《Bug Bytes》49. Rocket Man
Advertisement
My night in the hotel was easily the most comfortable and luxurious I've ever had. They had offered me the "King suite". But the standard alone was more luxury than what I'm usually comfortable with.
The bed was softer than any I had ever laid on before. The shower had hotter water and higher pressure. I've never felt so clean in my life. The shame of it is. I'm too focused on the case to have really enjoyed it.
I've made no further progress. Still at a dead end, with no leads. But today I have a plan. I would like to find Burt. But I'm not sure I can fully trust him yet. And don't want to have to try and get away from him after meeting up. So I'll look for him later.
First thing I do is find a news stand and get the morning paper. It'll serve me two purposes. The first is simple. Find a nice little cafe. Get a coffee and read the paper.
I quickly scan the whole paper for any mention of Frank and his coffee cart. But there's nothing written about it in here. My second pass through I take the time to actually read through the paper. Looking for any crime articles or anything that could be related.
Instead I just find fluff pieces. A biography on the Mayor. Streets closed for parades. Traffic at a standstill. Elevators getting stuck. A lot of things that really shouldn't be considered news. I know enough from Germaine's warning. These types of delays in their daily life are incredibly common for MPs.
I keep reading and find a second biography on the Mayor. Strangely this is not the same person as the first biography. I start to wonder how many mayors this town has at this point. And if they all share an office.
Finishing up the paper, having gained very little insight into the way things work around here. I look at the time. eleven o'clock, perfect. It's time for my newspapers second purpose.
I head back into the underground and board the subway. Taking it to the station we had gotten off at, when going to the police station. Once there, I cross the platform and wait another ten minutes. Exactly on time. The subway screams to a stop.
Advertisement
I count the cars, and do my best to make sure I board the same one as yesterday. I subtly try and glance around without making it obvious. I don't think anyone notices. A few familiar faces confirm I'm in the right car.
Getting on at the same stop, at the same time. Two days in a row. Seems to have normalized me in their routines faster than I'd have expected. As no one is staring at me this time. No one except for one man.
The man I had come to see. Again holding his paper in front of himself, slightly lowered so he can watch me. He is the only one in the car dressed differently than he was yesterday. I walk over and take the seat next to him. Raising my paper up, to shield my face.
"You're back."
The man whispers.
Not knowing how long until the mans stop. I get straight to the point.
"I have to ask you a few questions."
I say.
"What's this about?"
A hint of suspicion in his voice.
"I'm in town investigating a string of deaths."
The mans eyebrows raise. I continue.
"I'm sure you know murder, even accidental death, just doesn't normally happen between MPs."
"So you think the MPs are killing survivors again?"
He asks.
"No, it's the MPs that are dying. And I'm trying to figure out who's doing it and why."
"Do you think it's a survivor living out some twisted fantasy killing the MPs?"
"I don't know yet. I just wanted to ask if you've seen anything of interest lately. I personally saw a cat explode, killing a man and his coffee cart yesterday. But there was nothing in the news about it. And all the bystanders carried on like normal. I've gone to the cops and they were no help. The newspaper doesn't say anything either. So I figure the only option left is talking to other survivors."
"I understand. I actually did see something yesterday. And just like you said everyone else just continued on like nothing had happened. I don't know the full story. But I was walking by a cafe yesterday. There was a smashed piano if front, a pool of blood coming out from under it."
Advertisement
The man continues on to give me the name of the cafe and the address.
"Thank you, I'll go there and ask some questions. Hopefully there will be other survivors there. Otherwise I doubt I'll be able to find out much."
"Ask if they have security cameras."
The man suggests. I nod to acknowledge the suggestion. Then continue on with my questions.
"I've noticed a lot of uninteresting, low glamour jobs are still being filled. I don't understand what kind of MP would end up working those jobs. I've kept myself pretty removed from society. So I don't know for sure. But I thought that maybe the bugs are still multiplying. Making new people to fill these rolls. You've been here longer, does that make sense to you?
I don't mention Manbug yet. I'm still not entirely sure I believe what I saw last night.
"It does. I've been here since the beginning. I've spent my whole life here. And as soon as all the zombies stopped and the MPs started. The city was in chaos. There was nearly no one driving the taxis or cleaning the sewers. It was a serious mess. After about a year we started seeing more taxis on the road. A few months after that total gridlock. Suddenly the stores all had food on the shelves again. And the dumpsters were being emptied. The population kept increasing. Like I've said before. The city runs on clock work. It's easy to spot the new people. And sure, the first month there was a lot of migration. But after that it plateaued. Then it started to grow again. See that man over there in the hard hat and orange vest."
He nods his head in the mans direction.
"He's only been here a week. There's no way he's a regular MP. They tend to picked a job. Get into a routine and stick with it. Not move after five years. And I'm not sure yet. But I swear I've seen a dozen other men that look just like him. It could just be him really getting around town. But I find that harder to believe than duplicates."
"Couldn't he just be another Survivor?"
I ask.
"He could. But a lot of us survivors use our jobs to live out fantasies. Like myself. I use to be a low level accountant at a publishing house. Now I act as CEO. That's when I first started to suspect the bugs were making new people. At first it was just me working there. Fielding calls all day from authors. Seems like every other MP is an author. I use to joke about how lazy writers write about writers. But I guess it really connected with the audience. Anyways, it was just me. Then suddenly I came in one day and I had a secretary. A few days after that I had more employees. Before long the whole office was full. And best of all, they all work for free."
"Do you get paid?"
"No. I could pay myself if I wanted to but there's never any need for money."
"So why do you do it?"
"Without work I'd lose my mind. And Like I said. We all do it. If all the MPs are living out their dreams. Why can't us survivors have our dream jobs too? I mean, isn't that exactly what you're doing? Playing detective, trying to solve crimes."
His excuse is easier than any lie I could come up with. And I don't want to reveal the truth. So I stick with it.
"Yeah, I guess it is."
I say.
"Listen, my stop is coming up. There's a group of other survivors I meet up with twice a week. They're a bit wary of new members. Seems when all this started a fair number of survivors had a hard time adjusting. And kind of went off the deep end. Anyways, let me talk to them. See if they'd be open to meeting with you. Maybe help get to the bottom of your case. Meet me back on here in three days."
Just as his sentence finished the doors chimed open and he was gone. I get off at the next stop.
I'm going to try and find Burt before I go to that cafe. But there's one more thing I want to do first.
Advertisement
Isekai Dungeoncrawl - Am Ende mit meinem Latein
I have always thought I would live out my life without any major surprises. You know, work on the estates of my parents, serve my time as a soldier, become a senator, a praetor, maybe a consul in time. I thought I will live the life that a Roman noble of my standing can count on. But this was not to be. My previously simple life got suddenly very complicated. I was taken from my home, and now I have to live in a world where no one speaks Latin, no one prays to my gods, and no one knows what the heck garum is. Before, I thought I had all the answers, but now only questions remain. Will I survive? Will I find my way back home? Will I ever be able to get the savage bastards living here to adopt the great accomplishments of Roman civilisation? Not even the gods know the answers. One thing is for sure: should I ever get home again; I will never set a foot outside of my estate without a healthy stockpile of garum. The cover is from Peter Paul Rubens' "The Death of Publius Decius Mus" This webnovel is partially based on a DnD campaign where a party of three players played the adventures The Sunless Citadel, The Forge of Fury and The Witches of Westwater.
8 139False Prophecy (Prelude)
Everyone knows the Prophecy of the Fated King. Everyone knows of his Six Signs and Seven Trials. Everyone knows he is the one destined to lead an army of soldiers and fae into battle against the spectral invaders known as wraiths. But what if the Fated King failed, and his Prophecy never comes true? What if he was killed surrounded by loved ones and devoted allies? What if he died four years before the inevitable war for our world’s soul? Humanity could not possibly survive without him. Could we? Nise, 107-563 P.R. False Prophecy is a high fantasy saga about a world that loses its chosen one four years before their apocalypse. The Prelude takes place during the five weeks prior to this tragic event, following a husband and father named Kon. When discovered to be a Seer - a human blessed with the power to see and bond with the magical fae - Kon is taken away from his family and conscripted into the Fated King's army to play his part in the coming war. Inspired by Brandon Sanderson's The Stormlight Archive, Wildbow's Parahumans, and countless anime. Disclaimer: FP's Prelude Novel, A Sung Prophecy, is slow burn and character focused. Expect lots of worldbuilding and an extensively large cast.
8 150Blood Island
So far, life had done Nuriel Cunningham no favors. The orphaned daughter of a petty thief, she's had to grow up on the streets, with nothing but her wits, her late father's advice, and whatever luck she can scrounge up to keep her alive. However, now that luck seems to have ran out. After being discovered passing as a boy on a ship sailing the Caribbean, Nuriel is blamed for the ship's troubles and thrown overboard, seemingly to her demise. But rather than die, she awakes on the shores of a strange and terrifying island, one inhabited by monsters from a bygone age. Now she has to use every bit of cunning and skill just to stay alive, as one false step could cause her to be torn apart for some ancient creature's dinner. But as she works to stay alive and uncover the island's secrets, she becomes aware of something very troubling. There is someone else on the island, someone not quite human, a creature with glowing red eyes watching her from the shadows. And though the creature seems benevolent, perhaps even friendly, Nuriel is not about to let her guard down. After all, every stranger is an enemy, and there is nothing more dangerous than the attention of another person.
8 161王妃渴望復仇 Wangfei's Desire for Revenge
Su Jing Fei awakens to find herself transmigrated into the Chinese world from the movie Blossoms in the Wind. The body she now inhabits is one of the main female villains with the same name as her! Destined to be cast aside, she accepts her ill fate against the protagonists of the movie. However, it seems that fate is not done with her as she becomes entangled in secrets darker than she had imagined. Her desire for this world is only the revenge she must partake for those she loves! ****Cover image originally from manhua ???, Song of the Long March, from artist Xia Da. Chapters will be first updated to Novelupdates here. Then uploaded to Scribblehub where the most up-to-date and edited version will be. Lastly, it'll be uploaded here at RoyalRoad to hopefully reach another vast pool of readers who might like the story! Novel contains some sexual content and mature content such as rape. Please read at your own discretion. I know most people don't like rape, but I'll include a spoiler below for those who want to know more about it to see if they want to keep reading or not. *SPOILER, READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.*The MC is not raped; however, other females around her are. The scenes are never full explicit, but you will see the aftermath of it.
8 161His Dirty Little Secret//Jayceon Taylor, The Game
Natasha started as a drug runner for Jayceon Taylor, a gang-Lord, when she tries to run Jayceon comes to punish her. Taking one look at her he realises the state she's in, she's been beaten and sexually abused. He takes her home to fix her up, but once the dirt and blood is washed away, he notices everything. Her beautiful eyes, her hour-glass figure, her dark chestnut hair, her dark skin. Everything. But a gang isn't the place for love. They must keep their secret love affair a secret. But things that happen behind closed doors can be opened. The secret will spread.Then what will happen?
8 181The Time Between You And Me
Short Story of Yizhan
8 127