in a mall

on Mars, the Eastgate Mall, in Paradise City.....Eddie cooly leans back against the wall near the InPlant kiosk, checking out the traffic.....he thumbs the little slide switch on the bottom of the right hand side of his omnishades, calling up an overlay pirated from SolarCreditAgency.....the SCA patch puts dollar signs above the passersby that are recognized by the data bank scanners....it always amuses Eddie that the sort of threadbare looking older ladies always have the higher ratings, while the spiffy dressing thirty-something dudes sometimes barely rate at all....the older generations have the bucks, while youth sucks. Same old story has been going on for most of the 21st Century.....and will keep on into the fast approaching 22nd, probably. Just too many young people, is the root of the situation....and they keep coming, even with the birth tax being so outrageous.....Eddie waits calmly....what he's scanning for is a female in her twenties with more bucks than he has himself, which isn't saying much....Eddie is damn near broke....but if he can find some likely chick to give the old song-and-dance.....maybe he can sleaze his way into a free lunch, at least.....