Luca didn't have his card, he had left it in the drawer, after all, he had thought the 15 EP bucks he took would be enough, but his clothes were probably in the hospital laundry.
Lucky cash for those who saw it first.
He thought.
He started pondering, he could feel the gaze of the security guards.
What to do before they get the wrong idea
His brain screamed.
Calm down, I'm a rational guy, there has to be some way, like let's look into the options of the ATM.
He started navigating the ATM touch screen, his stomach wouldn't stop growling.
Yay! Found it, Deposit Option.
He exclaimed, the deposit option utilizes bank card numbers, CVV, expiry date, and PIN to debit an account, it is like shopping online except you are shopping for cash.
Switching on his phone, he navigated to his gallery app and scrolled through piles of pictures, there it was the front and back pictures of his bank card, he typed the numbers into the different spaces on the touch screen on the deposit option interface.
A notification entered into his phone: Account debited.
Luca smiled.
The ATM brought out a notification also: Transaction Successful and it whirred at once, it dispensed the cash. Luca took the money, and counted it, the scent of new buck notes filling his nose.
He always did that whenever he withdrew money from an ATM, sometimes he would think about the reason, after all, the machine had already been programmed to dispense the selected amount.
Perhaps he had lost his sense of trust, or he couldn't trust a machine, they could have a glitch, he would think.
He pocketed the cash, climbed down the platform, and headed into the restaurant, it was just like the local average one Luca usually frequented by the roadside on Crescent Moon Lane.
The security guard's eyes followed him in, an admitted hospital patient who had come to eat at a restaurant, not a usual sight. Luca could relate to their thoughts.
After about fifteen minutes, he came out, stretching his body, Luca had had his fill.
"I can't believe I spent all of the cash and even did a bank transfer"
Luca had ordered ten plates of fillet steak, he didn't know how, the hunger had changed his reasoning.
"So much for a rational mind, I just spent a week's worth of budget!!" Luca wailed.
"I'm almost broke" he lamented as he crossed the road, he started trudging off on the sidewalks, kicking empty canned drinks into the road infuriatedly.
"I have no choice but to trek home" he gnashed his teeth. "We just resumed, this is the first week of the month, damn it!!"
"What a horrible side effect" Luca thought it was the healing side effects he was having, he made a dull face,
Perhaps it was a small price to pay for being alive.
He thought.
Luca had reached Moon Light Avenue, the sound of a busy road filling the air, there was a slight traffic, he crossed a crosswalk and continued striding past people along the sidewalk, some looked at him suspiciously.
Luca kept walking, he looked over where the accident had happened, he couldn't believe he had passed through so much just in a day.
He heaved a heavy sigh.
Quite an ordeal...
He muttered.
Just some distance before he reached the junction to Crescent Moon Lane, he spotted a figure on the top edge of a five-story building, Luca stopped at the front, the building had a signboard in front which boldly wrote: PRESTIGE LOANS.
But his gaze glanced back up, the figure was a man.
Wait! What is he trying to do?
Luca mused.
Immediately Luca could hear the beating of the man's heart, it was racing.
"Don't tell me he wants to...
He looked around at the passers-by, only he had noticed the man, no one seemed to be looking up, Luca knew that height was enough to cause a grave injury if he jumped or worse, death.
Luca started having a feeling he knew he couldn't ignore, the same feeling he felt when he had rushed to save that girl earlier, his mind raced with thoughts and he started breathing heavily.
Should I leave him? How the hell am I supposed to save him, I can't jump that high, What if he jumped, he would...
He couldn't finish the thought, the sense of guilt had started to haunt him even before the man jumped, Luca couldn't fathom what was happening.
It wasn't like he would be blamed for it, why was he feeling guilty, he wasn't even sure if he could save the man.
"I will try"
He muttered and tried to run.
But then something happened, something Luca hadn't seen before.
A golden digital interface appeared just in front of Luca, it was slightly slanted as if when a person carried a book with two hands to read.
"What the heck is —
Luca hadn't finished his words when a voice chimed in in his head.
It sounds like a female voice, clear and authoritative, carrying a hint of a synthetic undertone.
*Ding!*
[Notice: Will: I WILL TRY, was detected]
[System integration began]
Luca blinked a few times, he slapped the side of his head.
The words the voice spoke appeared to be also written on the golden digital Interface.
Don't tell me I'm going crazy, it can't be, right
Let's calm down, I'm a rational guy.
"This voice, it sounds like when a neuralink is implanted in one's head right?" Luca said while using his hands to gesticulate. "I haven't gone crazy, there is a damn chance, yeah, a damn chance, that a chip was implanted in my head in the hospital, don't tell me I've been experimented on" he closed his eyes
"But how could this screen be floating like this?" Luca pondered, he closed his eyes.
"Alright I can't see it, but I can't see around either" He squinted his eyes, noticing that the interface appeared to be half complete. When he opened his eyes fully, the interface filled itself entirely. Luca realized it was as if his eyes acted like a projector, projecting the golden interface.
The voice chimed in again...