THE MOMENT
"I'll have to freeze some of it..," Ruben made the decision as he stared at the pile of meats. It was a bright, sunny morning. Packages of ground beef, ribs, steaks, and even a couple of roasts glistened in the sunlight. The red wagon he brought for his haul held more than he thought; it was starting to overflow. And, he still had money. A grey opaque glass on the front made it impossible to tell what was inside. He saw the vending machine arrive yesterday. He'd been minding his own business taking a morning walk around the neighborhood when the machine was suddenly there.
Ruben didn't see it delivered as much as he noticed its presence a handful of minutes after passing the empty spot. There was no one else around, no other car or truck that could have dropped it off. He made his way over to it and realized it sold butchered, packaged meats like from a grocery store. Not only that, but it sold them at vending machine prices. That morning he bought a 15-pound brisket for $7.50. After smoking it and enjoying a pleasant dinner, he made plans to try and buy out the machine the next day. His wagon was full but the machine still seemed to have a lot more. There were buttons for exotic meats he hadn't even pressed yet. Despite the meat being good the previous day, he wasn't sure he trusted the machine enough to press the 'Unicorn' buttons. He rushed home to unload the first batch and then came back.
He saw two teen girls arrive at the machine before he made it. He slowed down to give them a chance to buy. But, even at a slow pace, he arrived while they were still discussing their options. They both had spiky short hair; but, the taller girl was pale and her spikes were white. The shorter girl had black spikes.
"Bailey said to focus on money, right?" the short girl asked the taller one as they both stared into the smoky glass on the vending machine. "Let's see what this bonus looks like in practice...," she tapped the front of the machine, not the number pad. It released something into the catch with a banging thud. The teen crouched to pull her package out. It was a small white take-out carton that Ruben hadn't seen on the selections.
She opened it to reveal a fresh, steaming hot burger inside. She brought it up to take a bite, and the entire item disappeared, package and all. Once she bit it, everything disintegrated and it was then that she noticed Ruben.
"Oh, hi," she looked startled for a moment but recovered quickly. The taller girl turned to see who she was saying hi to. "I'm Jenny, this is my friend Dread," the short girl introduced them both as Dread waved at him.
"I'm Ruben..," he said. "What happened to your burger?" he asked. He also planned on asking where the burger came from to begin with; but, he was more interested in where it went.
"It wasn't a real burger," Jenny shrugged. "It was just a food buff. I already got the buff, so the burger's gone," she said. "Are you new to the AlterNet? "she asked.
"New to the.. what?" Jenny's eyes widened in surprise.
"You don't know what the Alternet is?" she asked with a grin. "You're gonna have fun finding out," she giggled. She stepped closer to Ruben and offered him a clear glass card.
"That's called a 'node'," she said. "If you learn how to use it, you'll learn all about the AlterNet."
"Thank you," Ruben accepted it and planned to look into it later. He didn't quite know what she was talking about; but, he still had questions he could ask now. "I feel like you girls know something about it...," he said. "Where did this vending machine come from?" he asked.
"It serves fresh meat and it's always full; but, I've never seen anyone stocking it," he said.
"You won't," Jenny shook her head. "It belongs to Sharp Development, it doesn't actually hold anything here. Whenever you buy something, a portal drops it in from another universe."
"A portal... from another universe...?" Ruben asked. Somehow it made more sense when he didn't know how it worked. And, he had a late realization. "...I ate meat from another universe!?" His mind decided that his stomach felt queasy at that point. Who knew what kind of creature he actually ate? Who knew what kind of regulations they had on their Earth?
"Well, it was good, right?" Jenny asked with a smile. "Sharp Development products are top quality," she added.
"Ruben wanted to argue on principle. But, he couldn't; it was the best meat he'd had in years. Even if it was from another Earth. He was torn; but, he was only left with more confusion when the girls waved and walked off.
"I don't know what you tried already...," Jenny said as they walked away. "... if you haven't tried the unicorn yet, you should give it a taste."
