Chapter 1/B: Assisted Suicide

LOG NUMBER: #000001

CORPORATE AMERICA

02/13/133

0600 Central Western Time.

Neo-New Orleans, LA.

U.S. CENTCOM

Contamination Status: Non-existent.

[Isaac Carter (20)]

**********

Wake up.

Go to school.

Go home.

Go to sleep.

Wake up.

Go to school.

Go home.

Go to sleep.

Graduate.

Wake up.

Go to Work.

Go home.

Go to sleep.

Wake up-

“What a bunch of bullshit.” Isaac spat as he eyed the words DENIED on his heads-up display.

Isaac closed his eyes, shoulders slump, his one last chance to make it out of his monotonous life and provide for his family.

And he had failed.

Inhaling, Isaac undid his tie, pulling the silk noose around his neck free before unbuttoning his expansive beige shirt.

The blonde man looked down, his brown eyes taking in the neon metropolis built on massive stilts that illuminated the night.

Verticars and drones flew below, autonomous traffic weaving through the air ways. From above, it was a sight that would have been breathtaking if not for being marred by the realities of the situation Isaac found himself in.

A sight he could only see because he was breaking the law to be atop the Barrington industry skyscraper. The tallest building in Neo-New Orleans.

He frowned, exhaling through his mouth, his jaw going slack as he contemplated his life thus far.

No connections. No money. No background. Three things needed to make it anywhere in Corporate America and he had none of them.

Isaac clenched his jaw, a tear falling down his face as he leaned over the guardrail to spy the thousand foot drop.

“FUCK!” Isaac screamed, the word carrying with it the weight on his soul.

Despite good marks. Despite high scores. Despite never missing a damn day for the training seminars WHILE working two jobs! His application… was denied.

And it was all because of his background.

They didn't want a gutter rat, they said.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

It would inspire other street urchins, they said.

He should know better, they said.

And then they had the gall to offer him a custodial position! That trash should be with other trash. A job that couldn't keep the payments needed to support his family.

Isaac contemplated for a moment about turning to crime or selling his organs. But that was a slippery slope in on itself. There was money to be had, sure, but that life more often than not resulted in unchecked violence with those involved having their entire families prosecuted or annihilated.

Isaac didn't want that. Not for his mother suffering from rust lung, and not for his sister starting middle school.

Fortunately for Isaac, life insurance existed. Something he always took pride in paying. And with his Premium Platinum Membership, Isaac’s family would be taken care of.

At least… for awhile.

And all it would take was his death…

But it had to be now. While he still had the policy.

Isaac sucked in humid air through his teeth, his hands clenching against the steel guardrail of the skyscraper.

Just jump. That's all he had to do.

Jump and fall a hundred floors to his death. He probably wouldn't feel anything! Right? Right!

Isaac shut his eyes, his breath rate rising, his hands clammy.

“Aaah. Fuck. Fuck!Fuckfuckfuckfuck!” Isaac let out, his heart beating in his chest. “Get your shit together Isaac. You're the man of the house. You have… you have a responsibility!”

Isaac's body shook, a sinking feeling dwelling in his stomach as he lifted his leg, his foot on the rail. One plunge, and his family would have enough to live off of until Lily finished school.

“For someone about to kill themselves, you sure seem reluctant.” A kindly voice said.

Isaac jolted, slipping, hitting his head on the metal rail with a loud clang.

“Ah! Damn it! Ugggh!” Isaac groaned, curling up as his vision glitched from his HUD implant failing.

“Need a hand?”

Isaac blinked, looking up as his hand came away from his head bloody. The first thing he noticed was the man's expensive white shoes, followed by a slick white suit and a white fedora.

Forties? Fifties? It was hard to tell, the man gazing down at him with gold irises that seemed to glow under the smog-covered sky.

Cybernetics?

Isaacs didn't know, but for some reason he found himself taking the hand that sported an expensive gold watch over a tattoo on his wrist.

“Ah… thanks.” Isaac said, rising to his feet.

The pair stood there, neither speaking, an air of awkwardness surrounding the two.

“Uh…” Isaac said, unsure of what to do.

“Oh. By no means. Continue what you were doing. Don't stop on my account.” The Smiling Man chuckled, sticking his hands into his pocket.

“Right…” Isaac said, turning to the ledge.

Isaac resumed what he was doing, gripping both bars with his hands to propel himself up. Yet… as he did, he couldn't compel himself to go through with it.

“Something wrong?” The stranger asked.

“Uh… no.” Isaac said, frowning. “I…”

Isaac cast his eyes over the metropolis and the skylanes.

“It’s fine if you're having trouble performing. Even the best get stage anxiety.” The man said, taking off his fedora to reveal a bald head. “Do you smoke Mr. Carter?”

“No sir, I…” Isaac trailed off, blinking. “How do you know my name?”

The man smiled, brandishing white teeth that were visible even under the night smog.

“It's my business to know things Mr. Carter.” The man said, placing a firm hand on Isaac's shoulder. “Age twenty, graduated from SCI-Primary with straight Cs. Not bad, but not good. Doing just the bare minimum until mother fell ill and your abusive father disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Leaving you the sole proprietor of his life platinum insurance. Does any of this seem familiar to you?”

Isaac, attempting to step back, yet elderly man's unnatural strength seemed to keep Isaac rooted.

“I… so you found a holoclipping. Anyone can dial up an intellipad news channel.” Isaac said, narrowing his eyes at the stranger, a sense of unease taking him as he stared into the man's golden eyes.

They were wet. Too wet for cybernetics. Unnatural.

“Right you are…” The man said, brandishing a wide grin before the next words left his mouth with a chill. “But I know what you did.”

The stranger's other hand clamped down on Isaac, locking him in position, Isaac's eyes going wide with alarm.

“I don't know what you're talking about.” Isaac replied, glaring at the man.

“It's ok. Mr. Carter. After all,” The stranger said, the gentle old man somehow seeming to tower over Isaac. “You. Have been chosen. And possess the will to do heinous deeds in the pursuit of a greater good. Which is far more than those sitting in cubicles below us.”

“Chosen? What do you mean chosen? What is this? Who are you?!” Isaac demanded, trying to get away before he suddenly felt himself being moved. “Hey! What is this?! What are you doing?! Let me go! Let me go! WAIT! WAIT!”

Suddenly Isaac's body began to burn, steam rising off his skin with a searing pain akin to a dozen electrocutions coursing through his veins.

Isaac attempted to reach out, to claw at the man, his hands smacking at the stranger who easily lifted him up and over the skyscraper guard rail.

“P-please! Don't! D-don’t!” Isaac pleaded, tears in his eyes as his thoughts turned to his family. To his mother. His baby sister. "I don't want to die! DON'T DO THIS!"

Isaac locked eyes with his murderer, the man's gaze seeming to peer into the depths of his soul.

Everything that Isaac was. Everything that he had done. It was all laid bare like a film in fast forward.

Isaac could feel himself being violated, his privacy made public against his wishes.

“Long live the King.” The man said, smiling as he dropped Isaac off of the Barrington tower.