The Tides That Bind Us [AfroFuturism]

Outside

After being around so any people, Zaharah welcomed the respite of the bathroom, though not its dull grey colour. Just like every space in Denden. Dull and grey. Function over fashion. Even she herself had become dull, her eyes lost their luster and her body was locked in a perpetual state of fight or flight, her shoulders always tensed.

Denden had sunk its teeth into her.

She stuck her soapy hands under the faucet, rolled them over to get every inch before it shut off. Her metal hand registered the sensation of water running over it, but not the cool wetness. It trickled between the joints and carried the dirt and mud swirling down the drain.

All the water in Denden was on a timer, five seconds for public sinks, ten minutes for residential showers. Because desalinating and decontaminating the water from the atlantic was costly and energy-intensive, according to the Director. Most of it was used to maintain the green spaces, Biodome. Residents had to ration whatever was left.

She flicked the excess water from her hands and reached for a towel, only to find Pharah staring at her from one sink over. "What?"

Pharah gave a ghost of a smile ad looked away. "Your arm. Did you lose it in the accident too?"

"Not the accident, but an accident. A car crash when I was six, whole thing got crushed." She tossed her towel in a wastebasket. "I don't remember much of it, besides being in the hospital. Heck, I hardly remember what this arm was like when it was real."

"Oh. You've really been through it, haven't you?" And there was the pity, not over her dead family, but her arm. Or perhaps it was the pile-on that did it, both her parents and the arm.

Zaharah snorted and started out the door. "Hardly. Where to next, just Pharah."

"We could go help Devin in the Orchard, or help Roddi at the barn, I doubt there's enough time to do both before lunch."

"Barn it is." She'd rather spend the rest of the day knee-deep in animal filth than see Pharah's brother again. Petty, perhaps, but disrespect was no laughing matter.

She followed Pharah through the duct, past more fields, more residents and androids. And they walked deeper into the dome until they came to a corridor twice as wide as all the others they'd passed through, painted green instead of grey.

"This is the equator," Pharah said. "And over there is the north, or the barn, whichever you prefer." She tapped at her phone's screen. "Roddi is with the goats. This way." They crossed the green corridor and followed the hall past doors marked with the silhouettes of animals. Chickens, sheep, pigs, it was almost a petting zoo.

Zaharah peeked inside at two residents herding chickens into their pen, while another poured feed into a trough. She didn't have much experience with real animals, fake ones like Skorpi were more pleasant to be around, and didn't need food or water or cleaning up after. Only the very affluent of society kept real pets anymore, since they served no purpose other than companionship.

Zaharah caught the whiff of goat before they even reached the room, that distinct rank anyone who has been around one for five minutes knew. The goat room sat wedged between the pigs and ducks, a room not as big as the field but not and small as the sapling nursery.

Pharah stepped onto the loose dirt covering the floor of the goat room first, her steps slow and careful, though there were no visible droppings on the ground. Juvenile goats congregated in a walled-off area, while volunteers moved carts of feed and filled troughs with water.

Roddi came from inside the shed, almost unrecognisable with a baby goat in his arms instead of his phone. His mechpet laid over his head, paws dangling on his forehead. The cat noticed them first and twitched its silvery ears.