I did walk home but not before buying some potations— snacks and soda and shit.

As I waited in line, I could not help but ponder the prices of the snacks I grabbed. Seven dollars, eight, almost twelve for another. Prices were absurd, these days. And I only made seventeen dollars an hour. Hardly anything when snacks alone set you back nearly thirty bucks.

So why do you buy them? Felix asked.

“Because they make me happy,” I mouthed. “Sweet and salty bullshit to numb the pain of living.”

Deep. Did you hear that on the cover track of some millionaire musician who pretends to be upset when singing about his childhood?

I didn’t bother responding to Felix. He was just being a little shit— seriously, who are you talking to?— and I continued to wait in line. I took some deep breaths. By the time the cashier rung me up, I was calm again.

“That will be twenty-seven fifty, please. Man. Junk food, right?” the cashier said by way of low-effort banter.

I made some automatic, blase response as I fished out my wallet from my jeans. I was in first-person mode and I was able to see the world relatively well; plus, today, I stuck my wallet in my front pocket so I could easily access it. That gambit paid off and instead of struggling with myself and my limited mobility with the whole dimensional issue, I just slid my hands into my pants and boom, wallet.

I handed the clerk a couple of bills. That was where something weird happened.

As the clerk touched my cash— a rarity these days— I felt a twinge of pseudo-electricity course through my body. It was only for an instant, but it was unmistakably the feeling of something otherworldly. The bills may have left my hands, but it felt as though my lungs were damaged; I had a hard time breathing and I briefly wondered if I maybe was having a panic attack. Just as quickly, however, I felt air return to my lungs and it was as though nothing had happened. The clerk handed me my change and I grabbed my plastic bag filled with empty calories.

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Walking back home, I wondered what happened. Felix, any thoughts? I mouthed.

No idea what you are even talking about, mate.

Oh, come on! You can’t sit there on my shoulders like some kind of sultan and then not fucking say you don’t observe everything that happens to me. Seriously?

Maybe I just don’t care? Ever think of that?

Often. But I know that is not the case, bond-mate.

Ugh. Whatever. I did feel it. But I don’t know. As a bonded pair we are not exactly occupying a well-studied place in the under-reality, you know.

Right. Thousands of years was the last bonded pair. All that jazz.

Correct-o-mundo. But Kush could have some insight.

Should we really trust him, though? That computer voice back at the base said that Full Time is suspect.

Marcus, we have no idea what that voice even was or what its agenda is. Generally speaking, I try not to fully dive into an unknown entity’s corner right off the back. But regardless, I think Kush and Full Time are the best hope for understanding things. Besides, Full Time does have skills to teach you that you need to learn. And remember, I have been a part time member of the Full Time organization for a while. They aren’t exactly ghouls. We just have to be on our toes.

Not ghouls, sure. But you are still fighting against them. In a way. Remember, how we met?

Different. I am a super-normie. They are the semi-mortal Caretakers. And as such, they have a unique role in the under-reality eco-system. Sometimes, their roles causes them to enact policies that run contrary to my own existence. When that happens, I fight back. After a while, they usually get the hint.

Usually?

Most of the time. They have their indifference.

Indifference. It has grown lately, though, hasn’t it? Hence why you crashed into my apartment screeching?

But Felix had no response to that line of mine. He just remained silent on my shoulders as I walked back to my apartment.

Back at my apartment, I was tired. I was only ever tired these days. Even with iced coffee just about being a permanent fixture in my bodily composition, I felt haggard. And seeing a swarm of people outside my apartment complex as I roudned a corner did not help matters one little bit.