The soft cool wind on the rooftop comforted him as he basked in the warm glow of the late afternoon sun. He leaned back on the bench letting himself enjoy peace, a momentary feeling of distant quiet.
Bzzt~bzzt~
The vibration of his wrist phone shattered the stillness bringing him back to reality. He sighed and inside the pocket of his coat, he pulled out his wrist with a thin translucent phone attached. A hologram flickered to life revealing a man in an orange cap and uniform standing Infront of his Unit, it's probably some courier or delivery guy.
"Sir, uh... this is the Express Move moving company. We were sent by Explorer Jackson to assist you with your move," the man said, his voice was polite and sound professional.
He looked out at the horizon for a moment before answering. "Yes, please wait a moment. I'll be there soon."
The mover nodded. "Understood, Sir. We'll be waiting in front of your unit."
"Ah, thank you again," he replied, and the hologram faded. Tucking his hand back again into his coat, he stood up, brushing off the cold. "Alright, it's getting chilly anyway," he murmured to himself. Stretching briefly before heading down toward the stairs.
Aafter a short while later, he reached the movers waiting outside his unit. After exchanging greetings with them, he guided them inside and pointed out which items to take first, and adding, "uh you can leave the computer. I'll carry that myself."
The lead mover nodded. "Sir, we'll come back for the remaining items tomorrow. In the meantime, could you sign here and here?" He pointed at a couple of spots on the document he was holding.
"Sure," he replied, taking the stylus pen and signing.
The mover hesitated before continuing, "Uh, also, if you'd be willing, could we hold onto your room key? That way, we can avoid any delays later and, especially if you have somewhere else to be, so we would be able to avoid inconveniencing you."
He considered it for a moment before nodding. "Ah, alright, no problem. Since I'll be moving out completely anyway. The building admin will reset the key after I'm gone so here it is." he handed over the key, and he added politely, "Thanks for letting me know."
"Thank you, Sir," the mover said with a small bow. "One last thing, could you please sign this additional document? It's to confirm that any damage to your property will be covered by our company. Since we've already checked that your belongings are not damaged, and this ensures your belongings remain a priority."
"Got it." He signed the form and handed it back.
One of the movers noticed a stack of boxes just outside the room and pointed to them. "Sir, should we include these today as well?"
He turned to look, he replied, "Hmm? Oh, no, those are fine. I'll take care of them myself, but thanks for asking."
The mover nodded. "Understood, Sir. We'll be heading out now. The team should reach City J by evening since it's quite a distance from City V."
"Take your time," he replied with a nod.
As the movers left, he stood for a moment in the quiet hallway. The his wrist phone vibrated again, drawing his attention. This time the caller ID is Jackson.
He raised his wrist, and a hologram of an energetic man appeared.
"Bro, what's up? Did the movers show up yet?" Jackson asked with a grin.
"They just left. Why, what's up?" he replied.
"Ah, nothing too big. I just wanted to let you know that, there's two gate portals had a breach in City I, and a total of 160 monsters is estimated to have escaped. Don't worry, though, 136 of them have already been taken down by the Hunter class. So I probably won't make it to your house blessing or celebration."
His brow furrowed slightly. "Why not?"
"I've got to head into one of the portals to investigate with my team. Explorer class duty, you know?" Jackson said, his tone was casual but focused. "Anyway, don't worry about me. Instead just head to my place at City J, District 4. We'll catch up there after I get home."
He sighed but smiled faintly. "Alright, I got it. Be safe out there, yeah?"
Jackson grinned. "Always am. Talk soon, bro."
The hologram faded, and then he lowered his wrist. The hallway was quiet once more as he turned his gaze toward the horizon, his thoughts lingered on Jackson's words.
He stood in front of his apartment, his hands on his hips, he was deep in thought. Then it hit him. "Ah crap, they took my bed…" He scratched his head it in disbelief at his own blunder.
Turning around, his gaze fell on the stack of boxes containing his computer. He sighed. "I should've just asked the movers to take these to Jackson's house on the way…"
After gathering the essentials, he headed down to the ground floor. As he passed by his neighbors and former coworkers, he exchanged goodbyes. Moving out of City V's Lower District to the higher district of City J marked the end of an era for him. It was finally time to enjoy his retirement after his years of hard work.
Out on the roadside, he waved down a taxi van. When it pulled over, he approached the driver on the window and asked, "Could you help me carry these boxes? They're a bit heavy."
The driver nodded and helped load the boxes, while he carried the CPU himself since it's the most important part of the set up. Then once inside, the driver asked, "Where to, sir?"
"To the Maglev PNR station, please," he replied. And with a nod, the driver started the journey.
They arrived at the train station, he paid his fare and began hauling the heavy boxes inside. Years of working in the monster dissection group had left his body strong, even in his late forties. His job in the lower district had been grueling but lucrative. Since most of the population are classified as non-combatant this is one of the available jobs that has a high pay, but others are disgusted about dissecting monsters and are quite picky, so they prefer clean and safer careers, because of this he was able to gain this job, and through the years, this made his expertise in handling monster carcasses both rare and well-compensated. Thanks to this, he had managed to support his siblings, putting all of them through college. Two were now pursuing master's degrees, and the second eldest was deep into her PhD program, while the youngest is graduating Senior highschool.
He approached the station's security scanner, a sleek device designed to detect whether a person was human, monster, or a shapeshifter. Since some monsters specialized in copying humans and other organisms. As he passed through, the scanner beeped and flashed green, clearing him without issue.
Then next came his boxes. As they moved through the scanner, the operator on the screen raised an eyebrow. With a teasing tone, he asked, "Uh, sir, are you a historian? Or an archeologist?"
Startled, he replied, "Uh, why would you think that?"
The operator grinned. "Well, the scanner says this item is 116 years old. Made over a century ago, it's older than my parents!"
"So what? Just do your job and don't meddle in other people's affairs," He clicked his tongue in annoyance. 'This guy's having a laugh,' he thought.
The people in line turned to stare, and he felt a wave of embarrassment. 'Ugh, whatever. Let them stare.'
He collected his boxes from the conveyor and moved toward a robot dispenser. As he approached, the dispenser activated. "Hello, sir. Welcome to Octacore Company's Service Droid dispenser. Civilian class—"
"Skip," he said with a wave of his hand, cutting off the unnecessary monologue. He muttered to himself, "Why do these things always have to yap so much?"
Then someone nearby smacked another dispenser in frustration, the guy clearly was unable to skip the introduction. He chuckled quietly. "Called it hehe," he muttered.
Then he looked at his account, shrugging, he continued, "Well, since Jackson gave me this much for a travel budget, I might as well use it. That showoff. A year's salary just for commuting? Transcended people really do live in another world."
The machine scanned his hand holographically, and two carrier droids rolled out. He instructed them to carry the boxes and joined the waiting line for the train.
After a short wait, the 3rd trip of the Maglev PNR train arrived. He stepped inside, the carrier droids following close behind him.
'Good thing I chose the evening train,' he thought. 'Third trip's are always less crowded, and less sweaty.' The train made a few stops along the way but kept moving steadily. Five hours later, he finally reached City J.
Once there, he flagged down another taxi van. With the help of the carrier droids, he loaded the boxes into the vehicle. As they drove off, the droids returned to the station, returning into their dispenser slots.
The ride took nearly an hour, but it was worth it. The van pulled into City J, District 4, Jackson's neighborhood. As the vehicle approached the house, he stepped out and whistled.
"Damn. His house is as huge as ever," he said with a grin. After unloading his boxes with the driver's help, he stood outside, admiring the property. "Now, where are my godchildren? Ninong is here," he chuckled, he can already imagine the lively faces of Jackson's kids.
End of Chapter