Invited

Sixteen - Wicken

I pulled the sun goggles off of my eyes as soon as the light shut off. Taking Layla's advice, I'd bought myself some sun. Sunshine, otherwise known as a trip to a glorified tanning bed, was expensive as all get out. Luckily Layla hadn't been kidding when she said she'd loaded my account with a bunch of credits.

On Persistence, the Gorgachan had a system of money in place. When I first arrived, I was given something similar to a credit card at my orientation meeting. A balance was given to me to help me get on my feet. My first day there I had absolutely nothing, so I had to either trade or sign a tab to pay for basic things like food. Then when the money came in, I paid it back. I'd always had enough to be comfortable. Then again, I didn't buy much. Food, necessary clothes, house items like toilet paper, and the occasional book. Okay, and a plush armadillo toy. Don't judge me. Point is, I had plenty to live off of and function properly. The Gorgachan didn't charge rent, so slowly but surely I was accumulating a fair amount of money by only getting a few things and saving the rest for later.

When I paid for my "sunshine," I noticed I had the equivalent of a multimillionaire's worth of money in my account. Keep in mind, based on that comparison "sunshine" would be about one-hundred grand on Earth. Not only did she give me enough for a trip, but several of them. I'm guessing it was one of the many perks to being her assistant.

Money wasn't something I'd ever had a lot of. The idea of being able to spend whatever I wanted to whenever I wanted to and on frivolous things was a foreign concept to me. I was under instructions to make my place more homey and get a mailbox. Even all of that was only going to nick the account. I contemplated getting a pet. Did I have time for one of those? Having some company when I was at home would be nice. Furniture was a must, so I would start there and think about the pet thing and everything else after that.

I put back on my jeans and t-shirt then set the goggles aside on a table for the next person to use. The machine used for giving out the artificial sunlight was large. I had to lay down on a soft mattress that projected the UV rays out and then an overhead light shined down on me. Like I said, glorified tanning bed only without all of the claustrophobia. If the Gorgachan used anything that dropped down over me, I'd have passed. I wouldn't have put it past them to use something like that to trap and cook their next meal in.

Once dressed, I made my way out of "Ray of Sunshine" and into the main area of the luxury shopping available on Persistence. All of this was located several floors lower than where I lived. Fancy furniture, decorations, and rare Earth commodities could be found. Jewelry made with natural elements was one of them; brand specific items, another. Things like electronics, games, movies, candy, junk food - all of the things that couldn't be replicated on the ship were all sold here.

My next stop was to find a new mattress. The one I had was generic and broken to the point of no return. By now, I was used to it. Even on Salvation, I'd had a pretty crappy sleeping arrangement. Massive bunk beds were how the people of the Pit slept. Those mattresses had sucked too. The only relief I'd had was when I went to visit Chevelle in one of the love nests provided up on the Surface. Sometimes we'd go and do nothing but sleep. I always slept the best with her by my side.

"Hello," the sales clerk said as soon as I entered. He was a Gorgachan and didn't bother to look up at me when I walked in.

"Hi," I mumbled and started over toward the fancy mattresses just to see what kind of sleep technology was available. Some of the things the aliens came up with were incredible.

The clerk finally glanced up after a few minutes had passed. Slowly, he walked over to me, his gaze continually roaming over me and his mouth twisted into disgust. "The economy mattresses are toward the back...sir."

"That so?" I raised an eyebrow and kept my gaze locked on him for a few seconds before returning my attention to the beds. Some of them were filled with something similar to goo. When I touched it, the mattress was warm.

"Sir," the clerk choked on the word this time. "I will have to ask you to not touch those. They attune themselves to the user and adjust their heat and firmness based on the needs of their owners. It takes a while to...decontaminate them."

"What if I wanted to try it out?" I asked casually. "Sounds like it's pretty comfortable to me."

The clerk gave me a rather forced smile. "They are the most comfortable in the store, as well as being the most beneficial to one's health. A benefit to having one is the ability to upgrade the technology as it comes out rather than having to purchase a completely new model."

"Handy," I said and sat down on top, giving it a nice bounce. That got a nice wince from the clerk.

"Please..." he begged.

I snorted and laid down. The mattress itself was a lot more expensive and fancy than I had wanted to spend. Since this guy was giving me so much crap and obviously discriminating against me because I was human, I just had to buy it.

He sighed. "If you do not get off the bed, I'm going to have to call security."

"Why? I'm a legitimate customer, who is going to be purchasing this model. Hey, you can give me this one right here since I've apparently contaminated it."

"Sir, you do realize how much it costs, yes?"

I handed him my card. "Don't really care. Go ahead and run it, and we can work on having it down at my place in say, an hour? I'm awfully tired and will want a nap after my long day of dealing with jerks."

The clerk pushed out his chest, took my card, and then walked away. A few seconds later I heard him using a device that was like a phone. His voice was muffled, but I'm pretty sure I knew what he was talking about. Me and all the money in my account. Another minute passed and he returned.

"The new bed will be there in an hour. Is there anything else you need?" he asked quietly.

I sat up and made sure to keep my gaze sharp as I looked up at him. "A frame, the works. Just make sure it's there when I get back. I was serious about that nap."

"Of course Sir. I apologize, I thought..."

"No, you weren't thinking, you were assuming," I snapped. "Be glad I don't know your name so I can't tell my boss how you treated me today."

He shifted. "The humans call me Mark."

"So you want me to turn you in?"

"N-no, of course not." He swallowed. "But if you need further assistance, with anything, know you can call on me any time. There are other services I offer as well."

I snorted. "Right, because you do such a great job with this one that I'll want your help with something else too?" Shaking my head, I stood up. "Sure, I'll keep it in mind should the need arise." Connections were never a bad thing to have, especially with people who felt they owed you something for being a complete tool to you earlier.

Me having new power was not a good thing. I was letting it get to my head. The worst part was, I liked it a little too much.