the pad unleashed a bundle of holographic lights that scanned my hand.

"Identity: Daniel Matton," said a robotic voice. The holographic lights vanished. I heard the front door unlocking: first lock, second lock, third lock, fourth lock, fifth lock, and slide. The door slid open.

I poked my head inside. The interior of my house was usually bright, because natural sunlight shone through its enormous glass windows. A spiral staircase was to the right of the front door, and Dada's library was on the left. In front of me and down a hallway was the kitchen. "Hello? Dada? Geico?" I whispered.

Geico was the name of our Housekeeping Android. He was an interesting fella who always rolled around wearing a pink apron. Usually, he was the first one to greet me home, but I did not see him anywhere. Huh, strange, but it looked like I was A-Okay. I refused to climb the spiral staircase up to my room, so I just took the glass elevator. It was on the other side of the kitchen, so not a terribly long walk. However, it was the only thing in the spare room of the house. Honestly, at times, that elevator creeped me out. Once inside it, though, it was an entirely different story.

I reached the room in a mere five minutes and made haste to press its up button. Now all I had to do was wait.

Come on, come on. There we go.

The doors to the elevator opened. Instantly, sunlight blinded me, but my eyes adjusted quickly. Inside I went. The doors closed behind me. I waited for the intercom to turn on. Dada and I didn't have any buttons in our elevator. We decided there was no point in having to push a button when we could easily use voice recognition.

"Welcome, Dan, only son of Benjamin and Becca Matton. What floor would you like to go to today?" Intercom asked.

"Fourth floor," was my answer.

"As you wish, Master."

The elevator jerked and started to ascend upward at an easy pace.

I shuffled over to its back and peered outside to Chanticleer. Teenage boys flew across the road on their hoverscooters, followed closely by teenage girls who steered the hoverscooter's scooter form. My eyes landed on the next-door neighbor's own glass elevator. It went up the same time as me. Inside it was a little girl and her mother. We waved at one another and mouthed Hello.

I just love 5000s technology. Don't you?

A little bit later, the elevator reached the fourth story. It stopped, and Intercom spoke again. "Attention, passengers, we have reached the fourth story of the Matton household. Up here, you will find the game room, Daniel Matton's bedroom, the spare kitchen and guest room, and the movie theater." I literally had the best floor in the house. That was what happens when you were an only child.

The elevator opened, and I found myself in the game room. Dada and I had so many cool games. We used the room's holographic screen as a TV to connect our consoles to. Well, Dada used to play more games when I was younger, but the habit changed after Mother died. He now spent all his time at the Downtown Greenville Space Center, so I usually had the game room to myself. My room was just down the hallway following it.

I walked by a long line of glass windows to reach it. Everything was going according to plan. Now I could change out of my hoverscooting clothes and mow the lawn before Dada came home.

Strangely, my door was unlocked. It opened with a mere touch of my finger. On my way in, I said, "I thought I... Ahhh!"

There was Dada, along with Geico. Very sneaky.

Dada was a buff-looking man who had short brown hair like Mother. He usually styled himself out in the latest fashion designs for men. That day, he wore a black, stretchy suit with some boots and fingerless gloves. On the other hand, Geico was all white. He had a humanoid form, but black wheels instead of feet. He had three fingers on his hands vs. five. He was a little taller than Dada, and like I mentioned earlier, he wore a pink apron over his chest. He had two black eyes and a triangle-shaped nose, but he lacked a mouth. His eyes and nose covered his whole face.

My room was always very messy, and that day was no exception. It smelled like teenage boy, my bed was un-made, and clothes, schoolbooks, etc. littered the floor. My closet was the largest thing in my room. The second largest was the window next to my bed. Like the elevator, the closet ran on voice recognition.

I tried to sound casual. "Dada! Geico! What a coincidence it is to see you two here, eh?"

Dada placed his hands on his hips. Though calm, I could tell he was furious. "Daniel, you understand you were supposed to mow the lawn this morning, correct?"

I scooted over to my desk, which had my red laptop on it. A Dell computer, it came with Windows 5010. The computer itself was small, about the size of a book. It had no screen, just a keyboard. I placed my hand on it and said to Dada, "Of course, Dada. I was just getting to that, but I went out to get some fresh air. You see, I'm subject to claustrophobia."

Dad was not convinced. "Right. And is there a reason why you're carrying around your hoverscooter, Mr. Claustrophobic?"

My eyes moved down to my hoverscooter. I tried to fight back, but I was not good at it. "Of course! You see, I tend to feel more comfortable when I have my hoverscooter on my–"

"Save it. You went hoverscooting out at the Valley of Green again, right?"

"Well, technically–"

"Oh, I see! You also went to Titanic Park and ran into Molly!"

"Whoa, Dad. How did you figure that out?" I asked. I assumed he was looking at the slap mark Molly left behind on my cheek.

Dada shrugged. "Oh, just a wild guess. Ah! Son, I know it's your birthday–happy birthday–but you're going to make up for what happened this morning. Until you mow the lawn and clean this junkyard out, I'm not going to give you your birthday present. And just to make sure you don't get distracted..." He pushed by me and picked up my laptop. "This computer is mine."

Oh man, you can imagine that pissed me off. Gasping, I reached for the computer, but Dada pulled it away from my hand. "Dada, no! You can't take that away! I'm writing a story about a Tyrannosaurs Rex who falls in love during the K.T. Mass Extinction! It's just as important as the Neoproterozoic Era of the Precambrian Time!"

Dada stared at me. He had no idea what I just said. After all, he was an astronaut, and I was an aspiring paleontologist. There's a bit of a difference here. Whether that difference is good or bad is up to you.

Dada refused to return my computer. He tucked it under his arm as I set down my hoverscooter.

I scoffed and said in a sarcastic voice, "You should know that I'm too lazy to clean my room, Dada."

"Exactly! And it's getting on my nerves! Son, all you do is drink root beer and play Portals and Aliens!"

True, but that was my life. I told Dad this. "Dada, that is my life. Just like yours is going into space and studying theoretical passageways. You leave the kid behind. I'm sorry life's so cruel."

Dada did not want to put up with my sassy behavior. He and Geico headed towards my door, and he took my laptop with him.

I tried to beg it back, but to no avail. "Can you at least let me write a paragraph? I did get some exercise today."

"No!" Dada opened the door.

Geico made haste to get the heck out of dodge. He zoomed past him, right into the hallway.

I tried a new tactic. "A sentence?"

"No!" Dada snapped.

"A word? A letter? A line? A dot?"

"No!"

Well, excuse me, Dada.

He followed Geico into the hallway and slammed the door shut behind him. I think I was getting on his nerves. What was that thing he used to say? Oh, yeah.

"'Teenagers are exhausting.'"

Trust me, they are, so I know exactly how he felt. Dada always thought that Becca, my mother, made a much better parent. It was a bit difficult to work at the space center and take care of a rising 12th grader at the same time. Thinking back, I feel bad for him. Why was I such a brat when I was young? To this day, I still don't have an answer.