I grew up in various major cities around the country. My mom brokered the terms of mergers between major banks and corporations and whatnot. She was one of the best at what she did, which meant she was often called upon when things were particularly complicated or contentious. It meant long term projects requiring us to move based on the location of various headquarters. The long and short of it is that all of my formative years were spent learning to navigate a new urban environment.
All of the cities we lived in were unique. Some were diverse, others were very monochromatic, with a slight variation in shade by not much in an actual color shift. Some were violent and dangerous, others were tame. Some were vibrant and interesting, others were gentrified beyond the point of no return, practically suburbs stacked up high instead of spread out across the sprawl.
Yet, for all the differences, there was usually a rhythm I could sense that would help me adjust. I’d just have to get a sense what what that city’s particular version of the rhythm was, get in step with it, and I’d be able to manage until it was time to move again. The adjustments got easier and easier over time, until staying still would have been the real challenge.
Take me out of a city, though, and I have no idea how to deal. And I am currently about as far from a city as someone can get. I sometimes go weeks without seeing another human face in person, unless Jeanine comes by to drop off fuel and supplies. I’m lonely, and I’m pretty sure I’m losing my mind. Such is life on a mining station on an asteroid that only requires one person to operate it. I’m a guinea pig, because they are paying me extra to see how I do alone, since normally they’d send out more people than was strictly required to do the job, just for mental health reasons.
I thought that, after all those term-limited stints I had growing up that I could adapt to anything for a time, but I was very, very wrong. I’m not adapting to this at all, even if I am halfway through.
There was a time I felt bad for folks who lived in small towns or the country. Right about now I would kill to be able to upgrade to a small town.
When they say that in space, no one can hear you scream, they should have added that there’d be no one there to hear it anyway. I need to get home.
trigger fiction. 