Credit: Jamie Tufrey

At last. Taking a deep breath, Amaranta clawed at the door handle and staggered out of the taxi. The sidewalk was lined with a few stunted trees, smothered by the noxious haze. She stepped inside the building, and only when she heard the low hum of the decontaminate air recirculator kick on did she allow herself to breathe.

The receptionist gave her the documents required for closing. "Read and sign these. Your majority partner already signed, and we're doing final processing on him now. Then we'll get you processed."

Amaranta took the pages, momentarily disappointed that she'd missed meeting Rohan in the flesh. Probably better that way, she thought. She looked through the papers and then shuffled back to the receptionist's desk.

"This 'Discounts for Disposition of Organic Properties' section." She pointed to the section. "I thought I could get a discount if I donated my organic peripheral to science. A hospital or university or something."

The receptionist laughed out loud. "They've got more bodies than they know what to do with. I don't think you could pay them to take it. And unless you've got some other disposal method worked out, you need to check this box to request us to dispose of it. It's an additional $45 charge."

Amaranta scowled. Worthless. Totally worthless. Less than worthless, she grumbled to herself as she checked the box to request disposal. She'd just finished signing when they rolled Rohan out. She hunched over the hermetically sealed cylinder and peered inside.

A hairless, wizened face lolled on its side. A feeding tube left the mouth wedged open, exposing the toothless gums. The devices that had kept his blood pumping and lungs breathing dwarfed his shrunken body.

No wonder Rohan hadn't wanted to consider waiting in downtime and was so insistent about closing on the home immediately. She doubted he could have lasted much longer in this peripheral.

Disgusting, really, being trapped like that. But his misfortune, her gain. She lumbered to the processing chamber and plopped onto a chair. A technician settled the transfer equipment around her.

"The excision will be totally painless," a doctor said, and then he pierced her arm with a syringe.

Aramanta's eyelids fluttered. The bright lights in the room faded. She stood in front of her new house. She gasped in delight. They had a transit booth right in their entrance.

She could hear Rohan whooping in a far corner of the home. She roamed through the rooms. Exquisite, she thought. She checked the memory allocations. Her thoughts swirled as she contemplated which upgrades she would opt for first.

She glided through the double French doors that opened onto a wide balcony. Lush hills stretched to the horizon. A flower-scented breeze gently engulfed her. She opened her arms wide as if to embrace the world, every electron tingling in the warmth of the bright Sun. She had never felt more alive.