Residuals Squared: A Speculative Fiction

The future is wonderful. Cars are flying, nations cooperate to manage the earth's climate, and people can choose to have all-purpose data chips implanted under their skin. The future is also terrible. Victims of sex crimes are unprotected, reanimated corpses are made to fight each other for entertainment, and religion is viewed by institutions and the general public as foolish superstition. Brodt, a fledgling quality analyst in his first days at an emotional wellness center, is trying to maintain his sense of self in the face of his boss's demands that he fudge the center's data. Sanayah, a counselor at the center, is sexually attacked by a client. Her husband, finding no justice for her in the justice system, resolves to exact revenge on her attacker, a conflict in which Brodt is also entangled. When the center's HR director suffers a personal tragedy, her graceful endurance of the ordeal leaves Brodt wondering whether these religious fairy-talers are really so stupid.