| From: | Frank Pelletier <jeanpell@****.IVIC.QC.CA> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | A life more ordinary... |
| Date: | Thu, 9 Apr 1998 14:19:39 +0000 |
>>>>>[
I don't know. It feels strange.
My face took on a more pinkish hue, as the fluorocarbons filter out of my
body. Tattooes are gone, laser stripping them from my flesh. Hell, I
even got my hair back, a short, brown stubble growing slowly. Gone are
the leather dusters, webbings, tight bodyshirts. Blue wanted me to look
casual. T-Shirt, blue jeans, tan leather jacket. Fuck, my head
feels...better. I think clearer, straighter. I don't see life through
a chemical mist. I see it as it is, as it was. I'm not ashamed of what I
had become. But I can't look back now.
When all's calm in the house, during those breezy mid-afternoons, where a
lazy sun just barely hangs around, I can feel it. Cold. I tremble
slightly. My joints still ache when I stay still. My right wrist still
grinds when I move it. I can still feel the slight sting of titanium
strands in my left leg, remnants of a fracture not quite healed. I can
feel the jolt of my Move-by-Wire compensating for errors, see the metal
inducer imbedded in my palm, the only visible part of my smartgun link. I
can run my finger around my 'jack rim. I still get headaches from my
callosumal facilitator.
I can't look back, but I can't forget.
I miss it sometimes. The thrill. The hunt. That instant where your life
revolves around a single press of the trigger, a moment suspended in time.
The smell of fear all around you. Your enemies, your prey, pleading for
their life. But it was never personal. Only business. I got paid to do
a job. People build houses for money, push buttons, press lawsuits.
I killed people. That's all.
I didn't know Blue had a boyfriend. Small guy, named Thane. Alex Thane.
Works in the same MCT division as Blue. Main Accounting. Blue's a pencil
pusher. Works with numbers day-in and day-out. Better than me. Brighter
than me. She told me she could hook me up with MCT Computer Repair
division. I'd like that. I haven't lost my touch with computers.
Repair's not as glorious as Design, or Security. But it's a start.
Jah got me a fake SIN background. Worked around the system so that my
criminal convictions won't show up on a routine background check. As far
as they know, Cyan Fitzpatrick had a small repair business in DC for 10
years, then it closed down.
Repair doesn't check for cyber either. Security is at a minimum, since
they only concern themselves with low-end terminals. High clearance shit
goes to Security. It's better that way. I don't want my future employers
to know I'm a walking junkyard.
Almost 14:30... I'm meeting the head of Repairs in about an hour. <sigh>
Time to earn my money like normal folks.
Sometimes, I miss it... really.]<<<<<
-- Haze <14:17:04/04-09-59>
