houses were row homes, connected together, a low white picket fence separated the front yards. The grassy yards, while small, were planted with flowers and small fruit bushes of different kinds. The houses themselves appeared to be faced with false stone and were all styled somewhat differently, almost quaintly. “This isn’t so bad, Mary,” Alex said almost defensively, but Mary wasn’t listening. She’d already opened the front door and ducked inside. He shrugged and sighed. “I really thought you’d like it,” he muttered as he followed her inside.
The downstairs was a portrait in white: a small front living room, with a kitchen and dining area in the rear. Up a short flight of stairs lay a bedroom, a com room with mini-theater and com center, and a spacious bathroom featuring a large tub of faux stone with a small waterfall. A small label on the tub was marked Local Hydro-Waste Cycling System. Alex noticed a label on the toilet said the same thing and read it aloud to Mary, who was trying to figure out how the tub’s waterfall worked.
“Waste? Great. We’ll be drinking our own pee for the duration, I suppose.” She shuddered.
“Yummy.”
Negative as Mary was sounding, Alex noticed that she had relaxed almost as soon as they got inside. “Whew,” she said, removing her glasses and peering out the bedroom window. “The view is better from here.”
“Is there a problem, my love?” He put an arm on Mary’s shoulder. “Are you saying you can’t deal …?”
“No. I’ll just discreetly throw up during our pleasant strolls outside.” She unhooked Inky’s leash and smiled as he ran off to explore the house. “But … if Inky can deal with it, so can I.”
“Yeah, he’s right at home.” He hugged her tighter, feeling a bit relieved.
It took a few hours to determine where everything was located, and there seemed to be few problems. Food processors had yet to be installed, but the cooler was well stocked and the cabinets were supplied with dry food, and Alex assured Mary, and himself, that everything would be in working order when they returned from their trip into the reef.
They ended up in the com room where Mary placed the data cube Johnny had given her into the com unit. While the program loaded she went to the bathroom. Meanwhile Alex reviewed the programs that scrolled on the large flat screen over the com. One was called Diver , and another was identified as “Strategic Reef Simulation”.
Alex was about to activate the latter when the front door-chime rang. Their bags had arrived, minus those slated to be stowed aboard Diver . He thanked the delivery driver and watched as the man got into his spindly vehicle. Despite an oversized load of bags and suitcases the tiny car rolled away easily down the lane.
Studying the details of the biocylinder visible above the trees, Alex could see trucks moving along roadways in the distance, the giant lakebed to their left, buildings, groves of trees. All these details were enclosed in a grid of mammoth proportions. The more he looked at it, the more symmetry he saw in the details. Most of the surface buildings seemed to be grouped in clusters, like towns, and most of these were located at his end of the Biosphere. The rest of the landscape was broken up into farmland.
Back inside, Alex shouted to Mary, “Looks like we’re situated at the business end of the tube.”
Mary came out of the bathroom naked, smiling, and wearing a neck patch. “The cabinet has all my medication,” she said. “How nice. After a year with the Gannys I’d forgotten what efficiency is.”
“It’s a tradeoff, my love,” said Alex. “Efficiency versus humanity.”
Mary ran to Alex and jumped on him, wrapping her slender legs around his waist. Together they tumbled onto the couch. “Lust versus headache,” she said, biting his lip gently. Her nimble fingers tugged at the zipper of his togs and had them open in no time. “It’s been weeks, Alex,” she breathed
The downstairs was a portrait in white: a small front living room, with a kitchen and dining area in the rear. Up a short flight of stairs lay a bedroom, a com room with mini-theater and com center, and a spacious bathroom featuring a large tub of faux stone with a small waterfall. A small label on the tub was marked Local Hydro-Waste Cycling System. Alex noticed a label on the toilet said the same thing and read it aloud to Mary, who was trying to figure out how the tub’s waterfall worked.
“Waste? Great. We’ll be drinking our own pee for the duration, I suppose.” She shuddered.
“Yummy.”
Negative as Mary was sounding, Alex noticed that she had relaxed almost as soon as they got inside. “Whew,” she said, removing her glasses and peering out the bedroom window. “The view is better from here.”
“Is there a problem, my love?” He put an arm on Mary’s shoulder. “Are you saying you can’t deal …?”
“No. I’ll just discreetly throw up during our pleasant strolls outside.” She unhooked Inky’s leash and smiled as he ran off to explore the house. “But … if Inky can deal with it, so can I.”
“Yeah, he’s right at home.” He hugged her tighter, feeling a bit relieved.
It took a few hours to determine where everything was located, and there seemed to be few problems. Food processors had yet to be installed, but the cooler was well stocked and the cabinets were supplied with dry food, and Alex assured Mary, and himself, that everything would be in working order when they returned from their trip into the reef.
They ended up in the com room where Mary placed the data cube Johnny had given her into the com unit. While the program loaded she went to the bathroom. Meanwhile Alex reviewed the programs that scrolled on the large flat screen over the com. One was called Diver , and another was identified as “Strategic Reef Simulation”.
Alex was about to activate the latter when the front door-chime rang. Their bags had arrived, minus those slated to be stowed aboard Diver . He thanked the delivery driver and watched as the man got into his spindly vehicle. Despite an oversized load of bags and suitcases the tiny car rolled away easily down the lane.
Studying the details of the biocylinder visible above the trees, Alex could see trucks moving along roadways in the distance, the giant lakebed to their left, buildings, groves of trees. All these details were enclosed in a grid of mammoth proportions. The more he looked at it, the more symmetry he saw in the details. Most of the surface buildings seemed to be grouped in clusters, like towns, and most of these were located at his end of the Biosphere. The rest of the landscape was broken up into farmland.
Back inside, Alex shouted to Mary, “Looks like we’re situated at the business end of the tube.”
Mary came out of the bathroom naked, smiling, and wearing a neck patch. “The cabinet has all my medication,” she said. “How nice. After a year with the Gannys I’d forgotten what efficiency is.”
“It’s a tradeoff, my love,” said Alex. “Efficiency versus humanity.”
Mary ran to Alex and jumped on him, wrapping her slender legs around his waist. Together they tumbled onto the couch. “Lust versus headache,” she said, biting his lip gently. Her nimble fingers tugged at the zipper of his togs and had them open in no time. “It’s been weeks, Alex,” she breathed
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