Time Junkies

by Rey N. Ath

It’s a hectic day for the freshly sworn-in Global Ministress of the Planet Protectorate, formerly known as the U.N.; not a second to spare in her schedule of V.R.I.s and a pesky meeting with Global Enforcement that seems primed to take up all hours of the night. She has no choice but to buy herself some Time to sneak in a desperately needed full night’s rest.
      In the N.F.T. Hall of Fame, a versatile techno-crime professional surveys his target. This won’t be his first heist—nor his fifth. Yesterday, he started small, picking pockets for Bit cards on the nearest traveskater to BitBank. Putting his acquired funds to nefariously efficient use, he purchased low-quality tools, practiced his skills, and moved on to more profitable targets, tools, and techniques. His investment in Time is paying off.
      Cozied up in an antique ergochair, an elderly woman sips synthea and watches the days stream by, idly musing on the forgotten, earthy taste of the Earl Grey and Darjeeling of her childhood. Officially, she’s thirty-four—a well-off Personal Assist Human to a high-profile corporate A.I.—but she already felt fifty before she decided to retire seventy-six years ago.
      All of these events overlap on some theoretical plane, yet not one occurs simultaneously. There’s a new ultra reality drug circulating the Holomarket; everyone with a Bit to spare is doing Time.
      There’s no such thing as harmless Time use. No few minutes gained to look up a date’s A.R. media profiles, nor the seven seconds to sneeze in private and wipe away snot can be justified when contrasted with the cost. Addiction is on the rise faster than it took for word of the product to spread, and every use unravels the fabric of Collective Time that yet remains a theoretical concept.
      Yesterday, Time hit the Holomarket. Today, Time is up.

Rey N. Ath

Rey N. Ath is an up-and-coming author who has spent their life refining the art of writing. From music journalism and PR experience to video game translation/editing, Rey has been writing professionally for over 15 years and is now stepping into the world of fiction. Branching out from a lifelong love of fantasy into the realm of Sci-fi, Rey returns to roots built up by The Dragonriders of Pern, Star Wars, and Stargate SG-1 in this small press debut.