Free Glass Sky by Niko Perren

like they promised, they wouldn’t be gambling our future on expensive disk arrays in space.
     
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    Green Army Email
    [verified] Feb 15, 2050
    A forged email was circulated earlier, in which Green Army claimed credit for attacks on coal infrastructure. This email was sent through a compromised mail server. We are working to fix the problem. While we applaud the actions described in the email, we do not take credit for the attacks. We are a law-abiding organization. Click here to donate.
     
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    Green Army Email
    [possible spam] Feb 15, 2050
    Cl1ck here to m33t nak3d protester5 in your area.
     
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    The bus dropped Tania off in downtown Boulder. She ignored the line of waiting cars and set off into the sunshine, her suitcase rolling behind her. New job. New city. Life rebooted. Walking two blocks brought her to Pearl Street Mall, a cobblestoned street of two and three-story brick stores, crowded with shoppers enjoying the weather. A pair of African nannies stood outside a coffee shop, chatting over their baby strollers. A group of seniors played cards on a stone table. Not a bad place so far…
    An attractive young man with a surfer’s build glanced at Tania as she passed. “I saw you on TV didn’t I? You’re that biologist… the new UNBio Director… Tammy…?” He scratched two fingers against his temple, as if digging out the memory.
    “Tania Black,” said Tania. Celebrity is my friend. Celebrity is my friend. “And I’m a bio-spherist, not a biologist. A biologist studies living creatures to learn how they work. I study ecosystems to learn how to fix them.”
    The man flipped up two thumbs. “It’s great to see somebody green at UNBio again,” he said. He leaned in next to her, and a camera drone boomeranged off his omni to get a better angle on a selfie. Then he sauntered off.
    Tania continued into the surrounding neighborhood, weaving through parks. Letting her sense of direction carry her. Exploring the old fashioned way. Most people were so dependent on their omnis that they couldn’t find their living room if their GPS went down.
    At the end of a green space that had once been ruled by cars, she found her house. Its neighbors dated back to the turn of the previous century, brightly painted wood and brick homes passed down the generations to children who could no longer afford to buy such places. Hers was new though, a tasteful streetfill, sided with a recycled material that could pass for wood, the windows framed in decorative shutters. And a yard! The UNBio salary might be a step down, but the housing was a big improvement on her Seattle loft.
    Feeling somewhat of an intruder, Tania walked to the front door and tapped her omni to the lock. Click. She pulled it open, savoring the moment. Nothing like walking into a new house for the first time.
    It smelled musty, as if it had been vacant for a while, and the curtains were drawn. The outlines of boxes emerged from the gloom, scattered on the living room floor where the movers had left them. A shaft of afternoon sun beckoned through the window over the sink, drawing her into the kitchen. New appliances. Maybe I’ll cook something this year. She looked from the boxes to the sunshine, and stepped onto the patio.
    Somebody was sitting on the deck! In one of the lawn chairs, back to Tania, facing the sunshine. Tania inched closer. A scroll lay just out of reach of a dangling hand. A woman, in jeans and a CU sweatshirt. Bright red hair. Snoring softly.
    “What the…?” said Tania.
    “Gaahhhh.” The woman jerked awake and leapt out of the chair, hand slapped over her heart. “Holy shit! You scared me!” She laughed. “I must have dozed off.”
    “I scared you ?” said Tania, her own heart whacking away. “What are you doing in my yard? What do you want?”
    “I know what you’re thinking,” said the woman. She raised her fist over her head, and pantomimed a stabbing motion. “Psycho, right?” The smile never left her face.