"Hey, watch where you're going!"
"Whoopsie, sorry," Karr exclaimed as he bumped past the hordes of people. The city hummed around him—steam vents hissing, brass pipes clanking, and above it all, the ever-present whir of mechanical motors blasting down from the airships drifting overhead.
"GET BACK HERE, BOY, " A voice boomed behind him. The banging of steel boots hammering against the pavement sent vibrations up his legs.
"Not in a million years. This is mine now, idiot!" Karr yelled as he slapped the stolen hardware strapped to his chest. Just as he pushed himself through the ocean of people and robots, he saw an alleyway to his left.
"FUCK YOU" he heard the man yell behind him. Karr laughed to himself. The scent of sizzling oil and chili paste hit his nose a second before— smack— a steaming plate of dumplings nearly took him out.
"Ahh, you got your dumplings on my mask!" Karr stumbled as a vendor shoved a steaming plate of dumplings in his face. "Buy or move!" the man barked.
"Yeah, yeah, sorry—" Karr swiped a fried dumpling and kept running.
A red laser dot flickered over his shoulder. Shit. The drones were locking onto his bio-signature.
Karr sighed. 'So rude.'
He rounded a corner and nearly crashed into a delivery drone puttering along its path. Inspiration struck.
"Oh, you're perfect," Karr said, yanking off his stolen jacket and throwing it over the poor thing. The drone gave a beep as the fabric draped over its front-facing camera. He stuffed a couple of handwarmers in the jacket's inner linings and dipped into an alleyway.
The security drones hesitated, just for a second, before locking onto the drone and whirring off in pursuit.
Karr leaned against the alley wall, hand to his heart. "Goodbye, my valiant stand-in. May your journey be swift and your cargo unimportant."
A distant crash echoed out from the streets; someone shouted about their missing dumplings. Karr winced.
The ground was slick with oil and grime, reflecting the blinking red cameras of surveillance drones perched like crows on the rooftops. He climbed on top of a dumpster, then over a railing. He took off a stolen uniform, a facemask, and a pair of fake Yuchi gloves. He shoved them into an oil puddle and set it all on fire.
"Welp." He straightened his fanny pack, adjusted his shirt, and sauntered back into the neon-lit city as if he'd never been chased at all.
Neon billboards flickered overhead, advertising the latest memory chips—"Why Study? Skip college! Implant and Know!" Towering buildings vomited smoke into the sky, and the scent of burning sulfur clung to everything.
A storefront caught his eye—a battered neon sign reading "Old Man Joko's Junk & Miracles" flickered above a cluttered window display.
Inside, a three-legged robo-dog barked at a customer, its tail wagging in a rhythmic, mechanical loop. "Adopt me! Adopt me! Adopt me!"
Karr smirked. "This city never ran out of weird."
As he turned the corner, a gust of steam shot up from a sidewalk vent, shrouding him in mist. He groaned and picked up the pace, weaving through the crowd as the distant hum of a patrol drone had his eyes glancing across the square.
By the time he reached his street, the noise of the city had faded to a low murmur. The flickering sign of "Starboard Square Housing – Affordable & Questionable!" buzzed overhead. He slipped into the narrow alley beside the building, took a deep breath, and stepped inside.
JingleJingleJingle
The doorbell made of cans rang as he stepped inside his house.
"Didya get it?" A voice sang as his little sister Imani slid into the room.
Karr took off his shoes, ruffeled his little sister's head, and chuckled, "Of course I got it. I'd never forget."
"How much was it?" Another voice asked.
"Don't worry, Dad. I'm charismatic as fuc–"
"Language!" His sister yelled.
He laughed, "Sorry, Imani. I was very persuasive." Karr pulled out the hydroxilator, "got this baby for 20 credits."
His dad looked like he was about to care, and then he shrugged it off, "Wash up, Karr, Imani. Dinners ready at 5."
He could already see Imani mocking him, but before he could do anything, Imani grabbed the machine and rushed down the stairs. "I'm gonna stash this in the workshop, Karr!"
Karr charged after Imani down into the open-air workshop.
…
Dinner eventually came around: green beans, stir-fried eggs, buns, and crisped pork cutlets.
"Thank you, Dad," Karr said as he began to sit down.
"Thanks, daddddd!" Imani yelled as she began to inhale food.
"Dig in, kiddos." His dad laughed.
It was silent for a moment, and then his dad said, "So, Karr, are you excited? You're turning 17 tomorrow."
"I mean I guess I'm just as excited as any other 17 year old," Karr replied.
"Have you given any thought to what you want to do? If you've made up your mind, we can pick up a memory chip tomorrow—save you the trouble of learning it the hard way," his dad said.
"You should know this by now, Dad!" Imani shouted, "He's gonna be an inventor, blah blah blah," she mused.
His dad laughed, "I'm sure he will be Imani." He paused. "Are you planning on doing mechatronics?"
Karr replied, "Most likely, I mean it's either that or machining, right? No one wants to do machining."
His dad laughed again, "Yeah, yeah, I don't see you as a factory type of kid."
His dad hesitated. "Just… be sure, alright? Some things shouldn't be too easy to forget."
Karr frowned, but before he could ask, Imani accidentally knocked over a glass. His dad sighed, already moving to clean it up.