Getting litty in the city

The following day Roxanne stood in front of one grave, large hexagono device with a handle in her hand.

It engraved the name and date of brith and death, plus the hexagon shape.

After finishing she gave the graveyard a final check up, somberness on her expression.

She returned the device to the government office, passing by a familiar room in her way out.

In the room filled with hexagono boards she swiped her civilian hexagono on one board, the size of a book. Surprisingly 'Access granted' popped on the board.

She took a peak at other rooms, Natasha and the others were still swamped but not in a drafting statues anymore.

She walked to the lonely part of the city, what was slums once. The east shore wasn't cafés and overpriced restaurants rigging tourists. It wasn't swimming zones and relaxing views.

The east shore was filled with fishing and sailors boats. The violate blue clear water was the same so the brownish red sand but with different atmosphere.

Some fished with rods, other just dug the sand for crabs. Some actual fishing boats were visible in the water. Navy and sailors having lunch in a local restaurant.

Roxy connected to the few trees in the area. Getting access to a plethora of chattering, plethora of information.

The jelly sandals were acting like an insulator but she got the gist.

At a pile of trash she worked on the hexagono board, reporting that with the a picture and a zip code.

'Please put a dumpster here. (*╹▽╹*) '

Some stoners were preparing a substance in a dark ally.

Zip code. reported.

'Zax is being prepared here (〜￣△￣)〜 #Quick. '

Then she walked barefoot, the stones of the streets sucked the sun heat, redirecting it to the layer of the underground to boost the composting process. So the stone itself weren't hot on the feet. Plus no one cared if someone walked barefoot.

She remembered school days when some would walk in a barefoot parade to prove that the streets were clean.

After more walking she wore her jelly sandals.

'Street sterilization works properly. ( > ◡ < ) ( ✧Д✧).

@Ma'am stop spamming smily symbols at the government (#｀皿´)< @ A message popped up.

'It my right as a citizen to do so (￣□￣」) '

@Ugh fair enough (〃＞目＜)/ , can you check the buildings at this zip code? Since you're close to it（O￣▽￣）O @

'Kay, xoxo ( ﾟ▽ﾟ)/ '

She smiled walking in the childhood street, the stoney ground took a lighter beige color instead of the medium gray. The buildings were all in the standard governmental design, somewhat new in time.

She casually climbed up the emergency staircase of a building. Looking at the neighborhood from above.

'This place came a long way..' She thought.

"Get down socioeconomic!" A man shouts.

"I'm working uncle Theo!" She shouts back, reporting a leaky roof. The man gave her a grilled corn cop after she got down.

'Even uncle Theo came a long way.'

--

"Do you wanna talk about socioeconomics?" Tiny Roxy asked Theo, a man with hollow cheeks, thin build and red wet eyes that spoke louder than any words he could say.

The streets were wet at corners. Not many buildings outside of a government apartment shelters. Some rubbery material used as tents for those unfortunate.

"Come on! Let's talk about socioeconomics!"

He stood up from the dirty pavement, snatched the kid and walked away.

"Is he kidnapping the kid?"

"Nah, maybe killing the kid?"

Two seemingly intoxicated people talked before going back to their nap.

Zax wasn't an addictive substance, actually it was a good antibiotic and anti inflammatory, important after surgeries. It just had the side effect of making people doozy...for days.

Mixed with the scarcity of food the sweet tasting medicine felt like a nice retreat from reality.

Theo knocked the door of a shabby, almost collapsing hut then pushed the slightly open door. A woman and the people around her looked at them.

"Um.. This kid want to learn about something, what was it?" He lifted her up like a bag of groceries.

"Socioeconomics.."

"Yeah, that."

They looked at the woman, she spoke words in a language he didn't understand then some goon came and took her from his hands. Handing her to the woman like an offering.

Theo was about to head out when another goon grabbed him from the shoulder. He froze in fear before he was harshly sat him down on a table, duckweed dish brought to him.

"Eat." It was almost an order so he did.

"So what do you want to learn." Babushka asked tiny Roxy.

"I didn't understand the ham-omelet theory."

"...How old are you again?"

"Four and two thirds!"

"Well that theory is mostly statistics.. math."

"It was math?"

"Everything is math kiddo."

"Then I'm gonna study math when I grow up!"

"Then you will end up jobless."

"Oh man!"

At the sunset, they headed home with their stomachs full. Roxy learned a thing or two too.

"Be careful kid, don't get snatched by a stranger." He walked her to the government shelter.

The situation was bad but not every part of it.

At the worn out apartment building she opened the door of flat number 21 where two little girls were staying alone. She cooked them some dehydrated duckweed for them. Made them brush their teeth and read them a bedtime story from the Socioeconomics text book.

A young woman entered, sleepy and exhausted almost sleeping at the door.

"How was the final?" Tiny Roxy asked.

"..Good, hopefully." She managed between yawns. Before murmuring about getting a job and taking her sisters out of here.

Roxy covered her with a blanket, put a pillow under her head and a toothbrush in her hand so she do it in the morning.

At flat 22 an old man looked at the bedside table, throat dry, glass empty. He closed his eyes again.

Only to open them to a kid pulling the sheets under him.

"Laundry!" Tiny Roxy demanded.

The man eat the duckweed soup on a small table while she was between the bed and wall putting sheets on..apparently.

"Thanks kid.."

"No prob."

In flat 23 she eat her meal with hot chocolate incabarina, brushed her teeth, read the socioeconomics text book the previous resident left behind.

She went to bed with disjointed pupils.

'Hmmm, it's tough but altering this body is going well, things are going well.' She thought, drifting in sleep.

Things got well indeed, at the day of the sisters' moving the big sister gave her the big Mr. garlic.

"How did you buy it?"

"...It was on sale.."

"You're too broke."

"I found it on a dumpster." She admitted.

"Who WHO would throw Mr.garlic?"

"I don't know! It was a rich neighborhood."

After the good byes the big sister looked at tiny Roxy behind, comforting the big plush and hugging it. She looked at the two kids and big bag.

"Come with us."

Roxy too looked at the kids and bag.

"I have school next month! I'll be alright."

Not so long after a young man with a cast on his leg opened the door of flat 22.

"Dad! I found ya!" He moved with his crutch to the old man frozen mid bite.

Tiny Roxy packed his bag, while the young man explained with joy how the family got united.

In their way out the man gave her a deep blue watch after looking at it fondly for the last time.

"Use it if you had to kid, it's gotta worth something."

The injured man and the old one walked away.

That was a busy year. She looked how the streets got repaved. How the tents got replaced with actual buildings. Zax getting replaced with bitter orange milkshake tasting medicine.

The building took time, walking around while the repaving continued was a pain and the new medicine wasn't a sweet escape from reality but it was worth it in the end.

--

Roxanne scanned the old building from the inside, reporting needed fixes. Someone was brining a new chair to flat 23.

"Need help with that?"

At clover neighborhood the door of the shabby flat opened.

"Welcome back, you're a little late." Ryu says from inside the bathtub scrubbing while a tendrils dusted the ceiling fan.

"Yeah, you know. Got litty in the city."