Microstory 1987: First Date

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Myka: You’re just having water? Forgive me, it’s not a big deal, but are you sober?

Leonard: I gave it up a while ago. A friend of mine taught me how to have fun without. But I’m not judging, you go ahead with whatever you ordered.

Myka: I...just ordered water too. Did you not hear me?

Leonard: Oh, I’m sorry, I’m just really nervous.

Myka: We’ve shared a meal before. Many times.

Leonard: I know, but this is different. We’re calling it a date.

Myka: Would you feel more comfortable if we didn’t?

Leonard: No. I don’t wanna feel comfortable, I wanna be with you. *embarrassed* That’s..not what I meant.

Myka: *smiling* I get it.

Leonard: So, did you see, we got that second satellite up and running.

Myka: I did, that’s pretty cool.

Leonard: Yeah, I told them the Ochivari pretty much can’t come from space, because too many of them have to die to open a portal that big, but it should be fine.

Myka: *whispering* Should we be quieter?

Leonard: Oh, you’re right. Um...locusts often die when they swarm from too high up, because of the, uh, pressure change, so you’re better off looking for them lower down.

Myka: Is that true about locusts?

Leonard: *laughing* I don’t know, probably not.

Myka: We probably shouldn’t talk about work.

Leonard: No, no, you’re right. There must be something else we can talk about *awkward silence until the food comes* How’s your spaghetti?

Myka: Regretfully messy. Not the best food for a date.

Leonard: No, I like the way you eat it. It’s cute.

Myka: *smiling awkwardly*

Leonard: Oh my God, all we have to talk about is work, or spaghetti.

Myka: That can’t be true. We’re just off to a slow start, but we’ll make it work. What about your childhood? I don’t know much about how you grew up.

Leonard: No, you first. You lived around here when you were a kid, right?

Myka: Well, not around here. This area was way too fancy for us. I never thought of us as poor, but that’s what we were. My grandparents were super rich; all four of them. When my parents got married, they decided they wanted to do everything on their own, so they cut themselves off from family money. I always resented them for that, because it meant that I had to struggle too. It wasn’t until I was locked up that I started to appreciate their decision. Money and greed corrupt; I get that now, ya know?

Leonard: I know, I’ve seen it. I have a much older brother; I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned him. He was extremely smart. The government recruited him after he graduated from college at age seventeen. At some point, he went private, and turned into the biggest jackass I’ve ever met. I basically looked at everything he did, and tried to do the opposite growing up.

Myka: Fascinating. Tell me about your first job. It wasn’t as a parole officer, was it?

Microstory 1325: Sports Man

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Sportscaster: I’m here with legendary athlete, Jools Hooper, a.k.a. Sports Man. He earned his nickname in 1987—by an avid fan, and six-year-old daughter of his new general manager—when he started playing for the Kansas Titanium. It was his third major league team over the course of his career, but he didn’t stop there. Many have attempted to interview Hooper, most to no avail. He’s always been too busy with his work, but he has an important announcement to make, and he’s agreed to let me...be the vehicle that transports his words to all of you. It is an honor just to be in your presence, Mr. Hopper.

Sports Man: Thank you, Sportscaster. I’m honored to be here as well. I’m a huge fan of your work.

Sportscaster: Oh dear me, Jools Hooper is a fan of my work. Did you hear that, everybody? Did you get that on camera? Ha-ha-ha. Anyway, before we get to your announcement, I would like to ask you a few questions, so the audience will have a better understanding of your background.

Sports Man: Certainly. Shoot, so to speak.

Sportscaster: After playing college basketball for Hillside University, you were immediately drafted into the Kansas City Cougars, right?

Sports Man: That’s right. I played for them for nine years. Basketball is my main game.

Sportscaster: What made you move over to association football?

Sports Man: Well, Sportscaster, that’s exactly why I haven’t done any interviews since. I literally don’t remember. That whole time in my life is a haze. I was doing a lot of drugs back then—no athletic enhancements, mind you—but I was well out of my mind, which is why I only played soccer for two seasons. I don’t recall why I switched sports, or how I joined the team, or anything about it. It was probably for a stupid reason, like a bet, or a prank that got out of hand.

Sportscaster: According to reports, you sobered up in 1984, but you didn’t start playing Vector until three years later. Tell me about that.

Sports Man: Recovery is a long process, and it never ends. I didn’t feel comfortable doing anything with my life until that billionaire announced he was founding an entirely new sport. I just knew I had to get into it. It’s funny; all that fame and applause got me into drugs when I was a baller, but sports helped me stay out of it later in life. I haven’t touched the stuff since.

Sportscaster: Well, that’s great. We’re all very glad you made your comeback. I know, when I’m having a bad day, I’ll throw on a tape of your 1993 tournament performance. You were so amazing.

Sports Man: It was a team effort; we all had to be really in sync.

Sportscaster: Of course. Moving on, you retired from Vector in 1999, at age fifty. Everyone thought you were done for good, but then you surprised us with a tennis run.

Sports Man: I loved tennis. It was such a new experience, ya know? I had always been on a team, but suddenly it was just me out there. Honestly, it made me really uncomfortable, which I think made for a great watch, which is why I stuck with it for five years. I like to entertain. I probably only quit that, because I was getting a little old.

Sportscaster: That’s when you discovered golf.

Sports Man: Yep. I went from two huge team sports to one that’s a little more individualistic, but still requires teamwork, to a completely individual sport with an opponent, to one that doesn’t require an opponent at all. Golf has been really great for me. It’s slow and methodical, which has been good for this 70-year-old.

Sportscaster: So, what’s next for Sports Man, Jools Hooper? I believe the general assumption is that you’re here to announce your retirement from sports altogether.

Sports Man: That is the rumor I’ve heard, but if that’s what you were hoping for, I’m afraid I will have to disappoint. I am indeed retiring, but not from sports; just golf. I’m going back to basketball. I aim to be the oldest player in association history. I’m currently a free agent, and I have a message for all managers...come at me.

Microstory 1021: Florence

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When I was very young, I would watch my parents get drunk every week. And when they did that, they would always act stupid, and often break something. The next morning, they would promise themselves they would never do it again, but if it was Saturday, they would be right back at it the next night, and if it was Sunday, they would do it again on Friday. I don’t know what happened to them that made them stop, but one day, we packed up, and moved to Blast City. They have been the epitome of civil ever since, so much so that no one until today has ever known anything about our real past. Anyway, either because I saw how bad things can get when you drink, or I saw how much better my parents were when they got sober, I don’t do it myself. In fact, I’m infamous for being a designated driver. I tell everyone I know that, if they ever find themselves drunk away from home, they can always call me for a ride. No one ever takes me up on that, partially because the town itself is literally small, so it’s not that hard to walk from one end to the other, but also because no one really pays attention to me. We also have a couple drivers for one of those ride-sourcing companies, and they kinda need the money, so that’s fine. Well, I don’t know exactly what went down, but Viola took me up on my offer once. She called me from some bar in Coaltown, totally wasted. I could barely understand what she was saying, and when she tried to text me the address, it wasn’t even comprehensible. I had to ask a random guy walking down the street which bar she would be talking about. Well, this was the dead of winter; probably the coldest night of the year. Yeah, it was, we had that winter storm that took school off the table for, like, a week. You weren’t here yet, I guess, but it was real bad. So bad, that the ice ran us off the road, and into a tree. The force of the crash, plus the weight of the snow, knocked a branch right on top of my car. I couldn’t even start it again, so there we were, freezing our asses off, alone in the dark. I called a tow service, but since the conditions were no better throughout the county, it was a long time before anyone could show up. Fortunately, ever the girl scout, I was prepared with emergency water, a med kit, and blankets. We ended up crawling into the backseat, and cuddling together for body heat. Before you stick your head in the gutter, nothing happened. She passed out thirty minutes before the truck arrived, and hauled us out. She was so messed up that she didn’t even remember that any of it happened, but I didn’t have to prove it to her, because I took pictures for insurance purposes. I suppose I have the magic touch, because according to a lot of classmates, she didn’t have one more drop of alcohol the rest of her life. That’s what really gets me about this whole thing, because if they found drugs in her system, she was not the one who put them there. I don’t believe it. There’s something we don’t know about what happened by the river that fateful day, and I don’t understand why they seem to not be trying to figure it out.