Orazio (Vol. 1) Orazio and the Isis hormone.

This is the future?

After dressing, Orazio went to the director's office and, although the door was open, he knocked:

- May I come in?

She looked up from behind the desk .

- Oh... of course.

Orazio entered and sat down in front of the desk.

- Here, here's your check. It will get you through the first week - she said, writing out a check with a smile.

The smile disappeared from Orazio's face as he got up from his chair.

- Excuse me, but do you realize what you have done? - he said indignantly.

The director looked at him in confusion.

- What do you mean? - she said with a slight frown.

- By giving me this little check, you've made sure that I won't survive long enough to have a proper job, shit, I might not even survive the first day on the job! - Orazio said in a tone that the director didn't like at all.

She let out a contemptuous snort.

- Come on, I don't think it's that big a deal either. Look, I don't feel sorry for you. Other kids have had it, and will have it, much worse than you. At least you have a pretty face and can make a living at it. You may not get rich, but you'll do fine. Take it from me... But anyway, it's your decision.

Actually, the Director felt quite bad telling this to the boy. She couldn't deny to herself that she was actually almost forcing him into prostitution. But what else could she advise him? The truth was that Orazio had no future out there other than to live on whatever women wanted to give him.

There were opinions that said that it was necessary to give men some kind of pension to compensate for the enormous disadvantage they had compared to women. But that would be positive discrimination and encourage vagrancy in a sex that had traditionally been known for systematically abusing the female sex.

Besides, she couldn't do anything. She had a job to support and that was a lot in today's world. So she decided to end the conversation. She got up from the desk and left the office trying not to look at Orazio.

Orazio was left alone. Staring at the check. What a piece of shit! The future fucking sucked. No hormone Isis for him. No cool powers. No job. No nothing.

Even if no one was going to say it, he was a second-class citizen. He was a MAN.

Still, there was a part of him that wanted to try. He wanted to explore the world out there. See what it had to offer him.

With determination he rose to his feet. He was in for a great adventure. And hey, who knows, maybe the Isis hormone would work on him. It was worth a try.

He walked out into the street. He could never go back to the orphanage. He was an adult now.

Orazio looked at the check the director had given him. He didn't know they still used that kind of thing. By means of his neurochip he located the nearest bank to cash it. Although "nearest" was not a very accurate word, because it was quite far away.

He thought about calling a cab or taking a bus. But what was he going to pay with? Fucking moron of a director, why had she given him that old-fashioned piece of paper that he couldn't use?

After a good while walking, Orazio realized that there weren't many people on the street. Mostly there were automated cars carrying people back and forth.

The few people he came across were women. Hardly any men. He felt uncomfortable with the way the women looked at him. They looked at him shamelessly and insistently. Some stared undisguisedly at his crotch and others even turned around to watch him pass.