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“For the last time, no!” the blue-haired woman shouted at the man across the table.
The two were at an outside cafe late at night. The white-haired man was wearing a blue dress shirt and brown pants while the woman was wearing a white blouse and black pants that hugged her figure.
“Molly, it’s not that big a deal,” the man said diplomatically, but the woman only glared back.
“Look, I love you Chad but also love my job. I’m not willing to just drop it and depend on your finances.”
“But the housing market isn’t stable,” Chad argued. “You may not be able to sell enough to make ends meet. This way you can stay home in security.”
“That’s a risk I’m willing to take. Besides, I won’t have control of my life.”
“My work can provide enough for both of us, especially since you're a frugal spender. Besides, I not sure that a woman-” he quickly clenched down on his teeth.
Unfortunately, Molly heard him and frowned. “You know, for a guy working with future robotics, you’re so old-fashioned.”
“You never had a problem with that before.” He replied back, a hint of frustration in his tone.
“Because most of the time it let you be a perfect gentleman! But it looks like you just want to control me.” She got out of her chair. “Just forget about this, Chad.”
“Molly, wait!” he shouted, but the love of his life had already left. He sighed in exasperation. “Why don’t you understand I do this cause I love you…”
A loud ringing was suddenly heard, and he slowly pulled out his phone before answering. “Hello?”
“Hey, Chad!”
“Oh, Mister Ivanoh!” Chad quickly jumped from his seat in surprise.
“We’re both off work right now, Chad. Just call me Ivan.”
“R-right.”
“So how did the proposal go. Please tell me I didn’t ruin the moment.”
Chad slumped back into his chair. “You don’t have to worry. She left before I could.”
“That’s rough, buddy. What happened?”
“I suggested that she should retire from real estate and live on me. Unfortunately, she didn’t agree.”
“Geez, that stinks. Well, you know how independent most women are.”
“I just wish she could see things from my perspective,” Chad mumbled. Suddenly his eyes lit up as he straightened his posture. “Sir, remember that prototype we were working on?”
“What about it?”
“I might know the perfect woman to test it on…”
The next morning, Molly moaned under her covers as her phone rang from the nightstand next to her.
“Silent,” she groaned, stopping the alarm. “Time?”
“8:12 AM,” the phone answered in a woman’s voice. “Date is October 17th, 2031. Weather is sunny, high at 54 and low at 41. You have no pending tasks today.”
“Thanks,” she pulled out of her bed and rubbed the rat-nest formed from her long aqua hair. After her argument with Chad, Molly headed back home and cried herself to sleep, still in the clothes from the failed date.
She wished that argument never happen. The two have been dating for three years since they meet at through one of Molly’s houses, where Chad making a maintenance check on the SmartHome software installed.
It felt like a fairy tale every time they were dating. Chad was the perfect gentlemen, holding doors to her and helping her with heavy labor. He always treated her kindly on their anniversary, with gifts just right to not feel cheap but also not make her feel that he was spoiling her. He was always patient when she rambled about her day, just as she listened as he boasted in excitement at his progress at LifeRestart, the robotics and innovation technology he worked at.
She could at least understand that he wanted to take care of her. But she knew that his ideals entail her to be a housewife that depended on his salary in return for taking care of him. She loved the risk and benefits that came with working with real estate, and she loved the freedom and control of her life. As much as she loved Chad, she couldn’t marry him if it meant sacrificing her life.
Molly entered the kitchen and pulled out a pop-tart from the pantry, then placed it in the toaster. She then placed a coffee bean pod and hot water into the coffee maker before turning it on. “News.”
At her tone, the face of the fridge lit up and showed off tabs with the latest info. She skimmed over stock records and news about the next flight to the moon when she saw that there was a blessing message box saying “Package.”
“Huh?” Confused, she headed out of the kitchen to the front door and looked out the peephole. Right out front were two boxes stacked on top of each other. The one on top was square and small while the bottom was rectangular and large. On top of the smaller box was an envelope.
Molly shrugged, before opening the door and picking up all three items, then headed inside and closed the door with her right leg. She made her way to the kitchen and placed them on the granite island, just as she heard her coffee maker ring. She went to her cabinet and pulled out a small mug, before pouring the freshly-made and toasty coffee into the mug.
She opened the envelope and pulled out the letter. She quickly realized that it was from Chad. Motivated from the hint of guilt from last night, she started to read as she sipped her coffee.
“Dear Molly. I want to apologize for my attitude last night. It was disrespectful of me to speak so negatively of your work, especially with much you love it and how much you have respected me for my job.
“To repay you, I wanted to give you the brand new HouseCoordinator. It’s a special headset that connects to all smart devices in your home, from your refrigerator to your Roomba, and lets you control them with your thoughts. It’s in the smaller box. The larger box is a special surprise.
“I have to finish up work, but I plan to meet you at noon today. I hope this makes up for my misdemeanor. Sincerely, Chad
‘Handwritten as always,’ she thought as she finished reading. It certainly seemed that he was sincere in his apology. She should at least try his gift before. Besides, how cool would it be to control machines with her mind?
She grabbed a knife and used it to open the smaller box. Inside was a small red headset with a black antenna on the right earpiece. Connected the two pieces beside the top band was a clear visor meant to cover both of her eyes.
With giddiness, she put on the headpiece, resting the two earpieces on the side of her head and adjusting the visors to fill her vision.
“Nice,” she grinned. “Now let’s connect her to the network and try her out.” She reached for a small black button on the right side of the headset and pressed it.
“Welcome, Molly Phillips.” the headset set.
‘Wait, did he added my name already?’
“Downloading stepford.exe.”
‘Downloading what?!’ suddenly, a high pitch blaring filled her ears. She fell to the floor and screamed as she tried to pull the headset off. But they refuse to move no matter how much force she used.
“You are a WifeBot.” The machine said over the noise.
‘What the hell is this, Chad?!’
“You are a good WifeBot.”
“Stop it!”
“You are a loyal WifeBot.”
“I’m not some robot!”
“You are a happy WifeBot.”
“I- am…”
“WifeBots are not meant to have careers.”
“No…”
“A WifeBot must take care of her home and take care of her husband.”
“Y-Yeah…
“She makes his meal. She cleans their clothes. She dresses at her best. She greets him with a smile on her face. She satisfies all of his needs.”
“I… must… fight…”
“Deleting unnecessary data.”
Molly’s eyes glazed over as her brain was being washed clean of her identity. She lost all the knowledge of housing quality and marketing. She forgot how to do college-level math and accounting. She could no longer hold any interest in the daily news. All that was left was her name and her love for Chad.
“Downloading new files.”
Information started to flash before her eyes. The recipe for Chad’s favorite meals. Color coordination for dresses. Proper cleaning technique for each and every section of the house. She began to accept them at face value. The only desire she now had was to please and love her husband.
“Download complete. Welcome to your new life, Molly the WifeBot.”
“Yes,” she said cheerfully as she rose to her feet.
“Please put on proper attire in the large box.”
Molly nodded and began to unbutton her blouse and remove it, before pulling down her pants. Left in her white cotton bra and panties, she opened the larger box, revealing a set of new clothes. She first put a metallic white dress with a magenta knee-length skirt held up in an umbrella shape around her waist, magenta sections going from her elbow to her wrist and red shoulder blades.
She then put on a red choker around her neck. Once that was done, she reached for the white stocking and red knee-high boots with two-inch heels and antenna on the outer sides and pulled them over her legs.
With that done, she went to her bedroom and found her comb. She then combed her long blue hair until it flowed gracefully behind her. She picked up a can of hairspray and applied it to her hair until it was as still as a frozen waterfall
“Good work, Molly,” the headset said, which made her smile. “Now let’s wait for your husband.”
“Yes.” She headed out of her bedroom and stood right in front of the door, standing perfectly still.
She waited for hours with a smile plastered on her face until the door opened, revealing Chad on the other side.
“Molly?” he asked. "Is everything alright?"
“Hello, dear,” she replied cheerfully as she came over and kissed him on the cheek. “I was thinking about what you said. You were right. Life would be better being your housewife.”
A joyful smile covered his face while he wrapped his arms around his waist. “That’s wonderful. How about I take you to my place so I can so you can get settled?”
“With pleasure!”
Two Months Later
“Honey, I home!” Chad said as he opened the front door and stepped inside.
“Welcome back, hon,” Molly said as she came over with a tray in her hand. On the tray was a glass of red wine and a small sandwich. “How was work?”
“It was amazing,” he said as he picked up the items from the tray and leaned back on a reclining chair. “I managed to finish the final updates right on time for the deadline. I might be looking at a promotion soon.” He took a sip of wine as Molly knelt down and removed his shoes and socks
“That’s wonderful!” she said, massaging his feet with eagerness.
“What about you?” He asked while he sipped his wine
“I spent the first half of the day cleaning up the house and washing your clothes. Then I met with all the other WifeBots of your fellow executives. We spent lunch comparing recipes and making sure our software was updated to the latest company model.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
“I know you would, especially with how hard you and the other men worked on it.”
“Why don’t we celebrate with a swell dinner at Linguini’s tonight,” Chad suggested. “And then head back home for dessert?”
Molly leaped onto her feet and beamed. “Such operations are accepted!”