Genesis (Man vs Machine #1)

5 | SLIPSTREAM

The sky was a dull, creamy gray, and Sol could smell snow in the air. A chill breeze wafted past forcefully. He shivered in his thin coat, which didn't do much against the heavy June air. Winters in New South Wales were harsh. They used to be manageable, but over the years, the weather had worsened. Sol pulled his jacket closer to his body and stared down at the pavement as he walked.

A web of cracks splintered the ground in front of him, and beyond that was splayed the gaping wound of the explosion site. People had taken to calling it the Gap, in rumors and conversations and newspapers alike. Sol looked back up to see the yellow tape just in time, and skirted the cordoned-off area before he accidentally tripped in. He peered inside to watch men in labor uniforms shifting the debris from the area so they could repair it.

'Deep, isn't it?' he whispered to Meda, shuddering. The android did the same, sending a tremor through his bones.

'Seven point six meters,' she agreed.

He looked away and started to walk again. He'd made sure to start a little earlier than usual for work today, to avoid Mari's wrath. Still, he quickened his pace, and in record time, turned the corner onto the main road, where the massive EMBERT INDUSTRIES sign glared down at him from its position at the top of the forty-floor glass skyscraper. Here, Sol slowed down and shoved his hands in his pockets, looking from side to side at the shops and other corporate buildings that lined the road. Sol couldn't afford entering even a single one.

The lobby today, thankfully, was empty. Mari sulked behind the desk as usual, her horn-rimmed glasses pushed all the way down the bridge of her nose. When Sol walked in, nearly tripping over the doorframe, she looked up at him and glared.

'It's about time,' she grumbled, and turned back to her holo-screen. 'Man the telephone. I can't be bothered today.'

She never could, but Sol didn't say that aloud. Instead, he sat at the other desk, which sadly lacked a holo-screen. He glanced over at Mari's glaringly bright one and watched her play Solitaire! He rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair, sighing.

Thirty minutes later, he was bored to death.

'I win!' Meda chirped, as she moved her knight to checkmate him on the little projected board. He groaned and accepted loss for the third time, regretting his decision to make Meda play on highest difficulty. Frustrated, he swiped his hands over the board and all the virtual pieces went clattering down, a tinny sound effect emanating from the droid's hidden speakers.

The company phone, sitting innocuously on his desk, hadn't rung once. Nor had anyone of note entered the lobby. He drummed his fingers on the table absentmindedly as he watched the holographic chess pieces float to their starting positions.

'Ready to try again?' Meda's amber-lit eyes were bright and mischievious. Sol groaned and put his head on the desk. 'No thanks. I'd rather talk to Mari than lose again.'

As if she'd heard him, his boss looked up from her own game to give Sol a withering glare that was unusually dramatic. He simply sighed and ignored her, looking at Meda once again.

The droid blinked.

'How about checkers? Low difficulty.'

∞

Around an hour later, the same obnoxiously dressed man from yesterday pushed his ample frame through the sliding doors. Today he wore a purple shirt, a green fish-print tie, and white pants stained yellow with perspiration. Both Sol and Meda cringed, exchanging a glance that had pity written all over it.

The man shuffled over to Sol's desk and gave him a very grimace-like smile. Surprisingly, he smelled like expensive perfume, instead of the sweat-and-e- cigarette odor Sol had been expecting.