"The physical city perhaps is a tribute to human engineering. The only reason to have it is to say 'look, humans built this city!' But when you can conjure it out of thin air, that becomes far less impressive of an accomplishment. I thought before that we were losing everything to VR, but I see now that there isn't really anything left to lose. It's not the buildings and the streets that make the city, it's the people that live there; and they don't live there anymore."

"That's essentially true."

After several minutes Arthur saw something he hadn't seen before - he saw someone on the street walking. "Stop the car." The vehicle instantly came to a halt and Arthur practically jumped out of it. "Hey!" he shouted at the man.

The man turned around, startled. "Um, yes? Can I help you?" He wore a suit and a fedora and held a briefcase in one hand. He had been approaching the entrance to a large building.

"You are the first person I've seen in town. In fact, you are the first person I've seen outside of virtual reality. I'm sorry for bothering you since you look like you are headed somewhere, but I just wanted to talk to a real live person."

The man checked his watch. "Well, I've a few minutes to spare before work. I see you're not with the company. So, what's on your mind then?"

"You have a job? What company are you talking about?"

"Whoa, calm down man. I work for the Sierra Nevada Corporation. I've been an aerospace engineer for over 60 years. I know what you're going to say," the man droned, "'why are you working in this day and age when you don't need to?' But the thing is, I do need to. My work is part of who I am: I only live three blocks away so I get up, walk to work, and I do something that I love. I've done that for as long as I can remember. It gives me structure and purpose; there will always be something in space to explore and a need to get there." The man grinned. "I make my own schedule and anything I can design can be launched since there are no budget limitations. Now that is something we didn't have back in the 30's!" There was a twinkle in his eye.

"Sounds like an awesome job."

"Oh, it really isn't a job, nor work as I see it. It's completely voluntary. I mean, we put in a lot of work and effort because we love it. Some of my coworkers I've known forever. It's more like a family. You have to have something to keep you going and support when you're feeling down. The AIs already know when a design will fail to launch but we don't have them correct us - half the fun is not knowing and figuring it out on your own. They also tend to focus on the purely functional aspects but sometimes we just want to try a cool design. We even have an artist on staff; each rocket has a unique paint job and theme. No two launches are exactly the same." He seemed genuinely excited, but then suddenly took a serious look and examined his watch. "I have an evening meeting and I don't want to be late. We're getting together to spec out a new propulsion system. It's all very exciting... but I am afraid I need to run. Here's my card if you ever want to get in touch." He pulled out and handed Arthur a metallic card with a chip in it. Arthur stared at it with a confused look. "I'm sure your companion AI over there can help you with it. Anyway, have a good day sir!" The man hurried off through a revolving glass door into the building.

Rachael, who had exited the car already, came up next to Arthur. "It's just a data card. It has his contact details and identifier in it. His name is Daniel Maxwell, with the more old style pronunciation of 'dan-ee-EL'. He does indeed have an extensive background in aeronautics, rocketry, physics, astronomy, and space engineering. In your period, I believe he would have held the equivalent knowledge of 18 or so doctorates; we don't use that kind of system anymore but I thought a familiar comparison might be helpful. His applied knowledge and experience over 63 years makes him a valuable source of creativity and historical perspective for the digital population in that field. That is not an inconsequential feat. He is, however, heavily augmented in order to reach that level of productivity as are the others in his group. It's the only way for a regular person to stay relevant in the field and even then it takes time and dedication to avoid falling behind. That's why he's so devoted to his work."

"Augments?" Arthur hadn't given it much thought since Daniel looked perfectly normal to him.

"Indeed. Brain implants enable quick lookup of any archived information, visual representation and notation of engineering designs, increased neurotransmission rate so the brain can process information faster, enhanced math and engineering co-processing capabilities for his companion AI to crunch the numbers, and so on. He can work without sleep for any length of time if necessary although he generally limits it to 12 hours a day and synchronizes with the group later. I suppose that is a work-life balance thing - all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Most people that want to continue meaningful work or dialog with the digital population have opted for that route, but it's not an absolute requirement. They are quite tolerant and respectful of their predecessors' slower temporal speed and emotional desire to participate in current affairs. After all, a good idea is a good idea regardless of whose mind it comes from."