Novak McCain was standing looking over the edge of the tallest building in his sector. The lights and life below carried on as if life wasn't unbearable. He couldn't take it anymore. He'd refused to get augmented like most of the world's population making him somewhat of a mystery to others. Because of that most people looked at him suspiciously. He'd never wanted to replace his working parts for machine parts. It just didn't make sense to him. If it wasn't broken, why fix it. He ran a hand through his blood red hair as he sat on the ledge and reflected on his life. He'd never made an impact on the world. He had no one and he wondered what he could do to change it. He wasn't planning on killing himself or anything but something about being up there in the night sky helped him think. He lit a cigarette and the light of the flame shone in his blue eyes. (I gotta make a change in my life. Everything just sucks and I'll just be forgotten when I die.) He thought. (I guess it's time to quit that shitty job.) He figured that was a good start. He'd been planning to leave the city far behind and see what else was out in the world. (Maybe I'll even make a real connection with somebody.) He was a generally charismatic person but he couldn't seem to find anyone he genuinely wanted to spend the rest of his life with. He didn't have friends because all he seemed to do was work and take care of the basic necessities to live. He hated it. "Fuck this. It's time to make my life worth living." He said as he flicked his cigarette off the edge of the world. He went to stand up but his foot slipped and suddenly he was sailing through space. The wind rushing past his ears and he seemed to fall in slow motion. His meager, meaningless life flashed before his eyes. "Fuckkkkkkk!" He managed to yell before he met the ground and everything went black.
Thirty minutes later there were police and a crowd around his body. An unknown figure in a hooded trenchcoat stood on the sidelines waiting forhis chance. He sprung into action when the coroner showed up. He shrugged off the coat and followed the coroner up to the body, impersonating the coroner's assistant. "Come to scavenge again Gear?" The coroner said with a sigh.
"Something like that." Gear said with a grin.
"I don't know how they never seem to catch you. You're covered in piercings and tattoos." The coroner said shaking his head. "But I don't think you'll get anything here. This guy was a non-aug." The coroner was handed a file by one of the officers on scene. "No family. No friends. Another nobody that the city will pay to house until the burn date." He always hated cases like this.
"A no name non-aug suicide that nobody will miss?" Gear said with a smirk. "Perfect. I'll take him."
The coroner frowned at him as they lifted the body on the stretcher. "What the fuck'd you mean you'll take em?" He asked appalled. "What kind of sick shit you into these days?"
"Relax Rip. I'm not doing anything disgusting or selling the guy. I just got a little project I'm working on that could put me on the map and let me go legit."
Six weeks later Novak opened his eyes to bright lights in a dingy workshop. He struggled to move but nothing was responding. He started to panic when he remembered that he fell from the top of the building to the street below. (Oh no no no no. I'm paralyzed.) He panicked.
"Oh hey you're finally awake." A casual voice said from somewhere out of sight. A man with long straight brown hair came into view on a rolling chair. He had half of his head shaved with clear evidence of brain augmentation. He also had augmented eyes that were black with yellow rings in the center. His arms were also clearly augmented. "Hold still a moment man I had to do a shitload of work just to keep you living. I mean everyone thought you were dead. Or thinks. But I saw a little spark in you so I stole your body brought you here and saved your life." The strange man said as Novak felt his body suddenly come alive. Helooked around at himself then and saw he was strapped down to a metal table that was inclined to near vertical and he had over a thousand wires protruding from him. "What the fuck?" Novak demanded as panicked started to rise.
"Whoa relax dude. Like I said I had to do a lot to save your life. I mean you jumped from the tallest building in that sector so you pretty much ruined your old body. I saved what I could but don't worry about that. I'm not done fixing you up yet."
Novak groaned and lay his head back in frustration. "I didn't jump." He said seriously.
