As he rounds the corner into the all white hall of his apartment floor he notices there are more people than usual standing outside, some hanging out of their apartments looking down the hall. Jason has to squeeze through some of them as they are all looking at something in the direction he is going. Jason continues to push through the crowd until it finally breaks with a Bridge Police officer standing and holo-police tape saying do not pass blocking the hallway.
Jason’s heart sank when he sees what room they were blocking off. Jason knew it even without seeing the number over the door. Zenith-21347 Kevin’s room door is wide open. Jason wondered did they actually evict him despite the explosion at the starport which should have protected him from eviction. He walks up to the police line where the officer holds out his hand to stop him.
“No one past this point citizen.” The officer says.
“I am the brother of the tenant of that apartment.” Jason yells at the man. “He shouldn’t be being evicted. Where is Kevin?”
“You are the brother?” The officer says in a surprisingly soft tone. “What is your name?”
Jason gives the officer his name and he sees the glint in the officer's eyes meaning he is checking his database with his sensory augmentation. Jason waits but his anger at the fact his brother is being evicted unjustly causes him to ball his fists. He sends another message to Kevin hoping that he will answer this time but sees that he still hasn’t even seen his previous messages. At that moment a man steps out of Kevin’s room and to Jason’s horror it is not someone kicking Kevin out but instead a Bridge Medical Inc paramedic. The all white outfit of the paramedic has a blue logo of three rings emblazoned on the back and each arm.
Jason immediately pushes past the police officer and runs to the door. The officer catches him by the collar of his shirt with reflexes enhanced by his augmentations. He tackles Jason to the floor retching his arm in a direction Jason knows it shouldn’t be going. The police officer doesn’t say anything for a minute just keeps him pinned while he continues to search his systems. Then as if nothing happens he lets him go. He just get off of him as a second officer walks out of Kevin’s room.
The second officer helps Jason up to his feet. He is an older man with deep wrinkles and glowing orange eyes both having been replaced with augmentations. The shine dissipates showing relatively normal albeit orange eyes.
The man's voice was gruff but sad. “Jason Smith, I am sorry. I am Sargent Lars Paton of the bridge police. Please follow me.”
“What is going on? Where is Kevin?” Jason screams.
Time seemed to slow down as they entered Kevin’s apartment. The room is almost completely empty aside from a few boxes left in the entrance. The room was a studio over twice the size of his in Wynn’s own room. However, none of that mattered when he saw Kevin lying motionless on the ground. The Bridge Medical team and equipment all around him. Blood covered the floor escaping from every orifice, his eyes open and staring blankly into space.
Lars continued to explain what happened but Jason could not hear a single word. The entire world went silent, colorless as Jason looked at the heart beat monitor and saw nothing. The Bridge Medical team shook their heads and begun packing up their equipment. One walks over to Jason handing him a card before walking to the door. The rest of the team is not far behind. Jason looks down at the card he was given and a code is automatically read by his augmentation. Text pops into his vision a note from the Bridge Medical headquarters.
We at Bridge Medical Inc are sorry for your loss. We extend our deepest condolences for the passing of Kevin Kelonine Smith. Our medical teams at Bridge Medical Inc worked diligently, but unfortunately, despite their efforts, Kevin has been declared deceased at 1348h.
Cause of death has been identified as Neural Cryptoseizure. This is a potentially fatal neurological condition triggered by an abrupt and excessive influx of information and data into a neural link. This overload overwhelms the neural pathways, causing a seizure-like reaction within the brain and nervous system, potentially resulting in severe neurological damage or even death.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Our medical teams are not authorized to move cadavers from the result of neural cryptoseizure until a full investigation is complete by the Bridge Police. A secondary team will be back to retrieve the remains after the Bridge Police investigation has concluded.
Thank you for choosing Bridge Medical Inc. for your medical needs. We want to inform you that any unpaid invoices will be forwarded to you as the next of kin. These invoices must be settled within the next ten business days. If you require an extension, please reach out to our customer support team for assistance.
Jason doesn’t read the entire note, in fact at the condolences part things start to get fuzzy. At some point he shambles out of the apartment although he doesn’t even remember how. He sits on the floor outside of Kevin's room head down crying into his knees as he curls up into a ball. He opens his contacts and scrolls once again to Wynn. To call her he has to connect to the HTN it will cost even more money to use. He doesn’t care as he hits call and waits for the call to connect.
“Oh there you are, I seem to be missing your medical record. Did you go to the hospital like I said?” Wynn says as soon as the call connects. “I already know you didn’t by the way, Kevin told me you went to bed. So what do you have to say for yourself dear brother of mine.”
She waits for a response so she can chide him some more but when all she hears is crying from his end she quites down.
“Wynn. I am sorry…”
The few next hours went by in a blur of pain. Jason sat on the phone with Wynn until the HTN cut the call due to lack of funds in his account. He then waited until well into the night when the Bridge Medical team returned to take Kevin’s body away. He then sat there shivering from a pain he could not touch in a place he can not reach. He continues to sit in silence as the final police officer leaves and the door is closed for the final time.
Not even five minutes after the police leave Housing Authority cleaning crews rush down the hall. With them is an angry looking brunette woman in a suit. Her hair is frazzled and she looks like she hasn’t slept in days. Her face has one to many sharp angles and her makeup does little to hide the dark bags under her eyes.
“Finally they are out of here. It is that one. Clean it, the family will be here in an hour.” The woman yells at the cleaners.
The woman doesn’t even acknowledge Jason as she opens the door with her sensory augmentation and gasps.
“They didn’t even take out the rest of this shit.” She says.
“What do you want us to do with it?” One of the cleaners asks.
“I told him if anything is left it will be incinerated. Throw it all out.” The woman says.
Jason jumps up to his feet angry that they threatened to burn the rest of Kevin’s boxes and the fact she called it shit. He pushes past the cleaners and gets face to face with the woman now clearly able to clearly see her name tag; Urial Maximilian. To his surprise she is not wearing a mask instead the lower part of her face is an augmentation which is most likely also filtering out smell. The woman is not even the least bit intimidated by Jason; her eyes have a glint of light indicating she is using her sensory augmentation to look up his information.
“Ah, you, Jason Smith, next of kin, great. If you don’t want us to burn these boxes, get them out of here now.” Urial says dismissively. “Guys get to work. I want this place to be spotless in thirty minutes.”
Jason deflates as the cleaners push past him into the room. He walks over to the first box and picks it up as he reenters the hallway he sees someone unexpected. Kiran is standing at his door a few doors down. She looks like she is going to knock but stops herself. She turns and starts to walk away when she looks up and sees Jason standing there with a box in hand.
“Oh, there you are. Got caught up helping Kevin move?” Kiran says as she moves hair from the side of her face avoiding eye contact. “I brought you some food from Arun’s. I figured you might not have been as well as you sounded having been in an exploded dock and all.”
It takes a second for Jason to even register that she is holding a bag in her hand. Everything still felt like a dream, like nothing was real but the box in his hand. The two stand there in silence for a moment before the Housing Authority woman walks out of the room and glares at Jason.
“Hurry up and move these damn boxes.” Urial then looks up to Kiran, her eyes scanning the young woman. “A guest for the Smiths? Stop standing there and grab one of these boxes.”
Kiran looks between Jason and the obvious Housing Authority official. When Jason doesn’t offer any explanation she sets down the food and walks over to the official.
“Are you kicking out Kevin? He should have an extension since the spaceport is closed.” Kiran says to the woman. “Jason, you don’t have to move that.”
“Oh, young lady, I am well aware of the rules.” Urial states coldly. “They only apply to living tenants.”
“Living tenants?” Kiran says with confusion. “We are talking about Kevin, he is ali…” She turns back to Jason her voice barely above a whisper. “No… no he. Jason?”