Tacks’s stats were up next. A rowdy chorus of boos. It appears I was not part of a popular squad. Yay.
Player: @tacks181 Squad: #81 Rating: 9 Value: 86%
A sight better than mine. No wonder she was ticked. DeadBeat was a bit behind there, a rank-7 player, and Argo’s hard-earned 6 was displayed. They finally moved on, and I stood up and dumped my tray into the trash before stalking off to class. I fell asleep before Julianna showed up, thus escaping confrontation, and only woke up as she breezed past me.
I told the teacher “thanks for class” for kicks, and then dragged myself out the door.
~<>~
I ordered a taxi to take me to the shop. I eyed the charge bar ticking up as the self-driven hovercar spun through the airflow. I was the only human being in this hovercar. And I was in no way in control. Comforting. It did drop me off at the right place though. And it only took a small fraction of the dues paid by Ojo. Good, I’d need the rest to pay the mechanic.
The shop was just an over-sized apartment with a garage, at least from the outside. I knocked on the door cause it didn’t appear to have a lobby. Nobody answered in the first five minutes, so I eventually just invited myself in. I invited myself to a mint as well, and headed into the back. I found a door that led to the garage, and pushed my way in.
Ah, here was the action. There was a clanking coming from somewhere, at the very least. I walked around for a bit, checking out the gear and looking for the guy. He found me.
“Are you stealing stuff?” A voice arrested me.
I gently set down the fan motor I was fondling. “I should’ve brought a bag.”
“Did I say you could come in?” I was confronted with a fellow standing in the shadows. I couldn’t see much besides the glint on the wrench in his hands, and his eyes, which unsettlingly enough were a deep blue. Like, the whites were blue. The rest appeared to be black. He looked like something out of Avatar or something so far.
“No, but your mat said ‘welcome.’ And so far, I like your mat more than you. More civil.” I twisted the mint around in my mouth.
“Them stupid neighbor kids keep sticking that thing there.” He snorted. “They’re hoping I’ll stick a key under it.”
Caught up!
I thought your writing was at its best when I read BASICS - I was wrong. Every story you've written has caught my full attention and interest, and has been even better every time!
Also, nice new avatar and signature!
The goal is to be ever-improving, glad you've seen some progress!
Tacks’s stats were up next. A rowdy chorus of boos. It appears I was not part of a popular squad. Yay.
Player: @tacks181 Squad: #81 Rating: 9 Value: 86%
A sight better than mine. No wonder she was ticked. DeadBeat was a bit behind there, a rank-7 player, and Argo’s hard-earned 6 was displayed. They finally moved on, and I stood up and dumped my tray into the trash before stalking off to class. I fell asleep before Julianna showed up, thus escaping confrontation, and only woke up as she breezed past me.
I told the teacher “thanks for class” for kicks, and then dragged myself out the door.
~<>~
I ordered a taxi to take me to the shop. I eyed the charge bar ticking up as the self-driven hovercar spun through the airflow. I was the only human being in this hovercar. And I was in no way in control. Comforting. It did drop me off at the right place though. And it only took a small fraction of the dues paid by Ojo. Good, I’d need the rest to pay the mechanic.
The shop was just an over-sized apartment with a garage, at least from the outside. I knocked on the door cause it didn’t appear to have a lobby. Nobody answered in the first five minutes, so I eventually just invited myself in. I invited myself to a mint as well, and headed into the back. I found a door that led to the garage, and pushed my way in.
Ah, here was the action. There was a clanking coming from somewhere, at the very least. I walked around for a bit, checking out the gear and looking for the guy. He found me.
“Are you stealing stuff?” A voice arrested me.
I gently set down the fan motor I was fondling. “I should’ve brought a bag.”
“Did I say you could come in?” I was confronted with a fellow standing in the shadows. I couldn’t see much besides the glint on the wrench in his hands, and his eyes, which unsettlingly enough were a deep blue. Like, the whites were blue. The rest appeared to be black. He looked like something out of Avatar or something so far.
“No, but your mat said ‘welcome.’ And so far, I like your mat more than you. More civil.” I twisted the mint around in my mouth.
“Them stupid neighbor kids keep sticking that thing there.” He snorted. “They’re hoping I’ll stick a key under it.”
Who is this guy I wonder. He seems strange that's for sure.
Tacks’s stats were up next. A rowdy chorus of boos. It appears I was not part of a popular squad. Yay.
Player: @tacks181 Squad: #81 Rating: 9 Value: 86%
A sight better than mine. No wonder she was ticked. DeadBeat was a bit behind there, a rank-7 player, and Argo’s hard-earned 6 was displayed. They finally moved on, and I stood up and dumped my tray into the trash before stalking off to class. I fell asleep before Julianna showed up, thus escaping confrontation, and only woke up as she breezed past me.
I told the teacher “thanks for class” for kicks, and then dragged myself out the door.
~<>~
I ordered a taxi to take me to the shop. I eyed the charge bar ticking up as the self-driven hovercar spun through the airflow. I was the only human being in this hovercar. And I was in no way in control. Comforting. It did drop me off at the right place though. And it only took a small fraction of the dues paid by Ojo. Good, I’d need the rest to pay the mechanic.
The shop was just an over-sized apartment with a garage, at least from the outside. I knocked on the door cause it didn’t appear to have a lobby. Nobody answered in the first five minutes, so I eventually just invited myself in. I invited myself to a mint as well, and headed into the back. I found a door that led to the garage, and pushed my way in.
Ah, here was the action. There was a clanking coming from somewhere, at the very least. I walked around for a bit, checking out the gear and looking for the guy. He found me.
“Are you stealing stuff?” A voice arrested me.
I gently set down the fan motor I was fondling. “I should’ve brought a bag.”
“Did I say you could come in?” I was confronted with a fellow standing in the shadows. I couldn’t see much besides the glint on the wrench in his hands, and his eyes, which unsettlingly enough were a deep blue. Like, the whites were blue. The rest appeared to be black. He looked like something out of Avatar or something so far.
“No, but your mat said ‘welcome.’ And so far, I like your mat more than you. More civil.” I twisted the mint around in my mouth.
“Them stupid neighbor kids keep sticking that thing there.” He snorted. “They’re hoping I’ll stick a key under it.”
For some reason when I read this my brain said "Rome!" but I don't really know exactly what caused it. XD
You may have just determined for me who that character is.
“Provided they see you take it.” He stepped forward, pointing at me with his wrench. That was the scariest wrench I’d ever been pointed at with. “What you want?” No wonder I couldn’t pick him out in the shadows, he was dressed in black rags almost as shadowy as his skin-tone. His hair, in stark relief, was white. There was no way to tell how old he was. You could only assume he wasn’t young anymore. His face was lined and worn and hairy in odd places.
“Well, now I want your rug.” I said. “But I’m also looking for repairs.”
“On what? You crash your mom’s hovercar?” He raised his upper lip in a sneer.
“My mom’s dead.”
He shrugged. “Mine too. What you want?”
I motioned to my leg.
“I ain’t a doctor.”
“I ain’t all human.”
He grinned, his pearly white teeth showing. “A cyborg. You people are always so sensitive. Makes my day.” He motioned with his jagged wrench at what looked like a dentist’s chair. “Have a seat.”
“Thanks, I will. A rug and a chair in one day. Wow.” I ran my hand over the armrest.
He growled at me, and I quickly sat down. He grabbed some tools off a desk, and approached. I felt vaguely threatened. It took some willpower to stay seated. He dropped them at my feet, and then nodded. “Give us a look.”
I gave him a look. I stared at him long and hard, in fact.
“I really hate you, kid.”
“I’m just trying to decide if you’ll give me mech-mites.”
“You either take off your socks and shoes, or walk out of here right now.” He said pointedly.
I took off my shoes, and then my sock cause that’s the order it normally goes in. I rolled up my pants leg.
His eyebrows slowly raised as I rolled it farther and farther back, until it was just above my knee. “How far it go?”
I tapped my head. “All the way up to here, if you stick to the right.”
He whistled long and low. “You bigtime messed up.”
It was my turn to growl.
He just chuckled, and grabbed his smallest wrench.
“Wait.” I dug a baggy of parts out of my jacket pocket.
He eyed it. “You didn’t attempt to fix this yourself, now did you?”
“I’m half-decent at deconstruction.” I crunched up my mint.
He shook his head and took the bag with a resigned sigh.
It took him bricking forever. My human leg had fallen asleep, now I couldn’t feel either foot. I guess this was better than surgery, but at least it was one and done there. I was going to be late for supper. Hopefully December was stalling her mom.
He clicked the final panel back on. “Let’s give it a shot.”
I ran internal diagnostics. My ping came back “foot status: back online.” I wondered what the bricks my foot was doing online. What did it need internet for?
“Appears you done it.” I said. “Ever worked on a cyborg before?”
“A few.” He shrugged and cracked his shoulder blades. I winced. Who did that?
I felt around my pocket, pulling out my chip. “How much will it be?”
“The repair’s free.” He said.
“There’s absolutely no way I’m going to accept that.” Personal debt always hung over my head like a persistent personal storm cloud.
“But the mint you took is gonna cost 105 creds.” I didn’t know what prices were like down here on cyborg repairs, but I got the feeling he was giving me a steal.
“Shall I add the rug on?”
“You can leave a tip for that if you wish.”
I paid up. “I hope to never see you again.”
“Don’t call me on a weekend.” He said, and I left.
