Elysium Chapter 4

Maeve uses a digital afterlife service provider; 'Elysium'. This follows her journey.

4

          Maeve sat next to Sharon on the couch in the living room.

          "Let's see what's on. Ay, Maeve?" Sharon zapped the TV, with a clunky remote control.

          Juno got the TV before she had started generating a livable income from her writing, as such; it was a hideous oversized monstrosity from the early 2000's with an equally oversized unwieldy remote. A freebie on a second hand site. Thankfully Juno had a car at that point so with much ado they had managed to finagle it into their flat. They ended up loving the thing so much they had never had the heart to part with it.

          The living room filled with a faint TV glow. Somehow, the sun was setting, though Maeve wasn't even sure there was a sun in this place or how, for that matter, it was already dusk. Time seemed strange in Elysium.

          "It can take a few seconds." Sharon mumbled as static fuzzed on the screen.

          "Static, that's a blast from the past," Maeve wondered out loud.

          Sharon, squinted at the screen, looking for something. "Well, it's not really static. Think of it like a visual metaphor. Elysium's systems are synchronising with every smart device, camera and microphone within a mile radius of Juno. Compiling it... The result of which is--"

          The static faded and there was Juno. Maeve's heart leapt, It was really her. She looked sad. The framing was strange too; like a second person perspective. There was a british TV show she liked watching with Juno when she was still alive called 'peep show' It had employed something similar to what she was experiencing; As if she were someone sitting across from her partner. Organic body movements confirmed she was seeing Juno through the eyes of another. She was drinking at the New Dolphin--the way they used to. Everything was the same: the small table, the low-ceiling, the dark paneling. Everything, that is, except for Juno. Maeve sensed despair from her posture, and the way she wrapped both hands around her mug--like hugging a memory.

          Maeve couldn't help but call out to her "Juno! I'm here, babe."

          Sharon leaned back into the couch. "Maeve, she can't hear you. Remember this is just live footage ... Alive footage."

          Maeve shot Sharon a glance that could murder.

          Juno turned to the person whose eyes were being broadcasted. "I miss her." In a way, it was like she was looking at Maeve. "I miss her so much."

          "You should go see her then," an off-screen voice responded.

          Maeve turned to Sharon. "Who are we? ... I mean, whose eyes are we looking through?"

          Sharon swiped at the air pulling a floating screen from the ether. "Miranda Smith... It seems she went to school with Juno and got back in touch about three months after you passed...." Sharon clasped her mouth; realising what she had let slip.

          "What do you mean three months? I've only been dead for a day."

          Sharon shifted uncomfortably. "About that... That was a completely inappropriate way for me to bring this up and I'm sorry but you need to understand; time doesn't pass here in the same way... The amount of computing power required to simulate a human consciousness is immense. As such. A few seconds to you can be hours in the real world. Even the footage we're watching now has been slowed so you can experience it in real time.

          Maeve was livid. She had a million things to say but Juno began talking again and with this new knowledge she didn't want to miss a second.

          "I want to go visit her, Miranda, I do, but I don't know... It's so hard to face it... what I did to her... The way she trusted me."

          "But I'm fine Juno, I'm here," Maeve cried.

Sharon wanted to point out; Juno still couldn't hear her but decided against it.

          "You need to go see her." Miranda's arm extended from the side of the camera frame and settled on Juno's shoulder.

          " I will." Juno tooke Miranda's hand in hers then the TV screen went back to static.

          "So, how long ago was that?" Maeve asked

          "What?"

          Maeve didn't turn her attention away from the TV "The delay... if we just watched that, how long ago did it happen?"

          Sharon swiped a few times at the floating air-screen "Well, we've been watching for about 20 minutes, So... a day and a half."

          Maeve snatched at the remote. "How do I do this; tune into Juno?"

          Sharon cautiously handed it over. "Channel 42, Maeve. I wouldn't get too hung up on this though... remember you have all of Elysium at your fingertips."

          Maeve ignored Sharon, already hitting the channel buttons.

          "I'll leave you to it then, Maeve..." Sharon got up to leave then turned back "Just remember there's a whole world out there, not your world but one waiting for you all the same."

          Maeve sat in silence waiting for the static to clear and show her partner again.

         Sharon, seeing she wasn't needed, faded away leaving Maeve to herself once more. "Just... call me if you need anything."

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