Ambush the Sun

A 2000 Penny

Chapter two: A 2000 Penny

"Codus station." the automated train voiced called. Venus and her new companion walked off onto the platform. She took out her Spig and pressed the on button and inhaled the purple electronic smoke. She gave the guy another one-over. He looked almost handsome if it wasn't for his shaggy brown hair and beard. 

He was shy and his pale plain skin reddened behind his thick beard with the looks she gave him.

"Where do you think you're going?" She asked exhaling green electric smoke right in his face. The smoke danced around him like a ring of silver before it withered out. 

"Where ever you are..." He answered 

"What if where I'm going people dressed like you don't even get past the front doors?" 

He shrugged defeatedly and kicked his feet around.

Venus rolled her eyes and began to walk towards the exit sign; he followed her like a puppy. She skipped down the stairs and pressed her index finger on the exit gate, her full name and date of birth came up on screen, followed by her picture back when she had long pastel pink hair. He went next his name flashed across the screen: Lake Solo Xavier 23 years old. A slight smirk spread across Venus's face but she didn't supply the reason for it. Instead they walked out the station into the electric city called Codus. The bright light shone over them and drones circled above them it scanned their image. Venus promptly put up her middle finger at it before it flew off to its next victim. Venus and Lake pressed forward down the fully robust street named Rikle, Lake looked slightly confused behind Venus and began to doubt his spontaneous decision. 

Sensing his dubious feelings Venus came to a halt at the corner where the elonpeds lodging were. 

"You don't have to go if you don't want to, you know..." 

Lake shook his head. End of days were coming who was he to deny a girl like Venus? 

"Believe me I want to come." He reassured her, which sounded more like a reassurance to himself. 

The lodging where the elonpeds were parked was under the ground. The hologramed screen hovered over the spot where the opening was securely disguised. 

“Elonped for two.” she spoke to the holographic screen. 

The small opening on the concrete ground appeared and a 2 seater elonped rolled out. The elonped had a seat in front and a seat behind; it resembled a shape of what once was called a motorbike but had the covering of what was once called a car. It was made of complete lightweight titanium and silver tinted glass; the wheels were made of compressed fibrotic sand and rubber, which delivered both high speed and agility.

Venus pressed her index finger to the monitor, which read her identity again. 

"Destination?" The computer voice echoed 

"Bingbe, off Crescent road." She answered 

"You have insufficient funds for this ride." The voice replied. "Would  you like to add a three day payback tab?"

"Fuck no." Venus frowned, off all the nights for her to be broke why was it this night?

"It's fine, I'll pay–" Lake said placing his finger on the monitor.

"Destination?" 

"Same place." 

The elonped doors slid open and Venus went for the front seat, but Lake had beaten her too it. 

"Hey I sit in the front!" Venus hissed at him.

"I'm paying for the ride my rights surpass yours." A cheeky grin spread across his face. Venus huffed and glared into the back seat which had little leg space and crossed her arms totally annoyed that her singe night and turned into a double affair.

The elonped doors slid shut and the computer voice echoed again:

"Would you like a manual setting or autodrive?" 

"Manual." Lake said to much of Venus's annoyance. She hated manual drivers; it was a form of anachronism something Venus was not fond of.

"You don't even know how to get there!" Venus tried to protest from the back seat.

"That's why I have the map activated." Lake said before they whizzed off into the busy Codus street.

Bingbe was the sort of club if you knew how to get in you would be seen as elite and if you didn’t well lets say you’d be stuck in a queue for hours trying to get in. Venus was among the lucky few who were known as VIPERS (Very Important People Enter Really Swiftly), it was the name the club owner Bartholomew Rigby had coined himself.

 They hit the corner of the road and parked at the hired elonped parking space, the doors slid open and Venus hopped out. 

 As predicted the queue was exceedingly long, clubkids dressed in neons, blacks, and whites all trying to be noticed . Venus walked up front the bouncer, stood tall and overbearing over the crowd it was the only sort of bouncer that could handle a queue like this one. The thing about the Bingbe bouncer is was a humanoid robot called Nhas (Not having any shit), Nhas didn’t have any human emotions you could flirt with it till your hearts content, but if you were not on the list or had a specific invitation you were not going in. Rigby was one of the first to get a bouncer robot, after that every club tried to copy him. 

Venus strolled up towards Nhas, it looked her straight in the eye, she put her hand in her pocket and dug out a year 2000 British one penny. Paper money and coins had been obsolete for a hundred years; but owning a British a year 2000 made penny was like having a bit of 50kg of gold. The penny was of much importance because the year 2000 signified a change in computing world that made their future the way it was. A penny was worth half a million bitcons, sometimes owning this penny was like having a hallpass to the best social events and most clubs accepted it. And of course Venus had one!  Venus showed Nhas her pass, he nodded his robotic head but put out his hand when Lake tried to cross. 

“He’s with me.” Venus assured Nhas who looked at Lake suspiciously, a few guys and girls tried to get Venus’s attention so they could also get the pass. Venus saw a girl that caught her eye, she was dressed in a white trench leather coat with luminous silver trimmings. But it wasn’t her outfit that caught her eye it was the fluorescent in her eyes, something Venus was familiar with. Venus edged her glasses down and smiled at the girl, the girl smiled back in recognition. 

“You.” Was all Venus said and the girl stepped out of the line and was now with Lake and herself. 

They walked towards the Bingbe as if they were ice in a summer’s day and Venus had her smile spread across her face.