Towering streetlamps shaped like inverted Ls were just beginning to flicker off. The rising sun cast long, slivery shadows across ten lanes of asphalt. When did humans decide they needed a road the width of a football field? Why did life have to be so enormous and complicated? Nina was at the wheel of her vintage Honda, a large tea close at hand. As I sipped my coffee, I felt a sense of impending loss. This weekend would be the culmination of my work on the Magoa project. Ashland’s research would continue for years, perhaps for the rest of his life, but my job would end. I would soon have to decide what would come next. Nina interrupted my thoughts. “Thousands of years from now, if our history is lost, I wonder what people will make of that?” Nina was gazing at an enormous amusement park that rose along the highway like a twisted, alien city. “They’ll probably label them torture devices,” I joked. Nina smiled.
