Future Perfect

BZZZ. BZZZ. 6:00AM. You wake up in a cold sweat. This is the third nightmare this week. Your chest feels tight. (set: $medication to true)[[Grab your anxiety medication->Take Meds]] (set: $medication to false)[[Get up and stare out the window]] (set: $kindness to 0) (set: $bluntness to 0)

It's early in the morning. The sky is delicately pink and sunlight reflects on the skytowers around yours. Floating taxis make their way between the towers, picking people up to go to work. Further below, on the platforms and bridges between the towers, people are already milling about. The city of New Martinez is many things, but it's never empty. (set: $medication to true)[[Take your anxiety medication->Take Meds]] [[Start getting ready for work->Get Ready]]

You swallow your medication. Immediately your heart slows down and you feel... not //better//, but okay. You can breathe now. [[Start getting ready for work->Get Ready]]

You brush your teeth. You shower in your high-performance AquaClean unit for a record time of 21 seconds, and it dries you off even faster. You look at your clothing rack and ask the embedded AI, "What's the weather like today?" |robot>["Looks like we're gonna have some clear baby blue skies and highs of 72 degrees, yeehaw!"] You should really change its personality sometime. (set: $clothes to 'femme')[[Get dressed in a nice pink dress, with steel-toed combat boots->Get Ready 2]] (set: $clothes to 'goth')[[Get dressed in all-black everything, with steel-toed combat boots->Get Ready 2]] (set: $clothes to 'fun')[[Get dressed in triangle-print overalls, with steel-toed combat boots->Get Ready 2]]

|robot>["Ma'am, you ever think about buying a new pair of shoes?"] Who programmed this thing to be so judgemental? [[Make breakfast and turn on the Wave]] [[Start heading to work->Elevator]]

You tune into the Diana & Stan Morning Show. //"*static* --nd in Nueva York, three Gators were foun-- *static* --can you believe that, Diane? I sure can, Stan. And just yesterday in Kansa--"// [[Keep listening]] [[Turn off the Wave. Go to work->Elevator]]

You head to the elevators. As soon as you get in, you hear a voice yelling, //"Wait!"// You know that voice. [[Frantically hit the "Close Doors" button->Elevator1]] [[Reluctantly keep the doors open->Elevator1]]

//"--a body was found in the mars-- *static* --and next weekend pop sensation Kitty Hairy will eat a live octop--"// [[Turn off the Wave. Go to work->Elevator]]

Your neighbor Rory rushes in right before the doors close. You’re both going down. "Hiya, Mal!" [["Hello."->Elevator2]] [[Nod in his general direction->Elevator2]]

"Say, have you heard Kitty Hairy’s latest song? I really think it’s going to be the smash hit of the year!" [["Hmm."->Elevator3]] [["Mmm."->Elevator3]] [["Mmhmm."->Elevator3]]

"Anyway, how's stuff down at the lab? Heh, working on anything spooky, Dr. Scientist?" [["You know I'm not at liberty to say."->Elevator4]] [[Fake a laugh at his attempt at humor->Elevator4]]

"Aw, just messin' with ya. So, what are you doing Friday? Uh, tomorrow? You know I thought maybe—" Just then, the elevator stops and the doors open. [[Rush out without saying anything->Walk]] [[Rush out with a mumbled "goodbye"->Walk]]

Outside, the platforms are already packed with crowds of commuters. Floating taxis drone overhead. The skytowers of New Martinez are connected by giant bridges and walkways, like vines in those mythical rainforests, webbing the trees together. [[Walk to the edge of the platform->Edge]] [[Walk towards your company's skytower->Walk to work]]

From the edge of the platform, you look down and see the criss-crossed lower bridges, even more populated than up here. You lean forward and bump your head against the invisible netfield. A robotic voice booms, |robot>["PLEASE DO NOT LEAN OVER THE EDGE. IF YOU ARE FEELING SUICIDAL, PLEASE ALERT A PSYCHOFFICER. THANK YOU AND HAVE A GOOD DAY SIR AND/OR MADAM."] The netfields cover all the platforms—a safety measure for living so high up—but you always forget about them. At least no one seemed to have noticed. [[Regain your composure and keep walking to work->Walk to work]]

You snake through the crowd, making your way over the eastward bridges. Off in the distance, you see a scraggly man waving his arms in the air, yelling at people passing him by. Lately you’ve been seeing more people like him from the ground level coming to the upper levels. [[Approach him->Cult Man]] [[Keep walking to work->Walk to work 2]]

"The water is TAINTED! They haven't purified it, they've poisoned it! People, please!" A bemused crowd has formed around him. Passerbys heckle at him to shut up, to go back to the ground levels. [[Ask someone nearby what's going on->Bystander]] [[As amusing as this is, you keep walking to work->Walk to work 2]]

The Aurachem Labs Tower looms above its neighbors. Windowless and featureless, it stands like a regal pillar, almost glowing in the morning light. This is where you work. [[Badge in and take the elevators to Sublevel 19->Lab]]

A middle-aged woman next to you explains, "Oh, I think he's protesting the new water purification facilities, which doesn't even affect us so why is he up here? //How// did he even get up here, actually? His kind-" [[Thank her and keep walking to work->Walk to work 2]]

The neurolabs are peaceful, if a little bleak. There are rows of industrial freezers and cerebral machines with little space to actually work. Your coworker Corbi is already here. She's always early. "Good morning, Mal. You should look at this: I think we're getting closer with the purax forumla." [[Inspect the cerebral machine->Lab 2]]

The cerebral machine is a white, plasteel rectangular frame with glowing charts floating in the middle. You move the luminous lines around, analyzing the data. The lights somewhow feel tangible as they float within the frame; you're still getting used to these new screenless machines. "We still need to tweak the composition of course but I think we're almost there. Who knows, maybe purax will be viable sometime soon." [[Laugh. You've been working on this for years.->Lab 3]] [["Maybe if they finally hired more people around here."->Lab 3]] [["I think so! Good work, Corbi."->Lab 3]]

Corbi smiles and goes back to her desk. You return to yours. Though Sublevel 19 is a massive space, you're the only two who work down here, and your desks stay close together, surrounded by the freezers and the hum of the machines. To make it slightly less depressing, Aurachem installed soft lights throughout the space, washing everything in pastel glows that change throughout the course of the day. It could be worse. [[Mention the crazed man you saw on your way to work->Conversation]] [[Work in silence->Work Day]]

Corbi thinks for a few seconds. "Maybe what he's saying is true." She goes back to work. [["What do you mean? Do you really believe that?"->Conversation 2]] [[Return to your work->Work Day]]

The rest of the day passes uneventfully. You analyze data, check on the vials in the freezer, eat a molecular lunch (courtesy of Aurachem Labs!), analyze more data. Nothing really happens. Corbi leaves and you're alone in the lab. [[Go home->Home]] [[Walk around the lab]]

She shrugs. "Sometimes the crazy ones aren't so crazy. Anyway, we have a lot to do today." [["Yeah, you're right."->Work Day]]

The sun has already set and New Martinez is buzzing with life and neon lights. You take a taxi home. You make yourself some ラーメン topped with 김치 and stare out the window. [[Turn on the Wave->Night Radio]] [[Eat and go to bed->Crazy Day]]

With no one else here, the lab is especially eerie. At this time of day, the lights are all a gentle lavender ("Twilight Dreams" is the official name, apparently). Most of the cerebral machines are sleeping, but a few are still emitting soft light and a softer hum. It's almost beautiful. [[Go home->Home]]

//"--ha, oh Stan you joker. *cough* Today a primary suspect for the Deckard murders was identified, as one Ivan Chang Ivanovich, though proof is tenuous at best. Well when has that stopped the Midwest PD, Diane? Oh Stan you are bad!"// [[Gradually fall asleep->Crazy Day]]

BZZZ. BZZZ. 6:00AM. You wake up in a cold sweat, again. Another nightmare. You never remember them, but they always unnerve you.

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