Edgar Aeternum, Book 1: Tales of Aeternal Love by Jay Belle Isle Page A

hate
Tyranus 6; serves her right.
    I wonder who called. Whoever it is can damn
well wait. I hated cellphone chats in the bathroom in the twen-cen
and I hate comm calls there now. Nothing is so important it needs
to be handled in the john, period.
    The stream slowed to a trickle and then
stopped. Edgar shook off the last drops, washed his hands and
requested playback of message. Maddi's voice tracked Edgar back to
the living room, where Edgar wrapped himself in the fleece again
before sitting.
    "H-hi, Edgar! It's Maddox," the boy sounded
both cheerful and terrified at the same time. "Th-thanks for
calling me back. Sorry I missed you, too, m-man. My schedule is
crazy. I, uh, really do wanna talk, uh, soon. Maybe, um..." the
pause sounded as though Maddox was screwing up enough courage to
jump from a plane. "Maybe you'd, uh, like to, um, g-get together
s-sometime soon? Uh, look, if you, um, don't want to, I-I
understand. I j-just think it'd be fun. H-hope to hear from you
soon! End call."
    He sat pondering the message. Obviously, the
boy was nervous and didn't think that Edgar could possibly be
interested in him. Edgar wondered if maybe it was just nerves.
Could it be that Maddox was somehow desperate? Maybe even
unbalanced? Edgar's stomach chose that moment to growl, loudly
announcing its desire for dinner. Roused from his musings, Edgar
called for lights and the apartment was filled with a warm glow.
Now that renewable energy was no big deal, the world had returned
to incandescent lights, flipping a big bird to their pale,
fluorescent substitutes.
    He got up and dropped the wrap. Once out of
the warm cocoon, he shivered a bit and ordered the HC to bring the
apartment to nighttime temp. It could be automated, but since his
schedule was so erratic, Edgar typically left it on manual. In the
meantime, he popped into his bedroom and grabbed a lush, thick robe
of a pale sky-blue. Wearing it felt like a hug and the color
highlighted Edgar's sandy blond hair perfectly.
    "Music," he called out to the HC on his way
to the kitchen. The system chimed and requested, "Selection?" Edgar
paused for a moment. The nap hadn't been particularly satisfying,
other than the racy dream, and he was glad Jace invited him to the
club tonight. "1980s Earth, light rock," Edgar said and the system
obliged; a second later, A-Ha began Take on Me .
    He stood in the kitchen, hungry but not
feeling particularly motivated to cook and decided pizza sounded
good. He got an ice-cold glass of water and said, "Pause music."
Immediately, the song stopped. "Place call: Antonia's Pizza."
    The line picked up and Edgar was greeted by
the friendly bass of his favorite pie maker. "Antonia's, Tazz here.
What can I get ya?" Edgar pictured the sparkling green eyes and jet
black hair that went with the voice.
    If you weren't straight as the proverbial
arrow, I'd like a double sausage!
    Instead, Edgar said, "Tazz! It's Edgar! I
like a large double special, please."
    "Ed-dee!" the cheery bass boomed. "How's it,
man?"
    Edgar smiled. Tazz was the only one who
called him "Eddie" and certainly the only one in this century Edgar
ever heard pronounce it with that emphasis. He liked it; it took
him back to when he actually went by that nickname. "It's pretty
sweet, mah man!" Edgar replied. It was their standard exchange,
even on the occasions Edgar ordered a couple days in a row.
    "Good to hear! You wanna toss in an order of
Stix with that?" Tazz asked.
    At the mention of the word "Stix," Edgar's
stomach growled again, making the decision for him. The things
ought to come with a Surgeon General's warning, they were so damned
addictive. Sweet, sweet dough laced with enough butter to sauté a
hippo, rolled around a chewy tsano core and baked to perfection.
The secret was the tsano; the root vegetable, grown only on Mars,
made a cheese-like paste when baked. It required no spices, it was
so flavorful. Edgar once spent a whole year trying to find a taste
on Earth analogous to tsano before he