A Comfortable Distance

It was past seven by the time Mia finally left the café.

Her place was only a fifteen-minute walk away, but she called a car anyway. A few minutes later, a silver vehicle pulled up with no one in the driver's seat. As soon as Mia got into the back, the door closed and the air-conditioning adjusted to her usual temperature.

The beach drifted past outside the window. Strangers shared beers, exchanged contact information, and made plans to go surfing together the next morning.

Mia had been like that when she first arrived in Bali.

They would talk about meeting in Chiang Mai the next month or Lisbon that summer. They meant it when they said it, but once the city changed, most of those connections faded after a few messages.

Mia didn't mind relationships like that.

Dating was different.

You had to make time for someone. Explain why you replied late. Maybe even think twice before deciding where to go next on your own.

She got lonely sometimes, but freedom was still easier.

When she got home, the door unlocked on its own. The lights came on, the air-conditioning kicked in, and the apartment AI informed her that the laundry was done before reminding her, with unnecessary persistence, that she still hadn't eaten dinner.

Mia set her bag on the chair across from her at the dining table.

There were two chairs.

Only one of them ever had a person sitting in it.

A message from her mother appeared.

Just let me hear your voice.

Mia hesitated, then tapped the call button.

"Did you eat?"

"A sandwich."

"That's not a meal."

"It is here."

Her mother worried again that Mia had sent too much money home. Then came the question Mia had been expecting.

"You're coming home this year, right?"

Mia looked out the window. Someone at the pool next door jumped into the water, laughing.

"I'll come at the end of the year."

"You said that last year."

"This time I mean it."

After a brief silence, her mother asked,

"Do you at least get to go to the beach?"

Mia laughed.

"Yeah. It's beautiful. I see it all the time."

After the call, she meant to look at flights.

Instead, a new job popped up on her screen. The deadline was tight, but the pay was good.

Mia stared at it for a moment, then accepted.

She could look at flights over the weekend.

The next night, Mia arrived forty minutes late to Clara's farewell party.

"Look who finally made it."

Clara hugged her and handed her a glass of champagne.

"Sorry. Work ran late."

"I'm getting tired of hearing that."

Clara was leaving for Lisbon in two days. They had spent six months together in Bali, but neither of them had made plans for when they would see each other again.

Most of the people at the party were the same.

Tokyo. Chiang Mai. Singapore.

Everyone could tell you where they were going next. Almost no one could tell you when they would see each other again.

On one of the sofas, a seventeen-year-old boy from Singapore was talking about himself.

He had made good money building an ad program for AR lenses.

"I got into lenses early, and I had a neural sensor implanted as soon as they approved it for my age."

Someone told him he was pretty fearless for doing that so young.

The boy smiled.

"One in three people use them now. With new technology, the people who get in early are the ones who make money."

"So you made some money?"

The boy gave a small grin.

"I never expected to make this much money. Now it just comes in even when I'm doing nothing." Laughter broke out around him. Most of the people there knew exactly what he meant.

Mia smiled and took a sip of champagne.

While she was leaning against the railing, a man she had never met approached her.

"You're Clara's friend, right?"

"Yes."

His gaze lingered on Mia for a moment.

"I noticed you earlier."

Instead of answering, Mia raised her champagne glass slightly.

"I keep an eye on AI projects and virtual business districts. Things before they go up in value."

Mia tilted her glass.

"I've always had a good eye."

His gaze settled on her again.

"People, too."

Mia said nothing and took another sip of champagne.

Then he asked,

"I'm going to Tokyo in a few days. Want to meet up there?"

"I don't even know where I'll be next month."

"Because of work?"

"When work slows down, I don't take time off. I take on more work."

The man laughed.

"Must make dating difficult."

"That's why I don't date."

Mia set down her glass and turned her attention toward the ocean.

They didn't exchange contact information. There would be no message to overthink tomorrow, no time she would have to set aside.

She preferred relationships that stayed light and ended there.

Near the end of the party, Clara sent her a silver invitation.

ARCA FREE TRIAL — 24 HOURS FROM FIRST LOGIN

"ARCA?"

"Use it. You can travel, meet people, whatever."

"I have to meet people in virtual reality too?"

"Then just travel. There's wind, smells, everything. It feels pretty real."

Mia pointed toward the actual beach below the railing.

"Then why not just go to the real ocean?"

Clara answered immediately.

"You don't even go down there."

Mia had nothing to say to that.

"It's free. Try it. If you hate it, log out after ten minutes."

Even after Mia returned home, the invitation stayed in the corner of her screen.

She opened her laptop and did a little more work. She meant to finish one thing, but ended up finishing two.

By the time she checked the time, it was almost midnight.

Leaning back on the sofa, she opened the invitation again.

Going to the beach would at least require changing clothes.

This, she could do without leaving the room.

Mia added one line to the next day's schedule.

ARCA. 10 minutes.

It had been a long time since she'd put anything on her schedule that wasn't work.