The bright yellow morning sun climbed high into the Miami sky. It was a clear, sultry, cloudless July day. Those normal mortals walking below the high-rise building would be feeling the heat and the humidity. Sweat would pour from their foreheads, backs, and under arms. They'd complain about the humidity. They'd wish they were indoors under the protection of air conditioning with its thick blanket of artificially-cold air.
However, the two men sitting 11 stories above the street in the new high-rise building didn't feel the heat or the humidity. They lived in an environment that was totally climate-controlled. In fact, they felt cold all the time, regardless of what the weather was like outside. They never felt the wind blow. They never felt rain on their faces. They never got really hungry; their diet was carefully designed and monitored by a dietitian. They had free and available medical care 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They had a bank of 4 large-screen color televisions pouring out a wide variety of programs in English and Spanish. They had Sony portable Walkman stereo radios and expensive Koss headphones. They had access to a large bank of telephones for 14 hours each day. They were free to call all over the world, if they had the money to pay for it. The 1,400 men and women living inside the high-rise called it The Space Station. They all sarcastically joked that the place was like the Hotel California: "You can check out anytime that you want. But you just can't leave."
The two men lived in a room that was 6 feet wide and roughly 8 feet deep. There was a sink and a toilet at the front of the room adjacent to the blue high metal door with a small window slit in the side. Two steel bunks, one on top of the other, were positioned width-wise on the far wall. A metal ladder had been provided on the right side of the bunk bed so that the man sleeping on the top bunk could climb up and down, as required. A light green Formica table was affixed to the left side of the wall and ran all the way from the toilet and wash basin to the beds on the far side of the room. It was the same height as a normal office desk. It was covered with all sorts of toiletries, magazines from all over the world, and legal papers. Two folding dark brown chairs could be seen open under the table. There was a bulletin board fixed high on the wall opposite the long Formica table. It was full of various family pictures and mementos of the two men that lived there. All were held up by brightly-colored thumbtacks. The floor was linoleum and shined from much polishing and care.
