I used my right palm to make sure that the floor under me was dry and not too cold. Ninety-One’s words about getting sick had stuck with me. All around, people passed me by, heading in all different directions. Most of them looked down at the floor, shuffling their feet as they walked. Their limbs... What could I say — I had good reason to be jealous. But three minutes of observation made me realize that no one had truly ‘young’ limbs. I saw a lot of scars, even missing fingers.
I looked at my hands and feet, then breathed a sigh of relief — at least I lucked out with something. The only thing missing was the very top joint of my left pinky. That, I could deal with.
I assessed my arms and legs, sighing again, but in disappointment this time. They had stitched me to me a set of junk. A set of complete trash.
My outward appearance told me a lot. My torso was toned and athletic, with solid pecs and abs. My neck felt thick and sturdy. My back muscles were strong, too. But my lower back... something hurt in that area, but I could barely feel it. Later, when the painkillers wore off, the pain would be stronger, but I probably wouldn’t notice. I’d be too distracted by the explosion of pain in my left elbow, which would overshadow anything else.
But at least my headache was gone and I could think clearly. My whole body felt like it was coming back to life. Joints still cracked, but it wasn’t as noticeable. I heard my stomach rumbling, and my intestines churned. The weird feeling of tightness in my neck disappeared, the stiffness gone, letting me move more freely. I hoped my back would start to feel better soon. After that, maybe the elbow would heal, too.
Status. System. Ninety-One had repeated those words over and over. And that rhythmic blinking on the edge of my vision... I moved my eyes slightly and saw, as expected, one blinking green word:
MENU
The word started to blink faster as soon as I looked at it. Another green animation played, showing that I could use the virtual interface by moving my eyes or the fingers of either hand.
I decided to try the more familiar way. I put my right hand on my knee, then touched my thumb and pointer finger together three times. A clearly visible cursor appeared. I used my pointer finger to direct it to the MENU button and clicked.
Status.
Physical Condition.
Finances.
Jobs.
Status...
Number: Eleven.
Rank: Nullform (volitional)
Current status: ORL (three standard meals per day and standard water ration)
That was all it told me. It wasn’t much. Did these three measly lines really need their own submenu?
Physical Condition.
Overall physical condition: normal.
Limb condition and status.
URL: normal.
ULL: normal.
LRL: normal.
LLL: normal.
I clicked on ULL: normal. I heard a barely-audible sound, and a notification popped up:
Access denied. (Insufficient rank — Nullform)
That’s why the menu had such limited information — it was limited by my rank. I couldn’t go deeper into the menu. I tried the next submenu.
Finances...
Balance: 0
Debt status: in debt.
Debt details:
Limb lease: 4 sol.
Immunosuppressants: 1 sol.
Vitamins: 1 sol.
First meal: 1 sol.
First water ration: 1 sol.
Total debt owed: 8 sol.
I carefully studied each line, rubbing my forehead thoughtfully. The cursor began to move around the virtual screen.
I looked at the last submenu in the list. The most promising.
Jobs...
Job: Collect gray slime. Easy (O)
Description: Collect and deliver forty standard containers of gray slime to the receiver unit.
Job location: Zone 3, Block 6.
Deadline: Evening end-of-work alarm.
Compensation: 15 sol.
That was all...
