winter arrived. Cal's first since leaving earth. Without the snow. It didn't feel like winter here in space. The only reason he even felt somewhat connected to winter was the calls from Marianna. She had moved to someplace where there was a lot of snow. She loved it. An ice...

He finally awoke. Realized that he had been dreaming. Dreamed that he was back on earth. The cold air of  Spacecity washed over his skin. Rainforest elevator music played softly in the common area that connected his room to three others'. He didn't have a contagious disease so he didn't...

"Welcome to the  Gas City   diner !"

No one replied. The face in the reflecting glass stared back. Marianna pretended she was the waitress at the diner. She liked talking to herself like that. Pretend that she was at the diner. She would say it over and over again. "Welcome to...

Every car on the street was white. This made Sally think everybody who lived on the street was pragmatic. She wondered how long a cargo utility van could last. A lot of people made their living in them. Plumbers. Electricians. Carpenters.

What lended to these utility vans lasting so long? Sally's...

"What's it to you? What makes you think you know so much about another man's life?"

The bastard Chris was right. Cal thought he was close to Keith. So much that he'd decided that he ought to get Keith kicked out of his home. This was Keith's home in fact. Space....

The phone call ended up in Marianna hanging up on Keith.

It hurt him at first. But after a long coffee and a walk around the hallways he cooled down. She was right in some ways. That he was always making a big deal out of every little thing. That he'd...

Near  Baltimore was a concrete building. Sparse windows, three storeys, in the middle of a commercial park. When Derek saw it his older brother pointed it out. "Did you know that's a secret government building?"

Derek didn't believe. Although he liked the idea of it. So he asked for more details.

"It's...

The chances were slim. Considered impossible actually. To guess an  ethereum or  bitcoin address' private key. You could just guess numbers... because that's all a  private key was. And if you got the right one then the  Blockchain gave you access as though you were the rightful owner. Because to...

"Why's this son of a gun drive all that way?"

"Mexican food."

"What?"

"Chipotle."

"Keith. You know that ain't damn Mexican food."

"Whatever. I don't care if  Chipotle is Mexican or not. Look at this."

"What am I looking at?"

Keith pointed to the bottom right corner of the dashboard and began to explain.

----

Dave never thought he'd...

Sitting at the  Chipotle was Dave. The cook. He was nursing a bowl of chicken, beans, and rice. Coincidence that he was here.

"Hi, Dave."

"Oh. Max. Hi."

"You live around here?" Max asked slow. Raising his pitch so Dave didn't feel obligated to answer.

"Nah. Just the nearest Chipotle. Can you believe it?"

"I...