Relief flooded my arms when I dropped my bag of newly bought clothes into the floor, I stretched and popped my back in the process. As my aching muscles relaxed, I looked down: my bag was a bulky little thing, cylinder-shaped and half my height, it was mostly blue with strips of white running down its main body, connecting to one another and making a square right at the center. Just like the clothes inside of it, the gym bag was newly bought- something that anyone can easily figure out by sniffing the scent of rubber gushing out of it.

I hefted it under both its straps and carried it onto my bed, I grinned just from looking at it. The size was more than enough to fit me and that isn't even the best part, it had an actual honest to god mattress of foam underneath its sheets. It's probably not that big of a deal to most people sure but how long has it been since I've last owned one? Fucking ages, that's what.

Looking around my bedroom gave me that same sense of feeling; the place is luxurious compared to the dingy room that I once called my apartment, it's spacious enough to fit in a lot of furniture and other stuff, two, it came in with a chair, a desk, a bed, and a closet that I'll soon fill to the brim with clothes. I plan on adding little things here and there as time goes on, too. 'Maybe a mini-fridge?' I thought with a nod as I stared at one of the four corners of the room, something like that should fit in there just fine.

I took out all of my clothes from my gym bag, through the hundreds of well-woven fabric, there are mainly two types- Newly bought, expensive clothes that I'll use for special occasions like going outside, and second-generation stuff that I got from thrift shops which I'll use in my day to day life in this apartment.

I threw all of those in my closet and then proceeded to check the view from the window... only to sigh in disappointment as the reality of the situation kicked in. No matter how nice the inside of this apartment building may be, the outside will always be the same, it is, and always will be the decrepit lower parts of the city. 'Unless the Aristrocats do something about it.' I thought but didn't actually believe in it, I mean, what are the chances that they're gonna get off their ass and help the city? Slim to none?

I pulled on the curtains and covered the windows. Staring at the broken, pothole filled street had already ruined my mood and I'm sure that catching some random homeless person signing for help down there will just make things worse.

A quick shower later and I'm putting on one of my expensive clothes in preparation to go out and the end result was a mixture of black, greens, and blues of a V-neck, pair of pants, and sneakers.

"And this should be it," I said as I fixed my collar, the room had gone with its own bathroom and honestly, if gunshots didn't rang out so close to the building, I couldn't imagine just how expensive the monthly rent for this place would be. 'Definitely not 500 Digits per month,' I thought grimly while silently thanking the criminals shooting each other outside, if not for people like them, how else could I afford a place like this?

Said criminals didn't stop fighting each other even as I stepped outside, the sun is out too, making their little shootout so much stranger, and because of that, something whispered in my brain to at least peek at the street corner where the sounds are coming from but I threw that feeling at the back of my head, there wasn't any point in interfering.

And there really wasn't, because, at the end of the day, the neighborhood that I ended up in is the same as always; a little mix between poverty, gangs, and a bit of money. Crime, as bad as it sounds, is kind of normal in places like these. 'Especially if the streets are controlled with money instead of Gangs.' I thought while glaring at the dead neon signs of a brothel directly on the next street.

I threw my hands inside my pockets and shook my head, 'What the hell am I even thinking about?'

Deciding that I should just get to the nearest store, I kept walking instead of fussing about every little detail around me.

"Hey there Tyler," I waved at the guy who's made me his acquaintance the moment that I stepped inside the little convenience store he works at, the thing was just a street away from my apartment, making it the perfect place for me to buy day to day food. "You settled down yet?"

I nodded, "Yeah, I've set things up." I looked around the store, it was pretty small and was just one room but the placing of the shelves made it so that there are four available isles I can go window shopping to. Steven- my first friend in this neighborhood as well as the cashier for this place - asked a question, something about what I've done so far and I gave out a simple answer- "Just, you know, threw in a few clothes here and there,"

"Cool," his grin as he leaned against the counter reached his ears, "So, whatcha looking for?"

"Food?" I answered quizzically, "Instant stuff maybe?"

"They're in the third aisle I think." He tipped.

"Thanks," Following his advice, I left the second aisle and went to the third. I walked amidst the few foods that I can recognize, instant noodles, cold sandwiches, canned vegetables, and fish- these were my diet back when I was living in the slums, most of them aren't that healthy, and the noodles might as well just be bread stuffed in soup but food is food and I didn't really have a choice back then.

My hand stopped just as it was about to grab a cup noodles, 'I have a choice now, don't I?' I stared at the food that I sought out first because of familiarity and repeated actions. I put the stuff back in the shelf and walked away, instead of noodles, I packed up two fresh loaves of bread, a nice looking can of liver spread, and then a jar of cheese. This is actual food that'll taste good.

I shopped for a bit more, a jar of pickled vegetables there, a few chips there, and another loaf of bread later and I went to the cashier to face a pleasantly surprised Steven staring at me with hands held together, "Guess someone decided to buy actual food huh?" I returned his smile and put said food on the counter, "So, why the change of heart?" He said just as a beep came from scanning the jar of cheese.

I shrugged, "Don't know. I just thought that... I can do better I guess?" A weird thought, I guess. Judging by my own tone.

"You sound confused?" I looked to the side, noticing that it's only a few more items before he's gonna start packing up my stuff.

"I don't know?" I said, "I guess it's just weird that I now have a choice." How long has it been? I shook my head, "Yeah, people shouldn't feel like having choices are weird." I said and he nodded.

"Exactly. I've seen a few, I suppose." He said, "A guy from time to time but most of them are girls,"

"Handlers?"

He nodded, "And the like."

I looked out the window and met the eyes of a bearded man wearing a cloak so dirty that it's now dark brown, "I can see that. I think." I said, "Handling is pretty luxurious. And I guess prostitution too." I added hesitantly, I know that the better and (newer) girls usually sell themselves for 200 to 350 but again, I've never really bothered to talk about that sort of thing, "And if you've lived all your life without food, I'm guessing you're gonna get confused too."

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"If only you knew." Steven replied with a chuckle, "But yeah. You're taking it better than most though, usually, some get so overwhelmed that they... buy a bit too much. I like to think it's my job to stop them you know?" He chuckled, "That they should save for rainy days or something like that."

"How does that turn out?" I decided to help him out with stuffing the items in my bag, doing so wouldn't hurt anyone except for helping the seemingly kind guy so there's that.

"Hmmm... not so well. Most of the time. Girls- people can be pretty stupid, I think." I nodded, "Sometimes I see some of them again too, now with long faces and thin cheeks."

I slowed down, "Drugs?"

He nodded, "Yeah. Metamphines, Cocaine- Hard drugs, basically." With a wince, he stopped halfway through and just said the general term for the drugs as if saying those words made his tongue taste bad, "Sorry about that," Steven said, "Didn't mean to rant."

"You didn't." I said, shrugging, "I asked if helping people out with saving did anything and you answered. I don't think it can get any more complicated than that, can it?"

He smiled wryly, "Yeah but... you know- talking about that sort of thing is a bit... too much? I guess?"

"Too much of what?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"For most people, that sort of thing is either normal or if they've gotten away from it, trauma." He was starting to pack my things now and looking at him, I thought that maybe I should help him. It's not like I didn't notice his hesitation and the way he got uncomfortable when he talked about hard drugs earlier- it's just that I don't know if it'll help him or just throw a curveball at him.

'He does look like he's in a much better place right now after all.' I thought as I took the plastic bag Steven handed me. The next scant few seconds where I'll head for the door would be the perfect opportunity to break it to him but again- is it worth the risk? For all I know, he's gonna get depressed from the reminder.

I didn't say anything and just walked out the door. 'I know I sometimes think about what kind of life I'll right now if I just got my powers a bit earlier.' I said to myself, not daring to look back to the cashier. 'How bad will it be for him if he starts thinking that he could've been the way he is now from the start instead of being a drug addict?'

Assuming that he was one, that is.

He probably was.

I made my way back to the apartment building, save for the male receptionist staring idly at a computer screen, the lobby is still empty. But I know it'll get filled when night comes and when the hotel's "hourly rate" opens up for anyone willing to rent the second and first floors. I nodded at the receptionist as I passed him by and he looked away from the screen for a split second to do the same.

I caught sight of what he was watching and noticed that it was slightly familiar- someone in a virtual avatar streaming a video game had been something I watched when I was in Jericho's lab at some point. 'Not that I have any interest in any of those things now,' I thought sadly. Between the escape, finding work, and everything else that happened once I left the lab, I never really had time for entertainment. And good thing, too because that sort of thing is apparently addicting.

The smooth sound of the elevator's door came past as I entered one of the three elevators of the apartment building, I pressed the button that went up to the third floor, and with a beep, the elevator whirred and I was now ascending the 10 story tall building.

With another beep followed by the smooth sliding sound of the doors, I was out of the elevator and into the carpeted hallways of the building, I walked across the corridor, passing by several closed doors before stopping in front of an open one- but only for a brief second before I continued walking again, I stared at the girl walking a few feet ahead of me, she was going in the opposite direction so an encounter would've been unavoidable, I prepared to wave at her as I got close but it seems that she had the same thought because she raised a hand in greeting before me.

"Uh, hi? You're from room 116 right?"

"Yep." Nodding, I took out my keys and showed them to her, which she stared at in fixation for a second before she lightly shook the expression off.

"Oh! Uh, cool! I'm from room 103." She held out a hand that I quickly shook, "I'm Valerie, by the way."

"Tyler."

Valerie pushed a strand of hair to the back of her ear,"Uhm... I know this may sound rushed but... can you help me with something?"

"Sure. And I don't see why it sounds rushed."

Smiling wryly, Valerie nodded as a gesture of thanks before moving. I walked after her and she led me to the open room I passed by earlier, and this time, instead of staring for only a single second, I peered in- disregarding things like the messy floor full of empty bags of chips, articles of clothing, and other stuff that gave the place a feeling of being lived in- it was a perfect replica of my own room; a spacious room with a bed to the back, a closet to the side and finished with a four-paned window directly facing the door.

Unlike mine, however, the window's curtains were open instead of drawn.

"Ged, we have a guest!" Valerie yelled without pause as she walked inside the room, she turned to me, "Sorry about the mess, we uh- don't really clean that much." I nodded idly, accepting that some people just like organized chaos. I lean more toward organizing my room though. "First, don't get weirded out by my brother okay?"

I nodded again, shifting my impression of Ged from boyfriend to brother, "I don't really mind." I said as I followed Valerie deeper into the room.

When I left the small hallway that was the apartment's entrance, I turned the corner to a pre-teen with acne still on his face staring at a screen with an intense focus. He had a red and blue headphone that partially covered the black hair on his head, its mic was out, and from the racing chatbox I can see on the second monitor to his right, the mic wasn't just used as a way for him to talk to his in-game teammates.

"A streamer huh?" I said and he glared at me before giving me a shushing gesture. I tilted my head when he proceeded to point to the chatbox on his other screen, to where a bunch of people are commenting things such as- [Who's that?], [A new voice? People don't just barge into your apartment do they?], and [So your sister has a boyfriend huh?]

Ged repeatedly pointed to the last one as if it was the most important out of all of them. Then his attitude shifted as he gave out a hearty laugh, "Sorry about that guys, my sister needed help so she asked for someone, don't mind the noise or two okay?"

The stream of comments that asked if she's single or not that followed Ged's words made me feel concerned but again, not my business. I looked away from him and to the sister in question- With a painful grimace painting her expression, Valerie was standing on the left side corner of the room, directly next to a small hole in the ground, "Again, I know it may sound rushed but I really need your help." She whispered when I got closer.

"What's the problem?" I decided to whisper back after staring at Ged's straight form once. Since him streaming seemed to have been pretty important enough that Valerie isn't making any noise, I decided to follow suit.

"You see this hole over here?" I nodded, "A rat decided to live in it." She paused, "It made it, actually."

With a confused nod, I replied with the question that's been burning at the back of my mind for some time now, "And what... am I gonna do to it, exactly?" I asked.

"Make it leave, kill it, I don't know- just help me out if you can," Was her uncertain answer.

Okay... so I may bitten off more than I can chew here, I can see that but... again, doing something as simple as catching a rat isn't that big of a deal. Living in the slums means that I've dealt with them once or twice after all. "Fair enough." With a shrug, I placed my stuff by my feet and bent down low enough to have my face inches above the rat, judging by the looming shadow over me, Valerie must've bent over as well, "I think... I can see the bottom." I said, gazing down the hole.

I rolled for a power and in a pleasant turn of events, immediately got buoyancy- catching the rat had been easy as sliding in my soft hand and extending until I caught the little bugger. Once it was under my grasp, I choked it by the neck using both my thumb and index finger and it was dead by the time it got out of the hole.

I showed it to the smiling Valerie and she nodded in thanks, "I didn't know you were a mutant." She whispered.

"Now you do." I replied.

She offered to pay me once I told her I was a merc but I denied it, saying that I don't really need the money I'd get from catching a simple rat. As I left, we both agreed to greet each other whenever we meet in the hallways and I let those words sink in as I made my way back to my room. Why did Valerie come from the other end of the hallway? I wondered as I stared at the dead end ahead of me. 'The Janitor's closet should be somewhere on the first floor, right?' I thought, crossing out that particular chain of reasons. Because if she wanted rat poison, or maybe the old guy's help, she should've come from the first floor.

Suspicious, I checked my stuff and saw that nothing was missing. 'Whatever,' I put those suspicions aside. If what she did here earlier doesn't affect me, I won't care in particular.