The weather was pleasant.

The sky was full of cottony clouds sent scudding across the sky by a breeze. It blew across the back of her neck, soothing the sensitive area the neuronode had abraded. She could smell freshly cut grass and a faint sweet scent from wild flowers on the wind. The genuine freshness of the air was far better than any factory packaged ‘fresh pine’ scent that Perry could fart out at her in the apartment.

Sera headed across the pedestrian bridge, leaving the apartment blocks for the wooded area just less than a mile from where she lived. That was the good thing about living away from the city, she mused. Nature was at your doorstep.

The track she followed went up a heavily wooded hill. She jogged up it, forcing herself not to stop until she reached the pinnacle. It was the first time she’d come out here, but she knew the run couldn’t be too strenuous since the hill was such a short one. Still, when she reached the top, she doubled over and gasped for breath, taking in deep lungfuls of air. It had been too long since she had had any kind of exercise.

A stone had lodged itself in her shoe and Sera reached a hand out to a tree, intending to lean on it for balance while she removed the stone. The second her hand touched the tree, it quivered, hazing in lines of pixels that reformed when she withdrew her hand. A green label on the bark appeared before her eyes, and she leaned in to read the notice:

‘Warning, reforestation in progress. Do not tread on growing tree. Any attempt at damage will result in a $200 fine and possible jail time’

She looked carefully at the bottom of the tree and waved her hands a few times, making the pixels leap and jump away from her fingers. At the very bottom, within a small spiked fence that would definitely have hurt her foot if she had tread on it, was a small tree, growing within the circumference of the illusionary one she had touched.

Sera sighed.

Of course, this explained why the apartment had seemed so affordable. It had been built on post-war land. Underneath her shoes were probably remnants of blown up buildings, bits and pieces of weaponry and countless pieces of bodies that couldn’t be sorted through. After the end of the most recent World War which had occurred in her parent’s lifetime, the government had begun to reopen areas that were deemed no longer dangerous for settlement again. Among the ones that were available for housing projects away from the city were the ones like this, non-toxic areas that had been wiped out by bombs. They were easy enough to clear and rebuild in, but it took time to get the massive craters filled with enough fertile soil and to encourage wildlife and trees to take root again.

She walked to another tree and gingerly reached a hand out to it until her fingers touched its rough bark. This one was real. She leaned her forehead against it and reached out to hug the tree. The woody scent and serene steadiness of its immovable figure in her arms soothed her for a moment.

A small chime sounded and she opened her eyes, crossing them to read the green label that appeared under her nose.

‘Warning. Tree under monitoring. Any attempt at damage will result in a $500 fine and possible jail time.’

“Give me a break!” Sera cried out in frustration.

A flock of birds stopped their cheerful chirping amid a flutter of wings. Even the wind seemed to die down.

Sera got the distinct feeling that she was being watched and monitored in that unusual silence. She ground her teeth, then released a heavy sigh. Stepping carefully, she moved away from the tree to a spot of sunshine a few steps away and lowered herself to lie spread out on the ground.

No one could fine her or accuse her of any wrongdoing for some simple sun-bathing, right?

She fell into a deep sleep. She dreamed of forests and sunshine and an outing at the sea she had taken with Gilbert, long ago when they had begun to date, when he had not been so engrossed at work he’d stopped taking weekends.

They stood hand in hand with their toes in the cold ocean water, gazing at the fish swimming in the curls of waves that crashed towards them, and dancing back every time the white surf threatened to soak their jeans. Sera turned to Gilbert, wanting to make a comment about the fish, but when she opened her mouth no words came out. Just the sound of a soft, melodic ‘ping’.

She frowned and Gilbert shook his head, wearing that look of adoring bemusement that surfaced whenever she made a comment he thought was ridiculous. He opened his mouth too and said, “Ping… ping, ping. Ping.”

Sera choked.

“Ping!” she insisted, trying to make her meaning clear. “Ping!”

Gilbert’s expression turned frustrated and filled with longing. The sea, beach and sky fell away behind him and his face loomed in front of her, taking up the whole of her vision. His face was the colour of a washed out technicolour film strip and pings emitted non-stop from his mouth. He spat them out desperately in streams of unintelligible sound, bombarding her with nonsensical meaning.

“Ahhh!” Sera came awake, jumping upright as if she had been stung.

She looked about her.

The sun was lower in the sky and the air was a little heavier. It looked like rain.

A ping sounded, making her jump a foot in the air.

She glanced at her wrist and saw Perry’s messages, accumulated like a string of pearls on the screen around her wrist. She peeled off the console and tapped the notification bubbles to read the messages.

‘Sera, reception is low in your area, notifications will be delayed.’

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

‘Sera, three restaurants are in your area. Sichuan Delight (2.2mi), Boston Grill (1.8mi) and Yakiniku Sakura (1.0mi).’

‘Sera, a new event has been added to your calendar. Coffee at Kittilicious with Monica at 4 pm, July 8.’

‘Sera…’

She swiped them out of her homescreen, seeing that they were all from Perry. She’d have a proper look later.

“Perry, direct me to Yakiniku Sakura, please. The fastest route.”

***

Yakiniku Sakura was a quaint hole-in-the-wall place that seemed to have been literally built into the cranny between two back-facing apartment buildings. It was narrow and small and distinguishable from the gray concrete around it by its scarlet noren, which displayed a stylistic black sakura flower, and the faux wooden slats and glass of the single window to the left.

Sera slipped through the slit fabric of the noren and opened the front door to the sound of a jingling automated ‘Irasshaimase!’ The distance to the tall front counter took her less than ten steps, and since she was the only customer in the shop, she took her time scrutinising the picture menu above it. When she had decided what she wanted she looked around for the server, but there was no one to be found. She tapped her wrist console.

“The yakiniku ramen is the most popular dish,” Perry said softly in her ear implant. “If you are ready to order, I can place your order with the Butler and it will be ready in five minutes.”

Sera had been about to order the yakiniku ramen. But for some odd reason, she felt oddly contrary to going along with the popular recommendation. “I’ll have the cold noodles,” she said. “To have here.”

“Very well, Sera.”

Perry’s voice was non-judgemental and Sera smiled to herself, wondering if Perry was adjusting his profile of her.

Her flush of accomplishment died down as she watched her food being prepared. First, the cold noodles picture on the menu flashed brilliant for a second, then the sound of boiling water trickled through from the kitchen area. Sera stepped up onto the platform by the counter and peered through the glass. The tiny kitchen was entirely automated with robotic arms and clawed hands. She could see her noodles drop into the pot of boiling water where they stayed for about three minutes. Meanwhile, marinated meat was placed on a grill where it sizzled along with some sliced onions. Crisp vegetables were dropped into a tiny bowl and a little sauce was sprinkled on them. By then, the noodles and meat were ready. The noodles were briefly rinsed through with cold water, then delicately tossed into a bowl and squirted all over with sauce. The meat, now exuding a mouth-watering aroma, was laid out neatly onto a long, ceramic plate decorated with little cherry blossom flowers. All the dishes were then placed on a tray at the end of the assembly line, just out of Sera’s reach behind the counter.

A soft sigh reached her ears and something shifted in the corner of the shop. A girl got up from a seat Sera had not noticed behind the counter and sauntered over to the tray. She had two long pig tails and wore a neat dress with a ruffled apron. She tucked a little handheld console into her pocket, then picked up the tray and walked over to the serving station by the counter. Her gait was graceful and precise and she had on a small smile that broadened when she caught sight of Sera.

“Here you go.”

Sera felt her own lips stretch into a smile as she reached out to take the tray. How long had it been since someone had smiled at her without any sympathy bleeding into the expression? She couldn’t remember.

“Thank you very much,” Sera said. She looked into the girl’s eyes, marveling at how pretty she was. Her left eye was slightly higher than her right and her mascara was a little smudged under her bottom lashes, but her sweet, freckled face looked so earnest and cheerful that Sera felt a brief flash of happiness.

“Oh, be careful!” the girl said, catching the tray as it tilted in Sera’s hands. She had misjudged the weight distribution on the tray and everything was sliding off, about to fall onto the floor.

Faster than Sera’s eyes could track, the girl caught the bowls of noodles and vegetables in each hand and bent to balance the dish of meat along her forearm so perfectly that not a single slice of meat slid off.

“Here you go,” the girl said once more, arranging everything back onto the tray. “No harm done.”

She winked at Sera, allowing her to catch a glimpse of a tattooed bio-barcode, subtly concealed by the faint brown of her eyeshadow. “Do let me know if you have anything else you need.”

An android.

Sera walked over to the counter by the window that looked out onto the street and took one of the high chairs. The noodles slipped down her throat like limp, cold fish. She barely noticed the sweet, crispy vegetables and fragrant meat, though she made sure to chew each mouthful carefully and thoroughly to make the meal last as long as it could.

In the length of time it took her to finish eating, three orders went through the shop. Two were internal orders from the neighbouring apartments. They were prepared, then sent through some delivery mechanism at the back of the shop to the appropriate unit. The third was an external order that was sent by a delivery drone shaped like a carrier pigeon with the sakura logo on its wings. The waitress simply reached under the counter, pulled it out and attached the takeaway bag, then the door opened automatically and the drone zoomed out through the slit in the noren.

Sera replaced the tray on the counter when she was done and moved to leave.

“Is there anything else you might want to have?” the waitress asked from her seat behind the counter. She once again had her console in her hand. Sera saw that she had been playing a game involving farming on it when she lifted her hand and waved to the wall on the right side of the shop.

The wallpaper, which had been of bamboo swaying in a gentle breeze, melted away to reveal brightly lit hexagonal shapes. Each was a tiny shop of its own with screens displaying products and services. Sera nodded her thanks and walked over to the wall of merchandise.

Everything and anything she might want was there. Handwash, makeup, cleaning supplies, groceries, electronics. It was the mirror image of the supply wall in her own apartment complex. Perry usually made her orders for her and had them delivered.

Sera was about to turn away when something caught her eye. It was slightly below eye-level but it was so sparkly and shiny that she couldn’t help looking. It was the image of an ordinary boy with multi-coloured motes swirling around him. As they parted and fell away she saw that he had changed into a hooded, muscular man with knives extending from his armguards and his fists crossed over his chest. He leapt into motion, his dark cloak whipping behind him as he moved lithely through an autumn forest, ducking between trees and leaping into branches to chase after another darting figure in the distance.

Without Sera noticing, the hexagon had bumped its way through the other shapes up to her eye level and turned three-dimensional so it looked as if she was watching the two figures running down a tunnel. A thrilling tempo reached her ears, the rhythm making her own heartbeat quicken. She reached a hand out to the screen and the hooded assassin turned slightly, alerted by her presence. He charged back up towards her and flung himself forward, knives first. He hit the screen in a burst of blood-red leaves that melted away under her hand, leaving an image of a sparkling bottle within which floated colourful nanite flakes. The logo on it spelled out Elysia, with the tagline, ‘Welcome to the Everlife’ under it.

“It used to be ‘Your World Alive’,” Sera murmured to herself. This new line hardly seemed any better, though the graphics had definitely improved judging by the advertisement.

“Excuse me?” The waitress bobbed up beside her. “Can I help you?”

Sera looked at her. Now that she was looking, she could pick out the little discrepancies. The skin with pores that were too regular. The hair that didn’t have any split ends. The bio-codes that couldn’t be noticed unless you watched her eyes carefully when she blinked.

“No, I’m just leaving. Thank you for the meal.”