Chapter 5
Alex sighed, they were gonna be kicked off the plane sooner or later. “No! No! Get me out of these stupid seatbelts!” They were seated on the plane heading back to Europe, and Sam was having a freakout right next to him, “Why can’t you listen to me?! I told you I’m never-”
“Hey, Sam, SAMUEL!” Alex grabbed both of Sam's shoulders and shook him violently.
“What!?”
“You’re not alone this time! Your father and both of my parents are here as well!”
“So what?”
“So CALM. YOUR ASS. DOWN.”
“Bu-”
“CALM.”
“You-”
“JUST CALM YOURSEL-”
“HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO CALM MYSELF WHEN YOU’RE YELLING IN MY FACE!?”
“Fine.” Alex backed away, hands up, “Sorry, I needed you to calm down or else we’re gonna be kicked off this flight.”
“Violently shaking me and yelling in my face? Not your smartest thought.”
“Well, I guess you’re just gonna scream and cry all the way.”
“I am not gonna freak out.”
“You just did.”
Sam sighed, admitting defeat, the plane began to move, it taxis towards the runway before the cabin was filled with a roar as it sped down the runway. Sam was rigid, his hand was an iron grip on the armrests. Alex looked at him, and put his hand over Sam’s, he gave him the most comforting look he could muster. “It’s gonna be okay.” He whispered, Sam let out his breath and nodded. The ground dropped from view, the wings sliced through the clouds, everything was nice and routine… Except for Sam.
Sam was shaking, his eyes were blue pools of fear. He rubbed his shirt and played with his hair, he fidgeted with his fingers, and he also wanted out. To put it simply, Sam was a nervous wreck.
“Do you want a drink?” a cart pushing flight attendant asked them. “Soda, for both of us, please.” After she poured them their drinks, Jason, sitting behind them with Sara and Harold, requested: “Some whiskey for all three of us, tab’s on me.”
“But sir, this isn’t a bar, the drinks are free.”
“Oh…” Jason was embarrassed.
“Do you want your free whiskeys with ice sir?”
“Sure… Can you also give me a bucket of ice so I can dump it over my son’s head in case he faints?”
Sam turned around and poured his soda over Jason’s head. “Is your dad a drinker?” Alex asked Sam, Sam shook his head. Jason was still fussing behind them about the sticky soda. “Your dad’s really- Gah!” Alex grunted in pain, “Are you okay?” Sam asked in alarm,
“No, I hurt my arm.”
“Here, do you want me to massage the muscles?”
“You know how to do that?”
“Yes, do you want me to?”
“Sure, thanks.”
Sam began to squeeze and rub Alex’s arm and forearm. “Oh! Ooh! That feels so good!”
“Thank you.” Sam smiled for the first time since boarding and started rubbing again. Alex sat back, his arm exploding with sensation. He had woken up very early in the morning and now his eyelids felt heavy, he closed his eyes and sleep came automatically.
Frozen water cascaded down his body, the icy rigidness stabbing into his skin like daggers. Alex fought the cold water, was he drowning? When he opened his eyes Alex realized that he wasn’t dreaming at all. He whipped around, “What is wrong with you?!” He yelled at Jason, “Why did you do that?!”
“Sorry! Sorry! I thought you were Sam and that he had fainted.”
“Can’t you tell the difference?! Our HAIR COLOR.”
“I-”
“You could’ve given me hypothermia!”
“Alex!” Sara scolded him, “Pipe down!”
“Sam, can I do something wicked to your dad?” Alex asked Sam, who was sitting beside him glaring at his father as well. Sam nodded silently. “Good.” Alex got up and stomped to the aisle, where he promptly slipped on his ice cubes and slammed his backside against the floor.
Jason silently held out his hand to him, and Alex reluctantly took it. When someone pulls you up, you feel the force of the person pulling you, the strength that makes its presence known through physical contact that makes whoever pulled you up radiate with strength. This was no different for Jason. Alex threw water on him anyway.
Bright sunlight hit Alex’s face as soon as he stepped out of the aircraft, the Venice Marco Polo airport loomed overhead. The terminal was crowded with tourists, staff, and pets. The noise was loud, but Alex, after listening to Sam yelling and shouting on the plane, felt more like a low drone. After getting into a cab with Sam and Jason, Alex took out his phone. If he wasn’t a picture freak, then nobody in his family was.
The hotel they checked into was no Burj Al Arab, it was still very fancy, with a big, fluffy loveseat, a wide window, and a balcony that provided an amazing view. Best of all, Alex had a room to himself. Alex scanned the tub as soon as he got to the bathroom, it had several jets on every side, and a digital screen was mounted flat against the tub wall. “Cool.” Alex stripped himself of his clothing and tapped at the screen, multiple languages Alex didn’t understand appeared. He examined the screen until he found the word English.
Tapping the word, the screen changed to another array of boxes and symbols. Alex inspected the different options. At the last box, Alex saw the option to “Voice control & Voice use”. Tapping it, a loud female voice bellowed out from a hidden speaker: “Hello, I am your smart bathtub, while using voice control, please call me Tub, I am here to service and clean you. Your available options are: Provide shampoo and conditioner, adjust the temperature, lighting effect, ability to switch on and off voice control, curtain controls, music of your choice, watch movies and shows of your choice, bubbles, flower petals, bath bombs, volume adjustment, play video games, cushioning, traumatic drowning sensation, and jet options. Would you like to hear jet options? If so, please press the green dot on the screen or say ‘yes’. If not, then either press the red dot next to the green dot or say ‘no’.”
Alex was very impressed with this tub, “Yes.” He responded.
“Jet options are: Slow cooling, relaxing massage, rainfall, serendipity, zen, and anxiety-inducing flood. If you intend to stay in the tub for over extended periods, doctors suggest you eat spinach, beets, and other dark leafy greens to prevent vasoconstriction. Furthermore, the tub has a prolonged period option that automatically drains some of the water that has cooled over time and puts in more hot water to preserve the set temperature.”
“Tub, fill up.”
“Filling up, what would the temperature be?”
“One hundred degrees.”
“Tub temperature set at a hundred degrees.”
The screen slid aside and a faucet popped out, filling the tub at an impressive rate, in moments the tub was full. Alex stepped in, sighing as the wonderful warm water enveloped his body. “Tub, pull curtains.” The fabric slid silently over the windowpane, revealing a breathtaking view of the city at night. “Would you like me to do anything else?” Tub asked.
“Yes, add bath bombs and bubbles along with rose petals.”
“Adding bubbles and rose petals. What color of bath bombs would you prefer? Here are your options: Purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, and blood-like red”
“Purple.”
“Adding purple bath bomb now.”
The screen slid aside again, this time, a purple orb rolled out and splashed into the water, there was a sizzling noise as the bath bomb dissolved into the water. Another splash as the soapy bubble bath got poured in as well as the rose petals. “Tub, play relaxing music with ambient lighting.”
“What kind of relaxing music would you like to listen to? Here are the options: Electro, piano, guitar, drums, jazz, low fidelity, and loud death metal.”
“Low fidelity.”
“Now playing low fidelity music. What kind of lighting would you like to have? Here are your options: Ambient, fluorescent, xenon, natural, relaxing RGB neon, and eye-blinding lasers. Usually, this setup would go well with cushioning and relaxing massage from the jets. If you want this option, say ‘add extra’.”
“Neon, add extra.”
“Turning on neon light, activating relaxing massage and cushions.”
“Tub, watch movies.”
Speakers rose from each corner of the tub, and a hidden TV screen revealed itself to Alex. “What movie would you like to watch?”
Alex pondered for a while, “Never mind.” He said at last, “Tub, play games.”
“Activating game mode.”
Two joysticks slid out on the armrests on each side, the left one had a mini joystick and some buttons and triggers on it while the right one had a D-pad as well as a trigger. “What game would you like to play?”
“GTA Online.”
“I didn’t understand that, did you mean Grand Theft Auto Online?”
“Yes.”
A digital keyboard appeared on the TV screen. Alex signed into his online account using the right joystick and leaned back against the cushions once again as the game loaded. Zane_21$5Clain joined the server, and Alex promptly began playing. After getting killed several times by a guy named Samiller#_037. Alex finally got fed up and typed in a chat message to the player.
Zane_27$5Clain: Stop killing me
Samiller&_037: I’m very gud at this game
Zane_27$5Clain: Ur using mods
Samiller&_037: Alex?
Zane_27$5Clain: Sam?
Samiller&_037: Hiya
Zane_27$5Clain: How are u playing? U don’t have PC.
Samiller&_037: From bathtub
Zane_27$5Clain: Me2 lmao
Samiller&_037: Ima give this hotel 5 stars
Zane_27$5Clain: So am I
Samiller&_037: Ive been in this tub for 1 hr, I have prolonged period option active.
Zane_27$5Clain: For me its 2 hrs my skin is rotting.
Samiller&_037: Cool
Zane_27$5Clain: Gotta go
Tapping the word, the screen changed to another array of boxes and symbols. Alex inspected the different options. At the last box, Alex saw the option to “Voice control & Voice use”. Tapping it, a loud female voice bellowed out from a hidden speaker: “Hello, I am your smart bathtub, while using voice control, please call me Tub, I am here to service and clean you. Your available options are: Provide shampoo and conditioner, adjust the temperature, lighting effect, ability to switch on and off voice control, curtain controls, music of your choice, watch movies and shows of your choice, bubbles, flower petals, bath bombs, volume adjustment, play video games, cushioning, traumatic drowning sensation, and jet options. Would you like to hear jet options? If so, please press the green dot on the screen or say ‘yes’. If not, then either press the red dot next to the green dot or say ‘no’.”
“Filling up, what would the temperature be?”
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