Sink running, he splashed himself with the cold water. Rubbing his eyes, he stared at his mirror image, a haggard, tired man whose pale skin hasn’t felt the kiss of sunlight in who knows how long. Baggy eyes told of long days, and short nights.



    Man, he was a mess. Turning the sink off, he dried himself with his only towel. Stretching his limbs, he groaned. But life called for him.



    Making sure that his shirt was clean, he stumbled out of the bathroom, into the tiny hallway. Waddling out to the living room, he sunk into the the sole chair in his apartment. An aged leather recliner he found in a garage sale. One of the best purchases he ever made, one he couldn’t find himself to part with.



    Bare grey walls and rooms bespoke of only owning the minimum necessities of life, alongside a poorly stocked kitchen and old mattress laying on the floor. Truly, he was living his best life here. He couldn’t help but scoff to himself. He had to sell just about everything he owned to pay for his mother’s treatment.



    But he was running out of money, and options. And his mom was the only thing he had left. So he made a choice. And today was his day of reckoning.



    Sighing, he pushed himself out of his chair, back to standing. Rubbing his tired face one more time, he made to exit his small apartment. Door closed behind him, and locked, he made sure he had everything on his person.



    Phone; check, keys; check, wallet; check. Pants, shirt and shoes; check.



    Walking down the carpeted path to the elevators, he kept his head down. Thankfully the hallway was empty.



    Pressing the worn call elevator button, he waited, leaning against the wall. God, he was so tired. With the sound of mechanical clunking, and a sad little ding, the elevator doors finally opened, revealing a blessedly empty elevator.


    Walking in, he selected the ground floor, and began his descent. Thirteen and five other passengers later, he was there. Subconsciously nodding once the doors opened a final time, he hurriedly stepped out, getting away from the chatty duo that joined midway of his downward journey.



    Once he was finally out of the apartment complex, and into the city itself, he was assuaged with the cacophonous deluge of blaring billboards, whizzing cars, conversational pedestrians, and everything else.



    Using his phone, he called for a smart-taxi. When one pulled up, various advertisement of shitty products lining its door, he quickly entered, closing the door with a slight slam. And almost like magic, the sounds of the city became dim. A pleasant feminine voice asked for his destination.



    After telling the AI, he leaned back into his seat as the taxi pulled forward. Resisting the urge to close his eyes, he stared out the window, colors and light blurring together soon enough.



    He was broken from his trance with a jolt after the smart-taxi stopped, told him he was at his destination with a jingle, and asked him to exit the vehicle. Complying with the AI voice, he clambered his way onto the sidewalk. After a notification on his phone that payment was automatically deducted from his account, the taxi sped off.



    Doing his best to not breathe in too deeply, he observed his surroundings. He was in a much more worn down part of town, with dilapidated building all around. These were the dwellings of the shunned, the homeless, and poverty riddled. And unless his decision paid out, he’d be finding himself a permanent resident here.



    Avoiding eye contact with anyone, he began walking, now following mental directions until he found himself inside an alleyway, grimy and dank. There was someone waiting at the end. Swallowing his hesitation, he walked up to them.



    The hooded fellow greeted him with a simple nod.



    “You Dante?” The hooded man asked, voice masked with heavy synthesis. He, Dante, nodded back.



    “Well Dante, I got what you’re looking for. Be warned though, once jailbreaked, these things lose their pain inhibitors. There is no handholding. Now, I’m more than happy to give it to ya, but I want my money first.”



    Pulling out his phone, Dante grimaced at the high number, but hit accept anyways.



    “Excellent. Well, here ya go buddy, no refunds.” The hooded man slapped a box into Dante’s hand, and then shooed him off. Not wanting to cause trouble, he swiftly left.



    One more taxi later, and now back into his apartment, Dante learned that thanks to recent transactions he was pretty damn to close to hitting the red.



    Now reclined in his chair, Dante finally opened up the small grey box. Set between a bunch of cotton balls was a black circular device. Picking it up, Dante peered at it. One half had a long thin needle, and the other half was a dome.



    Checking the rest of the box, he found a small printed pamphlet with instructions which basically amounted to “Apply to back of neck.”



    Giving the needle a long sideeye, Dante questioned himself. But he was too far deep. Only hope now. Carefully picking up the device, his hands shook as he got ready to insert the needle half.



    Before hesitation got the best of him, he pressed it in, giving an involuntary shudder as the cold metal pierced skin and into bone.



    However it was in, and Dante felt odd, and not the pleasant kind. His limbs were shaking still, but were beginning to still. The back of his neck felt very warm. Almost searing hot.



    Clenching his teeth and fists, his brain felt like static. He wanted to rip out the device, but his muscles were too tight to move.



    Text began to flash in front of his eyes. Endless scrolling lines of jargon he couldn’t understand. Until finally, it settled onto a loading screen.



    A spherical shape comprised of many spinning rings pulsed in and out, each contraction slightly larger than the last.



    In the corners of his vision, Dante was pretty sure he was seeing his vitals, but they were dim compared to the central logo.



    After being paralyzed for so long, the sphere made of rings dominating his entire vision, it morphed into a sentence.



    Initialization Complete. Ready for operation.



    That had to be a good sign, right?



    Until his body slumped and he blacked out.