This dream’s mostly gone, some parts are just me rambling.

“T, you got the goods today, right?!” I snapped into the phone.

“Hold your horses! I said next week at the earliest! Metal’s in short supply. You think I’d screw you over, being such a long-time customer?”

“Cut the crap! You’re holding some back to resell, don’t even. It’s not the money, my place is about to run dry!!”

“Seriously, I got nothing. I’ll tell you first thing next week. That’s it, I’m out.”

I hung up, totally screwed. The kitchen faucet wouldn’t shut off, water gushing for eight hours straight. At this rate, I’ll be broke for weeks. Basic resources are crazy expensive, mostly transport costs. Faucets don’t usually just break. Who keeps a spare?

I looked out at the turbulent sea, its dark blue gave me the creeps. I live by the sea, but I never go in. This isn’t White Sand Bay. It’s dangerous. Monstrous waves, every day. Any idiot going down there gets smashed on the rocks. My house is high above sea level, on a towering cliff. I once lay on the cliff edge, peering down. Dark, porous cliff face, seabirds all over.

I put on my windbreaker and went out for the routine detector check. It’s my job. These umbrella-shaped detectors are everywhere in open areas, each with a technician. What for? Long story.

Four generations ago, an unimaginable catastrophe. An asteroid hit Shanghai, out of the blue. Flattened the whole city. The weird thing? No astronomical agency saw it coming. It just popped out of thin air. Humanity was helpless. The asteroid had a lot of copper. Green flames from the burning, like the Last Judgment. No one will forget.

What happened next almost ended us. Asteroids kept hitting, taking out cities. Appearing out of nowhere, only detected in the atmosphere. After a month, terrified people saw a pattern. Asteroids struck every six days, targeting the most populated cities. This absurd theory wasn’t widely accepted until later, but the chaos, migration, and killings caused more casualties than the impacts.

This is the new era - the Era of Divine Punishment.

Detector No. 1 is operating normally, readings safe. No. 2’s wind buffer is acting up, I’ll replace it. No. 3 is normal, readings fluctuate a bit, the negative feedback module needs fine-tuning…

I sigh, the monotonous peace of today is a blessing. No divine punishment in over twenty years, not because they’re over, but because the tiny population doesn’t dare gather. The fewest killed in an attack was 98, showing how dispersed people are. Humanity regressed to a primitive village life, dozens of people in small villages, extremely cautious movement. Like the Tower of Babel. Humans built a tower. God confused their languages, so they couldn’t communicate, couldn’t approach him. This God seems more blunt.

The negative feedback module is exposed to sea wind, the connection decays. Small deviations amplify the reading’s fluctuation, so it needs frequent fine-tuning. Too frequent, and it needs replacing. My backups are almost gone, I need to apply for more.

These detectors, if you ask me, are useless. They detect radiation, air vibrations, and low-frequency sounds. When divine punishment occurs, three points can calculate the coordinates. More points, more accurate. But other than evacuating, nothing can be done.

Worth mentioning: Shortly after the Era of Divine Punishment, an unexpected turn. People found living underground didn’t trigger it. Generations of construction, now there are many intricate, ant-nest-like underground cities. Industry is recovering there, while the surface is basically agricultural. Where else would these detectors come from?

After the inspection, the rest is free time. Usually, I’d play the ukulele. I snagged this cheerful instrument last month, and I’m hooked. But today I have to go to the market, get a new faucet or spend a fortune on water. I really don’t want the latter.

I sent an entry application to the village. Almost no outsiders here, so it was quick. Driving the electric truck on the dirt road, I see city building outlines. All the glass is gone, it’s valuable. Empty window frames, like hollow eye sockets, chilling. Those residences are abandoned. Even if a few are nostalgic, it’s impossible to maintain water and electricity for a whole city for just a few dozen people.

Nature has almost regained everything. The truck brushed past tall grass, rustling. Maybe it’s better near the ant nests, more human activity, but I’ve never been down there.

The ant nests are the territory of those underground humans. We call them cave dwellers. They call us primitives. Every time I talk to people from underground, they look at me like a country bumpkin. But it’s fine, they eat our corn, and we buy their faucets.

Dusk approached, the sun was low. I flipped down the visor, barely able to drive. If I’m fast, I’ll reach the market by noon tomorrow. At first, I wasn’t used to the wilderness at night. But I got used to it, it even gave me a sense of security. No worry about gathering and triggering divine punishment, no one knows my location. Interesting? Divine punishment flipped the definition of safety.

The truck is solar-powered, so with uncertain sunshine, I need to be careful. After nightfall, it’s impossible to move. Driving in the wilderness, lighting consumes a lot. I opened the self-heating food, dinner under the stars. Those cave dwellers wouldn’t get it.

Dinner is the last entertainment. No lighting, no ukulele, the Milky Way urges you to dream. Rest early, continue the journey tomorrow.

A soothing song from a century ago echoed, I can try a cheerful ukulele version when I get back:

i’ve seen rivers rise. seen mountains fall. seen endless vistas coming to an end…