Free One Billion Drops of Happiness by Olivia Joy Page A

surely a safe enough period to hop outside one’s comfort zone without going completely doolally. Any longer than that and you were just asking for it really, people decided.
    In the years leading up to the birth of New America, other countries in the world had put their heads together and schemed fantastical ways to further space exploration. Resentment had exploded, therefore, when America suddenly morphed into a new entity and ran away with all the ideas to date. Accusations flew bitterly; New America had developed the previous schemes with the addition of startlingly complex technology that they were not willing to share, and overnight it seemed the rest of the world was barred from any sort of space travel that went beyond the moon. But the moon just didn’t cut it anymore. The scientists abroad had desperately tried to figure out how New America had done it, but never to any avail. They had to grudgingly accept the diplomatic gifts of multimedia from the superior country, using these as teaching aids to the enthralled younger generations across the rest of the world.
    ‘It’s a once in a lifetime event. I’ve been thinking about it for a while, that’s all. Your grandfather…’ Her voice trembled with the absence of her Suppressitor. ‘Your grandfather and I were planning it for a long time. He had hoped to take you as well. We felt the time was right, he wanted to see the true wonders of life before it was too late. You must have guessed?’
    ‘Well, not really.’ Xandria replied somewhat numbly. ‘I thought he was just getting old. I had no idea he was still planning things, he barely left the house towards the end.’
    ‘Because he didn’t want a reminder of what the world had become,’ Amethyst said gently. ‘He was a great man sitting on the wall between many lifetimes. I trusted his wisdom implicitly. He lived long enough to know the meaning of being human, what’s right and what’s wrong. He participated in more eras of the world than anybody else today.’
    ‘But he was borne of the Old World,’ Xandria replied defensively, ‘he was bound to reflect nostalgically in his twilight years. Anyway, you can’t afford to go on a space trip.’ She found herself cutting short the conversation, cautiously reaching for her Suppressitor. Talk of her grandfather was beginning to sway her equilibrium.
    ‘He put away a considerable amount of money. You seem to forget that it was he who sold the Vapour to the government. Intellectual property doesn’t come cheap, you know.’
    ‘Well, I won’t do it. I won’t change the appointment. You’ll just have to go on this course like everybody else. You can do your space trip afterwards. You’ll get into trouble otherwise and I’m not going to help you pick your way out of it.’
    ‘Fine.’ Amethyst shrugged, trying not to look panicked. ‘I’ll just do the trip afterwards. Pesky bureaucracy. They didn’t have it in the Old World you know…’
    Xandria hung up.
    * * *
    It was past noon when Xandria hopped out of the pod car in front of the gleaming white resin skyscraper. Her journey had been typically efficient and soundless. Pod cars could drive as fast as they desired with no risk of crashing, thanks to clever mechanics that instantly made emergency alterations to a route if a crash was foreseen.
    She strolled into the lobby, squinting as she walked past the dazzling welcome sign reading: ‘LovePotion Incorporated: Harmonising Hearts Since 2084.’
    Henry was perched on one of the only stools in the otherwise sterile looking lobby. The floor and ceiling of the building were the same luminous white resin as the outside. Around her couples walked in and out – most of them for top-ups - blankly clutching each other’s hands, a sign that the potion was working. The potion was mild enough that the only physical manifestation of the newfound love was this and only this.
    ‘How is the aftermath of your announcement?’ She asked as she drew