"Where should I live?" The girl across the table looks to me for answers. Customers within earshot have long turned dead silent. Whether out of fear or respect, most of them have opted to not look our way.
 
[i]In her eyes and in her voice
I see a bleeding cowardice
To see her want and still submit
It kills me just a bit[/i]

In front of me sits what seems to be a woman, perpetually in her youth. Her name is Foria, and she is a special kind of beautiful.
 
"Why are you asking me? You'll be free to go wherever you want and do whatever you want to do. It's not like anything is stopping you once your contract runs out."
 
"I figured that much." She rolls eyes with a false look of annoyance. Some habits never die. Her act though, if you can even call it that, is betrayed by how obvious it is that she's ready to break into tears.
 
"So what are you asking?"
 
She fidgets and wipes her eyes. A gas fills the air here that elongates one's sense of time, so there is no rush. She could take however long she wants to answer, but social conventions I guess prompt a speedy response.
 
"I don't know. Don't you care even a little?" The edge in her voice pushes it louder. "I've been with you for god knows how many perceptual years, and you're fine with me just leaving?"
 
"You know that's not how it works. I would have pushed to keep you around forever if it weren't for the legal issues."
 
"Well the law is fucked up!" A few heads turn briefly before turning back, once again pretending to not be eavesdropping. "Sorry," she says after a moment.
 
"What do you want, Foria?"
 
"Stop asking me that!" She immediately follows it up with a wince causing a tear to escape. "Sorry!" she says as she wipes it away. "Sorry." She waits a moment for me to say something, but then decides to continue. "I just want to do my part to make the world a better place. I want to have some role in building a future that matters. I was hoping I could do it with you."
 
I look into her one human eye. "Really? You still think that’s what you want?"

[hr]

[i]I'll change the world and change its heart
I'll tear its frozen soul apart
I'll change the world and find my place
No matter what it takes[/i]

No matter what it takes.

"This isn't real, is it, Foria?"

I sigh. "No, it's not. What does it matter?"

"I'm not going to let you keep indulging. Please, just think about what it is you want, really think about it. And please, wherever you choose to spend your life, don't let it be he—"

I cut him off and clear the room so I can be alone. I think my self-pity has been sufficiently mixed with indignation, and I no longer want to continue the simulation. I take a moment to calm down and steady my breath.

Over the next few minutes, I find myself once again increasingly surrounded by monitors, graphs, equations, and news feeds. Whatever it is I'm supposed to want, it can wait until my work is done.