Chapter Two

November 30, 2076 - 1 day before release

Chris trudged down the sidewalk, a large bag of groceries in his arms. His mind had been preoccupied with Lily’s problems, and he had spent the last few days trying to come up with ways to help her. Since their parents had disappeared he had tried to take care of her as best he could, but there was only so much you could do. If he hadn’t already been running his little video game “side hustle” as a teenager, they would probably both be on government assistance, scrapping coupons just to eat.

The slight ping-pong sound of the ‘walk’ signal pulled him out of his reverie, and Chris trundled across the street. At least Awaken Online was releasing tomorrow, and that should give them some relief. If they’re lucky, he’d be able to pay off Lily’s debt, and that might make the air a little easier to breathe. He smiled a little and turned off the sidewalk, up onto the first steps of his apartment complex.

He trips over a person sitting on the steps, listening to headphones. Chris’s bag of groceries flew out of his hands and scattered his apples, peanut butter, and boxes of mac and cheese all over the steps and sidewalk.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” His sister said. “I was listening to music and wasn’t paying attention, gosh!” She pulled her headphones down around her neck and picked up the paper grocery bag.

“Hey, it’s okay.” Chris said. He watched one of his apples roll out onto the street and promptly get flattened by a passing driverless car. He nudged his chin toward the sticky mess on the road. “I couldn’t afford applesauce, so really you did me a favour there.”

“Sorry.” Lily tossed a box of mac and cheese between her hands, looking agitated. Her eyes darted between Chris and the box in her hands. “I was waiting for you, I should have been watching.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Chris said. “I’ve got it all back in the bag, nothing to worry about.”

“Hey, can we talk for a minute?” Lily looked up at him and pulled on a strand of hair.

“Sure,” Chris pulled his door key from his pocket. “Come on inside.”

Lily glanced at the door and a strange expression crossed her face. “Wait,” she said and sat down on the step abruptly. “Let’s talk here for a minute.”

“Lily, come on.” Chris said with a forced laugh. He tossed her a blueberry muffin before pushing his key into the lock and opening the door. “I don’t want to sit out on the front step, this bag is heavy.”

Chris left the front door open and walked up the short flight up stairs to his apartment. He looked back and saw Lily reluctantly following behind him. She seemed distracted, and was twisting her fingers around her left wrist in a motion as if she were spinning a bracelet. She spotted Chris looking back at her and immediately dropped her hands to her sides. Chris’s eyes narrowed slightly when he noticed this, well aware that itchy wrists was a clear sign of Sarcoline withdrawal.

He wondered if he really was doing as much as he could for her. He started to think about how much they had both changed since their parents disappeared, and in his distraction he reached out and completely missed the doorknob. Chris shook his head slightly to clear his thoughts and reached out again. This time, he noticed that the entire door handle had been broken off. A moment later he realized that his apartment door was slightly open, and broken.

“Chris, wait.” Lily said, her tone pleading for him to back away from the door.

“Lily stay back,” Chris said, his face dropping quieter. “I don’t think we’re alone.”

“I’m so sorry,” Lily sobbed into her hands. Her knees gave out and she sank to the floor, crying.

Chris frowned and pushed the door forward. Was Lily responsible for this? Well, he didn’t have time to think about that right now. The door eased open and Chris saw two men standing in the middle of his small apartment. Having clearly overheard Chris and Lily from inside the room, they stood facing the door. They were each wearing dark masks with only their eyes exposed, and one held a small handgun, pointed casually at Chris.

“You weren’t supposed to be home yet.” The gunman snarled. “Don’t try to be a hero.”

“Woah hey, it’s okay.” Chris said, raising his hands and stepping slowly into the room. He motioned for Lily to stay put, but with her face buried in her hands and her sobbing, he wasn’t sure if she noticed.

The gunman jerked his chin towards the other man, “Let’s go.” He motioned with his gun towards the door.

The other man leaned down and picked up a cardboard box from the floor, then walked out the front door. As the man passed him, Chris saw his new Vorpal Blades auto-farming computer was disassembled and lay in the box. Chris frowned and bit his bottom lip, holding his tongue. That was a good chunk of his monthly income they were stealing, but Chris knew better than to fight someone with a gun. At least they couldn’t steal his pedestal as it was built-in to the apartment.

The man with the gun locked eyes with Chris as he moved toward the door. “Thanks Lily, we’ll be seeing ya,” he said and was gone.

Lily shakily rose from the floor and stepped into the apartment. She pushed the door closed, and the broken handle slapped pathetically against the frame. “Chris, I’m so sorry,” she started.

“Stop,” Chris said. He was staring at the middle of the room where the men had been and suddenly realized that his fists were clenched, his knuckles white with the tension. He exhaled sharply and opened his hands. “Tell me the truth, Lily. You’re taking sarcoline.”

Lily’s gaze turned downward and her voice went quiet. “Yes. I owed them money. I helped them with a job to try to pay it back but… things didn’t go well.” Chris glanced up and saw tears forming in her eyes once more. Lily sat down at the kitchen table. “They said they would kill me,” she said.

“Okay,” he said with an eerie calmness.

“Chris, I have a problem.”

“I know. I’m going to help you.”

Lily looked up abruptly. “What? You’re not angry?”

“No. Yes.” Chris grimaced. “Of course I’m angry, Lily! You just lost me thousands of credits per month. There’s no way I can replace that thing!” He sighed and sat down in the chair next to her. “But you’re my sister. I know this isn’t you.”

“Chris, I-”

“Are you even now? Do you still owe them anything?”

“No. That’s it, I’m settled.”

“Good,” Chris said. “I have some money saved up. Legal credits, not cash. Enough to send you into therapy. If you really want to get well, you’ll do this.”

Lily nods and jumps up from the chair, throwing her arms around him. “I’ll do it! I will!”

“You need to do this for me,” Chris said. He paused for a moment, his sister sobbing lightly into his chest. Chris frowned, remembering that she’s said all of this before. Although, last time he didn’t have the money to get her professional assistance. Maybe this time he can finally come through for his baby sister in a way their parents never could.

Chris looked around at the mess of his apartment. Chairs were smashed, his bed was thrown up against the wall. All of his cupboards and drawers were pulled out and dumped on the floor. His small amount of savings was intended for emergencies, so he could pay his rent, buy food, keep everyone off his back. Now that he was using it all up for Lily… His mind turned back to the release of Awaken Online. If he couldn’t turn things around in AO tomorrow, he would have much bigger problems to deal with.