TOM BALL

★ ★ ★ ★

FLASH FICTION

Image by S. Aldebaran

‘Pure Love’

I, Vera, said to Jonathan, “It’s a dull, mediocre World we live in, here on Mercury #12. Our Leaders are frankly dull and boring and there is little excitement here.” He said, “Yes, all drugs are banned except for eternal youth drugs and life is indeed boring.” I said, “We can have parties, but without drugs and alcohol there is little euphoria.” He said, “But we are both under contract for 3 more dull years, working as computer defenders for the colony. I thought coming here would cure my addiction to drugs, but I am so bored.”

Anyway, we loved one another day after day and soon 3 years had passed. I asked him, “Where should we go now? We don’t want to make another mistake.” He replied, “Lets go to Mars #1. It is a vibrant colony, full of drugs and parties and we could apply to be one of the elite rulers of the colony.” I told him, “Or we could go to Europa #2 where open minds prevail and there are a lot of freaks in the ocean, who are worthy of study.” He replied, “Or we could go to Triton #6, where real estate and buildings are cheap, and the standard of living is very high.” I asked him, “How did they get so rich?” He answered, “The population of Triton #6 is only 3,000, but they control a lot of land and sea.” I said, “Wouldn’t it be boring, being in such a small population?” He said, “The entire population of Triton is 300,000 humans, and there is always the Interweb, which is available there, unlike here, to help us get our kicks. And they would pay us a large salary for our computer skills, there.” So, I told him, “Let’s go!”

And we thrived there. And eventually we were both elected to the legislature. And we used our newfound power to bring in new hackers who could make our colony one of the most high-tech cities in the Universe. And there were a handful of tycoons who had gotten rich producing new cyborg technology. And everyone here added invisible brain apps and so became cyborgs. And we imported some of the best high-class sex workers.

And we wrote a book about our love, how we both wanted to create a loving World without androids or holograms. “Pure Love,” the book was called.