SmackDown: Back to Our Roots

Qualifying Entry - @Sephuran

"I miss custard."

"Custard?"

"Yeah, did you ever have any? It was this sweet yellow goop. You could get it in a carton, just drink it straight or add it to just about anything."

"Wow...no I guess I missed out on custard. I was still a young kid when the Global Ration System kicked in."

"That's a real shame. You would've missed out on a lot of stuff now that I think about it."

Tara rolls over onto her side, her thick winter coat barely moving with her. Snow flakes collect along the furred edge of her hood. "What else did I miss out on?"

Mac smiles and cranes his head up, looking longingly at the smoke-stained sky. "Before the GRS we had supermarkets. In some cities they got to be as big as a mech hangar. They had rows upon rows of food from all over the world and every few steps would be something new and exciting."

Tara rustles with giddiness, trying to stifle a grin but to no avail. "What else?"

"Hah, well." Mac, scratches his nose, picking his words carefully. "One of the biggest changes was the second abolishment of alcohol, that hit pretty hard."

"I've heard some of the other seniors mention it, beer, cider, rum...stuff like that?"

Mac takes a sharp breath and with it a flood of memories, good and bad. "Yeah that's it exactly. Looking back now that stuff was pretty volatile at the best of times but hoo-ee did it churn out a bunch of good stories." Mac's nostalgia fills him with warmth.

"What did it do exactly?"

"It could make you brave, but also kind of stupid...but if you needed it then it could also make you forget."

"That sounds wonderful, there's a lot I'd like to forget."

Mac catches onto Tara's fading glee ."The biggest thing you missed was the internet."

Tara tunes back in.

"The internet was...well, it was everything. I dare say there wasn't anything you couldn't do. You could read anything, learn anything, talk to anybody on the planet...for as long as you wanted!"

"That's unbelievable!"

"And have you ever seen sir playing with that weird screen thing?"

Tara nods.

"Everybody used to have those, smaller ones even and the whole internet was on it, right there in your pocket!"

"Oh wow! That sounds so incredible! I wish I could've seen it."

"You might one day, that's why we need to keep going."

Tara nods once more and rolls back over. She wriggles up against the wall of the trench and brushes the built-up snow off of the machine-gun.

Mac does the opposite, curling up further into his coat, cradling his pulse-rifle tight.

Mac longs for the days of his youth. He longs for the days where he didn't wake up in a cold sweat. He longs for the days when the sky didn't rain fire.