“Simms!” Lexington barked. “I placed a Travel Pass in your Eye-feed. Make it quick. They’ve tightened the timeline on ExtraDomestic Excursions. If it looks like you’re going to run out of time, give me a call on the Eye before your Travel Pass expires or the Enforcers will pick you up and I’ll have to pay to get you back.”
“Yes, Mr. Lexington,” Simms replied, addressing the space above Lexington’s left shoulder in order to avoid the impudence of making eye contact. “How long do I have, sir?”
“The timer starts once you exit the gate and leave the property. There’s usually a Carmmon Common Car every five minutes. You should arrive at the store within twelve minutes. Ten minutes for you to wait in line, collect the order from the bin, and flash your eye with my ID code. I’ve given you forty-five minutes, which should provide you with a minute to spare.”
“Yes, sir.”
Simms flashed his eye at the back door sensor and was blown back by the force of the wind when it slid open. A storm drove the rain so hard that it stung the bare skin of his hands and face. He was soaked by the time he exited the gate.
“Sir, flooding has impaired the progress of the Carmmon vehicles,” Simms told Lexington through his Eye. “I will need an extension on my Travel Pass so that I’ll have time to…”
“Yes, yes. Fine. Let me just…” A blinding flash of light was followed by a deafening explosion which drowned out Lexington’s reply, but Simms saw the timer on his Day Pass jump from 45 minutes to Unlimited! Lexington must have seen the extent of the storm and didn’t want to take any chances. Soon the next Carmmon arrived and trudged Simms through the slop to his destination.
“Hello, Simms?” Lexington said after he was cut off by the lightning strike. There was no reply. and by the time he reached the gate, he was gone. He couldn’t reach him on the Eye either. When he got to his back door, it wouldn’t open for him. It just flashed a message saying that entry was dependent on the approval of the resident.
“But I AM the resident!” Lexington screamed at his reflection in the door. He tried to call for help, but received the error message: “No external calls permitted.”
After spending a fruitless half-hour trying to enter his hermetically-sealed home, he caught a Carmmon to the nearest Enforcer station.
“My name is Jay Lexington. I’m a member of the Leisure Class and I’ve been locked out of my home.”
“Sir, I need you to follow this security drone to the holding cells.”
“Holding cells?”
“Yes. You are being arrested for impersonating a member of the Leisure Class.”
“But I’m Jay Lexing…”
“Your Eye clearly identifies you as George Simms, Working Class, and shows you out on an expired Day Pass. You will remain in custody until your employer pays your fine.”
Literature in Small Doses 