Old Mans Shadow

Chapter 1

A PEARL IN DISGUISE

‘Plenty of people, lots of them . . . too many - in this wretched forsaken city they call, Ascension. Too many views, too many ideas, too much. Everybody here is too full of themselves, nobody wants to listen, everybody has some sort of blessed idea of what makes us right.’

The mind numbing sounds of energy pulsating through the metropolis echo around every corner. A silent, yet . . . “there” type of noise - quiet, eerie, lifeless.

The overtowering buildings shadow the gritty, messy streets - dark and depressing.

Jim jabs himself with a needle, his veins pop out, almost wanting to burst from out of his arm. He stands up, walking around his apartment, and a quick glance from out of his window - rain drizzling down the glass planes. It would seem as if the night had hit. But it was only 12:43 PM, in Ascension.

‘Gargh . . . Guess I should get going’ Jim sighs to himself, sweeping his long hair away from his face.

30 minutes later.

An hour passed as Jim sat on the train, thinking nothing, but wanting this ride to be over. People around him, staring at the floor, keeping to themselves, a few on their phones. Silent was the train ride, from the beginning to the end. Even hopping onto the train, to take a ticket, all you need to do is slide your phone across a panel and you receive a ticket - no talking, no interaction, no communication with another soul.

Another 30 minutes passes.

‘Hello, Jim. How’re you going today, what’s been happening?’ the GP said to Jim.

‘Yeah . . . not too bad, I haven't felt as bad these past two weeks, actually.’ Jim replied.

‘Good, good. So . . . what can I help you with on this nice day, Jim?’ GP asked Jim.

‘Oh, I’ve run out of scripts. Need a refill.’ He replied.

‘Okay. I can do that for you.’ The GP said, as he started to type on his computer, pulling his glasses down away from his eyes - nearly scrutinizing the monitor as he stared at the blinding white screen. The fact that the room was dimly lit, did not help to exaggerate the screen omitting light.

‘So, you’ve been feeling well? Nothing happening that’s different from your usual routine? Sleeping well?’ The GP asked Jim.

‘Sleep has actually been better. Now that I haven’t forgotten for the last few weeks. I’m sleeping more than ever. But I am feeling more lethargic if I am being honest with you.’ He replied.

A few hours passed and Jim was settled back at home, staring at TV, flipping through the channels.

In this city. Everything is gloomy. And anybody will take advantage of you, if the opportunity is there. Think of Ascension as a dirty, grumpy and merciless metropolis that has long been forgotten about, from all the other planets in the galaxy. This city was their pit.

Knocking came from Jims door, repetitive knocks, incessant. He got up to answer it. A long-time friend, Jason ‘Hey, Jace’. Jim said to him.

‘Yo, what’s good?’ Jace replied.

‘Nothing.’

Jace ruffled his way through the door past Jim. Walking straight into the kitchen to pour himself a cup of coffee. ‘Look what I got!’ Jace said, pulling a bottle of whiskey branded as “Merrington”, 1 liter, from out of his trench coat.

‘Aye, fuck I’ve been longing for a drink, mate.’ Jim said to Jace.

‘Haven’t we all!’ Jace replied, turning on the kettle as he placed the bottle down.

Jim grabbed the bottle quickly after, and grabbed a crystallized glass. He was particular about the quality of items. Crystal glasses being one of those things he had to buy, and never sort after normal, ordinary glass.

Few hours passed, Jim and Jason were catching up on all of the latest gossips and what’s been happening around them in their lives - they were in good spirits.

‘Say, you don’t remember that time you found that big-ass rock do you, still got it?’ Jason asked.

‘Oh yeah I do actually, should be in one of those bottles over there’ Jace replied, pointing to a few old big bottle jars.

Jason walked over, looking into the bottle and seemed to be quite fascinated by all of the objects that had garnered over the years.

‘Jim. I can’t see it.’

‘Well it’s there, mate.’ Jim responded.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Having another look. Jason then started to scramble his hand around into the bottle, and shake it a bit to see if he could find it through all of the other items in the bottle. ‘Ah! Found it.’ Jace said, grabbing it from out of the bottle.

‘What’s caught your curiosity about that rock, mate.’ Jim asked.

‘It’s just cool.’ He laughed.

‘Yeah . . . ‘ Jim said almost sighingly, wondering what he was on about and why the rock.

It’s not like Jim had a lot of cool peculiar things in his apartment. But the rock certainly was not anything special. So why the interest in such a bland thing. For one, Jason wasn’t even there when Jim had found it.

‘Anyway, I’d better be off.’ Jace said to Jim, satisfied from his discovery.

‘Okay mate.’ Jim said.

The two walked towards the door. Jim is readying to say bye, and Jason is smiling, grabbing a cigarette from out of his coat. ‘Well, cya dude’ Jason said.

‘Bye.’ Jim said back, smiling but almost forcefully.

The night came over and 8 hours later, the sun started to rise once again. But it’s not like you can tell in this city, Ascension.

ASCENSION

A large battleship came crashing down into the heart of Ascension. Destroying and causing havoc to many towering skyscrapers of colossal proportions. People screaming for their lives, large fuming fires, explosions all around. Sirens from police and firetrucks and ambulances were smothering the scene of where the ship had crashed. News reporters took to the scene as well.

‘Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. We have devastating news today. A large C.O. battleship has crashed this evening, leaving 1000s injured, 100s have been left with life-threatening injuries. Firefighters, ambulances and police officers are helping to decrease the severity of this catastrophic event.’

Jim shuts the TV off. ‘Pfft, fuck.’He says under his breath.

Getting up to make a sandwich, he looks out at the city through the icy cold windows. He sees no sign of movement once again. Afterall, why would he? He is 1000s of miles away from the crash. But still. Something irks him the wrong way. Like this city has zero sympathy and shows purely complete apathy, to everything and everyone.

He goes into the toilet to jab another one into him, then flushes the toilet and takes his sandwich from the shelf waiting for him outside the loo. Finishing it, he goes outside his apartment into the spiraling staircase of cement for a smoke.

A couple of people walk past, heads to the ground, hoodies over their heads as well, as if to shade their faces - as if they have done something mischievous.

Jim often thinks to himself, how’d it become like this. A place full of quietness and darkness. But then on the internet. It thrives. Not in a good way though. But in a violent, malcontent sort of way. No one has compassion anymore.

Was it the robots? The robots that now take every job for us so we can just sit at home, stale and lifeless. Living off of “Extreme Unemployment Benefits”. These robots have taken the very essence of our souls, so we can literally just sit at home. Doing absolutely fuck all. No incentive. No drive. No nothing. Can we complain? What do we have to complain about? The robots take care of us. We haven’t got something to complain about. It’s not like we’re not getting paid to sit on our fat asses. We have lost the will to live - a drive to make us keep going. We’re like some styrofoam that floats on the surface of the ocean, drifting.

Jim lies in bed, staring at the ceiling. Lights are off. No sound can be heard, except for the air conditioner.

Two weeks pass and a memorial is being placed after the officials cleaned up the crash site. Many flowers and pictures lay at the site. But no-one was there.

A week later.

‘Kid just singin’ the old tune blues, jus’ waiting to die, fixin’ for a dime’

Few people clapped and continued on with their business. Jim sat his guitar down near the wall behind him and walked down off the stage to the bar. ‘Usual, thanks mate.’

He slid some of his hair away from his face and drank the glass in one go. Then head on out into the streets. It was the usual nightlife, strippers, scum, shady looking characters all around. In clear sight you can see people injecting, just sitting there drooling onto the pavement. Women hitting on anybody that goes too close - most likely have some sort of disease that is contagious. Jim continued his walk back to his apartment and just as he got to the building a crack fucked old fella started mouthing at him. ‘Oi ya fuckin’ cunt! Pick that up ya fuckin’ mut.’ He said. Jim paid no attention to him and walked up the large flight of stairs to his place.

Four months passed and nothing out of the ordinary had happened since the incident in the heart of Ascension. The flowers that were once at the site have vanished, and all that is left is lots of sticky tape, stuck to the fences from where cards were left and photos of loved ones.

Some knock on Jim’s door. Jim ignored it this time. Again, the knocks happened but louder. ‘The fuck is it Jace?’ Jim whiningly said as he got up off the couch, noodling with his guitar.

‘Mate!’ Jace said, as Jim opened the door reluctantly. ‘You know that rock?’ Walking hurryingly towards the bottle where the rock sat. ‘It’s worth a bit.’

‘Huh?’ Jim said, with his eyebrows creased, looking pissed for “intruding”.

‘Yeah, it’s actually like 10,000 if it’s what I think it is.’ Jason said as he searched for the rock. ‘Where is it?’

‘It’s in there mate.’

‘I can’t see it?’

‘It’s there, mate.’

Jason then spots it and takes it out. ‘Yeah let me just check.’ He says, pulling his phone from out of his pocket, pointing the camera at it, to scan it. ‘Dude. If this is it, then it’s literally the stuff they use to make that heart.’ Jace says, squinting his eyes, looking in admiration at the rock.

‘Ascension?’ Jim asked.

‘Mhm.’ Jace says, and shortly after the phone completes its scan. Coming up on the phone with a lot of analytical information about the rock. ‘Yeah mate, this is worth something.’

‘How much?’

‘Around 300 to a thousand.’

Jim looked at Jace, with his eyes wide open, mouth firmly shut. Amazed by what Jason just said. ‘Mate, come on. We’re going to the “pawno”.’ Jim said.

‘’K, let’s rock!’ Jason said, excited.

They caught a cab to their local pawn shop, to see the value and hopefully sell it. As they started talking to the man there, asking about the value of the rock. The man stood there and was honest and spoke about how it’s actually worth quite a lot right now, because of the incident a few months back. As they were now searching for more of the rare material for a new heart for the Ascension city. The man there, that usually tries to snatch a bargain or a “steal” , had a lot of integrity. He wasn’t actually sure by how much this rock was worth, but warned them that it’s more, beyond what they would presume it actually is. He finished his sentence by saying, “It’s a pearl in disguise”.