text: Attention: Flight 3212 for Levit's Place will depart in a half-hour. Please be at the gate with your luggage. Dorothy looks at her old suitcase and at the people in the gate. All of them are dressed in clothes that went out of style several centuries ago. They are all reading books or watching television. She looks over at the glass wall separating them from the rest of the terminal. Passengers arrive at the exact moment the flight leaves. They do not have luggage, and the flight will probably have amenities to keep them busy. The AI has taken over life for maximum efficiency. She looks over at a wall and sees an old brochure case. She takes out one for Levit's Place. It markets itself as a way to escape to the hustle and bustle of modern life. The only place in the galaxy where community maintains its meaning is in the floating spaceship. It offers genuine privacy and a chance to bring back a level of unpredictability. The last page of the brochure shows a meet-cute which rarely happens these days. A hologram of a flight attendant appears at the front of the gate. The passengers scan their paper boarding-passes and walk to the plane. The interior mirrors a Pan-Am airplane. The two flight attendants have a blue patch that indicates that they are human. Human flight attendants. Perhaps Dorothy could get that job on Levit's Place. They run through the old instruction videos on space travel and fly. Dorothy reads an old book along the way. When they reach Levit's Place, it is a sprawling suburban oasis. Cars have been designed to imitate the old designs. The houses are all made of a plastic-fiber in a wood or brick pattern. All of the attire is period based. Dorothy smiles. She is home. She walks to the job placement center to await her next destination. The woman sitting behind the screen stands out in a shocking display of modernity. Her enhancements are visible, and her clothes are clearly designed to shift for her mood. The computer in front of her is small with a holographic display. Dorothy is disappointed by this, but she understands that not all of the town can be in the past. "Alright, according to this you have a bronze pass, correct?" she asks. "Yes, I was looking through the brochure. I found the accountant occupation to be quite interesting," Dorothy replies. "Alright, you will have to work ten years for that job," the woman replies. "What? I thought all jobs are available," Dorothy says. "They are. The passes allow you to skip lines. Be glad this is not a copper pass. They would have to work twenty years," the woman says. "What jobs are immediately available to me?" Dorothy asks. "Let's see. You have no typing skills, your human-oriented social skills are low, your creativity marks are average," the woman keeps looking, "Did you take any time before this to work on your skills?" "No," Dorothy says, "I thought this town would take care of it for me. Besides how much do I really have to know." "Oh dear, a romantic," the woman rolls her eyes, "Listen a lot of the skills needed to survive in this timeframe went out of fashion several centuries ago. The only people who develop them are hobbyists. We are going to have to place you in a program to survive here." "A program?? Will that cost me extra?" Dorothy asks. "Don't worry. Bronze accounts for this. I have already summoned a taxi who will take you to your next destination, goodbye," the woman says. Before Dorothy can reply, she is forced out of the room by the nanites. A small yellow taxi is waiting for her. She carefully walks up to the cab and opens the handle. "What about your suitcase?" the cab driver asks. Dorothy looks down and realizes that it is sitting next to her. "Do I have to take care of that?" she asks. "Oh god, a romantic," the cab driver sighs and gets out of the vehicle. He puts the suitcase in the trunk before sitting back down. Dorothy sits in the car. "Buckle your seatbelt," the cab driver says. Dorothy looks around, "Oh god." The cab driver moves to the back and instructs Dorothy on how to buckle her seatbelt. "Listen. You are probably like I was a few years ago. A romantic idealist who thought the past was amazing and that modern life is horrible. Let me tell you. Modern life is great. It took me years to learn the basics. As soon as you can, leave," he says. "I am going to a program to help," she says. "That is how they get you. You have a Bronze pass so you won't get as badly trapped as I was, but you will be forced to sign a contract. You will have to pledge more years to take electives that should've been core content. You will be spending the next few years of your life here wishing you could go back," he says as he starts driving to the program. "What is the point of this place then?" Dorothy says. "Honestly, a big conspiracy is that nostalgic places were developed as a way to get rid of the Neo-Luddites like us. They just change the time period to suit the person," he says. "I am not a Neo-Luddite," Dorothy says. "You are here. You are a Neo-Luddite. Enjoy your stay. I heard that it is purposefully made to be discomforting to force you to accept technology when you are released," he stops in front of a large building. Dorothy struggles to unbuckle the seatbelt. By the time she gets out. She stares at the large building. It is drab and windowless. Why would anyone want to live here especially in contrast to the beautiful surrounding houses? Dorothy takes a breath. If her ancestors could survive, she could too. She walks to the door and waits for it to open. A guard rolls his eyes and opens it for her. Well maybe she can't survive as well as she thought. r/AstroRideWrites.