The next day, I decided to get up early.
I had noticed the day before that Ian often woke up early and finished his work
by noon. That sounded pretty good to me. Ian often chose to pull weeds. When I woke
up, he was already out there, so I hurried to get ready and ran over to him.
“Hey
man, can I help you pull weeds?” I asked.
“Sure
thing,” he smiled, “It’s would be nice to have company.” We then began to pull
weeds. I didn’t think I would enjoy it as much as I did. I mean, it could have
been the company, but it really wasn’t that bad.
I was still very
intrigued by Ian’s happy nature. Maybe he had found his place or something. “So
what all brought you here?” I asked.
Then Ian began
to explain, “Well I’ve only been here on this Island for about ten days.” I was
shocked when he said that. I remember being pretty frustrated; almost anything
but happy. “When I got here I was pretty confused but, I made my way to this
place. I don’t know what it is about pulling weeds, but I’ve been enjoying it
here. Maybe I just enjoy the simplicity of it. It isn’t too stressful. I know
my job, and when I finish I can go read and relax. And I get to do this all
while I am being fed and paid.”
“That makes
sense,” I said although I was really wishing he was happy because he found
meaning. Not that I was upset that he at least found a place to be comfortable,
but it felt like he was growing content in a place I really wouldn’t care to
work in forever.
“Yeah, something
about having a simple life is appealing to me,” he continued, “I may just
settle down here. Sam seems like he is doing fine here, although he barely works
around here.” Ian and I both chuckled. “How long do you think you will stay?”
“I’m not sure,” I
explained, “We originally came here to earn some Coin.”
“Have you been
out in the city much?” He inquired.
“No. Have you?”
I returned.
“Yeah man, it’s
pretty cool. Would you all like to go with me tonight?”
“Well, I don’t
want to spend too much money, but I’d be up for a tour. I’ll ask the others
after work.” After I said that, we were on the final part of the area where we
were pulling weeds. We finished the job up and went back to the shed. By that
time everyone was out working. I decided to take a nap since I woke up early. I
noticed that Ian was doing the same.
It
was perfect timing when I woke up. Bro and Peyti were just coming in. “How was
work?” I asked cheerfully.
“Eh…” Bro
mumbled as he went straight for the shower.
“It was alright,”
Peyti shared, “We went with Tom and scooped up poop. I don’t think it was Bro’s
favorite thing to do.”
“Yeah
I wasn’t so fond of it either. Pulling weeds actually wasn’t that bad,” I said.
“Ian asked if we wanted to go out around the town tonight. I told him that we
didn’t want to spend much money and I’d ask you guys. What do you think?”
“I’m
up for it,” she said, “But I want to shower as well.” Soon after, Bro got out
of the shower and Peyti took his place.
“I’m
really tired,” Bro complained, “But I’ll go out as long as we don’t do too
much. I want to come back and sleep as well.”
“That’s
fine by me,” I said. Then we continued to relax until everyone was ready. Tom
and Sam also decided to join us.
When
we left, I quickly noticed that Socordia was not at all a beautiful place.
There was tons of litter in the streets. The people were not so appealing
either. I saw quite a few people in their pajama pants. I was starting to
wonder if it was the style. Even though it was weird, you felt like you could
relax. I thought back to my time in Luxuria-Fornicatio, and remembered how well
dressed everyone was. I realized that even though the city was a dump, here you
didn’t have to impress anyone. It was relaxed and there wasn’t much judgment.
Maybe that is what Ian saw in the place.
We
continued through the city. Ian was taking us to one of his favorite places
called “Neocortex.” He just kept raving about it. When we arrived I couldn’t
believe my eyes. The place was huge. It was at least fifty stories high and was
as wide as a stadium. We all had seen it at a distance, but we didn’t expect it
to be the same place that Ian was describing. When we got inside, the lobby was
filled with sections that looked like little bars. Ian took us up to one.
“I’ll
have a two hour boost.” He said. I was so confused that I only continued to
watch what was happening. Sam and Tom decided to get one as well for the same
time. Bro, Peyti, and I looked at each other and decided that we should save
our money as we had agreed earlier.
That
night was the beginning of a path our group was not ready to go down.
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