Neon Vape: Ramona's Idle Time

I was asked (a long time ago) on Tumblr about how my characters spend their idle time, and I decided to answer the question for Ramona, the main character in my sci-fi WIP Neon Vape: A Vaporwave Odyssey. 

In its futuristic setting, technology has taken over everything, especially entertainment and recreation. It has become an exhaustive, pervasive, almost oppressive routine for people - the idea of going to work, spending all day dealing with technology, and then coming back home and spending all evening dealing with more technology. And it’s all screens, all the time, everywhere.

So entertainment usually means watching television, reading on electronic devices, playing video games, meeting friends over virtual reality, and so on. In fact, it has become really hard to find ways to connect with people that bypass electronics. 

So, for example, Ramona’s day tends to go something along the lines of:
 

Morning Routine. 

Wake up, make breakfast while watching morning TV on the floating screen, maybe checking in with friends/family through virtual/augmented reality spaces or via a variety of electronic devices.You realize you’re out of milk, but it’s hell to try and get to a grocery store these days, especially with the roads being as packed as they are. You decide instead to access yet another electronic device - your fridge - that allows you to order groceries from home.

Go to work. 

On your way, you pass huge screens on the sides of buildings, cars with screens wrapped around them, people with tablet-like electronic devices on the skyway - it’s a never-ending stream of media, everywhere, all the time. It gives you a headache just to think about!

At work. 

You sit at a desk in front of a screen. You’re a concept artist, and you have a large tablet-desk. You spend most of your time drawing on it and working on your designs. You often pull up images in various screens, both floating and stationary, as references, and every now and then you have to speak to colleagues and get their feedback. This also happens simply via video conferencing, even if they're in the same building, unless it's easier to have them in the room to make quick decisions.

Lunch. 

You order lunch in, usually, because it’s a nightmare to get to anywhere, really, on foot or by vehicle. On the off chance you do want to go for it, you know a small restaurant nearby, and you brave the uncomfortable, splintering heat or the blistering cold to get there - these two extremes are the norm for weather pretty much year-round in this futuristic setting. Once there, you don’t talk to a person. You’re met with another screen, and you tap in your order. You pay, and you wait until a small robot arrives with your meal. While you eat, you are bombarded with on-screen and virtual advertisements hanging on the restaurant’s walls and the surfaces of the tables.

After work. 

You come home. You want to relax. Your options are to read a book (on an electronic device), watch some TV, play a video game, chat with friends virtually, go on a virtual holiday, exercise on your VirtuTread, or sleep. The only option that doesn’t include screens is sleep, really. Maybe you can bake or cook, and maybe you can turn off all your screens and enjoy some peace and quiet, but you’re never away from them for long - because they’re an intrinsic part of your lifestyle now, and how could you survive without their convenience?

Spoiler alert: you most definitely can survive without them and Ramona will most definitely figure that out after her horrible experience getting stuck in Neon Vape. In fact, if she never sees another screen again, it would be too soon. So, post-book Ramona will have more “normal” pastimes, but for now she’s stuck in the same electronic confines as everyone else!