The Road That Filed a Change of Address
FIELD TRANSMISSION // MERIDIAN-6 // OUTER ROUTE 7
People. Planets. Poor Decisions.
REX RATTLE:
“Good evening, good morning, or whatever Meridian-6 currently considers east.”
He straightens a cue card that is already upside down.
“Tonight, we investigate reports that an entire planetary highway has disappeared.”
Jetta Spark is standing several thousand kilometers away in the middle of an orange dust storm.
Behind her, an elevated highway section slowly crawls across the desert on enormous mechanical legs.
JETTA SPARK:
“Rex, the highway didn’t disappear.”
She watches another section walk past.
“It moved.”
REX:
“So... traffic?”
JETTA:
“Geographically.”
And unfortunately, that is only the beginning.
One Road. Eighteen Thousand People. Forty-Two Million Commuters.
Meridian-6 was supposed to be simple.
Fuel.
Food.
Cheap lodging.
One highway.
It should have been almost impossible to get lost here.
Then somebody discovered the road was capable of leaving.
Buried beneath the desert is an ancient infrastructure system known as the Meridian Automated Transit Optimization Network.
Every few hours, the system activates enormous construction machines beneath the surface.
Roads lift.
Bridges rotate.
Signs relocate.
Interchanges disconnect themselves and quietly head somewhere else.
The reason?
The network was designed decades before Meridian-6 was fully colonized.
Its computer still expects a morning commute of approximately:
42,000,000 travelers.
Current population:
18,406.
Meridian-6 Transportation officials describe the difference as:
“Room for growth.”
The highway system has officially been listed as temporarily under maintenance for 83 years.
Jetta Finds Someone Who Actually Understands It
Jetta tracked down one of the few people who can still navigate Meridian-6 without accidentally ending up in another municipality.
A planetary route technician named Gordo Pell.
Gordo has been working on Outer Route 7 long enough to stop asking where it goes.
JETTA:
“So where are we right now?”
Gordo studies a glowing navigation tablet.
Then the road underneath them shifts three meters to the left.
He studies it again.
GORDO:
“Currently?”
“Probably here.”
Jetta looks over the edge.
Another highway segment rises from the desert behind them.
JETTA:
“And in ten minutes?”
Gordo folds the map.
GORDO:
“Different question.”
Rex, naturally, has joined the field report despite previously insisting the studio was “much safer and had snacks.”
Then the Highway Reconfigured During the Interview
Halfway through the report, Route 7 moved again.
Not metaphorically.
The section under the crew disconnected, lifted itself several stories into the air and began drifting toward a completely different interchange.
Jetta kept reporting.
Rex kept smiling directly into the camera.
Gordo began shouting directions nobody understood.
Nibs climbed deeper into Jetta’s bag.
Meanwhile, the roadside navigation system began issuing helpful instructions:
DETOUR →
followed by:
STILL DETOUR →
followed by:
TRY AGAIN ↑
Rex pointed toward the moving road behind them.
REX:
“And that, viewers, is why professional journalism requires excellent balance.”
The highway lurched sideways.
JETTA:
“You’re holding onto a road sign.”
REX:
“Professional instincts.”
The Actual Problem
The crew eventually located the original transit computer.
It was enormous.
Dust-covered.
Analog.
Still operating flawlessly according to itself.
Its display read:
PROJECTED COMMUTERS: 42,000,000
ACTUAL COMMUTERS: 11
SYSTEM RESPONSE: EXPAND HIGHWAY
Jetta stared at it.
Rex stared at it.
Nibs pressed a blinking button.
Every warning light turned red.
Across the horizon, twelve additional highways started moving.
There was a long silence.
JETTA:
“Nibs.”
Nibs looked innocent.
REX:
“For the record, I believe we have just advanced the investigation.”
The Solution Was Mostly Paperwork
Turning the system off requires:
Form 77-B.
Three municipal approvals.
Two engineering signatures.
And verification from a transportation department that stopped existing 61 years ago.
So Meridian-6 made a different decision.
The government reclassified its highways as:
MIGRATORY INFRASTRUCTURE
Almost immediately, tourism increased.
People began traveling to Meridian-6 specifically to watch Route 7 migrate across the desert.
Local restaurants started offering Moving Highway Viewing Specials.
Fuel stations began selling:
I FOUND ROUTE 7
souvenir mugs.
And the transportation department replaced its official route map with one that simply says:
ROUGHLY THIS AREA.
Back to the Studio. Probably.
REX:
“So, Jetta, is Route 7 open?”
Jetta looks over her shoulder.
The road slowly rolls away.
JETTA:
“Define Route 7.”
REX:
“Fair.”
JETTA:
“And define open.”
Rex checks his cue card.
REX:
“Tomorrow’s problem.”
END TRANSMISSION.
Somewhere in the galaxy, tomorrow’s episode is already becoming a problem.
#WearTheStory