0:02

You

0:02

call your sister. This

0:04

isn't working.

0:05

It's not. He needs more and

0:07

we can't pretend he doesn't. So

0:09

what the hell are we supposed to do? We

0:12

are

0:12

the one who doesn't like any of my solutions.

0:15

She's

0:15

right.

0:17

you've nicked all her high-tech

0:19

helpers. You're

0:21

the reason he's at home with no

0:23

supervision.

0:25

This is on you now.

0:27

So

0:27

over the next few days, you

0:29

research. You feel weird searching

0:32

for things like senior care, not

0:34

robots. but that's

0:36

what you want. There are

0:38

dozens of websites with profiles for

0:41

human home aids. Some of

0:43

them even advertise that they offer the

0:45

human touch, something robots

0:47

can't.

0:48

By

0:48

the end of your research binge, you have

0:50

a whole list of options. All

0:53

human. The problem

0:55

is, you can't afford

0:57

any of them. The pool of qualified

1:00

human caretakers has dwindled, and

1:03

those who are left are expensive and

1:05

in high demand. Vanguard

1:07

of states wasn't cheap, but it was

1:09

cheaper than any robot free solution.

1:14

There is a senior care facility nearby

1:16

staffed entirely by humans that

1:18

at sixty five hundred dollars a month,

1:21

you can just barely afford if you take

1:23

on a second job and a second

1:25

mortgage. But it has a wait

1:27

list of two years. But

1:30

what else is there to do? You

1:32

just can't leave him with robots.

1:35

The thought alone makes your stomach drop.

1:38

So you

1:39

add his name to the waitlist

1:41

and you wait. Trying

1:43

to push away the morbid hope

1:45

that someone else's parent will die

1:48

so that your dad gets a place to live.

2:00

Manguard

2:01

of states is a production of FlashForward.

2:03

The story was written by

2:05

me, Rosebeliff, edited by Ace Tilton

2:07

Ratcliffe and George

2:08

Wyatt, and produced by Aussie

2:10

Liena Skibman. The sound design is

2:12

by Nisha Stanton, and the music

2:14

is by Elon Bloc. Marcus

2:15

Jones was played by Keith Houston. The

2:18

Monty Jones was played by Shara Kirby.

2:20

Robot number one was played by Ashley

2:22

Kellen. You can find out more about all

2:24

of those amazing editors, producers, sound

2:26

designers, musicians, and voice at

2:29

flash forward pod dot com. An

2:31

earlier version of Welcome to Vanguard Estates

2:33

was performed live for pop up magazine.

2:35

You

2:35

can also play through a web version of the story

2:38

if you like at flash forward pod dot

2:40

comvanguard, which features

2:42

really illustrations by Maddie Luchansky.

2:45

And of course, there are thirteen other endings

2:47

for you to hear. So if you want to know

2:49

what else could happen, head back to episode

2:52

one and start again.