Free Synthetica by Rachel Pattinson

know,” Xander shrugged. “But they'll
find out soon enough from someone else. Just promise me you'll at
least think about this first.”
    “ Thanks,”
Anais muttered. “I will.” Something that didn't feel right to
her, but she couldn't put her finger on what it was. Xander's words
had put her on edge.
    “ So,
shall I meet you at eight?” Xander's attempt to lighten the
conversation wasn't lost on Anais. But she had so many different
thoughts swirling around her head, not least how to take what Xander
had just told her, that she shook her head.
    “ Actually,
do you mind if we reschedule?” she asked. Xander looked surprised
and a little hurt, but he tried to hide it.
    “ No,
that's fine. Any particular reason?”
    Anais forced herself to look him in the eye.
    “ No,
I just wanted to walk home and clear my head a bit. It's been a long
day,” she replied, and Xander's face softened.
    “ Alright.
I'll send you an invite tomorrow. Maybe we could meet up on Monday?
Tell me all about your first day?”
    “ Sounds
good.”
    “ Are
you sure you don't want me to walk you home?” Xander's eyes were
full of concern in the gathering dusk, but Anais smiled and shook
her head.
    “ I'll
be fine. I'll let you know when I get back,” Anais said, reaching
up and kissing him softly on the lips. “See you later.”
    Xander pulled her into a hug and for a moment, Anais felt safe and
content in his arms. But then he broke away, and the evening breeze
whistled between them.
    “ Message
me as soon as you get home,” Xander called. Anais gave him a
cheery wave as she began to walk away. Her smile remained fixed on
her face, until she turned and started her long walk home alone.

    *

    The evening breeze was cool on her face, and the setting sun was
cast a golden glow over the street, illuminating passersby and
making them appear even more colourful than normal, but inside,
Anais felt cold.
    She didn't know exactly why she felt this way. After all, she
thought as she began walking home, it wasn't Dalla's fault she was
brilliant at programming or that Xander was just as academically
gifted as her best friend; while Anais – well, what could she say?
At least she had a job at the picochip factory. At least she
wouldn't be one of those students that had been deemed
'unplaceable', that would spend the rest of their lives struggling
to make ends meet. She kicked angrily at a stone on the pavement. It
skittered and came to rest on the smooth road that the auto-cabs
hovered over.
    Her RetCom informed her that she was a minute's walk away from the
nearest train station, but she ignored it and instead programmed a
walking route home. Although it would be faster to take the train,
Anais preferred to walk whenever she was feeling particularly angry
or upset – being crowded into a carriage with a load of strangers
at rush hour would do nothing to improve her mood. An orange line
appeared in her vision, guiding her way down the street and round
the corner. She followed it, still angry but unsure of who she was
really mad at – Dalla, Xander, Mrs bloody Persimmon, the whole
stupid education and work system, or herself. She knew the real
answer – she just didn't want to admit it. It was far easier to
remain angry at someone else than to admit that she was the one in
the wrong.
    The sun began to set, and the wind started to pick up. Anais' candy
floss pink hair blew softly over her face, and she brushed it back
impatiently. She followed the directions her RetCom set out in front
of her, wondering idly what the FDU would try to serve her when she
got home. If it had anything with egg or cottage cheese in, she was
going to disconnect it.
    As she walked along, lost in her own little world, a new noise came
to her, just audible above the whistle of the wind. She blinked out
of her reverie and looked around. She wasn't too far from home now –
she knew without looking at the tiny screen over her eyeball, that
it was only another half an hour