Coffee Date
Dawn sat at the train station, aimlessly scrolling through her messages. Her AI was doing its best to summarize each conversation but was probably strained by her popularity.
“Dawn?” came a quiet voice.
She saw a shy boy flick the hair out of his eyes. He looked just like his profile. It wasn’t surprising, as each dater was given a head scan to verify their identity.
“Yes, that’s me. It’s good to meet you Lincoln,” she said as she held out her hand.
Lincoln nervously shook back. His hand was sweating. He quickly wiped his pant leg after.
“You made good time,” she said cordially.
The train pulled into the station as she said that. It was sleek and quiet, using the latest magnetic levitation to minimize drag.
He let her get on first, the sign of a gentleman. As the train lurched forward, she leaned herself into his side. He must’ve been too nervous to take the hint. He even took a step away from her.
Their conversation was brief and banal. She found it difficult to draw a conversation out of him. He’d give brief answers, sometimes just a single word, and refused to elaborate.
Then, something caught her eye out the window. She pointed to it with a grin.
“See that? That’s the original fusion plant that powered Prometheus. You know, when the first settlers arrived.”
“Oh cool.”
“Isn’t that exciting? To see such a piece of history? Doesn’t that make you wonder about your own place in the world?”
“Yeah, no. Not really.”
Dawn frowned. This guy was less interesting in person than in his profile. She worried that he may have been using AI to chat on his behalf. But then what would the point be?
“This is our stop,” he announced, his back now turned to her.
The two of them got out. They had traveled quite far, and were now at the city of New Eden. She didn’t like being out in the smaller urban centers. They just lacked the life of Prometheus.
“It’s just around the corner,” he said, as they ascended the escalator.
Much like him, the coffee shop was not nearly as nice as had been promised. The walls had been covered in a layer of dust and the windows had small cracks inside the glass.
As they got their drinks and sat down, she hoped she could finally coax out a conversation.
“Have any exciting plans for next semester?”
He was staring out the window. But she didn’t see anything out there.
“No, not really.”
“What exactly are you studying? I don’t remember what you said.”
“I haven’t decided yet. But I’ll take some general classes until I find my calling.”
“Well, what exactly do you want to do?”
“Not much.”
She couldn’t stand it anymore.
“I can’t finish this conversation,” she stood up. “Don’t you realize how privileged we are to be living today, in this era? Not long ago our ancestors were bound to a single planet. Today, we can go to any planet and moon in our system. We can do anything we set our minds to, and you seem adamant on squandering it.”
He looked up at her and she stared back. His eyes looked enticing, but behind them was a lack of motivation.
“I’m sorry to have wasted your time,” she said as she walked out the door.
As she sat down at the train station, she pulled out her pocket pad. Dozens of new messages had flooded in. Each one offered a new opportunity. The biggest question she had to answer was which one to do first.
This short story was inspired by the terrapunk manifesto, a proposed movement radically pro-human and progress. In the original post, the author suggests topics like nuclear fusion and increasing the population as we develop an equilibrium with nature on our terms.
Much like solarpunk, these tend to be visual movements first and foremost, offering lush cities and futuristic transportation. But how do these translate to short stories in particular?
I think much of our recent sci-fi, at least in the past few decades, has prioritized doom and pessimism over a bright path forward. In that regard I think terrapunk has something to offer. I think it does align with my vision for this anthology, and perhaps we’ll develop some mutual inspiration.