Remember that stray cat on the single bridge near the Magic City train station? My first
A second rebirth actually entered her body, and boring magic learning and training turned into a future science fiction world? My mind was opened again. . . . . .
The hover bus has landed,
A scream of "hissing" - like a cat's tail getting stuck in a door -
Several children who were stopped suddenly screamed. Or maybe they just took some of the excitement out of finally arriving, and you can't blame them, the drive from the orphanage to the museum was nearly an hour. That's an hour of flying in heavy air traffic with nothing to see but ads and smog.
I grabbed the railing above for balance and leaned forward until I could see the facade of the building next to me.
The Ross Museum of Human Endurance is so new that parts of the exterior aren't even finished yet. Embedded holographic projectors cover the walls, looping videos of exhibits inside the museum, as well as occasional advertisements from museum sponsors.
They try to pass themselves off as bastions of cultural heritage in a city that barely deserves the word "culture."
"Wow. You look a little grumpy today. Cat."
I rolled my one normal eye to the girl sitting next to me.
"It's so hard," I said.
Lucy grinned. It's a smile that makes men and women alike pause, but somehow it's contagious. "Hel me up?" she asked.
Lucy...is special. She has looks that would make a regular girl like me jealous, but just take a minute to complain about how cute some of the cats she sees in the media are.
I leaned against the side of the faux leather bench, took Lucy's hand, and stood her up. Then I reached into the shelf above the bench and pulled out Lucy's crutches one at a time.
When we got out of the car, the kids who came with us were loosely gathered under the awning in front of the museum.
It's raining outside, because seeing blue sky and a little sunshine one day is too much to ask for. The air was filled with suffocating humidity, and low smoke made it difficult to see behind the six buildings.
My hair stuck to my head and within seconds my clothes became uncomfortable and clammy.
“Oh, shit,” I said as the stench of New Montreal hit me. It was a mixture of burnt rubber, urine and the pungent smell of kerosene.
"You thought being so high up would take away some of the smell, right?" Lucy wondered. She stepped aside and tapped her cane on the steel pavement of the landing.
.
"Don't stand so close to the edge," I said as I walked slowly over. The descent below is quite daunting. Twelve stories below are gravel streets, where only stray cats and freight drivers move. There are also platforms below the museum connected to the superstructure. Bridges span the distance between the towers, and some even have gardens and greenery on them, a reminder that the area is expensive.
“I live on the edge,” Lucy says, her voice low and husky and—I imagine—not sounding cool at all. After a while she ruined it all by giggling.
"Be careful not to cut yourself with any of these sharp things," I said. "Come on, we should keep an eye on those brats."
When another bus landed, a second group of kids started jumping off. I don't know them, but they are all white and their caregivers are actual humans. Probably one of the better orphanages, built with some samurai's charitable funds.
“Okay, kittens,” I said as I paused on the edge of the awning next to the robotic care drone that the orphanage purchased cheaply a few years ago.
Ten pairs of eyes locked on mine as I surveyed the small group.
This group of people are called kittens. This name is easier to remember.
It's stuck.
The robot nanny waves her arms at all the children, trying to get them to behave. This isn't very efficient. "Today, you have the opportunity to be one of the first people to visit the Museum of Human Endurance. It's really cool—"
I sighed and walked up to the robot. It's not hard to talk about it. "Correct. We're here to take some PR photos. You know the deal. Look cute, pretty, disabled, and the guy behind the desk will give us some nicer toys. Behave, don't touch anything, look Smile when you get to the drone.”
The kids were anxious and excited, and I wasn’t sure if my motivational speech was a success.
"Let's go in pairs, okay?" I asked.
"Get out of here," said Junior, one of the older kids. She wasn't keen on spending time with anyone, why would she come.
"Okay you stay with Parker. Don't let him lick any sockets."
She glared at me and I glared back at her until she crossed her arms and looked away.
"That was one time," Parker said.
I ignored him and looked at the rest of the group. We all wore the gray clothes distributed by the orphanage.
The kids, wearing little cloth masks, might look like a small group of street rats. They need to restore all the photos taken in post.
"Tim, you're bargaining. Nemo, go with Nose. Twins, stay together. Daniel..." I looked at the boy in the wheelchair and he looked back at me with one eyebrow raised. He's a few weeks older than me, which makes telling him what to do a little weird. "You're old enough to do anything. You know what to do."
I snapped my fingers to get attention. "correct"
The kids were soaked and excited!
"Please line up by age and height," its high-pitched voice said. "We will enter the museum now. Please note that today you represent the Xingfu Family Group!"
The kids started walking toward the front door and I sighed as I watched them leave.
"You have a gift for poetry, Kate," Lucy said.
"Orphan 0501 Catherine, you are not wearing respiratory protection."
I muttered, turned around and took out the mask from my pocket.
"Sorry, I'll take it with me now," I said.
Then I started fiddling with the mask, which was always a chore to put on. .
"Let me help you," Lucy said.
I also smiled after putting on the mask. My mouth couldn't be seen, but Lucy could always tell. "Thanks."
"No problem! By the way, we're going in."
Kittens are rounded up into the museum and directed to the security desk. Daniel was the only one left behind, frowning at the small steps outside the door. I've seen him do some crazy stunts with his wheelchair and I have no doubt he'll be able to stand up eventually. still……
"Need help?" I asked, walking up behind him. The boy was scrawny, with wild curly hair and eyes that glowed blue from cheaply acquired third-party enhancements.
He removed his hands from the wheels of his wheelchair. "You know I like to be pushed by beautiful things, ha," he said.
"I could push you off the roof," I offered.
Daniel snorted. "I said a nice thing, which means I'm talking about Lucy. Hey Lucy, didn't see much of you along the way."
"Don't be stupid, Dan," Lucy said. "We need to set an example for the kids." I shook my head and grabbed the handle on the back of his chair. It took some effort, but with Lucy's help we managed to drag him backwards over the steps.
Daniel smiled. "It has to be. You know I'm always trying to make myself better, right? A real saint is being born here."
"Yeah," Lucy said.
As I crossed the threshold of the museum entrance, my vision went blank for half a second, and then a prompt appeared.
Welcome to the Rose Blair Museum of Human Endurance!
accept?
"Damn," I said, trying to blink away from the screen. Nothing worked at first until I saw the accept button and blinked. "I hate those," I said, letting go of Daniel's chair and rubbing the side of my face, where I could feel the tiny wires of my glasses under my skin.
"I hope you don't accept it," Daniel said. "This local system is terrible. You get pop-ups very quickly."
"How can I say no?" Lucy asked.
"Wait ten seconds and a rejection prompt should appear." Daniel said.
"Ah, I understand! Thank you."
Cursing my luck, I grabbed hold of Daniel's wheelchair as a pile of boxes began to appear in the corner of my vision.
Vote Olivet 2057 for President of the Independent State!
Use your serial number to get 0.5% off!
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Check out Scream! Provided by Mr. Ben! Only 105 points! *
“Oh, come on,” I said, blinking the little X to close the pop-up. The small fan on my device's CPU started spinning. It makes the back of my neck itch.
Daniel smiled. "Just bear with it for a while. Maybe close your eye and use the other eye?"
I glared at him.
"Oh yeah. Uh. Once we're in, I can get into your system and run an anti-malware scan. It's free."
I weighed the offer. Daniel has pulled some pranks before. The thing with the tiny camera in the bathroom got him a spanking, but that was a few years ago
The image of a naked woman dancing in the corner of my field of vision made me determined. "What's in it for you?"
"Can I spend some time with two beautiful ladies and away from the kittens?" Daniel asked.
"... fair enough."
The kittens were meowing "ahhhhhh" around the entrance hall. This is a simple enough room. It's large, decorated in sterile white and chrome, with a hologram of New Montreal's favorite samurai hovering over the side.
I recognized Sanheng, Xiaoxiao and Maplefly as they flashed by, but others, especially those long dead or second-tier actors, were completely unfamiliar.
Samurai are not my cup of tea. If there really is a hierarchy of VIPs, they are just one step below the CEOs and presidents of all the biggest megacorporations in the world. The lines are blurred by the fact that half of them are samurai themselves.
I'm not convinced by the "superhuman" shtick some of them pull off, and their whole gimmick of trying to look like heroes while living in a penthouse just makes me uncomfortable. But Lucy liked them.
"Children, wake up from your daydream and come on." Please line up at the door and show your ID. "
There was a long line and a robot smiled at them, checked their ID and clipped a bracelet to their right wrist before letting them through and saying: "Have a nice day at the museum, courtesy of Ben" company! "
With each repeated greeting and chant, another kitten would pass through the door into the next room.
I pushed Daniel to the door in front of me, and after the robot's glowing eyes scanned the ID, he was let in with a shiny new bracelet. Then it was my turn.
“Here,” I said, pulling my ID out of my wallet and placing it on the counter.
The robot picked it up, scanned it, and put it back with a cheerful smile. "Thank you, Zorian, please show your right hand to receive the confirmation bracelet." (What did I become? A girl who likes stray cats?)
"I can't," I said.
The Android system paused for a moment. "Please show your right hand to receive the confirmation bracelet."
I sighed and raised my right arm. The burns and ugly scars were not visible under the shirt I was wearing, but I knew they were there. "Can you put it on top of this?"
The android froze for a moment, staring at the missing limb. "Please show your right hand to receive the confirmation bracelet."
"Can I give you my left side?" I asked. I know where this is going, and I wish the primitive garbage AI in Android would skip this trouble.
"Please show your right hand for your confirmation bracelet."
I resisted the urge to say something rude. "Can you verify my ID? Please check the Disability subheading."
"I can," the robot said. "By presenting your ID, you are providing a current copy of your personal information. You have... two major disabilities. One missing right eye, mild to severe nerve damage. One missing right arm, nerve damage, with Mild to severe burns."
"If I don't have a right hand, can I wear a bracelet on my right hand?" I asked.
Lucy patted me on the back and reminded me to be civil.
"I'll contact customer support. In a moment. You are a valuable customer!"
"Oh, fuck."
Mid-2020s ancient pop music started blaring from the robot's mouth, and I stepped aside, my only desire at the time being to bang my head against the wall.
The day had a wonderful start.
