III. Previsions of Future End

“So, would you be bothered by an apocalypse?” A man asks, leaning back into an office chair, looking out from the Floor to Ceiling window at the darkened skyline early. As the woman sitting beside him looks at the stylized frayed carpet edges around the large windows, she then turn facing the man.
“It already happened,” she replies, shrugging her shoulders in an insouciant manner.
The man laughs, reaching down lifting up a Martini glass, looking at the dark red liquid. “Touche...” He has a sip. “...Damn this is good. What’s it called again.”
The woman looks at the skyline as a flash of lightning streaks across the sky.
“Dark Zenith…” She views another streak of lightning, set against a slightly crimson reflection of the clouds, as twilight descends onto the city. Turning slightly, facing the man beside her she also lifts her glass. “...You wanna know what the secret ingredient is?”
“Apart from the aged Rye Whiskey…” The man closes his eyes, trying to discern the taste on his palate. “...There is a tartness, I am thinking maybe Balsamic vinegar.”
“Yes…” she has another large gulp, placing the empty glass gently down by her left side. “...and menstrual blood.
“I love your sense of humor,” the man says, as he continues to sip, whilst eyeing the interior of the empty office space around him.
“For a AI hologram...” she replies, still staring at the unusual colors of the skyline. “...Off and delete.” The man sitting beside her fades, and then disappears completely.
Suddenly she hears a chime. “Ms Xana Lolan, incoming call...”
“Screen and connect,” she commands, sipping from the cocktail.
“...Doslam Ilus. ID Twenty Five, Six X Alpha Three.”
“Verified. Please connect,” she replies, placing down her cocktail.
“Xana! Well done with the Axiston account. The interior looks amazing!”
“Thank you sweetie…” Briefly recollecting about her latest interior design job, for an Avant-garde designer clothing store. “...Much appreciated.”
“Sorry I missed the opening, held up at work. Very hectic at the moment. The diamond quotas for Jupiter actually fell, so the prices went through the roof.”
Referring to her job as an interplanetary Commodity Trader, checking over algorithmic and artificial intelligence systems, that are partially human monitored as the Great Computer Crash of Two Thousand and Forty, caused by the devastating drought of South East Asia, China’s invasion of Taiwan, and self aware computer viruses. These significant events ended up devastating the microcomputer chip industry.
“Then you can buy drinks this Friday,” Lolan replies, swiveling her chair around so that she faces the darkened interior of her apartment. Turning her back on the skyline.
“Will do. There’s a new bar, sub-level of the building that I work in. Try it this Friday?”
A streak of lightning illuminates Lolan’s apartment as she continues to stare into the dark. “There’s a C-Storm coming.” Referring to Climate Storms which are global phenomenons from the Earth’s climate tipping into irreversible climate change. These massive storm fronts, akin to extreme hurricane which are the size of small countries, last for Forty Eight hours before evaporating into the upper atmospheres.
“I know, apparently it’s a Class X, for an extreme event. My building is already in shutdown.
“Class X…” Lolan begins to think about her last project, where the client wanted cracks and bullet holes along the wall interior, with what looked like water damage and stains, which formed the lower part of the concrete walls. “...Which means a possible Earthquake that will follow after the storm.”
“That’ll be right. Who would have thought rain could cause Earthquakes. Yet, it reminds me of…”
“...a sex thing,” Lolan replies, finishing Ilus’s sentence.
“Ha! You read my mind! Speaking of which,”
“Oh, some gossip? Save it for Friday.”
“Of course. I’ll message you tomorrow with the venue details and location within the Sub-Levels.”
“Sounds good, take care.”
“You too. We’ll talk later”
Lolan, turns her chair around as the external shutters of the building begin to close over the windows in preparation for the C-Storm.

___

Reading: "Previsions of future End" from COVEAL OF THE HEDONIC (A.Glass 2025)

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