“Why did you buy that piece of junk?” asked Kix. Looking at the prototype hovercycle v8.
Arron and Kix were exiting the M1 HQ employee entrance at the back of the building after finishing the day’s grueling patrol.
“I think it would be a great help with getting around the city, and if the chief allows it I might be able to use it on patrols with you. Plus, fixing it up will give me something to do and allow me to take my mind off everything,” said Arron.
The two made their way to Sector 12’s main MagLev station and silently rode in one of the packed carriages to Sector 11’s station.
“You’re not going to go home?” asked Kix, seeing that Arron turned to walk down a different street.
“I have a lot of things on my mind I need to decompress,” said Arron.
“Don’t go to any of the shady places around here. I won’t come and save you if you get in trouble,” said Kix with a smile. He punched Arron in the shoulder and waved goodbye before disappearing into the bustling night foot traffic.
Arron did not go to any of the usual places at the Roach, instead, he walked until he found a dark alley with a single holo sign [RedLight] glowing above a sturdy door that led to an underground bar.
He had discovered this place with Kix during one of their patrols of Sector 11.
No service bot or drone came to welcome him as he entered, nor were there any ads popping up trying to sell him useless items.
The underground bar had a light haze of smoke drifting around through the dim red lights that lit up the entire place. The worn-out air purifiers in the ceiling were humming as they failed to make a dent in the smoky haze.
Although there were hundreds of people sitting at the tables and the long bar, no one was talking. Nor were there hundreds of holo-tv’s all playing different things at a loud volume. There was only one Holotv and it was situated above the long bar.
Somewhere in the back corner of the bar, there was soft music being played at a low enough volume that you could ignore it if you wanted.
The mood was quiet and somber as the patrons of the underground bar quietly mulled over their life problems and drained down different drinks depending on how wasted they wanted to get.
This mood fit Arron’s current feelings and after searching for a few seconds he found a hover stool open at the far end of the long bar.
His seat was next to a large stage which to his surprise held a human band and a female singer. The background music was in fact from an actual human and not the AI singers who were controlled by the Party of Mother and Father who dictated which music was generated and allowed to be sung.
“This next song is one of our newer songs in the new City pop genre that is taking the underground singers by storm,” said the female singer in a soft soothing voice.
She was using an old silver hover microphone that matched her glittering silver gloves and silver dress that made her look like a young cheerful princess with her long black hair held in place by a headband that looked like a silver tiara.
“The name of the song is ‘Broken love’,” said the female singer.
When she finished talking the band started playing a tune that hit Arron in the heart.
The female singer started to sway back and forth as she got in rhythm with the music.
As her soft voice began singing the words to the song they pierced through Arron as he remembered his reason for coming here.
He used his wrist datapad to open one of his most recent messages that he had received today near the end of his work shift from Mel.
[Cam and I have gotten married …] the message contained many other details but apparently, this was several months old news and he was just now receiving it.
“What can I get you?” asked the old man behind the bar in a quiet voice.
Arron looked at his total credit balance and saw that he only had 100 credits left for the rest of the month. This was mainly due to his recent purchase of the totaled prototype hovercycle that had eaten almost all his savings. It did not help that he had also recently sent a large portion of his hazard pay to his parents so that they could keep making the monthly payments on the lease of the farmland which the Party of Mother and Father could take back at any second.
“Synth-beer,” said Arron in a hoarse voice.
The bartender solemnly nodded his head and walked over to the hundred-plus spouts to get Arron his drink.
When Arron was handed a large glass of brown synth beer, 1 credit was automatically deducted from his account with just a swipe of his cloud chip over the counter’s built-in scanner.
Arron took a sip and grimaced.
It was very bitter, which was to be expected of anything having to do with synth food and drinks. Although the taste was not particularly good and it was the cheapest thing on the bar’s holo-menu, it was still one of the strongest drinks they had.
Arron felt a slight warm buzz feeling already flowing through his body with only a few sips.
As he sipped his drink and listened to the soft voice of the female singer he contemplated the complex feelings that he now felt after receiving and reading such a message.
He was happy for them but… he felt a sadness that he did not know would be there.
“I wake up from my dream and realize reality,” softly sang the female singer.
Arron took a deep gulp from his glass and felt an even stronger wave of warmth washing over him.
As he brewed over his emotions and drank he turned his attention to the large silent 2-d holo-tv on the wall above the bar. It was currently showing a live match of Grav-ball, the anti-gravity sport. The current match was between the two robotic teams the Rubber Dooks and the Floaty Boots.
Two hours later Arron, who was a little tipsy, left the bar.
While walking back to his apartment he was stopped by a rough man who looked to be in his early 20s.
“Pay me some credits or I’ll have M1 arrest you!”
“M1?” asked Arron, a bit confused.
“Yeah, I have connections on M1 who can arrest you!”
“Oh really?” asked Arron as he showed his M1 holo badge used for work.
The man’s mouth fell open as he saw the badge. He tried to turn and run but Arron tackled him from behind and cuffed him with a pair of magnetic cuffs.
Arron sat him down and started to scold him.
“You know you shouldn’t do stuff like this…”
But it soon turned into a nice long drunken chat with his captive listener.
“…and now she is getting married,” said Arron ending his long speech.
“Times are tough right now even without love problems added in,” said the cuffed man.
“That’s right,” said Arron, nodding his head.
“Um… can you not call the police?” asked the man.
“Why? You don’t want to be arrested?” asked Arron.
“No, it’s not that. If I get arrested my wife will know where I am at… I can’t face her ever since I lost my job due to the bubble burst… so this is what I have become…” said the man ashamed of his current self.
Arron felt better after his long chat patted the man on the shoulder and removed the cuffs helping the young man stand back up.
“You really should spend your time more productively searching for a new job. Even if it is a crap job you need to bear with it so that you can support your family. Who knows there may be a promotion down the line or a new job opportunity that you can transfer to. Don’t give up!” said Arron.
With a swipe of his hand, he sent over 20 credits to the man.
“Use this to get back home to your wife,” said Arron as he patted the man on the shoulder one last time and walked away.
The young man with tears in his eyes accessed his contact list and tapped on a name to start a holo call.
“Honey, I’m sorry. I’m coming home…”
