DECEMBER NINETEEN
ZACHARIAS MATTEO
PLANET EARTH
YEAR 2115
Zach was standing before a tiny wooden door, apparently at the address Kiki had given him. He was about to chicken out, but came to his senses and decided that he’d rather hang out with the plague victims out here than Annie and his father.
He knocked.
“Name?” it didn’t sound like the anonymous voice of a Screen, rather a person. A woman.
“Zacharias Matteo,” he said.
“Who sent you?”
“Kiki Kovacs.”
“Wait here.”
He did, trying his best to appear casual in case someone would see him, even though the door was placed in a alleyway so disgusting he couldn’t imagine anyone having anything to do there.
It took a minute or two before he heard another voice he quickly identified as Kiki’s.
“You’re the NASA guy?” she asked.
“Personally, I’d call myself something more flattering than that.”
“It’s him,” he could hear her say to the other woman, before the door opened. He had barely stepped in before the door was closed behind him. Several locks were locked.
The other woman was short with pink hair and black dust around her eyes - he had never seen anything like it. “May,” she introduced herself shortly.
“Zach,” he said, expected a handshake, but she simple eyed him before walking away.
Kiki smiled at him, he couldn’t quite see her face in the darkness of the hall.
“Basement,” she said, pointing at another door. He obeyed, walking through a staircase that made him slightly claustrophobic.
Around twenty people were squeezed together in the narrow basement. About all of them judged him as he made his entrance.
“This is Zacharias-” Kiki begun.
“Just Zach,” he corrected her.
“This is Just Zach,” one side of her lip curled. “He might be in your interest.”
He didn’t know what to do, so he simply said the first thing that came to mind.
“Fuck the government.”
Kiki broke down laughing. It took her a moment to collect herself enough to carry on. “His father works for the government.”
Now this caught the -what had she called them? - punks attention.
“Roger Matteo’s my dad,” he said, eager to get them to like him, since they seemed to have a shared goal. “I hate him, I hate all of them.”
“Well,” someone in the back of the room said. “Welcome to the club then.”
“Cool,” he said, scratching his neck. “What do I do?”
Kiki turned to him.
“Spy for us, obviously. Give us information that can bring the government down, along with proof for the public.” She smiled, let out a fuckthisisgoingtobegreat to herself.
May was suddenly standing in front of him.
“I expect reports… let’s say twice a week.”
“Sounds reasonable.”
“Just…” May hesitated. “Do I have your word that you're not gonna’ snitch on us?”
“Of course. I promise.”
Kiki smiled at him. A smile that would’ve been able to convince him even if he loved his father.
