with a platinum e-card tied to his dick. Have you ever been a tourist here in Stonebreak, Constantine?”
“No. I haven’t.”
“Then let me show you around. I’ll show you something that will interest you.”
She slipped her hand down Constantine’s arm and took hold of his left hand, squeezing it tightly with her fat fingers so that his wedding ring dug painfully into his flesh.
They walked along a typical Stonebreak street. A wide, shallow, canal ran parallel to the narrow road, separated from it by a series of wide, tree-planted lawns. The whole was bordered by short rows of one- or two-story shops and houses, intercut with narrow alleyways accessible only to pedestrians. Chairs and tables had spilled from the cafes and bars out onto the lawns and were now slowly filling with the evening trade. A young woman walked by, hanging onto the arm of a tanned young man. She was dressed in the latest fashion: a simple white shift, her neck and arms wrapped in exotically curved bangles of silver and gold. She smiled prettily at Constantine and Mary as they passed, heading in the opposite direction.
The smell of the evening grass, the gentle splash of the water, the sheer prettiness of the cool narrow alleys, all these had helped Constantine relax sufficiently to return the young woman’s smile, though he was still confused.
“On nights like this, you wonder why they call Stonebreak a design failure,” said Mary.
They passed a cafe done up in period style: glass tables, bent beech chairs, and white linen. From its wide windows, light shone across the darkening lawns, illuminating the customers sipping beer and wine at tables arranged in a circle around an enormous lime tree.
“Where are we going?” asked Constantine, eventually.
“Relax,” said Mary. “Do you see any other people around here looking tense? No. They’re all out for a pleasant evening’s stroll and a drink. Do you want to be noticed? I don’t think so. So just hold my hand and try to look as if you’re enjoying yourself.”
Constantine had been enjoying himself. Now he suddenly realized how incredibly out of place he appeared in his business suit. He wished he’d had time to change into the same cool, loose-fitting dress the locals adopted.
“Now,” said Mary, “at the moment we’re on the second level of Stonebreak. Residential and leisure: medium-density housing and shopping. We’re going to head to the center, the fourth level: cultural quarter and Source. Stonebreak, as you should know, is built as four concentric circles, each raised above the last. Beneath us lies a thin layer of maintenance ducts and so on, and beneath that, the main support structure, and beneath that again the transport system and I-train terminus.”
“Thank you for the travelogue. Is there a reason for it?” asked Constantine.
Mary shook her head. “Just being friendly. It’s nice to have someone to speak to. Talking’s nice, don’t you think? It’s nice to have a conversation.”
Constantine muttered something in reply. Mary chatted away happily.
“When I first started out I had a comfort family set up for me in Brazil. I did a lot of work in Brazil. I was there a lot of the year. Hans, that was my husband…well, he thought he was anyway. You know how it is. Two kids. Ellie and Gerhardt. It was somewhere to go and have a decent meal and just chat with someone…”
Her voice tailed off as she strolled on, lost in thought. Constantine glanced at her and felt a sudden stab of pity. She was obviously living in much reduced circumstances now. The shabbiness of what had been an expensive suit and her once exercise-honed body running to alcohol-fueled fat suggested someone who had been high up within a company hierarchy. This physical manifestation of failure walking alongside him reminded Constantine of the pressure to succeed he himself was under. He turned his face from the narrow alley squeezed between two yellow stone cottages. A silver
“No. I haven’t.”
“Then let me show you around. I’ll show you something that will interest you.”
She slipped her hand down Constantine’s arm and took hold of his left hand, squeezing it tightly with her fat fingers so that his wedding ring dug painfully into his flesh.
They walked along a typical Stonebreak street. A wide, shallow, canal ran parallel to the narrow road, separated from it by a series of wide, tree-planted lawns. The whole was bordered by short rows of one- or two-story shops and houses, intercut with narrow alleyways accessible only to pedestrians. Chairs and tables had spilled from the cafes and bars out onto the lawns and were now slowly filling with the evening trade. A young woman walked by, hanging onto the arm of a tanned young man. She was dressed in the latest fashion: a simple white shift, her neck and arms wrapped in exotically curved bangles of silver and gold. She smiled prettily at Constantine and Mary as they passed, heading in the opposite direction.
The smell of the evening grass, the gentle splash of the water, the sheer prettiness of the cool narrow alleys, all these had helped Constantine relax sufficiently to return the young woman’s smile, though he was still confused.
“On nights like this, you wonder why they call Stonebreak a design failure,” said Mary.
They passed a cafe done up in period style: glass tables, bent beech chairs, and white linen. From its wide windows, light shone across the darkening lawns, illuminating the customers sipping beer and wine at tables arranged in a circle around an enormous lime tree.
“Where are we going?” asked Constantine, eventually.
“Relax,” said Mary. “Do you see any other people around here looking tense? No. They’re all out for a pleasant evening’s stroll and a drink. Do you want to be noticed? I don’t think so. So just hold my hand and try to look as if you’re enjoying yourself.”
Constantine had been enjoying himself. Now he suddenly realized how incredibly out of place he appeared in his business suit. He wished he’d had time to change into the same cool, loose-fitting dress the locals adopted.
“Now,” said Mary, “at the moment we’re on the second level of Stonebreak. Residential and leisure: medium-density housing and shopping. We’re going to head to the center, the fourth level: cultural quarter and Source. Stonebreak, as you should know, is built as four concentric circles, each raised above the last. Beneath us lies a thin layer of maintenance ducts and so on, and beneath that, the main support structure, and beneath that again the transport system and I-train terminus.”
“Thank you for the travelogue. Is there a reason for it?” asked Constantine.
Mary shook her head. “Just being friendly. It’s nice to have someone to speak to. Talking’s nice, don’t you think? It’s nice to have a conversation.”
Constantine muttered something in reply. Mary chatted away happily.
“When I first started out I had a comfort family set up for me in Brazil. I did a lot of work in Brazil. I was there a lot of the year. Hans, that was my husband…well, he thought he was anyway. You know how it is. Two kids. Ellie and Gerhardt. It was somewhere to go and have a decent meal and just chat with someone…”
Her voice tailed off as she strolled on, lost in thought. Constantine glanced at her and felt a sudden stab of pity. She was obviously living in much reduced circumstances now. The shabbiness of what had been an expensive suit and her once exercise-honed body running to alcohol-fueled fat suggested someone who had been high up within a company hierarchy. This physical manifestation of failure walking alongside him reminded Constantine of the pressure to succeed he himself was under. He turned his face from the narrow alley squeezed between two yellow stone cottages. A silver
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