THE MOMENT
Lucy had never seen a sky so blue before. The deep azure color was almost unnatural and it was a pleasant contrast to the smoggy city she came from. She wandered around downtown to learn where everything was; but, she couldn't help but glance up each time she came to a stop anywhere. When she did have her eyes at ground level she noticed slightly odd behavior from the other pedestrians. Everyone cast furtive glances upward. None of them fully faced the sky. Each person rolled their eyes up as if to subtly check something, then they all quickly looked down again. Lucy felt like she could stare at the sky all day and it was curious that everyone seemed to make an effort to avoid it.
As she got the lay of the land, Lucy decided to focus more on the unusual behavior. It seemed to be everyone, not just a handful of people here and there. Anyone walking out of a store glanced up. Even the drivers at a red light discreetly checked the heavens and looked away just as fast. It was strange seeing everyone both looking up and avoiding it at the same time. It didn't take long to get used to it though. After a couple of blocks, it was the norm and she suddenly found it strange when she came across someone else staring upward.
She crossed the street and onto a small city block that was mostly taken up by a single large, brick building. The walls were overgrown with ivy and the dozen windows on the front were all boarded up from the inside whether they were broken or not. It had all the hallmarks of an abandoned building including a faded sign with 'Orphanage' as the only legible word. The front door was wide open; but, it was the teenage girl that caught Lucy's attention.
The black-haired teenager was sprawled on her back on the orphanage's lawn. She stared up at the sky with a giddy look of awe on her face. Lucy had seen enough odd things in her trip through town that she was emboldened by her curiosity and stepped off the sidewalk onto the grass.
"Are you okay?" she asked as she approached the teen.
"Me?" the girl lifted her head to look at Lucy. She did a quick glance around to check for anyone else, then let her head fall back again. "Yeah, I'm rad, thanks for asking," she said as she stared up.
"What are you doing?" Lucy asked.
"I'm lying down. What are you doing on my grass?" the girl replied.
"Your grass?" The girl sighed and sat up at Lucy's question. She gestured behind herself with her thumb.
"My home...," she indicated the building, then she pointed at the ground. "...my grass."
"You live here?" Lucy asked.
"All my life...," the teen nodded. She dropped her shoulders, then turned to push herself up and onto her feet. "...do you need something, lady?" she asked. She'd wanted to know what the teen saw in the sky; but now, she had a new concern.
"You live in an abandoned building? By yourself??" Lucy asked. The teen's eyes narrowed and she tilted her head at the unfamiliar woman.
"If I live here, it's not abandoned is it?" she asked. "And, I don't need to share that information with a stranger," she answered. Lucy decided to return to her original curiosity. Whatever the teen had going on, she didn't seem to need her help or even her concern.
"What were you looking at?" Lucy pointed upward with the question. The girl pulled her head back in surprise; but, her expression softened.
"You're seriously asking me?" she asked.
"I am," Lucy nodded. The girl looked up.
"You don't see anything?" she asked. Lucy followed her lead and stared up at the blue. She spent a moment wondering if something was supposed to happen; then she shook her head.
"I don't see anything."
"You don't have a node yet, do you?" The teen giggled as she reached into the pocket of her jeans.
"A what?" The teen pulled out a transparent glass card. She giggled to herself as she gripped it at the ends with both hands and pulled.
"This is so totally awesome," she grinned to herself as the card stretched. Once it was twice the length it separated into two and she offered one to Lucy. "These are nodes," she said. Lucy accepted the card and she was amazed to see the time appear on it in digital numbers. She brought it up for a closer look and flipped it around to look through the other side. The time somehow followed her and it kept its front-facing orientation on both sides.
"It's a clock?" Lucy asked.
"Way, way better!" the girl replied. She held hers up in front of Lucy, then made a deliberate effort to slide her index finger up the face. The time disappeared and revealed an entirely new purple screen that was bright enough to make the card opaque.
"What the...," Lucy followed the girl's example and slid her finger along the node. The time disappeared and was replaced by a bright white screen with a red scissor logo on it. Several small pictures were labeled with text, one read: 'tutorial'.
"What is this... exactly?" Lucy asked.
"It's everything you need. Phone, T.V., radio, gaming console. All provided for free by Sharp Development!" she said. "Follow the tutorial and you're all set."
Lucy hoped for new experiences in her new town. She never expected to have her world changed completely. This card was the most advanced technology she'd ever seen; it was far above and beyond even the CD player she paid nearly $1000 for; and, this was free.
"Wait a minute...," she shook her head. She was floored. But, she realized she still didn't have an answer. "Thank you so, so much for this! But, I still don't know why you were looking at the sky...," she said.
"Oh, yeah," the teen nodded. She stepped closer and pointed at her dark brown eyes. "See anything?" she asked. It wasn't easy to spot at first. But as she stared into the teen's eyes she saw faint purple sparkles in her pupils.
"Your eyes are sparkling...," Lucy answered. The teen nodded.
"You'll learn how to set it up," she said. "But for now, you can use your node like this," she looked up, then held the node over her eyes like a lens and tapped it with her finger. The purple background faded away and she was left peering through the transparent card. Lucy did the same. Shock and dizziness washed over her once her white background vanished. She looked up at the same azure sky she admired minutes ago; but, it was different. There, in the middle of the sky hung a bright white background that matched the one on her new node, with the same red scissor logo. Red text glowed brightly beneath the scissors.
[Sharp Development presents AlterNet Roller Derby! Sign up today!] Under that advertisement, a giant video in the sky showed an armored knight on roller skates moving along a white track. It was clearer than her T.V. and bigger than the building the teen lived in; but, Lucy shook her head just the same.
"Is that... a commercial??" she asked.
"Yeah!" the teen grinned. "Isn't technology amazing!??"