[ WP ] The year is 2170 . The air is no longer safe to breathe , courtesy of hundreds of genetically engineered CRISPR viruses all capable of altering human DNA within seconds . A cult of clean air worshippers decides to venture out into the open and remove all their masks at once

It was Marley and Hoop that got the call for the cleanup. 
 
 Marley was n't thrilled - his mask needed adjustment and chafed pretty badly against his ears and he absolutely hated, *hated*, the big, awkward, uncomfortable boots he had to wear for the major clean-up jobs - but Marley was n't ever thrilled about anything. 
 
 He was very tall and wore a permanent scowl etched onto a face like a block of craggy granite. 
 
 It was just as well, Hoop was upbeat enough for the both of them. Even though his suit was a bit too big for him, causing his hood to slump ever-so-slightly over his face. Even though his heavy boots were like boats on him, forcing him to almost hop from foot to foot in order to walk. He was just happy to work, happy to be out of Central. Not that he disliked Central - he just liked the change of scenery. Hoop liked everything. 
 
 Hoop was short and round and never stopped smiling. 
 
 *pkt* `` Wow.'' *ptk. * said Marley as they clomped out of the hulking Street Sweeper, his gruff, nasal voice bookended by the soft pop of the Vox channel opening and closing. 
 
 *pkt* `` Y'ever see anything like that before, Marl?'' *pkt* 
 
 The irrepressibly upbeat voice had a softness to it that Marley recognized as Hoop's version of somber reverence. Hoop tried to straighten out his hood to get a better look, but it just slumped over the opposite way. 
 
 *pkt* `` I do n't think anyone's seen anything like this before, Hoop.'' *pkt* 
 
 They were standing in a courtyard in the middle of three large residential buildings, in the Jaffee Residential Cluster - an orderly group of austere, beige permacrete buildings rising like silent tombstones from austere, beige permacrete streets in a perfect, symmetrical, beige permacrete grid. 
 
 These three buildings once housed nearly twelve thousand people. 
 
 And it looked like all of them were in the courtyard. 
 
 All over the courtyard. 
 
 Biomatter. 
 
 Biomatter was the appropriate, Central-preferred term for what was left of a human body after exposure to atmo. Hoop and Marley had seen it happen - someone gets drunk, gets in a fight, gets stupid, gets fed up and done and just wants *out* - a suit gets torn, a mask gets cracked, an airseal gets compromised and... biomatter. 
 
 The courtyard was a sea of biomatter, thousands of human forms liquified and reformed, huge, clustered masses of bony tumors dozens of feet tall, suppurating sores the size of manhole covers, hundreds upon hundreds of unidentifiable fleshy protrusions all melting into each other, smashed together and twisted into horrific shapes. Rows of teeth along long tendrils wrapped around faces twisted and broken and reformed into impossible agonies frozen in flesh. Hundreds of fingers sprouting like hair from tumorous stumps. 
 
 Biomatter. 
 
 All over the courtyard. 
 
 Splashed up the walls of the buildings, up to the third and fourth stories. 
 
 *pkt* `` Whad'y'think they were trynna do, Marl? Y'think they went kookie?'' *pkt. * 
 
 *pkt* `` Ca n't imagine any other reason.'' *pkt* 
 
 *pkt* `` Why d'y'think they went kookie, Marl?'' *pkt* 
 
 There was a slight edge to this that gave Marley pause. For the first time in the decades Marley had known Hoop, there was a cracking in his voice, the barest, barest hint of desperation. Marley quickly thumbed the igniter on his Cleaner, producing a soft spark and a thin stream of blue pre-burn. 
 
 *pkt* `` I... dunno, pal. I dunno. Let's get to work and we'll talk about it later, okay?'' *pkt* 
 
 *pkt* `` Marl?'' *pkt* 
 
 *pkt* `` Yeah, Hoop?'' *pkt* 
 
 *pkt* `` It's... okay, right? We're... we're all gon na be okay, right Marl?'' *pkt* 
 
 Marley hesitated for a moment too long and tried to cover this by pulling the trigger on his cleaner. The burst of brilliant blue flames gave him a moment of satisfaction. The illumination of the biomatter in the courtyard took it away. 
 
 *pkt* `` Yeah, Hoop, we're gon na be okay. Let's get to work, okay? We'll clean all this up and get right back to Central. I'll buy you a drink, okay?'' *pkt* 
 
 *pkt* `` Okay Marl. Hey Marl?'' *pkt* 
 
 *pkt* `` Yeah, Hoop?'' *pkt* 
 
 *pkt* `` Y'wo n't... you wo n't let me go kookie, will you, Marl?'' *pkt* 
 
 Marley stared down at Hoop for a long time. 
 
 *pkt* `` Of course not, pal. Now let's get to work. Okay?'' *pkt* 
 
 *pkt* `` Okay Marl. Okay.'' *pkt* 
 
 The upbeat quality of Hoop's voice had changed. Flatter. The smile under the mask seemed plastic. Marl grimaced to himself and turned away. 
 
 It took hours to clean it all. 
 
 Hours.
