https://everythingspeakstome.com/files/original/f76784b13eb65c5e36d6ad51b5447410.jpg bcd0f3ab5053145b2b007609a707de5e Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource After The Rise ... Description An account of the resource Using elevations and water level projected on EyesOnTheRise.com, these speculative fictions explore the world that was Miami after sea levels rise 6 or more feet. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Administrator Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Please post your written submission in this field. The images you would like to include should be posted as attachments below. “You look like a mess, Trevor. Again. That’s a demerit.” Management was looking me up and down, disgust plain on his face. “Fix yourself, you slob. That means you have to be clean-shaven, and wearing clean, pressed clothes. NOT… whatever this is. Here at the Grandview we take pride in ourselves and our work, and we strive to the highest standards of care for our guests.” Management squealed his usual tirade at me. His chunky face took up the entirety of the small company-issued smartwatch, droning on about the rules and proper etiquette we should meet as, how he would say, “the close-knit family of West Kendall Bay’s prestigious Grandview Beach Resort”. I began to zone him out. In the end, it would always turn into this rant about profit margins and increasing productivity and customer satisfaction, and so I began focusing more on how oily his skin was while he struggled to breath and tell me what to do at the same time. “I need you to head over to Room 2501. You know the CEO of Rybdomik Fishery? Well, his son is coming here for a little getaway with his wife. The Ivanov’s have already sent an Elexa up there, so make sure to do everything possible to work with her to ensure that our arriving guests have everything they want and need. Do keep in mind you will be working under her supervision and she will keep me informed of each and. Every. Thing. You. Do.” Oh no. Oh no. This was horrible. This was a death sentence. I was on my last strike here and if I fucked up again, I’d get the axe. I’d been able to stay afloat the last few months by the seat of my pants but Management had to have it out for me giving me the Ivanovs. Wait! However that ancient adage about double-edged swords with silver linings or something like that went, this was an opportunity! I could be fired, BUT I could also strike it big! After a big chunk of the poles melted when I was a kid, saltwater fish became a rare commodity, up there with diamonds, and with the prohibitions on marine fishing, Rybdomik had swallowed up the fish production market, becoming the largest global distributor of high quality, exclusive fish meat. Dimitri Ivanov Sr. was one of the biggest oligarchs in the world, which meant his son’s wallet was one of the biggest in the world! There was only one problem… Dimitri Jr. and Olga Ivanov were infamous among luxury resorts. Recently-wed, plus the kid was as harmless as a fly, but the real problem was her. Olga. Being the wife of the son of the CEO of one the biggest fisheries on Earth had its advantages and she made sure to milk every one of them dry. She was a pampered princess who struck fear into every customer service rep that she faced. And I was next. Knowing that my neck was on the chopping block and the she-devil was my executioner, I walked out of my office with a face longer than the recently rebuilt Great Wall of China and made my way to the room they’d reserved. The elevator up to the penthouse left a perfect view of the West Kendall Bay, and I took what might be my last chance to look at it. It was and still is beautiful. My parents said that they’d lived here when the whole bay was just a bunch of apartment complexes around a lake, but it seemed so impossibly different now. The Hammocks Real Estate Group had launched a terraforming project that dug up the western marshland and turned it into a respectable bay, lining the coast with luxury resorts to make the perfect tourist trap. Even if all of Miami sunk, they would still find some way to market it as “the place to vacation”. But I’ve been saving up to get out of here. I’ll move up north, to nicer weather and a bigger house. I’d had so many bad memories working at here at the Kendall Grandview Resort, that it made me a little sick. Looking out at that shimmering bay from the twenty-fifth floor, it was either that or my acrophobia. The elevator came to a stop at the top floor, opening up to my arch enemy. It stood there with the mocking appearance of a twenty-something college girl in a pencil skirt but underneath the uniform and the stainless steel “skin” was just a heartless supervisory program that cruelly marked my each and every infraction. [Hello, Trevor.] Its heartless voice chimed in the most perfectly accommodating tone that science could devise. [Thank you for coming. We will be working together-] Will we? [To ensure that Mr. Dimitri Ivanov’s and Mrs. Olga Ivanov’s pre-check in requests are met and/or exceeded.] Exceed? Impossible. I rolled my eyes and was about to agree with it when Elexa interrupted me. “Hello Elexa. I’m here to assist in the preparation of the room for our guests, Mr. and Mrs. Ivanov.” I said, grinding my teeth as politely as I could. [Trevor Martines, your manager has given me permission to discipline you, and because you are not in accordance with the Grandview uniform regulations,I have awarded you a demerit.” Fuck! I never fixed my uniform! “You have two demerits currently. Please adjust your appearance prior to the arrival of Mr and Mrs. Ivanov. Any further violations of the Grandview’s rules and regulations will result in additional demerits. Might I remind you that upon your third demerit, you will be awarded with an infraction, and after three infractions, your continued employment will be taken into consideration by management. You currently have two infractions.] I bit my tongue, scared that any sassy remark of mine would be enough to set off the robot into getting me fired. Elexa continued after a moment of tense silence. [Our guests have requested a deep-sea diving submarine for an underwater retreat scheduled for tomorrow. They have also requested that the penthouse be decorated with several bouquets of Mrs. Olga Ivanov’s favorite flower, spider lilies. Mr. Dimitri Ivanov also requests a saltwater aquarium be outfitted in the middle of the penthouse, citing that he has one at home and believes an aquarium would be nice to view.] It must’ve been hilarious to Elexa’s evil sense of humor, because how was any of that feasible? Not only are spider lilies toxic, they’re also endangered?!? And who the hell expects the penthouse to have a saltwater aquarium??? Don’t these guys own all the saltwater fish already!? I could already see my farewell party tonight! Elexa just robotically chimed the amount of water while I ferried water back and forth, each bucket of chemically treated water added to the tank adding fuel to my own fire. This was it. I could feel it spiraling out of my hands and here I was happily pouring bucket after bucket like the perfect little wage slave that I was. I can do it. I just need to get out of here. I can keep it together. I closed my eyes, chest heaving and jaw clenched, and climbed up the ladder with a heavy bucket of sloshing water on my shoulder, when my foot slipped. It just slipped off. And everything came tumbling down. I crawled up, soaked to the skin in this stupid monkey suit and I let out the most heart-rending howl, reveling in the release. My catharsis only lasted seconds though. I’d suddenly remembered I was being monitored by my personal prison warden. I spun so fast, ready to beg the android for another chance, and froze at the scene. I was never a fan of the Elexas. I was a kid when Amazon, who had finally absorbed Microsoft in the biggest hostile takeover my parent’s had seen, had taken the best of AI and the best of biophysics robotics and created a monster that invaded every occupational field. And now the magnum opus of Amazon Dynamics stared at me, wisps of smoke escaping its plating as pseudo-saltwater seeped into every bionic joint it could. FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! It jerked and stammered, its perfect voice marred by reverb and stuttering. [Trev- Trevor M- M- M- Martines. You have- You have been a-a-awarded your tthhiirrrddddd…] and with a sickening pop of sparks, the light in its eyes dimmed and its frame slumped over in front of me. I stood up slowly, hoping and dreading that Elexa would get back up, but even after a few minutes and hard nudges, it stayed motionless on the ground. A cold sweat ran down my back as I realized just how fucked I was. Management would have my head once they found out I had just broken a guest’s million-dollar robot. If they found out. A shitty solution was forming in my head, but if I managed to keep this job AND get the payout from Mr. Ivanov, I’d be swimming in enough money to finally live in luxury in some out-of-the-way mansion in Ohio or some other nameless place. I quickly threw as many towels on the spill as I could and rushed out. I’d need to get Maintenance and Cleaning’s help. Maintenance managed the programming and troubleshooting of the malfunctioning ElexaCGPT models, while Cleaning was in charge of sending out the older models that had been repurposed as cleaners. When I bust through the door to the maintenance room, Maintenance sat at this huge station in the basement, with a half-disassembled Elexa laying on its surface, surrounded by unpowered androids in employee uniforms, a cascading screen of code scrolling down in front of him. A knock on the door made him look up to see me and my, no doubt, unsavory grin. I rubbed my hands together almost slimily. “Heyyy, Sammy-” “Shut it, Trevor. You never come here unless you need help, and you know the drill. My services are worth $3000.” I grimaced. “Sammy! C’mon, have some mercy! All I need is a small memory wipe…” “Tampering with Elexas could cost me my job. Think of it as hazard pay.” “I can do two grand. But it’ll have to wait until my next tip.” “Fuck off then-” Maintenance “Sammy, wait!! I’ve got the Ivanovs coming tomorrow and I busted their bot mid-transmission! If you help me out I’ll split the tip 90-10 with you…” He stopped pushing me out the door and stared at me in surprise. “You’re kidding. The Ivanovs? The Rybdomik guys?” “Yeah, the CEO’s son is here with his wife, and while I was prepping the room, I broke their Elexa. And I was wondering if you could wipe its most recent memory log, since I’m on my last strike here.” “50-50.” “50-50???” I almost fainted this time. “Yeah. Repairing their Elexa. Expediting the repair. Wiping her memory. Hazard pay. Not paying up front. I’ll get 50, and you get 50. Either that, or get fired when I fix Elexa up.” I was getting red in the face and starting to breathe hard before swallowing my pride. Why was everyone that worked here so greedy! “70-30!” “60-40.” “Done!” I was exasperated. I’d somehow ended up paying more than I expected, but it was going to be oh so very worth it. I’d finished with Maintenance. Next up was Cleaning, and I was careening through halls when my Grandview-issued watch buzzed on his wrist and his linked earpiece set off a melodic ring, a soft voice intoning [Incoming Call. From Manager.] Augh! This is the worst time for you to call! “Answer!” I aggressively whispered, running through the halls to the cleaning department. I could hear the sweatiness through the labored breathing, but this time, Management sounded as anxious as I was. “Trevor! Please tell me everything’s going okay!” “Yep! Everything’s fine.” Everything is going to shit right now. “Good! The Ivanovs are touching down like right now! Leave the rest to Elexa and get ready to receive them on the landing pad!” I stopped where I was and just stood there like a statue, processing what I had done to deserve this. It was like the devil had taken it upon himself to visit every little misfortune upon me. Was wanting to live lavishly so deadly a sin that I was doomed to get fired? The landing pad was beside the beach, gently lapping waves turning choppy as the helicopter touched down, wind and sand buffeting my face. A small pair of stairs unfolded and two people carefully climbed out. One was a young man in his mid-twenties wearing a tropical polo, shorts and sandals, while a woman in a shimmering dress, made her way down. She grabbed at the wide-brim hat on her head to keep it from flying away with the helicopter’s air pressure, but her fur boa whipped around wildly. She had a pair of large-frame sunglasses that covered her eyes, but her pursed lips already gave away what she was doing. She was judging everything she could lay her eyes on. “Mr. Dimitri! Mrs. Olga! Welcome to the beautiful Kendall Bay area!” I launched into a quick greeting and motioned for them to follow me. I had phoned ahead to Maintenance who said he’d get Cleaning in on it for an extra two thousand. I just had to keep the Ivanovs out of the penthouse for long enough that they would be able to install the aquarium, acquire some imported exotic flowers, and repair the Elexa. Thankfully, Management always kept a small fleet of subs ever since deep-sea cruises had become a thing. I’d brought them over to a random vessel, selling it as the one we prepared for them personally, but I could see the Mrs. getting impatient. She would stare daggers at me from behind her sunglasses, at least that’s what it felt like, but whenever she would begin to raise her voice, her husband would pat her shoulder and try to calm her. It didn’t work. I could feel the air around her get colder every time he told her to be patient. As I was showing them around the premises, a pop sounded out that all three of us turned to look at. Two figures were running. Their Elexa ran around jerkily with smoke coming out of her ears, chased by Maintenance before disappearing behind a corner. “Dimitri, wasn’t that our Elexa?” “I don’t think so, love-” “No, I’m so sure that one was ours!” Anxiety had shot up my back like lightning, as every muscle in my body froze. “I apologize for the disruption but please, be assured, that your Elexa is fine and awaiting you in your room.” What the fuck is Maintenance doing!? No longer interested in my lackluster tour, Olga begins to pester Dimitri to go to the room until, fed up, Olga pushes past her husband and I with a fury. “Enough of this nonsense, Dimitri! I’m tired from flying in cramped little plane that your father lent us. I’m going to room. The stupid cruise isn’t even until tomorrow anyway.” I worked to stall as much as I could. I took them the long way around. I passed by Management so he could suck up to them as he loved to do. I even hit the emergency button on the elevator up, winning a few more minutes, but Olga was an unstoppable force. She stormed into the room, irritated with pursed lips, and I rushed in behind her, babbling anything I could that would get her to stop from reaping my lucrative employment. She looked around with a face like she could smell something stunk, but their bags were organized neatly by the door. She passed by the bed where a colorful arrangement of spider lilies was neatly set on the bed. She ran her fingers over the sheets, looking like she could feel whether the premium Giza 45 sheets were freshly-woven or not. The floor was spotless, and in the middle of the penthouse was a large aquarium with rare marine fishes swimming around. An eel snaked his way through a reef while some colorful clownfish poked their heads out of the swaying anemones. The faint whirring of Elexa could be heard beside the double king-size bed as it stood there subserviently. I swallowed at the thought of it looking at me and suddenly recalling my meltdown and its bath two hour ago. It looked at me, electronic eyes piercing through to my fear and analyzing it, before harmlessly turning back to the expensive guests it was meant to serve. I could feel every muscle in my ass unclench as she looked away, Maintenance having been able to wipe that half-sent infraction. Dimitri sheepishly looked at his wife and then at me, profusely apologizing, and I smiled in return, seething inside at the snobby fish princess but I was so close I could smell the mountain of cash he was about to drop in my hands. “It’s my pleasure to serve, Mr. Ivanov! If you have any requests, Elexa will relay them to our front desk, and we’ll do our best to acquire them for you!” “No, thank you, Trevor. Here, this is for the tour and for putting up with my Olga. I know she’s a handful!” Dimitri brought his watch to mine, a small beep and the sound of paper shuffling coming from my watch. I was almost drooling at the thought of checking my balance, the only thing keeping it from spilling out from the side of my mouth being that they might need me later on and I’d get another massive tip from the Russian prince of fishes. I’d made it to my office in record time, dizzy with excitement as I pulled up my account balance. And then I cocked my head to the side in confusion. Just $10,000? Did he forget to add a few zeroes? I double-checked. And then sat back in frustration. I’d gotten chump change from billionaire as a tip and I even had to split it with Maintenance along with another $2000. My eyes started to tear up and I dropped my head on my desk, heartbroken. My watch didn’t care though, and buzzed and sounded out with a ring. [Incoming call. From: Manager] “Answer.” I grumbled. “Trevor. Did it go well with the Ivanovs?” “Y-” “Good, because listen. The Tencent Company CFO’s daughter decided last minute to have a birthday party here in Kendall Bay. She’s planning to arrive tonight with a bunch of friends. I already sent an Elexa up to Room 2304, so I need you to head up there and start prepping for her arrival.” Future Mean Sea Level: Scenarios and Observation-Based Assessments https://aambpublicoceanservice.blob.core.windows.net/oceanserviceprod/hazards/sealevelrise/2.0-Future-Mean-Sea-Level.pdf Coastal Risk Screening Tool https://coastal.climatecentral.org/map/10/-80.2732/25.7832/?theme=water_level&map_type=water_level_above_mhhw&basemap=roadmap&contiguous=true&elevation_model=best_available&refresh=true&water_level=6.0&water_unit=ft Six Ways Loss of Artic Ice Affects Everyone https://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/six-ways-loss-of-arctic-ice-impacts-everyone I’ve Been to the Ocean’s Deepest Point: Here’s What I Saw https://www.newsweek.com/ive-been-oceans-deepest-point-mariana-trench-what-i-saw-1729785 The Melting Artic: What Does It Mean For Wildlife and People https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/2015/07/31/the-melting-arctic-what-does-it-mean-for-wildlife-and-people/ Imagining the Next 100 Years of Science of Technology https://www.nyas.org/magazines/imagining-the-next-100-years/imagining-the-next-100-years-of-science-and-technology/ Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Grandview Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Johann Ceron Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 04/19/2023