Jil was training her shoons and Kittie was studying a blook—a rhodopsin-doped sheet of plastic capable of displaying images from every corner of earth. “Back so soon?” said Kittie, looking up. “Something’s wrong!” “Jayjay had a kind of seizure,” said Thuy. “An alien mind took him over. He reprogrammed the ocean and—oh God, it’s reached here, too. Look how stupidly those branches move, all of them rocking in unison. San Francisco’s gone as dull as a drum machine. Can you feel it?” Jil and Kittie exchanged a puzzled look. “You and Jayjay are high on Gaia?” suggested Kittie after a pause. “Pighead style? You shouldn’t let him drag you down, Thuy. Last fall you said that you’d quit being a pighead for good.” “This is real,” said Jayjay in a low, gloomy voice. “Something strange happened to me last night.” “You acted like a pighead,” said Jil in a mock-sweet tone. “What’s strange about that? Getting high is what you’re all about.” “I’m trying to change,”
