Neon Holograms and Late at the Subway Station

Neon Holograms and Late at the Subway Station

I was riding the subway to my old retail job, but all the ads inside the train were glowing neon holograms that flickered like bad fluorescent tubes. My phone was completely dead, but somehow I could see a tiny digital battery icon blinking red in the bottom corner of my actual eyesight. When I got to the station, it was raining inside the terminal, and my old manager was standing by the turnstiles telling me I was thirty minutes late for my shift. I reached into my bag to tap my transit card, but my fingers were stiff and plastic, like cheap prosthetic joints that wouldn't bend. I kept trying to explain that the trains had rebooted, but the noise from a food cart selling synthetic noodles was so loud she couldn't hear me, and I just stood there feeling totally helpless and embarrassed.