A Few More

I have to look insane, right? Some lunatic with a gun talking to the air… with a shackled woman in an abandoned warehouse… all for…

A few more zeros… that’s what started this.

I was on the last train out of the city after working my fifth ten hour shift in three days… all because my dumb ass had to ask my boss for just “A few more hours.”... Not that I didn’t need the money, but tripling my hours wasn’t what I had in mind… at least now I could nearly make ends meet. Medical bills won’t pay themselves and I’ve got those in spades. Damn near the only thing left to remember her by…

The conductor kicked me awake. I jerked up, panicked at the sudden pain in my leg, my head cold and indented from leaning against the window. The conductor gave me a bemused look and shook his head. His feeble voice cracking as he spoke. “Dun you usually get off a ways back? Only a few more stops left now and... you’re out near the start I thought.”

I cursed under my breath and looked at the holographic sign above the seat in front of me. It had only been a matter of time before this happened. My forty-five minute train ride had just turned into three hours. I got up, thanked the conductor and moved towards the doors as the train slowed into the next station.

“Hey,” the conductor croaked from behind me. “Left dis in your seat.” He held out a small black notebook. The kind you’d journal in if that’s what you were into.

I gave him a perplexed look and rubbed my eyes. “That’s not mine.” I said and looked around the empty train car. It was just the two of us as the magnetic breaks turned on, slowing the train to a crawl.

The old man chuckled like he thought I was joking. “I saw it fall from yer pack.” he said, pushing the notebook into my hands and spinning me to face the doors as they hissed open. “Now get goin. Last train going back ‘ll be by in a few.”

I stumbled onto the platform as a gentle hand pushed me out of the train. “No seriously, this isn’t-” I turned back as the doors closed. “...mine” The magnetic rails on the train hummed back to life and the train accelerated out of the station in a blur of color.

I walked towards a trash can looking around. Deserted. Even the security and ticket booths were closed down. “Great…” I looked at the notebook… It felt foreign in my hands. Who even uses these anymore? Paper was rarely used for anything anymore. Even paper money was on its way out the door.

I opened it and thumbed through the first few pages. A few pages had notably been torn out but that was the only sign of use. Even the “This notebook belongs to” section was blank.

“Whatever.” I sighed and frisbee tossed the notebook into the trash. As I did an envelope flew out and skidded across the concrete towards the tracks.

“Southbound train approaching.”

The automated voice of the train station’s Dumb AI rang out over the empty station. I knelt down and picked up the envelope before the gust of wind from the approaching train blew it away. Hindsight is twenty-twenty they say. I should have trashed the envelope too.

There was a message and phone number written on the front of it, written with an old fountain pen and a shaky hand.

“A few more zeros.

For a favor.”

The southbound train came to a stop and as the hum of the electromagnets cut out, the train lowered slightly onto the platform. The doors in front of me hissed open and I walked onto the train. I sat down without even so much as looking around, took out my phone, and called the number. It rang twice before connecting with a dull click like what you’d expect back when phones had wires. Nobody said anything when the call connected, but I could hear someone breathing.

My curiosity got the better of me so I broke the silence. “Hello?”

“...Have you opened it?” The voice was gentle and silky. Almost sultry in a way… but commanding. I expected it to be the old conductor from the train but this wasn’t his raspy croaking voice. This voice was like vellum being rubbed on my ears. A disturbing mixture of gentle and harsh.

“Uh.” His question took me off guard. Of course I hadn’t opened it. Damn thing wasn’t mine to open. “The envelope? No of course not. I called thinking I might find the owner.”

The man didn’t waste any time before responding. “It’s yours, open it.”

“What are you talking about? You don’t even know who I am.”

“Nor you, I... and that’s how I like to keep things.” The man replied. He was speaking through gritted teeth. “Now open the envelope.”

For some god forsaken reason, I did what he said. The seal on the envelope was hardly closed. Only the tip of it seemed to have been used.

“What the-” My voice caught in my throat. Inside the envelope were two stacks of bills bound by mustard straps and containing $10,000 each. I had in my hands $20,000.

“There’s more.” The voice curled out of the phone’s speaker like a finger beckoning me closer… and I played the fool perfectly.

“What do you mean there’s more? What is this?” I asked, stuffing the money back into the envelope. I couldn’t help but look around making sure nobody was watching me on the empty train.

“Are you that dense? I said-” The voice paused and I could hear a deep inhale… it was losing patience with me. “A few more zeros. For a favor.” It finished.

“A few more-” I started.

“For a favor.” It interrupted.

“What’s stopping me from just taking this money and hanging up? Changing my phone number and moving?” I couldn’t help but crack a grin. Twenty grand just for showing up? Yes please.

“Well nothing is stopping you.” The voice wasn’t nearly as amused as I was about this idea. “But seeing as how you were dumb enough to call me from your cellphone...well. Let’s just say I won’t have trouble finding you, James.” Now the voice was amused. “So I’ll say it again. A few more zeros. For a favor.” The line crackled as he exhaled into the phone on the last word.

“How many zeros are we talking about?” I shouldn’t have started there but I couldn’t help it… As amazing as an extra $20,000 was, that was still nothing compared to the near seven figures of medical bills I had.

“As many as five more if you stop asking questions.” The voice was smiling. I imagined the cheshire cat looming over me grinning ear to ear, pleased with its manipulation.

“What kind of favor?” I wasn’t that stupid… at least I didn’t think so. What could this man need done that he’d be willing to spend $2 Billion on it.

“You’re down to four.” He replied. His tone was a nauseating mixture of glee and spite. The idea losing that much money made my stupid ass panic.

“FINE!” I blurted out a response without even hearing a real answer to the question. “Just tell me what I need to do.”

“There’s something else in the envelope.” The voice was smiling again. “Take it out.”

I looked in the envelope again being careful not to take the money out in the empty train car. My paranoia didn’t make any sense but I didn’t care. After a moment of digging around I found a small container roughly the size of my pinky nail.

Without saying anything the voice spoke, “Take it out and put it on the back of your neck, just under your hairline.” It paused briefly as I opened the container. “Oh, prickly side down.”

Inside the container was a small microchip covered in a transparent goo. “I hope you’re not trying to kill me.”

“You’re down to three zero’s now.” The voice was irritated.

“Hey, that wasn’t a question.” A technicality but who’s counting other than this guy?

“Ha!” The voice cracked over the phone and the line crackled more. “Fair is fair. Back to four.” It’s demeanor changed on the turn of a dime. “But believe me, if I wanted you dead then you would be.”

What the voice said didn’t fully process until it was too late. As I pushed the chip into the back of my neck a pain shot down my spine, fire followed by a flash of ice. Then everything went black.

I sat in nothingness for several hours given when and where I woke up.

“This is the last stop, please disembark.”

I started shuffling towards the door after shoving the envelope into my bag in response to the robotic voice on the intercom.

“Wakey wakey sunshine.” The voice from the phone was louder and more clear than before. It was free of the static and popping that was there before. It sounded like it was right behind me.

“What?!” I spun around, still a groggy mess, but nobody was there. Just the closed doors of the train turning to a blur of color as it sped off. I looked down at my phone thinking I misheard but it was dead.

“Guess again.” The voice said dangling a coy lure behind me again causing me to spin on my heels. “HAHA! I could do this all day!” Every time the voice spoke it came from behind me. “It’s the chip you imbecile. The one now rooted into your brain stem.”

I couldn’t help but begin to paw at the chip to see if I could rip it out. I couldn’t feel it anymore. At best it was flush with my skin, at worst it was somehow beneath it.

“Oh don’t bother.” The voice drawled. “You’ll probably kill yourself or turn into a potato if you remove it.” He laughed and waited for a reaction… I had none. I couldn’t even begin to comprehend the situation I was in. “Don’t worry, in a few months it’ll dissolve and then you’ll be back to your normal, stupid self… and if you do what I say you’ll be a richer form of yourself.” He laughed again a crazy sickening laugh.

“So… shall we?” We were on the southern edge of the city in the shipping district. I stood in front of a maze of shipping containers, cranes, and warehouses. A maze that he carefully led me through until we ended up at a warehouse on the outskirts of the district. One that had been long forgotten and unused.

“Go on in.” The voice’s toxic words crept into my mind almost giddy with excitement. He made it clear that he was watching me somehow. A drone maybe? It didn’t matter. He knew when I turned and when I didn’t. He knew if I was scratching at my neck or running my hands through my hair in a panic. Now he knew I was inside. “Good.” his voice droned on longer than was comfortable.

In the center of the room under one of very few lights was a woman struggling against bindings. Her hands were bound in silver shackles that shimmered green and orange. I moved closer and it was obvious her shackles were made of Oborium. Tattoos on her neck flared red and the magic at her fingertips fizzled as she screamed through the gag. A small table was just out of her reach. On it, a loaded gun. An old one, from the early 2000’s by the look of it.

“A few more zeros.” The voice whispered in my ear with glee.

“For a favor.”... and all I have to do is pull the trigger...