Happy pt.1

A new day dawned and Lobert opened his eyes. Since Lobert no longer had to go to his old job, he slept as long as he could.

The light from outside shone through the milky glass of his room wall. And there sat Reiko, awake.

It could have been that Reiko just got up earlier than Lobert, and that would also be a plausible explanation, but that didn't seem to be the case.

"Haven't you been sleeping?" Lobert asked curiously.

"No, I haven't in a long time."

"What, absolutely not at all?" Lobert couldn't figure out how to not sleep, she had to sleep at least a little, right?

The longest he had stayed awake at a time was three days. And that was only because he spent the whole time gaming, otherwise he would have fallen asleep long before that.

"No, not at all. I wouldn't be able to if I wanted to. That's why Wolfgang, um, Mr. Rheintal gave me some medication so that I can manage without sleep. It's actually quite practical for a bodyguard to not need to sleep."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Don't be."

"You must have missed a lot of great dreams; dreams are one of the best things in my life."

"I'd only have nightmares anyway, if any at all."

"Sucks." The only thing Lobert could think of to say.

"Yup."

Somewhat more awake by now, Lobert brushed his teeth and cleaned his face while Reiko just watched.

Then Lobert's phone rang, Marc calling.

"Lobert!" Marc screamed from the phone.

"Did you pay my debt?" came just as loud and pressing from the phone.

"Not directly, but sort of."

"I owe you my life, no, more than that! I'll do everything I can to thank you."

"No, that's okay." It had cost Lobert himself not really anything to pay off Marc's debt, so it didn't feel right to ask for something in return.

"Yeah, I get it." Said Marc "What can I do for you, now that you are Arbiter. You can get anything you want with just a quick snap of your fingers." Marc said slightly somberly.

"No, it doesn't work that way." Lobert countered.

"You're still the same friend I've always had. Just invite me to dinner sometime and it will be fine, I really haven't done that much." With that, Marc would hopefully be satisfied.

"Paying off all my debt 'not done that much'? Bullshit. But okay, fine. However, if there's ever anything I can do for you, please call me. Got it?"

"Yeah, I got it."

"What about your job, is everything okay?" Lobert asked.

Since Lobert didn't show up at his old job the last few days, he couldn't do Marc's work, after all.

"Yeah...about the job, you can probably guess but I don't have the job anymore." He didn't sound too concerned.

"Sorry man, maybe I can arrange some job for you; a better paying one, even."

Perhaps he could put his position as arbiter to some good use.

"Nah, that's all right. An acquaintance of mine hooked me up with a job as a bouncer. As soon as I get out of the hospital, I can start there."

"Oh and what about your kidney, you might be able to get an artificial one." Lobert offered, wanting to do at least one more thing for his friend.

"I'll think about it, you've already done so much for me. How about you, how are you doing as the arbiter?"

"I can't complain. A big apartment, enough clothes to change into every day and good food."

"Sounds great."

There was silence for a moment. Chatting didn't come as naturally to Lobert now that they no longer shared the same daily life.

"Listen, I've got some stuff to do. Thanks again, it was nice chatting with you." Marc said.

"Yeah, let's talk again sometime." Lobert replied, and Marc hung up.

Reikos's stomach grumbled and Lobert realized they hadn't eaten breakfast yet.

"Can you cook for two?" Reiko asked with a hint of - did Lobert hear that right - embarrassment?

"I ran out of my MREs; don't take that the wrong way." She explained herself.

"Coming right up." Lobert cracked an egg and began making breakfast for two.

As they ate breakfast, he picked up Mr. Kleinsel's capsule and looked at it.

"You're really going to swallow that?" Reiko asked concerned.

"Yes, I think his private paramedics might be quite useful, even if I have a normal accident."

"What if it's poison?"

"That wouldn't make any sense. As long as I'm so deeply in his debt, he'd rather keep me alive."

"If you die it wasn't my fault, after all, I warned you."

Lobert took the capsule with a generous sip of water.

Suddenly, a strong feeling came over Lobert, and he looked at Reiko with a grim expression.

"I have to take a piss."

Reiko gave Lobert a little kick.

After Lobert came back from the bathroom, the men from the hospital were already waiting at the landing site.

One of the doctors noticed Lobert and waved his hand.

"Mr. Natus, we're here to pick up your mother, can you get her?"

"Yes just a moment." Lobert said and walked into his mother's room.

The lights were still off and she was still asleep, so Lobert woke her up.

"The doctors have come to pick you up."

His mother was still half asleep, but it wasn't long before she was standing on the landing pad, ready to go.

"If anything happens call me okay?" his mother said.

"Yes I will."

"Don't eat too much unhealthy stuff okay?"

"Yes mom."

"Don't stay up too late okay?"

"Ok ok, I'll try to remember that."

"And don't stay in front of the screen too long okay?"

"Yeah, I got it."

Even though he cherished his mother, he still found her pretty annoying sometimes.

"Okay, I'm going to leave now."

His mother got into the car.

"I'll come visit you, get well soon. Take care." Lobert said.

"Goodbye." His mother replied, and the car flew away.

×

A few hours passed and Lobert got bored, but he didn't feel like mindlessly surfing the Internet.

"Shouldn't I be sitting in some office right now, bossing people around and signing stuff?" he asked Reiko.

"I don't know, don't ask me."

Don't ask her, huh? Professor Rheintal ought to know something.

"Reiko, can you drive me to Professor Rheintal?"

"Yeah, that's what I'm here for after all."

Reiko called the car and it magically came flying up to the landing site.

"Shotgun!"

Reiko made a confused expression.

"Can I sit in the passenger seat? Lobert explained.

"You know you're not supposed to."

"Please?" Lobert looked at Reiko with a puppy face.

Reiko just looked at him with a disgusted look for a while.

"All right, but don't tell the professor about this."

She unlocked the car and Lobert excitedly walked over to the passenger seat.

Seeing the city while flying was a completely different experience that thrilled Lobert in a whole new way.

During the ride, Lobert watched the passing scenery with great enthusiasm; he would never tire of these sights.

His gaze briefly turned to Reiko, who appeared focused, even though she was not actually driving.

Seen from her profile, in her black vest and red shirt, she looked quite reliable, a quality Lobert appreciated.

A little while passed and they arrived at one of the larger skyscrapers.

Reiko started the descent and on the side of the skyscraper a few lights flashed and some kind of gate opened.

They found themselves in the same parking garage he had been taken to the first time.

Reiko led Lobert back to the research room where he first met Christina.

Professor Rheintal was deeply absorbed in his research, so he didn't even notice Lobert's arrival.

Lobert tiptoed up to the professor and waited next to him for a while, but he still didn't seem to notice.

"Professor."

The professor flinched a little and turned around.

"Ah, hello Lobert, and Reiko has come too." the professor smiled kindly.

"Not that I have a choice." Reiko whispered to herself.

"Good to see you, did you have a good time at the party?" The professor asked.

"I'm not the type for parties. There were some weird people there." Lobert replied.

The professor laughed heartily.

"Yeah, I guess you have to be kind of odd to make it to that celebration. So, what brings you here today?"

"I wanted to ask you what I'm supposed to be doing. I'm the Arbiter now, running a whole city...and I'm...bored?! Am I not supposed to do something?"

"Good question...I don't know. Casper...I mean Christina does all the bureaucracy for you. You can actually do whatever you want. If your presence is needed, we'll call you."

Lobert couldn't complain about that, he was practically paid for doing nothing. But somehow he had hoped for more.

"Okay, then I'll pay Christina a visit, is that okay?" Lobert said, slightly disappointed.

"You can always see her; you're her top priority." Professor Rheintal assured.

Lobert entered the hexagonal room and the hologram of Christina appeared from the projector.

"Good to see you Lobert." Christina exclaimed joyfully.

"What brings you here today?" she asked with a curious expression.

"Why did you pick me to be your arbiter? I'm just a mannequin, so to speak. You could have picked anyone!"

"It's not like that; you're there for everything I can't do - and more. Your time will come."

Lobert didn't seem entirely satisfied with the answer.

So the only thing he could do was play the good arbiter and serve Christina's goals?

"But if you're so eager to do something and you're bored, I have an idea of what you could do."

"One of your goals?" Lobert asked suspiciously.

"Why, no." Christina chuckled.

"Listen to what I have to say and then you can decide for yourself if you want to take action."

Lobert thought for a moment.

"I'm all ears." he said.

"You've probably heard of the popular drug Happy, right?"

"Yes."

"It's an inconspicuous black pearl, no bigger than a marble. It makes you forget all your problems and you experience a deep, inner peace. By far the most popular drug, especially in the outer districts. Sounds good, doesn't it?"

"When you look at it that way… sure."

"Sure… Until you start losing your mind. You forget to go to work, pay your rent; all you want is that drug. Then you forget the faces of your friends, your family, and eventually your own. You forget who you are, who you were, until all that's left is an empty shell. The flies can hover over you, the scavengers gnaw at you, you don't care. You've long forgotten what pain is, what life is, until you finally meet your end."

Lobert couldn't believe what he was about to get into a few days ago. Fortunately, he didn't.

"Ultimately, whether you want to do something about the countless living corpses in Central City is your choice."

"I'll...think about it."

"You shouldn't have a problem if you're with Reiko."

Lobert was about to walk out the door, but then he remembered something else.

"Christina?"

"Yes?"

"Can you sell the rest of the public hospitals to the Brimetz Company?"

"It'll take some time, but I'll do it."

"Just like that? Don't you have anything against it? I want to sell the public infrastructure for my personal interests, for all intents and purposes." Lobert asked in astonishment.

"I know." Christina said. "But in the end, it makes no difference."

Lobert left the room and headed back to the parking garage.

"Well, that was some serious talk." Lobert said a little gloomily.

"Are you going to do anything about it?" Reiko asked.

"I don't know where to even start, let's relax first. Is there anything you want to do?"

"I'm just the bodyguard, it doesn't matter what I want to do."

"I want to do what you want to do, though." Lobert retorted.

"All right. I could use some new weapons, now that I'm protecting the most important man in town." Reiko said.

"Great, then let's go!" Lobert exclaimed enthusiastically.