Splitting a Match

An Informant

13.

[Time: 7:21am]

[Location: Wells Fargo Building

[Seattle, Pangaea]

[December 10, 2097]

My immensely annoying alarm woke me up at 7:20am. Just like every morning. I knocked it to the floor in my attempt to turn it off, and it did when the batteries fell out upon impact. Since it was still dark outside, I stayed in my bed until 7:45 and then made myself breakfast, which was some stale cereal and scrambled eggs. I mixed the two together, like I did every morning.

The rest of the day passed quickly and smoothly, starting with running the perimeter of our territory, assuming my post for six hours, which was uneventful, and then quickly checking up on Nate and Paul at the hospital. They were all bandaged up but the doctor said that they were going to be fine, and probably out of the hospital within the next two weeks. But my conversation with Krys the day before had hung on my mind the whole day to the point that I knew I had to do something. At least, make a start.

So I decided to get some information.

From who?

The people that know the most. Delta.

There was one Delta officer that I had talked to on occasion, and he seemed to like me. He had hinted at times that he was dissatisfied with his work, but indirectly. Like when I ask him how his day is going, he often replies with something like "Been better", or "It's been long", or "I wish I could be somewhere else".

Anyways, I decided he would be the best prospect.

~~αβδ~~

I checked in at home to say hi to Dad and Alessa before having my chat with the Delta officer. I grabbed my backpack and put a few things inside, then slung it over my shoulder and walked slowly down the hall toward our "front door". Sitting on the bench there, I laced up my black running shoes, which were the most expensive article of clothing I owned. $250 of mesh, foam, and breakthrough engineering, bought straight from the Alpha factories. Regardless of their origin, they felt like a sock and somehow, they kept me running forever. Glancing outside the large window that looked over the water, I saw that it had begun to rain heavily, so I pulled on a light windbreaker, and gave Alessa a hug before throwing open the door and jogging to the elevator.

At ground level, I jogged swiftly to where I knew I could find this Delta officer. Carlos, but he went by Car.

Meat, cheese, and corn permeated the air, pumped out in smoky bursts from the exhaust fans atop the small restaurants. I never went to them. They were extremely expensive and almost all of the them were funded and run by the Beta officials and hired the workers. However, it was breakfast time, and the restaurants were full of government-hired laborers who received food for their work. The poor people worked themselves to death in construction and other government projects, all to get two meals a day of synthetic energy-laden food that was probably shipped from Russian labs.

It didn't matter. Our clan was self-sustaining for the most part.

The knife I had strapped to my thigh was loose and pricked me every time I took a step, so keeping an eye out for both Carlos and anyone else, I yanked the pull strap to secure it then folded over the canvas flap to conceal it.

Five seconds later, I caught sight of "Car". He was dressed in the smart, corporate looking Delta uniform that I had come to hate. The white embroidered delta symbol contrasted sharply with the drab blue color that dominated the rest of the outfit. His large belly tested the strength of the buttons that dotted his shirt.