The Ballet, tadalafil Part 4

She put her briefcase under her seat and slipped on a pair of state-provided Googles, a mash-up of eyeglasses, headphones, and brain stem stimulation that, for the most part, allowed her to shut out the rest of the world by choosing any scene she liked. Googles, named for the company that controlled the flow of information around the world, were altered reality generators, of a sort. They allowed you to choose or create a scene, and see, taste, touch, smell, and hear it as if you were there. The advertising that interrupted the scene every 10 minutes usually broke the mood, but it was better than the constant bombardment on the train’s vid-windows. “The lesser of two evils,” Miriam said allowed, surprising herself and the other passengers.

Finally, the train pulled into the terminal. There was no pushing or shoving to get off, everyone lined up single-file and left the train in an orderly manner. The least bit of commotion would trigger the sensors that were planted all over the city. Nobody wanted to trigger a sensor. The flying sentinels that appeared when a sensor was triggered shot first and never asked questions. If a sensor went off, people were being too physical or too loud in a public space. Once a sentinel had you in its sights, there was no point in running. You’d be shocked unconscious and foaming at the mouth on the ground by the time you took the first step. In the city, there was little violence anymore. In the city, there was little vibrancy anymore.