The wind stills for the first time in a while. This earth is never really visited by anyone, ever. The humans on this earth have kept to themselves. Every earth tends to steer itself in many ways after the great world war. Some go back in time and some advance. Others hit a neutral zone and it's best to leave those earth’s behind.
Something has changed. The elders can feel something happening on this earth. They have sent someone to investigate. Quinn is young and stupid. He’s known for his arrogance, after graduating from the academy earlier than most boys. This is his first outer world mission, and he hopes to god that he doesn’t screw this up.
When the coast is clear, the portal opens, burning a bright blue throughout the fishery. Quinn fixes his oversized jacket and steps through from his planet to this planet. His face screws up in disgust, as the smells of the fishery hit him at once. Coughing, he reaches into a deep pocket and pulls out a handkerchief.
The elders had warned him that this earth is slow in its technological world, and they were not kidding. Quinn boots up his phone and scans his surroundings, keeping the purple handkerchief close to his mouth and nose. His eyebrows raise in surprise as his phone beeps. This world has an Ai, he thought to himself. He pockets his phone and removes himself from the foul smells in search of something delicious.
Quinn checks his watch, just as the sun starts to peak up behind the tall buildings. Six thirty in the morning. Nothing will be open just yet. Quinn suddenly regrets missing breakfast before he left. Back on his planet, nothing closes. Robots run everything, requiring nothing from humans. They live and breathe the lives they want without the worry of stressing the body with labour.
Many still work. They call them the ‘crazies’. Though Quinn doesn’t believe himself to be one of the 'crazies’ despite searching for a labour job. He is uniquely smart, which gave him the option of going to school early and leaving school early. It also has made him an arrogant fool.
Despite this being his first official outer world assignment, Quinn has a lot of experience with taking from other planets. He chose this job, because he thought the money would be excellent. He didn’t much care for what he was actually retrieving. The little inner world mission he scored, told him the money was terrible. Quinn, being the arrogant child he is, sought out for other well paying missions. He sought out other individuals who were willing to pay heavenly more than the government was for stolen items.
Quinn quickly moves away from the fishery, in search of something open. As he walked down the main road, we watched the stores slowly come alive. But still nothing quite open. Until the little blue blinking light from a coffee shop caught his eyes. Sighing a breath of relief, Quinn made for the door. The bells sitting on top of the doorway, signalled his entrance.
“Good morning.”
Carlene greeted her first customer of the day. The way he was dressed, signalled that he was not from here, yet his coffee order came straight to her mind, even before he entered. She handed him the big mug of black coffee and two muffins. The surprise on Quinns face is one she has seen many times.
“Your total will be ten thirty. Cash or credit?”
Quinn blinked at Carlene as if she had invaded his mind. Slowly he handed over a twenty dollar note and took his change and tray over to a window seat. Carlene watched the newcomer for a bit, before her next order came in. It wasn’t before long that she forgot that he was even sitting there.
Quinn watched the ebony barista, as she pumped through orders for the morning. Each customer pays and leaves with a coffee without even ordering. It was fascinating. Quinn has seen this kind of thing before on another planet. Seers, they were called. Not very popular on any of the earths and not many around these days. Many more civilised planets had them mentioned, but the more backwards in technology they were, the less they believed in that kind of stuff.
Quinn leaves the coffee shop, phone in hand. He had the information packet up on his phone. He doesn’t quite know what he is looking for and he doesn’t quite know if the elders are stitching him up to fail or not. This seems like an impossible mission. Tracing the signal, he found himself at the University library. Sighing, Quinn set to work.
As the day ended, Carlene is reminded of the newcomer she served this morning. She wasn’t entirely sure if his order was right or not, but he seemed near impossible to read. He also seemed older, like he wasn’t from this time. Carlene closed the shop and made the walk down to the subway, like she does after every shift.
Carlene stops for a moment, as something bright and unnatural catches her eyes. She follows the light for a moment before it opens and disappears altogether. She rubs her eyes; it was like something she has never seen before. Almost like a glimpse into the past. She peeks around her, to see if anyone else noticed it, but nothing. Rubbing her eyes again, Carlene walks swiftly for the subway.
When Carlene reaches her apartment, the smell of dinner wafts through her apartment door. She smiles. Carlene loves it when her wife is home. The home cooked meals are off the charts. One of the many reasons why Carlene married Thea. She slides through the door and wraps her arms around Thea’s waist. It has been a long day for them both and a much-needed home cook meal will help brighten them up.
Thea nudges the old broken book towards her wife. Carlene frowns at the book but takes it anyway. She takes it to her desk and sits down. She grips the almost illegal book in her hands. She is sweating and she is starting to stain the book. Sighing, she takes a deep breath and flips on the first page. Frowning, she flips through several more, before slamming the book shut. Thea had gotten her an empty book. Pushing the book back on the table, she tries to ignore it while dinner is served.
Before heading to bed, Carlene grabs the book from the table and brings it to the bedroom. She grabs her glasses and turns on the bedside table lamp. The sudden bright light on the book, brings words to the surface and Carlene starts to read.
Beep.
Carlene looks up from the book, noticing that Thea had retreated to bed. She takes her glasses off and rubs her tired eyes. Did she hear something coming from the window or is she just hallucinating?
Beep. Beep.
Nope, not hallucinating. Carlene sets down the book and her glasses on her bedside table and slowly moves quietly towards the window.
Beep.
The beeping almost sounds faint now, almost like it is moving away. Carlene moves two of her blinds apart and stares into the black of the night. Just barely, she can see a car slowly driving past the apartment blocks, almost like it’s looking for something.
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