After that, K8 decided to never attempt sharing. She made a motto to avoid such uncomfortable confrontations: “When in doubt, just do a little dance, smile, and remember: Each Individual Experience is Important.” Fortunately, no one seemed to remember her mistake the next day, but the lesson had already sunk in.
“Two of the black,” James barks.
4Ally must be stronger than she looks. She doesn’t even blink as she answers, “Yes, of course.”
K8 offers 4Ally a sympathetic smile, which she accepts gratefully before returning her attention to James. They’ll have to work on that.
She hates to make excuses for him, but maybe things really were that different during his time. The obituaries said he was abillionaire. That amount of money was extraordinary. He would have been akin to a king. Someone used to being served. Giving an order and having it done without question. Someone surrounded by people willing to do this. The whole concept feels strange to K8, but she’s trying to understand.
After ten minutes of 4Ally taking notes on her tablet and James swiping through the catalogue, they appear to be completing the order.
A billionaire’s equivalent doesn’t exist anymore. Occasionally, someone will invent something and start a company. They’ll make it into the rumored “A+” pay bracket. There are loopholes and secret markets that afford some a greater surplus of unicoin and the perks that come with it. But it’s nothing compared to what James was during his time. That much she’s researched. Yet there is still more to learn if she has any hope of understanding him. And she wants to. Because maybe this man from the past is her chance to build something real.
Holy Mother Zephyr gifted her James, someone who doesn’t know how things are in her world. He obviously finds her attractive, so they are off to a good start. If most people during his time were in partnerships with other people, then he won’t know how things are. He won’t have the same relationship expectations as people do now. He might desire a monogamous partnership like her parents had. Her chest fills with hope. Could James be the answer she’s been searching for?
She’s practically buoyant when 4Ally says, “That will be three hundred forty-five million unicoin.”
James wanders into the hallway to wait on her. K8 glances between 4Ally and James before leaning in. “We’ll take the last two outfits he tried on, too. And I agree. Smaller would definitely be better on that green number. Zorg forbid we waste an ass like that.”
The shopgirl gives her a conspiratorial giggle, adjusting her total. K8 types in her NHOS identification number and lets the camera get a retina scan for confirmation. Then she breezes out.
A few hours and a few shops later, she runs across the most divine pair of silver synthifiber sandals that would go perfectly with the dress she bought last week.
“I’ll just pop in here,” she tells James. She tries on the shoes, and they are as perfect as she imagined. When she enters her payment details, she has to withhold a grimace at the staggering sum that is nearly half of James’s entire wardrobe. And there is his lease to consider. She should probably put them back, but when will she find something that goes better with that dress she bought last week? She’s already made the investment. To not buy them would be a waste.
Thinking of it that way, K8 happily signs for her purchase, which will be delivered to her unit by the time they return.
James narrows his eyes at her as she drifts back into the hallway. “I guess being an air control officer is a pretty high-paying position?”
K8 shrugs, half intending to ignore the question. It is a high-paid position. But the spring lines this year were impossible to pass up. And when she wore that reflective lime catsuit, she got a dozen compliments.
“K8?” James presses. “You can afford all this plus my lease, right? At least until I figure out a way to pay you back?”
“Sure.” She turns away from his prying gaze. Perhaps she should take a look at her Worldbank account now that it’s come up. The thought makes her stomach swirl and dip. What she really needs is a distraction—for both of them. “Oooohhh!” she exclaims as they walk past a shop called Proclivities, which sells adult products. The gold spiked collar in the window is what catches her eye. Why didn’t she think of it sooner? “I need to feed Broccoli! I’ll introduce you. Come on.”
“Who’s Broccoli?” James asks, and she can tell he’s intrigued. Plus, he’s distracted from the money issue. Both things please her.
Perhaps this will go better than the clothes shopping. And she’s missed Broccoli. She’s been so preoccupied, and it’s been years since she’s seen him. What an opportunity. “My dog!”
10 – A World Without Dogs
James
The dog parks are on floor CA25-122. At the very end of the main hallway, there’s a storefront with images of futuristic people hugging and petting all manner of dogs. James doesn’t recognize a single breed. The dogs are different colors and sizes, but as they get closer, he sees they all seem to be an amalgamation of many breeds. As ifdogcomes in medium and white. Or small and speckled. But only one shape.
They enter, and Kate steps up to the counter, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “Hello.”
“Hello,” a man with a poorly bleached bowl haircut replies. He wears a completely see-through vinyl tube held up by two thin hot pink canvas straps. James dares a glance down, instantly wishing he hadn’t. Is that supposed to be a fig leaf?
Kate, noting James's horrified expression, reaches forward and runs a glittery nail across a strap. “This is amazing! You must tell me whereyou found it.” The man blushes, and Kate gets out her device to take down the information and snap a few pictures of him, which he eagerly poses for.
“It gets better!” The man reaches to the trim at his chest, pinching the material, and the whole dress lights up like a movie projector screen, playing a scene of a man standing under a fruit tree, holding up a red sphere and considering it. A woman struts over to him and plucks it out of his hand. She takes a large bite and they both start dancing, then the whole scene repeats.
Kate squeals in excitement, breaking out in her own little dance, which the man mimics.
James’s temples pulse to the imaginary beat. How is this his life now? He’s ready to go back to her unit and lock himself in the spare room for a few hours to escape the chaos that is the future. But a dog—maybe that will offer some semblance of normalcy in the sea of insanity he’s wading through. Barney, his Irish Setter, was one of the few things that could mellow him out when his mood was getting the better of him. Maybe they could even take Broccoli back to her apartment. It’s strange that she didn’t already have it at home, but she might have boarded it to get through the manupartner activation process.
It’s what he did with Barney before he left on that last fateful trip. When he never came to pick Barney up, did the vet contact his parents or his sister? A sick feeling tightens his stomach. Barney was a great dog. Someone would have found him a good home and taken care of him.
