Invader Jacob

[Story] Prologue_4_Employed

"Guess what?" a 'man' said to his friend to his right. They were walking around the streets of LiverDale, seeing the sights this ship beheld. Skyscrapers beautifully made along with billboards and various lighting elements, lighting the ship with its glamour. Dressed in casual, he wore a long-sleeved blue shirt with a hoodie and a similar colored pants. Orange was present as his current skin color as opposed to the light tan he was naturally acquainted with. He wore a slightly cracked mask with white eye coverings the covered his true face and hair in paranoia and fear of being mistreated and tested, he dared not to take his disguise off unless he felt truly alone and safe. Yes, and that includes electronics and the new modern tech.

Whilst walking, his friend had placed his hand on his 'chin', deep in thought. Numerous 'people' walked passed them without trouble, some sentient robots here and there, some in suits and some in casual clothing strolling through the streets in the new normal Thursday afternoon.

"Hmm...I got nothing, spill the beans to me man." he replied by moving his placed palm to form a finger gun at his friend's face. He wore a slightly tattered coat with an tangerine undershirt and dark colored pants. He had natural orange skin with a greyish mask that acts like his actual face with orange 'hair' that looks like straight up fire but it was not.

"Guess who got a jo~b?" he revealed by smacking his friend's shoulder with a light punch. When he got his attention, he opened his palm to reveal a small rectangular chip that slowly expanded to a name tag with his name and picture along with the place he would be subsequently working at, 7-11.

"Dude," they briefly stopped walking before he raised his fist up, offering him a fist bump. "Congrats man!" his friend accepted and performed the fist bump. They started walking again with a more positive atmosphere around the duo. "Since when did you get the job dude?"

"Since like, yesterday Joh."

"And you didn't tell any of us?"

"Heheh, kinda forgot. Got exhausted with all that walking y'know?"

"Ehh, valid." They kept on walking. Where they will go they don't know, they felt like exploring at the moment. 'Stretch them legs' they said, 'it would be fun!' they said. And y'know what? It was. They managed to reach an area around the city where it aligned just right for them to see the ship's numerously enforced glass section to see the utter dark and beautiful abyss that is space. They both wandered a bit and finally found a park bench. As they sat down to rest, asked had a question in mind.

"So...when are you going to work?" he inquired

"Hmm...today's a Thursday right?" he questioned back

Rumaging through their pockets to find their cellular device, Joh got to it first. "Hahah!" "Dang it man."

"Hmm, yeah it is." he answered, Jacob could see that it was currently 2:37pm

"Then I'll start working by Monday, up until Friday I believe." Jacob finally answered while doing the Thinker pose. "Probably got the short end of the stick honestly. All of them being night shifts."

"Might be the reason why they hired YOU of all people." they both chuckled and just observed the scenery before them. Predacity Park's resume certainly didn't lie after all.

.

.

.

"We're back y'all." Jacob announced while stretching his upper torso. Joh did that as well but to a lesser degree. "Did you had fun you two?" the staff member, Jeetro, asked. "More than I thought it would actually." Joh replied while going to the community T.V. to watch with his other friends. Didn't know he was such a sports guy not gonna lie, thought he would like nature documentaries or something.

For Jacob on the other hand, he decided to fetch himself some water by the cafeteria. The water here certainly tasted weird for his taste but considering that it was filtered water, it made him not to question it at all. One of the more older folk, Renuld, spotted him whilst eating some soup and was called by him. 

An older fellow compared to the rest of the people that worked/lived here by being 156 years old, he had a brown beanie and a can on his lap. He wore a checker brown sweater with a maroon long sleeved shirt. He was eating what looks like grey oatmeal as he ate another spoonful of the stuff, clearly liking it. As Jacob was about to leave he noticed him and spoke to him loudly.

"What's up Jacob!" he said, his voice barely being heard by Jacob made him slowly turn around to notice the old coot. "Hey there Renuld, enjoying your meal I see." he spoke to him in turn, with some amusement in his tone.

"Heh heh, always have been." Renuld said before eating another spoonful of the stuff. "So, what did you call me for anyway?" Jacob said as he walked towards Renuld and sat down near him. "Nothing nothing. Just wanted to see what's gotten into you lad."

"Hmm?" clearly confused by his statement, he proceeded to question his reasoning, "Why so?" "Well you see lad," he said before swallowing his food and stared right at Jacob's 'eyes', "I can see whatever lies beneath that face of yours lies sadness and regret." he revealed unexpectedly. This caught Jacob by surprise, clearly not expecting such assumption from the old man and be actually right. He stammered and stuttered scrambling or an excuse before being calmed down by Renuld.

"Hush child!" he scolded with a stern voice, "I may be old but I know a thing or two about depression." he finished while waving his spoon at Jacob's face. He placed the spoon down and continued. "You got to find reason to live in this life of yours. Be happy with yourself, you're not a burden to anyway you hear me!". Clearly taken aback but appreciated his sentiments, Jacob nodded before speaking to him.

"I...I'll take your word for it." despite having none of those things that plagued his mental space, at least the ones that he knows of, played along. "Oh and before I leave," Jacob intentionally droned his words purposefully to insinuate tension, or in this case, attention. "Do you know a therapist by chance? I don't know how to use the technology we have today thanks to this being a sore in my hind." he said while tapping his skull when he spoke of the latter.

"Hmm, a therapist you say? Never heard of that before I'm afraid." "Wha-huh? Then how would people get things off of their chest that they don't want others to know or someone to guide them through their struggles then??" 

"Aah, I see." he finally understood where he was getting that, "Well, we don't really need that anymore when we got our own personal friend by our side at all times."

"And who is this 'friend' then?" he retorted in high skepticism 

"Are you serious right now sunny? It's them A.I.s that have been sweeping the market again at recent times. Robots if you will, Androids even. They said that and I quote, "They would replace the need for true friends". Personally, I think this is a load of baloney. They said the same thing 3 decades ago and didn't 

"Oh, I see. Guess I've been hit in the head too much then huh"

"And, that's why I wanted to talk to ya lad, to see how much your injury improved despite current circumstances."

"Thanks for worrying for me old man and don't worry about me. Once I hit rock bottom, the only way I would go is up."

"That's the positive thinking I'd like to see from you!"

"Heh heh, thanks. Oh and by the way." he said before he actually went, he showed Renuld his name tag and that got his mood higher.

"Congrats lad, it's not every day you see someone get a proper job in this day and age in this homeless shelter." he said before smiling at his name tag and inspected it. "7-11 ey? Good luck with that." he stated before returning Jacob's name tag 

"I'll do my hardest to keep up the pace then old man." he said before grabbing his name tag from his open palm. "'Till next time old man." he said before walking back to the door he came from, waving his hand back and forth while doing so.