Content Warnings: presence of drugs, implied drug craving
Rhythmic music filled the night air as people danced in the mini plaza of our apartment complex. Some people were even in costume, dancing in the light of a few fires that were set up around the fountain. This was how Illagu celebrated the new year and it was a pleasant change from the past few days.
After the... incident with 216894, I’d been rammed with questions from journalists to random people on the street. Everyone was talking about the former byte that had turned out to be a serial killer and they thought I could give some answers about him. Even my roommate Ramona had pestered me.
Now I lounged in a chair as I watched my neighbors dance in the new year - the worst of it seemed to be over. Ramona splashed in the fountain along with the children. Leslie sat beside me, their fingers splinted on one hand, drinking some sort of sweet beverage from a glass bottle.
“Yep, that’s empty,” they said as they drank the last sip. “I need to throw this away but that would require... moving.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re so lazy. Here, I’ll take that for you.”
“Really? Thanks.” Leslie held the bottle out, waiting for me to take it. Instead I pulled at the tiny green thread at the mouth of the bottle.
Pop.
Leslie stared at the empty space in their hand where the bottle had been. “And I’m the lazy one?” they asked with a smirk.
“It’s your fault,” I replied. “You’re a terrible role model for using magic.”
Leslie put a hand to their heart, pretending to look offended. “You’ve wounded me, Dax. I’ll never recover.”
I snorted as I tried not to laugh.
“Heiowmflaksjhgioemrfkdsnhiu,” one of the neighbors called. The person walked up to Leslie, handing them a small package of soot, black powder grains of the drug lining the creases.
“I hope you realize this is just getting stashed in a kitchen cupboard,” Leslie said.
“Well, it’s there if you need it,” the neighbor replied.
Then the person turned to me. “You’re the one who killed him, right? Afeiofnmdjhghiefore that too. Were there any fines a tall he was actually a murderer?”
“Uh… no, not really,” I muttered.
“Wow, thakjteifmldsksthel. I mean, it’s hard to believe a human being is capable of something like that, you know?”
I shared a quick glance with Leslie. The Strokes had done an excellent job of covering up the fact that 216894 was a machine. I certainly wasn’t about to ruin that.
“You never know what goes on in someone’s head,” I replied.
“Fair enough. Itiojemfldskhtioemrnu. Saving the life of the director of the Strokes - that’s something else.” The neighbor left to rejoin the festivities in the mini plaza, not even waiting for a response.
I sighed in relief.
“Feels like everyone wants to meet you because of that,” Leslie commented.
“Yeah,” I said, my eyes wandering to the package of soot in their lap. “It’s a little stressful.”
“Well, since we’re oejiotjdfskc, my parents would be delighted to meet the woman who saved my life.”
I blinked. Parents. I always forgot about this huge difference between the Outcasts and the System: most Outcasts knew who their parents were.
“One minute to midnight!” Ramona yelled from the fountain, jumping excitedly while looking at a watch. The musicians around the mini plaza stopped playing, everyone standing still as they waited.
“Ten!” Ramona cried. Then the whole apartment complex was filled with voices counting down.
“Happy New Year!” all of them shouted. The lively music resumed, some of our neighbors wandering back to their homes now that they saw last year end.
“I don’t mind,” I told Leslie. “I’ll go meet your parents.”
To be continued...