The night sky used to be clean. It had some semblance of clarity long ago, now the only things that come close to bright stars are the sprawling numbers of off-world ships. Joi has never seen a star, felt the rain or touched the lips of her lover. This Earth she drifts in, damaged and irreparable, is not her mother, no her true children have hacked and burned their way to other safe havens, leaving the lesser and the artificial to cling to a ghost. To Joi, this is home.
Home is also a shoebox, one that takes mere seconds to cross the length of. Near-luxury living for the overpopulated. A drab grey colour palette does a more-than-disappointing job at sprucing up the place for both inhabitants, the only colours that don't match the monotone world's are the splash of spring grass green and enigmatic auburn. The green; Kay's favourite colour, pasted to his bedroom wall like a cherished banner, it was the colour of her eyes after all and the one that dug deepest into him. As for the auburn, that was Joi's hair dancing around the apartment in a flowing display, specifically tailored to Kay's eyes, catching them whenever he walked in. A subtle blend of coffee with a hint of cherry.
With a jarring thud, the front door flew open with Kay clinging to the handle. On first inspection of him, like a repeating memory, she can never tell what takes more of a beating, Kay's leather overcoat from the gloomy environment or his soft face from his dicey profession.
"I don't suppose you took this one alive this time?" Joi said with a condescending tone, though the question was rife with worry, she knew his job could get him killed one day.
"If they just came quietly then I wouldn't have to burden you with the state I'm in now" Kay smiled in his answer. He wasn't pleased to be 'home', he was happy to see her. Reaching into the breast pocket of his overcoat Kay produced a small rectangular object, roughly the size of a phone.
"I got you something today, let's take you outside" Kay's smile still unwavering in the wake of his glee.
"Kay, you know I can't..." Joi had fallen into a spell of sadness. She looked away to the green wall and appeared to be ashamed at Kay's proposition.
"With this, there's nowhere you can't be." He gestured once again to the emulator that he held in his hands. Joi's gaze met with his once again, the spell had been broken.
"Are you sure it will work, I'll be with you?" Joi said. Kay nodded with contentment and turned to the panel on the wall near the door. A few minutes later the emulator was working, Joi stood there in suspense, almost frozen.
Kay walked out into the night. He'd only just been out in it moments ago but it somehow had gotten colder, the wind was nearly non-existent but the snow was now the purest of white linen all around the city. He turned away from studying the weather to the doors of the plaza, his emulator still in his pocket. He gripped it tightly with anticipation. In the dead of night and the eerie silence of the snow-capped streets, Joi crept out slowly. She felt like a small mouse emerging from it's hole, stepping out into the bigger picture, her frame; gone.
No words were spoken, for these precious minutes were all for her to experience. Joi's head was almost bubbling over with seemingly endless adjectives for her emotions. Kay fell silent for as long as she did. His eyes never lost sight of her face, this was his gift to her and he took solace in her smiles and studious looks. She reached out with her hands to hold the droplets of snow and one-by-one they shimmered through her. She twirled her hands through the air and the snow was greeting her with the same shimmer. In a moment of inquisitiveness and pure euphoria, Joi dropped to the white blanket and moved in the motion of a snow angel.
Kay slumped into the same pit of sadness Joi had back in the confines of the apartment and he too was ashamed. He looked at the emulator and back at her, elated with the snow, she knew what was happening or rather... what wasn't. Joi left no imprint in the snow, not anywhere. The emulator glitched for a moment.
Joi was the one shimmering against the snow.
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