The insanity cuse is moot

  Luke sat in the Bliss den, surfing the Freed, waiting.

  Then, in an instant so brief it could have been said not to happen at all, Luke in the Real awoke and drug himself from bed to car to road to work, like a miniature entity with bills to pay operating a flesh-mecha weighed down by the lingering effects of alcohol and the damages of a lifelong shitty sleep schedule. Sometime ter, the sun rose, lunch was had, stupidity witnessed, frustration balled into fists and released as swears and focused into floor tiles, then just when the body and soul had hit a groove, resigo their fate, it was time to leave.

  Then, of course, a sweaty car ride, a quick shower, a ride to the gym spent trying to locate and rehydrate the anger from earlier in the day, which had now seemingly slipped into a ial seat cushion or something, and a bad shoulder assault powered by spite against his own exhaustion as much as the pre-workout. Then, home, beer, texts, swipes, girls, porn, and finally, games and the headphoereoed voices of friends.

  Sometime around one, some part of Luke slipped from the grip of the Real world, just for an instant, or maybe evehan that…

  The extractor breezed over the half day iher, Luke's trip to Dr.X and subsequent run at the glowing hole in his Spirit’s life, and stopped at the point where Luke, good and sick of it all, was floating in the craft ring around cordia, hoping someone would take pity and spot him some Bliss, but forbidden to ask for a he get kicked out food this time.

  “God damn, they haven’t demolished this pce yet?” A mildly distorted voice prodded him from above and slightly behind. He ed his o look.

  A guy in biker get-up and a mask crafted from fully fractured tinted windshield gss with blood in the crevices refleg unseen headlights floated above him. Luke noticed a few shell gs wedged iread at the bottom of his bck leather boots.

  “You uh—”

  The guy flicked a card at him before he could finish. Luke caught it as it sailed through the bd looked it over.

  “Car-Crash”

  Team Lead

  Ace Tactical

  A steltion Franchisee

  There was a little logo of an A over a diamond, bordered by two knives and two fifty-cal rounds.

  “You guys still use business cards?” was all Luke could think of to say.

  “Barely three-dimensional object, easily recalled by the minds eye, and easily filed away as the mind ceptualize a thin stack of cards taining an infinite number.”

  After this much more salient expnation than Luke had been expeg, Car-Crash waved his hand toward the bck van floatio him.

  “Get the fu. Got some paperwork with your name on it back at the shop, then its D-Day for your ass.”

  Luke filed the card away in his pocket and jumped in the van. Gravity quickly reasserted itself and he spent the brief trip boung around oop of the wheel well. When the doors slid open again, Car-Crash and Shell g mask from his first visit were standing inside a garage.

  “Sup bro. I’m Sammy Stovepipe,” Sammy Stovepipe said.

  “Guess this means I got the job,” Luke said as he stepped out.

  Sammy scoffed in the back of his throat.

  “This is gonna be more like a temp with a ce at perma hire situation. Sit down.”

  He pulled a beat-up office chair away from an old pressed-wood desk fag the wall and rotated it towards Luke. It was covered in a thin yer of dust and bounced with a squeak as Luke sat in it.

  Sammy took out a gss ball that looked like it had trapped a miniature dust storm inside and squeezed it between his thumb and forefinger. It fshed like bottled lightning and he pressed it into the shell gs on his forehead, which shifted with tiny ks.

  “Look here.” Sammy tapped it and the fshes coalesced into a point of light as Luke stared.

  “State your full name, please.”

  “Uh, Luke Robert Fischer”

  “What was the date when you st woke in the Real?”

  “Uh, Wednesday.”

  “The full, date.” Sammy stopped himself from swearing.

  “August, uh, seveh? 2017.”

  The light brightened, and there was only darkness around it. Sammy’s voice tinued, now from all around.

  “Please recall a moment from today in the Real in which the date roved in some lease hat any memory will be kept in the archive, and may be seen by the public."

  Luke had to smile. Every memory of him jag off for sale down at Dr. X's. He raked over his day and found a moment, a little before 3, when he checked his phoo see if his couple thousand-dolr portfolio had done anything.

  The light prodded him, and he went over it again, the memory this time bzing out in every miail. He evehe Texas sun kig up sweat on his ned the subtle, rising, is that chi sandwich really gonna kill me sensation in his stomach.

  Then the garage came back, and Sammy him, making the little dim light in his forehead bob up and down.

  “All right. Now I’ve got some questions. Aruthfully. Your responses will not affect your employment status in any way.”

  Luke got that feeling again, that something beyond his uanding or knowledge was moving unseen deep within the world, and that Sammy’s corporate reading was some tent side effeaations he could never imagine.

  “Do you feel that you have had ample time to sider your decision?”

  “Uh, yes.”

  “Please be advised if you need more time to sider, additional time will be grahis will not affect your employment. Do you uand?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Do you need additional—”

  “No.”

  “Please let me finish!” Something like humaion jumped into Sammy’s voice.

  “Do you need additional time to sider your decision to seek employment as a Hardworlder?”

  “No.”

  “Please state what materials or services aided you in your decision. A, pany-provided training materials, B, third-party information such as the Feed, C, seling from an approved Union liaison, or D, other sources, please specify.”

  “A. and B. I mean.. I—”

  “Multiple answers are allowed. question. Do you feel that you have a good uanding of the job of a Hardworlder? Please note additional orientation is avaible upon request.”

  “Yeah, I think I got it. Go down there and kill people right?”

  There ause, and Sammy made motions with his hand like he was swiping through pages Luke couldn’t see.

  “Tasks required of you in the Hardworlds may include, but are not limited to, engaging, incapacitating, or eliminating the target or designated individuals, observation, surveilheft, breaking aering, and operating a wide variety of vehicles.”

  “Cool.” Luke said. Car-Crash lit a thin pstic-tipped cigar and watched Luke like he was agreeing to jump in a furnace. Whatever. Nothing in there could be worse than what had found him here.

  Sammy tinued.

  “Do you uand that your time in the Hardworlds will be spent in a real body? Please hat the term Real here does not imply preference of any particur belief system.

  “Uh, yeah.”

  “Keeping in mind that you will be occupying a real body, do you uand that while in the Hardworlds you may be subject to real pain?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you uand that this pain be up to and exceeding the limits of humaion?”

  “Uh, yes.”

  “Do you uand that there is a risk your Spirit may bee trapped in the Hardworld indefinitely?”

  “Yesssss...” He lingered on that st sonant until Car-Crash cocked his head. Better not to know anyway, most likely.

  “Do you uand that your work in the Hardworlds may incur emotional aal harm, including but not limited to Spiritual depression and disassociation?”

  “Yes!” This time he said it with a big, closed-mouth smile that made Car-Crash bend over in stifled ughter.

  “And finally,” Sammy sighed, wearily. “In accordah Hardworlding Union guidelines, Ace Tactical is required to provide you with a summarized mem of your work time. Keep in mind that it will be of limited detail to preserve objectivity, and will also be heavily redacted, within industry standards and steltion guidelines. Do you accept?”

  This time, he couldn’t help himself.

  “What?”

  Before Sammy could expin, which judging by how much his shoulders rose and fell with the preparatory breath beforehand, was going to be a mammoth task for him, Car-Crash piped up.

  “It means you get a tle photo reel of what you do on the job, but the names and faces and all those sticky feelings and particurs will be plucked out before it’s handed over to you. We have to give you evidence of your work hours, but it won’t be breaking records as a drama sim any time soon.”

  Sammy sighed again.

  “It says I gotta read the god damned script if he says anything but yes, so hold on while—”

  “Just fug ask him the first part again so we—”

  “You know I ’t do that god dammit! I gotta read the script!”

  “Jesus fug!” Car-Crash stood up and shook his mask at the far wall while Sammy exhaled sharply and then tinued.

  “We will be providing you with a mem rec of your time spent in the Hardworlds on pany business, but—”

  It took him about two minutes of corporatese to say what Car-Crash already had and Luke tried not to ugh the whole time.

  “Yes, I accept.”

  “Good!” Sammy stood up sharply and stuck his hand out.

  “Then as of this moment, by the authority of Ace Tactical, its employees, and stakeholders, and uhe observation of a lised witness of steltioerprises, I am pleased to offer you the position of Hardworld Operator, effective immediately. Do you accept?”

  “Yes.” Luke shook his hand.

  “gratutions and wele aboard we look forward t with you. Car Crash here will be your direct superior until you are assigo your team but please e to me with anything my door is always open.” Sammy was halfway across the garage and fully out of breath by the time he fihis particur formality.

  Car-Crash smacked Luke on the bad beed him to follow.

  “Oh!” Sammy stopped and turned around. “Shit! Give him a copy of the mem!”

  “I got it,” Car-Crash said. “Here.” He picked up the orb, which Luke hadn’t even seen Sammy toss on the desk, and clicked it. Something like a ball bearing popped out and Car-Crash pressed it onto another business card. Luke took it and the liquid blob of metal formed into the team logo.

  “Now don’t g to sell this one kid,” Car-Crash chuckled. “It ain't worth much.”

  Luke would have been offended, but he realized he had never possessed a si of memory that hadn’t ended up property of Dr. X

  Far and away, another Luke realized, with an acid bitterness, that he still never had.

  Would you sign up to get thrown into the Hardworlds? ime, Ace Tactical wastes no time recouping their iment, and Luke's first brush with the Hardworlds is a far cry from Gradie's spiritual awakening. episode, The Box.