he instinctively reached for his phone.
Only then did it register—
he’d had it turned off the entire day.
…I’ll need it if I’m taking the subway.
He stopped briefly at the building entrance.
People flowed past him,
responding without hesitation
to the guidance layered over their vision.
Rowan was the only one standing still.
A moment later,
he powered the device on,
and information overlapped his view.
The absence of stacked notifications
felt strangely unfamiliar.
A familiar route appeared.
〔 Commute route: Subway 〕
Estimated time: 32 minutes
Congestion: Moderate
Stability score: High
Without thinking,
Rowan took a few steps
toward the subway entrance.
Two steps.
Three.
Then he stopped.
Today…
For some reason,
he didn’t want to go that way.
There was no frustration.
No resistance.
He just wanted to go home
a different way today.
Rowan closed the map
and opened the unified transport interface.
The information in his view rearranged itself.
〔 Available transport options 〕
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Electric bicycle
Shared scooter
Autonomous road taxi
Drone taxi (12-minute wait)
Walking (not recommended)
As he scanned the list,
a thought surfaced.
It looks like there are many choices…
Another followed immediately.
But the range of choice
was already decided.
Walking had been pushed aside
as not recommended.
The drone taxi was excluded naturally—
too expensive, too slow to arrive.
The autonomous taxi
didn’t seem much different from the subway.
That left—
the electric bicycle.
His gaze rested on the icon.
For a moment,
he hesitated again.
Does this even mean anything?
Still, he decided.
The information updated instantly.
〔 Electric bicycle selected 〕
Calculating recommended route…
A blue line traced itself
across his field of view.
Route home.
Suggested speed.
Estimated travel time.
More data appeared below.
Recommended return points: 3
Additional travel to optimal return: 4 minutes
Estimated cost: ?3,200
Calories burned: 84 kcal
Predicted safety score: 92
Rowan paused.
Safety score.
Before he even started riding,
the evaluation had already begun.
He zoomed the map in slightly.
A narrow side street—
off the recommended route—
caught his eye.
Rowan looked at it for a moment,
then gripped the handlebars.
He started moving.
As the bicycle rolled forward,
a short line appeared at the bottom of his view.
〔 Route deviation detected 〕
Recalculating…
It wasn’t a warning.
Not an alert.
Just a notice
that it knew.
Rowan slowed slightly.
As he passed through the crowd,
faces brushed past his vision.
Someone seated, staring at a phone.
Someone walking with a holographic video playing.
People stopping in perfect unison at the signal.
Everyone was inside
a predetermined flow.
I guess this is normal,
Rowan thought.
It was comfortable.
Safe.
Managed.
So maybe
living like this
wasn’t strange at all.
And yet—
riding the bicycle now
felt different.
He was the one controlling the speed.
Stopping or moving on
was his decision.
But the guidance never disappeared.
Route.
Time.
Score.
Is this…
a real choice?
Or—
a process of being chosen?
Near his apartment,
Rowan stopped at a return point.
The device vibrated briefly.
〔 Return complete 〕
Today’s travel record has been saved
Rowan stood there for a while,
the device still powered on,
staring at the text.
What kind of data
would today’s choice become?
For now,
he didn’t know.
But one thing was certain.
Moving without thinking
was no longer easy.
And that realization felt—
slightly uncomfortable,
yet strangely honest