I could smell the fish-soaked air wafting in from the port to the west. It was like a cascade of all the bad parts of the ocean, and I still had yet to grow used to it despite living here for three and a half months.
Pulling myself from the distasteful sense, I grabbed my coworker’s and fiance’s hand. She looked over to me and smiled from cheek to cheek, and we continued our walk towards Vivens Machina, our workplace.
“Do you think we’ll ever go hunting again?”
The question came out of nowhere. It had been four years since we least went. Our fourth date, actually, I somehow remembered.
“I don’t think they’ll ever allow us to again.”
“Ah… I figured. I just hoped… maybe someday,” she said, gazing towards the horizon with a disappointed face.
“We’re really better off without the guns,” I said. “Safer.”
“You vote yet?” I asked, firmly placing my gun back into its case and then into the rear of the car.
“Who?” I asked, opening her door for her and then briskly walking to the driver’s seat to hear her answer.
“Are you allowed to ask that? I thought it was illegal to ask someone that,” she teased.
“Come on,” I nudged. “I’ll tell you mine. I voted for Mr. Vivens.”
She smiled and nodded. “Yes, it really was the only choice, wasn’t it? After what they’ve done for California and Virginia, who can really vote for anyone else. I mean, everything they’ve done for us has just gone perfectly, despite some people’s concerns…”
“Those people are racists,” I snapped back. “It doesn’t matter whether you’re borne from woman or assembly line. If you can feel and think and act, you are just as capable of leading the country as anyone else.”
“Oh, you don’t have to tell me,” she said, trying to calm me down. “Come on, let’s get home so we can watch the election results.”
A Gen9 flew up and stopped us on the steps to the Vivens Machina, hovering directly in front of our faces, its shell flashing blinding red and orange.
We are proud to tell you that your services to this company are no longer needed. You have been granted Full Retirement by the United States Government, and may return home immediately.
We looked at each other in shock.
“Surely there is some kind of mistake? We are both lawyers, a protected occupation,” Violet offered.
There is no mistake. Please return home to enjoy your Full Retirement.
Two more Gen9′s soared over to us, and we quickly took the hint, retreating back from where we had came from.
“They don’t need lawyers any more?” she said, a look of horror on her face.
“No one to sue or defend,” I said. “You didn’t see this coming? We haven’t done anything other than clerical for more than two months.”
“I guess… I guess I just wasn’t ready for it. I’ll be okay. It’s a blessing, really, isn’t it? Full Retirement and all?”
And so we walked through the body-less streets to our home, peacefully lay down into our Full Retirement chambers, felt the icy blue fluid rush over our bodies, and went to sleep for the rest of our lives.
