Chapter
13
A Serialized Story of the
Not So Distant Future
April 22, 2005
Part Twenty Two
Much to his disappointment, Sam slept soundly the rest of the night. He awoke in the morning feeling refreshed, but still unaware of this other life he apparently had over the last ten years.
He was starving this morning. He made himself a breakfast of eggs, bacon and toast. As he ate, Sam realized that he was actually eating as much as a normal human being again."Woo Hoo! More bacon!" He said triumphantly.
With nothing better to do, Sam decided to take his bike out again. He rode down 77th street until he crossed Bay Parkway. From there he found himself on Avenue P and eventually onto Ocean Parkway. He decided to ride along the bike path there. He worked his way down the avenues, zipping around the occasional pedestrian walking along the path.
He was nearing the end of the bike path when he saw a bright pink
mohawk walking towards him.
"Hey! They let you out!" Sam exclaimed, before he remembered that
she had no idea who he was.
"Do I know you?" Dawn asked, with her leather jacket and punk image,
she was all attitude.
"Uh, no, sorry. I saw you on TV last week." Sam said.
"Wow really? My first fan!" She said smiling.
"Yeah, I guess. I'm Sam."
"Dawn." She offered her hand, and had a grip that was more powerful
than Sam's. "Nice bike. Ever join Critical Mass?"
"Uh, no." Sam said, "actually I just started riding again. I was in
the hospital for a long time and I need to build up my muscles
again."
"Oh, sorry to hear that." Dawn said.
"It's alright, at least I'm recovering." Sam said "So how long did
they hold you?"
"Oh that," Dawn said, "they only had me a few hours. My parents are
lawyers, my Dad works for the ACLU, so he got us out pretty quick."
"Really? My Dad did some work for them as well, but that was back in
the 70's or 80's."
"Yeah, well a lot of people are afraid to be associated with them
these days." Dawn said.
"Oh, it's not like that, he died back in 83." Sam said.
"Oh crap, I'm sorry."
"It's ok, I know what you mean though. I met one of my Dad's old
friends yesterday and he said that my Dad would not be happy to be
around right now."
"Yeah. So, are you an ocelot?" She asked, indicating his bike and
clothes with her finger.
"A what?" Sam didn't think she meant the large cat.
"Old Clothes Eccentric Loves Old Technology," she said, you look like all your clothes are pre RFID. Like this jacket I'm wearing, it's from the 80's, all my stuff's from before 2000."
"I guess I am, but not intentionally." Sam said. "I was actually in
a coma for ten years, so all my clothes are pretty old, and this
bike was actually my father's."
"Oh shit. I keep putting my foot in it, don't I?" Dawn said.
"Don't worry about it, so what's the big deal about RFID tags?"
"Pretty much everything these days has an RFID chip in it, and there are scanners everywhere: stores, the subway, you name it. If you get arrested, the cops can use the chips on your clothes to prove where you've been."
"Wow, I am so far behind the times." Sam said.
"If you're interested, you should come down to the Red Eye some night, it's on 4th and Smith, and bring an old PDA if you have one. One without any wireless service."
"Oh, yeah I do actually. I have an old Handspring."
"Excellent. If you're not into this stuff, you can at least make
some bucks selling your old clothes."
"I think I'll hang onto them, never know when I want to start a life
of crime." Sam joked. "It would really bug my brother, he's a
Homeland Security Agent."
"Let me guess, he's also a veteran."
"Yeah."
"And he's heavily involved in ARF?"
"Yeah, he is." Sam said.
"It's weird, so many of them are. There's a lot of conspiracy stuff about it. Everything from mind control to secret societies, they do tend to be more paranoid then the real cops, and of course they have a lot more power."
A ringtone started going off in Dawn's pocket, she pulled out a
small cell phone. "Hey. Oh yeah, I'm ok I've just been talking to
someone."
She looked at Sam: "I better go, my Mom worries that the Hoser's
will arrest me again."
"No problem," said Sam. "It was nice meeting you."
"You too." Dawn said, she started walking towards one of the
apartment buildings and Sam started riding towards home.
The Red Eye, Sam thought as he rode home. It sounded a little radical for him, and 4th and Smith were not the best part of town by any means, still it was great to know of some place that was ARF free.
When Sam got home, he was thrilled to see that his 3000.00 check had arrived. He decided to wait until tomorrow to try and deposit it anywhere. It was already after 3:00 and he needed to get ready for Tai Chi.
He made himself a quick PB&J and went upstairs to take a shower. His legs were a little stiff, and he wondered if going riding before Tai Chi had been a good idea.
After the shower, Sam laid down for a few minutes. He found himself struggling to move, as if he was swimming through molasses. He suddenly broke free and a huge light blinded him.
"WHOA!" He awoke, breathing hard. "What the hell was that?" He glanced at the clock, only a few minutes had passed. His heart was racing, so he got and got ready to go to Tai Chi class.
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