Partners [Path Unlocked 🔓]

Chapter 9 - Unwritten Code

Cold, merciless, white neon cast the dark street in an unnatural glow, staining everything a sickly pale as it stretched fervently to lay claim to the land and slip in where darkness once prevailed but its stretching arms failed to ever make it farther than the glass window its source lay trapped within. The flickering sign, buzzing into dimness with an electronic hum only to glare its way blazingly back into existence a moment later with the distinct sound of sparks, read Jimmy's Bar, as did the noncomentable bold print letters stamped undecoratively across the large wooden door Hank stood before.

No window to peep through existed on the sturdy, wooden surface of the thick built door, the only thing daring to disrupt the graying surface of the unwelcoming gateway a flimsy paper flyer that crinkled noisily as a texturless wind tore at its edges and threatened to rip the weak scrap free from its home. Hank brushed his fingers lightly against the flyer in an attempt to smooth it back out, trailing his fingertips along the bold, red text screaming an angry "No Pets" out at anyone who dare defy its unspoken warning.

The paper uncooperatively folded back over itself in the hold of the unfeelable breeze once more, a sensation that wasn't quite there ghosting across the android's sensors where artificial chill should be whipping across them - Programmed incorrectly.

Because that's what this place was: Programmed.

Hank placed a large hand against the cool metal plate melding smoothly into the ivory exterior of the door - Too smoothly, no definition existing between the two entirely separate materials. Programmed incorrectly - and pushed against it, the wood moving compliantly under his grip to give way to the bar beyond with the barest touch of his shoulder to the heavy barrier.

The interior of the bar was dark, dimly lit by only a single row of overhead lights trailing above a tall wooden counter and a few vaguely glowing bulbs positioned behind the bar itself to highlight the glimmering bottles there, the weak illumination set in an odd green cast that gave everything a murky aura that left little clearly distinguishable. Though, not everything in the bar was designed with enough care to be entirely distinguishable anyway and looking at any background object for too long a time hurt even Hank's mechanical eyes.

The bar was empty, as it always was, but a vague soundtrack offered the noise one might expect to hear in a crowded bar in the inner city nevertheless. The sound of wood screeching against tile echoed through the still air yet not a single bar stool moved. The gurgle of a drink being poured bubbled merrily from the nearest booth where the poorly lit tables lined the wall but the slightly blurry glass that flickered on the edges remained perfectly empty where it sat on the wooden surface. The sounds of people talking echoed quietly through the empty room and the electronic beeps and cheerful dings of the arcade machine flickering over the same three basic panels in the far corner of the room rose and fell as if someone just won a game yet the same picture still shone through the screen and no one stood at the controls.

It was if someone had designed a level of a video game then dropped the project before adding the character overlay.

One, tangible object existed in the nearly abandoned bar, however, solid and crystal clear where everything else was a gentle blur of laziness meant to meld gently into a vague scene unimportant to the main objective. A man of large build, dark skinned and balding, sat atop one of the high rise bar stools, gaze fixed to where a small screen hung behind the bar and flickered unsteadily through what appeared to be a Detroit Gears game, though buzzing static ran over the illuminated screen every few moments to hide the image and distort the announcers' voices into a choppy, electronic mess of buzzy sounds and clipped jolts of strained audio.

"Pass the damn ball!" The man screamed exasperatedly at the screen, throwing his arms up in utter annoyance as the players on the television failed to heed his command and let the ball switch back to the opposing team's control.