December 2087. Vicky Garth is 23, Vale Akiyama is 27.
It wasn’t that Vale slept peacefully. No, in fact, he got into bed and lay there, listening to angsty music and thinking about things. He needed to make a decision. If she didn’t want anything from him, what should he do next? So, yes, he slept finally, heavy and rock-like, for maybe six hours. He woke up early—early for Vale—at the bright and hazy hour of nine a.m. And he did expect to find something from Vicky on his phone in the morning—an angry apology, probably, or an excuse. But he never expected a song.
He had to listen to it a few times.