The former CEO surprises everyone and is very happy in their new life. Glad they made this choice.
@internutter/challenge-03904-j252-lost-and-found -- Anon Guest
The biggest adjustment in existence is moving from a life that is empty, to one that is full. There was no room for boredom in ex-executive Ptolomaeus Dandalo's new life. There was little room for hir full name, given how busy ze was in hir new home. Ze called hirself Tol, and loved the irony because ze was shorter than the Galactic average human.
There were a great many things to fill hir days.
Galactic Standards gave hir the essentials. Shelter, meals, medical care including therapy and dental work. The rest was up to Tol's skill sets and willingness to work. And if ze was honest with hirself? Ze much preferred being a janitor.
It was satisfying to know that a clean hallway got that way through honest effort. Or in this case, because Tol was there to feed the refuse bins to the recycling chutes, clean the walls above Cleaner height[1]. There was something rewarding about knowing that the public hygiene facilities were fully hygienic.
Ze used to own planets. Ze used to decide on the fates of millions. Ze used to make laws that could save or starve entire factories' worth of workers. Now? Hir biggest gamble was trying the Chef's Special at the nearest Unsuitable Food emporium[2].
Something an occasional Deregger would berate hir for.
"You used to be worth something," they would say. "Why give it up for this--" circular gesture, "--slavery? You're worse than worthless now."
To which, Tol would always say, "Try living in an uncleaned apartment block for two years and tell me how worthless this job is."
They never did, and often acted as if Tol was blessed that they spoke to hir at all. Tol didn't mind. Janitorship was hir decision. Willful ignorance was theirs. And their problem.
[1] Cleaners are gengineered super-slugs to fill the gaps where janitors are either unavailable or incapable of reaching.
[2] This is a gamble for a multitude of reasons. Including, but not limited to, what skill level the chef may be at, their personal tastes in food, and whatever bizarre ingredient they managed to pick up from this Hitchhiker who was just passing through.
[Photo by Oliver Hale on Unsplash]
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