Dream-Piper

      That day started out like any other. I woke up, showered, ate breakfast, checked all my social media feeds, etc. Then I went down stairs to check the mail, and that's when it started to get interesting.      I got down to the apartment lobby (though to be fair, calling it a lobby would be a bit generous, but it's fine) just as the mailman dropped a few letters into slot number seven.      Just as he turned away from it, I unlocked the compartment and retrieved its contents.      One of the letters caught my attention, and I knew it was going to be a big deal. Not for me. No, this was for Phoebe, my roommate. And it was not the sort o

C H A P T E R    E L E V E N 4.7.2250 SYSTEM reboot. Checking data files. Processing ... That was the first thing that Steel thought when he regained consciousness at seven o’clock the next morning. It took him a few minutes to become fully aware again, and when he did, the realisation that what had happened yesterday was not some kind of dream hit him like a ton of bricks. The mayor and his shady guard. This ambiguous talk of deportations and income quotas. All of it. After all – Steel was incapable of dreaming. Soon, he recalled that it was his day off, and after dressing himself in his staple “casual” attire &nd