their devotion to the kid who built it. I wondered whether the alien-plants-seed junk was any different. “One star goes boom and suddenly all mankind loses their minds,” I remarked as I slid the book back across the desk.
“What star?”
I looked at him like he was an idiot. “The supernova. Where have you been? It’s outside your house right now.”
“Well, I’m sure it’s very nice,” he replied in the same condescending way, “but this book doesn’t say anything about the Celestials causing supernovas, so I don’t see how it effects me.”
I drank from my slampak and started back down the hallway. “Just make sure your new religion doesn’t get in the way of my career, okay?”
“Religion? What’s in your head, kid? The Celestials are out there, it’s proved by science!”
“Rek, Rek, Rek,” I muttered as I stepped outside, thinking of how I’d wasted another fifteen minutes of my life.
- -- -- - - -- -- - -- - - --- - --- --
The emotion faded as I walked along the border between land and sea, deepening the realization that I had no hope. At the mere age of twenty-five, I saw myself as a dead dog. Coming to California was supposed to open doors for me, but it seemed that all I did was throw my history away and try to start over in a decaying ruin. The last two years had gone by so impossibly fast, and I was ashamed to realize how long it’d been since my last serious attempt to land work.
Why should I give up? There are still a few real jobs left. I have a desire, and…
I stopped walking and stared at the sand next to my shoes.
…and I’m not the only one with a desire. There will always be better people than me, waiting to take everything I have.
The wind died down for a moment and I heard footsteps ahead of me, I looked up and saw a man who seemed well dressed for someone on a beach, coming from the nearby docks.
Thinking he might be a cop, I started walking again, slowly. I kept close attention to my SNDL’s NAV receiver to make sure I was staying on the beaches “green path”: the unmarked and always-shifting zone where it’s legal to walk. I became more self-conscious with each step, and realized that I still had my slampak. I tried to cover the can with my windbreaker, hoping this guy didn’t notice it strobing colors, hoping he would just ignore me.
Legislation clung like magnets to every environmental quirk, rare species, or powerful person’s whim in that
“What star?”
I looked at him like he was an idiot. “The supernova. Where have you been? It’s outside your house right now.”
“Well, I’m sure it’s very nice,” he replied in the same condescending way, “but this book doesn’t say anything about the Celestials causing supernovas, so I don’t see how it effects me.”
I drank from my slampak and started back down the hallway. “Just make sure your new religion doesn’t get in the way of my career, okay?”
“Religion? What’s in your head, kid? The Celestials are out there, it’s proved by science!”
“Rek, Rek, Rek,” I muttered as I stepped outside, thinking of how I’d wasted another fifteen minutes of my life.
- -- -- - - -- -- - -- - - --- - --- --
The emotion faded as I walked along the border between land and sea, deepening the realization that I had no hope. At the mere age of twenty-five, I saw myself as a dead dog. Coming to California was supposed to open doors for me, but it seemed that all I did was throw my history away and try to start over in a decaying ruin. The last two years had gone by so impossibly fast, and I was ashamed to realize how long it’d been since my last serious attempt to land work.
Why should I give up? There are still a few real jobs left. I have a desire, and…
I stopped walking and stared at the sand next to my shoes.
…and I’m not the only one with a desire. There will always be better people than me, waiting to take everything I have.
The wind died down for a moment and I heard footsteps ahead of me, I looked up and saw a man who seemed well dressed for someone on a beach, coming from the nearby docks.
Thinking he might be a cop, I started walking again, slowly. I kept close attention to my SNDL’s NAV receiver to make sure I was staying on the beaches “green path”: the unmarked and always-shifting zone where it’s legal to walk. I became more self-conscious with each step, and realized that I still had my slampak. I tried to cover the can with my windbreaker, hoping this guy didn’t notice it strobing colors, hoping he would just ignore me.
Legislation clung like magnets to every environmental quirk, rare species, or powerful person’s whim in that