Love Story

Tin stands in front of the door to his apartment. The apartment is tiny and dingy, like all of the apparemts in the future.

Beside his door hangs a gas mask. He picks up the gas mask, switches on the ocular screen, and afixed the mask firmly on his face. Tin opens the door and steps out into the pale light of the city.

As Tin walks down the street, ads begin to play in the ocular screen of the gas mask. Tin mutes them quickly and curses under his breath. It’s not that he can’t afford the $72 a month for ad blocker, he just never remembers to buy it until after he’s put on the mask. And he never wears it often, or for very long.

In fact, the only time he leaves his house these days is to go to The Cafe. Tin is on his way to The Cafe now, in fact.

The Cafe is old world-theme. The gimmick is that you can experience life like the ancients. The Cafe offers in-house seating and serves “coffee” with “milk,” things that the ancients used to grow before the climate crisis. Tin doesn’t know what the “coffee” and “milk” are actually made of, but he also does not know what they were made of in ancient times either.

The most important gimmick, the one that got Tin hooked, it that you actually have to tell another being your what you want to get, and then that make it and hand it to you! At first, Tin was appalled by this archaic interaction. There was so much room for error, both on his part and the part of the order-taker. The first time Tin went to the counter, he was terrified. The best me could do was to show the order-taker a picture of what he wanted in his ocular lense.

But the order-taker knew what to do. They put in an order for coffee with milk and sucrose substitute and told Tin to, “please have a seat.” And, that his order would be brought to him. Tin had sat down, his heart racing. His heart continued to race, and did not stop racing, even after he had left The Cafe. At first, he thought maybe it was the coffee- perhaps he was having an allergic reaction? However, a quick conversation with the AI doctor in his ocular lense made it seem unlikely. Was it the social interaction then? He had that many words spoke to him by another being in quite some time- at least not out loud and in the same room.

As his heart rate slowed, Tin felt the crash. He know he had to go back.

Tin had been coming to The Cafe every week since then. Slowly, he had learned to ask for his order, and to thank the order-taker. Once, he has remarked on the poor weather. He immediately regretted it and wanted to die. It took all his courage to go back the next week. After he placed his order, the being counter said, “Better weather this week, huh?” He could only nod.

Today would be different. Today he knew what he was going to say, and he had even practiced it.

As he waited in line, his heart started started beating quickly. He looked at the being behind the counter. The being was a cloud of dark purple corporeal gas floating about five feet in the air. Corporeal gasses do not have hands, and instead use electromagnetism to move and hold objects. The talk using vibrations, the same as humans. Tin wasn’t sure how they perceived light, but this corporeal gas work sunglasses.

When he approached the counter the being began the familiar exchange, “Hi, what can I get you?”

“Hi, can I get a coffee with milk and sucrose substitute?” Tin said, playing the part perfectly.

“Absolutely,” the being hummed. “That will be $50.”

“Thank you,” Tin said, tapping the side of his ocular lense to complete the payment.

“I’ll have that right out.” Said the being.

“Thank you,” Tin said. And then he said, “I love you.”