The Apprentice of Arabella

by Matthew Kent

The public transportation, at least from the south side of town, could best be described as tired. I found a seat with my back to the bulkhead and let the train’s acceleration push me into the worn out cushion. I think the old pile of leaves would have been more comfortable. By this time it was around two in the morning. Public transports ran twenty-four hours a day but the late evening had reduced trains and buses. I looked like a bum, dirty and disheveled, like I had been in a fight with a tree and lost.

  At one of the stops, a young woman got on. Pretty, fair haired olive skin tones and these beautiful chocolate brown eyes, I’m a sucker for great eyes. She looked my way and I smiled at her. Well I smirked my lips. She looked down to the other end of the train. There were some young wolves, wanna be gangers. She turned back toward me and took a seat. The doors closed and the gangers started to move towards us. I hoped I was wrong about what was coming. But as often proves the case its far easier to be a pessimist, all of your surprises are good ones.

  “Hey baby you wanna come party with me tonight?” Started the one I’d consider as the leader of the crew . She ignored them. “I said do you wanna party with me tonight?”

  She looked around, then raised her hand and pointed to herself, then replied. “Mae'n ddrwg gennyf nad wyf yn siarad ffŵl.” I was surprised, I knew the language, where she would have learned Welsh I had no idea. I'm sorry I don't speak fool. “Os gwelwch yn dda gadewch lonydd i mi neu bydd yn gorfod galw'r heddlu.” Please leave me alone or i will be forced to call the police.

  I broke into the conversation. “Byddech yn hoffi rhywfaint o gymorth?” Would you like some assistance?

  They all turned to me, startled. “Yr wyf am ei adael unig.” I just want to be left alone. She said then I heard a metallic click from the pocket her right hand was in.

  “What did she say?” the leader said I wasn’t sure what race he was but he was taller than I was and I could guess he was in much better shape, one of the BLS apes I’d heard about. Gangers paid to sit on their ass and not commit crimes, wonderful idea there.

  I looked at her then looked at him. “She said she doesn’t speak our language and just wishes to be left alone.”

  “Tell her I want her to go to a party.” I Yawned in the gangers face, but I did cover my mouth, it had already been a long day.

  “She heard you and didn’t understand you the first time. She’s tired and wants to go.” I looked behind him and smiled. “Fellas looks like one of the transis is coming in the next car, I think he’s calling for back up. I don’t want trouble and I know you don’t either. So how about we all take our seats” I was trying to be diplomatic.

  They looked behind them and spotted someone in the next car wearing a dark blue-black uniform. “This ain’t over,” he said as they returned to the seats on the other side of the car.

  “A allech fynd yn ei flaen a bod ymddieithrio cyn mae ei dynnu sbardun?”

  Could you go ahead and disengage that before you pull the trigger. I nodded as I sat back in my seat.

  “Os ydynt wedi dechrau unrhyw beth byddwn wedi bod yn fy hawliau i amddiffyn fy hun.” If they had started anything I'd have been in my rights to defend myself. I cocked my head at her then nodded.

  “You would have.” I said in Welsh then switched to english “But then the police would have hauled you in and probably started an investigation that would have taken months.”She looked at me trying to make me think she didn’t understand. “It’s ok, your secret is safe with me,” I replied smiling and as she looked down blushing. I watched the young wolves as the slunk off at their stop. “They’re gone now” I said to her.

  “How did you know?” was her soft reply.

  I shrugged, it was hard to put an intuition into words. “Welsh isn’t that common I guess was the big clue.” She snorted. “Then there was the look you gave both of us.”

  “Yeah its not that common anymore.” She nodded. “How did you learn it?” She inquired giving me a look.

  “I knew a Sheppard over there, my family bought wool from for years. He refused to speak English so I had to learn Welsh to make the deals with him.”

  “Thank you,” she replied as her forehead crinkled. “By the way, what is your name?”

  “James,” I said smiling. “And may I ask yours?”

  “I’m Eira,” She said, sticking her hand out. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  “For some reason, I don’t think this is your usual commute.” I said.

  “Yeah, it’s not. I was trying to locate something at an estate sale I’d heard about. I got wrapped up and it got late. A little to late” she said apprehensively. “Its sad when the world is down to looking for ugly old jewelry in old ladies jewelry boxes.”

  I nodded. I’d spent some time looking up the need for silver. Rebi had understated the problem. New America had very little mining going and then it was in a few select areas. Most consumables came from outside the US, while our farming and agriculture provided food for around the world. The small family farm had been replaced by corporate farms fifty years ago. Me, I was an anomaly. I had raised pecans and had a small garden for my own use. Trust me an acre is a small garden until its time to weed it.

  “So, you were looking for silver.” I said expressionlessly.

  “Yeah, last year I knew someone who found three ounces of it in a sale.”

  I nodded. “You should be checking the flatware in the dining rooms, too.” I commented.”Some of the old stuff was silver.”

  She laughed at that. “I’ll give that a try at the next sale.” She looked up at the next stop announcement. “This is me, I’m going into work a little early to grab a nap before I start in the morning, I have a hot tip on a farming site.”

  “Psysoft?” I asked and she nodded.

  “If you play look me up. I’m SnowBright” I made note of her name.

  “I don’t play yet, but that’s hopefully in the cards for me tomorrow.” I said “Hey, good luck, and hope you find a ton.” I waved at her as she left the car. Then I settled in and looked at the time. It was two in the morning. A hell of an early time to go in to work but who knows.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Chapter 4

  I managed to get a little rest before going into the offices of Psysoft, I had even gotten a chance to clean up. In my opinion I went from looking like a bum to looking like I was coming off a hangover. There was only so much I could do to clean myself up properly in a transit restroom.

  The offices were in the uptown area of Old Atlanta called Buckhead, I never knew why and didn’t care to much. The office was a high rise off of Old Peachtree, not to be confused with West Peachtree, New Peachtree, Peachtree Industrial or any of the others. No seriously, I think who ever laid out the roads worshiped peach trees.

  The lobby was a three story glass, steel, and stone monstrosity that was about half a baseball field in size. The walls were festooned with banners showing different characters I had seen in videos for the game. The colored characters were almost larger than life. I approached one of the receptionists and asked if I might speak with an acquisitions representative. “I’m sorry, sir?” She asked in an effort to clarify my request.

  “I’m not sure exactly who I am looking for,” I replied It looked down at my tablet and the email Rebi had sent me. “I was directed to speak to a Mr. Jamerson?” I said a note of inquiry in my voice. “I have some items I believe your company may be interested in…”

  “Yes, sir.” she said. “If you will wait over there.” She motioned me to a seat. I smiled in thank-you and proceeded to the seat in question. A few moments later two men in the companies uniform came up to me.

  “Sir, if you would follow us,” the larger of the two said.

  “Certainly gentlemen,” I replied politely. I do not do polite very well. They led me down a short hall to an elevator, and then beckoned me to enter the waiting car. This sort of reminded me when I had done some work for the Smithsonian. I did so, and they both got in behind me. One took out a key,
then pushed a number. I was surprised when the car began to descend into the ground.

  I must have look startled. “Don’t worry, sir we just have a few questions.”

  I nodded but then replied. “I was lead to believe by a friend I would be well received here”

  “I don’t know about you, or your friend. But the corporation is hardly in the market for goods from a pumped up vagrant,” said the smaller guard.

  Then It dawned on me, I was about to get my ass kicked. I cleared my throat.”Before we get started with the questions, I want to state for the record my name is James Wulf and I have a letter of introduction to this corporation from Rabbi Benjamine Lowe to a Mr. Jamerson.”

  “And we should care why?” Said the bigger guard. The smaller guard smirked at my dilemma.

  “First you might check with management about my letter of introduction.”I said looking them both in the eye. “And second, it might be a very bad career move to beat a potential client. It might make me change my mind about selling to the company.” I saw one of the guards eyes shift to the other.

  “Not my problem,” he said, the other nodded. They had seemed to come to an agreement. I hopped it wasn’t who got to beat on which side of me.

  The doors to the car opened and we exited. If the indicator was correct we were twenty floors down. I guessed it was a post with secure holding cells. Heh I was right. They escorted me into a cell and shut the door, but not before giving me a glare. I knew that look, I’d seen it on the faces of bullies the world round, they were letting me know that they were just waiting for their turn at me. They had been polite enough to put me in an interrogation room. So I leaned back put my shoes on the table and closed my eyes. I said I had rested last night. I didn’t say I got much sleep. Besides, I think its a universal maxim that once you get comfortable the universe will force you to move.

  It seemed that as soon as my eyes were closed, the door opened. “Mr Wulf,” I heard as I looked up and wiped my lips. I was pretty sure it wasn’t drool. Pretty sure.

  “Who is it?” I said in a fake falsetto. I looked up to the speaker, then laughed as I saw the reaction on his face. “Sorry yes I’m James Wulf.” He was not amused, but I sure as hell was. He was some low level toady dressed in a modern business suit of some shiny gray fabric. His eyes were pinched, and a look about him that said he had been constipated since birth.

  “I have been sent to escort you to the manager of this facility,” he said stiffly. His accent was a mix of New New York Nasal twang and Bostonian stretched vowels, I didn’t like him almost immediately. I nodded in thanks and picked up my bag as I got up.

  “Lead on McDuff,” I said. As we left, I noted the two guards fell in behind me. So there was still a good chance I might get my butt kicked after all. Again we entered the elevator but this time we went to the twenty second floor. There they lead me through a nice hallway of steel and stone to double wood doors. The toady knocked and waited for the door to be opened.

  The receptionist was perfectly beautiful, not your classic beauty but the kind you can only get with a doctors help. Her eyes and mouth were in that perfect triangle. She had dark, almost black hair and skin so pale it was nearly bone white. I was a little surprised to find she had brown eyes, I felt certain she would have gone for blue or green contacts. “Mr. Jamerson will see you now,” she said. Her accent was slight but it sounded Germanic to me.

  She looked pointedly at the toady and the guards in clear dismissal. I stepped into the room and followed her. I wondered how Mr. Jamerson got any work done with someone like her to look at, but then I realized familiarity must truly breed contempt, or he was gay.

  The office I was led to wasn’t too large about forty feet square, and overlooked the city to the south and west. Jamerson looked like a mountain of a man, he even had snow white hair on the top of his head. Sitting, he was about five feet tall, with shoulders that were nearly the same across. He sat behind a large desk with virtual monitors installed, and gave me a look like he smelled something that was about two weeks dead. The thought ran through my mind that I still might get my ass kicked.

  I smiled at him and offered him my hand. He stood up to accept it and he really did look like a mountain he wore a conservative suit without a jacket his sleeves slightly rolled up, and blue suspenders. Clearly he was a working man.

  “Mr. Jamerson.”

  “Mr Wulf.” His voice was rich deep and sounded pissed off.”Yesterday, I received an email from a person of our mutual acquaintance, Rabbi Lowe. He informed me he had referred you to me and that I might do well to listen to what you have to say, and an offer you have for me and Psysoft.” He looked through me, and I swear he saw everything about me, including my last meal.”Please enlighten me why he would think you might be of assistance to myself and Psysoft.”

  I swallowed deeply before I began. Holy crap, he was scary.”Sir, The Rabbi knew I had certain items that were difficult to obtain. Recent events find me in need of money and work that will supply more of it, and ways to facilitate that,” I said as I reached into my pack and pulled out a silver coin wrapped in plastic. “I find that I need to either sell or trade for something. The Rabbi inquired if I knew about the money to be made in the virtual world.” I said as I placed the coin down on his desk. He looked down at the object and his face shut down like a professional poker players. Then he looked at me.

  “That’s quite a precious item you have there,” He picked it up, examining it closely. “Twenty twenty-two” He said thoughtfully.

  “And 0.999 pure.” I replied.’My great grandmother bought a quantity of them for our business.” I said with a sheepish grin and shrug. “Yesterday EPARD showed up and shut me down.”

  “I see, and you think this will get you an account?” he said.

  “I hoped it would be a start,” I shrugged.

  “And how do you know I won’t just take this and eject you from the premises?” Again with the poker face.

  “Because Rabbi Lowe trusts you enough to send me.”

  He quirked his eyebrow at that. “Well enough. We have several kinds of accounts and none of them are cheap,” he stretched his hand out to me. And that’s how I found myself with an account on Arabella on line. They purchased the coin at slightly above market prices.

  “Sir,” I said diffidently after we had signed the last contract. “You never asked if I had more to trade.

  “More silver?” He asked and I nodded. “How much more?”

  I opened my pack and placed the coins and rounds I had on his desk.

  “Close to three pounds in total, and…” I then placed the gold coins on the pile.”Seven ounces in maple leafs.” I finally got through his poker face.

  “How the hell did you manage that?” he looked down at the minor horde in front of him. “Do you know what this much silver will do for the company?”

  I shook my head. “No I don’t, but from what I saw, you use it in the nanites and the gold is used in control components.” I also knew the government had made it very difficult to obtain.

  “This is more silver than the Company has been able to buy in the last year…” He looked at me. “As to the gold, it’s almost as hard to get,” he sighed. “Corporate may have something to say about this…”

  Things went very quickly from there. He ushered me out of his office, then placed me in the hands of his able assistant, Gretchen. She led me out and I found myself in a lab where they were going to run some tests to calibrate the pod and nanites that would help to form the interface between my tender melon and the control system.

  * * *

  The lab looked like a large doctors office where they performed the usual tests: height, weight, blood pressure. Then, they put me on a treadmill to check my endurance and heart rate with an EKG. After twenty minutes and a final jog of five miles an hour at a twenty percent incline they brought me to the weights. Here they wanted to measure the maximum weight I could lift and the sustained weight I could carry. Maximum was tw
o-ten and sustained was eighty pounds. I wasn’t quite sure why they were checking but I’m sure they had their reasons.

  The final two tests were mental acuity and I think logic problems.

  A clerk at a butcher shop stands five feet ten inches tall and wears size 13 sneakers. What does he weigh?

  Billie was born on December 28th, yet her birthday always falls in the summer. How is this possible?

  If you were running a race and you passed the person in 2nd place, what place would you be in now?

  Johnny’s mother had three children. The first child was named April. The second child was named May. What was the third child’s name?

  At the end, I got dressed and Gretchen led me to a cubicle where my gaming pod sat. There was a small bed desk a heater unit for packaged food and desk comp access. A small bathroom with a shower, sink, and toilet rounded out the last of the amenities. I figured this was how most people on the BLS lived, so I could make it until I got myself in a better position.