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Silent Day
“How was the show?” asked Cole, putting in a real effort to guess the volume of the rapidly vacating venue.
-Sometimes I wish I had your ears-
The text floated across the bottom right of Cole’s eyes, not obscuring the smirk Babs wore.
“That bad, huh?”
-All the tech in the world and sad boys still think their soul, a uke, and some shitty poetry is enough-
Cole smiled. Babs hated throwback bands and The Port had gotten a lot of them recently. The nostalgia wave being pushed now helped.
-You ready for The Mounties tomorrow?-
Cole’s face dropped. His world shrunk as he did: His hands, winding the electrical cords that didn’t belong to tonight’s “band”, his feet meandering back and forth as he stood in place, the silence of everything else a constant, as always.
A hand touched his shoulder.
-I’m sorry, love. Corpo’s still holding onto your ears past then?-
Cole looked up at Babs. She was so beautiful, even in the dingy light of a post-show haze at The Port, he could see everything that made him fall in love with her two years ago. “Yea,” he said, not hearing his own voice. “Nostalgia wave or no, we’re not making more here.”
Even forlorn, Babs was beautiful.
-You’re working that day though, right?-
“No reason not to. Not like I can hear the show to enjoy it.” Cole stopped and looked up. “Ah shit, I’m moping again, aren’t I?”
-You’ve got a right to.- Babs gave a soft smile.
“Nah, I got myself into this mess. We still headed to your ‘rents’ for Xmas tomorrow?”
-Smooth transition. You actually forget?-
“Course not. You still set on this whole ‘no gifts’ thing?”
She shot him a glare. -Fuck the corps. No gifts-
“Damn,” he said with feigned surprise. “Understood, ma’am.”
She socked him on the shoulder. -My place tonight?-
“Yup. Just gotta stop off somewhere after work quick, then I’ll be there.”
Babs gave Cole a knowing look, but there was only love behind those eyes. He wondered how he’d gotten so damn lucky. She turned away and got back to work cleaning up the stage. It took him a little longer to pull away. With one sense gone, he found himself savoring the others. Cole didn’t want to look away.
The work of The Port was easy. It was monotonous: setup, tear down, clean, repeat. But damn, it was better than the corps. Cole had never made it far up the Corpo ladder. He felt it breaking him, felt the pressure and didn’t want it. Babs’ parents never understood, but at least they were kind to Babs about the decision. Cole kept himself from scowling as he remembered the last conversation her father had with him. He resisted all temptation to find the messages. Can’t take back a text.
His parents weren’t around to give a shit about his situation.
What he hadn’t prepped for leaving the Corpo world was the exchange in pressure. Work stress became financial stress. More free time tried its hardest to become more free time to worry. He didn’t have to wake up early anymore - it was a detriment working shows at The Port - but he still shot up before the sun cleared the farside tower wall of City 2. He didn’t need an alarm. He had his mind.
He’d always had his mind.
He’d gotten much closer to it in the last six months. That was when he’d gotten [the notice]. A malpayment standing stamped on his record long enough that the corps were allowed to remove “features.”
His gig at The Port lost one of its major perks.
Cole looked over to see Babs. She wasn’t there anymore, must be backstage, but The Port hadn’t lost all its perks. He smiled, unable to help himself.
Before he turned back to leave a message notice popped up in his view. It wasn’t more than a tiny green blip at the lower righthand side of his sight, but it was impossible to miss. He turned to look around before accepting. Babs was the only person he had set up who could automatically send him messages without any firewall blocking. It took expensive filters to do more than the seediest of ads, but Babs had found a workaround for Cole and now he really only got notices from real messages. A green light though, that meant the person was local.
Trenton was behind him, grinning.
Cole rolled his eyes at his boss and accepted the message.
-You ready for the Mounties show?-
Man, that grin just would not stop. The hell was wrong with Trenton?
“Sure,” said Cole. “As much as I can be.” he gestured to his ears.
That grin didn’t fade.
-Check your accounts when you head out, alright?-
Cole tried to hold any excitement, but he got why Trenton would be happy for him.
“You’re awful at secrets,” he said.
-Kept it this long, didn’t I?-
Then Trenton gave him a hug. The hell was this job? Cole smiled. This was what you got when you left the Corpos.
-Get those ears back, man. Merry Xmas-
Not being able to hear when you worked in the music industry broke everyone’s heart.
He finished work and as he walked out into the hot night air of the city, checked his accounts. A real smile now, unhidden. They’d gotten a Xmas bonus. Payment always went in day-of. Todays came with a little card that took up the entire right side of Cole’s vision. He smiled, knowing there was a jingle he couldn’t hear, blaring into everyone else’s ears as they left. The numbers in his account didn’t go up enough, but Cole still smiled. Trenton tried. There was not much to be made in the little venue and she shared what he could. No ears back for The Mounties but that was alright. Those digits did trend in the right direction. He nearly skipped his next step but would never admit to being that happy. Not outside in the sprawl. Not in the city. It was something though.
He walked to the station under an ever glowing sky. LEDs blinked and battled incessantly against the little darkness remaining of the night and against each other. Cole kept his eyes down. No one had put ads on the pavement that couldn’t get scuffed up with mud and grime yet so there was enough reprieve just watching one foot go in front of another and take him past the rail station home. Now he did smile.
He wasn’t going home. not yet. It was Xmas season. Cole would never lie to Babs with malice in his heart, but a lie from love? He turned down well trodden alleys, ignoring the calls from ads above him and people around him with ease. A Perk of his disability that the Corpos surely didn’t care about giving him. No ears for ads. He wondered if there’d ever been a study on the deaf buying less crap. Maybe another for the blind. Surely there had been, that’s why everyone in debt didn’t lose “features” only special cases like Cole, because everyone was in debt.
He turned down a final alley and tried to push the corps from his mind, looking up for the first time and seeing exactly who he wanted to see. A green light blinked at the corner of his vision.
-Mr. Cole! Welcome, welcome. You bring the ring?-
“Sure did,” now Cole could not hide his grin. Trenton’s little gift wore off on him. “And I think we can adjust that payment plan we discussed.
Mr. Hatchi’s eyes lit up. The old man wasn’t a jeweler perse, but he ran a little electronics and chemical shop. Through a friend of a friend, Cole had heard about the little old wizard. He could do nearly anything with metal, a soldering iron, and time. He could also supply quite the variety pack of psychedelics, but Cole figured that information could come in handy for another holiday. right now he focused on the ring. Fishing in a hidden pocket, two layers deep in his pant leg, he pulled out the artifact.
-Oh, this is wonderful- said Mr. Hatchi on Cole’s vision.
“Yea? It’s old world. her great great grandma had it or something. I could be missing a few greats.”
-Your estimates were good. Stones I made should fit well. You certain on the colors?-
“Yea. I don’t want the new rocks to copy the original one left, just fit in.”
-Yes, yes. I’ll be right back-
Mr. Hatchi took the ring and disappeared behind the metal shop wall. Cages descended over any open merchandise automatically. Nice security.
Cole still smiled. Bab’s had told him about the ring and how it’d been passed woman to woman in her family for over a century now. It wasn’t filled with monster jewels or crazy material but there had been nearly a dozen small gems in it at one time, all surrounding a larger center stone.
All that remained now were three of the little clear diamonds. Years aren’t kind to people and everyone is in debt. They’d sold the stones for what little they could get over time. Now the ring was more metal and sentiment than anything else.
Cole wanted to try and fix that.
‘”No presents,” my ass.’ he thought with a silent chuckle.
-Repayment center should have been your first stop, kid-
The message came through automatically. Cold washed over Cole. Before he could turn around, Mr. Hatchi returned from the back of the store. His eyes widened in a flash of fear before settling back in a faux calm.
Cole felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see two large men in suits. Enforcers.
-Thinking you can get that much dosh in your account and not pay it forward is pretty stupid.-
The text was a slightly different font from the first enforcer. Both could message him without any approval.
-And what have we here?- said the first. He said something out loud. Cole saw his lips move as he reached around towards the counter.
“No!” shouted Cole. “Mr. Hatchi, you can’t give that to him!”
-He can.-
-Calm down son-
“No.” whimpered Cole. It was no longer a shout. There was nothing he could do.
The men looked at the ring.
It was beautiful. Hatchi had done a phenomenal job. Colored stones reflected light in a warm way, causing it to dance around the remaining diamonds and highlighting the little warmth left in the worn gold. It was everything that Cole had wanted for Babs.
He saw the enforcers talking to Mr. Hatchi before handing him the ring back. There was no moment of calm though. There wasn’t an instant Cole thought things were ok.
Mr. Hatchi started to remove the stones.
Cole jumped up. “What are you doing!”
Two heavy hands pressed on his shoulders and forced Cole to still once again.
-Calm down, kid-
-Payment towards your debt.-
-We will also be garnishing your account. can’t let that get too high or you’ll never hear us coming for you.-
He felt the man laugh through the hand on his shoulder. He only saw the ring. they were stripping the remaining original stones too.
-We’ll give you market value for these, but don’t get any ideas that shiny shit pays your debt. Get working for some real dosh before we start taking away other features.- Another laugh. one of the enforcers held out his hand and Mr. Hatchi dropped all the stones into it.
Cole felt tears well up in his eyes but none fell further. He saw the sadness in Mr. Hatchi’s gaze.
He didn’t see the enforcers after they left.
-Don’t let your account hit that high without repayment again.-
Cole turned to leave after they had gone but stopped at a tug on his shirt.
Tears fell when Mr. Hatchi handed him the golden band that had once been Babs’s ring.
-I am sorry- said Mr. Hatchi’s message. -we can discuss payment plan again.-
Cole held up a hand. “Maybe,” he said, “maybe later.” He was glad he didn’t hear the sniffle he let out to pull the sadness back within his eyes.
It was a long walk home as the sun came up.
LED advertisements grew brighter to combat the daylight, but all Cole saw was pavement.
All he heard was silence.
It was a long day alone. When Cole couldn’t bear to stare at pavement anymore, his feet took him towards Babs’s place.
-Hey love! You’re early :)- her message bubbled across Cole’s vision as she opened the door and he wanted to let the tears out once more. There was no rain to lose them in. He didn’t want to go another step without talking to her. Dammit he just wanted to talk to her, not read messages.
Cole held out his hand and showed the vacant ring within.
-Ohmygod, what happened? Are you ok?-
The tears came them.
Cole started to speak but Babs just pulled him into a hug.
-Come on inside, ignore the kerfuffle.-
He didn’t know what to ignore when she started to open the door, until he saw the small crowd inside.
Three green lights blinked at the corner of Cole’s vision.
-Ignore the surprise, take a seat, have some water.- said Babs. Her message came through without problem. Cole watched her talking to everyone as she reached for her water bottle to hand to him.
Cole saw that Trenton was here, along with Andrew, another workplace acquaintance - friend would be too much - and a woman he’d never met before.
“What’s going on?”
-Nothing to worry about, love. tell me what happened.- Babs sat beside him on the couch.
There was a machine and a computer sitting atop a four wheeled cart in the center of the room by the strange woman. Wires ran out from the machine.
“No, I think I’d rather know what happened here first,” said Cole. Babs laughed. He didn’t hear it but he saw the smile.
-I guess that makes sense- she turned away and said something to the crowd. Cole only had eyes on her now. - Trenton wants to know if you want a drink. Says you need one. I assume you haven’t read any of their messages yet?-
“No, I haven’t’. A drink sounds good.”
Trenton sprung to action in Cole’s periphery.
-remember how I said no presents? I lied.- Babs actually looked a loot ashamed as she said it.
“Me too, said Cole. tears wanted to fight up as he said it. Trenton appeared and gave him a whisky. “I’m so sorry Babs. the Corpo’s took your last gems.”
-How’d they even get the ring?-
“I was taking it to get reset with stones. it was going to be your Christmas gift. Corps saw the jump in my account and followed me. they drained my bonus too.”
Cole saw Trenton shout something and Babs snip at him to calm down. -Still no hearing though?- she messaged him.
“No... it wasn’t even a drop in the bucket.”
He wanted to cry once more. Cole didn’t care about the people in the room. He’d cried in front of Babs and that had been fine. Their relationship didn’t give a shit about that, and he didn’t care if anyone else saw, but something within him still wanted to hold in the tears. he looked up to see Babs smiling.
there was a little mist near her eyes.
-That’s good then. My present wasn’t a waste.-
“Your present?”
Cole saw Trenton shout something and both Andrew and Babs snap at him to calm down.
-Wanna listen to The Mounties next shift?-
“What do you mean?”
-Andrew’s friend Sarah here can bring back your hearing-
Cole jumped up. “What?”
-It might not be permanent, but there’s workaround’s to the corps system. She says it should work for a while, and maybe we can revisit if it ever fails. they shouldn’t even know that you got your ears back.-
Cole was about to hug her when he opened his hand and saw the ring. He fell back into the couch.
“I don’t deserve this,”
-Fuck off with that, and get over to her chair- said Babs. Cole didn’t need to look to see the smile on her face. He did anyway.
He walked over and let Sarah start the work.
It hurt more than he thought it would, but there was no need to confirm when it worked.
The voices of the room slowly increased in volume. First, a whisper, nearly as loud as anything Cole had ever heard, then as it grew louder, scale of sound returned. Andrew and Trenton were talking, with Babs occasionally adding in a remark. Sarah was silent as she worked.
Babs looked over as sara started to remove electrodes from Cole.
“Did it?” she started and the room grew quiet.
“Babs?” said Cole. The tears were starting again.
-Yes love?- came a message as she stood up and approached him. The room was silent, but it really wasn’t. No one spoke but the hum of the world outside continued. The sounds of neighbors walking upstairs and ads playing on the exterior walls of the building never ceased. It all sounded so wonderful.
“I don’t think you need to message me anymore,”
“Yea?” she said, a few sprinkles of tears appearing on her eyes.
“Yea.”
They hugged and Trenton let out an audible too-loud “aww”
Cole heard Andrew slug Trenton’s shoulder to shut him up.
“I’m so sorry about your ring.”
“Shut up,” said Babs. “Its not important, and you still have the band.”
He would never get tired of that voice.
“You were doing something wonderful,” she continued, “I can’t believe you’d even do something like that with your debts. You’re so dumb. I love you.”
Cole hugged her harder.
“Can you say that again?”
“I love you.”
“Alright, alright,” said Trenton. “Enough lovey dove shit, Merry Xmas. Let’s get some drinks going. We’ve got a concert to listen to tonight!”
He went to pour everyone another glass and Cole looked at Babs once more.
“Merry Christmas, love.”
“Merry Christmas.”
Thanks for giving that a read! Check out another Cyberpunk story here!
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Love ya!
Max