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[Korsavius]

YC120 Pod and Planet Fiction Contest submission in the 8000 Suns category. This piece also qualifies for the Very Short Fiction category, coming in at 740 words.

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Simple Things: Catoptromancy
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Look within yourself. What do you see?

The skyscrapers on the Crystal Boulevard reached towards the heavens. A dazzling spectacle brimming with glitz and glamour. The impressive beauty of it all captivated and held your attention like a fly clinging to a thick ooze of honey. Exotic and expensive hypercars drove and floated by. What multimillionaire wouldn’t want to cruise down the streets of the Crystal Boulevard in their most expensive car?

People littered the sidewalks like ants. Tourists and locals blended in together. Almost all of them dressed in their most extravagant or flashy outfits. You could be a nobody, but pose as a celebrity when you walked down the Crystal Boulevard. Lights from passing vehicles, street lamps, and the buildings themselves all danced and intermingled off the gleaming crystals, mirrors, and diamonds. Many Federation tabloids often described the Crystal Boulevard as being the one place in the entire cluster where no one had a bad angle. The perfect selfie spot as it was so commonly lauded. And indeed so many flashes can be seen during the evening hours that to the untrained eye it would appear as if the entire boulevard was sparkling in perfect radiance.

Beyond all the flashy lights and flashy cars and flashy outfits, however, was the structure of the place itself. Pure and shimmering crystal. They generated a reflection more crisp than anything you could ever imagine. The Gallente were known for their expertise in working with crystals. Crystalline materials could be found in all sorts of construction throughout the Federation. But the crystal here on the Boulevard was something else - something special. In many ways the Crystal Boulevard was a mirror into the soul of the Federation. The grandeur and allure of the place betrayed the true purpose of it. A crystal fortress built to last.

Jacques could care less.

In a sea of well-dressed pedestrians, Jacques walked the streets rather casually. He often strolled through, being that he lived in the outskirts of Caille. He was fairly well off, especially in comparison to the average citizen in other nations. In the Federation, you could be anything you wanted to be. Jacques wasn’t so sure. He felt rather apathetic to the idea, he felt constrained. To outsiders, the modern Crystal Boulevard represented the pinnacle of Federal hedonism. To Jacques, he simply admired the architecture and design of the Boulevard. He did not care for lavish outfits or fancy cars. Jacques craved simplicity in a glittering swamp of hyperculture.

Jacques waltzed over in front of a gleaming skyscraper. He faced a massive panel of mirror-like crystal. Crowds of passerby zipped through behind him. He could see them, all of them, through the reflection of the crystal. At the edge of the sidewalk to his right flank, a couple locked hand in hand laughing and admiring the cityscape. Adjacent to them was a group of teenagers playing whatever the latest trendy hand game was. On his left, beside a tree decorated with lights, a group of tourists cocked their heads to and fro in a futile attempt to take in everything the Boulevard had to offer in such a short amount of time.

But the crystal here was something different - something special. Through the reflections Jacques could truly see. And indeed he saw it all. The female partner of the couple holding hands appeared to be feigning her sense of happiness. He knows she appreciated every moment her partner was not gazing into her eyes, for fear that her own eyes might betray her true feelings about him. The hand game was just a ruseful display by the teens to not alert the local police to the fact that they’re shooting up drugs on the spot; they did not care for the public venue, it only fueled the excitement of it all. In the tour group, a member appeared wholly disinterested in it all. The rest of their group stood around with eyes wide open or mouth agape, but not him. He looked overwhelmed, sad even.

All of this and more Jacques saw. He saw through the special glass on the Crystal Boulevard. He focused his gaze on the figure directly in front of him - the image of himself. For whatever reason, it appeared blurry and dark. He sighed. Jacques kept on walking. He would try again tomorrow.

Look within yourself. What do you see?

[Syagrius]

I liked it, as I do much of what you write. 

The 'crystal' is indeed 'special'.  Like much about the Federation its form disguises the function of a thing.  A glittering illusion, with an all to different purpose.