nugget #1: Bureau of Information

Ideas that come to me. Nuggets, unformed flavours to be fleshed out.
Notes -  name the AI, name the Log, name the trans, name the Credits, name the local authority


Lauren ran to the door to see off her husband.

'Goodbye darling!' she cried. His eyes lit up, and planted a soppy wet kiss on her lips.

'I miss you already,' Gordon whispered softly to her. He jerked open the door, a blast of icy cold air invading the household temporarily, and then stepped out. The invaders, devoid of reinforcements, promptly surrendered to the warmth.

Lauren's face fell, sapped of energy. She jabbed the terminal next to the door.

'Log open - record:

'KISS- type: wet, flavour: breakfast, response: affection.

'WARMTH - open door led to a sharp 2% drop in temperature' - she consulted the numbers appearing next to the window - 'over a 15 second period. Equilibrium restored within 30 seconds.

'PERSONAL NOTES - it is tiring to continue loving him. But it seems to have the desired effect.

'End Log. Transmit.'

Her message was sent to the local authority. As it would not take long to return, she shambled to the kitchen and switched the food processor to 'breakfast'. She waited at the sink for the kettle to fill. A soft 'ting' registered on the screen they had just installed next to the stove.

'[EMOTIONAL RESPONSES REGISTERED]' it flashed. '[0.24 CREDITS EARNED]'

She sighed. It was better than their average 0.2. She wondered what Gordon had earned...

---

Flustered, Gordon pulled out his trans to record the trip, as he sat down in his allocated seat on the pod-train. All around him, others were doing the same thing, generating the trans-bubble to shield their communications with the local authority.

'Transmission open - start:

'WEATHER - sharp, bitter. The wind chill seemed to pull down the intended temperature.

'FOOD - breakfast was 2 seconds early. Digestion was suboptimal.

'EXERCISE - invigorating, but unprepared. Fitness increase possibly required. Path to pod-train was relatively smooth - no obstacles to complain of.

'SIGHTS - nothing new to report. The Jones' were still late, as usual - I could see the lights were still on.

'PERSONAL NOTES - relationship with Lauren seems to be...better.

'End Log. Save, submit.'

He took a moment to watch the greenery flash by him. In the olden days, greenery were called 'trees', and there were probably 'flowers' somewhere in those 'forests'. He had seen pictures of them in his job. But now the greenery was either the banners of NexCorp, or the gaudy, plasticky decorations that adorned reflective buildings, cheap imitations of 'nature'. His trans beeped, taking him out of his reverie.

'[RESPONSE REGISTERED. REWARD EARNED - 0.75 CREDITS]' the words flashed in his bubble.

'[FITNESS REQUEST PROCESSED - DEDUCTION OF 0.2 CREDITS FOR UPGRADE]'

Surprised, he plugged his trans into the chair's arm-slot for the upgrade. Lauren must have done well if he was able to get a fitness increase on such short notice! Or had he finally got bumped up the list somehow? And the 0.2 credits for an upgrade was a steal - they would usually be at least 0.5! He tapped his trans as it was downloading.

'Message open - go:

'Praise be to NexVac, the Almighty Authority!'

'End Message. Submit.'

A small vibration registered that the message had been sent. Generosity would be rewarded, he remembered from the countless slogans plastered on street corners. But Gratitude is required.

He sat back in his trans-bubble, waiting for the download to finish. With a brief gesture, he turned on Bach, the concerto's harmonious melodies blocking out cacophony around him.

The pod-train came to a stop. Another day at work had begun.