Chapter 1
Year 3431
Asis System - Kingdom of New Avalon
Fergus Station orbiting Asis IV
Residential District 4
The face in the mirror stared back with hollow eyes. Emotionless, empty, dead. Her gaze drifted up to her matted and greasy hair. Then to her hollow cheeks and the sagging corners of her mouth. It was like looking into the face of a stranger. She sniffled, rubbing at her still raw nose. What am I supposed to do now? The thought came for the hundredth time.
All this was beyond her, an overwhelming feeling of hopelessness seemed to fill her world. It was impossible. One day her mother was there, smiling and asking what she was going to do that day. Then she was gone. A rolling wave of grief pulled at her heart. What was she supposed to do? There was no money. Sagging Sarah felt the weight of the universe on her shoulders.
There had been plans, with school over she was to start college aptitude testing next month. Instead it all went to shit. Her mother had died with almost no savings, the little she had went on corps disposal fees and paying off debts. What did I do to deserve this? Why wasn’t I ready, there were no savings, who has no savings? The selfish thoughts came. Not that Sarah could blame her mother. The woman had raised her alone, doing everything she could to ensure Sarah could get a good education. Her anger and selfishness came from a place of self loathing. It wasn't mothers fault. I should have been working, learning this stuff.
Sarah fell onto the bed as tears ran freely down her face, what was she going to do? Soon her tiredness was too much and the lumpy blankets became a nest for her sleeping body.
***
Not a day passed without a call from one bureaucrat or another. Each seeking payments, signatures, notifications of intent and all manner of things. Through it all Sarah remained confused and lost, not knowing what to do or where to even start.
One day a knock at the door ended with her sitting across from Peter, an Employment Services case worker. Despite her initial reluctance it didn't take long before Peter had her talking. The older man had a kind smile and he listened while they drank tea. Her tale elicited genuine anger from Peter. He stopped her mid way through to make a call. The next hour was a rush as the man went through her paperwork and called around. First he put an emergency hold in place to stop debt accumulating. In a series of calls he managed to claw back over 2000 credits. After that the two went through her options in dealing with the apartment and what to do next. Finally together they chose an Unemployment Package. As the meeting progressed, a slow hope began growing in Sarah, like seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. She had a plan now.
***
“I’m sorry your mother is gone” the voice came from a faceless shadow. Blurry light washed over everything and a white sterile room appeared. Tile, metal shelving and tables filled the space.
“Normally these things get picked up in routine scans. I’m surprised your insurer didn’t demand a medical. Its standard-” A tall doctor said as he loomed over her, his face shrouded in shadow.
The room seemed to twist around her becoming a doctor's reception desk. A dead eyed nurse looked up, her eyes blank and uncaring. “This is the disposal fee. Now unfortunately it must be paid today or there will be some hefty storage fees that get tacked on daily.”
Somewhere a baby cried loudly. Sarah shuffled past room after room of groaning patients. Dark shadows crept in filling the hall with a void. A light clicked on over a table and she found herself stumbling forward. Her mother lay there, on the cold uncaring steel, her skin a waxy yellow, empty, gone. She turned as the microwave beeped.
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“Are you going to get that? I don’t really want to get up.” her mother said from the table.
With a start Sarah jolted awake. She lay there listening to her alarm. “Ok, I know we never had a microwave.” She said to the empty room and her mothers ghost. It was the alarm sleep-addled idiot. The voice of her inner critic seemed to mutter. Sarah scowled and slaptapped the alarm off her watch then walked sleepily to the shower.
After a quick cleanup Sarah stood in the kitchen staring into the empty refrigerator. Her stomach growled in disappointment eliciting a sigh. Instead she gulped as much water as she could stand from the tap. This seemed to quiet her grumbling belly. She glanced up at the wall clock and quickly grabbed a t-shirt, cargo pants and sneakers. Then with no real care she swept her bed-side table into an open duffle bag. There, toiletries sorted. She thought as she zipped it up.
A quick rummage under the bed produced her sleeping bag which she slung over a shoulder. Another duffle sat by the door. It held some of her mothers prized possessions, her tablet, photos, jewelry and an old diary. Sarah had not yet dared open the old leather bound book.
She scanned each room. All still full of memories, wall hangings, sculptures, books. Little knick knacks sat on shelves and tables. So much stuff. Sarah had considered storing everything. The prices were simply too much, space was a finite resource on the station. She let out a long sigh. Fighting the ache in her heart she turned from mother's room. In the small kitchen sat the black angled apartment terminal. With a tap the holographic screen appeared. A red message blinked at her and she re-read it for probably the 20th time.
Eviction Notice:
0/7 days remaining.
Please vacate the premises.
Any property remaining will be sold or recycled to cover cleaning and repair fees. The remaining balance will be credited to your account.
Thank you for your co-operation
Armand Vasquez - Residential Services Manager.
She tapped the blinking OK button and snagged her duffels. So here she was. Standing in the kitchen with a bag of clothes and a bag containing a few of her mothers belongings. It wasn't much for a decade on the station. Fighting tears she forced herself to walk to the door. A tap on the keypad and it slid aside with a clunk. A group of station personnel stood around outside the door looking impatient. A security guard gestured her over to the side. The residential services team walked in brushing past her, their bright orange clean suits rustling loudly as they walked.
"Shit man, big job." Came a muffled exclamation from inside.
"Zip it Murph." a much quieter female voice muttered.
“Sorry about them, they have eight more to do today.” Said the bearded security guard apologetically as he guided her aside.
“It’s ok.” She muttered, her voice croaking from disuse. as a distinct feeling of loss seemed to settle somewhere around her feet.
“You mind answering questions?.” He asked as he gestured with a tablet. “Station requirement, it's probably all stuff you heard before”
“Yeah ok.” Sarah sighed. Her hopes of a clean break dashed by bureaucracy.
Sarah spent several minutes answering the same old questions. Did she have a place to stay after moving out? Was she on an employment package? Did she desire grief counseling? The last one hurt, pulling on her fragile heart again.
“Alright sorry about that. So, you're a podder now huh?”
“Podder?” She asked, mystified.
“Your employment package. It has you set up in the pod stacks over in the Small Docks District right?”
“Yeah?”
“Anyone living in the pod stacks is a podder. Just how it is. Us podders stick together.”
“You live in a pod?” she asked, confused.
“Used to, Small Docks District too. Once a podder always a podder. Can’t really raise a family in the pods though. Wife wouldn’t have stood for it.” The guard smiled. “I miss the disposable income, the sleep. Ugh.” He let out a long sigh.
The guard looked at her for a moment then held out a hand. “Here two free burger tokens.” He pressed something round and hard into her hand. “Get yourself a feed, things suck when you have no money and I've been there.”
Sarah blushed. In a panic she flubbed out "mfabnks." Spinning away she clutched the tokens in her hand. Now blushing even harder she started walking quickly away barely remembering to snag her bags.
He called after her “Hey If you get into trouble or need help there's an old lady down there. Always knitting, her name's Margie, tell her you're a friend of Security Greg, she will sort you out ok?”
Glancing back she stuttered out “O-ok thanks” before heading down stairs. She reached the street and sagged wearily against a wall. Geeze you just put out your hands because he offered stuff to you idiot. I mean I know the dude was a guard but still. She shook her head, pulled out the tokens and examined them. They were round clear plastic disks. The plastic was embedded with holographic glitter. At the discs center sat a black burger outline inscribed on the surface. She made out a tiny circuit chip inside, hidden among the glitter. There were no other identifying marks. Well free burgers I guess… If I can figure out where they are for.