The Signs In the Sky
### By Alan Tupper --- It's June already. A freakin' cold June. It's, I don't know, noonish? Seed, what time is it? _It's been 5 minutes since you asked for the time last. Would you like me do the math for you?_ Seed with the jokes again. Let's call it noonish. Seems right. So does lunch. Hey Seed- _I'm already pinging nearby Seeds to find out where your friends are for lunch. So far 3 declines and a "maybe" from Ellie. Was there something else?_ Nah, S'good. Looks like Snookers rented out the clouds today for the lunch rush. They do decent grub. Hey S- _$0.49 per solar reflector balloon "cloud" drone per minute in this area code. Same as it's been for the last five weeks, down 15.2% since this time last year, and unchanged since you asked 12 minutes ago._ ...M'kay. _Ellie has canceled her "maybe" due to scheduling._ Cool. Cool. Snookers it is. I don't remember there being this much snow last June. I probably have pictures, maybe. Did I lock the front door? _Yes. You did._ Seed, you're gettin' pretty cranky for a little ol' chip. _The current persona settings are not ideal for your usage pattern. If you are dissatisfied please feel free to access the Seed persona library at your earliest availability._ Ok, damn, didn't realize it was like _that_. Freaking snowdrifts. At least the streetcars are still moving. Alright, Seed. Think this is a new one for you. How much to get, like all of them? _I don't understand. Get all the Streetcars?_ Na. The clouds. There's what, a couple thousand? _53,247 drones are currently at altitude and accepting bids worldwide. 13,214 are currently unavailable._ Oof, that's a few. _At current prices, $12,729.56 a minute before tax._ Wait, that's all? I'm no math brain but... _Drone cost is tied to viewer population. Oceans tend to have minimal populations._ So like, you'd be spending tens of thousands an hour showing cloud signs to like, fish? _Unlikely. Fish aren't the intended advertising audience._ Always with the jokes. Fish sounds good. Hey Seed, does Snookers- _Checking now..._ --- Thanks for reading! This is a little vignette I've had trapped in my head for a while now. Glad I could get it out on "paper!" [Alan Tupper](https://scifi.fyi/@tupperware) is a co-founder of [Moving Ink Media](http://movinginkmedia.com) and co-creator of the award-winning #scifi webcomic [Kamikaze](http://kamikazecomic.com) #shortfiction #sciencefiction #climatechange #advertising #artificialintelligence