While I was in my own fantasy world, Rocky stepped up from behind me. Rocky knew that my ‘concentrated face’ meant that I was on the verge of greatness.

After all, I invented many methods to save our lives using my ‘concentrated face’.

Rocky didn’t mind my blanking-out, since he was always responsible for the negotiations, though usually, it wouldn’t be at the big table. I was not someone who could handle the pressures of negotiations.

I would crumble at just a sound, but sometimes I felt that something inside me knew exactly what to do. It was like an intense feeling of de ja vu that would always leave just before I could grasp it.

Sadly, I wasn’t confident enough yet. The Receptionist just had to flicker her eyelids a couple of times and I would fall into a honey trap immediately. I wasn’t lustful, just a healthy, growing child.

Seeing that we wouldn’t get anywhere anytime soon, Rocky decided to get straight to the point.

“We got two X5 Smart Glasses, a Holo-Projector, and one Electron-core,” Rocky stated, staring at The Receptionist intensely.

He was looking for any sign that something might be amiss.

Rocky was good at these types of things; he could smell weakness from miles away. It was an innate talent he possessed. I had to admit that his talent was both fortunate and unfortunate.

Imagine the pain you would have to go through to spot the weakness present within everyone. It was a well-known fact that people who trust the most are more likely to tell when people lie.

The mere fact that Rocky could tell anyone’s weakness was a testament to the number of times he felt helpless growing up. It was just another unfortunate fact about the world.

And I happened to stumble upon Rocky’s story by accident, that’s how I knew.

Admittedly, Rocky’s story was more depressing than my own.

∞∞∞

He was an orphan turned killer at the age of six. People in the slums had a lot of respect for those who took a life, and Rocky was among the youngest acknowledged killers in the slums.

Of course, Rocky later took advantage of that title.

However, not many people knew that the first person Rocky killed was his prostitute mother. She worked as a prostitute two blocks down from the orphanage.

At first, she gave up Rocky not wanting the burden of a child, but when he was about four years old, everyone noticed that Rocky was a handsome child. His mother suddenly had a budding business idea.

It didn’t take long for Rocky to naively follow his mother, believing that he would have a better life with her than the Foster home. In some ways, he did have a better life, but there wasn’t anything that straightforward.

And life wasn’t so kind to Rocky.

Every day for two years, Rocky watched as different men entered his home, violated his mother, and left with happy smiles. By the age of five, Rocky would set traps to beat the men who refused to pay for his mother’s ‘services’.

From an abandoned child to a naïve child, to a bouncer child in the span of six-years was impressive.

However, everything changed when Rocky turned six-years-old. Not much is known about what exactly happened, but I knew exactly what happened… because I saw it with my own eyes.

That day, the client took an interest in both Rocky and his mother. That was the first time I snuck out of the shelter, and what I saw scarred me for life.

Rocky’s mother didn’t even hesitate to hold her son down as her client raped him black and blue. When the man was finished with both mother and son, he peed on the money and tossed it into the air.

Rocky’s mother picked each bill up carefully and placed it near the window to dry, then she went to sleep, not bothering to clean the pee left on her hands.

It was a horrific sight to witness for my first time out, but it wasn’t the worst thing I had seen since.

I still don’t blame Rocky’s mother for what she did. It was hard to blame anyone for anything when the lines between right and wrong were never clear in the first place.

For me, keeping me and my sister alive through any means could be considered the right thing to do.

Rocky woke up hours later, he limped into the bathroom, grabbed a toothbrush, and stuffed it down his mother’s throat. I watched Rocky, as he watched his mother slowly choke to death.

The bulging of her eyes, the hastening of her breath, I could remember it all with amazing detail. Rocky was frozen after doing the deed and simply remained near his mother in shock.

Later, a client came, only to see Rocky watching his dead mother on the floor. The man was not a genius, but anyone could figure out what happened from the expression on Rocky’s face.

Rocky was still shell-shocked from the experience, so I intervened and tased the man before he could take out his gun. It was a frightening experience, but my logical mind told me I needed someone like Rocky.

Rocky and I have been best brothers since. Of course, there were many psychotic breaks and suicide attempts in between to solidify our bond.

∞∞∞

“I can do you two kids a favor,” The Receptionist whispered “If you sell me these personally, I can make you forgo the big table,”

The Receptionist seemed completely relaxed but I could tell that Rocky smelled the same scent of desperation I did.

It was wired into our noses from the years and years of looting.

Rocky hesitated briefly, he really didn’t want to negotiate at the big table with the huge men that stank of liquor and whores. I was not so thrilled about the idea myself, especially now that I had a promise to keep.

“How much?” I asked, hoping to hear anything above thirty cyber-coins.

Cyber-coins were just quantum-bit representations of what was formerly known as ‘Paper Money’. Cyber-coins were extremely versatile and could be stored in any organic medium.

Basically, Cyber-coins were stored in the palm of your hands, encoded into the lines that made up your handprint. They could only ever be willingly given and deducted by anyone licensed by The Corporations.

The Receptionist sank back into her seat and stared at me intently. Her hesitant expression was obviously just a ploy, but Rocky already knew that.

“One hundred cyber-coins and your help Omari,” she replied.

“Deal!” Rocky unhesitantly agreed as if selling my time was no big deal.

He could tell that it was the best deal we would get out of The Receptionist.

I wanted to argue but a glare from Rocky quieted any resistance I had lingering on the tip of my tongue.

Staring at the Receptionist, I quickly formulated the hundreds of possible schematic combinations that could be built using the equipment Rocky and I stole.

X5 Smart Glasses were known for their wide-spectrum lenses that could be altered to virtually any nanometre range. A Holo-Projector could project, in detail, any complex structure in real-time.

An Electron-core was by far the most useless thing in an era of Quartz. Still, it was useful for those who needed to stay below the radar when using a power source. Quartz could be tracked, but Electricity was not monitored anymore.

It wasn’t long until I came to a realization. She needed an x-ray view of an object that she would project in detail, and had to hide it from everyone around her.

‘Surgery!’ I thought baffled, but it wasn’t my life at risk, so I couldn’t care less.

The Receptionist realized that I had probably already figured out her plan, but also showed no outwards form of panic.

There wasn’t much to be said after that, only to collect and depart as far away as possible from the gang hangout. No part of the slums could be considered safe, but the gang hangout was dangerous enough to be considered off-limits.

Every couple of days you would see someone being tossed from upstairs, and that was enough to deter even the bravest of hearts. Hence why Rocky and I didn’t want to go to the big table.

“Laters, Rocky,” I waved goodbye.

Rocky paused and stared at me. His stare was all I needed to pick up on his meaning ‘Keep the Quartz Crystal Safe, we will use it in a few days’.

I nodded to signal my agreement and departed immediately.