View source for Mom-Bot

Part 1

I tossed my bag on the floor as I entered my house. The couch was calling to me after a long week of school. Stretched out on the couch sat my mom, eyes glued to her phone. As I found my spot she looked up and smiled.

“Hey honey, how was school?”

“It was fine, ready for the weekend.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Hey, want to order a pizza and watch a movie tonight?”

Hanging out with my mom on a Friday afternoon? “Eh, I was planning on meeting up with some friends after a nap.”

“Come on, we haven’t just sat down and had some you and me time in a while.” Her face was pouting. 

“Maybe tomorrow.”

“Ok, I guess it will just be me here.” Disappointed she looked back at her phone.

I peeked in her direction. Odd thoughts came to me unbidden. She was a pretty lady. In her mid forties she still had it. Her red hair, the curves, and her feet. I stole a glance at her them propped up on the couch. They were small, with nice straight toes and soft soles. At least I imagined they were soft. I had never touched them before. 

Standing up, I made my way behind the couch to go upstairs. I felt like a complete weirdo, but I figured I could calm this down with a trip to the bathroom. At the same time I also felt kinda bad, looking at Mom just sitting there with her phone all alone.

I walked up behind her and placed both hands on her shoulders. She leaned back and looked up at me. “We’ll watch something soon, I promise.”

She smiled and placed a soft hand on mine. “Sounds good.” That was the end of my normal day.

I squeezed her shoulders slightly, and there was a click were my thumbs were at between her shoulder blades. Mom’s eyes went wide with surprise as she dropped her phone. With a hiss a seam opened at the base of her neck. Her lips parted to say something, but before she could her head tumbled down to her lap in a mess of red hair. Her body settled a bit as all the muscles seemed to relax. Did I just kill my mom?

I stood frozen, trying to process what I was seeing. Where Mom’s neck had just been was now an open hole. Instead of blood or bone, in it was concentric circles of wires, metal, connection ports, and a couple of plastic tubes at the center. A machine? 

“Mmmm-Mhhhmmmm” The voice was coming from her lap. The head. At least “she” was “alive”.

I reached down and felt for the solid mass buried under the hair. Gently, I grabbed both sides of the noggin and lifted. I rotated her around to get a look at her face. She looked up at me with a guilty grin. “Mom?”

“Hey honey.” She was heavier then I though she’d be, but I cradled her as softly as I could.

“What’s going on here?”

She looked down as best she could at the bottom of her neck. “Well sweetie, I think you accidently pressed my manual release.”

I took a few steps back from the couch and started to pace. Mom’s head started to glance around the room. “Where you a robot….this whole time….am I…a…”

“No honey, no! I guess I should come clean. Do you remember that contest they were having at my job?”

“I think so…”

“Well, I won!” She beamed. “ As you can see, the prize was a personally customized house-bot. I kinda figured if it looked like me I could take a break every once in a while….without anybody noticing.” 

Mom was living the good life while I was stuck here at home?

“So your not my mom.” I said flatly. 

She looked a little hurt, “Well kina, I’m not your original mom.”

“Where is Mom?” 

“Hey sweetie, I  understand you have a lot of questions right now. But could you help me out first?” She looked at me with a look I never really saw on my mom. Nervousness. “Could you put me back on? My body that is.” The head looked up at me, pleadingly. I started to get those thoughts again…