CHAPTER 5: The Market

Toledo ventures into an underground tech black market in search of a being with very particular tools.

The next few days passed in a daze. Toledo didn’t leave his office. He ate very little, ordering only one meal a day, for lunch, and usually only picking at its contents.

His assistant Shuri tried to lighten the mood by playing some of his favorite music from his neo-jazz playlists, but Toledo kept lowering the volume. There was a darkness cast over everything. Even when Toledo looked through his auto blinds and out the window, there was a dark haze cast over the city.

Toledo didn’t have much casework, but he ignored the little he did. He spent most of his time on his back, stretched out on his second hand sofa, watching the shadows and light dance on the ceiling.

One afternoon, Toledo’s fog was interrupted. He had just received the delivery drone at the window. So starved and out of rhythm, he ripped into the sandwich wrapper as the delivery drone was still attached to the window and printing out a 50% coupon for Toledo’s next order. After Toledo bit into the sandwich, it was like he had forgotten how to eat. He began wheezing and hacking, as a small bit of breading from the lab-grown sandwich had found its way down the wrong pipe.

As he hacked, Shuri offered to call the paramedics. Such was her programming in human emergencies. Toledo refused. Instead, he went about his coughing and poured water down his throat.

In a violent burst, he gave one final, emphatic hack, which had the effect of dislodging the bit of chicken sandwich. Toledo grimmaced. Even the basics of life had grown tedious and perilous.

Walking over to retrieve the bit of sandwich, Toledo noticed a metallic shimmer on the woven rug. Ignoring the chicken, he moved his fingers around the shimmer and discovered a tiny capsule about the size and shape of a grain of rice.

Toledo’s eyes narrowed at the offensive metal.