Silvertroll

Cafe Jorge

The barista reaches over to place the cheesecake slice and flat white on my table, his forearm muscles larger than his biceps. I look down at his calves, and sure enough, they're disproportionately large. I'm tempted to make a comment, ask the guy about his training regime, but I let it go.

I open Julian's laptop and once again face off with the login page.

"Hey," says a familiar voice. I sense someone close, right behind me. I turn. Connor is there with a tattered longboard under his arm.

"Hey," I reply.

Connor smiles, nods and sits next to me. "I dropped by your house. There were cops, so I didn't...'

"What do you mean?" My reaction surprises him. "What do you mean by cops?

"As in the police. Is everything okay?"

I pause to think about it. "Ah, you know. My wife is a cop. It makes sense, I guess."

We both sit for a few moments, both watching the goings-on of the cafe business; people waiting in line for those few minutes of caffeinated pleasure. There's awkwardness, mostly from Connor.

"Having anything?" I ask him.

"Nah, the coffee here is shit."

"I haven't been to this one before," I reveal, letting his last comment slide.

But Connor doesn't seem to want to let it go, "It's only been open a few months. Hey, Jorge. How long have you been open? It's been a year already?"

The barista keeps doing what he's doing, acknowledging him, but not responding.

Connor shouts, "The food here is shit. You serve it too cold."

"No one's forcing it on you," Jorge says without turning, his accent foreign.

Connor is relentless, "Won't change the fact the coffee here is shit, and overpriced."

An older lady pushing a pram turns to them, "The young man is right. If you don't like the service here, go someplace else," and goes on her way. A puppy dog pokes its head out of the pram.

The barista walks over to wipe the table. "Don't listen to him," he tells me. "He loves it or he wouldn't be coming here almost twice a day." He then turns to Connor, "The usual?"

"Yes, please."

I wait for the barista to move on. "What's this business about you being banned from Hackerspace?"

"I haven't been paying the membership fees. Pathetic, I know. Someone my age should be set up better by now."

"Do you like going there?"

"I liked hanging out there."

I can't stop what is about to come out of my mouth, "How about I pay for it. What is it, a year?" I don't understand why I offer it to this kid.

"It's okay," says Connor.

...though it feels right. Julian knew this kid. I knew him. Cocky, empathetic, smart-lookin', this kid deserved to have a good crack at life. All kids deserve it. "I insist. One year's subscription. I'll talk to Reuben."

Connor's eyes avoid mine, "It's not that simple."

Jesus, what has this young guy done?

My phone vibrates.

Another link from Silvertroll via Neechat.

HTTP://DIJIVO.VID=78&BG6V

I tap the screen.

"They're a bunch of nerds," says Connor.

"They seem friendly."

Connor grimaces, "Friendly my ass."

The link is the same video of me getting hammered. "We are all nerds at some point," I tell him. "I guess I'm kinda a nerd too."

"Julian was a nerd, but he was different."

I turn to look at him, checking to see how sincere he seemed.

Connor elaborates, "The last time I ever saw him, I bumped into him a while back, at the drive-in diner up the road from here. He was dressed nice. A cool car. Hot girlfriend. I must admit, I was jealous of him. He had everything."

"Was he with Heather?" I ask.

"Don't know. It was a few years ago."

Then it couldn't have been.

"What did she look like?" I ask.

"She was hot. It was just that one time..."

Woop.

I check my phone.

[SILVERTROLL] LUCKY FOR YOU [L88Y] WAS THERE TO WIPE YOUR NOSE.

"Connor," I say. "What do you know about Neechat?"