Chapter Twelve

Upon returning the autotrike to the depot, Poul and Lisa made their way back to the apartment. Once inside, Lisa emptied the bag onto the kitchen table, sorting her tops from her pants with practiced ease.

As she worked, she glanced over at Poul. “Could you grab the scissors from the desk in my room? I need to add the wing slits.”

He hesitated, and through their link, she caught the flicker of uncertainty in his thoughts. Her room. Even with his old storage boxes still stacked inside, even though she hadn’t fully settled into the space yet – he had given it to her. It was hers now, a place for privacy, and stepping into it uninvited felt…wrong.

Lisa smiled, sensing his reluctance. “It’s not uninvited,” she reassured him. “I’m asking you to. And actually, leave the door open after you get them. My policy has always been that if my bedroom door is even slightly ajar, my partner is allowed to enter without knocking or asking permission. If it’s closed, then you knock, okay?”

Poul let out a slow breath, considering her words before giving a small nod. He disappeared into the room and returned moments later, scissors in hand, leaving the door open behind him just as she’d asked.

Lisa accepted them with a warm smile before setting to work. With careful, practiced movements, she snipped precise slits into the backs of her tops, ensuring they were neat and unobtrusive. Poul lingered nearby, watching her hands work, his expression thoughtful.

As she adjusted the angle of the scissors, she spoke without looking up. “I’ll need to wash these before I wear them. What’s the setup here? Do you have machines, or do we need to go to a laundromat?”

Poul smirked. “They’re called launderettes here, but no, I have a refresher unit.”

She paused, scissors hovering mid-cut. “A what?”

“The refresher unit. It’s in the kitchen.”

She tilted her head, eyes flicking toward the room in question before landing back on him, bemused. “You mean to tell me I was in the kitchen earlier, loading up the dishwasher – er, cleansing unit – whatever…and I completely missed more appliances?”

His lips twitched. “Appliance,” he corrected, holding up one finger. “A single unit that washes and dries. It’s a newer model. Compact. Blends in.”

Lisa laughed, shaking her head as she snipped the last bit of fabric. “Clearly. Where I come from, washing machines and dryers are usually two separate machines, and they’re kept in a basement or utility room…sometimes a dedicated laundry room. The kitchen, though? That’s new.”

Poul crossed his arms, watching her fold the now-slit blouse. “You were focused on the cleansing unit. Besides, I don’t use the refresher unit every day.”

That piqued her interest, but rather than press further, she nodded toward the kitchen. “Well, show me the magic machine, then. I want to see this thing in action.”

Poul exhaled through his nose, but there was something amused in the way he shook his head. “Come on, then,” he said, motioning for her to follow.

Lisa gathered up the clothes, already eager to test out this refresher unit for herself.

Once in the kitchen, she glanced around as if seeing the space for the first time, her brows furrowing slightly. The cleansing unit sat where she remembered, sleek and unobtrusive beneath the counter, its panel dormant since they hadn’t run a cycle yet. But the refresher unit…

 “…Where?” she asked, turning a slow circle. “I swear this was just a kitchen an hour ago.”

Poul gestured toward a seamless cabinet panel flush with the rest of the kitchen’s design. “Here.” He pressed a nearly invisible control pad on the side, and with a soft hiss, the panel slid open to reveal a front-loading drum.

Lisa let out a short laugh, shaking her head. “Oh, that’s sneaky.” She leaned down to inspect it, running a hand along the smooth surface. “No wonder I didn’t notice it before. It’s practically camouflaged.”

Poul gave a small shrug. “It’s meant to blend in. Newer models are designed for smaller living spaces – less bulky, more efficient.”

Lisa straightened, still grinning. “And here I thought I was just oblivious.” She reached up to tap the edge of the now-exposed drum. “All right, show me how this thing works. Any special settings I need to know about, or do I just pray it doesn’t shrink everything to doll-sized proportions?”

Poul let out a quiet chuckle, shaking his head. “Not exactly doll-sized…” He hesitated just long enough for her to sense the flicker of memory through their link before he admitted, “Remember the sleep set I gave you that I said no longer fit me?”

Lisa blinked. Then, as the realization hit, her grin widened into something positively gleeful. “You shrank your own pajamas?”

Poul exhaled, rubbing the back of his neck. “First time I used the refresher unit without a robot. The settings weren’t as intuitive as I expected.”

Lisa laughed, delighted. “Oh, that’s brilliant. And you kept them?”

He gave a small shrug. “Didn’t know why at the time. They were too small for me, but I couldn’t bring myself to throw them out. Then when you showed up, it…just made sense.”

Lisa’s expression softened, warmth threading through her amusement. “That’s actually kind of sweet.” She nudged him playfully. “Laundry mishaps with a purpose.”

Poul shook his head, but she could feel the fondness through their link. Turning, he reached into a nearby drawer and pulled out a small container, flipping open the lid to reveal sleek, glossy capsules – Kaldor’s version of laundry pods. He plucked one out and handed it to her.

“These do everything – clean, sanitize, and prevent colors from bleeding,” he explained. “Toss one in with the load, select the cycle, and it’ll take care of the rest.”

Lisa turned the pod over in her fingers, bringing it to her nose with curiosity. A pleasant citrus scent met her senses, crisp and fresh. “Huh. Smells nice.”

Poul gave her a look. “It’s not food.”

Lisa arched an eyebrow at him. “Obviously.”

His lips twitched. “You say that, but I’ve seen people do dumber things.”

Lisa snorted, tossing the pod into the drum. “Poul, I’m not going anywhere, and even if I did do something stupid, it’d take a lot more than a soap pod to get rid of me.”

His expression softened, the teasing moment giving way to something warmer. “I know,” he murmured.

She met his gaze, offering him a small, knowing smile before nudging him lightly. “Now, are we going to run this thing, or are you going to keep looking at me like that?”

Poul cleared his throat, breaking the moment with a smirk as he gestured to the controls. “Go on, then. Let’s see if you can work a refresher unit.”

Lisa chuckled, already reaching for the settings. The panel lit up at her touch, displaying a range of options far more sophisticated than the basic laundry machines she was used to. She skimmed through the menu, eyes narrowing. The usual washing settings were there, but so were a baffling number of extras – Heat Vector Control, Load Calibration, Fabric Softener Optimization.

She blinked. “What in the – why does this thing have more settings than a spaceship?”

Poul smirked. “I told you it wasn’t intuitive.”

Lisa huffed, scrolling through more menus until she finally found Color Lock. “Ah, here we go.” She tapped it, then hesitated. “Okay, but how good is this ‘not letting colors bleed’ thing? Because…” She lifted her pant leg to show her gray sock. “These used to be white.”

Poul glanced at her ankle, eyebrows rising. “That’s not a color-bleeding problem.”

“Nope,” she agreed, grinning. “That’s a ‘Lisa never bothers sorting the laundry’ problem.”

He chuckled in amusement, shaking his head. “The pods have an enzyme that binds loose dyes, but if you’re looking for something stronger, find ‘Dye Stabilization’ in the menu.”

Lisa frowned at the screen, tapping through more options. “Okay, why is that buried under ‘Extended Fabric Preservation’ and not, you know, somewhere logical?”

Poul crossed his arms, watching her struggle with thinly veiled amusement. “Because Kaldor designs everything to look efficient while being as complicated as possible.”

She shot him a dry look before finally spotting the setting and selecting it. “And for my particular problem?”

Poul smirked. “Find ‘White Retention Mode.’ That will engage the whitening and anti-graying features.”

Lisa scrolled again, eyes narrowing as she tapped another submenu. “…Why is it under ‘Environmental Preservation’?”

“Because it doesn’t use chemicals that would damage the fabrics,” Poul said smugly.

Lisa groaned. “Of course it doesn’t.” Sighing, she hesitated before she started loading her clothes into the machine. “What’s the load capacity on this thing?” she wondered. “I don’t want to overload it or, you know, flood your apartment.”

Poul glanced at the machine. “About six, maybe seven kilos.”

Lisa blinked. “Uh huh…and in words I can understand? Look, I’ve been all over time and space…everyone uses different units for everything. Metric versus imperial…dollars versus pounds versus Euros versus credits…it doesn’t stick even with the link giving me access to your knowledge.”

Poul smiled gently and thought a moment; she heard him doing the math in his head. “About thirteen…maybe fifteen pounds.”

She smiled back and looked down at her bundle of clothes. “Okay, that’s more helpful…I think…” She shifted the pile in her arms, frowning, mentally gauging the weight. The clothes levitated around her. “So basically…don’t shove everything in like I would with a normal washer.”

He smirked. “Is this helping?” he asked, gesturing to the floating clothes, politely averting his eyes from the undergarments.

“If I can lift it this way, that means it’ll fit. And if it fits, it washes.”

Poul pinched the bridge of his nose, inhaling slowly. “Lisa…”

“Kidding,” she assured him, laughing. “Mostly.” As clothes finished loading themselves she tossed in another laundry pod for good measure before turning back to the controls. “Now, where were we? Ah, right – Dye Stabilization and White Retention Mode…”

She prodded at the interface, muttering under her breath. Poul leaned against the counter, watching in mild amusement as she navigated the settings.

“Any day now,” he quipped.

Lisa shot him a look. “I will figure this out, thank you.”

She tapped another option, the display flickering slightly before finally settling on the right setting. “Ha! Got it.” With a triumphant grin, she selected the cycle and pressed start. The refresher unit hummed to life, water trickling in as it began its cycle.

Lisa exhaled and dusted her hands off. “Well, either this is going to work perfectly, or I’ll have a new set of doll clothes to go with my pajamas.”

Poul smirked. “Let’s hope for the former.”

End chapter twelve.

Back *~*~* Chapter Eleven *~*~* Chapter Thirteen