Page 63 - Demo

Cooper K. Scherer
Baptism at Amymone
I thumbed the slick edge of the ticket. Class A-1 travel. Retirement at last, 15 years of labour (Plato 380 BCE, 540a) for a thin shiny slip of polypaper. Three stars gleamed up at me, coming to light as my thumb passed over their smooth faces. Thank you for your hard work, they said. It was a tantalising thought. One many of my former coworkers seemed to relish or disdain. They’d gathered around me earlier, as the cake was cut and the lone candle blown out. Well wishers and hearty backslapping, funereal wake goers and snide remarks about a recent improvement in quality. A saccharine reward and a career, snuffed out. I had yet to decide how I felt about it.
The agent in the booth operated like clockwork as they churned through the people ahead of me, I couldn’t help but muse on the irony as I shuffled forward like so many had before me towards judgement. A small man fidgeted ahead of me, checking his chrono repeatedly and smoothing his bald head. He was sweating profusely, shining glisteningly ahead of me as we trudged ever onward. It was not long before he was before the operator, who examined his ticket before pressing an array of buttons.
“Congratulations on your new posting, Major.” they said without so much as a smile, not even looking up. He returned with a small performatory grin to the agent’s downward face, before quickly scuttling past him and away onto the passenger umbilical. I slid forward to replace him. A pawn promoted, another to fill his place below. I placed my slip into the open slot. A pause. The quick hiss of an actuated door as a scrawny person exited the booth. Their eyes, cold, grey, arrested mine as he extended his hand.
“Thank you for your service, sir.” he beamed. Murmurrations took the queue. A mother pointed to me and whispered into their child’s ear. One thing was sure, I would not miss being a spectacle. The agent handed me my ticket, now with thin black bars running lengthwise. They quickly re-ensconced themselves in their booth as I turned and faced the mouth of my new future, another pawn replaced me on the tiles. Staring down