The massive iron door seemed to writhe in pain as it slowly opened. The shrill sound would never go away, regardless of how often it was lubricated.
The reason was more than obvious - it was because the metal parts of the door were deformed beyond normal repair.
Replacing these parts meant that the door would no longer make that sound, but he - Krynt Marivaldi - did not think it necessary. Spending money on that door, which I only used when going to and from work, was a waste.
In addition, he had come to think of this horrifying noise as a "Welcome", so in a way, there was an emotional appeal.
The most important thing was that this noise could serve as an alarm against thieves - as long as any thieves actually arrived at this dilapidated apartment.
No one would think that there was something valuable hidden behind a door that made that kind of noise.
After all, if someone was trying to steal a house, they would probably steal others in better condition.
The white lights on the ceiling came on, triggered by motion sensors, and the old air purifier resonated on power.
The feeling of emptiness, cold and dark still remained, despite the lights being turned on. The scene beyond that door was the very image of the lonely and dark abandon. However, this was an everyday sight for him.
He closed the door and hitched the three locks, after all, any thief could probably still enter.
"An electronic lock ... Huh?"
Maybe he should use something better here.
However, Krynt Marivaldi's high-speed mental calculations concluded that he should not waste his limited capital on preventing theft. The chance of someone stealing it was very low, and at the moment he felt his effort would be wasted, so he dismissed the idea of spending money on it.
And to be honest, he wasn't that poor. His salary was low, but he still lived above the poverty line. He had ample balance in his bank accounts, but he had no idea how to spend that money.
He forced himself to be economical, as he thought he should not waste money.
He felt that someday he would have a chance to use that money for fun.
He tossed the worn shoes aside, and suddenly his steps through the entrance hall felt very light, as if the weight of his previous movements was all because of his shoes.
The kitchen was near the corridor and was almost empty. There were no kitchen utensils. Krynt Marivaldi washed his hands in the kitchen, then took a towel, then he wet it. After that, he opened the small, old refrigerator - for some reason, felt bad that it was still there - and pulled out his dinner.
Eating was important. Hunger would reduce your ability to think and that would be inconvenient for your companions. He passed three doors along the way - toilet, bathroom and bedroom, before finally opening the innermost door, to be greeted by a slightly small room.
A black frame about 100 centimeters wide rested on a support of some kind. At the front, there was a high-class, comfortable-looking armchair with a footrest. Next to it was a remote control and power cables, supported by a two-tiered table with wheels. Those were the only things in the room, other than a calendar on the wall.
The furniture was clustered in the center of the room. The lack of anything else can make people think that the owner of this room was an empty shell and had no interest in anything. On the table was the only bastion that ensured his humanity; a picture of a happy family holding a baby.
Krynt Marivaldi came to the chair and put dinner on the table. Then he released his tie and threw it on the floor. After that, he took off his air filter mask and glasses in one movement.
Next were the coats. He removed them, one after the other, and the sense of liberation he felt blooming inside was evident on his face. Then, he took off his pants. Wearing only a shirt and boxers, he wiped himself with a damp towel. Although he planned to take a steam bath later, he couldn't stand the discomfort of a sticky body.
While cleaning, he tucked his clothes into the tip of his thumb and kicked them in a small pile in the corner of the room. Although they were contaminated by the outside air, they were still his property, and he had paid for them, so he would need to wash them to get the dirt out of the ashes. But he would do that later - it was very problematic now.
He concentrated on cleaning his face and hands, the parts of him that had been exposed to the outside air, and then placed the blackened cloth on the table. After that, he practically threw himself into the chair. The brand that made it was very famous, made by one of the eight major corporations worldwide. It may well be the most expensive thing in the entire apartment. Despite his delicate appearance, he did not even moan under the weight of an adult man, in contrast to the main door.
The man sighed deeply and looked at the ceiling with expressionless eyes. Then he looked closely at the calendar.
"Ah, it's still a long way ..."
It was still the middle of the week. His next day of rest seemed unbearably distant.
"Ah—. Ah—. Ah—. Ah—. "
When Krynt Marivaldi reflected on the number of days remaining, he ended up making a lot of strangely modulated sounds and in the end, they were unintelligible in his mouth. After that - as if the batteries had run out - the noises stopped.
Then, a smile appeared on his face.
"Ah, well, forget it."
It certainly did. As long as he thought about what was to come, even a pain like this could be forgotten.
Krynt Marivaldi picked up his dinner, which he had just placed on the table.
He inserted the straw into the meat-flavored liquid food and sucked it.
It was little more than a glutinous meat gel. In fact, it was horrible, but he felt strongly that the pursuit of perfection in food was useless. After all, everything became shit, so investing money in it will prove useless.
The important thing was to fill your stomach, and if it wasn't nutritious enough, there were always pills to fill it.
After that, Krynt Marivaldi swallowed several multivitamin pills and supplements with a nice sip of a healthy drink.
That was the end of his 220 Krins dinner. He usually had lunch outside, which was more expensive than the cheapest meal he could get, so he had to save money on his breakfast and dinner.
After replenishing his nutrients, Krynt Marivaldi finally started to act like a human being.
Unlike the clumsy clumsy of just now, his eyes shone and his movements were nimble.
He took a black power cable, which was connected to a wall outlet.
Krynt Marivaldi removed the protective plastic cover on one end of the plug, revealing a plug approximately 3 centimeters in diameter. A silvery glow mixed with the liquid glow of the slippery protective fluid.
He held the cable in one hand and lifted the hair on the back of the neck with the other. An opaque glow from the man-made object embedded in the back of his neck could be seen.
With practiced ease, he opened the lid about three centimeters at the back of his neck. The sliding movement exposed the socket hidden underneath.
He tightened the plug without any hesitation.
"Ohh ..."
In time, with his silent sigh, he could feel the light moving through his body, as if his blood vessels were full of radiation.
The room hadn't changed, but his field of vision was different now.
Several windows mysteriously appeared within his line of sight, showing him information flowing to the processor inside his brain.
He started to operate the CPU.
Someone of an older age could look suspiciously at the strange gestures he was making in the empty space. However, his cranial CPU read the weak electrical impulses from his synapses - in other words, a control interface using the brain - and converted them into data.
His thoughts reached his supercomputer through the cable and turned on the television. The power was activated, and a screen appeared on the black board.
Inside, a woman wearing only a sheer dress with only a small red one covering the pink peaked area began to read the news.
"- The conflict that started last year between the Alliance of State Cities of the East and the District Empire of the West -"
Krynt Marivaldi manipulated an invisible console and changed the channel.
"—In relation to the last three Imperial Heirs of the Rhardosean Empire in the Imperial Capital, Neo-Rhongo -"
Krynt Marivaldi changed the channel again.
"- Arrested the main leader of the Bulian Organization, responsible for the terrorist attack on the nine Imperial Heirs of the Rhardosean Empire, Nuroguiri Bulian -"
Krynt Marivaldi changed the channel again.
"- The tenth Imperial Heir of the Rhardosean Empire, is still missing, with the recent attacks on the Imperial Heirs, the tenth Imperial Heir has become the main candidate to assume the throne of the Rhardosean Emperor -"
"- You idiots like he wants to take the throne. If he wanted this he would not have chosen to live a life above the poverty line - "Krynt Marivaldi said friamentem.
The screen flashed rapidly between channels, but the news he expected did not appear. Krynt Marivaldi moved his hand and turned off the TV.
"So - time to start."
He took the helmet that almost covered the entire head, as required by the Neon-Laws of Cyber-Informatics, connected another wire to the neck and connected it to the helmet, then placed it over the head.
Although it was a full-face helmet, the camera mounted on the outside would transmit its video signal directly to the brain, so its field of view was still unobstructed.
This helmet included a system that automatically registered everything that happened in the virtual world. As an aside, he would keep the images for a month, automatically deleting them after that.
A lot of people wanted to avoid wearing this helmet. It was natural, since putting it on was like giving up privacy.
However, almost everyone used it.
It wasn't just because of the law. It was because it protected people.
The neural Nano-Interface was a biohacking to improve the human brain, allowing it to function as a type of supercomputer - a high performance personal computer. It was essential for everyday life, but sometimes they were also used in crimes.
In particular, hackers used the brains of others as a springboard to commit crimes.
Because of this, helmets like these can prove innocence, even if the user was involved in a crime. It could be said that this was the safety net of the computing world. In contrast, not having one of them greatly increased the chances of someone being charged when involved in a crime, so only a handful of people chose not to use it.
He noticed the words that said the recording had started, and then he operated the console window floating near his hand. He opened several new windows nearby, then approached one and touched it.
The window he touched had the word written below it; Y.E.F.A.
Soon, Krynt Marivaldi's real life would begin. Yet-
Suddenly, an alert sounded in his ear. Only he could hear. And a frustrated expression appeared on his face.
The newly displayed window said: "Decrease in intracranial nanomachines above 85%. Please recharge your nanomachines. ".
"Haa ..."
Krynt Marivaldi sighed with exaggerated volume, in response to the easing of his satisfaction. Of course, there was no one here, but he couldn't help wanting to express his feelings.
"Okay, okay, I got it, I got it ..."
Krynt Marivaldi lowered the window, which was making annoying warning noises.
"I know. I don't want to be expelled halfway because of a mistake, wait a minute and I'll be right there ... "
He grabbed the painless syringe as he murmured to himself.
The gun looked like a stamp, he took it up to his arm and then squeezed it. Much like what he felt when he inserted the plug into his head, he felt a glow moving through his body.
It started out of his arms and then spread through his body like a fire.