Cobs paced around his office, holding up the prototype for what was essentially a glorified 1970's Motorola, shaped like a calculator. He waited for a call from one of his employees, planted in the middle of Obolis.
"Goodness, when are they gonna call?"
He looked at the communicator, "...I'm so stupid." He tapped the numbers on the machine, and held the sound input area close to his mouth.
"Hello?" The employee called.
"MePod. Have you seen any of them?" The CEO questioned.
"No. But Fan and Knife have gotten their IDs. They'll probably be arriving in a few hours."
"Good, good." He smirked. "Alright then. Call me when they're near."
"Affirmative!" MePod hung up.
Cobs put the communicator on his desk, and sat down on the chair behind it. He opened his laptop, and checked his emails. He quickly made one, planning to send it to all employees. It read:
The Device will be ready in 3 days. Don't you dare mess this up.
He sent it, and he closed his laptop. Right after that, someone knocked on the doors.
"Come in." Cobs said, with annoyance.
The boy who came in had white hair and green streaks. He had freckles on his face, and some braces on his teeth and wore a polo white shirt with a gray vest on top of it, complete with a tie.
"Mistah Cobs! I got something 'fo 'ya!"
------------------------------------------
The three of them were outside of the mall, waiting for a taxi. Instead, a motorcycle with something that looked like a tent attached to it arrived.
"Ooh! I know this!" Fan exclaimed, "It's a tricycle! Basic Oltekian public transportation!"
"Well, what are you waiting for? Go!" Knife insisted.
They all boarded the tricycle, put the big whiteboard on the back of the vehicle, and told the driver where they were going, "The bridge to the other city," Fan said. The driver nodded, revved their motorcycle, and went off.
------------------------------------------
A calm moment.
That was what Fan and the others needed.
Tiny shops lined up near the pavements, complemented by the afternoon summer heat. People were walking on the sidewalk, looking at their phones or listening to music. Cafés were filled with people, while the restaurants were more empty than an apology from an internet influencer.
Sundry stores sometimes popped up, offering chips and candies-a questionable set of options, but Fan couldn't complain-candy and chips were some of the best food the world could offer.
They passed by the inn they stayed at, which looked like someone was hanging out there.
After about an hour, they reached the fountain where he and Suitcase hung out. The tricycle made its way around the fountain and went to one of the streets.
There was a huge wet market-or, Palengke-on the side of the pavement. Many people were offering fruits and meat there, with people asking the sellers about stuff. On the other side of the road, there were children playing catch, with people in their homes yelling at them about how they should go play somewhere else.
Not much different from Hotel OJ, Fan thought. Oh right, that was burned down. And that one event led us here. I've come full circle!
He ended up humming Cups to himself. Then, he thought about the fact that there's a real possibility that that song was gonna be some symbolism stuff as he took his last breath.
YOU ARE READING
The Beginning Of The End
أدب الهواة*beep* *beep* *beep* The fire alarm rang. Now, it was usual for it to sound early in the morning, as the Cherries pranked them every week with that. But it was unusual for it to sound at 4 in the morning. OJ got up from his bed to tell them off, bu...
