Chapter 8

I woke the next day in three places. On a spaceship in a little bunk by myself, in a king size bed with Val at Mars Home, and in a king size bed snuggled between Nora and Em. The wakings were staggered, as each was a different me, with different bedtimes.

I had tried not sleeping before, and was functional for about 36 hours, but then was unconscious for nearly twenty. Now with multiple Mes I could sleep as needed, and just conjure a fresh copy. At least, once I made a fresh well rested copy this morning, after breakfast.

On Earth I joined Nora and Em in the kitchen making a big batch of pancakes. I was in no hurry, with a thought, a Me was already in the office. Today I was going to be very busy, doing as little as possible.

A carefully forged Me, wearing the body of Robert Diaz conjured into the bathroom at JFK airport, I hailed a cab, and headed for the tiny apartment that now belonged to me. Using a phone purchased just for him, I checked the bank balance, then transferred funds into it, as Robert Diaz was my newest employee.

He was short, and balding, and Puerto Rican. I paid the cab with cash, and walked up the three flights of stairs. He looked more Luis Guzman instead of Jimmy Smits. It had taken some serious work to get down to this size from my 2 meter form, cutting and reattaching bones, molding excess muscle to look like fat. The body worked, and had my usual enhancements, which made it good enough.

I dragged a suitcase behind me, banging against the stairs, but no neighbor was going to open the door to look and yell at me in this neighborhood. My door had an eviction notice stapled to it, I had a week to pay up, or get out. My keys opened the door, pushing aside the letters that had been stuffed underneath. I closed the door behind me, and looked around.

Twin bed in one corner, door to a bathroom, and a kitchenette. Two anemic windows, and an old tv with another smaller tv sitting on top. I stored the clothes, a collection of under clothing disappeared as my power wiped the originals away. I lay back on the bed, as there wasn’t even a chair, and relaxed as I wiped the ground grunge and grime off the walls, ceiling, and floor.

The bathroom was next, which was so bad, that I was glad I could do it with the door shut. The kitchen, I just vanished the appliances into energy, which I absorbed. My power reached out to the nearest appliance store, where I absorbed and blink conjured back a new stove, fridge, and microwave right out of the stock room. I examined the power plug for the oven, and blink copied one from the rack.

The bed was ugly and uncomfortable, so I converted it to energy, as I sat down on a new recliner with its back to the window. A local furniture store had a nice mission style twin, that I blinked out of the stock room, along with a new mattress. I pulled the handle on the recliner, leaning back, as my power turned the packaging back to energy.

The appliances were lifted into place, and plugged in. I examined the carpet that ran even under the fridge, and the floor beneath it. It was a nice hardwood, so I erased the carpet, padding, and tack strips. A flex of power, and it was polished smooth and shiny. Another flex and a 2 inch thick sheet of quartz replaced the aging countertop. The cabinets were ok, old, but real wood. The sink had been replaced some time ago, and the countertop with it.

I kept the sink, it was stainless steel, and matched the new appliances. The cabinets got a wash of power, and the layers of paint, white, green, and blue, came off the oak. Another wash of power, and the polished wood gleamed. I conjured a laptop, and created a new account. I emailed ZZ Erwerbung HR with my contact info, then I emailed my loan shark, apologizing for the delay, but explained I had to go out of the country for a job, and just got back. I was ready to pay my bill, plus late fees.

The old TVs vanished into energy, and I considered what to put in their place. The door opening would swing and smash into anything on the wall, unless I added a door stop. A local hardware store had what I needed, so I blinked one from the back of the rack. A twist of power, and it screwed itself down to keep the door from hitting my future TV.

I measured the space, and went hunting for one that would fit. A Costco had a nice one in a kit with a wall mount and soundbar. I blinked it into the room. I forged a nice stainless steel side table with a quartz top, that matched the kitchen counter, next to the recliner, and set the laptop on it. I stood up and unboxed the TV. My power held it up against the wall, as I sat back down. I wanted to get the perfect position for the chair. When I had it, I replaced the TV with the mount, screwing it into the studs.

It was a nice mount, that shifted to the position you wanted after it was screwed in. I had no problem seeing the studs, or driving the big screws with my power. My power lifted the TV onto the mount, after I added the bracket to the back of it, then I plugged it in. I mounted the sound bar under it, and using the directions as a guide, plugged all the wires into the correct spots.

I conjured a new wifi router, and mounted it just below. It was a Big T special with a direct connection to home. I used the included ethernet cable to plug the TV in, and the video conferencing device that hooked onto the top of the TV. I put the batteries in the remote, and stored the remote so I could conjure it without ever having to look for it again. I’d just return them back to energy when I came across extras.