Rise of the Reaper

Chapter 2

A draft rolling through the condo woke me up. Panic and anxiety filled me as I jumped out of bed. This feeling of tension coursed through me. With fists clenched, I opened my bedroom door to see a man sitting in my kitchen just casually eating my food. Bums were common in the world I was used to but it just didn't make sense here. "sorry mate. Didn't mean to fright ya. You bein' a newcomer n' all. How many wankers have tried to sell you their load of bullshiet so far?" he let out a chuckle. "Who are you?" I asked, confused. "The name's Zan. I've come here to talk about your car warranty", his joke fell upon a blank look on my face of impatience, "calm down. I'm just fuckin' with ya. I've just come to see if you want to get the f**k outta here or if you wanna submit your existence to a bunch of cunts.". I had trouble responding to him because my body and mind seemed to be frozen in shock. This man was dangerous. He wore a dark leather jacket with short cut hair and he had a rough but evenly trimmed beard on his face. A distinct scar was on his face. It was small and subtle but something that, looking up close, is easier to notice. "I didn't ask to be here exactly but I also don't know what else to do." I responded, unsure of myself. "Well, honestly mate, you can't just go out without a fight. but don't let me make that choice for ya. I've drug enough cunts kicking and screaming to that realization. For you I'll just leave my card. I'm a bit old fashioned." Zan pulled out a card and set it in front of me and then walked out of my front door with a wave, "gimme a call when you find out what you can do". After he left, I just sat there in disbelief for a moment that someone had literally just broken into my apartment and I hadn't even lived there for very long. I sighed to myself "what the f**k just happened?".

I shrugged it off and went to my room to grab my watch but I couldn't find it anywhere. I called out for Astrid but I got no response. This was very unusual for me, but after looking around, I saw a metal box by my door with a note on it.

On the house. Your watch is inside. This is a jammer box. Don't go walking around with it or the enforcers will have your ass. -Zan

A chill ran up my spine knowing that I had come into my room while I was sleeping. "What the f**k?" I shook my head as I grabbed my watch. "Hey Astrid?", the watch lit up, "Hello James you have some missed calls from Jasper. I told her that you were busy. She'll be over in about an hour, is that okay?", "Yes" I replied. Getting ready was fairly efficient and I was good to go when I heard that knock at my front door. "Hi James, I wanted to apologize for how I acted yesterday" Jasper spoke as I opened the door and ushered her in. "I was more of the asshole there. I'm sorry", I rubbed the back of my neck. "Well, enough regrets. Let's think about some jobs for you. What did you do for work up there in your world?" She had an innocent smile on her face and I bashfully replied, "I was a warehouse worker by night and a student by day studying to become a commercial pilot.". "well unfortunately, we can't fly planes down here so we may need to think of something else." she chuckled optimistically even though the statement was slightly unsettling to me. "Here, lets go get some fresh air. Maybe we can find something online." she grabbed my hand and practically pulled me out the door and I was really glad that she didn't see the jammer box by my front door. It was probably within my best interest to hide that when I got home.

We walked to the train station and we talked about how most of the work in the underground was based on people's mutations. I had the option of getting work early without powers but it would be more difficult. She advised that I at least look around for potential employment to at least keep busy. When we got to the train station, I couldn't help but wonder if Jasper had seen the box. It really was a nerve-racking thought to be breaking the law and not even know how badly I was breaking it. In addition, law breaking was not even something that I solicited as much as it just falling into my lap and me having to just sweep it under a proverbial rug. This wasn't like the world I knew though, where we at least knew why things were illegal up there. Speculation was easy at least, but there were no real answers when it came to why jamming watches was illegal. Not using cell phones or technology up there was perfectly legal. Anyone could just turn it off and not even have to jam the signal. Even if someone cared to go that route up there, no one would stop them. The train arrived and we got on. Jasper explained how the train circled around the underground and how the general layout of the underground was around this train system. A lot of the most essential places in the underground were located near a train stop, and the least essential places were further away. While we were on the train, we both looked on my watch at job postings in the underground. Most of the listings required mutations like technomancy or offensive mutations. "Let's stop here.. Online is usually a bust when it comes to anyone without any powers." Jasper got up at the next stop and took my hand. "I have a question". I followed her and she nodded, ready to listen, "Why do people get all weird between saying mutations and powers? Powers just seems like a more natural thing to say.". "It's mostly like political correctness in the world that you know. Where mutation is considered politically correct by Visia because it creates a connotation that our abilities come from science and become a natural biological part of us as we learn to hone ourselves and work with our team to adapt our abilities to our bodies. Powers is more of a word that gets used by the resistance side of the underground where it creates this connotation of a hero complex of helping others to escape the underground. Most of them wind up on the lower floors and it's a dangerous mentality to have here." Jasper explained. Thinking about the concept of the lower floors was a hard philosophical pill to swallow in the automatic connotation between that and jail. Up in the real world, criminals get thrown in there and down here people get thrown away simply for believing something different and acting upon it. If I ever made it out, then maybe I could reflect on the criminal justice system in such a way. Whether it was just criminals or if it was voices that were snuffed out simply by diminishing the futures of anyone with a label on them. "Do people ever get released from the lower floors?" I asked. "Not that I know of." Jasper said plainly. This sinking feeling hit my chest with both her delivery of that being so casual and the fact that once someone is sent there, there's no coming back. There's no hope of anything better. In a way, regular society did that to their criminals too. At least they got the liberty of the illusion that things could be better though.

We spent most of the day looking through the marketplace and mostly seeing jobs around having developed mutations. Jasper mostly asked me to take note of the mutations. After there were nothing but duds as we walked around, Jasper finally offered to hire me at the pizza shop. I'm not gonna lie, working a shitty pizza job after spending years of busting ass getting educated in aviation just felt like an existential slap to the face. After a moment, I agreed to think about it. As it got late into the day, I decided to take her home. She gave me an optimistic look on the way, "look at it this way. We can still wait for a mutation and have some fun while we wait. Why not?". The concept of fun was something I never really got to enjoy. Working and studying so much towards my future, I never really made time for friends or really had any experiences. After a while of the routine, I got used to the idea and it was positively reinforced that things would pay off. There was genuine enjoyment to be found in my isolation on my own. We reached her door, "maybe we can go do something fun tomorrow." She smiled as she stood in her doorway, ". You didn't think I was gonna give up on you, did you?" she studied my face. "I'll come to you tomorrow then", I smiled and we parted ways. On my way home I thought of how sheltered I was as a child. Excellence was hammered into me at an early age, sometimes even with a belt. It was isolation that got me here in the first place. I took the train towards my apartment but found myself thinking about how I had never really lived while I was up in the world. "Your stop is coming up" Astrid whispered to me. "I think I'll skip it tonight", I spoke under my breath. "We should really go home." The watch advised. "dangers of the night I suppose" I let out a sigh. The stop got closer "you should really consider going home. You don't have a mutation and if it manifests, you won't be in an environment that is safe to control it.", "I don't imagine everyone's manifests so conveniently" I chuckled. My stop came and I chose not to get off. When the doors closed, the lighting in the train changed and there was an announcement on the intercom, "It is now night time. Just a reminder to anyone choosing to be out that any fights on this train will result in enforcers throwing you straight into the hole.". What was the hole? There was no response from Astrid. A large, burly, and bald man walked over to me, "you don't look like much. Are you lost or something, kid?" In response I just had a perplexed look on my face. "we have fresh blood out on a night stroll full of villains." he had an evil grin on his face. "Why do they call them villains?" I asked. "well some are just dealt bad cards with deadly mutations. Others are idealists who fight back. Most just have nothing left to lose. The underground breeds many, but Visia doesn't really open with that." he explained. "which one are you?" I asked. "well... I can't really say much with your little tracking device there." he got up and he walked away as if he had nothing left to say.

" That was strange" I said under my breath. I looked out of the window and, despite the ominous tone set about the night, I saw people just living their lives. Did the world of the daytime really fear this? What divided them? Their mutations, actions, or status with Visia? or maybe the fact that none of them wore watches that were provided by Visia on day 1. Any republican in the outside world would discard their watch at the first opportunity. A liberal or democrat would likely keep it. As for me, I was simply curious and exploring my options.

The train stopped and I got off. I could tell the man was following me, so I tried to keep close to the crowds (though I wouldn't call them crowds). It was hard to divert my attentions away from that man following me. However, I couldn't help but see the night around me. There were obvious differences, like drunks wandering around. Festivity surrounded me with this duality of light and dark. "Some people just get jobs so they can drink themselves into oblivion to cope with being in this shithole. People aren't meant to be in a cage, even if the cage is the size of a small state." I looked behind me to see the bald man speaking. "Is this why you followed me?" I asked. "You were one of the few who didn't buy the bullshit. Most people fear the night so much that they don't have a will to look in the dark and see people who are just like them. Can I ask you something?" he looked me in the eyes and I just nodded, "why are you here?".

The question seemed vague but answering was easy, "I didn't want to be the same person I was up there.", "What will you do with your second chance if you could go back a changed man?" he asked. An answer didn't come to mind. "You don't know who you are. You're still a blank canvas in a world trying to paint their visions on you.". I didn't know how to respond to that. Not because I thought he was wrong, but because what he said was very heavy.

The man's demeanor changed, "I'm sorry about my friend there. Sometimes he can be a bit eccentric. Who are you?" I was very confused at that point, so I gave a blank stare, not knowing what to say. "the underground took me from an insane asylum. I have dissociative identity disorder. The underground took me out in my teens in hopes to manifest multiple mutations in one person. When I wound up with a normal mutation, they just cast me aside," he explained, and looked over to my blank stare before continuing, "oh I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself. The name of my host is Andrew, but each of my alters has a different name.". "which one is the real Andrew?" I asked. "funny thing about it is we are all him but none of us are completely. My therapist theorizes that each personality holds a strong trait that the real Andrew needs", he explained as I nodded along. This was a strange place to meet people. The underground was full of either people born in a cage or people that were so damaged and discarded by those they were close to that they were easy targets.

Take a homeless man off the streets and nobody will notice. Give him a cage, feed him, and keep him clean. He just might call it home. "what will you do now?" Andrew looked down at me. "search" I said, "for what?" Andrew retorted. "myself" I walked away from him through the streets. He didn't follow and I didn't need to turn back to find out that. It was an interesting thing to ponder as I walked around. How some people peer into our lives with a single interaction and then their existence dissipates from our minds. They have no name but their lessons sit in the back of our minds.

The scenery gradually changed as I left the busier part of town. Honestly, I felt like I was asking to be attacked right now. Curiosity consumed me at that hypothetical. Mostly contemplating what anyone would actually gain from attacking a stranger in a world where necessities are free. "what the f**k are you doing here?" I saw a shadow come from the alleyway. Zan came out "how did you find this place?", "what place? I don't even know where I am." I was defensive and on edge. "so its a coincidence that you just strolled in here at the right day, at the right time, even though nobody told you anything?" Zan had aggression in his eyes. "take his watch." he signaled and a group of men came to knock me unconscious.