All my noise, all my motion went shockingly unnoticed by the herds of gray-clad workers walking with shuffling feet to their next fairshare shift or back to cramped slumber pods. Eyes stayed glued to the ground ahead, and each countenance bore that same familiar defeated veil.

Had I gone mad, or had the world? That was a silly question. The world went mad a generation ago, when individuality and freedom were sacrificed for safety and productivity. Not that I’m one for politics, just bitter self-preservation.

And what of my self I was so intent on preserving? I stopped in the middle of the mag-way, an anomalous blip in the eddies of despair. Looking down I saw that I sparkled, really shone and shimmered. This was not my body. This was not normal. This was pretty delking cool.

My body, broken and defeated, lay in a re-education cell. I was outside, unseen and unheard. And I was shiny. You have no idea what it’s like in a drab monotonous world. I guess that explains why he was staring.