Wednesday, 4/10/2216, Part 2

“Kriss Blain was (unfortunately) unaccustomed to beautiful women walking into his house late in the evening unannounced,” I almost said aloud. What I actually said however, having just been presented with that very circumstance is:

“Uhhhhhh, um, wh- hello?”

I had been streaming the news, hearing Iceland boy babble on about how the Big Four Corporation’s ownership of 36% (and rising) of Edison MarsCorp’s publicly traded stock was creating tensions between the governing bodies of their respective heavenly bodies. MarsCorp owned several of Caliber’s regional competitors on earth so this story should have held great significance for me, and yet I just kept checking the time. I couldn’t pay attention to anything except the time. I had beeped BLAZE 4 hours ago so where was the DM:2191:U:8212482016 entering residence notification? It was nearly 10pm when the door slid open and a young woman with almond eyes and olive skin strode in.

She laughs out loud in response to my awkward greeting. A clear piercing laugh. A laugh that existed on its own merit in the physical world, rather than accidentally escaping out of an introverted mind into a world it had no business being in. I smile too, I can’t help it.

“For BLAZE?” she asks.

“Oh, uhhh, yeah. I, but, uh, what happened to Donnelle?”

“He got suspended. His contacts have been passed to me.”

I stop smiling. I really liked Donnelle. He had been my delivery guy from BLAZE for the past 7 months, during which time he was the human I physically saw the most. He would always come in with a smile and some interesting piece of news or theory about the workings of society. Smart too, he had recommended I read Hacking a High. He was a good guy.

“Oh… I, uh, I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It’s aight. I didn’t know him.”

I focus on her face, trying to bring up her info. All the readout said was HUMAN. She squinted back at me.

“Don’t even try, I’m not in the system.” She said, matter of factly, as if being out of the system was something someone could be.

That caught me off guard. I looked her up and down (as good an excuse as any really). I looked at her exposed shoulders, I took a step to the side to look at the back of her left ear, and I saw that she didn’t have a single port anywhere, at least not anywhere visible. She stood there with a blank expression and let me look.

“Everyone’s in the system,” I protest, “they put that shit in you when you’re born.”

“I’m not. No ports, no NAC. I’m unbound.” She smiles, showing off two rows of perfect white teeth. Her tongue is briefly visible as she moves it across the bottoms of her two front teeth. “You are.”

“I’m what?”

“Bound. Not free. A cyborg.” She said. That was probably a joke. There are real cyborgs out there and I am definitely not one of them.

‘Who is this woman in my house,’ I wonder to myself. Then, I wonder something else.

“So you’ve never loaded shock then?”

“Nope,” she said, sustaining the smile, “but uploading something that fucks with your subconscious doesn’t sound like a great high to me, my friend.”

“S-says the woman trying to sell the stuff.” I reply, suddenly embarrassed that out of all the questions that was what I asked.

“Hey, just my opinion. If you need to get high, get high.” She said with a shrug, “Also, I’m not trying to sell anything, you’ve already paid.”

This was true. BLAZE transferred funds automatically when you beeped them. It’s better for everyone if they’re in charge of concealing the transfer.

“I don’t need to get high, I need to get happy.” I said, repeating something my high school friend Seitaro had once told me.

“Ahhh, don’t we all? But do you homie.”

“So what do you do?”

“I sell shock.”

“No, I mean to get happy.”

“Oh,” She licks her two front teeth again, in what I’m beginning to suspect is a nervous tick, but can’t know for sure. “I’ve got something else.”

“What?” I know it’s poor deal etiquette but this is the most interaction I’ve had with a woman in a long time and I don’t want it to end.

She raises an eyebrow. I actually feel a little scared for a moment. She is a dealer after all, and out of the system for that matter. But then she smiles again and my fear evaporates. She holds out her arm and begins walking towards me. Sure enough, there’s no wrist-port either. She nods down, indicating I should look at her elbow. I take hold of her arm, suppressing an involuntary shudder (how long has it been since I touched a woman?), and my eyes zoom in on the crook of her arm. Then I do shudder at the sight of a vicious series of needle tracks and collapsed veins. Without moving my pupils, I shift my vision to her face. She’s staring intently at me, waiting for my reaction.

“Ew.” I say at last, letting go and pulling away.

That laugh again. This time I laugh with her.

“Shut up,” she says playfully, “take your stupid download drugs.”

She pushes a small black drive into my hand, turns around, and holds two fingers out over her shoulder while walking towards the door.

“Peace.”

“Wait,” I call after her. She turns around and rolls her eyes. I can tell I’m not the only lonely customer to be so taken with her.

“What?”

“What’s your name?”

“Haha, oh sorry, I thought you were… never mind… you can call me K.”

“Nice to meet you K, I’m Kriss.”

“I know.” And she turns and walks out the door. It slides up to accommodate her.

“Uhhm, peace!” I call after her. She glances over her shoulder as the door slides shut.

OK! Look at me! That was a successful human interaction with a genuinely interesting and enjoyable person. I’m pretty happy about that. It’s been a minute

Then I think about Donnelle. I feel bad. He really was a good person.

Such is life I suppose.

I plop down at my desk chair, suddenly exhausted. The fake sleep aid plug-in is still on the desk. Donnelle was the one who got it for me. It was expensive as hell too. Not everyone could get one. Not that all shock users need one, they could get away with it if they were unemployed. But in this job, in this economy, in this day and age, best believe the feds watching.

EarthGov: Thank you for your testimony. We value your assistance.

I freak out for a second. Despite knowing better, my mind races to the shock, to poor Donnelle, and to K.

View message. Select more info. Select 'why did I testify'.

EarthGov: You have witnessed suspicious activity at ‘Caliber Mechanics Manufacturing Plant’ located at 100 Atlantic Ave, Camden, New Jersey, 08104.

I sigh with relief, feeling a little silly. Even though I had several other data streams coming in (including from my apartment complex and mom’s care facility, both of which should be investigated) testimonies were almost always work related. My spare processing power was in use even when I’m not. I knew it wasn’t EarthGov reading my personal thoughts. They were only allowed to do that to felons after all.

I can recall several occasions where my “testimonies” had been used to prosecute lawbreakers. I hadn’t seen anything but the data was stored in my NAC if I ever actually wanted to remember them. It had always been something strange about a certain vehicle that came through. I (meaning the machines) had to record all the flaws and failings of the ground and air-cars coming through, so we knew how much to invoice the owner for. The data is saved directly to the supervising mechanic’s augment so there’s no doubt about the source of the information.

Sometimes, very rarely, someone would try to get away with a security drone or repair a personal vehicle on the company’s dime. More often, suspicious activity turned out to be innocent misunderstandings. The official looking EarthGov message they send you made it seem much more sinister though. Not to mention, moments like this made it seem like they were in my head. Well, in the private segments of my head.

Ughhh, certified creeps, all of them. Donnelle always thought they were watching him. “You’re telling me they can watch but don’t? Nah, I don’t believe that.” He had said. I had always wondered why he thought they were watching him of all people, but maybe his paranoia had been justified after all.

“Anyway, I guess they got you in the end Don,” I say aloud. “This one’s for you my mans.”

I open the buttons on my sleeve and plug a drive labeled Invoice and Financial Data into my left shoulder-port, and then the unmarked shock drive into the right. Better safe than sorry. Upload 2 attachments? Select yes. I feel two new folders appear, one marked ifd;4:10:2216 and one marked Helvetica. I pull out the financial data drive, pick up the “sleep aid” plug-in, and jam it into my shoulder. Main menu, select apps, select clock, select alarm, set for 360 minutes, save alarm, turn alarm on? Select yes, exit.

Select sleep aid plug-in, run program, select yes.

KB:2178:MO;CM:994 SLEEP

Select Helvetica.