Read all three entries and enjoyed them. Looking forward to the next installment.
Read all three entries and enjoyed them. Looking forward to the next installment.
PART 3
Shaken from the terrifically gruesome display he had just witnessed, Arnold lifted himself off the cold, wet floor of the bus and slumped himself onto the now open, and still warm seat of the bus. Had it really been that fleeting, his meeting with an angel? Arnold looked over at the seat next to him. She had left her bag there to prevent anyone from sitting next to her, a common occurence. He picked it up. The bag matched blazer she had worn. A semi-ridgid, polygonal frame covered in a metallic mylar produced bulging and irregular shapes around the body of the bag. A red velvet handle had matched her skirt. The bag in itself was more opulent than anything he had ever owned. It used real cloth and the clasp was made of metal instead of NuPlast like the bags Arnold had owned in the past. He opened the bag.
Inside where normal, everyday things. Hairbrush, razor blade, makeup, assorted uppers and tranquilizers, and… Arnold blinked. This was something very naughty to be carrying around in your bag so casually. There was an IDupli card in here. It contained magnetic copies of her personal ID numbers, DNA and biometric hashes, personal passwords, and 2FA codes on several different NFC chips. The card was heavy, made of polished aluminum, about 2”x3” and 1/8” thick. The golden NFC pads made a neat grid 5 by 4 grid on one side of the card. The other side had laser engraved 2 separate QR codes, containing what Arnold assumed to be her 2FA codes. Arnold began to sweat and quickly closed the bag, furtively looking around as he hid it next to him. Had anyone else seen? The rest of the bus passengers were laying around, under the influence of whatever today’s drug of choice was, staring off into the middle distance as they watched shows on their retinal screens, or both. Good. Being in possession of an IDupli was an offense punishable by summary execution once convicted by a public safety officer, but it could have rewards that rivaled the risks. With this, Arnold could pose as the woman. He could, effectively, take the life she had and make it his. He could be her.
Now this appealed to Arnold’s small and weak mind. His life, an endless miasma of pain and dread was quickly losing it’s allure and he had been seriously considering terminating his existence whenever he could momentarily free his mind from the constant distractions and screaming adverts in his eyes and ears. Inside his malformed and undersized cranium, a hamster sprinted on a wheel, it’s frantic bloodshot eyes bulged out of its skull and foam poured from its gaping maw. Aha! If this woman was dressed so well and owned such a nice bag, she must be of a higher tier than Arnold. Workerslave at the very least or maybe even a LeaderBoss of the way home from a conference or visiting some friends.
Arnold stared out the window doing his best to focus on imagining the possibilities of what he could do with this card as the bus careened through the frozen and crowded streets.
The bus decelerated sharply, turning 45 degrees to the right and slammed to a halt. Bus occupants were thrown from their added reality fantasies and littered randomly around the bus. Shattered glass and sounds of tearing metal filled the air. Some were thrown from windows while the bus driver himself was crushed upon impact with the mangled vehicles ahead. Arnold, having been asleep with his head forward on the seat in front of him, had been the only bus passenger in a braced position, albeit accidentally. The crash woke him with a start and he looked around groggily. Bodies lay haphazardly around him draped over seats and spread out all over the floors. The bus itself was bent in the middle, it’s polymer frame stretched and torn on the outside of the curves. A light snow fell through the broken windows and now open roof of the bus. Arnold looked forward out of the vehicle. There was a pileup down the road for about 200 yards. Plastic self driving vehicles of all kinds were turned over and smashed, their wheels still spinning frantically as the autopilot tried over and over to power out of their stuck position. A few cars, still upright slammed forward and aft into the rubble that blocked them in, their owners flopping around inside like ragdolls.
Down the road, Arnold could see the cause of the pile up. One of the crumbling and far overloaded overpasses had finally given up in spontaneous blast and had covered the road entirely with huge concrete debris. The autopilots on the cars had been confused by the cracks and different faces in the debris. Thinking that the road was turning one way or another, the cars careened left or right at high speeds and smashed into one another, causing the crash. Not a single vehicle had actually impacted the rubble itself. As Arnold crawled out of the bus he tried his best to think about the crash, “Thank goodness those cars crashed the way they did! Who knows how bad it could have been if they had actually hit those rocks?” He walked down the crowded road, around annihilated polymer-electric cars, listening to the soft moans emanating from the vehicles.
Arnie soldiered on. Just past the collapsed bridge was the tower in which he would spend his long day and a half shift. Some weak call from deep in his mind motivated him to continue on. Past the advertisements and blasting music in his ears were some small remnants of thought. He was curious. He wanted to know what he could do with that IDupli he snagged from the now dead LeaderBoss.
Arnold crawled down the other side of the rubble and found himself face to face with the gigantic tower. It’s smog stained ediface careened upwards towards the heavens. The base was longer on either side than the entirety the pileup and it’ perimeter irregularly jangled and jumped this way and that. Before the behemoth was a wide, white marble plaza with safety camera towers dotted thoughout. Arnold trudged through the light falling of snow which had taken on a slight color of the smog that it had fallen though. He clutched at the rags he wore. Even though his weak frame was primarily of fat, the wind still cut through him.
The front doors were made of blackout mirrors. Armed guards and metal detectors stoop just before the entrance. Arnold made his way forward. He was alone as he approached work. The crash had made him even later than before and there was no one else their besides he and the guards. He felt the IDupli in his pocket as he approached. It felt red hot. He could be killed for this, but if all went well, he could become a LeaderBoss! What was the point of living one more day in this hell anyway? Arnold had literally less than nothing to lose. His life was a constant barrage of mental, physical, and emotional torture. If he died here, he thought, it would be a victory in of itself. But just maybe, it would work, and for once Arnold would have a happy day.
PART 3
Shaken from the terrifically gruesome display he had just witnessed, Arnold lifted himself off the cold, wet floor of the bus and slumped himself onto the now open, and still warm seat of the bus. Had it really been that fleeting, his meeting with an angel? Arnold looked over at the seat next to him. She had left her bag there to prevent anyone from sitting next to her, a common occurence. He picked it up. The bag matched blazer she had worn. A semi-ridgid, polygonal frame covered in a metallic mylar produced bulging and irregular shapes around the body of the bag. A red velvet handle had matched her skirt. The bag in itself was more opulent than anything he had ever owned. It used real cloth and the clasp was made of metal instead of NuPlast like the bags Arnold had owned in the past. He opened the bag.
Inside where normal, everyday things. Hairbrush, razor blade, makeup, assorted uppers and tranquilizers, and… Arnold blinked. This was something very naughty to be carrying around in your bag so casually. There was an IDupli card in here. It contained magnetic copies of her personal ID numbers, DNA and biometric hashes, personal passwords, and 2FA codes on several different NFC chips. The card was heavy, made of polished aluminum, about 2”x3” and 1/8” thick. The golden NFC pads made a neat grid 5 by 4 grid on one side of the card. The other side had laser engraved 2 separate QR codes, containing what Arnold assumed to be her 2FA codes. Arnold began to sweat and quickly closed the bag, furtively looking around as he hid it next to him. Had anyone else seen? The rest of the bus passengers were laying around, under the influence of whatever today’s drug of choice was, staring off into the middle distance as they watched shows on their retinal screens, or both. Good. Being in possession of an IDupli was an offense punishable by summary execution once convicted by a public safety officer, but it could have rewards that rivaled the risks. With this, Arnold could pose as the woman. He could, effectively, take the life she had and make it his. He could be her.
Now this appealed to Arnold’s small and weak mind. His life, an endless miasma of pain and dread was quickly losing it’s allure and he had been seriously considering terminating his existence whenever he could momentarily free his mind from the constant distractions and screaming adverts in his eyes and ears. Inside his malformed and undersized cranium, a hamster sprinted on a wheel, it’s frantic bloodshot eyes bulged out of its skull and foam poured from its gaping maw. Aha! If this woman was dressed so well and owned such a nice bag, she must be of a higher tier than Arnold. Workerslave at the very least or maybe even a LeaderBoss of the way home from a conference or visiting some friends.
Arnold stared out the window doing his best to focus on imagining the possibilities of what he could do with this card as the bus careened through the frozen and crowded streets.
The bus decelerated sharply, turning 45 degrees to the right and slammed to a halt. Bus occupants were thrown from their added reality fantasies and littered randomly around the bus. Shattered glass and sounds of tearing metal filled the air. Some were thrown from windows while the bus driver himself was crushed upon impact with the mangled vehicles ahead. Arnold, having been asleep with his head forward on the seat in front of him, had been the only bus passenger in a braced position, albeit accidentally. The crash woke him with a start and he looked around groggily. Bodies lay haphazardly around him draped over seats and spread out all over the floors. The bus itself was bent in the middle, it’s polymer frame stretched and torn on the outside of the curves. A light snow fell through the broken windows and now open roof of the bus. Arnold looked forward out of the vehicle. There was a pileup down the road for about 200 yards. Plastic self driving vehicles of all kinds were turned over and smashed, their wheels still spinning frantically as the autopilot tried over and over to power out of their stuck position. A few cars, still upright slammed forward and aft into the rubble that blocked them in, their owners flopping around inside like ragdolls.
Down the road, Arnold could see the cause of the pile up. One of the crumbling and far overloaded overpasses had finally given up in spontaneous blast and had covered the road entirely with huge concrete debris. The autopilots on the cars had been confused by the cracks and different faces in the debris. Thinking that the road was turning one way or another, the cars careened left or right at high speeds and smashed into one another, causing the crash. Not a single vehicle had actually impacted the rubble itself. As Arnold crawled out of the bus he tried his best to think about the crash, “Thank goodness those cars crashed the way they did! Who knows how bad it could have been if they had actually hit those rocks?” He walked down the crowded road, around annihilated polymer-electric cars, listening to the soft moans emanating from the vehicles.
Arnie soldiered on. Just past the collapsed bridge was the tower in which he would spend his long day and a half shift. Some weak call from deep in his mind motivated him to continue on. Past the advertisements and blasting music in his ears were some small remnants of thought. He was curious. He wanted to know what he could do with that IDupli he snagged from the now dead LeaderBoss.
Arnold crawled down the other side of the rubble and found himself face to face with the gigantic tower. It’s smog stained ediface careened upwards towards the heavens. The base was longer on either side than the entirety the pileup and it’ perimeter irregularly jangled and jumped this way and that. Before the behemoth was a wide, white marble plaza with safety camera towers dotted thoughout. Arnold trudged through the light falling of snow which had taken on a slight color of the smog that it had fallen though. He clutched at the rags he wore. Even though his weak frame was primarily of fat, the wind still cut through him.
The front doors were made of blackout mirrors. Armed guards and metal detectors stoop just before the entrance. Arnold made his way forward. He was alone as he approached work. The crash had made him even later than before and there was no one else their besides he and the guards. He felt the IDupli in his pocket as he approached. It felt red hot. He could be killed for this, but if all went well, he could become a LeaderBoss! What was the point of living one more day in this hell anyway? Arnold had literally less than nothing to lose. His life was a constant barrage of mental, physical, and emotional torture. If he died here, he thought, it would be a victory in of itself. But just maybe, it would work, and for once Arnold would have a happy day.
(post is archived)