I've been wandering the plex for months now, can't find a place to lay my head without a devil rat gnawing on my horn, or bums trying to steal everything I've got. I got out of the Stajail with a name, well with a SIN. My parents called me Charles, and so that's what I told the cops. It's raining right now and I'm sitting under this overpass wondering if I should just end it. But as I contemplated suicide I felt a strange fondness for my body. Even if I was a troll, with a sawed off horn, and zero cash to claim. Maybe I should try to sleep again...
Waking up, I looked at my makeshift pots. They were overflowing with water, so I picked one up and eyed it. Rain here is acidic, to many years of smog, and the ozone being torn apart. That's what Caleb always told me. "Don't drink the water unless you can purify it." Caleb.... I wish I could tell you I was sorry for everything. I set the pot on a small flame and left it to boil. The thing about overpasses is, people throw everything down here. Trash, furniture, food, anything you could think of you might find it down here.
I rummaged through a pile, I hadn't been to yet. I could see, rats squirming their way through it. Well, not see exactly but I could see small bundles of heat pushing their way around in the pile. Paper, lots of it, yellowed and splotched from rain but, mostly dry. I stuffed it all into a pocket. A baseball, I held it up to the light. I haven't ever actually seen one of these, just on the trid. I put in the pocket with the papers. The pile looked useless, I started to give up on it and saw a gleam. It was buried, but there was a handle, chrome black. It was a handgun. Smaller than the ones the screws at the Stajail wore. I took it back to my fire, to admire it. I threw the paper onto the fire and it slowly, turned to kindle. The gun was something I'd only felt when I was with Caleb. He taught me how to shoot, to reload, and to make sure it was clean. I disassembled it carefully making sure not to lose the springs. I didn't have lube but I made sure the barrel was clean, and I checked to see if everything was in working order. The serials on it had been filed off, and I couldn't tell what kind of gun it was.
My water started to boil while I was looking at the gun and I rushed to save the remainder. It wasn't great, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't die from it. "What to do" I kept asking myself. The gun didn't have any bullets, and there's no way a shop would sell me bullets. Not that I had any money to buy them anyways. I waited until six; most places around Bellevue were closing. A little Stuffer shack was finishing up though. One employee, taking trash out, walked out the back door, leaving it wide open. I stepped in between him and the door, pointing the pistol at him. "If you scream I'll put a bullet in your skull." His eyes widened, and I could see his temperature rise rapidly. He stood transfixed on the gun, "Now you're gonna come here, and we're gonna talk inside." He didn't move at first, and then the command registered. He put his hands up and put his head down. I pulled him inside, and told him "Take your clothes off, real slow, I get nervous." He started with his shirt, and then undid his belt. I took his belt in hand. He unbuttoned his pants and kicked out of them. He stood awkwardly not knowing to strip all the way down. "Your shoes too" He kicked them off. "Lie on the ground, put your face down; keep your hands behind your back." He looked at me like I was crazy. I punched him in the face, real easy. He fell to the ground; I could hear the slap of his head on the cold linoleum. I tied his hands together with his belt, and searched the store. Finding zip ties, I went back and did his feet, and then hog tied his hands and feet together.
His temperature was dropping, but he wasn't dead. I searched his pockets, a few paper invoices, a handwritten note with the alarm code, and a wallet. The invoices were useless; the alarm code could be used to alert the police after I was done. The wallet had a few credsticks, pictures, keys, and personal information. I took the SIN card and the credsticks. Hopefully I can find someone to work with these. The pictures, one was a young blonde girl, another was a blue eyed, blonde haired baby, and the last was the three of them together. One happy family... I choked up a bit, looking at something I didn't have.
My friend on the floor groaned, sputtering about the cold. I walked around to where he could see me; again his eyes bulged as he struggled against the ties. I dropped the family portrait in front of him. "Nice family you've got there, it'd be a shame yeah?" His eyes flitted back and forth in his head. "What d-do you wa-want, I'll giv-give you anything, just don't hurt them." I chuckled, "Listen, if I wanted you dead, you'd be dead. Where's the safe? What’s the code, is it time release, does it send off a signal when opened?" He relaxed a bit, "I can't, it'll be my job." I sighed, "What's more important, my friend? A few answers, or your blonde and little baby? I have your address; I've got your keys. How bout I give them a visit? He exhaled, "The safes biometric, I can get it open for you but, I can open it for you." I looked at him and told him to hold that thought.
Being a small store, I just had to turn off the front lights, and turn on the automatic shutters. I rummaged through the store knocking down displays. I found a backpack, and stuffed it with food. A black jacket, the label said 5X, it barely fit, I couldn't zip it up though. I looked for shoes but size 20 shoes are hard to find, underwear and socks were easier to find. I also grabbed a blanket, camping gear and a little flashlight. I was walking back up to the employee room and saw a camera. My face was gonna be plastered on the trid tomorrow, if I didn't do something about it.
"Tell me about your security system." He looked at me, "Look, I don't know anything about the security system." he exclaimed. Luckily the managers’ office still had a tumbler lock. I strong armed the door, pushing through to the cramped space. A little desktop computer sat on the metal desk. I clicked a few icons, and found the CCTV board. Four cameras, of the eight I saw seemed to work, I played with the controls and found a rewind option. They had all caught me at one angle or another. I played a little more and deleted tonight's footage. I rummaged through the desk and found a little Streetline Special, it however was fully loaded.
"Now you can tell me again about this safe, and this time if you lie... I don't know where I'll start with your pretty little lady." I had to put on a hard face, like the one I used in SJ. "It is biometric, but if I open it again it sends a silent alarm to the cops. They’re paid to respond in twenty minutes, but knowing them you might have half an hour." I'd already thought of alerting the police, so that'd change the execution but not the plan. I pulled the ties holding his arms and legs off, and helped him over to the safe. "Now I'm going to have you open the safe, and I'll leave you here. But remember, I know where you live. I know what you, your wife, and your daughter look like. I know where you sleep, and I will find you again if I have to. You can't remember what I looked like, say a small dwarf with red hair and beard. I wasn't wearing blue coveralls and boots. I didn't have an accent. He nodded. "Say it, say you don't remember." He told me the things I'd told him. "Good, now open it." He placed his hand on the scanner; it ran its program and the safe clicked open. Papers and credsticks, I grabbed everything. I left him sitting there head down. He started crying, as I was leaving. Maybe because he was fired, but I like to think it was because he was alive, and his family was alive. Maybe his drek job was over, but he'd saved his own life. I took his car, and drove. I drove, and drove until I was out of Bellevue. I ditched the car on the side of the road, and started walking.