Calling a PTV with the help of Vanessa, Anneliese and I waited at the landing deck. While I was looking forward to the crime scene to be able to take my mind off the last case, Anneliese looked reluctant to go back to a place where she'd just had a close call with death.
"Do we really need to go?"
"Yes. You're also coming because you were part of the accident."
"But Gracewell saw me at the scene and didn't say anything!"
"Maybe she wants you to stay away from the scene so that she can put you behind bars for failing to appear."
"*gasp* she wouldn't!"
"Oh, she could, very easily, and she would."
Our PTV arrived at the right time so I opened the door and slipped behind the driver, while Anneliese entered after me.
"Good afternoon, where would you like me to take you for your date today, young sir and mademoiselle?" the man spoke with a thick foreign accent.
"You know about the accident zone near the Inception city Police HQ?"
"Yes." The driver responded a little put off by my bland tone but I spoke the same way anyway.
"Take us to the accident site."
"...?"
"What? You can't go there?"
"No sir, I mean, yes sir I can go there, but why would you want to go to the accident for the date?"
"We like watching the chaos as it unfolds, unfortunately, this one has already unfolded but it should still be fun, or perhaps you want to offer us your PTV so that we can watch you unfold chaos? The last time that happened a PTV crashed into a buil-"
"Oh! Don't worry sir! I will take you there! Immediately!" The driver said as he bowed down to me and for good measure shut the window that allowed him to see what was happening in the back seat during the ride.
"I got comfortable with my seat and looked out the window."
*poke* *poke*
With little stabs using her pointing finger, Anneliese broke me out of my thoughtless state as she made a funny face when I looked at her.
'Why date?' she mouthed and spoke in a broken whisper, 'You could've told me, I would wear better clothes.'
'It was cheaper for couples, so I registered us as one.'
Anneliese immediately frowned and then turned away after glaring at me, so I had to do what she did to clear up the misunderstanding.
*poke* *poke*
I tried poking her but she wouldn't listen, so I grabbed her arm which shocked her a little so she turned around and pulled her arm out of my grip, and mouthed again, 'What?'
'It's a setting that Vanessa has for when I book PTVs, haven't changed it since the divorce.'
'Oh. Ok.'
I continued looking out the window as the buildings washed by until I happened to see a store that I was a regular at!
'A.R glasses! I need new ones!'
I pressed down on the emergency stop button as the driver tried his best to slow down and stop near the closest landing deck, about a mile away.
Anneliese looked at me with confusion while the driver soon opened the window and peered back, "What happened, sir? Did you change your destination? Maybe you want to eat controlled chaos in the hotel instead of seeing chaos on the street sir? Misses is also looking a little serious sir, please accept my suggestion I'm sure Misses will also become light-hearted sir."
"Pfft." Anneliese laughed but controlled herself by pinching her lips and looking away.
"No. Take me to the A.R glasses store that we passed a mile ago. I want to record the chaos."
"Oh! Sir! You're totally clean! I was wondering if you were bad earlier! But my mother always used to say clean people cannot be bad! I will take you there immediately sir. Atomic AR glasses no sir? I know them, he is my uncle's son only, I will get you a big fat discount."
The driver turned around with enthusiasm as he began to drive, not so legally by dipping lanes to turn around and slip into the oncoming traffic. Not realizing he was driving a cop, a Sergeant, the highest position in this city in the back seat.
"..."
'He left the window open!'
Anneliese was shivering, not due to cold or excitement but due to laughter. It looked like she couldn't control herself, with how much she was shaking.
Perhaps all it would take is a poke in the right place at the right tie to get her to burst.
'No, as tempting as it may be, I should remain within limits.'
We soon arrived back at the store along with a calmer Anneliese as the driver steped out of the PTV and into the store along with me, guiding my each step with historical facts about how old this store was and how his grandfather's grandfather had started the store when he had moved to this country and how his brothers worked together in shifts to keep the store running still.
"Wait a second sir, I will go in and get you the offer with some setting and then call you." the driver spoke as if he'd already gotten us the discount.
'Hopefully, he doesn't ask me for a commission at the end of the ride and increase the price.'
Soon voices poured out from inside the store through the door that had been left slightly ajar due to its hinges being faulty from repeated use without maintenance over the years.
"Brother! How are you? I brought you a new customer!"
"Oh! New customer a!? That's good. I can finally get rid of that silly man that comes here. He doesn't speak only! Like his tongue got cut somewhere. You should speak at least something no? Hello? Hi? At least a goodbye for the next time you come back? Brother, let me tell you, that old fellow said nothing. Every time he comes here he's so drunk I think the entire Inception City's alcohol he only drinks."
"Okay, ok, we'll talk later, the customer is waiting outside."
"Ok, call him in, I will give him some discount for your sake, if you make him speak some I will give double discount, twenty percent discount free!"
I heard the heavy steps of our driver as he walked towards the door so I stood a little away from it, not to give away the fact that I'd been eavesdropping, while Anneliese next to me whispered into my ears, "They were talking about you right?"
"..." I couldn't respond which sent Anneliese into an uncontrollable fit of laughter again which she did her best to keep suppressed as her shoulders shook violently.
"Sir, please come in, I've talked with him. He says he will give you twenty percent discount." The man took me into the store where I and the store owner made eye contact.
The store owner was clearly shocked out of his mind when he saw me entering the store once again, while I just ignored the fact that he'd been speaking about me.
"Hello, brother, close your mouth! I know Mister and Misses are handsome and beautiful ladies and gentlemen, but if you don't close your mouth flies will go in, be careful."
The store owner immediately came out of his shock as he avoided making eye contact with me and immediately pulled out the exact AR glasses I was going to order.
"Che che, why are you showing this old model to our fashionable mister, open new box! Our boss is rich, he lives in Neverend Towers, that too beyond city limit!"
'Casually getting doxed is fun I guess.'
The shopkeeper took away the box and slowly walked around to the back of the store from where he returned with a fresh bunch of boxes that were all different models.
The driver picked up one of the boxes that had the most hillarious looking mouse drawn on it and handed it over to me and spoke in the most serious tone I'd seen him speak, "Sir, this one, this is a special AR glass sir, not only is it in my Grandfathers eye sir, it is also the most customizable AR Glasses out there in the market sir."
'If I'm not wrong this is the last store in the market that even sells AR glasses anymore.'
"These glasses are special sir, they just came out at the wrong timing in the end phase, they have full modding capability and has full automatic importing of setups from other retro devices, sir. Perhaps you have an old AR glass that you want to copy your settings from? You can do it easily with this one sir. It even has advanced neural training chip that was discontinued because modern quantum chips became cheaper."
'Oh? It is actually a little interesting?'
'Maybe I can get both the glasses? After all having a spare isn't bad, given how I'm going to become active once again.'
Not long after I was walking out of the store with a bag full of small AR glasses that I'd bought after talking about their features, I even got my full twenty percent discount after talking-
'Wait a second why is Anneliese laughing so much-'
'Shit! I got suckered into buying so many things that I didn't need!'
The driver walked ahead of us and opened the door as I tried my best not to scowl at him while he nodded his head and spoke, "Thank you sir! It is only by your good graces that this store can remain open for longer, the old customer rarely comes by and almost caused the store to shut down sir! Thank you once again."
'Should I raid this place and shut it down for selling unverified AR glasses and using false advertising?'
"By the way sir, do you still want to go for the chaos option only?"
"Yes."
"I see sir, I respect your personal choices. It is a good choice only." The driver said nodding along as if I was his master.
*poke* *poke*
Anneliese poked me twice, much to my displeasure as she indicated I smile a little bit more by extending her thumb and index fingers across her lips.
But I ignored her.
Looking down at the bag full of various discontinued brands of AR glasses, I picked the one with a mouse design on it and unboxed it.
The unboxing was surprisingly professional and so was the finishing of the product.
Placing it over my face the boundless frame soon allowed me to immerse myself into the projection screen that booted up.
'At least I can set things up in the PTV before setting out to investigate this new 'crime' scene.'
The first thing that opened up after I turned on the glasses was it asking my permission to scan my wavelength ID, something that had become a rarity once the government passed laws to monitor every wavelength ID as long as they could to keep track of terrorists after the 'We are divided.' stunt people from the Pepega country pulled off against the nation.
Time ticked away while the PTV passed around traffic as I tinkered with the default interface to connect to Vanessa so that I could use all the features and commands I had taught her.
As we approached the site of the accident, I spoke to direct the driver to the direct opposite building where the fire had started.
Several Fire Trucks remained on the scene but the fire had already been put out. Ambulances were still carrying a few unconscious people by clearing out the debris that had collapsed over them most likely due to the sudden fire that started after the PTV had crashed into the building.
"We might not be allowed to go there sir, but I will do my best."
The driver flew by close to the aerial barricade of police PTV cruisers that stood across the lane to block any incoming traffic on the particular rung.
As we approached the police cadet, I rolled down my window and showed them my face and before they could ask anything also sent them my ID and badge number through nearby share.
"Oh!? Sir! It must be your lucky day today! They are allowing us to get into the landing zone! I'm sure my mother must be watching from heaven sir, she must've allowed us to enter because you use AR glasses and are still totally clean sir! I hope you get God's grace!"
Slowing down to land on the deck, I jumped out and walked to the other side to help Anneliese out after which I was about to pay the driver his share for the ride, but then stopped as I thought for a moment.
'Hmm…it's going to take a little while to get my AeroStrider out of evidence, I can use him to go around the city for now then? But do I want to ask him to accompany me? Nah, I'll find someone else. Surely.'
I paid him in full and added a tip so that he could go home for the rest of the day and not come back when I booked a different PTV.
"Thank you for the tip sir! You don't know how grateful I am! My good name is Raivesh! Please call me anytime for anything sir and I will be there for you and miss both! Good bye! Take care to you too sir! Bye bye!"