The office party was an insidious joke on the team, and the boss, after spending on pizza, told everyone we had to return to our desks full-time. Why? I was never one to fear the subways of the city. On the contrary, my wife and kids have traversed these arteries for years without fear. But things have changed. I’ve changed. The city’s underground arteries have been poisoned. Down here, there’s something in the air. People don’t care. Police don’t care. I sit here and absorb the energy of the city like a goddamn antenna and I hold my cranium in my hands, cos now some jerk turned on his speakers on the subway car. I get tunnel vision. The world around me tumbles like the inside of a clothes dryer. But we’re safe. Soon there will be robots or so Major Adams said. Robocops. No more “see something, say something.” Artificial intelligence will patrol the platforms. This is some future shit and I can’t imagine the rest; all I can think of is ‘fuck what a day to forget my headphones at home.'