"M-Matt, you know that this... is a bit too excessive." Otto unimpressively stammered. “Are you sure you want to call the parlor for another three pizzas?!”
There were two boxes of pizza that lay on the table, all empty. All that was left was oil stains on the cardboard box, some bothersome crumbs and the sauces that were supposed to accompany the pizza. Now, they just lied on the table, opened, while Matt ate in front of them.
Otto looked at his phone, ten unread notifications were present. All for the cause of never hearing that dreaded bell ding. He raised his finger, and swept them away of course, it wasn’t anything important. He ruffled his hair, which was getting stupidly itchy.
It was kind of… frustrating watching Matt call the parlor. It was like throwing paper at women.
"This amount of pizza can feed a family of four, in a day.” said Otto, swiping on his phone, and feet up on the table. “ You didn’t need to buy another three boxes of pizza. It’s just a waste.”
”It’s fine, you know that.” Matt sighed. “You can’t blame me — the joint you bought those pizzas in are so fucking delicious. Plus, I have three jobs. I can afford it.”
”Just because you work three part-time jobs, doesn’t mean that you’ll be able to fork out both the rent and food this month. And that’s not even mentioning the way you eat, my fucking god.”
”Hmm?” Matt grunted. He raised his gaze, his suddenly bold grey eyes towards his roommate.
"Trust me, I have a valid reason to eat as much as this," Matt explained. "Not that I barely ate anything during school hours, but it's so that I've got the energy to do those supernatural things. They drain me of energy whenever I do that, and it's kind of a pain to do.”
The roommate however, rubbed his forehead, all flustered and red. A chuckle wheezed out of him, though it wasn’t as audible. Matt heard it though, and it's as if a spark began to flicker above his head — which burnt his head.
"You know, th-that was the most outlandish thing you said to me when I was writing those papers. That's not counting the eating dog shit part."
"Hold on a fucking minute… you took that seriously? Tell me you did not.” Matt exclaimed, immediately stopping everything he was doing.
”What are you talking about, you said that. I’ve got a good memory, Matt.” said Otto. He was confident with his voice, no stutter or stammer in sight.
”I know that. But that was just a fucking joke. A joke!”
"...Bullshit. Th-the way you said it, clearly meant that it was fact. You’re telling me it isn’t?”
"No, no. It isn't. Goddamn it, just forget about it.”
THUD! THUD!
“Keep it down, you goddamn fuckwads!! I’m trying to catch me some fucking sleep!” An angry voice, though muffled, came through the walls.
"Oh, we’ve disturbed the neighbors again.”
“We sure did, Otto. It was kind of obvious from the noise, so… thank you Captain Obvious.”
Matt stood up from his chair, and dusted off the crumbs off his clothes, a cotton white shirt and brown trousers. He took his lead and covered himself with a jacket which lay on a chair near a white desk. It was dark grey, and had the fleece of sheep around the jacket’s neck. Fitting of a cold environment, though, the city was hardly anything but.
”Anyway, I’m going to go outside and go stargazing.” Matt uttered out of his mouth. “Tonight’s a day when the planet’s in it’s clearest view...”
Otto sighed.
”I am going to meet someone at the park later, by the way.”
”Don’t worry about it.”
Matt stepped out of the window, left leg first. He flapped his jacket, and blinked twice. He raised his gaze towards the sky, a dark night. Most days, it would be covered in smog.
A freezing cold breeze immediately bonked Matt in the back. And a lingering feeling began to return in a very uninviting way. But he stood still, fixing his telescope. He turned it left, turned it right. Up and down, just to piss himself off. Though, it never happened.
”Didn’t I do this earlier?” Matt suddenly spoke out. “...Nope, definitely not...”
Matt raised the telescope, right towards the moon. It loomed over the ground below, like if it were to crash down even if it didn’t look like it.
Behind it was that blue planet. It was visible, but not by much, I wonder why. Though one notable detail about it though, was it’s miniscule and barely visible yellow-blue specks.
They’d often periodically appear, and disappear. About the same time night and day hit around here… Evidently, it’s a strange phenomenon that has been observed by numerous astronomers. They considered many things, though, and settled on an expansive thunderstorm.
Although… Matt wasn’t that convinced. He looked down, and saw a small lens cap.
He looked at it with a bit of a scowl; wiping it with a cleaning liquid that he pulled out of his jacket.
”Damn it, I forgot to put it back inside…” Matt sighed, “ This humid air sucks, it’s even worse than the cold.”
***
People are like caffeine to a city, once there’s too much of it, you can never sleep ever again unless they’re gone. If that were the case, then this city overdosed on it. Previously tired people now riddle along the arteries and veins of the city, and keep it awake. From dusk and dawn, the city devolves into this state.
Among these were three gangsters. hanging around North Advent Park, playing the booming sounds of rap music around the streets. Numerous young men and women hung around in a crowd, dancing, prancing, and twerking their asses to the slapping beat.
Tap!
“Hey, hey, hey! Whatcha doin’ with our shit, man. You looking for some trouble?”
“Sorry fellas, but the park is closed. Go home.”
“Oh ho, ho. We really got ourselves a do-gooder. Homies, whatcha say we hunker down on this fool? For creating some… inconvenience.”
His mates nodded in a slow, but… sick approval. The modest cop though, his movements went from stiff to agile, quickly reached for the holster hanging from his utility belt.
Quite an annoyance for some. Though, they can easily be countered. But still, quite an annoyance. But, it wouldn’t be Stykke without all of its strikes of rife in the night.
“Sigh… It’s always like this at night.” Matt scowled, itching his wild hair. “The music sucks, and it got way warmer than usual. I fucking hate this humid air. It fucked up my telescope’s lenses, you know.”
“You didn’t forget to bring it back in, did you.” Otto stammered, “When you went to visit your mother, right.”
”Uhh… Yeah, I did.”
“Anyways, at le-least now that we’re in the park. Why don’t you start by trying to lift this large stick,” said Otto, who was taking out a clipboard dotted with notes. Somehow just like the old billboards around Rideau Mont. “It’s a simple thing, really.”
“We could’ve gone a little earlier.” Matt muttered to himself, “Instead, he just had to… He’s definitely a perfect fit for a Mesa Delta researcher…”
Matt dusted off the flakes lying down on his shoulder. Looking dapper, he flapped his dark grey, cotton-wool aviator jacket, flashing his white T-shirt behind it. But the truth is, dapper doesn’t mean fly and cool since he hates the cold, after all. Matt spat on the ground....
“W-what’s the difference, we might even be in one, buddy. So just forget about it, eh?”
“Shut up! I am trying to focus on this. You, my friend, don’t know shit about this.”
Otto fell silent.
Matt calmed himself down, and thought of something. A cringe pose… perhaps it was wise to do one which looked like it was effective… cringey. Couldn’t the creators think of something better to make, and not just recycle the same exact idea over and over. Well… he could show off anyways.
Matt jerked his arm forwards, and clenched his fist.
“Levitation…” Matt sighed forcefully.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Otto exclaimed. “Turns out it wasn’t cap.”
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”Of course it wasn’t cap.
Thud…
Matt instinctively jerked his head towards a noise that grew closer. Or rather the near-silent steps that marched towards their direction. A curvy silhouette began to appear, but it was rather short.
”Someone there?”
”Huh?”
“Wh-what? Porter, Metz?!” She shrieked in shock, “…Wait a minute, wh-what are you doing here? A-a-and what the f—” Twintails, or rather, Ronnie… She stood at where she stopped. Understandably shocked at the levitating log.
“Oh, he-hey… What are you doing here, Ronnie?” Otto calmly spoke out, still writing notes along the clipboard. “Also, what’s up with the outfit?”
”These, umm… I had no clothes to wear.” She spoke out. “I borrowed it from my mother. But, she was kind of acting strangely, telling me ‘Got someone?’ and it was uncomfortable.”
Twintails was sporting a
“Wait… oh no, no, no...”
Meanwhile, Matt slowly lowered the log back to the ground. He grasped his left arm onto his right, both trembling, and was looking gassed and inconvenienced. It was like a rock was stuck on his arm— no, a boulder.
The log, which for a moment was still levitating, wasn’t levitating. It began to quickly fall down to the ground, just like confetti at a birthday place, and heading towards Matt’s face. Though, he just shifted left and quickly sputtered ‘Levitation’, which slowed the log’s inertia.
”Oof, I’ve overdone it.” Matt sputtered out, collapsing onto his knees.
”Yo-you okay, there Matt?” said Otto, leaning off of the bench he was sitting on.
”Yeah… I’m fine,” Matt sighed. “Don’t fawn over me, right now.”
”Porter! What the hell did you just do now?” A familiar snapping voice called out, “That was magic isn’t it.”
”No, it’s—”
”So… it’s just regular ol’ magic.”
”No… There’s a difference. Magic in fantasy needs mana power, or MP. I don’t, because this ain’t no fantasy. It’s real life, I guess...”
“M-Matt, can you please talk quieter?” Otto interrupted. The roommate’s face was turning red, but his eyes told something else. Crumpets? ”Ronnie, you too. I-I just saw a flash of light from there.”
“Twintails, why are you here, and wearing such… skimpy clothes, it kinda looks… cute on you Twintails. You aren’t working as some sort of an escort are y—”
“…It’s not what it looks like, Porter. And don’t place me among those lowly whores. I’m too refined for that, and I’m a minor as well.”
Ronnie did a small, but haughty pout. Awww… it made her look even cuter.
"Would you mind to explain why?”
”A date… Yes, you heard me.”
Matt tilted his head forward, leaning right into her face. That smut face from earlier dissipated, either she’s just calm or she’s in her regular persona. Twintails simply pushed him back into place, and whilst the conversation kept going Otto was scribbling furiously on the clipboard.
”Right, and this person told you to meet them here.”
”Obviously, it’s super cliche now. They even put a letter inside my locker, but it somehow convinced me to come here. Probably because I wanted to take a walk in the park.”
"..."
”So… Why don’t we get out of the park before we get apprehended by the park rangers.” Otto blurted out.
***
"Good evening, industrious little fellows. Once again it's your boy, Liam Holtz, back on air. Lorraine? She’s busy with something at the moment, her umm… family showed up. One thing to note is that she'll be back in time for the session. Joining me temporarily however, is our good ol' editor, Dave."
"Thanks for having me here, Liam. Tonight's been an eventful day, hasn't it.”
"You said it, Dave. Oh, and big shout-out to Jack Kernsey, for winning today’s challenge. Three-thousand in cash, that’s a lot for someone to dream of… Now let's move on with the program."
Static coughing sounded over the radio. Rowan stared at it, entranced by Liam's voice. Though, his passenger wasn't having it.
"Rowan, keep your eyes ON THE ROAD!!."
"H-huh, wait..."
Rowan quickly jerked his forearms left, tipped his red cap higher, revealing his grey eyes.
"Sorry about that, Sophie…”
"You should be, you could’ve crashed into the pedestrians. Imagine the repercussions you may cause, you will have to pay more than what you have."
"Sophie, you don't need to burn me that much. Only a tiny singed wound would work."
"So, so... What do you think of the Junior Expeditionary Force, Dave. Those folks at Mesa Delta really are in it in their bid for space exploration. But they must be very, very careful. They may bleed their fundings dry, and I bet the powers that be won't be as forgiving since the recession."
"Nicene Krai's doing the same thing, remember. Their director specifically said that they would do it before the 60th anniversary of their founding.”
“So, two years from now. I see, they’re really desperate.” Liam noted, as you can tell. “Yeah, also make sure to wear your masks at all times when outdoors, and wash your hands properly. Don’t want to catch the confluenza now would ya.”
“I’m so happy that you were discharged very quickly, although did you really have to immediately go back to work? I mean, you're very vulnerable to disease, because of the confluence.”
“Don’t worry, I always make sure those are tied tight. Today’s been bright, I’ve been handling paperwork, testing subjects and anomalies... Though, I didn’t expect to take a leave today, and it does not regard my condition.”
“What, did something go wrong?”
“Of course, something went wrong.” Sophie uttered out, filled with distraught. “One of my boys got exposed to an extremely potent AMDU, and to think that it was my favorite one too… He had so much potential. It was already impressive enough that he was a prodigy, but man… he just had to…”
”Darn shame, but what happened to him now?”
”He’s been placed into a secure location, just to make sure he recovers.”
...
Sophie then suddenly sneezed, yet it was quite quaint. She quickly pulled out her handkerchief, holding it with her pinkie erect and out. Subsequently, she blew her nose. But
”Disgusting… But anyways, how’s things going on back in the household? Are they fine?”
”...Yeah, it’s fine. Lillie’s coming back to visit and participate in Brine Fishing Day, and he’s coming along too. Matt, though, he’s just… doing his own thing. He’s growing up, and lately becoming more and more independent. I reckon he’ll be just fine in the future, nothing will really hurt him.”
”Rowan… Look, can you give me your phone?”
”Why? Did you leave yours at your office?”
”... Just give it to me.”
Rowan glanced towards his wife, flashing his tender eyes towards her bold eyes. Her light brown hair was neatly tied in a short ponytail, standard in places with working conditions like Mesa Delta, and still wore the standard uniform at the place. A lab coat, cotton white, and a black trousers. But, enough about her, he probably thought.
He opened his truck’s glove box, and took out an antiquated old phone. The cheapest you can buy from a flea market.
”Thank you,”
***
The pedestrian crowd mumbles and chatters, posters and stickers lay about on walls and telephone booths. The early morning of Tuesday has begun, and it was getting quite lively.
”Porter, did you send that letter?” Twintails asked, pushing through the crowd. “I hope not, cause I don’t have the thing for you.”
”Sorry,” Matt sighed, “Huh? No, what are you talking about?”
”Nothing… Make sure you wake up early for the field trip tomorrow.”
Ring! Ring! Ring!
”Another call… It’s Dad. Otto, can you go on without me? This call is going to take a while,”
”Sure, I mean I was going to do that anyways.”
Matt nodded back towards Otto, and then did the two-fingered salute back at him. He then walked back against the crowd, running, and jumping at the same time.
”Watch it!”
”Excuse me!”
”Oof, hey! I’m walking here!”
I had no time to mind the pedestrians, I needed to take this call. I slowed down my gait to a jot, and to a walk. Now would probably be a good time to just answer the goddamn phone now. I peered towards my phone, and swiped left.
”Hello?” I said. The hot, humid air pushed against my face.
”Good evening, Matt Porter…”
”Wh-wh… Who the fuck is this.”
I shuddered, a throbbing thought began to wander back into my mind. My busy and inconvenienced mind.
”Matt, calm down… For now, you can call me Sophie.”
”Okay, Sophie… So why are you calling from my dad’s phone?”
”I’m with him right now, I just borrowed his phone. But I have something else to discuss.”
Something else to discuss, what else is there to discuss. I looked up towards the sky, the clouds could still be seen, thanks to the nightlife.
”Do you know Nifa Porter?”
”Yeah… That’s my mother.”
”Right, she umm…wanted me to er… pass a message to you.”
”...Let me just say it. “I’d like to apologize for something she had done to you, three years ago. You know what it is, don’t you. Let me remind you that I had no hand in them, those were standard protocols needed to be done to children sentenced to our juvenile detention center””
’…Juvenile detention center, oh the memories. Those… Fuck, I forgot. Actually I’d rather forget talking about it. Too dark a subject to talk about.’
”Yeah, that’s what she wanted to relay to you. Goodbye, for now.”
Beep!
Matt stood still like a reed. He felt pressure on his legs, more so on h— my left leg. Don’t get too stressed now, breathe it out. Matt breathed in and out.
In and out.
In and out.
’...Almost lost my temper there.’ Matt sighed, now leaning against a light pole.
He peered towards his patina watch; 1 hour after midnight. A dreading feeling grew on him, and a distasteful fatigue grew on his back and legs. Eyes were beginning to let in fewer and fewer light in, and a drop of water seemed to fall off of his mouth. Overworked, just like the regular ol' Joe breaking their backs real bad for money.
"I need to sleep." Matt instinctively sputtered out of his trap.
Yet, only in a few moments. An explosive jolt of energy came bursting out of his spine. It tingled, and felt weird, as if something were hanging by a thread. His legs were the instigators, and his mind just followed suit. His heart felt indifferent about the matter, but reneged later on.
Crossy Road, anyone?
An unsuspecting person stood there wearing the most strange thing. A spandex suit, all sci-fi and stuff, and a prussian blue helmet. At least, it looked human... Mostly.
"Get on the OTHER SIDE!!!" He shouted. He pushed against the crowd and ran as fast as he could towards the other side of the road.
Screech
"KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE ROAD, BOY!!!" A familiar voice rang, and... nothing.
Nothing but these sounds came into his
Flap!
Crack!
ZOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!
...
...