Red Error Code at the Subway Turnstile

Red Error Code at the Subway Turnstile

I was late for my morning shift at the convenience store, but the street outside my old apartment was totally different. It was soaking wet, dark, and crowded with massive glowing ads reflecting off every puddle. I kept trying to scan into the subway station with my hand, like there was a chip under my skin, but the turnstile kept flashing an angry red error code saying my account had expired. Everyone pushing past me had these little blinking lights behind their ears and didn't seem to care. My old coworker Dave was standing on the platform on the other side, waving at me, but when I called out his name, static came out of my throat instead of words. I felt this awful, rising panic that my boss was going to dock my pay, but my phone wouldn't connect to any network to send a text, just showing broken code on the screen.