Compelling Science Fiction Issue 12 by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Compelling Science Fiction Ltd.
Published: 2018-12-01T19:24:13+00:00

My hole in the backyard was twelve feet deep when Gramps came to the back door. "What in tarnation is going on here?"

I twisted the wand in my hand to set down a block of rock on top of the wall I'd built around the yard. "How do you like it? I'm making a swimming pool."

"You did this?" Gramps started coughing again. "H-How?"

I grinned. "I have Minecraft Mojo."

Gramps wagged his finger at me. "Your mom will be mad as a hornet when she gets home and finds that big hole in the yard. She'll be even madder you went to them aliens without asking and brought home one of their machines."

"I'm old enough to make my own mojo deal. She can't stop me."

Gramps pursed his lips and scrunched up his eyebrows at me. "What kind of deal did you make?"

I pulled the last cube of rock out of the pool. "I promised to do twenty-two minutes of Minecraft for the Mojo Makers each day. The rest of the time, I get to Minecraft whatever I want—like this swimming pool."

I tossed the end of the garden hose into the pool and turned the water on. Gramps said, "Twenty-two minutes a day is too much."

I ignored him and pushed into the kitchen to pour myself some more milk.

Gramps caught up with me at the kitchen table. "Twenty-two minutes a day may not seem like much now, but it will add up fast." He paused for a few labored breaths, and then said, "You should be using that time for homework. You should be saving your time for your job when you grow up."

"Jobs are out of date," I said. "I'm going to join a mojo co-op when I grow up, like Javed and Emily's moms."

"You're still going to need some money."

I ate one of the tasteless boxed cookies on the table. "No, I won't. That's the point of a mojo co-op. Javed's mom has Food Mojo, so the mojo machines make her however much food she wants. Other people in her co-op have things like Tailor Mojo and Builder Mojo, and they all share with each other. They don't need money. They don't need jobs. They just need each other."

"And they need the dang mojo machines," Gramps said. "But money is liquid. You can exchange it for whatever you want. It gives you freedom and flexibly. You're talking about a primitive barter system. You have to find someone who has what you want and who wants what you have. That’s a lot harder. That's why people invented money."

I didn’t have a good answer. I slid my chair back. "I'm going back outside."

"They're aliens." Gramps wheezed. "You don't know what they want. For your own good, return their rock digging mojo and get your twenty-two minutes back. And fill in that hole in the yard,"

I could feel the skin on my face getting hot. He was bossing me around like I was a kid. I was going to be in high school next year.

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