Other Worlds Presents: Oublier 1.0
Julia walked down the road, lit by twilight. The city wasn’t far, and she could see three figures emerging from its glow. The late summer air held her in its moisture, her skin feeling balmy and warm but not hot. Leaves, though still green, fell from the trees and swayed back and forth down to the ground.
The figures continued their walk as Julia did hers, and she could see they were three women, flanked and staggered, each a bit older looking than the one ahead. The middle one broke formation and took the lead.
“Hey there,” she said and raised a hand.
Julia raised her hand in the same way. She meant to speak back, but didn’t.
They all stopped walking as they reached each other, the lead woman close to Julia, but not within arm’s length.
“You headed into town?” the woman asked.
Julie looked toward the city, then back to the woman. “What town is this?”
“Shocokhan.”
“Chaka Khan?”
The three women laughed, each in a similar way but distinct from one another.
“No, sweetie. Not Chaka Khan. Shoco-khan.”
“Shoco-khan?” Julie parroted.
“Yeah, now a bit faster. Shocokhan.”
“Shocokhan?”
“That’s it.” The woman stepped closer, extended an open hand. “I’m Rachel.”
With a moment of hesitation, Julie looked at the hand, rough with short nails, a silver and turquoise bracelet on the wrist. Then, she shook it, felt the strength in her hand. “Julia,” she said.
“Nice to meet cha, Julia,” Rachel said. “So Shoco is kina rough.”
“Oh?” Julia asked.
“Well, yeah. It’s not a bad town, exactly, but it’s kina rough. You know, rough around the edges, as they say.”
“Right,” Julia said. “As they say.”
Rachel reached into her back pocket and retrieved a slim reflective black rectangle, offered it to Julia. “Here. Take this.”
Julia did, turned it over, saw the lenses on the back. “What is it?”
“It’s a phone,” Rachel said. “A smartphone. Brand new. It will help you get around town and once you meet some people, it will remember them for you so you can call them if you need to. Or, you know. Just if you want to, even.”
With a touch of her finger, the phone lit up. It revealed the time and date, but nothing more.
“How do I use it?” Julia asked. “I’ve never had one before.”
Rachel showed her how to unlock it, then reset the biometics on the phone to Julia’s fingerprints. She showed her the settings and how to adjust them, how to change the personal identification number.
“Won’t you need this?” Julia asked.
“No,” Rachel said, then looked back at the other two women. “Not where we’re goin’.”
“Thank you,” Julia said. “This feels very kind.”
“Oh you’re most welcome, darlin’. Ain’t nothin’, really. Let me show you how to use the navigation.” She did, then the other two women came up beside her. “I think you’re all set. Best of luck to you.”
“You too,” Julia said. “Thank you.”
Rachel smiled and clasped her shoulder. The other two women smiled, too. Then they walked on past Julia further down the road in the direction from which she’d come.
She watched them for a bit, then began walking again herself, toward the city of Shocokhan.
