Marry-gold

Not much happens here in our sleepy little town. My hovercraft motors quietly down the Way, our main highway designed specifically for this type of vehicle. There are a couple less fortunate of us who have to take the Bug, the newer version of what was once called a bus in ancient times. It attaches a minimum of three cars together, creating a wiggly, larger version of the similarly-named insect. I wave at my neighbor as I approach my home, eager to see the meal on the table, as my job at electronics maintenance was as busy as it has ever been. I park my hovercraft and anchor it, plugging the cord in to the side of our house. I mash the button that opens the side door and it whooshes open. I jump inside and it snaps closed. There have been many times when we first moved into this Compartment that part of my clothes got stuck in the door. Now we have upgraded to better quality clothes, so there is no extra cloth that hangs down to get caught on things. All of our clothes are snug Crimex, a upgraded version of what used to be spandex.

Nobody is in the kitchen. The light above the Stove is on, but it blinks rapidly, like something is affecting the electricity. I run up to my room to make sure that the calendar was correct. Sometimes I lose track of the time and my wife is out on Assignment. Nothing is marked, but I swipe for more details. Perhaps she has inputted her tracking. The gold dot that I normally follow to investigate her whereabouts is silent. There is nothing but gold from the exact spot that I stand now. I shrug. It means nothing, I tell myself, but something nags at me. I try summoning a channel to my closest neighbor, but there is no ring tone, just dead silence. There is no life in any of the other mechanisms in our compartment at all. I step back outside with two goals in mind. To look for my wife and to find out why our Compartment is falling apart. My hovercraft still purrs contentedly and as I walk down the street other things are broken. I wave down Amdu and try to explain the oddities with my house, but he just shakes his head and yells one thing over his shoulder, "You need to get back on that hovercraft!"

Conversation buzzes around me. “The Libers on fifth row are blinking on and off. The backup controls are supposed to kick in, but they haven’t, and the recharging station seems out of reach.”

“Could it be the change-over? Many people have just hitched a ride on the red line to look for another trade area. Not a lot of them are willing to trade pennies for a Minaril.”

Trying the next best thing, I hop on the Bug, avoiding a group of Littles who are headed home from school. They chatter in a bunch and hop off at the next stop, the community where most parents with young children reside. The back of the Bug shudders at the stop, groaning as they take off. "Did you hear that?" I ask the woman next to me.

"Hear what?" she returns her face to the puzzle in front of her, the entertainment or game control that only she can see. She taps in mid-air, and I know that she has plugged into the Wolo, what used to be known as Wifi, only this is ten times more effective. No help there. Is it just me? The stairs underneath my feet creak, and when I step on solid ground, I cannot be sure that part of the Bug did not just break off. I turn towards the driver, but he has already sped to the next stop. I tap the shoulder of a man singing, pointing to a light pole right above his head. It, too, like the lights in my house, is blinking. The man shakes his head and wave me away like I'm a fly. Ironic because of my current state of transport. Our city is breaking down and I seem to be the only person who notices!

My feet carry me all the way back to my work and I attempt to log into the gate. Nothing works. When I tell the guard through the intercom, he laughs and says that something must be wrong with my head. Finally I make it inside. Sitting on the switchboard is a note, with a small sketch of my wife's favorite flower, a marigold. I approach the letter, blinking a couple of times to hold back tears, fearing the worst. The note says, "I'll meet you at our favorite restaurant. Happy anniversary, dear!" Now it all makes sense.

I head out the back way, a straight shot to the tallest tower in the city. My wife must have taken hostege the entire electrical circut of the city. I spot her at the top of the glass elevators and make my way up. She waits with a smile on her face. "You once said that our love is brighter than diamonds," she starts. "And I wanted to prove that!" Before I can stop her, she signals someone in my periferal and the entire restaurant lights up, remenants of the electrical issues I was seeing earlier. Within a few seconds. There is an incredible popping sound and the world goes dark. My heart explodes with fireworks!