The Complete Karma Trilogy by Jude Fawley

Author:Jude Fawley
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2015-12-29T18:30:00+00:00

Decay 12

Maladjusted

FOR NEARLY A week, Aaron had been making a circuit around the city’s bars, finding ones that would serve him instead of reminding him about the Tax. They always gave him one or two drinks and then became philanthropists, so he would stand up, walk to the next bar, and have his next drink or two, before continuing his cycle. Even drinking was starting to seem like a chore to him, because he had to develop a system just to do it, but it had the benefit of being entirely unrewarding, which was all that he was looking for. His credit was the lowest it had been since he had gotten the Card, and it made him smile whenever he looked at it, stumbling through the dark, thankless streets of New York City.

There was one bar he had been in, three days earlier, when a cop had shown up looking for him. He had been sitting at the counter, deprived of a third drink, and had decided to watch the television for a little bit before moving on, just to see what the world looked like for a second. The cop sat down next to him, and inspected his face.

“Can I help you, sir? You’re staring,” Aaron said, not looking away from the television.

“Are you an Aaron Fawley?”

“Only until I can find out how to stop.”

“That isn’t funny, Aaron. You, exactly as you are, have a lot to offer this society. You just need to change directions a little. My name is Will Spector.”

The man had stuck out his hand, and even though Aaron passionately hated him already, he took the hand and shook it. He should have wiped his own hand first though, he realized. It was just beer, only beer, or maybe condensation, but it was still embarrassing to shake with a wet hand. A complete mistake. But it served the officer right, shaking a stranger’s hands without warning. He watched Will discreetly wipe his hand on his pant leg afterward, and smiled to himself.

Aaron continued the conversation of his own accord. “My next stop is Lucky Joe’s, down the road. What possible better direction is there than that.”

“You could go back to doing Good Works, Aaron. I would highly recommend that. I’ve seen the Rehabilitation clinics myself, for the first time just only the other day, and I can promise you that you won’t like them. I didn’t. I’m being more honest with you than I’m supposed to, because I care. I’m supposed to just tell you that you’ll go to a Rehabilitation clinic at your current rate, and let you make the decision, so that we can tell you that you were fairly warned. But I’m telling you personally that you don’t want to go.”

“I’ve always wondered what they looked like, those Rehabilitation clinics. Government doesn’t tell you much, other than that’s where you go to get fixed when you’re broken,” Aaron said, and laughed. “Did you say only recently? Are you new?”

“I am, yes,” Will said.

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