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A metallic thunk! woke Gelda from her nap. The first thing to cross her mind was that the cleaner had arrived to get the place ready for tomorrow’s celebration and had broken something or had an accident. When a muffled voice bellowed a warning, she then wondered if it wasn’t the cleaner but the faulty speaker on her voicemail again. Darned thing tended to fluctuate from barely audible to making a raucous noise.
The clock on the wall told her it was almost noon. She cursed herself for falling asleep when there was still so much to do before the celebration. Gone were the days when she enjoyed getting things done. With a groan and a grumble, she brushed grey curls from her eyes and stomped into the kitchen. Preparing to yell at the blasted voicemail, she instead found Finkle the cat rolling around on the floor with a zig-zagged capsule. He held it in place with his front paws while kicking at it with his back legs.
‘What have you got there, you big fluffball?’
It wasn’t until Gelda noticed a rusted old mailcage beneath the kitchen bench that she figured it out. The biosphere game! Barlo’s gift! ‘Let go of that, you little menace!’
To Finkle her tone meant fun! Kicking off from the item, he skittered out of the kitchen, sending the capsule tumbling in the opposite direction, its pattern giving the illusion of rolling sideways along with forward.
‘INSTABILITY HAZARD IMMINENT. SECURE IN PLACE TO MAINTAIN DORMANCY!’ blared the same muffled voice Gelda had heard from the living room.
The capsule smacked into the wall; its clasp unlatched. The white in the zigzag pattern flashed red and yellow then four coloured balls tumbled out: green, blue, yellow, and one that flashed black, white, and red. The first three scattered across the floor. The flashing black, white, and red ball vaulted into the air, ricocheted off the wall, hit the metal leg of a kitchen stool, and cracked open to reveal a black pockmarked orb that looked very much like a rock. Dark swirling blues, reds, and purples, and bright twinkling lights appeared from inside the rock for a moment, then it grew dark again.
Though curious, a muffled warning message on repeat took her attention: PREMATURE BIOSPHERE INITIATION! CRAFTING HAZARD LEVEL 9! DISABLE IMMEDIATELY TO AVOID IRREVERSIBLE DAMAGE! It came from the green ball. Turning it round in her hand, the only feature she could find was a small toggle switch that flashed red. Hoping to end the noise, she flicked it and sighed with relief when it worked.
Gelda gathered the four balls and the open capsule and put them on the kitchen bench. The other parcels in the mailbox, and the flashing notification on the screen, confirmed there’d been a delivery while she’d napped. She supposed they’d triggered Finkle’s cat senses, which could be unpredictable and hazardous. He had a way of knowing when a collectable was on its way, but his curiosity usually ended in a mess. Great gosh, the cat’s good at breaking things, she thought. Sometimes she wondered if he were part Gorgon.
When she went to close the flashing ball that had split open, she noticed that the rock inside was cracked. The swirling motions from within made it look as though there were something fluid inside of it. ‘Darned cat!’ It probably happened when it hit the wall. So much for giving it to Barlo in pristine condition.
She placed the balls in a row on the bench. Judging by the latches on each, they were all containers. She wondered how it all fit together but didn’t want to risk damaging it any more.
The capsule sprang open again when she tried to force it shut and she accidentally activated the arrival sequence. The zigzags turned blue and pink. There was some visual noise and a staticky glitch. Unwrap & Play offers spun out in lime green before vanishing in a blast effect on the inside of the lid.
The capsule vibrated; more words appeared:
‘Open now for a FREE BONUS!’ in bright orange.
‘Play today and GET 20% OFF an upgrade!’ in vivid purple.
‘Sign up a friend and access TEAM MODE!’
‘Join our VIP Club! Earn INSTANT Points!’
Across each offer was a flashing ‘OFFER EXPIRED’ stamp.
‘Ugh, Upsells.’ Gelda hmphed and shook her head at the crude and obsolete store wrap. It was a miracle the sequence still functioned. She laughed at the thought that she’d bought a product so garishly outmoded. How gaudy! The store wrap continued blaring insipid spiels until she closed the lid on the capsule, this time firmly enough that it wouldn’t spring open again. The expired deals ended mid-spiel. The zigzags transitioned from pastel through to bright colours, and an illuminated button appeared in the middle of the capsule displaying the word ‘ON’. Pressing it crossed her mind but, no, that was Barlo’s privilege. She left it off and the yellow faded to grey. Hopefully the woeful store wrap would give him a laugh and the old game inside was still playable.
Wrapping the keepsake brought the ordeal to an end. The high-sensory birthday paper she’d bought from the Gifting Delights catalogue had purring cats and fluttering butterflies on it and smelled like fleurs – just like Barlo’s baby blanket all those years ago. After adding a green bow, she put it on a high shelf away from Finkle Snook’s reach. With a cup of kerai and a slice of swirle bredde she rested and, with much satisfaction, checked ‘Wrap Barlo’s Gift’ off her To-Do list.
For the rest of the day she got on with getting things done. The cleaner cleaned and the gardener mowed while the social screen set to the kitchen wall intermittently pinged with guests confirming attendance, times, what to bring, or to send their apologies. One by one, Gelda checked off items on her list until they were all done. She ate a simple meal while watching reruns of The Day She Flew. In bed, she imagined her big empty house filled with cheer and laughter. It gave her an unexpected twinge of anticipation. She had a feeling that tomorrow would be a night to remember and even felt a twinge of nervous excitement. That was something she hadn’t felt in a long time.
‘Big day tomorrow, Finkle,’ she told the cat in the typical soft lilt of her people. Finkle stared at her while she read out tomorrow’s list. He put one paw on the aide and the other on her lips then closed his eyes.