Several days had passed since Sam brought in his new feline companion, and ever since he’d figured out text to speech it had driven him crazy.
“GIVE FOOD. GIVE FOOD. GIVE FOOD.” The phone’s audio blared.
“I just gave you food an hour ago, you glutton! Stop spamming the button, I have to go to work!”
“NO WORK. GIVE FOOD.”
“If you keep that up I’m taking my spare cell away from you. I need to do this! Do you think it’s easy to find any sort of work as a baseline?”
“WORK DUMB. STAY. PLAY!”
“I can’t even work in a coffee shop you dumb cat! All I can do is volunteer for clout! I can’t afford to skip this, do you understand me? If you ever want to eat again I need to make money! I’m not gonna be able to do that if I can’t get hired somewhere!”
“BAD HUMAN. BAD HUMAN. STEAL FOOD. GIVE FOOD.”
“I am not going to be a thief, and if I catch you stealing from the fridge again I swear I’m gonna give you a bath!”
The kitten looked up at him with an expression of feline horror.
“FINE.”
“I’ll see you tonight.”
It didn’t take Sam long to travel out to the tent city on the outside of town thanks to the automated bus service in the city. When he made it out he was once again struck by how good he had it in his grandmother’s apartment.
All sorts of people lived here, some from Europe, some from Africa, some were simply poor. The seemingly endless sea of tents stretched out to the horizon. In the midst of it all were gigantic water-tower sized containers to dispense food and water. Those were fine if you wanted the equivalent of gruel. He made his way to a pavilion where people were already starting to line up in front of several long tables under blue tarps held up by rusty metal poles.
He walked behind the table, spotting a man who was as tall as an augment, but thin. His eyes were set with a perpetual hint of exhaustion, and his pale brown skin would have shown dark circles beneath the eyes if he were a bit lighter.
“Hey Juan! Good to see you man.”
“Buddy! Hey! Looks like we’re gonna be busy today.”
“These people absolutely deserve some real food, so let’s give it to them!”
Behind them many of Juan’s friends and family worked inside of the food trucks, preparing different meals for the people of the tent city. They called and cheered loudly as they worked amidst a boisterous atmosphere. Sam swapped between moving food aid bags to the trucks for preparation and moving them to the line where Juan was serving it to people. It was an odd mixture of meals - red beans and rice, tacos, mashed potatoes and other things. They simply prepared the ingredients they got.
He got odd looks from a lot of the refugees, which was no surprise. Most of them looked younger and healthier than he was. Almost all of them were augmented somehow - after all, it was as easy as taking the right pills these days. Some old timers even had ancient cyberware, with the telltale shine of chrome limbs.
None of them were dirty or disheveled. Nor was the camp itself, for all that it sprawled on for miles. They weren’t officially police officers, but Sam could see a few hulking forms of unofficial watch members that kept the monsters out of this camp. A few gave him a smile and a nod as they walked by.
At last things calmed down as the rush eased and they were able to chat. Juan had a huge smile on his face and leaned in close.
“Hey Sam, are you ready to hear some good news?”
“What’s that?”
“I got hired! I’m gonna be on a contract ship!”
“Wow, that’s crazy. You got a job - a real job!”
“I know, right? I thought I’d be waiting until I was a hundred and fifty before I got hired.”
“So does that mean you’ll get to live on one of the Star colonies?”
“Maybe someday. Contract ships are the best way to get a spot on a station. I just have to make it big while I’m there!”
“I heard it’s kinda rough up there. Like living in coffin apartments and sixteen hour work days rough.”
“Yeah, but it’s rough down here too,” Juan said, waving his arm at the tent city. “With the money I make up there I can get my family into an apartment down here and living the good life you got.”
“For however long she lasts, Juan. That’s it. I’ll probably be moving out here while you’re moving in.”
“Yeah, sorry about your abuela. Hey, when you turn 18 we’ll get you augmented too. Then I can try to get you on a contract ship with me!”
“Hey Juan, have you been thinking about your next aug?”
“Yeah, I’m thinking of getting memory enhancement.”
“That should be pretty useful up there! All the really good mental augs are as expensive as hell though.”
“Yeah,” Juan said apprehensively, “If I can get that as my sign on bonus for the contract ship I’ll be set. I can’t afford it otherwise. Besides, skill grinding isn’t that bad. If all I can do is sell my memories of college to rich guys I’ll do it. Now I’ll get to do it in space!”
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Sam considered for a moment. “It just sucks that you spend a year studying only to sell the skills that got your degree to someone else. Thanks to you, everyone with money has all of your skills.”
“Come on man, you just sell the memories. You keep the degree. It’s not like I sell everything, right? I keep a little back so I’ve got an edge against someone that just bought what I know.”
“Yeah, but then you’ve gotta compete with an Elder that’s been buying up memories of degrees for decades. I don’t think you’re gonna get hired at any of the companies they work at.”
“Hey, I got on a contract ship didn’t I?”
“I guess you did. Sorry I’m kinda down about it, Juan. I bet your family is really proud. I just worry they’re gonna treat you like a body and not a person that worked his ass off. I just feel like all this is really messed up. This country used to be worth something.”
“I guess it is, but I’m still gonna thrive!”
“What are you studying now?”
Juan took a minute to finish plating up mashed potatoes for the latest person in line. “You have a great day Miss!” He said cheerily.
“I’m studying sociology.” He finished once she’d moved on.
“So like, seeing how society works?”
“Yeah, someone has to understand why this place turned into such a shithole, right? I mean I work eight hours a day and volunteer out here and I still live in a tent like everyone else.”
“Don’t worry,” Sam said. “I’ll be taking your place when you head up to orbit.”
“You keep saying that - are you sure your grandmother isn’t gonna leave you anything?”
“No, she’s almost out as it is. She’s convinced I’ll go live in the church tents and convert.”
“Well you know we’re here for you. You’ve always helped us out. I think you’re being a little harsh on your abuela though. Her swapping meals with us on Christmas is how we met after all.”
“I still need to visit your grandma and get some of those good tamales.”
“Yeah? I’ll make it happen. We always like having you over for dinner. Just bring over a steak, you can cook those things better than guys with cooking augs, you know?”
“I’ve got someone new to introduce you to.”
“What? Don’t tell me you met a girl.”
“Ha, no. It’s…” Sam leaned over and whispered to Juan, “A Blue cat. Brought him in and formally adopted him. My grandma allowed me to keep him!”
“Seriously? I don’t believe it.”
“Yeah, it didn’t go like I thought it would at all. She wasn’t super comfortable with it at first, but she couldn’t hate something cute.”
“Hey, take a look at that guy,” Juan said, looking off into the distance.
Sitting at one of the tables alone was the same man Sam had seen on the street just a few days ago. He had the same cybernetic eye and metallic eye socket, the same color shifting suit, and the same large frame with a well trimmed beard. He looked old but way, way too rich to be here. He was looking at Sam.
“I ran into that guy on the street the other day. He tried to talk to me.”
“Oh yeah? What did he want?”
“No idea.” Sam said. “He knew what I was up to in the gym and that freaked me out. He probably has some kind of persuasive or perceptive aug. I didn’t want to lose my wallet so I ran off as fast as I could.
“He’s looking right at you. Wanna find out if he’s following you? I can get some people to cover for us while we go somewhere else. I could always have one of the watch chat with him too.”
“You think that’s safe?”
Juan considered for a second. “It will be if I come with you. I’ve got some basic strength augs and in the city I can call the cops with my neural link if I need to. He looks like an old rustjob, he probably just wants some cash or something.”
Sam considered for a moment before nodding.
“Yeah, let’s head out.”
It took the better part of twenty minutes before they could go. Friends and family of Juan relentlessly talked, cheered, and visited with them before they were able to go.
“Alright,” Juan said. “We’ve got some time to kill. Anywhere you wanna go?”
Sam considered for a moment. “I don’t hang out in a lot of places. I mostly just hang out at home, your place, the gym and the library.”
“We need to get you a life. I spend most of the day studying and I still take time to play games and stuff.”
“Yeah, I know. I guess we could go to the gym and spar for a round or two? You’re not so augmented that it’d be impossible to fight you.”
“Yeah, but I’m warning you I don’t know how to fight. That’s not one of my skills. My brothers are good at that, but I’m not made for it.”
“Good thing you like studying then.” Sam said.
“Yeah, yeah. Just take it easy on me.” Juan joked back.
“Says the guy with the augs. You’ll be fighting a baseline.”
“Hey, my stuff is all study focused and you know it. Basic strength augs aren’t that different from a fit normal guy either.”
“You can study a fight.”
“Yeah, I’m sure I’ll be thinking about it while you punch me in the face.”
“Oh come on, we’ll use a pod. No real blood, no real
conflict. Aren’t Mexican boxers supposed to be the best ones?”
“You know we’ve been here for a hundred years. My parents are accountants! I barely know how to spell boxer.”
“Man you’ve been like this ever since we were kids. We’re just doing this to dodge the creeper anyway.”
“Alright, fine. I’m going to space soon anyway. Then I won’t have to put up with you!” Juan laughed.
“Oh yeah, one thing.” Sam said, his tone stern. “The owner’s nephew is a real ass. If we’re lucky he won’t be there, but if he is just don’t engage. He hates baselines but you’re augmented so you should be fine.”
“What, you think I’m just gonna sit there and let someone pick a fight with my friend?”
“Didn’t you just say you don’t know how to fight?” Sam asked, puzzled.
“Hey, there’s more than one way to fight someone. Mental augs aren’t so great for punching, but I downloaded a law degree when I was still in high school.”
Sam laughed.
“Well if he does something worth suing him over then go for it. I’d love to see that spoiled asshole getting blasted in court.”