3.17

[Yesterday was my sister's birthday. Today is my cousin's birthday.]

I slung the bag over my shoulder and ducked out of the doorway. Cold drops fell and splattered down the back of my neck and into my coat. I didn't mind. The long brown duster hung loose over my shoulders and swayed as I jogged along the road. The cloth scraped against the back of my pants legs with the rhythm of my gait. I'm annoyed, I concluded. Stupid plans lead to stupid results, Maynard. Cause and effect, Maynard. Always wear a belt, Maynard, or your pants will end up around your knees. The words rattled around in my head as I rushed through the rain.

Just around the corner from my hovel, I pulled up short. Something felt too right about the place. I reached into my loose right coat sleeve and adjusted the elbow-length glove. Yep, I said to myself. Something feels just right. I was worried that somehow the ROV had found me again, or maybe the police, or maybe Metzerschmidt had finally decided to try his luck. The air was decidedly perfect, so I knew that something had to be wrong. I lived in a little hole down near the airlocks and bars, where I knew that ROV would be conspicuous and police would be afraid. I called it Anemone, and I was the clownfish. Normally, some rancid concoction of Jethro would be wafting down the street from the front of the Scum Lily bar. It had a bad name and a worse cook. But today, the smell felt like every day and every new slop rolled into one. I knew it to be impossible and I was positive it was an expectation zone. Setting one up was work that took an ROV specialist a week at least, and cost the government two poor bastards' annual salaries just to initialize. Either I had suddenly become big game again, or I was barging in on someone else's party.

I crossed the street and didn't look back. It would be easier to find a new place to live than to go back and root out that rat's nest. Having lost my purpose for urgency when I arrived at home, I no longer ran. The rain fell steadily onto my head and shoulders, but I paid it no mind. It rolled down the back of my coat and sweater and dissolved into the fabric. Pretty soon, I was soaked and I lost all sense of time as I trudged to the deserted sections of the city. This city needs to be forgotten, I said to myself. It's right on the edge of the realization of its misplaced self-importance. Then I spat, because the words sounded pretentious coming out of my mouth.

"Citizen!" came the voice from behind me. "Citizen, be aware that you are violating city code 22a17 subsection alpha kappa muu, regarding the transportation of citizens through the planned city!"

I frowned. What is a police enforcer doing out in the empty spaces between towns? I slowed and turned. He was all alone.

"Citizen!"

"I'm not a citizen of your stupid city," I yelled. "More like the antithesis."

"Identify yourself!"

"No thanks!"

He pulled a weapon and drew a bead on me.

"Identify yourself or be neutralized!"

It's time for games, then. Alright. I pulled off the glove on my right hand, and the air around me cooled. My arm and face began to pulse with a vague blueness that emanated from somewhere not quite inside but not quite on my skin.

The enforcer fired, but I caught the shot and whipped it back at him. It caught him in the shoulder and he spun to the ground, firing haphazardly at the pavement below him. I threw myself forward and slammed my hand to his com before he could reach it first.

"There's a protocol . . ." he whispered.

"I suppose there is," I replied. "Did they type it up just for me, all special? Do I get a copy signed by the deputy sheriff? Will he dot his "I"s with hearts for me? Pretty please?" I smiled down at the wounded enforcer.

He took a deep breath and yelled as loudly as he could. "Arbiter! Arbiter! Arbiter!"

I pulled my fist back and threw it into his throat as hard as I could. His yells stopped and he just coughed instead.

"You all should know by now I hate to kill a man. But if you keep doing stupid stunts like that, you leave me no choice." I stomped his com under my heel and turned.

The rain hissed as it hit my hand. It felt good, so I left my glove off and walked down the street into the empty, pointless city.