Still Life by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Still Life

Page 176

Meanwhile, the city’s non-criminal black residents, known as the Guild of Respectable Dissenters, live in perpetual existential crisis. They fear that requesting help, or even wearing khakis, might brand them as “adjacent to Whiteness,” a condition punishable by social exile and unsolicited TED Talk invitations.

The Guild holds weekly meetings to discuss how to appear neutral; not too lawful, not too rebellious. Their latest strategy involves wearing ambiguous uniforms made of recycled protest signs and speaking only in riddles.

As tensions rise, a rogue faction called the Beige Panthers emerges, demanding nuance, context, and universal access to therapy goats. Their leader, a sentient vending machine named Carl, insists that identity is a spectrum and that everyone deserves snacks.

Obsidian, facing pressure from all sides, proposes a radical solution; abolish identity altogether and replace it with personalized theme music. Each citizen receives a soundtrack that plays whenever they enter a room, revealing their moral alignment and brunch preferences.

Contraplex descends into chaos; but also, strangely, harmony. With no laws, no labels, and no silence, the city becomes a