E-VOLV

Part 1- First Encounters

⚠Caution this story contains mature language and content

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Chapter 1

First Encounters

VCO (visual contact only)

Outside Unadyne at EOS. (end of shift).

Standard 3-day package delivery. WFFI (wait for further instructions)

Kelissa

That's all the message stated 3 days ago. I was given a picture and a first name only. He was a handsome man, deep bronze skin, with unusual greenish-looking eyes. He looked familiar but I could not seem to place him. I was instructed not to do any research as they needed the initial contact to be organic. I usually get a complete file, including all the mundane things people do not pay attention to. And to do an eye candy drive by? Just make sure he sees me in a crowd of 100's of people. My my. The agency was really trying something new.

I made eye contact with him 3 evenings ago as we passed on the street. The smell of his cologne wafted through the damp air and clung inside my nostrils like invisible tentacles reaching between us. Caterina was right, my sense of smell had improved drastically. He was not alone. He had a small security detail a few feet behind him, giving him the impression of freedom.

I could hear his heart speed up just slightly in that brief encounter and I knew he was hooked. I kept walking, slightly faster, taking the decision away from him, to pursue me into the rush of the after-work crowd coming out of the epicenter of glass and steel in downtown Metropolis Prime.

2 days later, I found myself in the same coffee spot as him and flashed him a smile that was intriguing and shy.

Okay, who am I kidding, I placed myself at the same coffee house he frequented regularly. I heard his security guy ask if he was going and in a clipped tone asked if he thought it was a good idea. In an equally clipped response, my target answered "Yes" to both.

He was standing by the creamer bar. He looked up as I entered the shop, the owner had an old fashion bell attached to the door that rang upon entrance and exits. It was rumored that his ancestors had that bell in their family for many generations and passed it down to anyone in the family who became a successful shop owner. I took a few moments to look around the shop and enjoy the quaint and thoughtful touches the owner used throughout the place.

On the back wall above the menu was a menagerie of photos dating back to the 1800s. The shop had a homey feel and was a place where the nostalgia was so thick you could cut it with a knife. He had a chalk font on the digital menu screens that made it look like handwritten menus. They made a show of handwriting your names on the cups, even though they just swiped the chips in our bracelets or the ever more popular body implants and the order and information were etched onto a reusable label.

The pastries were made to be decadent, reminiscent of how they did things almost 1000 years ago. It was popular because it was not the adopted style of healthy food that most of the planet had learned to eat over the last 3 centuries. Depending on your health status most people were only allowed to visit the shop once every 14 days. If you had money, regardless of your health you could go weekly or even a few times a week.

Noel

I loved coming to this shop and could barely wait each weekend to indulge in the delicious sweets, artisanal bread, and craft coffees. I had come here a lot with my family before the virus took them. Continuing to frequent this shop was one of the few irrational acts of grief that I allowed myself.