The layout of Renjing City is as follows:
Central housing district: 850 square miles, approximately circular.
If we include the peripheral shopping districts, total skyscraper count: ~300 established, 15 in development.
Total population density: 29,515 persons per square mile.
Total population as of the previous year's census:
25,693,065 inhabitants.
Our golden motto: Neighbors as kin.
People here live shoulder to shoulder to one another. We like to think of ourselves as a solidified mass, progressing forward as a whole. The streets are bustling, and the view at night is beautiful here. It's genuinely a remarkable feat of humanity that we've managed to situate this kind of population in such a confined space. This is the definition of a renters' city. Apartment units are 9 times out of 10 organized in a neat little lattice. Take one of those complexes and multiply by several degrees of magnitude. Surround it with a sprawling commercial landscape for a perimeter.
In its totality, we refer to it as the Heliosphere.
Beyond that lies 12 more districts, of which nobody bothers to name anymore. In years past, they were a sanctuary for refugees and lower income folk to come and move into our little pocket society. Once that failed, the government gave up and left it in its current state. We can just call them Block 1 through 12.
As I sit here on a rooftop, pondering about the city, I wonder about my place in this giant gear. What kind of a cog am I?
Philosophically we can have an entire conversation about that. On the surface, I guess I can tell you my race, the color of my eyes, which idol I'd like to rear my kids...
Hmm...
My girlfriend!
Liuhe... that's her name.
Such a pretty name...
I think that it's weird to like someone's name because you're kinda giving their parents a bit too much credit. You know, like if you say you're really attracted to someone's face does that mean you also really like their parents' faces...? You know what I mean? Why doesn't anyone address how weird parent-child relationships are? It's like you have a really pretty girl and when you have sex with her it's really strange because they're one half their dad and one half their mom and you start to think about the fact that you're having sex with half of them at the same time. Or like if you're the direct progeny of a dictator, it's like we know you're not them but what if there's a gene for being really insanely racist... Sometimes I think about how much you can detach your own being from your parents who literally formed you. How am I supposed to feel if my dad was a notorious serial killer in the shadows and he's outed one day. How am I supposed to carry out my life? It's like, you really should need a license to--
Anyways. She has really silky and long and flowing black hair. I swear it almost shines blue given the lighting. She's the prettiest cutie patootie I've ever seen!!!
She's the host of a gigantic snail parasite.
Oh...
Let's just take a few steps back...
That morning, I'd bargain on the possibility of millions of other citizens waking up within minutes of me also waking up. Theoretically, most people should probably wake up around 7:00. Given the work day starts at 9:00, and transportation takes around an hour, 7:00 just makes the most sense. Given the snooze button on my phone lasts around 3 minutes and most people don't snooze more than twice since the weight of the exponentially growing guilt of pressing it a third time is a bit too much to bear, that gives us a range of 7:00 to 7:06 for millions of others people, just like good old me.
People don't particularly call me a slow starter, but no one's called me a morning person, either. The suit I wore that day was one I felt particularly good about, since it was the one that got the greatest number of comments about it! (Neutral: 2, Positive: 1)
I looked in the mirror, took a long and hard stare at the different angles of my face, and weighed the pros and cons of shaving my face. In my indecision, I noticed I was stretching the limits of running late, so with the dealer of time forcing my hand, I folded my cards and left to go to work.
The path to work isn't exactly what you'd call walkable. I swear I can literally count on my fingers and toes the amount of traffic lights we have. That shit don't exist here.
The key is to be aware. Keen senses. No mindless drivel. You need to be present at all times, and willing to be courageous in the face of a moped or two or three or four or five or six or--
In my one-man tango, a blur of a girl with white hair streaked across my screen.
Oops, I mean eyes. Hehe.
And before I could do a double take, she was already gone.
It was a weird feeling, kinda like when you wanted to search for something on the internet, but you got distracted for a second, so you permanently have it on the tip of your tongue. Or when you wake up and you had a dream that you just can't remember but you get this lingering feeling until you forget about it. That's the feeling I got from that girl.
Looking back, I wish I could've just not been so damn curious. I wish I put the metaphorical phone down... kicked off my metaphorical blankets...
Stepping into work, I'm greeted with the face of my slightly overweight, but cheery coworker. I'd love to tell you his name, but I forgot it again so I can't.
It's definitely J-something. So sorry...
I have a sneaking suspicion that he only remembers my name because of the lanyard that nooses around my collar.
"Kong!!!!! GoOood MoOoORning!!"
Desperate to avoid contact, I took a step back, extending my hands out with a nervous smile.
"G-good morning, haha"
I shoot a quick glance to see if that quelled the beast. The kind of quick glance a creepy guy gives a girl he's into but doesn't want to be labeled as a creep, so he discretely darts his eyes back and forth in one swift motion.
No such luck.
Here goes shot number two. Square my knees, eyes at the rim, hold the follow-through...
"How's work? Hahahaha"
FUCK!!! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!
"You don't gotta get all distant with me... Is it 'cause you smell like cigs? Don't worry man it's all good! Huehuehue! By the way, you're late by 11 minutes, and the big man told us to split this work between us. SOOO, here's ooonee for youuuu~ and heeere's onee for me....."
He gave me the stack and gave himself the top sheet. The top sheet is legit blank.
"W-what are you gonna work on?"
"About that... I have an important meeting with this awesome chick from Renjing Number One Sunny Garden Massage and Spa at 12:00 sharp. Could you just do me a solid? Not like you're doing anything else, right?"
He tilts his head and winks, while putting his hands together.
"H-haha, alright..."
I wait for him to skip away, and I slump down at my desk. I look down and notice the old and white plastic chair has a noticeable crack where the back meets the seat, probably from the other times that I've slumped down into the chair.
From the distance, he yells, "You got this, psychology major! Or wait, math major! Whatever!"
Recovering from the startling that gave me, I set my eyes on my monitor. If I sit close enough and at a certain angle I can see the repeating red, green, and blue lines that make up the monitor. The whirring of the computer fan seemed to blend together well with that uniformity and completed one whole monotone. I guess in the efforts to escape the dullness of life by switching major to major I found myself here in the grey of it all. Just a little piggy in the go-
"You there. Where's your coworker?"
"O-oh I don't.."
"Please don't try that shit with me. Where's Liang?"
Oh.
"Sorry..."
His stare was enough to force me to avert my gaze.
"Listen. I get that you're new here--"
I interject.
"No, I'm--"
He interjects the interjection.
"Don't!"
"Don't. Talk. While I'm talking."
"Even if you're new, you have a certain code you have to maintain. This is how it is anywhere in the professional world. I hope I need not remind you that you are an adult and employed at a government bureau. You might find yourself in a good position if you live and work honestly. That doesn't just mean you have to be a good boy. It includes reporting any violations you see your coworkers committing. Right?"
He puts his hand on my shoulder.
"So where's the pig?"
"He said he had a meeting at a massage parlor..."
He takes a deep and labored inhale. The kind that almost transfers their anger to you, except I just feel kinda scared.
"Right. So here, as the new guy under him, you have to go and get him."
"W-what!? That's--"
I peeked up. A neutral expression... Hahahaha... Noo.....
I nod my head slowly.
He returns the gesture with a smile. The kind where you don't move the rest of your face along with it. Just strictly lip movement.
The fate-sealing lip movement.