She woke up to the soft music playing and slowly open her eyes. The flat screen on the side of the room/house showed 8:24. She got up, and from the 4 speakers, one in each corner, a voice came :
-"GOOD MORNING CITIZEN. YOU HAVE ONE PENDING POLL. DO YOU WISH TO VOTE NOW?"
-"Not now, comp. Open the shower first."
The bed receded into the wall and one of the corners converted into a small shower. From the floor two small panels lifted to form a square with the wall. In the center of the square, the drain was uncovered, and in the wall, the lamp dimmed off and the shower head started to work. She took off her shirt, something one of the one-night stands left behind, and asked for water.
By the time she finished cleaning her self, the clothes shelf was open and waiting for her to pick something to wear. A SMALL SKIRT AND A LIGHT TOP was the computers suggestion, based on the current and predicted weather, as well as her tastes on clothing. After dressing she asked for a warm cup of milk and cookies, and sat on the couch :
-"Comp, give me the poll please."
The screen showed the poll X12-34-82-JSTC, The People Versus Andrew Goldberry. She knew the case, it had been widely discussed in her office the other day. Goldberry had stolen 50 thousand credits from a rich old lady's account, that wanted to remain anonymous, to pay for his daughter high education. She had not pressed charges, but the Computer was programmed to prosecute the illegal usage of a terminal. Godlberry's punishment would be two weeks of jail and the loss of one security clearance level. He could still keep his job, but he would be monitored for the rest of his life.
-"Comp, vote guilty as charged. It's a fair sentence."
-"YOUR VOTE HAS BEEN CAST, CITIZEN. WITH 3234 VOTES TO GO THE PEOPLE IS WINNING THE POLL BY 2432 VOTES".
She finished her milk, threw the cut to the trash bin and headed out. The sidewalk took her to the subway, and the subway took her to the center of the office complex.
She had a class-3 IQ, a level-5 Security Clearance, Full Citizen Status, a permanent working vista and a job at Building 4, floor 16, office 4-16-42 to be more precise. Her job consisted of reading ads for The System Times and making sure they didn't violate any guideline. If a ad complied to the rules she would then sent it to the next step, a guy with level-7 Security Clearance that would verify again if the ad was legal, and so on. They received around one thousand ads a day, and she rejected about 10 percent of those. The next guy rejected only some 5 percent, and so on.
The first one she saw that day was a personal ad : "43% male cyborg seeks female cyborg with pleasure extensions for sex and more". It passed the auto-checker, so she classified it as 'adult' and pressed next. Every hour and a half the speakers ringed with the break warning. The breaks weren't mandatory but unless there was urgent work to be done, employees were advised to attend.
She never had urgent work, so she always attended. Floor 86 was the bar, and she would take the fast elevator there, have a coffee and talk with coworkers about nothing in particular, maybe discuss some funny ad, or the latest poll or the weather. Half an hour later she'd return to her office and resume working. Lunch was at the 87th floor, free and some days even good. This day it was some kind of pasta, with nutrient sauce, not bad but not gourmet food either.
It was about five thirty pm when she reviewed her last ad. It said : " Private Investigator, takes cases in all the System for a negotiable fee. Office tower, apartment 35-A, Darkcity." She forwarded it to the next level and went to the bathroom. By the time she got there, the next level had already accepted the ad and sent it back to the System Times for publishing. when she opened the door to get back to her office, the alarms sounded and the computer spoke, through the city speakers :
"LEVEL RED EMERGENCY. PROCEED TO THE NEAREST SAFE PLACE", repeated over and over again. She took the elevator down to the street floor, and run over to the the subway. Her Safe Place was only two stops away, and she got there in under 10 minutes. The door was closed and she rang the bell, gave her ID and waited. Behind her screams of death and the sound of explosions came, each time closer. She banged the heavy metal doors and screamed higher "LET ME IN, PLEASE LET ME IN!".
When she turned again, she saw three men coming in her direction. They wore loincloths and wielded blood splattered axes. Their eyes shone with violence and their lips smiled with the sight of her.
She wished that they would just kill her quick, but the gods had their faces turned away. Her last thought was one of revenge, as she spit on the face of the barbarian. He broke her neck and kept going, while his companions attacked the door.
