I looked out the window of my basement apartment, I could see the smog already covering the sky despite the fact the sun had just emerged into view. This was normal for the city of Seymond. The pollution caused a layer of smog to bury us from the sun. It helped me, however. People focused less on what was around them and more on the job they had to do to survive. But, my life relied on the fact that they were mindless zombies. I was able to survive purely off the fact that they paid no attention to the outside world and only the small jobs which they only did to keep from fading away. All of this probably sounds very weird to you so let me explain.
I graduated from university about a decade ago, right when the World Government officially came into power. They established the time currency. Everyone when they are born is given 80 years of time. You spend and earn time as you would any other currency, however when you run out, you die. University left me with a lot of debt, but I couldn’t find a job after school. The new currency had scared consumers and companies alike to the point where the economy almost seemed to stop. I couldn’t find a job and was forced to use the talents I acquired in college to stay alive. I starting hacking people’s phones. This is where all their time was stored because of the digital currency. Since this I’ve always been sure never to take a lot. First off, if I took too much it would make it effortless for the government to track all of this back to me. Second, I don’t have the heart to take away most of a person’s life. I just simply take a week or two when I need it. Enough for me to get by. I’ve been doing this for nearly a decade and have been able to erase my debt, but I haven’t been able to erase it completely.
To stay this under the radar I’ve had to make my life as unnoticeable as possible. I only come out of my apartment when I need supplies or time. I get all my basic life supplies from a friend, Curtis. He was my roommate in university and developed a program to untrack time. His only rule is that I spend any money he untracks in his general store. It’s a good deal from both of us, I get everything I need and live my life, and he gets time for himself.
Today was one of those days I had to visit Curtis. I was running low on water, food, and some other necessities. On my way there I would also have to take some time. I probably only needed to grab two weeks today so that wouldn’t be too troublesome. I could easily do that on my walk over to Curtis’ store. Quickly I showered and got dressed. I needed to be fast in order to make the morning rush. The large volume of people would allow me to blend in and the currency traffic would also make it easier for my takings to go undetected.
As soon as I saw the mob of feet through my window I took to the streets. This happened everyday around eight, millions of people would commute to work. It’s only about a twenty minute time window so I had to be efficient. As I was walking towards Curtis’ I pulled out my phone. It instantly received a thousand eligible accounts to take from. I selected one at random and took a few days. I did this with about ten other people and by the end of it I had gained a full three weeks. Not too shabby for an unemployed bum living in a basement. After I confirmed the hours I turned off on a side street to head towards Curtis.
Curtis was like me, he liked to stay under the radar. He also had a hard time finding a job out of university. However his debt was minimal because he was lucky enough to come from a wealthy family. So naturally when he couldn’t find a job, he borrowed more money from his family to open up his own store and that’s been his life ever since. I walked down the side street to find his store. The neon sign outside was barely illuminated but you could still make out the “open” on it.
I walked through the doors, they made a loud creak as I entered which would certainly alert everyone in the store someone had just walked in. Upon first glance the store seemed empty. The shelves were just as dusty and old as usual and the isles seemed deserted. I looked over at the cash register and saw Curtis there fiddling with what looked to be an old pen. Normally I would approach him and try to make conversation but he seemed preoccupied so I just moved on.
Most of the stuff I needed was in the back of the store so I proceeded down the cobweb infested isle. The shelves were empty which was weird because even though Curtis hardly had any business, he normally kept his store pretty well stocked. As I reached the end, I noticed all the isles and shelves were empty except for a few in the back. I didn’t think much of it though because everything I needed was right in front of me. I scanned the shelves and found some cereal, milk, bananas, and finally some water. As you can tell I’m kind of a breakfast person. After I bought this I turned around and headed down the desolate isles.
I slowly proceeded towards the front of the store, that’s when I was starting to sense that something was up. Although, I didn’t think much of it and continued anyways. I rounded the corner and turned to walk towards the counter but Curtis wasn’t there. This was weird because I didn’t know why he would ever leave his post. Then I heard a crash from the back and I knew right away it wasn’t Curtis. I darted for the door and as I was doing so I heard footsteps right behind me. The majors were right behind me. The majors had become the law enforcement when the time currency same into effect and I knew right then that Curtis had ratted me out to them.
Running forward I pushed the door in mid stride as I ran out onto the side street. I looked back and could see the majors coming out from the isles. There wasn’t a moment to spare so I took of sprinting down the side street. I checked my phone and saw that the morning rush was still going on. If I made it there in time I might be able to blend in with the crowd and lose the majors. They were about a decent distance behind me so I kept running forward down the side street. Then I saw the rush crowd. I made a quick cut and darted into the crowd, trying to get as far away from the edge I possibly could. Around ten people in I turned and started walking with the crowd. I briefly glanced over and saw the majors scanning the crowd for me, then I quickly whipped my head back around and continued forward. I was safe for now, but I knew I had to leave. My life couldn’t go on like this.