Stephen Patterson
The light from outside was cold , and grey , dimmed by the steady downpour that beat against the window .
Rain . Again . Random my arse .
Strictly speaking , the GeoSats TM that controlled the area ’ s weather should be on a random rotation : one third chance sunny , one third chance temperate , and one third chance rainy . Only it had rained nonstop for as long as Prentiss could remember . You could , of course , pay for your desired conditions , as The Company sanctioned WindowShopper TM advertisement cheerily informed him , but no one living in this area had the money .
Wait . Payday today praise fucking be .
Prentiss selected the earnings app on his alwaysWATCHing TM and checked his account , in the faint hope of money having been deposited there on time this month . No such luck . The balance shown was dismally low , thanks to the “ accident ” with the SafeSkate TM a couple of weeks ago , and The Company tended to pay at a time solely of their own discretion . He sighed , before selecting to see his tasks for the day . Only one job . Prentiss selected it after marking the
43 location : the ToysForYou TM stuffing factory .
Other end of the city ‘ course it fucking is .
He cursed , feeling the start of a headache building . Nevertheless , cash to be spent was cash to be earned , so Prentiss showered , shaved ( badly , for his razor was in dire need of replacing ) and dressed in his best suit . It was his only suit , and it was damp . All his clothes were damp to some degree . Prentiss had never quite gotten used to the feeling . He inhaled deeply to calm himself , and filed the annoyance away for future use . Stumbling into his kitchen , which also doubled as his living room , dining room and every other room of the small apartment , Prentiss shoved some bread into a rusty toaster . He was old fashioned like that . The bread popped back up immediately , untoasted and unbowed . He pressed the lever again . Nothing .
Well that just sums this fucking day up already doesn ’ t it ?
He added a toaster to the long list of things to buy later come paytime . Though where he was going to get a toaster from in this day and age was a mystery to him . The realisation dawned on him that Prentiss might have already had