New Orbit Magazine Issue 08; Feb 2020, The Future of Animals

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“Like many awesome ideas before it – and
many more to come, no doubt – its
ramifications turned out to be truly awful.”
JazzMind attended to the InfoStream subcranially,
feeling the mixed-emoting it
engendered with a degree of trepidation.
She was actually, physically afloat, standing
on the Plastific Ocean, wearing the LipidSac
SchurferSchoes she’d hired.
Her first day out alone, having graduated
from SchurferSchool only yesterday.
Her third day on the coast, on Expiration
Leave.
“The Sharks were on the verge of
extinction. The proportion of plastic in their
diets had exceeded 50%, which looked like
being the final nail in their collective coffin.”
You enjoying this? interjexted
4DickenSake.
JazzMind was beginning to regret
accepting his IncludeMe. He had been the
most effective Comforter after X-
StingWisher’s horrific… expiry. But now,
having so quickly worked his way up her Sub-
C.LeaderBoard, his interjexts were becoming
too frequent… and sometimes too insistent.
Down-time needed, she responded; respect
for that required, she added, duplicating the
request to everyone on her -Board, partly so
as not to inflame 4DickenSake, jointly aware
she still owed a balance of ShareCare in that
direction.
Inflame.
Riding the ocean’s slo-mo emulsion
waves, she shuddered, understanding why