Steam

Coffee...

This place is weird. I've never seen it before. But then again, I've never left home before.

I know that I can't stay out in the open if I want to be free. I'm glad that it's dark out so that no one can see me quite so easily. But I'm pretty sure the government wouldn't out and out say that a monster was out on the loose.

I move my shoulder bag to the other side of my body as I walk down the sidewalk. I know that I'm not suppose to walk on the black part with the yellow strip in the middle. I've seen these 'cars' drive on them. They're like small versions of tanks without the cannon. I've battled in them and destroyed those tons of times. They're very easy to handle in my perspective but cars are so small I'm afraid I might break it.  But I asked Dr. Holman about the cars and he says that if I'm able to drive a tank, I can drive a car. I keep my head faced to the floor. I don't really know where to go at this point but I only want to be free. The sun starts to rise from above the mountain. My watch read 7:23 am in LED lights.

I don't really know where I am now, but I'm glad that I am out of the desert. It was always cold in the labs. I didn't have to wear horrible jumpsuits that preserve body heat. I simply usually wore double shirts and  jeans and my issued combat boots. I wasn't allowed to have any shirts with the outside people's common language. I was to wear simple clothes that would not draw to my attention.

I never really liked the captain's rules, but he is the captain. In fact, I never liked him. He is to control the entire neo-human project. He is the one that subjected me to this training. I could easily be mad at him, but I can't attack him. He is more powerful than me. My head starts to give my a striking pain in my temple. I'm thinking too much. 

From all my thinking I've lost track of my path. I look around as I see the slow leaking of the human race to ooze from their homes and out into the world. More cars are on the road, more people on the street. I'm in a small town it seems with a large population. I believe I saw a sign a while back that read 'Klamath Falls'. Seems like a nice place, to be honest. I look forward on the sidewalk and see multiple people going into a shop with a green sign. There's a lady spreading her tail or tails with long flowing hair and a crown.

I pull the door and walk into the shop. There is a long line of people waiting for something. I look around and I see many people on their computers or talking on phones. I hear hustling and bustling from behind counters. They wore green aprons and smiles. Some were real, most were fake.

"Hey. Aren't you going to move forward?" A man behind me poked my shoulder. The moment he touched me I grabbed his hand and bent his hand against his wrist until I felt the bones grind against each other. He started to whine in pain. "Hey! Ok ok! I'm sorry!" I let go of his hand and apologized. I moved myself to the back of the line. I don't really know what I was waiting for but I waited. I made my way to the front of the line. " Hi. Welcome to Starbucks. How may I help you?" A woman asked. She seemed to be a college student around my age. The nametag on her black shirt said 'Jessica".She was giving me a real smile, but I don't know why she would be happy to see me. " Uh, hi." I reply. I stood there silently and looked around. Jessica seemed to be getting somewhat nervous. "what will you order today? We have a special on our Venti cups today." "Twenty what?" She looked back confused. " Twenty ounces of coffee miss." "This is a coffee shop?" I asked as I looked up at the menu. " Yes, miss. We are a coffee shop nationwide that is known for having amazing coffee." I looked for an ingredient that suits my taste and see something that says caramel.  " I will have that caramel drink. The hot one." Jessica typed on the screen in front of her. She had brown hair tied back into a tight, medium length ponytail. She wore small black earring studs that matched her black nails.  " Will that be a tall, grande, or venti?" I looked at the cups to the left of me. They read tall, grande, and venti under the cup of its size. "Medium," I say gruffly as I point to the cup. " I like your nails." I say softly. Jessica smiled and said a joyful thank you. " I like your tattoos. What are they? If I may ask." She looked very curious as I rubbed my forearm. 

I rolled up my flannel sleeves and show my tattoos and scarring. On my left forearm was fire signs from alchemy to Native American symbols and back.  On my right was the same only with water signs. Across my arms were slashes and small burns. I saw her hands reach out tentatively. I heard a grumble from behind me from the man that I bend his hand backward. I clear my throat which brings Jessica back to earth. "Oh. I'm sorry. That will be $5.05." I reach into my bag and look for my wallet. I gave Jessica ten dollars and received my change. "And what name should I put it under?" My eyes widened at the question. I don't have a normal 'name'. I was only called subject seven. I look at my feet and stall. " Um, my name? Well, um... Seven." "Seven?" Jessica said surprised. "I've never heard a girl named Seven. Ok. I will call you up when your coffee is done. Please wait."  Jessica still smiled genuinely towards me. I gave her a small smile and left to go sit down.

I fix my sleeves and sat down by a solitary table. I watch as more people come in through the door and order an interesting assortment or shots and mixes for their coffee. These people seem like hard working business people. A mix of blue and white collar come to this establishment. I should do research on it, later on, today. I hear Jessica call out my name. I turn to her and find her already looking at me. She smiled enthusiastically to me as I came up and grabbed my cup. She placed her hand over mine gently. I look up quickly to see her intentions. "Don't forget your receipt." She says shyly. She slid the paper to me and slowly removed her hand from mine. The thin paper had black writing on the back. She smiled sweetly and gave me a small wink before she left to attend to another customer. 

Well, that is interesting.

I take the paper and my coffee and sit back in the corner of the shop. It was a small little booth in the corner of the store. The light from the sun hadn't reached the back of the shop where I was sitting. I slowly sipped my sweet coffee and turned the receipt over. The name on the paper read Jessica and the numbers below read 541-5397

Oh god she's gay. That's not a bad thing. She is, quite attractive.

I shrug my shoulders and put her number into my flip phone. That reminds me, I need to buy an anti-tracking chip. I take a long sip from my coffee and monitor the Starbucks. I'll leave once I finish my coffee. Meanwhile, I can see if Jessica is what I preceive her to be; a nice person that takes an interest in me.

This can be interesting.