Capítulo 3: Chapter 3: Dreams Of Yet Another Retro Geek Part 1
"The first one eclipsed the sun." That's how they described it in the holo-tapes. Millions of tons of metal across the sky, all over the world, carrying a species whose dominance was unquantifiable. I say 'was' because no one remembers.
Not long after global nuclear disarmament, the floating leviathans vanished. No one knows where, except for, maybe, the ones who stayed. Azareans, as the aliens are called, made landfall and carved a new home for themselves on Earth. But before the ships left, they set about rewriting history. They were good at it.
Thanks to sustainable energy, a new kind of CPU, and holographic interfaces, Earth saw an upsurge in technological achievement: better fuel, better transportation...
Faster computing led to better communication. Breakthroughs in medical science, workforce robotics, and infrastructure led to a sensible standard of living... where it mattered. The internet never lost its sunshine, while the birth of megacities only accelerated globalization. And among the plethora of groundbreaking innovations under the new regime, we were reintroduced to order.
Humans know a better life, so long as they recognize their rulers, those who sit at the top of the superstructures and occasionally look down. But the more things change, the fewer questions we seem to have.
Thanks to the lack of crime, sickness, and cynicism, no one has bothered to ask...
What is the cost of a perfect world?
Dun dun dun... There's no such thing. I'll just listen to non-dramatic music.
"Babel," she said, and her watch beeped. "Play Sweet Dreams by Eurythmics." The electronic beat came, that fantastic sequenced synth bass line:
She listened to the synchronous drum and stared over the skyline from a sixteen-story complex, a view beholden to its fair share of skyscrapers and flying cars in the rising Summer sun. Hover lanes soared at different altitudes, separated by glittering streaks. The morning light rose over them and the many top-floor domes, transparent bio-domes gracing the top levels of the most modern buildings. The best views of the modern city offered by the modern city, yet the view could only hope to beat the vibrancy of the ginormous Pepsi billboard that decorated the nearby skyscraper.
"All that blue, red, and white; all that red, white, and blue," she sighed.
Bio-domes were the upper echelon of skyline real estate, reserved for greener pasture persons. Jessica sat on a regular concrete roof that happened to have stairs, though she seldom found a use for stairs.
She sat care-free on the precipice of old-fashioned concrete while city sounds came to and fro, memorizing the city plan until she heard the door burst open several yards behind her. Her watch, 9:30 on the dot. "Predictable." She then lip-synced to the security guard.
"Hey, you're not supposed to be up here!" he growled.
She turned around, saw her reflection in a pair of sunglasses: fitted black pants creasing around the ankles, and a pair of mismatched shoes outer-soled with metal. Her red vest was a blast of color, underneath which her black t-shirt emblazoned a cross-armed robot. She lifted her polymer gauntlet, lowering to lock eyes beneath a pair of goggles. Sun-grazed hazel eyes laughed underneath a jagged black shag and aviator lenses that, in turn, mirrored the guard's angry mug.
He was an average Joe in armor, bound in blank gear around his arms and legs. Across his utility belt, he carried a smoke grenade and cartridges for the stun gun on his right holster.
His scrunched face definitely resented her presence on the roof. That hat with a shield stitched, it fired an aura of authority that glared with its meaninglessness.
"I'm a rebel, so it's okay," she told him. "McFly," and the board under her arm extended several inches. When it dropped, it hovered beside her feet. Then the guard advanced, so she hopped on-deck and floated to the ledge, but not without cracking a wide, playful grin. Next, she dove off the ledge.
Stupefied, the guard lunged forward. He found the young woman angled ninety degrees, cruising down the column, and her board never touched the surface of the building; it hovered adjacent to the windows as she leaned backward. Thus, in lieu of a teen spread all over the pavement, the view was a casual wave goodbye and a smile as she casually touched down.
Welcome to New Sumer, Eden of the Anglo-Alliance. That's what every giant billboard said upon entry, followed by holo-skits of people in jumpsuits staring at tall and streak-free buildings by the sunrise. Images of the like played throughout the urban sprawl, non-stop. Jessica observed everyone in haphazardly surfing the streets.
"Watch where you're going!" yelled a stumbling bystander.
She countered, "Eyes off your phone, Jackass!
Jessica - A peek into the identification screen of her e-card gave the basics.
Last Name: Leibniz
First Name: Jessica
Height: 180 cm
Address: 3254 Apple Mire, Suite 13
PD (Population Designation): S1867222
DOB: 03/15/2110
Occupation: Sustenance Delivery. Because 'food' or 'fast-food' delivery is too casual. Then you get the awkward ID picture. Nothing out of the ordinary, just a stone face, longer hair, and a thin white suit that passed for a school uniform. A full-body picture would show the accompanying red skirtÑnot because aliens believe in gender roles but because they find its implementation ingenious to telling sexes apart, despite the fact that the alien physiognomy is negligibly different.
Everywhere, a rainbow of advertisements showcased aliens and humans, side by side. One preached the avoidance of burning carbon, then another lectured on proper recycling habits, and a list goes on with the like.
"Sing to me with more fake voices," Jessica mumbled to herself.
The biggest propaganda board always came with a big font and the chipper female voiceover: "Make the year 2129 another testament to the success of Earth-Azarea relations. Be sure to report any suspicious persons to your local law enforcement."
"And by persons you mean humans. Silly space elves."
Azareans were an odd species, so far as Earthlings were concerned. Their oddity, to the typical human, lied in their lack of physical and behavioral discrepancies. They were stoic, sharperÑwhether or not a result of their stoic nature was a matter of some debateÑand the ones on Earth had light and unblemished skin. Aside from uniform paleness, they also had pointy ears, which made common folk wonder if the spacefarers came from a place akin to Middle-Earth. To put an epitaph on that stupid discourse, the aliens officially denied all affiliations to Tolkien. Nevertheless, people took to calling them "space elves" while prolific readers of Fantasy tried communicating with them in Quenya. Ears, eyes, and complexion characterized a space-elf. Another, less pleasant method of distinguishing them was via talking to them
Jessica passed under a shaded sidewalk beneath a skyscraper. She floated right past a man in a satin coat, noting his alien eyes of violet and how they scowled, then mockingly bowed at his glare without the care to stop.
Azareans had brighter irises whose spectrum ranged into the reds, oranges, yellows, and violets. Once again, she contemplated the physiological reason for this trait, but it remained a mystery like most aspects of this species that technically ruled the planet. She didn't like mysteries.
"'Some of them want to use you'ÑShit!"
She nearly tripped over the egg near the corner crosswalk. Looking back, it was one of many knee-high robots: white, shiny, and smooth little mechanical bodies floating along the streets. When active, their only expression was two bright green ovals on black monitors. Thanks to these little bots, clean pavement littered the streets.
Regalos
-- Regalo
recibido Estado de energía semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Piedra de
Poder