Moebius rolls off the bed and walks over to the washroom. Each morning he wakes up with a new ache in his another part of his body, maybe a testament to his rowing age of forty or maybe the result of his day job. He flings open the creaky washroom door, switches on the harsh white light and twists the sink handle.
The gushing sound the water filling the dirty basin serves as a background ambience as he begins to groggily wipes of the remnants of his sleep from his eyelids. He looks at himself in the mirror, the latter pointing out his features in the cruel white light, acting as a weird as weird spot light.
The slight wrinkle in the corner of his eyes, the gruffy beard and the wild long hair, both of which he never bothered to maintain. last but not least, the very non-eye catching scar which traces from his forehead to his left eyes, cutting the left eyebrow in its path.
"Yep...no one notices that."
He tells himself regularly as a crude inside joke which he indulges in with...himself. The origins of the scar? The story behind the mark is not something he particularly likes to remind himself off-SHOCKING isn't it? Who wouldn't want to reminisce about a face altering scar in depth.
He brushes his teeth and washes his face and whenever he catches a glimpse of himself in the reflection, he looks away. Its truly annoying to make direct eye contact with himself. Eyes are the window to the soul and he doesn't want to risk catching a glimpse of his soul...if he even has one left.
As Moebius trudges to the shower compartment of the washroom, the slight detail of his muscles on his back and triceps are made more apparent, but to balance the features, there is a slight beer belly sticking out of his front-A testament to continued neglect of his health for the past few years.
Moebius continues to shower, balancing himself in the small bath tub and when he was finished, he stepped out of the bathroom-Butt Booty Naked. The early rays of sunlight were peeking through the curtain blinds, casting radiance into the messy and depressing apartment. He stomped his naked body through the room to get his towel, leaving wet footprints on the rug in his wake.
He wipes himself roughly, somewhat drying himself and puts on his work T-shirt and slips into his boxers, followed by his worn out cargo pants. He grabs a hair tie from the pocket of his pants and ties down his wild hair into a somewhat presentable pony tail. A quick glance at the alarm clock showcases a bright '06:29' and he slams his hand down on its button before it can get a single *BUZZ* in.
Moebius has bested the alarm clock again this morning in the game of 'Who Wakes Up First'...but he isn't happy with the victory, not when he remembers that he has been winning this game for a long time...sometimes he wishes he just lost to the alarm clock...to have a good sleep...without the nightmares...without...facing himself. This makes you wonder...Why does he even bother setting an alarm anymore?
He walks over to the apartment door, avoiding the empty glass bottles lying around the disoriented living space and twists the door knob causing the cool early morning breeze to caress his face. Is it winter already? Maybe so but Moebius isn't the one to keep count of the seasons, hi might even lose track of the years if the work calendar wasn't regularly updated.
The routine is simple.
Get up-Go to Work-Go Home-Sleep and keep repeating the cycle till...well he never thought of the end goal.
Anything seems too far to achieve and every opportunity seems too tedious...or maybe he just enjoys the simplicity of the routine. He walks to the bus stop and gets on the designated bus, making his way to the window seat in the far left corner-He always sits there. It's his way of exerting a routine on his life, just like with many other things he does.
The bus ride is a blur of urban scenery until he finally reaches the construction area of his job. He gets off and walks to his designated construction site. Once he reaches the destination, he walks in through the front gate and into the main office building. Just as he steps in, he spots Jeremy leaning against the counter, chatting to the girl behind the desk-Or more so bothering the girl with his tales of self affirmation. Moebius braces himself for whatever this professional parasite with his fake teeth and even faker smile, has in store for him. Sure enough, as soon as he spots Moebius, he straightens out his tie and marches over with a smug smirk.
"Oh Mister Moebius, I'm so glad to see you!" He says with all his thirty two teeth on display and his hands gesturing in a placating manner. "I just needed to inform you that there has been slight update in the working hours for you team."
Moebius knows what this 'slight update' entails but he also knows that this hyena would only make life harder for him and also for his team, if he tries to argue. He doesn't take much time as he decided to shoulder extra work today and replies in his gruff and non-caring voice saying:
"Okay."
"Oh WONDERFUL! Thank you for always being a team player!"
Jeremy says with a arrogant glint in his eyes as he slowly walks back to the counter, carrying a smug grin. Then just as Moebius is walking away, Jeremy calls out loud enough for all the patrons and employees to hears. He says with a slight bitterness in his tone and twisted glee in his eyes:
"Oh! Another thing Moebius! Next time, use the backdoor. You see...I don't want you scaring off the customers."
Moebius isn't the slightest bit phased by the taunt and instead nods in acknowledgement before making his way to the site, where he grabs his helmet and vest from his locker. Its not like this is the only company with work to offer, so why does Moebius deal with a someone as crude as Jeremy? Well, he is too afraid of altering the stable routine he has built up over the years and doesn't want to change the constants in his life, even if they are negative ones like jackasses like Jeremy.
As he puts on his gear, the workers greet him with a "Morning Chief!" and he acknowledges them with a nod, which seems more than enough for them who have grown used to his quiet nature. As everyone gathers into the work station, Moebius goes up front and announces that the company has assed a few more hours to their schedule to speed up the the construction. The veteran members take it on the chin and accept the terms, but some of the new-young recruits are reluctant and less enthusiastic; Some even scoffed at Moebius, as if he had been the one to request extra hours. Moebius accepts their annoyance as he knows they are young and need someone to blame at the moment, but the older guys who knew Moebius for years understood his predicament and didn't want to make things harder.
As the day stretches on with sound of saws chipping away at the wood and the cloud of saw dust filling the air, the tireless working rhythm is halted by the recess bell ringing. Moebius puts down helmet and makes his way to his locker. On his he walk to the lockers, he realizes he actually hasn't eaten anything since morning and considers the possibility of getting ulcers. He grabs his wallet and makes his way to the cafeteria to grab a sandwich.
He waits in que for his turn to order and just behind him there are two new teen recruits, discussing something about foreign comics. He initially doesn't pay much attention but maybe due to the length of the que or maybe due to their enthusiastic tone, that Moebius unknowingly starts to eavesdrop on their passionate conversation.
"Man...if I someday a system or something like that popped up in front of me...I would...I would..Ahhhh I don't even know what I'd do but that shit would be so fucking exciting. I would go ballistic!"
"I KNOW RIGHT!? Dude...sometimes I wish my life could turn interesting like that....Like PLEASE GOD! Gimme a hot avatar or just pop a system in front of me which can grant me wishes! I would devote my life to you and become a saint!"
Moebius grins to himself, a rare occurrence, as he overhears the fantasies of the younglings behind him. His turn comes and he grabs a sandwich before making his way to his usual work spot during lunch. At the construction yard, he flips a crate and sits down, slowly unwrapping his sandwich. Just as he peels off the food company sticker, he chuckles to himself thinking:
"A system which grants wishes huh? That wouldn't be so bad."
As he processes the thought, he grins at how he is seriously considering a childish daydream and shrugs it off, slowly taking a large bite of his sandwich. He closes his eyes for a split second, his tongue investigating the same flavor he has grown used to for years and years. and just when he goes on to swallow, he suddenly hears:
***
[WELCOME TO WORLD TAG]