(Page 1 of 2) The Ephemeral Life part two by Michael Bird
 (3 ratings)
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SUMMARY: part two
http://Koncept.blog.com II.
Jazz.
Korban opened his eyes, blinked a few times and removed his eyegogles and neural 'trodes, and set them on his black custom console. He looked around his darkened apartment. He heard Jazz move in his old futon in the corner of the living room. His apartment was only two rooms with a small bathroom and a kitchenette, tiny considering Shryke stayed there most nights. The window had a black towel hung over it to block out he little bit of sun light that filtered down through the two kilometer building, and layers of smog that surrounded Korban's apartment building. Shit, Shryke was gonna flip when he saw Jazz he thought as he looked back at Jazz. He'd found her last night in the alley beside the Dungeon. They'd dated a few times months ago, but it hadn't worked out, she was a stim freak and he was a console cowboy. She'd come to his place one night when he was out with Shryke at the CyberDungeon, and cleaned out all his gear (leaving the old futon, it wouldnt pawn for a chit) and pawned it all for drug money. It had taken him a month to get it all back with his life savings. Shryke had warned him when he had first met Jazz, but Korban didn't listen he was a sucker for redheads in fish net stockings. Jazz was stoned, Korban was sure, she mumbled something and rolled over on the creaking old futon. Korban sat for awhile pondering what to do with Jazz and the avatar he'd seen in the matrix. He need to get a hold of Shyrke, find out if he knew anything about the avatar, but he was a little hesitant about jacking back in to the matrix, what would he do if the avatar was waiting for him? He checks his watch, then glanced back at Jazz. Shyrke would be at the Dungeon waiting for him by now. They were supposed to meet at 1300 hrs but he sure as hell wasn't leaving Jazz at his place alone. Damn it, Korban, why'd you have to bring her back here? He could've dropped he off at the police station, or the hospital, or hell just left her there in the alley. He stood up and walked to the fridge in the kitchenette, his posters sensing his movement, the holograms stored within animating Idorus started dancing, Anime and Manga characters moving in front of their posters, giant robots battling in destroyed cities, ancient bands playing old tunes, porn stars striping off their clothes in lurid dances.
The lights came on in the kitchen, Korban glanced in the fridge, seeing mold encrusted pizza, blackened, rotting, penicillin coated apples and oranges, old drank beers and caffeine drinks sat on (or in some cases melting through) the metal shelving. The smell coming from fridge made him gag; he'd have to clean it out soon. He shut the door and walked over to the cupboard and pulled out a cup of instant ramen, pulled the heat tab and removed the top. Steam billowed up with the smell of chicken ramen, Korban's stomach growled at the smell. He started to eat, but was force to stop when the vid-phone started beeping. He reached over to the wall unit and answered.
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