Beauty between the mists

Jesse woke up the next morning, earlier than he normally would. Dawn’s grey light was crawling through the fog that tended to obscure the city’s skyline around this time. The settling of the carbon-scrub gasses which were pumped out overnight, combined with the heat generated by far too many bodies all bumping up against each other… stacked upwards in ever taller multi-complexes. It gave the view from his window a ghostly, ethereal aspect… as if this was only an echo of a world that had come before. Built from nothing but clouds by a fevered mind. A single, bright light was grasping towards the heavens in the distance… just about piercing through the haze. A launch of one sort or another… One more attempt at piercing the veil of jagged shrapnel that humanity had unthinkingly cast about its home. The spark disappeared before he could tell if it had made it or not. Such things were not for those such as him to worry over… His elders and betters would be drinking champagne and cheering about it in their penthouse suites later, either way.

Betsy was still asleep. She hadn’t returned by the time he did, last night… so he had just collapsed straight on top of his covers and fallen asleep. He got the feeling she’d tucked him in at some point afterwards, but might have done it himself. He went to get some breakfast in just the t-shirt and panties he’d slept in… then returned to get dressed and ready. He did his own hair and make-up. It took a lot longer than when Betsy did it… and did not look quite so neat… but it made him feel good to stretch just that small bit of independence. Then he headed out the door in his fresh set of uniform, feeling like a walk through the waking city might do him some good.

There was a more lively breeze today than yesterday… It kept catching at the pleats of his skirt, tickling the underside of his hairless testicles and ever threatening to expose them to everyone he passed. Thus tugging at that hem became an endless battle of his self-consciousness. He wished the school would at least allow just a thong. The cooler air did make him feel refreshed and alive though… certain that, after yesterday, he could handle most of what this world might throw at him. He bought a edge-grown apple from one of the box-vendors along the street… those who scratched out a living by clambering around the precarious orchards that lined the side of many of the skyscrapers. Mankind’s solution to a lack of natural green visible from any window... and a need to keep breathing while minus a few rainforests. The bright-red fruit was sweet and crunchy, and passing strangers seemed to smile as they watched him eat it.

Other commuters were beginning to emerge now… dressed in the various uniforms of their disparate roles. It was stark how great the difference was between some of them. In a world where really, you could look as young as you want… the gaps between generations were still apparent. Each even more scantily-clad than the last, and bearing more and more signs of their algorithm-picked fetishes to explore. It wasn’t always the older person pulling the leash… but it was always obvious where the greater wealth and power really lay. Jesse wondered where it was all going… as him and his ilk were bred, changed and trained to be more and more just a currency of bodies for those who might, unknowingly, even be their parents or grandparents. Where did it end? If those on top finally managed to live forever… and still wanted to keep further pushing the limits of their own debauchery… Could the great, equalising algorithm really always find someone who was happy to be what they desired?

Jesse threw the apple core away. These were the kind of unhealthy thoughts he got lost in when he was by himself… which was why he mostly tried to avoid such a predicament. Dwelling on such things was a surefire way to find yourself falling out of society… clinging to the side of skyscrapers looking for fruit, or thieving and hiding from Corpos on a constant downward spiral towards more forceful corrective measures. Better to be a willing **** to your heart’s hidden, innermost kinks… than a mind-wiped doll used as little more than furniture. He skipped off toward the Maglev station, letting the occasional bystander catch a glimpse beneath his skirt, if they wanted. He had it easy, really…