By David C. Daoust
The nice thing about Holomechs– you could go wherever you happened to have one stashed.
Colin Vice had one such device stashed on New Runnymede; the entertainment epicenter of the Solar System, reportedly, the very same epicenter that housed ‘Theo-BOLD Games’ entire system server.
Colin proved unable to gain entry into the ‘Arachnoid’ game. Unable to retrieve any more information from the Hub, and unable to truly effect what may happen on Twin Crown. He decided to go straight to the heart of the matter. Thus, this time, when that room full of nurses separated his mind from his body, that mind was whisked, not to the sand moon Twin Crown, but to the watery capital of the Trade Consortium, New Runnymede.
No sooner had his form been emitted from the small legless crab-like device- then his eyes popped open to take in his surroundings.
He was in the bedroom of a small, finely furnished apartment, one that he had used many times in the past. His father, Bernard Vice, bought it long ago, once he’d come into his startup capital; along with the three upper floors of the skyscraper, built within the sprawling metropolitan known as Pinnacle City, all to house the Organization’s earliest operations.
Colin made his way to the closet, dug out his usual digs, and pulled them over his solid-light form. Upon strapping the small firearm under his arm, he heard a startling noise.
Someone was in the apartment. He could only guess who.
Ultimately, this was his place. Any house-guest of his father should be within guest quarters. He pulled his long coat from a hook behind the door. Throwing it over his shoulder, he slipped his arms through the sleeves, and rested his hand on his firearm- he listened momentarily, from the other side of the door.
It sounded as though, whoever it may be, was in the sitting room. He carefully opened the door, so as to make no sound. Creeping out into the hallway, he stealthily positioned himself to witness who may be within.
He tightened his grip on the firearm, yet holstered, as he peeked around the corner.
“Colin?” a light female voice said abruptly from the kitchen.
“Maile?” Colin said as he found himself directly in the eye line of the young woman standing before the opened refrigerator.
All his stealthy maneuvering had gained him zilch. He recognized the short dark hair and bright gleaming blue eyes, of the free spirited young woman from his past. The long shirt she was wearing managed to cover her torso, her legs though were bare, all but the bunched up socks on her feet. She looked like she just rolled out of bed.
“What in the Worlds are you doing here?”Maile asked the very question Colin was thinking.
“Me?” Colin asked, “This is my place!”
“Right!” she said as she remembered herself, “This is your place. Um… so… I bet you’re wondering what I am doing here?” A question delivered from behind a huge smile, eyes which were already gleaming, almost blinded, as the young woman made it seem a grand surprise.
Colin gave kind of a wavering nod as Maile caught on that he was not amused.
“Well, I kind of needed a place to stay,” she said innocently enough, as the smile faded and the eyes became less radiant, glancing down the whole room seemed to darken, “Stupid landlord kicked me out on my butt… I remembered about this place, and figured you weren’t using it…”
Colin knew she had a way with locks, so he could extrapolate the rest; All but how she couldn’t make rent.
“Short of funds?” Colin found this hard to believe.
“Guy thought he deserved a little extra one month,” she said with a sneer, then flippantly explained, “I turned him down flat- he turned me out of my flat, bastard.”
“I get it,” Colin nodded, “That place down there on Welshire?”
“Yeah, three years I was there,” Maile answered cryptically, still annoyed, “the father died, son took over.”
Colin knew the building. That was all he needed.
“How long you staying?”
Maile’s cringe and forced innocent smile, told him, she not only didn’t bother looking for a new place, but had been there for quite a while.
“Well, thanks for taking care of the place,” Colin said as he examined the neat and orderly abode.
“Yeah, sometimes I get a little stressed,” Maile explained as she closed the fridge behind her, “Cleaning helps.”
Colin walked through to the sitting room, and plopped down on a wooden chair near the door.
“So… should I even ask how you got in from the bedroom?” Maile asked curiously. She followed him into the sitting room, leaned against the door to the kitchen and watched as he pulled on a pair of anti-grav boots he retrieved from under the chair he was on.
“Whatsoever do you mean?” Colin answered with a smirk, “This is my place.”
“Okay, okay,” Maile snickered a little as she retreated to the kitchen, “The mysterious Colin Vice, strikes again.”
“I’m going out!” Colin announced as he pulled open the door and launched himself, not only through the door, but over the small open walkway that lined the outside of the structure, before he plunged straight down into the cityscape, crisscrossed with traffic of all kinds, to join the other anti-grav boot wearers, sliding over the ethereal walkways provided by the city.
“So mysterious,” Maile said to herself as she returned to whatever she was doing in the fridge.
Discussion ¬