Failing the Metro Turnstile with a Dead Wrist Chip

Failing the Metro Turnstile with a Dead Wrist Chip

I was trying to take the late metro home from my old retail job, but the platform was soaking wet and glowing with massive, flickering neon ads for synthetic vitamins. I needed to tap in through the turnstile using a little chip in my wrist, but the reader kept flashing red and buzzing an error sound that echoed everywhere. The crowd behind me kept getting bigger and people were grumbling because the train was already pulling in, completely silent and chrome. I kept rubbing my arm against the sensor harder and harder, but my skin just felt cold, like the implant had completely died. A guy from my high school bio class was standing by the emergency exit wearing an oversized rain slicker with tangled wires hanging out of the collar, and he just shook his head at me like I was embarrassing myself. I woke up with my heart pounding, desperately trying to get my alarm to turn off.