Checking the time again on his retinal clock and finding it was 14:22:57, Skater moved toward the public telecoms available in a short hallway beside The Naughty Nineties, an antique store that carried pre-Awakening curios. Today’s special, according to the banner strung over the door, was an old-fashioned telephone pager circa 1996 in an assortment of day-glo colors for only fifty nuyen.