were gathered near the shoreline, children ran between patches of sunlight, and the gentle sound of waves blended with distant conversations.
Yuki had found a quiet place beneath a tree. She sat on a towel with her shoes beside her, staring at the water while trying not to think about the problems she had brought with her.
Her phone buzzed.
It was a message from a friend asking whether she had met anyone interesting yet.
Yuki looked at the screen, sighed, and turned the phone facedown.
“An excellent decision,” a voice said nearby.
She looked up.
An older man stood several feet away, holding a bottle of lemonade. He had silver hair, a slightly sunburned nose, and the relaxed expression of someone who had stopped trying to impress strangers decades earlier.
“Sorry?” Yuki asked.
He pointed toward her phone.
“Turning that thing over. One of humanity’s greatest achievements. We invented
