Where is this?
I asked myself as I got up from the ground. All around me was a bunch of broken concrete walls that seemed to be the remnants of an abandoned subway station. Weirdly enough, the surrounding was quite bright for my eyes to see clearly. Then I noticed a hole in the ceiling.
That was when my heart almost stopped beating for a moment. Through the ceiling I saw a scene that I'd never forget. Tall buildings and the bright neon light, rows upon rows of gigantic billboards full of advertisement, and high way full of levitating vehicle. A scene that was only seen inside those speculative fiction currently presented itself before my eyes.
From that moment I knew, this wasn't the place that I used to know.
***
Blasting music, and the hubris of advertisement greeted my ears as soon as I left the shelter of the abandoned subway station. Along the way I had seen many hobos wandering around the perimeter of the subway station. Strangely though, no one entered the underground facility. It was as if the station was somekind of a prohibited area.
Unfortunately I didn't dare to ask, especially since everyone seemed so menacing with their cybernetic implants replacing their blood and flesh.
Now that I was out of the subway station, I just realize that the temperature seemed to be a bit off. It was cold, as if right now was in the middle of a harsh winter. Although I couldn't see any snow in the surroundings. But I guess that was normal, we are in another world afterall. It might be another planet or even another universe all together.
The most important thing though, was the fact that I'm here. How and why did I arrived here was not so important anymore. Right now, what I need to think about is what should I do and where should I go. Not to mention, I feel quite hungry already.
So I clutched my growling stomach as I kept walking aimlessly. I had no destination in mind so I decided to follow the crowds around me. Soon I found myself arrived in somekind of plaza square.
At that moment, I raised my head when suddenly all of the billboards stopped showing the ads.
Silence descended upon the square. It didn't last long however as people murmurs began to fill up the entire space. This time it was even louder than before.
Soon, the screen turned back to normal as the authority started to move about, seemingly in search of someone. Though at glance it was clear that they couldn't found them.
I shook my head as I continued on walking forward. That was when a girl suddenly ran onto me.
"Ugh!"
"Ah sorry," she said as she quickly moved past me.
Delicate bundle of white hair, red eyes that reflected the bright neon lights, black and white jacket with hood that resembled a pair of rabbit ears. A word cute instantly surfaces on my mind while a growing suspicion surfaced on my heart as I saw the girl plunged into the crowd.
In the end, I just shook my head once again and decided to just forget what happened.
***
A girl ran along the bustling pedestrian road as the surveillance around the area suddenly malfunctioned. Her feet moved nimbly as she turned around the corner to enter an inconspicuous alley.
She finally heaved a sigh of relief after making sure no one was able to track her. Her eyes turned crescent as a smile surfaced on her face, she rummaged through her pocket for a while only to find that it was empty.
Her eyes widened at once, in disbelief she once again checked her pocket and pat down her body. Again, nothing was found except a trusty handheld device she used to access secure network.
Her expression couldn't help but crumbled as she remembered bumping into a strange man on her way to escape.
"F*ck"
***
A day passed when I finished wandering around. I wonder why it was still night time. Altough it was true that there didn't seem to be any moon visible in the sky. I guess it might be due to the inherent nature of cyberpunk setting so I decided to leave it on the back of my mind.
Now, now, I've pretty much gathered all the information that I needed to survive in this world. So today is the time for me to find a decent job.
Just as expected from the world ruled by mega corporations money was the key of everything. Even if I didn't have any specific objective currently, it wouldn't hurt to have some money especially when I'm trying to survive. One thing though, I didn't have a reliable credentials to convince the trustworthy employer.
"There are two choices that I could potentially make right now. First was to somehow acquire an ID Card and find work through the intermediary agencies. Or I could find some sketchy job through some hobos around this station."
Let's find out about the former first, since the later would be extremely risky. Even if the first option fail then I might be better off shed my ego and screamed out that I need a job right on the middle of the plaza before going to take the second option.
In any case, I might need Roland's help to find out the alternative first option that he spoke off yesterday if it was impossible to get my ID through legal path.
So, I went out of the abandoned subway and heading to the public administration office close to the central plaza.
***
"Please pay up a thousand bucks to register as a temporary citizen," said a mechanical person standing on the counter of the public administration office.
My face couldn't help but turned sour hearing what it said.
"Thousand bucks you say? Why don't you just rob someone else?" I complained only to hit a fluff as the android didn't have the function to receive complain.
"If you have any question or opinion please give your regards to my partner on another desk to be processed, line number 112 please come to the front desk."
I walked out of the front desk feeling dejected. How couldn't I be? A thousand bucks for a temporary citizenship? What a scam!
I sighed as I quickly left the public administration office. Sending a complain? Nah waste of time. It's not like I've never been warned before. Yesterday as I was wandering along the plaza square, I met a man named Roland who called himself as the boss of the area. Well it's true though that he seemed to be the most menacing one around the block. His aura was quite unbrindled that one would immediately felt threatened upon meeting him.
Fortunately though, I managed to keep my calm around him. That was also the reason why would he befriend me. He said that I'm an interesting person, and when combined with my strange attire I pull off a stun that catched his eyes. Well, that was good I guess? I'm not that good at socializing in the first place. So I'm grateful that someone would talk to me first.
Oh, I've arrived.
The plaza,
Ronald should have a post on the westside near the cybernetic implants factory and the entrance to the slums. If what he said was true then that one should be his.
"Well then, guess I'll head to his place... Huh? That was.."
A certain silhouette was captured by my sight. White hair, red eyes, a unique kind of jacket that had a hood resembling a pair of rabbit ears. Isn't that the girl who bumped onto me yesterday?
She seemed to search for something as she squatted on the ground rummaging of what seemed to be a trash bin lying at the end of the alley. Then she raised her head and our eyes meets.
The process of her eyes slowly came to realization and widened was cute as I calmly observed her behavior. And then, it was my turn to be surprised as she began to ran towards me. I reflexively spread my arms to catch her when suddenly a punch landed on my face.
"Damn!"
It hurt so much, was that a steel that acted as her hand?
"You sh*tty Redline goons, give me back my Eidolon Node V3."
She screamed right at my face as she held me by the collars. Her saliva flew everywhere as she began to insult and scolded me for couple of times. My head was still dizzy from the punch so I wasn't able to respond.
But then she suddenly touched the side of my neck.
"Huh? Where are your node implant?"
What the f*ck you mean by node implant? I thought but I wasn't able to utter it as she threw me to the ground. Damn how did this woman become so powerful?
"Ugh!"
She glared at me with her ruby eyes, she said, "What is exactly are you? A man without a node implant? How did you survive without even accessing the cybernet?"
"W-what do you mean by that exactly?" I asked her weakly. How unfortunate for me to meet her without consuming anything yesterday. My body felt so weak that I could barely stand straight after her rough treatment.
Growl~
"..."
"..."
Embarrassingly even my stomach started to complain about the whole situation.