The old woman, Mei, sat on her porch swing. It creaked gently, matching the soft tinkling of the wind chimes made from sea glass—little pieces collected over many years. Each piece held a memory, a whisper of the ocean.
The wind whipped past Eddy’s face, carrying the scent of ozone and ionized dust – a familiar smell in Neo-Veridian, a city built on the principles of sustainable energy and temporal harmony. Eddy, all of eleven years old, gripped the handlebars of his bio-synth bike, “Whirlwind,” its frame humming with a low, resonant thrum. He loved the feel of the recycled polymer tires gripping the luminescent...