Lee Skidmore's SciFi Site copyright 1996: Future.Story.Short, page 3

brewing and synth-sausage frying. "Damn, I guess I'll have to forget the shower," said Johnny pointedly to the bed head next to him. Clothes collected, he started to dress while putting the screws to some of Shary's Brazilian bean for a mug on the way to work. With a start, he remembered why he really needed to be on time today . "Great, just great. Joey Mastin is the damn watch commander today," he said, loudly, annoyed at screwing up with Mastin watching.

Mastin had had it out for Johnny for quite a while. A strictly stuck on the book hype type, Mastin had always been looking to pasture the maverick detective. "Best bite the bullet. Better to call in sooner than later." Johnny picked up the min-cost pink blob that had annoyed him awake. He gave it a sharp squeeze. The cop-issue comp squeaked to life as if protesting the force of Johnny's grip that sent it his identity. Its holo display flashed up over his fingers. Johnny wiggled his thumb over the comp's fleshy feeling surface. A holo-arrow darted, sliding over to a brightly colored pixel-speak icon. Two quick jabs floated his morning macro to the top. The cop-comp logged onto the copnet, then displayed a list of the night shift's actions. He skewered a madly blinkinging icon with the holo arrow. The blob whimpered as his eyes were jerked to the sideways scroll of a priority flash that carried his name.