I smile at my boss, a rotund man if ever there was one. He’s wearing a white dress shirt, black slacks, and a thin red tie. I’m a bit jealous of his full black beard since I was never able to grow one myself. Mr. Smith holds out his hand, and I smile and shake it.
“Thanks for coming in, Anthony. I know you weren’t scheduled to work, but Eddie called in sick. I appreciate you taking his shift last minute, man.” I can’t help but smile at Mr. Smith; he still hasn’t let my hand go and is vigorously shaking it as he talks. My head suddenly hurts, and a blue box appears between Mr. Smith and me.
Reputation increase with Mr. Smith
As suddenly as the pain strikes, it disappears, and when I blink, the blue box is gone. I’m finally able to pull my hand away from my boss’s handshake; I rub my eyes. Did I just see what I think I saw?
“You ok there, kid?”
I shake my head once to make sure there’s nothing loose up there. “Yeah, no problem, boss. I had a bit of an accident today at school. I must still be feeling the effects from that.” Seeing the concerned look on his face, I continue, “Really, Mr. Smith, it’s nothing to worry about. I already went to the doctors, and they said I was ok.”
Mr. Smith nods as he searches his pockets for something. He fishes a set of keys out of his pocket and hands them to me. “If you say you’re ok, then who am I to question you? Here are the keys. You’re in charge tonight. It’s just you and Samantha until 6 a.m. I’ll be back then.”
I clutch the keys in my hands in annoyance. Am I working with Samantha tonight? I probably wouldn’t have agreed to show up if I’d known that. That girl is such a pain in the butt. She’s always late; she never actually wants to work, she steals from the store and disappears for hours at a time on extended breaks. I don’t understand why Mr. Smith keeps her around.
I nod at my boss and wave goodbye as he leaves the store, the sound of the door chime signaling that he’s left.
Time to start work. I run through my duties on the register. I tap on the screen and log into the system. Then I check the small amount of cash in the drawer with what the receipts say. I run the quick systems check to make sure the credit machine and phone payment systems are functioning properly. I do a quick visual search to ensure the restricted items behind the counter don’t need restocking. I notice one of the condom boxes needs replacing and grab the empty box. I can’t help smirking a little at the catchphrase on the side of the box: ‘Love is cleaner with a packaged wiener!’
I feel another sharp pain, this one less intense than the last. Again, a blue box appears in front of me.
Congratulations. You’ve learned the skill Search, level 1.
I stare at the blue rectangular screen in wonder. I’ve heard of augmented reality games that do this kind of thing, but I’ve never tried them out. Those Google Glass headsets are expensive, and they never worked out how to stop you from looking stupid wearing them. But this can’t be augmented reality tech. Maybe Mr. Smith bought one of those fancy new holographic projection systems for the store? I reach out to see if I can touch the blue box when the door chime goes off, startling me. I spin around and see Samantha walk through the front door. When I glance back, the blue box has disappeared.
Samantha is a twenty-two-year-old white girl with short spiky blue hair. Well, this week it’s blue. Last week it was pink. The week before that it was purple. She’s wearing the same white polo shirt I am with the Quickie Stop Mart logo on it. However, instead of her name badge, Samantha has accessorized her outfit with a sticker that says ‘Screw You!’
Samantha walks up to the front counter, glances at the empty condom box in my hand, smirks, and asks, “So, emptied out that whole box yourself? It’s nice to know what you do when you’re all by yourself in the store, but you really have to get a girlfriend.”
I can feel the heat on my cheeks as I blush but shoot back, “No. Each of your regulars picked one up and are waiting for you out back.”
She stares at me for a moment, then a corner of her lips quirk into a smile, and she nods. “Not bad, Tony. It could use some work but not bad.”
I shake my head at her use of the name Tony. I’ve told her a thousand times that my name is Anthony, not Tony. But she either doesn’t remember or just likes to rile me up by using it. Thinking of the blue boxes that showed up in the store I ask Samantha, “Hey. Did the boss install any new equipment?”
“Like what?” She asks as she walks behind the counter and takes the black studded leather purse off her shoulder to store it.
“I don’t know. Like one of those new holographic projection systems or something.”
Samantha chuckles, “Uh, no way would the boss man install one of those. They’re way too expensive to put in a shitty little store like this.”
I nod in agreement. Not about the shitty store part but that it’s some expensive tech. Could these blue boxes have something to do with that weird slime dream I had?
She raises a penciled eyebrow. “Why are you asking?”
I consider telling Samantha about the blue boxes but quickly dismiss the idea. She’d either make fun of me and think I was joking or she’d believe me and call the men in the white coats. “No reason. Just thought I saw something.”
I notice a shiny object in one of Samantha’s eyebrows and lean forward to look at it.
You’ve learned the skill Inspect, level 1.
Eyebrow Ring
A small circular ring of metal inserted into someone’s eyebrow. It’s considered a trendy fashion statement in some circles. Others consider it a played out show of rebellion. Not that either of those circles is one that would want you. Just be glad she’s not showing you the other piercing she got, ok?
The blue box that pops up almost startles me as much as the text that appears on it. I stumble back, almost knocking the register off the counter.
Samantha points at me and laughs. “What? You never saw an eyebrow ring before? Don’t tell me you’re one of those uptight people that think that their body is a temple and you shouldn’t tattoo or pierce it?”
I look at the blue box with the description of the eyebrow ring and then at Samantha. It’s obvious that she doesn’t see the thing since she assumed I’m surprised by her eyebrow piercing. Trying to cover my reaction, I lean on the front counter casually and tell her, “No. I’m not surprised by your eyebrow piercing. I’m just surprised by the other place you got pierced.”
Her eyes widen, and she involuntarily clutches her chest. Oh, so that’s where she got pierced too. The blue box was right.
Samantha turns red, and she sputters, “How did you know about that? I know it doesn’t show through my shirt, I checked.” She squints suspiciously at me, “Have you been following me around?”
I try to laugh casually. How the heck am I going to explain that bit of knowledge? I can’t tell her a little blue box informed me. “No, it was just a lucky guess. I know how rebellious you try to be. I figured you wouldn’t be satisfied with just an eyebrow piercing.”
Before she can question my story, I squeeze past her to the front of the store. “Excuse me, I still have to replace this box of rubbers.”
I head to the back of the store and open the door for storage. My hand feels around for the light switch, finds it, and the fluorescent lights along the ceiling come on. The storage area is where we, well, store things. It’s a bunch of shelves stacked with all the items the store carries. I head over to the section where we store the condoms and grab a new box of XXL Magnum Plus Ribbed Mango flavored condoms. For some reason, they’re a best seller in their category. I like to think it’s the funny phrases they have on the boxes, but who knows.