“Hey! You Plain-Man?”

The stranger in the pig mask had entered the row and gotten within a normal talking distance.

“Yeah… “

His attire was similar in nature to Plain-Man, with blue jeans, tennis shoes, and a heavy jacket, all except for that which covered their faces being the major difference. The closer he got, the less intimidating the man came off. He carried a large paper bag that brimmed to the top with canned food and granola bars.

“My name is Pigman, nice to meet you.” He held out his hand to shake like he genuinely meant it.

Plain-Man looked at the gloved hand being offered, and then at the man, and accepted.

“Yeah, I’ve been seeing your name pop up around here lately and I thought it was just a matter of time before we ran into each other.”

By then, Plain-Man had figured that this must be a fellow user of the Quick! app, though he had never met another up until this point. He really wasn’t sure what to expect.

“I didn’t know you could see other people on the app.”

“Well, you can’t, really. Let’s just say I figured out a little trick…” Pigman said, leaving it at that, “So anyways, what’ve you been up to? Did you just complete a mission?”

“Yeah, I was just helping that boy and his mother for a bit.” Plain-Man said, noticing his interlocutor seemed to be honestly interested in what he had to say, “how about you?”

“I’m in the middle of one right now, actually” he said, scratching behind his pig mask with his free hand, “Just doing some simple shopping for a regular user. An old lady who likes her groceries delivered the old fashioned way, with the ‘blood and sweat of a human being’ instead of the ‘nuts and bolts of some junk-box” as she says.”

“Hmm, I don’t think I’ve been offered the opportunity to do grocery shopping before…”

“Yeah, I tend to focus on the more relaxed missions and pass on the ones where you got to break your back.”

“I thought you had to accept every mission that was offered to you?”

“Ha, you must be real new to this, huh? I don’t know why newbies think they need jump on every mission that appears.”

Feeling sort of silly, Plain-Man tried to change the subject, “So, what other sort of missions have you done?”

“Let’s see… I usually stick around this area uptown and take care of whatever the locals need done. I’ve sort of become well known as someone who helps out. It’s mostly just grocery shopping and odd-jobs those in the neighborhood nearby need done. Speaking of which, part of the reason why I wanted to run into you is because I was wondering if you would be available for a team up…”

“A team up?”

“Yeah, the lady I’m delivering to, Mrs. Brownapple, has had this couch at the foot of her stairs for months now and she needs someone to bring it upstairs and I haven’t been able to find anyone who would be willing to help.”

He thought about it for a second, but then Plain-Man realized this might be a good opportunity to learn more about his profession from someone who’s been doing it longer and accepted.

“Sweet.” Pigman said, scratching his head again, “Let’s head out then. Her house is in walking distance, just around the corner. We’ll be there in no time.”

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And with that said, the two headed out.

Seeing two masked men casually walking down the sunny suburban street of Irvine shouldn’t have been too much of an abnormal sight, yet still it seemed to garner the attention of those passing by in e-cars and e-busses to gawk at their images and wonder what exactly they were up to.

Pigman punched the button and they waited at the corner of a busy intersection until the two could cross, casually chatting about their common profession.

“Yeah, I’m telling you, stick to the simple stuff and you’ll have no problem racking up enough credits each month to pay your bills.” said Pigman. “I even was able to move into my own place recently with how well I’ve been doing lately.”

“You have your own place?”

“Well, it’s a private room about the size of a closet, but it’s better than sharing a one bedroom with 25 other guys.”

Plain-Man passively laughed at this comment and tried to recall whether he had mentioned this fact about his own life or not.

The traffic light turned red and the two masked men stepped onto the street to cross.

“Anyways, it beats being stuck in an office all day like I used to be doing. Nothing drives me more crazy than being told what to do. If someone’s being a jerk to me on Quick! and I don’t like it, I’ll drop them immediately. It’s as simple as that. But I rarely run into those kinds of people anymore. Actually, I would say most are appreciative of my service when they genuinely need help, instead of someone just being lazy. At least, that’s what I’ve noticed with my regulars. ”

“Yeah, I’ve noticed that too.” Plain-Man agreed, “Sometimes I feel like I’m just acting as an extension for someone who isn’t willing to interact with other people.”

“You’ll get used to that. The way I see it, most people live in their own private worlds and it’s our jobs on the app to help maintain that illusion. But that also means you get to see a side of people that usually isn’t seen, for good or for worse.”

Plain-Man thought this over and was surprised to have heard such a deep insight coming from a man wearing a pig mask.

“Say, I’m wondering” Plain-Man said, “How exactly did you end up choosing your disguise?”

“Oh, this thing?” Pigman pulled on the cheek of his mask, “I thought his whole ‘hero stuff’ was pretty silly at first, so I just ran into the local party store and picked out the cheapest mask I could find. But after a while ‘Pigman’ just stuck and now it’s become like my second identity…What about you?”

He thought his answer over for a few seconds as they made their way into the entrance of neighborhood.

“Hmm… I sort of chose at random, as well. This mask is actually just a large beanie hat that I stuck a knife through for the eyes.”

The two came up to the second house on the cul-de-sac that had lush green lawn and variety of flowers growing in the bed in front of the porch. Just then, the door opened and an older woman in a pink and violet long sleeved top tucked into a long skirt came out, looking at the masked men with smile of anticipation on her face.

“Hello Pigman, good to see you again” she said with friendliness “Oh and you brought a friend too. That’s nice.”

“Hello Mrs. Brownapple, good to see you. This is my new friend, Plain-Man.”

“Nice to meet you ma’am.” They nodded to each other as Pigman handed her the bag full of groceries.

“Actually, the reason why he’s here is because I was thinking we can finally take care of that sofa situation you’ve been talking about for the last six months.”

“Oh, that’s excellent idea, Pigman. Hold on, while I set these down and I’ll send out the request.” Mrs. Brownapple said cheerfully, going inside.

“You see? She’s a real nice lady, huh?” Pigman said to Plain-Man, “Now we just got to wait for… ah, here it is. Hold on while I pair with your vybe…”

“I don’t have a vybe.” Plain-Man said, pulling out his phone and rocking it back and forth.

“Oh, old school, huh. I can still link up, one sec.” Pigman reached behind his ear under his mask and held a touched a button on the electronic device that stuck to his skin and read his brainwaves.

Loud ringing from an alert emanated from Plain-Man’s phone and he swiped up to view.

[Quick! App alert: You have a new team up request! Please accept the mission]

Tap.

[Quick! App update: Mission Location – Mrs. Brownapple’s house – Description: Moving furniture–team up: Pigman]

Plain-Man put his phone away and looked at his new friend. “Alright, let’s do this.” And they both entered the home of Mrs. Brownapple.