The New Mother
A short story about a teenager who notices something strange about her new foster mother.
Part of what I’d like to do more of for my newsletter this year is put up more of my own fiction. The following is a short sci-fi story set in a world where children are sent to live with different mothers across the galaxy every nine months, and a girl discovers that her new mother isn’t quite what she seems.
The New Mother
“Hello, dear,” called out the sweetest voice Chloe had ever heard. “It will be my pleasure to serve as your mother for the next nine months.”
Chloe could only smile as she walked through the glass door of what was to be her new home. She’d spend years imagining how this moment would go, the moment when she turned thirteen and was finally allowed to choose which planet she wanted to go to live with her new mother.
Due to the many difficulties that arouse from old forms of parenting where children lived with one or two parents for eighteen years back when Earth had been the only habitable planet, it was decided by the intergalactic government that it was better for children to live with one mother, a woman who was trained and paid by the government to serve as the legal guardian of children selected for them by child agents, for a period of only nine months, representing the amount of time babies spend developing in their birth mothers’ wombs. Since men were deemed to be less nurturing than women were, they rarely served as fathers expect in planets where there was a shortage of women willing to be mothers. Once a child served their time with one mother, their child agent would select a new home (which could anywhere in the galaxy) and mother for them to stay with. The cycle began after the birth of a new baby and continued until the day they turned eighteen.
Of course, for her first chosen home as a teenager, Chloe could only choose the beautiful planet of Fauna, where half of the world was surrounded by beautiful forests, beaches, and flowers that could grow as big as skyscrapers. The weather was always fair here, with barely more than three snowfalls a year, but without the sticky hot summers of five months that were commonplace of some of the other planets Chloe had lived in. According to many, the pleasant weather had a positive impact on Fauna’s inhabitants, making them not only some of the nicest people in the galaxy, but also some of the most beautiful and healthy as well.
From just this first greeting, it was obvious to Chloe that her new mother was one of these well-adjusted inhabitants. But once she walked inside, she noticed there was more to this woman than just her gracious way of speaking. She had golden hair with a pink headband on top, aqua blue eyes with the longest eyelashes Chloe had ever seen, and a light blue dress with yellow flower designs. Once she saw Chloe standing right in front of her, she gave the girl a big smile and said, “Oh, my, are you a pretty girl, Chloe! The child agent told me you’re just as beautiful as you are clever, but seeing you in person, I can tell you’re already exceeding my expectations in that area.”
Chloe chuckled. “I think you’re pretty too, Mother.”
The first rule that all child agents made clear to children was that you were to call your new mother “Mother” the moment you first met her. Making it clear that you already saw her as your parent increased the chances of the two of you forming a strong relationship over the next nine months.
Since this must have been clear to this woman, she smiled once again and said, “Well done, Chloe. I’ll be sure to let the child agent know how polite you are in your first weekly behavioral report. Now, since I know the journey to Fauna was a long one for you, I’m going to start preparing supper. The ladies at my gardening club always love my cooking, and now I finally have a daughter to share a meal with me. It makes me happier than you could ever know.”
“That’s great, Mother. Did my agent give you the list of all my food preferences?”
“Yes, dear. You love all green vegetables, berries, and soy burgers, but do not like onions, carrots, or spicy sauces. I’ll be sure to provide you with as much as you like.”
Chloe nodded in agreement before walking into the living room, where an 10k theatrical television took up half the space. With just a click into the smart remote, the top menu featured the most popular programs of the week in Fauna. Chloe chose to watch a TV drama series about a teenage boy and his mother. The program featured a young woman who looked not too different from her own new mother, only somewhat shorter. Her new son was a tall, tan boy named Jamie, who glowed with pleasure as he said hello to his new mother. However, rather than complimenting the boy on his manners, the mother looked a bit worried. “Jamie, there’s something I found rather concerning about your past history.”
Jamie looked startled. “My past history? What do you mean?”
“Don’t pretend to be so innocent,” the mother said, sounding far from the sweet mother Chloe had just met. “Your agent’s report included very vivid details about delinquents who appeared to be your friends for far too long.”
“Delinquents? Just because some of them got caught shoplifting at a deli store doesn’t mean they’re full- blown criminals, Mother.”
“Now, Jamie. Now’s not a good time to be talking back to me. You know the rules the agents have set up. All children must be respectful to their mothers during their first meeting. Small acts of rebellion can be tolerated later on, but to be acting this way as soon as you set foot in this house is extremely disrespectful.”
“You can’t go on talking that way about my past! None of my other mothers did, so why the hell do you think you can…?”
Chloe started lowering the volume the moment Jamie said “hell”. Her past mothers would never fail to scold her if they caught her watching programs with foul language, and right now the TV had been loud enough for her new mother to have heard it. But when Chloe glanced towards the kitchen, where her new mother was preparing dinner, she didn’t even look away from her work. Instead, she went on smiling and humming a pleasant tune as she flipped a soy patty several times though a frying pan.
“That’s odd,” Chloe said to herself. “Are mothers in Fauna so permissive that they won’t even get mad if I watch a TV show with cursing in it?”
No, that couldn’t be right. The show she was currently watching was set in Fauna, and the mother was far from being as passive as her new mother seemed. TV shows portraying the lives of mothers and children were required by law to be as realistic as possible, even if they were set in fantasy lands or the distant future, so the way her mother was acting couldn’t possibly be the way most mothers acted in Fauna.
“Chloe, dear, what would you like for dessert?” Chloe heard her mother asked.
Chloe’s last mother only let her have dessert once a week, claiming that if she had it every day, she would end up bloated like a whale by the time she turned fifteen. And yes, this may be just because this was her first time here, but by the time she’d been in her last home for only an hour, her mother had already given her a list of all the household rules, including the nutritional guidelines she was required to follow. This mother only cared about her being happy and having a dinner she liked.
However, you were required to always answer your mother whenever she asked you a question, so Chloe finally replied with, “Oh, just make me a sugar- free apple pie, Mother.”
“Coming right up, sweetheart,” the mother answered, that sunny smile never leaving her face.
Was there something wrong with this new mother? Was she under medication for one of those mood disorders she heard people developed if things got too hard for them? Did she have a bad criminal record, which would require her parenting to be strictly monitored if she wanted to continue being a mother? No, it couldn’t be. Chloe would have been informed by her child agent if this had been the case.
Perhaps she was worried over nothing. Perhaps she was just an unusually nice mother who wanted her new daughter’s first day living with her to be as wonderful as possible. There were such mothers out there, even if they seemed hard to get. After all, this was supposed to be the planet with some of the nicest people in the galaxy. Why should she expect anything less than a kind, loving woman to take her on for these next nine months?
But despite all this consideration, Chloe still found herself tiptoeing over to the kitchen when her mother remained occupied. Maybe a look into the room where mothers did their most important work would give her at least a hint into who this mother was supposed to be.
At first, she found nothing suspicious. The stove, toaster, blender, and refrigerator were where they were supposed to be. The mother was taking out a bag of lettuce from the refrigerator, and even from Chloe’s distance, it was easy to notice that the fridge contained nothing other than the usual contents of drinks, fruits, vegetables, and certain packaged goods.
If she wanted to know for sure that there was anything sinister, Chloe knew she’d have to search through the cupboards and drawers. Mothers always hated it when you did this, and punishment for such an offense ranged from having to clean the kitchen each day for a whole month to having to go to bed without dinner. Chloe wasn’t sure she’d willing to go through all that on her first day just to have some dumb questions answered.
Of course, it’s not worth it, she thought. Stop acting so stupid and go back to the living room and read a book or something.
And as she turned to leave, she heard a small clatter not too far from where she stood. Thinking the mother had just dropped a can or plate, she prepared to give her a helping hand, but upon looking at what went on, she found nothing but a small silver nail rolling around the floor.
Surprisingly, the mother did nothing at all when this happened. In fact, she simply stood where she was, not making even the slightest movement.
Okay, this is certainly odd, Chloe thought. It would be inappropriate to leave her be - child agents always emphasized how important it was to help mothers in their time of need-so Chloe slowly walked over to the mother’s side, placed her hand around her arm, and asked, “Mother, are you all right? How come you’re so still?”
As she said this, she felt something unusually cold and hard around the mother’s elbow. Glancing at it, she found a small button with the following inscribed around it:
PRESS TO ACTIVATE
“What in the world?” She wondered aloud. “Is my mother a robot or something?”
As far as she knew, robots were only used in major corporations as assistants to individuals known as the Bosses, who usually ran corporations related to science and technology. They were not usually allowed to be owned by everyday citizens, which made it silly to assume a robot would be permitted to serve as a mother.
However, looking back, Chloe remembered how her child agent had talked about “All the amazing ways Fauna is moving forward in the motherhood industries” while speaking on the phone with a representative from the Fauna Motherhood Society. At the time, Chloe had assumed she was talking about new education requirements for potential mothers or ways for mothers to connect with their children before they moved in with them.
How could she have known they were talking about using robots as mothers?
Since she was now aware of this, Chloe wondered what she should do. Running away was out of the question; it was forbidden to have anyone under eighteen be out at night without their mother present; the police would find her wandering around unsupervised sooner and later, and she would be forced to return home without the chance to explain her situation. Calling her child agent wasn’t possible either, because she always provided Chloe with a list of approved reasons for calling since she was six, and finding out your mother was a robot was not one of them.
That left her with only one option.
She reached her hand towards the mother’s elbow and pressed the button.
As if nothing had happened, the mother started stroking Chloe’s hair and saying, “It’s so wonderful that you’re willing to help me out with dinner, Chloe. Could you take out the cranberry juice from the refrigerator? I was hoping you could have a cold, fresh beverage to go along with your meal tonight.”
“Of course, Mother,” Chloe said. Then, remembering something she’d forgotten on account of how astonished she’d just been, she picked up the nail that was on the floor and held it up in the air so the mother could see it. “I noticed this fell a while ago. Do you need it for anything?”
Robots were often built with the help of nails, and reparations could be expected every six months. Perhaps it was time for the mother to get her own.
The mother smiled. “Just put it on the table, dear. I might eventually need it, but it’s something only a professional can help me with.”
This must mean she certainly is a robot, Chloe thought. However, she said nothing more about it, placing the nail on the table and heading over to the refrigerator to get the beverage the mother requested.
Perhaps she would eventually get used to having a robot as a mother.