Alice

Another world where life can be measured. More to come, maybe.

My name is Alice Vermilu and I have five hundred and eighty three days left untill I die. I used to have boring brown hair and utterly normal features until a couple of months back, when I finally saved up enough money for a restructuring. Now, my hair is a wild shock of neon pink, shot through with black, and a pain of stubby horns sprout from the top of my forehead. They're still growing, and should be about six inches in a few more months. I had my eyes recolored to a sort of shiny red, with slitted pupils, and even paid the extra to have a leathery spaded tail added to my physiology. 

My MM-Band is styled like magma cracked obsidian, and set to roman numerals, DLXXXIII glowing around my wrist. I'm not ashamed of my lifespan, unlike your average person, walking around with theirs set to private. It isn't my fault if some drunk driver or whatever the f**k takes me out before I'm twenty. It's actually liberating, knowing how much time I have left. It makes me really want to live, instead of just saving up for a life I'm never gonna get to live.

The sound of the tram's airbrakes rouses me from my revery and I stand, ignoring the assorted looks the other riders give me as my body leaves my seat. I already know what kind of looks they're giving me. Some are glaring, some are ogling, some are wishing they could be me. It's only natural that I draw looks. After all, I've got this body, plus my singularly revealing style. The collar of my shirt goes all the way up my  neck, but the rest hardly covers my chest, clinging tightly enough that it only has the hint of a risk of really showing anything. My shoulders and arms, too, are shown, and I've got on matching shorts. Well, I can only technically call them shorts. They hardly have an inseam, but hey, if swimsuits are fine, right? My boots cover my calves, so it would even out, if that was how it worked. But really, the whole thing isn't that comfortable and it's a damn pain to put on. I'm only wearing this outfit to celebrate finally getting here.

I hop out of the tram, wishing I had pockets to put my hands in. A grin leaps onto my face, unbidden. I stand there 'till the tram's doors close and it takes off on the rails again. No one else got off, of course. From what I saw, I was the only 'freak' on the bus. And only freaks get off here. Crimton, a counter culture Vegas for the people that rejected society before it could reject them. Population: who gives a damn. No, seriously, someone graffiti'd that over the actual number, put there by the apathetic census bureau. They don't really care about this place, cuz they know they can't really be accurate. So many unreported people, hiding from the government for some reason that's all their own. 

It's noon, and the sun is blazing over the stained road, so I slip into the first internet cafe I spot. I wave my 'Band at the payment stand and mutter "one hour" under my breath, still blinking my eyes to adjust to the artificial dusk. I draw the drapes on my selected booth and proceed to blow over half my time on miscellaneous bullshit. Once the fifteen minute warning chimes, I look up the address of my place and load the digikey onto my 'Band. The place is a little studio, just cheap enough for me to have afforded after my extravagant transformation. I have ten minutes left, so I f**k around a bit more, buying a soda on my wait out.

As I close my eyes against the sun, I mutter the name of my street, annoyed that no other details had been given. "Tarney, Tarney... how'm I sposed to find it with just that?" 

"Oh, it's just down the street, second one on the right." My eyes shoot open and I almost fall on my a*s when I see the way, way taller than me girl that just gave me instructions. She looks mostly normal, but for her six and whatever height and the single horn on the right side of her forehead. Her hair is like gold in the light, pulled back into a simple ponytail that hangs back over her dust-grey, threadbare hoodie. She raises a brow, beryl eyes twinkling with mirth at my reaction. "So, you're the new kid, right? I was wondering how long that place'd be empty."

"Well, yeah. I just got here... what's wrong with that?" I say, a bit annoyed at my scaredy-cat reaction to her greeting. My face feels hot as cross my arms, scowling at the ground. 

"Nah, not at all. Name's Gwen." My wonderful view of the asphalt is interrupted by her hand as she offers me a handshake, the other still in the pocket of her frayed jeans. I never though I'd be jealous of casual clothing. I respond in kind, watching as my own petite hand disappears into hers. To my suprise, there's no crunch of snapping bones. What's even more surprising is that she doesn't react to my blatant display of my MM-Band at all. I guess that might be normal here? I can't see hers, what with the long sleeves, so I've got nothing to go on.

I speak up, realizing I haven't introduced myself, "Alice. Thanks for the welcome. No one else up at this hour?"

She nods, chuckling, "yeah, they're still trying to get out of bed. The first real shop'll open around six, at the earliest. Just how things go around here." she pauses, like she's thinking about something, then continues, a little more subdued, "hey, the guy who owned the studio you're movin' in to left a hell of a mess, so if you-"

"Woah, wait, how'd you know where I'm moving in to?" I sputter, surprised, my head tilting to one side.

"Cuz the only other place on Tarney is mine, and I am definitely not moving out. C'mon, I'll show ya." she starts walking, and I have to walk fast to keep up, but it isn't too hard.

We get there pretty fast, and I'm totally blown away. The street is tiny, short enough to be an alley if it weren't for the houses. The road doesn't even look traversable in a car without hitting both sidewalks. The place I'm assuming is mine looks like a hurricane did house cleaning. Mangled cardboard boxes are scattered about the patchy front yard, various contents strewn everywhere around them. 

I guess I get a weird look on my face, cuz she pipes up, tucking her hands back into her hoodie's pocket. "Yeeaah.... the last guy went a little nutso. Only worse on the inside. I'll go get a shovel and some bags for the smaller stuff. Oh! I'll get the wheelbarrow, too. We only have to carry it to the disposal chute other there."

"Wait... what happened to him?" I ask, the chaos making me feel sorry even for someone I'll never meet.

"I'd tell ya to ask him, but I don't think ash answers much of anything. He'd always been a bit off, so something probably tipped him. Couldn't say what though." She shrugs. 

I weave my way through the wreckage to reach the door. I turn the knob and barely avoid being crushed by the refrigerator that crashes down as the door swings open. Once I scramble in, I start pushing the debris out the door, muttering under my breath. I do my best not to notice just what it is that I'm cleaning, and let me tell you that I've never been so glad to have a tiny place. Once everything is piled up on the yard, the inside seems twice as large, the floor covered with odd stains. I step outside, joining Gwen in the shoveling and loading of the wheelbarrow. 

The sun sets on our work, and we finally finish as the last hints of red fade from the sky. For a moment, the stars are visible before the glaring lights of the city erase them from the sky. You can practically hear the collective groan as everyone rolls out of bed to partake in the same foolish activities as last night. The gibbous moon hangs low over Crimton, stained neon by the lights. 

Gwen shoots me a grin and speaks the first words I've heard in hours. "I hope you aren't exhausted, cuz we've got a party to attend." 

I look up at the tie-dye sky, and draw a deep breath, stretching my arms up like I can grab the very fabric of the heavens for my own. My short moment of rest ends and I return the smile. "How could I be tired? I'm still hyped up on getting here! Let's go to every bar in town!"

She shakes her head, laughing. "I don't think you quite get how many bars there are in town. We'd spend more time walking than partying. Let's just start with one club for tonight, okay?"

I roll my eyes, sighing out a "Fiiiiine," even though, to be honest, I'm way too tired for more than one. I let out a bubblegum sigh and grin. I've got another five eighty seven days after this, and I'm gonna make each better than the last.