To celebrate marriage equality, twelve authors have written twelve short stories answering the question “What Happened in Vegas…” In my story, “This is the Future, Baby“, I explore what happened to Vegas.
This is the Future, Baby
by Kelly Jensen
The holo outside of Destination Weddings darkened and the projection stuttered as the program restarted, a bud of light growing in the center of the virtual marquee. The light expanded and diverged like an old fashioned firework. Each streamer arced out from the display. Kale ducked as a point of light sailed past his ear. He could have sworn he felt a flash of heat. Turning, he checked to make sure Toby hadn’t been in the path of any errant streamers. His lover stood well clear by chance alone. Head tilted back, lips parted, he was watching the lights dance over and around him with the wonder of a small child.
“Look, Kale! It’s a map!” Toby spun around, arms flying out from his sides, mouth open in a wide grin.
Around him, shimmered a map of the world connected by a ghostly network of lines. Instead of a mall on the 56th level of the dirt scraper, Minneapolis Deep, Kale stood somewhere in the middle of Europe, the bright light of Paris blinking just to his left. Toby was lost somewhere in the south west, the lights of scattered cities glittering around him. He reached out to tap the closest point and the holo projection flickered.
“You have selected Las Vegas, Nevada. For more information on this exciting destination, please step inside the store.”
Kale frowned. “This map is seriously out of date. Vegas is nothing a strip of broken hotels in a desert valley.” And had been since the great drought of 2020. Kale tapped the point next to him. “What about Paris?” Europe still had surface water, and most of their cities towered above the ground instead of below.
Thanks to Charley Descoteaux for hosting my story. You can read the rest of my story here. 🙂 Or download a copy for yourself!
Kelly Jensen 
Reblogged this on Nikka Michaels.