“Old age comes like a thief in the night. Taking strength of arm, then speed of mind and finally all. Unexpected, unwelcome, and inevitable. Until now. Lazarus industries brings you Methuselah Supplements. With our patented new technology time is no longer the enemy. Time is an opportunity.”
Lazarus industries sales ad shortly before the start of the 818 epidemic
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A light was shining in my eyes. I tried blocking the light with my covers but it was too bright. I struggled awake. Someone’s alarm was going off. I tried to throw my pillow at Fen so he would turn his damn alarm off and I could go back to sleep. It bounced back in my face.
Oh, right. I have my own room. That’s my alarm, not Fen’s. I blearily look around for an alarm clock to turn off. Oh, the call is coming from inside the house. I search through my AR until I find the alarm controls. Turning it off also removes the bright light from my eyes. The room’s light remains on but I’m no longer in a bright white box.
So, the light wasn’t real? I only experienced it as uncomfortably bright because of my AR? What even is my AR, is it light being projected into my eyes? Electric impulses sent directly to my visual cortex? My AR is also an auditory medium, but that just makes the question broader. I’m not sure what part of the brain handles hearing but how could I tell the difference between electric signals sent to my brain vs sounds sent to my ears? Maybe a recording of my own voice? It’s always annoying to hear your own voice on recordings. It never sounds right. Something about how sound travels through your body vs how sound travels through the air. I just need a way to record my voice the way it sounds to me then play that recording through my AR. I can take pictures but I don't have an audio recorder in my apps. I've been thinking of my AR as an internal phone but this is the first function I've expected but not found. Weird. With no method at hand to explore further I let that train of thought drop.
I remember that there is a bathroom at the end of the hall. No obvious bathroom bag, or a towel of any kind in my room. There is a shoot in the wall, but is this for laundry or trash? As I make my way to the bathroom I see I’m not the only one awake. He’s taller than me, with well defined muscles and one of those haircuts that’s long on top but shaved on the sides. I don’t remember his name. He’s only wearing a set of shorts and he isn’t carrying anything. I duck back into my room to ditch my shirt before following him into the bathroom.
The room is more of a vestibule with enclosed booths lining the walls. Two of the booths read as occupied while the remaining 3 are open. I step into one of the open booths and look for controls. There are quite a few, but happily there is also an option for first time users. I won’t go into what follows other than to mention there is no toilet paper, and also no sea shells. There was an ingenious little device that handled those matters, reminiscent of a bidet. The first 15 minutes were free, or part of my lease? I really need to read that at some point. After that it cost 1 credit per additional minute.
The experience felt rushed, but I chose not to spend any extra credits. Even if I have a lot of credits at the moment I’m losing them faster than I am making them. My general uncertainty with, well, everything probably also contributes to my frugality.
I check my dailies, not the same as yesterday but not that different.
Daily Quests
XP
Gym
0/2000
Reading / Writing
0/1000
Math
0/1000
Art
0/2000
Music
0/1000
History
0/2000
Science!
0/1000
Programming
0/1000
Social Studies
0/1000
With nothing more pressing I head to the cafeteria for breakfast. Olivia and I didn’t make specific plans for today but I assume she’ll find me if we don’t find each other at breakfast. I check my clock, 7:30. How do I feel this good with only 7 hours of sleep? Well, I guess I’ve had more than just 7 hours when you consider the nap I enjoyed yesterday afternoon. I still have the distinct impression that I’m not normally a morning person. I’m more of a, starts using full sentences after my second cup of coffee, kinda guy.
Hum, thinking of it, Ah coffee. At least you are a constant in my life. Along with some latkes and mmmmeat slices I have a quiet breakfast for 10 credits. I think the mmmmeat is trying to be ham but it is failing. I see the tall boy from this morning and a handful of other young adults but not the swarms of children that were present yesterday. I guess I’m a morning person and an early riser? Weird.
Mama Isabella: David, I spoke with Lady Kara and understand that you’re having some memory problems. We normally start our mornings with a check in after breakfast. You will need to visit Lady Kara for your eye drops first, so we will have our group check in after that. Now that you are a young adult things are more relaxed but given your situation I’ve sent a reminder to the rest of your pod that today’s meeting is mandatory.
I’ll get to meet my other pod members. Bleh pod members sounds like what pod people would call their children. Why not other members of my gaggle or other members of my pack? Where am I supposed to go anyway?
After a few minutes of poking at the message I find the information has been automatically added to my map, somehow. Being in a group, or a shared environment gives other people a lot of access to my system. I bet that’s how Olivia’s pod members, bleh, are installing those viruses on her system. There has to be some antivirus or firewall or something. I’ll check my programming lessons for something relevant.
Breakfast finished, I walk to Lady Kara’s office. She doesn’t have a secretary but she has some way of knowing when I enter the waiting area as I get a message from her shortly after I arrive.
Lady Kara: Come in David.
Lady Kara is sitting behind her desk, in the same position as yesterday? Does she live behind that desk?
“Come here David, this won’t take long.” Lady Kara beckons me over.
I tilt my head back on my own as her cool hand grips my face. I’m more used to the floaty feelings the second time. I like these eye drops. I like Lady Kara. I like Olivia.
“David, I need you to focus on me for just a little longer. Have you recovered any more memories since yesterday?” The gentile tones pull my focus back to the here and now.
“I remembered hurting myself while chopping vegetables and my mom teaching me about fractions.” I’m trying to put my memories into better words when Lady Kara moves on, continuing the exercise.
“Those are good memories to recover David, but for today I want you to focus on more recent memories. Where did you get the wetware that Doctor Popadopoulos installed? Do you have a part time job you need to report to? Did you buy the wetware yourself, and if so who did you buy it from? The world won’t wait for us. Even when we are hurt. Even when we lose things, important things, we need to pick ourselves back up and carry on. Can you do that for me David?”
“I can do that, Lady Kara. I won’t disappoint you.” When she is this close her eyes look even bigger. They shimmer and spin. As I focus on them I feel like I’m falling into them.
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Lady Kara pulls back, releasing my face “Such an obedient child. I noticed that yesterday you managed to put in a full day studying. Just this once I think you deserve an extra reward.”
Lady Kara reaches into her desk and pulls out a hard candy. “Eat up before one of the other children sees. We wouldn’t want them to know that I care about you more than them.”
I nod along with her instructions, unwarping the candy and popping it in my mouth. I almost spit it out, but I don’t want to insult Lady Kara. Pickle, bacon and mustard are all flavors I enjoy but not what I expect from a hard candy. The bacon flavor even tastes like real bacon. How can they get the favor right in a hard candy but so wrong in mmmmeat?
I make my way from Lady Kara's office to my pod's meeting room on my own. It’s one of the self-study rooms with lots of chairs and desks but no chalkboard or desk for a teacher. Looking around I’m the first to arrive. I am a little early. Might as well start on the grind while I wait.
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Mama Isabella is the next to arrive. I was expecting someone, well matronly, but Mama Isabella only looks a few years older than me, and younger than I feel. Maybe early 30s but probably mid 20s. She doesn’t have the pale skin or the too large eyes of Lady Kara. Freckles in an arc over her nose, athletic frame, and brown hair up in a bun. She only needs a pair of glasses and a cardigan to put out some major librarian energy.
Her eyes flick up, looking at something in the AR before she speaks to me ”Oh David I’m so sorry about what has happened to you. Come here and give your Mama a hug,”
I tentatively walk over to her before she and her perfume engulfs me. The smell is something floral but also something fake. Like a scented oil packet that you plug into an outlet. The smell brings back feelings of comfort, care and home but it’s not strong enough to elicit any specific memories. This is nice.
After too short a time she pulls away and gives me an assessing look. A look that I remember from my real mother. The kind of look I received when she knew I had been up to no good, and I knew that she knew but she didn’t know what particular no good I had been up to. I felt a moment of panic before realizing that I was probably fine. I genuinely had a medical problem that kept me from knowing what I had done wrong. If I didn’t know then Mama Isabella wouldn't be able to pull the information out of me.
“David, why don’t you sit down and tell me what happened. I know what Lady Kara told us but I want to hear what happened from your perspective.” Mama Isabella sits down then pats the chair next to her.
I sit, then pause. How much do I want to share with her? She feels trustworthy, even if I am wary of some deserved punishment. There are so many unknowns. Do I know anything that I have done wrong? No. Could I have done something wrong? Sure, Flash was ambitious and planning something. I don’t know if he, if I, would have done something seriously wrong. Strange as it is, I don’t know Flash well enough to judge that. Mama Isabella isn’t my real mom, but she has mom vibes. Would I trust my real mom enough to tell her if I did something really wrong? Yes. Ok then, I’m going to depend on the vibes.
I share what I can remember with Mama Isabella to the best of my ability. I sent her the picture of the wetware package I had installed. Where did the packaging get to anyway? Maybe Olivia will know because I don’t have a clue. I tell her about my adventure with Olivia and about killing the corrupted maintenance worker. Mama Isabella is a great listener. She looks worried during the scary parts and relieved when Olivia and I make it back to the creche.
Near the end of the story a teen with his forearm in a cast enters the room. It isn’t until I finish that I focus on him. He has wolf ears. Articulated gray-blue wolf ears. I want to scritch them. I remember scritching them.
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Max is exhausted but feeling good overall. He felt overheated after finishing the bonus level on his gym daily but a cool, not cold, shower fixed that. Well worth the 10 credits. Now he is relaxing, laying on his back, propping his feet on the bunk above his. He isn’t grinding in the AR, or hatching plans to climb the Hive, he is just staring at the ceiling daydreaming. He wants something to eat but it feels so nice just laying here that he hasn't moved, yet.
The door to their bunk room opens. Fenris walks in but he looks different. Shaggy blue-gray hair, same black hoody with the wolf ears, and stained cargo pants. His posture is more confident, Max thinks that is what he is noticing.
“So, what do you think? Do they suit me?” A crack in his confident swagger shows when Fenris asks Max for his opinion.
Max rolls out of bed, flipping his view of the room and Fenris. “New shoes? If you scrounged a new pair of pants I haven’t memorized the stains on your old ones so I can’t tell.”
Fenris is put out “No, look higher.” he commands as he fluffs his hair.
Even with the clue it still takes Max a moment “Your hood is down. Are those your real ears? Lights above, how did you afford meatware on a creche allowance?” Max is all up in Fenris’ space examining his new wolf ears.
“Ouch!” Fenris slaps Max’s hand. “Be more gentle. They are very sensitive.”
“Sorry, sorry.” More gently Max runs his hand through Fenris’ hair scritching his new ears. “They look great on you. Do they have the enhanced hearing you wanted?”
“No, right now they are just aesthetic but they are upgradable. Not that I have any sols left after the installation.” Fenris leans into the scritches, sneaking an arm around Max’s waist pulling him closer.
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Oh, am I gay? I search my feelings and while I have a lot of emotions about Fenris most of them aren’t romantic. He’s a rival? Maybe a friendly rival? I don’t think I’m crushing on Fenris right now, but Max/Flash definitely had some kind of relationship with him. He is good looking. I’m not sure how old that memory is, but Fenris had softer facial features and was at least a few inches shorter so at least months, if not a year or more.
I come back from the memory and time has passed. Fenris is talking to Mama Isabella. Explaining how he broke his arm I think?
“After I rolled down to the catwalks I was able to lose the corrupted chasing me but as you can see” Fenris gestures to his broken arm “I didn’t quite stick the landing.”
“Oh my poor boys.” Mama Isabella gently hugs Fenris, gently maneuvering his broken arm. “So much misfortune in such a short time. At least you are both recovering.”
Fenris shoots me an appraising look. I’m not sure what it means so I give him a knowing look in return. His mouth crooks up in a half smile before he returns his full attention to Mama Isabella.
Mama Isabella has me repeat my story for Fenris. By the time I’m done no one else has shown up and Mama Isabella is looking impatient.
“Where could those girls be? Lightning can be careless but Lilly is always very punctual.” Mama Isabella looks off into the distance. Can she use the AR to literally see through walls? Maybe she is sending them a message. Speaking of messaging…
Contact Fen is inviting you to a group chat
Accept
Decline
Block
Should I accept? I don’t feel strongly one way or another. Sure, why not.
Fen: Do you really have amnesia?
David: Yup, I’m remembering things but there are still a lot of blanks. Are we… dating?
Fen: Now I don’t know if I should believe you or not. Last time we broke up you said you didn’t feel that way about me anymore but now that you have amnesia you aren’t sure if we are dating. I’m not interested in sharing you with Lightning. If you break up with her we can talk about us being a thing again.
David: We used to date but we broke up and now I’m dating Lightning? Lightning from our pod?
Fen: *Eyeroll* Yes, Lightning from our pod.
So, I’m bi? Before I have time to unpack this new revelation about myself Mama Isabella claps her hands
“Lilly isn’t in the creche right now but Lightning is just outside. If she won’t come to us we will go to her.” She walks out of the room gesturing for us to follow.
We arrive at the courtyard where two thugs are holding a young asian woman. She is filthy, her hair is tied back in a ponytail with a plastic wrapper. Her boots and pants are covered in organic grime. I can see what looks like a fruit stem adhered to her left pant leg with a glob of yogurt.
“Oh Lightning, what kind of trouble have you gotten into this time?” Mama Isabella throws her hands up into the air in exasperation.
I look at Lightning for her explanation but one of the thugs answers first. “Ma’am, this young lady was causing problems in the composting area of greenhouse LH3533. From network recordings she appears to have been scrounging for food. She is registered as a child under the care of this creche but she refuses to speak Noxlingua.”
The thugs aren’t wearing uniforms, their clothing would have to be at least a little similar to qualify, but they do both have insignia on their right shoulders. I mentally upgrade them from thugs to rental cops. Wait, is that an upgrade? Side grade maybe.
“Oh Lightning” Mama Isabella repeats herself. To the rental cops “Yes she is a student here. Are there any fines?”
“A 20 sol trespassing fine has been issued. If you or a member of your institution wish to contest or pay these charges contact arbiter Bessemer Steel at this net address. Are you qualified to take custody of this minor?” The rental cop hands Mama Isabella a business card. I flick my AR on and off, just to check, and it’s a virtual construct not a physical card.
"Yes, I am authorized to take charge of this wayward child." Mama Isabella fills out digital forms 'handed to her' by the rent-a-cop.
Once the last form is signed the cop physically hands Lightning off to Mama Isabella. As the two of them turn to leave Lightning twists around to face, silently watching until they are out of sight.
Mama Isabella gives Lightning a moment before gently but firmly twisting her back around toward the pod.
“Oh Lightning, what were you thinking? Scrounging from a compost bin? Pretending not to be able to speak? We have food here at very reasonable prices. Only a few hours of study can buy a healthy meal that will fill you up. If you are so hungry you can’t wait and you don’t have enough credits, come find me. I’m sure we can come up with a solution. And a 20 sol fine! If you don’t have enough for food then you definitely don’t have enough to pay that fine. We’ll need to arrange for a short term loan.” Mama Isabella lectures Lightning, steamrolling any resistance but when Lightning meekly accepts this, not offering any excuses Mama’s momentum breaks.
Once Mama Isabella windsdown Lightning mumbles something in response. I don’t catch every word but I think I recognize a few Japanese phrases, although at the volume she is speaking I’m not sure.
“Ohayo” I try to catch her attention.
It works, her eyes lighting up and her meek, no reserved, expresion receding. The response is more quiet Japanese that I can’t follow. I think I caught a few words including isekai but I’m not sure. I need to make my level of fluency, fractional, clear.
“Chottomatte, bento box, anime, pokemon.” The reserved look is back and my interruption has stopped the quiet Japanese.
I gesture to myself then to Mama Isabella then to Fenris “David, Mama Isabella, Fenris.” Then I gesture to her.
“Sakura,” she replies.