Adam came to a stop just outside The Meadows, bending over with exhaustion, holding his upper body with his arms pressed against his knees.
"Hell of a night for an evening run, Mr Ashworth" one of the Aegis security personnel said, stood outside the only entrance to The Meadows estate.
"Either I run, and get away from the missus, or...well...do you give alibis?" Adam quipped with a knowing smirk. It quickly vanished when he realised he was going home to an empty building. It had been like this for months, ever since his wife Eleanor was promoted.
"If CILLA wasn't listening, I'd give you an alibi no problem, Mr Ashworth" the guard turned to his colleague - sat inside the control room for the gate - and motioned for him to open it. He then turned back to Adam and wished him a peaceful evening.
The large fibre-reinforced polymer lattice gate opened inward, splitting in the middle to reveal the main driveway through the estate. Adam was always amazed at how quickly the thing could open, even if you approached it in a car, it knew when an employee of one of the big three was trying to enter and would open automatically. The fact the same gate was still protecting The Meadows after Adam had seen it survive a direct impact from an HGV back in '86, during the riots, was testament to how well it was constructed. Adam walked through the gateway at first, then began to jog again once he was through the archway.
The evening was hot, sticky and humid, but Adam didn't care. He ran for many reasons; to stay fit, to clear his mind, to avoid being home alone once the staff left. The Meadows was a sprawling, luxury estate, situated at the furthest, and newest part of the city of Alderbourne. Unlike the rest of the city, which was laid out in geometric grids, The Meadows was designed to be more natural. It had meandering and whimsical roadways, which carved a fluid path through the spacious estate. Each street was lined with the wealthiest homes built during The Meadows project. It was exclusively reserved for corporate executives of the Big Three; Adam belonged to Calder Energy, so he lived in Meadows West, right at the very edge of the estate.
Safely inside his walled paradise, Adam hid his hands in his pockets, his fingertips pressing against the seam of his running shorts. His back stiffened, his gait narrowed, his body began to tense. He kept his pace measured, though the urge to quicken never subsided. Walking through The Meadows, Adam was reminded with every passing home that he had achieved much, but it all felt so fragile. The "Corporate Utopia" he had dreamed of inhabiting since he was a lad was now the place he calls home.
Adam was just old enough to remember the marketing of this new estate, the "Oasis of the Future - The Meadows". Alderbourne brought affordable, 3D printed housing to the masses. The Meadows was about wealth, prosperity, security. Here he was, living in a gated community made using the same technology as the rest of the city, yet each home cost many multiples more than the one he grew up in.
The sun was setting behind the homes, giving them a halo of light whilst casting long shadows across the main drive. Adam stuck to the shadows, seeming to want to sneak home before anyone saw him.
"Helloooo Adam..." He tried to continue jogging, but the neighbour got in front of his path.
"Oh my god, you are absolutely soaked! Why don't you come in, darling? We should get you stripped off!"
"Ah Mrs Beddoes, that won't be..."
"Nonsense, Adam. I won't tell Eleanor if you don't". Adam wasn't sure if she was persistent in trying to gain his affection or enjoyed making him feel uncomfortable.
"Same, Mrs Beddoes. I don't think she'd be too impressed with either of us if she heard half the things you say to me when we're alone" Adam said as he came to stop just in front of the older lady. He placed his hands inside his shorts pockets. Mrs Beddoes was wearing a full business suit despite having arrived home hours ago and it being over 30 degrees outside.
"Well, maybe you should stop being alone with me, Adam? No, no no, I take that back. Definitely don't stop." She reached out her hand, placing it on Adam's forearm, before recoiling.
"Jesus Christ Adam, you really are sopping. As much as I adore being in your company, I only stopped you to pass on a message. Will you tell Eleanor that we have a board meeting in the morning. I asked CILLA to ping her the reminder but, she said her phone was offline. I'm guessing she's-"
"Still at the office? She sure is. Said she had something important to do. You'll probably see her before I do" Adam rubbed the inside seam of his shorts pocket. Mrs Beddoes smiled "well, if she is going to be late..." she reached for Adam's arm a second time, before recoiling as she felt the sweat drip off him.
"Adam, you should really take a shower." He had already moved away as her voice trailed off behind him.
Adam's mobile phone began to vibrate, but as he pulled it out, a kid shrieked just before crashing into him. Both Adam and the young lad went tumbling to the floor. Adam looked up to see a pair of pre-teens racing e-wheels. He cursed under his breath as the boy shouted; "Oi, you crashed in to me! You made me lose!"
"No, you crashed-"
"Look at my new scooter! You've broke it!" the lad jammed his finger into Adam's chest, who wobbled as he rose to his feet.
"Hey, hey, look, calm it! Look, let's just-"
"MUUUUMMMMMM!" the lad turned to face the nearest home, bellowing loud enough to wake the dead.
"Right, shut it, ya little shit! You crashed in to me. I'll buy you a new scooter, in fact, here, watch, you got your phone on you?"
"Yeah. Always."
"Great. Where's....mine?" Adam patted his pockets for his phone. He looked around the area he'd landed and saw it on the grass verge. this better not be...Adam picked up the phone, which was now sporting a nasty crack down the entire length of its screen..."fuck sake" Adam muttered to himself. He took the phone in his left hand and placed his right hand in his shorts pocket.
"CILLA, are you alive?"
"Good evening, Mr Ashworth. No, I'm not alive. I'm a Community Intelligence Liaison and Living Assistant, built by Apex Intelligence-"
"Yeah, I know CILLA. What I really meant was, is my phone borked or can you hear me. You can hear me. Good. Can you transfer this fine young gentleman-" the lad stared at Adam with his head cocked sideways.
"One thousand? That cover it?" Adam looked at the pre-teen, waiting for a response.
"er....Yeah....Yeah that cover it."
"Great! CILLA, transfer a thousand to this young man...Check your CILLA...has she got it yet?" Adam pointed at the boy to check his phone.
"Nah, nothing yet."
"One moment, Mr Ashworth. I'm having difficulty accessing your account."
"I'm sorry Mr Ashworth, there appears to be an issue with your account. Should I-"
"No, CILLA, stop. Look kid, see that big house at the end? That's where I live. Look, don't cause a scene, come by tomorrow and I'll give you the cash, ok? Looks like I'm having issues connecting to Zenith right now. We good?"
"But what about my-"
"I just said....to come by tomorrow. Ok? Who's your mum? She work at Calder?"
"er....Yeah. Why?"
"Tell her Adam Ashworth wants you to wash his car for him tomorrow, he's promised you a job and some spending money for the summer break."
"I'm not washing your fuc-"
"JUST, tell her." Adam's phone began to vibrate in his hand. He placed it in his pocket.
"Ok. I will. Ashworth?"
"Ashworth. This time-let's call it 7.30pm- tomorrow night. My home. I'll have the money. We good?"
"Yeah. Sure. You better." The lad grabbed his e-wheel and stared at it. Adam gently brushed the lad away, directing him towards his home. He started to jog again when he got a shooting pain in his left knee. "Little shit," Adam muttered to himself. Adam's phone began to vibrate again.
He took the last turn at the far end of The Meadows, the final stretch before home, and saw one of the Calder senior directors standing on their front lawn. Adam pulled his phone out, not for the notifications but to avoid further eye contact, when he remembered he got a phone call before being knocked over by the runaway e-racer. He scrolled through the long list of notifications.
15 Missed Calls 6 Voice Messages 3 Text Messages
He was in no mood to check through everything. Instead, he asked CILLA to deliver an update about the day's events, which included the meetings about his current project, a note about the next "Community Care" event, a voice message from his wife, and several missed calls and messages from his secretary.
"She never leaves me alone..." He turned the device off.
Adam was almost home when nearby, a clutch of neighbourhood parents gathered on the synthetic lawn of their front yard. Adam never understood how these people could work together all day, and then spend the evenings socialising. Especially as they were all competing for the best performance, highest stats, the biggest pay rise. The corporations rewarded the best, and to be the best you had to be cut-throat. Every gesture was a performance. Adam recognised two faces from the office, one from a boardroom briefing he'd attended earlier that day and another from HR onboarding videos. They waved. He nodded, automatic and precise, never breaking stride. He still pressed his fingertips against the seam of his running shorts pocket.
He passed the last home before his own, and could smell the synthetic perfumes of front-yard flora and a dense aroma of an outdoor fire pit. But beneath it all was the unmistakable tang of ozone drifting from Calder Prime. It was Calder Energy's flagship power plant, which loomed just beyond Alderbourne's city-edge, its "clean" technology still bleeding unseen exhaust and fumes into the wind. The faint scent had woven itself so thoroughly into the local air that Adam only noticed it after time away.
Adam turned onto his driveway, winding and paved, the house itself set atop an incline. He looked up at the entrance to his home, which, by anyone's standard, was palatial, with more space than he'd ever dreamed of having growing up. His foyer alone was larger than the entire footprint of the house he grew up in. The facade was pristine, as perfect as the day it was printed. He'd lived there three years, since he was promoted. There wasn't a crack, nor a stain. The Meadows didn't tolerate imperfection.
He approached the front door, a large, pivot door with a small window near the top, where he heard the unmistakable sound of CILLA coming to life—a high pitched oscillation, like an AI yawning as it woke up. CILLA would anticipate Adam's arrival and wake the house up for him. But, as he'd turned his phone off, she lost her direct connection to him. She saw him on the outdoor cameras, already anticipating his arrival. Adam hesitated at the threshold. His fingertips were sore as he'd been rubbing the seam of his shorts the entire walk home. He looked up at the door camera when sensed its subtle pivot tracking him. He reached for the door handle. The lock disengaged the moment his fingers touched it. Seamless. CILLA was always seamless.